Haruka awoke to the sound of crying and glancing down she saw that Hotaru had her face buried against her, crying hard.
"Princess? What's wrong?" the butch murmured sleepily as she sat up slightly, using the arm that Hotaru had been cuddled under to scoop the girl up into a half way seated position and pull her closer.
"I dreamed you left….because of me!" the child sobbed, earning a sigh from Haruka.
"I promise that I will never do that. I won't promise I won't be a jerk sometimes because old habits die hard but I promise that I will never leave you." Haruka muttered, hugging the child tighter.
Haruka hated herself for this, the little girl was crying and it was her fault.
"Hotaru….I don't ever want you to feel alone."
She added after a few minutes of just cuddling the girl, feeling the violent sobs turn into sniffles.
"Papa? Can we play together today?"
Her question reminded Haruka of how many times she had blown the child off but now she wouldn't.
"Sure thing baby girl…But why don't you help me make breakfast?"
When Michiru came downstairs she was surprised to hear laughter from the kitchen, where she found Haruka wiping batter off her face.
"Watch it monkey." She scolded the child lightly, ruffling her hair before returning her attention on the task at hand.
Michiru watched the two, seeing Haruka not only relaxed around Hotaru but being teasing.
"My…aren't you two up early?" Michiru stated, earning a smirk from Haruka.
"Good morning to you too Michiru." Haruka replied just as Hotaru climbed down from the chair she was standing on and rushed to give the mermaid like woman a hug.
"I'm glad you two are in a good mood this morning." Michiru replied, all while hugging Hotaru back.
"yeah well….I kind of promised her that I would spend time with her today….and I was thinking maybe we could go on a picnic….after all….Every other time you guys did that I was too busy." Haruka retorted, earning a grin.
"That's a wonderful idea." Michiru agreed as she moved to help her family, making sure not to wake Setsuna up.
"What time did you and the old hag drag in last night?" Haruka asked as they worked, earning an eye roll and chuckle from the aqua haired woman.
"Around three thirty. You and Hotaru were passed out on the couch."
"Papa let me stay up with her for a while because I had a bad dream." Hotaru stated, earning a blush from Haruka.
"yeah, well what should I had done? Let you sit alone while you were shaking like a leaf?" the blonde retorted, a bit harshly but the tone didn't seem to phase Hotaru who just grinned
"papa can be so funny too!" the little girl began, causing the blonde to blush again and cover Hotaru's mouth.
"Let's keep that a secret between us Hime-chan!"
Michiru chuckled at the two as Hotaru pulled away from Haruka and nodded, only to be scooped up by the blonde.
"Well whatever it was Hotaru must have enjoyed it. Why don't you two go wake up Setsuna while I finish up here?"
