Please don't kill me for making Henry sniffly!

This is a bingo one, I had to do something with World Wars.

Rating K+

"Ashley!" Nikola sighed as his daughter took off again. Since she got more sure on her feet she was seeing just how far she could get just about any time there was something to do.

Ashley giggled and raced away from daddy shaking her rattle and hugging her dragon tight.

Suddenly daddy was in front of her, wait what?

Nikola intercepted his daughter and scooped her up, "caught you."

Ashley giggled, "how daddy catch Le?"

"Daddy is a vampire," Nikola flashed his fangs for a second.

Ashley giggled more and shook her rattle happily, "Daddy win."

"Was bound to happen eventually," Nikola carried Ashley back to her room, "we clean now?"

"Clean now," Ashley relented. It was so much more fun to knock her blocks down with her dragon then put them in their bucket.

"Thank you," Nikola kissed her cheek.

"Oh, Re!" Ashley waved her rattle as she saw her big brother in her room.

"Henry?" Nikola sat on the floor with Ash, handing her a block.

"Dad, can I talk to you?" Henry had that look that said he was troubled about something.

"Of course," Nikola gestured to Henry to have a seat and they'd talk as he coaxed Ashley to find her floor under her toys.

Henry plopped down next to Nikola. He fidgeted a little, having trouble getting his thoughts out.

Nikola set his hand on top of Henry's head, "whatever it is, you can tell me."

Henry smiled a little, "okay dad."

"Re sad?" Ashley asked as she tried to pick up a block without letting go of her dragon and rattle.

"Re not sad, Ash," Henry promised with a bigger smile.

"That good," Ash dropped the block into the bucket, "I did it!"

"Yes you did," Nikola smiled, "now another please."

"More?" Ash blinked, she had to get them all in their bucket?

"Yes please," Nikola helped and put one in as well.

"Okay," Ashley sighed dramatically then resumed her block corralling.

Henry smiled more easily, feeling better being by dad and his sister, "I think I can say now."

"All right," Nikola gave Henry his attention without losing track of the dramatic block picker upper.

"Dad, why did so many people fight in the wars?" Henry asked.

So much for Nikola's hope that Henry had an easy question, "do you mean why do people chose to fight for their country or why the wars happened?"

"The second, I think," Henry tossed a block into the bucket for Ash.

"This from your history homework?" Nikola asked.

Henry nodded, "It doesn't say everything in the one book but I was trying to figure out a project for this stuff and I found things that said that people were all kidnapped and killed because they were different. Why would people do that?"

Nikola was glad Ashley was fixated on her blocks for the moment. She might not understand all the words Henry was saying but there was no reason to expose her to things too soon if they could avoid it.

He picked Henry up and set him on his lap and hugged him, "there's no simple answer."

Henry frowned and cuddled his dad a little, this was really bothering him, "yeah but, they're people."

"Some people are very narrow minded," Nikola hugged Henry tight a moment, "some people are very scared by things they don't understand, or by people being different."

"That doesn't make sense," Henry tried to wrap his head around someone being so different someone else would want to hurt them.

"No, it doesn't, not quite," Nikola admitted. He was frustrated, not at Henry asking but that he didn't have an adequate answer.

How do you tell a six year old that people were taken to camps to be killed or worked to death because other people were unhappy with their circumstances. How they were nearly wiped out because it was decided that they weren't worthy of living on this planet.

And even then it sounded far too simple, and far too horrible.

"Dad?" Henry looked up realizing his dad wasn't talking more.

"Sorry, Henry," Nikola kissed the top of his head, "dad got caught up in his head. To answer your question in the shortest way possible, people go to war for many different reasons, many of them are stupid and petty. They want something someone else has either land or resources or power or just recognition. It's complicated and horrible and sometimes, most times, looking back it doesn't make a lot of sense."

Henry frowned. He wasn't sure he felt better or worse.

"Re?" Ashley held out her rattle to Henry because he seemed sad.

Henry laughed softly, "thanks Ash, I'm good."

"Kay," Ash grinned, "blocks done, Le done?"

"How about puting your little dragons in their home," Nikola pointed.

Ashley sighed, "those too?"

"It's okay, Ash, I'll help," Henry moved to help Ashley clean.

"Yay! You Re," Ashley thanked her big brother.

Nikola watched his children and even though he didn't believe in a higher power he felt compelled to pray a moment that they never had to experience to why wars happen.

He and Helen and lived through enough of them for their whole family and then some.