Dims: Hi guys! I guess that this chapter could be considered a holiday chapter, but it was really in the plot from the beginning.
Kotori: Thanks so much for reavealing my tragic past oh Dims the mighty
Dims: I felt that it might be cool to tell about that.
Era: When do i come in?
Dims: very much later, so be patient
Mara: And when are you going to update my story
Lin: or mine!
Sahara: and me! You've got me sitting in spirit world jail for like six months now!
Riley: And you still have to publish me.
Dims: I'll update you when I get inspiration. Now be quiet so that I don't get mad. It's bad enough that only 1 person reviewed
Kotori: Go Insert Maniacal Laughing Here!
And that's the dedication
Disclaimer: D you know how much it would cost to buy the rights to YYH?
Claimer: In all seriousness, I do own the Shadow Angel concept, the plot line, and all of my ocs. If I find that anyone has stolen any of these, then there will be severe consequences.
Time passed and the seasons began to change. December was ending quickly and snow was already on the ground. The detectives had been working on something in the grand hall. I hadn't been allowed in to see what was going on, and I didn't feel like trying to break into their minds. I generally did avoid that kind of thing. I consider it rather rude to look into someone's mind without permission.
So I sat in the window, a sketchpad on my lap. I was drawing the girl from my memory; the demon girl that I had been so wary of so many years ago. It was a black and white drawing, but it had more depth than anything I had ever done with color. It was much like the sketches I had drawn before in this book. It was strange. Since I'd come to Spirit World, I had come to feel more at peace with myself. I rarely drew the gory scenes that had previously infested my mind. Perhaps it was being so close to home that did it. I knew that my family was nearby. Would they remember that my birthday was coming soon?
I sighed as I looked at the completed scene. Two little girls staring at each other, one—me—was bathed in the moonlight on the street. The other was gripped by shadows. The more I looked at her face, the more it reminded me of my own.
I sighed and flipped to the back of the book and began adding choosing where to place the next character in the strange drawing like none I had ever done before.
Koenma had told us her history and we had accepted it. It was already a few weeks into December when we realized something. Kotori had never had a proper Christmas.
So I asked Botan to open up a portal to human world. We were going to have a party she would never forget. Keiko's house came into view through the snow falling heavily into the street. I hurried inside to get some of her famous ramen.
I continued to count down the days. It was December 22nd, only 10 days until my Birthday.
I was pregnant. Pregnant with my precious baby. I didn't care that its father had raped me. I was about 29, still young, but I had a job and I would be able to support us both. The only thing that I worried about was the hospital bill. How would I be able to pay for the time I would stay there when my child was born? I hoped that I would find away.
I smiled down at my swollen belly underneath my warm winter coat. I had gotten it at the homeless center I had been living at.
My thoughts were interrupted by pain, worse than I had ever imagined. I sank to my knees with the pain. A woman from the alley nearby came to my side quickly. She was old, but she looked kind.
"Come here, child. We must get you out of the cold. Now, before your baby dies!"
I followed her wordlessly, wishing for the pain to stop. We had no way of calling for an ambulance. All of the stores were closed. I had been walking home from my job at the flower shop when she had found me. She brought me into a sheltered place. A large number of young men and women looked at me as I came in, crying. They had fashioned a roof of cardboard to protect them from the elements. I couldn't notice any more, it hurt so much.
The next few hours were a blur. She put a cold towel on my forehead and told me to keep breathing steadily. At last, she told me to start to push. I pushed with all my strength and felt the little head coming out of me. I pushed again. Shoulders, arms, and finally legs came out. But everything was going black.
The old woman quickly snipped the cord and tied it up, wrapping my baby in clean cloth. She handed me the bundle and told me it was a girl. I could feel my grip on life beginning to slip as I looked into her eyes. They were the most beautiful lilac I could have ever imagined. I was slipping. I panicked. I had to name my daughter before I left her, had to give her one possession to call her own. My mind skipped around frantically as her eyes stared into mine. She wasn't crying, but she was breathing softly, humming a soft tune. All at once, as though an angel had spoken in my ear, it came to me.
"K-Kotori," I managed to gasp.
She smiled at me softly and began to hum again. For some reason, the others didn't seem to hear it. The old woman was shaking her head sadly to one of her daughters, whispering to her that they would have to get rid of my body so that no one would accuse them of murder. One of the young men went over and told them of my daughter's name. His mother smiled at him sadly and nodded her head.
Then he walked back to me. He moved his head lightly with the tune of Kotori's humming. He could hear it!
Everything went dark as a bright light surrounded him. No one noticed but me. He smiled and touched my forehead lightly with his hand. I exhaled one last time. The next thing I knew, I was floating, and he was floating with me. The young angel took my hand and led me up through the sky. The next thing I knew, I was with my mother, laughing and crying and praying for my baby girl.
December 24th. Tenka and Itetsuku were happy. It made me happy for some strange reason. I liked seeing Tenka smile and laugh as he got snow in his hair. Itetsuku flung another snowball at him from behind his unnatural wall of snow and there was joy in his eyes. Joy for being free. And I could see that he was happy that Tenka was safe, see his joy when Tenka smiled at him before chucking a snowball.
"Come on, Kotori!" Tenka called to me.
"Yeah! Come and have some fun!" Itetsuku called, his voice loud for once.
And this is the strange part. For the first time, I actually went over and did what I had longed to do since I was very young. I was a kid.
December 25th
Six days until my birthday. I had woken up long before dawn and was staring at the cold sun. I hummed a soft tune I had known since I was a child. I soothed me and comforted me as I sat there. I was so absorbed in the song that I started when Yusuke burst into the room, grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me into the main hall.
I was amazed by what I saw. There were so many people I had never seen before. Yusuke quickly led me to a cluster of women who were waiting for us with huge smiled on their faces.
"Hey! It's nice to meet you!" said one. She had dark brown hair and eyes. Yusuke introduced her ask Keiko. I quickly learned that the tall one was Shizuru, Kuwabara's sister, the older one was Genkai, a master psychic, and the only demon in the group, and ice demon, was named Yukina. The all said they were glad to meet me and made small talk.
Then, before I knew it, Yusuke had pulled me up to a great big pine tree with hundreds of ornaments hung from its branches.
"Surprise!" He said as I took in the huge thing. He quickly pulled me down to the floor where we sat cross-legged for a moment while everyone came to join the circle.
Then they brought out brightly wrapped boxes from under the tree.
Cries of "Oh, this one's yours," and "Look, here's one of mine," rang through the hall as everyone, except Koenma, who stood to the side, pulled out their presents. Ripping sounds filled the hall as the presents were unwrapped. It was then that I noticed all the boys, Tenka and Itetsuku included, were sitting around me. Even Hiei sat in the window in the wall just behind me. Then they each brought a present from behind their backs.
My eyes widened. No one had ever given me a present before. Yusuke quickly gave me his. "Go on, open it!" He encouraged. Slowly I ripped off the paper. Inside there was a pack of artist's pencils.
"Thank you," I said slowly, stunned.
He grinned widely and then there was another present in my lap.
From Kurama I got a snow globe with a black western dragon in it. From Koenma I got an I-tunes gift card. Itetsuku gave me a never melting ice shard and Tenka gave me a crystal that held his energy. "To light up dark places," he said. Finally came Kuwabara's. I unwrapped the lumpy package to find a small stuffed cat. It was black with green eyes and fur so soft it could have been made from cloud.
I smiled a small smile. My very first Christmas. "Thank you so much everyone."
And then Yusuke did something very unexpected. He hugged me. "Trust me kid," he said as he let me go. "You needed a good Christmas." The day passed with games and food and I actually had fun. When it was finally time to go to bed, I barely had the energy to move. That night, I slept soundly for the first time in years.
Dims: So that's chapter nine. No notes this time
Era: We hope you've enjoyed this chapter.
All of my oc's/muses: Happy Holidays!
