"Dad, I'm tired."
"Then go to sleep."
"Okay.."
"G'Night, Kadar."
"G'Night, Malik.."
Kadar curled up in the back seat, yawning. In the front seat was Malik, and their dad. They were on their way home, and it was late. Malik and their dad kept talking in hushed voices, so Kadar could get to sleep. Kadar closed his eyes, the rock of the car drifting him to sleep...


Malik opened the front door as quietly as he could. He didn't want to wake Tazim and Kadar. He slipped off his shoes and placed his back next to the door. Rubbing his eyes, he headed down the hallway. He was surprised to see the kitchen light was on, and headed over. "Hello.. ?"

As he looked inside, he saw his brother was sitting at the table, head down, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He lifted his head slightly at the sound if his brother approaching. Malik sat down next to him. "Hey, brother.." he said softly.

"Hi.."

"Why are you up so late..?" Kadar glanced at the clock on the wall. It said 1:12 A.M. He rubbed his eyes. "Uhn.. I couldn't sleep."

"Really?"

"Yeah.."

"Why?" Kadar was silent for a moment. He laid his head back down on the table, pulling the small blanket around his shoulders closer. "What's wrong, Kadar?" Malik gently placed a hand on Kadar's shoulder. Kadar let out a small sigh.

"I had a bad dream.." he mumbled.

"Another?"

"Yes.." They were both quiet for a while. The clock ticked from it's spot on the wall.

"What was it about..?"

"The crash.." Kadar pulled his blanket over his head, burying his face in his arms. He felt someone wrapped their arms around him. "It was just a dream.." he heard Malik said. Kadar let out a small sigh.

"I know.."

"... How long have you been up?"

"A couple of hours," Kadar mumbled. Malik tugged the blanket off his little brother's head. He gently patted the top of Kadar's head. Kadar leaned against him. "They're always the same," he mumbled.

"What is?" Malik asked.

"The nightmares.."

"How so..?"

"They're always about the same thing.. End the same way too.."

"How do they end..?"

"They always end when the car crashes..." Kadar's voiced trailed off. He'd been having nightmares for almost a week now. He was really tired of them. Malik wrapped his arms around his little brother again. Kadar leaned into the hug.

"Kadar, that car crashed a long time ago."

"I know.."

"Look, it was just a bad dream, alright?"

"Alright.."

"Now go to bed, and get some rest."

"I'll try."

"Well, unless you want me to give you ice cream and tuck you in."

Kadar scowled at him. "I'm not 8 anymore, Mal." Malik grinned.

"You act like an 8 year old." Kadar grinned back.

"Ice cream?"

Kadar and Malik looked up and saw Tazim standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "Tazim, what are you doing up?" Malik scooped up his son, kissing his forehead.

"You and Uncle Kadar woke me up," Tazim yawned.

"Oh-"

"Is Uncle Kadar getting ice cream?"

"Uh, no-"

"Because I want some too."

Kadar stifled a laugh. Malik glared at him. He sighed. "Alright. Looks like we're all having ice cream."

Tazim cheered. Kadar snickered. Maybe some ice cream was all he needed.


A/N: Don't worry, next story won't be as.. Sad. Ish. Also, in this AU, Malik, Kadar, and Faheem (their dad) were in a car crash (because of Templars, obviously) were Faheem died and Malik lost his arm (so now he has a robo-Edward Elric type arm.) ^-^ Yeah.