It was a good day

[Atragon9 0]

Meritorious Achievement Award

 

Yvaine and he had come up to the cabin the day before, settled in and restocked the pantry. They scouted for firewood, that was plentiful this early in the season, and made a nice meal and a roaring fire. That was yesterday and as enjoyable as it was, it was a functional day, a day of setting up, settling in, getting adjusted to the life away from The Life.

 

But today was glorious! They slept in until the sun woke them, sliding across the comforter and lighting up their faces. They had a hearty breakfast and loaded up the packs for a day-long hike. This early in the season, you started out the morning seeing your breath and that chill got them moving quickly, just to keep warm. As their muscles warmed up, so did the mountain and they started peeling our layers as they kept going uphill. Lunch on an outcropping of rock with just enough shade to keep the squint out of their eyes and they were ready for the final ascent. They were talking about everything and nothing as they hiked and it was marvelous just to be together, away from the real world, away from the pressures of all that was about to change. They reached the summit an hour past Noon and rested long enough to relish their accomplishment and share their love for each other with the natural world and whatever orbital satellite might be focused on the Sierra Nevadas. Energized, they moved to the rapid descent path that always exhausted them physically, but also got them back to the cabin before dusk. Shucking off their packs and gear, they limped happily into their haven to be greeted by the smells of the stew they left to simmer in the morning. Following a dinner that tasted like the best food ever made, they eased their sore muscles in a warm bath and settled in front of the fire, drowsing in each others' arms. The day's exertions and the evening's meal and warm fire fought against their own desires for intimacy. Being young, their hormones won out but, soon after, they crawled to bed, smiling all over and fell deeply asleep.

 

In the middle of the night, he bolted awake, screaming, unable to get his bearings again almost a minute, as he stared wildly around the room. Yvaine's touch and smell finally calmed his nerves and he could finally stop squirming enough to stay wrapped in her arms, shuddering as if the room had turned frigid.

 

"Atragon, was it that same dream again?"

 

He nodded numbly, "Yes, I was in the bare room, laying on a bed, my head feeling like there was a spike in it. I was so Old and my muscles felt as if they weren't used to working in a normal way. I tried to move and my head hurt even more. I remember crying out and trying to get out of the room. I remember nurses and orderlies coming in and putting me back in bed. I remember being so afraid, so terrified that my life was slipping away."

 

She held him tighter, "It's alright, you're here, with me. You're safe, you're young, you have your whole life ahead of you... We have our whole life ahead of us, hmm? I'll never leave you and if you try to leave me, I'll just have to break your legs." She smiled at him with that 'just try me' look. "Was there anything else you remember? Doc Mallory said that you should try to remember more details to help you purge the dream."

 

He looked at her sheepishly, "Well, the nurses did call me by name, they called me... 'Admiral' actually."

 

She gave him a playful punch, "Okay, now you're moving from fear dream to megalomaniac fantasy!"

 

He smiled at her and nodded, looking at the Starfleet Academy uniforms on the chair in the corner of the bedroom with the markings of the senior class on the shoulders. "Some day, Yvaine, who knows?"

 

She smiled back at him and kissed him gently, "Some day, but not today, hmm? No more dreams of being an Admiral and no more dreams of that terrible room, deal?"

 

He hugged her to him, "Deal, but I need more sleep."

 

They snuggled down under the comforter and went back to sleep.

 

Suddenly, he was awake again, in that stark room on the USS McCoy, the terrible pain in his head, the realization of what his dreams really were. He closed his eyes, trying to will himself back there, but knowing THIS was his reality and all he could do is whisper, "Yvaine."