AN: This one is my personal favorite...I just think that this is something they would do.

Esmond couldn't sleep. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, or that there was too much on his mind for him to want to sleep; he honestly couldn't place his finger on the reason as to why his body would not rest. He had tried to think of the reasons why, hoping that in the process of doing so, he'd finally close his eyes to sleep. All he got out of that, though, was the feeling of something being missing.

Tossing and turning in his bed, he lay in wait. Was the moment he thought he was waiting for going to come tonight? It wasn't every night that it happened, but it was often enough that he had come to expect it.

A soft knock on the boy's barrack's door made him smile; his greatly anticipated guest had arrived. Getting up from his bed as quietly as he could, Esmond made his way to the door and opened it up, trying to keep a neutral expression on his face as he stared at the person in front of him. Heart racing in excitement and happiness, he allowed himself to smile a little.

"Have another nightmare?" he asked, letting his friend into the building.

With a nod, she followed after Esmond and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Sorry for giving you all of this trouble. I just…I didn't know who to go to." she said, an apologetic look on her face.

"Don't apologize. I've gotten used to it." he said, almost confessing to her that he had been waiting for her presence.

With a chuckle, the girl nodded and sighed. Esmond could have sworn that he heard her sniffle a bit.

After a long pause, Esmond looked down at the girl sitting next to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it, Alvar?" he asked, glad that the room was so dark; the blush on his face was a dead giveaway to the feelings he held, if the rapidity of his heartbeat wasn't enough.

Thinking for a moment, Alvar shook her head; some things were meant to be kept to oneself. Besides, she didn't want Esmond to know that the dream had been about him, like so many nights before. She worried for him a lot more than she let on, and she didn't want him to think her strange; or at least, stranger than he probably already thought her to be.

Esmond nodded, respecting Alvar's wishes; he wouldn't force her to say anything to him, because he understood what she was going through. He was sure that everyone did. The nightmares that came along with being a soldier were nothing to be laughed off. Everyday he and his comrades faced danger, deceit, loss, pain; things that ones so young shouldn't have to deal with. It was a surprise that more of them hadn't snapped under the pressure of it all.

Running his fingers through Alvar's soft hair, he looked at her with eyes full of respect. She may not be the strongest soldier physically, but mentally, she was a force to reckon with. He was happy that she had chosen him of all people to console in; many of them chose to deal with the pain alone, which, in the long run wasn't a wise decision.

They stayed sitting silently for a little while longer; Alvar resting her head on Esmond's shoulder, and Esmond running his fingers soothingly through her hair. After a while, though, Alvar could feel herself nodding off once more.

"You should get some rest." Esmond commented, standing up and wrapping his arms around Alvar's waist and legs, picking her up bridal style.

Being laid down on Esmond's bed like so many nights before, Alvar nodded and smiled, continuing her hold on the back of neck. "You should too." she said, gently pulling him down next to her.

Feeling brave now that he was with someone that meant so much to him, Esmond smiled and placed a gentle kiss to Alvar's temple. "Goodnight." he mumbled into her hair, as he closed his eyes.

"Goodnight, Esmond." Alvar responded, cuddling up close to him. "I love you…" she trailed off, as she succumbed to sleep.

It took him a little bit to register what she had said, but soon, Esmond felt his cheeks heat up and his heart begin to race again. Calming himself down, Esmond smiled softly and nestled as close as he could to Alvar. "I love you too." he whispered, just before he drifted off into peaceful sleep.

—

"Should we wake them up yet?" a sleepy Hyosuke aksed, glancing at her best friend and Esmond's sleeping figures.

Shaking his head, Adonis groggily sat up in his bed, after being awoken by an excited Breck. "No. Let them sleep a little while longer." he said, smiling a bit.

"I can't wait till that sap wakes up!" Breck laughed, leaning over their bed with a smirk. "This is the third time this week! There's no way I'm letting it go this time."

Snickering himself, Shura observed the sleeping couple. "I wish the girls were here to see this." he said, thinking specifiacally of Riley; she sure would get a kick out of this.

"Maybe we can bring them over really quick…as long as we're quiet." Adonis said, not really sure if it was a good idea, but not wanting to pass up the opportunity at the same time.

"Yeah, good idea!" Breck said, slapping Adonis on the back enthusiastically.

A shifting on the bed in front of them made the four in the room go stiff. Looking over in the direction in which the movement occured, their eyes widened at the sight of Esmond propped up on the bed, glaring at them.

"Do it and you're all dead." he said, looking especially scary since he had been disturbed from his sleep.

"Oh come on, you shoulda seen it coming!" Breck said, trying not to show his nervousness. It's not that he didn't think he could take Esmond on; it's just that, he really was even more of a threat in the morning - especially when he was still tired.

"All I see is that you guys disturbed my sleep." he said, trying to keep quiet, so as not to disturb Alvar, who was still sleeping peacefully. "Now, get back to bed. It's still too early for this shit."

With that, Esmond plopped back on the bed, cuddling back up against Alvar.

Giving each other looks, the others in the room decided to do as he said; they didn't want to have to deal with his wrath later.

Thank you for reading!

Please leave a review if you think I did a good job, or if you think I can improve on something.