Sting never expected that he'd have to have this kind of conversation with his five year old daughter.

The wounds were still too fresh, it was all still too real. But she had to know.

Kumori looked up at him with her wide blue eyes, beaming happily for her spot in his lap. "Hi, Papa!"

Sting forced a smile onto his face. "Hey, baby girl. How was your day?"

"Good! I went to the park with Aunt Yuki!"

"That...that's great. Papa missed you."

"You too! Where's Daddy?"

Sting's smile dropped, and he swallowed hard, setting Kumori on the couch next to him. "Kumori...you remember when you asked about where my papa went?"

Kumori frowned for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. You said he went far away and we wouldn't see him for a long time..."

"W-well...Daddy went away, too..."

Kumori stared blankly at Sting. "Is Daddy gonna come back...?"

Sting shook his head sadly. "No, baby girl. Daddy isn't coming back. Daddy got hurt really bad. And they couldn't make Daddy feel better...so Daddy went far away."

Kumori's eyes widened, and tears began to form in her eyes. "B-but...we can go see Daddy, right? We can make Daddy feel better..."

Sting couldn't stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks. "I wish we could, Kumori. But we can't. Not yet. We have to wait."

"I don't wanna wait! I want to go see Daddy!"

"H-hey, look at me." Sting took his daughter's face in his hands, smiling sadly. "Daddy feels better now. Daddy is happy, and Daddy can't wait to see you again. But you have to wait, you have to grow up and do lots of wonderful things so that you can tell Daddy all about them when you see him again. Okay?"

Kumori nodded, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Kay..."

"Good girl." Sting kissed the top of her head and lifted her up, carrying her to her bedroom, tucking her into bed and humming a lullaby, eventually putting her to sleep.

He couldn't bring himself to leave the room. He remembered the day he and Rogue adopted her, three years ago, and for the longest time Rogue insisted that they sleep in the room with her until she was comfortable around them. Which didn't take long, seeing as Rogue showered her with attention and was literally the best parent ever.

Sting missed him so fucking much.

It wasn't supposed to happen. Not to Rogue. He didn't deserve it. It should have been Sting. The beam was aimed at him, anyways. Had Rogue not shoved him out of the way, he'd be the one who suffered endlessly for weeks in the hospital while his body was too weak to fight the infection that eventually killed him.

It should have been him. Not Rogue. Never Rogue.

~DD~

Weeks went by, then months, then years. Kumori grew up to be one of the strongest, finest mages in Fiore, let alone Sabertooth. She was smart and kind and friendly to everyone, and was loved by all.

But deep down, locked somewhere in her heart where only she and Sting would ever find it, was the true reason she worked so hard, did so much.

She knew, that one day she was going to see her daddy again. And when she did, she wanted to make him the proudest man to ever exist.