AN: Thank you for reading. I really hope you enjoy this chapter 😊 I might not be able to update this fic for a little bit so I'm very thankful for your support. I'm going to be focusing on Secrets, The Voice, and The Lake in the Park (and maybe Young at Heart) until I manage to get my school work under control 😊 but I promise to try to update as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Five – Reflections of the Past

Katarina smiled excitedly as she energetically talked about how much fun it had been with Kuon and Kyoko. She wanted her parents to really see the day that she had had with them. "You know, Kuon is really wise. He was telling me that I should get to know myself and then I can get to know how I want to be treated and limits and that it's okay to say no if you feel any kind of pressure."

Kuu smiled, "Well, Kuon's had a lot of experience so he's gotten wise from that. He's right though, it's always best to politely decline if you don't feel like doing something," he said with a thumbs up as they sat around the dinner table.

"Well when it's your friends, with us, you can ask but it doesn't mean you get an escape option," Julie teased Katarina and Kuu smiled thoughtfully.

"Aww, I thought that it would work well," the six year old grinned. She looked at her hand, "Kuon kept staring at his hand and he said something about when you fall down you can use the experience to make you a better person."

"Well, he's not the best role model," Julie said awkwardly as she shifted in her seat. She hated saying bad things about Kuon but she wanted to be honest. She didn't want Kuon to lead Katarina away on a road where she couldn't follow, she had already given up one child she wouldn't give up her daughter as well.

Kuu closed his eyes, anger obviously flowing through him for a moment before he bowed his head. "Let's not think on those things any longer," he said as Katarina tilted her head to the side.

"Dad, you agree that Kuon is really cool, right?" Katarina asked as she happily ate dinner with her parents, "He's like a superhero."

"Kuon is definitely cool," Kuu said with a smile, "I really do hope that you get to spend more time with him and Kyoko whilst they are here. I think that it's really good for you two to know each other."

Julie nodded, "Yes, as long as Kyoko's there," she said and Kuu sighed. He knew that Julie's fears were rooted to the idea that Katarina might get taken away from them and that she couldn't live with another heartbreak but lashing out at Kuon wasn't helping. If only he had been able to spend a little more time with his son then maybe he wouldn't have ended up the way he did. Maybe he would have found peace within himself sooner.

It had been years since he had been the wild fifteen-year-old, almost a full decade and still his sins were following him around. He trusted Kuon, he just couldn't believe that Julie didn't. Had all of her missing Kuon led to her rejection of him.

"Is…Kuon dangerous?" Katarina asked her mother as Kuu's eyes widened.

Julie looked away, "I don't know how to answer that. I don't want you alone with him."

"He's definitely not dangerous, how about I show you some of the acting rolls that he's done over the past years. He's incredibly talented," Kuu said proudly. He didn't know how to convince Julie that Kuon was trying to take steps to get to know his sister. Through him finding out more about Katarina it would allow him and Julie to find out more about the current Kuon and not the one that they hadn't been able to help.

"Yea," Katarina smiled happily.

….

….

Kyoko smiled as she saw Kuon sitting on the side of the bed with his legs stretched out in the hotel room. She came towards him with the bag of items that Kuu had given her. She felt proud of herself that she had asked Kuu for things that were important from Kuon's past and hopefully he would find some comfort in them. She had no idea what was wrong with Julie.

"You have really long legs," she smiled as she came in and Kuon looked up at her.

"Is that a problem?" he joked back and Kyoko shook her head.

"Only when I try and kiss you, I guess that's my fault for falling in love with someone who there's such a height difference with," she said, "but in bed I can curl up and know that your body is always there." Kyoko blushed a little as she said that. Sometimes she was reminded of how she was with Shoutaro just from her own behavior with Kuon, but she also knew how much Kuon respected her independence and supported her decisions. Shoutaro never gave her much consideration.

"How about I lift you up?" Kuon teased before looking at the items she was holding. "I can't believe it," he grinned as Kyoko looked down at the items and nodded.

"I asked Father for some items that had a lot of sentimental value to you and this is what he brought me, but I'm not sure what it all is," she said as Kuon took the bag and started to place the items on the bed.

"Did you want me to tell you about them?" he asked and Kyoko grinned.

"Of course I want you to tell me about them, I don't have much from my own family but I want to know more about the man that I'm going to marry," she sat on the bed with him and kissed his cheek as she looked at the items. She had so many questions.

"First of all, until I get to a computer, I'm not sure what this is," Kuon said as he picked up the external drive. "If I had to guess it would be everything I ever left on a computer which means pictures, music, that kind of thing." Kyoko nodded, she would have to get Kuon to show her those later, she wanted to see pictures of a younger Kuon especially those from when he was ten.

"These journals," Kuon smiled as he picked them up, "Were left to me by my grandfather on my dad's side in his will. When I was a kid, he would show me them and tell me how he had learned different life lessons during and after the war. It talks about all the hardships that he had and how he had overcome them. Originally my father was going to have them, but my grandfather left these two to me. I guess he wanted me to remember the real him."

Kyoko nodded with a smile, she took Kuon's hand in hers and squeezed it. She didn't have anything precious like that to remind her of her grandparents, she didn't even really know her grandparents, but something with the value of what Kuon was describing really inspired her. Maybe she could get Kuon to write something like that if they were to ever have kids.

"This teddy bear," Kuon continued, "Is the first gift my parents gave me. They told me that they had picked it out before I was born and I got attached to him when I was young and couldn't sleep without him. The blanket was made by my grandmother on my mother's side from when I was a baby. She passed away when I was a toddler so I never really had a chance to know her, but my mother said she took great pride in knowing she could keep me safe and warm."

Kyoko curled in closer to her fiance, there were so many memories attached to these items and she was glad that Kuu had picked them out. It just went to show how much he knew Kuon and how much he cared about him. These weren't meaningless items, in fact, the meaningfulness of these items made her see her future husband as the man she loves.

Kyoko saw Kuon reach out for the black bag, his eyes showed a little bit of confusion before he opened it. He paused as he took out a silver chain with a shell on it. It didn't look that expensive, but the way that Kuon was looking at it told Kyoko that it was more than met the eye. Something about this was making it very valuable and she looked at Kuon wanting to find out more.

"What is it?" she asked and Kuon bowed his head.

"It's from my dad. I'm…" Kuon shook his head unable to really tell Kyoko the meaning of it. Was it that important?

"I'm glad you have these items," Kyoko smiled. It wasn't right to pressure him if he didn't want to tell her. She picked up the bear and held it imagining a baby Kuon. She wished that the trip had gone differently. She had expected to be staying in the Hizuri house and for Julie to be showing her pictures of Kuon as a baby rather than them being separated from them in a hotel room.

Still, her fiancé had just found out something that people he loved and had trusted hadn't told him. News of a secret sibling.

It was for the best that they could just talk away from the cause of this grief. Kyoko held Kuon's hand again. "You're lucky to have so many important people in your life," she told him as he looked down with mixed emotions.

"I'm not sure if they are in my life anymore," he admitted as Kyoko stared at the ceiling.

"You have to have hope that all of this will work out in the end," she said with a kiss to his cheek. "After all, I swore never to love again and I've never been more in love. I promised myself never to be one of those stupid girls who let love control them and yet, when I'm with you, sometimes I can't stop my heart from pounding so loudly I'm afraid it'll burst out my chest. I love you, Kuon and I know that you'll be able to forgive your parents in time because that's the person that you are."

Kuon laughed, "When I was a teenager, I never thought I'd find someone like you," he told her as he let his hand rest against her cheek. He carefully put the items in the bag that they were given in and set it against the wall. "Will you allow me to show you how much I care for you tonight?" he asked and Kyoko smiled as she looked down.

Her cheeks turned slightly red and she nodded. "You know, you might not be a bad influence on Katarina, but you've definitely taken away my feminine purity and innocence," she smiled as she saw him take off his shirt and she reached over to touch his chest, letting her fingers spread against the muscles and then knelt up on the bed.

"Do you remember what you taught me?" she asked as she pulled him in closer and started sucking on his neck. She smiled as she managed to place her mark on his skin. "Now even Setsu would know that you don't belong to anyone else," she teased and Kuon slid his hands under her shirt and leaned her back.

"Come on, the emperor of the night is going to make you feel like the princess that you are," he said as Kyoko touched his cheek.

She hated it that the Hizuri family had seemed to cause Kuon to feel like an outcast, but she would always be willing to claim him. They were missing out on knowing an incredible person who had learned from his mistakes and used his past to create a wonderful future. She had always been nervous about the intimacies of love, but Kuon made her feel special as well as safe and loved.

She was extremely grateful that he was her fairy prince.

AN 2: Thank you to those who reviewed the previous chapter: brennakai and Michiyo