AN: Many thanks to trearoos for your comment! :)

Age Three

"Nahyuta! Apollo! Come on in, it's almost your bedtime, boys!" Dhurke calls. He picks up Nahyuta's storybook that he has left on the small bench next to the back door this morning, and goes back inside and into the kids' room, where he lays it on the small nightstand Nahyuta and Apollo share.

"Dhurke!" He hears small footsteps running up to him, and Nahyuta tugs at his sleeve. "Apollo's up in the tree. He says he's not going to go to bed, no matter what."

Dhurke follows his son back outside to the nearby oak tree. Apollo is sitting on a branch not very high up and when he sees Dhurke approaching, he pulls another branch towards himself and attempts to hide behind it.

Dhurke laughs. "I can still see you, son!"

"Not comin' down!"

"That's a shame. You know, I made some hot chocolate for you boys to have before bed..."

"Hot chocolate?"the children cry out in unison.

"Yes, but I guess yours will be Dhurke's chocolate if you're not coming down soon, Apollo. Hah-ha ha ha ha ha!"

Apollo hesitantly peeks out from behind the branch. "But I have t' go t' bed if I come down."

"Well... yes, eventually."

The little boy's face disappears again. "I'm not comin'!"

Dhurke sighs. "Why don't you go on inside, Nahyuta? Your brother and I will be joining you in no time," he says to the boy.

"Yes, Father." Nahyuta runs back towards the shack, and Dhurke turns back to his younger son who is still hiding behind the branch.

"Alright, son, we really have to hurry now, or your hot chocolate's going to be cold."

"I ain't goin' t' bed! It's bad in there an' I don't wanna go there anymore!"

"Oh son, whatever's the matter? You didn't have any problems with going to bed yesterday, so why is it bad all of the sudden?"

Apollo slowly lowers the branch. "You won' tell 'Yuta if I tell? Cause if he knows, he'll treat me like a baby again."

"I won't tell him, son. This will stay secret."

Apollo beams. "Yeah! Our secret!" His expression then falls again as something apparently crosses his mind. "But 'Yuta always says secrets have t' be whispered into the other's ear. Otherwise, it's no real secret, he says."

"Hmmm… I think your brother's right about that, son."

"But I can't whisper it t' you if you're down there."

Dhurke holds out his arms. "Well, how about you come here then, son?"

Apollo considers, chewing his bottom lip. Then he smiles. "Okay!"

He jumps, and Dhurke catches him and spins him through the air again and again, causing him to scream with laughter. Eventually, they sit down on the grass, Apollo climbing onto Dhurke's lap.

"Now, son. What is it that makes you not want to go to bed anymore?"

Apollo cautiously takes a look around, obviously searching for any unwanted listeners, even though they are completely alone out here, now that Nahyuta's back inside, before he answers in a whisper: "Las' night, there were really bad things happening."

"Really? What things?"

"There was real bad burning. With huge flames 'n all. An' I was all alone an' I couldn' find 'Yuta or you 'cause it was burnin' so bad. An' when I opened my eyes t' call you, suddenly, it was all gone." He sniffles. "It was real scary, and I don' wanna go back there ever again!"

"Oh son." Dhurke pulls the boy into his arms. "You apparently had a nightmare."

"What's a nigh-mare?"

"It's a bad dream."

"But it was burning, Dhurke! Real bad! An' if I go back to bed, it'll burn again!"

"No, son. It was just a dream. Remember what I told you about dreams?"

"Um… they're not real, you said."

"Exactly. There was never any fire. It was just your imagination, son. Your bed is still quite safe. Trust me."

"Okay… But what if real fire comes?"

"Don't worry, son. There will be no real fire. And if there is, I'll protect you and your brother."

Apollo pulls back slightly and looks at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. And Apollo? If you're having bad dreams again, or you're scared, I want you to know that you can always come to me. Okay?"

"O-Okay!"

It's astounding how much Apollo resembles Jove already, Dhurke thinks to himself. He even has inherited the two strands of hair which keep falling into his forehead.

This nightmare, and this strong fear of fire – it can't possibly result from him subconsciously remembering that incident… can it?

…No. He has only been one year old when it happened. He cannot possibly remember this. Not even subconsciously.

"Good. " Dhurke gently tousles his son's hair. "Now how about we go back inside? I'm sure that if we leave your brother alone for another few minutes, he'll help himself to your hot chocolate as well as the cookies."

Apollo lets out a shocked screech, jumps to his feet and dashes off, Dhurke following him, laughing to himself about how protective each of his children are of their food or sweets.

However, it turns out he has not been so far off with his statement after all, for when he enters the living-room a moment later, Apollo's hot chocolate is still sitting on the table, untouched, but there's Nahyuta, frozen in place, holding the now empty cookie jar in his hands.

"'m inn'cent," he says helplessly with his mouth still full.

Dhurke spends the rest of the evening keeping the boys from fighting, and promising Apollo to get new cookies.

It's the middle of the night, when Dhurke wakes up from the creak of his bedroom door slowly opening, and a small voice whispering: "…Dhurke?"

He switches on the bedside lamp. Apollo's standing in the doorframe, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"The f-fire's bein' there again, a-an'…"

Dhurke lifts his blanket, and pats onto the mattress. "It's alright, son. Come here."

Apollo climbs onto the bed, crawls beneath the covers and practically throws himself into Dhurke's arms, his small hands desperately searching purchase in the fabric of Dhurke's shirt, his body still slightly shivering in fear. Dhurke holds him tight and soothingly rubs his back.

"Shhh. It's okay now, Apollo. You're safe, I've got you."

For a moment, he feels like it is two weeks after the fire again, and he is holding the one-year-old after he has once again woken up crying, calming him down and desperately wishing he could shield him from all the horror and sadness that has been weighing on their lives ever since that day.

"'m sorry I woke you up," Apollo sobs against his chest.

"Don't apologize for that, son, it's alright. I did tell you to come to me when you're scared, didn't I?"

Apollo sniffles.

"Now, son, do you want me to sing you a song, so that you're no longer scared?"

Apollo presses closer to his chest and nods. "I like songs."

Dhurke laughs, ruffles his hair and thinks about what he can sing to him. He knows many children's songs, but he is not sure which one will be most suited to calm Apollo down. Then, he remembers something from a few years ago.

"It's been ages since I last heard someone sing that last song", Dhurke says, sipping at his drink thoughtfully. "It's not very well known anymore."

"Really? But I thought it was a classic Khura'inese lullaby for children."

"It is. Or, to be more exact, it was. It is a very, very old song, and somehow, it was sung less and less throughout the ages, with the consequence that today, there are only very few who still know of it."
"Well, that's a pity. I think it's a beautiful song."

"I agree. But really, I'm curious, how did you come to know it? You've not been to Khura'in very often before, have you?"

Jove laughs. "No, to be honest, this is my first visit. But when you travel the world, you get to hear music of all sorts of origins. I heard another musician perform it while we were in Japan, and I couldn't get it out of my head, so I asked him to write down the lyrics for me. But up to this day, I only sang it for my son to put him to sleep, so this is actually the first time I have performed it publicly."

Smiling, Dhurke starts to sing. With every word, he can feel Apollo's shivering lessen, and his breathing calm down. His hands loosen their tight grip on the fabric of Dhurke's shirt, as he listens to the song.

By the time Dhurke reaches the last verse, Apollo has fallen asleep.