A/N: yay! new chappie! longer than the first! enjoy!

Chapter 2: A Seven-Year-Old Knows

Panther stared at the tent entrance, silently praying Ghost would be back soon. She was so bored, and afraid to leave the tent. If she left the tent, she'd be stared at, and everyone would snicker behind her back, she knew it. She was just glad Ghost's son hadn't come in. It would be kind of hard to explain why there was a strange woman in his tent to a little boy. At least, she assumed his son was little. He didn't look old enough to have an older son.

Some shuffling outside the tent behind her made her jump with a start and whirl around. She swallowed as she looked up behind her to see a young boy of about seven years old, lightly tanned skin and hazel eyes she recognized belonged to Ghost. She realized immediately that this young boy was Ghost's son.

"He-Hello," she nodded when he only stared at her with his intense gaze. "You must be Ghost's son, right?"

The boy nodded mutely.

"What's your name?"

"Winterlight," the boy replied, without hesitation.

"I'm Panther," she smiled slightly, holding out her hand for him to take.

"You look like my father," Winterlight blurted, making Panther give a slight frown. "You don't look like a Brave."

"I'm a half blood," Panther replied.

"Like me," Winterlight nodded in understanding, starting toward her, but she stayed in her place as he stepped close and sat next to her as she stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. "My mother was full Brave."

"So was mine," she replied, still staring at him as he adjusted to be comfortable.

"Did you know your father?" he wondered and Panther shook her head. "Do you know when father is coming back?"

Panther's eyes widened in surprise again and she shook her head again before saying, "He left this morning. He said he was going hunting."

"Then he probably won't be back until tomorrow night," Winterlight replied, making Panther frown in disbelief. "I'm hungry." He looked up at her and asked, "Did father leave anything to eat?"

She shot her gaze around, finding the sack of berries he'd left her and grabbing it to drag it between them. Winterlight looked at the sack and stuck his hand in to grab a handful and started eating them, one by one.

"This won't keep till tomorrow night," Panther realized, looking at the half-full sack. "I guess I could try my hand at making something…"

She trailed off looking to the exit of the tent then down at her lap in shame. Winterlight looked to her and popped more berries into his mouth before standing and walking around her to the exit, making her look up.

"I'll get the things you'll need," he assured her. "That fire will need some more wood if you're going to cook anything. I'll bring some of that too." He opened the tent but stopped to look at her as she stared her wide, blue eyes at him. "You don't need to leave here until you feel up to it. Maybe when father comes back, you'll feel better."

"Don't you want to play with your friends?" she wondered, stopping him from heading out.

"I don't have many friends, and father told me you were here," he explained. "If he told me, that means he expects me to help you. I'll be back."

"But-"

Before Panther could stop him again the boy was gone. Sighing, she looked around at the tent, noticing the fire was starting to die. She started thinking about the next day. What would she do for food tomorrow? She wanted to break down and cry again, but she knew she had to be strong for Winterlight. She couldn't worry the boy since he was helping her, and she was sure he'd be the only one to help him until Ghost returned. Still, she felt a lump start to form in her throat, but she swallowed it.

Just hang on until Ghost comes back, she told herself. When he comes back, he'll have more food and you won't have to worry about this.

Tears began in her eyes again and she bowed her head to twiddle her thumbs in her lap, letting silent tears fall on them. What seemed like ages later, Winterlight sat himself next to her with a lap full of ingredients she needed to make food but she didn't look at him as he looked at her. He frowned but when she sniffled it disappeared and he gently set his head on her arm, making her jump but she didn't turn.

"Don't cry," he murmured. "Whatever's wrong, it'll be alright."

"You're sweet," Panther smiled weakly, lifting a hand to move a strand of his short, ebony hair from his face. "But I don't think what's wrong with me will ever be fixed."

"Don't say that," he breathed, making her frown as he gave a slight strangled sob. "If you say that, that means what's wrong with you will never be fixed with me either."

Panther's frown deepened but her eyes suddenly widened in realization and without thinking she threw her arms around him and held him close.

"Alright," she sniffled when she felt his arms slip around her. "I won't cry anymore. It will be alright. Please, stop crying."

"I miss my mother," he shuddered, holding her tight, and Panther swallowed the new lump forming in her throat at the sound of his silent sobs. How many times had she called out for her parents after her village had been attacked and knew they wouldn't answer? She still missed them, and she felt for this little boy, but thanked the spirits that he at least had his father.

"It's alright," she murmured. "Your father will be back soon. You don't want to be sad when he returns, do you?"

Winterlight shook his head but still clung to Panther and she still held him, setting her chin on his head.

"No more tears," she murmured. "Why don't you help me with the food?"

Winterlight nodded, finally detaching from her and wiping his face to stand and say, "I'll get more firewood."

Panther nodded and watched the boy walk out of the tent as she gathered the things he'd brought in and got to work on their dinner.

The Next Night...

Ghost sighed as he reached his tent. He'd managed to get back to the village without any problems, and with a bountiful catch. Now all he wanted to do was see his son before heading to bed. Ducking in, he gave a momentarily confused frown at the sight in front of him, but he soon remembered his rescue of the girl that was curled up with his son, both sound asleep.

He couldn't help but give a slight smirk at the scene. It reminded him of the times when Winterlight would curl up with Starfire on cold nights like this one. But Panther was not Starfire, and he couldn't help but feel his heart clench in sadness at the thought of his wife. She had died of the one thing he couldn't protect her from: Illness.

Silently padding toward the two he gently pulled Panther's arm from around Winterlight and pulled the boy into his arms to carry him to his sleeping place. He tucked the boy in as he still slept and moved some of his hair from his face to gently kiss his son's forehead. He turned back to Panther as she still slept as well and stepped toward her to gently lift her from the floor and set her on the sleeping place he used.

Setting her down, he began to step away but she lifted a hand and gripped his, making him frown down at her, but she still slept. Panther murmured something incoherent, making Ghost frown a little deeper but he said nothing, and didn't attempt to wake her. She pulled on his arm and he stumbled slightly, making him sit next to her as she brought his hand to her face, snuggling it between her cheek and the furs beneath her head.

"Don't worry, Winterlight," she murmured, and Ghost frowned, but said nothing. "I won't leave you alone."

Ghost's frown returned, and he couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two while he was gone that had made them suddenly so attached to each other. Remembering the position he was in, Ghost tried pulling his hand away again, but Panther had a firm grip on it. He couldn't pull away hard enough to free himself without waking her and he couldn't help but notice a part of him didn't want to wake her or move away.

Glancing at his son sleeping on the other side of the tent before looking back at Panther, he suddenly felt tired enough not to care about whether or not his hand was tucked under her cheek and carefully adjusted himself to lie behind her, his arm wrapping around her as his hand was still tucked under her cheek.

I'll deal with this in the morning, he thought silently with a sigh, but before he closed his eyes, he felt his hand being released and frowned when Panther suddenly shifted, turning onto her other side to snuggle closer to him. She was still asleep and didn't know what she was doing, but it did nothing to ease his shock.

"No," she muttered, a frown flicking over her brow and his frown deepened as she suddenly started pushing away from him. "No. Stay away."

Panther started muttering words in another language, a language he knew all too well and he guessed she'd picked up some of it from the Dragon Men. The thing that worried him was that she spoke it a little too well. She was pleading someone to stop, to let her go, but obviously whoever she was speaking to in her nightmare wasn't listening because she was still struggling and pleading.

Ghost gripped her arms and sat up, pulling her with him but that only made it worse. She began pummeling him in the chest and struggling against his grip, though he was sure he wasn't hurting her.

"Father?" Winterlight called, suddenly awake sitting up and running toward the two and pulling on Ghost's arm. "What are you doing to Panther?"

"Nothing!" Ghost replied as she still pummeled tiny fists against her chest and he turned back to her as Winterlight let go of his father. "Panther! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

"Let go of me, you Dragon Devil!" she cried.

"Panther!"

"Father! Make her stop!" Winterlight begged, his lower lip and voice quivering.

"Panther! Wake-Ow!" Ghost tried again, but called out when he was hit in the face by one of her fists. Still gripping one arm he removed the other to gently push Winterlight back a few steps as Panther began kicking. "Stay back!"

She suddenly screamed and Ghost quickly placed a hand over her mouth, to which she started jerking her head around to free her mouth again.

Ghost quickly pulled her close to place his face next to her to whisper, "Panther, you're safe. Please stop."

Her struggling slowly stopped as she suddenly began sobbing into his hand, still asleep as he pulled it away and she slumped forward against his chest. Winterlight made an attempt to step toward them but stopped, uncertain of what to do. Ghost nodded to him, holding one hand out to him and the boy stepped toward his father to hug him around the neck as he still held Panther close, wrapping an arm around his son to hug him as well.

"She was crying in her sleep last night, too," Winterlight shuddered, fright in his tone.

"Was it this bad?" Ghost wondered and the boy just shook his head through sniffles.

Panther's sobbing slowly died down, but she still leaned on Ghost as he still held her and his frightened son close to him. He looked down when her head slowly raised and she groaned tiredly to rub her eyes. She gasped when caught Ghost and Winterlight staring at her expectantly.

"Wha-What's wrong?" she sputtered, then realized how close she was to Ghost and shuffled away as he let his arm fall away from her, all staring at each other.

"You had a nightmare," Ghost finally replied before Winterlight detached from his father and threw himself at Panther as Ghost continued, "You were screaming and struggling to get away from someone."

Panther's eyes widened at the man as she held the boy close without hesitation and she lowered her gaze, murmuring, "I'm sorry I frightened you two."

"We were so worried," Winterlight shuddered through a breath, clutching tighter to her.

"I think I'll be alright now," she assured them, gently pushing the boy at arms length. "You should go back to sleep."

Winterlight nodded and gave her one last hug before heading back to his sleeping place, the two adults watching him for a moment before Ghost turned to watch Panther as she still stared at Winterlight. He noticed the softness in her gaze when she looked at the boy and knew then that he hadn't made a bad choice in bringing her here.

He stood, drawing Panther's attention as he stepped closer to the fire.

"Where are you going?" she couldn't help wondering, making him stop and turn a slight frown at her.

"I'm going to sleep near the fire," he replied, simply.

"O-Oh," she murmured, turning her gaze to her lap and twiddling her thumbs.

Ghost's frown deepened. She seemed to want something, but what it was he had no idea. He wanted to ask but at the same time he was afraid to. Still, his curiosity got the better of him as he turned to her fully and she looked up at him, her blue eyes wide in wonder at what he'd do next.

"Did you need something?" he asked.

Panther's jaw fell open as if she were going to say something but it quickly shut and she turned her gaze to her lap again, muttering, "No."

Now he was more than curious. Stepping toward her, he sat next to her again, facing her and asked, "What's wrong?"

She swallowed as she continued twiddling her fingers and he placed a hand over the both of hers, making her freeze.

"You don't need to be afraid of me," he assured her. "I won't hurt you."

"I know," she murmured with a nod. "It's not that. You'll think it's ridiculous."

"Maybe not," he replied, and that made her gaze shoot to his in surprise before it lowered again.

"Could-?" she choked before swallowing again and trying, "Could you sleep near me tonight? I might feel more safe if you-"

She was cut off when Ghost shifted to sit behind her and she looked at him in shock as he laid down, his arm chastely around her waist.

"You need sleep," he noticed. "Lay down."

Panther stared at him for a moment before she turned to face away from him and laid down, not failing to notice his arm was still around her.

"Sleep well," he murmured, tiredly and Panther swallowed but closed her eyes.

"Sleep well," she replied, and soon sleep took over her.

Winterlight watched from his place as his father and this new woman he'd brought home fell asleep and gave a small smile. A seven year old knows just what his family needs, and his definitely needed her. He shifted to lay on his back and with a grin on his face, sleep flowed over him.

A/N: figured i'd skip to when Ghost comes back. how much can really happen with these two when they're both kind of afraid of each other, ya know? reviews?