|
|
Gaea - 10 Months after the arrival of the Kinmokunai & Sol Senshi
(6th day of the 2nd month of the first year of the Second Moon Kingdom, Reign of Serenity (1Serenity))
"Any news yet?"
Seiya glanced up at the figure that had spoken and shook her head. "Not since you asked me an hour ago." She patted the floor beside her and waited for the blonde to sit down. "I'm sure Yaten will let us know as soon as something happens. Just hopefully not in the same way she told all of Kinmoku about Zavi."
Haruka chuckled slightly. "And just how did she do that?"
"Very loudly, or so we were told," Miyo replied. She smiled a little at the blonde, then looked out over the courtyard from her place near the balcony doors. "It's snowing again."
"It is winter, Miyo." Shi glanced up from the text she was reading to look at the older blonde. "Pandora driving you crazy?"
"She's not Rosa, Shi," Seiya replied.
The younger blonde nodded. "I know who she is. I'm not the one that has trouble telling them apart."
Miyo made a face at her sister. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you? And for your information, at 4 AM, all of you blondes look a heck of a lot alike."
Haruka chuckled as she glanced at Shi. "How did you know about Pandora-san?"
Shi grinned and closed her book. "Because Rosa is also hiding from her." Ignoring the curious glances of the others, she placed her book back on the shelf, then turned to face Miyo. "I think I've figured it out. We should go find Imari."
"Just maintain a safe distance, especially if Larissa, or anything flammable, is around." Seiya watched the two girls leave, then chuckled. "Maybe I should have warned them to take Riein with them."
"Why? What's going on?"
Turning back to Haruka, the black-haired singer smiled. "They've been trying to figure out what went wrong with that 'door' they made when they were shrunk. Apparently, it wasn't supposed to break the wards at all, just make a hole in them."
Haruka shook her head slightly. "Remind me to never let those two teach my kids science." Sighing, she leaned back against the wall and turned her attention to her feet. "That is, if I ever get to see them again."
"You'll see them. Riein said this morning that the other StarLights are just a few months away now. And the way the time difference worked before, it'll still be weeks that you've been gone from their lives."
"But how do we know that time is moving that way there now? Eris-san can't see our world from here anymore. And as far as Taiki-chan and the others know, I was ..."
Seiya wrapped an arm around the taller woman's shoulders. "As far as they know, you were missing when they left. That's all that they know. There is no reason for them to think otherwise."
The blonde nodded slightly as she leaned her head against the other woman's. "I know, but ... you know how things have been over the last few years. If they thought, for even a minute, that ..."
"Ruka-chan, we'll make it home. It may take us a while, but we'll make it home."
A second blonde watched the two friends sitting on the floor of the library for a long moment before slipping back through the rows of books she had come from, not wanting to disturb them. It was rare to see the two actually alone together, something that, they had admitted before, stemmed from the fact that they had never taken the time to get to know each other. Now that they were almost forced to spend time together, they had begun to realize they had a lot in common and were becoming friends, rather than just allies.
As she moved through the rows of books, the older blonde glanced toward the small sitting area where she could still hear the two women talking. Of all the warriors from the other dimension still left on Gaea, they were the two that worried her lover most. They were the ones that were still unhappy. And she was tired of seeing those she cared for unhappy.
Devii bounced into the small meeting room and hugged the first person she saw, who just so happened to be Trun. And Trun, it turned out, did not like girls hugging him. Even ones he was related to. His face turned bright red as he tried to extricate himself from the hug.
Across the room, Allisto chuckled at the look on her son's face. "Looks like Kaish finally had her baby."
Usha turned to the doorway and smiled a little. "I thought she still had a couple more months before she was due."
"That was Mother Riein basing her pregnancy off of a human, but Aunt Kaish isn't human. Kinmokunai babies don't take as long to be born." Sora glanced toward the doorway and grinned. "Apparently even half-Kinmokunai."
Allisto turned to grin at the blonde. "And just why are you so interested in learning about Kinmokunai babies?" When the other girl blushed, she raised an eyebrow. "Does your mother know?"
Sora shook her head as her cheeks became even brighter red. "No and don't say a word, either of you."
"That'll be easy. I have no clue what you're talking about," Usha replied, glancing from one woman to the other. She glanced up as Devii bounced over to them and smiled. "Good news?"
Devii nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "I have a baby sister!" She bounced over and hugged Allisto. "We have a baby sister!"
Allisto started laughing and allowed herself to be dragged along to go see the new arrival, grabbing Trun's arm as they walked past. Usha watched them leave, then turned back to a still-blushing Sora. "What does she know that I don't?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Sora grinned at the older girl and hooked their arms together. "Come on, let's go see if we can see the new baby. Who knows, maybe you'll finally work up the courage to tell Nera."
"But ... she was so upset when she realized that our son had been here, right here in the palace, and she didn't even know who he was." Usha sighed a little as she fell into step beside the other girl. "How can I not help but feel that she'll think we're trying to replace him?"
Sora rolled her eyes as they walked. "I don't think she'll see it like that. I know I don't look at Serenede as my replacement. And neither does Sefin see Souji that way. You're not replacing a child, you're ... giving Mother Riein another reason to figure out how to make this world safe for them. Or, if her theory is correct and it was all Cronos' doing, you're giving him another reason to come home." She smiled a little as they got close to the room and could hear Devii still telling everyone about her new sister. "Remind me to not get that crazy when mother has her baby."
"As long as you do the same for me." Usha grinned at the younger girl, then led her into the room.
Shortly after Cronos' death, the seals on Elysion had been broken and the missing warriors returned to Gaea, among them a Queen, a lover and a child thought dead. Almost as soon as Pandora had seen the latter two, the tight control she held on her powers, slipped. The 'Goddess of Love' unintentionally released her own positive emotions in a wave that affected nearly the entire island their palace was built on.
Several peacfeul months later, the aftereffects of that burst of emotions were still being felt. The most obvious affect it had on the residents of the palace was an expected population increase. Kaish's baby, although not a direct result of Pandora's slip, was only the first to be born. Her younger sister, being carried by Elara, was still a few months away, as were children for all the rest of the elder generation, save Riein. As soon as she realized what Pandora had done, she locked herself in her lab and refused to go near the other warriors.
Even some of the younger generation had been affected. Nera and Usha were expecting their third child. Allisto had just learned that she and Souji were expecting their second. Even Devii had found someone, though Kaish threatened both her and Ryusei to not make her a grandmother. No one seemed to realize that Xavier had fallen for someone as well, so, now Sora was trying to find a way to tell her mothers and Kaish that she was carrying Xavier's child.
The only ones that hadn't been affected were the grandkids of the Goddess', Rein, Sefin, Hythos, Haruka, Seiya, Yaten and the twins. Fluri had been affected, but the one she had fallen for, was still lying in stasis. Gaia was betting that almost as soon as her father recovered, she'd have a new younger sibling.
"I give it two months."
"It does take a little longer than that, Gaia. Babies take about nine."
"I know. I meant until she was pregnant," Gaia replied, watching her mother sleeping beside the crystal stasis chamber. She glanced at her half-sister and raised an eyebrow. "And just how would you know how long it takes, young lady?"
Sakura smiled at her sister. "Because I spent a few years living with my father's family, remember? And one of my cousins had a baby a few years ago."
Gaia frowned slightly. "Oh. I guess I had forgotten that." She glanced back at their mother and smiled. "Maybe six weeks."
Sakura laughed softly as she pulled the other girl over to the chamber to try and get their mother to go to bed. In the months since they were brought off the island, Fluri had spent most of her free time there, just watching Aevor. Her daughters knew that simply being around the others, including her own parents, made the older woman nervous. "I give it three weeks. Two, if she can keep him away from Grandmother Riein."
"I will most certainly not stand in the way of they're being together." Riein smirked when the two younger women jumped. She walked over to stand next to them and smiled down at the sleeping Fluri. "She used to do that when they were younger, too, if he was sick. Just as he was always by her side."
Gaia smiled and hooked her arm with Riein's as soon as she was close enough. "They were still always together, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't have another kid. I think she's hoping that that will have changed now."
"Even if it hasn't, I will still be by his side." Fluri sat up and looked straight at the older woman. They had all been forgiven months ago for any actions they took while under Cronos' control. The redhead was most anxious to get the blue-haired woman's forgiveness for attacking her. Since then, she had been working with her, trying to find a solution to the problem of the Shitennou's survival on Gaea. Fluri was the first one to see the connection between the Shitennou and the Goddesses. She was the first to realize that one of them was her little brother's child. "Any luck?"
Riein shook her head slightly. "No. And I'm not entirely sure I can keep working on it much longer. I didn't take much of Kunzite's blood while she was here, just enough to search for what I thought was the demonic blood of the others. But if one of them really is the son of Usha and Nera ..."
"Maybe there was more to the Dark Kingdom than you realized. Maybe they weren't demons at all, but some other kind of creature that was twisted by the dark energy. And maybe their son was there so long, he became twisted." Sakura frowned at the looks on the older women's faces. "I meant, you know, biologically, not like he was mean or anything. Jade and Neph were actually quite nice, once you got past their egos."
"I ... actually, hadn't thought of that." Riein frowned slightly as she rubbed at her forehead. "Maybe Allisto is right. Maybe I do need to get away from the lab for a while. I get so focused on one theory, I ignore the other possibilities."
"But that is what makes you so good at what you do." Fluri smiled at her. "If you want to go lay down, I can keep an eye on things."
Riein shook her head. "No, you can't. Cause you're going to be laying down as well. We could both use some sleep. And tomorrow morning, we'll begin looking into Sakura's theory that the Dark Kingdom wasn't home to just demons."
Rosalind glanced around the smaller dining room and saw her daughter Sora sitting at the table with Devii, Xavier and Seiya's twins. Hiding a smile behind her hand, she lightly tugged on the arm of her companion. "They're over there, love."
Pandora turned in the direction the other woman indicated and nodded. With so many people now living in the palace on a regular basis, it was difficult to gather everyone in the same room at the same time, simply due to lack of room. So several of the smaller, formal dining rooms had been opened for everyday use, which usually led to the different generations eating separately. The blonde stepped toward the table, motioning for the twins to not mention her presence as she walked up behind Xavier.
Devii was babbling on about the new baby, just as she had been since the moment she was born. "And Aunt Kou suggested naming her Midori, because of her eyes. It means 'green', I think, which I guess would work for her, but it seems rather silly to name her after a color, doesn't it? I don't know, but both mom and Aunt Elara seem to like it, so I guess that's what they're going to name her. She's just so cute!"
"Please tell me you weren't this bad when she was born," Sora replied, glancing at Xavier.
Xavier chuckled slightly. "I wasn't. I was about twenty times worse." He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced up at Pandora, who had a blank look on her face. "Hello. Would you like to join us? I have to warn you, though, you will hear every single detail about little Midori about a hundred times before the night's over."
Ignoring the face Devii was making, Pandora shook her head slightly. "No thank you. I just have a question to ask you." She tightened her grip on his shoulder and forced a small smile. "When were you going to tell me you were sleeping with my daughter?"
The entire dining room went silent as Xavier's face turned bright red. "I, uh- well, I-" He looked at Sora for help, only to see the blonde staring at something on the opposite wall.
Rosalind placed a hand on his other shoulder and smirked when he spun to face her. "And when were you going to tell us about the baby?"
"B-Baby? What baby? Midori?" Xavier frowned and looked at Sora again. "What are they talking about?"
Sora kept her eyes focused on a spot on the wall and tried to ignore the fact that her face was burning."They're not talking about Midori." Sighing, she turned to look at him and watched as he slowly realized what she meant. "They're talking about our baby."
Devii was out of her chair before her older brother could blink and ran around the two older women to hug Sora. "I'm going to be an aunt!"
Rosalind started laughing and leaned down to hug Xavier. "Welcome to the family."
Xavier just sat there staring at Sora in shock. "Our ... baby ...?" When Sora nodded, he grinned and pulled himself free from Rosalind's hug to reach over and hug the younger blonde.
Pandora stood there watching them for a few moments, then started laughing. "The look on your face was priceless, Zavi." She winked at Miyo, then hugged both Xavier and Sora.
Miyo chuckled as she sent the mental image of Xavier's face to the older Kinmokunai. She immediately sensed Kaish's reaction and grinned. "Zavi's in trouble."
