Republic City Seventeen years ago:

Mako sat in the living room while he reviewed the latest case file. Even when he wasn't at work, he was at work. It had caused several tiffs between him and Shizuku over the years but they managed to sort things out. The compromise being that if he didn't take a break for his family, he wasn't going to have one. He loved them too much for that.

It wasn't as big a deal these days with Kozumi out of the house with her own family but, if Shizuku decided he was done working, he was done working. Unless it was a matter of life and death, whatever it was could always wait.

She was curled-up next to him on the couch with one of her trashy romance novels in her hands. He had tried to read one once and was put-off after the first chapter. To this day he still didn't understand why she enjoyed them. She paused from her reading when something outside drew her attention.

"Were w-we, expecting company?" she asked as she gazed out the large bay window behind them.

"No. Why?"

"There's a-a car—" Her book suddenly flopped, pages first, onto the floor. Before he could say anything else, she was out the front door.

"Shizu!" He abandoned his files and immediately dashed after her.

Outside, a white-haired man, with an angry scowl across his face, was marching across the yard towards them. Hooked over one arm was a blanket-covered basket. A bassinet?

"I can never get away from you can I?" the man spat directly at him. Mako stood firm with a hard expression on his face while the man accosted him.

"Nagato…You're h-home." Shizuku was in tears. She stepped forward to hug him and in return, he shoved the basket into her arms.

"Here. Since you like monsters so much. You can take care of this one," Nagato grumbled, his eyes never leaving Mako.

"Hey! Don't treat your mother like that," Mako scowled. Blades of grass flew into the air as his tail snapped the ground. It definitely wasn't going to improve the tense situation, but he couldn't help it. It didn't matter what Nagato thought of him, he had no right to treat Shizuku so harshly.

"I'm not here for some happy reunion!" Nagato snapped. Although he was about a foot shorter, he went chest-to-chest with Mako. "My life is ruined because of you…Again!"

Mako didn't reply and could only glare at the man who was supposed to be his son. It wouldn't have mattered if he said anything anyway. Nagato had made up his mind about him a long time ago. Nothing he said now was going to make a difference.

"Good luck raising that thing." Nagato gave them one final wave as he turned his back on them and returned to his vehicle.

"N-Nagato…p-please…." Behind Mako, Shizuku was on her knees, the tears now freely flowing down her cheeks.

Nagato didn't give them a second glance as he climbed behind the wheel and drove off to wherever he had come from.

Once Nagato was gone, Mako dropped his hard demeanor. As much as they disliked one another, Nagato was still his son. It made his heart ache that their relationship had deteriorated so badly. He went to where Shizuku was still kneeling and wrapped himself around her.

"I'm sorry things turned out this way. If only I wasn't…." His tail flicked his grief. They both knew the reason their son had left was because Mako was half-spirit. Something Nagato hated in himself. Shizuku gently placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't a-apologize…W-We did our best t-to t-teach him that what y-you are—W-What he is, doesn't matter. I-It's the person y-you become that m-matters. H-He j-just…He just re-refuses to s-s-see it," she managed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I-It's his deci-ci—ch-choice."

Mako squeezed her tight. He'd only heard her stutter this bad one other time since they were together. It was when Nagato had left the first time. Their son had broken her heart all over again. A part of him hoped they'd never see him again just to spare her more pain if nothing else.

Something in the basket moved. They had almost forgotten about it. Shizuku carefully lifted a corner of the blanket to peek.

"M-Mako, dear…"

Inside was a squirming baby no more than a few days old. Mako's heart sank when he saw it. A pair of silver bumps were on the infant's forehead and tiny blue scales covered its back with a white line of fuzz splitting them down the spine. To finish, they had a tail almost as long as their tiny body. The child had been cursed with all his half-spirit features, and their parents had abandoned them because of it.

"They look like me…" he frowned. What should have been a celebration of their newest grandchild felt more like a funeral. If Nagato hated him for inheriting only some of his traits, what would this child think of him.

"She's b-beautiful," Shizuku corrected as she picked-up the infant from the basket and cradled it in her arms. She always did have a way of seeing past the external features to the person beneath.

He gave the infant his finger. She wrapped her tiny hand around it and held tight while her tail curled around his wrist. It was so little and delicate. She probably didn't even know she was doing it. He couldn't help but smile. That's when he made a promise to himself that he was going to make sure the girl knew she was loved no matter what she was.

"Does she have a name?" he finally asked.

Shizuku shook her head.

"Nagato didn't say, b-but I've always liked Mari," she smiled.

Present:

The group walked into a small eatery where all eyes immediately turned to them. After the brief interruption, the mixture of families and blue-collar workers, soon went back to their meals; unconcerned with the two teenage boys escorted by a pair of coats. Since they were still in the North Pole, Mako had decided a warm restaurant was preferable to pulling over on the side of a cold road for dinner.

"Koji. See if they have a phone and call your parents. It's been a while since you've checked-in. We'll get a table," Mako instructed.

Koji did as he was told while the others took a seat in a booth farthest from the crowd. While Mako unfolded a map and smoothed it over the table, Ryu turned to the servers.

"Excuse me—" He tried to flag down one of the waitstaff who promptly ignored him. "Excuse me!" A second server rushed past. "C'mon…" he mumbled, his brow knit in a frustrated scowl.

"Let it go, Kid," Mako said. "They'll get to us when they're ready." If the small town they had come across was any indication, the restaurant probably had its share of regulars which didn't include them. And, from the way the servers were running around, it looked like they were getting ready for the evening rush.

Koji returned to the table a short while later. Ryu moved aside allowing him to slide next to Mari. The pair shared a smile as they scooted close to one another.

"Everything good?" Mako asked.

"It's the same old stuff," Koji replied, dismissively. "Am I getting enough to eat? What have I learned? Where have we been? Love you. All that."

"It's good that your parents are so worried about you," Mari said with a soft smile.

"I suppose…" Koji replied. He couldn't argue considering Mari and Ryu had both been orphaned as infants.

They paid little attention to the rest of the restaurant as they sat and chatted about their next destination.

A group of middle-aged men laughed as they stumbled through the doors, ready for some more drinks after a long day's work. A white-haired man among them, scrutinized the room for an open table. His eyes wandered until they fell to a booth by the window where two teenage boys were sitting with a pair of people hidden beneath hoods. He didn't recognize the boys, but the red-trimmed grey trench coat, was unmistakable. An angry scowl fell over his face.

"I don't believe it…" he grumbled under his breath.

Per Mako's advice, Ryu had given-up on getting service. He was focusing on the map with the others, when a white-haired man suddenly tipped the table and grabbed Mako by the lapels of his coat.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Mako's glasses flew from his face when the man punched him and sent him crashing to the ground. "I can't ever escape you can I?!"

Both boys were up in an instant to defend Mako while Mari rushed to his side.

"Hey!"

"What gives, man!"

Ryu instantly had a ball of flame over his hand, ready for a fight.

"No bending in here!" a server hollered. "Take it outside!"

"Boys. Stop." Mako's voice was unusually calm despite having just been attacked. He wiped the blood from his lip while Mari helped him to his feet.

Ryu extinguished his flame and the boys took a moment to examine the assailant. He had a sharp nose and chin under blue eyes, but it was the crested eyebrows that gave them pause.

"Is it just me, or does he kinda look like the Chief, except shorter…and rounder," Koji whispered to Ryu as his eyes shifted to the man's pot-belly. He hadn't been quiet enough however because Mako spoke next.

"That's because he's my son," he stated. He collected his glasses and calmly replaced them on his nose. Across the restaurant, the other patrons were staring, but not because of the fight. Their expressions, which ranged from concern to flat-out fear, Mako had seen many times before. During the exchange, both he and Mari had lost their hoods. Nothing to be done about it now.

He ignored the staring crowd and smoothed his hair between the silver branches as if having horns were completely normal.

The teenagers were all left speechless by his admission, especially Mari. She wasn't sure how to react when the man turned to face her, the smell of alcohol lingering about him.

"And lookey here," the man sneered, yellowed bridges visible between his incisors and molars. "You even have a monster that looks just like you now."

"Why, you!" Nobody talked about Mari that way. Koji was about to charge forward when Mako placed a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I want the three of you to go back to the truck," he stated. His tone made it clear there was no room for argument.

"But…Papa…" Mari whispered. She couldn't take her eyes off the white-haired man that was supposed to be her father.

"Go." Mako was insistent.

There a was a lot of displeased mumbling, but the teens begrudgingly obliged. Ryu was first to leave. He exchanged an angry glare with the man and knocked shoulders with him as he passed.

Next, Koji went to Mari and escorted her out, staying resolutely between her and the man.

"And she's your daughter you jackass," he scowled as they exited. They all knew the story.

Once the teens were gone, Mako collected his map, righted the table, and father and son took a seat across from one another in the booth.

The teens took their usual seats in the truck and Mari immediately fell against Koji's chest. He sat still while she soaked his coat.

"Can that really be Mako's son?" Ryu said once they were all settled. Juji joined him on his lap as if he needed to be comforted too. Maybe he did. He affectionately pet the bird as he continued. "What a jerk."

Koji's concern fell to Mari. He slid his hand under her horns and placed it on her dark hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't know…" She sniffled against his chest. "I always wondered what it would be like to meet my real parents but…" She trailed off. Clearly it wasn't the happy reunion she had imagined.

Ryu watched from his seat as Koji handed her a handkerchief and consoled her. It still hurt to see them together, but he pushed through it. He was just glad his best friend was happy.

"You still have quite the right hook," Mako said while he straightened his jaw. Fortunately, from what he could tell, a bruise was going to be the worst damage from the attack.

"That supposed to be some kind of fatherly compliment?" the man huffed, his arms folded over his chest like a petulant child. "What are you even doing out here?"

Mako didn't feel the need to share. "I don't think that's any of your business at this point, Nagato."

Silence permeated the restaurant forcing him to lower his voice.

"Your mother still worries about you," he stated flatly. He was doing his best to have a normal conversation. After being estranged for so many years, he didn't want to go straight to accusations or fighting. Nagato, however, clearly wanted to pick-up right where they left off.

"She always did have a soft spot for monsters," he scoffed. His gaze shifted out the window to the truck the teens had disappeared into. "That thing's my daughter, huh? Almost forgot I had one."

Mako couldn't believe Nagato's nonchalant attitude. He tightened his tail around his waist. It was already twitching to slap the man.

"Mari is a sweet, compassionate, young woman," he corrected, making sure to put extra emphasis on her name. He wouldn't let the man degrade her so casually.

"Mari? Not the name I would have given her."

"Maybe if you had decided to be her father instead of abandoning her. You could have chosen her name," Mako retorted. The normal conversation was quickly slipping into veiled animosity.

Nagato stared down at the table, his sight even farther.

"You know, Neyra left me after that," he said, his voice barely audible over the muted chatter that had returned to the restaurant. Even then, Mako could hear the long-held resentment. "She was so distraught. And she can never have kids again because that thing destroyed her insides."

"That's too bad," Mako said. He didn't have a lot of sympathy for him. Not after what he had put them through. The veil fell off. "So, this is where you've been all this time," he said, changing the subject. "Tell me…Do you ever crawl out of the bottle?" He had seen the type many times during his years on the force; a full-on alcoholic.

Nagato gave him a dirty scowl and shoved a finger onto the table. "Ohh, no no no. You don't get to dump me off out here and then judge how I live my life."

Mako had to clean his ears out to make sure he'd heard right. Was that how he viewed what had happened? "We didn't dump you anywhere," he stated, trying very hard to keep the ire out of his voice. A feat made easier when his tail nearly squeezed the air out of him. "We gave you an opportunity to distance yourself from me. To not be the son of The Fetchling. You're the one who ran. That was your choice. Just like it was your choice to have a child without understanding the consequences of your heritage."

"You mean like you and Mom did," Nagato scoffed.

Mako slammed his hands on the table and pushed off his seat, unable to hold his temper any longer. "Your mother and I wanted a family. We knew there would be risks! We were lucky that you only inherited some of my traits!" Yellow foam sprang forth when his tail escaped his coat and lashed the seat cushion behind him.

"Yeah…Lucky me…" Nagato grumped, not the least bit frightened at the sudden outburst. Unlike the rest of the restaurant.

Terrified parents rushed their children out the doors while the apparent restaurant owner stood behind the cashier with the phone to their ear; their hand cupped over the receiver to hide the conversation. Probably calling the local authorities. Time to wrap things up. He inhaled all the air from the room to compose himself, and sat back down.

"We did our best to give you a normal childhood and I'm sorry it didn't work-out that way. You can resent me, hate me, whatever helps you sleep at night—but don't blame me for your mistakes. You chose this life." His tail made the briefest twitch making it clear he had his own regrets. "Just like I chose not to look for you…" He slid out of the booth, his face resolutely turned away. He couldn't look at the man anymore. Not without escalating the situation.

"I'll let your mother and sister know you're okay, but I won't get their hopes up on seeing you anytime soon. After all, you know where we live." The cashier shied away when he approached the counter. Probably just as frightened of his appearance as his sudden outburst. He pulled a pile of yuans from his wallet and left them on the counter. "Sorry about the seat," he said, and then left without another word.

He returned to The Rampage, somberly climbed behind the wheel…and deflated. He'd never expected to see his son again. And he certainly wasn't planning to have another argument with him. The random encounter left him emotionally drained. His dour face was obvious.

"You okay, Mako?" Ryu asked. Juji even looked concerned and didn't give his usual sass. The bird had to be sick.

In response, Mako shifted his eyes to the rearview mirror at Mari who was curled-up next to Koji. The red rings around her eyes told him plenty. His condition was moot for the moment.

"Mari…This may be the only time you see your father. If you have anything you want to say to him, you better do it now."

Mari sniffled while she took a moment to think it over.

Inside the restaurant, Nagato slumped in the booth with a half-finished tumbler of Northern Rum firm in his hand. He barely turned his head when a shadow covered the table.

"What do you want?" he grumbled at the silver-horned young woman standing over him.

"I guess I want to thank you," she replied in a tone both firm and sad. "If you hadn't left me with Nana and Papa…" She paused as tears returned to her eyes. "They gave me a loving, happy home. I don't want to think about how I would have turned out had I been raised by a bitter, angry man like you. I hope you find whatever happiness there is for you out here." Her piece said, the young woman turned tail and walked out the door without a second glance.

Nagato watched out the window as she climbed into the black truck and it drove away. The remains of his drink sloshed in its glass when the ice shifted. She wished him happiness? He reached down his shirt collar and scratched at the white fur on his spine. It had striped for some reason and, with the truck's absence, was finally settling back in place. How did monsters find happiness? He tossed what was left of his drink down his throat and slammed the tumbler on the table.

"Hey! Gimmie another drink over here, will ya?" he barked at a server.