Chapter Text
Lord Raiden had not, at all, ever in his immortal life, planned nor even thought to adopt this child.
That was a complete lie. In fact, Raiden was hoping the baby boy would feel connected to him. Elder Gods knew how badly Raiden wanted to be a parent but alas, the immortal was cursed to put his duty as protector before his desire to be a good father to the young ones left at his temple.
In fact, curse whichever of his monks it was that let it slip that he loved "fathering" children (a true rumor but a horribly mis-worded one). His visage and believers would from then on associate the god with parenthood, protection and children, something Raiden both adored and despised. Not necessarily for making his temple's doorstep a hot spot for human mothers to leave their infants in hopes the god would take better care of the babies for them (Raiden would never reject a child), but rather for rudely making Raiden a target for being given children when he could not take them in properly like he personally wanted. So yes actually, curse that poor oblivious monk.
But now it was too late to be upset at monks long since passed and his creed now being associated with the one thing he always wanted to be. Instead, Raiden was focused on what lay before him...or more so what stood before him.
That which stood (several feet severely shorter) before him was a sweet little baby boy. Well, more so a very young toddler, but all mortal children were babies to the thunder god. A baby boy with a head of fluffy black hair, big grey doe eyes, and a sweet little face that could make a Tarkatan go 'awwwwe'. The sweet little boy happened to an orphan brought in by Master Bo Rai Cho just a week prior. The little thing had been abandoned, left to die in the streets when the drunken master had scooped him up and brought him to Raiden.
Which led now to this dilemna.
The baby boy refused to leave Raiden's side.
Maybe it had been because Raiden had cradled the boy the moment he saw the little child, maybe it was because Liu Kang could hear the way the thunder god sang him a lullabye to shoo away his nightmares, or perhaps it was because Raiden was the one to choose "Liu Kang" as the boys new name, but for some reason the young one was very attached to Lord Raiden.
Why could that ever be, hm?
But Raiden knew better than to let one child dictate the way he lived his life. After all, he was a protector of an entire realm. He would not let his baby fever allow him to get distracted by what he must do.
Of course, that doesn't mean he's not allowed to be a single father at the same time, right?
***
Lord Raiden was returning from Outworld.
Peace treaties with several of the Tarkatan clans went about as well as assumed. The thunder god only managed to get a few words in before he was met by anger at a mistranslation and had to hurriedly teleport out before things got unnecessarily messy. Which found him back at his temple, sighing in relief.
He was only rewarded a few minutes of peace in his chambers when a sudden noise caught his attention.
The unmistakable sound of a child wailing. And it was right outside his door.
Gently pulling open the heavy doors, Raiden was met by the sight of several monks - many on their knees - cooing at the ground. The moment he opened the door, all of them bowed and greeted him.
"What seems to be happening-" The god was interrupted when he felt something small wrap attempt to wrap around his boot.
His height had made him completely miss what the monks were cooing to. And what they were cooing at was the small Liu Kang who had apparently been banging as hard as he could on the gods door. (The banging was almost entirely silent as the small boy had spunk but no force in his tiny hands.) Spotting the tiny toddler hugging his calve, the monks attempted to apologize but were stopped by Raiden chuckling very softly. To their surprise, the god was neither irritated nor upset, instead his face boasted a look of warm affection.
"O-Our apologies, my lord. Liu Kang managed to escape the nursery and when we found him he was pounding on your door. We do not wish to bother you. We will return him to his bed...if you wish."
The monks waited patiently for the gods reply and were (entertainingly) shocked when Raiden silently reached down and scooped up the little boy with as much as effort as lifting a feather. Liu Kang did not seem to care as the tears that ran down his face stopped and he quickly snuggled into the gods chest, hands holding Raidens vest with a fierce, small grip.
"Not necessary, but thank you, dear friends. I will happily take responsibility for him. After all, he did go to all the effort for my attention. I think it best to let him calm down before I return him to the nursery."
The monks nodded silently, practically flabbergasted, before quickly bowing and excusing themselves as Raiden closed his door.
Now inside the room and completely calm, Liu Kang loosened his grip just a bit, but continued to nuzzle into the gods robes as Raiden softly rubbed the young one's back. The instinct to comfort the little one came naturally to Raiden, almost by second nature. For a moment he lamented not being able to have more time for the young ones, but quickly dismissed that thought as he remembered the old immortal rule:
Time was precious, and any time with his humans at all was better than time wasted without.
He reminded himself this as Liu Kang sneezed softly, bringing Raiden out of his thoughts as he muttered a soft "bless you".
Perhaps the rain was comforting to the young one. Perhaps the deep and booming voice of thunder incited comfort instead of fear. All Raiden knows is that Liu Kang always slept comfortably to the sound of thunder, and the boy slept peacefully that night, being held by his favorite person in the world.