Katie's Point of View

I sat on the couch in our living room, contemplating what had happened with Yusuke last night. Reminiscence was never a happy activity for me, but I had needed to confront him and tell him that I was no longer an item. He couldn't just pout like a small child and think that I would change my mind and marry him. Besides, he was on the rebound from a recent divorce. Most likely, he was just feeling insecure and wanted someone who could make him feel better than his disfunctional self really was.

In the background, the TV was on, so that I didn't feel so alone. Whenever Keiryi was gone, I became aware of how little I really had. Kurama was gone, and for all I knew, Keiryi could be by tomorrow. I shouldn't have left her at Kuwabara's house. They were going through enough problems, and he didn't need to share in mine by letting her sleep over. I just didn't want to show Keiryi what he could really be like.

Birds chirped outside, calling me to take a break from cooking breakfast. The smell of burning sausages almost convinced me too. However, I needed to do this for Keiryi. I hadn't been much of a mother while she was growing up, and I was always just wishing that I had Kurama back. Keiryi was only a young teenager, and she was already jaded from being ignored too often. Even Hiro and Mikari couldn't make her feel accepted.

The doorbell rang, and I dropped one of the pancakes on the floor in the process of flipping it. Unsure of who it could be, I smoothed out my hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun. There was no other way to make it obey my whims.

"Hello?" I said, opening the door. "Come- Keiryi!" She looked more tired than I had ever seen her. When I hugged her to welcome her home, I could feel a significant decrease in her energy.

"You told me to take her home in the morning," Kuwabara reminded me. "If you weren't expecting us this early, you should have called." I blushed a deep red after remembering that I had actually told him to drop her off as early as possible.

"Hello, Mother," Keiryi said softly, looking up at me and my disheveled face. Cooking never had been and never would be my forte. "What's that smell?"

Letting out a small shriek of dismay, I ran into the kitchen to find that none of the food had been left in edible form. The sausages were blackened all the way around, and the eggs were baked so dry as to be mistaken for yellow plastic. Remnants of what had been pancakes sat on the pan, even more pathetic than they had been in the first place. They were falling apart, and I could see that the pieces were blackened also. Ever so slowly, I walked back out to Kuwabara and Keiryi. "Would you like to go out for breakfast?" I asked.

"Sure," Keiryi said softly, smiling at me.

Kuwabara left quite quickly, and I guessed that Yukina's situation had to be pretty bad. As Keiryi and I piled into the car, I thought of how stupid I had been to think that I would be able to cook for my daughter. Unlike other mothers, I hadn't been raised learning to cook, and that was the first time I had tried anything big. Sadly, I had conceded and decided to take her out to breakfast instead.

"What can I get you two?" the waitress asked. She was tall but slight, with vibrant blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. If she wasn't working here, she could have been a supermodel in Tokyo, or maybe New York or Milan.

"I'll have the sausage and eggs," Keiryi said quickly, setting down her menu on the table.

"Get me some pancakes," I said sullenly.

As she picked up the menus, the waitress studied me carefully. I had kept my hair up in that ridiculous bun for the sake of convenience, and I still wore sweat pants and a t-shirt. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked. "I could have sworn I'd seen you before."

"Jakiri?" I said quietly. "I didn't think you'd be working here."

"Yes!" she replied spiritedly. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you, Katie!"

"I had to go away for a while after he died," I replied, and cast down my eyes.

Jakiri saw that I didn't want to talk about it and hurried off to put in my order. "Who was that?" Keiryi asked me innocently. That's right. She had only been born the last time I saw Jakiri. My life-long friend and servant had been there at the christening, and she was my child's legal godmother. If anything ever happened to me, I knew I could trust Jakiri with Keiryi.

"She's an old friend of mine," I replied slowly, making sure that I didn't mention the fact that she had been my most trusted servant. Having been born in Ningenkai, the schools had taught her that only tyrants and cult leaders had slaves these days. Besides, Jakiri was a very close friend, and she had often had to bring me down a few levels. "Her name's Jakiri," I finished. "She's your legal godmother...the one who left right after the christening."

Keiryi had never been told the real story. I had come back to have my child christened amongst friends, but the memory hadn't done me well. When I looked at Yusuke, he reminded me of the time when he had kissed me against my will. Kuwabara made me think of the times when I had hung out with Yusuke and himself in the cafe. Kurama had let me sit in his lap, resting my head against his chest. All in good humor, Yusuke had accused me of being obnoxious, and I, of course, being young, had not been able to keep my mouth shut. Jakiri reminded me of the time when I had first met Kurama, and the time that I had spent waiting to find him.

Since I wasn't yet strong enough to face my countless memories of Kurama, I had left for a few years. Once I sorted myself out, I took Keiryi back to the neighborhood where we had first lived in Ningenkai and we settled there. Kuwabara offered a hand whenever I needed it, and it seemed like me, Yukina, and Kuwabara were parents to all three of our children. Hiro and Mikari called me "Auntie Katie" when they were little, and then they started to figure out that I looked nothing like either parent. Therefore, I couldn't be a blood relative, unless I was only distantly related.

All three children grew, and I started to sink deeper into the past, until I found myself allowing Keiryi more independence than other parents would have, so that I had more time to myself. Really, it was a horrible job of parenting, but Kuwabara and Yukina understood what was going on, and they came over quite often so that the children could play together and Keiryi could escape from my world. In retrospect, I was so self-centered while raising Keiryi. Now that I had finally realized that Keiryi needed me to be there, I knew that I had been wrong for an unbearably long time.

A few minutes later, Jakiri came back with our breakfast, and I sighed. This place was small and homely, just like the place where I had been before me and Kurama got involved with the fight against Lirra. Even as I sat there, I could feel his blood streaming through my fingers, his last moments of life that I was lucky enough to share. Less than an hour before then, he had proposed to me in hopes that we would come out of it all alive.

"Thanks, Jakiri," I said quietly. "At least the woman here can cook." Jakiri noticed the disappointed look I had when I looked down at the pancakes, and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright Katie," she said. "If it weren't for Terry, I wouldn't be eating as well as I am." My eyes shot open wide, and Jakiri laughed flippantly at my expression.

"Who's Terry?" I asked.

"My fiance," she replied casually. "We've been together for almost a year now."

"Oh," I said.

Keiryi remained silent the whole time, observing Jakiri. Finally, Jakiri turned her attention to my child, smiling genuinely. "So you're Keiryi," she said, offering her hand. "I'm Jakiri, an old friend of your mother's."

"Nice to meet you," Keiryi said uncertainly, shaking the hand offered her. The two looked at each other for a while, and then Jakiri turned her eyes away. Why couldn't Jakiri look into those eyes? My mind swirled with questions, but the biggest one was, "Jakiri has a fiance?"

I was rarely able to look my own daughter in the eye, because her emerald gaze reminded me so much of her father. To top it off, she had been born with his fiery red hair, also. "Would you like to come over to my house?" Jakiri asked me, bringing me crashing back to reality.

"Alright," I said. "Where is it?"

"It's a downtown apartment," she said happily, smiling that I could come over. "Right across from the elementary school."

Regathering my thoughts, I couldn't remember how we had gotten around to this. Keiryi simply went with the flow, but I was constantly being buffeted by the waves. Why couldn't I ever get the long end of the stick? It always had to be sadness and disappointment for me and happy endings for everyone else. Here I was in sweatpants and a makeshift bun while my servant was about to be married. That should have been me getting married.

"How about right after I get off?" Jakiri asked, propping her tray up on my shoulder. "You two can enjoy your breakfast, and we can go to my place after I get off in about a half-hour." I smiled and nodded, and Jakiri walked off to bus the next table.

"Mother?" Keiryi piped up, sounding more timid than usual. "I wanted to tell you something..."

"Out with it," I said softly. "Don't keep me waiting, now."

"When I was at Kuwabara's house, a man named Hiei visited me. He said he knew Father."

"I know him," I said quietly. Oh, God. Hiei was a shadowy character, and I was glad he hadn't killed her. What would he have to do with Keiryi, though?

"He told me something is going to try and take me," she continued. "So...I have to leave about a week from yesterday."

"It's alright," I said, seeing the tears that rimmed her eyes. "Hiei may be a little rough around the edges, but you'll be in good hands. He's a strong fighter, with a good head on his shoulders."

"He's going to train me," Keiryi said. "He wants me to be able to use my powers to fight off this thing that's coming." I gasped quite audibly. Already I had lost the love of my life...what if I lost Keiryi too? However, it was best that she be able to defend herself, and it sounded like Hiei wasn't about to let her die.

"You can go," I said, realizing that she had wanted my consent so that she would feel that she should actually go. "Go ahead and be the best you can be."

For a while, we went back to the apartment and talked. Terry was still at work, so we didn't get to meet him just yet. After a few hours, we left and it was late at night. Exhausted, I went upstairs and willed myself to sleep, letting Keiryi get herself to bed. I needed to go to the one place where I could speak to him now...

On a distant hill sat a beautiful cathedral that I remembered as my haven. It was also the place where I had caught the first sight of the woman who was to kill my love, mocking our bond spitefully as her weapon drew his life-blood slowly out of him. Now it was the place where his funeral had occurred, though, and I had spoken up on that podium. Sad once more, I began to trudge up the hill, hoping that he was still there, waiting for me. Nobody else would be there like he had, not even Keiryi, and I would be heartbroken if my only attempt to see him was in vain.

Nevertheless, he was there in the front of the cathedral, kneeling before the casket that now lay at the front. Roses were scattered all over the floor, and he held one in his hand, ready to brandish it in a stunning whip. "It's me," I called timidly, "Kaiina." Smiling in his pleasant surprise, Kurama ran forward to meet me and swept me up in his arms. Kissing me deeply, he set me down and gently lifted my left hand, staring at the ring he'd bought me.

"It's alright," I said. "I know you'll come back. You always have." He smiled and whispered words of endearment in my ear, words that expressed how unworthy he was and how beautiful I would always be. Looking up, I saw those emerald eyes, the ones that I had fallen in love with.

"How is Keiryi?" he asked me, sitting down on one of the steps that led up to the altar.

"She's doing fine," I replied. "I'm afraid I haven't been a very good mother, though. I just couldn't forget you, Kurama."

"No," he said, capturing my attention with that enrapturing stare. "You've been doing just fine. I'm sorry...I haven't been able to be there for her when I should have been."

Once he finished talking, I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned on him. "The master of the Avatars has been merciful," I whispered into his ear. "They let me come here to see you." He nodded, and his hand slipped down to my lower back, holding me gently. This was the way we should have been. I could imagine Jakiri enjoying herself quietly by the side of a man I had never even seen.

Happiness flooded me as we lay down on the floor, both staring at the ceiling. My shirt was pulled up a little, and rose petals caressed that strip of bared flesh. No one but the two of us mattered for that time, and neither of us wanted to leave. We didn't have to do anything but look at each other and be with each other to while the hours away. "I love you," I whispered, and the two of us turned to each other. I fingered his neck carefully with my fingers, and he touched my thigh, planting a smile on my lips. Too soon, though, I felt this dream slipping away, only to be replaced by another...

I crawled out of the water, wet and disheveled. Once I found myself on the shore, I collapsed, closing my eyes for a short while. When they were opened again, an orange jacket was draped over my upper body like a blanket. Chill air nipped at my bared legs, so I clasped the jacket shut and got up, huddling as much of me inside that jacket as I could. Then it occurred to me why I wasn't having trouble fitting my entire self under that jacket and zipping it up. It was Kurama's jacket, the one that was sitting in my closet at home.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps, and there he was. Darkness provided a veil for what happened next. We enjoyed each other's company afterward until dawn. It wasn't difficult at all to spend the rest of our time together telling him what had been happening in reality. Yukina's disease made him worry, and I decided not to ask about that, but soon he said he had to return to the place where he belonged. "Imrenna only allows me to leave the cathedral for the night. Otherwise, there will be too many things to do," he explained.

"Remember who your mistress is," I warned cautiously, giving him a dangerous look.

"Of course," he said, and kissed me one last time, leaving me hungry for more just like he always did...

"Mother? Mother! Wake up!" Ah...Keiryi. I figured she would want me again sooner or later.

"What is it?" I asked hazily. "I only slept for a few hours." Looking outside, I saw that it was already dark out, and I was still exhausted.

"There's someone at the door."

A/N-Dun dun dun. Who is it, I wonder? Glad to see Jakiri returning, and I just had to say what really happened in all those years I skipped over, and I couldn't resist writing just a little more Katie-Kurama fluff. It's been so long! Review if it pleases you!

Miari