Disclaimer:
I do not own nor claim the characters or the places in Crescent Moon. I only own the story line for this fanfiction, and Nozomu and Mahiru's made up daughter, Yuzuki.Starting Notes:
This is an Alternate Universe story, as some of you might have already guessed. It's the sequel to my Nozomu/Mahiru one-shot, To The Moon and Back, that takes place when they're a bit older. (Obviously. Haha.) Also, there is going to be some incorrect grammar here and there when Yuzuki talks. Just warning you.
Please enjoy chapter one!
Clair de Lune
Celebration
Nozomu pushed the last of the tables to the back of the restaurant, where Katsura was decorating them with flowers and presents, a large cake sat in the in the center of it all. It had taken them hours to get everything covered in frills and decorated with pink and white balloons. Streamers hung from the ceiling, spiraling in every which way. With his hands on his hips, Nozomu grinned at his handy work.
"Looks like everything's in place," Misoka told him, once he finished setting the lights with soft rose-colored bulbs. Everything glowed in shades of red and pink.
"I think I'm more excited than Yuzu is," Nozomu laughed.
Misoka cracked a rare grin. "I'm pretty sure she'll be thrilled to see this. You really went all out this time, Nozomu."
Of course, Nozomu thought. Yuzuki was only going to turn four once, so he had to make sure her birthday party would be fit for a princess.
"They're coming in," Oboro told them as he stepped though the door. He had been busy driving Mahiru and Yuzuki around, looking at the touristy spots that the small girl loved so much. Their trip to the zoo ended their adventure, as Yuzuki accidentally dumped a whole cup of blueberry-flavored slushy on Akira when they walked past the monkey exhibit. She was so excited, she threw her hands--and her drink--up in the air. Akira's head was the unfortunate enough to catch the styrofoam cup.
Nozomu hurried to the door, where his princesses and his blue-stained friend entered. Yuzuki was curled up in her mother's arms, tired from the long day. He had to hold back a laugh when he saw Akira, who looked quite miserable covered in the sticky mess.
"What happened to you?" he asked Akira in a whisper.
Akira pointed to the tiny girl in Mahiru's arms. "I'm gonna go wash this mess off," he said, also quiet. He didn't dare wake Yuzuki up. "Don't start without me, okay?"
"Promise," Nozomu grinned.
Mahiru smiled up at Nozomu, she too trying hard to hold in a giggle. "How did it go?" Nozomu asked Mahiru.
"Better than expected," Mahiru said softly, looking down at her baby girl. "The sun got to her, so we had to sit and watch the elephants under a tree for a while. Other than the slushy incident, it was a perfect first half to her birthday." Mahiru then noticed the intricately decorated room. The last time it had been that decked out was when they had their wedding reception. "Wow…" was all she could say. It looked like a palace, everything pink as pink could be. "This is gorgeous, Nozomu!" she was so excited, she almost woke up the girl she cradled.
"I had lots of help," Nozomu motioned to Misoka and Katsura. "I just wish I could've went with you guys." He ran his fingers through Yuzuki's silky blonde hair as he looked down at her. "But I'll make up for it," he finally said. "We're going to have a rockin' time, even if she won't remember it all."
Mahiru nodded. "I'm going to go get her changed into her party dress, okay? We'll be down in fifteen minutes."
Nozomu waved as they disappeared up the stairs. He had changed into his party clothes not minutes before they had arrived back from their day on the town. He might have been overdoing it, wearing a white tuxedo with pink flowers in its breast pocket, but he would do anything to see his baby girl smile. She was, after all, the light of his life along with Mahiru. He would do whatever silly little thing he could to keep them happy, because their happiness was his own.
Akira came back down within the next few minutes, his hair wet but clean. He too wore over-the-top party clothes. They had decided that they'd all dress up as well, since Yuzuki loved to see her daddy and uncles looking sharp and classy. The girl had taste, even at her young age.
"Did I miss anything?" Akira asked, looking around. "Where's Yuzu and Mahiru?"
"Upstairs getting changed," Nozomu told him.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" he heard a giggling voice call from the top of the stairs.
There Yuzuki stood, her curly golden hair swept up into pigtails, her lacy white and pink dress fluffing out around her body, her piercing blue eyes locked on her father. She dashed down the stairs quicker than she probably should have, nearly giving Mahiru a heart attack when she tripped on the last few.
Nozomu made it to the foot of the stairs just in time to catch the girl. Yuzuki grinned up at him -- this was normal; her tripping over things and him coming to her rescue.
"Daddy!" She jumped from his arms. "Lookit what Mommy gave me!" She twirled around, the skirts of her dress flowing out as she spun. "Isn't it pretty?" she beamed.
"Not as pretty as the girl who is wearing it," Nozomu smiled down at his daughter. She grinned back.
Yuzuki took hold of her father's sleeve and pulled, trying to get him to kneel down so she could see him better. "I wanna tell you bout our trip!" she said excitedly. Nozomu got down on the floor so Yuzuki could plop down in his lap. You would think it would be the parent who took care of story time, but in this case, it was always Yuzuki who did the story telling. It always amused Nozomu to hear his daughter ramble about the oddest things, half telling the truth of what happened, half coming up with her own details.
"Grandpa Oboro took me to get pancakes!" Yuzuki told her dad. "And when we were getting them, he spilled his all over the place, so he stole mine." Nozomu raised his eyebrow as he tried to picture Oboro stealing food. "And then, Momma and Uncle Akira and I went to the park! And Uncle Akira chased sticks."
"Did not," Akira mumbled under his breath. "I do it the one time, then she goes and adds it to all of her stories," he sulked. Nozomu laughed.
"Then," Yuzuki continued, her eyes locked on her dad's, "When we was in the car, Grandpa Oboro raced a bus full of kids."
Nozomu sweatdropped.
"We won." Yuzuki grinned.
"How was the zoo?" Nozomu asked, trying to get the mental picture of what his daughter just told him out of his head.
"Super neat!" Yuzu giggled. "We saw lotsa stuff, and the bats kept trying to escape so I could play with them."
Nozomu realized that that bit was probably true, she was his girl after all.
"And when we got to the monkey cage, they were all like, GRRRRAAAAW!" She shot her hands up in the air, accidentally slapping her father in the face. She didn't seem to notice as she continued imitating the monkeys.
Akira's eyes widened as he pointed down at her. "That's how I got slushied!"
Nozomu burst out laughing that time. Even Mahiru was laughing quietly from beside the door.
The sound of the front door to the shop opening made Yuzuki leap from her dad's lap while he was still in mid-laugh.
"Uncle Mit-su-ruuuuuuuuuuuuu!" she cried happily, practically throwing herself on him as he entered.
"Hey, Yuzuki," Mitsuru sweatdropped. "Happy birthday, princess."
Mitsuru had no trouble calling the little girl princess, unlike the way he first had trouble calling Mahiru that years ago.
She clung to his leg, forcing him to stay put. "Thank you!" she grinned. "Didja bring me presents?"
"Now, now," Mahiru called to the little girl. "Let go of Uncle Mitsuru. It's rude to ask for presents, even on your birthday, Yuzuki."
Mitsuru managed to un-cling himself from Yuzuki. She beamed up at him, ignoring what her mother just said. Mitsuru sighed, shook his head, and handed her a box he had been hiding behind his back.
"Yaaaay!" she cheered, holding her prize above her head. "Daddy, would you help me open this?"
Nozomu looked over at Mitsuru. They had been on better terms then when he and Mahiru were first together, but sometimes it was awkward moments like these that made him uneasy.
"Sure, sweetie." He took the package from the girl and helped her pull the ribbon off.
Mitsuru looked over to where Mahiru stood, her eyes fixed on him. He grinned awkwardly, trying to show his support for the half-vampire's fourth birthday.
Misoka had turned on the radio to the local classical station -- Yuzuki's favorite. She was indeed a strange girl, there was no doubt about that. She was tiny, even for her age. Her energy peaked above an average four-year-old's, only in the sunlight could it be drained. Yuzuki was strong, like her father, and could go out during the day, but since she was so young, she could only last a few hours at a time under the sun's warm light.
Yuzuki was Mahiru and Nozomu's little miracle baby. She had been born nearly three and a half months too early, because of a problem with her heart. Doctors delivered her with an emergency c-section, telling Mahiru and Nozomu that if she wasn't delivered right away, the tiny holes in her heart would killer her in her mother's womb.
This, of course, scared Mahiru to her core. They had been so happy when they discovered she was expecting, she felt right away that the baby growing inside of her was hugely impacting her life. Nozomu fell in love with the baby before she was even big enough to make her mommy's tummy round. He would talk to her, sing for her, promise her she would be happy. The news of Yuzuki being unhealthy nearly broke the young vampire. He could only find strength in knowing that since this baby was the fruit of his love for Mahiru, and since Mahiru was a strong, resilient person, he was sure the baby inside of her was as well.
And he was right.
Even though Yuzuki spent the first six months or so of her life inside an incubator, and even though she was smaller than a lot of dolls and more fragile than glass, she remained strong. She grew, and so did her strength. You wouldn't know she was unhealthy just by looking at her now.
Nozomu held the girl as she ripped the rose-patterned paper off Mitsuru's present. They fumbled with the box until finally it fell open, revealing a delicate looking china-faced doll. Its hair was golden with cork-screw curls, its eyes the same midnight blue as Yuzuki's. Her jaw dropped as Nozomu handed her the doll. Nozomu glanced over at Mitsuru, who was looking down at the girl with the doll that looked just like her. Again, Mitsuru had given his daughter a china doll for her birthday.
"It's me!" Yuzuki gasped. She stumbled over to Mitsuru, once again latching on to his leg. "I love it!"
Mitsuru kneeled down to look at the girl in the eye. He had to admit, he had a soft spot for her. "Good," he told her, patting her head between her pigtails. "It took me a while to work up the guts to get that for you. You know me, frilly toy stores aren't my thing."
Yuzuki giggled. She loved tormenting him with frilly things. He secretly liked surprising her with special dolls on her birthday, even if it meant a trip to a girly-girl toy store. She un-latched herself from him his leg to go hunt down her other uncles and grandpa to show off her new treasure.
"Thanks, Mitsuru," Mahiru smiled. "You really go out of your way to get those for her, don't you?"
Mitsuru shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Well, I think you got me beat," Nozomu rubbed the back of his head as he looked over at his daughter. "I got her a tea set."
"No big deal," Mitsuru shrugged yet again, knowing Nozomu was lying. He could buy the girl her own pony and Nozomu could give her a rubber bouncy-ball, and she'd love the bouncy-ball more, simply because it came from her father. She was no doubt a daddy's girl.
"Heeeelp!" Akira cried. They turned their attention to the werewolf, who was being chased by the Yuzuki and her doll. Misoka watched, trying not to show how amused he found the situation. It seemed that today was Yuzuki's Pick on Akira day. "Mahiru-Chaaan!" Akira ran towards the woman, trying to get her to tame her daughter.
"Down boy!" Mahiru giggled as she scooped up her daughter.
Yuzuki held the doll out towards the werewolf. "Raaaawr!" she growled from her mother's arms. "Woof woof!"
"Hey, don't make fun of me," Akira laughed.
"I'm not!" She told her werewolf uncle. "Mitsu's part werewolf too!"
"You named the doll Mitsu?" Akira sweatdropped.
Yuzuki stared up at him. "Uncle Mitsuru got her for me."
"Um…" Akira twitched, fighting with every bit of his willpower not to burst out laughing. "Okay, kiddo, whatever makes you happy."
Mahiru couldn't help but giggle. Her daughter always managed to amuse her in the strangest ways.
"Hey girlie," Nozomu called, "Come help me with this cake or I'll eat it all myself."
Yuzuki squirmed out of her mother's grip, dashing to the other side of the room and crashing into her father.
They had the cake lit in no time, the lights dimmed, and everyone was singing, including Yuzuki. She blew each candle out one by one. It was only seconds before she was in sugar heaven -- the cake Akira made her was as big as she was.
They spent the rest of the night opening her presents, nibbling on cake, and pretty much doing whatever Yuzuki asked, as long as it was within reason. She somehow managed to talk the adults into playing hide and seek with her a good number of times before she was pooped.
She was nodding off in her mother's lap when she heard her favorite song start to play on the radio. Nozomu reached for her, smiling sweetly. "May I have this dance?" he asked his daughter.
She was too sleepy to respond, she only reached for her dad to pick her up. He took her out to the middle of the dance floor and waltzed with the little girl in his arms.
Mahiru smiled as she watched the two. Nozomu looked over at her, their daughter already asleep, and motioned with his index finger for her to join them. She gladly did so, somehow finding a comfortable position in their awkward three-person waltz.
The others watched the happy family, glad that the day had went well. They all worried, of course, that something might happen in the excitement of it all. Nozomu and Mahiru did their best to keep their lives as normal as possible, not wanting their daughter to be held back by an illness. So far, it was all working out well. The sight of Mahiru and Nozomu cuddling their little girl give them hope.
"I'd better get going," Mitsuru told the others under his breath as to not wake up the sleeping girl. He'd moved out of the shop a while ago, and tried not to hang around for long when he did visit. He went well out of his way to keep things from being awkward for Mahiru and her happy family.
"Alright, see you tomorrow then," Oboro nodded to the tengu.
"Goodnight," he whispered, looking over at Mahiru one last time. Neither she nor Nozomu noticed him leave.
Ever so slowly, the birthday part died down as everyone quietly went about cleaning up the mess and packing away the presents into the back of Nozomu's car. Mahiru strapped Yuzuki into her booster seat, waiting for Nozomu to join them outside.
He finally got together the last of what they needed into the car, and the family headed for their home not far away.
"I think that went well," Mahiru told her husband softly.
Nozomu nodded. "Yeah. I sure had fun, didn't you?" he grinned, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Yeah," Mahiru laughed.
Yuzuki coughed in her sleep. She had had fun too, but with the mix of all that sunlight and playing, strain was taking its toll on her body.
Author's notes:
Sorry, bad place to end the chapter, I guess.
In case any of you were wondering what Yuzuki's favorite song that she and Nozomu were dancing to, it's Clair de Lune. The girl has good taste, if I do say so myself. Heh.
Please forgive any errors, my head hurts too bad to pick them all up at the moment.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this. If not… please don't continue reading future chapters. I have to write cheesy stuff every now and then, that's just how it goes.
-RH