In the beginning I was terrified. Everything was so bright and jumbled, shapes and faces twisting together, conglomerating into one giant swirl of motion. I couldn't tell up from down or right from left and it was all spinning, whirling, twisting, shaping, squeezing-and then it all stopped. And it was silent, but just for a moment.

Then, the sound of wailing filled the air. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, it sounded distant and distorted yet so very, very close all at once. Something warm pressed against my forehead, but it was more like a small, fluttering feeling than an actual touch. Something warm and strong snaked around me and held me, firm, sure, and confident. The feeling was my polar opposite; I felt weak and tiny, like the entire world was pressing into me, making me unable to move my body a single inch and getting crushed under the weight.

Slowly, everything calmed down and I was able to process things better. My eyesight was still foggy but since everything wasn't moving so fast I was able to decipher what was what a little better. There was something white and spikey looming above me, streaks of bright red marring its image. It was murmuring something to me and leaning down to press against my forehead every once in awhile. I couldn't understand what it was saying-something that stasrted with an L maybe?-and whatever the hell was happening to my forehead was a mystery to me. Maybe I should have thought that it was weird, having something unknown so close to me and doing something unknown to my face, but for some reason, I just couldn't. Something about that large white blob made me feel safe, and that alone scared away all of the negative feelings I had toward it.

It was all a bit confusing. For one, I wasn't sure where I was. Just awhile ago, I was swimming in the ocean, splashing around with my friends when a huge wave came and-and...I remember going under, thrashing, desperately struggling for air, engulfing water and then...nothing. Well, not exactly nothing, but whatever the hell this was. The warmth, the giant looming ball of spiky white, the-

Said ball of spiky white was moving around in front of me, but this time I could see it more clearly. I could tell that it was a human now and that it was male. He was wiggling his fingers around in front of me to try and get my attention, but I wasn't so focused on him because of that. No, I was more worried about the fact that he was so familar.

He towered above me, long, spiky white hair spilling over his shoulders. Two red lines ran down his cheeks, starting at his eyes and ending somewhere near his chin. His nose had a wart on it and a metal plaque with a symbol carved into it was wrapped around his forehead. I didn't even have to think about who this man was or why he looked so familar; I knew.

Images flickered into my mind in a swirl of motion. Images of him and a little blonde boy, standing before giant toads, holding balls of swirling blue energy, eating popsicles together, laughing, and arguing. Images of him with a blonde lady and a sickly pale male, scowling and smirking and everything in between. Images of him with three children, all with odd, unnatural hair colors. Images of him before six people with orange hair, various piercings embedded in their body. And then them piercing him with poles, and then there was blood and he fell and-

I shut my mind off automatically, forcing the images away. I didn't want to think about those kinds of things happening to this man. He seemed happy right now, trying to get my attention and beaming down at me without a care in the world. It hurt to think about him any other way. I couldn't, I wouldn't. I didn't want to see him like that.

I shoved the thoughts of those events away, permanately sealing them away in a box that I would hopefully never have to open ever again. I don't think I could ever bear to see those memories. I forced myself to not remember them, not remember who this man was, not remember who I was.

And then I was just me. Just a baby.

And he was just a man. Just my father.

And everything was fine. For now.