The soft sound of a young girl giggling could be heard throughout the Kuran manor's garden. The leaves and petals still wet with dew were disrupted when a girl and her mother walked through aisles. "Ai-chan~! Look at this one! It's taller than you!" the mother said with a smile, tucking her growing brown locks behind her ears.
The young girl who looked identical to her mother smiled and raced over to her. "Nuh-uh! That flower is shorter than me!" she said frantically pulling the head of the flower down.
"Be gentle with the flowers, dear. They are living things…" she seemed to have trailed off in thought before shaking her head and betting the eyes of her little one. "We must protect and cherish living things, that is what it means to have the power of a pureblood."
"A pureblood?" the little girl cocked her head to the side, her black hair falling to one side.
Yuuki, the mother, poked her daughter's nose and laughed. "That's what you are, my little one! A vampire like your mommy and daddy!" She winced a little as she finished her comment and quickly ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "I love you."
"I love you too!" the small girl squeaked before running off into the bushes. Her rustling was quite loud and would have warned any living animal nearby of her presence.
Yuuki kneeled down in front of the sunflowers and gingerly touched them. "You're doing your best," she whispered, though it seemed more to herself than to the petals.
The air was crisp as the clouds rolled by overhead, thanks to her pureblood senses she could tell there would be a nasty storm shortly. However, she had wanted to get out of the manor for some time and show Ai that the outside world is beautiful and to be cherished.
"Mommy!" The girl yelled frantically. Yuuki's head shot up in worry as she quickly sniffed the air and tracked her daughter down. Running in heels on cobblestone walkways was never the brightest idea, but Ai was potentially in danger. "Mom!" she yelled again. As Yuuki approached, worry creasing her features, she realized that her daughter was in no trouble, but merely excited.
Relaxing ever so slightly she kneeled down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "What is it?"
Jumping up and down with uncontrollable energy she pointed at a large red flower. It's petals looked exquisite and exotic.
Halting ever so slightly, Yuuki examined the flower and bit back her negative emotions as she gently stroked the petals. "Oh, Ai-chan. This is one of the most beautiful flowers you could find."
Lighting up, even more, the girl wiggled happily with a huge grin on her face. "Can we grow more of these?"
Softly smiling, Yuuki looked at her daughter, "Of course we can. You know…" she paused before taking a deep breath. "Someone very special once said that this flower bloomed only once every few years." Her eyebrows creased together as she stopped to think. "Ai-chan?" she asked.
"Yes, momma?" the girl replied, her smile slowly fading from her face as confusion replaced it.
"Would it be okay if mommy took this one flower so we could visit your father and offer it to him?" It was hard to say or even think of his name. He meant the world to her and now he was gone. But he left a precious parting gift, one she would treasure for the rest of her life.
"We can visit daddy?" Ai responded, the smile forming on her face again. "I love to visit daddy! He's so pretty and even though it's super cold to try and touch him, I feel like he always listens to me!"
"Same here, little one." She said as she carefully cut the stem with her nails and held the flower in her hand. "Would you like to hold this and protect it while we go to see your father?" She winced again. She missed him every day. His voice. His eyes. The way he presented himself. He was her world, and now he was gone.
Nodding profusely, Ai held out her hands so Yuuki could place the flower between the two palms. "Now be careful." Her mother cooed, though she knew her child was capable of carrying a flower.
Gracefully standing up and brushing off her dress, she smiled down at her daughter and walked towards the manor with Ai following close behind.
They soon reached the doors where Kaname's ice coffin laid. Hesitating at the door handle, Yuuki closed her eyes and willed her self the strength to move forward. Pulling open the door she watched as Ai ran excitedly to her fiancée and showed him the flower.
"We found this flower today, daddy! And momma said it is really rare and special and wanted to show you!" The girl continued on her explanation of the day as her mother quietly approached her and stared at her lover's face.
She wanted to be with him. She wanted to raise Ai with him. How he would have spoiled their daughter… Her thoughts churned as she stood there, watching his face. She wanted to apologize. She knew the idea was childish and that he wouldn't come back if she apologized. But it didn't stop the thought.
"I think we had a pretty good day today, right mom?" Ai turned her head to look up at her mother.
Blinking out of her thoughts, a small smile spread across Yuuki's face. "Of course." She looked down at her daughter's hands. "May I?" she asked the obvious question of taking the flower. Ai nodded once and raised her tiny hands towards her mother. Taking a deep breath Yuuki plucked the flower from her hand and laid it down at the bottom of her lover's ice coffin.
Taking a long shaky breath she closed her eyes and pinched her nose before exhaling. "Thank you, Kaname. I wish you were here to see Ai. I know you would have spoiled her to death." Laughing more to herself she added, "I mean, you went through some pretty drastic measures to spoil me."
Ai curiously watched her mother interact with her frozen father. She could see how she was their child. She had the hair color and type as her father, black and wavy while she had the soft face of her mother. Her mother looked young and she wasn't sure if that was because she was young or if it was genetics.
"I miss you every day, but you know that." Yuuki continued, voice slightly wavering. "I promise you I will make it possible for you to one day meet the miracle we created together. You deserve that. I love you." She finished, looking down at the flower while wiping a tear from her eyes.
Ai stepped closer to her mother and pressed her small head into Yuuki's palm. "I look forward to it" she encouraged, nuzzling the warm hand.
Taking another deep breath, Yuuki gathered up the nerve to look back at her fiancée's face. She would keep this promise, even if it ended up being the death of her. She would find a way.
Staring at his beautiful face with newfound determination, she could faintly see the corners of his lips turn up into a smile. Blinking she rubbed her eyes and shook her head before looking back, the smile gone. She must have been imagining it.