She whirled around, hair flying in a wide arc and eyes huge, and then all but flung herself at him. In the aftermath of the nightmare, her bravado was gone, swarmed under by fear. She curled against his chest, trembling. “You /will/ protect me, won’t you?”
This sudden contact surprised him, and he almost stumbled backwards. He raised an eyebrow, but remained with his hands hung at his sides. “Of course I will,” he answered, confused by the question. He had said so after all. “Why, do you think I wouldn’t?”
“I dreamed it. I dreamed it again,” she whispered. “All alone, in the dark — you don’t want me to go with you, but if I don’t face it … “