Because I felt like writing another Giroro-papaxDororo-mama story.
Again, Guzozo is Giroro's dad; Ponono is Dororo's mom.
Oh. And Keriri's name was changed to Yokaka. Makes more sense.
I'll change the picture when I have time. I'm exhausted. And the usual apologies for if it was rushed and all that stuff...
"Hey, hey~ Calm down, Sweetheart."
"N-no! The scary monster, it might… g'yah!" She squeezed her eyes and turned to him fearfully, her hand at his chest.
Guzozo chuckled and reached for the television remote, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
He should have known Ponono would be afraid of movies with ghosts on them.
"D-don't change it… you like it, d-don't you…?"
"Yeah, but you don't. It's fine, Sweetheart."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She buried her face on his chest, and again, he grinned.
"I said it's fine. Really. We can watch something else." Guzozo flipped to another channel. Some sort of anime popped out, a little cartoon cat or something. "Hey, I remember this! This was one of Giroro's favorite shows as a kid."
Ponono peeked, and then fully turned to see the screen. She giggled. "Oh. This was Dororo's favorite too."
The ended up watch two straight episodes of that particular kid's anime until Guzozo glanced over his shoulder and saw the time. Almost ten o'clock. His eyes slid down to his small girlfriend, and he decided not to say anything. She usually decided to go to bed at nine, early bird that she was. And she always made him go home.
Well, now, as long as she didn't pay attention to the clock-
"Look at the time!" Ponono said, straightening.
Guzozo sighed. Well. It was nice while it lasted…
"I'm so sorry to keep you up!" Ponono said, bowing to him.
"It's alright," Guzozo said dismissively. "I don't usually go to sleep until midnight. It's okay."
"You should sleep earlier," Ponono advised him. "It's better for your health."
"Lots of things are better for my health, Sweetheart." Guzozo stood up and stretched. "Frog…I'm going to have to walk all the way home…" He gave her a side grin. "You know… I could always, I don't know, spend the night here with you or something instead~"
Ponono playfully smacked his chest. "I don't think so."
"You're so old-fashioned," Guzozo said. His eyelids drooped slightly, and he leaned suggestively against her. "I'd love to see you drunk. Bet it makes you a bit more liberal~"
"It's time to go, Guzozo." She said hastily. He grinned, amused that he had at least managed to make her cheeks flare up at the very idea he was proposing. She kissed his cheek and then pushed him over to the door. "Call me when you get home so that I know you made it safe."
"Yeah, yeah, I got the procedure the last twenty times I came over," Guzozo smirked. When he opened the door, he made something of a yelp as the wind smacked him against his face. "Geez." He closed the door. "I-I didn't know there was going to be a storm… Ponono?"
Ponono's face had gotten pale, and her eyes had dilated.
"…Ponono? …Are you okay…?"
"…I'm… fine…" She shook herself out of it and looked out the window. "…Are you going to… are you going to be alright out there…?"
"I can handle it," Guzozo assured her. "My house isn't that far away, may I remind you."
Ponono kept staring at the window.
"Sweetheart? I'm going to go now, okay?"
Ponono turned to him, and for a moment, looked like she wanted to say something. But whatever it was never left her mouth, and she simply nodded. She squeaked, "Okay. Just… be safe. Please."
Guzozo nodded and carefully opened the door, slamming it behind him when he left.
Ponono went to her room and closed the door, breathing in and out. When she saw that the window was still open, the blinds waving wildly at the wind, she immediately snapped it shut, covering it.
"It's going to be okay, Ponono…" she murmured. Even through the curtains she could see a faint light. "Please. Please, please, don't-"
A thunder broke through the walls. She screamed and covered her ears, falling to her knees.
"Oh, please… oh please oh please…"
She could feel tears seep past her eyelids and slide down her cheeks. She crawled weakly toward her bed and hid under the sheets, hugging her knees.
"P-Ponono…" she said softly to herself. "Th-…this is ridiculous… you're a…. you're a grown Keronian woman. Y-…you shouldn't be afraid of s-silly little thunder-"
A resonating drum reverberated all around the room.
She let out a sob, sinking her face into her knees. "Please go away… please, please go away…" She squeaked with fright when she heard her telephone ring. She didn't want to pick it up. It might happen again, happen again…
Riiing.
"Call me when you get home so that I know you made it safe."
Riiing.
"Yeah, yeah…"
Riiing.
The blanket still wrapped around her, she hastily walked over to the shrill gadget, and picked it up.
"Yes?" she said faintly.
"It's me… Guzozo. I just wanted to let you know that I'm-"
"Can you come spend the night?"
Guzozo was silent on the other line.
"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
"N-no, it's… it's fine," Guzozo stammered. "B-but… erm… You… I-I didn't think you would have changed your mind-"
"I-I know it's inconvenient… s-since you were just here…" Ponono bit back a scared noise when she heard another thunder clap. "B-but please, Guzozo… I… I need you… here, w-with me… Please…"
For some strange reason, he sounded a little embarrassed. "…I'll be right there."
"Thank you."
When Ponono had answered the door Guzozo did not expect to be yanked inside and pulled into a desperate hug, slamming the door behind him. He stiffened slightly, his back erect against the wall. A hot blush spread against his cheeks, and he looked away, not sure what to think of this.
"E-err… P-Ponono-…"
"I'm scared, Guzozo. I'm so scared."
"S-scared...?"
"Yes..."
"W-well... this... this is the first time I-..."
"The storm, Guzozo. I'm scared... o-of the storm..."
He stared down at her quizzically. When the thunder purred through the house, she jumped and clung on to him.
"…Oh." Guzozo sighed, his shoulders dropping half with relief, and half with a twinge of disappointment. The blush disappeared from his face. "Okay. Wait. Scared…? Of a little storm…?"
"Not a little storm," Ponono squeaked. He felt warm tears against his chest. "A big one. With th-thunder, and lightening… a-and wind…"
"…Well, at least it's not rain-"
Heavy drops cascaded down against the roof before he finished his sentence. With the ferocity it was hitting the top of the house, he also concluded there was hail. Ponono squeezed on to him harder.
He stared up at the ceiling in annoyance. Oh, how he despised irony.
"I hate storms… I usually call Yokaka, b-but you were closer… I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…."
"It's okay, it's okay," he said soothingly, stroking her back. "C'mon. Let's go sit down…"
Suddenly the lights above them sparked, and the entire room became enveloped in darkness.
"…Perfect."
Ponono whimpered.
"Listen. You're okay now; you're with me. It's going to be alright."
Ponono clutched onto his arm as he patted around for the couches, the ones they were just at about half an hour ago. He then sat down and gently pulled Ponono next to him, gently rubbing on her arm as she shivered beside him.
"Why are you so scared of thunder storms, sweetheart? Is it the noise that bugs you?"
Ponono swallowed anxiously. She brought her legs up against her body and leaned against him. "I… I-I connect it with something bad…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Really, really bad..."
Guzozo gazed at the window, the water streaking down the glass and bubbling up at the end. They heard the taps for a moment, a smooth, hard rhythm, growing faster and faster.
"You're going to be okay, Sweetheart."
They sat there for what felt like an hour when they both began to shake from the cold.
"The electricity's cut off…" Ponono said softly, "I think the heater's down, too…"
Thunder roared.
Ponono squeezed Guzozo's arm. "I'm sorry…"
Guzozo gently patted her head and stood up from the sofa.
"Please don't leave me," Ponono said weakly.
"I won't. I promise. Let me just go look around for a blanket." Guzozo felt the walls and slid toward the linen closet that he was familiar with. This is where she kept them, right? By the… kitchen?
His hands came into contact with a door. He fingered the wood until it touched an opening, and he slid the closet door to his left. He reached out again.
Fabrics, hard fabrics. Something cool, smooth, familiar, hard. He shook his head and poked around for something soft. Soft. There. He clutched it and pulled it out, nodding to himself when he felt the blanket plop against his feet. This'll work.
It dragged against the floor as he walked back to where Ponono was. He couldn't exactly see her, but when he sat down next to her, he could sense her small body huddled in a little ball, her face pressed against her knees.
Guzozo clicked his tongue and yanked the blanket over their heads. He moved toward her, wrapping the blanket over himself as he wrapped his arms over her, the blanket enveloping them both.
They both sighed comfortably as the warmth began to return.
"I'm pathetic, aren't I?"
Guzozo didn't know how to reply. He felt her shuffle fearfully when he heard another thunder clap.
"The boys… didn't know what to do when their mommy was crying in a thunderstorm…" Ponono whispered. "They didn't know what to do, Guzozo…"
Guzozo kissed the back of her head and gently rested his chin against it.
"It's going to be okay."
"My husband died in a thunderstorm."
Guzozo jumped slightly, and blinked down at her.
"…What?"
"It was exactly like this, exactly like this…" An incredibly loud drum crackled across the sky. Guzozo clutched his hands in on each other when he realized that she was crying again. "The rain wouldn't stop… it just kept raining… and there was so much thunder… Something bad is going to happen, I know it, I know it…"
"It's going to be okay."
"He said he loved me. Those were his last words… and then the other end died. He was talking to me, and he died because of it…" Her words broke at the end as she tried to muffle her sobs. "He died because of me… I'm so sorry… It's all my fault… It's always my fault…"
"Ponono…"
"He would still be alive he wasn't talking to me… if the noise wasn't so loud… if it wasn't so dark, if only it wasn't raining so hard…"
"Ponono."
Another thunderclap.
"…Yes?"
"…Relax."
"I... I-I'll try..."
"Take deep breaths."
She did so. Her chest rose, then fell, then rose...
"Ponono?"
She sniffled, her voice shuddering slightly. "…Yes?"
"I left my ukulele here, right?"
She rubbed her eye. "…You did…"
"Where did you leave it?"
"…In the linen closet…"
"…Oh. Oh, okay. I'll be right back, then."
Ponono sat there, stone-faced. She rocked herself back and forth.
Twang.
"…Guzozo? Was… was that you?"
Twang-twang.
"Guzozo…"
"Yeah, it's me. I thought I had already tuned it, but I guess I didn't-"
"…I'm sorry."
"…What for?"
"I may have played a little with it…"
Guzozo's warm, loud chuckle resounded in the air, and Ponono found herself smiling despite everything. She loved his laugh…
Twang-TWANG-Twaaaaaang~
"There we go."
Ponono could hear the chords as she envisioned him strumming his fingers against the strings.
A little melody played, something that sounded familiar…
Oh.
"This is from the little anime…" Ponono said with a small giggle. She winced slightly when thunder struck again… but it didn't hurt as much.
He played another song.
"I don't remember this…"
"It's an old song… My kids liked it… Put them to sleep…"
"It's pretty."
"I'm dancing now."
Ponono's lips twitched. "Are you…?"
"Yeah."
She slowly brought her hands up, then stopped, and put them back on her knees. She heard subtle taps against the floor, and realized to her surprise that he really was dancing along with the music. She brought her hands up again, clapping them together with the beat, establishing a sweet rhythm.
SLAM!
"OW!"
Ponono laughed, and then covered her mouth worriedly, horrified that she had found his pain to be amusing. "I-I'm so sorry! What happened? Guzozo?"
"I just… ow… I rammed my knee against your coffee table…"
"I'm sorry…"
"It's not your fault. It's mine."
Guzozo sat next to her, and she moved herself closer to him. She rested her hand on his leg. "Right here?"
"Yeah." She felt his arms move, and a different song came on.
More rain streaked down the window, but the fog made it impossible to see.
Ponono could feel her eyes grow heavy. She would twitch each time lightening flashed against the sky, the noise traveling right after it, but the music was too relaxing…
She yawned.
"Go to sleep…"
"I can't…"
"Yeah you can. Look."
She felt Guzozo turned toward her, pushing himself and pulling her down against the couch in lying position.
Ponono blushed heavily. "G-Guzozo, this… this isn't a-appropriate…"
"Shh. We're just going to sleep." Clunk. He set his instrument down, and put his arms around her again, the blanket caving around them. "I'm going to be right here, okay? Just go to sleep."
"Guzozo-"
"Don't talk me out of it. You're only going to make me come right back."
That was true.
She ducked her head. "…I'm sorry."
"'S'all right, Sweetheart."
All was silent for a few tick-tocking minutes.
"…Guzozo?"
"Yeah?"
"…Are you still awake?"
"I'm not going to sleep until you do."
"…Oh."
Silence again.
"…Guzozo?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it, Sweethear-"
"And I love you." Ponono suddenly giggled. "Your heart just began to beat faster…"
"Sh-shush. G-go back to sleep…"
Ponono hiccupped. "Okay…" She was quiet for a second. "… I can't sleep."
"You should have cried yourself to exhaustion by now, right?"
"I never sleep in thunderstorms…"
She felt his lips press against the top of her head.
"Well that's going to change right now. Okay?"
Ponono turned so that she faced him. She nuzzled his chest, falling in love with the strong, quickened pulse of his heartbeat. She closed her eyes.
"I'll try."
"You will. I'll make sure of it."
"Mm…"
Thunderclap.
She shuddered.
"I'm right here."
A streak of lightening soared, crashed against the soft black clouds. An enormous rumble.
"…I know."