::Note:: After three long years... this story is finally completed. I never forgot about it. I hope you all enjoy the ending!

"Hiei..."

No response.

"Hiei."

Still nothing. The little Jaganshi was completely and utterly asleep. He had finally managed to drift off after Kurama had tossed and turned all night. Of course, that was only because the baby had been kicking and wiggling all night. The sixth month of Kurama's pregnancy was half over already, and the baby had become extremely active over the past few weeks. She especially enjoyed doing somersaults while the couple was trying to sleep. That night, the fetal gymnastics had lasted nearly five hours on and off. The sun was rising by the time she had finally decided to settle down.

"Hiei!" The demon had been asleep barely half an hour, and now his red haired lover was shaking him by the shoulders, stirring him out of his dreamland.

"What..." he hissed, opening one red eye and glaring up at Kurama.

"I need you to go to the store for me," he instructed.

"You're dreaming..." Hiei rolled over and buried his face back in the soft pillows, trying to fall back to sleep and ignore Kurama prodding at his back.

"Hiei! Wake up!" he demanded. The fire demon rolled back over and bared his fangs, growling lowly and staring up into Kurama's green eyes.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I can't sleep until you go to the store for me!" Kurama huffed.

"No." He pulled both of his pillows over his head and disappeared under the quilts. Kurama blinked and stared down at him with exasperation before lifting the blanket up and shoving his cold feet against Hiei's bare back. After making a sudden yelp like a puppy getting kicked in the head Hiei tumbled off the edge of the bed onto the hard floor. A tuft of black hair rose over the edge of the bed a few moments later followed by two, glowing, very angry looking ruby colored eyes. Kurama had his arms folded across his chest over his bulging tummy.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I need chocolate," he announced.

"THAT is what you woke me up for?" Hiei growled, snatching one of the blankets from the bed, ready to go downstairs and sleep on the sofa.

"And pickles."

"What!"

"I can't sleep unless I have some."

"Insane..." Hiei hissed as he headed towards the door with the blanket dragging behind him.

"Hiei!"

The demon was stopped by a wall of wooden spikes suddenly growing out of the floorboards and blocking his path. His eyes opened wide and he turned back to face Kurama, who was still sitting on the bed, staring at him demandingly. They locked eyes and gazed without blinking for several minutes, each waiting for the other to break. Finally though, Hiei sighed and rolled his eyes, dropping the blanket he was still clutching in an unceremonious heap on the floor.

"Fine... I'll go."

"That's better," Kurama said, leaning back against his pillows and folding his hands neatly on top of his belly.

Hiei snarled softly and stomped out the door of the bedroom, leaping over the railing and pulling his sneakers on at the door. Non-pregnant Kurama would never had made an irrational demand like this. That was just one more thing that had changed, the redhead had started having mood swings and craving odd foods during the past week. Hiei had managed to avoid having to go and get him anything so far, but this time it seemed he would not be able to get away with it so easily.

"Damn stupid chocolate and pickles..." he mumbled. "I'll shove them down your throat when I get back..."

"I heard that!" Kurama shouted from upstairs. Hiei clenched his teeth and shot a dirty look at the open bedroom door upstairs before slamming the front door behind him.

Hiei ran nearly twenty kilometers out of his way to burn off some steam before entering town. He knew it would cause an inter-wordly incident if he destroyed half of Japan. Not to mention facing a very angry husband when he got home... He approached a convenience store with a sign in the window reading 'Open Twenty-four Hours'. Knowing that meant it would probably be the only shop open at six o'clock in the morning, he glared angrily at the front door before shoving it open and stepping inside.

The sleepy looking clerk blinked and eyed him warily when he stormed into the store, wondering what the dark clothed little man could possibly be doing there so early in the morning. Hiei approached the candy section and grabbed a huge chocolate bar before moving to get a jar of pickles. Realizing he did not recall bringing any cash with him, he reached into his pockets, hoping he would have enough to pay. What he pulled out though, was Kurama's credit card. Yusuke had once explained to him the concept of 'buy now and pay later', and this brought a grin to his face as he glanced over at the freezers full of ice cream.

"Hn... It will serve you right, demanding fox..." he mumbled.

By the time he had returned home, Kurama had gotten over his craving and gone downstairs to make himself some breakfast. When he heard the front door open and the sound of Hiei kicking off his shoes, he prepared himself to apologize to the little demon. Apologize, that is, until he saw the Jaganshi set down three huge shopping bags on the table.

"What is all this?" he asked, moving over to examine the contents.

"Your chocolate and pickles, along with a little compensation for myself."

Kurama's eyes widened as he pulled open the bags.

"There must be ten gallons of ice cream here!" he exclaimed. "Did you steal this!?"

"Theft is your forte," he said, glaring up at Kurama for accusing him like that. "Besides, I wouldn't waste my time on stealing when I have this handy little item at my disposal." He dropped the credit card on the table and received an exasperated look from Kurama.

"I didn't give you permission to use this!"

"I don't need your permission to do anything," he growled. He grabbed a carton of his ice cream and got ready to dive out the window over the table.

"Don't run away from me!" Kurama ordered, grabbing onto his shirt sleeve and pointing at the front door. "Go and return all this ice cream right now."

"Do it yourself..."

"You know I can't leave the house like this!"

"I don't care..." Hiei slapped Kurama's hand away and kicked the window open, nearly breaking the glass. He clutched a carton of ice cream to his chest and leapt outside, leaving a stunned and furious Kurama standing alone in the kitchen.

A short time later, Shiori heard an almost nonexistent knock on her front door. At first she thought it must have been her imagination, but when she checked to see what had caused the sound, she found a completely dejected looking Kurama standing on her front stoop.

"Suuichi, what on earth is the matter?" she asked. His hair hadn't been brushed, that was her first clue something was wrong. He always kept his hair perfectly groomed unless something had him extremely depressed. As her eyes trailed away from his tangled hair, she saw that he had not even bothered to change his clothes. He'd simply thrown on a trench coat to cover his pajamas.

"May I come in...?"

"Of course, sweetie, come sit down and let me get you some tea." She took him by the arm and led him into the house. She sat down on the couch next to him when he did not let go of her, wrapping her arms around him tightly and rocking him like she had when he was a baby.

"Please tell me what's wrong."

"Hiei and I had an argument," he said softly, before breaking down into tears. This shocked Shiori greatly, her son rarely cried. Even when he was a child it would take a great deal of anguish to bring him to tears. "He leapt out the window before I could even finish speaking, so I went for a walk and ended up home..."

"You walked all the way here?" she exclaimed, concerned for his health and that of his baby.

"I wanted to clear my head." He sat up and dried his eyes with the sleeve of his coat, which his mother had not even gotten a chance to take off and hang up. "Look at me, I'm acting like a complete fool, crying over something so insignificant..." he scolded himself. "Do you know why he ran off? I yelled at him for buying ice cream, when I was the one who ordered him to the store in the first place."

"You were having another craving, weren't you?" she asked.

"Things have gotten to the point where I just can't wait until all of this is over. I'm sick of being trapped like this." He leaned forward and held his face in his hands. "I thought I would be able to deal, but I do not think I am cut out to bear a child."

"Once you hold your baby in your arms for the first time, the whole nine months will seem like a long forgotten dream," she said, smiling and stroking her son's hair gently.

"I sincerely hope so."

"Why don't you go upstairs to your old room and see if you can find something decent to wear while I make us an early lunch," she suggested. Kurama nodded and slowly made his way up the stairs. He sat down on his bed, looking around the unused bedroom. The shelves and tables looked painfully empty with all his potted plants gone, which he of course had brought with him when he and Hiei moved in together. He lied back on the bed, staring up at the blank ceiling and sighing deeply. The lids on his green eyes sank closed from the exhaustion of the sleepless night before, and he imagined Hiei rapping at his window pane, asking to be let in as he had so many times before. It was then that he did hear a tap on the glass, and his eyes shot open. First he assumed it must be the tree branches blowing against the house, but when he sat up and looked outside, he was greeted with the familiar sight of the little Jaganshi perched on the edge of the limb, waiting for the window to be opened. Kurama stood and let him inside, the demon leaping off the branch and landing on the bed, shoes and all. He still often forgot to use his manners, but Kurama supposed under the circumstances, it really did not matter.

"I guessed you must be here," he said, sitting down and looking somewhat shamefully at the floor. The look in his eyes told Kurama he was sorry for lashing out, and there was no way to resist forgiving the apologetic glimmer in those crimson orbs. Kurama sat down on the mattress beside him and wrapped his arms around his partner.

"I'm not mad anymore. It was really my fault to begin with." He nuzzled his face in Hiei's soft hair and breathed in his rich, smoky scent.

"Yes, it was. Now come home with me."

Kurama smiled and tipped Hiei's face up so they were nose to nose. "I'm glad you agree," he said, giving him a quick peck on the lips. Since a tiny peck was definitely not satisfactory for a demon who had not gotten sex in weeks due to a very pregnant fox... he grabbed hold of Kurama's side locks and pulled him to a fiery kiss.

"Hiei," Kurama said when he managed to pull away for a moment to breathe, "my mother is right downstairs."

The little demon grinned mischievously and licked his fangs. "Then it will be just like when you were younger... How thrilling."

"No, Hiei, you mustn---" but he was cut off by the dark haired demon molding their lips together again and pushing him onto his back. His coat was yanked off and his wrists were tied to the headboard with Hiei's arm wrappings faster than he could blink.

"Please stop, this honestly isn't the time for something like this, Hiei," Kurama said, giving him a disapproving stare as the demon knelt over him, his body barely clearing the ever growing tummy.

"Eating all that sweet snow put me in a good mood, I want to prove to you that I forgive you, fox..." Hiei started to undo the top button of Kurama's nightshirt carefully, smirking with satisfaction.

"Enough of this," Kurama said, rolling his eyes and sighing, as he flexed his arms and got ready to break the bandages tying his arms. However, when he began to tug on the bindings, he found he was unable to break them. He strained his wrists, and pulled with all his might, but the knots remained solid.

"Hiei, what did you do to these wards...?" Kurama said, narrowing his eyes as Hiei undid another button.

"The spell that harnesses the power of my black dragon in those wards... I doubled it," he said, gazing down at Kurama with a wickedly devious expression.

"Did you plan all of this!?" Kurama gasped, beginning to become exasperated, trying to break the bindings.

"Of course not..." Hiei said, undoing a third button. "I did it just outside the window. When I saw you in here on your bed... it reminded me of all those times when we had to come together in secret, in the dead of night..."

"You tricked me!" Kurama shouted, his voice unnaturally high pitched, the shrillness enhanced by the feminine tone he had been stuck with for months. "You had me believing those sad eyes you had were genuine!"

"This is your own fault, you know," Hiei said with an oddly seductive tone as he undid the second to last button.

"Would you care to explain how this is my fault? Perhaps I am to blame for making you angry, but I don't believe I asked to be tied to my bed!"

Hiei leaned down, his abdomen pressing very lightly against Kurama's huge belly, and whispered in his husband's ear, "Because... You taught me how to love, when I didn't think love existed, and now I want some from you..."

Kurama's heavy breathing paused and he stared past Hiei at his childhood ceiling. At times, when Hiei uttered words from the depths of his tumultuous soul, even the well spoken fox could find nothing to say. It was as if these things had been drawn up from a place not even the most well traveled man would ever see. So much was lurking inside the chaos Hiei possessed, maybe more than even he, the infamous master of locks and tricks, could unravel.

Hiei sat back up a bit and undid the last button, before slowly opening up the front of the nightshirt to reveal Kurama's full and melon sized breasts, made even rounder by his pregnancy.

"Hiei..." Kurama whispered, having finally stopped struggling and given in to his little dominator. "Please be gentle."

"You know I would never hurt you."

"You've hurt me plenty of times," Kurama said.

"Never in a time when it mattered..."

Hiei cupped the soft breasts in his hands and leaned down to kiss Kurama, and as the all-knowing Shiori wisely stayed downstairs, the pair very, very quietly made love.

:x:

Month seven of Kurama's pregnancy had finally begun, and today he stood in his bedroom with a package from his mother before him. Hiei lurked behind him, peeking over his shoulder at the strange item in Kurama's hands.

"I suppose it was inevitable..."

"Is this an undergarment?" Hiei asked innocently enough. He had never worn human-made clothes until he met Kurama, and underwear were not a traditional article of clothing in the part of demon world where he grew up.

"Yes, it is..." Kurama said, pulling his shirt off and laying it down on the bedspread.

"Why do you need underwear for the top?" Hiei said as he sat on the mattress and observed Kurama put on the strange thing he had never seen before.

"It's called a brassier, and all women wear one under their clothing," Kurama explained as he did the clasps in the back.

"Every day?"

"Normally, yes. And, unfortunately for me, my breasts have gotten too heavy to go without one from now on," he sighed deeply and adjusted the cups until they felt somewhat comfortable. "It seems mother was able to pick out an adequate size, though..."

Hiei stared at Kurama fondling his bosom and the material covering it up, shielding the chest he had, as of late, become quite interested in, from his eyes.

"I don't like it."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to wear it until this pregnancy is over, Hiei, perhaps even longer..." Kurama tugged his shirt back on and took the packaging strewn over the bed away to put into the garbage.

"ALL the time?" Hiei asked with annoyance, following Kurama into the bathroom.

"Well, not at night, I suppose... I honestly don't know all the rules of lingerie, Hiei. I haven't been a woman for very long."

"It's stupid..." Hiei growled, walking away from Kurama and sitting on the railing of the landing. The fox strode up behind him and rested his hands on the railing at Hiei's sides.

"Try not to be such a grouch," Kurama said, pressing his belly up against his lover's back. "Your daughter wants you to put a smile on, can you feel her cheering for you?"

Hiei closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the gentle tingling against his lower back caused by the baby inside Kurama's stomach. He turned around swiftly and placed his hands on his husband's abdomen, pressing gently for a better feel. He could sense the baby becoming stronger every day, her punches and kicks were getting more forceful all the time. He wondered what it must be like to live inside someone else's body for so long. Though his memory was very precise, and far reaching, he could not recall what it had been like before his birth. He supposed, perhaps no one could remember that part of his life.

"How much longer..." he said softly.

"It won't be too long now, Hiei. Before you know it, our child will be coming into the world," Kurama rubbed his tummy and smiled, "I'm so excited. It's strange, on some days I feel miserable, and I wish none of this had ever happened, but today, I'm so happy."

"Me too," said Hiei. "Even though I don't like that thing you're wearing."

Later that night, after they had finished supper, the pair sat on the downstairs sofa and listened to music as Hiei rubbed Kurama's back.

"A little harder, please."

"Do you want me to snap your spine?" Hiei asked as he kneaded his knuckles against the fox's vertebrae.

"I said a little," Kurama said, rolling his head from side to side, trying to relieve the ache in his back and shoulders.

"I thought this whatever it is that you're wearing was supposed to help ease your pain," Hiei said, still bitter about Kurama's bra.

"It will, hopefully, but right now, nothing is helping..." Kurama sighed and stood up from his seat, turning the music off.

"I believe I am going to go lie down, and perhaps even go to sleep."

"It's early," Hiei said, looking out the front window at the setting sun.

"Not too early," Kurama said as he winced and began walking up the stairs. Hiei gazed out the windows at the scenery and tried to decide what he felt like doing, now that he was going to be alone. He thought he would probably go outside and train for a while, but as he was making up his mind, he heard Kurama suddenly stumble on the staircase.

The demon shot up and was at his lover's side in a second. Kurama had faltered and just barely grabbed hold of the railing in time to save himself from falling.

"What's wrong?" Hiei demanded, helping Kurama steady himself.

"It's just a false contraction, I'll be fine..." he said as he stood up straight and regained his balance.

"How do you know it's false?" Hiei asked, grabbing Kurama's shoulders and starting to panic at this thought.

"Because I've had them before," he answered, brushing Hiei's hands aside and making his way up the rest of the stairs. "It startled me is all, please don't concern yourself."

"Does it hurt?" Hiei darted up the next few stairs ahead of him and stopped Kurama in his tracks again. He knew the fox had the bad habit of acting indifferent when something was ailing him.

"A bit..." Kurama stared at Hiei for a moment with a hint of annoyance tracing his features. "I just need to lie down, please get out of the way."

He nudged the Jagan master aside and made his way across the landing and into their bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Hiei stood on the staircase for a moment, looking at the closed door. He wondered why the fox who had been so happy and cheerful that afternoon now seemed to want nothing to do with him. Grabbing his sword and dragging it out the front door, he pondered all the changes Kurama was going through, and longed for the day he would stop being a woman. In spite of anything he would say to the contrary, the hormones flooding his body were having an affect on his personality, one which was growing more profound as the days progressed.

Hiei sighed and walked to the edge of their lawn, sticking a single leaf to the side of a tree by piercing it with the jagged bark. Sluggishly moving his feet with each step, he paced across the yard before flinging his sword and piercing the leaf perfectly with the tip. Normally he would have been pleased with his flawless aim, but all he could do was stare blankly for a moment before sitting down in the grass. Plucking out one blade at a time, he felt the rare ache of loneliness filling him up. In all the time he had spent alone while he was growing up, he was hardly ever lonely. He liked being by himself, but today all he wanted was to be with Kurama.

"I want my fox back..." he said pathetically, lying down in the cool grass and watching a little bird hop around in Kurama's garden. The bird stopped and watched him back, and the two stared at each other in a silent understanding for a very long time, before Hiei finally fell asleep.

Many hours later, he felt a soft hand stroking his hair. Still deep in sleep, he imagined it was his mother, soothing her lost child and taking away his sadness. As he began to awaken, though, he remembered his mother was long dead, and reality came back to him as the thought disappeared into nothingness. He opened his eyes and looked around at the grass and trees and climbing, thorny rosebushes, and eventually realized that the person stroking his hair was Kurama. The fox was sitting next to him, still dressed, with a grey cardigan pulled over his rounding form.

"Summer is over, little one. You shouldn't sleep outside in the grass anymore."

"Don't call me that," Hiei said crankily as he sat up next to Kurama and rubbed his eyes. He waited for a lecture, then, about catching a cold or not wearing his cloak or getting grass stains on the clothes Kurama had to wash... but when he heard nothing but the chirping of insects, he looked over into Kurama's face.

The red head was still sitting, watching him as he woke up, with a somewhat tender but slightly sad expression.

"I'm sorry about before," he said quietly. "I know you were only trying to help."

Hiei shrugged and plucked at the grass again. "It's fine."

"You know, I rather liked what we did at mother's house last week..." Kurama said, smiling a little. "I forgot to tell you that."

Hiei blinked his red eyes a few times and looked back up again, now listening fully.

"It made me feel like myself again, for a little while..." Kurama inched closer and started to lean against Hiei's chest. The fire demon let his arms remain at his sides for a moment, but finally brought them up to surround Kurama's form. He could feel his husband breathing against his chest, and he lowered his head to bury his face in the mane of red hair.

"I'm so torn..." he mumbled into Hiei's shirt. "I really am so angry, despite everything I say to the contrary. Every time I look in the mirror, I want to tear my skin off and find the man I remember being hiding beneath the surface. And then... I wish even further, than I could tear off Shuuichi's skin and find a glimmering, silver fox beneath that. When I'm done wishing, though, I remember our baby, and I know she would cease to be if I were to have that wish granted... so I stare and stare, and have no idea what to do." Kurama looked up into Hiei's eyes and clung to his shirt.

"Then you try to help me, but I just tell you everything is all right, and use some witty banter to change the subject and make you forget. Why do I lie to you so much, Hiei?" He reached up and caressed Hiei's face so delicately, asking to be judged.

"Because... you are a fox. You were born to be a liar, and a cheat, and a thief and a trickster. So... whenever you lie to me, you should be happy, because that's telling you you're still the fox you were born to be."

Kurama's gaze was still locked with his husband's as his eyes began to overflow silently with tears.

"No matter what you become, nothing can take away who you are, Kurama, and I..." Hiei felt, suddenly, as though there were a fire in his throat, pressing on his voice box. "And I love you."

Kurama laughed slightly through his tears, smiling and wiping the corner of his eye.

"It still sounds so strange to hear you say that," he said, sitting up a bit and draping his arms over Hiei's shoulders.

"It's not easy to say..."

Kurama's features softened and he pressed his forehead lightly against his lover's, wary of his Jagan eye.

"That is because you, Hiei, will always be who you were born to be as well. You will always be forbidden, and ruthless, and cruel, and an unstoppable killer at heart."

"That's right," Hiei agreed, running his hand through Kurama's long hair.

"And so cute," Kurama quipped, kissing his eyelid and giggling.

"Go to hell, Kurama..." He wiped away the kiss with the back of his hand and grimaced.

"I'll see you there..." Kurama smiled warmly, before leaning down and molding his lips together with his lover's in a fiery kiss. They embraced tightly, and for a moment, there was only a silver fox, holding his forbidden child against his body, their hearts beating as one.

:x:

"Fall is here!" Kurama said cheerfully, kicking his feet in the shin-deep leaves that had built up on the ground. He laughed and threw an armful in Hiei's direction, though the fire demon just stood there and let himself be hit. "Won't you come play in the leaves?"

"They're dead."

"Yes, I know they are."

"Why are you so happy about that?"

"Because fall is a season where all the plants release what is left of their seeds before they wither and die. It reminds me that no matter how barren the earth may become during winter, there is always hope for new life once the spring comes." Kurama picked up the seed of a maple tree and held it before Hiei's nose.

"See? Within this tiny seed is a sleeping life, a new tree ready to be born, just like our baby."

"Our baby is not a tree."

"You're missing the point," Kurama said, as he let go of the seed and let it go spinning to the ground. "Besides, as a fox and a master of plants, I have a reason to enjoy every season," he said as he smiled and continued to walk through the forest, Hiei trailing behind.

"How so?" The fire demon did end up kicking at a few leaves with the toe of his boot as they walked.

"Well, I told you why I love fall already. In spring, I get to see the new buds of plants forming, and all the infant leaves unveiling themselves as the days become warmer and the snow melts away. Then, once the summer arrives, there is life everywhere, and my roses are in bloom. All my flowers experience their days of glory, and for foxes, it is a playful time to hunt to our hearts' content, with nothing to worry about but exploring and eating."

"And why does a fox love winter?"

Kurama spun around and grabbed hold of Hiei's hands, "Mating season!" he said lowly, grinning down as his little partner.

"I should have known..." Hiei said with his usual foul expression. He turned and continued to walk with Kurama at his side.

The fox buried his hands in the pockets of his long knitted cardigan, with his fat tummy poking out of the middle. Hiei was dressed in his black tunic, with a scarf Shiori had made for him draped around his neck.

"It seems as though our baby will be born in time for the first snow," Kurama said. He was now in his eighth month of pregnancy, his girth having grown incredibly large to accommodate the growing baby within.

"How much longer is that?" asked Hiei, who had been asking more and more frequently how much time was left.

"About six weeks are left now, that doesn't seem like very long at all, does it?"

"Yes it does."

"You're in an exceptionally bad mood today, did you know that?"

"Yes." Hiei sat down on a stump and looked at the crushed leaves at his feet. "I don't like fall. And I don't like winter either."

"It seems odd that you would dislike winter, considering your mother was an ice apparition," Kurama said as he sat down on a stone close to Hiei.

"That's why I don't like it..." He picked up a stick and poked at the ground. "Snow reminds me of that place... of those women who threw me away like a dead animal. And in winter, all the trees are dead. The safety and comfort their leaves provide in the summer is gone, they're cold and exposed."

"They're only sleeping, Hiei."

"Well, I can't sleep while they're sleeping."

Kurama smiled and carefully picked up another maple seed. He wrapped one arm around Hiei's back, and displayed the seed in his palm before the fire demon. A glimmer of youki surged around his hand, and slowly, the casing of the seed began to split apart. Hiei stared with fascination as the little seedling spiraled out of its shell and began to grow before his eyes, getting taller and sprouting tiny leaves in a matter of minutes.

"This tree is awake now, I'll plant it inside for you, and this can be your special tree who will never sleep." He handed the fragile seedling to Hiei, who cradled it in his hands and gazed down.

"Someday when I have turned to dust, you and our daughter can sit in this tree together and feel the comfort of its branches surrounding you."

Hiei turned suddenly and let his eyes meet Kurama's, a look of scared desperation filling those crimson orbs. Kurama gazed back, and for a moment, felt entirely detached from Hiei. He looked so innocent, he was so young...

"You will never turn to dust," Hiei commanded, the frightened expression had left him fleetingly, and his scowl had returned.

Kurama inched closer and wrapped his arms around Hiei as he stared at his new tree. Through his black hair, he kissed the top of his little demon's head, and thought about Hiei and his daughter growing up together.

In the evening, once the autumn sun had gone down, Kurama stood in the kitchen before his stove, chopping up vegetables and putting them into a pot of boiling water. He was humming lightly to himself, smiling at his work and sniffing the air every so often.

Hiei approached, soon, coming down the stairs after having polished his katana and straightening his room. He had done this someone begrudgingly, for today was the day Kurama had informed him that his room would soon become a nursery, and he would be forced to move all his belongings downstairs.

Hiei had argued, naturally, but Kurama had informed him that, logically, it would make sense to have the baby's room closest to them, across the upstairs landing, rather than downstairs and out of earshot.

"What if she fell out of her crib and fractured her skull?" Kurama had said sweetly as he began to drag Hiei's possessions out the door. The fire demon strongly protested and told the fox that if it was so important, he would do the job himself.

Now though, he was in the kitchen, peering over Kurama's shoulder and letting his stomach do his thinking for him momentarily.

"What is this?"

"I'm making vegetable soup for us," he told him, dropping some onions into the pot. "This is my very last harvest of the season." He had cleared out his vegetable gardens for winter, and they now laid barren.

"Do you want me to go kill something to put in there?"

"Hiei, it's vegetable soup tonight, besides, it's too close to being ready."

"You might get sick... you're not eating any meat," Hiei said, still peeking over Kurama's shoulder and leaning against his back.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I know you would prefer fish over that, anyway."

Hiei worried that his fox, who enjoyed wild game immensely due to his carnivorous nature, would suffer with that source food having recently been taken out of his diet. Kurama loved to go hunting, but since his pregnancy had developed, he had not been able to.

"I could go catch you a fish right now..." Hiei nuzzled close to his back and rubbed his round tummy in the front. Kurama smiled as he put the lid on the pot to simmer and turned around in Hiei's arms.

"How about for breakfast, does that sound all right?"

Hiei nodded and leaned his head against Kurama's breasts, holding on to him and his belly closely. Ever since that afternoon, Hiei had been overly clingy, pausing only when the argument over being evicted from his room had occurred. Kurama knew, that the accidental reminder of his own mortality to Hiei had upset him, though he would not say so.

The fire demon really was ruthless, and cruel, and hardened to the world. He could be downright savage at times. But, there was one glimmering part of Hiei's ever chaotic soul that only Kurama knew of... the innocent, childlike corner of his mind, left over from the time of his birth. Somehow, though the act of being thrown over the edge, away from his mother and sister, had forced him to grow up before his time, it had also left that tiny part of him scarred and unable to mature. This part could be seen in his somewhat uncontrolled temper, and fickleness, and strong bond to those he loved most. Though he would never admit it, he really did need the fox for so many things...

Kurama pondered all this and more as he held the little demon in his arms.

"I wonder if you are really ready to be a father," he thought to himself. But out loud, he instead said,

"I like it when you're so cuddly..." and nuzzled his face in Hiei's tousle of hair.

"I am no such thing," he replied, stiffening up a bit.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Kurama comforted, rocking Hiei back and forth lightly. "There are only the two of us here, remember?"

"Three..."

Kurama giggled lightly and hugged Hiei against him, "Yes, you're right."

They enjoyed their dinner together, took a bath, and the moon hung high in the sky, they retired to their room. The pair lied undressed in bed together, as Hiei slowly and firmly rubbed Kurama's aching back while the fox relaxed and tried to meditate.

"Mm, it's no use..." he sighed, opening his eyes.

"Why not?"

"I can't clear my head..."

Hiei stayed quiet, but somehow Kurama could tell he had just repeated his question.

"I'm just thinking about a lot of things. There is so much to think about these days, don't you agree?"

"I suppose."

Kurama decided that was his hint to be quiet and enjoy his massage for now; Hiei did not want to talk. The fox closed his eyes again and concentrated on his husband's rough hands moving rhythmically up and down his back. He would rub with his palms for a few moments before kneading into the skin and muscle with his knuckles. His movements were strong but never painful, working lovingly against Kurama's body.

Soon, Hiei's small but rugged hands moved away from Kurama's back and around to his tummy, where they started rubbing in circles, as if he were trying to massage and relax the hidden baby as well.

"You've started to like my tummy now, haven't you?"

"I've gotten used to it," he said softly.

They stayed there for a while, not moving. Kurama listened to the sound of Hiei breathing in his ear and felt the warm caress of his breath against his neck. Kurama closed his green eyes and listened to the light wind blowing against the side of the house. He envisioned the dead leaves being swept up from their resting places on the ground and up into the air. They swirled past his bedroom window gracefully, and then softly danced off into the night.

Soon, as he lied there thinking of this, he noticed Hiei's hands had ceased their movement.

"Hiei?"

The smaller man had fallen asleep with his cheek against Kurama's shoulder, and his hands still resting on the round stomach. Kurama smiled and laid his hands down on top of Hiei's.

"Thank you, I feel much better now..." he said quietly as he drifted off to sleep.

:x:

Kurama struggled to lift the large bag of potting soil he was using across the room, his huge stomach getting completely in the way. He sighed and leaned against the wall, holding his lower back and looking down in dismay. The new seedlings he was trying to re-pot were waiting on the other side of the room, and a job that should have been done in minutes seemed to be taking forever.

There were only three short weeks left until his child was due to be born, and though he was excited beyond words, he was also getting impatient. His condition had been preventing him from getting out to exercise. He felt lazy, weak and immobile. He wondered how long it would take him to get back into shape once he had given birth. Closing his eyes and brushing his bangs from his eyes, he also pondered whether the body he would be toning would be that of a man or a woman. Could he really live like this forever...?

He heard a shuffling, suddenly, in the room, and looked down to see Hiei had carried his soil and pots across the floor for him and set them down against the wall.

"You didn't really need to help me," Kurama said, feeling a bit embarrassed at his current inabilities.

Hiei shrugged and let his eyes meet with Kurama's before he strode through the open doorway and padded across the hardwood floor of their living room. The redhead could hear Hiei open the refrigerator and begin rummaging around as he kneeled down before his seedlings and began to implant them in their new homes.

"Soon you will be decorating our daughter's bedroom, little ones," he said, speaking softly to them. Though he was a killer who could use his plants to perform horrific mutilations, when he came to their well-being, he was always quite tender.

He patted the soil gently and infused the roots of the baby plants with his youki, giving them a head start in their new lives. The tiny plants quivered and each sprouted one or two new leaves on the spot before he began to water them.

Later on, after he had finish arranging the baby flowers in the nursery they had finally finished decorating, he sat at the kitchen table going over their finances. Hiei arrived back in the cabin after coming through the front door from wherever he had gone. He remembered to remove his boots and set them down carefully on the mat before heading into the kitchen, expecting dinner to be ready. The still air with a lack of any enticing scent told him there was no supper ready before he had even taken a look at Kurama. The fox sat on the polished wooden bench with papers spread out in front of him and a look of dismay etched in his features.

"What is this?" Hiei asked, sliding into the seat opposite Kurama and surveying the mess of papers. Kurama leaned with his elbow on the table and his fingers lacing through his bangs as he flipped through his bank book.

"To put it simply, Hiei, we are running out of money," he said with a hint of exasperation as he flipped through and arranged more papers.

"It doesn't seem like it," Hiei said, crossing his legs in the seat and leaning over with his arms resting on the table's surface. "We still buy food, don't we? I know, since you make me go get it for you now."

"I didn't say we are out of money, I said we are running out of money, which means soon it will be gone," Kurama looked up and glared at Hiei, not because he was angry at the demon's words, but simply because he was filled with frustration.

"Then what?"

"Then... we won't have any more of that delicious food you love so much," Kurama said, looking back down at the bank book and beginning to write.

"What happened to it, you always had plenty of money before."

"I haven't been back to work in eight months, and I can't keep relying on loans from my mother, either..."

"Then why don't you go back to work?" Hiei said, reaching behind him, grabbing an apple from the fruits basket and lazily leaning back against his bench to eat it.

"I don't know if you had realized I'm currently pregnant..." Kurama began to write a bit more furiously, pressing his pen forcibly against the paper.

"You won't be pregnant forever, just go back to work then."

"Hiei!" Kurama slammed the pen down at the table and shot his glare up at the demon with his mouth full of apple. "I'm a man! If I go back to work with breasts and a newborn baby, my coworkers are going to be rather confused!"

Hiei narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, glaring back at Kurama. It was a bit annoying to have his stoic lover losing his temper over something as trivial as money, after all.

"Why don't you just steal something, then?" he said lowly.

"No." Kurama looked back down and began writing in the bank book again, attempting to maintain his composure. "I've also been working to cut off all my ties in the Makai for the safety of our daughter, so transferring finances from there won't work either. I'm going to have to ask Koenma to help arrange something for me until I can figure out a better way to support our family," he said, more talking to himself than Hiei.

"Why do we need money, anyway? I've survived my whole life without any money, it wasn't until I began living with you that I learned anything of banks and credit cards..." Hiei said finishing his apple and tossing the core across the kitchen and into the garbage.

"Because we don't live in the forest anymore, Hiei. Whether you want to admit it or not, I am a human man and I live a human life, accepting all the hardships of work and finances that go along with it."

"You don't look like much of a man right now," Hiei said, bitterly.

Kurama ignored his remark and began to organize the papers in front of him to be returned to their place in the filing cabinet.

"You also cannot forget that our daughter will be half human, and she will be living a human life as well, at least until she is old enough to decide whether she wants to reject that path or not. Tell me, how will we send her to school and care for her with no money?" The pregnant fox gathered up all his papers and books and rose from the table.

"She doesn't need to go to school," Hiei mumbled, glaring out the window at the late autumn landscape.

Kurama sighed and shook his head before leaving the room.

The two did not speak to each other for the rest of the day.

Very late that night, Kurama sat in bed restlessly, reading a book, for he had found himself completely unable to sleep. He had gotten through only a few chapters before folding the book down in his lap and leaning the back of his skull against the headboard. He stared up at the ceiling, feeling very helpless and frustrated with his situation. It seemed that the increasing stress of their child's eminent birth was putting an unwavering strain on their previously rock-solid relationship.

"Hiei... please be patient with me," Kurama said into the darkness, though Hiei was nowhere within earshot.

Kurama closed his eyes softly and remained in that position, with his book in his lap, thinking over the events of the day and contemplating the future. The clocked ticked by monotonously for several minutes, when suddenly...

"Aa!" Kurama gasped and was shaken violently from his relaxed state when he felt a sudden twinge in his abdomen. It wasn't painful as his false contractions had been, in fact he had not yet felt anything like it. He tore the blankets away, and looked down to see that his lap was surrounded by a puddle of liquid, slowly soaking into the mattress.

"Oh no..." The always composed and never panicking Kurama stared down at his bed in shock when he realized his water had just broken, and Hiei was nowhere to be found...

Trying desperately to maintain himself, he rose from bed and changed his nightclothes before rushing to the phone to contact Genkai's temple where he knew Yukina should be. It had been agreed, or rather demanded by Hiei, that Yukina would use her healing abilities to help deliver their baby.

Minutes passed by with amazing slowness as he sat in the living room, huddled in a robe, waiting for Yukina to arrive. He had begun to feel his contractions with great distance between them at first, but they were now less than five minutes apart. Kurama pursed his lips, focusing his healing energy on his own abdomen to help keep the pain from overwhelming him. All the while, his was crying out to Hiei with his mind, trying desperately to contact him.

Why had their child decided to come early? Was there something wrong? With almost three weeks left, was it too soon? Thoughts raced through Kurama's brain at an unbelievable pace, and he was so consumed by worry that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock at the door.

"Kurama!" When Kurama swung open the door, he found the tiny maiden standing there surrounded by a thick outer cloak and looking up at him with concern. The temperature had dropped considerably since that morning and the first snow of the season had started to fall outside. Luckily, Yukina was in her element in this weather and mostly unaffected by the cold. Her only care right now was with her brother's child.

They were soon back in the bedroom. Yukina had spread clean sheets over the surface of the bed and laid Kurama down. With his legs apart, she had draped a cloth over his knees and was examining the situation below.

"The baby is descending very quickly," she said, sitting up from her hunched over position and covering Kurama modestly. "I think she'll start to emerge within an hour or two. Are you ready?"

"It would seem I don't have much of a choice," Kurama said, wincing at another contraction. He could feel his child pressing down, getting ready to enter the birth canal at any time, and he wondered how he who had been a demon thief and infamous playboy in his past life had ended up in the body of a woman, preparing to give birth.

"Kurama," Yukina said softly. "I know you're overwhelmed, but you keep avoiding my question, where is Hiei...?" she asked, very afraid that she would upset him.

Kurama winced again and grabbed at the sheets, determined not to cry out in pain. "I don't know where he is," he said solemnly but calmly. Inside, he was trembling with fear, terrified that Hiei would miss the birth of their daughter. Thoughts that perhaps Hiei had found himself unable to handle the prospect of their child finally arriving and had consciously run away dug at the fox even more deeply.

Hiei was a predictable creature, and Kurama had faith in his devotion, but there were times when even the wise fox was surprised...

He sat quietly over the next hour, holding in the urge to scream over the intense pain he was now feeling. Yukina sat with him, rising to retrieve warm towels from the bathroom every so often so she could dab the sweat from Kurama's forehead.

The contractions were very close together now, and each time she checked, the little ice maiden saw that the baby's head was getting closer and closer to passing from the womb and into the world.

"Are you ready to push soon, Kurama?" she asked, holding his hand tightly.

He nodded, but even in her innocence she could tell that he was nearly paralyzed with fear.

"He'll be here, I promise," she said quietly, brushing Kurama's damp hair from his tense face. "Please try to relax and concentrate on your pushing, or your baby will have trouble coming out," she instructed softly, wishing there were something she could do to make her brother suddenly appear.

Soon, Kurama could not control himself anymore and let out a choked cry following the most violent contraction yet. Yukina lifted the cloth covering Kurama's legs and saw the baby's head was finally leaving the womb and descending quickly.

"It's time now. As soon as you feel your body contract again, you need to push as hard as possible!" she said firmly but gently. During her time living in the village of ice, she had witnessed several births of new ice maidens within her all female tribe. She hoped that her experience would be enough to assist Kurama, and hoped even more desperately that her brother would get there in time.

Kurama's body trembled, wracked with pain, overflowing with apprehension. He dug his fingernails deeply into the sheets below them, winding and twisting the material to the point of tearing. There was no doubt that he had felt pain this intense before, but the weight that rested on him knowing that another life depended entirely on him at this moment was almost too much to bear. His pulse pounded like a deafening drum beat in his ears, and when he felt the next strong contraction, he heard Yukina's voice somewhere far away telling him to push.

He strained with all the force his body could muster and bore down, doing his best to expel the precious baby from his body. His pride nearly forgotten by this point, he could feel tears begin to stream down his cheeks and he bit his lip to keep from screaming with each push.

"You need to push harder Kurama, please concentrate, you must!" Yukina urged when she could tell the baby was struggling but not making much progress.

Kurama gasped for breath and continued to push forcefully with each new contraction. He could hear Yukina continue to urge him on, commanding him to try harder, but he soon started to feel as though there was nothing else he could do. In this, one of the most vulnerable moments of his life, he felt alone. Why had he allowed himself to become angry over something so meaningless that day? Why had he chased his lover away with his frustrated words? As regret filled him, he felt his will starting to slip away. After so much time waiting and such unbelievable circumstances, he was now going to fail his child.

Just when Kurama thought he would reach the limit of his endurance, he suddenly felt a pair of hot arms surround his shoulders and a pair of lips brush against the lobe of his ear.

"Fox, you will not fail..."

Kurama's entire body flooded with an inexplicable wave of relief and he let his head lean back against the sinewy shoulder behind him as he pushed down with a newfound strength. The heat from the strong body against him absorbed into his skin and helped him relax and concentrate entirely on the task at hand.

The pair breathed together, and Kurama could feel the rock hard abdomen against his back straining with him each time he pushed. Two small but powerful hands were tense, surrounding his own, nearly shaking. He felt sweat from above drip down onto his neck and suddenly he felt no pain, no worry, he felt nothing but the urge to finally deliver his child.

There was one last tremendous push, and Kurama's body went entirely limp in the loving arms that surrounded him. He was utterly exhausted, but the tiny cry that rang out saved him from losing consciousness, and he quickly opened the green eyes that had been shut tight for longer than he could remember.

"She's so beautiful," he heard Yukina sob, tear gems twinkling all over the bed and rolling to clatter onto the floor.

From where, he did not know, Kurama found the strength to sit up and brought the crying newborn into his arms. He stared down at the baby, and through her tears, he could see two gorgeously shining red eyes looking back at him. He brushed his fingertips over the thin covering of soft, crimson hair on her tiny head and could hardly even comprehend the situation.

"Hiei, look at her..." Kurama said, smiling with unbelievable pride.

Hiei was gazing over Kurama's shoulder, drained and completely speechless. That afternoon he had traveled far from their home, wandering through the countryside, trying to clear his head. Night fell upon him before he had considered returning, but when he finally felt Kurama's call into the darkness reach his mind, he had raced back to the cabin with all the speed he possessed. Arriving in their bedroom, he faced the scene of Kurama in labor, straining and about to give up. Guilt over having selfishly left his mate alone stabbed at his heart, and he had quickly swooped down to surround Kurama's form in his arms.

His deep love, which he felt intensely but rarely expressed, tugged open the Jagan, and directed all of the pain Kurama had felt into his own body. With this act, the two had shared everything, and brought their baby into the world together.

Now, he looked down at the child he had helped create with complete amazement. The demon slowly reached his hand out and touched the tiny newborn's cheek, her fingers instinctively reaching out and grasping his own.

"She's wonderful," he said softly as Kurama cradled the baby and smiled at him.

"Kurama!" Yukina cried out in shock and shot up from the bed. "Your body!"

Hiei and Kurama looked up from their new child to gaze down at Kurama's bare body, lying on the bed. There, instead of the curvaceous pregnant form he had learned to live with over the past nine months, was the toned, lean body of Suuichi Minamino. The curse had been lifted.

"You're back to normal..." Hiei said in disbelief, his eyes examining the body he had once worshipped but not seen in so long.

"Little one, you did it," Kurama said, touching his daughter's soft face and beaming down at her. "You gave me my life back."

The delicate infant had already snuggled against her father's chest and fallen asleep, and the two men kissed each other deeply in their joy.

Poor Yukina stood with her back turned, blushing intensely all the while.

"Yukina... You're sure you'll be all right walking back," Hiei said, his fingertips still lingering on the sleeve of his sister's kimono as she was stepping out the door.

"Hiei, you need to stay with your new child, I insist. I promise that I will be fine on my own." Yukina was on the porch by now. She wanted her brother to spend time alone with his family, as much as he begged her to stay.

"Get right on the train then, don't turn back," he commanded.

"Hiei, must you make everything so somber?" Kurama asked. He had been nonstop smiles since his daughter had emerged into the world, and he now stood holding the child in his arms as they bid Yukina farewell for the night.

"Good-bye Hiei, good-bye Kurama, I'm so happy for you," she said through the frame of the open door.

"I'm sure Hina would say good-bye to you as well, if she could," Kurama said, snuggling his baby daughter against him and smiling down at her.

"Hina... Somehow I knew Hiei would choose our mother's name for his child," Yukina said happily as she turned to go. She waved good-bye to the three of them as she walked down the path. Hiei planted himself firmly on the porch and locked his eyes on her until she was out of sight.

"Hiei, she will be fine," Kurama assured him. "Please, come inside."

Hiei closed the door behind him as he entered the house and slipped down onto the couch. Kurama sat there cradling their newborn who had just fallen asleep in his arms again. He almost felt as if he could never remove his gaze from her beautiful sleeping face for the rest of his life. Her existence was simply too perfect to be real. He managed to blink though, at last, and looked up at Hiei who was staring down at their baby in fascination.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Hiei's head snapped up and he stared at Kurama with wide open eyes, his exposed red irises capturing the reflection of the entire room. He had barely touched Hina since she had left Kurama's body. He assured himself that the fox would not want to give the baby up, he had been fawning over her for hours after all, holding her in his arms all the while. That would buy him plenty of time, Hiei told himself, before he would have to hold that tiny bundle in his own arms.

"You're afraid, aren't you?" Kurama asked, amused by this notion. Could one of the fiercest demons known to three worlds have been tamed by an infant?

"Hn..." Hiei recovered from his stunned state and glared at Kurama, a look that said to the fox 'How dare you accuse me of such a thing?'

'No matter how true it is...' Kurama added in his own mind. He nudged Hiei slightly with his elbow and offered his most cunning and sweet smile. Hiei, who had folded his arms in defense, looked down at the baby, yawning and wriggling slightly.

"You're not going to hurt her, Hiei." Though he was tense with apprehension, he thought of all the times his mother must have wished she were holding him, knowing she would never be able to. This lead him to think of himself then, and all the times he longed for her to be holding him as well. His child would never have to face that emptiness, he resolved.

He slowly took the newborn from Kurama and held her in his arms as if she were made of blown glass, about to shatter in an instant.

"Relax, my love, a child of demon blood is not so fragile. You know that as well as anyone," Kurama comforted.

Hiei nodded slightly and gradually relaxed against the back of the sofa, letting Hina cuddle into his body and clutch at his shirt.

"She looks like me," Hiei whispered. Every time he really looked at her, he found himself losing focus and slipping into complete amazement. He could see features of both himself and his sister in her face, along with Kurama's beautiful hair topping her tiny head.

"I could not ask for a more beautiful child," said Kurama, leaning over his husband's form and wrapping his arm around the small demon's shoulder. "I can't wait to show her to mother, I know the face she makes when she sees her granddaughter with be absolutely priceless."

"Your mother..." Hiei mumbled. He bit his bottom lip as he stared down at Hina and slowly reached into his pocket, balancing the baby with extreme care in his other arm. When he pulled his hand out, he revealed a glistening black tear gem, and held it out for her.

"This one is yours," said Kurama softly.

"I shed this while you were in labor," Hiei said, and Kurama was surprised to hear no shame in his voice.

"This is for you, Hina, think of it as a gift... from me, and from my mother, who you'll never meet," he said to his daughter, and the baby opened her eyes wide for the first time. Whether or not she understood his words was impossible to tell, but she focused on the beautiful stone nonetheless, and reached out her little hand towards it.

"I'll make this into a necklace for you, and you can wear it when you grow older. Maybe someday, you'll cry one just like this for your daughter..."

"What makes you so sure she'll have a daughter?" Kurama asked, though he knew the answer.

"I'm the only one of my kind. I always will be."

Kurama smiled and ran his hand through Hiei's hair, caressing him softly as the child of fire remained spellbound by his baby girl.

In a few hours, Hina had been tucked safely into her cradle and was sound asleep, dreaming the very first dreams of her new life. Kurama and Hiei lied in their bed carressing each other gently as Hiei familiarized himself with Shuuichi's young body once again. He let his fingertips brush lightly across his chest, down to the narrow waist, savoring the feel of his deliciously soft skin.

"You're exactly as you were," Hiei said as he marvelled over the form which had never left his mind the entire time Kurama had been pregnant.

"It's true; I can find no traces that I ever carried a child or had been female at all, for that matter," mused Kurama as he ran his hands over his own body, dragging them from his ribcage until he reached his thighs.

"We still have no clue what happened to you..." said Hiei, propping himself up on his elbow and resting his other hand lazily on Kurama's bare chest.

"I know..." Kurama rolled over a bit until he was looking squarely into Hiei's face. A pleasant smile adorned his features and he gently rubbed his lover's shoulder. "But, in spite of my greedy and curious nature, I find myself not wanting to know."

"Hn, you, not wanting something? I find that hard to believe."

"Come now, I've changed, haven't I? I'm a model citizen," Kurama laughed as Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Haven't we had this conversation?" he asked, touching Kurama's face and getting nose to nose with him. "Once a fox, always a fox... You're a liar and a sneak, and you always will be."

Hiei was overtop of him now, and Kurama wrapped two slender arms around the demon's shoulders to rest his hands on the back of his neck.

"I cannot deny it." He felt Hiei's temperature rise, his blood getting fired up over being so close to Kurama's true body after so long. "But I have changed, in one regard. This whole experience, everything we have been through, it's taught me to be even more thankful for what I have, and not to question my circumstances quite so much."

"You really think you can accept not knowing?"

"I think so..." he arched his neck up a bit and teased Hiei with a soft kiss before resting his head back on the pillow beneath them. A low sound that could only be decribed as a growl rumbled from deep within Hiei's body as he captured his husband's lips in his mouth and began to kiss him fiercly. Had Hiei always been such a skilled kisser? Kurama thought, though, he had been taught by the best...

Soon Kurama had begun to moan softly in pleasure as Hiei's hot mouth moved to his neck, but just as he had given in fully to his heated desire...

"What was that?" Hiei's head shot up and he listened intently.

Kurama sighed as a tiny wail was heard from across the landing through their open bedroom door. He slid Hiei off his body and pulled on a robe before getting up.

"I supposed we should get used to this, quickly..." he muttered as he left the room. Hiei stared at the door for a moment and pulled on his pants before following Kurama. When he hurried into the other room, he found his husband lifting the crying Hina out of her cradle gently.

"What's wrong with her?" Hiei demanded, worried that his new baby had somehow become damaged in only a few hours.

"She's just hungry, that's all," Kurama assured him as he headed out the door to fix her a bottle.

"Why is she crying?" he said with some frustration as he followed inches from Kurama's heels down the staircase.

"All babies cry when they want something, Hiei. They cry when they're hungry, they cry when they need to be changed, they cry when they're tired, they cry when they want attention, and sometimes they just... cry."

"I never cried..."

"You're..." Kurama looked into Hiei's eyes for a moment as he was screwing the top on a fresh bottle. "Well don't worry about it. Just prepare to hear it every night, for a while."

"She's going to cry EVERY night?" Hiei said, glancing down at his child who was now contentedly drinking from her bottle.

Kurama chuckled warmly and shook his head in disbelief as he sat down in the bench at their kitchen table.

"Oh Hiei, how I love you."

Many nights passed in this way. Eventually, Hina started to sleep for several hours at a time without waking, and the couple was finally able to get plenty of sleep once again. Days turned into weeks as Kurama and Hiei gradually sank into their roles of being parents. Hiei, naturally, was very hesitant at first. He would shy away from holding his baby, was extremely wary of trying to feed her, and absolutely refused to change her diaper. Little by little, though, with Kurama's gentle persuasion constantly nagging at him, Hiei began to enjoy the time he spent with his little girl. He would hold her in his lap while the family ate dinner together, helping her to suck her bottle and fill her small tummy. He also enjoyed bringing her into the bath with him, and there were nights when Kurama was absolutely sure he could hear Hiei talking to the baby while they were alone in the tub.

For now, Hiei was asleep in the armchair while Kurama sat in his rocking chair, clutching Hina against him and feeding her. Hiei's head was tipped back at an angle which seemed as if it must be very uncomfortable and was breathing heavily. Kurama wondered, if his head tipped back any further he would start to snore. He smiled at that idea and lowered his eyelids, his long eyelashes nearly dusting his cheeks as she stared at Hiei with complete adoration and love.

How strange it was to think of his little lover as a father, and even stranger to know the healthy baby he held in his arms was one they had created together. Whatever had caused such a natural impossibility to occur was still unknown to him, though he was very grateful. Having Hina with him made him feel very... whole. It seemed she had suddenly filled a void in his life that he had not even known existed. He could no longer imagine going on without her. His mother had told him, most new parents feel this way.

Shiori had been absolutely delighted when she laid her eyes on her first, and in all likelihood, only grandchild. Her first glimpse at the baby's vibrant red hair and round face had sent her into tears. As she gazed down into the little girl's eyes, her joy melted into true love and utter amazement. She was almost shocked by the amazing beauty of the child. Possessing both Kurama's grace and Hiei's imp-like features, she had a loveliness that seemed almost inhuman. (Kurama had to remind her that Hina was not, in fact, quite human...)

They had talked for hours about the infant's future, making plans for many years to come and guessing and wondering what kind of person she would be. For now, though, she seemed quite content to lie in her parent's laps, as she currently was, eat, sleep, and endlessly pull on Kurama's hair, which was by far her favorite toy.

The kitsune gazed down at the little girl suckling her bottle, gradually falling asleep, and sighed with satisfaction. The moon outside shone brightly through the window and illuminated the sweet scene taking place on the darkened landing. Kurama rocked in silence, waiting patiently for Hina to finish her meal and nod off so he could tuck both her and Hiei into bed. How he loved the little girl staring sleepily up at him. He loved her in a way he barely understood, it was something he had never experienced in his long existence. All he knew was that he was dedicated now to loving and protecting his child for the rest of his life. Nothing could ever take away the love he felt for her, no matter what the circumstances of her birth may be.

"My littlest treasure, you are more precious to me than the rarest of jewels or trinkets. Just seeing your sweet face is worth more than anything... Who it is that blessed us with your birth, I do not know, but I thank him," Kurama said softly, touching his fingertips to his child's cheek delicately, holding her close to his heart.

A gentle fluttering was heard by the open window, and though he thought it must be merely a bird, Kurama's ears perked when he felt the tiniest glimmer of youki emanating from the trees. He blinked and looked up suddenly, just in time to see what could have been a star sparkling in the distance, or possibly the flash of an imp vanishing into the night. His breath paused and released as he watched with fascination as a small envelope drifted through the window, caught on an unearthly breeze, and landed in his lap beside Hina.

There was no name, no address, no markings of any kind on his envelope. Opening it with his nimble fingers and pouring out the contents, he read. Inside was a single piece of paper with but two words written upon it...

"You're Welcome."