AN: Hey, guys! I'm sorry it took me that long to write something. I'm not even gonna apologize anymore… Anyway, this is just something that crossed my mind and I thought it'd be cute – but it turned out to be REALLY corny. Seriously, you have been warned LOL

Hope you like it. Please review! :)

Where Did Simba Go? –

There was a time when Zarya was around five years old, when Annie's international trips became really usual. She would travel at least once a week, or stay away from home for a week. She felt bad, but she was working hard to get a promotion and a better position that would allow her to stay in town more often. Of course you could never be sure about changes like that, especially working for the Agency, but Annie knew if she showed how much she was giving from herself to help the CIA, her work would be noticed.

Auggie sometimes had big arguments with her, due to her absence most of the time. He didn't think the position she wanted deserved so much sacrifice from her, and he felt she was trying to escape from their 'married' life. Annie tried to slow down a little, to prove him wrong, but the most she could arrange was to get rid of one or two missions per month.

Whenever she was home, Zarya would appear in front of her parents' bedroom and claim to be having nightmares. But both Annie and Auggie knew it was just an excuse to be able to sleep close to her mother. They didn't stop her though, and she'd always fall asleep in their bed, between them.

One night, Annie was tangled around Auggie, both of them occupying her side of the bed, when Auggie woke up, startled by the sound of a knock on their door. He got up abruptly and woke Annie up too, accidentally.

"Mommy? Daddy?" They heard from the door.

Auggie groaned and moved back to his side of the bed, making room for Zarya to join them.

"What's wrong, baby?" Annie asked.

"I had a bad dream." Zarya had a little stuffed lion in her arms, which she had named Simba - a homage to her favorite movie - and Annie couldn't help but laugh at how cute her daughter looked in those pink striped pajamas Danielle had bought her.

"Come here. It's ok."

She climbed up to her parents bed and lay in the middle.

"You ok, Z?" Auggie asked, running his hand through her soft curly hair.

"Umhum." She turned around to face Annie, and Annie took her in her arms. "Take care of Simba for me, will you, dad?" She handed him her toy and Auggie took it.

He ran his hands through the little lion and shrugged. He turned around and fell asleep quickly, holding Simba. Annie grinned at that sight. Both girls took longer to fall asleep, but soon enough all of them were sleeping deeply.

…

The next morning, Zarya woke up alone in her parents bed. And no sign of Simba. She stretched her little body and jumped out of bed, heading to the kitchen. Annie was washing the dishes while Auggie sat by the table, and he was the first to notice Zarya's presence in the room.

"Morning, Z. Did you sleep well?" He extended his arms so that she'd give him a hug.

"Yes." She hugged him and he picked her up from the ground.

"Morning, sweetheart." Annie waved from the sink.

"What's that?" Zarya asked.

"What's what?"

"Simba!" She chuckled.

Auggie had put Simba on one of the chairs and a plate with two waffles in front of the stuffed lion.

"You told me to take care of him, didn't you? I fed him."

"Lions don't eat waffles!" She laughed.

"Yeah? What do they eat?"

"Meat!" She answered as if it were obvious - which it was, but anyway.

"So why don't you eat the waffles? I believe they are still warm."

"Ok." She jumped from her father's lap and took Simba's seat.

"Do you want some OJ, Zarya?" Annie asked.

"Yes, please."

Annie smiled. She was happy to see how polite her baby was. She opened the refrigerator door and noticed it was nearly empty, if it wasn't for the orange juice, three eggs and some old vegetables.

"I really need to go grocery shopping." She stated while pouring the last cup of OJ for Zarya.

"How bad is it?" Auggie laughed.

"We might starve to death if I don't go. Zarya, will you stay with dad or will you go with Mommy?"

Zarya put some thought to it. She wanted to spend time with her mother, but she really hated to go grocery shopping.

"I'll stay with dad."

"Alright."

Annie went to the bathroom to take a quick shower before leaving the house. Zarya and Auggie finished their breakfast, and Annie left right after.

"Where did Simba go?" Auggie asked as he acknowledged Zarya had taken its seat.

"To the counter." She answered and took a sip of her juice, holding the glass with both hands. "Daddy?"

"Yeah."

"You're different from mommy and I."

"In many ways. But what do you mean?" He smiled. He knew where this was going to.

"We need to tell you where things are."

Auggie laughed at her way of putting it. "Yes, Z. It's because daddy's blind. I can't see."

"Can't you see anything?" She sounded shocked.

"Nothing." He answered.

Zarya stood quiet for a few minutes, which made it really hard for Auggie to read her. She didn't even move. She was thinking about that. She had all those habits of telling Auggie where things were, instead of pointing, or warning him about her toys standing in his way, but she never understood what she did it for. Annie had simply taught her to do so and she simply did it. Now it made sense to her incredibly smart five year old mind.

"Why?" She asked.

"I went to war in Iraq when I was younger and a bomb exploded near me. The impact of the explosion hurt my head and my eyes, which made me blind." Neither Auggie nor Annie would ever answer a question to Zarya as if she was stupid. They tried to simplify it, but never twist it to make it easier for a "child" to understand. If anything, she was an equal, no less than they were, and deserved a proper and accurate answer.

"Does it hurt?"

"No." Auggie laughed. "It's just like having my eyes closed all the time."

"Not your eyes, daddy. Inside."

Auggie's heart cracked. He didn't expect that. What should he answer? He decided to go for the truth. "It used to, in the beginning. But not anymore. At least not often."

"Can't you fix it?"

"Nope." He nodded.

Silence again. Except this time he heard Zarya standing up and walking towards him. She gave him a tight hug.

"Z, now listen to me. I'm serious." She let go off him to face him. "You will never be sorry for me, ok? Can you promise me you'll always treat me as you have so far?"

She didn't really understand that at the moment, but she agreed.

"Nothing's changed, ok? I'm still your super skilled dad." He smiled.

She took a little time before she said anything else.

"Can we watch TV now?"

"Sure." He got up, took her from the floor and headed to the living room.

…

From day one, Auggie had always wondered what it'd be like for Zarya to have a blind parent. He reasoned it wouldn't be any different from having sighted parents, except that he wouldn't be able to compliment her drawings or play hide and seek with her. Sometimes he imagined what she would say when she figured out he was blind, or how old she'd be, or maybe it would simply happen naturally as she grew older. But he never imagined it'd happen like that. She took it pretty well and, even though he was sure she still didn't understand it completely, she had agreed to never feel sorry for him.

He was proud of his little baby. She was incredibly smart and communicative. She was also very polite and obedient. Her only flaw, according to Annie, was to be stubborn - which Auggie didn't consider an actual flaw, after all - and, just like her mother, she would always find a way to get what she wanted. But, overall, she was kind. She had a truly good heart, that's why she felt bad for her daddy, and Auggie got it and respected it.