Their mother had met a guy who made her feel like she was important. He tempted and teased her, made her feel like she was on fire all the time. This man's name was Jared. She was caught by his charm and it took a long time for her to realize her mistake: She let him in and he broke her heart. Luna and Miki didn't know the whole story, just that their mom had gotten hurt by someone who wanted to control her.

As far as Luna and Miki knew, it took years and the friendship their mom had with their father to make her happy again. It also took a while before she got over her fear of being found and taken away, imprisoned again.

Miki also remembered that not too long ago, they, too, got hurt. They were just barely sixteen when it happened. A charming young man had played games with them, tried to subjugate them. Though they got away from him, they were not able to escape getting hurt at least a little bit.

Glad that Luna cared enough to say something, Miki pulled her sister in for a hug. She whispered in Luna's ear, "Thank you for caring, Luna."
Hidden in the shadows, a man watched the cozy kitchen. A woman with faded strawberry blond hair was humming softly to herself, with her back to him. She turned towards him and he could see her eyes. Sky blue eyes that held a hint of laughter, love and fierce loyalty in them. Eyes that were a shade bluer than his own.

Turning back to her work, she never noticed the man's presence. Coming up from behind her, he smiled. Then, ran his hand lightly up her spine. She jumped from the unexpected touch and shivered from her body's reaction to it. Whirling around, she found herself trapped by his arms, him and the countertop behind her.

"Daffyd Urameshi! You do that again and I'll have to tickle you until you cry!" she threatened with a smile on her face.

"Kitsu Urameshi!" he said, lovingly nipping her lower lip, "You tickle me and I'll tickle back!"

He lowered his lips to her neck, nips her neck lightly and squirms as Kitsu's hands tickle his sides. Looking up from her neck, he tried to give her his second best glare. And failed miserably. He couldn't stop smiling.

Kitsu softly placed her hands on his cheeks. "I still think that there is some green in your eyes," she said quietly.

And it was true. Daffyd was lean, but strong, had short brown hair, and blue eyes that had green highlights in them. Still glaring at her, Daffyd shivered as she ran her hands up the middle of his back. He moved one hand to her chin, tilted her head up and kissed her lips lightly.

Wanting to play a little, Kitsu licked his lips at the last moment. Daffyd shifted his hips closer, moaning quietly as she placed her hands on them, and kissed her deeply. Before they could even consider going any farther, the front door of the house opened and closed with a bang.

Twin voices sang in unison from the front room, "Mom?! Dad?! We're home!"

Kitsu's head rested on Daffyd's shoulder as her own shook from quiet laughter. Lifting her head up and meeting his gaze, her eyes danced with the suppressed laughter, causing him to smile ruefully.

"We're in the kitchen," Kitsu called over Daffyd's shoulder, careful not to yell in his ear.

Taking the few spare seconds they had before their children invaded the kitchen, Daffyd moved to lean against the countertop next to his wife and wrapped an arm companionably around her waist. Muttering under his breath, "We'll never get any time to ourselves with those two around!"

Kitsu chuckled softly as she wound her arm around Daffyd's back. Her hand resting on the back of his neck, the fingers softly tickling him. He cast a quick glare in her direction as he shivered from the sensation. She merely smiled in reply. Flashes of red and chestnut brown announced the two girls' appearance in the kitchen.

Daffyd's eyebrow raised in askance when he say the exultant look on Brin's face.

"Good news, Miki?" Kitsu asked Daffyd's unspoken question.

"GREAT news!" Miki was smiling broadly, "Only two terms in that academy and I made White Masters!"

Luna smiled a little less broadly than her twin. She didn't want to spoil Miki's mood by snitching on how she managed it. Almost as reluctant to tease her sister, Luna said, "She also met the only other student to gain that colored rank."

Miki paled slightly, hoping that Luna wouldn't go any further than that. Her excited movements faltered slightly, then picked up again. She was much too excited about her achievement.

Their parents frowned.

"Meaning what?" asked Daffyd.

Miki finally stopped. She glanced from one parent to the other and shifted her feet nervously. Looking down, she hunched her slim shoulders and her fire red hair slightly veiled her pale, slightly freckled face.

"Miki?"

"Well… Only two made White… Me and…" she began quietly and finished in a rush, "a caster named Daemon."

Luna shot a glance at both of her parents that reminded them vaguely of something almost forgotten. Seeing the barely imperceptible nod from her mom, she took a seat at the kitchen table. Burdens shoulder onto someone else for the time being.

Smiling slightly, Kitsuyami stepped from Daffyd. She moved over to Miki and put an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I think that maybe we need to talk," she said soothingly, "It's okay. Besides, I have something to tell you."

The two women walked out of the room. Watching them leave, Daffyd's shoulders sagged a little. He took a deep breath and released in a sigh. "Time's come… Why now?"

Luna frowned at Daffyd, "Dad, what do you mean by that?"

"Hunny, this is the first time in years that one of you has shown interest in the opposite sex. I remember what had happened all those four years ago. I also remember that your mother went through the same thing. We just never told you guys some of the things that happened," he said quietly. "You remember Allen, right?"

Luna nodded, "He's the scuzz-ball who hurt me and Miki. But what does he and what happened to Mom have to do with this?"

"Well, he's Jared's son. And Jared is the one who hurt your mom all those years ago."

Luna gasped. Then, gaped at Daffyd like he just said something that was extremely insane.

Daffyd nodded, "Yes. Jared shaped and twisted Allen's way of thinking. Allen grew up viewing women as play-things. That's why he treated you and your sister like that. I'm just really surprised and thankful that he didn't hurt the both of you. Especially when he realized that you didn't want that any more and what both of you are: Free-willed, spirited young women." Daffyd smiled slightly.

Pushing away from the counter top, Daffyd held out his hand to Luna. As soon as she accepted it, he pulled her up into a fierce hug.

"Jared scarred your mother, emotionally. She was torn between loving him and hating him. To this day, she still loves him a very tiny bit."

"But… But why? If he hurt her, then why does she still love him?" Luna stammered.

"She does, because he helped her do things that she thought she would never do. Things that she wanted to do, but nobody, except him, would let her." Daffyd sighed.

After a long pause, Luna felt that there was something more on his mind. Struggling a little in his arms, she asked quietly, "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"

Daffyd nodded. "Yes. After a while, your mother managed to get out more often and started to meet other people. Jared knew by then that someone else claimed her, and he still thought of her as his 'property'." He shuddered from the memory of it all.

Luna stepped out of his embrace. She was unsure if she had over-stepped the boundary and was causing her father great distress. Luna was also unsure of her welcome.

"After he had lost her, she came to me. She was afraid that he would come after her. Jared finally managed to find us…" he sighed deeply. Continuing on, "He demanded to have her come with him, to leave me. Since neither of us agreed with that, he lunged at me with a knife he had hidden in his belt. He and I fought, and I came away with this," Daffyd turned around and lifted his shirt up to reveal a jagged, faded scar running from his left shoulder almost to his right hip. He replaced the shirt and turned back around.

Luna was shocked. Everything that her father had said was almost too much for her to deal with. Now, more than ever, she was glad that they had gotten away from Allen. Who knows what might have happened? she thought, If what happened to Mom and Dad is any clue, we might have been goners for sure.
Miki and Kitsu left the kitchen and headed for the green room that was Miki's grandmother's legacy to them. The room extended along the back of the house. The late afternoon sun shone a brilliant yellow-orange through the glass roof down upon the cool green tiled floor. Stepping into the room, Kitsu gestured for Miki to take a seat after taking a seat on the wicker sofa that sat against the house wall.

Miki took a seat on one of the wicker chairs across from her mother. She felt like she was going to get a lecture or something even more horrible was about to happen. Miki looked up at the glass roof while her mother got comfortable. She gave little thought to her current predicament as she realized her mother might be in a little bit of pain. She hasn't been doing to well lately. I wonder if something happened to her. The sun's shining and hardly a cloud in the sky, maybe the warmth will help her a little.

Watching Miki out of the corner of her eye, Kitsu sighed sadly as her body felt unusually unwieldy. It's been like that a lot lately. She smiled slightly as Miki finally looked down at her. "My dear Miki, I know what you must have been thinking earlier… About that boy you like so many years ago. What was his name?" she pondered that for a second, one nail tapping on her lower lip. Then shivered slightly, smiled and continued, "Allen, that's right. His name was Allen. I know how bad he had hurt you. I was hurt like that once, but to me it seemed like it was so much worse."

Miki shivered at the sound of Allen's name. She hadn't heard or used that name in several years. Then she just stared at her mother. "I didn't know that, Mom. I knew that you were hurt and all, but you and Dad never went into any details."

"I know. And I'm going to tell you about it," Kitsu shivered again. Her stomach produced a dull ache that seemed to come whenever she was slightly distressed. Curling her legs up on the couch, she began her tale. It was similar to what Daffyd had told Luna, but there was much more to it. All the pain, torment and fear that Jared had caused her were evident in her voice as she told each and every thing he had done to her to Miki. She finished most of the painful trip down memory lane, Miki then said, "What I haven't told anyone before, not even your father is that Allen is my son."

"How? How could that be? He doesn't even look like you!!" Miki stared in horror at her mother.

"He's not my real son, Miki. So please calm down," Kitsuyami's stomach ached again. "Though I am listed as his mother. Allen's mother died when he was born, so the doctors put me down as birth mother since I was there with his father. The doctors worked for Jared, so what he said goes."

"That would explain a lot… Although, why didn't you raise him? Why couldn't he have learned to care about others and respect them instead of dominating and terrorizing them?"

"I never got the chance to raise him myself. As soon as he was able to start learning the ways of life, Jared took him away," she said sadly. "Jared was a real piece of work. I ran away as soon as I could manage it, with all the bumps and bruises that I got escaping his fists. I ran to the one person who I knew I could count on, your father. He helped me get over my fear of being beaten. He also helped me get my feet back on the ground, instead of almost six feet under."

"Did he ever come after you and Dad?" Miki asked quietly.

"Yes, he did," Kitsu shuddered. "He demanded to have me come back. Neither your father nor I wanted that. So Jared attacked your father and left him with a terrible scar." She smiled then, a pleasantly dreamy smile. "Your father left him with a crippled arm and Jared never came back after us. It took years and your father's love and respect for me in order for the fear that Jared instilled in me to finally fade."

"So the moral of the story?" Miki asked, grinning wryly.

"Despite being hurt once, there's always a way to learn to love again. Don't let it pass you by, Miki. You or Luna. The two of you have potential, but it'll take time. Old wounds die hard, dear heart."