a/n: Important: please read endnote after this entry.


Emi- chan's diaries: Entry 4

July, late night

A distant sound had awoken him.

Slowly, Tetsuhiro opened his eyes and let the darkened interiors of the master bedroom slowly come into focus. The digital clock on the table glowed three a.m. Groaning, he shut his eyes again, wanting to go back to sleep.

The distant sound became louder, distilled into the crying of a child. Tetsuhiro's eyes flew open a second time, now fully awake. Ah, his baby was crying for milk.

He had to get out of bed. Tetsuhiro turned, intending to move but he paused when the warm weight beside him shifted and grumbled. He glanced back and an involuntary smile curved his lip. Sempai. Head tucked into Tetsuhiro's side, a hand splayed around his chest, Souichi was, in the unawareness of sleep, snuggled definitively against him.

Affection as heady as liquor rushed through him. Tetsuhiro gently stroked Souichi's hair, chuckling when the sleeping man shook his head, as though trying to shake off a fly. A sound of sluggish irritation escaped from his nose. Despite it, Souichi continued to stay in dreams, apparently too exhausted by their nighttime jaunts. And he should be. After washing off the chocolate from their bodies, both of them had retreated to their bedroom for the complete course and they had actually only drifted asleep just a while ago.

Careful not to jar his lover, Tetsuhiro sidled out of bed and made sure that Souichi was tucked in properly under the quilt. Sempai had let him have his way around him so the least that he could do was to let him sleep undisturbed. He would take care of Emi tonight.

After going downstairs to get the formula, Tetsuhiro was once again back upstairs, in the nursery. Emi's crying was magnified inside and he hurried to his hungry daughter. Scooping her up, he settled her into his arm and began to feed her.

"Hush little baby, don't say a word, Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird…"

At the first taste of the milk, Emi stopped crying. She began to suck contentedly at the bottle and Tetsuhiro sighed in relief. He sat down on a chair and rocked her gently as she fed, kissing her downy head every so often.

"Daddy and Papa are going to get married soon, baby. Are you happy for us?" Tetsuhiro whispered tenderly. In the cozy little room accompanied by lullabies and his daughter's scent, he had never felt more awake, or more blessed. All of his dreams had come true, tonight.

"Ba…uhupp…" Bottle nearly empty, Emi pushed the bottle away. She looked up at Tetsuhiro, her soulful eyes wise in her cherubic face. Then she smiled, a milky one, arms stretching up to him, chubby palms grabbing. "Ba!"

"Aye, aye, Papa is here. Good girl, Emi- chan. Good girl…" Tears were in his eyes. Tetsuhiro set the bottle down and stood up, holding Emi against his chest tightly.

I love you.


The end

A/N: This will be the last chapter of The Brightest Flame. After some consideration, I didn't want to write their wedding as a big bang ending for this arc, as I felt that their story has a flowing rhythm, like a river. A huge happy affair was a little, hmm, inconceivable. As such, for their wedding and marriage, I have decided to continue in the next instalment, entitled "Fiery Horizons"! Thank you for so patiently following this arc; without you, the reader, this Fire!verse would never have persisted.

Thank you, and see you in the next instalment!