Alright, firstly I want to say thank you so much for your patience and I am SO SORRY for the long wait. I've been so busy with moving into college and getting adjusted and also figuring out this plot that made me go back and rewrite the beginning of this story. So sorry about that ;-;
(Also I want to mention there might be a trigger warning at the end of this prologue; there's going to be character death and slight gore, just letting you know. :/ )
Enjoy :D
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Prologue
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Black shoes clicked against the marble floor, pacing agitatedly in front of two elaborate doors. Fingers stroked his beard and rubbed his temple, then moved further upwards and ruffled his already messy hair. His hands traveled back down and started to rub against each other in a vain attempt to sooth their shaking.
"Dr. Tenma?" A voice spoke, startling the pacing man. "Are you alright?" The man turned to the source of the voice, relaxing slightly.
"I'm fine," Dr. Tenma breathed. "If this goes to plan… well, I just hope this goes to plan."
"You'll be fine. And don't worry," the other man smiled, patting his shoulder comfortingly, "When I introduce you, I'll make sure the crowd will be drooling to see your face and hear this marvelous presentation."
"So many people have showed up…" Tenma peeked through the crack of the doors. "Is that the president of Germany?"
"Seems so. Apparently it's not just Japan you've interested, my friend, and I'm quite sure I saw the Prime Minister of the UK here, too."
"Everything had better go to plan…" Clothes ruffled and the other man pulled out a small device that lit up the dim hallway.
"Oh, it's almost time! I'd better get in there. You ready, William?" The man looked at Dr. Tenma encouragingly. Dr. Tenma inhaled deeply.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Pack," he breathed, calling his old friend by a nicknamed reserved solely for him. Dr. Packerdermus Elefun chuckled.
"Haven't heard that nickname in a while," he smiled. "Best of luck to you, Bill!"
"Same to you," Dr. Tenma spoke to the retreating figure as his friend walked through the wooden doors, entering the auditorium that echoed loudly with the hundreds of voices seated within.
Dr. Elefun made his way to the stage at the end of the auditorium, and waited at the base of the stairs for his time to introduce his friend, and more importantly, their presentation. Dr. Tenma watched him till he reached the stage, before resuming his anxious pacing.
"You'll be fine, Bill," Tenma stopped pacing and this time frowned at this new person who'd spoken.
"What gave you the idea that I was nervous?"
"I never said that you were nervous," the woman smiled. Tenma realized what he'd said and rubbed his face, groaning.
"There are so many important people here, I can't mess this up…"
"You'll do fine," the woman reached her hand up and rubbed his back comfortingly. "You always do fine at these sorts of things. Once you get out there, you'll be the proud, confident man I know you to be."
"Why aren't you sitting in the audience?" Tenma asked her.
"I wanted to wish you good luck," the woman smiled. "A wife should always wish her husband good luck."
"Really?" Tenma raised an unbelieving brow.
"I also knew how much of a nervous wreck you were going to be before the presentation started so I came back here to calm you down." She grinned, a laugh in her eyes.
"I am not a nervous wreck." Tenma grumbled.
"Not all the time, but before important presentations you are."
"Not really."
"William Alfred Tenma, I have been married to you for eight years, I think I would know when you become a nervous wreck or not."
"Oh, so you know all of my secrets, do you, Hoshie Michi Tenma?" he shot back, a spark of playfulness in his eye.
"It's not exactly a secret," Hoshie raised a sly eyebrow. Tenma rubbed his face again.
"I thought you came back here to comfort me!"
"I'm sorry!" Hoshie laughed, "I'm just teasing you, I'm sorry!" She kissed his cheek and he kissed her back, his eyes softening.
"Don't be, it's working," he muttered.
"Oh, by the way…" Hoshie's smile widened, "I have a big surprise for you. It'll have to wait, of course, till after tonight but… I'm sure you're going to love it."
"I'm not sure if I should be scared or excited right now," Tenma chuckled, "Can you give me a hint?"
"You'll catch on too quickly if I give you a hint," Hoshie winked, holding her hands together by her abdomen, "But It'll give you something to look forward to."
"Dr. Tenma?" A man poked his head through the doors, "Five minutes till its your turn on stage."
"Thank you," Tenma said before turning to his wife, "You'd better go sit down."
"Good luck," Hoshie kissed him one last time before entering the auditorium. As she walked down the aisle, the lights in the large room darkened greatly, and a spotlight lit up the stage.
"May I have your attention, please?" A sallow faced man spoke into a microphone in the center of the stage, hushing the clamoring voices of the crowd gathered before him. "The presentation will begin in a moment. Please keep your cellphones and other devices turned off during this live presentation. Thank you." The sallow faced man walked off the stage, nodding to Dr. Elefun who nodded back. Dr. Elefun stepped up the stairs to the stage and walked to the microphone, smiling proudly in the spotlight.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen." He spoke in a clear voice that carried throughout the auditorium. "My name is Dr. Packerdermus Elefun, second-in-command to Dr. William Tenma. Now, don't you all worry, the man you all wish to see tonight will be here presently. I'd like to begin tonight talking about a certain form of energy, or rather, where it came from."
The spotlight shining on the scientist darkened, and the large screen behind him lit up. A graph of a humanoid figure appeared, its arms and legs spread out not unlike Da Vinci's 'Vitruvian Man.'
"Starbornes," Dr. Elefun began. "There is nothing in this world more mysterious or powerful than these beings. You all know of them, and some of you might even know them personally, but nothing has fascinated us scientists more than the powers they posses. Starbornes can accomplish incredible feats, withstand extreme conditions, and have abilities some might even call supernatural. And yes, some have taken advantage of their power, causing massive wars and devastation." The image behind him changed from powerful humans to a barren landscape, images of wars in the past caused by said powerful beings. "But how did they become so powerful? What gives them the energy, the power, that they wield?
"Three centuries ago, in the year 2020, a meteor containing thousands of different, quite unique crystals almost like a geode would carry it's beautiful cargo fell to earth. When it entered our atmosphere, the more brittle rock part of the meteor dissolved and scattered it's contents around the globe, via wind or ocean currents or hurricanes. Shortly after, a young man stumbled upon one of the pieces of the meteor, and somehow absorbed a strange energy force kept inside the crystal, which in turn gave him extraordinary and unearthly powers. He was the first of the race of StarBorne.
"Since then, people have sought to get their hands on these crystals, each of which contained a strange powerful energy that granted humans an incredible, and sometimes dangerous power. Scientists have longed to discover the cause of this, what that energy exactly is, and how we might reap its benefits. But over time, finding the crystals have become increasingly harder, as more and more people had landed their hands on the raw material before scientists could even think to study it. While studying Starbornes is fascinating, we scientists wished to study the energy in its purest form, from the crystal itself. For years we have tried to discover a pure raw crystal; and as of three months ago, three pure crystals have been discovered. Behold—," The screen lit up to show images of two, beautiful stones which radiated light and energy. On his left was a shining blue crystal that gave off a soft, cheery sky-blue glow, the middle a pale yellow crystal, hardly glowing compared to the first, and the crystal on the right emitted a deep, ruby red glow that came off as more eery than the other two.
"Behind me are images of the Azurem Crystallus," he gestured to the blue one, "The Ianthos Crystallus, and the Cruentus Crystallus," he gestured to the green and red. "Which, if you translate the scientific names we gave them, just means Blue Crystal, Yellow Crystal and Red Crystal," he chuckled, a few others across the auditorium laughing with him.
"Let me explain to you as simply as possible what we have discovered about these crystals and what we hope to achieve with them. The Ianthos is an interesting crystal." The screen zoomed into the middle, yellow crystal. "While studying it, scientists have discovered that it has a habit of absorbing any metallic materials it touches and converts the absorbed matter to the crystal it is made out of, enlarging it. We have taken great care to make sure it does not grow too big and keep it in a large anti-gravitational containment unit, and we hope to continue studying this spectacular form of energy.
"The Cruentus Crystallus, however, is, as we've discovered, quite dangerous," Elefun went on. "The Cruentus is extremely unstable, and gives off enormous amounts of energy at spontaneous or irregular times," he said, "As we continue to study it, we shall take extra care to not touch this particular source of energy, as it is most likely one of the more dangerous ones, especially if it fell into the wrong hands.
"And finally, the Azurem Crystallus," Elefun gestured again towards the blue crystal. "This crystal we've found holds a power source ten times stronger than nuclear energy and so much more pure! If, say, we were able to unlock it's power, it might be enough to power all of Japan for more than three thousand years!
"And what if I told you that we have indeed discover a way to utilize it? 'How?', you might ask. How are we planning to unlock its power? How are we planning to study and use it? Both questions are answered with one man; Dr. William Tenma." The large screen behind Dr. Elefun lit up with the face of a bushy-haired, thin bearded, long nosed man. "Dr. Tenma, a Nobel Prize Winner and prodigy, and who has created at least a thousand different designs for robotic helpers and employees—most of which are distributed around the world and are found in every home and city—and is what I can proudly say an esteemed colleague of mine, is working to unlock the power of the Azurem and create a generator that will send the power of the Azurem Crystallus to our homes across the nation and give us light and heat. But I think you've heard enough from me, I believe it would be best if you heard it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak," Elefun chuckled before standing to attention, his face proud. "Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and welcome the man who has made this all possible. The man who found these crystals with the technology he himself created, and the very man whose intuition and gifts are a great blessing to this nation. Please welcome, Doctor William Alfred Tenma!"
The audience erupted into a barrage of claps and whistles as Dr. Tenma pushed through the doors made his way down the center aisle of the auditorium. His shoulders were pushed back, the nervousness gone to be replaced with pride, and a broad smile rested on his face. He shook hands with Dr. Elefun once he stepped onto the stage and, when he reached the podium, held up his hand to quiet the audience.
"Thank you," Tenma greeted the crowd as they settled back into their seats. "Thank you, everyone. I, of course, couldn't have done it without the help of Dr. Elefun," He gestured to the older scientist, who beamed. "He has helped to estimate the power these energy sources hold, which in turn helped me to create the basics of the generator. The project is not finished, but it is under way. In roughly seven years time, if all goes to plan, we will have activated the generator and said goodbye to nuclear energy and dangerous power plants.
"The plan is that the generator," he continued, turning to the screen which had turned into a large map, "Will be placed in a special containment unit a few miles outside of Metro City. Currently we are working on designing a system that connects all cities, towns, and homes of Japan's power to this generator, so that everyone can share the energy of this self-sustaining crystal. Now, I know what you're all probably thinking. 'Couldn't that lead to catastrophe?' 'What if the generator were destroyed or damaged once it's connected to everything in Japan! The entire country would be powerless!' Not to worry. I and a team of experts have already thought through every possible catastrophic situation.
"If the main generator or the Azurem itself gets damaged so that it can no longer distribute energy, say, at least three days after being turned on, each city or town's private generator that has been hooked to the main generator will have enough of the Azurem's energy to keep going for at least ten years! As I mentioned previously, this energy is completely self-sustaining that can last an immeasurable amount of time away from its original source, and ten years would give us more than enough time to rebuild or replace the generator so that Japan wouldn't ever have to suffer a black out again.
"Now," Tenma beamed at his audience, "To make this a reality, your support is greatly needed in this task. Help us to create a clean, eco friendly energy source without fear of a nuclear meltdown or possible blackouts. Help us create a better world, a better future, for our children and their children. A better, safer, cleaner world, where all reap the benefits."
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Hoshie squeezed through the crowd, her brown eyes searching for a familiar tall form. She pushed past ambassadors and scientists, apologizing for the bumps and pushes she caused. Eventually she spotted him and her pace quickened, then it slowed. Dr. Tenma was currently in a deep conversation with another man who wore thick rimmed glasses and a serious scowl on his face. Hoshie stopped approaching, not wanting to interrupt her husband's conversation, and patiently waited a small distance away.
"…Not even sure why you even thought to use the same energy as those freaks who blew up New York in 2081," the man was saying, his arms crossed. "You're seriously planning on putting that same energy into our homes?"
"Of course not," Dr. Tenma responded, "The energy of the Azurem has been tested over and over and is perfectly safe. Also, its energy is completely different than the energy of those that destroyed New York; also, the New York attack was done by a starborne, this energy is just… energy. A tool for us to use."
"And what if someone were to use that crystal to become a starborne? What then?" The man said snidely.
"We have the Azurem under tight lock and key, in the most high tech vault you could possibly imagine. We only take it out when we need to research or run tests; and even then we take extra care to not touch or misuse its incredible energy."
"Sounds like a waste of time and money," the man shook his head. "You sure won't be getting any funding from me. Have a nice night, Dr. Tenma," the man said in the most annoyed voice possible, before strutting away leaving behind an exhausted Dr. Tenma.
"He seemed cheerful," Hoshie observed, startling her husband. Dr. Tenma turned, relieved to see his wife.
"You have no idea," he groaned. "I'm just glad he didn't notice you standing there…"
"Who was that, exactly?" she asked.
"That was Drake Lamp, founder of Lamp Industries. He's known for being disapproving of the Starborne, especially the extremely powerful ones.
"Does he even know who you're married to?" she chuckled. Tenma shrugged.
"I have no clue what he knows, it's not like we keep it a secret…"
"Still," Hoshie sighed, "What he said about Starbornes, I'm used to it."
"What, being called a 'freak'?" Tenma raised an eyebrow.
"Such language is trivial and hardly phases me," Hoshie stuck her nose in the air, putting on an air of haughtiness. "I am above such banal insults." Her pretend demeanor broke and she let out a laugh that sounded like music to her husband's ears.
"May I have a hint to that surprise now?" Tenma asked. Hoshie stopped laughing but her smile widened.
"Impatient, are we? Well, I suppose I could give you a hint." She leaned in closer and put her lips near his ear. Softly, she whispered, "You'll find out what it is when we get home."
"That's not a hint," Tenma complained, "Come one, give me a real one."
"No, you're too smart! You'll see right through me," Hoshie laughed.
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment," Tenma deadpanned. "Not one hint?"
"I did give you a hint, you now know the whereabouts of where I'll break the news."
"You're impossible," Tenma grumbled.
"You love me," Hoshie grinned.
"Oh, I do? This is news to me. Tell me, when did I fall in love with such a sly vixen?"
"I believe it was nine years ago."
"Nine years ago? Really? That long?"
"Mhmm," Hoshie smiled, "Now, enough flirting sir. You need to go back to work." Tenma sagged just slightly.
"You're right," he sighed. "Are you going to go home?"
"Yeah, my feet hurt a bit and I don't want to get in the way between you an potential funders. I'll be waiting for you," she smiled. Tenma smiled back.
"I look forward to it," he replied, kissing his wife's hand. Hoshie waved farewell before disappearing into the crowd. Tenma watched her go, wondering just what the surprise was she had for him. He glanced around the many people he had to talk to and hopefully convince to give money for their cause, and sighed. Could the end of the night come any quicker?
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Hoshie was sitting on the couch wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe, watching a random cooking show when her husband finally entered through the front door. She heard him kick of his shoes and tiredly make his way to the living room, tossing his jacket and scarf onto the couch before collapsing next to her, groaning loudly.
"Hello, there," she muttered, smiling.
"Hi…" he breathed, completely exhausted.
"How'd it go?"
"Well enough… but now I'm home," He looked at her curiously, "Now what's this surprise you have for me?"
"Hah, straight to the point, I see. Well, I've made you wait long enough for it," Hoshie smiled widely and sat up, turning off the tv. She turned to her husband, lacing her fingers together. "Bill… You know… you know how we've been trying to have a baby for a long time?"
"Yes?" Tenma sat up straighter, his curiosity growing. "Your point?"
"Well…" Hoshie grinned, "Point is, William, in about seven months, nervousness from looming presentations won't be the only thing keeping you up at night."
Tenma stared blankly at her for a moment absolutely confused. Hoshie laughed. "Come on, I thought you were smart," she jabbed his arm playfully. Tenma blinked, processing her words.
"Are you saying… what I think you're saying?" he said slowly, hardly daring to believe the conclusion he'd made in his mind.
"I'll put it into simple words for you," Hoshie smiled, tenderly taking hold of his hand and resting it against her stomach. Tenma's breath hitched and he stared wide eyed into her light brown eyes. "I'm… I'm pregnant, Bill," she whispered, her eyes shimmering. "You're going to be a father."
Tenma's eyes filled with tears and he held his hand gingerly on her stomach, hardly daring to believe these good news. These incredible news. For so long he and his wife had tried to have children; for eight years they tried. The fact that she was going to bear him a child finally, after so many years, had rendered him absolutely speechless. What he'd thought was impossible had just become possible, and he was filled with a joy he could barely comprehend.
"S…seven months, you say?" he finally croaked out, his eyes lifting from her stomach to her brown irises. "So you've been pregnant for… for two months now…?"
"I wanted to be absolutely sure I was pregnant so I waited to tell you," she replied. "I could barely believe it myself but… We're going to be parents!"
"I'm… I'm going to be a dad," Tenma voiced hoarsely, "I'm going to be a dad! And you—," he laughed, taking hold of the back of her head and kissing her swiftly, "You are going to be the best mother in the world."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, but I'll try my best," Hoshie smiled, rubbing her stomach.
"You always do your best, which is why you'll be so great," Tenma smiled, kissing her again. Hoshie giggled, closing her eyes at his affection. The two were quiet for a few moments, just resting in that beautiful moment between the two. "What do you think it will be?" Tenma finally whispered, running a hand over hers as she massaged her abdomen. "Boy or girl?"
"It's going to be a boy," Hoshie said confidently, "I'm positive it's going to be a boy."
"Oh, you're positive, huh?" Tenma grinned, "Who am I to disagree, then?"
"Hmm, you'd better agree with me," Hoshie moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You'd be a fool not to. Call it a mother's intuition."
"And if it is a boy, what should we name him?" he asked. Hoshie remained thoughtful for a moment.
"Tobio," she said. "I want to name him Tobio. Toby for short."
"Tobio…" The name was pleasant to Tenma and his smile broadened. "Capital choice, my dear. And if it's a girl?"
"I'll think of a girl name later… but I'm quite sure it's going to be a boy."
"I guess we're going to have to wait and see," Tenma kissed her temple tenderly. Hoshie shifted, looking up at her husband, a question in her eyes.
"What if he becomes a starborne like me?" she asked. Tenma glanced at her, surprised. "Are you worried he might be picked on?" he asked, "I thought you were above such trivial insults."
"I just worry for his future… that's all," she sighed.
"There is a chance he won't inherit your powers," he said.
"It would be useful for him if he did inherit them, though," she said thoughtfully. "Healing is a very useful power."
"Indeed," Tenma sighed. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens…" His smile returned and he kissed his wife once more. "Let's not worry about that right now, though," he said softly.
"You're right," Hoshie replied, resting her head on his shoulder again. "We have a few months before we can start thinking about that."
"I'm looking forward to it," Tenma chuckled.
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Seven Months and Two Weeks Later…
Brown eyes flitted from place to place, taking in everything they saw. Chubby hands grabbed at the air, and a weak cry escaped from a gummy mouth. The eyes landed on the form of a beautiful woman and toothless smile appeared on the child's face.
"Hello, Tobio," Hoshie breathed, allowing her little son to grab onto her fingertips with his tiny hands. The baby cooed and reached for her face, grabbing her chin and reaching for her hair.
"He's a lot smaller than I thought he was going to be," the father commented. Hoshie rolled her eyes.
"He's a baby, of course he's going to be small," she said dryly.
"He's a lot quieter than yesterday," Tenma observed.
"Being born can make people quite cranky, if you hadn't noticed," Hoshie grinned, "And not just the baby. I heard you knocked over some co-workers while trying to get to the hospital?"
"Ah… so you heard. Ah. Well, uh… I was in a rush."
"Have you apologized for their trauma, both physical and physiological?"
"Yes, I have. May I remind you I am a gentleman," Tenma smiled.
"Gwah!" baby Tobio waved his little arms, his brown eyes searching his father's face. Tenma's eyes softened immediately.
"Hello there," he said tenderly. "It's me, Daddy…"
"Goo," Tobio cooed. There was a knock at the door, and a doctor entered the room, smiling.
"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Tenma," the doctor said, "I ran the test like you asked me to and the results have just now come back."
"Oh?" Hoshie straightened up in her bed, clutching her child closer to her chest. "What does it say?"
"The test results show negative signs of Starborne energy in the child's DNA. It appears your strain of energy is un-inheritable," the doctor said, glancing at the folders in front of him.
"I… I see," Hoshie said softly. She glanced forlornly at her son. Tenma noticed her change in demeanor and quickly kissed her forehead.
"He's still a beautiful son," he said.
"It's not that, it's… I… I wanted him to inherit my healing abilities… so he'd be safer that way," Hoshie sighed. "Guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on him, huh?"
"If he gets hurt, you can just heal him," Tenma said.
"But… what if we have another child and both are hurt at the same time? I can only heal one person at a time—or what if—,"
"Hey, hey, Hoshi, calm down!" Tenma chuckled, "Don't worry about that right now. He's healthy and he's beautiful."
"You're telling me not to worry?" Hoshie glared, unamused. "Which one of us was panicking yesterday and had to be forced outside the delivery room because they were screaming at the doctors to not mess anything up?"
Tenma flushed a bright crimson, and instead of defending himself, turned to the doctor who was still standing there.
"Anything else we need to know, Dr. Tezuka?" He asked, ignoring how his wife chuckled at him for sidestepping her comment.
"Well," Dr. Tezuka looked at the papers again, "Other than the fact that your child is perfectly healthy, there is nothing further to discuss. If everything goes well, you'll be discharged tomorrow."
"Good," Hoshie sighed, taking one more moment to lovingly gaze at her son.
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Four Years Later
"What's up, Toby?" A little boy turned his head from the raindrops covering the window and grinned at his mother.
"Nothin'," he said, swinging his legs in his car seat. "Just thinkin'."
"'Just thinking', huh? You know, you and Daddy get the same look when you're deep in thought," Hoshie observed through the rear view mirror, amused. Toby perked up.
"We do?" he asked, surprised.
"Mm-hmm. Your eyebrows furrow and your eyes move about as if you're trying to solve all of the worlds problems at once."
"I am trying to solve the world's problems!" Toby said proudly.
"What're trying to solve?" Hoshie turned the wheel, entering a busy intersection. Her knuckles tensed. I hate rush hour traffic, she thought, tapping her thumbs on the wheel agitatedly.
"I'm trying to make a robot that can help people," Toby said, adjusting himself in his booster seat. "I wanna be like Daddy when I grow up."
"You wanna make a robot to help people? Wow, that's awesome, Toby!" Hoshie praised, smiling widely. "What sorts of things is the robot gonna do? How is he going to help people?"
"I don't know yet…" Toby shrugged, his thinking face returning. "Maybe he can help save peoples lives."
"Like a doctor?"
"Naw, I was thinking more like a superhero… but a doctor could work, too," Toby added as an afterthought. Hoshie hummed.
"Well, I can't wait to hear all about this robot once you've decided how you're going to build him," she smiled. A traffic light turned red and she slowed the car to a stop. The traffic around her was filled with honking and blaring as people tried vainly to improve the speed of the slow traffic. The rain wasn't helping any, either, Hoshie thought. In the distance she heard sirens. I'll bet the rain and traffic caused an accident somewhere, she thought, chewing her lip.
The traffic light turned green once more and Hoshie quickly accelerated the car, eager to get out of this traffic. A horn blared at her from her right, and she had just enough time to see a large truck running a red light before a blinding, sickening pain reverberated through her being. The world was spinning and there was a scream of pain and terror coming from two different places.
Hoshie blacked out for a moment. When her eyes opened again, her vision was blurred and an incredible pain resided in her chest. Looking down she saw metal and glass sticking through her chest, blood leaking steadily from her wounds. It hurt to breath… if she could just pull out these shards she could heal herself and she would be fine—
TOBY! Hoshie gasped and turned her head wildly. The sudden movement caused her vision to blur again and she winced. Her vision cleared after a moment and her stomach curdled at the sight. Her four year old son was unconscious, blood leaking down his face from a nasty gash on his head, and a large shard of metal, most likely from the truck that had hit them, was sticking into his stomach. No! No, no, no, NO, NO! Hoshie pushed herself closer to him with immense difficulty, her seatbelt miraculously unfastening for her without trouble. She reached over the front seat and grabbed the shard of metal in her son's side and yanked, pulling it out. Toby yelped in pain but remained unconscious, as fresh blood started to leak more quickly from the wound in his side.
Hoshie grabbed Toby's hand and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. Her breathing became ragged and her head was swimming, but with all her might she channeled whatever energy remained in her being to go to her son.
Heal him, heal him! She repeated over in her mind. Don't heal me, heal him!
Slowly, her magic began to work. The wound on his head began to close, as did the one in his side. Hoshie could feel everything going on in her son's body, all the shrapnel and internal injuries, and with all her might expelled all foreign objects and closed all his wounds. But the more her son healed, the more Hoshie felt the pain in her own body, and the harder it was to breath.
Toby coughed and gasped once the last wound closed, and his brown eyes blearily opened.
"Mama…?" he croaked. He saw his mother give a painful smile.
"I'm here… T-Tobio…" she rasped. "I'm… he…" her hand fell and his mother slumped over. Toby sat up straighter.
"Mama?" he cried, his voice stronger, "Mama, what's wrong?"
No answer.
"Mama, what happened? Mama?"
Sirens. Flashes of red and blue.
"MAMA!"