withoutverona | Buenos Aires Vacation: Saturday

Dōjima Yurika	It was a beautiful day in the Bosques de Palermo, and Yurika was firmly convinced it was worth getting up early just to be some of the first people out in the gardens. "What did you want to see first, koibito?" she asked, turning to him. "Pick a garden, any garden, or maybe even a boat ride!"
Romeo Montague	Romeo reached for her hand. "May we start with the Japanese Gardens?" he suggested. "It might be a bit of Tokyo for you."
Dōjima	"It's your birthday vacation," she teased, slipping her hand into his. "If you want to start there, we can." Yurika wouldn't argue, she was hoping they'd have a koi pond so she could feed the fish.
Romeo	"I do and we shall," he said, definitively. He squeezed her hand slightly as they started down the path. On the walk he asked, almost casually though this was something he'd been worrying over for a bit, "Did you sleep well last night?"
Dōjima	Dammit. "As well as could be expected," she said smoothly, looking out over the scenery. "It's always hard for me to sleep in a new city. I want to be out, doing things and seeing people." He probably wasn't going to let her get away with that, but it was worth a try.
Romeo	It was lovely scenery. "It seems as though you've wanted to be out doing things and seeing people in Fandom, too, this last while."
Dōjima	"Well, I've got to get out and get in all the tanning I can before the sun fades away for the next six months," she joked. "Although it's a bit cold at Fandom for my swimsuit. We'll have to take advantage of the beach while we're here."
Romeo	"That should be how we spend the afternoon," Romeo agreed, momentarily distracted by happier thoughts. Mmm, Yurika in a swimsuit.
Dōjima	She rewarded him with a bright smile and a squeeze of his hand. "I think we can manage that," Yurika answered. "Maybe some nice tropical drinks to match the weather."
Romeo	"I, thou, daiquiris and the beach?" Romeo asked. "I think this is my best birthday ever." He might have let it go at that if things hadn't been nagging. "I meant, Yurika ... you've not been getting much rest, have you?"
Dōjima	There was a quip on the edge of her lips about trying to sleep when in bed with a Montague boy, but it died quietly when she glanced over at him. "No," she said simply, giving him a tired smile. "My head is too busy."
Romeo	He returned her look with one that was almost shy. "I thought it might be," he said. "I would listen, if you want to talk. We ..." This was hard to explain. "We talk, but sometimes not on the things that matter."
Dōjima	Yurika sighed and ran a hand through her hair, sensing he was not going to be willing to let this one lie. "It's just bad dreams," she answered, looking away from him. "It's fine, Romeo, they don't matter." They didn't. They weren't important, and everything was fine.
Romeo	"Dreams always matter, even when we say they don't," Romeo told her. "You wake up crying. I can hear."
Dōjima	Yurika faltered for a moment, startled, before resuming their walk. "I didn't mean to wake you. Sorry."
Romeo	Romeo's heart cracked the tiniest bit. "Don't worry about my sleep," he said gently. "Worry about yourself. Will you be all right?"
Dōjima	That was not a chin-wibble, darn it. She was fine. "Yeah," she answered. "They're just bad dreams, that's all. They'll go away eventually, right?"
Romeo	Oh, Yurika. The crack in Romeo's heart widened. "Eventually," he agreed. "It might be months, but someday. They'll have to." He squeezed her hand and stepped closer, almost leaning against her. "What happens in them? Mine were always Tybalt, falling."
Dōjima	The idea of saying it out loud made her want to throw up. "She is in my head, again, and this time I can't stop her." Yurika was almost proud of herself for how calm and even it came out, her voice staying steady as she spoke. "It varies, from there, but that part is always the same."
Romeo	Romeo stopped walking, there, and just stood near the hedges, an uncertain look on his face. "You never told me anyone was in your head. What ...?"
Dōjima	"At the warehouse." Yurika would rather keep walking, then at least she'd have an excuse to move about and not look at him. She fidgeted slightly, eyes flickering over the landscape. "Julia Amano thought it would be great fun to add another friend to her collection."
Romeo	Romeo bit his lip; he'd had no idea. "I heard you scream, but I thought -- " he didn't know what he had thought. He'd thought the warehouse was frightening and confusing and, at some level, he was glad to hear her voice at all because even a scream meant she was alive. "Did she make you do anything?"
Dōjima	"I screamed?" She'd been aware of that, dimly, through the pain, but it had gotten pushed to the back of her mind in the aftermath of everything. "Not surprised. It felt like someone was pouring acid and broken glass into my brain." "She tried," she replied. "Miss Amano had some detailed ideas of what she was going to make me do. I disagreed."
Romeo	"And so you shot her." Romeo half-wished she hadn't, as it denied him the pleasure. "But yes. You screamed. Just once, but ..." he shuddered. "It sounds horrible. No wonder you dream of it still."
Dōjima	"I shot her," Yurika replied. "I would do it again, too. That's not what I dream about. I dream about not being able to shoot her." That was what frightened Yurika the most; all the possibilities where she failed, and Julia had won.
Romeo	They were different, Romeo had to remember that. "So it's not the guilt that is the nightmare," he said carefully. "It's what would have happened if you had not been able to act."
Dōjima	"Hai." Yurika shuffled uncomfortably and shrugged. "I don't feel bad about killing her. She wasn't going to stop, so I did what I needed to." "But when I go to sleep, I see everything that might have happened if she'd managed to take control before I shot her," she continued, closing her eyes. "And she made sure that I knew what she was going to do. She just hadn't picked which one of you she was going to kill first." "She liked having options."
Romeo	Romeo jammed his hands into his pockets and took a step forward, hunching against the wind. He needed to keep moving so he wouldn't cry. "You did the only thing you could have done," he said, reassuring himself as much as her. "I'm going with you, when you leave," he announced again, knowing she would argue. "You need someone to wake up next to when you have dreams like this. He might" --and there was a dry smile at the absurdity of referring to himself in the third person, here -- "even learn to ask what has gone wrong before a month has passed."
Dōjima	Of course she was going to argue. "I'll have my cat," she said loftily, trying to make a joke out of it as they walked. "Alea takes up more than enough space in the bed, and she doesn't snore."
Romeo	"I don't snore!" Romeo protested. Because, really, that needed to be settled right then.
Dōjima	"Are you sure? If I'm the one awake, and you're asleep, how would you know?" Yurika was fine with trying to argue this instead. It meant she could ignore the other thing he had said, and try to spin him around until he had forgotten the whole thing. "I say you snore."
Romeo	Romeo pouted. "And I say I don't, because if I do you -- or someone -- would have mentioned it before now." He hadn't forgotten the other thing. It was just under other things in his mind.
Dōjima	"Maybe I didn't want to hurt your feelings!" Yurika teased, reaching over to poke at his ribs. "You might have stolen the pillow to try and get back at me!"
Romeo	He stuck his tongue out at her. "I would not have! I would have started wearing one of those anti-snoring nose devices. I'm very considerate about such things."
NAME	"It would be harder for me to kiss you awake with one of those nose-clip things on," she pointed out, sticking out her own tongue at him. "I'd start giggling."
Romeo	"I can think of worse alarms then the sound of your laughter," he said, leaning to kiss her.
Dōjima	Like the sound of her crying, apparently. Still, Yurika wound her arms around him, pulling him closer as they kissed. Lips were much better than words right now.
Romeo	Kissing her was always perfect, and Romeo enjoyed it fully until he pulled away. "I'm still coming to Japan." He had to spoil it like that.
Dōjima	Yurika made a very un-ladylike snort of amusement and shook her head before she started walking again. "No, you aren't."
Romeo	He stepped quickly to catch up to her and take her hand. "Ikitai," he claimed, quietly but firmly. "I am. And I have six months to convince you of that." A portion of that six months would be spent having the discussion here in the garden, with occasional breaks for kissing and feeding the koi, as we... [FTB]