She Woke Up

"Val?" William rolled out of bed, didn’t bother to put on his shoes, and rushed out barefoot in his pajamas. With his mind in disarray, having just extricated himself from a nightmare, his limbs were exceptionally weak, leading to a staggering pace. Did Grey come tonight? Did the nightmare come true? Did Grey take her away? The fear and despair he had in the dream when he lost her carry over into reality, taking on substance, threatening to kill him. With a pale face, he went out as fast as he could. He noticed the talisman paper on the door frame had fallen to the ground, it wasn’t blown off by the wind nor did it fall off on its own. The talisman paper was crumpled into a ball, clearly it was torn down by someone. William, who couldn't think calmly at the moment, didn't have time to speculate. His mind was empty one moment and in chaos the next. He rushed out of his room, desperately looking for people, searching for Valentina, asking the servants in the villa if they had seen her. Val. The villa was always quiet throughout the year, even his footsteps appeared noisy. The talisman papers in the corridor were all torn down and randomly thrown on the ground. Was it her? Did she wake up? His pace quickened. He couldn't find her and even started to vent his anger on the villa. He thought to himself, why was the house built so big that it even took so long to go downstairs and find her? Just as William was about to lose his composure, he saw a slender figure slowly coming up the stairs. Indeed, she was the person he was frenziedly searching for. As his eyes touched upon her, William froze on the spot. They encountered each other in the corridor. Looking at her, William felt so nervous that he could hardly breathe, his limbs stiff and numb. He wanted to approach her, but didn't quite dare. Was she still the same person? He asked himself. The distance was somewhat far. She was looking at him, but he couldn't quite make out her expression. However, he could clearly feel that familiar aura. That ill-timed nightmare caused him to lose courage when he saw her upon waking. Her serenity and silence made him feel uneasy. His heart was pounding so hard that William felt like he couldn't bear it. Finally... "I'm awake." Valentina greeted him. Her hands were in her pockets, and her tone was astonishingly relaxed, as if she had merely gone to bed from fatigue yesterday and woke up normally today. That familiar tone almost made William lose control of his tears, his tightly wound heart released in an instant, and he finally dared to breathe. It was her! The nightmare did not become reality. Her soul was still intact in this body, she woke up, and she still existed as she should. At this moment, there was no hesitation in William's steps. He strode forward, heading straight towards her. She lifted her foot and stepped forward to meet him. Reaching her, William pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly within his arms with an unprecedented sense of reality. At this moment, no words were necessary. William couldn't voice any, only continuously tightening his grip on her, feeling her presence. "You're finally awake." His voice trembled with emotion. "Mm." came her simple response. The moment he walked towards her, her hands came out of her pockets. The instant he embraced her, she also wrapped her arms around him. Hearing her voice again, every bit of William's unease, panic, fear disappeared without a trace, being replaced by overwhelming joy and excitement that threatened to cloud his mind. He had been watching her every day, but he was awake and she was asleep. For William, their reunion now felt no different than their first. His entire being was immersed in the joy of this reunion. His embrace became increasingly tight, his strength so formidable as if he intended to meld her into his very being. Because of their height difference, Valentina's face was buried in his shoulder, making her unable to breath, feeling as if her bones might break. "You're hurting me," she had to say. Her voice muffled into his shoulder. Overwhelmed with emotion, William reluctantly loosened his embrace around her waist a bit. Thus the two stayed hugging for a long time in the corridor. Unbeknownst to them, his grip around her tightened once more, half of his weight pressing down onto her. Valentina could feel her waist bending under his weight but didn't bother to complain. He finally calmed a bit, but his heartbeats refused to slow. "Where have you been?" He rubbed his head against hers. "Just moving around, lying for too long, need some action." "Why didn't you wake me?" "You were sleeping so deep, so I didn't want to disturb you." "You should have woken me." His tone was heavy. He wanted to see her the moment he woke up, he had horrible nightmares, and he kept having them. "Why didn't you call me?" "I thought you... You scared me." His lingering fear remained. Not blaming her, William further said, "It's my fault for sleeping so heavily, I didn't even notice when you woke up." Damn it, he shouldn't have slept. Valentina didn't respond. After a while, he heard her murmur, "I just went outside, it's so cold out there." William asked, "You got chilled, right?" He held her tighter in his arms, trying to convey his warmth to her. But he heard her continue, "You’re warm." William laughed, taking that as a sweet remark. He excitedly lifted her off the ground, raising her to his height before leaning in to kiss her. But Valentina covered her mouth. She raised an eyebrow slightly, "Brush your teeth first?" He hadn't even put on his shoes, let alone brushing his teeth. William pulled her hand away and forcefully kissed her. All the helplessness, fear, and panic of these months melted into this kiss. There were no complaints, just his unending declaration of love. Valentina’s hands, holding on to his shoulders, slowly made their way around his neck due to the kiss. She obviously missed him and felt sorry for him. She always expressed her feelings in a straightforward manner, so she was responding to him. Her voice, her embrace, her response - any of these could soothe William's inner wounds. With one arm around her waist, he lifted her up, with a hand against the back of her head, deepening the kiss. After a long while, when both of them were gasping for breath did they finally part. Looking at her slightly flushed face, William couldn't resist kissing her lips forcefully again. Valentina was panting heavily, one hand brushing his haggard and thin face, and she half-jokingly said, "You seem to have aged." "I haven’t aged." Valentina gave a small smirking smile, "You really look a bit older." William stubbornly countered, "I really haven’t aged." "You said it yourself." "You heard all that?" "I could always hear." Valentina had just ascended the stairs, casually greeting him, leading William to assume she was deep in sleep. He was relieved, thinking she knew nothing and was just sleeping. But to his chagrin, she was conscious all along, able to hear everything around her. His heart ached beyond measure. Valentina said, "I always thought you talk a lot, but I didn't expect it to be to this extent." She joked. "The rest is fine, but summoning Taoist priests and monks for soul recall... those talisman papers, it's just silly." She complained. Her eyes twinkled with laughter, her outward joke clashing with her inward sentiments. So he had been troubled about himself for two months, thanks to Tim, or else this fool would have been desperate in his illness, learning about witchcraft and talismans, maybe even sacrificing himself. She had intended to keep the atmosphere light. Unexpectedly, William said to her, "Thank you for waking up." Valentina looked at the gratitude in his eyes and his concern for her. The hand caressing his face paused, her gaze solid. She looked deeply into him, feeling her heart stir. This was the first time such feelings were so crystal clear and strong. She should be the one thanking him.