A/N: Thanks to Viperous I've kind of edited this so that it makes a little more grammatical sense. THANKS! That was just what I needed!

Virginia looked out at the river which was freely flowing beneath her. Nearby, she knew her son and husband were laughing it up, discussing those matters which were so important to the wolf kind. One day she would ask Wolf what they were. But for now she was content to look on as small fish swam around beneath her feet which were hanging off the side of the bridge she was sitting on. Today was one of those days she expected to be perfect.

Though it had been a few years since she had gone back to the Fourth Kingdom to visit Wendell or her father, her thoughts suddenly drifted back to those hazy months after she and Wolf returned to New York after an adventure she would never forget. Of course, the police had questioned her about her father's disappearance. Her friends had all been worried about where she had gone for three weeks but she had said barely anything. She just mentioned that she had been on a bit of a road trip. No one had asked about where Wolf had come from or why he was suddenly in love with her.

She smiled, thinking of how her grandmother had reacted when she, Wolf and their newborn baby boy, Kado, had come to visit her on her birthday. It was the first time Virginia had gotten to see her grandmother since she had returned from the Nine Kingdoms because she had been so busy between the interrogations and Kado's birth. Her grandmother had been surprised by the visit and had been asking Virginia to visit alone ever since.

She remembered how Kado had nipped at his grandmother, his tiny tail wiggling in pleasure. Wolf had been so proud of his childish enthusiasm but Virginia had been horrified. After a stunt like that her grandmother probably wouldn't lend them money so that they could get a new apartment. But her grandmother, ever the budding socialite, decided to give Virginia the money, glad that she had ended up with someone better than her father. Even if he did try to eat her.
Virginia sighed, coming back to the present. She checked her watch and groaned, seeing that the evening had crept up on her while she was in her reverie "Wolf and Kado should have been back half an hour ago" She thought. She got up to look at her surroundings and cursed as she saw some sort of smoke coming from within the forest of trees.
"Damn those two... always wanting to camp in the forest... they know it's not safe... At least Wolf is supposed to." She ran towards where she believed the smoke was coming from but quickly lost sight of it. As soon as she reached some looming trees that blocked her view of the sky she began to panic. She ran through the trees, eventually encountering a large amount of smoke which was troubling her vision. "Dammit!" She shouted and continued on through the trees, wondering if she was going in the right direction. She ended up somewhere near their apartment and found that she was near the entrance to the Nine Kingdoms. And that was where the smoke was coming from.

(A/N: Kado is a Japanese name meaning Gateway)