"Let's make a bet, Kaname. If you can kill me with this gun in the next thirty seconds, you can go back to Sousuke Sagara. No one will stop you." Leonard held the pistol out for me to grab. I took a small step back.

"You're kidding…" I muttered incredulously. "I can't—"

"Yes you can. That's why this is a bet." I took the gun from his hands. Aimed it at him. The seconds counted down, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. When my time was up, Leonard sighed.

"Now, how come you can't pull the trigger to kill a 'weirdo' like me, but you could kill the man you love without any remorse?"

"What?" I gasped, furious and confused. "I would never—"

"Oh, but you already did," Leonard interrupted, moving slightly to the side to show me a dark form lying prone on the ground. My eyes widened as I realized it was Sousuke, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. "And that's not all. Were you really so jealous that you had to kill your precious friend, as well? If you couldn't have him, no one could. Is that it?" His cold, unforgiving tone crushed my heart as I saw Tessa lying beside Sousuke, blood pooling around her head like a halo. Tears sprang to my eyes.

"No! It's not like that! They were getting in my way!" I yelled, desperate to make him understand. Leonard just scoffed.

"Looks like you're no different from me—except, you couldn't handle the whispers."

"No!" I screeched, shooting up in bed. I was drenched in cold sweat, my tank top clinging awkwardly to me. I looked around, getting my bearings, when I placed a hand on the empty spot beside me. My eyes darted around the room, searching for the man who usually filled that spot, but my heart knew what my eyes couldn't accept. I wouldn't find him there. He'd been called away on a mission two weeks ago, yet every time I woke up, I was always slightly confused to find his side of the bed vacant. I guess I just got too used to him being there.

I had known that Mithril wouldn't leave him alone for long, just as I had known he would want to enter back into duty. Fighting for the freedom of others was just in his blood. So I accepted my fate as the lover ever-awaiting his return. Always being left behind, never being allowed to follow. I vaguely remembered a book I had read once—The Time Traveler's Wife. Yeah, that fit this situation pretty well.

My mind drifted back to my nightmare. I never had ones that bad when Sousuke was home. He was like my own personal dream catcher. His absence was probably why I was having them so frequently lately. I continued to contemplate this through my shower and blow-drying my hair. It was only the sound of the tumblers in the door turning that broke me from my reverie. He was home.

I listened silently as my traveling soldier took off his boots at the door, placed his keys on the table, and seated himself on the couch, letting out a long sigh. He must have been exhausted. I opened the bathroom door and padded out into the living room. His face was worn from lack of sleep, and his eyes swam with whatever horrors he'd seen. When those eyes fell on me, however, I saw some of the world leave his shoulders. He smiled, murmuring my name. Walking across the room, I seated myself on his lap, facing him. I snaked my arms under his and tucked my face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in. He smelled of dirt, gun powder, and something entirely his own. He wrapped his arms around me as I snuggled deeper.

"Welcome home, soldier," I whispered, only loud enough for the two of us to hear. He took a few breaths—steadying himself—swallowed, then answered:

"I'm home." He rested his head on my shoulder as if it were too heavy to hold up any longer. I lifted my head and slid my hands from his back to his chest, running them up past his neck and up to his hair. I tangled my fingers in it for a moment, reminding myself of the feel of it between them. Then I moved them to massage his temples, then the back of his head. Slowly, his face relaxed, and he took a deep breath. When my fingers reached his jaw, he rested his hands on my hips, his thumbs casually rubbing them. I continued my way down his neck as he found his way up my sides. I catalogued all the scars and indents in his chest and back—some were old, others entirely too new—as I took his hands from my body and counted his fingers, kissing each one. Good, there were still ten.

"How many toes do you have? I'm almost afraid to look," I asked him. He stirred a moment before muttering "ten" and laying back again. He moved his hands back to my neck and pulled me in for a long, lingering kiss. Smiling into his lips, I returned it, feeling my own tense muscles beginning to unwind. He was here. He was in my arms. He was home.

He moved his kisses from my lips to my cheeks, temples, jaw, then finally my neck. I turned my head slightly each time, giving him better access, as he retraced the bumps and curves of my own body. I placed a kiss on the top of his head before I lifted myself from his lap, pulling him with me to our room. He gave me a small smile as he followed. Needless to say, afterward, it was the best sleep I'd had in weeks. He really was my dream catcher.

Hey, y'all! So I'm currently on a Full Metal Panic kick, so I figured I'd throw out another story for you. It certainly has been a long time, although I just recently updated a chapter from Baby Mine, so I guess it hasn't been THAT long. Anyway, I had this vision of Kaname sitting on Sousuke's lap like that, and it wouldn't leave, so here it is. This is what happens when I don't write frequently. Anyway, hope you guys liked the story. More should be on the way at some point. Maybe. haha.