Name/Theme: Time passes, it blooms, and it withers
Characters/Pairings: Night/Monaka
Summary: The start and finish of a beautiful relationship between a demon cat and a fragile flower
Disclaimer: Night, Monaka and the Miyama-Uguisu Mansion incident do not belong to me. However Noriko and Ryota do. Thank you and enjoy
Note: I worked hard on this and I hope the viewers like it as much as I do :) please leave a review of what you think and if you have questions dont be afraid to send me a message. I will get to you asap

Time passes and it blooms…

Eventually time turns into dust, but it only takes so long for that to happen. It withers away after growth, achievement, protection, and life; and soon everything comes crashing down and there's a soul that dies out and leaves another behind.

Night and Monaka were something of the sort. They were happy, together and young. He was only eighteen when they came together again. She was sixteen, on her way to being seventeen, and she was free of the mighty Pazuzu and was an independent and very free young woman who did what she pleased without the man's awful claws scratching at her back. She found Night as her peace, as her hero and savior, and even before figuring out the truth, there was always that admiration and infatuation within her heart. She'd fallen in love with the mysterious Exorcist who'd saved her life, and there he was, at her doorstep, ready for a cup of tea, and ready to tell her the truth.

She was only six years old when she discovered him sitting under the bushes with an injured body. She was worried, and she wanted to help, and yet the nameless demon had pushed her away with fangs and claws. She wouldn't back down, however, and she merely tried harder to gain his trust. She brought him a bouquet of flowers… or at least, something of the sort. It was a vase and she'd gathered a handful of greens and a few dandelions from the garden to fill it.

"Let me show you what I like!" She had said to him. "See? I'm not scary."

And no, she wasn't. Not at all. The thing she'd made for him was incredibly beautiful. The young demon crawled out from his hiding place to give it a sniff or two. And with that, he'd been lost in the beautiful scents and he'd nearly fallen over into it. She carried him into her home and healed him and from that day on there was something about that place he couldn't let go. And even as she gave him a name to call his own, he still constantly tried to run away. But there had been a night the girl caught him… and instead of begging him to stay, she merely smiled.

"I hope you have a good life out there." She had said to him. "And where ever you go… promise me you'll be happy, okay?"

The demon decided to stay with her, and that had been the best choice he'd ever made in his entire one hundred years of life.

She grew older right before his very eyes. She gave him the love and respect he'd never had, she worshipped his presence and she truly wanted to hold him close when she was sad. And even as the days went by, her happiness seemed to run short when Pazuzu took over. He ruined Monaka's life. He ruined her childhood, and he got rid of her precious parents. She cried and cried and cried into Night and she asked him to never leave her. But this time, he did leave. He needed to leave; he had to.

When he left, Night went and became an Exorcist and he put himself through torture and heartache and much struggle just so that he could return to her and make sure she kept her life. And when he returned to her, he had made sure that his dreams and ambitions came true. Everything he worked so hard for wasn't for nothing in the end and he saved her life. The life that belonged to the woman of his dreams, his savior and the angel that had managed to drag his demonic soul into heaven with her. Night would do anything for Monaka. If it meant saying goodbye for good to keep her safe…then he'd do it.

But he didn't stay away for very long. He'd returned almost a year later to see how everything was, to see if his Angel's wings had been fully repaired. She seemed happy, delighted even to see his face and she'd pulled him in for tea… and to make him an arrangement that conveniently had three golden dandelions in it. Night was sure he'd cry in front of her, but he managed not to, and after almost eleven years, Monaka was finally given the truth of what had happened to her precious kitten from so long ago.

The truth had come to a shock to her at first, but honestly, what did it matter? This was Night. Night was the very thing she'd looked to when she was younger and sad and lonely. When she needed something to hold, or when she needed someone to talk to and to vent to—when she needed someone there to love her and make her feel as if she wasn't alone—Night was there. And now, after all of this, Night was home. He had returned to her and he was just as willing to hold her over spilt tea as she was. This meant she shouldn't cry anymore, this meant that she could be truly happy.

It also meant that Night didn't have to feel alone anymore… and he could be happy too. He could smile again, and maybe even sleep in peace for once in his life.

Night and Monaka were in love. There were many things about them that made them different, but they understood each other right down to the very pit of their very being. Night understood why she was cautious about the pond outside, he understood why that was her favorite flower, and why that was her favorite color. He knew what soaps she liked to use in her hair the most and he knew very well why she had nightmares in the only place a person should have been able to run away from their fears.

In return, Monaka understood why he liked to keep away from the couch, and she knew exactly why he loved to be scratched behind the ears, and why that was his favorite food and why he loved cuddling on the floor more than anything. Most importantly, Monaka knew how important the dandelion was to him, and she'd always be sure to give him one—be it tucked behind the ear or a few woven into a crown atop his head.

They understood, and they accepted everything about themselves and they fell into a deep love that no man or woman could possibly escape with ease.

They were there for each other. They told each other everything, and even once Monaka had admitted she'd been afraid he'd leave her again. It was silly really… Night would never do such a thing. Pazuzu would have to come back from the dead and drag him from their home to make him leave. He told her that there was no chance of him leaving. He told her that he'd rather die first, he told her that the day she turned eighteen, he was going to marry her, and he was going to stay. She couldn't have been any happier.

And it was all over a child; a love child they'd both worked together to create.

The child was an accident, sure, but they'd grown to love it as any parents would, because in the end, it was theirs. They'd struggled to stay positive, but through the days, Night had become more and more optimistic about the outcome, and it only brought smiles to the young woman's face. She was ready, he was ready, and they were both ready for whatever life would throw at them. And even despite the constant worry of the baby turning out to be a demon like him, he was going to love that thing like no other—he was going to be a Father and he was going to be the best Father he could ever imagine; A Father like Monaka's, a Father nowhere similar to his own, a Father that could crush Pazuzu with just his protective glance. He'd be there for this baby for as long as it took…

And that was when he realized… for as long as it took to be there for a half-demon child… it would take forever.

Monaka didn't have forever.

It was the first time he'd broken down in a long time. Monaka wasn't there to see…but he'd burst into tears at his own desk and all he wanted to do was hold her and keep her close, as if keeping her to his chest would keep her young forever.

But he didn't need to cry forever. Everything would be okay in the end wouldn't it? He didn't have to worry about that now she was barely even seventeen, not even there at the most.

He called the child Noriko, after the woman who'd volunteered to raise him when he was given a human body. She treated him as wonderfully as Monaka did and she deserved as much respect as the woman bearing his child did. He gave her her name in her honor and from that point on he knew his daughter would grow into a very strong young woman.

She was born on a very cold day. Her eyes were as red as the irises her Father wore and her smile was just as bright as his. They were everything in the same, could have been considered twins if not for being his child. And it was that day, too, when Night burst into tears. He'd become a Father… his wonderful and most beautiful fiancée had survived and she was just as happy to see him as they were to see their own child breathe her first few breaths of air. Night was a Father by the age of nineteen and Monaka, a Mother and a lover to the kindest most sweetest pair of demons in Assiah at only the age of sixteen.

This was not the only reason Night cried into the young woman's shoulder. He'd been crying over the realization returning to him. That he and the baby would live on forever while Monaka…

"Shh…" Monaka's voice was quiet and it was tired. She wound her fingers through his dark hair and shrugged weakly to bring his face up into her view. They stared at each other for a moment before she finally motioned towards the child they'd created. "She's beautiful…isn't she?"

He was still crying. But this time they were tears of joy and pure bliss. "Yeah…" He mumbled lowly. "She really is."

Their wedding wasn't perfect, honestly, but it was something. Night wasn't rich, and even though Monaka made money from the business and still had quite a lot from her parents, there just wasn't enough to give her the perfect white wedding every girl seemed to dream of. Albeit, neither of them really cared in the end. As long as they would be brought together in holy matrimony, and as long as their friends were there to support them, and as long as their little girl could watch and give a bubbly smile from the sidelines, all was well, and the two of them were wed with a single but most loving kiss.

Noriko continued to prove to her Father she was beautiful as they days went on. She'd grown up to show off a sort of independent and rebellious attitude, and yet, she'd managed to completely melt his heart into a puddle of nothing whenever she looked towards him with that bit of hope glimmering in her eyes. He couldn't ever say no to her. Even if he knew there was something bad along the lines, the word 'no' just would never dare enter that girl's ears. She'd become a daddy's girl in the end. She was strong and she had attitude but when it came to Night, she was the same Dandelion Princess he'd crowned when Monaka was still pregnant.

Somewhere along the way, Night had figured out a little trick a lot of demons knew too. He'd managed to make his physical form appear older to match Monaka as she aged into womanhood. He waited for her to catch up and he set his body free from its timeless hold and from that day forward he and Monaka's clocks were on the same hour. If there was going to be the day Monaka would leave him, then he was going to make sure he grew old with her to give himself that satisfaction that maybe, just maybe, he'd follow her in her footsteps into heaven where she truly belonged.

And about three years after Noriko's birth, Monaka was pregnant again. At least by now she was at a more proper age, and they were a bit more prepared for such a thing to happen. They'd planned this child, actually (well, sort of). Noriko had begun to get old enough to make her own decisions and she was beginning to remind the young woman of herself. She wanted to have another child, so that Noriko would have a sibling, and so that she wouldn't be alone like her Mother was.

It was a boy this time around. Not another young lady to trot about in her Father's shadow. No, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Night had been prepared for this—his emotions weren't as… crazy this time around, but when the young man was born there had only been one problem and one problem only.

They couldn't think of a name.

That had been the only thing they weren't prepared for. He'd been so ready to name his Daughter and yet, staring his son straight in the face, his mind was blank. It pained him for everything to turn out this way. Night was especially interested in the name department and he never wanted his child to go through something he did. His own child deserved to be called by a name and yet his own Son went without one for almost a month.

Finally Ryota came to mind. It seemed to match his face the best in their eyes, and finally Night could relax a little and hope that he wouldn't be scolded as a Father for leaving such an important detail out of the boy's life.

He'd forgiven himself for many years—heck he'd nearly forgotten about his mistake. But there came the day when his children were teenagers and their opposite personalities really took a shine. Noriko was still such a beautiful young girl. She looked exactly like her Father and she stood up for her little brother and made sure he was always safe. She looked up to her uncle Rin, and all of her teachers, including Night, too, and she did everything Night did right behind him, as his shadow. She even started going to the Cram School to become a Knight just like him.

On the other hand, Ryota was quiet and collected and much more into the 'Mama's Boy' scene. He spent a lot of time in Monaka's shadow growing up and he helped her in the garden and decorating arrangements as a teenager. If Night didn't know any better, he'd think that Ryota gave him the cold shoulder.

Honestly, Night thought that maybe Ryota didn't like him much at all, and for a long time he thought the grumpy kid was this way because of the fact he'd been nameless for a month. It was all his fault then, in the end, wasn't it?

When Noriko turned eighteen, she stopped aging. Her clock had come to a complete stop and never ticked and moved forward again. She knew it was going to happen eventually, however, so she knew what was to expect. Yet, still, on the night of her birthday when they brought out the cake, she'd blown out the candles with a smile on her face, and by the time Night had snapped the light's back on, the girl was crying and spilling her tears on the icing below her.

The room was quiet except for her soft sobs before finally she looked up and managed a cheeky grin.

"What're you all waiting for? Clap, or something…?"

And so they did, and Noriko recovered soon enough to go play with her friends in her usual cheerful way. However, for most of the rest of the night, her Father had been quiet. A part of him felt like he was the one to blame over it. He was the demon who'd passed down his genes to her… he was the one who made her what she was, and he knew that at the very moment she blew those candles out, she had realized that all of her friends were going to fade away before her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Of course, the feeling of Monaka's hands snaking around his waist was enough to shake the nerve away and get him back down to Earth. He set his drink down and for the rest of the night he danced with her to the faint echoes of music he could hear coming from all the way down the hall and from Noriko's room.

It happened all over again when it was Ryota's turn for his clock to stop. He cried just like his older sister had but unlike her, he'd done it where no one could have possibly noticed. He'd managed to keep himself calm through his party and he spent time with his sister and the few friends he'd made during school. But once he was alone there hadn't been a single second he wasn't sobbing quietly to himself. Because he too had noticed that he would leave his friends behind one day—and most of all, he would end up losing his Mother too.

By then, Night could tell that Ryota held hurtful feelings towards him. There was an attitude, and there had also been a sort of glare passed on from time to time. After everything, Noriko had been the one to understand and accept it all, while Ryota hated Night for turning him into what he was. Ryota once felt as if it would have been better off if he'd never been born. Night was miserable for a long time. The only times he could have actually felt happy was when he and Monaka would lie in bed alone and just talk like they used to.

It was the one place he could think… the one place he didn't have his cursed children on his mind. A place where he didn't have to think about how his Son hated him. It was a place where he could be at peace and stare into the beautiful eyes Monaka would always possess.

Somewhere along the way, Night had confronted his son in the garden about his feelings. Ryota seemed confused in the end. In all honesty he'd only had conflicted feelings and even though he loved his Father deeply, he just wasn't sure what to do anymore.

"Move on." Night had said. "Wait it out… it'll be alright, I promise."

And that had been the first time Ryota ever cried in front of his Father. Everything was finally coming together.

Years past, Noriko and her little brother stayed just as they were while Night and Monaka kept to themselves and grew older by the day together. Noriko found herself a boyfriend along the way and moved out to live with him as a fully fledged Exorcist and Knight. Certainly it wasn't the best day for the demon, he'd held her close and threatened to never let go and he gave her the longest speech any Father could ever give, and finally with a hug to her little brother and mother, she was gone. Of course she called and visited often, but it wasn't as often as Night would have hoped.

Ryota never left. He thought it would be best if he stayed and took over the Ikebana business so that Night and Monaka could do everything they wanted without that sort of worry in the back of their minds. It was then when Night hung up the sword, put away the coat and he retired from being an Exorcist so that he and Monaka could at least be completely alone in peace. It was finally time for their family to split up. Ryota had found a young lady himself at one point, Noriko was off in her own world and Night and Monaka left to travel the world before finally settling down again near the coast, not even very far from both of their children.

That was where their story branched away from their children finally. They'd come in eventually, but it had been a good couple years before they saw their Daughter and Son again. Night and Monaka were beginning to meet their older, more apparently adult stages. They really did look like parents by this time, and even still, the two of them never changed. They'd turn up at their children's doorsteps completely unexpected from time to time, and then the teasing would go on for hours. Especially with Ryota and his Fiancée at the time. Especially with Ryota. Honestly, Night did it because it was just so great to see actual emotion on the young man's 'd grown up for a long time without so much as shedding a single tear in front of his Father and now, all the kid did was smile and muster embarrassed gibberish when Night teased him.

Noriko wasn't all that fun to tease because she didn't get embarrassed about anything. And that wasn't an understatement. She was a blunt girl, always had been; and when she wanted to talk about her sex life, she talked about her sex life. Even Night had to cover his own wife's ears from time to time. Of course though, Night still loved the girl's husband like a Father-in-law should and it wasn't long until he'd heard both of his children saying they were going to try for their own kids one day.

Night was nervous of course and for many reasons. He knew the sciences of how cross breeding worked at times and, when he'd gotten the call from Noriko who'd been in tears, he knew that was exactly what she'd learned on her trip to the Doctor's office. She and Ryota were both sterile and there wasn't a chance for the two of them to have children. And so, it was time for Night to feel like the culprit again, even though he and Monaka were past all of that and even though they lived on their own and were beginning to grow weak.

He couldn't help but feel like he'd cursed his children from the very start.

More time passed and it kept on going and soon he began to notice that Monaka was struggling to get up and down from her feet. Even though his body looked just as old as her's did, there was never the chance of his bones feeling thin and fragile like her's, and there had been a time he was really scared he'd lose her soon. She'd gone and hospitalized herself after falling and it gave him a great scare. Though she was discharged soon and managed to put out a few more years for her husband.

She'd always been fragile and weak… ever since Pazuzu broke down her body and her spirits. He knew that her time would finally stop sooner than most. And that thought haunted him for years after the fall. He was paranoid about every little thing that woman did and he made sure she stayed healthy and strong for as long as could possibly try.

After awhile, He held her up in his arms to dance because she could barely keep on her feet. He fed her their meals when she was tired because the poor woman could barely lift a fork around that age. Honestly, by the time she couldn't even get up from bed, Night was surprised she'd even lasted that long. It was all the strength she'd provided for him to keep herself awake since the day she'd wound up in the hospital. In the end, it was her will power that kept them together for longer than destiny had in store.

"Night…?"

The demon opened his eyes slowly and turned his gaze to the sleeping woman beside him. She should have been sleeping of course but the smile she had on her old yet still wonderful lips of her's told him she was still with him. Their hands were together and both wrinkled with the creases of time they'd spent together and the two of them both lay on their futon, waiting for the sun to set.

"Yes..?"

"I hope…. you have a good life out there." She said to him with a sudden but very quiet and very tired voice. His eyes widened and his hand gave her own a gentle squeeze. The words that had come out of her mouth—they had been the same exact ones that she'd said to him the day he'd almost left her forever.

"And…w-where ever you go…promise me you'll be happy…okay?"

She was gone before he could answer her, and he could tell right away. And even though he knew it would happen, he still couldn't shake off that feeling of wanting to shake her back into consciousness. But he didn't because the moment he sat up he knew he could see the remainders of the woman's tears soaking the bedding below them. And no matter how much longer he lived, he could never erase that sight from his memory.

He bowed his head and fought back the tears.

"I promise." He cried. "I promise, I'll be happy…"

Honestly, how could he be happy after such a thing? Monaka was the only person in his life he'd met that he'd always want to be with—forever. And yet, she had to leave him on his own. He knew it was something she feared most… and so it hurt him greatly to watch her go… and to see her tears roll down her dead cheeks. Monaka never wanted to leave him… and he never wanted her to leave him either.

It was hard for him to move on, and it seemed impossible to do so. He made his clock stand still the day she passed on and he stayed that way for years on end, watching his friends come and go, and soon his old caregiver, his teacher, mother, older sister—she'd passed on as well. Rin was the only friend of his that stayed put right where he was and yet it hurt to see him and not think of the past where he too had been happy. However after a long time, Rin was the only one left and he knew he had to treasure the boy more than he'd done before.

"Noriko's coming to see you…" He was crouched down before a headstone in the Earth, an arrangement quite similar to the one she had made for him when he was a cat resting in his hands. "She said she was going to pick up Ryota…and he's coming too."

They were all he had. Noriko, Ryota and Rin: His own children, and a young man he could have considered to be his little brother. As long as they wouldn't ever leave him, then Night was sure he'd be able to keep his last promise with his wife and keep that smile on his face.

"Move on…" Ryota had said to him upon their arrival as he placed a hand on his Father's shoulder. "Wait it out…it'll be alright, I promise."

Night could only nod as the boy spat out his own advice to him. It was silly just how easily these things had all come back around on him at such a crucial time. Before he could say much in return, however, Noriko and Ryota both were on their knees and holding Night in their arms to give him the comfort he truly needed to keep moving forward like he promised. Maybe things would be alright as long as he had both of his children to be by his side.