Maya squirmed, feeling the anguish suffocating her as she tried in every way to get rid of the nightmare. But again, shrouded in a dark mist, Ronin was there, stabbing her beloved father and she watched passively, helpless to save him.
The urgent sigh came out of her throat and Maya then hoisted her body gasping for breath.
It felt so real this time. She really felt her father's warm blood touching her face, the same feeling as that fateful day. The same acrid smell and the same scarlet color staining her skin.
She lowered her head, trying not to cry again, when she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder asking for his attention.
- It was a bad dream, I'm sorry. - She anticipated, looking away from the wall in front of her.
Maya was trembling so much that her fingers could barely formulate the signals.
But Kazi needed no further explanation. The way Maya curled up in the corner of the bed told him all he needed to know.
He got up and minutes later returned with a glass of water and again touched her shoulder, this time bringing her out of her cocoon and making her look at him.
- Here. - Kazi offered the glass and she didn't refuse. The drinking water turned into tears that Maya didn't feel comfortable shedding, especially in front of another person. Crying made her weak and she hated the feeling of being helpless.
But there was someone who often tried to penetrate her shield and she was there, by her side.
- You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt with me, okay?" he said to her, offering her a look so tender and comforting that Maya longed for, but was too afraid and too proud to accept. She had been slowly hardened by loss and grief, sworn revenge, and that was what motivated her. But deep inside her, there were signs of exhaustion.
When the first tear rolled down her cheek, Kazi was quick enough to wipe it away with the tip of his thumb, then pulled her into an embrace that provided the security she needed.
Later, when they lay down, Kazi offered her the same warm, comforting embrace. Maya felt for the first time in months that there was a place where she could rest her mind and it was there, inside Kazi's embrace with whom she had a strange and conflicting relationship that she could not yet name. Accomplices, friends, or from that moment on, something more?
Maya preferred not to rationalize. In the morning she would try to think calmly, but right now, she just wanted to rest from those nightmares that were holding her hostage. She needed this more than ever.
She rested her head on his chest and slowly regained her composure as one of Kazi's hands caressed her hair and the other rested securely on her back.
- Let me take care of you, Maya. - Kazi whispered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. It was almost as if he was confessing a silent secret. - I'll be by your side if you want me to be.
Maya felt his lips moving against her forehead, but she had no idea what he had said, instead she concentrated on the rise and fall of his breathing and slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling for the first time that no nightmare could ever hit her.