Disclaimer. I only own Destiny and Nani, not the song or the YYH charactors.
Nani looked at herself in the bathroom mirror as the others prepared for the semifinals in the Dark Tournament. Seven and a half months and counting, she had been carrying this child in her. The memory of how she became like this was almost too much for her to bare. She was only sixteen, still innocent. Why and how could something like this happen to her? A sharp knock on the door pulled her from her train of thought, causing her to jump.
"Nani, there are other people who want to use the bathroom besides you, ya know." Yusuke answered in a mocking voice as he jolted the handle. "What's the matter with mommy? Too scared to come out?" Mommy? Nani thought, as she looked herself in the face as tears brimmed in her emerald eyes. Yes, mommy. Unlocking the door, she opened it and made her way past Yusuke, looking at the floor as she pasted him.
"Yusuke, when you become a father, the realization that the slightest thing may cause a contraction or miscarriage will come through to you. Then there wont be anything to joke about." Kurama was in his demon form, Yoko, and stood up when he saw the frightened and humiliated look on his sister's face. Placing his hand under Nani's chin, he forced her to look at him. His amber eyes bore into her emerald ones, reading them, predicting. "Maybe you should stay here today, the tournament is going to be crowded."
"Yoko, I'm tired of staying in one place all day. Its not like it's the end of the world...its just a child." Harshly but at the same time, sarcastic. "I'll be careful." Yoko moved his hand to her cheek, gently, like she was glass. "Please brother."
"Oh, alright, but only if you stay with Keiko and the others. No running off like you did the last time, got it?"
"Got it."
[.D.A.R.K. .T.O.U.R.N.A.M.E.N.T.]
"Welcome, ladies and gentle demons, to the semi-finals of the Dark Tournament. The semis will be beginning shortly, so please, get to your seats." A voice echoed over the P.A. system as the group made their way to the stadium. Yoko and Nani walked behind the group, in silence as the rest, well, all but Hiei, talked about random things. Yusuke and Kuwabara were at it again as Keiko and Yukina tried to stop them from hurting each other. Botan and Sizume only spoke to remind the two 'idiots' that they still had a tournament to fight.
"Are you feeling alright, Nani?" Keiko looked over her shoulder at Nani, who now had started to breathe heavily.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Finally. They had arrived at the front hall of the stadium, and the whole group went to the benches right on the field since Nani couldn't climb the stairs any longer. Yoko had started to look over the area, spotting out all the easy exits and the ones closest to the nurse station.
"Competing teams please make your way to the ring."
"That would be us, come on you guys, and Yoko, don't worry, you're still in earshot of your sister. Focus on the fight." Yusuke shouted over his shoulder as he lead the way to the ring before receiving a glare from both of the fox-demons as well as the pyromaniac.
"Go on, you two, I'll be fine." Nani forced a smile, though pain had suddenly shot through her entire body. No, it's too early. No it wasn't too early; she was in fact, right on time. As Yoko and Hiei followed up the end of Team Urameshi, Nani held her breath. Another shot of pain then another, this time more closer together.
Within five minutes, Kuwabara had been chosen to fight, and was in the middle of an attack when the pain started to seem like a fading pulse. Don't smell my pain, Yoko, or Hiei, neither of you, please. Too late, Hiei had pointed it out to Yoko, and they were calling for a time out just as her water broke. Yusuke cursed Yoko but suddenly understood why when he saw him running over to Nani.
"For Pete's sake, woman, you just had to choose now to have a baby, didn't you?" Yusuke cursed at Nani as Yoko grasped his hand in her's.
"Don't do anything to make her laugh, Yusuke, it'll only make things worse." Botan harked on the spirit deceptive, "She needs to go to the hospital, Yusuke, you need to decide on who's going to take her, and quickly." Holding on to Nani's other hand, Botan brushed back strands of red hair as the emotion in Yoko's face went from battle-hungry to worry and fear.
"Yoko, you and the girls go. I'm pretty sure that we can handle without you for a while." Yusuke patted the uncle-to-be on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Good luck, ya old man." Yoko would have turned around and smacked him but the grip of the teenager tightened hastily as the contractions became more and more closer together.
"Yoko..." Pain echoed through Nani's voice as her brother gathered her into his arms and took off towards the hospital.
[.E.I.G.H.T. .H.O.U.R.S. .L.A.T.E.R.]
A soft tap on the door of room 304 and a quiet creek of it opening made Yoko up to a wake. It had been a long eight hours for the fox-demon, and an even longer eight for his sister, who had cried herself to sleep in his arms once they found why the labor had been so hard on her. Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara filed in along with Botan, who had left earlier, unable to see the young mother in pain.
"Hey fox-boy, heard you were an uncle to a baby girl." Yusuke said in a soft voice, careful not to wake Nani, who had fallen asleep holding Yoko's hand in one hand and a tissue in the other. "Congratulations." He held out his hand to the demon, who shook it weakly, still waking up. Botan went over to Nani's sleeping figure and pulled the blanket over her, trying to hold back the sobbing, but failed horrible. Covering her mouth, she fell into the chair next to the bed.
"You three better come with me, there are some things you should know before Nani has to deal with it all." Yoko stood up, kissed his sister's forehead, and patted Botan on the back then proceeded into the hall and to the elevator, where he rubbed his eyes and sighed. "First off, it was a girl, Destiny Starr. She looks a lot like Nani, but that isn't the thing I have to tell you."
"Fox, this had better not be some type of joke." Hiei spoke up, leaning against a wall as Yoko pressed the 3-floor button. Third floor was NICU, where the newborn babies were kept until all the testing was finished
"No, Hiei, it's very real." 300 years of dealing with many things, many events, but this, this was all new to Yoko. He didn't know how to explain it to them as he tried to recap what the doctors had told him. Since your sister is only sixteen and its only seven months, the child hasn't developed her lungs fully yet, and that's not the only problem, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck, it took five doctors, but we got it untangled. They're taking her to NICU right now, sir, you can see your niece when they bring her in to explain everything to Nani. "Okay, there is a fifty – fifty chance that the child will die by the end of the night. The lungs weren't fully developed and to make the matters worse, the umbilical cord was tangled around the neck, cutting off the air supply."
The elevator doors opened and the smell of sterilizing chemicals filled the car as the four stepped into the hallways. A few of the nurses were demons, not paying that much attention to the seven-foot fox demon but as they got to the viewing window to see Destiny, glares and shrieks of fear were received. God, they're all acting like it's strange to see a few demons, after all, this is a demon tournament. Hiei thought as they all stopped in front of a window and Yoko, painfully, pointed out the small baby hooked up to machines that helped her breathe and her heart beat.
"None of you need to tell Nani about the machines, not yet. They had taken Destiny off the machines to let Nani hold her for a few minutes. The conditions have worsened." Yoko tapped the glass as he niece slept with great difficulty breathing. "She's too young to do this alone." The last comment was more to himself than to the others. Kuwabara and Yusuke had subsided their fighting when Yoko turned his back to them. For the first time, the pyromaniac showed true feelings and patted the fox-demon on the back.
"If they're anything like you, fox, they'll pull through." Hiei smiled softly at him as he looked back at Nani's daughter and secretly made a pledge to himself to always watch out for the small child and her mother from that point on.
"Ya know, Yoko, she kind of looks like you when you're passed out on the couch in the hotel room." Yusuke commented, and everyone laughed, even Hiei for that matter as they made their way back to Nani's room.
[.L.A.T.E.R. .T.H.A.T. .N.I.G.H.T]
Hello God, it's me again. 2:00 a.m., Room 304.
Visiting hours are over, time for our bedside tug of war.
This sleeping child between us may not make it through the night.
I'm fighting back the tears as she fights for her life.
Yoko had asked that they moved Destiny to Nani's room earlier so she could spend a little bit of time with her before the night ended and fate would make its decision. After arguing with her brother for twenty minutes, Nani had finally talked Yoko into go back to the hotel and going bed. Hiei refused to leave the room, fulfilling the pledge he made to himself. And as Nani watched her daughter sleep, Hiei watched as tears fell down the face of the young mother. It hurt him to see such a beautiful girl crying and praying that her daughter's life be spared. "Just..spare her, please." Nani said in a whisper as a new wave of tears flooded down her cheeks. She sat in a T-shirt, PJ pants, and socks, terrified that at any moment the machines could start to go off. A few minutes prier to that, Hiei had moved for the solitude of the shadows to her side, placing his hand over hers, letting her know that she wasn't alone.
Well, it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more.
She's much too young to be on her own:
Barely just turned seven.
So who will hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven?
"She's strong, Nani, she wont leave you." Hiei tightened his grip reassuringly. Watching the young girl lay her head on her other arm, he took the blanket that had fallen off her shoulders and replaced it. Hours pasted and soon the sun peaked through the curtain. A nurse had long ago came and carted the small child out of the room, being sure to tell the only person awake to let Nani know where her daughter was taken to. Kurama, in his human form, came in about 7 o'clock to find his sleeping sister curled up on the gurter.
Lord, don't you know she's my angel
You got plenty of your own
And I know you hold a place for her
But she's already got a home
Well I don't know if you're listenin'
But praying is all that's left to do
So I ask you Lord have mercy, you lost a son once too
Hiei was asleep, which was strange. No one had ever found Hiei asleep, especially in a place like a hospital. Even in his sleep Hiei showed the strong hidden feeling he hid so well around the others. A light tap came on the door and a panicked nurse came into the room, rubbing her arm. "Uhhm, Mr. Yoko, sir, something's happened to the little girl. I think you may want to come with me." She looked up at him, just to see his expression, and regretted doing it. Hiei, who had awoken upon the nurse's entering, nudged his friend towards the door. "Go, I have this." Hiei smirked, his fiery eyes showing the knowing that, if it was what they were thinking, they would have a depressed girl on their hands. Kurama followed the nurse out, tears welling in his emerald eyes, hoping for a miracle.
And it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever?
But right now I need her so much more.
Lord, I know once you've made up your mind,
There's no use in beggin'.
So if you take her with you today, will you make sure she looks both
ways,
And would you hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven.
[.N.I.C.U.]
"C'mon, we're losing her! It's ashame that she hasn't even lived 24 hours yet, c'mon!" Yelled one of the doctors, who kept glancing up at the red-head standing behind the glass, trying so hard not to cry. Botan, Keiko, and Yusuke had ran into them as they made their way to the room. Botan was crying into Kurama's shoulder, Keiko the same into Yusuke's shoulder. Yusuke had the same look on his face as Kurama did: They were losing a child they hardly knew. The heartmontor's line went straight and a long beep filled the room. The hand that Kurama had on the window fell as tears started to stream down his face. He had let his sister down, again. And he swore he wouldn't let it happen again. He looked up at Yusuke, who was showing the same emotion. "I never should have said those things that I said to her." He finally said, taking Keiko in his arms and holding her close. "I feel responsible." "We all do. I for not being there when Chipp got the best of her and when she cut." Kurama sighed, knowing that the hard part was yet to come. " Come on, we got to go tell Nani." His voice was more sorrowful than it had ever been and Yusuke worried for him. He finally knew what it was like to be a fatherly figure of some sort.
Nani looked at herself in the bathroom mirror as the others prepared for the semifinals in the Dark Tournament. Seven and a half months and counting, she had been carrying this child in her. The memory of how she became like this was almost too much for her to bare. She was only sixteen, still innocent. Why and how could something like this happen to her? A sharp knock on the door pulled her from her train of thought, causing her to jump.
"Nani, there are other people who want to use the bathroom besides you, ya know." Yusuke answered in a mocking voice as he jolted the handle. "What's the matter with mommy? Too scared to come out?" Mommy? Nani thought, as she looked herself in the face as tears brimmed in her emerald eyes. Yes, mommy. Unlocking the door, she opened it and made her way past Yusuke, looking at the floor as she pasted him.
"Yusuke, when you become a father, the realization that the slightest thing may cause a contraction or miscarriage will come through to you. Then there wont be anything to joke about." Kurama was in his demon form, Yoko, and stood up when he saw the frightened and humiliated look on his sister's face. Placing his hand under Nani's chin, he forced her to look at him. His amber eyes bore into her emerald ones, reading them, predicting. "Maybe you should stay here today, the tournament is going to be crowded."
"Yoko, I'm tired of staying in one place all day. Its not like it's the end of the world...its just a child." Harshly but at the same time, sarcastic. "I'll be careful." Yoko moved his hand to her cheek, gently, like she was glass. "Please brother."
"Oh, alright, but only if you stay with Keiko and the others. No running off like you did the last time, got it?"
"Got it."
[.D.A.R.K. .T.O.U.R.N.A.M.E.N.T.]
"Welcome, ladies and gentle demons, to the semi-finals of the Dark Tournament. The semis will be beginning shortly, so please, get to your seats." A voice echoed over the P.A. system as the group made their way to the stadium. Yoko and Nani walked behind the group, in silence as the rest, well, all but Hiei, talked about random things. Yusuke and Kuwabara were at it again as Keiko and Yukina tried to stop them from hurting each other. Botan and Sizume only spoke to remind the two 'idiots' that they still had a tournament to fight.
"Are you feeling alright, Nani?" Keiko looked over her shoulder at Nani, who now had started to breathe heavily.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Finally. They had arrived at the front hall of the stadium, and the whole group went to the benches right on the field since Nani couldn't climb the stairs any longer. Yoko had started to look over the area, spotting out all the easy exits and the ones closest to the nurse station.
"Competing teams please make your way to the ring."
"That would be us, come on you guys, and Yoko, don't worry, you're still in earshot of your sister. Focus on the fight." Yusuke shouted over his shoulder as he lead the way to the ring before receiving a glare from both of the fox-demons as well as the pyromaniac.
"Go on, you two, I'll be fine." Nani forced a smile, though pain had suddenly shot through her entire body. No, it's too early. No it wasn't too early; she was in fact, right on time. As Yoko and Hiei followed up the end of Team Urameshi, Nani held her breath. Another shot of pain then another, this time more closer together.
Within five minutes, Kuwabara had been chosen to fight, and was in the middle of an attack when the pain started to seem like a fading pulse. Don't smell my pain, Yoko, or Hiei, neither of you, please. Too late, Hiei had pointed it out to Yoko, and they were calling for a time out just as her water broke. Yusuke cursed Yoko but suddenly understood why when he saw him running over to Nani.
"For Pete's sake, woman, you just had to choose now to have a baby, didn't you?" Yusuke cursed at Nani as Yoko grasped his hand in her's.
"Don't do anything to make her laugh, Yusuke, it'll only make things worse." Botan harked on the spirit deceptive, "She needs to go to the hospital, Yusuke, you need to decide on who's going to take her, and quickly." Holding on to Nani's other hand, Botan brushed back strands of red hair as the emotion in Yoko's face went from battle-hungry to worry and fear.
"Yoko, you and the girls go. I'm pretty sure that we can handle without you for a while." Yusuke patted the uncle-to-be on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Good luck, ya old man." Yoko would have turned around and smacked him but the grip of the teenager tightened hastily as the contractions became more and more closer together.
"Yoko..." Pain echoed through Nani's voice as her brother gathered her into his arms and took off towards the hospital.
[.E.I.G.H.T. .H.O.U.R.S. .L.A.T.E.R.]
A soft tap on the door of room 304 and a quiet creek of it opening made Yoko up to a wake. It had been a long eight hours for the fox-demon, and an even longer eight for his sister, who had cried herself to sleep in his arms once they found why the labor had been so hard on her. Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara filed in along with Botan, who had left earlier, unable to see the young mother in pain.
"Hey fox-boy, heard you were an uncle to a baby girl." Yusuke said in a soft voice, careful not to wake Nani, who had fallen asleep holding Yoko's hand in one hand and a tissue in the other. "Congratulations." He held out his hand to the demon, who shook it weakly, still waking up. Botan went over to Nani's sleeping figure and pulled the blanket over her, trying to hold back the sobbing, but failed horrible. Covering her mouth, she fell into the chair next to the bed.
"You three better come with me, there are some things you should know before Nani has to deal with it all." Yoko stood up, kissed his sister's forehead, and patted Botan on the back then proceeded into the hall and to the elevator, where he rubbed his eyes and sighed. "First off, it was a girl, Destiny Starr. She looks a lot like Nani, but that isn't the thing I have to tell you."
"Fox, this had better not be some type of joke." Hiei spoke up, leaning against a wall as Yoko pressed the 3-floor button. Third floor was NICU, where the newborn babies were kept until all the testing was finished
"No, Hiei, it's very real." 300 years of dealing with many things, many events, but this, this was all new to Yoko. He didn't know how to explain it to them as he tried to recap what the doctors had told him. Since your sister is only sixteen and its only seven months, the child hasn't developed her lungs fully yet, and that's not the only problem, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the neck, it took five doctors, but we got it untangled. They're taking her to NICU right now, sir, you can see your niece when they bring her in to explain everything to Nani. "Okay, there is a fifty – fifty chance that the child will die by the end of the night. The lungs weren't fully developed and to make the matters worse, the umbilical cord was tangled around the neck, cutting off the air supply."
The elevator doors opened and the smell of sterilizing chemicals filled the car as the four stepped into the hallways. A few of the nurses were demons, not paying that much attention to the seven-foot fox demon but as they got to the viewing window to see Destiny, glares and shrieks of fear were received. God, they're all acting like it's strange to see a few demons, after all, this is a demon tournament. Hiei thought as they all stopped in front of a window and Yoko, painfully, pointed out the small baby hooked up to machines that helped her breathe and her heart beat.
"None of you need to tell Nani about the machines, not yet. They had taken Destiny off the machines to let Nani hold her for a few minutes. The conditions have worsened." Yoko tapped the glass as he niece slept with great difficulty breathing. "She's too young to do this alone." The last comment was more to himself than to the others. Kuwabara and Yusuke had subsided their fighting when Yoko turned his back to them. For the first time, the pyromaniac showed true feelings and patted the fox-demon on the back.
"If they're anything like you, fox, they'll pull through." Hiei smiled softly at him as he looked back at Nani's daughter and secretly made a pledge to himself to always watch out for the small child and her mother from that point on.
"Ya know, Yoko, she kind of looks like you when you're passed out on the couch in the hotel room." Yusuke commented, and everyone laughed, even Hiei for that matter as they made their way back to Nani's room.
[.L.A.T.E.R. .T.H.A.T. .N.I.G.H.T]
Hello God, it's me again. 2:00 a.m., Room 304.
Visiting hours are over, time for our bedside tug of war.
This sleeping child between us may not make it through the night.
I'm fighting back the tears as she fights for her life.
Yoko had asked that they moved Destiny to Nani's room earlier so she could spend a little bit of time with her before the night ended and fate would make its decision. After arguing with her brother for twenty minutes, Nani had finally talked Yoko into go back to the hotel and going bed. Hiei refused to leave the room, fulfilling the pledge he made to himself. And as Nani watched her daughter sleep, Hiei watched as tears fell down the face of the young mother. It hurt him to see such a beautiful girl crying and praying that her daughter's life be spared. "Just..spare her, please." Nani said in a whisper as a new wave of tears flooded down her cheeks. She sat in a T-shirt, PJ pants, and socks, terrified that at any moment the machines could start to go off. A few minutes prier to that, Hiei had moved for the solitude of the shadows to her side, placing his hand over hers, letting her know that she wasn't alone.
Well, it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more.
She's much too young to be on her own:
Barely just turned seven.
So who will hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven?
"She's strong, Nani, she wont leave you." Hiei tightened his grip reassuringly. Watching the young girl lay her head on her other arm, he took the blanket that had fallen off her shoulders and replaced it. Hours pasted and soon the sun peaked through the curtain. A nurse had long ago came and carted the small child out of the room, being sure to tell the only person awake to let Nani know where her daughter was taken to. Kurama, in his human form, came in about 7 o'clock to find his sleeping sister curled up on the gurter.
Lord, don't you know she's my angel
You got plenty of your own
And I know you hold a place for her
But she's already got a home
Well I don't know if you're listenin'
But praying is all that's left to do
So I ask you Lord have mercy, you lost a son once too
Hiei was asleep, which was strange. No one had ever found Hiei asleep, especially in a place like a hospital. Even in his sleep Hiei showed the strong hidden feeling he hid so well around the others. A light tap came on the door and a panicked nurse came into the room, rubbing her arm. "Uhhm, Mr. Yoko, sir, something's happened to the little girl. I think you may want to come with me." She looked up at him, just to see his expression, and regretted doing it. Hiei, who had awoken upon the nurse's entering, nudged his friend towards the door. "Go, I have this." Hiei smirked, his fiery eyes showing the knowing that, if it was what they were thinking, they would have a depressed girl on their hands. Kurama followed the nurse out, tears welling in his emerald eyes, hoping for a miracle.
And it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever?
But right now I need her so much more.
Lord, I know once you've made up your mind,
There's no use in beggin'.
So if you take her with you today, will you make sure she looks both
ways,
And would you hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven.
[.N.I.C.U.]
"C'mon, we're losing her! It's ashame that she hasn't even lived 24 hours yet, c'mon!" Yelled one of the doctors, who kept glancing up at the red-head standing behind the glass, trying so hard not to cry. Botan, Keiko, and Yusuke had ran into them as they made their way to the room. Botan was crying into Kurama's shoulder, Keiko the same into Yusuke's shoulder. Yusuke had the same look on his face as Kurama did: They were losing a child they hardly knew. The heartmontor's line went straight and a long beep filled the room. The hand that Kurama had on the window fell as tears started to stream down his face. He had let his sister down, again. And he swore he wouldn't let it happen again. He looked up at Yusuke, who was showing the same emotion. "I never should have said those things that I said to her." He finally said, taking Keiko in his arms and holding her close. "I feel responsible." "We all do. I for not being there when Chipp got the best of her and when she cut." Kurama sighed, knowing that the hard part was yet to come. " Come on, we got to go tell Nani." His voice was more sorrowful than it had ever been and Yusuke worried for him. He finally knew what it was like to be a fatherly figure of some sort.