44

(Edit: I caved and removed the yuri scene because it didn't really fit or add anything to the story.)

(Warning: There is yuri in this chapter, but it's literally just a single kiss at the end of the chapter. It should be easy enough to skip if you don't want to read it.)

Onari and Yu Wu sat in silence next to Yu Long's comatose body for nearly ten minutes.

"The worst part is that I can't even bury her," Yu Wu eventually said. "She's not dead. This isn't closure. It's just… false hope."

"Mhmm," Onari hummed, rubbing Yu Wu's back.

"She's a bitch of a mother. I wish she never came back into my life. I wish I didn't want to love her so badly…"

"Hmm," Onari hummed again. "Remember all those times my mother said you were as good as family?"

"Yeah?"

"The way I see it, you already have a mother. Even if Yasaka is only your mother-in-law, she's still your mom. Don't let Yu Long's sudden appearance stress you out too much. You'll always have a place in my family."

"... Thank you," Yu Wu said in a quiet voice, burying her face in Onari's chest. "Still, we should do something with her body."

"Yu Long? What would we even do with her?"

"... I want to return her to her sect. At the very least, the people who care about her should be the ones to take care of her body while she fights her Heart Demon. And I also want to see what she made… What she abandoned me for."

"We don't even know where to find her sect," Onari pointed out.

"I know… But… I feel like I'm supposed to do this. Not just because she's my mother, but because the heavens are driving me forward."

"So, what? We just go looking for the sect, and we'll find it eventually? I'd call bullshit, but that sounds exactly like something the heavens would do."

Yu Wu nodded, "The heavens are fueled by BS and strange coincidences."

"What do we do with Lavinia while we look for the sect?"

Yu Wu was quiet for a couple of seconds, "... I feel like I jumped the gun with Lavinia. Don't get me wrong, I still like her. But I don't know if we're ready to expand our relationship to someone we barely know."

Onari shrugged, "Then we just drop her back off with the Grigori and promise to keep in touch. After we get back, we can take her on an actual date and get to know her."

"That will work… Can you make something to seal Yu Long in for ease of travel?"

"Of course, love. It won't even take me that long. You gonna go deal with Lavinia while I'm doing that?"

Yu Wu took a breath to pull herself together, "Yeah… Do you think she'll be angry?"

"Nah," Onari waved off Yu Wu's worry. "Lavinia seems like a pretty easygoing person. I don't think 'angry' is even in her vocabulary. Besides, it's not like you're breaking up with her. You're just… taking a rain check because of personal issues."

Yu Wu stood up and stretched before leaning down to plant a peck on Onari's lips, "Right, I'll go take care of the hard part. As always, thanks for everything, darling."

Onari smiled at her back as she left the room. Glancing back at Yu Long's comatose body made him sigh. He took out his formation tools, laying out a small slip of Qi-saturated metal as the base of his sealing formation.

"I should really hate you more than I do… Everything about you offends me, but I can't bring myself to completely hate Yu Wu's mother. You even brought Yu Wu into this world. So… I guess I even have something to thank you for," Onari mumbled to Yu Long as he got to work.

Yu Wu made her way back to the party. The event was just now starting to die down. She found herself having to weave around dancers as she navigated the crowd. She quickly found her target once she entered the indoor half of the party. Lavinia was still with Yasaka and the other Shinto faction VIPs.

She was currently being politely interrogated by the goddess Amaterasu, "And what made you choose Onari? When did you know it was love?"

Lavinia cocked her head cutely, "Love? I'm pretty sure it's not love yet. I like Onari. I like Yu Wu too. Maybe we'll fall in love later, but for now I've just enjoyed the time I've spent with both of them."

Yu Wu sighed. Amaterasu had always taken an unhealthy interest in Onari's love life. She sometimes treated the young Kitsune as a character she could ship with whoever she liked, but Yu Wu knew she had good intentions… Probably.

Yasaka was the first one on the VIP dais to notice Yu Wu's approach. She was about to invite her into the conversation before she noticed the expression on Yu Wu's face. Yasaka didn't know if she had ever seen Yu Wu look so emotionally exhausted.

"Lavinia? Can I speak with you for a moment?" Yu Wu asked, too drained to even put up her young mistress persona.

"Oh! If it isn't the beautiful fiancee! Come, come, you must join us, Yu Wu," Amaterasu said before Yasaka stopped her with a hand on her arm.

Amaterasu looked at her friend. Her confusion faded at the small head shake Yasaka gave her. She looked back at Yu Wu, noticing the young mistress' mood.

"Oh… Maybe at a later date, yes?" Amaterasu corrected herself.

Yu Wu bowed to Amaterasu, "My thanks, Lady Amaterasu. Now is… not a good time."

She grabbed Lavinia and dragged her off into the party. As Yu Wu led her away, Lavinia gazed at the back of Yu Wu's head with concern on her face. She hadn't known the young mistress for very long, but even she could tell something was wrong. The energetic young girl who had spirited her away just earlier that day was nowhere to be found.

"What's wrong," Lavinia gently asked.

Yu Wu sighed as she once again left the party, this time with Lavinia in tow, "I won't lie to you and say 'nothing'... Something personal came up. Onari is helping me deal with it. Unfortunately that means we'll have to cut our date short though. I'm sorry if you think we've wasted your time. We both really like you-"

Lavinia cut Yu Wu off with a tight hug. Yu Wu had stopped and turned to face Lavinia when they were far enough from the party to have a sense of privacy.

Lavinia stroked Yu Wu's hair like a caring older sister, "Shh, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. Things happen. I don't blame either of you for that. I like you too, and I'd be willing to try this again sometime."

At a loss for words, Yu Wu sunk into the older girl's embrace, "... Yeah. That's basically how Onari and I feel as well. We'd love to do this again, but now… really isn't a good time."

They stayed like that for a while. Lavinia's soothing hug helped to revitalize Yu Wu. Even with Onari's reminder, she had been so focused on her mother and her 'perceived' one chance for a biological family that she had almost forgotten that she had other people who cared about her. Yu Wu had a little smile on her face when Lavinia broke the hug.

"Do you need any help getting home?" she asked.

Lavinia shook her head, "No, I'll be fine. I think I'll stay here and talk to Yasaka and Amaterasu for a while longer, but I can teleport home when I'm ready."

"We'll be in touch then…" Yu Wu whispered.