The Sacred Night, Epilogue
I had a serious case of butterflies as I disembarked from Kaoru's car. She did not wait for me to open her door, though I would gladly have done so. Instead, we both got out and met in front of the vehicle to walk with our hands clasped tightly together toward the door of a brick building to which we had never been before. Kaoru had spoken to a woman from here on the phone and we had been sent a packet of information in the mail about a child who had just arrived. He had now been in their custody several weeks as we waded through paperwork. We would finally see our son and take him home with us tonight.
We reached the glass double doors and a young woman in a gray, tailored business suit met us there. She opened the door and we entered and bowed to her. After she returned the gesture and introduced herself as Maruki Akane, she pointed to the ceiling, from which businesslike light fixtures hung. "Are these safe, Himura-san?" She asked. Kaoru had explained on the phone that I had a 'condition' that would not allow me to go out during the day, but had not given details.
"Yes, they're fine," I answered, and at that she led us through the halls to her office. We sat in two chairs close to the door, and she sat behind her desk and picked up the papers we had sent. We had not lied about our ages on the forms, and hoped she would not scrutinize that part too closely. She seemed satisfied as she skimmed them over through her brown-rimmed glasses.
"All right, everything seems to be in order… you've filled out everything necessary," she shuffled through the papers some more and filed them away. "You said in your form that you have considered adoption before, but were reluctant to try it. Why is that?"
I didn't know what I could say without revealing more than I should about my 'condition.' I could not say that no sane couple would allow their children to live in my house, since that might lend the wrong impression… "We were afraid we would be refused because of my condition, that we were," I answered, settling on a truthful, but much abbreviated version of my thoughts.
"Well, it is true that individuals with disabilities are often not given full consideration; however your particular condition does not seem as if it would interfere with your ability to parent a child, and your wife's income seems satisfactory given your recent tax documents… you two must be very frugal. You don't seem to spend enough money to care for two people,"
"We can get by with less than most people, that's for sure," Kaoru commented.
"I have a concern you may wish to know about before taking Kenji home," Maruki-san said. We focused all attention on her words then; we didn't want anything to hinder our taking our new child home. "He has not been eating properly, even though he seems hungry like any other child. He refuses a bottle when one is given, so he is in the hospital right now receiving nourishment intravenously,"
Our baby was in the hospital hooked up to equipment? Would he die? We had only seen the boy in pictures, but it was enough. He was already ours as far as we were concerned. He even looked like he could be my biological son, if that were possible. We loved him already.
"Can we see him?" I asked, still confused and shocked.
"Certainly. I'll have to come with you, since everything's not quite finished, you understand,"
"All right. Can we go now?"
"Yes. It'll be faster if I drive. Do you object to that?"
We did not. She knew which hospital and how to get there, and since we could not prove our guardianship of the patient yet, we needed her identification to pass through security. The three of us were led by a nurse up several flights of stairs and down a maze of halls until we reached the room in which our child lay. We could hear the cries before we entered to see the writhing child in the sterile bassinet. We were even more surprised, however, to see that on the monitor displaying his vital signs, there were only flat lines.
"Is this broken?" Kaoru asked the nurse, pointing to the piece of equipment.
"No, Ma'am, we've tested it. We don't understand why it's not displaying anything, since he's obviously alive, although he might not be if we don't figure out what's wrong soon. We keep feeding him through the IV, but he doesn't get any better, and he sleeps through the entire day without so much as a peep. Most kids his age are just starting to sleep through the night!"
I understood why all of those things were true immediately. There was only one humanoid species that could move and function without a heartbeat or breath and who did not benefit from normal food. My son had gotten my condition. I was sure of this, since he also had no ki of his own, and had not ingested any. A baby emaciated from starving is a very sad thing to see. "May we see him alone?" I asked both the nurse and Maruki-san. Both politely left.
"Is he…" Kaoru understood from the vital signs and the nurse's description, but wanted confirmation.
"Yes. He's starving to death, Kaoru-dono,"
"How could a baby become…"
"It can be done. It would have to take either a very sick vampire or a danger to the child's life if he was not changed, but it can be done. It's just a good thing he doesn't know how to use mind control yet,"
"And they haven't been letting him feed," she finished and immediately began rolling up her sleeve. She offered it to let the baby feed, and he seemed to sense that there was blood to be had nearby, but either he was too starved or simply did not know how to change the shape of his scant few teeth so they would sink easily into human flesh.
"He can't. You're going to have to cut it open," I informed her. She hunted around in her purse, but could not find a sharp object, and there certainly weren't any in the hospital room. I would have to supply that. She held her wrist out to me and I kissed it to reassure her before giving her a slightly toothier kiss, but she didn't feel it any more than she usually did when I did the same to her neck. She then offered it to the baby again and I did not stop the illusion in her mind that involved no pain whatsoever. The baby ceased crying and knew what to do from that point. He didn't continue nearly as long as I would have, since as hungry as he was, his tiny body would only hold so much.
"What's going on in there? Is Kenji all right?" Maruki-san asked through the door out of concern for our son.
"He's fine, that he is. You two can come in now," I told her, and she and the nurse both rushed in to check on him for themselves. His vital signs still read zero, but he was no longer hungry and crying and his ki had taken on a resemblance to Kaoru's.
"What did you two do? He hasn't looked this good since he came here!" The nurse exclaimed. Kaoru and I exchanged a look.
"It was a home remedy, that it was,"
In the future, when we went to see Kenji in the hospital, we had to be searched before we went in, since even though it had benefited him, it was still considered dangerous for us to treat him without a doctor's approval. It didn't matter, though, since they could hardly take away her blood and my teeth. They never understood what we were doing when we went in alone, and that was fine with us. We were able to take him home within a week.
Even though he did not take much, it was not a good idea for two vampires two attempt to survive feeding on the same human. We bound a human nearby to him and she allowed him to feed nightly when we took him to her, much like Aoshi and Misao did with the humans they had bound. He would stay an infant for a very, very long time, since vampires did not age normally, but we were up to the challenge. We had looked forward to it longer than he would be able to imagine.
Now, as a very, very old vampire looking back on this, I can say that I no longer miss the sunlight. Many of my greatest memories were lit only by the moon. My wife's face is like fine porcelain as she lies here next to me in the dark, and I would not wish it any other way. The cool night air is gentle as the bright sun cannot be in the summer, and in the winter the night's stillness amplifies the falling of the snow. I live in this beautiful, sacred night.
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yay, finished! not that i didn't enjoy writing it, because i did, right up to the end, but it's nice to have the finished product here in front of me. i love you all and thank you for reading!
OH MY GOSH. I thought i posted this, like, months ago, and i was wondering why i wasn't getting any reviews… imagine my surprise when i found out it had not posted at all! I am SO SORRY!
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: glad you're in suspense… all is revealed now, ne?
Forbidden Dream: i doubt i'll write a sequel, but i'm glad you liked this one so much. If the sequel bothers you that much, you can write one. I wouldn't object.
Invader Zimo: eww… a woman faking Kenshin's voice… that DOES sound awful. This was the last chapter, yes, but forbidden dream may choose to write it a sequel… and yes, Kenji has red hair.
Lady Battousai: all good things must come to and end. If someone else write a sequel, i will not be offended, though i don't plan on doing one myself. Glad you've enjoyed it, and perhaps i'll see you in another fic.
Kenshin's My Man: glad i rock… no, i won't be writing a sequel, but someone else may. I hope to be filling your Tuesdays with another fic soon!