Syaoran Li stepped lightly over the carpeted floor, ears listening intently. This hunt never ceased to amaze and excite him, his prey was cunning, ever learning and getting smarter with every round.
Carefully avoiding the part of the floor that he knew from experience made a loud squeaking noise when stepped on, Li sized up his options.
Two doors. Two rooms of the house left unsearched. One chance. If he chose wrong, she would slip out of the other room and find a new hiding spot. That would lead to another full-house search, which would probably lead to Syaoran resorting to magic, which would set a bad example.
He froze, ears tuned into a sound. Giggling, from the room on the right. Smirking slightly, Li moved to the door and crept in quietly. He heard a muffled gasp and everything went silent.
Eyeballing the closet, Syaoran moved towards it quickly and pulled the door open. Nothing, except for the sound of more giggling at his incorrect guess.
He looked around the room intently. If she was watching him, that meant that she must be hiding..
"Gotcha," Li said, pulling up the covers to peer under the bed. Emerald green eyes stared back at him, blinking in disappointment at being found.
"Awww, no fair, Daddy!" The two year old squirmed out from under the bed and pouted at Li's feet.
He smiled kindly at his daughter, reaching down and picking her up. "Yes fair," he argued back gently. "I found you and now it's bath time. What color pajamas do you want?"
The child pondered for a moment, then spoke. "The pink nightgown!"
Li nodded and retrieved the nightgown from it's drawer. "C'mon, off to the tub with you, Yuri-chan."
He carried the pouting child into the bathroom and began to fill up the water. "I hate bath time."
Li laughed softly. "I know. But Mommy found something that may make it more fun for you." He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a large bottle.
"What's that?"
Syaoran moved to the swiftly filling tub and poured some of the liquid into the water, using his hand to swirl it around. Yuri came up behind him to watch, eyes wide. "Bubble bath," her father told her. "Now you can play in the bubbles with your duckie."
Yuri began cheering, jumping up and down and squealing in delight. "Well, hurry up and get in then," Li told her, and his young daughter hastened to comply.
After the bath, he dried her off and pulled the nightgown over her head. "Did you enjoy the bubble bath?"
She nodded eagerly. "Yup! Bubbles are fun!"
"Good." Li picked her up again and shut off the bathroom light, leaving the tub to drain. "Now it's time for your other least-favorite activity."
Yuri twisted in his arms to look at his face. "What?"
"Bedtime."
Yuri groaned quietly. "Can I play with bubbles there?"
Li laughed. "Nope, you have to go to sleep."