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[babyviper]

She couldn't remember the last time she'd allowed herself to sleep in the presence of another living, breathing person. It had been hard to fall asleep, imagining she could hear a pulse in the room that wasn't her own. That there was an open patch in her new home's room helped; she could see the stars

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[neededproof]

Even knowing O-Ren could protect herself - hell, the big sword alone would keep her safe -, Ryan couldn't help wanting to make sure she was safe. He'd spent the night with girls before, but the situation had been a far cry from this one. Even with Theresa, as platonic as they'd become in the last few months, there'd been a history of something else. Here, now, it was nothing but the urge to make sure O-Ren was okay, or as okay as she could be.

There wasn't much he could do about that, though, even staying the night. Startled awake by her screams, he sat up where he'd been sleeping on the floor and pushed to his feet, not fully awake, but instinctively looking for an intruder and seeing no one. "O-Ren," he called, moving to her side. "What happened? O-Ren?"

[babyviper]

She couldn't see him at first, only blood and fire, so by the time O-Ren really woke up, she had the katana at his throat and a shrill killing cry in her own. Her eyes flickered, the murderous light dying.

With more trembling than she wanted to admit, O-Ren climbed off of him and sank to the floor.

"Sumimasen," she gasped. "Sorry."

[neededproof]

She'd moved so quickly. Ryan hadn't expected that, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it even if he had. Still stunned by what had just happened, he took a few moments to sit in silence and catch his breath. Something had shaken her up badly. "It's..." He raised a hand to his throat, feeling gingerly along where the blade had been. "Are you alright? What happened?"

[babyviper]

"I was dreaming," she said quietly. Dreams were something she took every measure against, sleeping lightly, only indulging in deep sleep when she had access to a safe, locked place and a pill to keep the REM away.

"I'm sorry," O-Ren repeated, and lifted a hand, the sword clattering to the floor.

[neededproof]

"I'm fine," he said, shaking his head. He was jumpier than he would have liked to admit, but that was sort of how things went when you'd just had a sword up against your throat, apparently. It wasn't an experience he was looking to repeat, but for now, it was more important to deal with her.

Careful not to spook her, though she seemed more awake now, he moved in to put an arm lightly around her shoulder, as if she were Summer. Sometimes it just helped to have someone else around. "What kind of dream?"

[babyviper]

"From before I came here." O-Ren was tense under his arm, her whole body taut like the string of an arrow. "I was back in Osaka again, and I--"

Her cheeks flooded with color. Only the strongest warrior can be vulnerable, said the old woman teacher in her memory.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to be mad."

[neededproof]

"I promise." Ryan couldn't imagine a reason he'd be angry over a dream, and if it calmed her, if it helped, he was ready to give his word. Maybe talking about it would make it better.

[babyviper]

"I had just killed the man who murdered my parents," O-Ren said, her voice small and quiet in the dark. "I trained for two years, and then I took him out of the picture. Like I swore."

[neededproof]

"You what?" Ryan stared over at her, not mad, like he'd promised, only stunned. She'd had a tough life, he'd gathered that much, and she obviously knew how to use that sword, but he'd never imagined her killing anyone. The guy had killed her parents, though. That had deserved some kind of justice. "Two years is a long time to wait for revenge."

[babyviper]

"I was eleven years old and I didn't know how to handle a weapon," O-Ren said. "I was being practical. Unless you believe in ghosts, a dead person can't get revenge on behalf of her family."

She watched him now, intently.

[neededproof]

"So, what, you spent two years training to take the guy out?" Ryan shook his head. It was a lot to take in, but he couldn't entirely fault her. If anyone had done that to his mom, he knew he would have tried the same, probably with less success. If he was angry now, it was because she'd had to deal with that at all. "Who was he?"

[babyviper]

"Matsumoto," she said, and despite her desperate wishing to stay calm, she couldn't help spitting the name out like the vile tasting word it was. "He ran the yakuza faction in Kanagawa Prefecture. He was a crook and a pedophile, and a terrible leader besides."

[neededproof]

"And you killed him," he said. If anything, he sounded curious now. He wasn't sure he had it in him to do that, but she had. "So... what was the dream then? Didn't sound so good."

[babyviper]

"I was dreaming that I was still there. Getting in to kill a yakuza boss isn't easy," she said. "And when I dream it gets mixed up with the night my parents died."

Perhaps resultantly, O-Ren hated normal beds.

[neededproof]

"You were there when it happened?" He almost felt like he was dreaming himself. The whole thing sounded like one of Seth's movies or some equally unreal and terrible.

[babyviper]

"They hid me under the bed," O-Ren answered, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I waited until it was all over, and I left the house so I didn't burn to death."

Why she'd found her life worth saving in that moment had always been a mystery to her.