Here's my final entry for Taiora Week 2022. The theme today is Taiora and Children so naturally I had to have Dawn appear in this one :)
There was a set of old prompts for Taiora week that some people are still using, and one of them was Thunderstorms so this idea was originally going to be used for that until I decided to go with the new prompts so I thought why not combine the two
Hope you enjoy!
Not Everyone Loves Thundershowers
Three year old Dawn Kamiya could not understand why the sky was making that awful noise...
After being tucked in bed by her mother earlier that evening, she had been sound asleep; dreaming about the playground and her favourite candy when she had been abruptly woken up by an almighty boom. A boom so loud she could have sworn it caused her bedroom to shake… and it seemed to be getting louder. Dawn slowly lowered her bed sheet from her eyes, braving a look from above the covers. But the sheet was swiftly pulled back up when another flash of lightning lit up her room for a second before it was swiftly followed by another thunderous roar.
It was like the sky was angry…
She didn't like it when the sky was angry. She preferred it when the sky was happy. Blue skies and the sun beaming down meant she could play at the park or beach, or play soccer with her father and Agumon. When the sky was sad and pouring with rain, despite not being able to play outside, it meant being creative with her paints and crayons, or help her mother bake cookies. When the sky was angry and making all that noise she really didn't like it… it scared her, and she wanted it to stop.
The rain had now started to fall too, lashing against the glass of the balcony doors, aided by the wind. It was so loud it sounded as if it was threatening to break the glass at any moment. Normally the rain didn't faze her, but mixed in with the flashes and terrifying rumbles it definitely wasn't making her feel any better.
After another thunderous bang which caused her to jolt in fright, Dawn had decided it was too scary to stay in her room anymore. She threw back her bed sheets, exposing her soccer themed pyjamas. Clutching her teddy she climbed down out of her bed and toddled across her room towards the door. She was now just tall enough to reach the door handles, something Tai and Sora now dreaded as it meant she could cause mischief in any room she managed to gain entry to. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she pulled the handle down just as the sky bellowed angrily again. It caused her to swing the door back in a panic before running out of her bedroom as fast as she could.
She knew somewhere safe she could to go, and thankfully it was only two doors down from her bedroom. Reaching her parents' room, she reached up grabbing the handle and pushed the door open. "Mommy? Daddy?" She was met with silence, as both her parents were still sleeping. How could they sleep through all this scary noise? As if on cue, another clap of thunder startled the toddler. She immediately made a dash for her parent's bed. She climbed up onto the foot of the bed, grabbing hold of the sheets for support as she pulled herself up…
Her clambering all over the bed had now woken her mother. Sora stirred, lifting her head a little off the pillow to see who had disturbed her sleep. "Dawn?" she sat up upon seeing the little girl positioned near the end of their bed hugging her teddy. "What are you doing out of bed sweetie?" Her question was soon answered when a flash of lightning and rumble of thunder caused her daughter to flinch in terror, and the sound of the heavy rain now caught Sora's attention.
"It's scary…" her daughter pouted, her voice cracking a little. "Can I sleep in here with you?"
Sora sighed considerately. Being only three their daughter hadn't experienced many thunderstorms. To a young child they probably would come across as quite frightening, especially with the unpredictability of when the lightning and thunder would occur. The first thunderstorm their daughter had experienced was just before she had turned one, and she had cried all throughout the night; only settling once she was cuddled up in bed with them. "C'mere," Sora said softly, scooting over a little to make a space big enough in between herself and Tai. As Dawn scrambled up the bed and under the covers, Sora cast a glance at her husband who was still sleeping… of course Tai could sleep through just about anything. "You know, there's nothing to be afraid of," she said soothingly once their daughter had settled under the covers. "It's just thunder and lightning."
Dawn looked up at her mother a little curiously, but darted back under the sheets when the thunder roared once again. "Aren't you scared?" she asked, peering out for a moment.
"No, in fact I love thundershowers." Sora replied with a smile.
"I don't." her daughter bluntly grumbled, covering her face again. A few flashes lit up the room, followed by one long continuous rumble.
Sora smiled, pulling the covers down exposing her daughter's pouting face. "That's because you're still a little too young to understand what thunderstorms are. You may change your mind once you're a little older, and maybe like me you might grow to enjoy them."
"Is Daddy scared of thunder and lighting?"
"Uh well…" Sora then smiled a little deviously. Why should Tai carry on sleeping peacefully when they were both awake…? "Why don't you ask him?" she suggested.
Dawn didn't hesitate and turned to face her father. "Daddy?" No response, instead he just carried on snoring lightly. She tried again; this time poking him with her tiny finger. "Daddy? …Daddy?"
That had done the trick. "Dawn…" he groaned sleepily, half opening one eye. "You're supposed to be asleep; not waking me up…" he went to turn over when the thunder boomed again, and he felt Dawn jump back under their bed sheets, kicking him a little by accident as she did. Feeling a little guilty realising now why their daughter was in their bed, Tai propped himself up a little, rubbing his daughter's back in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey, it's ok kiddo; it's just the storm outside."
"I don't like it…" came Dawn's muffled voice from under the covers. "I wish it would stop."
"I wish I could do that for you kiddo… but…" Tai trailed off, a little lost at what to say. He didn't like telling his daughter he couldn't do something, especially when Dawn was at that age where she thought he could do just about anything. He looked over at his wife to see she was looking just as disappointed in herself that it was something they couldn't fix; even though it was something they couldn't control.
They hated seeing their little girl afraid. They knew this was probably a phase, and Dawn would probably outgrow her fear of thunderstorms once she was older. Either that or she would still be jumping into their bed as a teenager Tai had once joked. But jokes aside, they knew moments like this wouldn't last forever. Just like whenever their daughter had a bad dream she would jump into their bed for comfort, and they would cuddle together to make her feel better. They knew one day their little girl wouldn't be so little anymore and would outgrow not only her fear of thunderstorms, but also her need for them in some aspects…
Sora snuggled up to Dawn, placing a comforting arm around her. "You might not remember this, but you were almost one when you experienced your first thunderstorm. It was during the night, just like now, but it was far worse than this one. You wouldn't stop crying no matter what we tried. You only settled once you were safely cuddled up with us in bed and then you soon slept through the rest of the storm."
"So, why don't we try that again now?" Tai added, also cuddling up to their daughter from his side. He draped his arm across, making sure Dawn felt safely protected in between them.
As soon as her parents' arms were safely around her, Dawn felt her fears ease a little. As another rumble of thunder could be heard outside, she still felt a little uneasy and a tiny bit scared; but she hadn't flinched, or tried to dive under the covers again now she was safely snuggled up in her parents' arms. "Why is the sky angry?" she asked.
"Well…" Sora hesitated for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain it to their three year old daughter. She was still a little young to understand the terminology of a thunderstorm. "Sometimes, like with people, the sky needs to let off some pressure to cool down."
"Like when Daddy shouts at the TV watching the soccer game?"
"Kinda," Sora said with a giggle as Tai playfully frowned. "But as wrong as it is when Daddy says those naughty words, it's completely natural for the sky to make these noises."
"But they're scary noises…" Dawn said innocently, sinking a little further into her parents embrace as another flash lit up the room, followed by more thunder. "It's too loud and it makes my room shake…"
"Thunder can be like that sometimes kiddo," Tai said. "Like your Mom said, it's just the sky trying to cool down. It's not trying to hurt you."
"What about Agumon and Biyomon? Will they be okay on their own?"
"Yeah, I'm sure they're fine. Agumon will probably sleep through an apocalypse so I doubt a thunderstorm will disturb him."
Dawn tilted her head up a little. "What's a apo-apoc-apocla-" she tried to repeat what her father had said, but she couldn't quite manage it.
Sora gave her husband a look. "Are you trying to give our daughter a headache now?"
"What? I didn't think she would try and repeat it."
"Just like you didn't think she would repeat that naughty word you said when you were watching the soccer game?"
"Hey, in my defence I didn't realise she was there. Last time I checked she had been taking a nap." Tai protested.
"It was probably your shouting and complaining that woke her up anyway." Sora teased. She giggled quietly as he frowned at her. She gently leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips.
"Wait… do you hear that?"
"Huh? I don't hear anything except the storm outside…" Sora said, a little confused.
"Exactly,"
Lately whenever Tai and Sora showed any affection to each other, such as kissing, Dawn would make an adorable scrunched up face saying it was mushy... When Sora had kissed Tai just now there had been silence... Glancing down between them, they noticed their daughter had somehow drifted off to sleep during their mini debate and was snuggled peacefully in their arms holding her teddy.
"Well, that didn't take long," Tai smiled. He paused when the thunder rumbled again, only this time it was a little quieter; a sign the storm was hopefully starting to pass.
Sora smiled, taking the opportunity to kiss her husband again. "I think our little girl won't have much trouble sleeping now for the rest of the night."
