Once upon a dream

For Baal it was a different scenery. Rot and decay, darkness and empty. It was like he never really got to leave the castle in the Abyssus, not even in his dreams. Wandering around, he lifted the head of a dead roses. He loved roses, but these were mushy and rotten to the core. He continued down the path, aimlessly and yet there was an unknown purpose. He reached a large tree, or the remains it seemed. It’s top missing, half a tree’s desperate attempt to reach up and beyond the darkness above. “What a shame.” He muttered as he placed a hand on the dead bark, but it was like just then, he noticed someone in the corner of his eye, frowning as he looked her way.

She was so bright in all the darkness that he could barely make out her features. When she spoke it sounded so familiar but it had been so long since he had heard anyone but Saoirse’s voice that it was hard to make out who was who. He didnt quite know what to say, removing his hand from the dead wood before turning towards her. “Confused, I’d say, but quite alright. I think I’m more wondering why you would be in a place like this?” He asked, gesturing around, believing they were seeing the same thing.

She sounded confused. Wasnt she seeing what he saw? All the stuff that you only saw in bad dreams? She asked him to describe it and he didnt even know where to start. He looked around before she began speaking of the place she was in. It was so different from where he was. Far too different. “The ground is just mud and moss. Everything is so dark, dead.” He paused as he looked up the tree. “I see half a tree, sad remains of what I assume you’re seeing now. Everything is decayed and gone.” He explained, before he closed his eyes and sighed. If he kept them closed then maybe he could see what she saw. “Who are you?”

She moved closer and he frowned a little, narrowing his eyes to try and make out her face. But he couldnt. He didnt even get an answer before being forced out of the dream, waking up to nothingness. He however felt warm and sweaty, as if he had had a nightmare. But it just hadnt felt like one. He fell asleep again and dreamt of nothing.
It wasnt till next night that he ended up in the same dreadful place as last night, wandering around until he found the dead tree again. She called out and he frowned a little. Was this just his imagination making up for all the isolation? “I am here.” He replied, moving around the tree until he saw her shiny silhuoette.

“Me either.” He assured her. He knew as little about this as she did. But if it was just a reoccurring dream, wasnt she just a piece of his imagination? Her question made him frown. “I suppose I am?” He replied, a little unsure. Her apology however made him understand better, it actually resonated with him. “I thought being here with my child would make things better, but I have not seen someone look at me with such hurt and contempt.” He confessed too now that they were ‘fessing up. He sighed and rubbed his face a bit. “This world just seems cold and unforgiving.”

“I do. A very strong child that currently wont even be looking in my direction unless it’s necessary.” He admitted. They were still working on the tryst and their bond but he feared that the isolation wasnt bettering the situation. He heard the light silhouette speak and he frowned a little. Seemed like a rather horrible situation to be in and yet it was something that resonated within him. “Yeah, I feel like I need my soulmate more than ever these times. I have gotten a lot of time to think about my wrongdoings. And among those was the fact that I didnt even propose to her when I had the chance. Now I wish I had just done it.” He said with a scoff, feeling dsappointed in himself. “Anything but to bother, what would you tell them, if you had the chance to say anything?”

She did seem oddly familiar, but since it was a dream, it could just be because his mind wanted her to be someone. It didnt have to be her, if it was just fragments of her that he could recognize. Dreams wouldnt compare to the real feeling either way. He listened to her and chuckled softly. He knew someone who would react exactly that way and he missed that joy and laughter.
But then she spoke of the father and he frowned a little bit, looking at her as she seemed so filled with regret. It made his heart ache, because he wondered if that was how he had left Buffy? To think of dream scenarios of what she should have done? "It's alright. Our losses hurt. I felt the same, but then months passed, a new year came... The ache is still there but it's buried under it all. But.... if I saw her now, I think it would all come back again." he said. He looked down and sighed. "I was with someone so perfect. She really was the light, shining the way to a decent life."

He did wonder what beautiful world it was she saw when she looked around. And why it was nothing like his, the broken and rotten one he stood in, breathed in. He listened to her, looking at her though her features were smeared out by the light she emitted. It would have been easier if he could see her eyes. The story about the flowers made him scrunch his nose as he thought of it. “If I had gotten her flowers that her brother was allergic to, then I would have had to beg for forgiveness at the least.” He remarked, chuckling as it was a funny and yet sweet story. He could tell that she loved whoeever she spoke of.
“Our lives were completely turned upside down when she found out that she was pregnant. And though I am grateful for our child, and everything that I got to experience with her, is it odd that I wish it had all been pushed? Just a few more months, days even would suffice. Anything that could’ve let me have just a bit more time with her.” - “If I knew it would’ve been so short-lived, I would’ve spent more time remembering everything she did. Press her a little closer when I held her. Drawn out kisses for just a few more seconds.” He said. While the woman in the light seemed to remember the good times, Baal had had a lot of time to consider all of his regrets; it drowned out moments such as the one she had mentioned.