A/N: Hey :3 Well what do you know, after near enough four years I'm finally uploading again, haha.
This is a oneshot I did after the idea had been bugging me for a while… Don't know if it's too long to be classed as a drabble though. I wrote this before the 'Omi Town' episode aired over here, so bear that in mind as this uses ideas I had before seeing the episode. But oh well!
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or its characters – they belong to Christy Hui.
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A small boy padded softly down the corridor. He could have been no older than two or three; his night-clothes were slightly too big for him and caused him to stumble occasionally. He was frightened, having woken suddenly from a bad dream. The space was dark and seemingly endless, save for a thin chink of light that spread across the floor in front of him and signalled safety.
Slowly, he pushed the door open further to peek into the room. A lamp burned on a dressing table, in front of which kneeled a young woman. She untied her hair, causing it to fall to her waist in a curtain of ebony. The boy watched as she began to comb it, noticing the way it reflected the light in waves of copper and gold and red, and thought that she was beautiful.
"Mama."
She turned and her face filled with warmth. He ran to her out-stretched arms and felt safe, all fears and bad dreams forgotten because she was there, she would always be there to protect him with her warm arms and powdery scent and glistening hair. He pressed his face against the skin of her neck that was coloured ivory and contrasted so much with her dark hair. He felt her smile as she sang softly to him, soothing and comforting words in her sweet voice that made everything better.
"Omi."
And then she was gone and he didn't understand, why couldn't he see her anymore? Why didn't she wake up? Everyone looked at him so sadly and he didn't understand, he just wanted her so that he could breathe her special scent and she would tell him everything was okay. If only they would let him go and find her, then she would wake up because she was his mama and she loved him, and she would sing the lullaby she always sang.
The boy was in a strange new place he didn't recognise. They told him he would be looked after here, but he was still scared, even though the elderly man was kind and the dragon told jokes to make him smile. The room he slept in was big and lonely and different. He wanted to go home, he wanted his mama. But he knew this was his home now and he would never see his mama or hear her lullaby again. He cried.
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Omi woke suddenly and stared at the ceiling. He felt the familiar, sad tug at his heart that he always felt when he dreamed of his mother. Closing his eyes, he tried to recall her face, but to his frustration could only manage a blurry, shadowy image, no definite features. He sighed sadly. He had been too young.
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It was late evening; the dragons had finished their training and chores for the day and were preparing for bed. As Omi walked down the corridor towards the room they slept in, his ears picked up a faint sound, an achingly familiar tune. Eyes wide and heart racing, he began to run. He knew it couldn't be, it wouldn't be, but for a second he hoped beyond hope that it was.
It wasn't. Omi leaned against the doorframe, out of breath. She sat cross-legged on the floor, a mirror propped up in front of her, and loosened her hair. It fell to her shoulders in a curtain of ebony, reflecting copper and gold and red in the lamplight. She was singing softly to herself, the same lullaby that Omi had not heard for so long. Kimiko.
She stopped suddenly and turned, sensing his presence. "Omi?"
He was snapped out of his thoughts by her voice, and felt embarrassed. "Ah, Kimiko, I was just..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say and realising that he must look strange, standing in the doorway staring at her.
Kimiko smiled at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." He returned her smile, just as Clay and Raimundo appeared behind him.
"Hey there, little buddy," Clay said sleepily, placing his hat on Omi's head, as Raimundo wrapped an arm around his shoulder with a grin.
His mother and the house they shared may have been gone, only returning to him in dreams and faint memories, but it was okay. At that moment, he knew. He knew that, surrounded by friends, he was safe and protected and loved. This was his home now. "Yes, I am most fine."