Though a little wobbly, Daphne was strong enough after she woke to walk to the care unit where Shiro was being kept. It was a strange sensation, she noted, to feel like she was meeting someone for the first time when that person had been living inside her for the last eight months. Biology was strange. Motherhood even stranger.

The nurses admitted her to the unit, but the moment they opened the door, Daphne stopped dead in her tracks.

The room was full of demons.

Sprites, goblins, chuchi, coltars—even some larger medium class creatures in the various deformed shapes of animals. Demons of all five elements, and across all eight affiliations, were present, but they were just…there. Harming nothing, silent. Tame. They turned to look at Daphne as she came in.

"Holy shit!" Rin cried in the doorway right behind her.

His hand was halfway to drawing Kurikara from its seal, but Daphne reached up to stop him. The demons turned their eyes to Rin. And bowed. Bewildered, Rin let his arm fall to his side.

"What the hell…?" he said.

As the demons lifted their various heads, one came forward from the ranks. Both Rin and Daphne tensed, ready to attack, but for whatever reason, the response felt wrong somehow. The demons in the room were not biding their time waiting to strike, did not give off the impression of having been caught about to do some terrible deed. The demon that had approached was one in the form of a bat, and a little jolt went through Rin as the demon came to a stop.

"Did it speak to you?" Daphne asked.

Rin nodded, blinking, listening still, apparently.

"What did it say?"

"He says his name is Komori, and he brings greetings from Gehenna to Leda and the Wayward Prince. I guess that's us?" Rin jolted again and returned his attention to the demon. "He's, um…he says they were called here by—by the aura of the child of light and dark? That mean anything to you?"

Daphne's eyes went straight to Shiro. Her son was asleep under an oxygen hood, bundled and breathing rapidly. The demons, though their attention was now on Rin and Daphne, had surrounded Shiro's bassinet in a circle.

"They're familiars," she said.

The bat demon—Komori—bowed once more.

Even as Daphne cast her eyes around the room, more and more demons manifested. They came quietly, without fuss, and fell into rank and file without so much as a whisper of discontent.

"Oh, um, he says 'the child is their master now and they will attend him unerringly,'" Rin said, eyes on Komori as he acted as translator. ''It is their honor to serve the family of Satan.' Satan be praised—stuff like that…"

Daphne looked at Komori. "He's a newborn."

The bat turned to her.

"'Great power flows through him,'" Rin supplied. "'He called us to manifest.'"

"And can he dismiss you?" she asked, disbelieving.

At once, ever demon in the room disappeared. Rin and Daphne jumped. Daphne's eyes flicked to the bassinet. Shiro was awake. His breathing had not slowed, but neither did he cry. She went to him and looked down at her son, leaning close. His bright blue eyes found her face with surprising acuity and focus.

He was a newborn, yes, but there was something ancient in that gaze.

Komori manifested above the bassinet and drew Rin and Daphne's attention.

"'We will come when he calls,'" Rin translated. "'It is our duty to serve the Newborn Prince, honor and obedience to his family. Hail Leda. Hail the Wayward Prince. Hail the Blue Princess. Honor to Satan. Honor to Satan'… He just keeps saying 'Honor to Satan.'"

"Thank you, Komori…" Daphne said, her voice a whisper. "You may leave us."

A final bow, and the bat vanished.

Rin looked at Daphne, his eyes the size of dinner plates. "What the hell just happened?"

"Well, Rin," Daphne replied, reaching into the bassinet to stroke her son's cheek. Shiro shut his eyes and pressed into her touch. "I think we've just given birth to a Tamer."

Everything was ready to go for the sealing ceremony by the time Shiemi returned from the airport with Father Michael in tow. Rin could tell even as he greeted everyone that he and Daphne had so much they wanted to say to each other, but that would have to come later. The priest did give her a hug straight off, though.

"How'd it go, kiddo?"

Daphne nodded. "It was hell, but that was expected."

Father Michael laughed. He looked around the room, smiling, rolling up his sleeves. He located Shura and gave her a nod. "Good…uh…energy. Daphne, will you tell her that the preparations for the room are excellent?"

Daphne relayed the information to Shura, and Shura nodded at Father Michael, then offered him Aokaze to examine.

"You wanna do a double check on that?" she asked.

Father Michael took the blade with keen interest and turned to give it a look. Shura gestured at him with her head as she came to stand by Rin.

"Is this guy trying to flirt with me?" she asked.

"He's a priest," Daphne laughed, having heard because Shura couldn't be quiet to save her life. "Not every compliment is a pass."

"What did she say?" Michael asked.

"She thinks you're trying to flirt with her," Daphne replied.

Father Michael looked at Shura and held Aokaze out to her. He grinned and gave her a wink when she took the sword. Shura did not hesitate to smack his shoulder with the sheath, but it only made him laugh.

"Where's our little girl, then?" he asked.

"Here," Daphne replied. She led him over to the side of the room where Easter was asleep in her bassinet. Careful, Daphne lifted the baby and held her for Father Michael to see. Easter let out a little mewl at being disturbed, and Michael chuckled.

"She's beautiful," he said, then looked to Rin. "Congratulations."

Rin started. "Thank you."

"Let's get started."

Daphne passed Easter to Rin. Shura handed Aokaze to Yukio, and Yukio moved to stand directly in front of Rin. Shiemi dimmed the lights and stood by the door to stop them from being interrupted. Rin looked down at his daughter in his arms as Father Michael, Shura, and Daphne linked hands and surrounded both him and Yukio. When Rin lifted his eyes, his brother smiled. Rin smiled back, then drew in a deep breath.

"It'll be all right, Rin," Yukio said. "She's got you."

Rin's breath caught in his throat. Shura and Michael and Daphne started chanting the sealing mantra. How many hours had Rin spent wondering how his life would have been different if he'd known he was half demon? If he added those hours up, how many days of wasted, wishful thinking would he have on his hands? Too many. If he'd known, he could have been there for Yukio. If he'd known, they could have worked together with Fujimoto to find a solution to the problems that plagued them. If he'd known, if he'd had a guide, the world would look different. He was certain of that.

He was also certain, however, that he couldn't change the past. He couldn't take anything back or add anything in. It was what it was, and he had found so many ways to be happy in the present. The past, at least, had taught him what to do. He would make sure Easter had the kind of childhood he wished he could have given himself.

A gentle, swirling wind picked up in the room, surrounding them all in a warm embrace. Bright blue runes began to glow on the ground at their feet, centered around Easter and Aokaze. The wind continued to rise, and as it did, the blue flames on Easter's head and tail were pulled into it. They circled the room in a cylindrical shape. Michael and Shura and Daphne continued to chant, their eyes shut.

Easter started to cry. Rin started, looking down at his daughter and panicking for a second over what he was supposed to do, but then Yukio said, "Rin…" in this way that had Rin's attention in an instant. He glanced up and saw the misty figure that had formed over the blade Yukio held in his hands.

Sirelings, a voice whispered on the wind.

Rin could barely make the figure out. It wasn't human, and so he couldn't place an immediate shape to it. The mist was thin, and light, emanating from the exposed portion of the blade and constantly changing shape. Rin glanced at Daphne, then at Shura, but neither of them had broken from the mantra. So he looked at Yukio—the only other person who could see this figure and hear it speak.

You ask a great task of me…

"Are…you…the spirit of the blade?" Rin asked.

I am Asuga. You are Satan's sons.

Rin looked at Yukio and raised his eyebrows. Yukio shrugged.

You want me to…hold the heart of Satan's grandchild…

"Yeah…um…is that okay?"

The voice—Asuga, Rin supposed—released this strange sleepy sound like it was stretching. The mist coming from the blade dissipated a little as it too was drawn into the wind. All around them, Asuga chuckled softly.

The child's mother is strong. So are her companions. It doesn't seem as though I have a choice.

"You do," Rin said without hesitation. Yukio regarded him in surprise, but Rin ignored him. Easter continued her pitiful little whimpers, so Rin bounced her instinctively. "You have a choice. So, um…we're asking you. Would you hold Easter's heart, please?"

Mmmmmmm…

The gentle, musing note filled the room, then the mist coalesced again over the blade, though it was no more distinct than it had been before. Asuga's figure peered over the space between Rin and Yukio to look at Easter in Rin's arms. Easter quieted a little and opened her eyes.

She's very small.

"She'll get bigger."

Strange…

Rin didn't know what to say. He'd asked permission. He'd given this demon an out, which might have been a bad idea, but at least they had Castor and Pollux and Helen of Troy as backups, right? Though, given the experience he'd had with those blades, he didn't get the impression their spirits would be nearly as relaxed as Asuga.

The strain might be too much for me, the spirit said. Kurikara could not contain you, and your heart was the only thing in the blade… Aokaze will have to hold me and Easter? I do not know if that is possible.

"It is," Yukio put in. "We have witnessed it."

Mmmmmmm…

Rin held his breath. The chanting continued. Easter had stopped making noise, but fat tears still rolled out of the corners of her eyes.

All right.

Aokaze's sheath snapped shut. At once, the ritual ended. The wind stopped, the bright blue light of the runes went out, and Easter's flames disappeared. Along with her tail. Rin blinked, looking up, then over at Daphne.

"Did it work?" she asked, out of breath. Father Michael and Shura had to steady her.

Rin nodded. "Yeah…yeah, actually…it did."

He laughed, and Daphne heaved an enormous sigh of relief. She and Shura and Father Michael broke the ring around them, then, and Shiemi turned the lights back on. Yukio held Aokaze to Daphne, and she took it, held it, shut her eyes and focused deeply. A smile slowly spread across her mouth.

"Good?" Shura asked.

Nodding, Daphne reached to take Easter from Rin and traded him Aokaze. He just looked at her, puzzled.

"Go ahead," she said. "Unsheathe it."

Rin's heart jumpstarted. He looked at the katana in his hands, at his wife, then his daughter. For one moment more, he hesitated—wondering if this was the right choice. Then he looked at Yukio, and his brother gave him a firm nod.

Rin drew Aokaze.

A rumbling shook the walls, and a gentle wind again swirled around the room. Blue flames burst forth on Easter's head and tail, then settled. Her tail reappeared and her ears went all pointy. Rin slid the Aokaze back into its sheath. The flame disappeared, but the tail remained. He clutched the sword tight.

"Thank you," he whispered.

In response, the Aokaze seemed to purr in his hands.

Author's Note: Merry Everything, everybody!