Yuuki Kuran breathed a long sigh of relief as the Japan sun sank to its knees. She had awaited this moment ever since she had returned to Cross Academy, her old school and former home. But the times were more confusing now, and the situation her brother had left her in had begun to sink in harder every morning she woke. Daily life had become a struggle for the young vampire. No matter where she found herself, something was always expected of her, people were always around her, and she was growing weary of charades.

"Only a year ago I was a carefree girl, full of laughter and silly dreams.

It seems so long ago now..."

Yuuki gazed at herself in the mirror and brushed the hair out of her scarlet eyes. It had been a long time since she had really studied her appearance. In just a little over a year, she had somehow blossomed into a fully mature young woman. She ran her hands over the curves of her hips, slowly and softly, like a man would stroke his beautiful lover. She let them wander up her body, along her waist and up to her breasts, which swelled through her silk nightgown and perked from the touch. Her mouth hung open slightly as she ran her fingers through her long hair, noticing the way it curled at the ends like vines of ivy. She was a beautiful woman, and yet when she stepped back to take it all in, she caught a glimpse of something wild. Something fierce and full of fury, like a tiger that wanted to leap from her soul and take over the vessel it had been trapped beneath. Her fists clenched at her sides and she quickly turned away from her reflection.

"Sometimes I still can't believe I'm...a vampire."

Images flashed through her mind at lightning speed, memories and thoughts and faces from every course of her life. Her mother's loving eyes, her father's laughter, a blood-stained winter night...

Kaname...

Zero...

Her eyes began to tear and her heart raced as she almost fell outside and onto the balcony. She gave a small gasp as the cool night air hit her face and her heart rate instantly slowed. She sunk down the banister on which she'd been supporting her weight and laid her forehead on the cold marble floor. She lay there for a long time, gazing at the starlit sky and all it arresting beauty, until she felt warm liquid on her face. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"What am I doing?"

Suddenly , as if a light switch had been turned on, Yuuki Kuran came to her senses. Sitting up, she craned her head back and took a deep breath. One breath after another until finally all the pressure from within her mind began to slowly melt away. Ever since that night her brother had revealed she was a vampire, had revealed her to herself, she had been having trouble accepting her past, as well as the present.

"Was it all a lie..?" She'd thought. "Was my whole human life up until now just a mirror image of what I really am? Was it even real?"

But no... now she could see the truth. It was such a smooth and clear truth that it was like glass in her mind and it rang through every doubt she'd held up until now. She was Yuuki Kuran. A pureblood vampire who was born so and her entire life had been a blessing from above. With her parents' dying gift she was able to grow in an environment where she could live a normal life. Where she could be happy and free of the horrible weight of Vampire. She had become the person she was now because of that gift, and she saw that now better than ever.

Wiping the tears from her porcelain face, she picked herself from the floor and stood fully erect. She drew her head back slightly and breathed in the night, letting the breeze caress her. Remembering what she'd set out to do, she drew in a deep breath.

"All this time I've just been a caterpillar, wrapped in my warm chrysalis..."

With a shaking foot she raised one leg up onto the banister, and then the other, steadying herself until she was standing upright on the balcony's edge. She stretched her arms away from her body and cleared her mind of all conscious thought.

"Ever since then I've been waiting... "

From where she stood she could see for an eternity, miles of lush forests and distant mountainsides, stretching across the horizon in their quiet beauty.

"...waiting to transform into a beautiful butterfly."

And with that thought, Yuuki Kuran jumped from the fourth-story balcony and disappeared into the darkness.