Epilogue

The sound of feet echoed through the halls as they dunked under the large table in the dining room.

The stiffened when a voice rang out, entering the space that they were now in. "I know you're in there."

Trying to keep their breath silent, the two watched as a pair of feet walked past the table before making a slow stop. They soon dreaded the inevitable.

Suddenly the tablecloth was lifted to reveal Hanabusa, joylessly smiling in attack. "Found you!"

The two children grumbled in response and one cried out at their lose. "Ahh come on! That's not fair! Uncle Adio is cheating again!"

Hanabusa gasped at the assumption and put his hands on his hips. "I am not! You two just need to get better at hiding. You always pick the same spots. Yukio, you really need to learn from your mistakes."

The boy, Yukio, pouted his lips at the words and just stuck his tongue out before running away, still very clearly upset that he had lost.

The girl next to him just sighed loudly and gently grabbed the bottom half of Hanabusa's pant leg. "It seems like brother is upset again."

The aristocrats just smiled and rustled her hair in a playful manner. "Ahh he'll be fine. There is no need to worry Allura."

Allura nodded her head once and pulled down on the material once more. "Uncle Aido, could you tell me a story again? Like the one last time."

Hanabusa frowned and picked up the small child, walking over to the sofa in the process. "You know your mom doesn't like those kind of stories. I could get in trouble again."

Putting on a frown she pouted her little fists on his chest lightly and moaned. "Ahh come on Uncle Aido. Pleaseee."

He laughed to himself, not able to go against her and nodded his head. "Okay okay fine. But only one."

Bouncing happily, she clapped her hands and spoke. "Tell me about Mommy and Daddy!"

Remembering a rushing memory, he placed Allura down on the sofa and began his tale. "Your Mother was one of the bravest, kindest and strongest person I knew. Heck, she still is. And your Dad, well before he met your mom, he was always really really grumpy."

Allura laughed at the moment and pointed over to where her brother had gone. "Was he grumpy like Yukio?"

This caused Hanabusa to laugh as well. "Yes, a little. In fact, I think you and Yukio both get your stubbornness from him."

Crossing her arms in front of her she cried out. "Am not!"

He just smiled and replied. "Okay okay. Well, your mom and dad used to be kinda like superheros. You see, they saved people from really bad vampires."

Just then, Allura jumped up and put her hands in her hips in a heroic pose. "I wanna be like Mommy and save people from bad vampires too!"

Hanabusa just sighed and tried to reason with the girl. She clearly had no idea what she was talking about. "But Allura, you are also a vampire."

She just shook her head aggressively in response. "No Uncle Aido. I'm a good vampire. It's different from those bad vampires."

All the aristocrat could do was laugh sadly at the girl. She was more like her mother then Rose wanted to admit. In fact, he could picture Rose saying a variant of that phrase. "I suppose that's true."

Allura, didn't like the fact that he was laughing and her and in doing so, crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly, the teacup next to them exploded in tiny pieces and Hanabusa quickly shielded the child from the shards of china.

When it was clear, he moved his arm to find Allura staring at the cup sadly. "I'm sorry Uncle Adio. I lost control again."

He looked at the cup in dismay and tired to reassure her. "It's okay Allura. You are still learning. No one is perfect right away."

The little girl looked down at her feet when she sensed movement outside of the house. Standing, quickly she recognized the aura's and smiled happily.

Hanabusa felt the pull of his blood bond and moved to the door, before opening it slowly and smiling. "Welcome home, you three."

Zero stepped into the space and carefully removed his scarf before hearing the little pitter patter of feet on the wood, coming straight towards him. "Daddy!"

He smiled as Yukio came into view, rushing into his arms happily. "Daddy, you're back! Finally! What took you so long?"

Zero laughed at the boys impacientance and picked him up to get a better look. " I swear, you are just like your mother sometimes. Sorry Yukio, I had to go with your Mom. Remember? But, I'm back."

Yukio nodded his head when he heard a stir from behind them. He quickly put down his son to help Rose through the door. She leaned on him for support and linked arms with him as they stepped inside together.

She lifted her head, and smiled at Hanabusa who lifted his arms to take their bags. "We're home Hanabusa."

Grabbing the bags carefully, he heard another voice enter the room. "Mommy, Daddy! You're back!"

Rose watched her little girl scamper through the halls but stopped when Allura realized she was carrying something.

Leaning down carefully, Rose walked to meet her children and spoke. "Allura, Yukio, there is someone I would like you to meet."

She carefully lifted up her blanket to to find a sleeping baby in a light blue shirt. The two children's eyes widen at the sight.

Rose took in their looks of wonder and answered the question that they were asking in their heads. "His name is Ren Ichiru Kiryu and he's your new brother."

Yukio's face morphed into a something of absolute joy as he exclaimed. "All right! Another boy! Now we outnumber Allura!"

Allura didn't seem to pleased by his statement but remained quiet, just watching the boy in absolute wonder. This was her baby brother.

Rose noticed this and brought the blanket closer to her. "Now Allura, I need you to be the big sister to Ren, okay? You gotta watch out for him."

She just nodded her head once and Rose stood up, moving the baby to the crib that was prepared in the other room.

Once they were safe from wandering little eyes, Hanabusa reluctantly inched closer to the couple.

Of course, Rose could feel his anxiety from miles away and was the first one to speak. "Okay Hanabusa, what is it? You've been on edge since we got home."

Hanabusa sighed and just pointed to the broken tea cup. "It's Allura. Her powers are getting stronger and her control has been slipping more then ever. It's getting harder to hide her aura."

Rose froze at his statement and glanced at Zero before trying keep her own control. "She's just a kid Hanabusa. She'll get better."

Looking at the floor, Hanabusa spoke out. "But, what if she doesn't? You can't keep her locked up her entire life. Do you really want her to live like you did? You need to face the fact that she's a pureblood."

His outburst brought a sort of uneasiness in her stomach. She still had no idea how Allura ended up as a pureblood vampire. Zero's blood and DNA should have transformed her children into aristocrats, not purebloods. And it seemed only Allura was affected by all this. Yukio and Ren had remained aristocrats.

A dark thought remained in her mind but she chose to ignore it. What if Rido's blood had somehow corrupted the process? She was honestly scared to find out the truth.

Even so, there was no way that her daughter would live a life like hers was. Ever.

Zero noticed her expression and put a reassuring hand on her side. "Even if she is a pureblood, she's still our daughter. I don't think we should treat her any differently than the others."

Rose nodded her head and spoke. "Zero's right. I'll talk to her about hiding her aura. We can't afford the senate finding us after all these years. Purebloods are even more rare nowadays and if they get their hands on her, then she will never able to break free. It was a miracle I even was able to."

Zero then brought Rose into a tight hug, knowing that she was reliving some her deepest nightmares. It had been years since they ran away from the vampire hierarchy but even so, some memories were still painful to her.

She accepted the hug before turning to Hanabusa. "Could you please just watch over her?"

Hanabusa just bowed once before replying. "Of course."

At the sight of his bow, Rose grumbled and slapped him playfully on the arm. "What did we say about the bowing?"

He just laughed at her annoyance and smirked. "Sorry, couldn't help himself. Just felt like old times."

Rose rolled her eyes at the action when they heard Yukio and Allura calling for them in the other room.

The couple just smiled and moved into the living room to where their children were, talking and laughing as they played some sort of game together.

A couple years ago Rose would have never imagined that she would be able to see her children playing together, side by side with her husband. Who knew that a couple dusty journals and a bloody promise would've led to this sort of journey? She certainly didn't.

Slipping her hand into his, Rose thought about everything they had been through. All of the tears and words, piled into a set of experiences she never wanted to forget.

She remembered the friends she had made in Ruka, Rima, Senri and Kain as well as the followers in her cause. The cause of be something different.

It didn't matter that she didn't have a title or a rank. Right here, in this moment, was something she wouldn't ever trade for the world.

She finally realized it.

She was home.

THE END

~ The Bloody Promise ~