AN: I know I just updated this fic but I really wanted to write this. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Eleven – The Beauty of Strength

Isabella grinned as Kuon picked her up and cuddled her close. She kissed his cheek before letting her head rest on his strong shoulder, "I love you, Daddy" she said sweetly as Kuon softened hearing that. He wasn't sure if they had spent enough time together for him to be loved by her. He still wanted to earn that part of her heart.

"Did you have a good day today?" he asked her as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Yeah. Grandma has these new paper models and we colored in their dresses," she said, "It was fun. Mom taught me to sew."

Kuon nodded before looking at Kyoko with a weak smile. She could tell he was channeling Ren Tsuruga and his eyes showed some pain that she could only do so because she had trained herself in Kuon's subtle body language. "So, did you decide what you want to do tonight?" he asked her and Isabella nodded.

"I want to eat Dominos and watch Beauty and the Beast," she smiled as Kuon nodded and hugged her. He turned to Kyoko before hearing his father speak.

"I'll go and get it and bring it here," he said as he still kept a careful eye on his son. He seemed to be acting okay for his daughter's sake. "You guys just tell me what you want."

"Mommy loves corn and mayonnaise. She always gets it. Mommy always smiles when she sees corn on the menus and she loves hamburger and egg and gets a side of corn too," Isabella smiled seeming not to know the meaning of why Kyoko loved the vegetable so much. Kyoko smiled to her husband and saw his understanding. Even if it was something as small as choosing a certain vegetable it showed how much she had missed him.

"Sounds good," Kuon nodded, "but what's your favorite, is it the same?"

Isabella shook her head, "I like the Chicken Terriyaki one. It tastes really yummy. You'll like it," she said as Kyoko opened her mouth but Kuon spoke before she could get any words out.

"Then I'm excited to try it. I'm sure it's delicious," he told her and Kyoko nodded. She didn't want him to force himself too much and she knew that eating had always been a problem for him. She looked back at Kuu and nodded.

"Okay, I'll go get it," he said as he looked at Kuon with a smile. This was how the last six years should have been. He looked at his son again before smiling, "I love you." With that he turned and left.

Kyoko reached out and placed her hand for a moment on Kuon's arm before going into the living room with them. She just wanted him to be alright.

…..

…..

Kyoko had been sitting and folding laundry at the house as she sat in front of the TV. She had managed to finally take a day off from work and was spending it with her daughter. She had slowed down her schedule whilst her husband was away and she had the following day with him. He had managed to find an earlier plane and switch his tickets so she would see him sooner.

It was so like him to try to do everything in his power to be with their family and he was the father and the husband. He was such an important person to both of them.

Kyoko was currently watching a rerun of a drama that she and Kuon had done together whilst he was still Ren Tsuruga to the public. She had learned so much from him. She had been so guided and protected by him. She loved him more than she had ever loved anybody.

All of a sudden there was a beep and the drama stopped. Kyoko looked up at it. Usually these would be special news alerts and she sometimes didn't want to see them and be reminded of the sadness and pain in the world.

"Sorry for the interruption but we have some sad news to report. The Nippon Airways flight number NH172 has reportedly crashed. We lost contact with the flight and it is thought that it has crashed. We'll have more information to share with you when we receive it."

Kyoko turned pale as she reached for the paper on which she had put the details for Kuon's flight. She froze and shook her head as she looked at the same number which they had reported. "Please be a mistake. Please don't leave me," she begged. She felt the tears flow from her eyes and she curled up, the pain was too much to take. He had taken an earlier flight so he could be with her. He hadn't originally scheduled that flight. He wasn't supposed to be on that plane.

"Kuon," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself.

The whole world seemed to be numb around her and she felt alone. This was worse than when Shou had said those things about her, in fact compared to this his words meant nothing. She closed her eyes but all she could see was his smiling face, all she could hear was his voice telling her that he loved her. She couldn't breathe.

She pinched herself but she couldn't wake herself up. This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen.

He couldn't leave her, he wouldn't. He had survived. He was out there. He wasn't dead.

She didn't feel as if he was dead.

However, the world offered her nothing as she fell onto the floor in a fetal position just shaking and feeling as if she was going to throw up a years-worth of food. She couldn't hear the drama anymore. All she could feel was the pain that her precious husband might be gone from this world.

…

…

Kyoko watched her husband and daughter more than the movie. She often watched princess movies with her daughter because she loved them so much but she had missed out on Kuon being a part of it. She loved how Isabella had rushed off to get her toys of the two main characters and handed Kuon the beast toy and he had been playing with her during the movie including them making the two toys dance together.

She felt tears in her eyes but turned away. She had missed him more than even she understood. He was the first person she had had mutual and unconditional romantic love with. He was the first guy who had always treated her like a princess. He was her Corn, her fairy prince.

She reached out for another piece of pizza and put it on her plate.

She loved him more than she could even understand. As the movie finished, she smiled and Isabella grinned as she danced in the room. Kyoko took this chance to snuggle up with her husband. "I love you, Kuon," she told him as she leaned up for a kiss.

At that point there was a knock on the door and Kyoko quickly kissed Kuon again before standing up. She walked over to the door and smiled as she saw Julie standing there with multiple bags from a few high-end men's fashion stores. She opened the door with a smile.

"I may have gone a little overboard," Julie smiled, "but I have all of the receipts so you can return any that he doesn't like. I have some more bags in the car."

Kyoko blinked before going to her purse, "How much do I –-"

"Please allow me to spoil my son," Julie asked with tears in her eyes. She froze as she saw him come out and stand in front of her. "Hi baby," she whispered before walking over to him and holding him. She cried onto his shirt and Kyoko took the chance to get the bags from the car for her.

"Hi, Mom" Kuon whispered as he held her. "You went shopping for me?"

"You don't have to keep any of them if you don't want. I'm so…" she sobbed again as she held him. She pulled back but placed one hand on each of his cheeks. "Darling, I can't even tell you how happy I am to see you again. I have my little boy back."

Kyoko grinned before counting the bags, there were eleven of them and then three shoe boxes in addition to that. Julie really had done a lot of shopping. She looked back at her mother-in-law and saw Isabella rush out to her and throw her arms around her grandmother. Kuon took a step back before looking at the bags.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to face the world outside," he told her nervously and Kyoko came over to him. One hand went through his hair whilst the other rested on his back. She kissed him again and nodded as she held onto his hand. "I just want to know why this happened," he said before Julie turned to them.

"Kyoko," she said as the younger woman looked up, "There's a postcard on the outside of the door," she told her and Kyoko blinked. She went to the other side of the door and saw the same symbol that the woman who had told her about the fountain of youth had told her about. On it was an address, a telephone number, and a handwritten message.

You can tell him but there will be punishments if our secret is revealed.

Kyoko looked at it and smiled in relief. Even if the whole world didn't understand it at least Kuon would. She knew how he kept secrets and this might be what helped him the most. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Julie, can you stay downstairs with Isabella for a few moments." She gestured to the bedroom, "Kuon, we need to talk."

Kuon nodded before following her until they were inside the bedroom. He turned to her nervously. "Did I do something wrong? I know that I was channeling a lot of Ren back there but it's important that -"

"Kuon," Kyoko said as she gave a soft smile and relaxed her body. "You haven't done anything wrong, please don't think that. I'm so proud of you and so happy that you managed to find a way of giving Isabella her father for tonight. I know that you're going through a lot and I might have some news that will help but I'm scared to tell you. No matter what you can't repeat this information to anyone. Can you promise me that?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

"I promise. What is it? What's so -" he asked nervously and Kyoko looked down.

"You're actually thirty-two years old," she said as he looked away with a sigh and tried to figure out how to tell her that he wasn't. "No, listen to me, you are actually thirty-two years old but you just look like a twenty-six year old. I was approached yesterday by a woman who was part of the tribal village that you crashed down near. You were in a coma for six years and were kept alive by a special medicine down there."

"Kyoko, if this is one of your things about -"

Kyoko sighed and handed him the postcard. "I'm telling you the truth. However, apparently the elixir that they gave you made it so that your body produces a changed blood or something and that will give you a youthful appearance and extend your life, but it's okay because it kept you alive. I learned this yesterday but was told never to tell anyone because if I do there's a chance that you'll die."

Kuon looked at her shocked before nodding slowly. "So, I'm not from an alternate timeline or in a very strange episode of an old episodic TV show?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head.

"You're thirty-two, Kuon, you just haven't aged physically. I think they are so worried about their culture and way of life being disturbed that they have to live in secrecy because imagine how corporations would tear up their land and battles would be fought," she said before reaching out for him. "If I had known that you were there, I would have gone there and stayed by your side. I would have learned their customs, their language, their way of life. I would have stayed every day by your bedside until you woke up but I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

Kuon sighed and walked over to her, he knelt before her and moved her into his arms from where she sat on the bed. "It's okay now that we're together," he told her, "You have nothing to apologize for. It's alright."

"I love you," Kyoko whispered into his chest. "More than anything else in this world, I love you, Corn."

"I love you too," he said as he held her. He had to admit though that he felt better knowing this but it was still scary to think about the future. If this was true would there be a day when Kyoko would die and he would still have to live. Even if she was an elderly woman and he still looked young, he wouldn't let her go. You never could let those you truly loved die.

End of Chapter Eleven

Thank you for reading

Thank you reviewers of Chapter Ten

Brennakai, PaulaGaTo, Richkey-Zero