AN: I am blown away with all the support and attention that you guys have gifted me with when it comes to this fic. I am very grateful 😊 I hope you enjoy this chapter and there will be more Kyoko-Kuon interaction next chapter for sure.

Chapter Three – Broken Wings

"You are the king, right?" Kyoko asked as she tilted her head looking at the adult. She would usually feel a little nervous about just approaching an adult out of nowhere, but this was the king of fairyland. He had been the one who had given Corn the challenge to fly. He seemed like a kind person. As long as he didn't touch her he was nice.

"I guess.." Kuu said before looking around, "Where's your mother or father?" he stood up so he could look around to see if she had come here with her guardian. He watched her once he realized she had come here alone and got down so he knelt in the mud in front of her. He could remember Kuon when he was this age and all he wanted to do was run around like the world couldn't touch him. "We need to tell your mother or father that you're here, they might be worried about you," he told her.

Kyoko shook her head, "No, they're not worried. Mom locked me out again and so Corn always makes me feel better," she smiled as she thought about her fairy prince. Kyoko looked down at Kuu's knees. "You're getting your royal clothes dirty," she said as he continued to stare at her.

"Oh," Kuu paused, "Well see, that's the thing with royalty," he said remembering all the ways that Kuon would tell him stories at this age and Kuu would just listen to his son until he was too tired to invent any further twists. "We have lots of clothes so it doesn't matter if this pair of pants is dirty because I can get another pair."

Kyoko nodded, "Then where are your wings?"

"It wouldn't be right for fairy kings to expose themselves to the human world now, would it?" Kuu asked. "So I have to make sure that my wings can't be seen," he looked down and then took out a picture of him, Kuon, and Julienna. "So, you do know, Kuon, right?"

"Yeah," Kyoko nodded energetically. "He's still here. Corn always listens to my stories and he always plays with me and tries to make me feel better. Corn's a really giving person but that's because he's not human, he's a fairy prince with special powers."

Kuu sighed, "Kuon's lost his powers right now, we won't be able to make the safe passage home together so we're staying on earth just a little bit longer," he noticed the excitement in Kyoko's face but shook his head. "I'm sure he'll be able to see him soon but he can't fly right now, not even a little."

"Did he fall?" Kyoko asked with wide eyes, tears threatening to fill them.

Kuu nodded. "He did, his body needs special healing," he told her and Kyoko frowned.

"Won't his body hurt more if he doesn't go back to the fairy kingdom?" she asked and Kuu paused, how in depth were these stories between her and his son.

"The fairy council gave us special permission to stay here until Kuon's body has healed," Kuu said before noticing that the rain had stopped. "You promise me that you'll go home now? You won't come out here unsupervised, right?"

Kyoko looked down. "I'll go home," she said not saying anything about the supervision part of what Kuu had said to her. Kuu watched her go and then looked back at the picture of him with Kuon and Julie. Once he was sure the girl was out of sight, he brought a fist up to his mouth and attempted to silence his sobs.

A little boy should be able to run and play and pretend. He shouldn't have a lung infection or have trouble with his brain activity or be unable to move both his arms and his legs. This wasn't the life that he wanted for his son.

….

….

A week and a half later, Kuu came into the house which they had extended the rental lease for with a bag of groceries. He knew he should be heading back to LA and getting some things shipped over for them as well as to wrap up his own work, but he couldn't bear to leave his family this way. Kuon was released only a few days ago and there were a lot of things that needed to be changed because of his now limited mobility, weakness, and the way he sometimes got dizzy and forgot where he was.

These were all things that he believed Kuon would be able to heal from and overcome. In fact, this particular day had seemed better than most. Well, that was until he stepped foot into the kitchen and saw Julie attempting to scream into a dish towel.

Kuu placed a hand on her shoulder and then slowly guided her into his chest, "Hey, hey, what is it? What's wrong? What happened?" he asked as he kissed her forehead and Julie started shaking in his hold.

"He won't eat," Julie whispered, "I mean, I can't force him but…but he won't eat," she hit Kuu lightly in the chest. "It's because of you, because you taught him to be self-sufficient instead of my baby. He's too proud. If he wasn't embarrassed then he'd let me feed him."

"Oh," Kuu said with a weak look from side to side.

Julie's eyes widened, "Oh? That's all you have to say? Our son won't eat Kuu and I know he can move his head enough to drink those smoothies and concoctions from the blender, but the doctor says he has to eat real food as well and I'm trying my hardest but…he won't let me feed him and he just…his hands can't…"

"You go rest," Kuu said as he kissed Julie's head, "I'll try to get him to eat a little more," he told her before looking down. "Maybe we should get a nurse? Someone we can hire specifically to take care of him?"

"No," Julie protested. "No. He's my baby. He's my responsibility, I'm not letting anyone else touch him. He can't defend himself, Kuu. If someone were to touch him in a way that he didn't like or if they were to try to bully him, he can't defend himself if he can't move his arms and legs."

Kuu nodded, "I'll go try," he told her before seeing Kuon in the wheelchair with a plate of food in front of him. "Hey," he tried to hide the sadness as he approached the ten-year-old. "What is that? It looks good," he said as Kuon looked away.

"You eat it then, the doctors probably have made sure it has all the crap in -" Kuon looked over at his father who was giving him a stern look for his word choice. "You eat it. You have hands, you eat it."

"Oh, I'm sure I can make myself something later," he said before examining the noodles. This was something that had been delivered from a restaurant, not something that his wife had made so maybe it tasted better. "Is it too hot?"

"I wouldn't know," Kuon looked away. "I was fine with the drink things, at least if Mom put those at the right height I could drink them. I don't want the freaking airplane."

"Kuon," Kuu sighed before nodding. He had really hoped that his son would have regained the use of his arms and hands by this point. "Your mother is trying to do what she thinks is best for you. She doesn't mean to make you feel like a little kid, but you have to admit that we don't have many options."

"Just stuff it in a blender and I'll drink it, you just have to make sure that it's at the right height," Kuon argued. He looked over at his dad, "I'm never going to be able to move again am I? What am I, some observer who is never going to be able to write an essay?"

"There are voice to text programs on computers now, I'm sure you'll be able to complete the thesis for your PHD," Kuu argued. He stood up so he could sit in a way where he and Kuon could look at each other face to face. "The doctors say that you should be able to move your hands soon, we'll just have to be patient. I'll talk to your mother about the smoothies, maybe it was too soon to try solid food."

"Mom didn't even let me pick out my own clothes today," Kuon argued. "When you helped me yesterday, you just did whatever I suggested. Mom was too caught up in her own mind."

Kuu nodded as he listened to his son, he place a hand on the side of Kuon's neck where the scar wasn't. "Look at me, your mother and I love you so much. When we think that you might have vanished and we might have lost you forever, I don't think you can imagine that kind of heartache. Bear with us a little longer and hopefully soon we'll all find the best way that we can work together."

Kuon nodded as he looked out into the garden, Kuu sighed and picked up the plate. "I can't promise you this will taste any good in liquid form but I'll bring it right back," he said knowing that any flavor loss was worth the feeling Kuon had that he was holding onto his independence no matter what small and tattered scraps of it there were left.

Kuon looked up at his dad before looking down, "Dad?" he asked, "Can I show you something? I wasn't able to show Mom before."

Kuu smiled and came back to sit in front of the little boy. "Sure, what is it you want to show me?" he asked and Kuon looked down at his hand. On his left hand he was able to tap his pinky and middle finger and move his thumb from side to side slightly.

"It's not much…" Kuon looked down but saw the excitement on his father's face.

"That's incredible, Kuon," Kuu said as he wrapped his arms around his little boy. "You're so impressive," he said as he kissed the top of his head. "You're amazing. I believe if you keep working hard, in a month you'll be able to use that whole hand," he said as Kuon looked at him humbly.

"Really?" he asked with hope in his voice and Kuu nodded.

"Definitely. I'll help you as much as I can," he said although it would take less than a month for Kuon to be able to use his whole arm. As Kuu took the food inside, Kuon saw something hiding in the bushes. He paused thinking what kind of animal it would be. Fortunately, he could see the bush easily from the way his chair had been angled.

Kuon narrowed his eyes and was surprised when he saw a young six-year-old pop out of the bush. That was definitely not something he was expecting. He wasn't sure what kind of magic would make someone unable to move like this. Did he have to come clean about the fact that he wasn't a fairy prince?

He smiled weakly as the little girl ran up to him, "Hey," he said weakly unsure what to say.

"Corn! I'm so happy to see you again," she grinned. "The fairy king told me you tried to fly, is that why you're hurt? Did you get a curse on you where you can't move your body until your wings are better?" she asked as Kuon laughed weakly.

"Kyoko-san," Kuon said weakly not sure how to talk to her in his condition, "What are you doing here? This isn't our meeting place."

"Well, I didn't think Corn would be going there if he couldn't fly so I followed the fairy king when he was at the store. I followed him all the way here so I could see you, Corn" she said with a big smile on her face as Kuon sighed and closed his eyes.

He didn't have the heart to tell her to go home especially since her mother probably kicked her out again. "Okay," he smiled trying his best to mask his own pain, "How about you tell me about your day, Kyoko-san?"

AN2:

Thank you to everyone who supports this fic 😊 It means a lot to me and special shoutouts to: addicted-to-the-fic, brennkai, Dream Idol, Guest (x3), JazminSS, Kris XD, ladygraywolf, paedirt, and Shadowheart who all reviewed the previous chapter. You guys make me feel so awesome so thank you.