Atia had been searching for her husband all day.
While the Dreaming went back to its previous state and Dreams and Nightmares started returning, they've been busy. But, as the months went by, it started calming down, but it didn't mean it was all over, just yet.
After searching the whole Dreaming, twice, she had enough. Closing her eyes, she tried to find him using their connection, once again. When she tried it before, she found it blocked on his part.
Usually, when that happened it could mean one of two things – he either wanted to be alone, or he had some problems and didn't want her to get involved. But seeing how the last few months went, it was more than likely the first option.
This time, the connection was open. And she knew exactly where he was.
Leaving Lucienne in charge, and Matthew as a way to communicate between the realms, Atia left for the waking world.
She found Dream sitting on a white bench in a park, bread in hand and glaring after a small child. Beside him, all-too-familiar dark-skinned woman sat, with a smile on her face, that only brightened as she saw Atia.
"Ah, there's my little sis," she announced, standing up to greet her.
"Hi," Atia replied, her smile just as bright.
The two hugged and exchanged a few warm words, before turning back to the brooding man, who watched them with soft eyes.
"Okay, now, what's the matter?" Death became serious.
"What do you mean?" Dream muttered quickly, looking away from them.
"I can tell something's wrong. I mean, look at you. Sittin' here, moping, pigeon-feeding."
"That, and you just disappeared without a word," Atia added. "Also you blocked our connection earlier."
"It's not like you," his sister frowned. "Like, not at all, especially blocking out Atia."
"No," Morpheus sighed. "Perhaps it isn't. I don't know what's wrong, but... You're right. Something is the matter."
Atia was glad he finally said it. Every time she asked, he would just brush her off and tell her everything was fine.
However, she knew it wasn't. Ever since they got back his tools and rebuild the Dreaming, he's been acting differently. She couldn't describe it, but something was off. He was quieter and more isolated himself more.
She ran out of ideas of how to approach him about it. Luckily, she didn't have to, anymore. Maybe all he needed was a chat with his sibling, who he was closest with.
The two women sat down on either side of him and waited for him to continue.
"When they captured me, I just had one thoughts. Vengeance. It wasn't as satisfying as I'd expected. Meanwhile, my kingdom had fallen apart. My tools long since stolen and scattered. And so we both embarked upon a journey to find them. Which we did. I'm now more powerful than I have been in eons. And yet..."
He didn't finish. Death and Atia exchanged a look, before the older Endless readjusted herself with a small smile.
"Here you are, feeding the pigeons," she mused.
"You see, until then, I'd had a true quest. A purpose beyond my function and then suddenly, it was over, and... I felt disappointed. Let down. Empty. Does that make sense?" he frowned and glanced between his sister and wife. "I was so sure that once I got everything back, I'd feel good. But in some ways I feel worse than when I started. I feel like... Nothing."
When he felt Atia's touch on his back, he leaned into it slightly. The Queen of the Dreaming had a sad frown on her face, as her hand slowly went up and down his back, before setting in his hair.
"There," Morpheus looked back towards his sister. "You asked."
"Why haven't you said anything?" Atia asked.
"I didn't want to burden you with it," he shrugged. "You had many things to take care of, ever since our realm has been rebuild."
"Yes, but it didn't mean you couldn't talk to me," she tugged on the ends on his hair slightly, making him lean back even further.
Then, Death put her hand on his knee. He glanced at her hand, before looking in his sister's eyes.
"You also could have called me, you know," she said.
"I didn't want to worry you," he shrugged again.
"Oh, I don't believe it," Death rolled her eyes, dropping her hand.
Then, she stood up.
"Let me tell you something, Dream," she snatched the bread from his hand. "And I'm only gonna say this once, so you better pay attention."
Atia smiled a little, leaning away from him. It was about time he got scolded by someone other than her. It was even better, as now, it was his older sister.
"You are utterly the stupidest, most self-centred, pathetic excuse for an anthropomorphic personification on this or any other plane."
The white-haired woman couldn't hold in her laughter at the offended look on her husband's face. He looked up on his older sister with a frown and looked like he wanted to protest, yet he didn't dare to interrupt her.
"Feeling sorry for yourself because your little game is over and you haven't got the balls to go out and find a new one," Death shook her head. "You're as bad as Desire. No, worse."
Atia's laughter slowly quieted down, but the smile only grew bigger, as Death threw the bread straight at Dream, who caught it before it could hit him in the face.
"Did it never occur to you that I would be worried about you?" the older Endless once again turned towards her brother.
"I didn't think -" Dream went to protest, but his sister cut him off.
"Exactly. You didn't think."
"Heads up!"
A ball flew towards them, fast. However, before anyone could blink Death reached out and caught it without even looking.
A dark-skinned man, Franklin, walked towards them, with impressed look in his eyes.
"Wow," he chuckled. "You're as good as your... friend there."
The Endless tossed him the ball and turned back towards her younger brooding brother.
"He's not my friend. He's my brother. And he's an idiot."
"I'm just feeding the birds," Dream brushed them off, going back to his previous activity.
Atia couldn't help, but laugh, as she bumped her arm against his. He sent her a look, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as their eyes met.
"Look, I can't stay here all day," Death told him. "I've got work to do. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay here and sulk."
Then, she turned towards her sister-in-law.
"You, on the other hand, don't have the luxury of making a choice. I'm taking you with me, so you don't catch onto his mood and join him in his sulking," the two females exchanged smiles. "Besides, we need to catch up on a few things."
Atia shook her head and stood up. Wrapping an arm around each other, they turned towards the Endless, who just rolled his eyes.
"I'll come with you, I suppose."
"Well, don't do me any favours," Death joked.
As they all turned to walk away, Franklin jogged towards them, his eyes set on Death.
"Sorry, before you go, um, could I maybe see you again?" he asked unsurely.
Atia glanced towards the Endless at her side, then towards the sulking one standing a bit to the side. She almost laughed when she looked at her husband. Dream had a small glare on his face, directed at the mortal.
"Sure, Franklin. You'll see me again," Death smiled at him gently.
"Seriously?" the man couldn't believe it.
"Soon."
"Okay, cool. Yeah, let me just get your number and..." as he turned around, the three shared a look and disappeared.
*****
Death led the three of them into a narrow alley. It was colourful and lively. The only downside of it, it was crowded. Both sides of the alley were filled with stalls full of various food flowers, displayed for people to buy.
"Look!" Death gasped, looking at the stall with fresh fruits. "Yum! Okay, three, please."
Atia smiled as the man reached for the delicious red apples.
"None for me, thank you," Dream spoke up.
The two frowned, as they looked towards him. His wife sent him unimpressed look, as she knew it's been a while since he last ate. She knew he didn't need it to survive, but he was still regaining his strength from all these years in capture.
"They're good for you," his sister said softly.
"I'm not hungry," he shrugged.
"You can just have it later."
The look he gave her told her he still didn't want it. Death's smile fell, as she turned back towards the man behind the stall.
"Just two-"
"We'll take three, thank you," Atia cut her off, letting go of her husband's arm.
She reached towards the small bag she took when she left the Dreaming to take out a few dollars.
The man took the fruits and quickly wiped them on his shirt, before handing them to the two beings.
"There you go," he said. "It's a gift."
"Aw," Death smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you."
Then, she turned towards her brother, who was still looking at his wife.
"So nice," she mused, as she bit into her fruit. "Mmm. That is delicious."
Atia grabbed the remaining two apples and flashing the man a thankful smile, she put one of them out for her husband.
"I said I'm not hungry," he shook his head.
"Then you can have it later," she countered. "But we already have it, so here."
She grabbed his wrist and put the fruit in his hand. He went to protest and give it back to her, but the look she gave him stopped him.
"I know you haven't eaten anything in the last few days," she crossed her arms over her chest.
"And I don't need to," he reminded her.
"Normally, no. But now? You might be 'more powerful than you have been in eons', but it doesn't mean you're completely fine after the last hundred years," she told him stubbornly, then once again pointed towards the apple. "So, you have two options now. You can either eat your own apple, or we can share this one and leave the other for later."
As the two argued, they didn't see the way Death smiled, watching the two. She was glad her little brother found someone like Atia. They were good for each other.
Grumbling to himself, Dream rolled his eyes and slowly nibbled on his apple.
"That's what I thought," Atia smiled at her small victory.
"You are good with them," Morpheus turned towards his sister after a moment.
"Apples?" Death asked, her mouth half-full.
"Humans."
"Mmm," she shrugged. "Have you seen any of the others since you've been back?"
He shook his head.
"Have you?"
Death took another bite out of her apple and frowned as she thought over the question.
"Yeah," it was Atia who answered. "We both did."
When Dream frowned, his sister's eyes opened wider as she remembered.
"We did have one family dinner when you were away," she said. "The twins were in high spirits. Mmm, Desire was, anyway."
Both being who were there rolled their eyes, as they remembered the way Desire acted almost the whole time.
"They did enjoy making verbal jabs at me the whole time," Atia mused, then as she noticed how her husband's gaze snapped towards her, she continued. "But it wasn't that bad. For the most part, Destiny and Death were able to stop them from making it... well, nastier than they wanted to."
Desire never liked her, but she had no idea why. While the rest of the Endless, even Despair, somewhat accepted her as a part of the family, Desire just couldn't seem to do so. Instead, they did everything in their power to make her miserable.
They did love to use the events that took place over two and a half millennium ago against her. How they knew so much about them, she had no idea. But the rest of them seemed to know just as much, even if they didn't use it as Desire did.
"With me gone, I have no doubt," Dream mused, but they both could see the hidden anger in his eyes.
"I don't know. I think Desire missed having their usual sparring partner across the dinner table," Death joked, wanting to brighten the mood that settled over them.
"Any word of the prodigal?"
Destruction, referred to as the prodigal, was the missing Endless, that abandoned his realm and duties somewhere in the yearly 1700's. No one knew where he went, but one day, he just disappeared, and no one had seen him since then.
"No. Still missing," Death sighed, then bumped her shoulder against her brother's. "You were both missed."
They walked for a moment in silence, Atia enjoining the feeling of sun warming her skin, Death waiting for her brother to speak, Dream just simply walking with them.
"'How are you, sis? How have you been keeping?'" Death spoke up, finally breaking the silence. "Aw. I'm well, Dream. Thanks for asking."
The Endless rolled his eyes, before turning towards her.
"How are you, my sister? How have you been keeping?" he repeated the questions she asked herself.
She smiled softly and grabbed onto his arm.
"I'm worried about my brother," she said, then held up her apple. "And I'm enjoying this apple."
Suddenly, they heard violin play in the distance, making both Death and Atia stop in their tracks. They glanced at each other with, small smiles on their faces.
"Can you hear it?" the older Endless turned towards her brother.
He too stopped and listened. As he did, he glanced towards the balcony above them. The doors were open, and the music seemed to come from there.
"I know this piece," he turned towards the two with a small hint of smile. "I haven't heard it in two-hundred years."
"Come on," Death gently tapped her brother on the shoulder, before looping her arm through Atia's and going towards the source of music.