Disclaimer: Sionnach Fae/Kitsune's past was created entirely by San child of the wolves. As usual I only give it life.

Author's note: Ack, tiny!

Hmm, maybe I should have put this with the other Kitsune chapter, but I felt it was different enough to give its own space. Sorry for the smallness.

Read. Enjoy. Review

Fears of Fighters

"You sure you want to keep going, Shy?" Cloak asked, using Sionnach's closely guarded nickname.

He nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Wait a sec, there's more?" Leo asked, arching an eyebrow. He was about to say more when Clay placed a hand over his mouth. He glanced irritated at the gray-skinned girl.

"Please, before he asks something else!" She groaned. Leo was way to curious for her current liking.

Zendi laughed at her friend and Clay pulled a face.

Kitsune smirked, of all weirdness that they'd been through, this was the part he enjoyed to watch.

"Alright, well this is the story about why I have the fear of water… it's, it's a little hard for me… but—"

"I will help you." Cloak said softly, holding his boyfriend's hand.

"Things were always pretty good in my family… until we went on vacation when I was seven and my b-brother…" He sucked in a deep breath, "He was only one. We went to a snow resort…"

Two bundled up figures made their way through the ice and snow to a frozen lake. One appeared to be a little boy, obviously Sionnach Fae, he was wrapped up in a maroon winter jacket and a black scarf was wrapped around his face. A stocking cap was pulled low over his ears.

The boy walked alongside a woman, his mother. The woman was wearing a similarly colored jacket and had two pairs of ice skates draped over her shoulder.

"Come on Sionnach, the lake is right here!" The woman called back sweetly. There was a ton of snow on the ground, to the pleasure of the skiers, snowboarders, and the little boy. He stopped making a hasty snowman and ran after his mother.

"Okay." He jogged up behind the woman. Like her son she had angular features and maroon colored hair. She handed a pair of ice skates to him.

They both strapped on their skates and began skating on the ice.

Sionnach was skating in a circle when he heard a slight crack. He looked down to see cracks forming in the ice.

"Mom!" He cried out, skating toward her.

The woman turned just in time to see the ice break from under her son's feet. She cried out in alarm and skated over to the hole.

Sionnach flailed his arms as he sunk. The water was intensely cold, so cold it froze him straight through to the bone. He was okay for the first few seconds, but as the water soaked into his clothing he couldn't shake the cold. It was like a constant artic wind cutting through him. The cold took over his body and he could no longer move his limbs, he could barely breathe. He definitely couldn't breathe when his head went under the water. The chilling liquid entered his lungs.

He thought he'd never see the surface again.

Suddenly arms wrapped around him and dragged him to the surface. He coughed and sputtered as he was tossed up onto the ice. He rolled to look at the hole in the ice.

His mother was struggling to pull herself up. In a panic Sionnach extended his arms and tried to help her. She swatted his arms away and clawed at the ice.

"N-no honey, I-I'll pull you d-down too." She was able to hold herself there for a few seconds to tell him one last thing. "I love you, Sionnach."

"No, mom!" Sionnach screamed, his frozen throat making his voice hoarse.

She slipped under the water with a shaky gasp.

Sionnach could only watch as she drowned. The image was permanently seared into his memory.

"Dios mio**…" Leo muttered. For once with all the stories he was speechless.

So was everyone else. Most of the mutants there had lost a parent. There was little they could say or do to comfort something so intense.

Benj and Tyler exchanged glances. They had both witnessed the death of their parents firsthand. It was the reason why Benj rarely drove, the reason why Tyler had risked so much in the burning warehouse. (For those not tuning into D-Factor: Benj's parents were killed in a car crash, Tyler and Leo's were killed in an arson attack.) The experience of that greatly shaped their lives, whether they would acknowledge it or not.

Cloak squeezed Sionnach's hand slightly. The fox mutant sighed and finished his narrative.

"About forty-five minutes after she went under a group of skaters found me frozen to the bone and rushed me back to the lodge. They tried to help my mom… but it was too late. My father was never the same again. It crushed him. He drilled my brother and I on hating those who were different, mutants. I don't know how he knew, but he drilled us on despising them-us. I had to grow up fast. I never got time to face my fear. Th-that's why I can't have anything to do with water." He looked at their leader, Clay. "I thank you for realizing this, for once not pushing me beyond what I am capable of."

Clay nodded, her green eyes flashing. "I'm not that big of a-" she looked at their youngest member, Nico, and coughed, "-uh well I know what you can and cannot do. I will push you all to your limits to expand them, but I know what will break you. I know the limitations."

"Yeah, and that's scary." Leo muttered, only to receive an elbow to the ribs.

"I wouldn't say scary…" Zendi said grinning. "It's good. Otherwise we would've all died a long time ago."

Benj groaned and sat back in his chair. "Which I guess is all a part of being in the Haven. Almost dying, but not."

So yeah, could've gone with the last chapter, but I like having it separate. It's such a different tone for Sionnach that I thought it would be okay to have separate.

Next will be Cloak/Enrique. I'm gonna make myself write it and push past my writer's block. (It could take a little while because aside from writer's block with it I also was smart enough to involve myself in a situation between two friends. *Facepalm*. I love them both to death but being both their secret-keepers is awful. But that's just who I am. I'm a Clay who's in everyone's business.)

**Dios mio is Spanish for 'my God'. My Spanish teacher said it all the time.

Until next time...

~Keep writing strong.