The world has changed much since Lucy died. Nana has moved on with her life, and this is the story of her daughter, whom she named after Mariko. Even the most innocent Diclonius is not accepted after mankind had almost come to an end.

Warning: This fanfic is based on the manga, which is a lot different from the anime. This fanfic contains spoilers, so be warned if you haven't read the manga.

Disclaimer: I do not own Elfen Lied. Elfen Lied is property of Okamoto Lynn.

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It was supposed to be the end of mankind. Around the world, all the children that were born, were diclonius. One by one, they started killing every human being around them. Birth rates were low until the vaccine was finally fully developed.

The most dangerous diclonius were captured and killed. Others were just captured and held in several institutions for research. There was a lot of protest against them, since these researches were considered unethical. But the need to know more about diclonius and their instinct to kill homo sapiens was also considered needed for finding a way to help them suppress that instinct.

In the still small history of the diclonius, there has been only one who had managed to ignore the voice and suppress the instinct of killing the humans around her: Nana.

After all the horror she had faced all her life, she had finally found happiness after Lucy died. She got to live with Kurama, whom she still loved as a father. She went to school with Mayu and eventually got to live with a man she fell in love with and who fell in love with her, despite the fact that she was a diclonius.

After a few years, they got married and they even got a child. Even though the father was human, their daughter was a diclonius. Right after she was born, she was about to be taken away from them. But Nana was the living proof that not all diclonius were born killers. Having a diclonius as a mother could make the child grow up to be like Nana. She wouldn't kill Nana, since her instinct was to kill humans.

The father was also willing to take that risk. He believed Nana could convince their daughter not to kill him as soon as she turned three. After several court cases, they managed to get their baby back. But one misstep and the government would have the permission to capture her.

Nana and her husband decided to name their daughter Mariko, named after Kurama's real daughter. Kurama couldn't be happier, and he loved his granddaughter 'till the end. And as little Mariko grew up, it felt more and more like she was living for Mariko's sake. She was very fund of her parents and grandfather. She never even felt the urge to kill them, even after she had turned three. Maybe it was because she was half human.

To Kurama, it was like his daughter was reborn, and this was what she would be like if she had grown up normally.

Mariko seemed to develop a passion for music. She started to play flute when she was four years old, and she turned out to be very talented.

But Mariko had to go through a lot when she entered school. Even though she wore ribbons to hide her horns, everyone knew she was a diclonius. Parents took their children away from the school or demanded for Mariko to be banned from the school. Nana decided for her to be home schooled. Finding a teacher was hard, because the fear for diclonius had increased in the past ten years. Private teachers were afraid to be killed if they would start teaching Mariko.

Kouta and Yuka's daughter, Nyuu, always played with Mariko. She introduced her to other children, who immediately grew to like her. This was why Mariko was not lonely, even though she couldn't go to school. A few of those children were glad to tell Mariko what they had learned at school and Mariko listened to them with full attention.

So children were not afraid of Mariko and Mariko was able to learn from them. They often asked her to perform a trick with her vectors, and sometimes she would lift things up and juggle with them. Because she was the only diclonius around and therefore the only one who could perform something like this, Mariko became quite popular among children. They also liked her horns. They made her look cool.

So Mariko grew up being accepted by children her age, but not by their parents or any other adults.

When she became thirteen, her friends started to have less time for her since they all entered junior school. Mariko started to get bored during the day. Even if she would play the flute for hours every day, she would still be bored the rest of the day.

"Mariko," Nana said one day. "I have some good news for you. I finally found someone who's willing to teach you here at home."

"Really?!" Mariko said.

"Yes," Nana answered, "I've spoken to him a couple of times and convinced him that nothing will happen to him. Since I'm a diclonius myself, he believed me. He's going to teach you starting tomorrow."

"Mom, you're the best!" Mariko said while holding her mother tightly, causing one of Nana's arms to fall off.

Mariko's home teacher was a thirty year old, good looking teacher. He did seem a bit nervous after seeing Mariko's horns.

"I'm very pleased to meet you," Mariko said. "I promise I will work hard and do my best."

"Nice to meet you too, Mariko-chan," the teacher said. "My name is Takahashi Hideaki."

(Japanese way: last name, then first name.)

While he was talking, he kept looking at Mariko's horns.

Mariko noticed that and said: "If you don't like the sight of these horns, I can hide them…"

"No, no, I'm sorry," Takahashi said. "It's just the first time for me to teach a…" He didn't dare to finish the sentence.

"Diclonius?" Mariko finished his sentence. "It's okay. I'm used to it. I'm half human, you know."

"Yes, right," Takahashi said.

"So please treat me like you would treat any other student," Mariko said with a friendly smile.

"Oh, sure I will," Takahashi answered. "Well then, let's get started, shall we?"

Nana watched as the two started the very first lesson Mariko had ever had. She was happy.

Takahashi lived in a house close to theirs. Mariko waited for him every morning until she could see him walking. She was very anxious to learn about the world. She made essays and other homework and she was doing very well.

As for Takahashi, he got used to Mariko pretty quickly because of her bright and lively personality. Soon, he forgot all about Mariko or Nana being diclonius and talked to them like he would talk to normal human beings.

It was like Mariko's life couldn't get any better. But it wouldn't last for very long.

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And that concludes the first chapter. If there are any mistakes or if there's anything that's making no sense whatsoever, please let me know. Next chapter's coming up later today. Thank you for reading!