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The Blue Rose Returns

Prologue

Her eyes open, and she begins breathing in short, ragged gasps. Memories come flooding back to her, and her teeth clench in anger. She doesn't know where she is, or how she got there, but she doesn't care. They would pay for what they had done to her, she would make sure of that. As she sits up, her eyes flash, then glow. Her anger envelops her like a blanket. It was comforting. Yes, they would pay. She smiles at this thought, and gets out of the bed that she had been sleeping in. They thought that they could rid themselves of her that easily? They were in for a rude awakening. They would soon see just what she could do. Revenge would be sweet. But first things first.

She needed her babies.

Chapter 1

Innocence

"Uncle Kai!" Kai turned around just in time to see a flash of long black hair before an object hurtling towards him sent him crashing to the ground. He looked up into the beaming face of a 7-year-old girl in a blue dress. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement, and a pang went through Kai as he was once again struck by how much the girl looked like her mother. But Kai repressed these feelings as best he could, and turned his attention back to the girl kneeling on his chest. "Guess what, Uncle Kai", she said with a giggle. Kai smiled. "What, Yuki?" "The teacher put a star on my paper, 'cause I had the best grade in the class!" Okay, this surprised Kai a little. Yuki's sister, Sakura, was usually the one with the better grades... In fact she always had better grades. Yuki excelled in gym, art, and music, but Sakura always did better in academics. "Out of the whole class?" "Yeah", she said with a smile, knowing what he meant, "even better than Sakura's!" "Wow", said Kai. "Great job, Yuki." Yuki grinned, and finally got off of Kai's chest. When Kai looked up, he saw Sakura, standing a little ways off, looking out from behind a tree. As Kai watched, a tear trickled down her cheek. Kai immediately walked over to her. She ran to him and hugged him, sobbing. "What's wrong?" She looked up at him with her tear-streaked face. "I'm sorry, Uncle Kai! I studied really hard for that test! I did!" Kai smiled. "Is that what you're so upset about?", Kai asked as soothingly as possible. "Don't worry Sakura. It's not a contest between you and your sister to see who gets better grades. It's okay that Yuki did better on this test. I know that you did your best, and that's all that matters." The little girl sniffled. "Really?" "Really", Kai said, smiling. "So no more crying, okay?" She nodded. "Good. Now come on. Lets go celebrate your sister's A, okay?" Sakura smiled. "Okay!" Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her dress, Sakura ran ahead of Kai to catch up with her sister. The two chattered happily, and Kai smiled. His moment of fear had passed. Just a few minutes of being with them had convinced him that the girls were nothing like their mother.

She was watching them the whole time. She was perched on a tree far away, but her super-human vision picked out everything as though she were standing right next to them. She could pick out every tear on one girl's face, and her heart throbbed. And anger welled up inside of her when she ran to HIM for comfort. She ground her teeth together. It took every bit of self control she had to not go down there and snatch the girl away from him. She could forgive Kai, because she still liked him, but she would never forgive the others. Especially not Saya. Not ever. It was all Saya's fault that her children were being kept away from her. Saya's fault that her life had been nothing but running and hiding. Saya was the reason for all the misery in her life. When she found her, Saya would pay. She would be the first. The girl's blue eyes sparkled at the prospect, the way that the little girl's eyes had when she had told Kai about her grade. How dumb. As soon as she had those girls, she would teach them everything that was more important than tests. Which was, pretty much, everything. As she watched the scene below her unfold, she got angrier and angrier. When Kai somehow managed to comfort the older girl, she was so angry that a branch that she hadn't even realized she was she was holding broke. It was loud, and fearing that she might be seen, she jumped from the tree limb and hid farther back in the trees. She was seething at having to hide from her own children, and at the fact that Kai had been able too comfort the girl. As much as she liked Kai, she hated him for that. Her anger raged inside of her, and as she retreated back to where she had planned to meet her last remaining chevaliar, she didn't know how she could wait for their plan to unfold. She didn't know how she could wait for Saya to wake up before taking revenge, either. But there were three things that she was sure of. One, that she would get her children back. Two, that they would all pay for what they had done too her, and three, that it was feeding time.

It was a weekend, and Kai had taken the girls to the park. In the two weeks since Yuki had gotten an A on her test there had been another, in which Sakura had done better, so things were back to normal, and Armageddon wasn't coming. The girls were playing tag, weaving in and out of trees, and Kai was watching them from a nearby bench. Watching the girls play tag was always interesting, because of the whole super-human strength thing. When it came to the fact that they were Chiropterans, Kai had hidden nothing from the girls. They fully understood what they were, and had accepted it as best as 7-year-olds could. It was just after Sakura had tagged Yuki and had climbed up a tree (all done in about 5 seconds flat), that Kai sawit. He didn't believe it at first, and walked over to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Even when he stared at it up close, he didn't quite believe it. It was only when he picked it up that he could no longer deny it's existence. It was a blue rose.

Memories flooded through Kai of everything that rose represented. He remembered Diva, her blue eyes glowing. He remembered her song, her fangs sinking into human flesh. He remembered the blood, all the corpses on the boat, Riku...

"Uncle Kai?"

Kai jerked back to reality, and turned around. Sakura and Yuki were standing there, worried expressions on their normally cheerful faces. Kai realized how long he must have been standing there for the girls to notice him in the midst of their game. He didn't want to worry them, so he put on the best imitation of a cheerful face that he could. "Sorry. Are you two ready to go home?" "Yeah, sure", said Yuki, but she and Sakura exchanged a worried look. They took Kai's hands and began the walk home. As they walked, Kai thought back to the blue rose, which he had dropped back in the park. It has to be a coincidence, Kai thought to himself. Diva was dead, he had seen that for himself. So were her chevaliars, he had seen that, too. He had seen them all die by Saya's sword... It had to be a coincidence. There was no other logical explanation. Still, should he call David just to make sure? No, David couldn't know anymore than he did, and besides, he and Julia would no doubt be busy with their own child. No, it was a coincidence, and nothing more. Best not to bother anyone else. Best just to concentrate on taking the girls home, and forget about the rose. Diva was dead, they were all dead, and they weren't coming back. Not ever. But no matter how many times he repeated that to himself, Kai couldn't quite shake the foreboding feeling that had settled in his stomach the second he found that rose.

He had seen the rose. He had gotten the message, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. She smiled. He had gotten his warning. It was finally time. She stood up. "Lets go." She would get her babies back. Nothing could stop her now.

"Okay, girls, time for bed." Yuki and Sakura groaned. "5 more minutes, please Kai", they begged. Kai smiled. "No, it's already past your bedtime." "Awwwwww!", they complained, but there were no more arguments. About 30 minutes later, Kai was tucking the girls into bed when he realized that he didn't have his wallet. "Shit", he muttered to himself, "I must have left it back at the park." He turned to the girls, already tucked into their beds on opposite sides of the room. "Will you two be okay if I run down to the park and get my wallet back?" The girls smiled. "We'll be fine, Kai. Go ahead", said Sakura. "Maybe you can stop by the store and get cookies, too?", Yuki added. Kai laughed. "Nice try." Yuki sighed and shrugged. "It was worth a shot." Kai smiled. Nope. Nothing like their mother. "I'll be back in 20 minutes." Kai walked down the stairs, thinking. He couldn't get the blue rose out of his mind. He wasn't sure what to think anymore. As he walked by the mantle, he stopped to look at the pictures that were placed there. There were pictures of all of them. Some were of Saya, some of Kai, some of his father, some of Riku, and lastly some of the twins. His eyes rested on one of Riku. "Why, Riku..."

CRASH!

Kai spun around. The sound had come from the twin's bedroom. He raced up the stairs. The twins were sitting up in their beds, absolute terror on their faces. The window was broken open, and sitting on the window sill was...Kai's eyes widened. She was exactly as he remembered. Short, black hair, blue eyes glinting, blue rose pinned to the front of her shirt. She smiled at the sight of him. "Well, hello, Kai. I didn't realize you were still here." Kai finally comprehended what he was seeing, and his mouth seemed to move on its own, saying what his mind was screaming out.

"D-Diva?"

Chapter 2

Diva

Diva had to admit, she really had thought that Kai had left. She had been too excited to sense him. She was finally seeing her children up close. She was a little annoyed that Kai had interrupted her, but she would forgive him. She was slightly saddened by the fact that her children were afraid of her, but then again, her entrance hadn't exactly been comforting. But maybe Kai could fix that. "Well, Kai, aren't you going to introduce me?" He just stood there, dumbstruck. She could smell his fear. It just made him cuter. Diva smiled, then slid off the windowsill. She advanced toward Kai, who took a step back. "What's wrong, Kai? Aren't you happy to see me?" Kai was practically shaking. Diva had to suppress a giggle. "H-How are you...", Kai began. Diva smiled. "How am I still alive? It's a funny story. Because some of the D-Base in my body was passed onto my babies, my internal organs were free of it, and continued working after I was crystalized. My sister's sword was out of blood when she tried to kill Nathan, so he survived, and has had several scientists working for years on reviving me." Diva twirled a little as she finished, "They finally succeeded, and here I am!" Kai seemed to have grown bolder during her explanation. "What do you want? Haven't you screwed up my life enough?" Diva smiled, and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Isn't it obvious, Kai? I want what's mine." Kai's eyes widened in realization. "You want-", he began. "My babies", Diva finished. "You put that rose there!" Diva laughed. "You're finally catching on! Yes, I put it there. I knew how you would react, and that you'd leave something at the park and go back for it, so I could come get my babies." Diva smiled, and reached out to touch Kai's face. "You know, Kai, my offer is still open for you to become my chevaliar." "WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?" Diva turned, and saw that one of her babies, the one with her eyes, had yelled. Diva had almost forgotten them. She smiled. "Why don't you ask 'Uncle Kai'." The girls turned their tear-stained faces to Kai. He looked away. Diva saw an opportunity forming. "Go on, Kai. I thought you weren't hiding anything from them." Diva had him pinned down. "Yuki, Sakura, this is...your mother." The girls were stunned, but Diva smiled. "Yuki! Sakura! What pretty names! I've missed you girls so much! We are going to have such a good life!" "Hold it!" Kai yelled. "You're not taking them anywhere!" Diva laughed. "And you're going to stop me, Kai?" Diva advanced on him again. "If you do anything to me, those girls will hate you." Kai was growing braver by the minute. Diva smiled. "They're so young, they'll eventually forget." Diva turned away from Kai, and walked towards the girls. "NO", screamed Kai, lunging at Diva. He felt her hands on his shoulders, his back hit the wall, and the next thing he knew, it was morning. He looked around. Diva was gone... and so were Yuki and Sakura.