The Moon Illuminates a World of Fancy

Chapter Three: i close my eyes & the flashback starts

When his wife was pregnant, Tatsuhiko stumbled across a certain prophecy concerning the child in her womb.

The child would be the vessel of an ancient form of power that held both beauty and danger. The Light, the antithesis of all ancient magic that used to exist in Yokohama, the prophecy called it. It was rightfully Tatsuhiko's to cultivate, but also his to lose to someone else if he wanted 'the Light' to shine brighter and stronger.

So he waited patiently---and feared---the day his birth child would be born. To be able to father such a great child was too much of an honor, but he also worried over the person who will take his light away one day.

The fifth of May was the day Tatsuhiko had anticipated all along.

He remembered it clearly. It was just another exhausting day, after several hours of matters to care for in his office, with trusty Sigma by his side, when the midwife he had hired came, and Sumiko's water broke. He had been pacing back and forth outside of the room childishly, and Sigma was bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously.

It was when the screams died down and resorted to cooing when Tatsuhiko was allowed to see his wife and new baby.

Sumiko was red from exhaustion, but her lips were curled into a victorious smile as she hummed close-lipped to the little wriggling figure in her arms. She looked up at him and beckoned for him to see.

At the mere sight of the baby girl, Tatsuhiko's heart was snatched away.

She had her father's luxuriant silver hair and fair skin, and when she cracked her eyes open, he beheld that they were the eyes of her mother, a pale gold clashing with a rich violet. Sumiko had selected a name for her: Atsushi. It was an odd choice, given that Atsushi was a masculine name yet it was given to a girl, yet Tatsuhiko found it to be a lovely, apt name for a sweet little child like his daughter, he could already see she possesses a heart richer than any gold treasure in the world.

"She will grow up to be a beauty," he declared as his wife handed the baby to him. "And a kind one, too. The heart she will steal one day belongs to a lucky person."

That night he was uncovered his daughter's great power: beneath the full moon that beamed through the window, near midnight, Tatsuhiko and Sumiko witnessed the little human baby transform into a small white tiger cub in a flash of blue light.

Werebeasts, ever since the beginning of time, were rare save for the werewolves of the western lands. Weretigers were the rarest gems, beautiful, powerful, dangerous. No wonder the prophecy called Atsushi's power the antithesis.

On the morrow, and the two days that followed, Tatsuhiko found he couldn't seem to let Atsushi out of his sight. The baby enjoyed her father's company as much as she enjoyed her mother's. When he was tired, his spirits were lifted just by holding Atsushi in his arms, hearing her giggle and babble, seeing her eyes smile in tandem with her mouth.

"You can't just seem to put her down, can you?" Sumiko teased him that night as they were retiring for the night. Tatsuhiko held his little one close to him, having read to her a Chinese fairytale. Atsushi loved them, especially Ye Xian, the Chinese Cinderella.

"How can I not?" he agreed with a chuckle as he let his wife take Atsushi. "He is our treasure, can't you love him too much?"

"Ah, true," she agreed before kissing his temple and then rocking Atsushi to sleep. The sight was relaxing after a hard long day. Then she tucked her away in the bassinet near their futons and then dragged Tatsuhiko to sleep with him.

Such a shame that the world can't know of his power's existence, he mused as he slowly succumbed to sleep. It's not right for them to use his power as a weapon of war. Atsushi is her own person. In the future, I will make sure she ends up in the right hands if it's the last thing I do.