Chapter Two

~*.*~ Three Years Later ~*.*~

I wad sitting at the restaurant with Ember, watching her eat her cold soba noodles and drinking chocolate milk. I was picking at my salad, watching her through tired eyes.

The last few nights have been busy; though I appreciated Mimi's help with raising Ember, I was able to find a two bedroom apartment closer to my job, and set up a daycare plan for Ember. Mimi kept protesting against it, but I insisted only because I don't want Mimi to put her own live on hold for me.

I also found out that her boyfriend, Shoyo, was planning on proposing - I didn't want to stop her from moving on with her life.

But I'm fine where I am right now, and do is Ember.

As she got older, she had white hair and her ice blue eyes were big - she could commit a war crime and her away with it.

Well, considering who her dad is, I probably shouldn't joke about that.

"Mama, where's Mama Mimi?" Ember asked me.

"Mimi's at her own place with uncle Shoyo, remember?" I reminded her.

"Oh yeah." Ember nodded before eating her soba some more.

"Ember, are you excited to start daycare soon?" I asked her.

"How many sleeps is that?"

"Two sleeps."

"Yes. Tomorrow is... one sleep, right?" She questions holding up the fingers.

I giggled, seeing her smiling back at me.

Suddenly I heard screams from outside the restaurant and looked, seeing smoke.

And a familiar blue flame.

"Shit." I quickly grabbed a twenty and slammed it on the table before getting up, grabbing Ember. "Ember we gotta go!"

"Ahh, pretty!" She smiled at the blue flame as I picked her up and hurried out the restaurant.

I ran toward my car before another car landed directly on top of it, completely destroying it. "Fuck!" I shouted, heating Ember crying. I looked and saw a small cut on her left cheek.

I turned around to see if there was another way of escaping before I froze, seeing a bunch of villains running from the smoke and past me, but one body standing still, staring directly at me.

His ice blue eyes pierced my gaze and his face was ... surprised?

I then realized he wasn't looking at me ... but at Ember. I quickly pushed her head into the nape of my neck, hiding her face from him, and ran away, dodging everyone and anything flying towards and past me.

Later that night after finally settling Ember to bed, I changed into some pajamas and went into the kitchen, making hot chocolate to soothe my nerves. Ember didn't stop crying until she fell asleep from crying.

I pulled out my phone to check my work schedule when I saw something landing on t porch. I glanced up and froze, seeing him there.

I grabbed a kitchen knife, staring him down, and saw him casually opening my patio door. Did I forget to lock it?

"It's you.." Dabi muttered.

"You need to leave." I whispered, pointing the knife at him.

"I've been looking for you for over three years..."

"That's nice. My daughters already had a traumatic day, please go."

"Daughter..?" Dabi froze.

I kept staring him down before giving up. "Fuck." I shook my head, lowering my knife. I sighed before saying, "Dabi, your daughter's in the other room."

"Well can I see her?"

"No, she's sleeping-"

"Mommy, I heard a scary noise.." I froze, seeing my daughter emerging from the hallway. She was rubbing her eyes, looking at me. "Can you come cuddle me please?"

She turned her head and looked at Dabi, who stared back at her.

Any kid that had seen a photo of Dabi had always cried and screamed, claiming he showed in their nightmares. However, my daughter didn't.

She walked toward me before hiding behind my legs. She peered over one side, locking her blue eyes into his. "Who is this, Mommy?" She asked.

"Go back to bed, sweetie." I insisted, ushering her back down the hallway. "Let me talk to this nice man, and then I'll read you your favorite princess story, how about that?"

"Okay!" She perked up and hurried down the hallway, skipping.

I looked back at Dabi, pointing my knife at him. "You need to leave and forget we exist." I hissed at him.

"Excuse me? No way!" Dabi frowned.

"You're a villain, and Ember's too sweet for you to mess up and destroy."

"Oh I would mess her up?" He frowned. "Says the one who hid her existence from me for three years! Hasn't she ever asked who her dad was?"

"I've had a village helping me raise her. This is your final warning."

"You won't even give me a chance?"

His voice had a tone of his heart shattering. He looked .. destroyed. "I couldn't find you after our night together, and I've been looking for over three years to see you again. And when I do, I find out I have a daughter, and you're refusing to let me in your lives?"

I felt my lip twitching as I stared him down. This was the villain that burned the guy three years ago from trying to make a move on me. He didn't attack us when we saw him.

Dammit.

"Fine," I set the knife on the kitchen island. "But I have rules you need to follow."

"Seriously?"

"You aren't going to just waltz in here and suddenly play a role in Ember's life like in the fucking movies, Dabi." I walked up to him, poking his chest hard. "This is real life. I'm not fucking her up."

"Fine. What do I need to do?" He sighed.

"First, you cannot tell her you're her father," I pushed my finger on his lips before he could protest. "She doesn't need to be overwhelmed. We will tell her when the times right. Second, you only come over once a week, when I have an off day from work and only for two hours. Three, you keep your Quirk to yourself, and keep her out of criminal activities."

Dabi glared into my eyes, wanting to argue with me. "If you can't follow those rules, then you are not allowed to talk to her until she's an adult." I added.

"Oh yeah? How are you home keep her away that long?" Dabi challenged.

"I kept hidden for three years, didn't I?"

Dabi's lip twitched before he nodded. "Fine. I'll behave."

"God. Now you need to leave because I have a princess story to read to her." I pushed him toward the patio door, watching him leave. I locked it - quadruple checked it was locked, and went into Ember's room, seeing her sleeping already.