Really really (like really) short reincarnation au... or is it?
Requests for fics are still open! I'm working on the mikannie werewolf au and the request made by @GhibliGirl4ever but I'm still down to do stuff
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He remembered the agony when it first happened. The way his heart had been metaphorically ripped from his chest as it sunk in that his closest friend was gone. Gone forever. And he wasn't there in his final moments.
Over time, the pain faded into a dull ache. It never went away. And the absence of his dearest only made his feelings fonder.
Now, it was his time to die, and he wasn't as ready as he thought. The pain was unbearable - a different kind of pain, but that didn't make it hurt less.
And he could hear a voice, very faint, very muffled, as if it was from beyond a glass pane, calling out his name. It sounded just like...
I'm coming, my love, he thought. I'll see you soon.
--
"Reiner. Reiner!"
In a bedroom in the suburbs in the year 2019, Reiner Hoover-Braun woke with a start. He gasped and sat up, running his hand through his hair and trying to catch his breath. He looked over to see his husband's worry-stricken face, and hugged him closely.
"Another nightmare?" Bertholt asked, running his hand through his husband's short hair. The question was rhetorical. He already knew the answer.
The nightmares had started a few weeks ago, and to be fair, Bertholt was worried for Reiner. He would toss and turn and cry in his sleep, and it hurt Bertholt to see his usually strong husband so vulnerable and broken down. He still didn't know what could possibly have triggered them. His best theory had been that it was some form of post-traumatic stress, though he could not think of any traumatic events in Reiner's life that would have resulted in recurring nightmares like this.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Bertholt asked. He could feel Reiner cling to him further.
"It's the same one, every time," he replied in a muffled voice. "You... You, you die. And I'm not there for you. And I can't die, I can't end it, no matter how hard I try I just keep going on, even though all I want is to be with you."
Bertholt rubbed his husband's back to try and ease his crying. "It's just a dream," he reminded him. "I'm not dead."
"But it felt so real!" Reiner exclaimed with a sob. "I love you," he choked out. "I never got to tell you that, in the dream. But I love you."
"I love you too."
Bertholt kept holding his husband until he was certain that the tears had stopped, and with a sigh, detached from the hug. Reiner was asleep. He looked peaceful, far more so than he had been before.
Gently, Bertholt kissed the top of Reiner's head.
"Sleep well," he said.
