Notes: I'm back with another short addition to this series! Don't worry, I didn't abandon these children, I've just been busy!

Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora are all about 11-12, Dunban and Mumkhar are around 23-24, and Dickson is about 37-38

Xenochildren: Life Lessons

Reyn and Shulk were having fun chasing each other around Ether Light while Fiora did a little bit of vegetable shopping at one of the little stands run by a local Nopon. The taller blond playfully tackled his red-haired friend to the ground and both laughed as Sonia walked by. In one arm she was carrying a young baby as she guides her young daughter Liliana along with her other hand.

"Good morning Mrs. Sonia!" Reyn cheers happily, his smile bright and the amount of gaps in his teeth steadily disappearing.

Sonia smiles at the boys as Liliana waddles over to hug Shulk. "Good morning to you as well. I bet you missed seeing me around."

The boys nod before Shulk speaks. "Did you have a baby?" He asks, indicating the tiny Homs in the woman's arms.

"Yes I did." She leans down to show Shulk and Reyn as well as Fiora as she walks up. "His name is Rocco. He's Liliana's baby brother."

"I helped name baby brother! I a big sister now!"

Fiora smiles. "Now we both have brothers! But I'm the little sister."

Sonia stands up again and takes her daughter's hand again. She bids the trio farewell claiming she needs to feed both of them as well as her husband. The three children wave goodbye before looking amongst each other in sudden confusion.

"Where do babies come from?" All three ask simultaneously.

Reyn places a finger to his lips as he stares at the sky. "Mummy said we hatch from Ether crystals. She said I was either an Earth or Fire, I forgot which. I think it was Fire because Daddy said it was what gave me red hair."

"Mr. Dickson said I was made out of a pile of snow! He said that's why I have light skin and eyes." Shulk protests.

Fiora watch as the two boys start bickering about that. She sighs loudly. "Can't we just ask Dunban? He's an adult like Mrs. Sonia! He would know."

Her two friends stop arguing and stares back at her in light confusion. "He hasn't told you yet?"

She shakes her head as she turns to go back home, he friends close behind her. It's not like they had anywhere else to go this morning, it's the weekend and they don't have school. Thankfully the walk wasn't a very long one and Dunban was home for once. He's been spending a lot of time at the Military District lately practicing with the Monado to get used to it. Dickson probably urged him to take a day off so he can spend time with his sister.

The trio of children walk in to see Dunban finishing up cutting the carrots for his sister so she can make lunch. Meanwhile Mumkhar and Dickson are passing the time with a card game, the younger of the two having to be yelled at when he swears for losing the hand.

Turning around to point the knife at his friend Dunban lightly chastises him. "You know I don't like when you swear in my house Mumkhar, because Fiora can walk in at any minute." He stops when he sees his sister and her friends standing at the door. "Fiora! Good timing as usual I see."

She nods as she walks over to set the groceries on the counter while Shulk and Reyn crawl onto the open chairs at the table to watch the older men play their game. There's a little bit of awkward silence while Shulk stares at the cards on the table before Reyn speaks up quite loudly.

"Dunban, where do babies come from!?" He shouts as he stands in his chair.

The kitchen knife can be heard clanging to the floor as Fiora's older brother turns around swiftly. A dark blush is coating his cheeks as he sucks a nick on his finger from the knife he just dropped. He watches as everyone else turns their attention to him as he's stuck in this awkward position.

"W-well… I… uh…" He mumbles out awkwardly.

Mumkhar snickers as he turns and runs a hand through his medium length hair. "I can explain. You see, when a guy like Dun-."

Before too much comes from the man's mouth the youngest of the adults clamps a hand over his mouth and lightly presses the tip of the knife into his neck.

A light smile crosses Dunban's face as he turns to his sister. "Sis, why don't you and your friends go ask your teacher to explain that? She'll be able to explain better than your big bro or this monkey I call a friend."

As he said that everyone can tell he's only saying this because he can't explain it himself and doesn't need Mumkhar's vulgar mouth saying more than necessary. Of course Dickson was around, but he wasn't much better. If anything he'll explain it to Shulk either way when they get back to the lab.

Shulk lightly bites his lip as he slides off the chair to follow Fiora out. The two wait for Dickson to motion Reyn out as well before they take off to see their teacher. Or Francoisé, whichever they find first on the way.

After the door closes Dunban lets go of the grip he had on his friend to put the knife on the counter so he could clean it later. He sighs loudly before taking a seat at the table after about a minute to make sure the children weren't returning.

A nervous laugh. "I'm going to regret asking this of you two."

Dickson lays down his cards in victory before speaking. "Depends on what you're asking."

Mumkhar snickers as he shuffles the deck.

Another nervous laugh. "Can you explain to me where babies come from?"

End notes:

1. In case you couldn't tell, this is supposed to be actually really funny. Dunban has a habit of knowing a lot of things, so the trio just suspected they could ask him since he's much older than them. And that backfires.
2. Mumkhar and Dickson probably won't show up in any more of these for a little while since they're not really part of the main Colony 9 crew. For the most part they're just filler characters.

3. If you guys can, go ahead and give me more ideas for these to think about for later.