~ Chapter Three ~

Everyone was calmed down and I had just crawled into the bed after watching Molly and Lilah for a bit. Max, Rex, Lix, Keyx, Mar-Mar and Riku all settled in the living room and Kadaj was already asleep. Slowly, I dozed off.

¸.•*ღ*•.¸ ღ The Dream ¸.•*ღ*•.¸ ღ

Everything faded in slowly from the darkness. I was sitting in chair in a room that looked exactly like Namine's as I remember; but everything was black and a dark grey instead of white. The time staff was in the middle of the room, standing straight on its own. The outer rings and rod glew a golden color and the Key of Chronos was in the middle.

The key spun very fast and then a brilliant white hurt my eyes, making me turn away. When I looked back, the staff and key were gone. They were replaced with a giant snake that had three heads. The snake was between a Lion and a Bull.

I couldn't move from the chair to bow to the three animals, so I just lowered my head. "Aeon, I have failed." I said just loud enough for the three animals to hear. "Rise." A mental voice echoed in my head. I gained mobility again and got to my feet. The chair disappeared.

"Xiria," The serpent's mouth did not move at all. We could only contact mentally. "You have not failed. There is still a powerful key out there that you can receive before your time that will save your life. Not even I know why, but you are the most important Time Turner to me. You have the closest connection than anyone else."

I respectfully entered into his response. "But, Aeon, surely there has been one before me?" The serpent's head looked down. "You're the only one, ever."

"Can you tell me where or who has this key?" I asked.

The serpents head returned forward. "I cannot answer that Xiria, but I can give you an idea."

I held my arms and waited for his answer.

"He's been watching over you, all this time since you were born."

The serpent, bull and lion started to fade away without any other explanation. "Aeon!" I called, but nothing happened. The entire room's furniture went to black and the walls fell. The floor beneath my feet started to dissolve like sand, dragging me under.

((Aeon is the alternative word for 'God'. The point of the three animals is that they are all different forms of how Chronos appears.))

¸.•*ღ*•.¸ ღ End Of the Dream¸.•*ღ*•.¸ ღ

I woke up to the sun trying to break through my eyelids. The curtains were open and Kadaj wasn't in the bed, nor the room. I stretched and yawned before sliding out of the bed and going into the bathroom. After brushing my hair and teeth, I went into the twins' room. ((Xiria doesn't totally freak out after her dreams since they happen a lot.))

"They're in here, Xiri." Kadaj called from the living room. I waddled into the living room. Keyx had one of the girls (Lilah) and was making gooshie faces at her, which made me giggle. Keyx looked over. "Oh, morning Xiri." She smiled. "Morning!" I replied.

I tried stepping over everybody to get near the kitchen where Max was sitting with Molly. Since she had been here, I hadn't seen her hold either Molly or Lilah. Kadaj poked his head out of the kitchen just above Max. "Good morning, beautiful." He smiled. I gave him a kiss and stepped into the kitchen. "Watcha makin'?" Kadaj had a few counters and droors pulled out. "Your favorite omelet."

It's been awhile since I had treated myself to something I craved so I gave Kadaj a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks!"

I came out of the kitchen and sat next to Max. "Which one is she?" She asked, trying to find the difference between the two girls. "Well, see. Molly has her right eye that goes from orange to grey; Lilah has her left eye that way, so this is Molly. Once they get older it'll get easier to tell." Molly's eyes brightened and she covered her face with her hands. A toothless smile spread across her face and a little bit of slobber running down her cheek.

Max half smiled at Molly which lasted about five seconds. Ha, new record. She handed Molly over to me and I snuggled with her. She started pulling on my hair, which didn't hurt since she hadn't had any strength. She's just so weak and defensless…

Kadaj came out from the kitchen with a plate. "Here you go." He bent down and handed me the plate. There was a cheese omelet there with grinded pepper ontop and cheese sauce over the top. "Heehee, yay!" I got the plate and Kadaj took Molly. "Let's get you something, I know you're hungry!" Max and the now awakened Lix laughed.

"I've never heard him talk like that before." Lix said. Kadaj continued to talk to Molly while getting her a bottle. "I think it's adorable." I chirped and cut off a piece of the omelet. Keyx hopped into the kitchen and helped get another bottle ready for Lilah.

"…Hahahahaha! Look at them!" Max hissed in a whisper, pointing to Riku and Marluxia. Riku was sleeping on his side and Marly was up behind him with his arms over Riku's shoulders. I peeked over and fell back to laugh.

"That's priceless." Max chuckled.

Weeks flew by like mad and soon enough, Molly and Lilah had turned 2 months old. Everybody had to go back to Castle Oblivion to start up again since their vacation was over. Riku still dropped by for a visit every other week or so. The dream that I had awhile back still didn't make sence to me. I couldn't figure out who would have another key that would save my life.

~ November 1st ~

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Kadaj asked me while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yes, Daji. We can trust Riku! He wouldn't do anything to them." I replied with a laugh.

"I gave him an entire list of what to look out for and what to do. When to feed them and when to let them get a nap." I counted my fingers.

I just loved how much Kadaj worried about Molly and Lilah being babysat by Riku. Of course, I could trust him with all my heart, but Kadaj on the other hand always had 'What if' thoughts. "Let's just go find a nice fancy place to have dinner and maybe a walk by the beach and we'll be on our way home." I held his free hand and smiled at him.

Kadaj looked over and laughed. "I hate it when you use that smile."

When we arrived at this fancy Italian restraunt, we were escourted to an outside table. The night sky held many stars that hung over us like little sparks. "This is a very nice spot." I said as I took my seat.

The waitress set down two glasses of wine and our menus. "I'm Jacklyn and I will be you waitress this evening. Tonight are specials are.." I didn't really pay attention to the rest. We let her know that we weren't interested and just let her go about her business.

I picked up the fancy menu and looked at what they had. "Hm, this looks pretty good." Kadaj said. "What is it, hun?" I looked over the circular table. "Some Alfredo noodle stuff." He replied, still searching his menu. I giggled and found what he was talking about in the menu.

When Jacklyn came back, she took her orders and then went back inside.

"It's so quiet out here. You can't hear the crowd in town or anything. I don't think I've ever seen Midgar from this point of view before.." Kadaj smiled and propped his elbows up on the table. "It's a great town. There are so many great places around here that not a lot of people visit." He looked around.

I took a sip from the wine that was on the table. "Xiria," Kadaj's voice was just above a whisper. When I met his eyes, they seemed solemn and cold. I put down that wine glass and leaned in. "What is it?" Kadaj's eyes wondered the table and he dropped his head. "I'm confused…about all this. Rexeal's vision, a-and you. You don't seem scared at all."

I sighed and scratched my head. "Kadaj, there are a lot of things I haven't told you… About my dad, and everything before becoming a nobody. Don't get me wrong, I didn't lie to you at all. There's just a lot you should know that you weren't ever told."