Another wonderful story by guestsurprise, who owns Salwa and Vamps, and was inspired by the story "No Honor Among Murderers" that I had done for her. :)

I own Rachel and the Grant Mansion and gave guestsurprise full permission to use them. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Danny Phantom belongs to Nickelodeon.

Never Too Late

Rachel knew that Salwa was still upset by what she saw through the ghost portal. One mistake and she could have lost her family forever?! She let tears fall and could not believe that she was one step away from getting everyone killed. Vamps heard the gentle sobbing as he was walking by and so did Rachel. Both of them met each other in the hallway outside of Salwa's room.

"She's so upset," Vamps said sadly.

"Yes; she told me about what she saw. It hurt her badly to think we were all destroyed."

"But I am curious? How was it that that would have been possible? You and I are able to take on more than half of the Knight army by ourselves."

"Because the sign I showed Salwa was not completely accurate…," a voice answered. Both turned and saw Clockwork appear. "I showed her a future that could have been possible, but that is not what would have REALLY happened."

"How did you do that?" Rachel asked in awe.

"My secret," he chuckled. "But I did it for her to see that only terrible things would have happened if she went with the Knights. In reality, you all would have been able to fight off the Knights, but Salwa would have been brainwashed by them and they would have placed a new chip into her system. A system that would make her forget everything."

"No…," Vamps gasped.

"They wouldn't dare!" Rachel said angrily.

"I'm afraid they would have, Rachel. They would have tried to kill you all, but as the Vladat said, you all have too many powerful aliens to destroy. The Knights would be powerless to kill all of you, but if they had Salwa, in a way it would have destroyed you all, but not physically. It would have hurt you all because she would have sacrificed her own liberty and memories just to set you all free."

"So in reality, that vision of the future was correct. We would not have died physically, but a part of us would have died in our hearts because we love Salwa and she would have been taken from us forever," Rachel said in realization.

"Exactly, my dear." Clockwork explained. "But it was too much to try to explain something like that to a young one like Salwa."

"Well then, why don't we give her something to smile about," Vamps smiled. Clockwork nodded in agreement and then disappeared, and Vamps and Rachel entered the room. Salwa saw them and tried to give them a smile.

"I know you by now to know when there is a real smile; right now, I know it's not," Vamps cooed as he gently got on the bed and nuzzled her cheek.

"Salwa, everything is alright!" Rachel smiled happily.

"No…I made a terrible mistake!"

"Honey, we talked to Clockwork and the future is alright now, trust us!" Vamps added.

"Are you sure?"

"I promise it is. Even if you made that mistake, we would not have died in the way you think we would have." Rachel added

"REALLY?!" Salwa said, her eyes lighting up!

"Yes. But that does not mean you go and sacrifice yourself to the Knights again," Vamps said, somewhat sternly. "Because if need be, I will do what I have to to keep you safe."

"We all will. But let's smile and rejoice for now! No one will die and everyone is alright!" Rachel laughed.

"And in plus, I am stronger than most of the Knights and I have used my power on each of you so that if you ever die by the wrong hand, you will come back to life, even though I can only bring you back once." A voice replied. They all spun around and saw Alien X walk in.

"Whoa…so we all would have a second chance." Vamps asked in surprise.

"Yes, but tell no one else. This is to be kept a secret because Celestialsapiens are not supposed to revive anyone's life energy. But you all are my family so that is my gift to you."

"So kiddo, you should feel even better than before! Now smile!" Rachel giggled as she began tickling her niece.

"Yeah, smile, kiddo! Everything is alright!" Vamps added.

"And you are too young to be worried about anything," Alien X smiled as he joined in the tickling. After a few moments, they let her up and breathe.

"I'm just so happy you all are okay. I promise to never make a deal with them again!" Salwa said.

"That's all I wanted to hear," Rachel smiled as she hugged her niece.

"Now I need a midnight snack! Race ya to the kitchen!" Alien X smiled.

"Bring it, Celestialsapien!" Vamps called as they two ran neck and neck to the kitchen. Salwa could only sigh in relief; her family was still safe and would have a chance to always be safe, mistake or not.

guestsurprise's words: I just had to do it! A treat for you Goldie for doing my requests! ;)

To guestsurprise: Thank you! And it was my pleasure to do so. ;)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418