Disclaimer: I don't own the original FY characters; I own Kei, Taki, Lily, Jason, their kids and any other person who isn't a FY character.

Thoughts

Memories

~*~Review Response~*~

~Jamie - You're still evil for killing Tasuki. Shame on you.  I hope you bring him back. I'll be upset if you don't.

~Cat - Yep, I know. Finally. If you think reading and not getting to it is pretty annoying, try writing it and not getting there when you know you're in control of what happens and you still can't make it happen. ^_^

~CarrCarr - I think eventually they will learn about the picture. I wish I knew what took the story so long to get to the confession, but hey, I get there, right?

~Ainohikari - A new reviewer? Well, welcome to my world. I hope it hasn't confused you too much. ^_^

~Cortney - Things are pretty good over here. Glad to hear the trip was good. I think my walls are happy they're safe too.

~Rhapsody - To be honest, I don't know what sport Kano's going into either. He's not going into sports this chapter so I guess I have more time to think about it. And I also know squat about sports. I think volleyball is the only sport I actually know how to play.

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Kano slowly woke up the next morning to find himself lying on the bed with someone. 'Did is take someone to bed? Wait…no…I'm not in the bandit stronghold…I'm with…' "Akane…" His arms were still wrapped tightly around her waist and she was sleeping peacefully. For a moment, this reminded him of the first night they spent together. He remembered how he woke up holding her, though at the time, he hadn't been nearly as in love with her as he was now. He closed his eyes and gently nuzzled her shoulder, thankful he finally told her how he felt.

She slept for a little while longer until his gentle nuzzles made her start to wake up. At first, the arms around her waist scared her, but it didn't take long for her to remember what happened. "Kano?" She asked sleepily and looked over her shoulder.

"Morning." He smiled and loosened his grip on her body.

She turned over to face him. "You were here the whole night?"

"Yep." He brushed her hair out of her face.

She rubbed her eyes. "I can't believe my dad didn't make you get out…"

"I think your dad trusts me more than most guys."

She smiled. "Good. But even if he didn't like you, it wouldn't stop me."

He chuckled and pulled her close again. "Just another thing I love about you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I don't wanna get up."

"No one said we had to right now." He kissed her nose.

She looked at a clock. It was still early. "You're right. We can stay in for a little while." She curled up in his arms again.

They fell asleep again rather quickly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kei propped up her pillow and sat up in bed to read. Tasuki was still asleep next to her, snoring very lightly. She was glad her daughter finally told Kano. It was hard not to tell the person you loved the truth. She knew. She'd done it for entirely too long.

She stopped reading for a moment and looked lovingly at her husband. They were still as much in love as the day they got married. She wanted everything to be the same for Kano and Akane. She reached over and stroked his hair. He opened his eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"No. I was just thinking."

Tasuki pushed himself into a sitting position. "About what? I never liked it when you started thinking too much. It always seemed to be about something bad…"

She poked him. "That was before when death was the only thing on my mind. I was thinking about Akane and Kano. And us."

He rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about that? I really don't want to think about Akane and Kano sleeping together in her room."

"Oh! Will you stop that? They're just sleeping and their both good kids. They wouldn't do anything bad."

He sighed. "You're right…I should stop worrying. I should trust them both."

"Atta boy." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Hey what's this?"

"What?" Kei yanked something out of his hair. "Ow! What the hell?!"

She held a piece of his hair in between her fingers. "Grey hair. You are worrying too much." She smirked.

"Great. Now I'm getting gray hairs too?"

"You worry too much. Stop it and they'll stop."

He took the hair from her hand and tossed it into a bedside trash bin. "I think it's time to get up." He kicked off the blankets.

"Fine, fine." She got up as well. "No sense in staying in bed if you're not."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimiko pushed off her blankets and stretched as she got up. 'Man…I really did forget how good my own bed feels.' Unconsciously she picked up the silver phoenix from her side table and slipped it on. After cleaning up and getting dressed, she headed for the kitchen. She grabbed some cereal and started eating.

Soon her brother came in. His hair was messy, but still looked like his father's, just deep violet instead of red. He sat across from her. "Morning, Kimiko."

"Good morning." She was much more awake than he was.

He looked up at her and saw the necklace. "What's that?"

"What?"

"Your necklace. I don't think I've seen you without it for like four days."

"I like it. So what?"

"Where'd you get it? I'm pretty sure I've seen Hiroshi wear that before."

"And?" She asked in between mouthfuls of cereal.

"You still hanging out with that rich little brat?" He muttered.

She dropped her spoon. "He is not a brat! He cares about me!"

"Like hell he does!" Akira finished off his breakfast. "Soon as he meets some one else, he'll drop you."

Kimiko frowned. "No, he won't! What the hell is your problem? I finally find a boyfriend and you can't even be happy for me?"

"I'm just telling you the truth. Guys like Hiroshi don't hang around with the same girl for very long."

"What? Are you blind? Have you not seen the way I treated him since I met him? If that didn't make him go away, what will?" She threw her hands up in disgust.

"You're making a big mistake if you hang onto him."

Kimiko's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing in response. She got up and walked out the door. "I'll be back later."

"Kimiko, get back here!" Akira got up to stop her. His mother's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Leave her alone, Akira."

"But she's making a mistake, Mom!"

"Well, it's her mistake to make then. You aren't her keeper. She's 15 and can decide things for herself."

"No. She's not going to go out with him!"

"Who said you could make decisions for her?"

"I'm the man of the house now."

Tora frowned. "You're still only 18. I'm the mother and I think it's fine if she goes out with him."

"I still don't think it's a good idea."

"I still don't care. Don't you dare try to control your sister."

"Fine." He grumbled and went back to his room.

Tora shook her head. "I can't believe him…God I wish Rei was still around…" She rubbed her eyes. "Looks like it'll be another long day…"

Kimiko relaxed as she walked, but she was still mad. 'Akira's being such an asshole! He acts like I can't take care of myself! If he only knew…I wish I could tell him Dad's still alive…not that he'd believe me. Even if I showed him what I can do…he's so thick headed!'

She went into the park. It was mostly empty this early in the morning so she had no trouble finding a bench to sit on. She rested her elbows on her knees and let her chin sit in her hands.

"Is this seat taken?" She barely heard the voice.

"No…go ahead." She murmured without looking at who it was. She heard the slight creak of the bench as the weight changed.

"Are you alright? You seem down."

"Fine." She still just sat there. "No big deal."

"Kimiko…"

Her head shot up. She gasped. A tall red haired, green eyed man was sitting next to her, watching her with a concerned look in his eyes. "Dad…" She knew it was him though he didn't look a day over 20 or so.

"What's wrong, Kimiko?"

"You've got some nerve showing up here." She frowned and turned away from him.

"I know…but I was hopping you'd overlook that…"

"I'm just guessing, but I suppose you already know how Akira's been acting…"

"Yes…I saw…"

"Why is he being like that? Doesn't he have any faith in my selection of guys?"

"Probably not. You shouldn't expect him to. He's always been rather stubborn and think headed…"

"Like you?" She couldn't resist making the comment.

"Yes…like me…" Suzaku sighed.

"Anyway…what are you doing here?"

"I came to check up on you."

"Why?"

"Now that you know what you are, your power is developing. I wanted to make sure it wasn't happening to fast."

"I feel fine."

"You never know when something might change."

"Well, thanks for your concern, but Chichiri's gonna teach me whatever I need to know."

"Chichiri can only help you so much. You're more powerful than he is."

"So what am I supposed to do? Get help from the one that abandoned me with this power in the first place?" She tried to keep her breathing slow and even, but she was too upset.

"I know it was wrong for me to do that, but I'm worried about you Kimiko. As much as you don't like it, you're still my daughter."

"Fine…is there something I'm supposed to do then?"

"Come with me. Just for a little while."

"Where?"

"The realm of the gods. You'll be able to feel out your power better."

"But I'm half human."

"You're half god and that's enough."

"Alright…" She sighed. "How do we go there?"

"Give me your hand."

She looked up at him for a moment, but complied anyway. "Alright."

He looked around for any people watching. No one was and they disappeared in a bright flash of red light.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Akane put down her comb and pinned back her hair. She never thought she could be so happy. She came out of her bathroom and went down to Kano's room. He was dressed and playing with something.

He looked up. "Hey Akane. What's this?"

She took the thing from him. "Digital camera."

"What's it do?"

"Takes pictures." She turned the camera at him and took a picture of him sitting on the bed.

He let out a yelp of surprise. He didn't know about the flash bulb. "What the hell?!?!"

She giggled and showed him the digital picture in the screen on the back. It wasn't the most flattering picture ever, Kano had a shocked look on his face in it, but it was a picture nonetheless. "See?"

"Gimme that!" He looked at the picture then at her. "How's it do that?"

"I dunno. I'm not one for knowing how things work, more just that they work." She shrugged and sat on the bed with him.

"Oh." While he looked at it, his thumb slipped onto a different button and the screen changed. "Uh oh…I think I broke it…"

"What?" Akane took the camera back. "No…you just pulled up another picture." When the picture came up, she blushed deeply. "Oh God…"

"What?" He took it from her. He turned the same shade of red as her. The picture he found was the same one Kei took the night before. "How did…"

"My mother…" Her eye twitched. "She would be the only one evil enough…" She stood up and went into the hallway. "Mother!"

"What?" Kei stuck her head out of one of the bedrooms.

"You are evil." Akane stuck her tongue out. "You know that?" She waved the camera at her mother.

"And loving it. Now give me back my camera." Kei approached Akane.

"Why'd you take the picture?" She whined.

"Why not? Just one of those moments you have to take a picture of." She smirked.

"Oh!" Akane's face turned bright red. "How do I get rid of it? There's and erase button on here isn't there?" She began to look at the buttons.

"Hey, don't erase it!" Kei lunged for the camera. "It's a cute picture!"

Kano blinked a few times as the two women fought over the camera. 'Well…what a way to start the day…'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kimiko was awestruck by the palace her father lived in. Her wings involuntarily appeared on her back, as did her father's. "So this is where you've lived for the past 4 years?"

"Yes. All the gods live here."

"Nozomi too?"

"She's probably sleeping, but yes. Her too."

Kimiko followed her father inside. "Is she hurt?"

"No. Just tired. She's been doing a lot of work since you and your friends have gone back and forth from world to world and time to time."

"Oh…um…can I see her?"

"Of course." Suzaku led her to a private wing of the palace for the ebony haired goddess.

She was asleep in a large bed with brightly decorated silk sheets. Kimiko's presence made her open her eyes immediately. "Kimiko?"

"Hi. How are you?" Kimiko came in nervously. She didn't know how to act. She never believed in gods and goddess all that seriously and now that she was one, it was quite a bit to take in.

"Fine. Just a little tired. If I had known you were coming, I wouldn't be in bed." She yawned and sat up in bed. "Suzaku, leave us alone for a bit will you?"

"Yes ma'am." He bowed and left the female goddesses alone.

"It…it's okay. I didn't know I was coming either. And it's kind of our fault you're sleepy…"

"Your fault? Nonsense Kimiko. I should be thanking you. You don't know how good it feels to let your power just flow after being dormant for a long time. I haven't had a good workout like that in a few thousand years. I was worried I was losing all my power."

"Oh! Um…okay then. You're welcome I guess…"

"I take it your father brought you here to work with you and your new power?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh that man…" She got out of bed and shook her head.

"What? Something wrong?"

"Kimiko, you don't need his help. You don't need Chichiri's help. You don't need anyone's help. It's part of being an immortal, or even half in your case. The power just comes and it comes with the understanding of how to use it. He just wants to make up an excuse to spend time with you. He missed you a lot."

"Then why'd he go in the first place?"

"Things rarely work out between mortals and immortals."

"What about me and Hiroshi?"

"That's different. It's an advantage of being half human. You'll be able to stay with him, don't worry."

"Oh…okay…" She was quiet for a moment. "My father really missed me?"

"Of course. He's watched over you constantly since he left you. Every time you were upset, he try to do little things to make you smile again. Even if he can't care for you like a regular father, he still loves you."

Kimiko stared at the floor. "Do you think I've been too harsh on him?"

"It's hard to say. It's really up to you how you want to deal with him coming back into your life." She sighed. "If don't ever want to accept him back, that's up to you. If you do decide to after some time, that's fine too."

"I don't know what to do…" She shook her head.

"No one said you had to right now." Nozomi put her hand on Kimiko's shoulder. "You have all the time in the world and you know your friends will be there to help you."

"You're right…I shouldn't try to do this all at once."

"Atta girl. Now why don't you go see your father? And pretend we never had this conversation."

"Thank you." Kimiko hugged the older woman and went to find her father.

As she walked through the hall, she didn't pay too much attention to where she was going. She bumped into someone and nearly crashed to the floor. But a strong arm caught her and pulled her back to her feet.

"Oh thanks! I'm such a klutz!" She saw the person who caught her. She backed up a few steps. "R…Reizo?"

It wasn't Reizo though. It was Nakago. He bowed low to her. "Forgive me for not watching where I was going, Milady." He then turned and kept walking.

"Uh…ah…okay?" She blinked in surprise. 'Whoever that was, it wasn't Reizo. His eyes weren't that creepy dead blue gray like Reizo's and his voice was lower and had something I never heard in Reizo's voice. Kindness.' She stared at the hallway Nakago had just walked down.

Suzaku approached Kimiko. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm fine…why…what…who was that?" She looked up at him confused.

"That's Nakago. Reizo's father."

"Wait, wait, wait! First of all, I thought he was evil. Second, I saw Nakago in the village where Reizo almost killed baby Kano! Why didn't I recognize him?"

"Well, first, he used to be evil. Not anymore. Second, you didn't get a really good look at him then and he's been dead roughly 20 years. He's quite different now."

"What's he doing here?" She motioned in the direction he left in.

"He works for Nozomi. While Reizo was in the past, Nakago's spirit kept an eye on him for her."

"Isn't he dangerous though?"

"He's dead. He can't hurt anyone any more than they can hurt him. He's just trying to find his place in his afterlife."

"Oh…" She still looked a little mystified. "Okay…"

"It'll make sense someday." He led her in the other direction.

"Dad, I have another question. It's not about Nakago though…"

"What is it?"

"Have…have you seen the way Mom and Kouji act around each other?"

"Yes…I have."

"Is it alright with you if Mom starts seeing him?"

"Yes. Kouji can make her happy in ways I can only wish to. He can stay with her for the rest of their lives. What can I do? Sit here in this palace for the rest of eternity and watch them grow old and die together someday."

Kimiko was quiet again. It finally occurred to her how much her father was suffering and how much he would suffer in the future when he watches her mother grow old, her and her brother, her children, her grandchildren. Her father would have to see her whole family live and die while he went on. Though the suffering could be lessened because it would be like he knew them personally.

Even thinking about the future, Kimiko couldn't just forget her suffering in the here and now.

She closed her eyes. "I'd give you an answer if I could…"

"I don't expect you to." He didn't look at her as he spoke.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Did you bring Kouji here for Mom?"

"Wait and see Kimiko. I can't tell you everything."

"Akira's gonna flip. He's already pissed beyond belief because I'm seeing Hiroshi seriously…"

"I'll talk to him."

"How? You're dead, remember?"

"Dreams Kimiko. Dreams. That's how I came back to you."

"But Akira doesn't take to things like that very well. He'll never believe it."

"I'll make sure he does. Don't worry."

"Daddy, I'm a 15 year old girl with an immortal father, a human boyfriend, the world's most thickheaded brother and a mother who's attracted to a bandit and knows nothing about the aforementioned things. You tell me not to worry? Fat chance." She stretched her wings. "My life is a bigger mess than I though."

"You're life isn't a mess. It's just confusing. And that's my fault." He brushed her hair from her face. "If I had looked further into the future, maybe I could have stopped this from happening. I've made a lot of mistakes…"

"To err is human…" She whispered.

He lowered his head. "I wish I was human…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Toru tossed his soccer shoes into his bag and went to find his father.

"Dad? Are you taking me to soccer or is Mom?"

"I will, no da."

"Is Toshiro ready for that stupid summer class?"

"I don't think he's going today, no da."

"What? Toshiro's never missed a day of school in his life. What's wrong with him?"

"He just wants a day off." His mother looked up from a newspaper.

Toru made a face and went upstairs to his brother's room. He knocked. "Hey, bro?"

"Yeah?"

"You feeling okay? Dad said you're not going to class."

"I'm fine." Toshiro was sitting at a desk that faced his window. "I just don't feel like sitting in a class room today."

Toru's eyes widened. "Is the world going to end today? You never skip school!"

"Shut up!" Toshiro turned around in his chair. "Not everything in life is about school!"

Toru suddenly got serious. "That's the first time I've ever heard you say that. What…what changed?"

"I…I dunno…" Toshiro shook his head then looked at his brother. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me."

"Scary though, huh?"

"Terrifying." Toshiro looked out the window again. "I guess…in the grand scheme of things, maybe being smart isn't as important as I always made it out to be."

"'Bout time you got that, bro." He shrugged. "It's what I've been tellin' you for years."

"I know…it just seems like it clicked now though."

"I've noticed you change since we first got to Konan. I think that's part of it."

"Maybe."

"Well, any who, it's nice to see you loosen up. Maybe next time I cut class, I'll drag you with me."

"You don't cut class do you?" Toshiro turned to look at his brother again.

"Maybe once a year. It's a mental health day, okay? Everyone could use one once in a while. You could probably take a month off if you wanted to."

"I'd never take that long off. You know that."

"Thought I'd try." Toru grinned. "I gotta go. See ya later."

"Sure. Later." Toshiro nodded and Toru left for soccer practice.

After Toru closed the door, Toshiro's phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello? …Momoko. Hi." 'What's the captain of the cheerleading squad calling for? Oh, for Toru probably…' "You just missed Toru. I can take a message if you want. …You weren't looking for him? … Sure I've got some spare time. What did you need? … Sure. I can help you with that. Lemme grab my history book. … No. It's no problem. I'm always happy to help anyone with school work."

Lily carried a basket of laundry up to Toshiro's room. She smiled when she saw how happy he looked talking to Momoko. He'd always had a crush on her, but then again, there weren't too many boys in that school that didn't like her. Even if it was only for summer school work, it was something.

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Review please!

Draco, Lady Viola, are you two still out there? I don't want to lose anyone. Even if you leave a review that says something like 'I'm still here and reading.' I just want to know you're still there.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~