The giggles of the six-year-old girl echo along the walls and warm the house as she tries to hide from her father. The little game of hide-and-seek reaches the height of suspense as she peeks out from behind the couch to get a sign of her seeker. She listens for any noise or disturbance when a loud sound suddenly comes behind her. She is then lifted from the ground and twirled around in his arms.

"Daddy caught you, princess," her father beams to the fluffball in his hands, currently looking at him with big green eyes and a grin stretching across her face.

"Where is his reward for catching his little princess?" He points to his face with his free hand as he puckers his lips in an attempt to make a kissing face. The little girl giggles cutely once again before leaning down and peppering his face with as many kisses as she can manage without bursting into a fit of giggles. A loud noise coming from her stomach makes her cheeks red as she whines cutely for her father to let go of her so she can run to her mother and ask for her favourite evening snack. Her father laughs before setting her down gently, and her little feet instantly carry her to her mother, who is preparing dinner in the kitchen, just adjacent to the living room.

"Mommy, I am hungwy. Give me gummies. I wanna eat them," she chimes while trying to get onto a chair to be at the same height as her mom.

"Sugarpie, go to your daddy and finish the homework you got in school today while I bring some milk for you. Daddy will help you with the homework," her mother says without looking up from the cutting board where she is cutting some vegetables for the broth.

"But Mommie-"

"No buts baby,! You don't want to get scolded by the teacher tomorrow, do you? And milk makes you strong, so you can grow up to be a strong and brave girl, right? Now go to your dad, Mommie will bring your milk, and you can get your gummies after you finish your homework," her mother declares with a finality in her voice, already knowing all the objections her whiny daughter is about to bring up. The girl pouts and struts out of the kitchen to her daddy's room while muttering incoherent sentences cutely.

Her mom smiles as she hears her daughter's cries of joy seconds afterwards, her mood instantly changing as if she was not just upset for not getting her gummies. A nostalgic look takes over her face as she remembers her past with her mom. The little girl she got blessed with six years ago is her sole purpose for living, and she could not help but be worried about her constantly. She sighs in content as two arms wrap around her waist, instantly filling her with warmth and comfort.

"What is that frown doing on your face, love? Are you worried about her safety again?" His voice is gentle as he rests his chin on her shoulder.

"No, I'm just...You know how it is, she's still so young, and what if-"

"Shhh, calm down. We'll protect her, we've talked about this. You don't need to worry, we'll raise her to be a strong woman. She'll be fine even if we're not there, so stop giving my beautiful wife a headache, or I will get angry!" he cuts her off and chuckles, waving her from side to side.

She hums, going to the sink to wash her hands, and he follows her like a lost puppy. He spins her around when she still does not say anything, and he knows the gears in her head are still turning.

"Look here," he holds her chin and makes her look up from the ground.

"We have a lot of time ahead of us, and our baby is very strong. She takes after her mom after all, and you're the strongest woman I've met. Give yourself some credit babe! You have kept her safe until now, I'm sure you'll keep her safe in the future too. Now..." he looks at her straight in the eye, looking like he is about to say something very serious.

"Smile at me! I have been deprived of it for too long to survive," he removes one hand from her waist and clutches his heart dramatically. His antics get a laugh out of her as her face finally splits into a grin. He leans down to kiss her, and her heart goes fuzzy as he smiles into the kiss. He pulls back with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Where is our little sugarpie? I sent her to you to get her homework done, did you do it?" She asks while encircling her arms around his neck.

"Ahh, about that, well..." his lovestruck gaze changes into a sheepish one, while hers becomes stern.

"Yes?" She asks with a pointed face, her hands on her hips.

"You see, she said she was hungry, and she wanted gummy bears, and you know how hard it is to say no to her puppy eyes face and-"

"Did you give it to her?" She asks, already knowing what his answer will be.

"Y-Yeah, I did," he replies timidly, and she groans with annoyance. She should have known that her mischievous daughter would get past her dad effortlessly.

"And what about her homework?"

"Huh? There was homework?" he asks with confusion on his face. The defeated look on her face is worth watching as she facepalms and sighs at her dear husband's stupidity.

"I just said I sent her to you for her homework, hun, remember? I told you she had to practice making sentences, didn't I?" He squirms underneath her firm gaze as he frowns and tries to remember the earlier conversation mentioning homework. His expression turns into a mixture of horror and shamefulness as realization dawns on his face, his forgetfulness getting the best of him.

"Not surprised, not at all," she comments unamused, and his face morphs into a sad one.

"I'm sorry, I promise, I'll pay proper attention from now on, and I won't give in to her puppy eyes either. Please don't be mad," he rambles cutely, but her stern expression remains unchanged.

"Are you mad?" he asks with a pout, and she has to fight back the smile threatening to spill from her lips. She steps closer to him with her hands crossed and her eyes glinting with playful mischief, much like her daughter.

"You know, it's quite difficult to remain angry at you when you are being more of a baby than our daughter," she chimes as she drops her facade and laughs while pinching his cheeks.

"Hey, that's not fair. I'm not a baby," he whines, and she laughs more.

"You are," she teases.

"I'm not," he retorts.

"Sure are," she continues.

"I'm not, and I think I need to remind you that," he almost growls as his eyes take on a darker shade and his voice goes down an octave, stepping closer to her.

Her laughing stops abruptly, and her breath hitches as she starts walking backward until her back hits the kitchen counter. His hands go down on either side of her hips as he traps her between himself and the kitchen counter. His face leaning down and coming dangerously close to hers. He looks straight in her eyes and wets his lips for a moment before his gaze falls to her luscious lips, and he dives down and slams his lips on hers. Their lips move in sync after years of being together, and she could not help but moan into his mouth when he nibbles on her lower lip. He moves forcefully and lifts her to sit on the kitchen counter, his tongue prying open her lips to enter her mouth and taste every part of her as the sound of something breaking rings somewhere. But they ignore it, forgetting the world around them as they get lost in each other's touch, the sensation sending the butterflies in her stomach in a frenzy even after all these years. Their blissful oblivion soon comes to an abrupt ending as their daughter's loud voice cuts through the tension built up in the room, and they hastily get away from each other.

"Daddy, my gummies got over, I want more!" she stretches the last word as her whiny, high-pitched voice echoes into the kitchen from their room.

"I...uh...I'll go and check on her," he tells her a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, yeah, you should do that," she replies, panting as well, getting down from the counter and fixing her clothes.

"No more gummies," he says as he walks backward.

"No more gummies," she repeats, still dazed, and he leaves the kitchen chuckling at her expression, knowing full well the effect he has on her.

She turns around to focus on what she was doing earlier, but her mind is still in a haze. Maybe that is why she is a bit late in guessing what was about to happen, but her sharp senses do not betray her as she turns her head suddenly to the direction where the breaking sound came from earlier. That is when she sees it, the broken vase and the burnt heather flowers, and the fire spreading speedily through the left side of the kitchen. It takes her a moment to realize how the fire started; a very familiar arrow piercing through the hardboard floor is emitting flame engulfing everything around them in red hot heat and turning it into ash.

The note attached to the top of the arrow does not go unnoticed by her, but she didn't have to be a genius to realize what it might say. There is no time to go and read it; she has to think fast of a way to stop this disaster. In her frantic state of trying to do something, she hits the cutting board, making the knife sitting on the board flip and leave a deep gash on her already shaking hand as the vegetable bowl slips from the counter and broken shards of glass and vegetables scatter on the floor. If the black smoke continuously filling the house was not an alarming alert for the oblivious man playing with her daughter in the bedroom, her scream and the noise made by the shattering of the vegetable bowl is. And it is not long before the father-daughter duo comes running to the kitchen to check on her.

"What...What's happening?" he asks, panicking.

"Mommy, your hand," the little girl cries as she sees the blood dripping from her mother's hand. Tears start streaming down her little face, as she tries to run forward but gets stopped by her father.

"They've found us," her mom yells, distressed, green eyes shining with unshed tears threatening to spill any moment.

"You have to get her out, she is not safe here anymore," she breaks down as the dam finally breaks, and she is crying hysterically.

"Come with me, we have to get out fast," he extends his hand and starts stepping forward, but she shakes her head, moving away from him.

"I-I have to keep it safe, I cannot come with you," she starts but gets cut by him.

"NO! I'm not leaving you here, no way!" he yells, distraught, but she stops him with her hands.

"No, please," she is almost whispering. "Please...get her out, keep her safe, you promised me, please," her eyes plead to him with unsaid emotions, reminding him of the very first time they met.

"I'll come back for you, I'm not leaving you here at any cost, wait for me, please be safe," he returns her plead with his own, eyes desperately relaying all the words he wants to say, and she nods, mouthing the words, I love you, to him as he does the same. He reluctantly steps backward, her daughter desperately crying for her mother in her father's tight grip, her sobs wracking his body and squeezing his heart as he runs fast to get her out of the house to keep her safe.

She is chanting a string of 'Mommy mommy mommy' while hiccuping in her father's arms as he takes fast strides out of the kitchen and through the living room while keeping her safe from the wilding enraged flames and taking the blow of the scorching heat himself. By the time he got her out of the house, he seriously is burnt, and his clothes looked like rags. He makes the little girl sit in their garden, a good distance away from the house, and checks her for any injuries. Her face and body had gotten ashed due to the smoke, and some of her clothes also burnt. But her body is free from any burns. He breathes a short sigh of relief, and his eyes gleam with a glint of hope barely present. She is panting and coughing as she cries, but he knows she will be safe. He looks up to the house, now burning ferociously by the untamed fire. His heart shatters at the thought of his love in there alone and scared. He starts to get up to go back but is stopped by his daughter's hand clasping his wrist as tightly as she can.

"D-daddy...m-mom-my...where is mommy?" She asks, stuttering with hiccups, with a small voice as silent tears continue falling from her now puffy, bloodshot eyes.

"Daddy is going to get mommy out of there, princess. Mommy is going to be fine. She'll be here with you in no time, I promise," he says, trying to catch his breath. "Stay here and wait for me, okay? Don't go anywhere, daddy will be back soon," he tells her, and she nods, and then he is going back to the house as fast as he can.

She sits there for a long time, or maybe it has only been a few minutes; she cannot keep track of time as she waits for her parents to return. She folds her legs and brings her knees up to her chest, hugging herself and resting her chin on her knees. She is tired and exhausted from crying, and her vision is blurry from the tears and the smoke. It was hard to keep her eyes open, but she tried her best to not succumb to the sleep, calling for her sweetly with open arms and a silent lullaby. She was unable to pay attention to the loud blast that came from the direction of her house as her body gave up. And then she is falling into sweet nothingness as darkness engulfs her, and the last thing she remembers is a soft embrace, ocean blue eyes filled with concern and worry, a smooth voice ringing in her ears, and then everything shuts down.

I will keep you safe, forever.