[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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxnsPc37CD

Her eyes flew open.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjoN3tfrPQ

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT14Z97NHjh

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7XpSwP4VF

"What happened?"

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjGocFZGGw

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsiuNvs6iz

Her eyes remained clouded, searching,

until—

after a second, then two, then three—

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUPFzXNamY

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1mn8pDajk

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVRw2mr1Az

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pwAqhalUJ

But something—

something was guiding her back.

A pulse, familiar and steady.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuoodWLcGe

Jason’s heartbeat.

Close to her.

As if whispering her name in each beat.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91oxTgLWIN

She slowly looked up.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERdhFSGAhL

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJbqiZHvMy

He looked only at her.

Focused.

Unwavering.

As if she was the only person in the world.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxAPLfbZ7b

In his eyes, there was no panic,

no blame.

Only silent understanding,

and a fierce, quiet promise.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3tBoDGGpq

His gaze said:

"I’m here. Are you okay?"

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJ6HngJsq8

He was Jason Todd.

Her nightwatch.

The one who came running without needing to be called.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJH0a30urU

He was her anchor—

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y7Ssbfp6k

To Gotham, Jason was a soldier.

A flicker of light in the dark.

A Robin who ran into bullets and never looked back.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaWj87aU2E

But to Nana…

He was her harbor.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qtXkuas3m

Her place to rest without armor.

Her one, unshakable truth.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXz1yWheWJ

Even if one day he left this house,

took a different path—

she’d follow, without a second thought.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiO3a3SdTae

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikWkI74tmK

He was her breath.

Her heartbeat.

Her silent vow.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13yXug6mh6

Even death itself had no right to take him.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgbArYsrnQ

She looked into his face—

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekvvLTbya1

She didn’t speak.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1xso7D2M5

She just leaned in, slowly,

and pressed her lips to his—

a quiet, deep promise wrapped in a kiss.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoP9BwHKB7

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBqmEaVqhb

Batman’s nightly debrief was over,

but Jason’s mind lingered—

stuck on a mystery harder than any mission.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVYhbMKdMI

Nana.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnulPYXeUr

She had become unusually… clingy.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsl0QwK67oL

Not childish.

Not mischievous.

Something else.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxZe2ZApKy

Something like she was clinging to something already slipping away.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSFYcxI58m

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKs45wkyQU

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJF0qNNiAMH

Now—

she stayed awake all night.

Eyes locked to the monitors.

Sometimes he wondered if she even breathed.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7TWOoz7on

Something’s off,

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04QUGVaVc6

As Batman’s trainee,

Jason didn’t claim genius,

but he knew how to spot signs.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuqa8quqhI

And right now, he had one lead—

a dream Nana refused to speak of.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOzhie2blU

A nightmare.

Possibly about him.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJTswHOCZw

What kind of dream…

could shake someone like her?

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nymqwhg7D

Someone brave, stubborn,

who once argued with Alfred without flinching,

now too quiet, too watchful.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgF2qHHtpFV

It wasn’t just him.

Others had noticed.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkrqpU2fva

Even Dick, calling in from out of town:

"Is she okay?"

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAeu5l32YC

And Nana just smiled.

"I’m fine."

That smile—

crumpled like folded paper.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKPj2EpVdN

If this kept up,

Bruce would find out.

And once he decided to investigate—

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrg3py7iBAw

It wouldn’t end quietly.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDbKnhVdLc

Jason lowered his gaze, brow furrowed.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmp3VCJCWk

He wasn’t worried about patrols,

or street fights escalating.

He was worried about her.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X3Yfi8jIU

This girl who once said,

"I don’t need your protection,"

but always stood one step behind him.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06cjRuvMJG

Her silence now unsettled him more than any scream.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWjJkyXFt3

🔹 Half a Year Later, Things Got Better.

Bit by bit,

Nana’s tight grip loosened.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKuFL6LPVe

The dream,

the haunting images,

the strange sense of fate—

they began to fade with time.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rK7exc8RO

She stood by the window,

breeze in her hair,

and whispered to herself:

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIxHZhDz3i

“Maybe it really was just a dream.”

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrb4IjcDDDg

Votes.

Decisions.

Death’s name on a list—

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6a7N11naT

Maybe it was just her fear taking shape,

made real by exhaustion and dread.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrPitnEss1

Every night when Jason returned,

his arms wrapped around her like a shield.

Warm, heavy, grounding.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBpaZoPpOS

Each time they climbed the stairs to the second floor,

stood outside her door,

those goodbyes never felt like enough.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBTIMeIZqq

So he’d lean in.

Kiss her—

long, steady,

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HsWB5qy77

That was her painkiller.

Her heartbeat’s metronome.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCnNSB5Bcp

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANTvqBW9ea

But she made it through.

At least, for now.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLrIIPFILb

"It’ll be okay," she told herself.

She told Jason.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJrQYlA9X6

Every time they stood at her door,

she looked up—

let her amber eyes melt into his.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycASqhCTex

Soft,

like honey in candlelight.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1M7oX5yQVn

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

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsoPHpdj7O

Her voice was barely audible.

A prayer.

A whisper into the universe.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS61ewBiPJC

“May all sorrow fade,

and all stars light your path—

never lost again.”

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbFjJfDXbj

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.

11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNi87zLImVQ

ns216.73.216.247da2

Chapter 12. The Dream

REGISTER

LOGIN

Interface Language:

Story Language: