A/N: So, I've had these in the writing bin for awhile, but haven't posted any of them. Needless to say, there are more to come, but this one was decidedly one of my favorites. I hope you guys fall in love with the little girl OC, Ara, because I certainly have.

Please, enjoy!

"Daddy?"

Ara. Ara's voice. He must have been dreaming. It was too early for her to be awake. It was far too early for him to be awake.

"D - Daddy?"

This Dream Ara was persistent. He wished it would stop. He was exhausted. If he got anxious enough, he'd probably wake up, and his little girl calling for him would certainly drive his anxiety level upward.

"Daddy!"

Ben's eyes flew open. Two small hands tugged at his own. Ara was really in the room, really calling his name.

"Daddy, wake up, wake up!"

He rolled over carefully, taking pains to ensure he didn't wake his wife sleeping peacefully beside him. For some reason, Ara had not gone to her, though she usually did, and he wasn't going to wake her up this time, as much as he wanted to.

He blinked slowly a couple of times before his daughter came into focus beside their bed. Her eyes were wide with fear and tears glistened in them. Though he was still unsure around Ara, he knew that when she wanted comfort, she was easy to please.

That didn't mean it was easy for him to be pleasing.

He reached a hand out to comfort her, but drew it away quickly as he didn't know if that would make it better or worse. Still half asleep, he tried to pass it off as though he'd reached up to run a hand through his mussed hair. "Ara, sweetheart, whasswrong?" he slurred. "It's still dark outside...wh-what are you doing awake?"

He got his answer when a clap of thunder shot through the still air. Ara hiccupped and tears came to her eyes once more, spilling over onto her cheeks.

"Oh."

She was only three years old, and this would be the first thunderstorm she'd remember. She didn't know what the loud noises shaking the house were, and she was terrified.

"Come here, Starlight."

She ran to him and Ben picked her up, holding her awkwardly, but close nonetheless. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. After a few minutes without too much fuss, Ben managed to relax. He shifted so her positioning was less awkward and even ran a tentative hand through her short curls.

"You're okay, Ara. It's okay."

Thunder rumbled loudly again, and Ara whimpered. Ben found that his body and instincts took over, and he didn't even have to think about what to do. His arms tightened around her.

"I'm scared, Daddy," she whispered. "What's that noise?"

"It's just thunder. It can't hurt you, I promise."

She nestled her head in the crook of his neck. "I don't like it very much."

It was silent for a moment. Then quietly, "How about we go back to sleep, then? So we don't have to hear it?"

Ara clung to him tighter. "Daddy, no! No, I don't want to go back to my bed! I don't want to be alone!"

"Okay. Okay, shh...okay, I didn't mean that you had to go back to your bed, Starlight, that's not what I meant. You can sleep in here with Mommy and I, if you want. I doubt she'd mind."

Ara nodded. Ben set her down on the bed next to him and scooted over, pulling up the covers so Ara could kick her feet underneath them. As soon as she was situated, he lay down himself. To his surprise, Ara huddled into his chest, clenching his t-shirt in her fists and curling into a ball. After he recovered from his surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and continued stroking her curls. Thunder rumbled again, closer this time.

"Daddy…"

"It's okay, Ara."

"It's so loud…" she mumbled.

"I know…" Ben mumbled into her hair, "I know."

She shifted a little before muttering, "I'm scared of funderstorms."

Ben had to fight to keep from chuckling. "I used to be afraid of them, too."

Ara wriggled out of his arms and looked up at him, her eyes wide, almost like she couldn't believe her ears. "Really?"

Ben nodded. "Oh, yes. They terrified me. They were dark and loud and long. I couldn't ever sleep when it rained. But then your grandma made it easier for me to get through them. She made them less scary."

"How?"

"Well...she showed me the puddles that the rain made. She would jump around in them with me after the storms, and eventually, I came to enjoy the thunderstorms because I couldn't wait to play in the puddles."

Lightning flashed, illuminating the room. Ben knew what was coming before it happened, and he quickly hugged her head tighter to him, trying to cover her little ears so the thunder would be muffled. This time, it was so loud the house shook. Ara jumped at the sound.

"I'm still scared, Daddy," she whimpered.

Ben kissed the top of her head. "I'm right here. It's okay."

Even as she shivered, she whispered his words back to him. "You're right here. S'okay."

"That's right."

Rain started pitter-pattering off the windows, calming in contrast to the rolls of thunder. Ara noticeably calmed in Ben's arms, her grip on his shirt loosening.

"Do we have any puddles I can jump in?" she asked after a short while.

"Tomorrow. There will be plenty of puddles when the rain's over."

She was quiet for a moment as she thought it over. "I wanna do that."

Ben smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Thunder rumbled outside once again, but this time, Ara simply took a few deep breaths before composing herself. Ben rubbed his hand gently up and down her back.

"See? Look how brave you're being already."

She shook her head. "I'm only brave c-bause you're here, Daddy. I'm only brave c-bause I know that you'll take care of me. I'll never be as brave as you. I just know that you'll be there."

At first, Ben said nothing. He didn't know what to say. A feeling he still wasn't quite used to had blossomed in his chest. A warmth that had only made itself present in the years since Ara was born. Even though it was unfamiliar and scared him a little bit, it was the feeling he found he enjoyed most in his life.

Ara took a deep breath in and yawned, and Ben, suddenly overcome with emotion at her words and what they implied, kissed the top of her hair once again. "Don't you ever forget that, either. Know that whenever you need me to be brave for you, I'll be brave for you. I'll always be here, okay? Always."

He waited, but got no response; Ara was already sound asleep. He smiled, "Goodnight, Ara. See you in the morning."

The next morning when Ben woke up, he was surprised to find that he'd risen before Ara. The little girl was curled into a ball, the sheets pulled up around her tiny shoulders, her head resting on Ben's bicep. Her mouth was hanging open and soft snores could be heard. Ben smiled, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead. He brushed a curl away from her face and her eyelids fluttered. She yawned widely before opening them. She grinned sleepily. Ben grinned right back.

"Good morning, Daddy."

"Good morning, Ara."

She rubbed her eyes with a small fist. "Can we go jump in puddles now?"

"Alright," Ben said, zipping up his jacket, "checklist time. Do you have your coat?"

Ara held out her arms and looked at them both solemnly before beaming up at him. "Yep!"

"Hat?"

She patted her head, giggling. "Uh-huh!"

"Boots?"

Ara paused. "Uh…" She glanced down at her socked feet. "One second!"

She ran to the front door to retrieve her rain boots and came back with them quickly, plopping herself on the floor to put them on. Ben noticed her struggling to put her right foot into her left shoe. Chuckling, he knelt next to her, gently moving her boot from her right foot to her left. She grinned sheepishly up at him.

"Oops."

She hurriedly tugged the other boot on then jumped up and ran for the door. Ben grabbed the note he'd written for Rey in case she got up before they returned and taped it to the door before opening it for Ara.

"You ready?"

She nodded and raced outside. Ben followed, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Fall was coming in nicely. There were wet leaves piled everywhere, brown and orange and red hues decorating the sidewalk. It was still rather gloomy, but the promise of a new day made everything a little less so. Ara searched around for puddles on the sidewalk as they walked to the park at the end of their street, Ben walking a little ways behind her so she had some space to explore. He caught sight of a sizeable puddle a few yards away from where Ara was crouched down observing a worm that had wandered out onto the sidewalk.

"Starlight, I see one, a big one, right over there."

She glanced up at him, her eyes wide in excitement. "Where?"

He pointed, and her head whipped around so fast her curls hit her in the face. A bright smile appeared on her lips and she stood up and sprinted towards it, almost tripping and falling on the slick sidewalk. Ben's stomach did a little flip like it usually did when she was mere seconds from disaster, but Ara righted herself and kept running.

"Careful, Ara!"

"Sorry, Daddy!"

She didn't sound very sorry. Ben chuckled to himself, sticking his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He watched with a smile as Ara raced to puddle, giggling. She looked around for a minute after she arrived before her face lit up and she bent over to retrieve a large stick. She brought it back to the puddle and dragged it across the top, creating ripples. Her eyes lit up and Ben couldn't keep his smile from growing. After awhile, she dropped the stick and stomped through the small pool, splattering her boots and the bottom of her jacket with muddy water. She looked back at him wearing a giant grin and his stomach dropped. He knew exactly what was coming next.

"Come jump with me, Daddy!"

He sighed. How could he say no? He couldn't bear to be the thing that wiped that smile off her face. She grabbed his hand when he reached her, and together they walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand. He humored her, kicking through the puddles as she clomped her way across them. Each little giggle drew her further and further away from the fear of last night until Ben was sure she'd forgotten it. But this...this she'd be able to remember.

Eventually, Ara's nose and cheeks turned pink, and Ben decided it was time to go home.

"Don't want you catching a cold. You have school tomorrow. Your mother would kill me."

She sighed. "Ok."

Still, her mood seemed to have improved immensely.

"Daddy," she said as she skipped along behind him. "I can't wait for the next funderstorm."

She beamed up at him and he grinned right back. It felt good to have done something right.

They rounded the corner to their house and Ben was not surprised to see Rey sitting on their porch swing, coffee in hand. She was still wearing her pajamas but had wrapped herself in his bathrobe. As soon as she saw the both of them, a sleepy grin wound across her face and she waved.

"Mommy!" Ara shouted, running towards her mother. "Guess what I just did!"

Rey's eyes widened and Ben laughed aloud as Ara barreled up the porch steps, muddy boots and all.

A/N: Hope you liked!

I am taking requests for story ideas with these characters and probably others, in case anyone's interested. These aren't going to be in any order or connected at all unless I indicate otherwise. They can be AUs or canonverse, either one. I figured I'd post this so I'd have something to write when my multichap A Fine Line is giving me trouble.

Thank you for reading!