Author's notes: I can't even remember when it was last time I had so much fun writing a chapter. Don't get me wrong, I just love writing angst (and I couldn't leave it out of this chapter either), but it's been so much since last time I wrote more light-hearted stuff that I missed it XD Of course, the chapter ended up getting longer than it was supposed to be – I pretty much gave up on trying to keep each chapter exactly the way I had planned before start writing :P

Enjoy!


Yuki couldn't help but feel a little amused by how familiar it felt watching the monkey ninja carrying the tray with breakfast in her room the next morning. Alright, maybe the sunlight pouring from the window wasn't that familiar – there was a storm going on the whole time she had been there, after all – but overall, she didn't felt as out of place as she had expected.

She did however feel a tad uncomfortable as she stepped in the living room. There was no one in sight, and for a moment she wondered where everyone was – until she heard a familiar screeching coming from the dojo. Of course, she thought as she went downstairs, he was probably training with his monkey ninjas already. Yuki felt a pang of nostalgia as she remembered how she and Monty used to train together before she left, and she wondered if things would ever be the same again.

She smiled a little as she leaned on the doorway, watching the scene before her. Focused as he was on the training, Monkey Fist hadn't seen her, and her smile widened as she saw his concentrated expression as he swiftly blocked the attacks coming from his monkey ninjas. By looking at him moving, it was hard to believe how seriously injuried he had been just a few months before.

"Don't leave your side unguarded," he barked at one of the monkeys, snapping her from her thoughts "it would have taken me a moment to seriously hurt you, you fool – and I might not hold back next time."

Yuki had to laugh at his statement – he knew perfectly that he wouldn't hit his minion anyway, no matter how much he threatened to do so, and she was sure the monkeys knew it as well. Both Monkey Fist and the monkey ninjas suddenly stopped training to turn to look at her, unaware of her presence until that moment.

"You're awake," he stated uneasily, gesturing his monkey ninjas to leave – the morning training session was over.

"Brilliant deduction," Yuki mocked him a little, then she glanced around "it seems like forever since last time we trained together," she said, an odd melancholy in her voice.

Yes, it did feel like an eternity. "We could train now if you want to," he suggested, but she shook her head.

"I'm pregnant, remember? I should avoid fighting, it might hurt the baby."

"Oh, right," Monkey Fist swallowed, feeling even uneasier as she reminded him about the child. There was a brief silence, both of them avoiding each other's gaze – the previous days had been filled with such uneasy moments as well.

"Do you remember when I kissed you that day?" she suddenly asked with a smirk, her eyes a little glazed.

Monkey Fist nodded, smiling a little at the memory. "That's not something I'm likely to forget any time soon," he said, and she chuckled.

"Hey, you told me to play dirty."

"Yes, but that wasn't exactly what I meant…"

Yuki grinned. "Complaints?"

He shook his head. "No, I have absolutely no complaints," he said, and he frowned slightly as he noticed how she kept rubbing her arms through the garb "is everything alright?"

"More or less," she said, making a face "it' that woollen nightgown – it prickles. What happened to the other one?" she asked, scratching her shoulder.

Monkey Fist bit his lower lip as he remembered how he had thrown it in the fire in a fit of rage because it reminded him of her while he was about to betray her. "Er…there was an accident."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Accident?"

"Yes," he lied, shrugging – telling her the truth would only hurt her further, after all "that's what I get for letting the monkeys do laundry. I guess you should buy another one among other things."

She nodded. "Good idea," she said, holding back a groan at the thought of having to go shopping "speaking of which – when are you planning to go?"

"How about this afternoon? I have to pass by Crandall's study today anyway, and there are some stores not very far from there."

Yuki blinked. "Crandall?"

"The colleague I told you about," he said, avoiding her gaze "I have to bring him some documents about…well, about the Obsidian Monkey," he almost expected her to say something to make her distrust clear, but she just nodded, swallowing as he mentioned that cursed item.

"I understand," she said, but she didn't look at him.

"I told you, I'm leaving it to the museum. You can come with me to make sure I'm not lying if you want to."

Yuki bit her lower lip. Yes, his willingness to let her come with him to check what he was doing should have been enough of a proof to believe him…but after all, she had fallen in a similar trick once already. She didn't really think he would betray her again, yet…

She gasped as he took a step forward and tilted up her chin to look in her eyes. "Yuki, if I had really wanted to get back to crime I wouldn't have asked you to stay, don't you think?" he asked, and she nodded – it was true, he could have easily gotten rid of her just telling her to go away "I swear on my mother's grave that I'm not lying," he said quietly, his eyes fixed on hers "I beg you to believe me."

Yuki sighed, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "I know," she finally said, "and I believe you, I guess. I'm just…scared. I'll get over it," she smiled weakly "so…what were you saying about this afternoon?"


That second meeting with Crandall had been much shorter than the previous one – they didn't even need to get inside his study, really. Monkey Fist just handled to him some other documents he had translated already and reassured him that yes, he would definitely keep him informed about the progresses while translating the rest of the book.

Crandall had just given Yuki a curious glance and muttered a polite 'pleased to meet you,' as Monkey Fist had quickly introduced her as the one who had helped him to translate some pages written in ancient Japanese – it would have been definitely too awkward to tell him the truth, after all – then he had immediately turned his attention back to the documents, babbling about stuff she couldn't understand, and he hadn't even looked in her direction again.

It wasn't like Yuki had cared, anyway – she felt so relieved upon getting a real proof that Monty had indeed told her the truth about his business in London that she almost didn't mind the fact she was about to spend a whole afternoon doing something she absolutely despised.

Almost.

"Is it absolutely necessary for me to come with you?" Monkey Fist tried to take a step back, looking at the shop on the other side of the street as if it was some horrible trap. Actually, he would have been far too happy to explore some ancient temple filled with deadly traps rather than being there "I could wait for you outside..."

"Forget it," Yuki grabbed his arm before he could back away "I already spared you the torture of coming with me while buying that stuff for myself," she pointed out – not even she was cruel enough to force him to get inside a ladies store, but she was not getting the stuff for the baby alone.

"We could do this some other day," he tried to suggest, and Yuki rolled her eyes – it was like trying to force a kid to eat broccoli, she mused.

Yes, maybe it was a tad early for that considering that there were still about five months left before she gave birth, but she would rather get all the shopping done in one day rather than having to go through shopping again. Besides, she already felt terribly tired now – she wasn't sure she wanted to know just how tired she would feel the whole day in a few months.

Despite her own hate for shopping, the unhappy expression on Monkey Fist's face as they stepped inside made her laugh whole-heartedly for the first time in a while. "Oh, don't worry – you've had worst moments. You'll survive."

"I beg to differ," he muttered as he glanced around, clearly uncomfortable at the sight of a pile of pink teddy bears. Why pink, he wondered as he passed by: as far as he could remember, his old teddy bear had been brown. He was about to voice his thoughts, but he quickly changed his mind as he realized that should Yuki ever know that he did have a teddy bear as a child he would never hear the end of it. Trying to ignore the dread that pervaded his mind each time he thought that he was about to become a father, he turned away from the teddy bears, just to meet an even more terrifying sight.

"Dear Lord," he muttered, taking a step back as he saw a shelf filled with hundreds of those…abominations that DNAmy loved so much and that would have made any zoologist cry – how could any child just look at one of those without start bawling was beyond him. He turned around to not see them, and he cringed as he saw a couple passing by with a child that kept screaming as if someone was skinning him alive.

Now that he thought about it, his mother had often told him that he used to scream so much that she and his father didn't get one single night of rest until he was about ten or eleven months old: should his child do the same thing, he doubted both of them would make it out of it alive. Yet another reason to be worried, he thought with a grimace.

Yuki couldn't help but smirk as she saw how out of place he looked, surrounded by shelves full of colourful baby items – he would probably be more comfortable exploring some dangerous jungle rather than being there, she mused. But he was there even though it took him all his willpower to not run outside, and she felt like it was more than she could ask from him. Besides, it was a good thing to see how uncomfortable he was – it kept her distracted by how uneasy she was herself.

"I guess we should…uhu…look for clothes first," she said, looking around "and for a crib," she added. She had no idea of what else the child could need aside for such necessities and other stuff like diapers, and he didn't seem able to help her out. What did he know about infants after all?

"I completely agree," Monkey Fist said as he finally managed to turn his gaze away from that shelf, eager to get things done as soon as he could. After all, how many things could a newborn child possibly need?


It turned out there were lots of things a newborn child could need after all. By the time they made it out of the store, two hours had passed and the shopping cart was overloaded with clothes, toys and random baby items that looked absolutely useless to him. The crib would be delivered directly to the castle in a couple of days, the sales man had told him as he handled him back his credit card, and Monkey Fist wasn't sure he did want to know exactly how much he had spent for all that stuff.

He had been about to complain about how much they had spent for a lot of – in his opinion – useless stuff (why should one single child need four rattles anyway?), but Yuki had quickly reminded him that someone who had spent a whole fortune to get genetic mutation on his hands and feet wasn't exactly someone whose opinions on 'useless expenses' she was willing to listen, so he had given up: he didn't really have much to say in his defence on that point.

Yet he couldn't help but frown a little as he stuffed the bags inside the car, a sudden thought occurring to him. "Yuki," he said, looking down at a blue sleepsuit that had fallen from one of the bags together with a feeding bottle (just in case breast-feeding didn't work, she had said) "are you sure it is a male?"

"Well…" she hesitated. Yes, she was sure of it – but it was just a sensation she had, and there was nothing scientific in her certainty "Yes, I'm pretty sure it's a boy," she finally said "why do you ask?"

Monkey Fist held up the blue sleepsuit. "Because if you're wrong and it is a female, this would be a perfect way to give her a sexual identity crisis."

Yuki couldn't help but snicker. "Well…I guess you have a point," she finally said.

"I always do."

"Oh, don't start," she hesitated a little as she looked at the sleepsuit, then she glanced down at her stomach "maybe I should make an appointment with a doctor," she finally said, the idea occurring to her for the first time – she was still sure the child she was carrying was a boy, but… "you know, to check if everything is alright."

She seemed suddenly worried now, Monkey Fist mused as they got inside the car. "I'm sure nothing's wrong," he said, trying to reassure her somewhat "but I can make an appointment if you want to be sure."

"Good idea," Yuki just said, breathing a little easier as she sat more comfortably on the passenger seat, trying to adjust the security belt on her stomach. No, there was nothing wrong with her child. A baby that keeps kicking like that can't have problems, right? She blinked as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Monty…the genetic mutation you had to your hands and feet will not be passed down to the baby, right?"

"Uhu…" Monkey Fist hesitated, unsure – truth to be told, the thought had never crossed his mind until that moment "I…it wouldn't, I guess."

"Which means you don't know it for sure."

"Well, I never asked. I…wasn't planning to ever have a child anyway," he said, feeling terribly uneasy.

Yuki clenched her jaw. "Yeah, you definitely had other plans," she said a little bitterly, and he winced.

"Yuki…"

She sighed – now she was being unfair to him, considering that she now knew he wasn't lying when he said that he wasn't trying to get Mystical Monkey Power anymore and that he had really followed her in that stupid baby store. Not to mention that now he was genuinely showing concern for the baby's health and he had offered to make her an appointment with a doctor.

"Alright, forget what I said – I'm just tired, I guess," she put a hand on her stomach "isn't there…any way to know it for sure?" she asked. It wasn't like it really mattered if the child had monkey hands and feet after all, but…it would be hard explaining him the reason of that difference, she thought.

Monkey Fist hesitated. "I could ring the genetist who gave me these limbs to ask," he said, sounding less than enthusiast at the idea of speaking with DNAmy. Yes, she seemed to have turned her attention elsewhere, but the thought was still less than thrilling.

Yuki just nodded, completely unaware that said genetist and Monty's 'Number one Fangirl' were indeed the same person. "Yes, please," she said softly, leaning back her head and closing her eyes – she felt more tired than ever. There was a brief silence as he pushed back a few bags on the back seat to they wouldn't get in the way. "Well…it wasn't so bad," she mused, looking at the bags. Monkey Fist just raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, alright, it was bad," she admitted "but you know…you handled yourself better than I expected."

He shuddered. "Just promise me we're never getting in there again."

"Not in the near future," she promised with a chuckle "though I think that spending an afternoon in baby store isn't much comparing to what we're going to face," there was a brief silence, both of them feeling terribly nervous at the thought of the hard task ahead of them.

"Monty?" she called again.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for not believing you completely earlier," she said quietly, reaching out grab his hand "I was just terrified…you know..."

Monkey Fist felt incredibly relieved at her words – she did believe him then. "It doesn't matter, it was obvious you –" he trailed off, and he frowned as he noticed how tired she looked now "how do you feel?"

"Tired," she replied, her voice sounding unusually weak as she closed her eyes "let's go home."

Monkey Fist just nodded and started the engine, saying nothing, an odd warmth spreading in his chest as he realized she had referred to the castle as their home.


"We still haven't decided in which room we should keep the child," Monkey Fist muttered a couple of days later as he watched the monkey ninjas bringing the crib inside the living room, where are the baby items they had bought two days before were still stuffed.

"How about the room next to ou…I mean, next to yours? It's empty, if I'm not mistaking," Yuki suggested without even getting up from the armchair – she had being feeling terribly tired that whole day.

Monkey Fist grimaced at the thought. "Isn't it too close?" he asked, causing Yuki to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, that's kind of the point," she said "do you have other solutions?"

"There is plenty of rooms downstairs," he said "we could –"

"Downstairs? How could we hear him if he starts crying?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"We couldn't – that's the point," Monkey Fist blinked as he saw her expression "…I get the feeling you don't like the idea."

"Oh, really?" she said sarcastically "and what are you planning to do in case he starts crying, let him go on and on until he falls asleep again?"

"I'm sure the monkey ninjas may take care of it," he just said.

Yuki blinked. "You are kidding, aren't you?"

"Uh…" he shifted slightly under her gaze "actually, I'm not."

She groaned. "Monty, I like you monkeys. Really, I do. They're fun to have around, they can clean up, they can fight, they can make tea, and they can definitely cook better than the lunch lady in Yamanouchi. But there is one thing I won't let them do, and it is taking care of our child," she emphasized the last words, causing him to wince "he's going to need us. I don't like the idea of waking up in the middle of the night, or changing nappies, or breast-feeding…" she paused as she realized it was rather unlikely for Monty to ever be able to breast-feed anyone "alright, forget the last part. Anyway, I don't like the idea of having to do all this any better than you do – but it's our responsibility. You can't always let someone else do what you don't want to do."

Monkey Fist just blinked, staring at her as if she had suddenly grown antlers or something. She sighed.

"Alright, let's sum up – the baby will stay upstairs, and we are the ones who will get up to take care of whatever he may need should he start crying at whatever hour of day and night. Not you monkeys. Got it now?" she snapped.

He dropped his shoulders. Yes, what she had said did make sense, but the idea didn't precisely fill him with enthusiasm. "You're not going to accept any protest, are you?"

"No, I'm not," she tried to sound stern, but she couldn't help but smile at his expression "hey, don't look at me as if I just sentenced you to death," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing a little "I'm sure you'll do a good job."

Monkey Fist just nodded, not looking convinced at all, but Yuki felt too tired to start repeating again and again he didn't have to worry so much – she would deal with it the next day, she decided. She was about to say she was going to sleep when her stomach grumbled, and she suddenly felt very much awake. And, most of all, hungry.

"Hey, is there any chance we could get some strawberries right now?"

Monkey Fist blinked, taken aback by her suddenly topic change. "Excuse me?"

"Strawberries, I said. Possibly with some ice cream. And chocolate. Is that possible?" she asked, and he sighed inwardly as he realized she was having food cravings. Well, it could be worse after all – he remembered his mother telling him she used to wake up in the middle of the night with a terrible craving for a bloody steak when she was expecting with him, so he guessed it could be worse.

He just hoped Yuki wouldn't start to crave for fried chicken or something in the middle of the night – since he was a vegetarian, there was no meat in the castle.

"Strawberries it is, then," he said "there should be some left in the kitchen – it hasn't been much since the last delivery from the market."

"With ice cream. And chocolate."

This time, he couldn't help but smirk. He actually didn't eat such things, but for once he was grateful that some of his monkey ninjas had a sweet tooth. "Of course. All the chocolate you want."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I'm sounding like a kid whining for sweets, ain't I?"

"Just a little," he said with a grin. Well, at least she hadn't asked for some excessively disgusting combination. It was nowhere as tragic as he had been led to believe, he thought.


Of course he had been wrong, he mused the next morning as he knocked at the door of the bathroom where Yuki was currently throwing up. Well, not completely wrong – as he had expected, Yuki hadn't eaten any disgusting combination of food. What he hadn't expected was the quantity of strawberries with chocolate and ice cream she had eaten the night before (was it even possible for a human being to eat so much?), and much less the results they had on her combined to the pregnancy.

"Yuki?" he called "are you feeling alright?"

From inside came a muffled response, which sounded like Yuki wanted him to do something extremely unpleasant with a pair of scissors. Monkey Fist cringed at the thought.

"I suppose I should take it as a no," he said as the door opened and Yuki stepped out, paler than he had ever seen her since that day in the cave temple, when he had thought she was dead. The memory of how the shock and pain he had felt was almost unbearable, and he quickly chased it away from his mind.

"Do I look like I'm feeling alright?" Yuki just asked, her voice rather croaky.

"Well…not really," Monkey Fist glanced worriedly at the dark shadows under her eyes "do you need something?"

"Aside for a pair of scissors?"

"Do you really have to keep saying that?"

Yuki grinned weakly. "Yes. It's fun watching you squirm."

"I don't find it funny at all."

"It doesn't surprise me," Yuki took a step forward, but she staggered back and leaned on the wall as another wave of nausea washed over her "dang it," she muttered as she closed her eyes, her head spinning.

"You should go to bed," Monkey Fist stated, reaching out to take her hand, and she just nodded, leaning on him a little as she took a few steps towards her room.

"I'm going. You sill have to ring that genetist to ask if there's any possibility that the monkey DNA got passed down to the baby," she reminded him, causing him to shudder.

"Is that really necessary? I'm sure I would have been told in case there could be that possibility…"

"Monty."

"Alright, fine. I'll do that as soon as you get back in your room to rest," he said – he would rather have nobody around during that phone call. Yuki just nodded: sick as she was, she had failed to see the unhappy expression on his face. Monkey Fist wondered what would she have said had she known who the genetist in question was – she would have probably wanted to listen the phone call just to tease him, he mused.

"And remember to make an appointment with a doctor to check the baby's health," she said as she stepped in her room, and she paused on the doorway for a moment "I'm being terribly commanding lately," she stated with a sheepish grin "sorry about that, but I'm always so anxious…"

"I know," Monkey Fist hesitated for a moment before reaching to brush a few strands of hair from her face "I'll take care of everything – now get some rest, will you?"

Yuki made a face. "Who are you, and what have you done with Monty?"

He folded his arms. "Why, I'm hurt. You seem to be constantly forgetting I'm a gentleman," he said, pretending to be outraged.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, your Lordship – I'll keep that in mind from now on," she teased, playfully tapping his nose before closing the door behind her. Monkey Fist sighed as he walked downstairs as grabbed the phone with the same enthusiasm he would show while signing his death sentence.


Monkey Fist let out a frustrated groan as he glanced at the clock, ignoring Killigan's rambling from the other side of the line – one hour had passed already since when he had tried to call for the first time. At first, he couldn't contact DNAmy in any way: her phone kept ringing, but he got no reply. He was about to give up and decide to try another day when he had remembered something Stoppable had mentioned in Libya – something rather disturbing about Killigan and DNAmy dating – so he had decided to make another attempt and call at Killigan's place to see if she was there.

It had turned out she was there – the thought alone was enough to give him the creeps – and now he was having a hell of a time to convince a rather wary Duff Killigan that he really just wanted to ask her about a detail of his mutation. How could he ever expect Killigan to be so jealous over Amy Hall of all people?

"For the last time, Killigan," he growled, a headache building on in his skull "I'm not interested in her in any way. You can just keep her, thank you so much – I only need her to answer to one simple question about my mutation. After that, I'll be most glad to hang the phone and never hear a word from either of you again."

"Och, ye better be telling the truth, monkey boy," Killigan snorted, but he finally seemed convinced "where have ye been lately anyway? Ye missed the last convention, and I didn't see ye at Drakken's medal ceremony – would ye believe the lad helped to save the world? I always said he was a lousy villain…"

"I've been abroad," Monkey Fist said vaguely "now, may I speak with Amy? It's rather important."

Killigan grumbled something else, but he eventually went to call her. Thank God, Monkey Fist thought as he braced himself for the shrill that was surely about to come from the other side of the line.

"Monty!" as expected, DNAmy's gleeful shrill caused him to grimace, holding the phone a tad more distant from his ear as she began blabbering "where have you been, you naughty boy? I was staring to get worried, none of us heard from you in months and…oh, don't be silly, Duffy, you know you're my pookie bear," she giggled, causing Monkey Fist shudder at the mental image.

"I apologize for bothering you," he finally said, a tad relieved by her friendly behaviour: considering how their last meeting had been like, she could as well have refused to speak with him or to reply to any of his questions rather that treating him like some old friend – she probably just wasn't one to hold grudge, thankfully. "I just had a doubt about my genetic mutation, and…no, no, there is no problem, really. I was just wondering…" he sighed, bracing himself for the worst "should I hypothetically – hypothetically, mind you – ever have…well, children…would the monkey DNA be passed down?"

There was a moment of silence, and for an instant Monkey Fist thought she hadn't heard him – then she squealed in delight, causing him to hold the phone far from his ear again. Yes, she had definitely heard him, he thought as she began babbling excitedly about how cute a Baby Monty would be, how lucky he was, how much she'd love having a child herself and asking again and again if there was really a baby coming, making him fervently hope Duff Killigan wasn't there to listen. "Yes, yes, indeed," he muttered quickly as she paused – she had to breathe at some point "so, uh…would the monkey DNA be passed down or not?"

"Oh, of course not, silly – they would have no monkey features at all. Did you want it to be passed down?" she asked, and Monkey Fist hesitated for a moment – truth to be told, he wouldn't have minded at all: monkey hands and feet would make the child more agile in his opinion (he was going to teach his child Tai Shing Pek Kwar, of course), but he doubted Yuki would have been as happy.

He quickly reassured DNAmy that it was perfectly fine like that and that he was just curious, thank you very much for the help, then he hung the phone before she could ask anything more. Well, he thought with sigh of relief and a faint sense of wonder as he picked up the phone again to make an appointment with a doctor for the next week, it had really been easier than he had expected.


"I told you it was a boy," Yuki couldn't help but smirk as he held the paper in front of his nose for the seventh time since when they got back to the castle. Monkey Fist chuckled at the almost childish glee on her face – she had been extremely relieved upon knowing the baby was perfectly healthy and developing well.

"It was just to be perfectly sure," he said, looking down at the sonogram. He squinted, and he felt his heart skip a beat as he finally detected the baby's profile in that mess of black and grey lines. He stared down at the sonogram for a while, speechless at the idea that he was indeed looking at his son.

"Still worried?" Yuki asked, sitting next to him.

"Aren't you?"

"Yes. A lot," she smiled a little, pinching his ear "but we're not doing that bad for now."

"He isn't even born yet. How can you say if we're doing well or not?"

"Hey, I'm trying to be optimistic here," she said, leaning against his shoulder. It was little more than a week since when she had come back, and she had been both surprised and relieved to see things seemed to be gradually getting more and more like before between them. Of course, neither of them would ever forget what had happened and Monty was still uncomfortable about the child, but for now things were going better than she had ever dared to hope. At least now they felt much less uneasy in each other's presence, she mused. "Relax, I don't think parenthood ever killed anyone," she said, running a hand through his hair.

"There's always a first time," he muttered, but he was grinning a little himself. He hesitated for a moment, then he rested his hand on her stomach. "He's kicking."

Yuki made a face. "He never stops kicking now," she said "I bet he'll make a heck of a ninja someday."

Monkey Fist chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure he will. Especially if he takes after me," he mocked her a little.

"Very funny," she muttered, lightly slapping his hand "what makes you think he would take after you anyway?" she said, amuse. How typical of him, assuming that the child would take after him.

He shrugged. "Because. Don't tell me you would mind if he looked like me," he smirked, and she chuckled.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint then, but Asian genes are dominant over yours, so he's more likely to resemble me," she said with a smirk "deal with it."

"Oh," he just said with a slight frown, sounding a little disappointed "how do you know that?"

"The doctor told me. Hey, don't tell me you would mind if he looked like me," she taunted, still leaning on his shoulder – he was so warm, and leaning on him like that felt familiar and comforting.

His smirked a little, his lips brushing on her forehead. "Is there a way to say 'yes' without getting slapped?"

Yuki laughed and slapped him lightly, mumbling something that sounded much like 'self-centered jerk' before falling silent.

There was a long, peaceful silence as they just stayed there, enjoying each other's presence. The silence was however eventually broken by the chime of the clock, and Monkey Fist sighed. "It's getting late," he said, glancing down at her "I think I should –" he trailed off as he saw that she had fallen asleep, her head still resting on his shoulder "…go to sleep," he finished weakly. She could have told him that she was so sleepy, he mused as he cradled her in his arms and carried her up to her room, careful to not wake her up.

She had gotten heavier than before, he thought as he leaned her on her bed…but he definitely wasn't going to tell her that. He briefly glanced at her stomach and swallowed – he wasn't sure he would ever get used to the idea he was about to be a parent – then he turned to leave, but he stopped as her hand suddenly grabbed his. "Don't leave," she murmured, her eyes barely open "stay."

"What?" Monkey Fist glance uncomfortably own at her – it would be the first time they shared a bed since when she had left the castle after the end of the storm "Yuki, are you sure…?"

Her grip on his hand tightened. "Yes, I'm sure," she said "please, stay."

He hesitated for another moment, then he finally lay on the bed next to her, feeling a little awkward. Yuki, however, didn't seem to care – maybe she wasn't fully awake, he mused as she curled against him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she buried her face in his neck. Monkey Fist tensed a little as he felt her warm breath against his skin, then he finally wrapped his arms around her as well – and while Yuki fell asleep almost immediately he stayed awake for long, his eyes wide open, staring blankly into the darkness.


"There is no escape from here, Yuki," Monkey Fist gave a maniacal laugh as he walked closer, towering over her. She seemed too shocked by the realization he was ready to kill her that she couldn't bring herself to move – she could just stare at him with wide eyes as he approached. Despite his evident rage he walked towards her slowly, as if wanting to savour the moment, and insane grin on his face. His hands kept clenching as if he was impatient to wrap them around her neck, to choke the living daylights out of her. How could those hands be the same ones who had so often stroked her hair as they lay next to each other in the dark? The thought chilled her to the bones.

His hands were around her neck before she had enough time to scream, let alone to react. She stared ahead to see his eyes, darkened with fury. She tried to break free from his grasp, but he was too strong and she just couldn't fight him off – she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. All she could do was staring at him until everything slowly went black…

"NO!" Yuki cried out as she woke up with a start, her eyes wide, her whole body trembling. In her panic, it took her a few moments to realize she had been dreaming. She took a deep shaky breath, trying to calm down, and her hand instinctively went to her throat.

"Yuki?"

She winced as she the light was turned on, her heart skipping a beat as she saw him next to her, looking at her with concern. It took her a moment to remember why he was there. "I…I had a nightmare," she finally muttered, trying to breathe normally again. She felt terribly stupid to say that, but what else could she say?

"A nightmare?" he asked, surprised – she never has such problems before "what kind of nightmare?"

Yuki hesitated, then she just shrugged: telling him the truth would only pain him, no doubt. "Nothing in particular, I already forgot," she lied, her voice still trembling slightly. He didn't seem convinced by her reply – she was not such a good liar. He tentatively reached out for her, and she instinctively tensed, trying to avoid his touch as if it terrified her: for a single dreadful instant she was irrationally sure he was about to kill her like he almost had in the cave temple. Monkey Fist stared at her for a few moments, his hand still lingering in mid-air, then he put it down with a heavy heart as he finally understood.

"It was about me, wasn't it?" he asked, his voice sounding terribly hollow. Yuki swallowed and nodded, still avoiding to look at him.

"It was about what happened in the cave, when you…tried to…" he voice broke, and there was a long, heavy silence.

"God…" Monkey Fist whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands. Under other circumstance and had it been someone else, he would have been amused by the idea of causing someone to have nightmares – maybe even slightly proud in some twisted way: he liked being feared after all. But this was different: knowing that Yuki had woken up crying in the after dreaming about the horrible things he had done to her, her terrified expression when she had turned to look at him…that was simply unbearable – he felt nothing but regret and shame. How could she not despise him?

"Do you want me to get out?" he finally asked after what seemed like an eternity, without turning to look at her. He didn't want to see that fear in her eyes again when she looked at him, and he couldn't find words to comfort her. How could he comfort her while she just had a nightmare about him trying to kill her?

Yuki bit her lower lip as he spoke, cursing herself for telling him the truth. It crushed her watching him like that, but she couldn't bring herself to speak – there was indeed a part of her that just wished him to leave the room…yet the idea of being alone was even scarier.

C'mon, stop behaving like a child. It was just a stupid dream, it's not like the Boogeyman is chasing you…

But it happened. It happened for real…or, at least, it is what would have happened if only–

Yes, but that's the past – the future is all that matters now, and your future is with him. In case you haven't noticed, the Boogeyman himself is currently tormenting himself with guilt for what he did. He's worried for you – he loves you, you twit, so quit being so melodramatic and stop thinking about that stupid nightmare.

Monkey Fist nodded slowly as he got no answer. "Fine," he just said, his heart dreadfully heavy, and he was about to get out and leave when she suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait."

He froze as she spoke, and it took him a terrible effort to turn and look at her, and even though he still felt horrible guilty, something remarkably similar to relief washed over him as he saw no fear on her face. She hesitated just for an instant before cupping his cheek. "Stay. Please."

Monkey Fist was about to speak, but she quickly put a finger on his lips to silence him. "Hey, don't even think about running away. You put me in this mess," she said, giving him something vaguely resembling a smirk "the least you could do is staying to help me out, don't you think, Mr. Gentleman?"

He somehow managed to give her a weak smile, relieved to see she still wanted him by her side. "You have a point," he said before tentatively wrapping his arms around her. She tensed just for a moment as he pulled her against his chest, but she relaxed when he began rubbing her back in slow, long strokes. She closed her eyes and hid her face in his neck as he held her closer, trying to erase the dream from her memory.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly in her ear "I'm sorry…"

"I know you are," Yuki nodded, still resting her head on his shoulder, and she managed to smile a little as she listened to his heartbeat. She felt better now – she felt safe. "Let's just…not talk about it, alright? It just happened, and…I don't know what's the matter with me, really. It's not like it happens often."

Monkey Fist froze. "Did it happen already?"

Yuki felt like biting her tongue off – couldn't she think before speaking? "That isn't important. I'm not a little girl, you know – I can handle it," she said, pulling back to look up at him "I'm sure I'll get over it in time, so don't worry. We've been through too much stuff for being bothered this."

"Nothing of this would have ever happened, if only I made the right choice when it mattered," he said regretfully, and Yuki sighed.

"Yeah, that's true – but it's a bit too late for that, isn't it?" she smiled weakly, tapping his nose "just stop thinking about you should have done and think about what everything you'll have to do soon – such as changing nappies, just to say one. Aren't you excited?" she added with a small grin.

Much to her amusement he let out a groan at the thought, and she just had to laugh.

"Monty?"

"Yes?"

To his surprise, Yuki suddenly pressed her lips on his for a few moments, causing him to freeze, his lips tingling a little – it was the first time she kissed him since their last meeting in Yamanouchi. "I love you," she said softly "you know that, don't you?"

He didn't speak for a few moments, but his grip around her tightened a little. "After everything that happened…" he finally mumbled, sounding as if the idea was still alien to him.

She kissed him again before resting her head on his chest again and closing her eyes. "Yes. After everything that happened."