Heaven Reclaimed

by UnicornPammy

A/N: Sorry it has taken SOOOO long for me to update, and sorry this chapter is so short. But it seemed important to me to write it, and to post it. So, I hope you enjoy, and I promise to keep working on this story. As always, reviews are appreciated, in any shape or form. I'm a review glutton. : )

Chapter Two: Mother of Angels

Aya's mother sat silent and solemn in her wheelchair, ignoring the young American holding an umbrella over her head. At her son-in-law's funeral, she thought not of Toya, but of her daughter instead. Aya stood clutching her tiny son's hand, crying silent, anguished tears. This tall, sad creature was her child, her daughter, and she didn't even know her anymore. Her husband and her other child were dead, and though she couldn't remember what had happened to either, she knew that it was somehow related to the one who lived, burying her own husband at only nineteen years old.

Well, that was one thing they had in common at least. They were both widows.

She thought of her own husband, then, as she did almost every waking minute. She missed him. His presence, his scent, his quiet way of looking at her with tenderness and a touch of awe. That look that all women want to have trained their way, yet none ever really feel they truly deserve. She missed the way he touched her with easy familiarity, yet there was still a bit of the awkward teenager she'd known.

She remembered their wedding day, and their wedding night. Although it wasn't the first time they'd been together, there seemed to be a magical aura about it. She always imagined that they created their children that night as they made love in the jacuzzi,on the bed, on the floor. Their hotel room was sumptuous, but then his father was Mikage. They didn't go very far for their honeymoon, only to the shore, but for two weeks they were away from the family. She pretended she wasn't part of the cursed Mikage family, that she was just a normal person, whose children wouldn't have to worry about some arcane ritual when they turned sixteen.

Of course, she never imagined that her son and daughter would be the reincarnations of the Mikage and the Tennyo, respectively. At least, that's what she was told. That was why her husband had to die practically at the hands of his own father, and her son at the hands of his own sister.

She was so tired of being a part of this bloody family.

A strong gust of wind sent rain into her face, and when she had wiped her eyes she saw Aya crouched on the ground, her umbrella gone, trying to protect her son from the rain. And Yuhi, trying to protect Aya from the world. She realized in that moment how fragile her daughter was, and she felt something she hadn't felt in a very long time. She wanted to wrap her in her arms and comfort her. This tall, sad creature was unfamiliar to her now, but Aya was still her child. No matter how far apart they grew, she knew that connection would never be severed.