Jack set the box down next to Omi's sleeping mat, and left quickly. He left the temple grounds, and leaned against a tree. Hundreds of insects flew into the air when his back hit the tree. Some settled once more, other continued t fly.
Jack glanced down at his watch. It was 11:15 at night. At 11:20, Omi would be woken up. He would come outside, and see what Jack had brought him.
He could almost see Omi's expression now, and it got him smiling. Those five minutes ticked by slowly, but Jack didn't mind. He wasn't usually patient, but the area was extremely relaxing, so he made an exception.
At 11:20, but came outside, rubbing his eyes. He froze where he was, and looked up around him. His felt like his breath had stopped. The usually night stillness was non-existent tonight.
Hundred of thousands of fireflies flew about. The were everywhere. On the cobblestones, in the trees, resting in the grass, on the roofs of the other buildings. Against the clear night sky, Omi almost thought they were stars, close to Earth.
The flashing bugs truly astounded him. He smiled, the grin consuming half of his face. He raced back inside.
"Friends, friends! Wake up! You must see this!" He reappeared, dragging a groggy Raimundo behind him. Kimiko and Clay followed them, but everyone froze when they reached the door.
"Dude!" Raimundo seemed awaken instantly. As his friends enjoyed the beauty of the sight, Omi ran to get Master Fung.
When he returned, holding onto his Master, Jack smiled. He removed a remote from his pocket. It had two knobs, one marked 'Frequency,' another marked 'Intensity.' He twisted the 'Intensity' knob, and waited. Within thirty seconds, thousands more fireflies flooded the temple grounds.
"Dude, what's going on!" Master Fung shook his head, his face revealing
shock.
"I do not know, nothing like this has ever happened in my time here." He looked at Omi, and smiled. The ten year old had never seen anything like this. He was elated. All he had to do was hold out his arms, and a number of the insects would land on him.
His black eyes reflected the flashing yellow lights, and he giggled quietly. It was one of the first times Master Fung had ever seen Omi act his age.
Jack was watching silently, mostly invisible in his dark clothes, under the shade of the tree. But Omi saw the flash of red through all the fireflies when Jack shook his head. He took off through the cloud of bugs, and ran at Jack. He tackled him in a hug.
They sat still, Jack in surprised silence, Omi because of lack of words.
"Thank you." Omi said eventually. Jack smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, now go back and play with your friends." Omi stood, intent on following Jack's orders, but a sudden thought stopped him. He turned back to Jack, a curious frown sitting where the smile had been.
"But, why…?" Jack laughed nervously.
"'Cause, Omi, I'm an ass who'd rather do something nice here and there than actually apologize." Jack was wiping grass off of the back of his trench coat. Omi thought about his reason for a minute, than smiled again.
"Apology accepted." With that, Omi ran back to his friends.