For weeks Rose dodged her parents in all forms. She refused to see them in person, answer their calls, read their letters, she shut them out to give herself time to think of all that had changed in her life. She came out only for dance rehearsals, vocal practices, and meetings with her record label and producers.

Angelo recognized right away her first day back at the dance studio that she was not her happy self. After warm up he pulled her aside and asked, "Bella what troubles you? You've been acting strange since we went out dancing the night after we got back."

She gave him a sad smile and pushed a loose hair behind her ear. "It's complicated Angel. I think more complicated then I could ever explain."

"Well if you want to try to talk about it Rosa babe, I'm free after practice. We can even bring Pearl and Finn in on it if you want."

She shook her head not wanting to worry her friend or have to explain the strange circumstances of her birth. "It's alright. I'll be fine."

She lied to him and herself about it for a whole week, until she arrived back at her apartment after a record meeting to find Finn standing outside her door.

"Hey Finn what's up?" She asked casually unlocking her door.

He followed her into her apartment saying, "I got a call from your parents asking me to check on you since you haven't answered any of their calls in over a week?"

Rose heaved a large sigh and gave a disgusted look as she turned to face Finn as he closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry Finn that you got pulled into this." She was furious her parents would involve her friends behind her back.

"What's the argument with your folks now?" He asked walking towards her.

"It's a personal issue." She answered not wanting to have to tell her friends let alone Finn.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Is it about your tour schedule?" He said giving it a shot in the dark.

"Like I said Neil this doesn't concern you." Rose got defensive and Finn flinched knowing she was serious when she used his first name.

"My parents sent you because they thought I would tell you what was going on and then they were sure you'd take their side."

"Hey!" Finn raised his hands in defense of her words. "Who says I would side with them?"

"Look it doesn't even matter its not an issue that sides can even be taken on. Alright? I'm just saying that's probably what they thought."

Finn came closer and put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her as she stared down at the floor.

"Look Rose, You're Irish. Its not good to keep anger pent up inside you might just explode from the sheer force of it." He said trying to joke to lighten the mood.

Only Rose didn't find it funny…anymore.

"I'll be alright Finny and don't worry about Ma and Da if they call you again just tell them you haven't seen me."

Finn nodded, he'd known Rose all her life and knew just what kind of a temper she had and stubbornness in spades, but she wasn't one to hide things at least from him. He kissed her on the forehead fondly and headed for the door.

"If you need anything, I'm just a phone call away."

She nodded and gave him a weak smile. "Sure."

He walked out and as the door clicked closed behind him Rose heaved another heavy sigh, Finn was pretty much right. She had to tell someone or she was liable to bust with the knowledge. She couldn't tell Finn she was sure the news would kill him and she was positive Angelo wouldn't understand that left Pearl.

As her best friend she was sworn to secrecy about all of Rose's personal troubles and would at the very least be more open to the conversation then her guy friends would.

She bit he lip nervously as she picked up the phone to call Pearl. On the second ring she answered. "Hey girl what's shaking?"

"Mi sol, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Pearl's voice sobered at Rose's stricken tone.

"Something huge and life changing. Do you think you could come over tonight?"

"Absolutely, I just got out of work I'll be over soon as I can."

"Thanks, you're the best."

As soon as Pearl arrived they both made themselves comfortable on the couch and Rose proceeded to spill the whole sordid tale, only leaving out the part about her father being a demon, which she still refused to tell.

Pearl sat absolutely dumbfounded when she finished staring at Rose her jaw slack and hanging open. Rose bit her lip and smothered her face in a pillow. "It's bad isn't it?"

"Honey…are you sure?" Pearl asked cautiously.

"Yes completely sure! I mean my parents practically admitted to it and why would the man seek me out if I wasn't his daughter?!" Rose spoke frantically.

Pearl grabbed her arms to bring herself closer and to try to calm Rose.

"Ok, I believe you! It's just what are you going to do now?"

Rose shook her head. "I don't know it feels like this changes everything. My whole life…"

They were silent for a moment before Pearl smiled, "Our friendship won't ever change. That's certain." Rose gave her a small smile and she continued. "And you still want to be a singer don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then I think the only problem you got is that you feel like you missed out on something by not knowing your real father."

Rose nodded the affirmative.

"Well then change that. Go to Japan and spend time with your real dad."

"What?" Rose stared shocked.

"You said the man left you his address and phone number right? Well go meet him. It's not impossible."

Rose took in all Pearl's words for a moment to think. She was right, she should just go and spend some time with her dad, he could teach her about her demon powers and she could get away from her mom and…Connor.

"I could I mean I'm not scheduled for another tour for six months and my label did just agree to give me some time to work on songs for my next album. I would only miss so public relations stuff. Pearl you're a genius!"

"I know." She grinned as Rose glomped on her giving her a tight hug.

"One thing though." Rose said sitting back.

"What?"

"You can't tell a soul what has just been said here. Not even Finn or Angelo."

"What am I supposed to tell them?"

"Tell them I needed a vacation, time away from my parents and the media. If my parents ask tell them the same."

"Where is this imaginary vacation taking place?"

Rose thought for a minute and then grinned. "Jamaica, man."

Pearl laughed, "I will never understand how your mind works girl but I love it."

So after only a month of being back home she packed her bags to return to the Orient. She was nervous, but she was returning to find her roots and it felt right.

All the time that had passed had also left its mark on Kurama. Life continued on as usual, work, battling wayward demons, making time with his friends and family, but not a day went by that he didn't think about Suzette and the daughter he'd never known.

It galled him to no end that Suzette had feared and hated him enough to hide their child from him. Who could do such a thing? He had loved her with all his heart and he'd made himself believe that she would accept him as Youko too. Now she only stood as more proof that love was the ficklest of emotions.

Still…

He thought of Rose too. Her looks so much like Suzette's but with his green eyes and she possessed an obvious curiosity and spirit he could only attribute to her Kitsune heritage. For once his human and demonic sides were in agreement they wanted dearly to know their daughter better. She was his flesh and blood, his one and only heir, she deserved the truth and he deserved to know that which he was responsible for creating. But it had been months and he still had not heard from her. He almost didn't dare hope not after her reaction that night.

His human side was rational enough to say he did not want to replace Suzette's husband as her father but his demon side growled possessively that she was his child not some human's.

He had begun to give up hope that he would ever hear from her again. He knew he had to stop hoping for her to return as his emotions were now beginning to show and earn undue attention from Hiei and the more perceptive females of the group.

On this particular day he was on his way home, he turned onto his street and as he approached his townhouse he spotted someone sitting on a suitcase outside his door. He could only see the person from the back and all he could see was that she was female. As he got closer his heart began to hammer with hope.

"Excuse me…?" He asked trying to get her attention as he turned onto his walkway. She instantly stood up and he took in her height as she lifted her sunglasses to reveal bright green eyes. She was dressed in a denim jacket with matching jeans. She word a red and black checkered scarf around her throat and a red tank top that matched her shoes.

"Hi…" She said fidgeting nervously there was a moment of awkward silence before she continued. "I was wondering if we could talk?" It sounded lame to her ears but she wasn't sure what else to say.

To Kurama's credit he smiled and nodded. "Of course. Please come in." He opened the door and let her in after discarding his shoes, coat, and briefcase he helped her set her suitcase aside and motioned to the sofa. She sat down and he started to offer her some refreshment but she shook her hands she couldn't wait any longer to get this off her chest. He sat down beside her and tried to act nonchalant.

"What brings you back to Tokyo? I haven't seen you in months I thought your tour was over."

"It is…I went home and…confronted my parents…about what you had said…" She paused looking away and he could almost see her shake with pent up emotion.

"It was true…you are my father." She looked back up at him. "I am sorry I was so rude to you before."

Her admission lifted the doubt from his mind and the weight off his heart. He gave her a genuine smile and patted her hand. "That is alright. As I said I am just glad to know I have you. Other than my mother I have no other family. After your mother…I never thought there would be anyone in my life I could love as much."

She still frowned. "I am sorry for my mother's behavior. I can't imagine what it must have been like, rejected by the one person you love just because you were different."

"Seeing you dulls the pain. I am just glad she kept you."

Rose sighed. "Speaking of that difference that separated you and mom…" Rose looked up at Kurama through skeptical eyes.

Kurama tightened his grip on her hand.

"Is it true?" She asked.

Kurama braced himself as he stared into an all too familiar face preparing to bear his soul once again hoping this time he wouldn't regret it.

"That I am a demon…yes." Rose let out a breath she wasn't sure she had been holding before he continued. "It is a complicated circumstance." Kurama explained.

She ran a hand through her hair and leaned back. "Yeah, I got that. Demons aren't exactly something that a lot of people believe in."

"There is so much I have to explain to you..." Kurama started but Rose cut him off.

"Well I've got the time. I've thought about it and its not fair to me that I never got the chance to know my own father and if you don't mind I'd like that chance."

Kurama smiled. His heart soared at the thought that she wanted to know him as much as he wanted to know her. Nothing in his life had ever made him so happy.

"Let me make some dinner and we can talk."

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Sounds good…" Kurama got up and headed to the kitchen halfway to the doorway she stood up to stop him, "Hey, what should I call you?"

"You can call me dad…unless you're unc.." "No. I'm good with dad." Rose interrupted.

As Kurama made dinner he found he had not smiled so much in his entire life. They attempted small talk about her tour during dinner, but the hard questions could not be avoided forever. As she helped him do the dishes she finally worked up the nerve to ask. "So how is it you are a demon? I mean you look pretty human to me."

"That is because I mostly am in this body."

"Wait…body? As in you have more than one." She made a disgusted face as if she were imagining a zombie or a scene from the invasion of the body snatchers.

Kurama held back a chuckle and proceeded to explain. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning? With the existence of demons."

"Good idea."

"The reason you don't meet many demons is because there has been more peace in the last century and stronger barriers between worlds to keep the demons out and with no war to exploit there is little incentive for most. There are three worlds, this world, the spirit realm which is known to us as the reikai and finally the demon home world, makai. A few centuries ago the leader of spirit world determined it was in the best interest of human kind to erect barriers and lay punishments on demons for excessive violence and tampering with human life. For the most part it worked."

"Worked? Past tense, are we experiencing invasion?" She asked as they sat back down with cups of tea at the table.

"No there have been changes in the power structures of both the demon and spirit realms that have made it safer for humans and created an internal power structure enhancing demonic freedoms and creating law and order in a land that was once only chaos."

She nodded in understanding. "So how does that explain you?"

"It doesn't really. Once the barrier that kept demons out of the human realm was penetrable only to the strongest and most cunning demons who could find a tear in the barrier. Almost forty years ago this same was true."

"So that means you are one of the strongest demons alive if you are here right?" Rose asked in slight wonderment.

"I like to think so." He said trying to sound as humble as possible it wasn't his style to brag, but a fact was a fact.

"There were mitigating circumstances in the demon world that forced me flee for my life into the human world. My spirit took refuge in a unborn human child and I was reborn a human, Suichi Minamino."

"So…you're human too?"

"At least partially. I stay here in the human world to be near my friends and family. You have a grandmother who would be very glad to meet you later if you would like?"

Rose lightened up immediately. Everything he was saying didn't sound as bleak or awful as her mother made it seem. "A grandmother!? That would be great! I've never met my mother's parents."

"Which is a shame, they were lovely people. They are friends of my mother and stepfather's."

"Mother always told me they had had a falling out and weren't speaking that's why I never met them….that was probably a lie too." Rose frowned for a moment before her eyebrow quirked up curiously. Kurama couldn't help but notice it as it was a habit Yuusuke often told him he suffered from. "Wait…What were the mitigating circumstances that brought you here?"

"I was rather hoping you would forget that." Kurama replied afraid to tell her about his life before becoming human and becoming a Spirit Detective.

"Can't pull a fast one on me dad. I invented them." She said with a smile.

That smile and the word dad gave him the courage to continue.

"Well I have lived for a very long time and before I became human I did some things I'm not quite proud of. Such things usually got me in trouble with either the spirit realm or demon lords."

"What did you do?"

"I was a thief…"

"A thief!" Rose said her eyes widening in wonder before her face returned to normal and she said. That's it?"

Kurama was taken aback by the comment. He wasn't sure weather to be offended or relieved. "Well it wasn't just petty robbery mind you I was notorious." 'Here comes the worst' he thought. "And it's not as though my hands didn't have their fair share of blood on them."

She just nodded. "I know I just thought from how apprehensive you were about it that you were like an assassin or something."

"No."

"Well then…I'm cool with it." She replied nonchalantly.

Kurama couldn't believe how well she was taking all of this, but she was kitsune and there was no limit to the imagination of such a clever demon.

"So how old are you anyway?" She asked curiously and off topic.

"A little over a thousand years." He answered dead pan.

"A THOUSAND!?"

Kurama allowed himself to laugh that time, she could deal with a murdering thief but not a thousand year old murdering thief.

"Does that mean in your demon form you look like a crochety old man?" She asked almost comically.

Kurama chuckled lightly, "No. Would you like to see what I look like in demon form?"

She nodded not sure if she should be excited or frightened.

He closed his eyes and a few moments later his body had shifted. He became much taller. He had long stunning silver grey hair and a tail and ears to match. His eyes were gold and cunning while his features became sharpened along with his claws. Rose's eyes nearly popped out of her head. Her father was incredibly handsome as a demon but he bore a stunning resemblance to a fox. Before she could say so he spoke up.

"I am best known as Youko Kurama in this form. I am a kitsune or fox demon. As my daughter so are you. My strongest powers are in the area of biokinesis."

"My garden…" Rose whispered to herself. It was starting to all make sense.

"It is ironic that your mother chose Rose for you name." He pulled a seed from his hair and it immediately grew into a beautiful rose. "My primary weapon is this rose which I can turn into a whip of thorns with my energy."

Rose gasped her name directly translated into her father's weapon, it was a like a sign from the gods.

"It would seem now that it is not my only rose of import." Kurama said smiling fondly at his daughter.

Rose couldn't help but blush and grin back she had never dreamed that she could slip so easily into her father's life or that he could become so dear to her in so short a time. The knowledge of his demon origins and powers was no longer terrifying but intriguing; she was almost comfortable with the idea.

"Dad can I turn into a fox too even though I'm only half?" Rose asked curiously.

Youko Kurama raised an eyebrow at her unexpected question. "I'm not sure, its possible. With the right training of course."

"Would you train me?" She blurted out without taking any time to think about it. It was against her nature to do so; she was clever and thoughtful, an ingenious planner who could think well on her feet and in her entire life she could only remember one time where she hadn't planned her actions and that was when she had decided to become a singer.

That decision worked out so well she didn't dare second guess this one.

Youko Kurama was taken aback by her request to be sure.

"Do you have any interest in fighting at all?" He asked.

"What I have an interest in is learning about my heritage. If I am a demon then I intend to be the best demon I can be. I will make you proud." She said resolutely sitting up straighter.

Kurama was touched and his Youko instinct swelled with pride as well. Even without any training he could tell she was a strong kit already. He smiled back. "I am already proud. You command the attentions of millions the world over and every person in a room with your personality, charm, and especially talent. That would make any father proud human or demon." As he spoke his praise he returned back to his regular form.

Rose wanted to cry at Kurama's kind words. She was so mad at Connor for his betrayal she wasn't sure she could trust this man like she had him and yet his words washed away all worry. This was the unconditional love she knew. She leaned over and hugged him. Kurama was stunned by the show of affection but welcomed it and returned the hug feeling as though he never wanted to let go for fear it was all a dream.

He pulled back with a smile. "It is getting late. I do not have to work tomorrow perhaps we could go visit your grandmother?"

"I would like that. But how will we explain all this?" She said with a wave of her hand between him and herself.

"My mother learned a few years ago of my true origins and she accepts them this will not be half as difficult for her to accept."

Rose smiled. Kurama showed her to the guest room and bid her a fond goodnight. She could hardly believe how happy she would finally get to meet some actual family. Her excitement was such that she was sure she wouldn't sleep but her previous excitement and nerves from meeting with her father had finally gotten to her and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.