Grief and Happiness

Yuri Riku gently swept the hair away from Fuukou Ippin's sleeping face. She'd cried herself to sleep in his arms, and was now resting on his bed. He stared at her for a moment, wondering how in the world he managed to be so lucky. Why she put up with being constantly teased was beyond him. Her hazel eyes, turned green from her tears, fluttered open.

"Hey," he whispered. "You okay?"

Ippin nodded, slowly sitting up. "I'm sorry for doing this to you, Riku. You don't really need my problems."

Riku wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Don't say that, your problems are my problems. And, she was my daughter too."

Ippin cried silently, letting her tears soak Riku's shirt. "She's dead Riku. She's really... she's really dead." She sobbed once. "How did I let my own daughter die? Why wasn't I WITH her?"

Riku put his hand under her chin and forced her to look up. "Coru, there wasn't anything you could do. She wanted to stay in the afterlife. Really, she's not dead, just... in a different state of life."

Ippin laughed chokingly. "I just... wish I could have had a chance to really love her, have a bond, like everyone else does with their daughters."

Riku stroked her hair. "I do too honey. But, we can have more children."

Ippin only sobbed harder. He didn't know they would both die before Tanrei was even a day old. "I'm so sorry." She murmured.

He couldn't think of anything to say, so he held her in his arms and gently rocked her as she drifted back to sleep.

Three years later...

Ippin glared around as she left her apartment. Riku was teasing her about her pregnancy, and she was simply not in the mood. She started to go down to the hangar bay where she kept the Crystal Prism, but paused as she reached the door. She thought for a moment, then reached for her Comlink.

"Aster, I need a hug and a pint of ice cream. Come get me?" Ippin's depressed voice touched her twin, and Priire agreed to pick her up.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. Wait for me on the third level platform," Priire replied, sounding annoyed and comforting.

Ippin sighed and said goodbye. She turned away from the door that would take her to the hanger, heading toward the lift, completely unaware of the catastrophe that had been averted.

Two weeks later, her first child, Yuri Tanrei, was born.