So... I realized I have had this last chapter kicking around on my hard drive for like the past 3 years and haven't published it. So sorry people! This will, for now, be the end of this fic. I am a college student now, and my muse has kind of been gone for years (haha). So hope you enjoy this final installment, unless I randomly become inspired again (which at this point isn't entirely likely), I must say cheers and thanks for reading!
Night Dragons
"Papa, papa!" The little girl in her nightdress ran headlong into her parent's bedroom, her unbrushed hair streaming out behind her, and a frightened look on her small face.
"What is it, Suiren? Why are you awake?" Asked her father groggily, lifting his head from the pillow, and turning on the lights with a wave of his hand. He squinted, eyes adjusting to the suddenly bright light that inundated the room. It had been a long day for him, and he had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow earlier that night. He looked down at his young daughter, standing shy and afraid in the middle of the room.
"I… I had a bad dream" stuttered the child, her lower lip quivering slightly. She looked up at her father, who patted the space on the bed next to him. She quickly ran over, and scrambled up onto the tall bed, crawling over the large expanse to her father and curling up next to him.
He put his arm around the girl, who happily snuggled in closer to him. "Now, what was your bad dream about?" He asked her, once she had settled down comfortably. Usually, it was his wife that dealt with this, but she was currently away visiting relatives. It wasn't exactly his strongpoint, but he would do his best to comfort his frightened child nonetheless.
"It was… a scary dragon" she mumbled. He immediately stiffened, his brow furrowing and a frown appearing on his handsome face. If his child was afraid of dragons, that was not amusing.
"A dragon?" He asked, perplexed.
"Yes…. Oh! But it wasn't a nice dragon like you daddy!" She said, looking up earnestly at her father. "It was a scary dragon. A mean one! It was big and ugly and had big claws and breathed fire and wanted to lock me up in a tower and eat me! I was really scared!" She exclaimed, cringing at the memory.
"But Suiren, you know dragons don't lock up little girls to eat them! Where did you get a silly idea like that?"
"Hmm…I don't know… Wait! I think… it was in a book from Grandma."
Oh.
He was going to have to speak to his wife about that.
On the rare occasion that Chihiro returned to the human world to visit her family for a short while, or on the even rarer occasion that the whole family went, his in-laws (with whom he understandably did not get along very well) usually had gifts for their little granddaughter. Looks like he's going to have to go through the books they send.
"Suiren… you know dragons aren't really like that. Those dragons are just pretend, they're only in stories." –Bad stories, he thought to himself. Bad western stories. - "Don't you think it's silly to be afraid of dragons when you're half dragon yourself?
"Uh-huh" The girl nodded sleepily, not really listening anymore. Her eyelids were already starting to droop again, wrapped up safely as she was in her father's warm embrace. Nothing would be able to get her here; here she was protected from any monster or bad dream that might possibly try to harm her. Because daddy is safe, and nothing is able to get past him.
Haku looked tenderly down at his drowsy daughter, her closing eyes not escaping him. He let her stay there, until her soft breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep. Quietly, gently, he picked her up and carried her back to her bed.
"Sweet dreams little one. No more nightmares" he said, kissing her forehead.
Ps: Suiren means water lily :)
