Disclaimer: All portions of the HP universe/worlds/characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Hunter x Hunter universe/worlds/characters are the property of Yoshihiro Togashi and Shueisha Inc. (publisher). This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.
Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye – as if that wasn't already obvious since I swapped a few genders), angst, drama, some mild character bashing, and who knows what else.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter Forty-Six: Of Babies x Charms x and War
Kurapika barely settled Azalea on the hospital bed that had replaced the two twin sized bed that used to occupy the room when Dr. Mackle handed her a paper gown and ordered, "Go ahead and strip out of your clothes and put that on; open side to the front this time."
"Um… what?"
"Your clothes are in the way and I will need to do a complete exam."
"But…"
"Don't just stand there; hop to it, young lady," Madam Pomfrey instructed as she conjured a privacy screen for Azalea to change behind. "My free time this morning is limited; I have patients waiting for me back at Hogwarts."
Azalea sighed and grumbled about tyrannical healers and doctors as she slipped off of the bed and ducked behind the screen to change. While she was undressing, Azalea heard the two goblins speak in gobbledygook for a moment before the male goblin (the translator) addressed Madam Pomfrey.
"The esteemed Healer Beestung has requested a verbal summary of all examinations you have performed on your mutual patient since the conception of the children. A detailed written report, sent to Healer Beestung at your leisure, would also be greatly appreciated."
"Miss Potter, I have been approached by a fellow healer in regards to your current condition; do I have your permission to speak freely?"
"Yes, you have my permission to speak with Healer Beestung, Dr. Mackle, Kurapika, and Healer Beestung's honorable goblin translator about my pregnancy; they are all already aware of my condition. You also have permission to provide them with any reports or paperwork as necessary."
"Thank you, Miss Potter."
"Why exactly would she need your permission to consult with the others about your condition?" Kurapika inquired as Azalea stepped out from behind the partition with her hands tightly gripping the edges of the flimsy paper hospital gown she now wore in her efforts to preserve her modesty.
"I first learned of Miss Potter's pregnancy and conducted an initial exam on the evening of September first…" Madam Pomfrey began reciting in the background.
"I demanded a healer's oath from Madam Pomfrey before I would allow her to treat me on the day that I first learned I was pregnant because I was terrified of Voldemort learning about the babies. Her oath prevents her from speaking about my pregnancy and my health with out my direct consent from the moment she gave me her oath; didn't you think it odd that she never specifically mentioned my pregnancy when we met with her on Saturday evening?"
"No, I was not exactly thinking clearly at the time; however, she did speak about the rather poor condition you'd been in upon arriving at Hogwarts," Kurapika admitted with the trace of a blush over the reference to him losing his temper.
"Go ahead and take a seat on the foot of the bed, kid; leaving your legs hanging over the side of the lower end. Young man, grab a few of the pillow stacked up in the corner and set them up behind the kid so she'll be propped up a bit when she lays back," Dr. Mackle instructed as he pulled a table over and began pulling out an assortment of equipment from the black doctor's bag he'd brought with him; a stethoscope, a syringe, a blood pressure cuff, several empty vials, a urine sample cup, one-sided q-tips that were ten inches long (individually sealed), a stack of petri dishes, and a box of latex gloves just to name a few.
"That's because the oath she gave did not encompass my past health history. If not for the war and the fact that Snape was the headmaster at the time, I probably never would have asked her for the oath in the first place."
"…I only saw her three more times after that; the most recent one being back at the start of December…"
"I need you to take several slow, deep breaths for me now," Dr. Mackle stated as he put on his stethoscope and placed the chest piece between her breasts beneath the gown; the cold metal disk drawing a shiver and a muttered complaint from the witch. "Good, now take a deep breath and hold it for me."
The doctor then took her blood pressure, drew a couple vials of blood, sent her to the bathroom to provide a urine sample, and examined both her breasts and her stomach. There'd been a brief moment when she'd frozen up and near panicked when he'd slipped on a pair of gloves and prepared to examine her internally (her mind recalling the distressing examination that followed Hisoka's attack) but Kurapika had distracted her. The last thing he'd done was take some fluid samples to reconfirm that she did not have any sexually transmitted diseases or other venereal problems.
The man had barely finished up with his exam when Madam Pomfrey took over and began running magical scans over every inch of Azalea's body; doing a complete in-depth medical scan (something she'd not bothered doing the last four times she'd seen the healer because of how little time they'd had for her check-ups). The familiarity of the wand movements and the lack of touch required for the magical exam helped Azalea to completely relax as the memory of the attack sunk back into the shadows of her mind once more.
While Madam Pomfrey was busy scanning her, Dr. Mackle found himself being grilled by the two goblins in regards to the exams that he'd put Azalea through after learning she was pregnant; which also included his assessment of her condition after her battle with Voldemort earlier that month). Azalea tried to listen into their conversation but found that her attention quickly monopolized by Madam Pomfrey as the healer began asking her questions.
"Are you still experiencing morning sickness all day long, dear?"
"No, not since before the battle," Azalea replied. "Kurapika told me that Dr. Mackle had given me something to counter the nausea after Fawkes flashed me out of Hogwarts. Since we've returned to Grimmauld Place, I've been taking a potion after each meal that Healer Beestung gave to me called Mother's Helpmate and I've only been throwing up once each morning now."
"Good, are you eating properly now? Three full meals a day with appropriate portions and servings?"
"Yes; the elves have been monitoring my meals very closely, as has Kurapika."
"Her appetite has improved since she started taking the potion on Saturday," Kurapika added from beside Azalea.
"Much easier to eat when you don't have to worry about it coming right back up; partially digested tuna never tastes nice the second time around, believe me, I know," Azalea groused as she reached out and poked Kurapika in the side.
"I'll keep that in mind if I ever suffer from morning sickness," Kurapika quipped with a straight face.
"Prat!"
"There is a spell that will allow the father to experience 'sympathy symptoms' in order to help them understand what their pregnant significant other is experiencing," Madam Pomfrey interjected and Azalea shot Kurapika a wicked grin while the blond paled drastically.
"You know, I've always considered myself to be a very observant individual and I've seen how much stress Zalea has been under this past few days and I've been doing my very best to ease her discomfort and see to it that she's taking care of herself."
"Oh, I don't know, Kura; think of it as an opportunity for some first hand experience," Azalea crowed as her eyes danced with mirth and mischief.
"Are you implying that I've not been sympathetic enough these past few days?"
"No; I just thought you would like to have a leg up on the competition… don't all men wonder what women think and how we cope with things like pregnancy and periods?"
"There is no way to gracefully bow out of this without looking like a complete jerk or a pansy is there?"
"No but it is always entertaining to watch men try," Madam Pomfrey laughingly quipped before she returned to questioning Azalea. "Now that we've established Mr. Evans's healthy respect for your condition; can you tell me if you are still having trouble sleeping?"
"No, but I'm still tired all of the time. I've taken between two and three naps a day since I woke up. Yesterday was an exception but that was not by choice seeing as how I was summoned to appear before the Queen and then Shacklebolt was being a political ponce and…"
"And…?" Madam Pomfrey prompted when Azalea trailed off.
"I don't know. One second I was just tired and worn out and the next I was yelling at Kingsley and I was so mad at him that I left before our meeting was over but the moment we got home it was like someone flipped a switch and all I could do was bawl my eyes out."
"Mood swings are a rather common occurrence during the later stages of pregnancy, dear," Madam Pomfrey gently pointed out as she paused in her wand waving for a moment before continuing. "It is usually due to a hormone imbalance and a woman's hormones are always fluctuating during pregnancy or during their menstrual cycle. It isn't uncommon for the smallest of things to set off their temper or to send them into a flood tears."
"I don't do mood swings," Azalea deadpanned as she leveled a look of disbelief at the witch. "I do angry, I do quiet, and I do angst. Occasionally, I manage to find happiness and I'm really good at panic or abject fear when I'm caught off guard but I don't go from a towering rage to a puddle of pathetic in zero point twenty-three seconds. If anything, the first thing I do is cut off all of my emotions; except when Snape is involved because he used to just piss me off when he ragged on my dad constantly during potions and when I was taking those supposed Occlumency lessons he was giving me in fifth year."
"That probably has more to do with your ingrained responses to the way your relatives raised you," Kurapika declared as he scowled at the floor. "I've seen you cut off all of your emotions and it isn't a normal response. I wouldn't be surprised if you've had mood swings in the past and just not noticed them because you cut off your emotions at the time instead of allowing them to play out."
"Moving on," Madam Pomfrey interjected just before Azalea could make a retort. "Have you been experiencing any sharp pains?"
"No, just minor aches and pains in my back and hips; as if I'd spent too much time on a broom or carried too many books in my book bag."
"That too is normal; especially when a woman is carrying multiple fetuses. Have the babes been active?"
"I think the better question would be; is there any time when they are not active," Azalea snorted with a laugh. "Of course, they're always more active at night; especially after I crawl into bed."
"Get used to it, Miss Potter; newborns are not known for sleeping through the night."
"I know… I read the books you suggested. And with as wonky as my sleep schedule has been, I don't think that will be all that much of an issue."
"Sleep will be just as important for you after you have the babies as it is for you to get plenty of rest now," Dr. Mackle intoned as he stepped up beside the bed along with both goblins.
"If you are finished, Madam Healer, Healer Beestung wishes to examine her patient now," the translator interjected as soon as Dr. Mackle finished speaking.
"I just finished," Madam Pomfrey replied as she stepped back out of the way.
Azalea sighed wearily as the goblin healer stepped forward and began her exam; all the while silently wondering if she'd lost her bloody mind when she agreed to allow three doctors slash healers to conspire together over her health. A sharp kick from one of the twins reminded her that it wasn't just her health involved any more and she bit back her frustration and dislike for people fussing over her. She was more than willing to put up with almost anything if it meant insuring that both of her boys would be born healthy.
Bringing her attention back to the present, Azalea focused on Healer Beestung as the diminutive goblin ran through nearly the exact same sequence of steps she'd used the first time she'd seen the healer on Saturday. The only real differences were the fact that she didn't draw any of Kurapika's blood, wasn't asking Azalea any questions, and only drew enough blood from Azalea for two potions. When she reached the point where she was settling the square frame on Azalea's belly (after applying a layer of potion to her skin), anticipation sang through Azalea as she reached out to grab hold of Kurapika's tabard and pulled him close.
"You have got to see this," Azalea whispered excitedly as she sat up just a bit more; the young mother-to-be unaware that Kurapika had seen a copy of the photo that had been taken the first time. Her words did garner the attention of Dr. Mackle though, and the man moved closer out of curiosity. "I couldn't believe my eyes the first time she did this but this is the kind of awe inspiring magic that makes all of the bad stuff seem so insignificant."
Seconds later, the potion induced window into the world of her womb was opened and both boys could be seen clear as day while they floated within the amniotic fluid (one of them seemingly sucking his thumb while the other shifted as his foot kicked out and made the image ripple for a moment. Azalea couldn't help but giggle and murmur something about how that one must take after her since he obviously had a healthy dislike for being ogled. That had garnered her more than a couple of amused snorts in return. Healer Beestung immediately addressed her companion in gobbledygook as she gestured at Azalea's belly before waving in Madam Pomfrey's direction.
"Healer Beestung is greatly worried that the babes do not have enough room and that their development will be stunted due to the lack of space. There is also concern that the babes will do the mother harm if they grow too much larger," the translator explained a moment later. "Female goblins never give birth to more than one child every six to eight months and few goblin females are so skinny that they do not have room for their babes naturally. Goblin healers are not able to create more room inside of the womb using goblin magic since there is no need for such a thing; is this something human magic can do?"
"Yes; there is a spell that will expand the womb in order to both make room for multiple fetuses and ease the stress on the witch that is carrying more than one child and allow the woman to carry all of the children to full term," Madam Pomfrey replied as she leaned over the small frame to study the two babies. "Miss Potter is unusually small for her age and I had anticipated needing to cast the spell when I first learned she was pregnant."
The two goblins held another short conversation in gobbledygook before the translator asked, "Are you prepared to cast the spell now or do you need more time to prepare? The babes will need room as soon as possible in order to reduce the stress both mother and babies are feeling."
"It will only take a few minutes for me to prepare. The room will need to be locked to prevent outside disruptions and distractions before I start; interrupting the process would have dire consequences for both mother and children. Healer Beestung will also need to remove the viewing window as it will interfere with my casting."
A few minutes later, Azalea had been strapped down to the table (in order to prevent her from moving and disrupting the spell) and Kurapika had been temporarily kicked out of the room. Healer Beestung, the translator, and Dr. Mackle were watching from a trio of seats beside the door where they would not be in the way.
"I need you to relax as best as you can, dear," Madam Pomfrey instructed as she stepped up beside the bed and rolled up her sleeves. "The spell will cause some acute discomfort but no actual pain so long as you don't tense up your abdominal muscles. Here we go, Miss Potter."
So saying, the school matron tapped the tip of her wand to Azalea's bellybutton three times as she intoned the Latin incantation for the viewing spell that would allow her to monitor the progress of the specialized expansion spell. Violet colored mist rose up out of Azalea's belly and shimmered for a moment before it solidified into a three dimensional hologram of her womb and the twins. Madam Pomfrey then inserted her wand into Azalea's birth canal in order to cast the womb expansion spell through the least number of obstructions.
Azalea took a shaky breath and closed her eyes as she tried to relax as instructed; no easy task given how uncomfortable she felt at that moment. Only the knowledge that the spell being cast upon her would ultimately help the twins allowed her to soldier through the ordeal. When the first wave of magic hit the walls of her uterus, Azalea gasped as it felt like a hundred rubber bands had been wrapped around her distended womb. A spike of fear rushed through her before she shut off her emotions and focused on breathing in order to ignore the discomfort so that she could relax once more.
The second wave of magic seemed to seep right into her uterus and this time she shivered as the bands of magic from the first wave tightened. Azalea could feel her heart pounding in her chest as beads of sweat began forming along her brow when the third wave of magic hit her womb. The true discomfort bordering on pain began in that instant as she felt the inside of her womb start expanding while the outside of her uterus was slowly reduced to half of its former size. The seventeen year old mother-to-be smothered a scream as the contradictory feelings ripped through her stomach and all thoughts of relaxing fled from her mind.
The fourth wave of magic halted the shrinking of her uterus while the fifth wave stabilized the newly expanded inner womb to prevent the magically enlarged area from collapsing (something that would kill all three of them instantly). The sixth wave eased the position of the twins so that they both could take advantage of the extra space. The final two waves locked the first five portions of the spell into place and wove a protective barrier around her womb that would protect the spell in order to prevent a careless spell from unraveling the expansion spell.
Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand the moment the final spell settled into place and discreetly cleaned it off before she began casting scans over Azalea's not-quite-so-distended belly. A soft sigh and a smile from the now tired witch indicated that there had been no issues with the spell and that both Azalea and the twins were unharmed. She then flicked her wand a couple of times to clean Azalea before she tucked away her wand, pulled the sheet back up to preserve Azalea's modesty, and gently wiped the sweat from Azalea's face.
"All done now, dear," Madam Pomfrey murmured as she brushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of Azalea's face and smiled gently at the younger witch. "Are you still feeling any pain?"
"Not exactly… just a dull ache and an uncomfortable tightness."
"The tightness should fade within an hour or two once your body adjusts to the changes. If your uterus is still aching once the tightness has disappeared, please call me immediately as that will mean that there was a problem with the casting that I missed."
"I will," Azalea replied automatically.
"Did you have any questions for me about the spell or your pregnancy?"
"Er, is it still safe to transform into my animagus form now that you cast that spell?" Azalea inquired as she considered the various scenarios where she might need to transform in order to escape trouble in the event that her usual luck kicked in when she was restricted from most forms of magical travel that would have allowed her to retreat quickly (since there were some places where Fawkes could not appear – such as in the muggle world.
"Yes, the spell on your womb will not be affected by a transformation but I would urge you to wait until your body has finished adjusting to the spell before you try and that you avoid spending hours at a time in your alternate form. I would also suggest that you avoid transforming completely once your due date draws near since I suspect you'd rather not give birth while in your animagus form; especially if it is a small form."
"Is safe check babies now?" Healer Beestung inquired as she interrupted the pair at that point without bothering to wait for the translator to step in this time as she stepped up beside Madam Pomfrey.
"Yes, go right ahead," Madam Pomfrey replied. "Was there anything you needed from me right now?"
The goblin translator stepped up to converse with Healer Beestung for a moment before he replied, "No, you are free to return to your duties at the school. Healer Beestung appreciates the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to meet with her and she will contact you if any complications arise that require human healing magic. Did you wish for Healer Beestung to send you weekly reports in regards to Miss Potter's condition?"
"Yes, please. I am willing to grant permission for both of you to call upon my personal house elf, Pinny, so that you can contact me quickly should the need arise. You may also use her services as a courier for the weekly reports in order to save time."
"I will make note of that in Miss Potter's file," the translator replied before he turned away from Madam Pomfrey; a clear dismissal.
"I shall be in touch, Miss Potter," Madam Pomfrey stated as she patted Azalea's hand before she headed towards the door.
"Goodbye, Madam Pomfrey; and thank you," Azalea called out before her attention was drawn back to the goblin healer as she once more opened up a potion based window into Azalea's womb.
"Fascinating," Dr. Mackle declared as he once again studied the image of the twins shifting about within her womb.
"Everything alright, kitten?" Kurapika asked as he slipped into the room the instant that Madam Pomfrey unlocked the door.
"I'm okay now, Kura."
Fifteen minutes later, the two goblins took their leave after confirming the date and time for her next appointment (exactly one week from today) while Dr. Mackle followed Kurapika and Azalea back down to the drawing room where Remus was still going through Azalea's memories with Mizuken and Chairman Netero. Kreacher turned up with lunch the moment Kurapika settled Azalea on the couch and the green eyed witch sighed tiredly as she picked at the food on her plate; not really hungry due to how exhausted and uncomfortable she felt at the moment.
After managing to eat half of what she'd been served and drinking down her next dose of potion, Azalea curled up on the couch (using Kurapika's lap for a pillow) and drifted off to sleep while she waited for the others to finish viewing the memories.
When Kurapika gently shook her awake two hours later, Azalea groggily (and reluctantly) sat up to accept the warm mug of hot chocolate that one of the elves must have delivered while she was asleep. It took approximately half the mug to wake Azalea up enough to remember where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Once she was awake, the first thing she did was discard the mug in order to cradle her stomach as she searched inward for any traces of the ache or the uncomfortable tightness she'd felt earlier.
"Is everything alright, Zalea?" Kurapika asked with more than a little concern as he eyed the way she was holding her stomach.
"Yeah," Azalea murmured the moment her internal assessment indicated that nothing felt out of place aside from the fact that her stomach was noticeably smaller and that the endless shifting of the twins was far less noticeable. "It's just going to take a day or two to get used to the spell that Madam Pomfrey cast on me."
"Are you still up to answering a few questions or should we come back another day, young lady?" Chairman Netero inquired as he critically eyed her over the cup of green tea he was drinking.
"I'll be fine and I'd rather not put this off any longer," Azalea assured him as she reclaimed her hot chocolate and snuggled into Kurapika's side. "I also have at least two memories that you're going to want to see and the second one will probably answer most of your questions anyway."
"One of those memories has to be your fight with Voldemort but what is the other one?" Remus asked curiously as he finished returning the memory he'd just reviewed with the two older Hunters to the storage vial that Azalea had stored the copy in.
"The four and a half hour interrogation that Her Majesty subjected me to yesterday and the two meetings that I had with Shacklebolt before and after my meeting with the Queen."
"Ah, I suppose I should have expected you to show that one," Remus murmured as he pulled two empty vials from the box of memories and deftly labeled both of them with a flick of his wand. "Are you feeling up to pulling the copies yourself or would you like me to draw them out for you?"
"Could you please…? My wand is still tucked away in my bag upstairs."
"Why aren't you carrying your wand?"
"I am a little paranoid about losing my wand again after what happened to my first wand. So, knowing that I was going to see the Queen yesterday and that I'd be stripped of any potential weapons for her protection for the duration of my audience, I chose to leave my wand behind where I knew it would be safe rather than in an office where it could have potentially been stolen. I've not had any reason to use it since and so haven't yet bothered to dig it out of my bag."
"Moody would be ashamed of you for letting your wand out of your sight for one second longer than necessary," Remus teased with a small smirk as he drew his wand and approached Azalea. "Let me know when you're ready with the first memory."
"I don't need a wand; I can cast wandlessly," Azalea dryly reminded the werewolf before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on her fight with Voldemort earlier that month. It took her several minutes to reconstruct the entire memory in her mind (due to how mixed up her memories had been since she'd woken up in the Association's Infirmary). Once she was certain the full memory was prepared, she whispered a soft, "Go ahead, Moony."
The witch felt Remus tap her left temple with the tip of the wand before she felt something tugging at her mind as the memory of the final confrontation with Riddle was stretched out before it suddenly snapped back into place. Azalea had never liked the sensation of having a memory copied; it always felt far more uncomfortable than just pulling the original memory out but at least it was no where near as painful as Occlumency lessons with Snape. Opening her eyes, Azalea watched Remus deposit the memory he'd just copied into the pensieve before he turned back to her and raised his wand once more.
Knowing exactly what he wanted, Azalea closed her eyes again and this time focused on her memory from the previous morning starting from the moment she'd arrived in Shacklebolt's office and ending the moment Fawkes's flames had deposited her and Kurapika in her room once more. She purposefully left off the memory of her emotional melt down upon their return; she refused to allow anyone aside from Kurapika to see her so vulnerable. After preparing the memory, Azalea murmured her readiness and soon felt the memory stretching and snapping back into place a second time; this memory being temporarily stored in a vial so as not to get it mixed up with the first memory.
Letting out a soft sigh, Azalea opened her eyes once more, settled back against the back of the couch, and sipped at the remainder of her hot chocolate which someone had rewarmed for her (most likely one of the elves). From the corner of her eye she caught Kurapika intently staring at the pensieve on the table with a slight frown. She also didn't miss the brief concerned and contemplative glances that her fiancé cast in her direction every few seconds.
"If you want to watch the memory, Kura, go ahead; I'll be fine," Azalea told the blond the next time he glanced in her direction. "And I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything reckless the moment I am out of your sight."
Kurapika hesitated for a split second before he climbed to his feet and joined the other four adults that were preparing to enter the pensieve to view her memories (Dr. Mackle choosing to view the memory of her battle in order to better understand the injuries he'd treated after finding her in his Infirmary earlier that month). Azalea watched the five of them get sucked down into the swirling silver pool of her memory and briefly wondered if she should have given them a bit more warning about what they would see once they entered the memory of her fight with Riddle.
After a moment of introspection, Azalea came to the conclusion that another warning had been unnecessary since Remus had witnessed parts of the battle first hand and she had given the other four a rough summary on the battle already. She reevaluated her earlier assertion that the warning was unneeded a short while later when all five men were thrown out of the pensieve looking more than a little shaken. The clincher though was the shimmer of scarlet flames bleeding through the black contacts that Kurapika was wearing combined with the iciness radiating from her left earring; the eighteen year old was angry.
Azalea shrank in on herself the moment he turned towards her; the witch automatically fearing that he was angry with her for risking the lives of their unborn children. There was also a small part of her that still feared that Kurapika would come to hate her despite the older teen's assurances otherwise. Azalea couldn't help the way she flinched when Kurapika walked up to her and pulled her up onto her feet.
Her entire body tensed as she braced herself for the worst only to find herself more than a little confused when he just pulled her close, wrapped his arms tightly around her, and buried his face against her neck. She stood frozen for all off three seconds until she realized that Kurapika was shaking at the same time that she felt his tears soaking her skin and shirt. It was at that moment that she realized that Kurapika wasn't angry; he had been frightened by what he'd witnessed in her memory.
That he'd been terrified by how close he'd come to losing both her and the twins during the final confrontation.
"It's over," Azalea whispered as the tension fled from her body and pressed herself closer to Kurapika as she wrapped her arms around him in return. "He's gone."
"I want to be angry with you for being so reckless," Kurapika muttered thickly against her neck.
"I'm sor…"
"Don't. Please don't. Don't apologize for fighting to end the threat he represented. I may not like the fact that you had such a large part to play in the recent war but I also know that you didn't have much of a choice in the matter. And if you had chosen to walk away, then you wouldn't be the person that I fell in love with."
"I wasn't going to apologize for facing Riddle one last time," Azalea corrected as she pressed her cheek against Kurapika's head and buried the fingers of her right hand in his hair. "I was trying to apologize for not warning you about just how intense that fight was before you saw it. I know we talked about it briefly last week once I woke up but I also know that I didn't really give you any details about the actual battle. There's just been so much else going on and…"
"We've had a hundred and one other things drawing our attention," Kurapika finished as he pulled back just enough to sweep Azalea into his arms before he sat down on the couch, settled her onto his lap, and pulled her close to him once more. "Like I said, I want to be angry with you for being reckless but I'm not. Seeing the green light of the death spell wrapping around you the way it did… knowing what that spell can do after watching some of your other memories and knowing that you'd been a hair's breadth away from dying again hurt. The mere thought that I nearly lost you and the boys towards the end of that fight kills because I don't think I could live without you. I don't want to live without you."
Kurapika released Azalea and put just enough distance between them so he could reach up to cup her face with both of his hands before he leaned forward to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. Like the very first time Kurapika kissed her, Azalea felt herself swept away on a tide of indescribable feelings. She was briefly distracted by the searing heat radiating from her left earring before all coherent thought was swept away by the desire flooding through her. A heartbeat later, she was pouring her heart and soul into the kiss as she finally dared to name what it was that she felt for Kurapika.
At the same time, her magic rose up in response to the tidal wave of intense emotions and swirled around her in a visible storm of gold and crimson flames. Eventually, the kiss ended as both teens reluctantly resurfaced for much needed air. Azalea's magic continued to swirl about them for another minute longer before it slowly withdrew back into her core as her racing heartbeat gradually slowed to a more moderate rate.
Once coherent thought returned to the seventeen year old, Azalea curled into Kurapika's arms and rested her cheek on his shoulder as she whispered out a heartfelt, "I stopped living the moment Fawkes carried me away from you and surviving these past five months without you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It would destroy me if I had to leave you again, Kurapika; I love you too much to live without you."
"I love you too, kitten," Kurapika breathed as the emotion fueling his scarlet eyes shifted from abject fear to sheer joy before he captured her lips in another kiss that was tender in extreme in response to hearing her say she loved him for the first time.
AN: Not too sure if there's anything that needs to be said here. The next chapter pretty much picks up from where this one left off and covers the rest of their meeting with Netero. I'll be posting that chapter tomorrow. ~ Jen
