Kouhta was sleeping peacefully on a bed that felt as light and comfy as a cloud. It was warm and soft. White sheets were wrapped around his body tightly, but not tight enough to suffocate him. Suddenly, there was a brusque movement and the bed creaked. The sheets tightened and Kouhta gasped for air, thinking someone was trying to strangle him.

"Help!" he managed to choke out.

Then he noticed Nyu, awake and clearly panicked. Her eyes seemed to be on the verge to explode or pop out of her sockets. Her skin looked ever pink hair was sticking to her face.

"Kouhta?" she almost shouted in a frantic voice. "Kouhta, what's happening?"

"Don't worry, it's okay, everything's alright. I'm here now. It's okay, it's alright. You're safe. No one got hurt. It's okay."

Nyu relaxed and sighed before snuggling closer to Kouhta's chest. He held her close to him, relieved to feel her heart beating fast but regular, a breath away from his own. Her warmth was reassuring.

"Did you have another nightmare?" he asked in a soft voice, whispering quietly in her ear.

Nyu nodded. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Kouhta's face.

"The doctors", she said weakly. "They were here again. I was chained to the wall… They threw canon balls this time…"

Her voice broke. She could feel tears coming again.

"Shh, it's okay, Nyu. Don't cry, everything's okay. I'm here now, I'm here for you. They're only nightmares. They're not real."

"They're real in my head", Nyu whispered softly.

"No, they're not", Kouhta argued. "They're just memories, bad memories. You will forget them one day, I swear. We're happy and married now, nothing bad is ever going to happen to you again, because now I'm here and I won't ever let go of you again, I promise. I'll take care of you now."

"I love you, Kouhta", Nyu whispered.

"I love you too, Nyu".

There was a short but beautiful silence. Their breathing evened out on the exact same rhythm. Kouhta was happy to see her chest rising and falling like a perfectly healthy woman (he was NOT looking at her boobs. Kouhta's not that sort of jerk). He remembered that day at the lighthouse, when he had shot her himself, and she had died in his very arms… It was a miracle that she had survived. Somehow, her body had pieced itself back together. Her horns had come back, a familiar sight, but for an unknown reason, Lucy's vectors along with herself had disappeared forever. Kaede was a memory now, and Nyu was the present and the future.

"You know, I really do love you, my lovely wife", Kouhta said, then wrinkled his nose. "But your breath really smells awful."

Nyu backed away instantly, her eyes gleaming with fake fury.

"You jerk!" she shouted before pretending to slap him across the face.

They both burst out into crazy fits of laughter, bent down, gasping for air and –simply and totally- looking like complete lunatics.

Kouhta loved hearing his wife laugh. In his life he had heard a lot of women laugh. Yuka's laugh sounded like a metal spoon joyfully clinking on a crystal vase. When Mayu laughed, the sound of her voice was exactly like Nana's, and vice versa. Nozomi-chan sounded like she was singing when she was actually laughing. But for him, Nyu's laughter had always been the most beautiful. She laughed like a four-year-old who was slowly getting a nasty cold. To Kouhta, it was the most beautiful melody in the world, like a lullaby (go figure, true love knows no boundaries after all).

"Okay, as much as I would love to spend our time off in bed, we really have to go now", Kouhta said. "We gotta go to the hospital, remember? We have to get you checked and cured for that nasty thing you got. You've been hurling everyday for the whole week, Nyu. Come on, get dressed."

Nyu was silently silent. Her expression looked sad and nervous. She played with her fingers, sitting down on the mattress and gazing off into space.

"We don't need to go, Kouhta", she said quietly, staring at her hands. "I already know what I've got."

Kouhta froze.

"Wait, what?" he blinked. "You mean you went to the hospital alone? At night or something? Baby, that's not good, there are perverts out there, you should've told me, I would've gone with you..."

"I didn't go to the hospital", Nyu cut him off.

"Then how do you know?" Kouhta asked, puzzled.

Nyu took a deep breath. Now you're telling him, the long-forgotten ghost of Kaede scolded her in her mind. No backing off, you little wimp.

I'm scared, she told Kaede.

Why the hell should you be scared?

I don't know. What if he panics and leaves me?

He wouldn't. He loves you.

He left me before.

He didn't really leave you. You just didn't find the right words.

Uh, sorry, that was you.

We're not having this fight again. Tell him!

But I'm scared!

Scared he'll leave you? He won't. And if he does, I can always call Lucy and ask her to cut his balls off as a punishment. That'd be enough, right?

KAEDE! Stop saying that kind of stuff! It's so…vulgar.

Oh, now I'm vulgar? What about the things you do with Kouhta at night? What would you call that?

Stop it already, you're not helping!

You know what, if you don't tell him NOW, I'll call Lucy anyway and ask her to cut YOUR balls off, even though you don't have any.

Duh, I'm a freakin' WOMAN.

"Nyu? Nyu?"

Nyu suddenly snapped back to reality. She blinked a few times, then smiled the widest smile she could manage at her beloved husband.

"Nyu, you're freaking me out here. You were doing that thing again, when you're talking to Kaede inside your head and I just can't get you out of there. Are you alright? What do you have? Is it bad?"

"Kouhta, I took a pregnancy test", Nyu suddenly blurted out.

Damn you, Kaede! You made me do that!

It was necessary.

You little…

"Nyu? Did you say a pregnancy test?" Kouhta's voice asked.

Nyu nodded, and looked away.

"What was the result?"

She took another deep breath, and forced herself to face Kouhta.

"The stick turned blue", she said in a whisper.

"It turned blue?"

"It turned blue."

"It turned blue?"

"Yes, it turned BLUE!"

They looked at each other again, then burst out laughing again, crying and laughing at the same time. Kouhta wrapped his arms around his wife and literally swept her off her feet, swirling her wildly in the air. She was laughing again, her lovely, sweet four-year-old laughter, and the sound was so wonderful and Kouhta couldn't believe that life could be so sweet.

"The stick turned blue! The stick turned blue!" Nyu kept shrieking, along with Kaede doing her own little happy dancing in her head.

"It turned BLUE!" Kouhta yelled. "D'you hear that? It turned frickin' BLUE! We're having a baby! We're having a baby!"

"Yes, we are", Nyu said, holding on tightly. "We are!"

Kouhta finally calmed down and they fell into a joyful fit of kisses on the bed, half-laughing like kids, half- caught up in the passion of the moment. At the end they fell silent again, facing each other.

"We're having a baby", Kouhta whispered again. "We're having a baby."

"Yes, we are", Nyu replied, snuggling close to him. "We are."

Nyu might keep getting nightmares from time to time. The memories will never completely fade. When an injury is created, it bleeds for a long time. Then, the flow of blood stops. A scar forms, and scars never disappear. But they don't hurt as much. And Nyu could accept them. She could accept them for the sake of her child. And if Kouhta also had terrifying flashbacks from time to time, he also knew the truth: a scar will appear, and never fade completely. Acceptance will come one day. The future –their future- looked bright.