"Oh no…what have I done?" Raine paled and stood perfectly still, frozen in shock. She hated herself for being so careless, and now Lloyd was…what was Lloyd? He couldn't be gone, no, not after all this time. Not after she'd seen him fight so many battles, and survive so many insane situations on sometimes nothing more than just pure dumb luck. It just couldn't be happening. So lost in her own turmoil, Raine almost didn't hear the faint noise at her feet until she dared a quick look downwards. Had that pile of clothes just moved?
"Ah!" She jumped black slightly as she watched the red garment twitch a few times before stilling once more. Grabbing a broom, she slowly approached the spot once more and gave it a hesitant poke. She almost jumped out of her skin as she heard a small cry.
"What in the world?" Raine bent over the pile, debating what to do next. That's when she noticed something rather peculiar, a tiny little hand sticking out from under the material. Either that potion had caused Lloyd's clothes to become possessed and start sprouting random limbs or…
"Oh my God!" the woman gasped out, half out of pure shock and half out of mingled relief.
XxX
"Took you long enough. Dinner is getting cold," Genis scolded as he saw his sister emerge from the basement, carrying a bundle of something in her arm and looking uneasy. "Um, is everything alright? What's that?" the boy gestured to the bundle in her arms, to which to woman shifted the weight of her burden, glancing around the room shiftily.
"It's…I…" Raine faltered, racking her brain for a possible explanation that wouldn't send the two men in front of her into comas. Kratos, whom had been waiting patiently for Raine and Lloyd to arrive before eating, was even getting curious now. Knowing that sort of unsure hesitation in wording was not a trait typically associated with the professor caused him to worry as well.
"Is something the matter? Where's Lloyd?" He waited for a response. Genis was also now fixed on his sister, and you could practically cut the anticipation in the room with a knife.
"He's…here, take this." Raine took that moment to shove the bundle in Kratos's face, holding it away as if it were a ticking time bomb ready to explode.
"Excuse me?" Kratos titled his head in confusion, but accepted the offer nonetheless, noting the slight warmth emitting from the object. He was startled when he noticed something squirming on his lap and looked up at Raine for some sort of clue, but the woman only turned her head to the side guilty. Finally deciding to take investigation in to his own hands, he began unwrapping the material. Genis leaned over to the point of almost falling out of his chair to get a good view. Kratos gasped as tousled brown locks were reveled plus a pair of innocent brown eyes blinking up at him a second later.
"Holy…s-" Genis winced at the disapproving look from his sister due to the near curse, "…socks," he finished, silence reigning supreme after that. Kratos just stared down at the child in his arms, his mind rapidly approaching a nervous breakdown. He had seen this child before, he knew that, but that was a very long time ago. An entire lifetime ago. That face brought up a whole torrent of emotions he though he had buried long before, as well as more than a few painful memories.
"Explain…this." Kratos spoke slowly, harshly, not taking his eyes off the boy in his lap as he did so. Raine visibly winced at the tone of voice, having heard it before, but never having the very unpleasant experience of it being aimed at her.
"I was working on an age restorative potion when Lloyd came to check on me. When we were getting ready to leave, I tripped and spilled the potion on him," Raine bit her lip as she trailed off, knowing that the rest was fairly self-explanatory. "Perhaps I made it just a tad too strong."
"Ya think?" Genis squeaked out, grateful for the fact that Raine was too upset and too far away to thwack him just yet. Besides, no one was really paying attention to him anyway. Kratos has finally gotten enough hold on himself to look up at Raine, and the two adults were currently having a tense staring contest. Raine was starting to become very uncomfortable with that unwavering gaze, and when Kratos still didn't see fit to have any kind of response she continued.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can find something that can reverse the effect, I'll just have to do some more research. Tomorrow, I'll head to Sybak."
"Fine."
"Fine?" Raine let relief as well as confusion wash over her, not really expecting the man whose son she had just shrunk to be so accepting.
"Fine. You made a quite uncharacteristically foolish mistake, and I will allow you the chance to make amends."
"Oh…of, of course. I trust that you'll be taking care of him for the time being?"
"I don't know if that's entirely fair. It was your mistake after all."
"Well, it's only appropriate," Raine spoke carefully. The blood relationship between Lloyd and Kratos was a topic that most in the group typically avoided, including the two men themselves. It was a painful wound for the older man, and for Lloyd, something he probably just wasn't ready to deal with yet.
"I understand that but…"
"Besides, if you want me to get him back to normal, I probably won't have all that much time to look after him."
"I'll help!!" Genis perked up and got up from his seat at the table, "As a matter of fact, I think we have some extra carrots. I'll just mash them up to make some food for him!" Genis began to do just that, whistling happily to himself the whole time. "This'll be so much fun!"
"Genis, we're not playing house," Raine sighed. "This is serious."
"I know! I just want to do my part to make this easier for Kratos."
"I appreciate it…" Kratos trailed off as he again dared a look at the boy in his lap, who had now fallen fast asleep once more. Disregarding the initial shock, there was something growing in Kratos that almost felt like real happiness. But it didn't feel right having that happiness now, not without Anna around to share it.
Really, he was going to need all the help he could get.
XxX
It was just as Kratos finished tucking in his son that he heard a faint knock on the door. The boy had been fast asleep all night, probably due to the fact that his body was exhausted from the sudden age change. Or at least, that's the reason Kratos had come up with. It could be just Lloyd's typically laziness.
"Sorry to bother you." Raine spoke as the door was opened to her, peeking over Kratos' shoulder as she did. "He's still asleep?"
"Yes." Kratos stepped back in order to make room for the woman to come inside, wondering what she could want to talk to him about after she had been practically avoiding him all day.
"Good, I want to talk to you." The woman placed a few bags on the half of the bed that the sleeping boy wasn't occupying. "I went out and got you some supplies to make this easier while I'm gone."
"Supplies?" Kratos raised an eyebrow at the various items Raine began taking out of the bags. Looked like some diapers, toys, and a large amount of clothes.
"I figure these will fit, he looks to be a little over a year old, wouldn't you say?" Raine held up a sleeping outfit with little cartoon sheep decorating it.
"I suppose."
"Oh, and look at this one!" she beamed and held up a little jacket, complete with sewed on mittens.
"It's not even winter," Kratos replied flatly.
"I know, but they had such a great sale. Oh wait, this is the best one…" Raine grinned as she pulled out a sweater with a hood on it, complete with bunny ears.
"I think you're getting just a little too excited over this." Kratos smiled in bizarre fascination as Raine began demonstrating the motions of a bouncing bunny with the outfit.
"Aren't you excited?" the woman countered.
"I can hardly contain myself." Raine sighed and began folding back up the clothes.
"I'll just leave these here for you. I need to go pack."
"You do that."
"I…" Raine stopped short before the door, "I really am sorry about this."
"It's okay."
"Really?" Raine asked, and Kratos turned to take a glance at the boy sleeping in his bed, the one whose mother always said had his eyes.
"Really." Kratos replied, not taking his eyes off the boy on the bed. Perhaps things could change this time, if he didn't make another mistake.
"Ok, good night." The woman politely made her exit, and Kratos sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed and prayed to whatever gods were up there that he would be able to salvage some sort of sleep tonight. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.