Disclaimer: I do not own Red River manga

A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long. High school happens to be a punishment that takes away free time. I hope this can be some kind of a repayment.

Ramses

"Mother, she'll be back. Stop overreacting." I consoled the woman. She was sobbing, huge, wrenching ones that were likely to rip her apart.

"She'll be back, he says!" she shouted. "You always say that with every girl you've brought home before her, and I'm sick of it!"

"Why does it matter? I can always find another woman." I didn't understand why it mattered so. My sisters surrounded her, rubbing her back and wiping tears away. Nefert glared at me.

"See what you do to our mother? You threw Bastet away like she is nothing, when she's the best thing that happened to you?" She said, shaking her head.

"What is wrong with you people? Can you not see the imperfections? The selfishness? Nothing?" I asked incredulously.

"So? You're not perfect; why does she have to be?" my mother screamed at me, then coughed dryly.

"Come, Mother. Let us leave this monster for a while." Nefert coaxed, leading my mother and a trail of sisters away from me and into another room. I sat down and let my head nod down into the cradle of my hand.

What has happened?

Bastet

That was the worst 4 months of my life.

I was being constantly followed by guards, as if I'd explode at any time. Honestly. I was always exhausted, so I doubt I was all that concerned about what anyone else was doing.

Along with the lack of sleep because of my growing bulge of a child, my feet hurt all the time, my gums were swollen from bleeding, and I found my first stretch mark (followed by several others). And, on top of that, I really wanted pizza. Then, to add to my exhaustion, after I was cleared, I began working on Kail's nearly impossible plan to capture Mitanni for 3 months. We worked out the kinks in the plan and ironed it out until it was at least crazy enough to work. It had started out as something where you might as well have lined up in front of a firing squad and said 'shoot me!'

But there was a nagging thought in the back of my head, a rather annoying one, that missed Ramses. It would be enough to wake me up in the middle of my rare sleep, to feel the covers next to me and suddenly remember I wasn't with him. It was awful. Worse, it made my few dreams project him. Memories, so many memories…

"Bastet, this is Echidna. She will be staying with us for a while." Ramses told me, introducing me to an older girl at his side. I rolled my eyes. I had only been here for a year, and more women I could count had seen these halls. I doubted she would stay for long. But, I smiled a sweet smile, expected to be the cute little orphan Ramses brought off of the streets.

"Hello. I hope you'll enjoy your stay." God, I sounded like a hotel receptionist. She smiled my smile right back, and I knew she would try to undermine me.

"You are so cute!" she exclaimed, pinching my cheek. Seriously? I was way too old for that, and was just as tall as her, taller. But that was her point. To make it look like I was a child. Only a child.

I grimaced, and tried not to break away from her in disgust. Ramses had to happy with me. I wanted him to be.

"Would you mind showing her to her room?" he asked, touching the small of her back to coax her toward me. He never touched me that way. Not since that kiss. "I've got to go."

"What? Where are you going this time?" The words rushed out before I could stop them. He smiled warmly, though.

"Oh, just a little mission. Don't worry; I'll be back in three days." I nodded. There had been many trips like this. I had grown used to them, instead spending the days with Nefert.

"Goodbye then." Echidna and I chorused, and it took all of my will not to glare at her next to me. He nodded, and was gone. I led Echidna down the hallway, and she was silent until we got to her room.

"Listen, you little brat. I—." I cut her off then.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe you're in the position to be calling others names. Your parents were obviously disgusted by you enough to name you after a sea monster." I replied, smiling sweetly. She gasped.

"You rude little rat! I have vied for his attention for months, and you are not going to ruin my chance!"

"Ha!" I laughed dryly. "I'm competition? I'm oh so flattered!" I feigned excitement. The smile faded off of my face. "But if you do want me for competition, I'll tell you right now, you will lose. I happen to be the girl who's stayed here the longest that's not related to him. So, sooner or later, he'll throw you out like the leftovers from dinner after he's finished."

"Oh? Well, get ready for a change. Because if I have my way, when I have my way, you won't be living here anymore." She replied, acting wistful.

"You're on." I muttered, and stormed out of the room.

We each awaited Ramses' return. I became more and more nervous. Ramses had never thought of me that way since my first day here. And…I missed that. A lot. I enjoyed being near him, and speaking with him, and training with him. It gave me a feeling that I mattered. Someone cared about me.

I already loved him. But, I had no idea how he would react.

The day came when he finally returned home. Echidna and I were at two opposite ends of a hallway, and the entrance was in the middle. When he came in, I noticed faster and I saw quicker. I ran to him, slightly lifted my heels off of the ground, and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close. There was no space between us, and my stomach was reacting to it very badly.

"I've missed you, Ramses." I told him, smiling with closed eyes. I look up and Echidna is behind us, scowling. I smirk, then close my eyes again.

"Such a warm welcome. What's gotten into you? I've only been gone three days." Ramses replied, slightly confused but mostly amused. Echidna, sultry and sensuous, walked over to him and rested her hand on his cheek to pull his face to hers. And then she kissed him. Right then and there. Not just a peck either. A kiss reserved for closed doors and those heartwarming moments in movies. She opened her eyes slowly, looked at me, and winked. Ramses' eyes were still closed, absorbing the kiss.

I had never cried since I got here, not once. But that night, I sat there in my room and cried and cried. I hated her for having him. I hated him for wanting her. Most of all, I hated myself, for thinking a simple hug would do the trick.

Nefert strode in, lithe and graceful in her own quirky way, to find me.

"What's wrong?" She asked, immediately concerned.

"I-." I sighed. I couldn't tell Nefert. I was in love with her brother. You don't usually tell people that.

"It's okay if you want to talk about him. I'd rather have you as a sister-in-law than Echidna." She said simply, grimacing as she rubbed my back in circles.

"How? How did you know?" I asked, surprised.

"It's so obvious. You love him. And he loves you too. But neither of you don't want to show it because you think it's inappropriate. I don't see why; girls younger than you often get married to men older than him. But, I think it's time you two put your silly game away and got to work. This is getting annoying."

I laughed at that. "He doesn't love me. He couldn't, not with all these beautiful women he brings that walk these halls."

"But you happen to be the most beautiful young lady I've ever seen, Bastet. You truly are. You have a certain…charm that adds to that, and they may be older, but in three or four years, you'll be even lovelier than all of them combined. And much nicer, at that."

I sniffed. "Thank you, Nefert. I really appreciate it." She smiled.

"You're welcome. Now, quickly, get yourself together. You look a mess! You should just take a bath. Honestly, you've ruined yourself"

"For what?" I asked, as there was no reason to refresh when it was already so dark, but she had already left. I did as I was told and called a maid to help me put up my hair. It had already grown down to the middle of my back, and had a nice, clean curliness to it. I was still getting used to managing so much hair. The maid pinned it atop my head carefully, much more elegant than it usually would've been just to go to the bath house. I grabbed a towel, or rather, a thick cloth that hadn't been coined the name 'towel' yet, and walked down to the bath house.

This area was a large enclosed space that opened up into the night sky. The bright pinpoints of light shone like the day. I never would have gotten to see a sky like that back home. Maids were already preparing a bath, pouring lavender oil and scattering petals all around. If there was one thing, Egyptians had to be stylish, even while taking a bath. The women bowed and left me to take my towel off and bathe in the water. The lavender scent relaxed my mind as I sunk into the water until it was up to my neck. I took a deep breath in. Who cared about Ramses? He doesn't matter. I tried convincing myself of these things, but my thoughts were useless. Disgusted, I unpinned my hair. I silently apologized to whichever maid had put it up, and dove underwater.

These baths were big enough to be a swimming pool. It stayed the same height rather than having a deep end, and was so much warmer than the pools I was used to, ones you had to slowly ease yourself into. I wouldn't have dared to unleash my hair in a real swimming pool, not with the threat of dead bugs floating into it and getting tangled. But, this one was cleaned every time before use, and I had no worries.

As I began to run out of breath, I found the ledge and grabbed on to it to pull myself up. Then, opening my eyes, I came face to face with none other than Ramses. I nearly screamed in surprise.

"What are you doing here, Ramses? I'm taking a bath!" I shouted at him, sinking back into the water quickly.

"Yes, I can come to that conclusion." He replied, looking me up and down. I felt my cheeks get hot. I was only fourteen, but my curves were already slightly definitive.

"Can you please leave?" I asked, covering my embarrassment with annoyance. His eyes killed me, the way they smoldered.

"No. Not until I get what I have to say out."

"There's not a better time for this?" I asked incredulously. He ignored me.

"I love you, Bastet." He whispered. My jaw dropped open.

"Get away from me! I don't believe you!" I splashed him, and he flinched away. "You've brought countless other women into this house, and told them the same exact thing, and you expect me to just tell you 'I love you, too'? To stand by you as you kick Echidna out? To marry you when you ask me to and have kids together and live happily ever after?" My tears were brimming over my eyes. "Because I abandoned my happily ever after and—." He cut my sentence short as he bent down, keeping eye contact with me. My neck was unwillingly craned toward him, wanting him to do what I knew would come next.

His lips collided with mine fiercely. I was taken in by the wave of pure elation that passed over me. My doubts were washed away by the same wave. And with him, I just ignored all warnings and went with the way I felt.

There was no other explanation except love. He loved me.

How ironic, it was, to look back on that moment and see that I had become one of the many girls he kicked to the curb. I, of course, left of my own free will, but that didn't make it any less humiliating. I was jerked out of my thoughts when Yuri came to get me.

"Come on, we're leaving." I had been packing up the things I needed and was trying to lift them, but Yuri started glaring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Put the trunk down. Now." she growled. I sighed and rolled my eyes, dropping the trunk on my mattress. It probably wouldn't have worked; my arms were barely longer than my stomach.

"There. Better?" I asked sarcastically, smiling a syrupy smile.

"Roll your eyes all you want. But you've got a kid, Bastet. You should honestly start taking better care of her." she replied. Yuri had taken to calling the baby 'she' as well. Yuri was actually very supportive through everything and a great friend, too. "And you still don't have a name, too? I'm telling you, she's gonna come at the least expected time, and you're gonna regret it."

I laughed. "Are you sure she doesn't have any company in there? It feels like there are seven of them in here." I was only 32 weeks.

"Be what it may, don't do damage to that baby. It's bad enough you're actually coming with us."

"There is no way in hell I would miss this. Just think about how huge it will be when we defeat the Dark Prince!" Yuri hefted my trunk up, but then Horus came in to take over.

"Thank you, Horus." I said.

"No problem, my lady. But, I still must urge you to stay-."

"Would everyone please stop telling me to stay! I've got at least another two months. It'll be fine." they shook their heads at me. I sighed, throwing my hands up, and stormed out of the room. They didn't realize the enormity of the situation. I was going, no matter what.

A/N: Yeah, yeah. I know, I'm going waaaaay to fast, like hyperspeed. But, I've got a particular main part of the story that needs to be told, and it can't be told until I get past the other stuff. And come on people, let's be honest. Red River goes kinda fast too. But I really hope it was enjoyable anyway.