I am so very sorry it's been taking so long to finish this for you, but I am having such trouble with part of the story that I'm beginning to wonder if I should just skip the bit I'm having trouble with and just write the end...

Shadow's POV

The days moved quickly as my sister and I trained in our magick, as well as my learning to be human. As Moon and I gained strength, she had to learn how to be human as well. It was better, I had more fun, when I was next to her, in the same form, learning. I began to teach her to speak, though we loved to speak in our wolf language to have the privacy from others.

Two moons had passed since John had found me and comforted me. I had spent those long nights wondering, the days showing him the magick of the change, and he began to show his strength. Many nights left awake long hours until I slept. And then I dreamed. Tonight was such a night. But it was different as well.

I opened my eyes, back in my jungle home. I looked at a woman, with stars in her hair. She smiled at me, and stroked my hair much like my mother had while I was a pup in the den. I felt something warm spread over me, like I was in the sun, smelling beautiful flowers. I felt like I couldn't be hurt. I remembered this feeling from before, when John had found me, I had smelled him, heard his heart beating. It had made my own heart feel like it had stopped.

"It's called love my daughter. You are in love with a human."

I jumped up, growling.

"Be calm my daughter. I am the one you called mother. I have been given this form by the lord of the Jungle. I know you still are at war with your humanity."

"After all the damage they have done, you take their form?" I replied.

"They are not all bad. My daughter, you must accept the part of yourself that is human. If you continue to be at war with that part of yourself, you will never be whole, and you will be vulnerable."

My mother turned, paling. I stood, and if I had fur, it would have been on end. Then I stopped. I recognized this man from dreams and pictures.

"Father?"

"I am very sorry my child. What happened between your mother and I was a mistake. Your birth…"

"Was a miracle Trevor Bruttenholm." My mother said, glaring at him.

"It was something. To that I'll admit."

"Because you bore a child out of wedlock, does not give you reason to deny her your love. Or at the very least your acceptance of her life, and YOUR being the cause of it. I was her mother for many years; I cared for her and taught her as you did for her brother. You accepted him with no qualms."

"Hellboy."

"Yes. The woman that bore Hellboy, bore my daughter as well."

I couldn't believe this. My parents were arguing. My father couldn't believe I existed, I was nothing more than an accident, I wasn't supposed to be alive.

"Shadow! Shadow please wake up."

I could hear myself whimpering. I opened my eyes; I felt water trickling down my face. My vision was blurred as if I were underwater. I saw John, he seemed worried. I felt sluggish.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I am not supposed to be here, I was nothing more than an accident." I said, turning onto my side.

"Shadow, don't EVER let anyone let you feel you aren't worth it."

"My father came and told me this. He created me, if anyone knows my worth it would be him."

John looked at me, and bared his teeth, but not as much as he usually did when he looked at me. He seemed sad. He pulled me close to him.

"A great woman once said 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'"

"Who?"

"Her name was Eleanor Roosevelt. She was the wife of the man who helped keep this place going, so people like you and Hellboy have a place to be safe from the people who might hurt him or Liz. She was a smart woman, and very resourceful."

"How does this apply to me? I am not human."

"But that gives no one a reason to make you feel inferior. You are very important, to Moon, to Hellboy, to me. Professor Broom is a hard man to fathom. I only knew him for a short time. Give him time, if he accepts you fine, if not, that doesn't matter. I accept you, and you must accept yourself." John replied, pulling me close to him.

I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth spread through me again. I remembered what my mother had told me, that the feeling was love. Did I love a human?

John's POV

I woke up to hearing Shadow whimpering. When she finally woke up, I was heartbroken to hear what she had to say. I had never expected Professor Broom to be a saint, but after what Shadow had said, I felt like I didn't get to know him well enough. That he hadn't been as good as he had seemed that short time I had known him.

I comforted her, pulling her close. I laid there with her, as she fell back asleep. I held her close, feeling her heart beating against my chest. I remembered what Shadow's mother had told me, what Liz had told me. She was a Chaos Mage. Mages lived by certain rules, most only in charge of one element, sometimes two. Shadow was something else entirely.

I had to go to Liz; I had to gather more information. I felt that I was missing something important about everything.

But first, I knew we had to call up professor Broom, to see why he had chosen to deny Shadow as his daughter. Calling him up would be the easy part, if my guesses were correct, getting him to explain denying Shadow would be a completely different battle.

Liz's POV

I was wary about the magicks that Shadow and her sister were performing, but I was even more nervous about how John was acting towards Shadow. I decided to see how things were going.

"Liz, can I talk to you?"

I guess that things work themselves out, when it comes down to it.

"Sure. Is this about Shadow?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Just a hunch."

"Well, she's been working so hard on being human, and I want to take her outside to see the world, but she has nothing, no paperwork, no human name."

"Shadow is a name. It's in the registry for babies." I replied.

"Really?" he asked. I nodded. I had gone through it since Trevor was born.

"We can find her a new name if you like. But first, she's a mage, and I'm not sure what you know about us. I don't know what I know about her, she's a Chaos Mage. But still, that's not what I mean. There are rules that mages follow, no matter what. It's the way of the world. When I learned about it, it was crazy. You remember?"

"Yeah, you and HB got married." John said.

"Yeah. The first person a Mage kisses must be the one they marry. It's the way of our kind." I replied.

I could see John pale; I felt a sense of amusement, and dread.

"You kissed her, didn't you?"

"Umm." John replied, blushing.

I rolled my eyes. Great.

"Well, if you want to for sure have kids, then you've got to get married to her a year and a day after you first kissed her." I replied.

I got the reaction I wanted. Beat red, stuttering the whole works. I smiled, knowing things were only going to get funnier. He was such a geek sometimes; I wondered how he joined the FBI. He was much too shy for his own good. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"If it's important to you, we'll come up with a name for her. I'll look some stuff up for you to look over with her. And Moon too." I said. "In the mean time, learn as much about her as you can. She needs a real Teacher."

"I will be delighted to take that upon myself."

I spun, and John paled.

"I was wrong to describe my daughter as a mistake, an accident. I am here to make up for those hurtful words."

"Pro… professor Broom!" I stuttered. "I should get Hellboy."

"Not yet my John. As much as I would love to see my son, I still have much to atone for with my daughter."

"You really hurt her. It's hard enough for her to trust humans, since she was raised the way she was."

"And with your pure heart, you have helped guide her. I am truly sorry that she was born as she was. It is the very nature of a Chaos Mage to be at war with themselves. Until she learns that every part of her makes up a living being, she will never be in control." Broom said.