Katie's POV

Lirra smiled at me mercilessly, her blue eyes shouting at me that I was nothing more than a pathetic failure. I couldn't save my lover, and I couldn't even save my own daughter. Why not just impale myself on one of those crystalline blades? It would be the easy way out, and I would finally be able to rest in peace.

Then I saw Keiryi's face smiling at me, telling me to come back home to her. Tears ran down my face at the thought that I wanted to give in and leave everybody to mourn me as I had Kurama. Was that fair to my friends? Did I want to make them bawl before my coffin? "That's right," Lirra said smoothly, her blue eyes lighting up with confidence. That blade flew at me as her white wings propelled her forward.

"No!" I breathed. "You fooled me the first time, but I will kill you, once and for all!"

In the back of the cathedral, I saw Kurama holding Keiryi's hand, waiting for me. My saber plunged itself deep into Lirra's chest, and thorns sprouted, encasing her in what seemed to be a miniature forest. "You really are his daughter," she said while her head was still exposed. "You've won, and now I bid you farewell..."

When I woke up, I saw a pair of emerald eyes staring down at me, framed by a mane of vivid red hair. "Keiryi?" I whispered weakly, feeling a weight set in in my chest. Whatever I did while asleep, it had exhausted me entirely.

"Glad to see you're awake," a light, liquid voice said. "That's the good news."

"Good news?" I said hurriedly. "What do you mean? What happened while I was asleep.

"Yuki and I had to tie you down, and then you were just...better," Jakiri said, stepping forward to kneel beside my bed. "And then he showed up, but you were in too much pain to notice."

"What's going on?" I demanded, looking around at the people gathered there. They all looked so tired, so completely worn out.

Suddenly, I was looking into those emerald eyes, and my own went wide in shock. The strong arms I'd only dreamed about before were wrapped around me, and I smelled the sweet scent of roses in that mane of red hair. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight, hoping and praying that he wasn't a vapor this time, that he really was there. "How did you get back here?" I asked, holding back tears of joy.

"Keiryi brought me back," he replied. "She brought me back so she could see you feeling as happy as you looked in all those pictures."

He kissed me like he did when we rolled around on the floor of his mansion. He touched me and made me feel perfect again. For the first time since Keiryi's birth, I was truly happy, and it made me want to live as I hadn't been living for the past nineteen years. "I love you," I whispered, and everyone around us smiled. Even Yusuke was there, and he had finally accepted the fact that my heart had belonged to Kurama and it always would.

However, not everything had turned out alright. Hiro walked in the door after a few hours, and we could all tell that something was wrong. His crimson eyes were glossy with tears, and his hands, usually so animated to complement his speech, hung limp at his sides. "Were you able to save her?" Hiei asked, who had entered from the back. Something inside Hiro snapped with those words.

"I did all I could," he said, shaking with rage. "Just lay off, Hiei." His eyes were almost cold enough to match his uncle's as the two of them stared at each other.

"You went into that death-trap!" Kazuma shouted. "You could have been killed! Don't you understand that?"

"Who were we trying to save?" I stammered, dreading the answer. There were only two people left who had yet to show up.

Kurama wrapped his arm around my shoulders and Jakiri and Hiro exchanged glances. "Explain, Jakiri," I choked. In my heart, I had already predicted what the answer would be. Hiro averted his eyes, and Yuki, who was standing against a wall, sighed heavily, more so than she ever had.

"Keiryi," the healer stated. "Your daughter and Kurama went to Makai, and she..."

"She killed Fehreil," Jakiri finished, scared to tell what the bad news would be.

"Fehreil killed her, though," Hiro stated dryly.

I felt it driving home, and my composure, my happiness, all of it melted away. My only child had been lost, and I couldn't even find her body to hold one last time. Tears flowed freely, and everyone gathered around me. They reached out to touch me, but I was lost in my own world. How could Keiryi be gone? How could I have let that happen?

Threee months later, I was beginning to cope with things. Kurama helped me get through a lot of it, but I also found things about myself that helped. All those years, I'd been able to survive as the sole parent, and I never realized just how much strength that took. After a couple more months, we were having our wedding, and it was the most beautiful thing I could have imagined.

We held it on the cliff above the pool where I'd first found him. All of our friends were there, and Kurama looked absolutely perfect in his black tuxedo. My dress was a billowy, white gown with a lot of layers, and I felt like I was flying as I took that walk down the aisle. The ceremony took a very short time, and by the end, we were all brimming with joy.

"Congratulations, Katie!" Kazuma shouted, running up to give me a hug. Even if he'd grown up over the years, he was still just a big kid inside. Hiro was dressed in black also, and the brightness had returned to his eyes a little bit.

"Congrats, Katie," he said in a more reserved manner. "I think Keiryi's smiling down on you guys as we speak."

"I think you might be right," Kurama replied. "Thank you."

Jakiri had her blonde hair down, and she wore a long, red dress with sequins on the bodice. "It took you two enough time to get here," she smiled, and Sakore grinned, not ready to reveal himself quite yet.

"I'm just glad we're alive and well," I answered, and Kurama drew me closer to him playfully. Jakiri and Sakore looked at us, and I saw a mischievous look in their eyes. "What are you up to now, Jakiri?" I demanded.

"We're going to have a baby," she said. "We're finally going to settle down."

"That brings me to an important order of business," I said. "Jakiri, you've done a lot for me over the years, from the first time we met up until now. You're free to live your own life instead of trying to follow me everywhere." Her blue eyes lit up as she smiled, and we embraced happily.

"Thank you, Kaiina," she said, "thank you so much."

"We really appreciate this," Sakore said genuinely, and shook my hand with a smile.

Other people congratulated us, but when almost everyone was gone, Yusuke came up to the two of us, looking like a nervous wreck. "Glad to see you two lovebirds back together," he began. "Katie, I..."

"What is it?" I asked, looking into his dark eyes.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for being such an ass. I shouldn't have gone after you while you were still getting over it, and-" I kissed him briefly on the cheek and winked.

"I'm over it now, but thank you for the apology," I replied. "Keep in touch, okay?"

"Okay," he said, and gave me one last hug before I walked home with Kurama.

We sat on the floor in the room that was covered in pictures of us. His arm was around my shoulders, and his hand caressed my upper arm gently. "I only wish Keiryi could be here," I admitted, looking around and then into his emerald eyes. "She would have loved to have a father to grow up with."

"There's nothing you can do to prevent destiny," he replied, and kissed me gently on the lips, resting his forehead against mine. "She wanted to come, and I knew that if I didn't let her, she'd find a way. After all, she's just like her mother."

With a soft giggle, I wrapped my arms around his neck and let his tongue slip into my mouth, reveling in the comfort he gave me. A hand slipped up to cup my breast, making my back stiffen, and I stared at him. "I knew you'd come back someday," I said softly, stroking his face as he slipped my shirt off.

"I wanted to be with you so badly when I was there," he answered. "They locked me in a very dark room, and all I could see was you in that little girl who came for comfort." I lay on my back, gazing up at him, and he ran a hand across my bared stomach, making every cell rise to his touch. One hand rested on my hip as he kissed my passionately, rising and falling with the motions of my hips.

And at that time, I knew that wherever she was, Keiryi was going to be happy. Just as I had, she found love, and that was probably what she needed to do most in her life. Right then, I could feel her smiling down on me, glad that her beloved mother was happy once more.

A/N: So ends the Midnight Rose. Now I have to find another project. Crap. Oh well, as I said before, this was a load of fun to write, and I'm very happy with my ending. Everybody's getting too old for me to continue this, so I'll have to think up a whole new alternate universe of Yu Yu Hakusho. Keiryi was probably my fave character to write, and my favorite moment in the entire story is when Katie and Kurama are reunited. You have no idea how long I had to restrain myself from just making it happen. Once it did, though, I was glad I waited. Thanks to those fans I kept, and I hope to hear from you again some other time!

Peace, Love, and Peace OUT!

Miari