Zero no Tsukaima Welcome Home

by jayb

The third story in the series follows Saito and his attempts to get back to Louise, with an addition.

ZERO NO TSUKAIMA - WELCOME HOME

ONE:

Tabitha, Duchess of Orleans and Chief Counselor to Queen Henrietta of Tristain and Gallia, stood in front of the magical lock sealed door. She glanced behind her making certain the hall was empty. Satisfied she was alone, she raised her staff making a design in the air. Touching the top of the staff to the door the lock released and the door opened itself smoothly. A puff of air moved her shoulder length hair.

"About time you got here, I feel like I've been waiting here for hours." The Secretary to the Chief Counselor, Kirche, smiled at Tabitha.

Tabitha rolled her eyes and shook her head, then moved over to stand with her closest friend. "If you had been in the meeting with me, as a good secretary should, then you wouldn't have been early."

"You know I hate being in meetings. Besides, I had business with the Albion Ambassador that couldn't wait." She closed her eyes and smiled again remembering the "business" that was attended to.

"You are going to kill that husband of yours attending to that kind of business. He won't have the strength to be an Ambassador." Tabitha moved toward the objects located in the center of the room. "Did you check everything while you were waiting for me?" She reached out with the end of her staff and tapped one of the many large, and what appeared to be glass, lenses arranged carefully around a door frame with no door, what should become the actual portal to Saito's dimension.

Kirche had quietly stepped over beside her. "Definitely, I double checked them all." She reached out her hand and stroked the edge of the largest lens. The center of the lens flowed gently at her touch, as if it were made of the clearest water. "Maybe this time we'll find it."

Tabitha walked around the array keeping her eyes on the arrangement. "How long has it been now? Four years, or five?" When she again reached Kirche she stopped.

"Over six, if you count trying to get information from the Water Spirit. I can't believe that even Montmorency had problems with that." Kirche sighed. "Well, shall we get started?" She moved to a point one third of the way around the array from Tabitha.

Tabitha nodded and raised her arms straight in front of her, holding her staff in both hands. Kirche had picked up a second staff that was held in a mount on the wall. She also held her arms up with her staff. Light began to flow from lens to lens. The room became almost unbearably bright without the lamps that had been burning when Tabitha had entered. Tabitha's eyes closed as she felt the flow of power being generated by their combined magic. She was feeling for something. What, she wasn't sure of herself, just something to indicate they had found the return signal of Saito's locket.

Kirche began to count down slowly. "Four, three, two and..." The last number wasn't spoken. "Wait! Tabitha, wait! There was a flash in the portal, I'm sure of it!" Kirche had lowered her arms and was staring at the frame. "I know I saw a red flash!"

Tabitha had been jolted by Kirche's outburst and had brought her own arms down. "Are you certain? I didn't feel any change in the flux."

Kirche was dancing with joy. "Yes, I'm sure! We found it, I know we found it!"

Tabitha watched her friend and looked at the empty space in the portal frame, then shook her head slowly.

TWO:

Saito Hiraga awoke early and looked out his window at the early morning sunshine filled day. A few puffy clouds drifted by. Standing up he stretched, and moved his upper body from side to side. Last night there were several problems at the family diner where he was an assistant night manager. Problems that included two of the staff that had called in sick. It was later than normal even for him when he finally crawled into his futon. He glanced over at the piece of paper tacked on his wall next to a calendar. A date had been written there, significant to him as it was the date of the next solar eclipse to occur in Japan. It was only six months away and he was almost ready.

Pulling on his clothes he reached down and picked up the locket that was always with him. At night he hung it on a hook on the small chest he used for his clean clothes. The picture of Louise smiling at him was his anchor in life. He moved the attachment back to it's normal position, whispered "I love you", and hung the locket around his neck. Beside the door of his room sat his flight bag holding everything he needed for his flying lessons. Picking it up he opened the sliding door and walked toward the front door of the house that his rented room was in.

"Good morning, Saito-kun, is today your last lesson? Please have a bite of breakfast before you leave. After all this is an important day, and you will need all your strength." At the kitchen door stood the small smiling figure of the owner of the house, Mrs. Kushinaga. He had been directed to her home the first day he had arrived in the small town. She was a widow, and was happy to have him around just for his company. Meals and use of the extra large bath came with the rent.

Saito smiled at her, stood a moment as if taking time to make a huge decision. "Yes, thank you oba-san, I believe I will have something to eat. And would it be possible to have a bento made? I'll be back after lunch today."

Again she smiled. "Of course, Saito-kun, I've already made one up for you." She had continued to follow the little ritual that they had developed over the past five years. For Saito it felt as if he really was living with his grandmother. For his landlady he was the grandson she never had.

Saito settled himself at the table as his breakfast was served to him. "Will you be making the cross country flight today? This will be your final flight before your license is issued to you?" Mrs. Kushinaga laid her breakfast across the table from him.

Saito gave a little bow. "Thank you for the food." He picked up some fish with his chopsticks. "Yes, this is the final flight I need. I will fly between three airfields, land at each, and then return to the aero club here." As he chewed, he thought back to the beginning of this plan to enable his return to his wife Louise, and her world that he had come to love. A customer had left a science magazine at the table and Saito had picked it up deciding to look through it after work. Inside was a big article on upcoming solar eclipses, one of which was scheduled for his area in four years. Trying to figure out a way to fly into the eclipse took little time. After finding an aero club at a small airfield on the other side of town, his mind was made up. From that time until now he was on a mission. All his extra funds went toward flight lessons. The costs were so high that he had nothing left over for extras in his life. Food was provided by the restaurant and Mrs. Kushinaga. An old bicycle was purchased to get him to work and the airfield. A few clothes and he was satisfied. The most expensive thing he purchased was an accurate pilot's chronograph wrist watch. His only thought was to get back to his Louise.

"Ah, Saito-kun, are you thinking of your beautiful wife again?" Mrs. Kushinaga was smiling at him from across the table. She already knew the answer to the question.

He gave a little laugh. "You do know me well, don't you. Yes, I was thinking of her." He smiled back at her. "Maybe soon we'll be able to be together." A few more bites of breakfast and he was ready to go. "Thank you for the breakfast and my bento. I'll see you later this afternoon." Giving a quick bow he left the house.

Saito took his normal route to the aero club. In his mind he went over the plans for this flight. Involuntarily he smiled as he thought about how his planning ability had gotten much better. For the past four years he had planned meticulously for the solar eclipse flight. Never would he go off to do something without planning first. It had been a hard lesson when he learned it.

Pausing at the crossroad he saw the kendo-dojo sensei passing the other direction, and waved to him, receiving a wave and greeting in return. Kijima-sensei was a regular at the restaurant and happened to see Saito, while on break, practicing some moves he had learned from Agnes and her captain. After watching a few minutes, he had invited Saito to come by the dojo for a quick match. When Saito managed to visit, he found that some of his powers from Louise's world were still with him. He promptly beat three of the best students at the dojo. Kijima-sensei then held him back until after the others left before having his match with Saito. Saito won after a long battle. After that Kijima-sensei would invite him over to demonstrate moves for the most advanced students. He had become a close friend that would show Saito's skills to visiting instructors.

As he rode closer to the airfield, an acrobatic dual seat airplane was coming in to land. The pilot waggled his wings when he spotted Saito on the road, and Saito waved back to acknowledge the greeting. Not long after he started taking his flight lessons one of the club members invited him along for a ride in his two seat acrobatic plane. Unlike the American Cessna that he was taking his lessons in that had a steering wheel, the acrobatic aircraft had a stick for control, just like his Zero fighter. Iwata-san had taken off and done a couple of flight maneuvers trying to shake Saito up. Then with a smile he invited Saito to try his skill. Saito's mind and body took over and put the airplane through all the maneuvers that he had learned with the Zero. His instructor, Kubashi-sensei, had always said that Saito seemed to be one with the Cessna, but that flight made him a legend in the aero club. Unfortunately Saito couldn't tell them what type airplane he had learned his skill in as they wouldn't believe him.

After arriving at the airfield he met with Kubashi-sensei and went over his flight plan. Each step was outlined on his flight chart. Saito planned to make any other notes on that chart for reference while in the air during the eclipse, and those notes could save his life. After checking the airplane over, he bowed and shook Kubashi-sensei's hand. As he was leaving the runway to fly west, on the ground he saw Kubashi-sensei waving his arms. Again Saito smiled to himself. He had seen old pictures of Zero pilots being given that very same send off for their final flight. At least he planned on coming back this time.

Another holdover from Louise's world had shown up with the flight lessons. Although he was in Japan, all airfield communications were in English. Saito had spoken it as if he were born with the ability. By accident when an international news crew flew through, he had found that if he heard any language he was immediately fluent in it. To his mind he always spoke the same language, Japanese. However someone listening to him heard a smooth transition to the other language.

The hours went by smoothly as Saito flew his route. Smoothly, just as he had planned.

THREE:

Louise de la Valliere Hiraga gave a big sigh and pushed away from her desk in the tower office. It had been a long day and she was tired. Her desk faced the window so she could look out the school entrance gate and down the road. As a ritual she would watch the road in the afternoon. One day her husband, and Familiar, would come down that road, she was certain of it. She stretched and stood up, then moved toward the door to the hall. As she opened it Siesta moved quickly past the opening looking over her shoulder toward Osman-sensei's office.

"Osman-sensei up to his tricks again?" Louise smiled at Siesta.

Siesta stopped and shook her head. "Just the usual. You'd think he would be too old for that sort of thing." She rolled her eyes at Louise. "But, obviously he's not. And his familiar gets into..." Siesta saw Louise smiling. "Well, you know what he gets into. I don't know who is the biggest pervert, sensei or the mouse." Then both she and Louise laughed. It was all part of the school tradition at that point. Even Osman-sensei's senility act was to be expected. And, as his secretary, Siesta had experienced them all.

Together the pair of friends descended the stairway telling each other about their day. After Saito disappeared, Siesta came back to the school and helped Louise regain her health. She had been there when Saito's daughter was born, working beside Kirche, Tabitha and Cattleya. Soon after she became Osman-sensei's secretary.

Parting at the courtyard, Louise waved at Siesta then watched some of the students practicing their magic. Tomorrow was the second year students Calling of Familiars. Louise watched thinking back to her own experience with the Calling and shook her head. The problems that had arisen because she had called a human, and a commoner, as a Familiar couldn't be believed when Saito appeared. She wished she could do it again, only this time know what she had received in the beginning. As she watched everyone, she realized that her daughter wasn't out there with the others. Louise looked again but there was no Katherine to be seen. "Probably, helping in the kitchen again." She smiled and turned to go into the dormitory building.

As Louise went down the hallways and stairways of the dormitory every so often she expected to see Kirche or Tabitha come out of their old rooms. But then she would come back to the reality that they were in the Royal Castle, helping Queen Henrietta rule the combined kingdoms of Gallia and Tristain. And she, Louise, had the responsibility of training the new Noble mages at the Magical Academy. After the Magistrate Sheffield incident the school now had many Albion students enrolled. Actually she had another most important job. That of being mother to her daughter, Katherine, born almost nine months after Saito disappeared at the Ragdorian Lakes.

Louise opened the door to her room and found Katherine sitting on a chair staring at the bottle that sat on a shelf below the awards given to Saito. On each side of the medal for being Protector of Tristain hung medals from both Gallia and Albion. Medals given to Louise and Saito for their work in defeating Magistrate Sheffield. Louise could hardly look at them. She knew they were given to her in memory of her husband, and she knew in her heart he was not dead.

Even after hearing the door open Katherine still watched the bottle. Louise moved over to stand beside her daughter, and reached out to touch her on the shoulder. "Dear, I'm home." Getting no reaction she knelt down to be at Katherine's eye level. "What do you see, dear?"

For a second Katherine's blue eyes glanced at her mother and she turned her head letting her below shoulder length hair swing, then she pointed with her wand at the bottle. "Daddy's flower was blue. I saw it, and it was blue." She looked back at Louise and lowered the wand. "You believe me, don't you?"

Louise nodded at her daughter. "Yes, dear, I believe you." Then she slowly looked over at the bottle that held the dry remains of Saito's Ekulerudamuru Flower. It had shriveled the day he disappeared at the Lakes, taking all it's color out. Standing up she went closer to look at the dry stem. As she leaned over, a piece of flower petal fell to the bottom of the bottle. Louise knew every crumbled leaf and petal in that bottle. That piece of petal had not been there the last time she looked. She reached out and touched the bottle gently. "Yes, little one, I definitely believe you." She turned and smiled at the little girl that looked so much like her as a child. "We need to keep watch for your father to come back." She went over and gave Katherine a hug. "Let's go have dinner, then we can think about what needs to be done when our Saito comes home."

FOUR:

Kirche blew her breath out and lowered her arms. "I know that I saw a red flash the other week." She started to raise her arms again holding the staff horizontal.

Tabitha, looked at the portal in the apparatus. "I don't doubt you, but something isn't the same." She paused in thought. "Could it be he only turns the signal on at certain times?" A frown crossed her face. "Could he only turn it on when he goes to bed maybe?"

Kirche lowered her arms again and looked deep in thought. "You could be right. But what time would it be where ever he is?" She stood quietly, then turned toward her friend. "Do you think we need more power to open the window? I can get my husband to come down."

Tabitha looked at the magical lenses and portal, then slowly nodded. "That may not be a bad idea. But we can't have everyone knowing what we're doing down here. Somebody may not appreciate our effort." She sighed. "And I don't want to get Louise's hopes up yet. We have to really know that we've found a way to bring him back."

Kirche nodded. "I know." Then she smiled again. "But it will be so good to see my dearest one again!"

Tabitha shook her head. "I know your poor husband will be most happy that your 'dearest one' is coming back."

"Oh, you know what I mean." Kirche gave a huge grin. "Anyway, let's get Harry to help us next time." She paused in thought. "Should we try earlier or later, though?"

Tabitha nodded. "Earlier, we should try earlier. I have nothing planned after lunch day after tomorrow, so let's try it then." She looked at Kirche and narrowed her eyes. "And you do not have any unfinished business at that hour either. I'm sure Harry will be appreciative, and will give us his full support."

On the appointed day a happy Kirche pulled a slightly reluctant Harry Stafford down the hallway to the door. Behind her Tabitha turned a corner and called out to her secretary.

"Kirche, slow down. This is our business this time, not business between you and your husband." She saw Harry turn his head to her with a look of relief.

As Kirche used her magic to open the door, Harry turned toward Tabitha. "When will I find out about the deep secret in this room?" He glanced at his wife then back to Tabitha, and lowered his voice. "And it doesn't require a bed, right?" His face was pleading.

The excited Kirche opened the door and pulled Harry into the room. "I heard that my dear husband. Are you certain about what you want?" Her grin was more demon than angel. "Hmm, my dearest."

Harry raised his eyes to the ceiling. "I surrender, I didn't mean whatever I said." He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.

Tabitha had been through this before. Ever since Kirche had recovered enough after the fight at the Lake, to crawl over to check Tabitha's condition, then make her way to where Louise and Harry lay crumpled on the ground, Kirche was set in her purpose. She wouldn't let Harry's father take him back to Albion, but kept him at the Academy where she could care for him. Her family seeing a chance to marry her to a valuable Nobleman, and cement relations between Germania and Albion, pushed hard for a marriage. Harry's father saw the same advantage for Albion, and as Harry had dropped his marriage plans, he was available. It was a fast alliance, and Harry's head was still spinning, even if it had been five years.

Harry stepped into the secret room and his mouth dropped open on seeing the equipment in front of him. "What is this?" He let go of Kirche and walked around the setup. "Okay, I see where power can be focused to one point." He stopped and leaned over slightly looking at the portal frame. "Focused on this frame." He looked at the two women, one of whom had a huge grin.

"I knew my husband was good." She gave a low purr. "So many things he's good at." Kirche saw Harry blush. "That is to focus our magic and try to find Saito's return signal." She smiled even bigger at Harry, and he blinked a couple of times.

"His return signal?" His head jerked up. "That signal that he sent to bring you two after us when we were flying over Gallia? That return signal?"

Kirche, still smiling, nodded her head vigorously. Tabitha gave a single nod.

"The other week I saw a flash of red. There was a red flashing light on the locket he wore." Kirche was almost dancing with excitement. "We want to use more power to strengthen the signal." She grabbed her husband's arm. "And that is why you are here, my darling."

Harry looked over at the quiet Tabitha. "Are you both certain about this? You really did make contact?" Kirche had pulled his arm tighter against her breasts.

Tabitha nodded. "Kirche says she saw the flash, and I believe her. Kirche, stop that, we have other work to do right now." Kirche pouted as she let go of Harry.

Under the direction of Tabitha the three stood equidistant around the concentrating lens and portal. The increase in power could be easily felt by all of them. Suddenly a milky circle, no more than fifteen centimeters across, appeared in the door frame. Surprised, Kirche let go of her staff and grabbed her wand. With a quick flourish she aimed at the circle just before it disappeared. Then all three stood breathing heavily, staring at the empty portal, exhausted.

"Was that really it?" Harry was more than surprised, he was amazed.

Tabitha smiled and nodded. "Yes, that was the return signal from Saito's locket." She looked at Kirche. "You were correct."

Kirche was almost dancing, and held her wand out at the frame. "I think I was able to leave a message for my darling." With a big smile she looked at Harry. "Isn't that wonderful!"

Harry gave a puff of breath. "Your darling? And I am exactly what here?" He tried to look hurt, but it still came out as relief. He knew the stories of Louise, Saito and Kirche, and he wasn't worried.

"We need more power to enlarge the opening." Tabitha looked at the other two. "Obviously, we will need at least one more to hold the dimensions together." She paused looking at Kirche and Harry. "Who do you trust the most that won't betray our purpose?"

Silence fell over the room as they looked at each other.

Later that afternoon Tabitha knelt before Queen Henrietta in Henrietta's private chambers. "I believe that we have found Saito, and it may be possible to return him to this world." She looked up to see Henrietta smile.

"Please stand. Do you still believe we will need to take the other action?" Henrietta's smile had changed to doubt.

"I do, your Highness. We will have to do it for the sake of the Kingdom." Tabitha paused as Henrietta turned to look out the window. "And for the sake of Louise and Saito, and both our worlds."

Henrietta sighed and turned back to face her chief Counselor. "When the time comes, do what you must."

"Your Highness, you also may be needed to make the transition." Seeing the Queen nod, Tabitha bowed slightly, turned and left the secure room.

FIVE:

The morning light was dimmer than usual, as a bleary eyed Saito looked at the window. "Must have gotten cloudy after I went to bed." Rolling over, he sat up and stretched. Mrs. Kushinaga knew better than to wake him early after a long night. Even so he felt as if he had just crawled into the futon. He stood and rolled his shoulders and neck to loosen them up. "I think I need a bath this morning." Grabbing his toilet items he headed to the shared bath. From the front of the house Mrs. Kushinaga called a cheery "good morning" that Saito returned and added that he would be in the bath.

The relaxing bath was just what he needed as he went back to his room to dress and have his late breakfast. The last thing after putting away the futon was to put his locket around his neck. He reached down and took it from the hook, looked at it and whispered "I love you" when he went still. Saito's hands began to shake, and his knees went weak. He staggered backward into the wall, and slid down to the floor, his breath coming in gasps. The picture of Louise that he was looking at was different. It wasn't a smiling young Louise in her ball gown that he was looking at. The picture was of a slightly older Louise, looking somewhat like her sister Cattleya, but much cuter. On her left cheek was a thin scar. She was pictured sitting with a young girl on her lap. The little girl's red hair reached just below her shoulders, and she was dressed in Magic Academy uniform, but her eyes were blue, like Saito's. The girl's head rested on Louise's shoulder, looking like a younger version of his wife.

His hands still shaking, he turned the locket over. Tabitha, with longer hair, and a very happy Kirche stared back at him. Both in Royal Counselor robes instead of Academy uniforms. Kirche had her arms wrapped around Harry Stafford's left arm, pulling him into her breasts. Even in the picture Harry looked embarrassed. The locket fell from his shaking hands when a worried Mrs. Kushinaga knocked on his door to see if he was all right.

"Saito-kun, Saito-kun, is everything all right in there? I thought I heard you fall down." Oba-san knocked again.

Saito looked at the room door as if he had never seen it before. Then he shook his head to clear it before answering. "I'm okay, oba-san, I just had a weak spell." He picked up the locket then stood up and opened the door to see her standing there with a worried look on her face. He smiled at her. "See, I'm okay. I just had something wonderful happen and it took me by surprise. I'll be out in just a minute for breakfast." She looked past him into the room, then nodded and went toward the eating area. Saito slid the door closed again, turned and surveyed the room. Nothing had changed except the locket, even Derflinger was still on his display mount on top of the dresser, a cold piece of nonliving metal. He looked at the locket again and reached to turn the signal off, then stopped and instead put it around his neck. His eyes closed in joy and his smile was for thanks, as he pressed the locket against his chest. "It worked! The signal worked! Come on Louise, get me back please." His wish was spoken as if it was a prayer.

As Saito left his room he took another quick look around, then slid the door closed. He went to eat his breakfast with Mrs. Kushinaga, who always waited for him before eating her own. As he sat down oba-san served both of them, then she sat back and waited for him to begin. Saito had thanked her for the meal and even started to eat before he realized she was waiting for something else. He paused while holding some omelette, then set his chopsticks down. "I suppose you'd like to know what I had happen that was so wonderful?"

She shook her head. "Oh, I don't want to pry into your affairs, Saito-kun." Her look bored into Saito. "Only if you would like to tell me why you fell down, then I'd be happy to listen."

He reached into his shirt and took out the locket and glanced at it. Then he handed it across the table to his landlady. "It was this."

"Your wife's picture?" He had shown the locket to her when he moved in, so she knew who was on it. She brought it closer to where she could see the figures clearly, then her eyes widened. "Saito-kun, is this your wife? Who is the little girl with her? So pretty, too." Flipping the locket over her eyes widened again. "And your friends, weren't there only the two girls before?" Again she flipped to the first side. "Is this like the picture key rings they sell?"

"No, oba-san, this isn't like the key rings." He had taken the picture back and stared at his wife. "She is beautiful isn't she. Both of them are beautiful." Saito put the chain back around his neck and dropped the locket under his shirt. His gray day had brightened already, but he still had his plan to follow, and it was only three months until the eclipse.

SIX:

There was a knock at Louise's office door. Having seen the Dragon Corps rider flying in to the school grounds, it had been expected. "Enter." Her heart wasn't in her greeting, messages sent by military rider were always about a developing problem. Somehow good news was always sent by the slowest method. The door opened and the uniformed man stood at attention before entering.

"My lady, I have a message from the Chief Counselor for you." He still had not crossed the threshold.

"Please come in, Captain." Louise stood and walked around the desk to meet the messenger. He had stopped, bowed and held out a sealed message container that had been taken from his dispatch case. The Royal Seal flashed from the side of the leather case. She glanced at it, then looked back at the rider. "Do you need to wait for an answer?"

"No, my lady, I was not instructed to wait." He still stood at stiff attention.

"Thank you, Captain." Louise paused a second. "Would you care for something to eat before you leave?"

This time the Captain let slip a smile. "Yes, my lady, I do have time for that." He bowed. "With your leave."

Louise smiled at his reaction, the school had become known for it's food, and the number of visits from commoners attached to Noble houses increased quickly. "You may go, and have a safe trip back."

"Thank you, my lady." The Captain saluted, turned and quickly walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him.

Louise stared at the Royal scroll case in her hand and frowned. In the past these always preceded a major crisis. She took out her wand and touched the seal, allowing the container to open. Removing the scroll inside and unrolling it, she read what was obviously Kirche's handwriting, and became more puzzled. After all the official greetings was the convoluted request for both she and her daughter to come as quickly as possible to the palace to meet with Tabitha as well as have an audience with the Queen. No reason was given, and to have Katherine mentioned by name to also be in attendance was most unusual. At the bottom of the scroll under Tabitha's signature was another scrawled note from Kirche to come as fast as she could. Louise shook her head in confusion. This was very strange in more ways than one. Louise rolled the scroll up and tapped it in her hand as she tried to feel the implications of the request. Finally she gave up and stepped down the hall to tell Osman-sensei she would be leaving the school for a day or two on business.

When Louise walked across the common she had to smile as she saw her daughter's school uniform among a group of second year students. It had only been a few weeks ago that the second years called up their Familiars and they were still practicing to be able to work with them in complete confidence. Katherine was watching closely, now and then laughing as she would reach out to touch one of the newly called Familiars. Louise came up behind Katherine and watched her before touching her shoulder.

Katherine turned to look up with a huge smile. She reached out to hold her mother's hand. "Aren't they cute! Oh, Momma, when I get old enough I want the prettiest and strongest familiar of all!"

This time it was Louise's turn to smile. "Dear, you will have the best Familiar to fit your need. After all, that's how I met your father." She was walking toward the dormitory as she spoke. "Did I ever tell you of the trouble your father used to cause me?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "About a thousand times."

Louise laughed out loud this time. "You are truthful, aren't you. Well, he was a handful until I realized his good side." She glanced back down at her daughter as they were going up the steps to their room. "And I used to have to call him a perverted dog sometimes. But that was before I really understood that I was the one he loved." Louise looked down again and saw Katherine taking in every word and nodding in agreement. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that we are going to the Royal Castle this afternoon. Aunt Tabitha wants to see us, won't that be fun,"

Katherine's face lit up. "And will I get to see Aunt Kirche and Aunt Henrietta, and Uncle Harry? I love to play with Uncle Harry!" She did a couple of spins on her toes.

"Yes, dear, we will see everyone. Now let's pack some things so we can leave soon." It was a wasted order, her daughter was already getting her travel trunk out to fill it up.

Jacob had brought the school's carriage around to the dormitory entrance and waited for Louise and Katherine. He had driven them on trips and enjoyed the delight that little Katherine would show. When they finally came out Louise had her wand out directing the travel trunks while they floated in front of her. Katherine ran out and headed straight for the driver's station of the carriage. She turned and waited impatiently for Jacob to store the trunks and help her mother into the carriage. When all was ready, he lifted her to the seat and climbed up after her.

Katherine looked over at Jacob expectantly. "May I drive?"

He raised a bushy eyebrow at her and held the reins out of reach. "And the missing word is?"

Her eyes went wide as she remembered. "I'm sorry. Please, may I drive?" She had lowered her head slightly in a modified bow, and looked up at his smiling face. He started the horses, then passed the reins to his young co-driver, still keeping his hands just below hers. Her happiness was complete.

Inside the carriage Louise leaned against the padded side and went to sleep knowing all was secure outside.

SEVEN:

It was late afternoon when the carriage arrived at the castle. Jacob had lifted Katherine to the ground before opening the carriage door for Louise. She had just thanked him for the pleasant trip, when Kirche ran out the castle door with a shout.

"Louise! You made it today. I'm so glad." Kirche looked around and found Katherine coming around from the other side of the carriage, using her wand to guide her small trunk. Kirche grabbed the child up and danced a couple of turns with her in her arms. Then she gave her a kiss on the cheek and put her down. Katherine was as happy to see Kirche as Kirche was to see her, and gave her aunt a big hug.

Louise was used to Kirche the Ardent, but this was almost over the top even for her. "Kirche, what is going on? First the letter from Tabitha and now this. Has something happened?"

Kirche grabbed both of Louise's hands, giving the biggest smile possible. Then she decided to be coy about talking. "Oh, nothing real big yet. But we must hurry, there still may be time." She started to pull Louise toward the castle entrance. Kirche looked back at Katherine. "Come along, my little one, we have work for you to help with!" Literally dragging Louise, Kirche pulled her inside to a descending stairway and they went down. An excited Katherine followed close behind.

Louise finally gave in and with Kirche's hand holding hers almost ran down a deep underground hall. At the end of the hall was a closed door. "Well, what now since you dragged me down here." She paused and frowned at the still smiling Kirche. "Are we being put into the dungeon for some reason?" The question was made only half in jest.

Kirche raised her staff and made motions with it, then touched the door. Still with the smile she glanced over at Louise. "You are being silly now. Come inside, we have a surprise for you." The door opened fully to reveal Tabitha and Harry Stafford standing beside an unusual set of magical lenses and a door frame.

Louise stood at the door with Katherine holding to her dress. The strange setting had calmed her daughter for the moment. Looking between the beaming Kirche and her other friends she was at a loss for words.

Kirche pulled her inside the room and the door shut. "Come on there may not be enough time left today."

It was Tabitha that managed to slow things down to a manageable speed. "Kirche, we still have time. Don't you think it would be good to explain why we've brought Louise and Katherine here first, so they are willing to help us?"

Harry smiled at Katherine who was still peeking from behind her mother. "Come here my little doll. I've missed having such a pretty girl give me a hug for such a long time." Katherine let go of Louise, ran over to him and was picked up. She put her arms around Harry's neck and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

Louise still stood near the door waiting for an explanation. Frowning, she glanced at her three friends and the odd set up in the middle of the room. "Okay, I thought we had a crisis here. Would someone please explain what is going on?"

Kirche and Harry both looked over to Tabitha. Even Katherine stared at her. With a sigh Tabitha pointed her staff at the series of lenses and the supposed door frame. "That is designed to concentrate magical energy at one spot. The theory is that the concentration should be able to open a gateway into another dimension. That's the theory anyway. Kirche and I have been trying to use it for several years to locate Saito." She paused when she saw Louise's eyes get big and her mouth started to open. "Please wait before you ask any questions. Several weeks ago we thought we had located the return beacon of Saito's locket. It took Harry joining his power with ours to actually open a very small window into Saito's world. Now we would like to have you join us and open a true portal so we may retrieve your husband."

Louise was too stunned to say anything. Seeing a chair beside her she had to sit down and get her mind going again.

Katherine beat her to it. "I'll get to see my daddy?" She looked at her Uncle Harry. My daddy will come through the window and I can see him?"

Harry nodded at her. "Yes, your daddy will be able to see you and your mommy. Won't that be a good thing?"

Katherine slipped to the floor and ran to her mother, but stopped before she could grab her. "Momma, are you crying? Isn't it a good thing daddy is coming home?" She went closer and put her arms around Louise's neck. Louise couldn't say anything, but buried her face into Katherine's cape.

Her voice was muffled by the cape. "Yes, dear, it is a good thing that your daddy will come home. I'll be so happy to see him." With a sniff, Louise pushed Katherine away enough to look at her. "And he will be so proud of his beautiful daughter too."

Kirche went over and put her arm on Louise's shoulder, leaned over and gave her a hug. "You can see why we have had to keep this a secret from you. All this time we have been only guessing that we could find him. Now we know that we have, you need to know. And we need your Void magic to help widen the window to his world. Will you help?"

Louise stared at Kirche as if she didn't understand what was being said. Finally she was able to speak, but it took effort. "You found a way to bring Saito back?" Her tears finally couldn't be held back. "My Saito will come back, if I use my Void magic?" She looked up at Kirche, then over to Tabitha and Harry. "But when I used Void magic it destroyed everything in the area Saito and I were in." Her eyes were becoming wide with fear. "That might destroy this castle! I can't use Void magic here, I don't know how to control it, and it has been six years since I last used it. The power released would be explosive." Louise put her face into her hands, and her daughter went over to hug her, just as she had been comforted by her mother. Tabitha and Kirche looked at each other with a little shock, they hadn't considered that aspect of Louise's Void magic power.

It was Katherine that provided a glimmer of hope. "Momma, if you just use your regular magic, maybe I can look in the window and see if it really is daddy in there." She still held her mother in a hug, and Louise had put her arms around her daughter.

Kirche picked up on the thought. "That might be a good thing to do. Louise, we were able to open a very small window. With your magic we should be able to make a bigger opening. And Katherine is right, we can't see in the opening because we are concentrating on our power." She nodded agreement to herself, then looked at Tabitha. "That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Tabitha looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. "That should work, and it would prove that we do have Saito located." She moved over to Louise, who had finally controlled her emotions. "Louise, we can try this now. But only if you want to."

Louise sat up, letting go of her daughter, and gave a sniff. "If I want to? I more than want to bring my Saito back." She stood up from the chair and moved toward the center of the room. "And we will do it now. I refuse to wait."

Tabitha began to arrange the four mages around the sets of lenses. Then she turned to Katherine. "Let's bring that chair over here and put it just in front of the frame. You will need to stand on it, because the window has been opened high in the frame."

Harry helped Katherine move the chair in front of the portal framework. Then he lifted Katherine up to stand on it. "Okay, now you hold on to the chair back, and don't lean over." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Just think, you may get to see your daddy in a little while." Smiling he took his position in the circle.

Tabitha had given Louise an extra staff to use. When all was ready she nodded. "Now, everyone concentrate!"

As the power of the four increased the room became almost too bright for Katherine to see the frame work in front of her. Suddenly there was a milky circle forming. She blinked and the circle grew in size so that it was almost as big as the distance between her shoulder and her fingertips. The center of the circle began to clear, but it was dark on the other side, with only a little dimness from a rectangle on one side. She leaned over to see what was in the dark and the chair wobbled. Katherine fell into the dark hole and disappeared.

Their power expended, the four magicians put their arms down. The effort they had put out would require days for them to recover their full magical powers. Louise looked over to where her daughter had been standing to ask what she had seen. Only an empty chair remained. In shock she sat down on the floor where she was standing. Tabitha reacted first and moved over beside her friend, knelt down and put her arms around Louise, trying to hide the empty chair from her. Kirche went to Harry, and he held on to her, also staring at the empty chair.

EIGHT:

For a quiet night at the restaurant, Saito was tired. After getting undressed he opened the shades on the cloudy, moonless night outside his window. There had been talk of rain starting sometime in the early morning hours, and it looked like it would. At least he was inside and would be dry.

Stretching, he got ready to lay down on his futon. Looking over at Louise's picture on the locket, he smiled at the thought of the little girl in the picture being his daughter. With a sigh he got ready to pull the string to his light, but he paused. For the first time in weeks he picked up Derflinger from it's stand. Once a month he would clean the sword, oil the blade and put it back. He slid the steel from it's sheath and looked at the shiny blade in the light. It had been so long he almost couldn't remember that this was a magical sword that he had activated as a Gandalf in Louise's world. "Maybe soon we'll have a good talk, partner. I'm sorry, but magic just doesn't seem to work around here." Sliding the blade back into the sheath, he replaced it on the holder sitting on his storage chest. He patted the sword. "Real soon, I hope." He reached for the light string and pulled it making the room dark. Then he lay down and pulled the covers to his neck. The open shades let a little light into the room.

A loud clap of thunder woke Saito up. He barely opened one eye to look out the window but didn't see anything. Closing his eye he snuggled back under the cover. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light that he was aware of even with his eyes shut. Before he could do anything a weight fell on him that really did wake him up. His automatic reaction was to grab whatever had landed on him, even though his arms were under the covers. When the unknown weight started to scream he held on tighter and began to shout himself. With a sudden movement the squirming body kicked him making him release it. There was a quick scurry as whatever hit him slid to the far corner of the room.

There was a loud banging on his door. "Saito-kun, Saito-kun! Are you all right? I heard you shouting." With a short pause oba-san continued. "I'm coming in!" The door opened letting some light into the darkened room. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" She pulled the string for his ceiling light.

Saito sat with the cover still around him, blinking in the brightness. Across from him huddled in the far corner was a scared young girl in school uniform and cloak holding a wand pointed at him.

Mrs. Kushinaga took in the entire room at a glance. Then looked down at her confused roomer. "Saito-kun, when did you bring a girl into your room? I never thought you'd do something like this. And especially with one as young as she is!" Her face started to turn red as she angrily pursed her lips.

Saito started to panic, ignoring the new visitor in the corner. "No, no! I didn't bring her in! I don't even know who she is, or how she got in." He paused as the anger began to leave his landlady's face. He noticed she had looked over at the locket, and then at the girl in the corner. She began to smile.

"Ah, Saito-kun, I knew you wouldn't be a pervert." She looked over at the child. "Your daughter is a beautiful young lady. I'm so happy for you that she could visit." Oba-san frowned. "But where is her mother? Wasn't she able to come?"

Saito shook his head in confusion. "Huh? My daughter?" He looked in the corner at the shaking young girl. "Daughter?"

In the corner the girl's fright and surprise had turned to steadfastness. When Saito looked toward her, she firmly pointed her wand at him. "You touch me again and I'll turn you into a toad!" There was fire in her eyes. "A very ugly toad, you pervert dog!" As an afterthought she pulled her short skirt down on her thighs.

"What did she say, Saito-kun?" Oba-san looked at him in confusion.

Saito blinked his eyes and looked at his landlady. "She called me a pervert and doesn't want me to get near her. You didn't understand what she was saying, oba-san?" He looked back at the girl, then as he had seen Mrs. Ksushinaga do, looked at the locket hanging from it's hook. His eyes widened in shock.

He rose to his knees and faced the angry little girl. "Okay, I'll stay over here, but your wand won't work in this world." He saw her move the wand until it pointed toward the floor. "What is your name?"

Oba-san was standing near the wall about midway between the two. "Have you asked her name Saito-san? Would you introduce me to your daughter, please?" She now had a happy, expectant, look.

The girl watched as the pair talked. "What was the old woman saying, pervert?"

"She's Mrs. Kushinaga, the woman I rent this room from. And she is only asking that I introduce you to her. She's nice, so you be nice to her. Now, what is your name, please." Saito already knew the girl's last name, but he wanted to hear it from her.

She had risen from the floor, but still was in the corner, as if that would provide her some protection. "First, I want to know who you are. Strange men that grab me where my mother says they shouldn't are perverts. So, pervert dog, who are you?"

"What's she saying, Saito-kun?" Oba-san was still waiting for an introduction.

"I think we're getting to that point, but she isn't saying yet." Saito looked back at the girl. Now that she was standing, he saw a very young Louise, dressed the same as when he had first seen her. He was able to hold himself back from grabbing her in a hug, but his eyes were beginning to tear up. He had to swallow before speaking again. "Your last name should be Hiraga. Your mother is Louise. And judging by your uniform, you are at the Magic Academy, which I hope is still run by Osman-sensei." He looked at her with a smile this time. "Am I right?"

Her eyes were wide open in surprise. Then they narrowed again. "And how do you know all that, pervert."

"Well, because of this." Saito stood up and went over to the locket hanging on the storage chest. He removed it and looked at the picture. Then he held it out for the girl to see. "Here, take it."

Hesitant to come from the corner the girl finally reached out, took the locket from Saito, and looked at the picture. Then she turned it over and her mouth fell open. "This is my mother and me! And Aunt Tabitha and Aunt Kirche, and Uncle Harry." She looked back at Saito. "How did you get this?"

Saito was smiling. "Your Aunt Tabitha gave it to me before your mother and I went on our last mission." He put out his hand toward the girl. "I think you are my daughter. My name is Saito Hiraga." He bowed before her. "Protector of the Kingdom of Tristain." He went down to his knees and held out his arms. "Now, what is your name?"

"I'm Katherine Hiraga." She stood where she had stopped when Saito handed her the locket. "Are you really my father?"

Saito only nodded, still holding out his arms to her. "Won't you come and greet me?" Slowly Katherine moved toward him, but still wouldn't get close enough for him to hold. "Please, Katherine. It's been a long wait for me." Still she hesitated. His arms started to lower.

"Are you sure you're my daddy?" Her eyes were wet. "Really, really sure?"

"Katherine, yes I'm really, really sure I'm your daddy." Distracted by a cough from oba-san he turned toward her. "This is my daughter Katherine, Mrs. Kushinaga." He turned back toward Katherine, but she had thrown her arms around his neck and was hugging him, while crying at the same time. This time his arms did come up to hold her. They didn't move for a long time, and Mrs. Kushinaga excused herself to go make some tea.

NINE:

Louise awoke lying in a soft bed instead of a hard floor. She opened her eyes and looked around at an unfamiliar room, sunlight coming from open windows on two walls. Turning her head on the pillow she saw Kirche at a writing desk against the other wall.

"Kirche, where am I?" She started to sit up, but couldn't quite make it. "Were we able to see Saito?"

Kirche came over to sit on the edge of the bed. She reached out a hand to keep Louise lying down. "Don't try to get up yet. You expended a tremendous amount of energy." She paused. "And yes, we think that we were able to see into Saito's room."

Louise lay still a second as her memory came back. Then her eyes opened wide. "Katherine! Where is my Katherine? I remember now, the chair was empty. Where's Katherine?" Again she tried to rise up, but Kirche held her back.

"Shh. She should be with Saito, so we think she's safe. Now just lay there and don't get up."

Louise shut her eyes again, and tried to control her breathing. "All right, help me understand what happened." She opened one eye at Kirche. "Just go slowly please."

Kirche sighed. "We built up our power like we thought. Only you were stronger than we had allowed for." She paused to gather her words. "Apparently we opened a portal large enough for Katherine to go through. And, it appears that she did just that. She went through to Saito's world."

Louise gave a sigh and folded her hands over her stomach. For a minute or two she lay staring at the underside of the bed canopy above her. Kirche sat quietly waiting.

Finally, Louise spoke in a normal voice. "Kirche, I'm hungry. Just how long was I asleep?"

"It was late afternoon yesterday when you arrived and we opened the portal. Now it's mid-afternoon, so it has been almost twenty hours."

Louise still looked at the bed canopy. "Please let me up so I can eat." She looked over at Kirche, then reached out for her hand. "You understand that I am not going to scream or shout, or even tear my hair out. I have waited over six years for Saito to come home. Now I know it can be done, I know it won't be long before my wish comes true." She squeezed Kirche's hand. "And I'm not going crazy about Katherine disappearing. I keep telling myself that she is with her father, and is doing fine. And I will see her soon also. Now, let me up before I tear this castle to the ground." Her smile became angelic. "Please?"

Kirche could take a hint, smiled and helped Louise sit up. "I'm sure we can find you something to eat. But, and I know you are going to ask, we can't try to open the dimension portal again for several days." Louise started to say something, but Kirche stopped her. "You are in no shape to expend that amount of energy this soon. Also, we need to get someone else to help us. Our power almost opened the window far enough for Saito to come here, but it wasn't enough. Tabitha, you and I, will discuss our options first. Afterward we will make the next try. And I am certain it will succeed." She smiled at Louise. "Is that all right with you? Remember that I want my darling back as soon as possible too."

Louise rolled her eyes at the Germanian Noble. "Your darling is attending to whatever his ambassador duties are. My darling is somewhere in another world with our daughter. So there! You oversexed, perverted Germanian!" She couldn't think of any other name to call Kirche so she stuck out her tongue at her, then started to laugh as she hadn't been able to in years.

Kirche laughed too. "Been a long time since you called me that, Louise the Zero." The years had changed their relationship as they found that they needed each other. The pair of friends left the room to find Louise something to eat.

Queen Henrietta stood at the window waiting for Tabitha to bring the latest news. At the low knock on the door she turned and called out. "Enter."

Tabitha let herself into the Queen's magically secured room. Tabitha bowed, and went over to Henrietta. "The news is good this time. We did open a dimensional portal into Saito's world. Unfortunately, even with Louise we lacked power to fully open it. Katherine fell through and is now with him, near as we can tell."

Henrietta, nodded at the report. "And Louise is calm about Katherine going through?" Tabitha nodded. "Who should we get to lend their power to fully open the window?"

Tabitha shook her head. "I'm not certain yet. There are many that have strong enough power to do the job, but I don't want to have the news out about what we're doing."

"What about me?" Henrietta had a bemused look. "Don't you think I'm capable of doing the job. Remember, I volunteered before." She smiled and looked back toward the view outside. "And I am willing not to discuss the matter with the wrong people." Giving a sigh, she looked back at her Chief Counselor. "And furthermore I am willing to take the consequences after we bring Saito and Katherine back." Almost as an afterthought Henrietta added another wish. "Tabitha, when Louise has recovered please bring her to see me. It's been too long since we've been able to visit together."

"It will be done as you desire, your majesty. I will let you know when Louise has recovered enough to meet with you." Tabitha bowed again, turned, and left Henrietta looking out the window deep in thought.

Queen Henrietta sighed, partly in frustration. After the battle at the Ragdorian Lakes, Louise had become distant from her childhood friend. Rumors flew across the boundaries of four kingdoms as to what had happened that had caused the Protector of Tristain to disappear. Tears came to Henrietta's eyes as she remembered the one rumor that it was she that had set Saito and Louise up to fail. Failure was needed to cleanse the Kingdom of the commoner Protector and his pariah Noble wife. Although Louise said she didn't care what the rumors were, she remained a staunch friend of the Queen. But over time her visits to the Palace became fewer. The truth was that even Henrietta herself didn't know for certain what had happened or how the story of their secret mission leaked out. Or if it had leaked out at all. So many at the Academy knew, or suspected, something was happening, that a chance word to the wrong person was a strong possibility. Henrietta closed her eyes as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Her biggest wish was for that trip to have never been made, but she knew the responsibility all came down to her as Queen in the end. The loss of her Saito was entirely her fault in the end.

TEN:

"Daddy, you're looking at me funny again." Katherine was frowning at Saito as she was eating breakfast.

Awakened from his thoughts Saito shook his head to get back to the present. "Eh? I was doing what?" He opened his eyes wide and stared at his daughter. "You mean I was looking at you like this?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes and set her rice bowl down on the table. "No, silly, you were looking at me like this." She gave a good imitation of a lecherous look she had picked up from the TV, then broke into laughter.

On the other side of the table oba-san ate her own breakfast and smiled. "Ah! So I need to watch your father for being a pervert?" This conversation was normal between father and daughter, and oba-san knew it, even if she couldn't entirely understand the language spoken. "Maybe I shouldn't let your sweet daughter stay in your room with you after all."

Saito put his bowl and chopsticks down and looked toward the ceiling as he gave a tremendous sigh. "How often I heard that from her mother." He looked at his daughter. "Do you know what your mother would do to me then?"

Katherine gave a big sigh of her own. "Yes, about a thousand times. And how she would chase you around with her magic and a horse whip." She narrowed her eyes again and looked at her father. "Do I need to get a whip to keep you in line?"

Thankfully Saito had not translated all the conversations for oba-san. Taking in a breath, he blew it out again. "No, my dearest daughter, and you shouldn't be saying that kind of thing with oba-san around. Who told you that story anyway?"

Smiling, Katherine fluttered her eyelashes at her father. "Why Aunt Kirche told me. She always tells me a lot about you and mother, and what it was like in the old days. She even told me that when I'm old enough in a year or two for a boyfriend she will teach me how I should treat him." Her smile got bigger. "Pervert dog of a father."

The alleged pervert dog laid his head in his hands, leaning his elbows on the table. "Obviously, I need to have a long talk with your Aunt Kirche when we get back."

"Saito-kun, who is this Kirche you two keep referring to?" Oba-san looked at Saito in puzzlement. In the past two weeks she had picked up on names and some words that he and Katherine were speaking, just as Katherine had picked up some Japanese words.

Saito looked over at his landlady. "She was one of my wife's classmates and a friend of mine at school. She was really wild back then. In the picture she's the one holding to her husband's arm."

Oba-san smiled gently and nodded. "Ah, yes, that one. Those stories remind me of what I was like in school."

Saito's eyes opened wide and his mouth fell open for a second. Finally, shaking his head in a vehement 'no', he was able to stutter. "No, no! I don't think you could have been anything like Kirche."

Oba-san excused herself and went over to a chest by the wall. Opening it she rummaged a little, then took out a picture and returned to the table. "Here, Saito-kun, this was taken while I was a third year student." She held out the picture for him to look at.

He gently took it from her, gave it a look and promptly blushed. "You may be right. Sorry."

Katherine had slipped over beside her father to see the photo. "That was oba-san when she was young?"

Saito didn't realize she was there and her suddenly speaking by his ear startled him. He quickly moved the picture away from her sight, and handed it back to the sweet old lady on the other side of the table. "Yes, she says it was. And, no, you can't do that. Ever. Now finish your breakfast, we have things to do." He sighed and shook his head as he finished his own breakfast. Across from him his landlady would sigh every so often, and smiling, stare off into space as she ate.

Since Katherine had arrived, Saito, sometimes helped by oba-san, took her shopping for some clothes and even visited an amusement park. A few nights she had gone to the restaurant to have dinner and watch her father work. Yuji, an eight year old boy from two houses down, had also taken an interest in the cute girl and would take her to the local playground. Somehow the two children were able to communicate with each other and Saito was comfortable with them being together. But today was the last day before the eclipse and he needed to make the last minute preparations. It was getting hard to not be worried as the day had approached. Saito had to treat it as a normal day to take a flight, and that had become quite a job of acting for him. He had only given a bare outline to Katherine that they would be flying in an airplane tomorrow to watch the solar eclipse. Now tomorrow was almost here, and he was getting nervous.

While Katherine and oba-san cleaned up and prepared to go to the market, Saito stood at the door of his room looking around. Over the years he had only picked up the bare essentials to live. On one wall was his calendar and the paper with the date of the eclipse. A map from the science magazine was posted beside them, showing the track of totality. The other wall had the old storage chest for his clothes. On top of it sat the sword rack with Derflinger. The walls with the window and the door completed the room. His, and now Katherine's futons were folded in one corner. Beside the door sat his flight bag, complete with his maps. Sitting down on the tatami mats, he pulled the maps from the bag, making sure they were in order. Then he began to go over the course of the flight and compared it with the map of the eclipse totality. Compass readings, points to check off showing he was on course, times of flight compared with the magazine and newspaper articles giving the time of totality at a particular point. He hoped it was all there. Derflinger would just be carried along wrapped up in a cloth sword bag, so there would be no comment. A couple of days ago he had shown the maps to Katherine, pointing out check points. She could possibly be of help as an assistant navigator on the flight.

Going over all the calculations again took time. Finally completed, and his flight bag re-packed, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Tomorrow at this time he hoped to be with Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha. Back where he belonged, with his beautiful wife, Louise, and now Katherine. The Protector of Tristain fell asleep leaning against the wall of the warm room.

ELEVEN:

Saito sat in the darkness with his back against the wall, he was consciously trying to control his breathing. It was a long night, and he had finally given up trying to sleep. In front of him Katherine slept without a care in the world holding the stuffed bear he had bought her. Closing his eyes with his head leaning against the wall, he ran over the plan for tomorrow. No, that wasn't right, he told himself, it's today. The plan is for today. Thank heavens he had slept yesterday afternoon while Katherine and oba-san were out. Last night he had watched the weather report on TV. The weather was one thing he had no control of. Some clouds were okay, but if they were too thick, or covered too much of the sky, he would not be able to fly with his flight rating. The prediction was for partly cloudy locally for the eclipse. Unfortunately it wasn't locally that he was trying to intercept the totality at. All night he had been offering silent prayers for good weather for his mid-day flight.

A poke in the ribs jarred Saito awake. Opening his eyes was hard with the bright light coming through his window. In front of him was Louise smiling and looking him in the eyes.

"Daddy, are you going to sleep all day?" Katherine poked him again, and he blinked at her. Then with a smile he grabbed her in a hug. "Not so tight, Daddy!" His arms released her, and he blinked again.

"Katherine? I didn't realize it was you. You look just like your mother." Yawning, he stretched and looked around. The futons were put away already, and the daylight said it was mid-morning. Suddenly he sat up. "What time is it? I must have finally fallen asleep. Is breakfast ready?" He stopped when he realized his daughter was leaning toward him with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. "Uh, something wrong?"

"You didn't know it was me? Were you expecting oba-san maybe?" Katherine pursed her lips then gave one of Louise's smiles. "Could the stories Aunt Kirche was telling me be true, pervert dog father?" She stood upright and looked at him, a small version of his wife right down to the expression on her face.

His eyes widened and he didn't quite know what to say. He did think he had been grabbing Louise as he woke up. "I'm sorry, but you looked like your mother, so I was giving you a hug." He tried to look innocent. "That's okay, isn't it?"

She moved back a step, crossed her arms over her yellow tee-shirt with the teddy bear face, looked at him, then gave a beautiful smile. "Maybe, maybe not. I think I'll tell momma and see what happens. And the things oba-san did as a girl may interest her too. It's just like the stories Aunt Kirche tells me about you and all the girls at school. I want to see momma chase you with the whip and her magic. Osman-sensei says the school is too quiet since you've been away." The smile got bigger. "Pervert dog father."

Saito, the pervert dog father, looked at his very grown up, very young daughter, and raised an eyebrow. "You are my evil, evil daughter!" He shook his head and started to smile. "Obviously you take after your Aunt Eleanor. And being beaten by your mother is not my idea for an exciting school day." Slowly he started to stand up, keeping an eye on his daughter the whole time. "And I'm not sure a certain very mean little girl should go on a flying trip with her poor, innocent, and mistreated, father." His grin was as evil as hers. Then he reached out and picked her up, holding her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And what do you think about that?"

"Just kidding with you." She gave him a hug and kiss back. "Oba-san says breakfast is ready and wanted me to wake you up."

With a roll of his eyes, Saito opened his room door and carried Katherine to the dining area. She kept her head laying on his shoulder, with a sweet smile that he couldn't see, but knew was there.

Breakfast was finished quickly and oba-san had already made a pair of bentos for Saito and Louise to take with them on the flight. Saito took Katherine back to his room to pick up his flight bag. He had been debating whether or not to tell her the real plan for the flight. Finally he decided not to, if it succeeded he wouldn't need to tell her. Should the plan fail he didn't want her to be depressed or upset. Not that he would allow for failure.

Saito entered the room and went over to the chest and picked up the silent Derflinger. Sliding the blade from the scabbard he gave a smile, then pushed it back in. Katherine stood by the door expectantly waiting for instructions. Opening one of the drawers of the chest, he took out a bag that oba-san had made to hold his sword. Putting it inside the bag and tying the cords he gave it to Katherine to hold. "Take good care of this. He is a good friend of mine." Solemnly she nodded and tightened her grip on the sword. Another glance around the room and he picked up the flight case beside the door. He smiled at his happy daughter. "Okay, let's go take you on an airplane ride."

TWELVE:

Saito's hand was shaking as he reached to open the front door of the house. Katherine was with Yuji in front of his house telling him about her flight and the eclipse that she had seen from the air. Yuji, with a big grin, was nodding silently in response, even though Saito knew he couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. Since getting off the bike even his knees were trying to shake as he entered the house. He had to take a deep breath to call out a greeting to oba-san, "I'm home."

"You're back already, Saito-kun? I wasn't expecting you until later." A smiling oba-san came into the entrance hall. "Would you like dinner early?"

Saito shook his head as he put the slippers on his feet. "No thanks, the regular time will be fine. Katherine is playing with Yuji, so I think they'll be going to the playground."

Oba-san folded her hands and stood quietly. "Did you have a good flight?"

With effort Saito smiled back at her. "It was wonderful. Katherine had never seen an eclipse, and we were above the clouds where it was clear. Totality was an awesome experience from the air. We could see the edge of daylight and dark on the ground the entire time." He had been walking toward his room while he was talking. Sliding his door open he smiled again at his landlady. "I'm going to rest a while, but I'll be out for dinner." Stepping into his room he gave a quick bow and slid the door shut.

Once alone in his room, Saito dropped his case in it's usual place by the door and leaned Derflinger beside it. Suddenly he had to brace himself with both hands on the wall as his legs almost gave out. His eyes were tightly shut and what could be tears began to seep out. He stood leaning against the wall for several minutes while he gathered his thoughts and sought to control his body. The entire time he was silent. Finally he could depend on sitting without collapsing first on the floor. With his back and head against the wall and his eyes shut he began to analyze what had happened, or not happened, during the flight. It had been a beautiful day for flying. Katherine had ridden on dragons so flying wasn't the new sensation, it was being in the enclosed cabin that was different. With a borrowed pair of headphones she had kept up a continuous conversation about what she was seeing. They had made the final checkpoint on Saito's map early and had to circle above the broken cloud before the eclipse itself began. As the moon moved in front of the sun the darkness came with it. Saito gently shook his head slowly and gave a wry smile as he remembered that part of the flight. In hindsight, that darkness had seeped into his mind at the same time. Complete totality came quickly, Saito had circled and even turned toward the black circle of the sun three times. Then the edge of the bright sun began to show again, the eclipse was past totality and was moving on. The eclipse was over and Saito was still on his earth. He circled several times before the implications fully sank into his mind. He hadn't made it back home to his Louise.

It was then that a remark Katherine had made when he first told her about the eclipse two weeks ago, made sense. She had been excited because Wulfheim-sensei had told his class that the next eclipse wouldn't be for another thirteen years, and little Katherine would be 18 years old. Saito had planned everything as it should have been, with one mistake on his part. He shook his head again. No, it wasn't a mistake, it was not enough information. It was not using the eclipse on his earth that mattered, it never had been. It was the eclipse in Louise's world that was needed. Had he flown at a time of an eclipse coordinated with Louise's world he would have returned, just as he could have when flying his Zero fighter years ago. But that would not be for many years. Four years of training for this day was destroyed in a second. Quietly in complete frustration and alone, Saito cried.

THIRTEEN:

Tabitha and Louise looked around the very crowded room. Louise shook her head. "We need all these people? Queen Henrietta told me she wanted this to be low key so it could remain secret."

Tabitha didn't even glance at her friend. "Everything is as it should be. Everyone here is needed to pull Saito and Katherine back." She strode further into the secret room, then brought her staff down hard on the flagstone floor. All eyes turned toward the Counselor, and in silence they waited for instructions.

Queen Henrietta stood to one side until she caught Louise's eye. Then smiling she came over to her long time friend. Louise started to bow, but Henrietta stopped her. "Please, I told you the other day that you are my special friend, and that will not be required of you." She pulled Louise over and hugged her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now let's get Saito back." Louise smiled back at her just as she had years ago, and nodded.

Tabitha took control of the room. She glanced around at the old friends gathered together, each holding their personal magical staff. For once Kirche wasn't wrapped around Harry, and she even had a serious expression. "All right, Kirche stand there." Using her staff Tabitha pointed to a spot near the dimensional equipment. "Harry, beside her, just there. Next Louise, then Queen Henrietta. I'll be between Kirche and the Queen." After all were in place, she turned toward the newcomers. "Commander Agnes, you and your officers will stand just in front of the portal. Remember to use the dark glass you were given to protect your vision before the portal opens. When the portal opens, you must jump through, grab Saito and Katherine and get back quickly. I don't know how long we can keep the portal open. Do you understand?" All four musketeers nodded.

Agnes snapped to attention and saluted, then directed her three loyal officers to the places where Tabitha indicated. She looked over and nodded to Tabitha when they were ready.

Everyone was watching Tabitha for the signal to begin the retrieval operation. Slowly Tabitha looked around the room and at each volunteer. Then she rechecked the placement of the lenses. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, when she reopened her eyes she looked at the portal frame. "Begin now, one, two and three."

There was a flash of light in the room. At first it pulsed, then as the mages combined powers joined together the light brightened and held steady. In front of the musketeer officers the entire portal was turning white.

FOURTEEN:

Saito had finally been able to control his emotions before Katherine came in from the playground. He was sitting at the table in the eating area talking to oba-san when she slid the front door open and ran in, almost forgetting to remove her shoes. Her short blue skirt had dirt on the rear and the teddy bear shirt looked as if she had been eating ice cream from the drips on it. Her face was one big smile.

"Daddy, Yuji's mother took us for ice cream, and then we played at the big park!" She stopped for a second, then held her shirt out. "I got ice cream on this. And the bench was dirty." She gave the quick bow that she had learned to do her first few days with her father. "I'm sorry." Katherine ran over and sat beside Saito and put her arms around him. "Oh, daddy, this has been the best day ever! I got to fly in an airplane with you. And then had ice cream with Yuji, and we got to play together at the big playground!" She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, daddy, for the best day ever!"

Oba-san watched Katherine and picked up on her tone of voice. "Ah, Saito-kun, I think Katherine enjoyed herself today." Her face became dreamy and she sighed. "It's been a long, long time since I had such a day. I guess it was in first year middle school, when my boyfriend and I..."

Saito was quick this time, he had learned what her reminiscing usually was about. "I'm sorry, oba-san, but I need to help Katherine get cleaned up." He stood and gave a short bow. Katherine watched him, then jumped up herself with a bow. "We'll be back in a few minutes." As he headed toward their room, he was pulling his daughter behind him.

Shutting the door behind them Saito leaned against it and rolled his eyes. In front of him his daughter started to get a mischievous grin. "Oba-san start to tell you another of her stories? I'm surprised my pervert daddy didn't listen." She giggled at the look her father gave her. "Was she as bad as Aunt Kirche?"

Saito frowned at his way too knowledgeable young daughter. "At least as bad as your Aunt. And you shouldn't pay attention to such stories, you are way too young for that. Now let's get those dirty clothes off of you."

Katherine raised her arms up for Saito to pull her shirt off. "Ouch! That was my nose daddy." She rubbed it vigorously, while her daddy shook his head.

Saito opened a drawer of the chest and poked around. "Where are your clean shirts? All I can find is your school blouse." He pulled it out and held it up. Suddenly he remembered, today was their normal laundry day, so she didn't have any other shirts. "I guess you can wear this, and take off the skirt. Your school uniform works for now." As he handed the fresh clothes to his daughter, it was Louise that he saw in his mind. The Louise that treated him as a normal Familiar instead of a human young man. The Louise that would have him dress and undress her to his initial embarrassment.

"Daddy, you're looking at me funny again." Katherine had taken the shirt and was buttoning it. "Bet you thought I was momma again." She started to step into the skirt, and reached out to hold Saito's arm to keep her balance. When finished she stood straight and flipped the ends of her hair, and smiled at her father. "You are a definitely a pervert dog, daddy. I'll be glad when mommy comes to get us so you can look at her that way."

Saito's mouth fell open as he stared at his daughter. He couldn't even think of something to say because he did keep seeing Louise in his daughter.

Katherine went over to the drawer and pulled out her wand and cloak. "Momma should be coming soon, so I need to have these ready." When she turned around and faced her father his face showed confusion. "What's wrong, daddy?"

"Why would you think your mother will be here soon?" His mind had been entirely on the eclipse flight for the past few years, now he was confused by her certainty that Louise was soon coming for them.

Katherine sighed and gave her father the same look a teacher would give the most uneducated student. "Daddy, I bet you made the flight today so you could return to momma. Just like she said you could have returned here by flying into the eclipse at home, but instead stayed with her." She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him. "You never even asked how I got here, did you."

Saito blinked at her a couple of times, then looked out the window at the early evening light. Finally he took a deep breath and knelt down to Katherine's level. "You're right on both counts. I was trying to return by flying into the eclipse. I trained myself four years just for today. And you're also right again, it never crossed my mind to find out how you arrived here. I was too focused on what I was planning." He shook his head and looked at her. "I'm sorry, how did you come here?"

Katherine slowly shook her head then stepped over and put her hand on Saito's head rubbing it slowly. "You know daddy, momma and Aunt Kirche both said you could be slow at times." She stepped back from him and smiled. "Aunt Tabitha and Aunt Kirche discovered a way to open a window into your world. I happened to fall through it when momma helped them with her magic." She turned and looked around the room. "Once they recover their strength they will come back for us." Her smile became more like Louise's. "And daddy, my magic power is almost as strong as momma's. I really am taking some classes at the Academy now. So I can turn you into a very ugly toad if need be, when we get back." She went to the chest and picked up her wand and waved it at him. "Pervert father."

Stunned, Saito's eyes had opened wide, and his mouth had fallen open. "Your mother can get us at any time now?" He also looked around the room. "From here? Any day now?" He had fallen forward to put his hands on the tatami, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"Yes, daddy, any time after they recover their power." She touched the wand on his head. "I assume you do want to go back with me?"

Saito's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Saito-kun, I have another picture for you to see." He turned his head toward the door, but didn't have time to answer oba-san before a bright light filled the room. Quickly he turned back and saw what appeared to be a rectangular opening in mid-air, and through it he saw Louise. As his reactions began to kick in four women in musketeer uniforms jumped through the opening. Two grabbed Katherine and then jumped back through to the other side. Agnes and another officer ran toward him, grabbed his arms and lifted him up. Finally he brought himself to call out and point toward the door. "Derflinger, get Derflinger!" Agnes stopped and looked at the cloth sword case, then picked it up, ready to follow Saito and her officer toward the portal.

At that moment the door to the room opened and oba-san stood watching what was happening in the room. Speechless her hand went out with the picture and Agnes took it from her, gave a salute, turned and jumped through the portal. With no noise at all, the opening in front of oba-san vanished leaving her standing wide eyed with her hand out and mouth open, staring at the far wall of the room.

FIFTEEN:

Saito kept his eyes straight ahead looking at Louise as he jumped through the portal with the musketeer officer still holding to his arm. Louise's eyes were closed in concentration and didn't see him standing there. Behind him he heard a thump as Agnes came back to this world. As she passed through she shouted, "Done!" He watched as Louise visibly relaxed, bringing down her arms with her magical staff.

Her eyes opened and she smiled at him. "Hello, dear, welcome home." She leaned on her staff and held it with both hands from exhaustion. "I'm happy you're back." She started to move toward her returned husband, but Kirche moved first.

From behind Saito a pair of arms wrapped around him. "My darling! I have missed you so much!" Kirche gave him a kiss full on the mouth. He stood in complete surprise, then tried to unwrap her from his body. In front of him Louise also stood speechless in surprise. "Kirche, let go! I'm glad to see you too, but let me see my own wife." He happened to look over at Harry standing quietly with a smile on his face. "Harry, get Kirche off me, please." The smile got bigger as Kirche's husband shook his head 'no'. Finally he managed to get Kirche moved around to where his arms were able to reach for Louise.

Louise stood quietly with her face darkening in anger just like years before. "Saito, will you leave that pervert alone and come here to me?"

Saito moved forward and reached out for Louise, still dragging Kirche with him. "It's not my fault, I'm coming!" Finally he was close enough to take her in his arms. "I missed you, too." They kissed, still with Kirche holding to him.

Katherine was standing next to Agnes watching the action unfolding in front of her. She happened to see the picture that Agnes was holding and reached out taking it from her hand. When Agnes looked down, she smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, I know this is for daddy." Agnes nodded and looked back at Saito, Kirche and Louise.

Everyone started to crowd around Saito at the same time. Queen Henrietta moved over near him and then nodded at Tabitha. Tabitha nodded back, then turning toward the magical apparatus in the center of the room she pointed her staff at it. Without even a flash of power the parts began to dissolve, turning into a clear liquid and wood dust. It was so quick that no one noticed. As the liquid seeped into the cracks of the stone floor she stepped further back from the crowd. Watching for a signal from the Queen, Tabitha stood silently watching everyone.

Queen Henrietta moved up to stand slightly behind Saito. Smiling she looked over at Tabitha and nodded again. Tabitha pulled an object from a pocket of her cloak then lifted her staff and brought it down hard on the floor. At the sudden bang of her staff all the noise in the room stopped and everyone turned to look at her.

Tabitha raised her hand with her fingers wrapped around an unseen object. "Nobles, musketeers, I need you to look at me please." Even Louise and Kirche stopped their fight and looked at Tabitha.

Saito was looking over his shoulder at Tabitha when a pair of hands pulled his face the other direction. Queen Henrietta was smiling at him, then leaned forward and kissed him. He suddenly saw a bright green light and the room was silent. In his arms, he felt Louise's body stiffen. Henrietta pulled her face back still smiling at him. "Henrietta, what was that for?" Her kiss had surprised him, and the fact he couldn't release his hands from around Louise confused him even more.

Henrietta's eyes started to show tears as she looked at her Protector. Her fingers gently moved on Saito's face. It took effort for her to speak, but it was something she had to do. "Saito, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to have ever sent you and Louise on that mission. Will you please forgive me?" Her voice caught. "And in a way I'm sorry that I can't have you by my side protecting me as you protect and love Louise." She leaned forward again and gave him a final gentle kiss. "I love you too, just like Louise. And I'll always hold our mission against Cardinal Richemont in my heart." Looking over at Tabitha she nodded again and moved slightly away from Saito. "What we are going to do now is to protect your world and ours. We cannot have any Nobles find out there is a way to another world for them to conquer." She paused as Saito looked confused. "Just as your world doesn't need to know that we are here. Do you understand?"

From his initial confusion having the Queen confess to him, Saito had gathered his thoughts about what she was now telling him. He shut his eyes a second and then opened them again looking straight at Henrietta, and he nodded. "I do understand, Henrietta, about everything you said, thank you. And I have never blamed you about the mission. I could never do that to you. But what do I have to do now?"

"Just listen to my Chief Counselor." She looked again at Tabitha and nodded.

In the loudest voice Saito had ever heard from the quiet Tabitha she began to give the group instructions. "We are here to celebrate the return of our friend and the Protector of Tristain, Saito Hiraga. At the encounter with Magistrate Sheffield he was accidently transferred to a remote village in a mountainous area of the Gallian and Albion border. He suffered amnesia over the past seven years, and only recently regained his memory after he was found. He has been here to recover his memory." She looked at the Queen, nodded, and opened her hand again.

Saito was almost blinded by a flash of orange light. Then he felt Louise's body loosen in his arms. She picked up where she had stopped. Around the room everyone else started to talk again.

"Kirche, I love you as a friend, but let go of my husband! Go love on your own husband!" She tried to pry Kirche's arms from around Saito's waist.

Agnes turned toward Tabitha and saluted. "Do you require my officers any longer Chief Counselor?"

Tabitha smiled at her. "You may go, and thank you for your help." Agnes snapped to attention and saluted again, then turning, dismissed her officers. Quickly they left leaving the six friends alone in the room.

Katherine stepped from behind Harry and went over beside her father and mother. Louise looked down and reached to pick her up giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Dear, this is your daddy! Isn't it wonderful he was found!" She turned toward Saito. "This is our daughter, Katherine. Katherine this is your father."

Katherine reached out for Saito to take her and when he held her in his arms she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She leaned her head against his shoulder and hugged him.

Saito stood holding his sweet daughter when he heard her whisper in his ear. "Pervert dog of a daddy, oba-san left a picture for you." Grinning she pulled back to look him in the eyes. "And Aunt Henrietta really does love you, but I'll never tell." She leaned forward and gave him another kiss on his cheek. "I love you anyway daddy, and my visit was a lot of fun."

Surprised by Katherine's little revelations Saito tried not to show it. He put his hand up to move her head closer to him, and whispered. "Thanks, my dear daughter. We'll discuss all of this later." Then he gave her another kiss on the cheek. The smiling pervert dog stood quietly in the middle of the group of his old friends, holding his daughter and with his other arm around his beautiful wife. For the moment his life was just as he had wished for years. He would never let them disappear from his life again.

END