[English][DC-Batman] Nana - Chapter 12. The Dream

"Nana. Nana."

A familiar voice slipped through the seams of dream and waking—

a thread of light weaving into the haze.

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Her eyes flew open.

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Amber pupils glazed with tears,

the world a fogged pane of glass.

She couldn’t make out the face before her,

but in that voice, she heard her name.

Her anchor.

Her way home.

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It felt like surfacing from the bottom of the sea.

She couldn’t even take a full breath—

her chest heaved, still shackled by the nightmare's lingering grip.

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"What happened?"

The voice, gentle as a feather, brushed her ear.

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A hand touched her cheek—

cold from the night air, wrapped in a soft cloth.

It wiped away her tears, one by one, with such care,

as if afraid to disturb a dream too fragile to touch.

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Her eyes remained clouded, searching,

until—

after a second, then two, then three—

they finally recognized the face she’d longed to see.

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Without thinking, she reached forward and pulled him into an embrace,

burying herself against the warmth of his chest

like only here could her heartbeat return to life.

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Jason staggered half a step from the sudden force,

but he didn’t pull away.

He steadied himself and held her close,

one hand against her trembling back,

gently patting in rhythm—

like a heartbeat,

like a secret spell to calm her soul.

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Nana didn’t know how long they stayed like that.

She didn’t know how long she cried into Jason’s shirt.

By the time she could think again, her body was soaked through.

Hair clung to her skin in damp strands,

and her heart still raced out of sync.

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But something—

something was guiding her back.

A pulse, familiar and steady.

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Jason’s heartbeat.

Close to her.

As if whispering her name in each beat.

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She slowly looked up.

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Moonlight washed over them.

Jason’s blue eyes mirrored the stillness of a lake beneath the night sky.

No ripples.

But deep—

deep enough to drown in.

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He looked only at her.

Focused.

Unwavering.

As if she was the only person in the world.

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In his eyes, there was no panic,

no blame.

Only silent understanding,

and a fierce, quiet promise.

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His gaze said:

"I’m here. Are you okay?"

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He was Jason Todd.

Her nightwatch.

The one who came running without needing to be called.

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He was her anchor—

the one who helped her find the shore, no matter how long she drifted.

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To Gotham, Jason was a soldier.

A flicker of light in the dark.

A Robin who ran into bullets and never looked back.

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But to Nana…

He was her harbor.

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Her place to rest without armor.

Her one, unshakable truth.

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Even if one day he left this house,

took a different path—

she’d follow, without a second thought.

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Because he had already become a part of her existence that couldn’t be replaced.

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He was her breath.

Her heartbeat.

Her silent vow.

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Even death itself had no right to take him.

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She looked into his face—

the lights, the shadows, the sweat and moonlight whispering against his skin.

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She didn’t speak.

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She just leaned in, slowly,

and pressed her lips to his—

a quiet, deep promise wrapped in a kiss.

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And in that moment, the world held its breath.

Since That Night, Nana Had Been… Different.

Jason leaned against the wall,

watching the slim figure below move through the hall.

He quietly turned off his comm.

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Batman’s nightly debrief was over,

but Jason’s mind lingered—

stuck on a mystery harder than any mission.

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Nana.

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She had become unusually… clingy.

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Not childish.

Not mischievous.

Something else.

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Something like she was clinging to something already slipping away.

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At Wayne Manor, or whenever he suited up,

she was always there.

Her eyes followed him with a constant intensity—

as if one blink, and he’d vanish forever.

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He remembered how she used to doze off after midnight,

head lolling on the bench until he came back,

lifting her gently, tucking her in, pulling the blanket over her shoulders.

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Now—

she stayed awake all night.

Eyes locked to the monitors.

Sometimes he wondered if she even breathed.

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Something’s off,

he thought, eyes lifting toward the roofline, into the night sky.

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As Batman’s trainee,

Jason didn’t claim genius,

but he knew how to spot signs.

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And right now, he had one lead—

a dream Nana refused to speak of.

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A nightmare.

Possibly about him.

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What kind of dream…

could shake someone like her?

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Someone brave, stubborn,

who once argued with Alfred without flinching,

now too quiet, too watchful.

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It wasn’t just him.

Others had noticed.

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Even Dick, calling in from out of town:

"Is she okay?"

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And Nana just smiled.

"I’m fine."

That smile—

crumpled like folded paper.

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If this kept up,

Bruce would find out.

And once he decided to investigate—

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It wouldn’t end quietly.

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Jason lowered his gaze, brow furrowed.

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He wasn’t worried about patrols,

or street fights escalating.

He was worried about her.

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This girl who once said,

"I don’t need your protection,"

but always stood one step behind him.

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Her silence now unsettled him more than any scream.

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🔹 Half a Year Later, Things Got Better.

Bit by bit,

Nana’s tight grip loosened.

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The dream,

the haunting images,

the strange sense of fate—

they began to fade with time.

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She stood by the window,

breeze in her hair,

and whispered to herself:

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“Maybe it really was just a dream.”

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Votes.

Decisions.

Death’s name on a list—

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Maybe it was just her fear taking shape,

made real by exhaustion and dread.

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Every night when Jason returned,

his arms wrapped around her like a shield.

Warm, heavy, grounding.

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Each time they climbed the stairs to the second floor,

stood outside her door,

those goodbyes never felt like enough.

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So he’d lean in.

Kiss her—

long, steady,

sealing everything he couldn’t say into that single moment.

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That was her painkiller.

Her heartbeat’s metronome.

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She knew she’d nearly set off every silent alarm in the Batcave.

Even Alfred looked at her more than once.

And Bruce—

the man whose silence could silence a room—

had been watching her too closely, too long.

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But she made it through.

At least, for now.

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"It’ll be okay," she told herself.

She told Jason.

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Every time they stood at her door,

she looked up—

let her amber eyes melt into his.

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Soft,

like honey in candlelight.

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“May Jason Todd be safe and happy, every single day.”

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Her voice was barely audible.

A prayer.

A whisper into the universe.

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“May all sorrow fade,

and all stars light your path—

never lost again.”

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And then she would rise on her toes,

press a kiss to his forehead,

close the door,

and rest her heart just outside the edge of her dreams.

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Chapter 12. The Dream

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