Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino. It is a lovely series from where I borrow characters for fanfiction and entertainment purposes only.
Pairing: None
Blood painted the world in red, splattered across her heart, burned her eyes with its merciless brutality. Again, Juuri felt the tears slither down her cheeks as she recalled the scene she had witnessed just hours ago. Her son's bloodied clothes, the opened coffin of the Ancestor, and... Most chilling of all, the all-too familiar form of her oldest brother, Rido Kuran.
She was a mess of emotions, her heart lanced by a myriad of different feelings that threatened to unleash devastation in their wake. Hot, burning anger ran through her veins as she thought of him, a cold, hard blow of self-loathing- she had let this happen, had handed her son to the monster herself, not even once considering the possibility of a threat to her child. Then again, what parent does expect their own family members to slaughter a child, much less their own? She could still feel the shock, and the tearing of everything she had ever known. Never again would she let this happen, she wanted to kill him, tear him apart for what he had done, and then scatter his ashes to every corner of the Earth. The violent tempest within her raged with an inferno's fury, blackening her soul with its scalding touch.
"Juuri?" A familiar voice called, the speaker searching for her in their darkened bedroom.
She wasn't aware of his voice at first, but when she caught the achingly familiar scent, she turned around to face Haruka. For once, that gentle smile he normally wore was not present. Rather, his lips had been pulled down into a soft, worried frown. Garnet hues locked with hers as he came closer, taking hesitant steps towards his crying wife. Her own face, devoid of its usual cheer, had been contorted into a mask of anguish, her eyes filling up with tears as she held him close.
For many moments, the couple did not say anything, the gloomy silence covering the two, when Juuri heard a small, mewling cry, very much like a kitten's. Looking down, the Pureblood finally saw her "son", who had become nestled between her and Haruka. Pulling back slightly, so as to give the child airspace, Juuri let herself fully take in the baby who was really their ancestor in disguise. His brow had been creased into a frown, wine hued eyes meeting hers with the innocence that belonged solely to the young, for they had not yet been exposed to the cruelties of the outside world. Her sniffles ceased, and right beside her grief, that freezing despair that had shackled her, grew a warm feeling of protectiveness, and the unfurling of love towards the tiny child in her husband's arms. Unbeknownst to her, the deep frown on her face had somewhat abated, although the sadness in her eyes remained. It should be her Kaname looking at her, being smothered with love. Instead, he was dead, and another had been left in his place.
This time, she would not fail to protect this little one, who had so much potential in this often cruel world. They had been given a second chance as parents, and she would willingly die to protect this new opportunity. A smile flickered onto her lips, and she took the ancest-, no, Kaname, from Haruka's hold, cradling the now quiet infant in her arms.
Author's Note: I guess in this piece I just wanted to explore the grief that Juuri experienced after Rido killed her first child, and perhaps the start of her love towards Kaname. I don't know if I did this right, so any suggestions would be really helpful.