Thunder awoke Haruka from her sleep and she sighed knowing that Hotaru was terrified of storms. When she heard another loud rumble she felt her daughter shift against her side and she sighed and prepared herself for the girl to wake up.
Hotaru awoke, forgetting where she was for a moment until she heard the storm worsen outside then fighting a whimper she sat up, only to hear her parent's voice to say softly.
"just lay back down Princess it wont hurt you."
Hotaru did as told but still flinched when she heard the sounds outside and tunneled under the blankets. Haruka chuckled lightly at this and then sat up, uncovering her daughter and lightly poking her in the ribs.
"firefly...hiding wont make it less loud." Haruka stated with a small smile before adding "Come here, I'll stay up with you if you want."
Slowly the six year old made her way back to her father figure's side, noticing how gentle Haruka was being at that moment. Haruka flipped on the bedside lamp and then turned to her daughter.
"What makes storms so scary?" she questioned lightly, gently pulling the child into a seated position on her lap and ran her fingers through the small girl's messy hair.
"Their loud...and..." the child tries, though she doesn't want to sound weak in front of her father figure who only grinned reassuringly.
"And what?" Haruka persisted gently, noticing how the child seemed to be nervous so she added "I use to be afraid of storms too Hotaru. Things happened in my life that sounded a lot like the thunder so it would trigger some pretty awful nightmares for me...They just quit recently."
Hotaru's eyes widened as she listened to her father's words and found herself saying "that's really hard to believe!"
As soon as the little girl realized what she had said she clasped her hands over her mouth however Haruka only chuckled and shrugged.
"Suppose so kiddo but it happened. You're not the only person who had a crummy past and I'll be damned if I am about to treat you like your foster families. Sure I may get strict sometimes but I will never treat you like those morons did." Haruka stated before kissing her daughter's forehead.
Haruka wanted to prove to the child that she did in fact care about her despite how cold she had been the previous months. In a way it was her own way of trying to apologize and make up for every time she had been the cause of the child's tears.
"You're not like them papa." the little girl tried to ensure however another crack of thunder caused her to bury her face against her fathers chest.
"I hope not, that would mean that someone better knock some sense into me." Haruka stated as she put her arm around the trembling girl, who's grip instantly tightened on the tomboy's cotton tanktop.
"I'm right here Hime-chan." Haruka whispered, rubbing the girl's back in small circles "I wont let anything hurt you."
Hotaru glanced up to meet her guardian's benevolent teal gaze and forced a small smile however then when lightening lit up the windows she hid her face again.
"Kitten...just relax. Would you like to go to the basement? I promise there isn't anything to be scared love and I will be right there with you." Haruka suggested, causing the child to glance up nervously.
"You'll stay beside me?" she inquired and Haruka nodded.
"I have a tv and a couch down there...for when Elza got ticked off at me." the butch added with a small smile as she lifted the child into her arms and carried her out of the room.
"Papa? Why did Elza leave us? Will you please tell me?" the child asked once they had reached the dark, musky folds of the basement.
"I suppose you deserve to know Hotaru." Haruka sighed as she flipped on the dim lights that decorated the ceiling before she took a seat on the old plush sofa.
"Elza claimed that I didn't spend any time with the family and that I never did anything...but I work every day except weekends which is when she would go to the gym." Haruka began after sucking in a deep breath.
"Then she said that having a full family was too hard, that she didn't have time for it. That lead her and I to arguing and that's when she left."
Hotaru glanced down at the tiled floor as she absorbed what her papa had to say to her.
"so it was my fault?" She asked and Haruka sighed.
"No, it wasn't. Elza should have knew how hard it was to start a family before she wanted one." Haruka stated, just as her daughter began to cry again.
"Hotaru..." She began after pausing for breath "I don't care why Elza left, it hurt me badly when she left but I wouldn't change a thing because I now have the sweetest daughter in the world."
Hotaru was surprised by her father's comment and glanced up, her violet eyes questioning to see if she had heard the tomboy right.
"But Haruka-Papa..." She began to argue however the blonde only lightly covered her mouth with one finger and gave her a lightly scolding look.
"No buts Hime-chan. I never was good at confessions but when we were at that place trying to find a perfect kid and I saw you alone in the far end of the playground I knew that I had to give you the chance of a good family...I'll never forget the look of pure joy you had on your face that day." the twenty one year old stated warmly as she gingerly dried some of the child's tears.
Hotaru leaned into the warmth of the touch, causing Haruka to chuckle and pull her into a gentle hug.
"I couldn't love you more even if I had given birth to you myself. No matter what happens I will always love you."