I Lie In the Dark

By Kira Yalnami

A/N: Well, here's my first (and if I can help it, last) song fic. Actually, I think it's pretty cool. It's about Yamato and Tkei when they were younger before the divorce. Here we go…

~ Kira

Matt watched his brother's regular breaths, as he slept in a land unpolluted by nightmares. Protecting his brother was why he was still around, why he kept his secrets to himself. It had "happened" every night before the divorce, the yells, the screams, and the slaps…

~ Flashback ~

His father was home. Matt knew by his heavy footfalls that he was drunk. Matt held his slumbering brother, covering his own ears against the storm that was brewing. He didn't have long to wait.

I lie in the dark

And I hear them shout

I don't understand

What they're fighting about

If I cover my ears, I won't hear what they say

If I close my eyes, it will all go away

"God dammit! You made a mistake again! Can't you do ANYTHING right!" Mr. Ishida yelled at his wife, who shrank away from him.

It makes me afraid when he gets so mad

And sometimes I wish that he wasn't my dad

He drinks too much liquor, he yells and he swears

Mommy says it's 'cause he just doesn't care

He doesn't care for me

"And look at Yamato's grades! He doesn't get anything right! And another note from his teacher about a fight! Can't you control the kid!" Mr. Ishida slapped his wife, and she cried out.

I wonder what's wrong

What is wrong with me?

It's got to be something that I did

Because daddies should love their kids

Matt covered TK's ears with his hands, willing the child not to wake up in the midst of the battle.

I try and I try

To be so good

To do what they say,

Always do what I should

So why do they yell?

Don't they know how I cry?

It makes me feel like there's nothing inside

Nothing inside of me

Matt squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking from the corners and falling on the fair hair of the toddler in his lap. This was his fault. If only he did better at school, if only he made friends, if only, if only…

I wonder what's wrong

What is wrong with me?

It's got to be something that I did

Because mommies should love their kids

Finally, the screams and yells stopped, and his father went to bed, leaving his mother to cry over broken dishes and bruises. After a time, she, too, went to bed.

Matt uncovered TK's ears, and climbed into his own bed, the grim events of that night still fresh in his mind.

I lie in the dark

And I hear them shout

I don't understand

What they're fighting about

Forever and ever, they battle and blame

Night after night, it's forever the same

Night after night, it's forever the same

~ End Flashback ~

Epilogue

Matt listened to TK's steady breathing, and slowly let himself slip into sleep, warmed with the knowledge that TK would have peaceful dreams, unhaunted by memories.