The Kaze and Ten'ou families had been close friends longer than they could trace. Before Utano Kotori and Kaze Fushigi married, they had attended school with Ten'ou Tsuyoi and Yorokobino Kobun, who also got married. Kotori and Kobun were firmly set on the idea of their families staying closely tied, and agreed that if they had children, they would marry them off to each other. Fushigi and Tsuyoi were a bit reluctant to agree with their wives at first, but eventually gave in. Fushigi had brown hair and green eyes, Kotori having wavy blond hair and blue eyes, passing on to their daughter, Sunao, brown hair and teal eyes. Tsuyoi had black hair and eyes, while Kobun had dark blond hair and purple eyes, and their son, Katai, received dark blond hair and black eyes. They also had a daughter a couple years later named Teinei, with strawberry blond hair and purple eyes. Katai and Sunao had their marriage arranged for them long before they were old enough to be married. Their parents decided to hold off on telling them to see if they would fall in love on their own. Sunao and Teinei were very close friends, spending a lot of time together, so Sunao was often put in the position of being around Katai. Eventually, Katai and Sunao started dating, despite Teinei's insistence that her brother was a wacko. They found that they didn't really get along as well as they had hoped they would, but their parents insisted that the marriage had to go through. Katai and Sunao married, and after being married, fell in love. Sunao became pregnant with twins, expecting them towards the end of January. The Kaiou and Inochino families were also tied together after being friends for a long time. Kaiou Tensai was good friends with Inochino Miyage, both boys coming from rich, uptight families. They were both told to marry young, and neither really liked the idea. Two of their friends, Neko Ureshii and Hoshiou Rippa, had been told to do similar things, and before they finished college, Tensai and Ureshii were engaged, and Miyage and Rippa as well. Tensai had wavy brown hair and eyes, and Ureshii had long green hair and eyes. Their son, Tadashii, had wavy green hair and brown eyes. Miyage had blond hair and green eyes, and Rippa had wavy deep blue hair and eyes. Their daughter, Ki, had wavy blue hair and deep blue eyes. Tadashii and Ki fell in love when they were young and married when they finished school. Their first child was a son, Kanzen, had green hair and deep blue eyes. Two years later, they had a daughter, Suteki, with blue green hair and green eyes, two years later, another daughter, Kirei, with brown hair and blue eyes. Ki became pregnant yet again, two years later, expecting triplets in March, the same year that the Ten'ous expected their twins. Neither family could have predicted how close some of their newest arrivals would become. ********** Sunao lay in the hospital bed with Katai at her side, waiting to find out the results from her doctor. The doctor came in with a bright smile on her face. "Congratulations!" she told them. "The tests show that you will be having _two_ children, twins, a boy and a girl." Sunao and Katai cheered and hugged each other happily, before Sunao let out a tiny "ow" as Katai pushed against her belly accidentally. "Whoops, I'm sorry about that, Sunao," he quickly apologized. He grinned and kissed her belly. "Two bundles of joy on the way! We're truly lucky!" Sunao smiled and patted her extended waistline. "And it'll be both a boy and a girl; you'll get the son you've wanted and I'll have my daughter." Katai smiled back broadly. "Oh, thank you very much, doctor." The doctor nodded and gave them the folder of information, then the couple left the office. ********** They spent the next few months preparing their home for the arrivals. A room was prepared with boys' and girls' decor in it, two cribs, stuffed animals, and various other toys and things to occupy their children when they arrived. Katai was eagerly awaiting the day of their birth, to have the son he'd wanted for so long. He wanted to raise his son to be someone special, someone his father would be proud of. It was Katai's dream and he was anxious for it to come true. He put in some extra hours at the office to earn more money, saving it up to spend on his son when he arrived. He'd cut back on a lot of things he enjoyed, including all the different sports and car magazines he read, some things he collected, and drinking, which he said he "only find mildly amusing, anyways." Sunao was just as excited at the idea of having a daughter to raise. Katai had already agreed with her that he should be the one to focus on raising their son, and her their daughter. Sunao had wanted children for a long time, not caring whether it was a girl or boy, but she was very happy to be having both. While Katai was at work, she sewed, went to the store, and was visited by her parents, Katai's parents, and Teinei. At the store one day, she was looking for cereals when she bumped into someone next to her. "Oh, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "I'm a bit clumsy right now." A woman's laughter soon followed. "That's all right, I'm in the same condition myself." Sunao smiled as the blue haired woman patted her own belly. "When is yours due?" she asked the woman. "Early March. I'm expecting triplets! Two girls and a boy, according to the doctor. We're not sure yet if the girls are identical. You?" Sunao smiled. "Late January, a girl and a boy." "Both of us having multiple births," the woman smiled widely. "I know it's very exciting for me. I have two daughters already who are two and four, and a son, six years old. You?" "These are my first," Sunao replied. "I'm sorry, what was your name?" "Kaiou Ki, you?" "Ten'ou Sunao." They bowed to each other, then Sunao looked at her quizzically. "Your name sounds familiar... you're married to Kaiou Tadashii?" "Why yes, I am. My father, Inochino Miyage, is a violinist." "Ah yes, I've heard his music before; he's quite good. Do you play as well?" Ki chuckled slightly. "Not nearly as well. He's going to teach little Michiru when she's a bit older." She patted her belly again. "I'm going to make sure she's a fine lady when she's older. Tadashii's mother, Ureshii, wants to teach her about art since my other children don't seem to be too interested in that. Kanzen has already shown that he's more interested in studying, Suteki's more into dolls, and Kirei, well, we aren't sure about her yet... she's just enjoying playing games, right now. I think Genki will be smart like his brother, and Tadashii would love for him to take up sports. I'd like to make sure Kanpeki does art too, maybe writing. What do you want your children to do?" Sunao shrugged slightly. "Katai and I just want them to be happy. Katai and I have agreed that I will raise our daughter and he'll take care of our son. Not that we won't be involved with both kids, but we want to focus on them separately." "No names yet?" Sunao smiled a bit and replied, "We are trying to decide still. Katai is considering Akarui for our son, I think it would be nice too. We aren't sure about our daughter yet." "Hmmm... well, good luck with them," Ki said. "You too," Sunao said as they walked off in separate directions. ********** When Ki got home, her kids all rushed to her. "Mama Mama Mama Mama!" Kirei shouted. "Guess what?!" "What is it, Kirei-chan?" "Our babysitter left already-- Papa's home early!" Ki smiled as Tadashii came over. "You find everything all right at the store?" "Yes, and they've been kicking quite a lot," Ki said, patting her belly. "Whoops, there they go again!" Tadashii placed his head against her with a smile. "Full of energy, aren't they?" "Oof, they sure are!" The other children came over and felt her belly too. "Oooo, feels weird," Suteki said. "It's very weird," Kanzen agreed. "C'mon, kids," Tadashii said. "Let's go unload the groceries and let mama rest." They went out to the car to get the bags and Ki practically flopped onto the couch. "I can't wait till these babies arrives!" she sighed. ********** Sunao wiped her hand across her sweaty forehead, a broad smile on both her and Katai's faces. The doctor and nurses were also smiling as they handed the two wrapped bundles to the proud new parents. "Congratula- tions," they told Sunao and Katai as the two carefully cradled the babies. "If you need anything, we'll be out in the hall." Just as he was about to shut the door, he added, "I'd be very careful with the boy though, he seems to be a bit delicate. We'll want him to stay here at the hospital a few days longer than his sister to make sure everything's all right." "That'll be fine, doctor, and thank you," Sunao said weakly. Sunao and Katai looked down into the faces of their new children. The girl had dark blond hair, and her eyes, already opened wide, were a dark teal. The boy had brown hair and his eyes, sleepily opening and shutting, were black. Sunao and Katai's parents, along with Teinei, crowded around and admired the two newborns. "Oh, they are so cute," Teinei cooed. "She's got your eyes, Sunao," Kotori remarked happily. "He looks just like you, except his hair's darker," Tsuyoi told his son. "What are you naming them?" Kobun asked her son. "Well," Katai started, "we decided on Akarui for the boy and--" Akarui started coughing and Katai frowned, adjusting his hold on the baby. "Otou-san, get the doctor please." Tsuyoi went outside immediately to get the doctor while Akarui continued coughing. The doctor came back in with the nurses and was followed by someone with a rolling cart. "We better get him checked right now," he said. "What's wrong?" Fushigi asked. "I'm not sure yet; we won't know until we check things out. I'll keep you informed." "Doctor, he's not breathing," one of the nurses said. "Let's get down there, quick!" The doctor and nurses rushed out of the room with the baby on the medical cart. Sunao watched with wide eyes and clutched her daughter tighter to her fearfully. Katai looked equally terrified and sat down by her side. "Maybe it's because the labor was so long," Kobun said, trying to reassure them. "Many babies have breathing problems when they are first born, but make it through just fine." "Yeah, don't worry, onii-san," Teinei told her brother. "They'll check him out and it'll be all right." Sunao carefully shifted the girl in her arms, trying not to panic. What was happening with her son? It had been several minutes already. "What's the girl's name?" Kotori asked, trying to keep their minds off of it. "We were thinking--" Sunao started, when a nurse came in. "Excuse me, Ten'ou-san? Please come with me." Katai paled and followed her immediately. The hospital room fell very quiet when Katai left and stayed that way the next several minutes. When Katai walked in, he was nearly white in the face, his eyes shimmer- ing with unshed tears. The nurse and the doctor followed him. "Katai?" Sunao whispered. "What's wrong? Katai?" The doctor cleared his throat, lowering his head, and said, "I'm afraid that... your son didn't make it." Gasps came from around the room, and Teinei quickly took the baby girl as Sunao sat up, trying to get to Katai. "No, this can't be!" she cried, tears quickly pouring down her face. "Are you sure?! Are you sure he... he..." The doctor handed his folder to Fushigi as he spoke, "He had stopped breathing and never started again. His heart stopped a few minutes later. We tried everything we could, but in his condition... His lungs were too weak to sustain him. I'm sorry." "Please leave us," Kobun quietly whispered, and both the doctor and the nurse nodded and left. Katai hugged Sunao tightly, both crying against each other. Teinei sadly continued to cradle the baby girl in her arms, looking down at her, also crying softly. Kobun and Tsuyoi went to try and console their son, Kotori and Fushigi also moving to hug their daughter. While Sunao gratefully accepted her parents' embrace, Katai shoved his back and fled from the room. Teinei came forward slowly, and handed the girl to Sunao, who tenderly took the baby in her arms. "I can't believe this happened," she murmured as she looked down at her daughter. "It all happened so quickly ..." She trembled and lowered her head. "My poor Haruka won't have a brother now... Katai won't have the son he's wanted..." Fushigi and Kotori stayed with her as the Ten'ous quietly left the room to find Katai. Sunao lay sleeping in her hospital bed, Katai still wide-awake in a chair next to her. Haruka had been taken away by the doctors to be checked up and they would see her again tomorrow. The hospital had a special wing where they kept newborns that still needed medical attention. All the babies were in small cribs with heating systems. That night, there were only a few other babies in there besides the Ten'ous' child, and all the doctors and nurses were currently on another floor discussing their tiny patients. The room where the babies were was dark and the faint sound of tiny bodies breathing could be heard. It was set far apart from any other rooms in the hospital, its hallways long, leading to stairways going up to higher floors, thus it was kept quiet so the babies could rest. The door creaked slightly as a tall woman slowly walked into the room and made her way over to the crib where Ten'ou Haruka was kept. She carefully lifted the baby, who stirred and reached to grab a strand of her long, dark green hair. The baby cooed a bit at first, and whimpered when the woman carefully pried her hair from the baby's pale hands with her own tanned ones. Her dark red eyes softened as she smiled down at Haruka and gently soothed her as she started to cry. "Ssshhh... hush, little one. The time for crying will come later," she murmured. The baby stopped crying after several moments, then looked up at the lithe woman. "I know you can't understand what I say to you yet, but one day you'll be able to, and then you will remember this meeting. You have an important future ahead of you, a very important mission to complete. But before that can happen, you will know a lot of pain and sadness, but then you'll know a joy much greater than many others can ever experience." She smiled sadly and sighed. "Oh, Haruka-chan, I've missed you and the others. It isn't easy to guard alone. You are the first one to return, and Michiru-chan will be next. I wish there was a way I could speak to you when you were older and could understand and remember this, but I'm not permitted. But you will be able to remember this when the time comes, so that there will be less confusion when I join you in your mission." She carefully set Haruka back in the crib and smiled down at her. "I know you're the one, I know it. Let's see that symbol, shall we, to make sure?" The woman held her hand out, and the symbol of Pluto glowed purple on her forehead. The baby looked up and the symbol of Uranus glowed indigo on her forehead. The woman smiled widely and said proudly, "Yes, you will be a fine Senshi when the time comes. Farewell, my friend." Just as she turned to leave, a nurse came in and turned on a light. "Um, excuse me, miss? What are you doing in here?" The woman hid her smile and replied, "Just visiting little Ten'ou Haruka. I'm a friend of the family; Meiou Setsuna." "Oh, well... in the future, make sure you check with a doctor before coming in." "I will, thank you." Setsuna pulled the handle of the door shut. The nurse remembered the instant it shut that the family of the baby had specifically said no one besides their family members, the Kazes and the Ten'ous, would be visiting. She quickly rushed to the door to find Meiou Setsuna and to call security in case she had somehow tampered with the child. "Hey, miss! You're going to have to--" She stopped in shock as she looked both ways down the hall. No one was there. "Impossible!" she whispered in astonishment. Even if someone ran at their top speed down these halls, they wouldn't be to the stairways in the time that spanned between Setsuna leaving and the nurse opening the door. The nurse blinked rapidly and listened carefully, but couldn't hear any sounds, such as the sounds of someone walking or running, breathing, talking. "What could have happened to her?" the nurse wondered as she went back into the room, reaching for a folder to file a report. ********** "Okay, kids, it's all right to come in now," Tadashii told his three older children, a proud smile on his face. He led them into the hospital room where Ki was, her parents and Tadashii's also there. Ki held the tiny babies in her arms, looking weary but very happy. "Wow," Kirei said. "Babies..." "They're much cuter than Kirei and Suteki," Kanzen commented. Suteki stuck her tongue out at him as soon as he said that. They looked down at their new siblings in awe. The first born was Genki. He was unremarkable in their eyes; blond hair and brown eyes, a bit smallish, and was very hungry. The next born was Michiru. She had hair that was a shade of aquamarine paler than that of Suteki's, and her sleepily opening eyes were a rich blue. The last born was Kanpeki, and it turned out that she wasn't Michiru's twin. She had blond hair and deep blue eyes, was much tinier than her two triplets, and was wide awake, looking around as if checking out the place. Tensai patted his grinning son on the back while Ureshii kissed his cheek. "How does it feel to be father to three children all at once?" she asked her son. "Good," he said warmly. "Very good." Rippa and Miyage peered over their daughter's shoulder, and Rippa asked gently if she could hold one of the babies. Ki carefully handed Michiru to her, then Miyage took Genki in his arms, and Ureshii held Kanpeki. "They'll grow up to be wonderful children," Rippa said. Ki lay back on the pillows and smiled back at her mother. "I know, they'll grow up to be two great ladies and a gentleman, people that Tadashii and I will be proud to acknowledge as our children." "To follow in their mother and father's footsteps then?" Ki laughed weakly and returned her mother's and father's smile. "Yes, that is right..." She yawned and sighed. "I'm so tired, I want to sleep but I know I shouldn't yet." "You have every right to be tired!" Ureshii scolded. "Go on, you've worked hard to bring these babies into the world, you deserve some rest!" "Besides," Miyage added, "I think Michiru wants to sleep, too; look." Everyone but Ki walked over to see Michiru closing her eyes. "Goodbye, dear," Miyage said softly as they were leaving. "We'll visit tomorrow." "Mmmm hmmm..." Ki's eyes were closed and she was breathing slower, falling asleep. The grandparents led the children out of the room, Tadashii staying behind with Ki, the triplets in his arms, waiting for the doctor or a nurse to come in. "Excuse me, Kaiou-san?" Tadashii turned to see a tall woman with a dark tan standing there, dressed in the nurses' uniform. Her name tag read "Meiou Setsuna." "I'm here to check on your babies. May I see Michiru please?" "Of course," he said, gently handing her into the woman's arms. "I'll bring her back in a moment, I'm just checking her temperature and making sure she's breathing normally." "Thank you," he said, then he gave a slight smile. "It's nice to know what you people do when they take her away." Her dark red eyes sparkled slightly. "Yes, it is reassuring, isn't it?" She walked out with Michiru in her arms. "Funny, I have the strangest feeling..." Tadashii murmured as he shifted Kanpeki and Genki in his arms. "Nahhh..." Setsuna went into an empty room, and carefully set Michiru down on the bed. She got out the folder of medical records, checked her temperature and breathing like she said she would, and recorded them. She smiled with amusement as she looked down at the baby. "I'm surprised I was allowed to alter all the doctors' and nurses' perceptions to make them believe I really am on the staff, even more so that I was allowed to borrow the information and skills I needed from one of their minds so I could check you out." She carefully took Michiru in her arms and smiled again. "You're perfect- ly healthy, I can tell you that," she murmured, then sighed. "I don't know really what to tell you. I have to make these visits to all the Senshi when they are newborn, you know. I've had to do this since the first Senshi arrived in the Silver Millennium..." She then laughed. "Par- don me, I'm supposed to be leaving you a bit of information about your _future_," her eyes shimmered with amusement as she added, "I'm supposed to be 'cryptic' about it. Ah well..." She sighed again. "I can't say things will be easy. You're going to be special, I can tell you that. So many talents and skills, but you won't be satisfied with it. You'll find someone though, someone to be happy with, and then you'll realize you never really needed anything else... you'll know it when you first lay eyes upon them... Well, I think that's about as much as I will be allowed to say..." She brushed her dark green bangs up as her forehead symbol glowed, and the symbol of Neptune glowed in sea green on Michiru's forehead. "Ah, good," she murmured. "Well, I'll return you to your father now, my friend." Tadashii, sitting in a chair, was startled out of his doze when Setsuna walked into the room with Michiru in her arms. "She's just fine, Kaiou- san, and someone should be in to check the others later," she told him, setting the baby in a crib next to Ki's bed, where Tadashii had placed the other babies. "Farewell, Michiru," she added as she was leaving. Tadashii didn't notice the last comment as he started to doze again. He did jump in surprise when a purple light penetrated his closed lids, but when he opened them, he saw no one was there. Shrugging, he grinned at his new children and fell asleep again. ********** "Sunao-chan? Sunao-chan?" Teinei gently shook her sister-in-law, who had fallen asleep on the couch. "Wake up, c'mon, wake up." Teinei brushed her long strands of strawberry blond hair behind her ear, rolling her purple eyes in irritation. She shifted Haruka in her arm and sat down on a chair, giving up on Sunao for the moment. Haruka looked up at her with a tiny gurgle. Teinei couldn't help but grin at her niece. She was an adorable baby, and didn't give her parents much trouble; she was actually rather mild-mannered and rarely cried. Teinei sighed and frowned. Katai and Sunao were lucky for that. It had been four months now since the twins were born, and the couple still hadn't quite recovered from the sudden death of Akarui. Katai was visibly crying as he removed all the boy's things from the room Haruka would now have alone, storing them in the attic in case they were able to have a son later. It was obvious that he was crushed though. He sought solace in work, working later hours than ever, and working harder, taking business trips and going to many dinner meetings. He wasn't seen much anymore since he was gone so much. Whenever he was around, he always seemed to be clutching a beer bottle. Sunao had a shadow over her, and she probably wouldn't ever be the carefree, light-hearted woman she used to be, but she was recovering, if a bit slowly. She wasn't very focused, so Teinei, Kotori, and Kobun rotated between staying at the house with her to help take care of Haruka since she couldn't do it alone, and even when Katai was there, he wasn't much help. Finally, Sunao stirred, brushing her brown bangs out of her teal eyes. "Mmmm... Teinei-chan? Is that you? I must've fallen asleep..." "Yeah, okaa-san told me when I arrived that you were taking a nap on the couch. Turned into a very long nap too!" Teinei chuckled and handed Haruka over to Sunao's open arms. Sunao smiled weakly as she looked down at her daughter. "I've just been so tired lately, I couldn't help it." Haruka whimpered a bit and Sunao sighed. "Time for feeding already, Haruka-chan?" She nursed Haruka with a wistful smile on her face. "She's such a darling, isn't she?" "She is," Teinei agreed. "She's very easy to watch. I almost wish she wasn't so I'd have more to do! All I really do is hold her and talk to her and she seems to be happy with it." Sunao laughed a bit. "Well, I'm glad for it. I don't think I could handle it if she wasn't." She looked down sadly at Haruka when she was finished nursing. "I never realized..." she sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't talk about it, it would be too depressing..." "Sunao-chan," Teinei growled. "You've been my friend since we were kids. You can talk to me about it. And besides, bottling things up will only make it worse." "All right, you win, as usual," Sunao chuckled. "I just wish that things could have been different, you know? That Akarui could be here too. He had his life taken away before he had a chance to live it, and he took a piece of us with him." "I can't say I know the feeling," Teinei told her, "but I know that it must have really affected you and Katai both, and it shows... particular- ly in Katai." Sunao frowned and sadly murmured, "He told me... He said that if one of them had to die, why couldn't it have been the girl instead? He actually told me that... he wanted a son so b-badly, a-and..." Teinei came over to hug her as she started crying. "It's not your fault, you know," she said softly. "You both need to move on with your lives. If you can't, what hope does your daughter have, hmmm? She needs her parents, especially in these early years, and you have to give her as much love and care as you would have even if Akarui had lived." Sunao wiped her streaming eyes and nodded weakly. "I... I will... At least, I hope I will, I don't know, I'll try..." Teinei chuckled and told her, "You'll do fine, Sunao-chan." Sunao sat quietly for awhile. "How's the rest of your family?... Katai never mentions..." "Well, Haruka-chan has a third cousin that's seven days older than her." "I never heard about this!" "Yeah, my cousin had a kid. We never spoke much... Her father and ours didn't get along well. Cute kid though. Name's Murasaki... You aren't really listening, are you?" Sunao shook her head. "Sorry." "It's ok. C'mon, let's go get out of the house, get some coffee or something. You've been cooped up in here for awhile. I know you aren't going to just bounce back right away, but let's get started, all right?" "Let me get some things for Haruka first." Sunao pulled out the stroller and got together a bag of diapers, wipes, a pacifier, a small toy, and other baby items. They packed everything in the trunk of Teinei's car, Teinei sitting in the front seat with Sunao next to Haruka's car seat. They ended up going to a coffee shop to talk for quite a bit, then to get Sunao's chin-length hair trimmed, and before going back home, they picked up some things at the grocery store. When they got back, it was already dark, and Katai was home from work early, not a common occurence. Teinei left after dropping off Sunao and helping her bring everything inside, stopping briefly to say 'hi' to her brother. "How was your day?" Sunao asked her husband as she lay Haruka in her crib. "The usual," he murmured, taking a sip of his beer. "Hectic." Sunao brushed a few strands of hair from Haruka's face as the baby slowly fell asleep. "I had a long talk with your sister today. I'm feeling a lot better now actually." "You feel better about what?" Katai sat down on the couch, patting the cushion to indicate for Sunao to sit next to him. "And what did you talk about?" Sunao sat down, brushing her hair behind her ears, and replied, "We talked... about many things really. But I think," she paused and sighed, "I think I can move on now with my life. We've been held back these past few months by Akarui's death, and while we most certainly should mourn, we do have to move on. Haruka will depend on us for a long time, and we have to take care of ourselves instead of wallowing in grief." Katai's dark scowl made Sunao flinch slightly. "Sunao, our son _died_ when he was barely minutes old. We didn't have a chance to raise him. We should not forget about it and just 'move on'--" "Katai! I am not saying we should forget! I'm just saying... look, we can't change what happened. Maybe we can make up for it somehow, have another child, but we shouldn't be so caught up in sadness that we don't even try to live our lives anymore." Katai stood up and left the room. Sunao looked down at her hands and sighed bitterly. "This was a mistake," she whispered as her hands trembled. "This whole thing was a mistake." The phone rang, and Sunao picked it up with trembling hands. "Hello?" "Is Katai there?" The voice was a bit garbled. "He... can't come to the phone right now..." "Oh... Please inform him that... his cousin and her husband were just in a car wreck." Oh no. "Are they..." "They didn't make it... Their baby daughter somehow got out alive though." "I'll... I'll tell him. Goodbye." She curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep on the couch while Katai lay awake in bed all night.
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