I've realised I don't quite like this story anymore. Nevermind. Probably had the document up too long. Next time I'll do something a bit more manageable.

This is the last chapter. Well. There is an epiouloge too. It'll be up in about two weeks or so. When I come home from Croatia. ...the women...

Time.

"No!" Rei shrunk back, arms folding themselves over his stomach. The glaring eyes of his oppressor narrowed, and suddenly Rei flew backwards. "Iie!"

"Abominable." A cold voce spoke up from behind Rei, stopping his fall, hauling him upright by his collar.

"He's a disgusting fag!"

Cold grey eyes narrowed, glaring hatefully towards the two close-minded neko-jin. "This fag happens to be my grandson's husband. I suggest you disappear from my sight before I decide the earth has suffered through enough of your pathetic idiotism."

Startled, the man stared at the stranger, then he huffed, sneering, and stalked away.

The minute he was out of sight, Rei breathed out, hugging his stomach in worry, what if-? "Snap out of it, brat. It is alright." Rei stared hesitantly at Kai's grandfather, a hint of fear underlying it.

"But-"

The old man glared at him, and Rei instantly fell quiet. "Are you done?" The neko-jin nodded, and silently followed him towards the line. When it became their turn to pay, Rei didn't even dare to object as Voltaire paid for his food.

"Thank you, sir."

"Hn." Taking hold of the bags, Rei walked where Kai's grandfather told him to, and obediently put the food in the back of his car. He opened the passenger door and got in, letting the cold stare guide him.

They drove in silence. Somehow, Rei wasn't surprised that the old man knew where they lived. It unnerved him slightly that he knew so much about them, without ever speaking to them. Last time they met was at…Rei's brow furrowed in thought. It must've been in church, when Sasha was baptised last summer. As if sensing his thoughts, the baby kicked, making Rei sigh happily and rub his stomach. His baby was alright.

Voltaire glared at him. "It kicked." Nodding, the stoic old man looked back at the road, taking the next left and slowed down in front of Rei's apartment complex. Voltaire turned off the car, and more or less threw Rei out of it. Opening the trunk, he patiently waited for Rei to pick up the bags, then followed the more and more nervous Rei. "Sir?"

The cold glare sent in his direction told Rei not to question the motives of one Voltaire Hiwatari, and continued to trudge up the stairs. Sighing with relief when the apartment door came in sight, Rei almost sprinted towards it. His back was starting to feel the effects of walking around too long while carrying heavy bags in his pregnant state.

Feeling the door, he noticed it wasn't locked, and pushed it open, making his way inside and mentally cringed. There were too many shoes in the hall, meaning Boris and Yuriy were over…"Kai, I'm home!"

"Rei? Why didn't you call? I was supposed to come pick you up, don't tell me you walked all the way-" Kai's voice floated from the living room, accompanied by his footsteps, the dual haired Russian stopped abruptly when the front door came in sight. "Grandfather."

"Papa! Lookie, lookie!" Two small toddlers came running in after Kai, proudly holding up paintings, obviously drawn by themselves. "Sasha draw Kiska!" Rei smiled, putting down the grocery bags and looked at his son's drawing of a cat.

"That's very good, Sasha. What did you draw, Mishka?" Rei turned his attention towards the other, more silent and soft-spoken red haired child.

"I drew trees and grass and lakes and stars and clouds and lots and lots of things." Rei nodded, looking at the other drawing.

"That's very pretty," Smiling, he picked the children up. "Now, how about we go back to your papas, Mishka?" The children nodded, telling the neko-jin of their exiting afternoon, leaving Kai and his grandfather alone in the hallway.

Kai and Voltaire glared at each other "What are you doing here?"

The older Hiwatari smirked. "Visiting."

"Visiting? You?" Kai snorted. "You never just visit." Bending down, he picked up the bags left by Rei, and walked towards the kitchen, motioning for his grandfather to follow. Ignoring Kai, Voltaire spoke up. "That other brat,"

"Mishka."

"Ivanov's?"

"Yes. What do you want?" Voltaire withdrew three slips of papers from his coat and put them on the table. "Do what you wish with them, I've sent the rest by mail. Goodbye." The grey-haired man nodded, turning around and showed himself out, Pausing in the hallway between the living room and the front door.

"Your poor excuse of a husband let himself be harassed, I suggest you try and do something right." He nodded towards the glaring men standing in the entrance to the kitchen. "Kuznetsov, Ivanov." And then he was gone, out of the apartment and once again leaving the present men with mixed emotions.

"Rei?" Kai hurried towards the living room, leaving his friends in the kitchen. "Rei, are you alright?" The neko-jin sitting on the sofa, looked up, then ran into Kai's arms.

"I don't know what would've happened if your grandfather hadn't been there…"

"What happened?"

"I was shopping, a-and then this man was there…I didn't notice him and he started to badmouth you and me and then he…he pushed me, on m-my stomach. I was so scared…" The last words made Kai's insides freeze. "The baby?"

"It's fine…I think. I-It kicked, so it should be…" Kai felt the fear and tension leave him, and hugged Rei closer, offering whatever comfort he could. "The man?"

"He ran off, your grandfather scared him, I think…"

30/1 2008, morning.

"Now Rei, just lay back and we'll do it like last time, alright?" Rei nodded, and pulled off his shirt, exposing his large stomach. "You're quite big already. If I didn't know you were only five months gone I'd say you were going to give birth any day now."

"I know. I mean, I was this big with Sasha the eighth month."

"Mm…" The doctor turned on the apparatus, and smeared the gel-like substance on Rei's stomach. "Here we go…there it is, looking healthy as usual- Hm?" The doctor frowned, looking closer on the screen. "That's odd…"

"What? Is something wrong? Is my baby alright?" Rei stared intently at the screen as well, but he couldn't see anything different on it, clutching an equally worried Kai's hand in his own.

The doctor smiled gently, and moved the scanner slightly lower on Rei's side. "They are in perfect condition. It would seem you're having twins, gentlemen."

"Really?"

"Yes-"

Thump.

"Kai! Doctor, help!" The man raised his eyebrows, and put down the scanner.

"Mr. Hiwatari? Sir?" Kai groaned, stirring.

"Kai, love, wake up."

"Rei…m'head hurts." Rei rolled his eyes.

"Then I suggest you stop passing out every time you find out I'm having a baby!"

"Hn. Whatever…" Kai closed his eyes briefly, then snapped them open, sitting in an upright position. "We're having twins?"

"Yes, Mr. Hiwatari. Now, if you sit in the chair next to your husband, I can show you the babies." Kai nodded, and hurriedly moved to sit in the chair, eager to see his babies.

"You don't seem surprised, doctor."

The doctor smiled bashfully. "I'm not. Rei is quite big. I'm just more surprised no one noticed before." He fell silent, moving the scanner for a few seconds before stopping. "There. See that?" Kai and Rei both nodded, looking towards where the man was pointing. "Now, when I move it to the left…"

"Oh…" There, on the screen, were two babies, floating peacefully next to each other. "We're having twins, Rei…"

"I-I know…how- I- This is…" He trailed of, unable to put what he was feeling into words.

"Do you want to know if you're having boys or girls?" Rei and Kai gazed silently at each other for a minute or two, before Rei shook his head.

"No, we liked not knowing last time with Sasha."

"Alright then. Now, just remember to eat plenty and healthily, drink and sleep." Rei nodded.

"Yes, doctor."

17/05 2008, late afternoon.

"They're beautiful…" Rei smiled, touching the soft tuft of black hair on his oldest daughter's head.

"I-I know…"

"How's you head?" Kai grimaced, cradling their other baby in his arms.

"I'll have a bump, but I'm fine." The man lying in the hospital bed chuckled softly. "It's not my fault my body decides to shut down every time you present me with a baby!" Kai huffed.

Rei just smiled, then yawned. "We need to name them, Kai…"

"I know."

"I- Would you mind if they have Chinese first names instead of Russian?" Kai shook his head.

"No…Sasha's Russian, and as long as they sound beautiful and fit I don't mind, besides, the names I thought suit better as middle names."

"Oh. Can I hear them?"

"Alright…M-My mama was called Irina and my grandma Nikita, so I thought, maybe, you know? Do you like them?" Rei stared at the baby in his arms, silently contemplating.

"Lei Irina Hiwatari…" He averted his eyes to the navy haired girl sleeping in Kai's arms and nodded slightly. "Jin Nikita Hiwatari…what do you think?"

Kai smiled. "Perfect."

There was a soft knock at the door, and a curious redhead poked his head in. "Can we come in?" Rei nodded.

"It's alright, not too long though."

"Don't worry." Yuriy pushed the door open, and waddled in. "I can't stay too long…it's kicking and kicking, and Boris' worrying worse that a mother hen." Winking, he patted his stomach. "Sasha? Why don't you come in?" Soft, hesitant footsteps were heard, and their son shyly walked into the room, hiding behind Yuriy's legs.

"Daddy? Papa?"

"Hey tiger…come here, do you want to see your sisters?" Nodding, Sasha gripped tight on his uncle's hand, letting Yuriy guide him. With a slight effort, Yuriy put Sasha on the side of Rei's bed, groaning. Curious gold and red mottled eyes stared at the small, sleeping thing in his papa's arms. "What that?"

Smiling, Rei held out the baby slightly, so that both Sasha and Yuriy could see better. "This is a baby, Sasha. Your baby sister, Lei."

"And this," Kai walked closer to Sasha. "Is Jin, your other baby sister."

The boy nodded in wide-eyed wonder. "I big now?"

"You're a big brother now." Yuriy smiled, placing a hand on Kai's shoulder and peeked at the babies.

"Da, big broder."

"They're wonderful…you do realise the h you'll go through?" Rei nodded, then gazed at Yuriy, contemplatively. Curious, he sniffed the air. Oh.

"You're just lucky to be here?" The redhead shrugged guiltily. "Kai, please make sure Boris gets here in one piece as soon as possible, alright? And fetch a nurse on the way out, don't forget to put Jin in her basket first, Lei too." Kai frowned at Rei, then noticed the way Yuriy was holding onto his shoulder, hand clamped down hard, almost painfully on it. "And don't pass out, alright? Your head won't feel good in the morning if you do." Kai gasped, only then realising that he had stopped breathing, and nodded, doing exactly what his husband had told him to do.

"Yuriy, sit." The Russian smiled, and did just that, sitting down in the chair Kai had been using earlier with a heavy groan. "How long?"

"Oh, not that long. I noticed just five seconds before I knocked on the door…must be the hospital air or something." Rei whistled softly.

"You're scheduled to go in June..."

The door opened, and a woman stepped in. "Mr. Hiwatari?" Rei and Yuriy startled.

"Oh, Miss. Dimitrova, do you have a day care centre here or something? For two year olds?" The young nurse nodded. Rei sighed in relief.

"Oh good…I am in no state to look after my son here, and my husband won't be either, my friend here is in labour, and his husband most definitely won't be."

"Oh dear. You should have said something, Mr. Kuznetsov! Come here," She waved at him to get to the vacant bed next to Rei's, and walked over to the small cupboard, pulling out a hospital gown. "Take off your clothes and put this on. Call if you need assistance. I'll be back with a doctor to examine you."

The redhead smirked, winking at the young nurse, who blushed and hurried out of the room. Taking off the trousers would've been easy, but…"Rei, how the hell am I supposed to get my shoes off?"

Rei blinked. "Sasha? Could you help your uncle with his shoelaces?" The toddler nodded, and reached out his arms, waiting for someone to help him down from the hospital bed. Holding onto his trousers, Yuriy slowly waddled over, and eventually managed to get the child down on the ground.

"Come here, Sasha." Together, they walked back to the other bed. Sitting down on it, with his feet on the ground, Yuriy talked the child through the difficult process of untying shoes.

"Tadaa! Sasha do it, papa! Lookie!"

"That's very good, Sasha! Do you think you can pull it off?" Nodding gleefully, he started to pull at one shoe, trying to imitate what his parents did to him every time they had been out, and managed, much to his joy, pull Yuriy's shoe off.

"Papa!"

"Wow, you're a real little master, aren't you? Think you can do it again?" More confident thins time, Sasha started to pull at the other shoe, when it didn't come off, he started to whine. "Papaaa! Heelp!"

"Sasha, try again, and I'll help with my other foot, how's that?" Sniffing, Sasha nodded, and tried again, this time with Yuriy attempting to push it off as well. With a soft thump, Sasha landed on his butt, shoe in hand, and squealed.

"Papa! See, see!" Holding up the other shoe proudly, Sasha looked at Rei, who smiled.

"Very good, Sasha."

Yuriy stood up again, and let his trousers slide down on the ground, and stepped out of them. He pulled off his t-shirt, and dropped it on the floor next to his other garments, and reached for the hospital gown. "Your socks, Yuriy. A-And don't forget, you know." Rei coughed, and looked away.

"Why Rei, I know you want to look really…no need to act coy, kitten." Rei sniffed, but didn't turn around. He flinched when a sock hit his chest, closely followed by its mate that landed on his head. Rei glared, turning to Yuriy, who was smirking, and snapped his head away, blushing furiously.

He could hear the redhead snicker at his expense, and childishly threw the socks back, without looking.

"Rei-Rei, could you help me with the ties?"

Smiling softly, rocking Jin gently in his arms, he watched as Boris doted on his husband, eyes never leaving Yuriy and their newborn daughter. He was a little bit more coherent this time. "I think it's a beautiful name."

Yuriy smiled, waiting for Boris. "…Mara…Mara Kuznetsov." He nodded, reaching for the baby. "I like it."

11/06 2010, mid-afternoon.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the air was warm; a bright, summer's day. Kai and Rei were sitting on a blanket on the ground, leaning against a tree and watching their children play. Lei and Jin were pulling at the grass, making purring, cat-like sounds and mewling with delight when it came lose, and then proceeded to throw it at each other. Their son, Sasha, was playing with Mishka on the playground a couple of feet away. Under heavy surveillance.

"Kai? Rei?" Looking up in surprise, they found the smiling, stunned face of Kyouju looking down on them.

"Kyouju-" Rei's greeting was cut short by the wailing of his oldest daughter, Lei. "Honey, what happened?" In an instant, Rei was kneeling by the small toddler, holding her against his chest. Kai moved just as fast, calming the other twin down, who was starting to cry softly in fright and worry at the sight of her sister.

"P-Papa?" Snivelling, the child held up her arm, where a red swelling was beginning to show.

"Shh. Oh, sweetie…"

"Huwts, p-papa. Make p-pain g-go!" Rei looked at the wound, then to Kai's questioning, worried gaze.

"Looks like a bee sting." Kai nodded, half relieved, and went back to calming the other toddler down.

"Here." Rei looked up in surprise at Kyouju for the second time that day. "It's a painkiller, hold it against the sting. It'll help numb the pain." Nodding, Rei did what Kyouju told him to do, partly out of habit, and partly out of worry.

Mumbling comforting words to Jin, she slowly calmed down. "Daddy, happen Lei?" Kissing her forehead softly, Kai pointed towards the red mark on Lei's arm, rocking his daughter softly.

"She got stung by a bee."

Jin yawned nodding, worn out from her crying and falling more and more asleep by the soft lulling. Purring, her eyes slowly fell shut, her question disappearing in a soft yawn. "Wha…" Kai sighed and carefully put her on the blanket, making sure she was in the shade the tree provided.

"How's Lei?" Gazing worriedly at his other daughter, Kai unconsciously gripped Rei free hand. "What are you doing?"

"Kyouju said that it would take the pain away…" The Russian petted the soft tresses of silky hair away from Lei's forehead. Soon enough, her soft purring vibrated through the air as well, falling asleep much thanks to the lessening of the pain. Rei smiled in relief, and put her next to her sleeping sister, before crawling back to Kai and his old friend, whom he had not seen for years.

"Kyouju…" Not knowing what to say, Rei hugged his old team-mate. "It's so nice to see you again, phone calls and emails just isn't the real thing." He hugged back awkwardly, not a fan of body contact.

"I know what you mean." Pulling back fully, Kyouju shook Kai's hand, knowing that there was no need for a hug. "So that was Lei and Jin? They're beautiful; they look so much like you."

"We know." Kai smirked playfully. Rolling his eyes, Rei hit him.

"Thank you. Not that we aren't happy to see you, but what are you doing here in Russia?"

The younger man's smile dimmed slightly. "I'm here with our old team, what's left of it." Looking up, he met their gazes hesitantly. "I didn't want to bring you the news over phone, but they're holding a reunion here in a week or so, the BBA."

"Oh."

Kai and Rei looked at each other, communicating silently with their eyes, finally, Kai nodded. "All the teams?"

"Yes, but-" Kai smirked knowingly.

"They haven't been able to contact the Neoborg team." Kai shrugged. "They're here."

"Kai, Rei- Kyouju?" The brown haired man whipped around, coming face to face with a redheaded Russian, holding two four year old boys by their hands.

"Y-Yuriy!"

"Red, your daughter-" Boris raised his eyebrows. "Computer kid. Never knew you had eyes."

"Boris." Kyouju's now visible hazel eyes, framed by a pair of rimless glasses, stared at Boris and Yuriy, then at the children held by them. A small girl, lavender haired, and from the looks of it, blue eyed. The boys with Yuriy, one had flaming red hair and Boris' eyes, while the other…"You have children?"

Boris smirked, but Yuriy nodded. "Yeah, this is Mishka, our son," He nodded towards the red haired child. "And the little angel over there is our daughter, Mara." The Japanese smiled.

"And that must be Sasha." The mentioned boy nodded shyly. "I'm Kyouju, I used to be on the same team as your parents." Sasha nodded, letting go of his uncle's hand.

"Papa telled me stories. He saided you were nice."

"Really?" The boy nodded. "How nice of him." Rei smiled.

"I know. I'm a very kind person."

"I know." Kai hugged Rei from behind, hand rubbing his stomach gently. Actions saying more than words.

Giggling and whispering conspiringly, Mishka pushed Sasha towards Kai, urging him to relay a most important matter. "Daddy, Daddy, me hungry, Misha too!"

"What do you want, then?" Kai looked down at the child tugging on his trousers, a soft smirk playing on his face.

The boys grinned, before shouting out almost simultaneously. "Pizza!"

"Of course." Muttering dryly under his breath, Kai looked at the other adults, who tiredly nodded their consent. "Pizza it is then."

"Yay! Thanks daddy!" Sasha bounced and hugged his daddy's leg, then he took Misha's hand and the two children ran off, playing with each other a couple of feet away on the grass and chasing the butterflies.

"Do you want to come, Kyouju?" Smiling gently, the young man nodded.

"Thank you, that'd be nice."

14/06 2010, afternoon.

Rei pushed the baby carriage glancing softly at the two girls asleep inside of it, and at the boy walking beside it, holding on to the handle. "Papa? Why they poiting at us?"

"Pointing Sasha." The boy nodded. "Who?"

"Thems!" Rei hummed, following his son's outstretched hand.

"Hitoshi? Brooklyn?"

"Hello, Rei. Nice to see you again. Nice to finally see your children as well. They do look so much like their parents, just like Kyouju said. Are you intending to come to the reunion?" Rei hugged Brooklyn back, and then hugged Hitoshi as well.

"It's wonderful to see you too, Brooklyn! I don't know. We haven't quite decided, and the Russians' will only go if Kai and I go, so- What Sasha?"

The boy tugged on Rei's trousers, staring at the strangers with half frightened eyes. "Who?"

"Do you remember when I told you about my old team?"

"Yes. They wered nasty, and pushed you and daddy away 'cause you loved eachther." Rei smiled, picking his son up, setting him against his hip and Sasha immediately looped his small arms around his neck.

"Mm. Do you remember what I told you about Hitoshi and Brooklyn?"

"Da…they wered nice and cuties." Ignoring the small blush covering his cheeks, Rei pointed at the couple.

"The one with blue hair is Hitoshi, and the man with orange is Brooklyn."

"They married like you and daddy?" Rei nodded, gently rocking the sleeping toddlers in the carriage to keep them from waking. "Oh! Me and Misha marry too!"

"You don't always marry the one you first think, tiger. If that were true, I would've been married to Mao." Sasha's grin transformed into a horror filled expression

"Ugh! Yucky!" Rei smiled, and turned back towards his old friends.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? How's…St: Petersburg? Right? Treating you?"

"It's alright…we're moving back to Japan in a couple of months, so well…won't be home for that much longer."

"Oh. Kinomya jii-san?"

Brooklyn nodded, Hitoshi having walked off to pick up his children from the playhouse in the mall they were in. "We both miss Japan, even though I never lived there. Hito wants to be closer to where he came from, and frankly I'm a bit tired of St: Petersburg. The old man is getting old, too."

Sasha frowned, hand tickling Rei's cheek gently. "Papa…me and Misha not marry then?"

"Hm? Do you like him?" The child nodded, petting Rei's hair. "Very, very much?"

"Da. This much!" Sasha flung his arms out, showing his papa just how much.

"Wow. That's a lot, tiger." He nodded, smiling proudly.

"We marry then?"

Rei pursed his lips, flicking his son's nose. "Hm…I don't know. Does he like you?"

"Yes, yes! He saided so! We promised!"

"Maybe."

"Papa!" Rei grinned.

"Alright then." Sasha squealed, and kissed Rei's face repeatedly. Someone gasped playfully behind them.

"What's this? Is my little mischievous tiger trying to steal my husband?" Sasha squealed again.

"Daddy! Uh-huh! I have other husband!" The older Hiwatari gasped again.

"Oh no! Someone stole my little tiger!"

The child giggled, nodding. "Who might that be?"

"Misha!" Kai laughed, and took Sasha from Rei's arms.

"Is that so? Who told you, you could do that?"

"Papa saided I could."

"Said, tiger, not saided."

"Yes. Papa said I could." Kai mock glared at his husband, who smiled innocently. "You don't want me to?"

"Maybe."

Sasha pulled at his daddy's bangs, frustrated. "Not maybe! I like Misha, Misha like me, so we marry!" Face neutral, Kai gently pulled his son's hands away from his hair.

"No, Sasha. Maybe is right. You're both still young. If you still want to when you're older, then it's alright. Okay?" Pouting the child nodded. "Don't be sad, Sasha, you can still pretend you're married, right?"

"Really?" Sasha raised his head, gazing hopefully at Kai. "Yeah, Yuriy and I always pretended we were married." Kai saw his son open his mouth to protest, and quickly added. "But then Yuriy met Boris, and left me all alone…"

"And you metted papa!"

"Yes, and we got married instead, and had you and your sisters." A familiar voice broke in.

"And those sisters are hungry, so papa strongly suggests that daddy puts Sasha down on the ground and assists papa to feed them."

Brooklyn and Sasha laughed. Kai grumbled playfully at his husband's commanding tone, and set Sasha down on the ground. He nodded in greeting to Brooklyn, seeing him for the first time, and accepted the toddler Rei handed him with a small grin. "Hey angel, you hungry?"

"Da! Jin hungwy, daddy." Kai smiled, and accepted the can of baby food from Rei.

17/06 2010, late morning.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Kai hissed in Rei's ear to avoid the children from hearing.

"I know! I can't believe you let me!" Rei whispered back, just as frantic.

They were walking the halls of the BBA-building located in central Moscow, following the directions the receptionist gave them, where at the end, she had assured, they would find the day care centre, as per usual.

"My grandfather knows!"

"What?" Kai glanced at their children at Rei's not so quiet exclamation, they seemed not to have noticed though. Jin and Lei were sitting up in their baby carriage cooing and purring to each other, and Sasha was skipping along, face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to only step on the white tiles, and jump over the blue ones.

"I know! He called this morning, said that this had better be a joke, and then he hung up!"

"You think he'll come?"

"He owns the Russian branch, so I really don't know. It's not like he needs an invitation!" Kai glanced at his daughters again. "Is that normal? Their…behaviour?"

Rei took in his daughters, the way they seemed to understand each other by just purring, meowing and make small, odd coos. Now that he thought about it…"They never use word when they play or interact, do they?"

"Noo…I've never seen them actually talk."

"Hmm…" Rei cocked his head, then he started to purr as well. The twins looked up at Rei, curious, then started to purr along with their papa's deeper purr, even Sasha started to purr softly unconsciously as he played his jump-on-the-white-tiles game. Rei smiled, and then stopped, as did Sasha without noticing. "They're kittens Kai."

"Honey, they're humans, not fur balls." Rei glared patiently at his sometimes dim mate, who patiently glared back.

"I'm a neko-jin, my children are neko-jin. Sasha is, just not as much behaviour wise. Jin and Lei, it would seem, inherited more than their fare share." Kai still looked clueless, glaring. "They behave like full blood neko-jin children would. The cat within is stronger the younger you are, and by the time they're twelve they should act like any other child, if my memory serves me correct."

"What do you mean?" Rei flushed.

"Well…I stopped chasing strings and jump moving objects at that age and focused more on 'blading and 'normal' playing. Beyblading is a bit hard when the first instinct you have at the sight of a spinning object is to attack. When you're more focused on whether or not it's the right time to jump the spinning thing and see if it's edible, you know?" Kai laughed.

"What I wouldn't have given to see that…no wonder you're all- Ah! Sasha?" Their oldest child chose that moment to swing around Kai, using his leg as support, and landed his daddy's shoes, somehow managing to still face forward. "No more whites! It's aaaall blue!"

"You'll have to walk on it, Sasha."

"No! The evil blue will eat you!" Kai and Rei exchanged an amused glance.

"No, the blue won't eat you. Blue is pretty, besides, the playhouse is right here, inside the blueness." Before Sasha could protest, a gleeful voice's shouting penetrated the air.

"Sasha! Sasha!" Sasha gasped, and jumped off Kai's shoes.

"Misha!" Rei grabbed Sasha before he could run off to his friend, much to the young child's annoyance. "Papa! Misha in there, have to go!"

"In a minute, we have to tell the nice lady first, remember?" Petulantly, Sasha nodded. Rei smiled to the elderly lady, standing just inside the door with a notebook.

"Good day Mr. Hiwatari, welcome back Sasha." Sasha waved, still looking over to where his friend was standing impatiently.

"Hello, Mrs. Ivanova. I don't know how long this time. I don't know if you heard, but someone requested a reunion."

The old lady nodded knowingly. "Yes, Mr. Kuznetsov informed me when they were in here to drop Mishka and Mara off fifteen minutes ago or so." Rei smiled, and waved at Kai to hurry up, Kai glared, struggling slightly with carrying two rebellious two year olds. "So all three of them, then. They still nap two hours or so?"

"Yeah, and Sasha only does if he's tired, just for thirty minutes though, but with Mishka here he'll only sleep if he does so, well¸ you know." She nodded, and put aside the notebook where three Hiwatari children were now listed. "About Jin and Lei…they're like that all the time, don't worry." Mrs. Ivanova smiled.

"Alright, I'll see you later then?" Rei nodded, and helped Kai by taking Jin and putting her in the playpen, where Mara already was, and they were soon accompanied by Lei.

"Yes, hopefully before midnight." Kai winked at Mrs. Ivanova, who shook her head.

"Sasha!" Rei called out softly, and waved at him. Sasha looked up, eyes widening. His parents stood by the door, ready to leave. He gasped, rushing over.

"Daddy! Papa!"

"Hey, tiger." Kai scooped up Sasha, hugging him and gave him a kiss.

"Daddy where you going?"

"To the meeting we told you about, remember?" Sasha nodded, hiding his head in the crook of Kai's neck.

"Not forget me?"

"Never. I promise. Daddy and I will be here to pick you up before you know it." Rei said, gently running his fingers through Sasha's hair. "So don't worry, and just play with Misha, alright?"

The child nodded, smiling hesitantly. "Come later?"

"Promise."

"Okay!" Sasha kissed Kai, then Rei. "Bye!"

"Bye, tiger." Kai put him down, and he sprinted over to Mishka again.

"Bye Sasha."

Turning, Rei intertwined his fingers with Kai's, and sighed softly. "I hate leaving them…I always fear that someone will kidnap them or there'll be bomb or-"

"I know…I know…"

They walked in silence from there on, with Rei a bit closer to Kai than normal, and Kai holding onto Rei's hand just a fraction tighter. The door to the conference room came into sight all too fast, even though their pace was slower than normal. The chaos and shouting from inside sounded out in the corridor, and it was with great apprehension that Kai opened the door.

The silence that greeted them was deafening, and it was very clear that the occupants in the room were divided in two different groups. One side held the Russian's, his friends. And Kiki, much to his surprise. They all looked, tired, hurt and resigned, but not surprised, and smiled warmly at Kai and Rei when they opened the door.

"You." Takao's disgusted growl cut through the silence.

It was a long night.

So. I learned. I learned... What do you think? R&R, please.

Next: Years into the future. Oh boy...

Ta.