He was sleeping. Sleeping so peacefully in her arms. It was still hard to believe for Anna. In her arms, her little son, only 3 months old, was sleeping. It seems that only yesterday she was fighting alongside Yoh, trying to defeat Hao. But that happened more than a year ago, and now she was here, sitting at her living room, holding Hana close to her body as Hao trained Yoh.
Never in her wildest dreams did she think her life would be like that. Maybe it was a bit cliché, but Anna truly believed her life was perfect. She had a son, a beautiful, healthy, baby boy; She was married to the man she loved; had an annoying brother-in-law and a family; She had friends, even though sometimes she had an urge to kill them all. She was happy. Kyouyama Anna… No, Asakura Anna was truly happy.
Right now Hana was sleeping, and she was watching his features with a small caring smile. She loved him. Anna loved her son with all her heart, and would do anything for him. Sure, sometimes she got annoyed when he started crying in the middle of the night, but that annoyance, the anger and the lack of sleep she sometimes felt were nothing compared to the love she felt for that little baby. She couldn't imagine a life without him, a life where this baby who brought her so much happiness did not exist. No, that wasn't an option. She needed Hana in her life. She needed him to be happy, needed him to have a happy life and be there every moment of her life.
Anna was an overprotective mother. That was something she felt no shame on. She loved her son and would be carrying him almost all the time. If it was up to her, not even Yoh would be able to hold their baby. Not that she didn't trust him, it was just… She wanted to make sure Hana knew she loved him. And he always seemed so happy when Anna held him. He seemed relaxed, calm, peaceful. He also liked being carried and held by Yoh, but he would only sleep on Anna's arms. With Yoh he would laugh and make funny noises, baby talk, but never sleep or be quiet. That was something only Anna could do.
Hana was a very interesting child. That was what Hao said. He was going to be a very strong shaman, capable of many things. But that wasn't what made him interesting, according to Hao. No, he said what made Hana interesting was his personality and the people that were raising him. Hao said that he could see that the baby would have a short temper, and that explained why he cried so easily at night, not having enough patience to wait for Yoh and Anna to finish what they were doing. Hao also said that he would was really lazy, and that was one of the reasons why he enjoyed being carried around. He would also say that Anna spoiled him too much, and that Yoh played around with him too much. In his words "that child does not have good role models and is not being raised properly. It's going to be fun to watch him grow up." Anna slapped him after that. Hard. So what if she spoiled her son? How dare he say that he wasn't being raised properly? He was the one who still acted like a spoiled brat after a thousand year.
But she did agree with him in the role model part. Yoh may be a caring person and an excellent father, but in no way was he a good role model. He skipped school, skipped training and was a lazy guy. And there was Hana's uncle. The list of bad examples that Hana could pick up from him was long. Very long. A thousand years long. And there were their friends, who visited often. One who was in jail, the other one had a family with dead bodies at the basement, there was an English boy who joined a group that murdered people in the name of justice, a close to pedophile with a weird hairdo, a shy antisocial with two pervert spirits, a nagging 80 cm boy and Horo-Horo. God, don't even let her get started with Horo-Horo. The boy was surrounded by bad role models. And to make matters worse, they all wanted to spend time with Hana.
Could you really blame Anna for being so over protective?
Looking at Yoh training now ,she couldn't help but smile again. Things were a bit hard for them in the begging, when they first met, but now it seemed like everything had fallen into place. It was a simple, far from normal life, but she wouldn't have it any other way. When a young girl she used to curse herself and her gift; wishing she couldn't see spirits. Now she was thankful for that. If it wasn't for this gift, the Asakura Family would have taken her in, she would have never met Yoh, and the baby in her arms wouldn't exist.
In the begging of her life she was unhappy. Unhappy was an understatement. Her life was hell. It's surprising she didn't give up on life before she met Yoh. Abandoned, feeling alone and unloved. Being hated and hating everything, lost and not knowing what to do. She had no reason to go on. That was her life before Yoh. And then she met him. She was loved and loved someone. Even if she hated the world and the world hated her, it didn't matter because she had Yoh. She thought she wouldn't need anything else, that her life couldn't get better than that.
She was wrong.
After Yoh came the friends. Even thought they were closer to Yoh, they were still her friends. They still cared for her in their unique and annoying way, and she still cared for them, in her twisted way. And then she realized she had a family: The Asakura Family. And after that, Yoh was finally able to change Hao's heart, and the two of them became very close. And she gained a soon to be brother-in-law. Then she married Yoh… One of the best days of her life. They had a wonderful honeymoon, that she still smiled every time she remembered. And soon after they found out she was pregnant. She remembered Yoh being with her at the time, and the two of them stayed silent for what seemed like forever, until Yoh finally smiled and hugged her. She was happy, very happy. Finally she would have her own family with Yoh, the family they talked so much about during the Shaman Fight. And when Hana was finally born… That was the happiest day of her life. No words can describe what she felt at that moment. Sure, it hurt. Like hell. Never in her life did she feel so much pain. But soon after, when she heard that cry, when she held that baby in her arms… It was the most amazing feeling she ever felt. And she knew Yoh was feeling the same way, because he had a huge smile on, and his eyes didn't leave their son. It was like he couldn't believe what was going on; couldn't believe that the little baby in Anna's arms was their son, was theirs, and was there because of them and without him or Anna, the baby wouldn't be there; couldn't believe that they created that life, and that he depended on them.
And since them, Anna's life has been perfect. With Yoh, Hana, and dare she say the annoying Shaman King who visited more often than he should, she was happy. And she would make Hana happy, she would make sure he had a happy, even if unusual, life and make sure he knew he was loved. Because she knew how much it hurt when you felt you were alone, unloved. Yoh knew as well. And in no way did they want their son to feel that much pain.
"Anna!" Yoh called, coming inside, with a bright smile "I'm done!"
"Good." She answered, not looking up. Hana was waking up now.
"Did you sleep well, Hana?" Yoh asked, kneeling down to see his son, and getting ready to pick him up from Anna's arms.
"No." Anna said, looking straight into Yoh's eyes.
"Wha…? Why not?! I'm his father, why can't I hold him?" Yoh pouted.
"Because you are sweating, dirty. You won't hold him like that." She then looked at her son, who was looking up at her with those big light brown almost yellow eyes. "Go take a bath and then you can hold him."
"Okay!" he said, kissing her in the forehead and the Hana's forehead "Be right back!"
It was true that they were young, and sometimes Anna got scarred, not knowing if she would raise Hana right or if she could do it. But then she would see the smile on Yoh's face, and the love in his eyes every time he looked at their son, and she knew everything would be okay. She knew that there would be a way in the end, and that even thought it wasn't going to be easy, they would make Hana happy. They would love him and make sure he felt the happiness they felt because of him. He was their reason for living. Hana was everything for them. And he would always be. The life the three of them had was perfect. And Anna would make sure that it always be like that.
"Okay, can I hold him now?" Yoh asked, coming back after 10 minutes, his hair still wet and dripping.
Anna looked at Hana, who was looking at Yoh. Sighed she nodded.
"Yes!" Yoh said happily, and picking Hana up carefully, and looking at him with a big smile. "Hana, look, daddy's here!" the baby laughed and said something in that baby language of his. Yoh laughed as well and did the same, making random noises, as if he was having a conversation with the baby. Hana laughed and raised his hand and held Yoh's nose tightly. "You got my nose, Hana!" and the baby laughed and the funny voice.
The two people who gave Anna a reason to live, together, laughing innocently… She wished that moments like that could last a life time. That Yoh and Hana could always enjoy life, and that would be enough for her. And right now, her life was perfect. And as long as she had Hana, she knew it would always be.