When It's Dark

A blinding flash of lightning, followed by a loud clap of thunder, ripped Duo away from his happy dreams of mini-golf and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and brought him quite forcefully into the waking world. What kept him there, however, was a terribly dry throat; and he rolled over on his little, twin sized bed, small hands groping along the bedside table his Daddy had bought him for Christmas in an attempt to find his kool-aid. All the chubby little fingers found, unfortunately, was an empty cup. Duo contemplated calling for his Mommy, but after a glance at the clock he decided that would probably be a Bad Idea. Mommy was normally pretty grouchy before the first number made a six, he had noticed. It seemed that if he were to remedy his parched throat, he would have to take care of getting more kool-aid by himself.

Duo determinedly crept out of his bed, making sure to be very careful not to wake his best friend, Heero. The dark haired boy was currently curled up at the end of Duo's bed, and wrapped tightly around a pillow shaped like Raphael, his fist clamped around the red bandanna. Sparing a smile in Heero's direction, Duo tiptoed across the hard wood floor, only slipping once when he tripped on his older brother Solo's Spiderman action figure. There was a harsh cracking noise as Duo's heel dug into Spiderman's plastic head, loud in the otherwise silent bedroom, and then the toy was no more. The little boy cringed at the thought of Solo's wrath, the web-flinging super-hero had been ten whole dollars!

Duo mournfully picked up Spiderman's broken body and slid it gently under the bed, desperately hoping that his brother wouldn't notice that the toy was missing. He tiptoed the rest of the way across the room and to the door leading to the bathroom that joined his and Solo's rooms cautiously, making sure not to step on any more toys. Another crash of thunder made the boy jump slightly and spin around, his room illuminated by the glow of his Michelangelo nite-lite. Heero mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over with Raphael still caught in a tight headlock, and the sight of his best friend sleeping so peacefully soothed Duo. He knew that if anything bad happened, Heero would wake up right away.

Duo made his way through the blue, beach themed bathroom with ease, [his small fingers flipping on the light the moment he entered the room] and peered out into the dark hallway with the beginnings of fear crawling around in his stomach. The braided kindergartener took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom gingerly. He had seen enough of those scary Goosebumps movies on TV to know that if you were loud, the monsters would get you. He hadn't even managed to take more than three steps before a bright bolt of lightning illuminated the hallway and bathroom, a loud clap of thunder following almost immediately. A strangled cry escaped Duo's lips as the entire house was doused in darkness, even the fan that was always kept running in the hallway stopping in mid-spin.

Shaking with fear the little boy reached out for the wall, taking careful steps back into the direction of the bathroom in an effort to find his bedroom in the pitch black. His fingers brushed across the bathroom door, and he fell past it and into the room with a deep sigh. He stumbled around the dark, windowless room, searching for the bedroom door, for a few moments before crashing into the bathtub and falling with a thump onto the cold, tiled floor. Hot tears spilled over and coursed down his cheeks even as he remembered Solo telling him firmly that "boys don't cry", and he pulled his legs up to his chest, hiding his face in his knees as he wept in relative silence. Duo's heartbeat stopped in his chest as the door leading to his bedroom creaked as it slid open, and a dark head illuminated by the faint moonlight spilling through the window in Duo's bedroom peered in.

"Duo?" a calm voice questioned softly, and a sob of relief swept through Duo's small frame as he recognized the figure in the doorway as Heero. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" The boy's dark hair was standing on end and his scarlet pajamas looked almost black in the dark. His piercing eyes glimmered in the dim lighting as he cautiously stepped into the bathroom and gingerly sat by his friend. Duo, tears still streaming down his cheeks, hurriedly scooted closer to Heero and released his knees in order to fling his arms around his best friend's waist.

"He-Heero." The little boy stammered tearfully. "I- I was thirsty and I wanted some Kool Aid and I broke Spiderman and it got all dark and- and I was ascared and I fell and-"

"Duo," Heero interrupted, cautiously sliding a skinny arm around his friend's shaking shoulders. "Don't cry, okay? 'Member? Solo said big boys don't cry. Did you get hurt when you fell down?" Duo took in a deep breath and held it for ten seconds before exhaling, just like Mommy told him to do when he was mad at Solo and wanted to throw his Optimus Prime action figure at someone. Heero patted his arm, but not too hard, and it made him feel better.

"I hurt my knee on the bathtub," he confessed once he was calmed down enough to talk without stammering, pointing at the damaged appendage; and Heero released his loose hold on Duo's shoulders, untangling himself from the other boy's limbs. Without more than a moment's hesitation, Heero leaned over and gave his friend's injured knee an innocent kiss, looking up into violet eyes, shadowed in the dark room, once he was done.

"Is it all better now?" he questioned, voice brimming with childish concern. "Or does it only work when Mommies do it?" Duo reached down and felt about the injury, fingers poking at it cautiously, with a very serious expression on his small face. After a moment, he nodded his head firmly.

"All better now." he confirmed with a sniffle. Heero smiled rather brightly at the boy sitting on the tiled floor beside him, reassured that best-friend-kisses worked just as well as Mommy-kisses. Grabbing onto the edge of the tub, Heero pulled himself to his feet and reached down to take Duo's hand as well. Accepting the hand offered to him, Duo found himself being pulled up. He looked cautiously around the dark room, only brightened by the fraction of light that slipped through the doorway from his bedroom, and he shivered slightly.

"I'm still ascared, Heero." he confided softly as he felt the ball of fear in his stomach [smaller now that Heero was here, of course] lurch; and Heero nodded rather firmly. Holding up a small index finger in the universal "hold on" gesture and muttering a "Waita minute", Heero trotted off into the dim lighting of Duo's bedroom. With the absence of his best friend, the ball in Duo's stomach grew considerably; and he stood by the bathtub, his entire body trembling. After all, who knew what could be lurking in the dark, even just behind the turtled covered shower curtain! Heero came back after only about thirty seconds, Duo was sure, with Raphael tucked under his right arm and a Transformer's flashlight held in his left.

"Don't be scared when it's dark, Duo." Heero reassured with a rare smile.

"It's sort of hard." Duo returned as he glanced nervously around the shadowed room, even though the gut-wrenching fear had eased the moment his best friend had entered the room. After all, their first day of pre-school, Heero had hit a big and scary first grader over the head with his pencil box after they took away Duo's favourite crayon. Duo knew that if there was anyone who could protect him from the monsters, it was Heero.

"Don't be scared when it's dark." Heero repeated. "Me and Raphael are here, and we'll protect you from the bad stuff." Said Ninja Turtle was shoved into Duo's arms, and the plastic, glaring eyes were oddly comforting. But they weren't nearly as soothing as the small hand that slipped into his and tugged him into the hallway, the bright luminosity of the flashlight leading them down the not-so-dark-now corridor. Duo smiled and squeezed the hand held consolingly in his as he felt the last bits of fear in his tummy vanish, replaced with the warm and bubbly feeling of security.