No copyright infringement intended. Canon from vol.93: Yuuki's reminiscence before Kaname's resumption to life.

Beautiful Light

There's a palpable aura surrounding the basement of what used to be the academy. A tangible breeze moving and breathing with a life of its own and all those that roamed the aisles and stairs sensed it deep in their bones. The hair-raising sensation of vigilance never ceased, always trained in silence and warped like a thicket of invisible smoke and yet those who often frequented the area had just begun to dismiss the watchful aura, but it only took a second of stillness to regain conscious of it again.

Yuuki stood gazing at the ice tomb. A short while ago, she had to force back tears but the longer she moored over the king's somnolent façade imbued with peace and contentment, her own heart mirrored the emotion and the molten lava of unfurling anguish receded and tucked away to the farthest recesses of her psyche.

After all, it was his decision to protect generations of humans and vampires alike—as a king or kami ought to. Many humans as of recent toured his tomb and wanted to enshrine him more so that his powers would lend them strength and fortune but Takuma resisted and sent them on their way hastily before they got carried away. Of which Yuuki was grateful. Like in his slumber his powers were magnificent as they were when he was alive. His presence permeated the area with serenity and power that ever since his entombment, not a sliver of mishap, wrangle or war between vampires and humans irrupted. Encased with his magic, the academy and association had reaped the rewards of hunter weapons fathered by his regenerative heart.

She continued living successfully that it would've made him proud. The hunters were stronger than ever and the new academy was steadfast in its pacifist journey as more and more humans grew receptive of tamed vampires. While it was a relief not having to keep their vampire ancestry a secret anymore, it did lure human attention aplenty that the academy had to refuse students from lack of space.

Her vision blurred with tears again. It was everything he had wanted and more: protection for vampires and humans, centuries of peace and her togetherness with Zero.

Out of the folds of her skirt, she lifted a hand wrapped around a rose frozen in resin and recalled the day he bestowed it upon her after spring break. Hard to believe there was a time they attended school together where her heart fluttered with excitement from catching a glimpse of him as she patrolled the dorms while he lead the night class. It was so long ago, she nearly felt dizzy from the memory but the sheer emotion of the moment he presented the gift flooded her with elation and sadness at the same time. This was how she had been living the last nine plus centuries, thirstily falling into the past and reworking time and space in between to tether her constant heartbreak.

Waking up the first day after his sacrifice was one of the hardest days of her life and the following days snowballed into misery and torment. She hadn't imagined how deeply it'd affect her, but she had a minute realization that she might die without him. And she was more than willing. So she returned day after day utterly despaired and remorseful to have lost her love and sat against the ice tomb for hours on end, fishing for whatever remnants of his absolute presence because without him she didn't know how to live eternally.

Until Ai, their daughter gave her strength to go on.

Zero watched in forlorn, not once mistaking her gloom as an idleness to push him away but rather understood instinctively for as long as he'd known her of her love for the pureblood. Really, she'd loved him since she was a little girl as if it was all she knew when it came to him and despite her growth, this one detail never deterred, not even whilst her affection for Zero also manifested. He knew long before the paramount affect the pureblood had on her and tried as she might often fought for Zero when needed, nevertheless, ultimately her feelings swayed like a rocking boat and always largely geared on Kaname Kuran.

He didn't mind sharing her heart with the pureblood she idolized and was satisfied that at her own time over the centuries she grew responsive of his affections. It took her a long time to try to push away the pain of losing Kaname and even longer to affiliate romantically with Zero. Sometimes when she sat in silence around the academy, her heart twisted suddenly. Always by her side Zero too related to the knotting ache from time to time as if Kaname harbored some power over both their souls.

Even now… Eyes closed, she breathed and reached the nadirs of her soul and felt him over and over again. Perhaps from years of blood exchange he continued to move alive within her or his pureblood presence emanated through the area. For the time being she was filled with his essence but soon after, it couldn't nearly be enough and crave dialed in. His deep-seated absence was unrecoverable but weren't it for her beloved children, friends and obviously Zero she may have given up and lost any hope for happiness.

Now with many centuries past without hearing the sound of his voice, her heart trembled as his revival drew close. Her failure to thwart his plan fatefully allowed her children to grow freely in a wonderful world. Early on his self-sacrificing journey, Yuuki decided to offer him a gift befitting his generous and tender soul. The one who never stopped looking after and loving her, the one who unequivocally discarded his life for the welfare of future generations and made the ultimate sacrifice to avoid repeating errors and finally the one who never harmed a human but always threw himself away at other's expense—he deserved a happier beginning and ending. A different life free of worry, ridicule, outcast, loss and most of all a fresh start in a world he paved the way for and deserved to dwell in.

It was the least she could do for the one who gave up everything for everyone to prosper. The least she could do for the one who adored her as much as she did him. His first revival was out of sin orchestrated by her evil uncle. Although awoken unwillingly, he entrusted his life to her parents and years after their meeting he became inseparable from her. Fostered out of pure tenderness and adulation, the two were close since her birth and she didn't know how to live other than feel his gentle brushing hand on her head and the warmth of his arms around her. She had only known one Kaname and despite he was not her blood brother, he was her world and everything in that world. For the longest time her life circulated around him and though it was hardly believable, he never failed to make her feel like she was the only girl who mattered.

It felt idealistic, maybe it was and yet the unfathomable attachment stubbornly sprouted with Yuuki's maturity. Zero occasionally teased her about her feelings, she'd dismiss it but instinctively she knew her feelings threated to the core of her being. Her love for Kaname was in the manner of her breathing, her walking, it exuded in her shadow and touch. Her feelings were so deep she couldn't separate them. She simply didn't know how to exist without loving Kaname, and thus time and time again, she chose to stay by his side regardless of the dangerous methods he exhibited on the Elders Council—the sins he atoned for by throwing his heart in the furnace.

It was all so long ago when she was a baby as he tended to her lovingly, never imposing himself one way or another and then she bloomed into adolescence and vigorously captured his heart soon after. By then Yuuki was torn between him and Zero, her equal and comrade. Somehow even then through the mist of confused desires, her resolution to stay with Kaname was firm.

She loved her other half, Zero, who clearly understood her heart and never blocked her from being with Kaname. In fact hadn't Kaname urged her and Zero to be together she might not have given up in their unfulfilled love despite his entombment. After his resolve to sacrifice himself and giving up one of the most precious people to him, Kaname knew she would live a happier life together with Zero. So every now and then with a pain in her chest Zero would hold her because she missed Kaname terribly, and he'd silently guide her back to reality in that the pureblood's presence protectively surrounded them in the area. He had given her Ai, along with her the will to live again and allowed her to submit to the part of her heart she tried suppressing and go to Zero until Ren entered their lives.

Majority of her centuries were spent with her beloved Zero and only a handful of her younger years were with Kaname, all of which led her to live a fulfilled life and that was enough. She was fortunate enough to be around such love and doted on the one who had taught her how to love, which inherently reflected in her affection to her children and Zero. They didn't spend an eternity together as normal purebloods. After his initial revival Kaname chose the solitary path to protect and accomplish his ancestral duty, therefore, her wish to live eternally together had been put to rest. Now she didn't suffer as much because her heart was filled with love and happiness for her children.

The happiness cultivated with Zero was life-giving and yet unlike the promise of longevity with Kaname who was a pureblood, Zero's and hers time together was limited for obvious reasons except in the event of Zero's passing, he had been shielding an injurious attack. She often missed Zero. Life of a pureblood endowed being a consequent witness of loved one's passing and with over nine centuries under her belt, she had grown used to it.

As she fulfilled Zero's final wish and consumed him, it was her turn to finish her last wish. She thought about it centuries ago and Zero knew all along how she'd been carrying it in her heart before Kaname was entombed, for he who taught her how to love and was at the core of her essence would receive the most special gift, a new life and the best one he'd ever live.

She'd use her pureblood life force and transform him into a human being for a life of a vampire had never been kind to him.

"You, who was loved by my father and mother and whom I've loved since I was born and to this day still do, I will give you your dream and highest wish, Kaname." Yuuki whispered to his sleeping face.

The scent of her daughter and son invaded the area. With a rippling tilt of the umbrella, jet-black hair summed into appearance and large ruby eyes beheld Yuuki's patiently. "Aidou-san and everyone is ready for you, ka-chan." Ai had yet to look away from her mother.

How cunning was fate to have taken a chance and thrown two purebloods who should've never met from separate eras together to share the most shortest and unforgettable years basking in their beastly love. A Kuran ancestor and a little pureblood, their ephemeral time filled her with eternal longing, which wrestled on as did her love for the entombed man. He ached for over a decade for Yuuki before she regained her memory just like she waited for centuries to raise him from his respite. How cunning indeed, and this time she wouldn't be there to see or hear the voice she'd yearned to hear. Even though his spirit was active and he smiled lightly in his tomb when sensing her elation, she could never again peer into the crimson eyes she loved.

Before she could leave her time on earth, she had to fulfill her final quest. Even before that a tiny whisper of hope wanted to be together with him after his awakening. Aidou made several attempts with his research and at one point convinced her that her sacrifice might not be required. There was a fragile hope that they could be alive and together again, Yuuki clung to it. Only to learn later that such a feat was impossible, after all. The medicine Aidou slaved over for centuries wouldn't be enough to revitalize his heart properly.

It simply wouldn't be enough.

Whether they reunited or not, Yuuki was determined to give him the tranquil life he deserved. Oddly enough she wasn't scared for she'd been waiting eagerly to perish for this sole purpose. To know that Kaname would soon awake, renewed, refreshed and rejuvenated as an unspoiled and empty slate, he would finally thrive peacefully and joyously. Gone were the days of languish, fear, plots, derision and feelings of inadequacy. He would rise and walk the earth under the sun as he was meant to with an open and unburdened heart, soul and mind. He would have everything he desired with the comforts of a parish in the country and the guidance and company of her children and noble comrades. They would call him by name respectfully and thank him for what he'd sacrificed for future generations and answer his questions.

She lived a long happy life and the world was safer than it was. It was time to relieve him of his ancestral binds and rejoice in the life he'd secretly desired all along. He'd be safe and receive care, respect and love. Life would be a flurry of beauteous moments conducted solely for his sake. No more would Kaname have to relinquish his well-being, he would awake a mere human. No more years of starvation and feeling abandoned or pining for Yuuki. Yes, he wouldn't remember her or grasp the fainest inkling of their love, and she accepted it completely. That was the pure kernal of her gift to allow him his well deserved salvation from 11,000 nightmarish years.

His heart would be light and his mind at ease. He would be worlds away from duty and obligation and completely carefree, ready to be whatever he wanted and happy. His memory erased, a lion-heart ready to discover the wonders he missed before. This time would be different and even better, the light in his heart greater.

Her children were now wise and understood the duties she relayed. Both were a few centuries old and held their own respective grounds, but as a mother to her own flesh and blood, a pained smile wound its way on her salmon colored lips as she gazed at their beaming faces. "You are my most precious and adored gifts in the world and you'll join the one I love in his time as a human." She said to her children.

"We'll make sure he won't be lonesome." Ren assured with twinkling lavender eyes.

Yuuki handed the frozen rose in resin to Ai. "Keep this. Your father gave it to me when we attended the academy."

Ai nodded and slipped it inside her coat. "I'll fill him in on what he missed."

"His body will be cold…" Yuuki murmured and gazed at the blue sky stretching over the debris of the area. For so long he had been sealed in ice and the sensation of sun should be delicious. "Sit with him in the sun."

When it was her final moments, her children remained by her side alertly. She lingered for a fair amount of minutes and her wondrous red eyes settled on them before returning on Kaname laying on the slate that she hovered. Her pureblood essence liquidly began to leave her body and soon bodily sensations followed.

They were looking at her a bit fearfully but she assuredly nodded. "I love you, Ren, Ai." Yuuki whispered as a field of butterflies enveloped her form and the hand resting against Kaname's cold cheek twisted into a thousand clusters of pale wings. They dressed his clothes, hair and face and lastly demystified through the expansive room.

Standing not far from the slate, the siblings peered intently at the sleeping man. Ren held his breath for what felt like forever. He noticed pupils move and then a pair of ruby eyes unclosed.

"Nee-san." Ren gasped. "He's awake."

Ai looked on at the man intently and the two delicately retreated a step.

The golden sun stood over him directly as a spotlight in welcome.

Softly her first words to her father were, "This is a message from my mother to my other father," Ai uttered.

Appreciative crimson-brown eyes sparked at the light. Kaname shielded a hand over his face against the stark-cutting and brilliant sunlight that greeted and delighted in his presence.

"'I want to give to you whom I love, the world that I saw when I was a human.'"

He felt a surge of oxygen infiltrate his lungs as he breathed aloud at the arresting beauty of the world, radiating gold with the sound of happy birds echoing just for his ears. The tiniest form, a miniscule and ticklish butterfly fluttered upon his index finger and settled.

"What a beautiful light…"

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