Here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Sakura walked through the elevator's door; she was beat from her school day. This was her first day back to school and it had been rough on her; she had a bit of difficulty catching up but after a while, everything sinks in like water in the drain. Sakura was up to date in her studies; in the social sphere of school; and the gossips. Now, all she wanted was to go to her bed and put her homework off to tomorrow.

Thanks to her father's culinary skills and influence, the young oni girl had regained some strength and some power; however, at this very moment, she was more tired than she was before her father arrived. Yet, this was a good kind of fatigue; the kind you got after working hard and you knew had done something good. Not the one she had been feeling for the last month and a half; the kind that made you feels lazy.

-Sakura, how has your day been? Asked Tarakudi who crossed path with his daughter on his way to Jade's office. You look so tired! Are you alright?

-Yeah… Just a bit tired from my day. I ate the soup you gave me, but I think it lost its effects… I think I'll go to sleep now! Said Sakura with sleepy eyes.

-That's the worst thing you could do! Right now, your body is adapting to the new air of school and the streets you haven't felt in a while; if you sleep now, your body will always reject the air outside of Section Thirteen. What you need is to fight do back the impurities of the rest of the world by working through your tired state and eat more soup. Your body will learn to fight and adapt to everything around you; sleep only help your body summit to it. Sleeping makes you even more tired as you never really assimilate the good and the bad of the air of the outside world. Come with me; a good bowl of soup will help you feel better. Said the father as he took his daughter to the kitchen.

It wasn't long before Sakura had a big bowl of vegetable soup with jasmine tea placed before her. The young girl ate with appetite and soon felt her strength coming back. She still wasn't going to run around; however she would be finishing her homework tonight. Sakura didn't want to get behind in her studies; she would be damned if she lost her valedictorian place because she slacked off.

Tarakudo looked at his daughter eating and smiled at her appetite; this was a very good sign. This meant that she was getting forces and she would soon start training again. Oh, how he impatiently awaited for this!

-I have some news for you. Your mother found three other oni girls of your age; they are coming to live here in Section Thirteen. Their fathers will be release soon and your mother and I thought that maybe you could show around the base and the town to help them get their bearings. Said Tarakudo, not exactly sure how the little girl would react.

Sakura had been an only child all her life; she was used to have all the attention and she was not used to having other children use her training room or cereals or toys… Plus, demons were not big on sharing! This could be the start of a crisis. How many horror stories did he hear from here and there about spoiled brat kids who would yell and throw a tantrum over nothing?

-Cool! New oni girls! That means I'll have real friends who won't judge me because I'm different! That's great! We can talk about demons; magic; music; school; boys… started Sakura with a big smile and hopeful eyes.

-BOYS! Young lady, you are thirteen years old! Why in the world would you start thinking about boy? Don't you know boys have koodies? Cried Tarakudo with eyes bulging out of his head.

-Dad. I'm thirteen years old, not stupid and blind! I know boys don't have koodies and I do think some boys are cute, but most of them are stupid and gross. Those I find cute are waaayyy too old for me; like twenty or something! Beside, just because I find them cute it, doesn't mean I want to kiss them… Cute does not equal attraction, my dear father. Said Sakura with a serious and mature look, before leaving the table to do her homework.

Tarakudo stayed at the table; too shock to say or move. He barely got to meet his daughter; now, he had to live with the threat that he may lose his daughter to some dirty boys who would have dirty thoughts about HIS baby girl! This was wrong!

Jade walked into the kitchen to find the demon in a confused haze; she waved her hand in front of him, but he did not see her. He was far too lost in his worries to notice her; Jade placed her hand gently upon the demon's shoulder. To her surprise, Tarakudo nearly jumped out of his skin; he wasn't expecting Jade to appear out of nowhere like this.

-Jade! What..? Where..? asked Tarakudo, confused.

-I wanted something to eat and I saw you there; starring out into space. What's wrong? Asked Jade with a small smile.

-I… Did you know that Sakura wants to talk about boys with the other oni girls? She is a child! In my day, little girls did not think of boys! She's too young for this! Cried the demon on the verge of a panic attack.

-Tarakudo, girls back in your days talked about boys just as much as the girls of today! She is going through puberty; it's natural. Sakura will have new friends and they will speak of clothes; make-up and boys… It's the most natural thing in the world! However, knowing her, she'll probably be whining about how stupid and gross they are. Don't worry about a thing; it'll be a while before she finds them interesting. My mom only cared about boys once she hit her twenties and I, when I finished high school… It's genetic! Said Jade with a reassuring smile.

Jade sighed in relief; Tarakudo cared for his daughter to the point of being overprotective. It was so adorable to see such a powerful and dangerous demon, who faced the worst of hell, tremble like a leaf at the idea of his daughter thinking about boys. Obviously, Jade had made sure to have THE TALK with Sakura when the time came; all her daughter's questions were answered without any shame or judgement. Her daughter had very straightforward questions and, even if Jade had some embarrassment, she had answered them all.

-How did Sakura take the news about the other oni girls? Asked Jade to change the subject as she saw Tarakudo worry once more.

-Hum… She took it pretty well! She seemed to be looking forward to it! It will be good for her to learn how to share and interact with other demons. I know she learn a lot from Shendu; however, it is not enough. She needs friends of her age and species; these girls will have a good friend and later on, a good leader in our daughter. Said Tarakudo with pride and a large smile. I was wondering… Do you think I could invite my mother to meet Sakura? She would love to meet you and her grand-daughter!

This took Jade by surprise. Far from her to keep Sakura away from her ancestry or her family; her daughter never got to meet her maternal grand-parents and only knew a fraction of her human heritage. However, Tarakudo's mother would clearly be a demon and this could be dangerous for Sakura. Having a demon father was bad enough, now there would be three more demons in her inner circle; another demon could be dangerous. Jade knew the oni lord's mother was one of the original demons that once ruled the world, and even maybe created it!

-I… I'll be thinking about it… I understand you would want Sakura to meet her grand-mother, but she already have to deal with a father arriving in the world and now new girls, women and demons… How about we wait three months to see if Sakura adjust well to the changes? I don't want this to be too much on her… I do think it would be good to know where she comes from on her demon side of her family, since the human one is so bare… treaded carefully, Jade; not wanting to insult the demon and destroy the good relationship they had going on.

-Sounds fair. I understand you could be a bit uneased by hosting a meeting with my mother and Sakura. I take no offense to it; in your shoes, I would have been far less diplomatic about it. Replied Tarakudo; not at all insulted, rather relieved at the possibility of his desire being met.

-After a while, the politics of the house become a second nature. Many of my superiors are old bigots and misogynistic and racist; you need to tread carefully around them when you talk about demons and magic. They can get much hyped up when you talk to them about things they don't really understand or don't wish to learn. Explain Jade before taking a water bottle and an apple from the fridge.

-Sounds horrible! However, what did you mean when you said Sakura's human heritage is so low? Do you not have your uncles and your parents? I know Torhu isn't part of your family blood lines, but you must have more than just your uncles and your parents… You must have cousins or aunts? Asked Tarakudo, curious.

Jade sighed; this was not easy for her. It had been horrible when her parents had disowned her and rejected in her time of need of comfort and guidance. They had left her with a child and no idea of how to take care of herself or the baby; thankfully, uncle Jackie had been there for her. He was the one who bought her mountains of books on pregnancy; he was the one who helped through the depression and comforted her doubts; he was the one who came to the Lamaze classes with her; he was the one who would take care of Sakura when she couldn't. Uncle Jackie had been her uncle, her mentor, her trainer, her friend, her father… The rest of her family had forgotten about her and left her to fend on her own for something she had no control over. The worst part had been when her father had told her, by phone (as he was too busy with work), that if Jade would get rid of the baby, she would be welcomed back into the family. At that point, Jade simply hung up and forgot about her parents. They had disowned her; she had done the same.

Telling Sakura about the whole story had been horrible as she believed that Sakura would blame herself for the whole thing; however, telling Tarakudo had been humiliating. Jade was a fighter, a strong woman with her own pride; telling an enemy about the lowest point of her life and her depression had been the worst humiliation so far in her life. The demon stayed silent and never showed any mockery or joy from Jade's tale. He remained polite and even showed compassion (well, as much as he could. Tarakudo was a demon after all).

-This is horrible; even by demons standards. said Tarakudo.

-Uncle Jackie has been my rock through the whole ordeal. I could never thank him enough. The same goes to Uncle, Torhu, Viper, El Toro, Paco, Jimmy and Captain Black. They are my family and if my parents can't accept my daughter and I; I don't see why I should accept them.

-Why did you tell Sakura about your parents? Asked the demon, not sure if it had been a good idea to tell such a story at such a young girl.

-Sakura is a mini-me! She managed to hack into the main computer and made a deep search to find her grand-parents; I had told her that my parents were in China and couldn't afford a telephone or a computer and that's why they hadn't seen her. I told her that I was sending them letters and pictures of her every week. One day, there was an earthquake that hit China hard and Sakura wanted to help her grand-parents out of the country; she found out that my parents were wealthy and had no desire to meet us. She came to me and started to ask questions about them; and I had to tell her everything. It was horrible and so hard!

Tarakudo placed his hand upon the mother of his daughter; he offered her his support. Jade gave him a small smile of appreciation; this was so reassuring. In the course of the two weeks Tarakudo had been here, the demon had been caring, kind, supportive and a very good father to Sakura. Before either of them knew it; they kissed…

The two of them pulled away; stunned and slightly embarrassed. Neither of them had wanted this to happen. Jade just wanted to speak with the demon; while Tarakudo just wanted to understand why his daughter was interested in boys! Somehow, there conversation had led them to this..!

-I… Hum… I need to… hum… go get ready for the girls and… Yeah! Mumbled Jade before leaving the room, blushing.

Tarakudo sighed as he processed what just happened; he just kissed Jade Chan… Interesting! Judging by the deep blush upon her cheeks, Jade had not been insensitive to the kiss. This could be fun… He was in shackles in a prison and surrounded by enemies; who said he couldn't have some fun with the warden? him a small smile n the mother of his daughter; he offered her his support. nd his acceptatpecies; these girls will be species; these girls will be .