Stormy Nights :LoZ:

*Once again, this may contain major spoilers for those who haven't read my fic "Memories and Moments" yet. However, I hope you do enjoy reading this oneshot if you take the time to read it.

***

One night, the Vaatis with their fathers have gathered in the shadow hero's house for a little get-together. Dark had been excited, for he was usually alone in his own house. Having company in his house like his most trusted friends and their parents was really a joy for him.

"Lollipops... no tomatoes... potato chips... no tamarinds... cup noodles..."

Vaahn was searching for any ingredients in Dark's fridge, so he may cook dinner for all of them. His utensils were all ready; the chopping board, the knives, the pressure cooker... he had even worn an apron! What he just needs is the ingredients, which were the most important part of the brew, no doubt.

'What on earth had Dark been eating without his Grandfather in the house...?' he thought as he shook his head. He turned his head and shouted to wherever his shadow may be. "Nhaav! I think we may need some groceries!"

"Not now! Sheesh!" the shadow seemed annoyed, as he seemed to be preoccupied with something from the other room.

"But we need them right now!" he debated as he started to get annoyed.

"But I just SAID, 'NOT NOW!' Why don't you look a little harder in there?" the shadow replied once more as he seemed just as annoyed as Vaahn was.

The man in the apron just sighed and decided to do as Nhaav said. Although, he was pretty confident not having the said ingredients in the fridge.

Meanwhile...

"I don't want to play with you anymore!" Gufuu crossed his arms as he gave out a snooty expression. He was kneeling on the soft, carpeted floor.

"What? Sour grapes much, Fuu-chan?"

The three youngsters; Dark, Gufuu, and Vaati, were apparently in the shadow hero's room, where they played the Wii for a brawl. The three were sitting on the floor with Dark in-between the two mages, so that they heard him taunt when he was flinging off their characters with ease.

"He does have a point, Dark..." Vaati said softly, with his usual shy demeanor. "You win all the time."

"Oh, not you too, Vaati!" Dark said, looking displeased. "Fuu-chan, you're starting to rub off the harmless little guy!"

"What th... oh, listen up, you wanker!" Gufuu closed in to Dark and pointed at his face at the end of each statement he tried to prove. "One, he's ME. He has my traits, so get over it. Two, he's not a 'harmless little guy', he almost took over the whole of Hyrule with my help!"

"... Wow, do you even know what that word means?"

"I don't give a damn!"

"Fuu-chan, your language!"

"F*** you!"

"Fuu-chan there are kids here!"

"So what?"

"No, I mean... not Vaati... them... out there, you know? The kids...?"

"I see our editor edited my line up there so it's perfectly fine!"

Vaati silently sighed as he saw the two bicker again. He could not believe that he was really such a ranting little brat deep inside, but he guesses that is exactly why he's so demure and stable. He had been keeping such feelings from deep inside, and it shows up in Gufuu.

'Well, I guess that's a little motivation for me to keep improving myself...?' he thought to himself as he continued listening to the two bicker.

"Come on, Fuu-chan... you're making this sound like those silly soap operas I suspect Red is watching."

"Well, I don't care! Get out of this house at once! Get out! GET OUT!!!"

Dark gave him a blank stare and titled his head. "... This is my house."

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!" Gufuu was so aggravated that he lunged at Dark, only to be grabbed by wrists by the latter.

'Good grief... my shadow...' Vaati was almost too ashamed of himself to look at his bratty shadow. He did listen to the argument of the two for a while...

'I can't believe this... these two bicker everytime...' Vaati started to clench his fist as he still tried to maintain his cool. 'So sick and tired of it... they are so immature...' he finally gasped in a fit of anger. "GUYS!"

The two stopped bickering and just looked at Vaati. Vaati, on the other hand, was surprised at his outburst that he blushed hard and just stared at them with a shocked look.

"..." the two, without a word, stopped bickering at once. It seems like they understood how silly they sounded.

"Guys... we were supposed to play to have fun..." Vaati finally had the courage to speak. "Why couldn't we just have fun...?"

"... He's right." Dark said, smiling at the shadow sorcerer.

"... Hmph. I-I guess so..." said Gufuu, blushing a bit probably because of embarrassment.

Thankfully, they all made up and resumed playing their game. Of course, Dark still won. Among all of them, he had such a good control over his games that not even his alter ego Link can defeat him! Well, as he always said, "Link can do it if he unlocks his potentials. I can do it! So why can't he?"

***

"Nothing. I told you. Nothing." said Vaahn, exasperated.

"Well, boohoo!" Nhaav still remained preoccupied and stubborn.

"Why don't you fetch the groceries for us? I need to stay home to watch over the house, and to prepare some things I will need for cooking."

"NOPE!" was what he replied to this, a very stubborn "no", indeed.

"But... oh, fine! Have it your way!" Vaahn was so frustrated with the shadow that he went upstairs. He didn't bother to look at what the shadow was doing; all he knew was that he needed to cook for all of them.

And so, he went upstairs and found the boys playing in their room...

"Oh, Daddy!" Vaati saw his dad peeking by the door just behind them.

"Oh, hi there, Uncle Vaahn!" said Dark, as he fondly called him.

Gufuu just turned to see him and smiled for a while. The boys wondered what he was doing there, as they knew the adults didn't have any interest in video games at all.

"Boys... seems like we're going to have to order food from outside..." Vaahn regretfully said. "There are no ingredients I could possibly see in your fridge, Dark. I was supposed to cook dinner..."

"WHAAAAAT??" the three screamed, almost in unison.

'B-But... Daddy's the best cook in the world! Next to Mommy...' though Vaati, thinking of the mouth-watering delicacies his father could have cooked.

'B-But... I'm tired of eating fastfood deliveries!' Dark thought, his mind shuddering at the thought of a fastfood dinner again.

'B-But... it's Dark's fault he can't cook real food and he doesn't restock ingredients! We shouldn't be affected by this too!!! GAH!!!' Gufuu thought, as his mind burned with negative thoughts for Dark. He then stood up and raised his hand. "We'll do it! Name your dish and ingredients, and we will be off to get them!"

"Oh?" Vaahn was surprised by his sudden gesture. "R-Really? You would be willing to do that?"

"Only if someone would accompany me... we will gladly do it!" he answered as he gazed off to his friend while saying the first statement.

"Well, I was planning to cook pork sinigang. We will need tamarinds, though I would prefer the sinigang mix with tamarind powder..."

"Go on...?" Gufuu handed a pen and paper over to Dark. The shadow hero was puzzled as to why he had to give those to him, but he just had a bad feeling about it...

"Then we'll need some tomatoes. Though you can just buy half a kilo for tomatoes, so whatever left will be for stock. And... we will need okras as well. And kangkongs. One fair-sized bundle for each. Though if you want more vegetables in the soup, you may as well buy two bundles for each. If you want, we may put radish, taro roots, and giant peppers in it for added taste."

"Yes? Anything else...?" Gufuu seemed to be craving for food right about now...

"And of course, we'll need the pork! I bet a kilo will do just fine for the five of us."

"Consider it done!"

Gufuu pulled Dark's arm as soon as he was done writing. Somehow, it looked like Dark was half-expecting he would do that, although he didn't exactly like it.

"We will be back with those ingredients, and we will have a yummy dinner!" Gufuu seemed to collar Dark and make his point clear... with a pout; with which Dark only reacted with a dull face.

"Just don't take too long, okay, boys?" Vaahn had bidden them, being the protective father he is. "I don't want you to be out there too long in the dark and the drizzle."

"We promise!" Gufuu spoke for the both of them, as he turned away and started dressing himself for casual clothes.

As Vaahn left, however, Dark took advantage of the situation and peeked at Gufuu while he was dressing up, which made the latter scream. Much to their surprise, neither of the two adults came, for maybe they thought that they were still playing their video game.

"How dare you speak out for me?" Dark said, looking down at him. Perhaps to him, this was some sort of a revenge for getting him into this.

Gufuu blushed hard and tried to dress up as quickly as possible. "Well, don't you want to? You don't want to eat fastfood for the rest of your life now, do you? You and your flabby belly!"

"... What?"

Dark then took off his shirt and reached out for his casual clothes. His body was not what Gufuu had claimed at all... he had washboard abs, and his body was slender, but muscular compared to the Vaatis.

'Hnnng... must not get jealous of his build...' Gufuu obviously wanted a better-built muscular body, for he had a delicate, slender one.

"Alright, you ready?" said Dark as he was done dressing himself up.

Gufuu was just done dressing up. He brushed his hair a bit and made sure that he was clean. "Yes. Let's go get those ingredients and come home as soon as possible! I'm hungry!"

"Wait... I'm... not yet done..." said Vaati, putting his coat on.

"No, we'll go out on our own, Vaati." said Dark, grabbing Gufuu's arm. "He wants me as his helper? He gets me as his only helper."

"Hmph!" the shadow sorcerer scoffed at him and looked away with a snooty look on his face.

They both went down the stairs and out of the house to go to the nearby grocery, which was just a twenty-minute walk away.

***

"Tomatoes, check. Tamarind powder, check."

Gufuu had been checking the ingredients as Dark put the ingredients in their cart. It took them fairly long to find the ingredients, as Gufuu was distracted by the many items the grocery had. From one section it had clothes in it... and they weren't too shabby nor too expensive, but he didn't see anything that fitted him well; plus, their money was good for the groceries they were supposed to buy. Although... the sorcerer had extra money for what he wanted.

"Wow... these groceries sure are magnetic. They've attracted a lot of extra items. Let's see... a cup of yogurt. And bread. And tea. And biscuits. And cookies. And a... black cucco plush." he said, as he held the last item in his hands.

"Give me that!" said Gufuu as he snatched the plush toy from his friend. "I'm going to pay for all those extra items, jerk!"

"Nope, you're not. I will." said Dark without traces of a joke. "Now can we PLEASE move on to the other ingredients?"

The shadow mage was as snooty as ever, pouting as they went along getting other ingredients. The grocery was about to close, and much to their questionable luck, they found themselves the last people in the supermarket. No one was there but the cashier they met, the guard on duty, and the both of them.

As soon as the cashier was done with their items, he went off and got his belongings. He wore a raincoat, which made the two realize that it was already raining outside.

"... 22:00. 10 in the evening." Dark said, looking at the digital clock of the supermarket.

"... WHAT?!" Gufuu stared as he hugged his new black cucco plush toy. "Oh no... what about them? What about us? We'll definitely get scolded!"

That's when something suddenly played in the background. No, not really. That was just Dark's cellphone ringing with a recent rock song they just heard.

The shadow hero answered it. "Yes? Yes. We'll be right there. What? No way! We'll be home as soon as possible. No, you don't need to. We'll be fine, just hang in there and prepare everything you'll need. No. It'll be a hassle. It's okay."

As soon as Dark hung up, the mage looked up at him with curious eyes and asked who it was and what the message was.

"It was your dad. A storm's gonna hit us anytime soon, so we gotta hurry up. They were going to pick us up, but I told them it was gonna be a hassle."

"But how do we get there so fast?"

Dark thought of using his skill to move from one mirror to another, but to his dismay, he can't do it in this situation. The available bathroom had no mirrors in it, for some guards had an irrational fear of mirrors at night, and the shopping section of the grocery was closed, where the mirrors were on for sale. He didn't have any mirrors either, and so did Gufuu (which Dark considered to be a miracle).

"We'll just have to go through it then. Let's go." he peered outside and signaled his friend. "Rain's not that strong, anyway."

The groceries all fit in one bag, thanks to Gufuu holding his plush cucco. If not for that, they would have carried an extra bag for the toy! Dark volunteered to carry the bag so that his friend would not have any problems while walking.

***

"Ugh! The rain is disgustingly squishy when you step on it! EWW!!!" Gufuu held onto Dark's arm tight as they walked by the sidewalk of the mall center, where the supermarket they just came from was.

"CAREFUL! I don't want you to slip." Dark urged him as he held the umbrella for the both of them.

They were already nearly halfway to the public transportation awaiting them, but they were unlucky this time...

The harsh thunder roared as they walked, which the rains heeded. The winds and rain continued to become more violent than ever, threatening to flip their umbrella inside-out. Thankfully, Dark's umbrella was resistant to such a thing and so all he had to worry about was if his umbrella ever gets blown away... and by which he will never take chances with.

"We should have asked them to pick us up!!!" whimpered Gufuu as he clinged onto his friend tight while hugging his arm.

"Nngh..." Dark regretted his words. Of course it would have been more convenient for them to be picked up by Gufuu's dad, but he didn't want the folks back at home to trouble over picking them up when he's been through a lot worse than this petty storm.

"EEK!"

Dark was left in shock as he saw his friend slip on the wet ground they were walking on. He remained sitting with his hip to the side as he looked like he was in utter pain. The shadow hero rushed to him and quickly carried him over to the nearest shade, where they would remained sheltered from the harsh rains.

***

"Grrr... this is all your fault!"

"Nhaav, please... this is no time to be fighting..."

"THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO BE FIGHTING!!!"

Nhaav grabbed his counterpart's shoulders and pinned him to the wall, as he let out a very furious face. He violently shook him as he spoke to him in mad shouts, to which the light being did not counter.

"Daddy Nhaav, please stop it...!" Vaati whimpered as he looked up at them, trying his best to stop them.

"My son's out there and so is his friend, and they haven't come home yet!!! Why didn't you just let me pick them up?!"

"Nhaav..."

"TALK!!!"

"Nhaav... I..."

"ANSWER MEEEE!!!"

Nhaav shook Vaahn harder, unintentionally making his head bump onto the cement wall. The poor son was just there, unable to stop their fight as he silently cried to himself.

"NHAAV, PLEASE!" Vaahn pushed his shadow away, but the shadow just came back to him and pinned his wrists to the wall. "NHAAV!!!"

"I won't stop unless you admit you're wrong." the shadow father glared at him so intensely.

Vaahn could understand though... he wouldn't dream of seeing his own son hurt. No... not again. He was the only person who could remind him of his wife...

"I'm sorry... I was wrong... I should never have sent them off..." Vaahn said with much remorse. He felt horrible sending out the children on an errand, when he was not aware a storm would hit that night. He thought it was just a mere rainy day... but he had no idea it would be this intense.

"That was exactly why I said 'not now' hours ago." said Nhaav, looking a bit calmer but still with traces of anger. "I was listening to the news. The weather forecast was on. But when I turned around, I found out that they were gone to do your errands."

"..." Vaahn felt so guilty. He just felt like he put the youths' lives in danger. Though the supermarket was a short distance away, it was perilous to go out in a storm...

"... Hang on a sec." Nhaav said as he grabbed both of Vaahn's wrists with one hand and held them high above his head against the wall. With his free hand, he grabbed his cellphone and called up Dark.

The light being looked at him questioningly. "... Couldn't you just let me go?"

"No. I'm not yet done with you."

***

"C-Careful...!"

"Sorry... I'm doing the best I can."

Apparently, Dark brought a first aid kit with him. From previous experience, he had already turned into your regular boy scout. After all, things happen unexpectedly.

Dark was treating Gufuu who had just slipped on the wet ground a while ago, when the rain intensified and he felt his cellphone vibrate. He had recently put it to vibrate because he can hardly hear anything when he's focused on Gufuu's needs and almost nothing can be heard but the harsh rains.

"Hello?" he picked up his phone as he still helped Gufuu. "Yes, sir... we're on our way. No, it's okay. Yes, really. Thank you. Just please make sure y'all are okay there, okay? Bye."

"It's my dad... isn't it?" Gufuu said as he looked up at Dark. To that, Dark just nodded.

"I can't let them go out like this... they had barely mastered how to use modern cars!" Dark remarked a he continued treating his friend. "How'd they pick us up, anyway? Are they gonna ask other people to do it for us?"

The wind sorcerer just looked at his friend for a while, not daring to interrupt.

"Look man, I'm sorry." said Dark as he wrapped Gufuu's leg with bandages. "I should have listened to your dad when he told me he'd pick us up... but I was also worried for him. I thought I could handle this because I was once an adventurer... and still am."

The shadow hero sighed as he kept the things back in his first aid kit.

"... But it seems I was wrong this time." he continued. "Of all the things, I didn't want to see you get hurt."

The shorter of the shadows looked up at the other as he rose from his crouching position. The taller looked at the rain outside their shelter; which was a covered sidewalk. Though it had a rocky, cemented roof, the rain could somehow get in because of the strength of the winds.

"... Sorry I couldn't control the winds for us." said Gufuu as he tried to stand up.

"NO!!!" Dark shouted as he urged his friend to sit back down. "Don't stand; it won't do you any good! Dang it, Gufuu... you already sprained your ankle!"

"But I..."

"We're going home, Gufuu. We are." Dark said as he looked at the weather condition. "We just need to think of how we are going home. Taking public vehicles probably isn't a good idea... and most of them probably went home because of the weather."

".... I'm sorry..."

Dark looked down at Gufuu and crouched down again. He tucked a lock of hair behind his ear and ruffled his hair a bit, looking at him with gentle eyes. He let out a warm smile, trying to convince him that everything will be okay; that everything is under control.

"It's okay." he said as he picked up all their things. "We won't be stranded here... we're going home... if it's the last thing I do."

Gufuu smiled at him gently, but weakly.

Now the sheltered sidewalk had some stores about it. It was actually one side of a small building with sheltered sidewalks, with stalls and stores. From their side, they can view the streets and a tall building just across them. Their side also has a fastfood chain, which was sadly not a 24-hour one, so they had no choice but to stay outside. To the left of the fastfood chain, there was some sort of a movie house which wasn't too active, and a Japanese houseware store, which was also closed.

"Come on... we'll find some mirrors in the moviehouse." said Dark as he assisted Gufuu going inside the lobby of the moviehouse.

It wasn't anything grand; actually, it looked like it was aged. From the old days, people from all over would visit independent moviehouses, but lately? They would rather go to the mall's moviehouses, which were a lot more convenient and safer. Not to mention is it a lot more modern.

Dark put his friend to one corner where he can keep an eye on him as he looked around the lobby, since it was the only thing open... but to Dark's dismay, there wasn't any mirrors. It was just not his day today, he thought. It seemed almost as if the mirrors were avoiding them!

The shadow hero was almost too disappointed and annoyed... he went back to the limp sorcerer and shook his head.

"Looks like we gotta wait until this storm dies down a bit."

Gufuu slowly looked to his side weakly. "If I control the winds now, who knows what bad things would happen after it..."

"What do you mean?"

"This is a natural turbulence." said Gufuu as he faced Dark again. He massaged his own sprain gently, hoping it would soothe down a bit. "If I make it move to another place, it will have a drawback on us.... perhaps even stronger winds will come to us."

"... You mean like any human intervention?"

"... Sadly, yes." Gufuu bowed his head. "I'm so weak... I wish I could be of any help to you..."

"..."

Dark peeked outside again to check on the condition. The storm itself had stronger rain than winds; it almost seemed as if it depended solely on the rain for its terrible condition... so even if his friend was able to control the winds, it wouldn't be of much help.

"The winds died down a bit." said Dark as he returned to Gufuu. "Rain's still a bit strong, but I think we can manage."

"I see."

The shadow hero was thankful he had his boots on... he knew that there would be strong rainfall, but he didn't know it would be this harsh! He didn't know a storm was coming their way. After taking off his jacket to cover Gufuu even more, he got all the groceries and belongings they had. Thankfully there wasn't much. He then turned his back on him and crouched.

"W-What?"

"Hop on." said Dark, his arms carrying everything.

Gufuu looked at him. "Dark, maybe I should carry that backpack on your arm for you..."

"..." Dark looked like he was about to deny when he faced him, but he gave the backpack anyway. "Now just get on. We need to go as fast as possible. I'll find a place I can fly from, and we're flying all the way home."

With his help, Gufuu got on his back and off they went for a piggy-back ride. He held onto the hero tight as they looked for a spot to fly from. Luckily, there was a fairly dry spot to take off from. Dark took caution where to fly from because this was a terrible weather condition... if he made off a wrong take-off, his friend Gufuu may be put in danger, as well as the goods they shopped for Vaahn, since he had to maintain good balance at all times.

"W-We're flying..." whispered Gufuu as he looked down. He could see little cars and streets, as if they were all part of a Matchbox set. As if they were Minish-sized.

"Hang on tight. We're gonna land if the rain's too strong, okay?"

"Understood..."

The ride went smoothly. Dark sped, though maintained his balance all throughout most of the ride. Just a couple of blocks away from his house, the rains began to be harsh again, so Dark had no choice but to land in the safest spot.

"Sorry, Fuu-chan... can't risk your safety. We'll have to go by foot."

"It's okay..." Gufuu whispered as he rested his head against Dark's nape. He was still covered by Dark's jacket, so his head wasn't wet; his body was covered by his own waterproof jacket. He felt that Dark still remained steady for the rest of the walk.

"Sorry, Fuu-chan..." Dark spoke again. "It's just that... I thought that there won't be any rainstorms..."

"Dark... what's done is done. No need to apologize... you only thought what's best for them, anyway."

Dark trod along the driest path for them, though most of the walk had been so rainy. Gufuu had a sad yet tired stare on his face, worrying for his friend. With little power of what he had left, he held the jacket covering his head and back and reached out for the backpack he asked for earlier. He grabbed an umbrella from inside it, which they kept.

Dark thought that they won't need an umbrella anymore since they were to fly during most of the trip, and it will only turn the umbrella inside-out. Besides, they ran a lot in the rain in adventures before, so this little rain shouldn't be a problem.

"Fuu-chan..." Dark stopped for a while and looked back at him. He was in his normal, resting position on his back, but his arm extended a bit so that he can cover both himself and the shadow hero with an umbrella.

"Keep going..." smiled Gufuu. It was apparent that he was sleepy and tired, since it was really nighttime. He had recently given up being a night owl like Dark, since he discovered it will greatly affect his youth, as his resistance was not as great as other people his age. Dark on the other hand was used to it, and his resistance was immense.

The shadow hero nodded and went as carefully as he could through the flood. The last thing he wanted was to get stranded in a place he wouldn't call home. Truth be told, he would have flied off without worries all the way if it weren't for his friend.

'I couldn't risk you... it was a promise I kept.' thought Dark as he felt themselves getting nearer to his place. They only have a couple of blocks more to go.

"Dark..."  his friend called. "I'm puzzled... are we Minish really small? Or are you Hyruleans just big and we are normal-sized?"

"..." Dark gave it some thought before he answered. "Gufuu... I don't know either. I guess it depends on your perspective. Hyruleans are small compared to elephants, so we call them giants. But elephants are small compared to planets..."

Gufuu giggled. "You see, this is why I thought you're my best friend outside of my family."

"..."

"I can talk with you about these things that people find weird." he snuggled onto Dark's back and rested. "Thank you for being my best friend, Dark..."

He expected Dark to laugh about this so hard. The shadow hero did laugh, but nothing more than a soft chuckle. He got a better grip on Gufuu so that he won't fall down.

"You're welcome." said Dark as he went on walking. "I can say the same to you too."

The shadow mage was surprised, but he didn't say anything more. Instead, he just continued resting on his back and slowly closed his eyes. It felt like he was slowly rocked to sleep, despite the harsh rains about them. He gave one last snuggle before it felt like he really dozed off.

Now Dark had to be careful about everything. Thankfully, he only had a plastic bag to carry, and his friend. Even if his friend was asleep, the umbrella was in perfect balance. Perhaps he was also half-awake, but he can't be too sure.

***

Vaahn rubbed his wrists and looked at Nhaav who turned away from him. His son, on the other hand, ran to him and hugged him tightly like a little child.

"You have your son to thank." Nhaav said as he turned his head to his side.

"Nhaav... I'm so sorry... really..." said Vaahn very regretfully. "I'm going to take care of them once they come home."

"... And you thought I was an irresposible parent." Nhaav grumbled as he looked back at him.

"Ugh." Vaahn slapped his own forehead in exasperation. "You're still thinking about THAT? We put that behind us, remember?"

"..."

"Nhaav. Don't we want to be good examples for our sons?" Vaahn said as he tried to calm himself down, though it cannot be denied that all this is getting on his nerves. "Look, I'm sorry. I was wrong to send them out on an errand. I was careless. But I'm more than willing enough to make up for it."

Nhaav gave him a blank stare as he completely turned around to listen to him.

"Because you know, Gufuu is my son too." Vaahn looked up to see his shadow. "The world would fall on me if anything bad happens to him."

"..."

"... Fine, you can still hate me. But I'm keeping my word."

Vaati looked at his father and felt awkward. He didn't know how to react, and so he prompted to just sit like a good boy on the sofa while looking outside for his friends.

'Wherever you are, guys... you'd better be safe...' thought Vaati as he squinted his eyes.

***

"We're almost there..."

Dark walked through the flooded streets and saw the light coming from what he made out as his house. Gufuu still kept his grip on the umbrella, though it really seemed like he had been half-asleep the whole journey. Dark, on the other hand, tightened his grip on the groceries and on Gufuu. He had to be careful not to get his sprain wet, lest it gets worse.

They both stayed under the trees along the streets closely linked with each other as they trod along. Not long after though, Dark thought that he saw another source of light not too far away.

He decided not to mind it, for maybe he thought that it was just one of those street vendors... but how could there be street vendors when there's a storm? They couldn't possibly be crazy enough to go out in this weather condition... or could they?

That was when the light became closer and Dark saw that it was coming from a flashlight. He hissed when the light was directly shone on his face and closed his eyes tightly, still maintaining his grip on Gufuu and the groceries.

"Dark!"

He recognized that voice. He knew it very well. It was a voice he heard not too long ago.

"Uncle Vaahn?" he fondly called him, as he and Vaati had gotten close through the times.

Indeed, it was the said man in front of them. He had an umbrella and still wore galoshes and a raincoat. It was proof that the weather was that intense. It still hadn't gotten better, though... in fact, the storm seemed to have gotten a lot worse. There weren't any lightnings, thankfully... but it doesn't make it any better that the flood had risen up to their ankles.

"Where's Gufuu?" asked Vaahn worriedly as he approached Dark.

Dark, as a response, showed the weary sorcerer on his back. Shock and worry were apparent in the man's face, and he hurriedly assisted the two back home. He volunteered to carry all of Dark's bags and belongings, and even volunteered to carry Gufuu, but Dark refused the last offer. It was risky having to give Gufuu to him at a time like this, and Vaahn was embarrassed he hadn't thought of it. He must have been shaken a lot than he thought.

***

The living room.

"My son has a sprain?!"

"Nhaav..."

Nhaav was certainly and utterly displeased when he heard the news. Vaahn tried calming him down, but it was no use. The shadow man's temper was even nastier than his son's. He clutched his fist so tightly that his knuckles were white, and raised it at Vaahn and Dark.

The brown-haired man embraced Dark to protect him from the blow...

"D-Daddy... no..."

Nhaav turned to the voice. It was Gufuu, whom they had laid down on the sofa so that he may rest. The two adults had already given him proper treatment; both magic and traditional, for his sprain, though it still hurt nonetheless.

"Please don't hurt them, Daddy... they saved me..."

"B-But, son! I..."

"Please..."

Nhaav lowered his fist and knelt next to his son to embrace him. As the only remembrance from his wife, he could not possibly lose him. He wasn't even sure he can bear to see his son hurt in any way.

"Okay, son... I won't." he smiled at him gently, as if all the anger he had before was gone.

"Thank you, Daddy..." the boy smiled weakly at him.

"Now, you'd better get some sleep."

The samurai mage ruffled his son's hair a bit and kissed his forehead. He made sure that Gufuu fell asleep before he slowly rose from his kneeling position and turned to the other two.

"You two come with me." he said sternly, and made his way to the dining room.

The other two gulped, knowing that the shadow was not to be trifled with. Vaati was just there in the living room, but he could not say a word. After all, this was his shadow father they were talking about. He thought that it was best to leave their matters alone and attend to Gufuu instead, lest there be anything else wrong with him.

***

"I'm sorry, Nhaav." said Vaahn. "I'm so stupid and careless..."

"... I'm sorry, Uncle Nhaav. I was careless to let him slip like that."

They all sat before the table and decided to talk about the matter. The samurai mage still seemed furious, but he still looked dignified. He looked at the other two so sharply, that if his stare were a blade, they'd cut through beef so easily.

"Dark, I suppose I understand you." he finally spoke. "But you're not off the hook."

He then turned to his counterpart, who seemed to be the guiltiest. "Vaahn."

The hunter mage flinched. He knew he was in it this time. He knew that he screwed up badly. He knew that he had been too caught up with himself that he didn't bother to read between the lines of his shadow.

"I'm sorry."

He was surprised when he heard these words come out from his shadow. What?

"I'm sorry. You heard me. I'm sorry." repeated the adult shadow. "I should have been a lot more concrete about my point. I should have remembered that you were very busy and panicky about what all of us were to eat."

"H-Hey!" Vaahn spoke up, flustered. His cheeks were unusually rosy. "I should apologize to you! I mean, it's my fault I sent the children out on such a dangerous weather condition, and I should have known about the news about the storm!"

"... You're right."

Nhaav had agreed with him, but his eyes didn't grow furious. They became a bit calmer, in fact. A few minutes in the talk had given him back his cool and composure.

"But if you look at it, we're all at fault here. I should be scolding my son for this." Nhaav said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers to massage it.

Vaahn gave it some thought. As his shadow, of course he knew what he was talking about, and he knows that he had been making sense.

If Dark had only stocked his fridge with real food, Vaahn wouldn't need to fret about food. If only Nhaav had been clearer with what he wanted to tell Vaahn, Vaahn wouldn't have sent the children on the errand. If Gufuu had only thought about his rash decisions to humiliate Dark, Vaahn would eventually be able to figure out it was a bad idea to send them out like this.

Vaati wasn't directly at fault however. He wasn't given the chance to even talk about it. His only fault would probably be negligence to speak out his mind, if he had seen all this coming. It was likely though, for he was a very insightful and clever lad despite his demure demeanor.

"... You're right." Vaahn replied with a hushed voice.

"This is probably a reminder for us never to overlook such obvious things, no matter how small they may seem at the moment." Nhaav looked up at him, his eyes stern yet gentle.

"..." Dark let out a sigh before he looked at the both of them. "... Despite how harsh it may sound like, it's true. I'm just glad Gufuu's safe..."

Dark sneezed. The two adults looked at him.

"Excuse you." said Nhaav.

The shadowy youth covered his nose and mouth and sneezed in succession. Vaahn took note of this and accompanied him out of the dining room and into the youth's own room. A little later, he came back to work in the kitchen. There weren't any partitions between the kitchen and the dining room, and so the two adults can still see each other.

"Whatcha doing? Cooking dinner?" said Nhaav, his voice mellow yet with a hint of worry. Probably an aftermath for what had just happened.

"Yes. And... aww. Nhaav, where do you think he keeps his hot chocolate?" asked Vaahn as he looked around in the cupboards.

The shadow stood up and reached for the cupboard the other man had overlooked and opened it. He got the pack of powdered chocolate drink and gave it to him.

"Thanks." he said with a smile and proceeded to boil water in a kettle.

As he was waiting for the water to boil, he went to the other cupboards to get his apron as well as Dark's mug. He prepared the cooking pots as well as the other utensils such as the knives needed. He got the grocery bag and spread the ingredients on the kitchen table and started to slice them.

Nhaav was surreptitiously looking at him from a distance, watching how he was good at multi-tasking. He went over to him and tapped his shoulder. He merely let out a stare when his counterpart stared back. He decided to help him, because technically they are the same person.

"Wow, that's a miracle. You finally decide to help me?"

"Shut up."

Vaahn chuckled and just continued chopping the ingredients as he boiled water for both the viand and the hot chocolate. When he heard the kettle boiling, however, he chose to prepare the hot chocolate for the boys and asked Nhaav to watch over the food.

He grabbed a tray and went over to the boys, while Nhaav was left in charge. Though he relied heavily on Vaahn to cook the food, he decided that he will cook for them tonight. He chopped the remaining veggies and started cooking the sinigang they were supposed to have hours ago.

It was already 11:30 in the evening. It wasn't healthy to eat at this hour.

He decided he'd cook it anyways and just heat the viand again the next day for tomorrow's consumption. A little while later...

'What the heck. He hasn't come back.' thought he, a bit frustratingly. He was almost done cooking. He just needed to heat it til it boils, and use the veggies for tomorrow so they'd be fresh and crunchy. 'Is he slacking on me?'

After the viand boiled certainly, he turned the gas stove off and went outside of the kitchen/dining room. He peeked in the living room and found that nobody was there. He just had a hunch what happened.

***

"Nhaav, what are you doing here?"

"..."

Nhaav saw that Vaahn had tucked the boys in sleep. The two Vaatis shared a large bed, which was Dark's. The shadow hero stayed on his own sleeping bag just beside the bed, cozy inside his covers. Vaahn was supposed to be making his way out of the room while carrying the tray of emptied mugs until Nhaav met him by the doorway.

"Come on, we must sleep." said Nhaav as he went over to his bedroom door.

"All right, hang on. I just need to clean these up and..."

"No need. Clean them up tomorrow." Nhaav answered without bothering to turn back and face him.

"Okay... but I still need to cook..."

"Nope. Already did that."

Vaahn just stared at him, but the samurai opened his bedroom door and went inside. He didn't even bother to look back even as he went into his room.

The self-proclaimed housekeeper went down to the kitchen and found that his shadow was telling the truth. The sink was clean, and the viand was well-cooked. The viands were neatly kept in the fridge. The knives were cleaned and wiped dry, in their proper containers. Everything was in order.

At this, Vaahn smiled. He seemed to be delighted, despite the seemingly never-ending war of the rains and the winds.

Despite the relatively trivial misfortune they encountered thanks to carelessness, they still found new hope blossoming. As he cleaned up his own mess (disobeying Nhaav's orders to leave the mugs be), he smiled to himself as he began to ponder...

'Okay, Vaahn. What have you learned today...?'