Nero trembled and cried as his father and uncle started hitting each other, they were screaming and swearing at each other, but that ended awhile ago. Dante punched Vergil square in the jaw, causing Nero to cry harder, he just wants his only family to stop before someone gets killed. Vergil retaliated by roundhouse kicking Dante in the head. He fell to the ground and held his aching head, he glared at Vergil and grabbed a vase. He got up and smashed it over his brother's head, causing him to drop like a rag doll. Vergil didn't get up, he isn't dead though, just stunned. But Nero thought he was dead.

Nero backed up against the wall and slowly slid down till he was sitting against it. He closed his eyes and cried, he kept doing it until everything went silent. Nero hesitated before opening his eyes, when he did, he was in his bed in his room. He got up and ran out, screaming for his daddy. Vergil immediately went to his son and picked him up. He wiped away Nero's tears and said "What's wrong, buddy?" Nero sniffled and said "I dreamed you and Uncle Dante were fighting. You were screaming and swearing at each other and then you started to hit each other and Uncle Dante broke a vase over your head, you fell and stopped moving." Vergil laughed lightly and patted his son's head, saying "Don't worry, Nero, that would never happen." 

Dante walked up to the father and son and said "What was the little guy screaming for?"
"He dreamed we were fighting and you broke a vase over my head, causing me to stop moving." Vergil responded, Dante laughed like his brother and said "I'd never do that, don't worry." he patted Nero's head just like Vergil did. Nero smiled, feeling much better. Vergil bounced his son gently and said "Now that you're awake, let's make breakfast" Nero nodded and they all went into the kitchen.

Dante took Nero from Vergil so he could cook, he was going to make waffles. Dante held Nero in one arm so he could open the fridge and grab the bacon while Vergil was already making the batter that would be the waffles. Dante set Nero on the counter and started to cook the bacon and Vergil poured the batter into the waffle maker. Once Nero smelt the bacon cooking, he realized how hungry he was. He looked out the window to occupy himself. He noticed it was raining, which he loves. He loves playing in the rain and he loves the way the rain smells.

~

"Nero? Come on, baby, wake up." Vergil said softly while gently tapping Nero's cheek. Dante looked worriedly at his nephew, not sure what is wrong. Vergil tried the tapping for 15 seconds before gently shaking and saying "Come on, wake up." Dante got scared when Nero didn't respond, Vergil got scared too and was thrown into a state of panic. He started to shake Nero harder and said "Wake up! Wake up!" Dante grabbed Vergil's arms and forced him to stop shaking his son. Vergil then held Nero and cried, whispering "Please, wake up. Please, please, please." Dante made his brother stand and quickly rushed him outside and to the car.

Vergil got in the back with Nero, but instead of putting him in his car seat, he held him close and cried silently. Dante peeled out of the driveway and sped to the hospital while Vergil held Nero's hand in his and whispered "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

~

Nero smiled as Vergil made one more thing to add to the breakfast, whipped butter for the waffles. Dante carried Nero into the dinning room and set him in his usual chair by the window. He was given a plate with waffles with whipped butter and maple syrup on top and a side of bacon. Dante and Vergil sat down with their plates and started eating, Nero smiled and started eating as well. 

When he took his second bite of his waffles, Dante kicked him gently under the table. Nero looked over and Dante grinned at him. He got a bit of the whipped butter on his fork and flicked it at Vergil, hitting him in the cheek. Vergil glared daggers at Dante before smirking and doing the same, causing Nero to laugh and giggle. Just then his cheek felt wet, he rubbed it but it was dry. He kept rubbing, trying to see if the feeling would go away.

Dante noticed this and said "Is something wrong?"
"My cheek feels like it's wet." Nero responded and kept rubbing, Dante reached over and felt his nephew's cheek. When he felt it was dry he said "But it's not wet." Vergil and Dante gave each other a look, wondering what could be causing the feeling.

~

Vergil continued to hold his son close and cry, his tears falling on Nero's cheek. Vergil's head shot up when the car came to a screeching halt. They were at the emergency room entrance. Dante opened the door for his brother so he could get out. They immediately sprinted into the emergency room and up to the front desk.
"Please, my son won't wake up. His uncle and I were fighting and he just sat against the wall and put his head down. He stopped crying and went silent and he wouldn't respond to us trying to talk to him. I tried tapping his face and shaking him but he wouldn't wake up. Please help my son." Vergil said in a panic. A nurse called for a doctor and one came immediately, Nero was rushed to a room for some tests to be done.

Vergil and Dante were allowed to be in the room with Nero. They got more scared as the tests went on, but once they were finally over, the news they got scared them more than they thought was possible.

"I'm very sorry, I only have bad news." The doctor said, Vergil trembled slightly and Dante had to hold him to keep him still and calm him.
"Nero has shut himself away from this world and into his own, usually victims of torture do this. He's in a world very similar to ours, but there are signs scattered everywhere, signs to let him know he is sleeping and that he needs to wake up. But there is a very big problem." The doctor, said Vergil's eyes watered and he said "What is it?" The doctor sighed and said "Most people who do this, they know they are sleeping but they choose not to wake up. It's completely up to Nero if he wants to wake up or not." Vergil's legs grew weak and he couldn't support himself so Dante had to hold him up.

He brought him over to Nero's bed and sat him in a chair. Vergil took his son's hand in his and gently palmed his cheek, saying "I'm so sorry, Nero. Please, wake up. I miss you."

~

Nero finished his breakfast and Dante picked him up, saying "Come on, kid. Bath time." He carried his nephew into the bathroom and sat him on the rug before starting to run a bath. Nero looked out the bathroom window and saw it was still raining. He ran to the window and opened it, breathing in the fresh air. Dante picked Nero up and set him on the rug in front of the tub, saying "Okay, kid. Bath is ready." He got Nero out of his syrup stained clothes and into the bath.

While Dante washed his nephew, Nero swore he heard crying in the wind outside. He listened closely and heard a faint voice whisper 'wake up'. Nero tried to hear it again but Dante started to wash his hair and it got hard to concentrate. He smiled at the scent of watermelon and completely forgot about the crying and the whispering voice. Nero was dressed into a blue shirt and black pants and carried into the living room so he could watch T.V. or read his books while Dante and Vergil cleaned up the kitchen.

Nero grabbed one of his books, a Calvin and Hobbes comic book. He read through it and giggled. When he got to a certain page, there was supposed to be a comic of an elephant and then show Calvin about to blow a horn on his parents bed while they slept, but instead, in all four boxes were the words "Wake up." Nero thought it was a misprint, never having read this one before and not knowing it was a sign. He set it down and decided to watch T.V.

Nero turned on the T.V. and instead of his usual cartoons playing, he saw a scene of him laying in a bed in the hospital while his father and uncle held his hands and cried. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing Vergil and Dante to run in screaming his name.
They dropped down beside him and said "Nero, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Nero pointed at the screen in horror. Dante and Vergil just smiled lightly, Dante rubbed Nero's back and said "That's you, the real you. And that's us, the real us. You are sleeping, you just need to wake up." Tears welled in Nero's eyes, realizing that what he had experienced was true.

"No! I don't want to! You two were fighting and hitting each other! I don't want to wake up!" Nero cried. Vergil gently grabbed his son's chin and made him look at the screen. Once Nero's eyes locked on the screen, Vergil said "Look at how torn up they are. They're very sorry for what they did, they really miss you and want you to wake up, Nero. Vergil wants his little boy back and Dante wants his precious nephew back. They'll never do it again, I promise." Nero sniffled and said "But what if they do?"
"Then you can come back here." Dante said. Nero let a few tears fall before saying "How do I wake up?" Vergil smiled and said "Just close your eyes." Nero did as told and he felt Vergil gently grab his head. He placed a kiss on his forehead and then everything went silent.

Nero suddenly heard crying and he had a pain in his arm. He opened his eyes and saw Vergil and Dante with their heads resting on the bed, they were crying. He also saw he had an IV in his arm.
"Daddy, can you take this thing out of my arm?" Nero said quietly. Dante and Vergil immediately shot their heads up at hearing the kid talk. They both hugged him tightly, Dante rubbing his back and Vergil saying "I thought you weren't gonna wake up." Dante was next to speak.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean for the fight to get out of hand."
"I'm sorry, too. We promise to never fight like that again." Vergil said, causing Nero to smile and hug them, believing it will never happen again.

Nero was checked out of the hospital and went home with his father and uncle. They cleaned up the mess and ordered pizza for breakfast. After breakfast, Nero fell asleep on the couch between his uncle and father who both had an arm around him.