Then the shadows changed, melted, and reformed into the shape of a young woman. Her hair was long, so very long, and blacker than the night she moved through. She was more than just fashionably slim, her clothes black and laced with silver coloring. And as she watched, she embraced his grandfather tightly.
"My butterfly…my sweet Yuuko…"
He'd never heard such words come from the older man's mouth before. He'd always been so forthright and frank with his grandmother, never a romantic word anywhere that he'd ever heard. There was no passion to be seen, even by a child's eyes, between the married couple, but here was another matter.
Their hands wandered erotically, but Shizuka, being just a child, felt no embarrassment or revulsion, only mere curiosity. When they parted from their heated kisses, the woman's hands, Yuuko, ran over his grandfather's old but graceful face.
"I can…you just have to wish…we can be together forever…"
"No, my butterfly. You know what has to come and if I…" There was a slight motion amid their impassioned whispers and he guessed his grandfather shook his head. "Besides, the balance must be kept. For that wish, I would have to give up something very, very great indeed and what I cherish the most is you and Shizuka."
"How is our grandson?" the woman asked, but there was a very deep and melancholy tone to it.
"Shizuka inherited powerful magic from us, passed through his mother. He will be able to protect the young one in the future." There was a pause. "I know you blame yourself for Keiko's death, but you can't."
"It was your wife who did it! She killed her! She killed her with her hatred and resentment!"
"Shhhh now, it's all right…"
Shizuka watched in fascination as the woman appeared to be crying and his grandfather, unlike all the stern visages and actions he'd ever seen with his grandmother, comforted her so gently.
"I never made it a secret to Haruka that I didn't love her."
"I should have raised Keiko. Then she would still be here…"
"You know you couldn't have. She was a frail but sweet girl. She wouldn't have lasted with those you had to deal with. I had hoped that Haruka might accept her if I told her the baby was left by herself because her parents had been killed, but I think she suspected the truth."
He watched as they kissed once more passionately, holding each other so tightly. The whispers were lower now and his ears had to strain to hear them.
"Tomorrow, my butterfly. I will see you tomorrow for our last dance."
"Please…reconsider. Your death will be unbearable to me."
The older man shook his head again. "You will bear my death like you have all the other hardships in your life. Just…take care of Shizuka and that destined one, Kimihiro, for me when I'm not here."
There was nothing more to hear after that, since they just stood there for so long and looked at each other. It didn't take long for young Shizuka to get bored and go back to bed, not knowing that it would take many, many years before the impact of what had happened, and what it meant, to sink in.
"…meki. Doumeki!"
The archer's eyes snapped open to meet a sapphire gaze filled with worry. His lover, his heart, his destined one…It was after his heart stopped pounding, as it always did when he stared into those eyes, that he took in his surroundings. His arm was cut, pretty badly, and his head was in Watanuki's lap. The first thought in his head was not his injury, but that he would have to find an anniversary gift. They'd been dating for a month now.
Yuuko's gaze met his golden ones and he remembered his dream. Or he had thought it was a dream, until she slowly nodded, as if she had read the unspoken question in his eyes.
It made sense. His father had never had any spiritual powers, but his grandmother had always insisted it was his father who was her son and that his mother had married into the family, not the other way around. It had always made him wonder where he had gotten his exorcising ability.
So, in truth…Yuuko was his blood grandmother.
…Now that was a scary thought.
end
I'd seen a few fics that hinted Yuuko might be Watanuki's mother, but what if she was actually Doumeki's grandmother? He did say in the manga that his father always tried but couldn't and never mentioned his mother...hence this fic was born.