Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Legal Human Practice ❯ It Runs in the Blood ( Chapter 23 )

It Runs in the Blood

calikocat

word count: 949

Hiei/Kuwabara

XXX

Joyce was still staring at Buffy's new friends. Friends she'd made at her new school. Willow was unmistakably Sheila’s daughter. And the boy…Alexander LaVelle Harris. He looked, especially around the eyes so much like Jonessa.

It was happening all so fast. The clan's reinstatement in Japan while Buffy and her cousins finding one another. That quirky Kuwabara trait came in many forms. Sometimes it was visions, aura reading, precognition...evidently moving to the Hellmouth wasn't so much a whim on her part...but her own version of the trait showing itself. Finally.

The moment the kids left she called Sheila’s cell phone. Her cousin answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

“You could have told me that you and Jonessa were living on the Sunnydale Hellmouth.”

“Joyce?” Sheila's voice quickly changed from surprised to annoyed. “You do realize you just botched everything up right? You weren't the only one in hiding.”

Realization settled over her and Joyce asked; “You weren't just my secret keeper...but Jonessa's too.”

“Yes, and now it’s all messed up.”

She rolled her eyes, for all her smarts Sheila could be...obtuse. “It already was Sheila. Haven't you looked at the Family Tree? The clan's been reinstated, I'm on it again.”

“Oh...no. I have it tucked away at home.”

At home? “Where are you?”

“Texas, at a conference.”

“It’s the Hellmouth.”

Sheila’s voice was a touch defensive. “Willow is a good girl, she doesn't stay out late.”

Joyce didn't bother commenting that Sheila obviously did not know her daughter very well. “We'll talk about that later, just...give me Jonessa's number would you?” Sheila did and hurriedly hung up. Honestly, the woman had always bugged her, even though they were cousins...and Sheila was the best at keeping secrets...mostly because she simply didn't bother talking to people...rather she had always talked at them. Joyce sighed and pushed her annoyance away; she had a much more likeable cousin to call and dialed Jonessa's number.

Like Sheila, Jonessa answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hey Jonessa.”

The shocked silence was nearly a physical thing while she waited for Jonessa to answer; when she did it was barely more than a whisper. “Joyce?”

“Yes.”

“I saw your name...on the tree, it changed.” Another pause and her voice was softer, warmer. “I'm glad you're alive...but how?”

“Would you believe we used the same secret keeper?”

There was snort and a broken laugh. “Sheila always did know how to keep her mouth shut when it counted. So where are you?”

Joyce grinned. “Sunnydale.”

“...Holy Pendragon!”

She kept grinning. “Oh it gets better. I just moved here, and my daughter, Sheila's daughter and your son are now as thick as thieves.”

Jonessa's amusement was obvious in her voice. “Xander and Willow have been tight since they were five.”

Joyce pushed away her own amusement to turn their conversation down a much needed route. “I have...a feeling that things are going to change...is that what the trait feels like?”

Jonessa's voice reflected her tone. “It’s different for everyone. No one understood why I married Tony...I don't even love him...but...I knew I needed him. It wasn't until Xander was born that I understood why. Xander had to be born. Tony made that possible.” Her laugh was a bit giddy. “His powers, whatever they may be should be showing soon. I knew something else had to happen. Maybe meeting your daughter is what brings them about, and as soon as that happens I'm slapping Tony with a divorce.”

Joyce rolled her eyes. “Good for you...but can you tell me what happened to Sheila? Why would she leave her daughter alone on the Hellmouth?”

“Because Sheila is a bitch.”

“Jo!”

“What? She is.” Another pause. “Joyce...did you fake your death?”

“Had too...Dad's family sent an assassin after me. So I pretended to be dead...and they left me alone.”

“Damn Purists, just because you were born without magic, the Blanc Clan is nothing but a bunch of Magical Pureblood Nazis.”

“I agree, Dad is the exception, but the Blanc Clan is still a powerful Old Blood family.”

“You know after your 'death' the Blancs offered to take him, your mom, and your sisters back into the fold.”

“I thought they might.”

“Yeah well, you're dad told them to fuck off.”

Joyce felt tears prick at her eyes just a bit and rubbed them away. “Like I said, he's the best the Blanc Clan has ever produced...and I'm thinking now I'm not quite the Squib everyone thought I was.”

“Don't call yourself that, no one uses that word anymore...except the Nazis.”

Joyce grinned. “Either way...the Blancs will know I'm alive...I'm going to need help keeping Buffy and myself safe.”

Jonessa practically groaned. “Ugh. You're going to appeal to the Head of the Kuwabara Clan for protection...aren't you?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. “We'll go to LA tomorrow.”

“What? Why?”

“Shopping trip.” Jonessa replied, as if the explanation was obvious. “You're going to need a bird if you're going to send a letter.”

“Will a bird really fly across the Pacific just to deliver a letter?”

“If you get a water bird, I'll have to spell the letter to weather proof it.”

Joyce smiled, glad that the two of them had slipped back into their old camaraderie as if they'd never been apart. “Thank you Jo. You realize we'll need to talk to the kids soon.”

“Yeah...that's not exactly something I'm looking forward to.”

XXX