Wayward Son

Chapter 1

"Mom?"

The dark haired woman looked up at her young son, who was gazing sleepily at her from beneath the folds of sheets.

"What is it?" she asked. "There's nothing under the bed, I checked already. Nothing in the closet, either."

"It's not that," the little boy told her. "It's... when's Dad going to come home again?"

She picked up a small blue stuffed toy that had been sitting in the corner and knelt down next to the bed.

"Well, you see," she said, "it's very complicated. Your father has a lot of work to do and he does it for everybody. If it wasn't for your father, we'd be knee-deep in who knows what by now."

"So Dad can't come home because he's too busy being a hero?"

She sighed. How was one supposed to explain this to a four year old?

"Pretty much," she said, "but I promise he'll come home at the end of the month."

"But you said that last month. And he still hasn't come back."

The woman ran a hand through his already tousled hair. He yawned, and she passed him the toy, which he drew into a tight cuddle.

"Don't you worry about this now," she said. "Daddy will come home soon, I promise."

The kid was clearly unsatisfied with the answer, but it looked as though he was too tired to continue his questioning. He yawned again, and this time his eyes stayed closed.

Still stroking his head, the woman began to sing.

"Carry on, my wayward son,

There'll be peace when you are done,

Lay your weary head to rest,

Don't you cry no more..."

By the time she was finished, the little boy was sound asleep.

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Aerrow," she whispered. "See you in the morning."

O-o-O

"Uh... Aerrow?"

Green eyes blearily opened, their owner still half dead to the world due to sleep.

"Aerrow, I don't think the librarians would appreciate it if you drooled all over their books."

"Mmph?"

He sat up far too quickly and the world only stopped spinning after he shook his head a few times. Embarrassing, to say the least.

"You okay?" asked Piper as he wiped his mouth on his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Sorry about that. I don't think I got very much sleep last night. Any luck?"

Piper sat down next to him, slamming down a book that was about the size and weight of the average paving slab.

"Next to nothing," she muttered in an annoyed tone. "Someone must have been pretty eager about crystals; almost the whole section's gone! If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect Master Cyclonis of-"

"Isn't she supposed to be some you-level crystal mage?" Aerrow asked with a small smile that he hoped was reassuring. "'Sides, she's probably still busy yelling at Dark Ace over that whole Suit of Untold Vengeance thing."