AN: Originally written as a belated christmas gift for a friend.

Revised: 13/07/14

as·tra·pho·bi·a

noun; a fear of thunder and lightning

She was staring at him.

Had been so for the last half an hour, in fact.

Quill scratching against parchment, it was the only sound in the room besides the odd noise from her as she fidgeted upon the edge of the bed. Outside, a storm raged on, the weather having turned drastic over the past few hours, with wind and rain battering against the windows of the small house in a commendable attempt to rattle the framework. Occasionally, thunder could be heard, the quaking sound invoking fear within the eyes of the girl and a tremor throughout her body which went unseen by the writer. Over the course of her stay within the room, she had gradually moved closer and closer towards him until coming to sit on the very edge of the bed.

Her eyes continued to boar into him.

Sighing loudly, Fakir lifted his head, unaware of how the salmon haired girl from behind flinched at the first sound he'd made in so long. Turning away from his desk, piercing green eyes drilled into her own.

Ahiru blinked innocently beneath his gaze, seated with her hands in lap which clenched into the fabric of her clothing. With it being so late, she sat dressed in a modest nightgown, complete with frills and ribbon adorning the sleeves and collar line. Even so, that still left much bare flesh, her knees and legs naked to his scrutiny. If he looked hard enough, he could almost catch sight of the creamy skin of her thighs-

No!

Fakir shook his head furiously of such thoughts, mentally chastising himself for thinking in such a manner. This was Ahiru, goddamit.

"Fakir? Are you alright?"

At her innocent voice, the dark haired youth returned his gaze towards her, ensuring this time to keep his eyes solely upon her face. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" He opted to ignore her question.

Cerulean eyes dimmed at his response, head lowering as fingers begun to toy with a loose thread upon her gown absent-mindedly. "It's frightening in there. Alone." It wasn't that Ahiru was afraid of the dark – oh no! – but every time she tried to fall asleep, branches of a nearby tree would scratch against her window in the gale, casting rapid silhouettes against her wall. Not to mention that every sound of thunder sent her trembling and hiding her head beneath the pillow in fear.

The constant moaning of the wind went on and on, and eventually her mind started tricking her into believing she was hearing words and taunts. It had all become too much for the girl who had swiftly raced out of her room and barged into Fakir's further down the hall – he hadn't been too pleased at her bursting through the door so suddenly.

Fakir's eyes narrowed. "You're sixteen. You're not a little kid anymore, it's just a bit of thunder."

Ahiru lowered her head further at his cutting words, chewing her bottom lip in worry. She was sixteen now. She knew that. After years of living as a duck, the last ten months as a human girl – something which would be permanent this time – had been filled with amazement and awe. Ahiru couldn't ever thank Charon and Fakir enough for allowing her to take their spare room. After becoming human, Fakir had introduced her to Charon as his "long-time pen pal" who was visiting Germany as an exchange student and in need of a place to live – Ahiru tried her best to smile and not let it stab too deeply that everybody besides Fakir and Autor in Kinkan Town had forgotten her.

Being the kind man he was, Charon agreed without too much questioning – he trusted Fakir after all. And from there, Ahiru re-enrolled within the academy and returned to the ballet she loved so much. It had almost broken her heart when Pique and Lilie – now a few years above her since Ahiru remained in the same low class upon re-joining – didn't recognise her. But somehow, as if a part of them distantly remembered her, both girls had welcomed her into their friendship group with open arms.

Ahiru couldn't ask for anything more in her life. She was happy. And she couldn't ever show her gratitude to Fakir enough – he was the one who gave her such a life back after all.

However, even all the happiness in the world didn't mean she wasn't prone to becoming scared and upset. An action that would occur again without doubt if she returned to her room now by herself.

"I don't see why I can't sleep with you." Ahiru muttered, glancing aside with a pout. "When I was a duck, some nights when it was freezing you let me-"

"Yes, and that was when you were a duck." Fakir interrupted curtly. "Things change." She couldn't honestly expect him to let her sleep in bed with him as she was now, did she?

Oh, who was he kidding, this was Ahiru – of course she would find no problems with such a suggestion. He gritted his teeth together in frustration at the thought - her naivety would be his undoing one day. As if on queue, she lifted her head a moment later, wide innocent eyes capturing his own and bottom lip caught between her teeth causing him to tense. If it was anyone else, he would have accused them of doing it on purpose!– But, then again, Ahiru was the exception as always. She probably didn't even know the meaning of seduction.

And so it was, that taking a deep breath, Fakir used all his will power to tear his eyes away and back onto the unfinished papers laid out before him. "Go back to bed, moron."

Ahiru's pout deepened at his retort, shoulders slumping as she blew air out between her lips in frustration. She didn't want to go back. But, at the same time, Fakir clearly didn't want her here. Standing up, the young girl walked over towards the door, and with one last quick glance Fakir's way, left him to his own devices.

Fakir was dreaming.

It was a fond dream actually, within it he happened to be a young child again, playing happily with Mytho. Only, this wasn't the heartless Mytho he'd come to grow up with. This was Mytho as Prince Seigfried, his heart and personality intact. The two young boys smiled as they played hop skotch upon a road, the dark haired boy glancing toward Mytho with a wide smile.

"…kir."

Hm?

"F…kir."

He frowned in his sleep, what was that?

"Fakir!"

"!" Eyes snapping wide open as something touched his face, the figure above him hastily pulled away. It took Fakir a few deep breaths to calm down, before he eventually pushed himself up, one hand running through unkempt hair.

Sighing, he let his eyes slide over towards the other presence in the room. He'd recognise that voice anywhere. "What are you doing in here?" It had to be something like 1am in the morning by now.

"I- That is-" Stumbling over her words, only when noting the stern look he sent her way, did Ahiru begin speaking clearly. "That is… I… was scared…" Voice barely audible, Ahiru stared at her feet as she fidgeted. It was stupid, she knew that. Like Fakir said, she was sixteen right? She shouldn't be scared of a little storm.

…But she was.

Fakir watched her silently for a moment (trying to ignore how she'd let her hair down upon returning to bed, and how he'd very much like for her to have it in such a way more often), noting how she appeared to be shivering. Whether from the cold or fear of the storm, he didn't know – maybe both – but it was this latter observation that made him give in.

One night was fine right?

"Get in."

"Huh?" Lifting her head, upon seeing him lifting the blankets for her, a large smile broke out across Ahiru's face. Moving onto the bed besides him, Fakir held back a sigh at the predicament he'd caught himself into as Ahiru moved to face him. Once settled, he pulled the blankets back over, the two resting on their sides and facing one another. It occurred to him that perhaps he should turn over so their faces weren't so close, but as a hand tentatively held the front of his shirt, blue eyes flicking towards his face in a silent questioning - 'is this alright?' - he relented. Closing his eyes - 'it's fine' - he tried to desperately ignore how nervous she looked whilst hiding his own trepidation at the situation.

Meanwhile, fighting back a blush – and failing – Ahiru returned her gaze to his chest, trying to consciously keep enough distance between them. She didn't want to impose too much on Fakir, and he was probably annoyed at her invading his bed like this in the middle of the night. But the thought of returning to that room alone!– It just wasn't something she wanted to do.

Eyes squeezed shut, it wasn't until a moment later that Ahiru found herself almost falling off the edge of the bed. Barely having time to let out a startled cry, Fakir secured an arm around her mid-section and tugged her closer, the result being their bodies pressed tightly against one another. Cheek against his chest, Ahiru stared ahead wide-eyed, aware of every inch of contact as Fakir's body heat encompassed her and his heart pounded erratically beneath her ear. At least she now knew he was nervous as well.

"You okay?"

Ahiru nodded stiffly. "F-Fine." She cringed when her voice came out as a squeak, settling for burying her face into his chest whilst grasping tightly to his shirt. Hopefully he didn't mind her using his chest as a place to hide her blushing face.

Fakir who had been concerned by her silent and tense attitude, froze. Swallowing as he wondered just how long the night would last, fingers grasped into the fabric of her nightgown at her back. He could only hope hormones didn't arise tonight and give him an unwanted appearance down south – the last thing he needed was Ahiru questioning what was pressing against her leg in that innocent tone of hers.

Still, as he breathed in, it was hard to ignore how good she smelled. Whatever shampoo she used was great. Likewise, her bare legs tangled with his own, and Fakir idly wondered how smooth they were since he couldn't tell through the fabric of his pants.

Time passed by quietly, and it was a long time before the silence was broken by something suddenly banging against his window, no doubt one of many things blown away by the wind. However, the reaction it invoked in Ahiru was instantaneous, the petite girl flinching and pressing further up against him and– oh god, she wasn't wearing a bra was she?

Holding back a strangled groan, Fakir placed both hands on her shoulders and shoved her back to tell her this was a bad idea and– suddenly green eyes met with a pair of surprised oceanic eyes.

And fearful too.

…She really did hate storms, didn't she?

All thoughts of saying she should go back to her own room, that this wasn't a good idea, died on his tongue. And again, he felt tremors passing through her body beneath his fingertips. With a resigned sigh – did he enjoy torturing himself like this? – Fakir pulled her back into his arms. "Never mind." He murmured, as an answer to her questioning gaze.

Head resting against his chest, Ahiru found a small smile appearing upon her face. She somehow always felt safe within Fakir's arms. Like nothing bad could ever happen, his presence acting as a shield to anything possible bad. Time passed by with nothing unsaid, and the duo remained in tight embrace.

Minutes later, just before she fell asleep, Ahiru found herself whispering. "Thank you Fakir…"

A pause, and she thought he'd fallen asleep already but then–

"Any time."

That night, for the first time in her life, Ahiru fell asleep during a storm peacefully.