The Nature of the Neath
Aoko stared at him, then looked away, turning her face towards the precious sunlight streaming in the window. She looked dubious - and a little sad. "Me, a mother?"
Kaito kept his eyes on her as he tilted back in his chair, arranging his feet on the kitchen table. "You would be the best mother the world has ever seen," he said, quietly and easily, and smiled. "It's in your nature."
Aoko glanced back at him and wordlessly pulled back the sleeve of her dress, revealing a forearm criss-crossed with scars that would never fade. "This is a mother's nature?"
The magician rolled one shoulder in a lazy shrug. "A mother is meant to be ferocious when it comes to the protection of her children, isn't she? You're simply more capable of it than most."
Aoko fell quiet, staring out the window once more in thought as she absently tugged her sleeve back into place.
Kaito watched her in silence for a few moments, then ventured, "The only issue I can see is whether you would be willing to have your children raised by a former rake and fingersmith." His pose remained casual, but there was an uncertain note in the words, and his eyes never left her face.
Aoko's thoughtful expression abruptly turned into a scowl, and she spun towards him. "Of course I am!" she snapped. "I wouldn't have married you if I didn't."
He smiled, slightly, and his breath came out in a surprised, shaky sigh. He hadn't even been aware he was holding it. "Then there's no issue."
There was a moment while Aoko fiddled uncertainly with the hem of her sleeves. Then, with a sigh, she admitted, "I suppose not."
Despite her words, she still sounded nervous. Kaito let the chair fall to all four feet with a clack and then rose, holding his hand out to her. She took it, and let him draw her into his embrace. "We can do it," he breathed into her hair, arms tightening around her waist. "We've muddled through everything else, surely we can do this."
He got a quiet laugh as a reward, and Aoko's strong arms tightened around him in return. "We can," she agreed breathlessly, her head on his shoulder, and this time she sounded a little more sure. "And we'll have to tell them all about their brave and charming father's exploits in the Neath."
Kaito felt his throat close over with emotion, and he wondered if he could possibly love the woman in his arms any more than he did already. "And how relentless and fierce their mother was in hunting the Vake?" he offered, just as breathlessly.
"That too," she said, and he smiled softly at the sound of tears in her voice.