The storm had started not long after Tatsuya had returned from school, and it had been going on for a good while already. The rain and thunder didn't really bother him, neither did the fact that he was home alone. The thunderstorm was more than likely to blame for the power going out, which was a little annoying but nothing to get alarmed about. Tatsuya was smarter than an average eight-year-old, and if it came down to it, he figured, a flashlight would be enough to let him finish homework if the power wasn't returning soon. For now, he took the flashlight and sat down with a book he wanted to be studying. Perhaps he could take a look at some gunpla later too, but for that, it would be better to wait till the power came back on.

His father wouldn't be home today, he knew that much. Busy with his work as always, but it wasn't anything Tatsuya wasn't used to and it didn't really trouble him. The house was quiet beside the sound of pouring rain and thunder outside. It was a little eerie in a fascinating way, not that he thought it to be all that unusual. He'd seen worse storms, and this one was probably the one that had been mentioned in the weather forecast - there had been some news about the remains of a typhoon hitting Japan. All in all, it was nothing to worry about.

What did start bothering him after a while was the fact that Yana had been gone for so long.

It would be dinnertime soon, too, and Tatsuya had to admit he was a little hungry. Eating some crackers helped that, but it still meant he would have to wait longer than usual for dinner. Not to mention, it was really unusual for Yana to not be home by now. She had been home when he had gotten back from school, but she had headed out for some missing groceries. That had been a few hours ago, though, and it was starting to make him wonder what was taking her so long. Usually she'd be home by now and busy preparing for dinner.

Eventually, he sighed and picked up his phone. He stared at it for a moment and reconsidered; Yana would probably think it was cute for him to get worried or something along the lines of that if he sent a message to ask where she was. Maybe if he called and asked her to pick up some extra study material, he thought. It served as enough of an excuse, and a good enough reason to try calling her.

It unfortunately turned out her phone didn't seem to be picking up the signal, which only added to Tatsuya's troubled thoughts.

There were easy logical reasons for that, like the power blackout taking out the cellphone services in the area she was in. The service worked fine at home, at least, and he checked online if there was any news about the storm causing blackouts. The local news service confirmed his suspicion - in addition to his neighborhood, there were several power blackouts around Tokyo, and the storm had apparently caused some power lines to fall on the streets, causing extra grief as power companies were forced to cut the power from the lines while fixing the issue.

What caught his attention was a mention of a particular power line incident, since it was only a few kilometers away from his home. According to the article, the power line falling had caused a traffic accident involving five cars, and some pedestrians had gotten injured as well. There was a mention of over ten people being taken to the hospital, with a couple of their identities not being confirmed yet.

Tatsuya stared at the article for a moment then shook his head. It couldn't be related to Yana - but then again, if it was, the people at the hospital would first contact her family, who then would perhaps inform Tatsuya's father. This would mean Tatsuya himself would be the last to hear about anything, and he wasn't exactly sure how quick it would occur to his father to send someone to check if everyone was all right at home.

He wandered off to the window to look outside, but the only thing he could see was the wall of pouring rain, and the lightning ripping the sky apart every so often. An ordinary eight-year-old would've found it scary, and Tatsuya had to admit he was getting nervous. He tried calling Yana again, but the call still failed to connect. He considered calling his father, but that didn't seem like a good idea, not to mention he was on a business trip out of town and probably didn't even know about the storm.

It got dimmer as he stood there watching the storm, not that the sun setting made much difference with the dark clouds covering the sky. It did mean that what little light there had been was gone though, and with the power still out, the room was dark, save for the flashlight and the screen illumination of the screen of Tatsuya's phone. He checked the news again only to find another article about an accident on the nearby streets, and he put the phone away, not wanting to know more.

The rain kept falling; the thunder passed for a little and the rumbling sounds seemed more distant, then there was just the sound of rain. Time seemed to pass so slowly, and Tatsuya sat down by the window and just stared at the darkness.

He realized he had dozed off when all of a sudden the sound of the front door opening snapped him out of it, and he sprung up from where he sat and made it to the door. It was Yana; he knew that before he made it there, because he heard her wondering aloud about the lights being out. She was home and everything was fine, and Tatsuya wasn't about to give a damn about the fact that she was drenched. He clung to her and pressed his head against her arm. "You're home," he mumbled, too lightheaded from his nap. "I was so scared," he added, not caring about staying calm for a moment. All that mattered was that Yana was home and everything was fine.

"Young master...?" Yana stared at him for a second then just wrapped her arms around the boy.

"Hmm?" Tatsuya looked up from his book as the light flickered once before the room went dark. There was the sound of thunder outside, and he shrugged. London did get its share of storms, not that thunder was all that common. The storm was probably the cause of the blackout, and the only thing that annoyed him about it was the fact that he was in the middle of his homework and couldn't finish the rest right now.

He got up from his chair and made it to the door in the little light that came in from outside. "Yana?" He called. "The power went out. Do we have any flashlights or candles, I should-" At that point he was cut off by a bright flash of lightning as it hit somewhere nearby, and the rumbling sound that followed the flash was so loud that it made him jump just a little. "Whoa. That must've hit close. Anyway do we..."

Yana was already there at that point with a candle in her hand, watching him with a worried expression. "Are you all right, young master? Are you scared? I know you have hated thunderstorms since you were a child, so if you want me to hold you until it passes, it's fine. Just come sit on the sofa with me, we can wait till it passes."

Tatsuya stared at her blankly for a few seconds then sighed. This again. Yana could just never forget that one incident from when he had been eight. So he had learned later that the reason for her returning so late had been two different traffic accidents blocking the roads, and then the car Yana had been using had broken down due to the streets flooding. She had walked the remaining kilometer back home to find an upset Tatsuya - and had of course taken the situation completely wrong.

It was not the thunderstorm he had been afraid of, nor being at home alone, but the possibility of Yana being involved in the traffic accidents. Of course, he was never telling her that. He was smart enough to calculate that if Yana learned the real reason for his worries back then, she wouldn't ever let him live it down - and that was way worse than letting her think he was afraid of thunder and blackouts. "The mistakes of ones youth," he muttered under his breath.

Yana looked at him curiously. "Hmm? Did you say something, young master?"

"No, it's nothing," he replied with a hint of a smile. "I think my homework will have to wait till we have power again, so I suppose we could go sit down and talk about something," he suggested. "Say, want to talk about that gunpla you had planned on building next?"

The storm outside carried on for another hour; the power at least returned after a while. The conversation they ended up having was interesting enough to distract Tatsuya from his homework until much later that night.

The bright flash and the loud rumble that followed woke him up, and Tatsuya raised his head a little, looking at the window. He listened as the heavy rain hit against the glass, and the lightning flashed again somewhere nearby. He got up from bed, thinking of getting something to drink when he noticed the street lights outside flickered a little before they went out. He stared at the window for another moment then walked to the light switch and tried it. Nothing happened.

Blackouts weren't very common at PPSE, but he guessed the employee quarters weren't exactly the top priority for backup power. The important facilities took higher importance understandably, and it wasn't like the employee quarters losing power for a bit caused any issues. Tatsuya returned to the window to watch the rain, noticing how the lightning flashed again, the sound of thunder following a few seconds later.

The rain, the distant sound as the thunder struck again somewhere further away, and the power being out reminded him of some events of the past, and he smiled a little. Yana had never learned the truth about the incident, and now, it felt a little embarrassing to think about it. Then again, he had been eight back then. Whatever his reasons for being upset had been, it would've been understandable - or perhaps it really was better if Yana never knew any better.

There was a soft sound of someone stopping behind him, and a second later, that someone wrapped their arms around his shoulders. Considering there was exactly one person in the room beside himself, he knew exactly who that was and relaxed into the embrace. "Did the thunder wake you up?" Allan whispered next to his ear, and Tatsuya could tell by the gentle voice that Allan was smiling.

"It did," he replied, raising his hand and placed it over Allan's. He felt warm and safe in the man's arms, and the thought amused him a little, considering the event he had just remembered earlier. The lightning flashed across the sky again, illuminating the rainy scenery outside for a second before everything went dark again. Only a few seconds later the sound of thunder rumbled from somewhere nearby, and Tatsuya could feel the slight tremors it caused through the window. "Not very easy to sleep with this going on," he added, watching as the raindrops fell hard against the window outside. "And it just reminded me of something that happened a long time ago."

Allan kissed his neck softly and held him close. "Do share? Or maybe we should save the story time until tomorrow," he pondered, "We've got work early in the morning, so should really go back to bed." He paused and placed another kiss on Tatsuya's neck. "Although it might be that we won't be able to fall back to sleep until the storm passes. But come on, you can't stand here all night."

There was truth in what Allan said; Tatsuya followed him back to bed obediently, and they both lay back down. The thunder outside flashed again, although it seemed more distant now. Tatsuya smiled and snuggled closer to his companion. "Allan?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"Hmm?"

"That thing I just mentioned. Thunder and blackouts. I..." He paused for a while and chuckled. "I used to be afraid of it when I was a child. Or so Yana thought, at least," he added thoughtfully. Allan had known him for years and Tatsuya figured he might've known better. "But it does make me a little uneasy," he continued as he shuffled even closer to Allan. "Will you hold me until this storm passes?"

Allan nodded his head a little and wrapped his arms around him.

Author's notes:

This fic, also known as, LH gets ideas during a thunderstorm and thinks this would make a cute few hundred word fic snippet! ...2000+ words later. Yep, story of my fic writing.

- Lady Harken (June 2014)