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storypaint) wrote2010-07-16 01:17 pm
storypaint) wrote2010-07-16 01:17 pm
[xxxHOLiC] children make you want to start life over (Clow/Yuuko)
Title: children make you want to start life over
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 1385 words
Prompt: Kid!fic for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chibidl: Clow/Yuuko.
Pairing: Clow/Yuuko; Doumeki and Watanuki gen
Other: AU in which Soel and Larg are Clow and Yuuko's human children. Spans pre-canon to current.
Excerpt: Eventually, he hands them to her. Red eyes blink; blue eyes blink. Mother and children wail.
"Congratulations," Clow says to all of them.
"I hate you," she says to him, eyes narrowed.
Giving birth feels like the death she didn't get to have. She clutches at his hand and screams and lets all of her pain escape physically. She's locked her magic down tight in order to prevent accidents and in a tiny part of herself still rational she wonders how witches stand this: not just the hurt, but the cut-off feeling. She is blind to auras and deaf to ghostwhispers and unbalanced, nauseated not just from the labor but from loss.
It's twins, which is unsurprising. They've been talking to Clow and Yuuko in their dreams for a while now, even though they don't quite have self-concept yet and can't materialize themselves visibly. Still, they have been there, the personalities: needy, loving, impatient. Clow has talked them out of being premature; this birth will be hard enough on Yuuko. Her soul is tattered around the edges, fastened firmly to existence but desiring to move on. Pregnancy anchors; it's the opposite of what she wants.
She sobs and spits and shrieks. He holds her hand.
Eventually, he hands them to her. Red eyes blink; blue eyes blink. Mother and children wail.
"Congratulations," Clow says to all of them.
"I hate you," she says to him, eyes narrowed. He brushes her bangs from her sweaty brow and kisses it.
"You're going to teach the children bad habits already, Mother," he answers. She grits her teeth and looks away. Little mouths are questing for nourishment, and it's something she has to concentrate on at the moment. He hums as he walks away to get hot water and towels for cleaning, and if her hands weren't full she would have throw something at his head.
*
They name them Soel and Larg - Soel is the red-eyed female, and Larg is the blue-eyed male. They both have dark hair and contain more mischief than any two children should. Their parents tell them bedtime stories about spirits and demons; they draw their first spell circles at the age of six. They learn to laugh when their mother picks fights, and they constantly beg their father for piggyback rides.
Life is never boring (especially when Uncle Cerberus babysits). They learn and absorb and ask a million questions, and hone their magic from early ages.
They have not inherited, as one might expect, powers quite on the level of their parents. Clow and Yuuko had a careful hand in that. They would have enough to do what they were born for, but not enough to burden them.
"It will be a burden anyway," she says softly one evening, leaning back with her head in his lap. The kids are chasing kittens across the yard, meowing right back at them. Clow strokes the bangs out of her eyes.
"Parents are supposed to die before their children," he answers, "even when they can't bear to leave them."
She sighs. "We could have made them like Cerberus or Yue," she says. They'd nearly decided on it - a pair of creatures that looked like Mokona, made instead of born - when Clow had had the vision. Blue eyes, red eyes, ten fingers each, ten toes. Yue is humanoid, but these children are human, all the way through.
"I think our way was more fun," he answers cheerfully, sliding a finger along her jawline. When he leans down to kiss her, a kitten uses his head as a springboard, and the twins nearly run straight into the porch. They collapse in a heap, giggling.
"Time for bed," he says, and though they protest, he shoos them inside. He comes back after three bedtime stories to wake up Yuuko, who has fallen asleep in the moonlight.
*
When Watanuki opens the door to the antique shop (very much against his will, thank you), he's greeted by children who look perhaps twelve years old. He opens his mouth and attempts to explain, but they just drag him into the sitting room, where Yuuko holds court on her couch. They climb up beside her easily and he is wistful for a moment to see a family so close.
Of course, it isn't very long before he's part of that family too. He doesn't protest too much when they begin to call him "Onii-chan."
*
"Was it safe to send her off with them?" he asks Yuuko, just once. Larg crept into bed with him the night before, curled up in a little ball against his knee, and he kept mumbling his sister's name. The children are connected, he knows this, in a way non-twins aren't, and even more deeply by their magic. They dream each other's dreams, Yuuko has told him. They cannot be separated, even by worlds. When Watanuki woke, the boy was lying on his stomach on the floor, working on the comicbook he was making of his sister's adventures. He was coloring in the blood very carefully. Watanuki finds Yuuko on the porch.
"We taught her everything she needs to know," Yuuko answers. "It may not be safe, but growing up never is." She smiles a little. "They're older than they look, Watanuki-kun, and very smart. They are my children, after all. Even that idiot couldn't have diluted my genes that much."
She doesn't talk about Clow very often, and he is silent in case she continues, but after a moment, she picks up her glass. The ice cubes rattle. "Everything will be all right," she says, as if she's testing out the phrase.
Watanuki nods. She hands him the glass with instructions to find another bottle, and the quiet mood breaks as he protests. "What kind of mother is drunk all the time?"
"The one with a good babysitter, of course!" she answers, giggling and poking him in the nose.
He scowls and waters down her alcohol, and she doesn't protest.
*
Watanuki's eighth customer brings her daughter with her into the shop. Watanuki is a little horrified by this, but tries not to show it. He wonders if the baby has a wish, or if this is some strange exception to the rules. He doesn't ask, leaving hitsuzen to find the answer for him.
Doumeki is at class so Larg is the one who answers the door, and when the woman steps into the sitting room, the child clutching at her leg, she smiles at Watanuki.
"Your little brother looks just like you," she says sweetly.
Watanuki opens his mouth, and then nods. "Thanks," he says. "Our sister looks more like her mother."
The woman's jaw tightens a little at the mention of mothers and Watanuki can see the metaphysical chains fastening her to the little girl. They look heavy. He sighs.
"You have a wish," he says, and she nods.
*
When Doumeki comes back to the shop, there's a little girl sitting in the middle of the sitting room floor watching Larg do magic tricks. He looks at Watanuki, who seems oddly exhausted for the middle of the afternoon.
"Obaa-chan said she would take her for a while," Watanuki says. "I couldn't--" He pauses. "I couldn't."
"Onii-chan is a softy!" Larg announces cheerfully.
Watanuki glares. "She's even younger than Kohane-chan was when we met her," he says softly.
Doumeki nods. In his attempts to remember Yuuko, to keep her mannerisms, Watanuki seems to have picked up her occasional maternal air. He finds it hard to let anything be separated from its parent, whether ghost or girl or even bird.
After dinner, he takes the girl to Obaa-chan's. He comes back in time to tuck Larg in and share a drink with Watanuki. The shopkeeper is moody and silent, so Doumeki uses the silence to think about Haruka and how losing his grandfather didn't kill him, but at first it seemed like it would.
"She'll be all right," he says finally.
"Of course she will," Watanuki snaps. He sets down his cup and picks up his sewing. He's working on a new dress for Soel; Doumeki bought the fabric last week. It will be done in time for the next visit - it always is.
Behind them, in the bedroom, Larg mumbles in his sleep. Time ticks on.
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 1385 words
Prompt: Kid!fic for
chibidl: Clow/Yuuko.Pairing: Clow/Yuuko; Doumeki and Watanuki gen
Other: AU in which Soel and Larg are Clow and Yuuko's human children. Spans pre-canon to current.
Excerpt: Eventually, he hands them to her. Red eyes blink; blue eyes blink. Mother and children wail.
"Congratulations," Clow says to all of them.
"I hate you," she says to him, eyes narrowed.
Giving birth feels like the death she didn't get to have. She clutches at his hand and screams and lets all of her pain escape physically. She's locked her magic down tight in order to prevent accidents and in a tiny part of herself still rational she wonders how witches stand this: not just the hurt, but the cut-off feeling. She is blind to auras and deaf to ghostwhispers and unbalanced, nauseated not just from the labor but from loss.
It's twins, which is unsurprising. They've been talking to Clow and Yuuko in their dreams for a while now, even though they don't quite have self-concept yet and can't materialize themselves visibly. Still, they have been there, the personalities: needy, loving, impatient. Clow has talked them out of being premature; this birth will be hard enough on Yuuko. Her soul is tattered around the edges, fastened firmly to existence but desiring to move on. Pregnancy anchors; it's the opposite of what she wants.
She sobs and spits and shrieks. He holds her hand.
Eventually, he hands them to her. Red eyes blink; blue eyes blink. Mother and children wail.
"Congratulations," Clow says to all of them.
"I hate you," she says to him, eyes narrowed. He brushes her bangs from her sweaty brow and kisses it.
"You're going to teach the children bad habits already, Mother," he answers. She grits her teeth and looks away. Little mouths are questing for nourishment, and it's something she has to concentrate on at the moment. He hums as he walks away to get hot water and towels for cleaning, and if her hands weren't full she would have throw something at his head.
*
They name them Soel and Larg - Soel is the red-eyed female, and Larg is the blue-eyed male. They both have dark hair and contain more mischief than any two children should. Their parents tell them bedtime stories about spirits and demons; they draw their first spell circles at the age of six. They learn to laugh when their mother picks fights, and they constantly beg their father for piggyback rides.
Life is never boring (especially when Uncle Cerberus babysits). They learn and absorb and ask a million questions, and hone their magic from early ages.
They have not inherited, as one might expect, powers quite on the level of their parents. Clow and Yuuko had a careful hand in that. They would have enough to do what they were born for, but not enough to burden them.
"It will be a burden anyway," she says softly one evening, leaning back with her head in his lap. The kids are chasing kittens across the yard, meowing right back at them. Clow strokes the bangs out of her eyes.
"Parents are supposed to die before their children," he answers, "even when they can't bear to leave them."
She sighs. "We could have made them like Cerberus or Yue," she says. They'd nearly decided on it - a pair of creatures that looked like Mokona, made instead of born - when Clow had had the vision. Blue eyes, red eyes, ten fingers each, ten toes. Yue is humanoid, but these children are human, all the way through.
"I think our way was more fun," he answers cheerfully, sliding a finger along her jawline. When he leans down to kiss her, a kitten uses his head as a springboard, and the twins nearly run straight into the porch. They collapse in a heap, giggling.
"Time for bed," he says, and though they protest, he shoos them inside. He comes back after three bedtime stories to wake up Yuuko, who has fallen asleep in the moonlight.
*
When Watanuki opens the door to the antique shop (very much against his will, thank you), he's greeted by children who look perhaps twelve years old. He opens his mouth and attempts to explain, but they just drag him into the sitting room, where Yuuko holds court on her couch. They climb up beside her easily and he is wistful for a moment to see a family so close.
Of course, it isn't very long before he's part of that family too. He doesn't protest too much when they begin to call him "Onii-chan."
*
"Was it safe to send her off with them?" he asks Yuuko, just once. Larg crept into bed with him the night before, curled up in a little ball against his knee, and he kept mumbling his sister's name. The children are connected, he knows this, in a way non-twins aren't, and even more deeply by their magic. They dream each other's dreams, Yuuko has told him. They cannot be separated, even by worlds. When Watanuki woke, the boy was lying on his stomach on the floor, working on the comicbook he was making of his sister's adventures. He was coloring in the blood very carefully. Watanuki finds Yuuko on the porch.
"We taught her everything she needs to know," Yuuko answers. "It may not be safe, but growing up never is." She smiles a little. "They're older than they look, Watanuki-kun, and very smart. They are my children, after all. Even that idiot couldn't have diluted my genes that much."
She doesn't talk about Clow very often, and he is silent in case she continues, but after a moment, she picks up her glass. The ice cubes rattle. "Everything will be all right," she says, as if she's testing out the phrase.
Watanuki nods. She hands him the glass with instructions to find another bottle, and the quiet mood breaks as he protests. "What kind of mother is drunk all the time?"
"The one with a good babysitter, of course!" she answers, giggling and poking him in the nose.
He scowls and waters down her alcohol, and she doesn't protest.
*
Watanuki's eighth customer brings her daughter with her into the shop. Watanuki is a little horrified by this, but tries not to show it. He wonders if the baby has a wish, or if this is some strange exception to the rules. He doesn't ask, leaving hitsuzen to find the answer for him.
Doumeki is at class so Larg is the one who answers the door, and when the woman steps into the sitting room, the child clutching at her leg, she smiles at Watanuki.
"Your little brother looks just like you," she says sweetly.
Watanuki opens his mouth, and then nods. "Thanks," he says. "Our sister looks more like her mother."
The woman's jaw tightens a little at the mention of mothers and Watanuki can see the metaphysical chains fastening her to the little girl. They look heavy. He sighs.
"You have a wish," he says, and she nods.
*
When Doumeki comes back to the shop, there's a little girl sitting in the middle of the sitting room floor watching Larg do magic tricks. He looks at Watanuki, who seems oddly exhausted for the middle of the afternoon.
"Obaa-chan said she would take her for a while," Watanuki says. "I couldn't--" He pauses. "I couldn't."
"Onii-chan is a softy!" Larg announces cheerfully.
Watanuki glares. "She's even younger than Kohane-chan was when we met her," he says softly.
Doumeki nods. In his attempts to remember Yuuko, to keep her mannerisms, Watanuki seems to have picked up her occasional maternal air. He finds it hard to let anything be separated from its parent, whether ghost or girl or even bird.
After dinner, he takes the girl to Obaa-chan's. He comes back in time to tuck Larg in and share a drink with Watanuki. The shopkeeper is moody and silent, so Doumeki uses the silence to think about Haruka and how losing his grandfather didn't kill him, but at first it seemed like it would.
"She'll be all right," he says finally.
"Of course she will," Watanuki snaps. He sets down his cup and picks up his sewing. He's working on a new dress for Soel; Doumeki bought the fabric last week. It will be done in time for the next visit - it always is.
Behind them, in the bedroom, Larg mumbles in his sleep. Time ticks on.
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