It been a long time coming!

Craziness... that was all Maura could describe how her life was right now,  if you wanted to call it a life that is,  Maura had tons of trials and bumps in the road but luckily she had her friends and Ryo there to help her.  A few months ago,  Maura went off into the deep end almost killing her daughter and the muggles who lived across the street,  it seemed like everything someone said she went off on them ready to attack.  Although that was months ago that Ryo and Sam put her in St. Mungo's for some help,  she was finally out and back on her feet now.  Maura couldn't believe that it been four months since she seen her house or Ciara and Ryo for that matter,  of course they were able to visit but only a hour or so a day.   She was glad that she was back to 'normal' although she knew that being a vampire you would never be normal.


Maura was sitting in the living room of hers and Ryo's place,  it was exactly the same as she remembered it,  warm and inviting with pictures of her and Ryo from Hogwarts to their wedding day on the fireplace mantle.  Looking at the pictures Maura held back tears that were threatening to escape her eyes,  she felt that she missed so much while she was away, her baby girl grown so much that she was surprised that she didn't know who she was.  She was honestly surprised that Ryo  had the patience with her,  she honestly thought that he would've left her a long time ago.  She honestly wouldn't have blamed him,  she wasn't in her right mind at the time she had to admit,  but that was the old her.  Although Maura was glad to be out of St. Mungo's, she felt like a prisoner there, now she knew how patients feel that stay there permanently.


Maura was sitting on the couch rocking her beautiful baby girl named Ciara Sakura Hiroku in her arms.  Rocking her lovingly in her arms,  Maura looked down at her and smiled at her as she smiled back at her,  she was glad that Ciara knew who she still was even if she wasn't around.  But despite Ciara being a baby,  she always been a very smart baby.  Hearing footsteps Maura looked Ciara who chocolate brown eyes looked up at her.  " Is that daddy we're hearing? "Maura asked her before tickling her stomach as she giggled.

Lately, he hadn't been feeling like himself. Actually.. lately was an understatement. He hadn't been feeling like himself for a while now, almost since Maura had been interned in St. Mungo's. He knew that what he and Sam had decided had been for the best, but it didn't make him feel any better about the decision. He hadn't wanted to do it, he hadn't wanted to take Maura away from Ciara, but it had been the only solution.

If they had let it slip, then there was a chance that Ciara and their neighbors wouldn't be around right now. He still wasn't exactly sure about what happened to Maura, he didn't understand how she had lost control the way she had. He'd lost control before too, but not like that. It was something completely.. unreal. Like it was straight out of a horror movie or something.

He didn't want it to happen again and for Ciara to be killed by her own mother. If that had ever happened.. Ryo wouldn't have been able to handle it. It might have set him off and he might have ended up killing Maura because of what she had done. That was the only reason he had agreed to Sam's solution of putting her in St. Mungo's to get help. He didn't want there to be any deaths.. by him or by Maura. But it had taken a real mental and physical toll on him.

As far as everyone knew, including Sam, he had just been a little sleep deprived because of Ciara. But it was more than that. He hadn't even been eating right, not that Vampires actually needed it, or feeding correctly for that matter. He got just enough to keep himself a bit strong to be able to take care of his daughter and go to work, but it wasn't what he usually got for himself.

Since Maura came home though, he had started doing a bit better. He kept a close watch on his wife though, still on the defensive about everything. He didn't want her to have another slip up and try to kill their daughter. But maybe.. after four months, she would be completely fine. He just had to believe she was, like she seemed to believe. It was going to be hard for him though, since he had never really experienced anything like that.

He didn't want to doubt Maura, he wanted to completely believe that she was okay, but it was going to take a little bit of time for him to be able to do that. Hopefully not that long though.

Ryo sighed as he stood in front of the door to their house. He wanted everything to be completely normal again. He wanted to forget anything bad had ever happened, and he was going to manage it eventually. For now though, he just had to stay strong and get through the first few weeks with Maura back. The ex-Hufflepuff opened the door to their home and said, "I'm home." before closing the door behind him and walking to the next room where Maura and Ciara were.

Maura honestly didn't know what caused her to be the way that she was, although she was glad that she wasn't that way anymore, she honestly believed that she was better. Although it took her four months to get better, and she hated Ryo and Sam for doing it, although looking back she was glad that they did what they did. She knew that it wasn't easy for them to do, but she knew that they did it because they cared about her. Although at the time she didn't think that they did, she thought they were handing her over to St. Mungo's because they didn't care about her or handle her.


She knew that Ryo and Sam were keeping a close eye on her though, but she wasn't going to hurt her daughter or anyone for that matter, after months of therapy she learned to control herself. Although not many people believed that she was, Maura was going to prove that she was better, that she was the same Maura she was before she went off in the deep end. She knew that Ryo didn't fully trust her yet, it was a bit hurting, but she could understand his point of view. He was just looking after their daughter, and to be honest, she was quite glad that he was.

Although now that she was back she been taking care of Ciara, she knew that Ryo wasn't sleeping and eating right, Sam kept her well informed while she was at St. Mungo's. She hoped that her being back and proving to him that she was better was going to help. She didn't know what else to do other than what she been doing, she wished Sophia was around to help her and give her advice. Sighing to herself, she looked down at Ciara who was asleep in her arms and smiled to herself, placing her in her crib they kept downstairs she turned on the music as Ciara grabbed her teddy bear as Maura wrapped the blankets around her. " Sleep well my little Angel."said Maura softly as she kissed the top of her head.

Maura looked up from the crib playpen as he heard Ryo walking into the living room of their house. " Hi... how was your day? "Maura asked him softly but curiously as she gotten up and walked towards him. Since Maura was back, she really didn't know what to say to him, she felt a bit distance from him but she understood. " Ciara is in her playpen asleep, she fell asleep not to long ago. "said Maura softly but honestly. Hearing the beeper go off on the stove, she rushed into the kitchen to get some chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. " Dinner is on the table if you're hungry, I already ate. "said Maura as she placed the cookies on a plate that already had some already made.

"There's no one to blame but yourself."

"Why is it my fault? You're the one who turned her."

"The first time. The second time was all you."

"Yeah but.. But if I didn't she would have died."

"And would that have been a bad thing."

"Of course it would have!"

Ryo stared at Maura, but he wasn't seeing her. He wasn't even really in the room at the moment. As he argued with the Vampire, he realized that he had a point. It was all his fault, everything happened because he had turned Maura into a Vampire again. It was all his fault. He couldn't even deny it anymore. She had become a Vampire again because of him.

"... What?" he finally asked, snapping out of his daze. He hadn't heard a word she had said, but his eyes had remained fixated on her even as she moved out of the room into the kitchen. "Oh. No, I'm not hungry." he said, piecing together that she had offered food. He moved to the playpen where Ciara had fallen asleep and he sighed. At least she was safe.

He had to get over this. Maura wasn't a killer, she just lost control. That happened when you were a Vampire, it had happened to him before. But this was different because he had never tried to actually kill anyone, he only ever drank enough that it would satisfy his hunger. He never wanted to kill anyone. But he guessed it was all the same, they were both Vampires after all.

So, why was it so hard for him to calm down? Why couldn't he trust her completely anymore? He hated it, and he hated himself to. He didn't want Maura to feel like he didn't love her, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help being distanced no matter how hard he tried. He kissed his daughter on the forehead lightly, without bothering her, and he walked to the kitchen where Maura was.

He looked at the cookies she placed on the plate and smiled slightly. He was glad she was back, he missed her constant baking. Ryo moved over to her and hugged her from behind, dropping his head onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry." he murmured into it, tightening his grip around her waist.

Maura who was usually use to Ryo hugging her from behind,  jumped at his touch,  she wasn't use to him touching her so it made her jump some.   Regaining herself she smiled slightly to herself,  but her smile wasn't completely there quite yet. Although it was the first real smile that she did in months,  but despite the distance Maura felt between Ryo,  he was always able to make her smile even when she didn't want to.   Putting the last cookie on the plate she finally turned,  her chocolate brown eyes looking into his, this is the first time she been close to him in months.   "You have nothing to be sorry for Ryo,  if anything it should be me apologizing, "said Maura softly but honestly before looking down at her feet.


"I'm the one who almost killed our daughter and not to mention our next door neighbors,  just because I was what some people would say a blood sucking monster that couldn't control herself! " said Maura.   " I can't believe that I lost control like that,  I honestly don't remember what caused me to lose control like that. "said Maura softly but honestly.    As flashback came back to her Maura gasped and shook her head,  it all started due to Ciara cutting herself while she was crawling around the house,  it all the sudden became so clear to her now.

Ciara was crawling around or more like scooting around on the floor as Maura watched her laughing at her cuteness  of her daughter.  Watching Ciara closely she seen Ciara gotten to close to coffee table.   "Ciara no! "Maura said as Ciara bumped into the coffee table.   Lifting her up to see if she was hurt,  Maura seen a small cut on her leg.   As her eyes turned red Maura gasped before putting Ciara down in her playpen,  she ran around into the fridge looking for blood but didn't find any,  did Ryo put it somewhere else?   Her hunger getting the best of her,  she heard the heart beat of Ciara and her neighbors as she licked her lips, ready to attack the neighbors Ryo came in and seen her stopped her before she tried attacking Ciara but Ryo stopped her.

Maura snapped back into reality as tears came down her face,  the guilt of almost killing her daughter was eating her up.   " I now know why you been so distant from me and not trusting me,  I wouldn't have trusted myself either. " said Maura softly but honestly.   " Although you got to believe me that I will never harm or hurt Ciara,  you know me more than that,  or at least I thought you did. "said Maura softly but honestly.  "You don't know how much it hurts to know that you don't trust me and been so distance from me,  do you have any idea how I feel? "Maura asked him softly but curiously as she looked up at him.

Hearing Ciara cry, she pulled away from him and ran back into the living room before picking Ciara up before going to the rocking chair and started to rock her to sleep.   Not seeing that Ryo had followed her,   Maura rocked her to sleep before she softly started to sing to her.

"
I've been wishin' for somethin' missin'
To fill this empty space
To show the person behind the curtain
So you'll understand
Who I really am

The me that you don't see
Is praying there's a chance you still believe
Tell me that I'm worth it
I'll prove that I deserve it
And I can be
The me that you don't see. "

As she finished the first chorus,  she seen that Ciara was asleep again which made her smile, it was a song she wrote not to long ago and sung it to Ciara just like any other song she did.   Gently getting up she put her back in her playpen tucking her back in before she smoothed out her blonde hair before kissing her softly on the forehead.  " Sleep well my little Angel, mommy loves you! "said Maura softly but honestly before turning on her music once again.   Turning to see Ryo,  she literally jumped out of her skin once again,  she just wasn't use to him touching her again or being close to her.  " I...um... I got to get use to this again. "said Maura softly but honestly.