Amani- flaxseed

(flax is a pretty light blue flowering plant)

Kurige-chestnut horse

Krad held one paintbrush between his teeth, one over his ear, and three in his right hand as he painted with his left. His easel was placed on the back porch of his little lakeside house and faced the lake, the water only about 20 yards from his home. The wind that blew up from the lake was cold and refreshing to his slightly tired mind. This gimmick of living with the Niwa's was actually working out pretty well. He'd gotten a minor job and sold his artwork to give his meager wages a boost. The Niwa's still insisted that he didn't need to pay rent until he found a better job but he still left what he could afford on the kitchen counter for them every Monday morning.

He yawned and pulled back from his painting for a moment, tucking a certain necklace back under his shirt so it wouldn't get stained by paint.

He'd sent a note to his tamer apologizing for his childishness and they'd been communicating by letter ever since. A fly buzzed past his vision and his catlike reflexes allowed him to smash it dead against the wall. "Ew."Krad wiped bug remains off his hand and looked back at his work. He'd been working on this particular piece all night- some famous art collector had wanted him to do a religious piece and since he'd never been religious, he was finding it difficult. The wings on the angels, though, he was familiar with. A creak around the left side of his porch alerted him to someone's presence and he put the paintbrushes on the railing.

"Hey, Krad." A voice he was all too familiar with drawled happily. "I brought you some coffee and some oatmeal."

"What are you, my mother?"

Krad replied without turning around and yanked the stained-up apron he used while painting over his head and laid it out on the railing too.

"Damn near, it looks like-" Dark said and handed him the mug, which Krad took and sat down on the wooden steps. Somehow Dark had made it a habit to come down and visit the blonde, which he found quite irritating (and if he examined his feelings further, a bit endearing). "Whatcha painting this time? Please tell me it's for someone rich."

Suddenly an old ache sprang up between his shoulder blades and the blonde reached over his shoulder with a wince. "Ah." Dark had brought his own food as well and as he sipped what looked like a mocha frap something or other, he murmured, "Huh. It's happening to you too now?"

"What is? The aches and pains of an old man?" He said grumpily and the thief laughed heartily.

"Old? You calling twenty old?" He shook his head. "Nah, it's the wings coming back. Takes 'em a while for some reason. I thought…" He trailed off and looked out at the lake for a moment thoughtfully. "Honestly I thought they'd never come back, but…"

Yellow eyes narrowed. "Are you saying yours are back?" Dark nodded happily, his hair bobbing. "Of course, nowhere near big enough yet…"

"Let me see." Krad said, intrigued. It was one of the things he missed most about their past life. It figures just as he'd finally come to terms with it Dark would throw him a bone. "Just don't tear them out from jealousy, alright?"

"I won't." Krad said quietly, still feeling guilty for that night even after all these years. Dark set down his mug and pulled up his shirt and spread them gingerly. They looked the same as always, soft sleek black feathers, only that they couldn't have been longer than four feet each. Krad ran a hand along one of them and felt Dark suppress a shudder. "Does your fiancée know about these?"

The thief snorted, "No. I can hide 'em pretty well but I think she'll find out soon." He folded them and they seemed to slide back up under his skin, almost disappearing save two darkish strips, like bruises.

Krad couldn't help but chuckle. "Heh. Chibi wings."

"Eh?Sh-shut up!" He colored, "Eat your food, it'll get cold." and shoved the oatmeal at Krad, who took it and took a bite. Of course it was delicious- the Niwa's seemed to have a knack for creating good, filling food. "Yes mom."

The phantom rolled his eyes, "You of all people shouldn't be calling me that." Krad's golden eyes seemed to darken and the thief put an arm around his shoulders, hopefully to give the blonde a bit of comfort. "What about that girl you met at the coffee shop the other day?" Just thinking of her gave Krad a warm spreading feeling in his belly. "What about her? I haven't seen her since. I don't move as fast as you, Dark."

"Did you get her number?"

"I.."

The thief leaned in. "Weeelll?"

Krad twiddled his thumbs. "I did."

Dark squeezed his shoulder. "Ah, I knew you could do it!" Krad shoved him away, part playfully and part not. "Oh knock it off! I just…" He broke eye contact and muttered, "Since I'm human now, I cannot afford to waste time moping…"

Of course I will always miss him. Of course there will always be a place in my heart that cannot be filled, but…

"Aisoku… Wouldn't want me to waste the life he gave me like that." He picked up the mug Dark had brought him and sipped, ignoring the way his other self was staring at him. He finished his oatmeal and put the empty bowl by his side- he'd remember to drop it by the main house later. "What?" Krad finally snapped as the unusually long period of silence stretched.

"Well, I never thought this would happen."

Dark stood and ruffled the blonde's hair just to tick him off and said, "I guess… you're finally growing up." He gave his other self a little salute and before he disappeared around the side of the house, he called, "I'll see you later then, if you're not out on a date or something."

He winked and Krad flushed, but of course before he could retaliate, the thief was gone.

11 years later

"Alright, I'm off. I'll try to get home at a decent time so we can actually spend some time together." The blonde sighed.

"Oh hush dear. It's good you're working overtime." Amani straightened Krad's tie and smoothed his collar down in the back, her small hands working deftly around his long ponytail. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, or as close as they could get with her belly as big as it was now. She snuggled into his chest.

"Any extra money we can get for the bug is a good thing."

Krad raised an eyebrow and the corner of his lip twitched. "Hmm. I know."

As his chin rested on her head the baby inside her kicked hard and his amused snort ruffled her black hair.

"Awe. I thought he'd get you that time for sure." She pouted and her blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "You never seem to flinch! Why is that?" He shrugged, I guess I'm just used to it. "Haven't the foggiest my dear. Wish me luck."

She did and half an hour later he was in his cubicle, trying to figure out which angle would make it the most impossible for Dark to talk to him. Yes, they ended up working at the same company, and yes somehow, they had been placed next to each other in a work force of over a thousand people. And no, they wouldn't change seats just because Krad had asked to be moved three times already. Mostly it was because of this time of year, in fact this day in particular…

Wait, it can't be…He scooted his chair like a madman up to his wall and ran a finger down his calendar to find today's date. Oh no… A shudder ran down his body.

Today was bring-your-kid-to-work day.

"Hey Krad!" Dark scooted his chair back and sure enough his whole pack of offspring was gathered around him. There were the eleven-year old twin boys, who had their father's eyes but their mother's straight reddish-brown hair, the ten year old girl who was basically a mini-Kurige, the nine year old boy who had the bright red hair and eyes of his mother and finally the seven-year old, with a sprinkling of red in his otherwise Dark-ish features. Five in all. They were staring at Krad as if he was from another planet, which Krad mused was sort of true- he was the exact opposite of Dark in looks. They'd probably never seen someone so white in Japan before.

"Did you and the missus get pregnant yet?"

"I already told you that she did." Krad said snottily, wishing for the umpteenth time that their wives weren't best friends. Dark rubbed his fingers together. "But I haven't seen her in three months, so you could be lying. Evidence…?"

The blonde pulled a copy of the ultrasound from his pocket and passed it to the thief quickly- hopefully no one was checking around and making sure everyone was working. Though judging by the infantile wails coming from the row over, he guessed not. His clan gathered around him as he held it up to the light and frowned. "Too damn dark…" He got up and laid it against the row of windows behind them. "Aha!"

"What is it papa?" The youngest of the pack asked and he put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. "Kraddy here is expecting a little one." He answered and asked, "So how far along is she?"

"Six months." Krad answered automatically, more than used to the question by now. Dark gestured the blonde a little closer and whispered, "See the twins ended up getting the wings early so just keep an eye out on this-" He drew a line from the child's curved back and into the shadows Krad hadn't noticed before.

"Could be a wing. Not sure though." Krad 'hmph'ed and took the picture back from him and worry beginning to stir in his gut. Amani knew of his wings of course, and lately she'd been joking about feeling soft feathers stirring around with the child in her belly. Now he wondered if…

The day continued and Krad tried his best to ignore the ruckus going on in the cubicle next to him, but it was near impossible.

It was always, "Daisuke stop trying to turn the printer into a mecha-robot," and "Itachi stop using the stapler as a weapon,". But to his surprise one of them wandered into his own cubicle, the littlest one, and before he could get two words out he asked, "Can I sit with you?"

"Um, there is only one chair…"

The child was upon him before he knew what to do, clambering up into his lap. "I know. I thought we'd share!"

He was so stunned he couldn't do much but steady the boy so he didn't fall out of his lap. "Be careful!" "I will." The boy said, seeming to be completely at home in Krad's lap. "What are you doing?"

"Writing programs." Krad answered automatically. "It sounds boring." The little boy said and rubbed his eyes. "You tired?"

"Yeah…" Krad kept an arm around the boy's waist to keep him steady. Before he knew it he'd said, "You can sleep here if you want…" and the boy had burrowed into his body's heat like a mole, falling asleep almost instantly. Krad scooted back in front of his computer and typed with his right hand, turning the light down so that it wouldn't disturb Dark's littlest family member. He slept quite peacefully, his feeble warmth keeping Krad aware of his presence and before long Krad found he liked his company.

In fact he was a little sad when the day was over and he had to gently shake the boy's shoulder and tell him it was time to go.

"Huh? Oh, okay… thanks, bye!" He hopped down and ran to join Dark who was struggling to get his family together.

"No, I told you the Mr. Collins doesn't want- Ichigo stop using the laser pointer to blind Daisuke!" Finally everything was more or less in order and they were able to leave in peace, but not before Dark managed, "You see what you have to look forward to?" but he was smiling and Krad nodded. "I do."

"But I don't wanna! I cooked dinner! It takes forever to get those ratty kids to sleep!" Dark whined as he followed his wife Kurige upstairs with the children's favorite book in hand. She frowned, "No it doesn't, and they've been running around in the backyard for the past half-hour. They'll be tired." Dark muttered, "M-hmm suuure…"

"If you don't stop complaining you're going to lose your sex privileges."

He gasped. "You-you're not…" and she wagged her finger, "You're darn right I'm serious! I'll see you in bed then dear."

She shoved the still-shocked thief into the twin's bedroom, where everyone was gathered. "Alright everyone listen up!" He said, ending the fight Ichigo and Daisuke over goodness-knows-what. "I'm going to read a story to the little ones so can you two keep it down for half an hour?" They looked at each other and Daisuke admitted, the more honest of the two, "Probably not." Dark sighed. "Alright look, if I give you ten minutes with my itough- do not bust it- then will you be quiet?"

"Yes!' They chimed out instantly, took the small gaming device from Dark and ran off to their own shared bedroom. "Alright," He flopped down into the middle of the bed and made sure to divide the rest of his clan in such a way that if they wanted to fight, they'd have to climb over him to do so. Dark wriggled around until the two slits in his shirt were large enough and stretched his wings out, cupping them around each side of the bed. "Everyone comfy? Alright then."

A half-hour later Kurige went in to check in on her husband because it had gotten unnaturally quiet. She opened the door quietly and snuck in, closing it behind her as she tiptoed to the bed. Dark was completely out and snoring softly and his right wing occasionally twitched. The children were all asleep too, protected by the long span of his wings and she leaned out over the first two to reach him. Her lips gently touched his and she murmured, "Goodnight, my dear…" The thief's eyes fluttered and he leaned up to catch her mouth, "Hmm. Good night…" and stole a long lingering kiss before settling back down into the covers alongside his children.

The cries of a very angry baby cut through Krad's sleep like a knife. "..."

"Honey I think …it's your turn." Amani murmured.

Krad rubbed his eyes. "Nngh…" Then he dragged himself from the warm bed and down the hallway to his son's room, plucking him up from the crib and settling into the chair beside it. His nose could tell he didn't need a change and it wasn't his usual 'hungry' cry either. "Well what wrong with you then hmm?" He crooned and the child's cries faded a bit, his red-tinged blue eyes wide.

"If I sing for a bit will you go back to sleep?" The baby snuggled up against his chest and looked up at him tiny white wings against his back, which were usually tightly folded flared out and flapped once before settling again.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said to himself and started without really thinking, his mind on other things. The light of a new day was just beginning to trickle in, night turning into day. The analogy reminded him of a certain thief who hadn't made his début since he'd turned twenty-five. The best thief the world had ever known had retired for the quiet life, it seemed. As the song came to an end Krad realized it was the same one he'd sung to Aisoku all those years ago. He put a large hand on the child's peach-soft cheek and stroked the skin with his thumb and the baby gurgled happily. He continued petting and comforting him until he felt the weight of the little boy suddenly increase as he fell asleep.

Once Krad was sure he wasn't going to come out of it anytime soon he slowly stood and put him back in the crib. He leaned with both arms crossed on the smooth wooden railing and crossed his legs at the ankles. From behind the easy laid-back posture of his body could be mistaken for his other self, and in fact he happened to be standing the same way his mirror had, looking down at Aisoku.

It all seemed like it had happened just yesterday.

Like if he turned a corner Aisoku would be there, smiling and waiting.

His long loose golden braid hung down the strong curve of his neck and collar and down onto the cloth in the crib, spilling out into thin rivers.

But here and now, this new child needed him.

"Good night …Satoshi-sama."

In the blue winter light two wolf eyes burned with love and the loss of a tamer who had been the best facet of himself, in every way.

The End

Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers and sorry I didn't leave chapter 18 up that long . I kind of wanted to finish this story before college starts.

So again, thanks to-IntelligentFerretFreak, Damaged Ghost of an Angel, Sappiet, Lady Fai, RosalieCullenHale1, Fireflower19, DonChakram, xOtaku4Ux, Cherry Maiden, Shinjitsu Elric Mustang, and Devil wingz. ^^ Love to you all XD

ps. i think i'll be trying an inuyasha story next so the only DNAngel one I'll be working on is Crimson Wolf, if anyone wants to know .