Title: Shattered Reflections

Authors: DragonSapphire and Mary-chan

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Original characters belong to DragonSapphire and Mary-chan respectively. Do not use without either of our permission.

Summary: Part III; Sequel to "Scars." Simian and Haru return to Sapphire's castle to recover from the devestation brought on by Kahoku and his wolves with a new and potential future in front of them. However, a darkness more powerful and terrifying than the ookami lord has been released to take revenge for what has been wrongfully taken away from it, throwing the world into a path that could end in destruction.

Warnings: Violence, language, Alternate Universe (AU), sex, slash, and now: m-preg (male pregnancy)! If you are underage, are uncomfortable with any of these subjects, or just not a fan of male/male relationships, please do not continue.

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The Light priestess, Marianna, looked into the mirror for the twentieth time in the last hour.

She had been trying to use her small skills in divining to see the location of Haru or Simian, or both, but so far all she could manage to get was a bright sheen on the glass. This was not unusual; she had attempted divining on the mysterious little usagi youkai in the past with similar results, but she had been hoping for something more with Simian.

After the deer/tiger’s hasty departure to find his lover, Mistress Sapphire, the temperamental sorceress reigning over the castle, had pretty much necessitated that she not make her investigations in her own home; the woman appeared to become slightly unhinged. As Sapphire's mental state appeared questionable normally, this was not a Good Thing.

Marianna looked somberly over at the large bed in the room where Sheila and Sapphire lay. The other woman, despite her obvious submerged hostility, had been surprisingly open to Marianna's suggestions for calming her mistress. Herbs were steeped, cold compresses brought, and Sheila took over the coordination of the castle's day to day management.

As long as Haru and Simian were missing, as long as Sapphire needed consistent attention, the two strong women were able to work together without conflict.

Now Marianna looked from the mirror and the expression on her face told all.

"Still nothing?" Sheila asked for perhaps the fortieth time that hour, stroking the lank red hair out of the pale face of her mistress and lover.

"Nothing, and I don't think it will change. At this point all I can think to do is wait a little longer to hear from the guards," she sighed as she came around the bed and lifted Sapphire's wrist to take her pulse.

Marianna knew the kind of effect Haru had on certain people. She also knew that Simian was extraordinarily precious to Sapphire. The loss of both at the same time to mysterious circumstances had caused a high fever.

"I have been praying," Marianna said quietly, "There is strength in it when all else fails..." Sheila looked about ready to respond to that when shouting could be heard down the hall.

The two women looked at each other.

Marianna put up her hand as if to say, "stay with her," and went swiftly to the door.

"What is the meaning of this noise?" the priestess asked loudly, and if one hadn't known she was a peaceful and compassionate woman, one would have thought she was a queen.

A young guard came rushing up to the door. Considering that he was clothed and dressed for the outdoors, Marianna immediately realized that this must have been one of the guards sent out from the castle.

"They're back! They're back, we've found them!" the young man, excited beyond the capability to enact good manners or any semblance of courtesy, blurted out.

"Back?" Marianna asked, her heart leaping into her throat. "Both? Now?"

"Yes, yes!" came the enthusiastic response. "We found Simian-sama carrying Haru-san to the keep about a quarter mile away!"

Marianna wanted to cry for joy, but she knew it was too soon to think that everything was fine. "Where are they now?"

"Um...I'm not sure," the young man said nervously. Obviously he had run here as soon as he hit the doors.

"Listen to me, and listen to me very carefully," Marianna said, meeting the boy's eyes. "Put Haru and Simian into a comfortable room with a bed and a tap of running water. Take them straight there."

There was a voice from inside the room. Marianna looked over her shoulder to listen and then turned back. "Post a guard of at least five around the entrance to the room. No one, and I mean no one but Mistress Sapphire, Sheila, or myself are to have access. Do you understand?"

Despite the fact that Marianna wasn't the head of the house, the household knew that she was their mistress' physician now and were too afraid not to follow her orders. It had been Sheila's order, and a good one; the kidnapper, the conspiracy, had not yet been broken. The last thing any of them wanted was for anything to happen to the two before the investigation unearthed a culprit.

"Do you understand?" she repeated and the young man nodded.

"Comfortable room, running water, five guards posted, no one in or out. Yes."

"And make it a room without a window." Couldn't be too cautious at this point.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now hurry!" The guard nodded and ran off as swiftly as he had come.

Marianna hurried back into the room.

"Sapphire," she said, leaning towards her head. "Simian and Haru have been found. I don't know much more than that. I want you to let me do a thorough physical on them both." Marianna was anxious to get the woman back to some semblance of herself. She was hoping the news coupled with her official-sounding request would motivate her.

Sapphire stirred in her induced-sleep, having been fighting its potency since Sheila had practically force-fed the potion down her throat a few hours ago when Sapphire had snapped at probably the tenth frightened, wide-eyed young servant for attending her instead of out finding her missing Haru and Simian.

But the guard's bustling entrance and seeming to be somehow drawn by the two 'found' persons stronger auras, she began to shake the sleep off entirely, and blearily swatted at Sheila's hand that was gently stroking her forehead.

"Wha--Wheresss S-Sim...Haru..." she mumbled, struggling to sit up, cursing the women for drugging a near-master of potions with her own concoction.

"They're being brought to a room under heavy guard now. How do you feel?" Marianna asked a bit more compassionately now that she was certain she had Sapphire's attention and that the woman was thankfully lucid.

"Where." Sapphire snapped coldly, the grogginess and slur fading away as if doused in freezing water. She didn't even wait for an answer as she pushed away Sheila's hands and the silken sheets covering her, cloaked only in a simple, sheer shift that Sheila probably forced her into since the sharp crimson leather that Sapphire had taken to wearing these past few days didn’t make for very comfortable sleeping clothes.

"Put on a robe, Imouto," Marianna said, handing one to Sapphire, "and I will take you. Do you want Simian and Haru's first view of their mistress to be one of a disheveled, hysterical young woman? Take a moment to compose yourself; it will give them strength," she insisted. (1)

Sapphire snorted softly, knowing Simian at least probably wouldn't find anything resembling strength from a visit from his mistress. But she took the robe, woven of a thicker material than her almost see-through dress, and tied in on hastily. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked pointedly at Marianna, looking much like a spoiled child awaiting presents on Christmas, or like a worried and anxious young woman that was trying unsuccessfully not to seem like she was.

"Follow then," Marianna said, beckoning her and Sheila.

-------

It took a stop of two guards and a quick conversation with each to find out where they had put the usagi youkai and the deer/tiger.

"This way," she said, following a guard who brought them to the door of one of the Grande Suites.

Sure enough, five guards, who completely covered the egress standing shoulder to shoulder, scrutinized the visitors and then bowed. A passage was made and the door was opened.

Almost immediately, Marianna halted and took a quick step back, blocking the two woman behind her as she raised an arm to stop them from moving forward past her. An instant later a large paw with very long and vicious claws extended like knives rent the space where the priestess had been standing. A low threatening growl starting in the large tiger's chest that was guarding the precious contents of the room, but lowered when it saw who the intruders were.

Simian's ears remained flattened against his head and his tail fluffed, twitching warningly behind him with his flashing gold cat eyes remaining locked on Marianna's calm ones.

The tiger seemed to reluctantly find her acceptable enough, but his eyes flickered to the two behind her and gave another growl as if warning them to be wary, and he stalked back to the bedside, curling protectively at the foot of the bed where he had been since he and Haru had been retrieved and brought to the room.

Marianna's eyebrows raised momentarily and she sighed in relief that Simian appeared to be at least mostly in possession of his reason. And she couldn’t very well blame the poor creature; Haru HAD been kidnapped from under his very nose. It stood to reason he would be paranoid back in this place. Especially in a room under guard.

When it was safe she walked inside, careful not to just rush to Haru's side as she wanted to. She hadn't seen the little creature in so long, it felt like.

"Simian," she said carefully, "My name is Marianna. We've met before. I'm a priestess and a healer. I've come to check on your health and Haru's health. Please permit me as this is very important."

The tension in Simian's feline form didn't relax at all, but he didn't make any notion that he wouldn't allow it, although he was reluctant to let anyone near his bunny - as the guards had already found out. His almost unnerving eyes tracked her every movement as she moved unthreateningly around to the bedside, although the other two women kept their distance back for now.

As soon as she knelt down next to the bed and beheld that sweet sleeping visage once again, her professional demeanor melted.

"Haru," she whispered, hoping the violet eyes would open sleepily, that he would smile at her and say "Good morning, mama-chan!"

Marianna had nursed Haru back to health over the six months following his daring escape from the wolves the first time. She was relieved that he didn't appear to be outwardly injured as he had been the first time they had met. But Haru didn't wake up. Marianna sighed and began her careful perusal of his aura. Then she peeled the covers back. There was faint scarring around the neck, a strange, almost magical imprint. The aura rippled in only one other place.

Marianna very slowly and carefully slid the tattered yukata from his arm and swallowed. It was too much to hope that Haru had come back unscathed, but this mark was more than simply a brand.

She knew that mark.

Abruptly there was a loud growl and a coarse muzzle shoved Marianna's hand away rudely, Simian's eyes glaring at her with a ferocious protectiveness as his furry head settled over Haru's chest...over the scar...

A profound sadness entered Simian's eyes and then his anger seemed to deflate as he nuzzled Haru with an excruciatingly gentle tenderness. He hadn't seen the mark until about halfway through their journey back to Sapphire's. Simian's careful grip on the unconscious Haru had accidentally slipped, the bunny’s yukata robe falling away slightly, but enough that Simian saw the edge of a faint scar that hadn't been there before.

He nearly did drop Haru then, yet managed to set the bunny gently, but hastily, on the ground, all but tearing the robe away from his body as he saw the faded, but new scarring on Haru's chest. Frantically he searched for any others, but besides the ones that he’d inflicted, Simian could find anymore. Nevertheless that one scar speared through him at how that very intentional brand could have came to be, becoming sick from trying not to imagine how Haru had received it.

Marianna wanted to say a word of mutual commiseration to Simian but felt it would do nothing.

"Kahoku was involved..." she whispered. "Damn him," she clenched a fist. As a priestess she was supposed to practice compassion to all and to pray for the souls of the fallen...but in Kahoku's case she really just wanted him to burn in hell...and felt no remorse over that.

Idly, as she thought about how terrible it was that the poor bunny had to fall into Kahoku's murderous clutches again, she picked up his wrist to take his pulse.

And stopped.

Marianna blinked.

"What the..."

The tiger's head lifted up, his ears tilting forward in concern, and then back down flat against his head at Marianna's expression. Simian made a sharp growl that was probably an anxious "What??" but he didn't shift back to his humanoid form yet, knowing that he'd have more power in the tiger's body if he had to go kill someone else.

Marianna had to act carefully, as Simian was watching her every move. So she moved slowly, placing her hand over Haru's covered naval and closed her eyes. "Shhh," she said gently, putting a finger to her lips...

And listened...

To something really...extraordinary.

Simian's frustration at the amount of communication stunted while he was in animal form quickly changed his mind, decided that finding out what was wrong was more important right then.

Quietly, he shifted back, snout sinking into a small black nose with a little patch of white above it, fur receding into smoother but still striped skin, his pink hair sprouting in tangled waves around his face, but the narrowed gold eyes remained intensely on Marianna, barely keeping himself from growling again in aggravation at being made to keep silent when something obviously wasn't right.

"I wanted you to be quiet so I could count them," Marianna said in a whisper, conspiratorially between only the two of them. She leaned over just a little, "It's impossible, really. I'm not sure what to say, and I need to examine Haru further but...besides his own, there are three other heartbeats inside his belly."

Simian's first reaction was to suggest that maybe it was just indigestion? ...But then the kami's words snapped back to him in a whirlwind rush and he breathed in sharply, breathing out in a confused, astounded whisper, "Protecting...three souls..."

Marianna's head tilted as much from the first audible words from Simian as their content. "Protecting three souls? Haru is? Well, if you discount the fact that it should be impossible...that seems to be exactly what he is doing." She put her hand over his stomach again, this time channeling a pale white light, closing her eyes again and mumbling.

"Yes, three. Three small, tiny lives with very tiny persistent hearts." She looked again at Simian.

"Haru is a magical being. I don't pretend to know what this means. Had Haru been a female I would not have hesitated in saying what is, to me, obvious. That Haru is...pregnant."

There was a moment of utter silence.

Then Simian's mouth dropped open, working soundlessly, before he managed to squeak out a rather strained. "Wha--"

"WHAT!!" A louder voice but no less shocked exclamation seemed to make up for Simian.

When Marianna's eyes looked back - Simian's were still staring dumbfounded - she saw Sapphire's blatant, wide-eyed confusion/amazement, and Sheila looking somewhat pale as she clutched the redhead's arm as if to keep Sapphire upright, although the whitening of the personal servant's knuckles seemed to shift that impression.

Marianna closed her eyes through the shouting. Yes, she knew exactly how preposterous her statement had been; she was a healer, after all.

"As I said, I need to do a more complete examination and I want to be alone for that. Simian, you may stay, but you need to give me room to work. You don't know this but I was the one who found Haru after he escaped from the wolves. I nursed him back to health. I know his physiology like the back of my hand and I love him like my life. I swear on my goddess that I have nothing but the best intentions for Haru. So please, I beg you, cooperate and let me learn what I can learn?"

Simian's eyes darted up to Marianna's and narrowed dangerously at the mention of the wolves, before they registered the rest of her words and looked torn. There was a strange noise where the two other women had been standing quietly while Marianna had been checking over Haru.

Simian finally turned his head to the women, and was bemused to see Sapphire's face red and she made another sound as if to protest, but the already painful grip on her arm tightened and her amethyst eyes turned angrily to Sheila who hadn't spoke much at all. But her protest was sharply stilted by her servant's jerk of her head and the tight line of her usually full lips.

Marianna was surprised that Sapphire, after being separated from her beloved Simian and the equally lovable Haru, had no words to say about the situation. But Sheila, it seemed, was determined to not send her sensitive mistress over the edge again. And Sheila concurred that a full examination had to be made before confirming such a preposterous finding.

The door closed leaving the three alone. Marianna pointed to the other side of the room. "Please give me some room, Simian."

Simian looked ready to protest. He hadn't left Haru's side for a second since he'd finally gotten him back, not even to eat or take care of any of his own needs without someone having to actually force him to. But even as protective and worried as he felt, he knew Marianna would know how to take care of Haru better than he could right then.

With a soft kiss against the corner of Haru's sleep-parted mouth, Simian carefully moved off the bed so that he was kneeling next to Haru's side, his hand stubbornly, but gently holding one of Haru's as he watched Marianna work.

Marianna sighed. It wasn't the "other side of the room," as she had requested, but it was better than him laying all over Haru and growlingly menacingly every time she touched something. If he behaved he could stay.

Marianna set about her examination. She used no tools, no invasive instruments. Her hands were nimble and dexterous as they slid over Haru's skin, gaining unseen knowledge about the state of his body. She looked into his sleeping eyes, felt his chest, his stomach. She even lifted his arms and felt the bottom of his feet.

Finally Marianna looked up. "Help me roll Haru on his side, Simian. There's one last thing I have to check..."

Simian hastily moved to comply. The tension and anxiety radiating around him would have been glaringly apparent to even the least sensitive person in the world, but somehow he'd managed to be still and quiet although his expressive eyes, ears, and tail put all his emotions on plain display. He gently wrapped an arm around Haru's waist, unable to keep from at least nuzzling him a little, and carefully moved the sleeping bunny onto his side.

Marianna's hands hovered over the small of his back, moving down over his powder-soft tail without touching him. The woman sighed and then nodded to Simian that he could lay him back if he wanted. The look of finality on her face indicated that the examination was now over. Internally she processed what she should tell Simian and what she shouldn’t.

But Simian seemed to gauge her thoughts and answered softly, pressing his scarred cheek against Haru's and breathing softly against his fluffy ear as he looked up at the priestess. "...I just want to know if he's going to be okay. Anything else a-about what happened...he can tell me himself...if he wants me to know..."

"He's going to be okay. Truly, it's amazing. Compared to how I found him the first time..." Marianna's voice trailed off. That was in the past and Simian didn't need to know. "He has no open wounds or broken bones. Except for the...scar and some slight malnourishment, he is completely healthy." She looked at him pointedly.

"Tell me about this 'protecting three souls' thing. Where did you hear that from?"

Simian knelt up again, trying to remember not to smother Haru, and eyed her warily, unsure if he should tell her about the conversation with the kami spirit inside Haru or not. But if she'd been taking care of Haru longer than he had, she probably knew about Hikari, and it seemed important if they were to find some sort of explanation.

If something like this could be explained.

"Haru told me, well the other Haru did...he said that he was protecting three souls within his body, three souls that..." Simian paused for a moment, struggling to recall and somehow make sense of what the kami had told him, "that my love has called into life?"

He looked back at her to see if she understood anymore than he did.

"Wait...the 'other Haru?' You saw him in his kami form?!" Marianna seemed surprised. "And this is what he told you?" The priestess looked like she could be smacked across the room with a feather at that moment.

There was a pause while Marianna digested this information. "Then it is true. Somehow..."

Simian's ears wilted a little at Marianna's reaction, gathering from her surprise that anyone seeing Haru's other form - his kami form - wasn't a very common occurrence. At her last set of words Simian seemed to grow pale.

"So he's...he's going to...But he's a boy!" Simian blurted, looking a little panicked.

Maybe he had missed something...? No, but he knew Haru's body very well - intimately well - and he was highly certain the bunny had all the correct male parts.

"Yes, Haru is a boy. He is also the avatar of a very ancient nature god. Haru does not have conscious knowledge of what he is, but that doesn't change his essence. And his essence has the power to give birth to things. I don't think...this is standard procedure though, Simian. If he said that your love brought them into being then something...in you helped in this miracle.

“Perhaps your...condition? I don't know how. If Haru were a normal representative of his race it would be physically impossible. But Haru's body has, apparently, developed a womb to hold three very small fetuses."

She pulled the cover down to his waist. "You almost can't see it now, but there's a little rounding of his belly," Marianna smiled in hopeless fascination. This was strange, but the thought of tiny Harus would have made anyone grin.

Simian goggled at her. "R-Rounding??" he spluttered, his paled face beginning to redden at his cheeks. "How...How far along is he??" Simian swallowed hard, almost not wanting to know the answer, still unable to comprehend HOW Haru was...pregnant...and that it was Simian's doing somehow.

"Simian," Marianna began calmly, compassionately, "A kami sighting is very rare. That he spoke to you...well, you won't be able to understand the significance, but you must trust him. He told you that he was protecting three souls, correct? That your love had brought them life? Then these children were conceived before Haru was kidnapped and he has saved them from trauma. He wanted you to know that you are the father and that your children are safe. Think of the significance of that for a moment."

Marianna sighed.

"I have never dealt with this situation in my life. From their strong heartbeats I would say that they are, perhaps, nearing the end of what for humans would be the first trimester. If we were comparing this to a human gestation period of nine months, then they appear to be nearing the end of the third month developmentally. That is by no means certain, however."

Simian was rendered utterly speechless, and he slumped down hard to the floor so that only his wild mane of pink hair and his hand still clutching Haru's were visible from Marianna's side. For a moment, he didn't know which was a bigger shock - that Haru was pregnant...or that he was going to be a...a father. Of THREE babies no less, and in only a few months at the rate they were growing...

Simian’s hand shook where it now grasped onto Haru's like a lifeline, his eyes a whirlpool of rainbow colors as his ears and tail lay limp as if all the energy had been sucked out of him. Soon a tiny well of fear began to bubble up in him, and he felt almost on the verge of a panic-attack...

But then suddenly another sensation seemed to form and hold him back from toppling over the edge. It made his stomach flutter...kind of what happened when he looked into Haru's or Hikari's beautiful purple eyes...

He seemed to grow unexplainably grow warm, and he sensed himself begin to calm like he did when he had been in the kami's arms - like everything could be all right. Shakily Simian pulled himself back onto his knees, returning to his former position next to Haru's side, and tentatively reached out and touched Haru's soft belly, almost fearful and incredulously amazed.

"Those...they're mine ...Ours?" Simian amended in a hushed, whispered breath. He slowly lowered his head and very very gently rested his cheek over Haru's bellybutton, holding his breath as if he could hear the tiny heartbeats Marianna had talked about...that Haru and he...had brought into being somehow.

Marianna sighed. For a second there she had been a little afraid for Simian. But he seemed to be taking this...fairly well now.

"If the kami told you they are yours, then I would trust that," she replied. She made a circle with the index finger and thumb of one hand. "The biggest is probably no larger than this right now. So very very small." She reached over gently and put her hand on Simian's head as he tried to listen. She used her power to magnify the sounds and channeled the ability to the anxious father.

Three weak but rapid beats played out over a much slower, louder beat. It sounded a little crowded in there.

Simian remained like that for a long while, breathing shallowly so he could just hear the beats, each one seeming to move through him like his own. He stayed still even after Marianna finally took her hand and power away, closing his softly hued eyes as he felt out the tiny babies and Haru with his soul. Finally, he had to break the silence, too many questions beginning to surface all at once at this highly unlikely, but astonishing occurrence.

"Haru..." he murmured, his eyes opening a little and looking concerned up at the still unconscious bunny. "This won't...won’t hurt him, right? He'll be okay when they...come out?" Simian's voice took on a slightly shaky tone, unable to fathom somehow causing Haru even more pain...and how the bunny himself would take the news.

Marianna was silent for a moment. Simian would fret over Haru getting a splinter, so she didn't want to panic him further, however she didn't want to deceive him either.

"All creatures who bear children go through some trials," she began carefully. "The babies are completely dependent on their mothers for everything they need to grow. The mother's body is designed to know what a baby needs and these things generally take their course. But the act of the body giving to the baby can sometimes...cause the mothers to want strange things, eat strange things. At times it causes severe moodiness...at least in women. And yes, sometimes the process may cause him to not feel very good.

“As for how the babies will emerge, I'm not one hundred percent certain at this time, but I think an egress may present itself in his stomach in the area of his belly button."

Marianna put a hand on Simian's arm.

"The kami would not have allowed this process to continue if it would do irreparable damage to his body. In any case, I will not leave you two stranded; I'm very concerned about Haru's welfare, about the family's welfare. I will do everything in my power to help. And your Mistress, after she's gotten over the shock of having you back and finding out the joyous news in almost the same hour, will feel the same way."

Simian trusted Marianna, since she knew more about pregnancies and how Haru worked than he did right now. He looked at her in gratitude, his heart and head so full and confused and strangely exhilarated. He turned and brushed three gentle, loving kisses against the small curve of Haru's belly - one for each of the babies in there somehow.

Figuring Marianna was done with her examinations, at least for now, Simian crawled back onto the bed with Haru, meaning to snuggle up next to him and continue to watch over his –pregnant - lover.

Marianna cleared her throat. "Your turn now Simian," she said pleasantly with a smile.

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(1) ‘Imouto’ – ‘Little Sister’ (Japanese)