For weeks Yomi lived within the forest, never leaving for too long and always returning to the strange plant. The plant itself hadn't changed much; it had nearly tripled in size, but the leaves wound tightly over the bundle it nurtured within it's bud. Many would find this task daunting, even murderously mundane, but Yomi found it peaceful. Most of the day he would sit cross-legged nearby, meditating and focusing his reiki into his center as well as the flower.

After six weeks of patient waiting, something changed within the flower's energy. Before, as Yomi had concentrated for hours on end, his reiki would gently steep into the bud, through the stem, and push it's way into the ground. His specialty had never been horticulture like the late Youko, and only had to hope he was helping. Now, as rain began to pitter patter through the canopy of the camphor tree, it seemed as though the flower pushed back. Yomi's ears twitched, pulling him out of his deep meditation. At first he thought he had imagined it, so he pushed his energy further; there, in the corner of his mind, was the resistance.

Smiling the smallest of smiles, Yomi stood and walked away, moving a few miles east to where he had been sleeping at night. It was still daylight, the sun only just beginning to dip in the sky, but enough progress had been made. A soft sigh of wind swept through the forest, rustling the trees and catching the dead foliage in a dancing spiral through the air. Birds chirped over head, racing to return to their nests to escape the oncoming storm. The skies above darkened, the clouds twisting in turmoil. The thunder started softly, but quickly turned into loud booms overhead. The gentle sway of the trees became frantic, fresh leaves ripping from their limbs and disappearing into the darkness.

Rain quickly flooded the forest floor, the hard packed dirt becoming a sticky mud. The large bud stood strong as the small flowers around it's roots were drowned in the sudden torrent. It's stem shuddered in the wind, absorbing as much as it could. The bud wound tighter before swelling in size. The outer leaves crawled open, falling at it's sides, as the inner petals began to slowly open, flicking in the strong wind and rain. Minutes passed as the large flower opened, the petals becoming larger as it reached the core.

A mile west from where the flower was blooming, a fishing boat pulled suddenly on to land. A pair of demons, a fire demon and a simple C class demon jumped out, sinking ankle deep in the marsh. They had been out on the river and were blindsided by the sudden storm, the strong wind pulling them farther away from their home in the north. They pulled their small boat onto more solid ground, the fire demon swearing loudly.

"We'll leave it here!" He shouted at his mate over the roaring wind, "We've no chance of dragging it through all this!" The mated pair huddled together as they trudged through the onslaught. Back at the gravesite, the flower gave one more shudder before blooming completely. The last petals fell open, revealing inside of pale baby girl. The heavy rain fell on her skin, pattering against her eyes, causing her to stir. Out of the warmth of her womb, she squirmed and began to wail, her cries swallowed by the forest.

The fire demon stopped; his mate, unaware, carried on.

"Stop," he shouted. "Do you hear that?" he looked around before quickening his pace towards the phantom cries. It took them minutes to reach the baby. They had heard the cries, but still couldn't believe their eyes when they found her. Pulling off his shirt - the only layer he could spare, as he hadn't dressed for such weather - he wrapped her up as tight as he could and held her close to him, leaning over in attempt to keep the rain off her face.

After the long walk to their home, her lips had begun to turn a faint blue, and the fire demon's mate quickly ran inside to start a fire while he carried the baby into their room to grab a dry blanket. Once they were dry and had settled down in front of the fire, the pair looked the now sleeping baby over. Her hair was a soft moss green, and freckles covered her face.

"It's what we've always wanted."

"Yes, but she isn't ours." The fire demon lamented.

"She was out in a forest during a storm, she can't be more than a few days old. We've all she has." Reluctantly, though secretly happy, the fire demon relented and settled in to his new role as father.