Chapter Text
The first thing Rumi noticed as she woke up that morning was that she wasn't alone in the bed. She tensed slightly as the arm around her body shifted, pulling her closer.
Rumi's eyes snapped open landing on Mira's sleeping face, Mira who was in her bed holding her like that was a perfectly normal everyday occurrence.
No, Rumi realized, this isn't my bed. This isn't my room. This isn't our penthouse.
The next thing Rumi noticed was that instead of the long sleeved pajamas she'd fallen asleep in the night before, alone, she was wearing a short sleeved pajama top and a pair of sleep shorts.
Rumi squirmed her way out of Mira's arms as slowly and carefully as she could, but she didn't realize Zoey was right behind her until she bumped into her, earning a sleepy groan.
"Mmm, Babe, what..." Zoey stopped, instantly wide awake as she sat up in the bed. "Rumi, what are those?"
Rumi's breath caught in her throat as she instinctively tried to cover her patterns.
Mira was awake now too, looking at her with concern as she traced her fingers gently along the patterns on Rumi's forearm. "Jagiya, what happened?"
Rumi felt herself starting to hyperventilate as she pulled away from Mira, scrambling out of the bed and backing into the corner, sinking to the floor against the wall. "No, no, you were never supposed to see!"
Zoey moved first, kneeling carefully in front of Rumi. She started to reach out for her, but stopped when Rumi flinched. "Baby, what are you talking about?"
"Those weren't there when we went to bed last night," Mira said, her voice shaking as she joined Rumi and Zoey on the floor. "We need to call..."
"No!" Rumi pulled away again. "You can't tell Celine, she won't..."
"I was gonna say an ambulance," Mira interrupted, giving Zoey a strange look before turning her attention back to Rumi. "Does Celine know what those are?"
That seemed to snap Rumi out of her panic just a little. She looked between Mira and Zoey, studying their faces carefully. "Of course she does, we all know what those are."
"We have no idea," Zoey said honestly, sharing another look with Mira. "Do they hurt?"
Rumi let out a shaky breath as Mira brushed her tears away with her thumb. A part of her was still expecting the rug to be pulled out from under her, for Mira and Zoey to summon their weapons from the Honmoon and do their duty as hunters.
But the attack Rumi was expecting never came. Mira and Zoey were looking at her with such genuine concern.
Finally Rumi shook her head. "No, they don't hurt, but... you really don't know what these... these patterns are? What I am?"
"What you are?" Zoey repeated with an awkward laugh. "What you are is our girlfriend who we love very much. Whatever those patterns on your skin are they don't change that."
Rumi blushed slightly, her breath catching in her throat again for an entirely different reason than before. "Your girlfriend," she repeated in surprise. "When did that happen?"
Hurt flashed on Mira's face, but she managed a faint smile. "Almost three years ago. Rumi, what's going on with you today?"
***
A short time later the three of them were settled on the couch in their living room, mugs of tea sat out in front of them. Zoey was curled up on Mira's lap while Rumi was sat on the opposite side of the couch.
"So you are Rumi," Zoey said.
"But not our Rumi?" Mira finished.
Rumi just nodded.
There was an edge of fear in Zoey's voice when she spoke again. "So that means our girlfriend is in your universe fighting actual demons?"
"No, she's not... we weren't hunting when it happened, I just went to bed and woke up here."
Zoey and Mira both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Besides," Rumi continued, "there's no way my Mira and Zoey are letting your Rumi get anywhere near a fight once they figure out what happened."
"What did happen exactly?" Mira asked after a moment to calm her racing heart. "Is this like... normal everyday demon hunter shit?"
"No, this is new to me. I don't know how it happened, but I have a theory. Well not much of one, but... I think the Honmoon switched me with your Rumi last night."
"The magical barrier that protects your world from demons," Zoey recited what Rumi (not her Rumi) had told her. "It can do that?"
"Apparently. Celine told me some wild stories, but nothing like this."
"Celine?" Mira asked, leaning in a little closer as she shared a look with Zoey that Rumi didn't understand. "Is... Is she a hunter too in your world?"
Rumi studied their expressions for a moment, but didn't press. "Retired," she said instead. "She trained the three of us; raised me."
"What about your mom?" Zoey asked hesitantly. She knew the answer as soon as she saw the way Rumi's face fell. "Oh, Rumi."
"She was a hunter too," Rumi confirmed quietly, forcing a weak smile when she saw Mira and Zoey looking at her with such concern and care. "It's okay, it happened when I was very little. I never actually knew her."
"Still," Zoey said, moving closer on the couch and wrapping her arms gently around Rumi. "I'm sorry."
Rumi tensed up for a fraction of a second, then relaxed into Zoey's arms, hugging her back.
Being this close to them while her patterns were on full display still felt viscerally wrong. A part of her was still fighting against every instinct in her not to get up and run away, hide, cover herself up again.
But I don't have to do that here and now she reminded herself. I'm safe with them.
Even if I wouldn't be safe if my Mira and Zoey ever found out what I am.
Zoey broke away after a long moment, exchanging another look with Mira before changing the subject. "So the Honmoon is alive?"
"Um... kinda? Celine always said the Honmoon chose us, that it had a will of its own."
"And a really fucked up sense of humor," Mira muttered to herself.
"Then there's gotta be a reason," Zoey said. "Why did the Honmoon send you here?"
"I don't know," Rumi answered helplessly. "Sorry, I know I'm not much help here."
"Maybe it was trying to help," Mira suggested. "Maybe it was tired of you lying to your Mira and your Zoey. Maybe it thought you needed a push to tell them the truth about your patterns."
"I can't. They'll..."
"They'll what?" Mira asked pointedly. "What do you think we... they're gonna do?"
Rumi didn't meet Mira's eyes. "We're hunters. We kill demons."
"We would never hurt you," Mira said firmly. "Look at me, Rumi. We would never hurt you."
"You don't know that. Your Rumi isn't a demon."
"Neither are you. You said you were born with those patterns cause of your dad."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"But what?" Zoey interrupted. "You didn't get them from making a deal with... what was his name?"
"Gwi-Ma," Mira supplied.
"Right, you didn't make a deal with Gwi-Ma. You didn't betray us... them. You're just like... half demon, right?"
"They don't know that," Rumi said helplessly. "As far as they know anyone with patterns is a full demon, and making a deal with Gwi-Ma is the only way you get patterns."
"Then explain it to them," Zoey said as if it really was that easy; that obvious.
"You're still the same person you've always been," Mira added, her tone softer than before. "You're still their Rumi. They'll understand. You just have to trust them to understand."
Rumi sighed, nodding her head slowly. If the Honmoon really did do this so she'd tell Mira and Zoey the truth she didn't expect it would take no for an answer. "Fine, I'll try. But if they kill me I'm finding my way back here and haunting you both."
"So worst case we end up with two Rumis," Zoey said without missing a beat.
"Seriously though, you don't have to worry about that," Mira said. "They love you. I know they do cause they're us, and loving my girls comes as naturally to me as breathing."
"Aww, Babe." Zoey grinned as she tilted her head back to meet Mira's eyes. "You're such a sap."
"Only for you and Rumi." Mira closed the short distance between them to meet Zoey's lips with her own.
Rumi's heart warmed at the sight. She'd been so happy for her Mira and Zoey when they made their relationship official. Knowing that even in another world they still had each other, that they still loved each other so much made Rumi happy.
And if there was a small part of Rumi that still wanted more she chalked that up to greed, to her demon half. She buried it deep inside her heart like she always had before.
Maybe they were right. Maybe her girls really would accept her patterns, but it was a whole other thing to think they could ever be in love with a demon, or a half demon for what difference that made.
Rumi was abruptly pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the door, followed quickly by Zoey scrambling off of her girlfriend's lap and rushing out the room exclaiming "shit, I forgot!"
"In our defense it has been a strange day," Mira said as she got to her feet.
"Forgot what?" Rumi asked nervously.
Her only answer came as Zoey returned with a hoodie, shoving it into her arms. "Quick, put this on!"
Rumi obeyed, pulling the hoodie over her head and hiding her patterns under long sleeves once again as Mira went to open the door.
Zoey squeezed Rumi's hand gently. "Just act natural," she whispered.
Mira opened the door and Rumi felt her breath catch in her throat.
The Celine standing in the doorway looked the same as the one Rumi knew, just with fewer grey hairs. That and she looked happier, more at ease than Rumi had ever seen her.
But what caught Rumi more off guard was the woman holding Celine's hand; a woman Rumi only knew from photos, videos, the covers of old magazines and Sunlight Sisters vinyls her Celine had kept since before Rumi was born.
"Eomma," Rumi breathed out.
The next thing Rumi knew she was in her mother's arms, and oh, when did she start crying? What happened to 'act natural'?
"Rumi, baby, you're shaking," Miyeong said softly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Rumi answered too quickly. The way her voice broke gave her away. "I'm just... I'm fine. Just a little cold."
Miyeong put her hands on Rumi's shoulders as they both took a seat on the couch, studying her face carefully as if seeing her for the first time. She looked to Mira and Zoey, and that one look seemed to confirm her suspicion as she turned back to her daughter. "You're not my Rumi, are you?"
"Wait, how'd you know that?" Zoey blurted out, earning a nudge from Mira. "I mean, what are you talking about?"
"Of course I know, I'm her mother." Miyeong shared a knowing look with Celine. "Plus this isn't the first time this has happened."
Rumi looked between the two of them in disbelief as Celine took a seat on the opposite side of her. "This has happened before?"
"About 25 years ago," Celine answered. "I woke up one morning and your eomma was acting very strange. She recognized me, but she didn't know where she was, and she made me roll up my sleeve to prove I wasn't..."
"A demon?" Mira guessed.
Miyeong hummed in affirmation. "The other Celine did the same thing to me, but she threatened me with a magic sword she summoned out of the air."
Rumi cringed at that. "Yeah, my Celine can be a little... intense."
"Wait, are we sure it was your Celine?" Zoey asked suddenly.
"How many demon hunter versions of us do you think there are out there?" Mira asked with an amused smirk.
"I don't know, more than one probably."
"Yeah, I guess we don't really know for sure, but that does sound like my Celine."
"So what happened?" Mira asked. "How did you get back?"
The two older women shared a look before Celine answered. "There was something Miyeong, your Miyeong had to work through, a secret she was keeping from her Celine."
Rumi was quiet for a moment, considering that. She had a pretty good idea what secret her mom had been keeping from Celine, but she didn't press. "And once you and her talked through it... the Honmoon sent you both back to your own worlds?"
"That night," Celine confirmed. "I went to bed and the next morning everything was back to normal."
"I guess your mom and Celine never told you any of this?" Miyeong asked.
Rumi shook her head sadly. "Celine has never been the sharing kind. And Mom, she... I never knew her. She passed when I was very little."
"Oh, baby, I'm sorry." Miyeong pulled Rumi into a gentle hug, which seemed to bring on a fresh wave of tears. Celine meanwhile had gone slightly pale. She looked like she might be sick.
Miyeong noticed right away, meeting Celine's eyes over Rumi's shoulder. She mouthed a quiet "I'm right here," urging Celine to join in the group hug, which she gladly did.
The three of them stayed like that for several minutes, just holding each other, taking comfort in each other's presence. Finally, Rumi wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and let out a shaky breath. "I'm gonna tell them, my Mira and Zoey, and it's gonna be okay."
"Whatever it is I'm sure it's not that bad," her mom said with a reassuring smile. "If your girls love you even half as much as these two love my Rumi you've got nothing to worry about."
"She's right," Zoey said cheerily.
"No secret is gonna make them stop loving you," Miyeong finished.
Rumi was silent for a long moment. Finally, slowly, she unzipped her hoodie and leaned forward to shrug it off, exposing the angry purple patterns running up and down her arms, flinching slightly when Miyeong gasped.
Miyeong reached out to touch the patterns gently, looking up to meet her daughter's gaze with tears in her eyes. "How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you had those, Rumi? I know what those mean in your world, I know how someone gets those patterns. Why would you..."
"No no no, I didn't make a deal with Gwi-Ma, I was born with patterns."
Miyeong let out a relieved sigh. "Gwi-Ma doesn't own your soul?"
"No, Eomma, I still have my soul."
"Good, you'd better keep it that way." She looked down at the patterns again. "You were born with them? How?"
"My dad was a demon."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Celine said without missing a beat.
***
Miyeong and Celine stayed for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. Finally, reluctantly, Rumi went to bed, hoping everything would be back to normal come morning.
Rumi woke some time later to a gentle knock on her bedroom door and the sound of Zoey's voice.
"Rumi? Are you awake?"
Rumi's eyes shot open, taking in the room around her. Her bed, her room. She started to cry with relief.
She was home.
She practically tripped over her own feet in her rush to get to the door, swinging it open to find Zoey and Mira smiling at her hopefully.
Before either of them could speak, before either of them could ask if it was really her, if she was their Rumi, they got their answer as she pulled them into a bone crushing hug.
By the time they broke apart they were all crying. Mira didn't even try to hide it as she looked Rumi up and down as if to ensure herself she was really back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Rumi said quickly, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. "I'll be fine, I just..." She let out a shaky breath, steeling herself. "There's something I need to tell you both."
Mira took Rumi's hand gently, leading her to sit on the edge of her bed as Zoey followed her lead. They took a seat on either side of Rumi.
"So," Rumi began after a long moment. "You know who my mom was, but I never knew my dad. I don't even know his name, all I know is what Celine told me about him."
Zoey nodded along slowly, waiting for Rumi to continue. When she didn't, Zoey prompted her gently. "And what did Celine tell you?"
Rumi hesitated for another moment, her mind going back to what the other Mira had told her.
You're still the same person you've always been. You're still their Rumi.
Rumi took a deep breath. "My dad was a demon," she said finally.
The silence that followed was really only a few seconds, but for Rumi it seemed to stretch on for eternity. She held her breath, waiting for their reaction.
"A demon," Zoey repeated in disbelief, her eyes widening in shock and something like alarm at this sudden revelation. "What do you mean Miyeong Ryu fucked a demon!?"
"Zoey," Mira hissed. "What the actual fuck?"
"Sorry, I just..." Zoey's face fell when she saw the fear in Rumi's eyes, the tears still running down her cheeks, the way she was shaking. Zoey reached out gently to take both of Rumi's hands in hers. "Hey, it's okay, Ruru. Look at me, it's okay."
When Rumi looked up to meet Zoey's eyes she didn't see anything she'd been afraid she would. No fear, certainly no hatred or anger, just concern, just love.
"So your dad was a demon," Zoey said gently. "That makes you..."
"Half demon," Rumi answered unsteadily. "It makes me half demon."
"I didn't know that was a thing," Mira said almost to herself.
"Neither did my mom, or Celine... until I was born with... with patterns." Rumi forced that word out like it offended her.
Mira's expression darkened slightly. "Celine knew? Fuck, of course she knew, she raised you."
"We're having a long talk with her later," Zoey said. Her eyes went to Rumi's sleeve then back up to her face, seeking permission. Rumi nodded and Zoey slowly, gently rolled her sleeve up.
To Rumi's surprise her patterns weren't the angry purple she'd grown accustomed to, they were iridescent, they were... almost pretty in a strange way.
"That's why you never go to the bathhouse with us," Zoey said softly.
"And why all your stage outfits cover your arms," Mira added.
"And why you always wear long sleeves no matter how hot it is outside."
"Yes," Rumi answered, her voice a little less frightened now, but still slightly unsteady. "I wanted to tell you both for so long, but Celine said you wouldn't understand..."
Rumi saw that anger flash in Mira's eyes again, Zoey's too, but she knew now none of it was directed at her. "She was trying to protect me."
"From us?" Mira said angrily.
"We're gonna have a long talk with her," Zoey said again. "Later. Right now we have our Rumi back, and she knows that Celine was wrong and that we'd never ever ever hurt her, right?"
Rumi laughed shakily, drying her eyes with the back of her hand. "Right. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."
"Nope," Zoey answered, popping the 'p' and booping Rumi playfully on the nose. "None of that. I'm sorry we ever made you feel like you couldn't trust us." She stopped, her eyes going wide. "Oh shit, of course that's why you didn't like Takedown! I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay, Zo. You didn't know."
"Well now I do, and that song is going straight in the trash." Zoey pulled away and walked with purpose out of the room. A few seconds later Rumi heard the sound of pages being frantically ripped out of one of Zoey's notebooks.
Rumi looked to Mira to see her smiling softly. She felt herself relax a little more. "You're really not mad?"
"Of course I'm mad," Mira answered bluntly. "But not at you." She sighed deeply. "I'm... I'm hurt that you thought you couldn't trust us, but... I don't blame you. I get it, I know what we are. But we would never hurt you. You know that, right?"
Rumi let out a quiet chuckle. "That's exactly what the other you said. And yeah, I know that now. I should never have doubted it."
Mira's grin became slightly mischievous. "Speaking of... the other Rumi, she..."
"She kinda kissed us," Zoey blurted with a slight blush as she came back into the room.
Rumi blushed much more brightly than Zoey. "She what?"
"So... Is there something else you wanna tell us?" Mira asked with a playful smirk.
Rumi buried her face in her hands, mumbling something incoherent.
"What was that, Princess?" Mira teased, leaning in closer. "I didn't hear you."
Rumi looked up to meet Mira's eyes, still blushing. Her patterns were glowing a bright pink too. "I asked how it was."
Mira held Rumi's chin in her hand and leaned in to kiss her lips gently. She pulled away much too soon for Rumi's liking. "Not as good as kissing my Rumi."
"My turn," Zoey said excitedly. She stopped short, meeting Rumi's eyes, seeking permission. "I mean, only if you want that of course."
Rumi smiled and nodded quickly, her blush not fading even a little bit. "I do."