Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mai Hime. They belong to Sunrise~
Natsuki looked intensely at her burgundy-eyed, raven-haired daughter who stared back equally as intense at her mother, from her spot in the bubbly bath tub.
"Shizuki, you are going to take a bath right now," Natsuki said in a low voice that brooked no arguments.
The little 5-year-old in the bath tub pulled a pout that Natsuki swore she had lifted from her other mother's playbook.
"No," little Shizuki replied, as the pout on her face became more pronounced.
Natsuki bit back a low growl as she resisted the urge to tear her hair out. She had survived the Terrible Twos and the Troublesome Threes, and now it looked like she was smack-dab in the middle of the Fearsome Fives.
"Shizuki, you are covered in dirt. We played long and had tons of fun with the ball out in the backyard earlier, but now it's time for you to clean up. You want to spend time with Shizuru-mama and your little sister Hikari right? Well to do that you have to be clean," Natsuki tried to cajole, as she leaned forward to try to start scrubbing her oldest child clean.
"NO!" Shizuki cried out, as she began to fuss and splash around to avoid her mother's reaching hands.
"Arg!" Natsuki cried out as she was hit with a face full of sudsy bubbles.
"Is my Natsuki having problems in here?" a low, melodious voice spoke from the entrance to the bathroom.
Natsuki peeked through a small pile of soap suds covering her eyes, at the woman who had so completely captured her heart, and who she had made a very happy life with.
"Nooo," Natsuki grumbled, as she turned to give her trouble-making daughter in the tub a slight glare. All that she got in return was a stuck-out tongue and happy giggles.
"Well, it certainly looks like my Natsuki could use a little help in here," Shizuru continued as she leaned lightly against the door jamb. The chestnut-haired woman was holding their youngest child gently against her side. Little Hikari had a thumb in her mouth, which she was sucking diligently. Her soft-green eyes, and curly chestnut locks made her look like she was still a baby, though she was a happy and active 3-year-old.
"Mama, 'Zuki being bad?" Hikari asked her mother holding her, as she looked up at Shizuru with wide bright eyes.
Shizuru smiled down adoringly at her little girl in her arms, utterly charmed by her.
"Yes, sweetheart. Your sister is giving Mama-Natsuki a bit of a hard time, aren't you darling?" Shizuru asked her daughter in the bath tub.
Shizuki just replied with a wide, toothy grin which caused Shizuru to laugh softly and Natsuki to scowl.
"You're not helping, Shizuru," Natsuki muttered softly as she rose slowly to her feet, and gave her wife a soft tender kiss once she was fully standing.
Both Shizuki and Hikari let out soft oooos which never failed to make Natsuki blush deeply, as she pulled back from kissing Shizuru.
"They pick that stuff up from you, you know Zuru. I can see my daughters already being old masters of the tease by the time they reach 5 and 7 respectively," Natsuki said with a wry grin.
Shizuru just laughed softly again, which to Natsuki always sounded like chimes tinkling softly in the wind.
"Okay then Natsuki dearest, why don't you take Hikari for a little while and I'll take care of cleaning up Shizuki. How does that sound to you?" The answer Shizuru received to her question was a happy cry from her daughter in the bathtub, and an affirmative grunt from Natsuki who held out her arms to take Hikari, who Shizuru gently handed over.
"Come on, Squirt. Let's you and me get some icecream," Natsuki said loudly, as she and her youngest daughter disappeared down the hallway.
"Hey, no fair! I want icecream too!" Shizuki cried out, as she watched her dark-haired mother and little sister disappear from sight.
Shizuru chuckled softly, then knelt down so that she was eye-level with her oldest child.
"Let's get you all washed up and clean as soon as possible then, so that we can join them in eating icecream, okay my darling," Shizuru said with the sweet smile that always made Shizuki feel all warm and loved.
"Otay! Let's do it!" Shizuki cried out as she grabbed her sponge, dunked it into the soapy water, and began industriously trying to scrub herself clean.
Shizuru just laughed softly as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss atop her daughters dark wet bangs, thinking that her life now was absolutely perfect, and that she wouldn't change a thing about it for all the world.
AN: It's been a while since I've been back in this fandom~ I was distracted by K-ON, Final Fantasy XIII, and Sailor Moon =p
But Mai Hime will always be my # 1 yuri fandom true love, so I hope you all enjoy this small offering of fic I bring to you~
Please let me know what you guys think of it~ =3