Work Text:
Dazzle woke up with tears in her eyes, sitting up in her bed quickly and trying to get her breathing in check. She’d just seen herself back in the front of the house getting between her old dad and her new adoptive dad, but instead of her getting grazed with the bullet her old dad shot Sun right in front of her. She’d woken up terrified when her old dad grabbed her by the arm in her nightmare. Dazzle sniffled and looked at her arm, it wasn’t grabbed, it never had been… It was just a bad dream, it didn’t happen. Her old dad never shot her new dad… he never got hurt… she got hurt that night instead. She laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, only to end up tossing and turning for several minutes unable to make her dumb brain stop moving. It kept making her worry about her dad even though she totally knew he was perfectly fine. She kept repeating that to herself in her head as she shuffled down the hall from her room to her dad’s. Dazzle knocked three times and waited for as long as her patience could stand it before she just walked in.
Sun woke up when he heard a single knock on his door, but by the time he really got his bearings it was completely quiet. He sat up and looked at the door, waiting to see if there would be another knock. But instead of a knock, the door was slowly pushed open by a small figure. He knew it was Dazzle the moment he saw her antlers peek out from behind the door, and while usually he’d be happy to see his daughter she never came to him this late at night. “Hey Dazzle, is something wrong sweetie?” He asked softly and turned the lamp on his bedside table on so it wouldn’t be pitch black. His concern only grew when Dazzle wordlessly ran to him and clung to his leg. “Dazzle? Dazzle, sweetie, what happened? Did you have a bad dream?” Sun leaned down wrapped his arms around her to pick her up as she nodded into his leg with a sad sniffle. “You wanna tell me what happened?” He wouldn’t force her to say anything if she didn’t want to but he wanted to make sure she knew the offer was open if she wanted to take it.
Dazzle held onto him like a lifeline and nodded again, making Sun’s heart clench. Dazzle didn’t cry often. She was a really happy kid despite what she’d been through. In fact, he could count on one hand how many times he’d seen her genuinely sad. Even when she’d just been Evelyn, a regular at the daycare, she’d almost always run in with a smile on her face. Seeing her so quiet and clearly distressed hurt. “He- He hurt you..” She muttered tearfully.
“He? Who’s he, Dazzle?” Honestly ‘he’ could really be anyone. A lot of people had made attempts on his life over the years and apparently Dazzle had been watching from the walls for a decent amount of the time his life had been in near constant danger.
“My dad… my- my old dad, he hurt you instead of me…” She got choked up and buried her face in Sun’s shoulder.
“Oh Dazzle,” Sun ran his hand up and down her back, “I’m okay baby, I’m okay… He didn’t hurt me and he never will. He can’t hurt either of us, not ever, not anymore.” He pushed down the pang of guilt deep inside of him. Elias had only ever tried to shoot Sun that day because he wanted his daughter back. The daughter that now he could never get back because Sun had taken her away from him… twice. Sometimes he questioned if he was right to keep Dazzle, if he was right to deny Elias his own child. But he didn’t have the time to question his decisions right now though, right now Dazzle needed his full, undivided attention. Sun pulled his daughter into his lap, cradling her against his torso and humming to her until her tears came to a stop. “I’m sorry you had to see any of that that night… I’m supposed to be the one protecting you, sweetheart.”
“I don’t like it when you’re hurt… or sad…” Dazzle whispered and looked up like she was checking to make sure Sun wasn’t crying either.
Sun hummed and nodded, “I know you don’t, and I don’t like seeing you hurt or sad either.” He gently tapped her nose. The small giggle that the action got out of her made him smile, her happiness had always been infectious. The moment didn’t last forever though and Dazzle went back to resting her head against him and frowning ever so slightly. “You wanna stay with me for the rest of the night?” He asked her, tapping her shoulder to get her attention first.
Dazzle nodded, “I- If it’s okay with you…” she mumbled.
“It’s more than okay with me. You know I’ll never say no to being with you.” Sun ruffled her hair and smiled down at her. “Now, we should really get some sleep. I don’t want you to be all sleepy at the aquarium tomorrow.”
“Aquarium?” Dazzle asked, her eyes practically lighting up, “Don’t you have to work?”
“Moon may or may not have given me and Solar the day off so that we could take you, Jack, and Molten to the local aquarium on a less busy day so you three can have more fun without people being weird.” Sun explained, his own smile growing as Dazzle’s visible excitement grew. “So, wanna get to bed now?”
Dazzle nodded so quickly her antlers almost smacked Sun in the face. She apologized but he just laughed it off and told her it was fine, even if he had been hit he wouldn’t have cared, he was just happy to see her happy after her bad dream. He’d always care more about seeing her happy than anything else and he’d do anything to protect her and keep her happy. Sun kept the lamp on until Dazzle fell asleep in his arms, only then did he turn the lamp off and go to sleep himself.