I have way too many unfinished fics sitting on my harddrive, but then this little idea popped randomly into my head and I couldn't help but write it.

And I suppose it falls under hte spring-fic-a-thon I forgot all about. Bad habits, perhaps?

I purposely left out time-frame details for this.

Enjoy some fluff!

Rydia was awoken by tiny hands shaking her in an almost rhythmic pattern.

She stifled a groan, knowing exactly who it was, and groggily opened her eyes to stare at the little girl.

"Cuore," she muttered, voice hazy with sleep, "What is it?"

The little girl hesitated, features vague in the moonlight though Rydia could detect glittering tears on her cheeks.

She lifted her head from the pillow and frowned, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Cuore nodded, hands fiddling with the fabric of her nightgown.

Rydia sighed, briefly closing her eyes before opening them again to study the poor little creature before her.

It wasn't like this was the first time Cuore had woken her up in the middle of the night, terrified and confused and desperately denying that she was.

But, Rydia would be lying if she said she wasn't fed up with these late night interruptions. Cuore had been in their world for quite some time now, and the nightmares had disappeared and then returned suddenly, only to disappear again.

Apparently they were back once again.

It hadn't been that long ago that Edge and Rydia had discussed not allowing Cuore to sneak in with them at night, nightmares or not. They were agreed that somewhere along the lines Cuore would to learn to deal with it on her own, just like a normal child growing up.

Granted, Cuore's bad dreams were not normal, childish fears about the dark or the monster hiding under the bed. They were very real repressed memories of horrific things.

"Cuore," Rydia started, annoyed she had to be the 'bad' parent in this instance. "I know nightmares can be scary, but you know they can't hurt you."

Cuore didn't look convinced.

"I think you should try to…" she trailed off as her adoptive daughter bit her lip. A fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn't make any sound.

There was no way she could send her away and Rydia sighed in defeat, shifting over slightly and opening the blankets.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

Cuore nodded, eyes widening, and quickly climbed into bed, practically attaching herself to Rydia.

She sighed again, but nevertheless stroked away tears and kissed Cuore's forehead, knowing her sleep cycle had been damaged for the night. And here she had been looking forward to a decent night's sleep since she'd been able to go to bed at what she deemed a reasonable hour. Something that wasn't well past midnight.

That and she was worried Edge was going to be annoyed she'd caved in.

But, maybe he didn't have to find out. He was gone for a few days so maybe she could say nothing and he'd never know.

The only reason she hadn't gone with him to Baron this time was she was sick of talk about airships. Izayoi was with him, so she was confident trouble would be minimal.

Cuore sniffed and Rydia brushed an unruly strand of her off her face, wondering at the coloring.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly, already knowing the answer.

Cuore bit her lip again, "No."

It was always her answer. But Rydia didn't really blame her.

"Oh, my small lady, don't cry." she whispered, attempting a smile, "Go back to sleep."

Cuore shifted slightly, staring at her with wide, alert eyes as if to show her defiance of that idea.

So Rydia sighed softly once more and started to hum a song her mother had always sung when she had trouble sleeping.

There were words to the tune, but it was one of the many things Rydia had forgotten over the years of her mother. She wished she could remember them, but memories were fickle things.

Perhaps she'd ask someone in Mist next time she visited if they knew the words.

Despite Cuore's stubborn nature, her eyes began to flutter shut and Rydia laid back down, resting her head next to her daughter's. She continued to sing and stroke the girl's hair until it was clear she was asleep.

By then Rydia was drowsy again too and murmured, "Sleep well," before nodding off herself.

The next time she was woken up was when someone poked her shoulder repeatedly. She sleepily flailed an arm out in the general direction of the disturbance, groaning.

It had to be early, or, she hadn't gotten enough sleep.

Hopefully it wasn't Cuore trying to wake her up.

Her hand had connected with something and she heard a chuckle, though the poking didn't stop.

Rydia groaned again, "Edge, stop it,"

She knew it had to be him. No one else was this annoying.

"I missed you too. Hey, it's halfway through the morning, are you going to sleep the day away?" Edge asked.

Rydia finally opened her eyes to glare at him, sleep-clouded mind taking a moment to process everything at once.

"I had a late night," she complained before she could think better of it.

He frowned, "I can see that. And it's funny, because I recall a conversation about this…"

Cuore was still curled up next to her, cocooned in blankets and completely unaware of the world around her.

Rydia winced, "Are you mad?"

"No," he said, shrugging, "I'd never be mad when seeing my two most favorite ladies in the whole wide world."

Rydia rolled her eyes, but he was still talking.

"I'm just surprised you're spoiling her so much."

She stared at him, "Like you didn't bring her back a gift,"

"That's entirely beside the point," he countered hastily.

Any sleep that was still clinging to her had long since fallen away and she sat up, annoyed, "Which brings to mind a question of my own; you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow night,"

Edge feigned a wounded expression, "You didn't miss me?"

"I didn't miss having to fight for blankets in the middle of the night, no." Rydia teased, gesturing to the pile she had maintained all night for emphasis.

He frowned, "That's harsh. Besides, it could be argued that you steal them from me, first."

"You woke me up!" she retorted, "And stop evading the question, Edge. Why are you back? You didn't set anything on fire again, did you?"

He frowned off to one side, "You nearly start one fire and suddenly you're a pyromaniac…"

"Well?" Rydia prompted, pinning him with her patented 'look'.

Edge looked mildly annoyed and crossed his arms, "Like Izayoi would let me start a fire…"

"Which is why I sent her," Rydia commented, grinning at him.

He sighed, "I also didn't get an airship,"

"Poor you."

Their banter was interrupted by Cuore's quiet voice speaking up from the bundle of blankets on the bed. "Are you two fighting?"

They both glanced at her, seeing her wide, blue eyes staring at them with a sleepy expression.

"No," Rydia assured her, smiling slightly, "Not really fighting,"

"Rydia just didn't miss me, apparently," Edge complained.

Cuore grinned, "I missed you."

Rydia scowled at her and kicked her lightly under the covers, and Cuore giggled, squirming.

"Well at least someone did!" he said, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

Cuore was all smiles now, a stark contrast to how she was the night before. But this was always how it went. Come morning, the little girl was back to herself, no sign of haunting memories or visions, nothing but curiosity in its place.

Edge collapsed into a less then graceful heap on top of the bed and Rydia squeaked, annoyed he was laying on one of her legs, "Hey, watch it."

"I'm tired. You, scoot over." he retorted, making a half-hearted shooing motion with a hand.

Rydia frowned at him, he stared back at her and Cuore giggled at the standoff.

"I'm tired," Edge repeated with less attitude, "It's night time in Baron, you know. I crossed a time zone, I had to talk to Kain."

Rydia rolled her eyes, completely unsympathetic.

"I missed you, and I still don't have an airship." he continued, voice turning whinier as he went on.

"You did cross the terminator," Cuore said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Rydia gave her a puzzled look, "The what?"

"Terminator." the little girl repeated, "The line between night and day. It slides across your planet as it rotates."

"And I crossed the terminator!" Edge finished dramatically. "I want to go to sleep."

"It's daytime."

"So what?"

Rydia pursed her lips, ready to start scolding out of habit. But, she was tired too, and so was Cuore, and honestly she did want to go back to sleep.

So instead she sighed and shuffled over, trying not to look too pleased with this idea and instead act like it was a huge inconvenience. He didn't need to know she agreed with this idea whole heartedly.

"Happy now?" she asked once they were settled. She had purposely clutched a blanket to her chest, not in the mood to deal with fighting about it later.

"Yes." he said with a sense of finality.

Cuore climbed partway over Rydia and balanced on her knees to look imploringly at them, "Can I…stay with you?"

Rydia glanced at Edge, who sighed, eyes closed.

There was a pause and then he relented when Cuore's expression turned even more pitiful.

"Sure."

The little girl instantly smiled and wriggled back under the covers.

"I think we've had this conversation," Rydia teased.

"Rydia, shut up."

Notice how Edge still managed to avoid the question of why he was back early...

I think every set of parents has to cut their child off from trying to sleep in their room...I vaguely remember that from my childhood...

But, as the fic says, Cuore's isn't a simple "I can't sleep" it's a "I'm having a nightmare about burning my future love-interest's family to death. Can I stay with you?"

Anyway, this was a random idea and I'm working on a lot more fics to come!