Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaito is not mine.

Author's note: Sorry about the previous fake chapter post. A friend of mine had a bunch of her stories deleted before she could back them up (why she didn't have them saved before is beyond me), even though they told her she has 48 hours to delete them herself. So she ranted and I saw the petition and had to join. I really do understand why they were deleted, but I thought it wasn't fair that they didn't give her the full 48 hours they promised her. I also do agree that there should be a MA rating.

Anyway, here's the real chapter. Enjoy~

P.s. Sorry for the badly written chapter. I tried, but I couldn't get it to sound any better. T_T

O Pandora, Pandora, Wherefore art thou Pandora?

Chapter 12: and for thy name, which is no part of thee,

The next day found Shinichi escorting Kaito back to his house, after dropping off Hakuba at his own.

The thought of meeting Kaito's mother made him nervous. He was the reason her husband had died, had been killed. Kuroba Toichi, killed by Snake and his men, because he was looking for the legendary Pandora gem that never existed to keep it away from them. The Pandora they all were looking for was him and he knew about KID's search, but was not able to help.

"Mom, I'm home!" Kaito called out as they entered his house. "And there's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Welcome back Kaito," Chikage said as she entered the living room where they waited for her. Upon seeing Shinichi, she was quiet startled that her son would bring home a well known detective to meet her, but kept the thought to herself. It doesn't seem as if her son is in police custody, so it shouldn't be that he's realized who Kaitou KID is yet. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the great Kudo Shinichi?" She said pleasantly holding out her hand for him.

Shinichi took her hand in a shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kuroba-san." He greeted smoothly, hiding away his nervousness. Next thing he knew, Kaito had him in a very tight hug from behind.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend. He helped put Snake and his gang behind bars and told me where Pandora is! Isn't he the greatest?" Kaito said excitedly.

Chikage stood with her mouth hanging, not really sure what part of anything her son said shocked her the most. When she finally regained her wits, she found herself already seated on the couch. "Kaito," She started slowly, her eyes watching Shinichi suspiciously as she spoke, "Please start from the beginning, I don't think I quiet understand what you're saying."

"Don't worry, he knows about KID and even caught Snake without the public knowing. It's why you didn't hear anything about it in the news. Even I didn't know about it until yesterday when he told me." Kaito held his mother gently in his arms, not wanting her to panic. "He's not going to put me in jail."

His mother still had her eyes on the detective, suspicion deflating a bit. "Are you sure?"

Kaito let go of his mother to stand next to her as Shinichi knelt in front of her, taking her hands, cupping them in his, "I'm sure. Kaito has done nothing worth putting behind bars." He smiled at her, "KID has stolen nothing. Everything's been returned and no one was killed. Nothing worth putting behind bars in my eyes."

Chikage took in everything he said and his unvoiced love in his beautiful blue eyes, which spoke of much past sorrow, for her son. "And what of Pandora? Where is it?"

Shinichi made a quick glance at Kaito, hesitating before looking back at her with a small amount of fear in his eyes when he finally answered. "I am Pandora, Kuroba-san. I'm sorry for all the suffering I have caused for your family. I really am." Then he told of how he knew of the first KID and what he was searching for, how he's been watching over her family in his husband's stead, how it is that he is Pandora without telling too much of the past, why he stayed quiet, and why he's decided to finally tell them about Pandora; all the while holding her hands gently.

Chikage pulled Shinichi into a hug, startling him. "You poor thing. There is nothing to be sorry for. You only did what you felt was right. It was Snake and all the other killers out there that should be sorry. Thank you for watching out for us this whole time." She said quietly to him.

He could feel the relief well up in him as she spoke, the tears falling on their own accord. His being has caused so much grief for this family, even taking someone important from them, and yet they both didn't put any blame on him. Shinichi put his arm around her to pull her into a hug and buried his face into her shoulder. "Thank you."

-*/-*/

The day of the full moon, Kaito invited Aoko and Hakuba with him to meet Shinichi at Beika Park after school. He even called Ran and asked Hattori to invite Shinichi's 'children' (Please tell them to leave their scariness at home. We wouldn't want them to scare away the kids at the park now do we?"). Kazuha couldn't make it in time from Osaka and made Hattori promise to tell her what was going on later.

Shinichi waited on a bench at the park he promised to meet Kaito at for their date and was surprised when Ran arrived. Hearing that Kaito asked her to be there, he wondered what thief was up to. Then Hattori showed up with Vermouth, Gin, Vodka, Korn, and Chianti, all dressed normally; not in their usual black trench coats. Then Hakuba and Aoko arrived, but no Kaito.

"He disappeared right when we walked into the park." Aoko huffed with her fist on her hips.

At that moment a cloud of smoke appeared before Shinichi and cleared to reveal Kaito down on one knee with a small blue velvet box held up to Shinichi.

"My mom told me to I had to do this properly if I'm to be with you the rest of my life." He grinned cheekily. "So, Kudo Shinichi, will you marry me?" He opened up the box to reveal the Eternal Heart diamond glistening in the sunlight.

Shinichi blushed as he stared at the diamond, confused and not looking at the thief. "Kaito? That's not a ring is it?"

"Of course not! It's way too big to put on a ring." He scoffed. He held the box in one hand made a ring appear in the other. "This is the ring. So…is that a yes?" He asked.

"Please tell me why you have one of KID's past heist target in your hand first."

"Mom bought it for our wedding gift. I think it fits us perfectly. It's called the Eternal Heart and it's just for you."

"Your mother bought you a billion yet diamond for you to give to me?" Shinichi said disbelievingly. "Why?"

"She really likes you and this actually belonged to a good friend of hers, so they gave it to her as thanks for all her help."

"I've only met her once." Shinichi deadpanned.

"She knows a good jewel when she sees one." He gave a wink. "So? Are you just going to leave me hanging?"

Shinichi pulled Kaito up from his kneeling position and into a hug. "Of course the answer is yes." He said quietly.

Kaito moved him to give him a kiss and cried out for the others to hear. "Yes! He said yes!" And proceed to jump for joy.

Shinichi had actually forgotten the others were there and blushed again when they came to congratulate the two.

They threw a party there at the park after the excitement died down. Vermouth pulled Vodka with her to buy the food. No one seemed to question who the older members of the group were. They were just accepted as Shinichi's friends he met on cases, or Kaito's strange friends. They mostly kept to themselves, not wanting to accidently say something unnecessary, but still enjoyed themselves, or as much as it was possible for them. Vermouth had no problem mingling with the younger crowd with her status as a famous actress. Chianti on the other hand scowled and glared at Kaito the whole time.

After the festivities and night fall came with the full moon high in the dark sky, Shinichi pulled Hattori and Kaito with him into the backyard.

"Heiji, I haven't told you yet, but if your family still want to keep track of me and be my self-proclaimed nanny-"

"Bodyguard!"

"-then you're going to need to know that you'll have Kaito to watch over too."

"Yeah, I kinda figured. We already knew and accepted that you never told us everything, but it was all to protect yourself and everyone else. So my dad and I understand. Do what you need. We stand by any decisions you make."

"Thanks, Heiji. Ready Kaito? Just to warn you, I've never done this before, so I'm not sure what will happen."

"It's fine. I trust you and I'm ready."

They both stood under the moonlight with Shinichi's body glowing a steady pink. He made a small cut on his finger with a knife and let the blood gather into a small ball on his fingertip. The three of them watched as the ball of blood glow and crystallize.

Once it finished solidifying, Shinichi placed the small rock on to Kaito's hand and told him to swallow it.

"Looks like Garnet." He said holding it up to the moon out of habit before swallowing it without hesitation. Once taken, he glowed white, slowly turning pink, then red before collapsing into Shinichi's arm.

With Heiji's help, they had Kaito back in the house and in a bed with the curtains open for the moon to shine at the glowing Kaito.

"How is he? Did it work?" Heiji asked.

"He's fine. It worked. He should be awake in the morning. Thanks Heiji. Really."

"Don't mention it. I'm use to your crazy and selfish ways. What's one more selfish request?" He gave his friend a grin, letting him know he was joking. "Though, I do feel sorry for my children for having to put up with the both of you. One was bad enough, but two?"

Author's Note: And the epilogue follows.