I know that cliffhanger was tough, and I apologize for the delay, but I just...there was this person...they said I made it seem like I thought rape was some big joke. I didn't really want to put that mood across at all. I probably would have updated sooner, but it really bothered me and I started to wonder if I was the only one who could understand what I was saying. Like, maybe all this time I thought I wrote well enough to entertain others and get my message across, but I was just fooling myself. Anyway, I had a long talk with a couple of my readers, including Jade, who is a writer herself, and I guess that I can write well. I don't know, it just really freaked me out. I mean, when I write Naraku, it's freaky and I get this frightened feeling, and there's a lot of disgust there as well. He's a dangerous guy, and the way I've written him, I've gone for someone who is anything but funny. I don't know, even after we talked, it took me a little while to come back to this story, but I think the reviews and encouragement from my other stories really helped me along. This is a pretty serious story in most parts, and yes, it deals with rape as well as other issues. I never intended for those issues to be taken lightly, but I guess the way I write somehow...didn't come across right for that person. But that doesn't mean I should stop writing for everyone else. So here we go, Chapter fourteen. I'll try not to screw up this time...

*****

Fate's Reversal

Part 14

*****

"A...Amai?" Sekatsu fidgeted, moving a bit closer to the girl huddled in her bed, shivering as though she were freezing. "Um...are you okay?"

"That's a stupid question! Damn, I change my mind." Nigai shouted at the older boy. "You cannot ever be with my sister. You're way too stupid!"

"Well, I don't know what to do!" Sekatsu threw up his hands in defeat. "She's not talking at all. I know something's wrong, but I don't want to scare her."

"She's already scared. You'll never be as scary as that Naraku freak." Nigai cracked his knuckles here, silently reminding everyone of how he planned to kill Naraku in various painful ways. "Go over there. She needs a hug, you dumbass."

"Are you sure?" Sekatsu asked, narrowing his eyes at the huddled up bundle of blanket.

"Do it, or I'm gonna kill you too!" Nigai threatened the other boy. Sekatsu nodded vigorously, edging closer and closer to Amai, who didn't look up or even seem to acknowledge his approach. He glanced up at Nigai unsurely, but the youkai nodded at him, gesturing for Sekatsu to close the gap to his sister.

"Amai...I don't know what happened." Sekatsu told the girl, kneeling before her. "But...I want you to stop being sad. So...if you need to talk to me, or anything, I'm right here."

"Psst..." Nigai hissed. "You have to hug her now." Sekatsu blushed, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Amai. But he had scarcely touched her when she lunged into the embrace, grasping him as though she was holding on for her life. Burying her head in his shoulder, she began to sob loudly as Sekatsu overcame his shock, whispering words of comfort to the girl.

"It's okay, Amai." he told her. "I won't let them take you again. You...can even sleep in my bed with me from now on, if you want...I'll protect you the best that I can." He smoothed her tangled black locks. "So don't worry anymore, okay? It'll be okay from now on. We're together, and I won't let anything get you." She didn't say anything in response, but she held onto him still, sobbing as he rocked her and comforted her.

----------

"Haruka...I don't know what it is that happened, but you have to talk to me." Yuki stroked the unmoving white head which lay staring blankly at the wall. "Please, I'm sorry that they took you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you yesterday and...I know I'm not really doing a good job of watching over you. But please, don't hate me." Yuki buried his face in her long white hair, inhaling her scent and making soft noises of pleading. Just when he thought that nothing would get through to her, Haruka put her hand on top of his head, lazily combing her fingers through his hair. "Haruka!" he gasped, lunging forward and engulfing her in his arms, pulling her up into his lap and cradling her as though he was worried she'd get up and escape. "Please, talk to me."

"What happened..." Haruka's voice was no more than a whisper, and even that was so soft that Yuki's ears had to work to catch it. But as she went on, he could see the scene through her eyes. He could feel what had happened "when Kanna came this morning...I woke up, and you weren't there...I could hear Amai screaming and I wondered...what are they doing? What are they doing to Amai..."

"What are you doing? Why are you taking Amai?" Haruka hissed at the pale youkai.

"Do you forget so easily, girl, what the Master tells you? Did he not say that if you would not be the mother, he would find another?" Kanna laughed, binding Amai's mouth to still her protests. "Perhaps you should come as well, dog girl. See what the price is when you disobey the Master." Kanna moved forward, unlocking the cell and using her magic to bring both the struggling girls with her up to Naraku's chambers. Haruka was crying, somehow sure that Naraku had planned something terrible for the young girl next to her.

"Welcome, my tasty little treat." Naraku greeted Amai before turning to Haruka. "Have you come to see? Kanna suggested that it might be amusing. Very well. Watch and learn that you cannot escape my punishment, for if you defy me, I will also attack the ones you care for. Even your child is not safe from me, girl."

"Wh...what are you talking about? What are you going to do?" Amai whimpered as she was released into Naraku's control. "Why am I here?"

"Run, Amai! Run away and hide!" Haruka shrieked, lunging forward in an attempt to let the other girl escape, but Naraku and Kanna were too strong. Their magic held each girl helpless, and Haruka stood crying soundlessly as Naraku took Amai to his bed, pinning her there. "Don't! She's just a girl! Take me instead!"

"I won't waste my time with you. You have been ruined by the wolf boy. But this one, she is fresh." Naraku laughed, tearing at the shrieking girl's clothing. "And she's more of a woman than you give her credit for."

"After that...he took her...and he...he..." Haruka collapsed into a sobbing heap against Yuki, who held her tight, his eyes swirling with concern, shock, and anger. That thing...what had he done?

"You don't have to say it, Haruka." Yuki told her, straining to keep the rage out of his voice. He wasn't mad at Haruka, and the last thing he wanted was for her to think so. "I know what he did. I understand."

"I'm sorry...I couldn't protect Amai." Haruka continued sobbing, pulling at Yuki's shirt to wipe her streaming eyes. "I tried, but I couldn't."

"I know you did." Yuki kissed the top of her head. "You were very brave, and you did your best. It's not your fault. It's not your fault, so don't think that it is."

"But...I didn't..." Haruka continued, but Yuki shushed her, carrying her to their bed and getting under the covers with her, letting her continue to cry as he held her tight.

"Just sleep now, love. Just sleep. I won't let them take you again." Yuki wrapped his arms around her tightly, determined to keep his word.

----------

"I'm going to rip his eyeballs out his mouth and then hold them so that he can watch himself getting torn to shreds!" Nigai demonstrated on what was formerly his pillow, the ripping sounds his claws made fading as the air exploded in fabric and scraps of fluff. "Bastard! Unbelievable fucking asshole!"

"Um...Nigai?" Amai gulped, her crying subsiding slightly as her brother went on in his rage at what had happened to his precious twin. "I'm...sorry..."

"Shush, Amai." Sekatsu stroked her hair softly, trying to repress his own urge to tear the youkai in question apart. "Just let him yell. He's mad at Naraku, not you."

"Gods, sometimes I forget what it's like..." Haruka clutched at her mate, frightened by Nigai's continuing display. "I mean...look at him. I wasn't even that angry..."

"Amai and Nigai are twins." Yuki told her. "It's a hard thing for anyone to hear, Haruka. Hardest for him. Besides, I think that Sekatsu already knew, whether he told her or not. And we've had nearly a week to get used to it. Amai...she seems a lot better"

"And then I'm going to take that stupid bitch of his and pull her arm straight off and beat her to death with it!" Nigai went on, tearing his blanket apart.

"Maybe we shouldn't have told them..." Haruka wondered, looking up at Yuki searchingly. "Maybe it'd be better if they didn't know...I mean, I don't see what good it did."

"No. I know Amai didn't want us to tell, and Nigai and Sekatsu are angry about what happened. Even Tsuyo seems to be extremely upset, and he hasn't spent any time with Amai. But I think that they need to get past this together. We all do." Yuki told her, looking down at his mate and stroking her hair softly. "And I think that now is the best time for that. Naraku and Kanna seem to have gone missing again. They haven't come for you since that day." There was a long pause in which Haruka weighed her options before deciding to go ahead and ask Yuki what she wanted to know.

"Yuki...I need to ask you about something." Haruka licked her lips. Ever since Naraku had attacked her the other day, this thought had wandered through her head, nagging at her and bothering her no matter how she tried not to think of it. It couldn't be true, could it?

"What is it?" Yuki looked down again, momentarily taking his eyes off his brother's display.

"Naraku said something...and I need to know..." Haruka coughed nervously. "Um...is there...um...if we ever, you know...had a baby...would um...would anything happen?"

"What do you mean?" Yuki narrowed his eyes in confusion. "It might be strange for it because there aren't many hanyous in the world, but I know that we would love it, and I know that my clan would not look down on it. My father...he cares a lot about humans, you know."

"No, that's not what I mean..." Haruka fidgeted nervously. "I mean, would it be bad? For me?"

"Why would it be bad for you?" Yuki asked.

"Naraku said...humans are too weak to give birth to hanyous." Haruka told him, her eyes searching his for some denial of this claim. "He said...um...that it kills them."

"I've never heard of anything like that." Yuki's eyes widened in shock at the idea. "I don't really know any hanyous. Like I said, there aren't many. But wouldn't it be different for you anyway? I mean, since your dad was hanyou."

"But he was human when my mom and him...you know." Haruka shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, Naraku's probably lying, but what if he's not?"

"Well...I still think that you have youkai blood in you." Yuki finally answered. "I don't think it would be the same for you."

"Why?" Haruka asked.

"Well...look at your hair and your eyes. And have you ever noticed how your ears have the tiniest bit of a point? And you are a lot stronger than any other human girl I've ever met...I mean, it seems that way. I don't know. Maybe I just don't want to think that something like that could come between us. But if you're worried, we can just stop sleeping together."

"It's too late, though." Haruka told him.

"Too...too late?" Yuki asked, his eyebrows rising in shock.

"Naraku said that...that your baby is inside me. I wouldn't have believed him, but I don't know...it seems right. I think that maybe...maybe I'm pregnant." Haruka told him. "I can't explain it, it's just this feeling I have. I mean, I haven't missed a cycle yet, but I don't know...maybe..."

"P...pregnant?" Yuki's voice cracked. His eyes were wide as he lowered himself to sniff at her stomach before putting his ear to it. "Oh gods...oh gods, I can't believe I didn't notice. I mean, my mom's been pregnant so many times, it's not like I can't recognize...oh gods...Haruka..." Yuki crushed his lips to hers, a laugh bubbling up out of him as he cut the kiss off. "I'm...I can't believe this! I love you so much. And...I know that it seems bad now, but we'll take care of this together." They shared a secret smile as Yuki covered Haruka's small stomach with his hand. Their intimate moment was short lived, though, as there suddenly came a great racket from outside the dungeon before two individuals burst in, looking dangerous and ready to jump into battle. They were youkai, and somehow, they looked vaguely familiar to Haruka.

"Who are you?" she called out, drawing the attention of two pairs of eyes, golden and grey-blue. Both creatures glared at her dangerously, and Haruka suddenly felt Yuki's arms draw around her protectively.

"We'll ask the questions here." The dark-haired male told them. Yuki and Haruka shared a meaningful look. Who were these youkai?

*****

The End (Of Part 14, That Is)

Who are those youkai? What are they doing in Naraku's dungeon of doom and ick? Has yet another problem been created for our already troubled protagonists? How many problems do they need, really? Will Sekatsu ever be able to romance Amai on his own? Or will Nigai constantly need to whisper cues to him kinda like in Roxanne, that Steve Martin movie? Is Nigai going to catch cold after tearing up all his bedding? If you were Naraku, wouldn't you be scared of him? Did Naraku go into hiding in fear of the wrath of the dungeon gang? Don't you wish you had your very own overprotective twin brother...youkai...thing? Will anyone ever figure out why I named this story Fate's Reversal without me spoiling the entire long-ass end part? Will Naraku please die? Can I kill him? In fact, who deserves to kill him most? Does Teresa even care as long as he dies? Do you? Will I finish this story in twenty chapters? Man...I sure hope so...

Until next time, remember that I had crepes with Sam this morning. You know what that means, Jade! Oohohohohoho!