A Red Eyed Angel
by Joshua Falken

Thanks to David for beta-read this fic :-)

Disclaimer: Love Hina and its characters are property of Ken Akamatsu. No copyright infligement is intended. This is a fanfiction work, written for fun.

Chapter 1 - Childbirth

The sound of light footsteps woke me up. I had good hearing to begin with and my training just improved it. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was over my husband, a gloved hand over his chest. Quietly so that I would not wake him up, I rose and dressed in the black coat that was at the side of the futon. It had been his first gift to me when when we started dating, and well... I always liked to wear it. I felt well using it... of course I never told him that! I had a "tough girl" image to maintain...

I picked up my katana, walked to the door of the bedroom, and I listened. Then I recognized the light steps and I smiled - partly, for noticing that the training I had been giving her was not wasted. I decided to frighten the night walker, to verify if she really remembered her training, and kept it in mind at all times. Quietly, I left the room and I crept to the end of the corridor. I leaned against the wall beside the door. From behind it came the sound of water leaving the faucet and I waited for my opportunity.

The door of the bathroom opened up and I spoke, in the lowest and most menacing voice I could manage:

"Who are you who comes to disturb the peace of this house!?"

I then swung my sword at her. She caught my sword blow with her hands clasped tightly together. "It's me, mom..." A fifteen year-old girl answered. The color of her skin and long hair were very white, almost as white as snow. Her eyes however were ruby-red.

I sheathed the sword and I placed my hands on my waist.

"You should be sleeping, Shizuka!"

"I... I know.. it's just that I wanted to go to the bathroom and..." I had to try very hard to maintain my composure and to keep myself from laughing at her expression of nervousness. It was identical to that of her father!

"Very well, then." I relaxed. "Now, go back to your room. But be silent so that you do not wake up your father."

With a smile, Shizuka Urashima nodded and walked silently back to her room through the corridor. I went soon after her and I noticed that she was already a very attractive young woman... soon hormone-crazed boys would notice her, if they had not noticed her already, and they would go after her and... I shook my head: Susy (the nickname that Kaolla gave her) was smart enough to avoid those perverts and if someone wanted to take advantage of her, the training that I and Kanako had given her would allow her to defend herself. Besides... well... those boys would still have to face me and Keitaro - now it doesn't appear so, but if somebody upsets Shizuka, he practically becomes a berserk Hulk! And I'm not kidding!

I entered our room, took off the coat and placed it on a hanger. Then I laid down beside my husband. When I leaned over him, he woke up and opened his brown eyes.

"Motoko... what happened?"

"Nothing at all, Keitaro. Shizuka just went to the bathroom. You can go back to sleep now."

He acquiesced and closed his eyes. I rested my head on his shoulder, but I didn't fall asleep immediately. I was thinking of my current situation: I never thought that I would really marry Keitaro, me, Motoko Aoyama... oops... Motoko Aoyama-Urashima, I sometimes have to remember... I become sad when I think on how this happened. Don't misunderstand me! I love Keitaro, after all these years I finally can admit that peacefully, and I love Shizuka as if she was my daughter... Hell, for all intents and purposes she is my daughter... I can't imagine being happy any other way... It is only the way this happiness came about that saddens me...

I only need to close my eyes and I journey back to that day fifteen years ago...

======

We were all there in the hospital's waiting room, awaiting the news. Mitsune Konno, Mutsumi Otohime, Shinobu Maehara, Kaolla Su, Ema Maeda and myself, as well as Haruka, Seta, and Sarah, that had come all the way from Moru Moru for the occasion... The birth of Keitaro Urashima's and Naru Narusegawa's daughter.

Naru was giving birth at that exact moment.

"I don't believe that Keitaro is going to miss this!", Kitsune exclaimed.

"It is not Keitaro's fault that Shizuka decided to be born three weeks before the due date." Shinobu commented, defending the young archaeologist, like she always did. "He had already planned to return tomorrow, in order not to miss the birth."

"And his airplane about to land!" Seta announced, closing the cellular. "He has just told me."

"Didn't he arrive yet?" A serious voice said, and we turned back to the door. To my surprise (and to all the rest of us as well), it was Keitaro's adoptive sister, Kanako. And before any of us could ask her how she knew what was happening, the door of the infirmary opened up and Naru's doctor appeared.

Of course immediately we began asking a flood of questions. When he the doctor managed to recover, he announced:

"Mrs. Urashima and the baby are in good health! As the baby is premature, we had to place her in an incubator for safety reasons. Therefore you can see her through the window of the special baby room. Mrs. Urashima still cannot receive visitors because she is exhausted from the effort and needs to rest."

And a few minutes later we were standing before the glass that separated the room, the line of incubators, from one end of the room to the other. All of us tried to discover which of those babies would be Hinata Inn's new inhabitant.

"Hey, nurse, where is Keitaro's and Naru's baby?" Kaolla asked out loud, as if it was a soccer game, to the nurse that was on the other side of the glass. Of course Kitsune and Mutsumi immediately clamped their hands over Kaolla's mouth after seeing the glare of reproof from the head nurse. Ema wrote "Baby Urashima" on a paper block and showed it to the nurse. She indicated it was the closest incubator to the wall.

As soon as we saw her there was dead silence. What we saw really surprised us. It was not something that we expected.

"Ara..." Mutsumi murmured, not in her usual easy-going tone, but in a surprised one.

The skin of their baby was white as a paper leaf, and her eyes were red, not red as if she had cried, but the irises were as red as rubies. Even her hair was stark white. The contrast with the other babies was very striking.

"Albinism." I heard Haruka murmur. When I turned, I saw that Seta agreed with the head.

"Where are they??!" An afflicted voice exclaimed. Keitaro had arrived, panting heavily. He looked and sounded as if he had run on foot all the way from Tokyo International Airport. "Where are Naru and my daughter??"

We all looked at each other. Wondering, who would break the news to him.

Haruka stepped forward, taking the responsibility.

"Well, Keitaro, they are doing well. Naru is resting now, so you will have to wait a little before you can see her."

"Yes, I understand." He still panted. I wondered if he would have actually run from the airport to the hospital... he was very capable of doing just that... "And my daughter?" He asked, anxious.

Haruka breathed deeply. "Well, Keitaro... she is there." She pointed to the albino baby.

An expression of surprise appeared on Keitaro's face, that was soon substituted by a strange expression, with his head inclined to the side, as if he didn't believe his eyes. The other girls and I looked at each other concernedly... will he be disappointed?

"Keitaro..." Seta began.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Keitaro asked, with his face opening in the most surprisingly happy smile that I had ever seen. Then he gave a yell of happiness. "I am a father! I am a father!" And immediately he hugged each and every one of us, raising us up in the air. Then he went back to the window, with tears of happiness in his eyes.

In that moment, I thought that the happiness of Keitaro and Naru would last forever... if I only knew...

======

Keitaro had gone to Hinata Inn, to prepare things for the premature coming of Shizuka - that was the name that he and Naru had decided to give the baby girl. Kitsune and I were with Naru, while the other girls went to help him. The doctor gave permission for Naru to see her daughter. I swear that what happened next still freezes my blood to this day.

Naru's only reaction upon seeing her daughter was of shock.

"Is this my daughter?" she asked, looking at the baby, in a strange way, almost as if a positive answer was offensive.

"Yes, Naru. That is Shizuka." Kitsune answered, looking carefully at her friend, intrigued. "She isn't pretty?"

Mrs. Urashima didn't answer. She just looked on in silence at the small girl in the incubator, with an expression on her face, that I could not believe. It was very subtle, but I noticed it, and from the shocked expression of Kitsune, she noticed Naru's expression as well.

It was shock... and despise.

My heart told me that things were changing... for the worse... and I prayed that Keitaro and Shizuka could handle it...

So, what do you think?

Chapter 2 coming soon...