The bond

11. The day it all fell

I fly up calling out, my heart racing a million miles, beads of sweat dripping from my body, trying desperately to catch my breath. Aiden bolts upright throwing his arms around me.

"Shh, shh, shh." he says trying to soothe me.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, I'm here nothings ever going to hurt you while I'm around." he says soothingly.

I manage to calm down enough to notice it's the middle of the night and I'm safe and sound in our bed.

"It's just a dream? But it felt so real." I say in disbelief. "Everything is ok now." Aiden says holding me tightly.

"Aiden?" I say my voice muffled in his chest.

"Yes." he replies.

...... "Did we know each other as kids?" Aiden tightens his hold on me pulling me closer.

"Did you remember something?" he asks softly not letting me go.

"My dream, it was so real, I have been having short dreams of the same dark-haired boy, he would be teasing me in one dream, then getting a bird to give me a flower the next. And this time it was so detailed, in this one, I'm about twelve, there was a mirror lake, I could feel the moss under my feet and there where steps down to an ancient pool full of magical wisps that danced over the water." I say in a rush.

Aiden is shaking slightly, his breathing is heavier, his hold on me is tighter than before, listening to me intently.

"Was there more?" he asks in a cracked voice.

"Yes." I reply. Aiden buries his head into my shoulder waiting for what I say next.

"The boy touched the water stirring up the wisps, he walks me to the edge of the pool and gives me my first kiss then pushes me in. Why are all my dreams filled with him? And why do I feel like that boy was you?" I say in a muffled voice from the curve in his neck.

"That's because it was me." he says quietly.

"YOU PUSHED ME!" I yell as I poke him in the chest with a forceful finger, he winces but does not stop me.

"You've been waiting all this time for me to remember you?" I ask, he nods lightly but doesn't say anything.

"The pool where you pushed me in, that's how I got to the other world where Mia found me, wasn't it?" I ask, he nods again.

"That was the other way you were talking about then. I assume that the pool stripped me of my memories and powers which was how I was able to stay there for so long and you were saying something about a time limit. My time was up the day I had my first vision of you because straight after the Akuma attacked me, I wound up back here." I state.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask again, Aiden looks at me for a few moments then sighs.

"Fear that without your memories the life you led there without me was better for you... safer." He lowers his eyes.

"My desire to keep you safe, drove you from me, then once I had you back, all you wanted was the life back, that I pushed you into." he adds.

"Literally." I say with a smirk, Aiden scowls at me but continues.

"I didn't feel I had the right to take that from you too, and once you remembered what I had done, I thought it would drive you away from me anyway. Not to mention the more you became a part of this place the harder it would be to find your way back." he exhales.

"Unsure of what you remember, I couldn't just tell you, 'hey we have been in love since we were kids.' How could I know if you still felt the same way you did back then it's been seventeen years Bree" he says.