Gorou woke to something colliding into him in the dark. He jerked awake, hands reaching immediately for his weapon, and began fighting his attacker for a half-second before his mind registered the feel of silk and the soft floral scent of Reyna. She was clutching him and shivering, but it was too dark to see why or what was happening.

"Reyna!" gasped Gorou, "What is it!"

"T- thing!" said Reyna with a trembling voice. "Thing noise!"

Gorou's wolfhound ears shot up to their maximum height and he listened, maintaining a firm grip on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw on something else that might be in the dark. Silence stretched out. Reyna continued to shiver against him where she was pressed to his body.

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Reyna whimpered and tried to nuzzle into Gorou's chest a bit farther than before. Gorou immediately recognized the noise as the call of a saltwater toad, and he had to stifle a laugh. He didn't want to shame Reyna unduly. The saltwater toad was a rather lummox-like amphibian that inhabited the islands and was loud but entirely harmless. Based on the sound, the toad was probably right outside Reyna's side of the house, just on the other side of the wall.

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Gorou wasn't exactly sure what to do, but he reached down in the dark and managed to put arms around what felt like Reyna's shoulders: when in doubt, perhaps a hug would help. He hugged her to him softly and said:

"It's a toad. A small animal. It can't hurt you."

Reyna made a small whimpering sound in response. "Animal?

Gwaaaaarrrp!

She flinched in Gorou's arms again, but it seemed much less pronounced this time.

Based on Reyna's displays of weapon familiarity and elemental magic today, Gorou thought she was likely more than a match for a thousand toads. And for most anything on the island. But well, that was a logical evaluation, and logic didn't exactly apply when it's totally dark and you're in a strange place and you hear a really weird sound.

Gorou felt his heart warm a little that she went to him for safety- but that was also from her total lack of options, certainly. He couldn't help that, so as Reyna's only choice for the comfort she instinctively sought, it was his duty to be the best at it he could be. If Reyna had only one option, then it should be a good one.

"Let's go see," said Gorou, whispering with an enthusiastic tone. "Let's give that toad a scare of his own."

"Scare?"

"Yeah! Where…? Where is that lantern?" He floundered in the dark a bit, found it. Realized he left the fire starters in the supply box. He found that, rummaged in that.

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Reyna found him in the dark again, somewhat impeding his search with her arms, but he didn't move her arms away. If that's what she needed, then so be it. Besides, he found the firestarter.

Gorou lit the lamp and revealed them both on their knees around the supply box. Reyna's arms were half around Gorou's upper body and her lilac eyes were a little wide. Her mouth pouted in a worried frown. Gorou gave her a smile which seemed to relax her a little bit. He pointed at the door.

"Let's sneak out there and take a look at him."

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Reyna wasn't flinching anymore, either from getting used to the noise or perhaps because of the light, or both. Either way, Gorou intended to turn this into a bit of fun. The last thing he wanted was for Reyna to be scared of sleeping in their house. He led the way to the bamboo door and slid it open softly. He turned to find Reyna still on her knees and looking worried. He waved her towards him and she finally stood and imitated his movements.

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Gorou exited the sliding door and stepped softly towards the corner of the house and peeked around it. It was totally dark and he could see nothing, so he slowly reached out and set the lantern down on the porch just around the corner, illuminating the darkness indirectly. And there, on the far corner of the porch, was a triple double-handful of fat warty green saltwarter toad, perched on the porch like he owned the place. The animal blinked at the new soft light, but seemed unconcerned with it.

Gorou turned to look at Reyna but found himself staring right into her kimono. He looked up and found that she had followed him closely and peeked around the corner above his head. She was staring hard at the toad, her mouth a grim line.

Gwaaaaarrrp!

Gorou sensed her entire body relax, presumably because she had identified the source of the noise and no longer feared it.

"Shall we scare it back?" said Gorou.

Reyna looked down at him with a questioning glance, then nodded. He told her the plan, and pantomimed the face she should make- a snarl showing lots of teeth.

"And we make a sound like: 'Grahh!'"

"'Grahh?'" whispered Reyna.

"Yes, but loud. Okay? We will do it together?" said Gorou.

Reyna nodded. Gorou stood up next to her and used his fingers to count down, which she seemed to understand intuitively. On the Inazuman traditional four, Gorou led the leap out onto the far edge of the porch, watching Reyna imitate him a second behind.

"GRAHH!" they shouted in unison.

The toad tried to leap in panic, but didn't have its center of gravity quite right. Its massive hind legs fired, but its feet slipped along the wood porch and it only managed a short forward plop which caused it to roll off the porch in a very undignified fashion.

"Gwap!" said the toad as it scrabbled itself upright and hopped away into the darkness.

Gorou looked to Reyna and saw her staring off after the toad with a look of happy surprise. Perhaps she was pleased by the toad's tumble? Or perhaps she was experiencing the elation of a conquered fear? Perhaps a bit of both.

Gorou watched her silently, curious, and not wanting to truncate Reyna's victory. He was again struck by the beauty of her face, the lithe form of her body, and the gleam of light on the skin of her bare legs.

But-

But Reyna's reaction to the toad.

Her fear of the sound in the night.

The way she clung to him in the dark.

And now this glee at the driving of the toad away.

Gorou realized that Reyna, this sentient Shogun's puppet or whatever she was, may look and sound and even sometimes speak like a grown woman; but she was currently, in all the ways that mattered, very much an innocent child.

With that revelation, Gorou suddenly stopped seeing this demi-goddess as a man might see her. Her bare legs were no longer even remarkable to him in that way. Those legs were simply legs. Nothing more. He abruptly had no interest in them whatsoever, other than that they should remain uninjured and whole.

He offered out his hand as Reyna turned to him, her expression calming to a smile contentment.

Reyna looked at his hand, smiled softly, and took it. Gorou smiled in return and then pointed to the sky.

"Did you see the stars before you fell asleep?"

Reyna looked upwards, and Gorou turned down the strength of the lamp to near nothing. The heavens sparkled overhead in unrivaled splendor, a thousand thousand fireflies frozen in an endless dance in a sky that was clear and utterly pristine. An abrupt trio of bright green streaks zoomed past and vanished as quickly as they'd appeared.

"Ohh!" exclaimed Reyna, her arm reaching up to point at where they'd appeared.

"Wish stars," said Gorou. The stories his mother had told him as a child were rolling around in his mind as the sky dredged up very old memories. "Each one can grant you a wish, but only if you are the only person in the world who wishes on them. So you have to be lucky to see them, and even more lucky in that no one else tries to use them."

Gorou looked at Reyna and was surprised that she was looking at him seriously, her face and body only a dark shadow in the dimmed down lantern. "Mine? How many?"

Gorou suppressed a smile. She believed the story, just like he had when he was a kid. Well, wishes were for childhoods, and if Reyna was in the middle of hers- wasn't his task to teach her how to be a real person? Silly childhood beliefs and silly childish wishes were a part of that journey.

"You can have all three," said Gorou. "But remember: even if they work, they might not work right away. And you can never tell anyone your wish before it comes true. Okay?"

"Yes," said Reyna, very seriously. She turned back towards the sky and was quiet for a long time.

Gorou watched her thoughtfully. Reyna seemed surprisingly eager for wishes, despite also seeming naive to nearly everything around her. Wishes were born of desires and dreams and dreads. How many of those three things could a blank slate like Reyna have at this point? Gorou blinked and pressed his lips together in sudden revelation.

Unless the whole blank slate concept pushed forward by Yae Miko was a lie. Or, also possible: Yae MIko was just plain wrong. But- after what that kitsune witch had done to him, Gorou was more inclined to believe Yae Miko would lie before he would believe her being wrong about something.

Yet, it was still possible, if one took on faith that Reyna was indeed an accidental creation of Raiden Shogun… and that seemed plausible since, at least in Gorou's somewhat blasphemous opinion, Raiden Shogun was not much of a creator. She was more on the destruction side of the divinity spectrum.

The Omikami created Watatsumi Island, and the Raiden Shogun then destroyed the Omikami. Creator and Destructor. So in that sense, Reyna was not in Raiden Shogun's wheelhouse, and perhaps that created more room for unexpected outcomes.

And perhaps one such unexpected outcome stood here before him, gazing up at the sky, earnestly and seriously attempting to use three wish stars for… what? What was in the heart of this… Woman? Child? Automaton? Doll? Puppet? Entity? Demigod? Whatever Reyna was… what was she wishing for?

To go home? That seemed reasonable. To be free of him? Well, she could theoretically just walk away from him. She was not his prisoner. Gorou almost considered reminding her of that fact, except giving her that idea might make her actually do it- and then Yae Miko's threats on Watatsumi Island could become a reality. What would Gorou say to Yae Miko when she came to check on his care of her 'little sister'?:

'Oh, sorry, uhh… Reyna just sort of walked away. I don't know where she went. That's okay? Right?'

So, no. Gorou should not give Reyna the idea to just leave him. It could be a disaster to all of Watatsumi Island. But if she were to come up with it on her own? Well, that bridge could be crossed if they come to it.

Reyna suddenly faltered, stumbled as she stood, and almost fell over. Gorou leapt forward and caught her. Had she looked up so long that she'd gotten dizzy?

"Reyna?!"

Her head nodded slightly. "Sleepy."

Gorou was relieved that was all that was. He made sure she could stand, gently took her arm, picked up the lantern and led them back inside, and pushed aside one of Reyna's curtains to usher her back into her 'room'.

Reyna suddenly clung to him closer. "No. It's dark. It's alone."

Gorou blinked. What he had intended as a place of modesty for her was apparently a miscalculation. Though before his earlier revelation about Reyna's current childishness, he would have been very uneasy about sharing a futon with Reyna. Yae Miko's dire threats were in his mind, and he had not liked how his own body responded instinctively to Reyna's physical form. But now, his body was silent. Reyna no longer held any sexual attraction to him, so Gorou felt it was safe enough to platonically share a futon.

"All right, fine," said Gorou softly. He took down one of the curtains, situated the futons to be side by side, and settled Reyna in hers next to him. She seemed mollified by this change and snuggled into her blankets.

"Try and sleep," said Gorou. "We have a lot to do tomorrow."

Reyna looked at him, her face one of those facial expressions he couldn't read. A question? Confusion again? A concern?

"Yes."

"Goodnight, Reyna."

"Goodnight," said Reyna. "Gorou."

A thrum of familial affection ran through Gorou when she said his name. It was the first time she had done so. He nodded, sat down, and turned off the lantern- plunging the world back into darkness. He sat back on his futon with a sigh, his mind a jumble of wonderings about how this was all going to go.

Almost immediately, he felt Reyna's back crush softly into his side. She'd curled herself into a ball around her pillow and scooted backwards towards him in a somewhat catlike maneuver. Gorou sighed and closed his eyes. Reyna was not his wife and certainly not his lover, but it still felt nice to have a friendly person's weight and heat against him at night.

A soft, innocent reminder to both of them that they were not alone in the black.