Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Wish Upon The Sea ❯ The Birth of Yurara ( Chapter 15 )

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To Wish Upon the Sea

Chapter 15: The Birth of Yurara

Written by: Melissa Norvell

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Several months have passed and Manami and Thanatos had lived beneath the sea and soon after had a child. It was the first time that a human and a member of the royal naga family had given birth to a half-breed child and not kept the incident a secret. However, things were not as simple as they seemed.

Many naga were suspicious of and even detested the half-breed. To them, it was a betrayal of the royal family and instead of fighting against the humans in their efforts to stand up for the hunting and pointless slaying of their kind, they were now simply giving them permission to kill them off and even siding with the humans in agreement that they should be eradicated.

No matter what kind of prejudice broke out among his people, Thanatos would stay strong and stand by Manami to the best of his ability. He knew that she was unlike other humans and despite all of the hate and cruelty, his daughter would be a living symbol that naga and humans could come to term with their differences.

Aside from the prejudice, there was also a new threat from Andromeda. It had been nearly a year since they had any contact. The whole situation was strange and he wondered if she had given up or somehow found out about his relationship with a human and was deviously plotting something.

Apostle had become a long-time resident of the castle and now resided with his sister, Io. Despite the fact that he made a full recovery from his shipwreck, the man never desired to return from the surface world and abandon his goal to recover his rare magical items to live peacefully with the naga at the bottom of the sea.

Even though the odds surrounded them, Manami and Thanatos were able to have a small amount of peace in their lives, at least, for the moment.

XxXx

The black-haired woman lay in her bed, holding a precious child in her arms and smiled placidly as she looked into the child's sleeping face. It was a small girl with hair of pitch black, small, black horns and a tail of crimson, wrapped in a soft, powder blue blanket. Periwinkle eyes were upon her form, like a guardian angel who watched her softly sleeping. 'This all feels like a dream, minus the pain I'm still feeling. In my arms, I'm holding the symbol of Thanatos and I's love. Her name is Yurara and she's beautiful. She had long, black hair and beautiful aqua eyes. She's the perfect mix of Thanatos and I, and she even has his red tail.' The woman thought to herself and even though she was in pain, the birthing pains were well worth it considering the outcome.

'The only bad part about all of this is that she is part naga and part human. Since I started living here at the castle, I've noticed that there is a lot more tension then there was a year ago. When Apostle came here, shortly after me, I felt at ease to know that there was another human who genuinely liked naga just like me. He was like a big brother to me and helped me out during my pregnancy. It's kind of funny when I think about it because Io said that he'd only be staying until he could find somewhere to live but it seems like he's made a home here. Even King Xenosidon has taken a liking to him. Everything has been peaceful so far, except a few of the naga stare at me strangely, but I don't mind. I know how they must feel, and I remember what Adonis said when I saw him last. He's only been here one other time since then and it was to hold the baby when she was first born. Despite the fact that he seems so cold, he can be a surprisingly kind and gentle creature around Yurara. I'm glad. I know he'll be a great man to her.' Manami smiled at the thought of the few kind moments that Adonis had shown around her and at that moment in time, she truly felt like their family was complete.

'We haven't heard anything from Andromeda since the incident and I wonder why she hadn't come by to at least say something. Wouldn't she wonder why he had not gone to see her? Maybe Adonis told her or maybe word got around…There are a lot of different ways it could have happened and yet, I feel strange about it. It doesn't add up for her to not at least question the subject. I just have a bad feeling about this…' As the her worried expression leaked through, the girl heard someone enter the room. There were no footsteps, so she assumed that it was one of the naga.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" It was Io, coming to check on her as usual. She had done it ever since the birth of the child and continued to do so until the new mother was to heal.

Manami glanced over to see Io at her side and Apostle walking through the door. "Oh, Io, Apostle, hello." She greeted with a smile.

"You look kind of dazed, is everything okay?" The female naga had noticed that Manami wore a perplexed look when she entered and she was wondering if the black-haired woman needed any kind of help or wanted to talk about something with her.

"I'm fine. I've just been thinking about something," the mother replied, still seeming to be in thought over the whole ordeal.

"What's been on your mind?" Apostle neared her bedside.

"Well," Manami admitted, looking down. "I know it's been close to a year but don't you think it's strange that Andromeda just kind of dropped off of the face of the earth?"

"What do you mean?" To be honest, Io had put that female naga to the back of her mind. So much had happened since then and what was out of sight was out of mind with her.

"If you were dumped, wouldn't you wonder why?" The whole course of events just seemed to strange to be simply forgotten about. It gave Manami a very unnerving feeling.

"I can see why that would be a problem," the black-haired human seemed thoughtful on the subject. "If things ended badly, it would be an all-out war."

"I don't really think I'm in the clear."

"But Uncle Adonis hasn't been back to bug Thanatos about marrying her," Io reasoned. If that was the case, then things had been settled, or so it seemed.

"There's probably nothing he can do now that Manami has his child," Apostle agreed that things must have been settled as well.

"But, there is something that Andromeda can do about it," the periwinkle-eyed woman's worries continued to grow when she had thought about everything the way that Thanatos explained it to her.

"But, it's been a year," Apostle replied.

"Maybe we're just being paranoid," Io told them, trying to help put the woman at ease. Stress was bad for her since she was still recovering from giving birth.

"You guys sure do seem up in arms about the whole situation," while Apostle didn't know everything about what was going on, he had a feeling that there were unspoken dangers about and underlying issues between Thanatos, Andromeda, Adonis and Manami. He had to admit that things didn't sound good at all.

"I guess you're right. I've been so busy lately that I've never really stopped to think about it," the naga princess thought about it for a while, and after a few moments of mulling the subject over in her brain, decided that Manami was right on the matter. Things were still bad, as much as the happy things overruled them.

There was truly no cause for celebration as long as certain factors were still present.

"This may be a stupid question but who is Andromeda?" Apostle finally decided to ask. He had been wondering about that for a while and decided that, in order to understand anything, he would ask about it now.

"Andromeda is the princess of the Soaka Clan," Io explained. "She was set up to marry my brother so that they would be allies. It would have been a great gain for the Nagata Clan but Thanatos didn't really love her."

"So what's going to happen now? Are they going to be enemies?" The black-haired human asked the question that had rolled through all of their minds.

Io glanced down. "Things are starting up between the clans already and they have even been saying things here about the fact that the royal family is allowing you guys to stay here."

"The naga must feel threatened now that we're down here. It's not that I don't understand that and it's not that I don't know the reason but all of this prejudice just seems wrong," the man said with a great deal of understanding. "I know that you're weary of us but you'd think that if the royal family allowed us here that we'd be safe, right?"

"Then again, there's always suspicion," Thanatos slithered into the room and joined the conversation.

"Thanatos," Manami's gaze went straight to her betrothed as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck from behind and peered over her shoulder at their child and smiled.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" His words were soft and tired.

"You look tired," the woman commented on his state. He looked half-asleep and worn out from constantly caring for the child and days of hardly getting any sleep due to her constant crying.

"I am but I don't mind. I've wanted this for a long time," the new king smiled weakly and it was a genuine smile, not a devilish smirk.

"Well, it's like they say, a child is a labor of love," Io smiled and waved her finger back and forth. She had proven her point well on this one.

"That's true," Manami smiled, "in a lot of different ways. Both of us have been pretty tired as of lately." Taking care of Yurara was tough but she enjoyed it and she knew that the girl would grow up fast and soon she would miss times like these.

"I'm just glad that Yurara is asleep right now," the male naga sighed, as much as he loved the young child, she was hard to handle at times. He found it funny, he could somehow manage to handle a kingdom, Manami's psycho father and that fisherman but when it came to one small girl, he was worn out beyond belief.

The mother slowly ran her hand over her head, "she looks a lot like you, Thanatos."

"I think she's a mix of both of us. She definitely has your hair," he commented. Even though his hair was of the same color, Yurara didn't have the slight waves that his own possessed.

"I wish all of the humans and naga could get along this well," Apostle smiled on the sight before him. It was definitely something that he could get used to and it was such a peaceful sight. With those two, he felt a little hope for the grand populous.

"I do too, there's so much we could learn from each other," Io resided by the man's side. They didn't notice, Awiti, Lorka and Thelios come in until they were in sight.

"How are you all doing?" Awiti slithered into the room and glanced around at everyone, who seemed peaceful enough.

"Tired as hell but it's worth it," Thanatos told her with heavy-lidded eyes.

"She's such a beautiful girl," Manami complimented her child again, proud of the creation that came from she and Thanatos.

"Can I hold her?" Thelios looked to the infant in the human girl's arms.

"Sure you can," the black-haired woman gently handed him the baby. He caressed the infant gently in his arms and smiled at his new niece. He was happy that Thanatos had found someone to love.

"Don't wake her up," Thanatos crossed his arms and gave his little brother an irritated look. If he woke her up, then he'd have to be the one who calmed her down.

"I won't. I just want to look at her,” the light-blue skinned naga replied.

"She's so adorable. She's like the perfect mix of both of you," Lorka was the second one to point that out.

"I guess you're an uncle now, right Prince Thelios?" Awiti looked to her friend with a calm expression.

"Yeah, I'll definitely show her the ropes," the young male winked.

"What did you name her?" The dark blue naga looked to Manami in question.

"Yurara."

"It was Manami's name choice, not mine," the father spoke up.

"You like it or I wouldn't have agreed."

Thanatos then smiled at her and closed his eyes. "I like the name; I'm just giving you a hard time." Manami smiled in turn.

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Queen Lazuli and King Xenosidon stood outside of the door as they listened to them talking to each other and thought about the recent problems that had been arising in their kingdom because of the fact that they were harboring humans and even agreed to have accepted two of them.

The two of them were filled with happiness but at the same time, they were also filled with worry over the fate of their kingdom. Such an out of the box thing could possibly put a rift between them and some of the naga who hated humans.

It was a perplexing problem.

"I'm not sure about this idea," the king spoke as he closed his eyes and seemed filled with concern for the situation.

"You mean having a human as our queen?" Lazuli glanced at him. She knew what he was thinking. He had been worried about it from the start.

"There are already naga who are angry with the idea and I have received many threats over this," he informed to his wife the possible severity of the situation.

"I think by making a human queen, it will strengthen our bond and give our people more faith that there are good humans in the world," the queen replied.

"I have a feeling that things will be getting worse. Humans aren't the only ones who possess prejudice. Yurara will have a hard time being accepted by the others because she's half-human, I'm afraid."

"It isn't right for a child to suffer," Lazuli's features saddened. She knew that this was all-too true.

"No one should suffer because of what they are but it is the harsh reality behind the prejudice not only we as naga as well. All we can do is protect her to our bet ability, human or not, they are a part of this family," the king stated and at this moment in time, it was truly all they could do. Their family bond would be the thing that would hopefully hold them together. As long as they had that, then nothing could bring them down.

"She's the only girl Thanatos ever truly loved and I support her in all that she does. I know that he would not make a wrong decision.” Lazuli had faith in her son and his new mate and she would stick by them, no matter what.

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"As long as our clans side together, no harm shall come to them," Andromeda smiled maliciously at her new found servant. "Humans are not meant to live down here, so they should be eradicated."

"Yes…" Adonis lowered his head with a torn look written across his features. He could not believe that he was about to sign himself over to be alliances with the Soaka Clan but he didn't have a choice in the matter. The many lives of his people needed to be safeguarded and this was his only means. No matter how much he would regret it in the future. 'Forgive me, Thanatos. I am doing what's best for my people.'

"We'll rid ourselves of the meddling humans," the white-haired naga seemed amused with the idea as her eyes narrowed evilly and a dark smirk crossed her features. '…and Thanatos will be mine.'

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Yurara opened her large, innocent eyes to see the faces of Awiti and Thelios looking back at her. Then, Lorka's face came into view with a large smile plastered to it.

"Hey there cutie," she spoke happily to the small child. "You have Manami's face, Thanatos' eyes and you're just adorable." The short-haired female practically swooned of the baby as the child took her finger and let out a small giggle. "You're too cute! You're such a strong one, aren't you?"

"She's going to have a hard life," Awiti spoke softly as she closed her eye. She felt very sympathetic towards the baby and dreaded to think of what her future might be.

"What do you mean?" Thelios asked.

"I've seen this all before," Awiti commented, knowing full well about the life set ahead of her. She had lived this life and she knew how hard it was to deal with the issues that she had faced. "Any cross species love always ends up horribly and their children are often discriminated against because of their parent's supposed mistakes."

"I can see why with the way everyone acts," Apostle sighed.

"I know the feeling," Io agreed.

"It's an age-old war," Thanatos told everyone. "I can't say that I don't still hate humans a little." It took a lot for him to admit that with two humans in the room, but the truth needed to come to light sometime and he could no longer hide his feelings from anyone.

"Are you talking about when you were little?" Thelios brought up his past in reference to why he still stubbornly clung to his hatred for the humans.

"What?" Manami hadn't heard of this before and looked to the king in question. What had happened to him when he was little that made him feel the way that he did? Did this have anything to do with what he had admitted to her when they were still on land?

"Thelios!" Io scolded as she put her hands on her hips and glared at the young naga. That was something personal that Thanatos didn't like talking about. It was rude to bring it up like that!

"What?" The light blue naga asked a little unsurely.

"If you don't mind me asking, Prince Thanatos. What did happen to make you hate humans?" Apostle knew that it wasn't his business but he decided to ask anyway, now that the subject had been thrown out into the open.

"I don't really want to explain it," the stubborn prince turned his back to everyone.

"Thanatos…" Manami said with evident sympathy. Whatever he was hiding, she could tell that he was in pain over it.

Suddenly, their tense moment was broken off by the crying of Yurara.

"I didn't do it! I promise!" Thelios freaked out. Upon until now, the baby had been so quiet. Not knowing what to do, he quickly gave her to Manami, who began hushing the baby and holding her close, telling her that it was going to be alright and rocking her back and forth as a mother would do. As she held the child close to her chest and Yurara's crying quelled, she looked at Thanatos with concern and thought to herself.

'Thanatos…I wonder what this is all about. Is this why you wanted to learn so much about the humans, so you could get revenge for whatever they did to you in the past? It really does seem like something happened to you when you were little that really bothers you. Why don't you want to tell me? Are you afraid of what I might think, or are you afraid of telling me what you thought of humans before? Do you still regret the fact that you wanted to kill me at first?' All of these questioned ran through the girl's head as her periwinkle eyes laid on the naga's form.

"Did I say something wrong?" Apostle sensed the odd tension in the room. He was starting to think that maybe he shouldn't have opened his mouth.

"He's very touchy about it. It's a sensitive subject for him," Io explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend him," the human apologized, not aware of what he had done.

"It's not your fault," the princess told him as she placed a hand on his shoulder, then looked to Thanatos. 'Though I wonder if he's alright.'

Soon after she glanced at him, he slithered silently from the room, leaving the group to stand in silence, all with thoughts on the subject and the mistake that they had made to bring it up. Manami then looked to Io and asked if she could watch Yurara for her.

"I'd be happy to," Io smiled, knowing what the girl had planned. She took the child and held her to her bosom. "We always have such good fun together, don't we?" The naga female smiled as she took a finger and ticked the laughing child's stomach as Manami thanks her and left. "I hope he'll open up to you."

Manami stopped and looked back at her sister-in-law.

"You'll be the first human to know about his weaknesses if he does decide to tell you. Most of the things he hides, I'm sure he doesn't tell anyone but I but since he loves you, you might get a little closer to him then we manage to."

The mother nodded in response, telling her sister-in-law that she would do her best and taking the naga's words into consideration before she took off running down the hall in hopes of catching up with Thanatos. 'Thanatos, I know something is bothering you and I want to find out what it is. I'm just hoping that you'll let me in and share your deepest secrets with me. I know we can go through this together, hand in hand as we always have.'

…To Be Continued