AN: This is my first fan fic. Please be gentle!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kresley Cole. The plot is all mine

Cries of "Hey look, Emma's here!" and "Oh, what are you doing here?" always met Emma's arrival at Val Hall. If one of the Valkyrie were to be standing close by the area Emma traced to, a window was certain to break. Today tho, Emma was on a mission. Focusing on the door to Nix's room, Emma traced and quickly knocked on the closed door before darting inside.

"Nix…" Emma stopped short, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline. Nucking Futs Nix was clearly in the middle of a vision. Nix lay in the center of the bed in a fetal position, tears streaking down her face, her eyes solid silver beams in an otherwise pale face. Silent sobs wracked the Valkyrie's body and all four windows in the room were shattered. Outside, a true storm was brewing with lightning and thunder crashing close enough to shake the entire house. Emma had seen Nix go thru a lot of visions but only once had she seen one of this magnitude, when Nix had seen the Kaderin's death.

"REGIN! ANNIKA!" Emma turned, bolting for the door. One of her aunts had to be here…She was crashing down the stairs when Regin turned the corner and slammed into her, sending both Valkyrie stumbling backwards. Regin the Radiant pulled a sucker out of her mouth and frowned, something frightening in and of itself.

"What? I'm busy." Regin had cotton between her toes and a smear of polish up her foot. "Look what you made me do."

"It's Nix. Something's…wrong." Surprise flitted across Regin's features as she ran for the stairs, Emma hot on her heels. They performed another stumbling act when Regin went completely still in Nix's doorway.

"FUCK." Regin whipped out her cell phone, dialing quickly.

"Regin, what's happening?"

"Get home. Now. Stop what you're doing. It's happening again." She barked into the phone before flicking it closed. Regin sighed and walked slowly to the bed as though she were approaching a wary cat. "Nixxy…I'm gonna sit on the bed, ok? It's me, Regin. Emmaline is here too." At the mention of Emma's name, Nix sat bolt upright and wailed. From downstairs, Emma heard shouts and curses as more windows shattered. But Emma couldn't take her eyes off Nix. The Valkyrie had begun to rip at her hair, pulling out large clumps. "C'mon Nixxy, snap out of it. We need you here. Annika is coming and we need to talk about what you're seeing. It hasn't happened yet, Nix. We can still stop it."

"HELEN." Emma's blood ran cold. The voice coming out of Nix's body was otherworldly, filled with pain and torment. Helen, Emma's mother, had died after giving birth to Emma. It was said that only two things could kill a Valkyrie; beheading and sorrow. Helen had found her mate in the vampire Demestriu but had her heart broken when he turned on her. Emma had killed Demestriu. "HELEN!"

Regin spared a glance out of the corner of her eye at Emma, hoping Emma wouldn't catch it. Emma being Emma caught it, of course. "C'mon Nix. Helen is gone. Emma is here though. Right here, Emma is right here." Regin took Emma's hand and put in Nix's ice cold one. Emma shivered at the contact. Somewhere in the house a door slammed and Emma heard footsteps pounding up the stairs.

"REGIN!" Annika hit the door at a dead run, slamming it against the wall as she barreled through it. "What the fuck is going on?" At the sound of Annika's voice, something in Nix snapped. The silver in her eyes faded to be replaced with her normal violet. Tears and sorrow filled them as Nix leaped into Annika's arms. Over the top of Nix's head, Annika's eyes went wide and flashed silver as they met first Regin then Emma's shocked ones. "Shhh Nix, I'm here." Annika smoothed one hand down Nix's gold hair, patting her back before starting over again. Furie had chosen correctly in naming Annika her second in command of the coven at Val Hall. "What did you see, Nixxy?"

"Helen…" Nix's voice was back to normal. "I saw…I couldn't…I can't.." Nix's eyes darted to Emma. Annika took the hint.

"Emma, downstairs."

"No."

"It wasn't a request."

"Annika…"

"Consider it an order."

"You can't…"

"Emma….c'mon. Just fucking go." Regin spun Emma around and pushed her out the door, slamming it closed behind her. Emma heard the door lock behind her. Sighing, she headed straight for Annika's room. If she was secluded in Nix's room with Regin, that meant there were two rooms with very large closets that were fair game.

When Regin and Annika emerged from Nix's room 3 hours later, they found Emma playing Wii on the front porch and both looked worse for wear. Emma had used her time wisely, tracing a whole new wardrobe back to the manor. Lachlain's eyes had risen but he hadn't said a word as the pile on their bed grew.

"Come with me." Annika's voice was old and tired.

"Is that an order?" Emma didn't take her eyes off the screen.

"Don't…." Regin was pissed. "Big fucking deal. She's always pissed." Emma thought.

"I've got this, Regin, thank you. That's a request Emma. Please." In all her years at Val Hall, Emma had only heard Annika say please once. And it had been directed at Furie. Emma tossed her remote to one of the witches, not bothering to look and see which one. Instead of heading back into the house, Annika headed towards the line of wraiths protecting the perimeter. Emma silently followed her with Regin bringing up the rear.

"Where are we going?"

"Not far." Moving swiftly, the trio crossed the line of wraiths into a secluded grove at the edge of the property. The Valkyrie seldom came here but there were several benches and chairs strewn about for when they did. Gesturing for Emma to sit, Annika remained standing and began to pace. Regin sat next to Emma on the cold bench, close enough that she was almost in Emma's lap.

"Annika?" with a sigh, Annika turned to Emma, clearly trying to get her emotions under control. Her eyes were wild and solid silver, revealing how upset she was. "Regin?" Regin was looking at the ground but shook her head.

"Emma…is there something you want to tell us?" Annika's voice was sad and resigned?

"Uhm, I don't think so?"

"Nix saw you."

"Doing what?"

"In the sun, Emma. In the fucking sun! What the fuck were you thinking? How can you play with your life like that? After all that we've done to keep you safe…" Regin was on her feet and yelling but it was the tears running down her face that gave Emma pause.

"Oh."

"OH? Fucking OH? That's all you have to say?"

"Regin…we talked about this. Calm. Down." Annika's voice was firm, her eyes on Emma's now pale face.

"Look, it was one time. I've been experimenting with some dietary things and, well, I thought it couldn't hurt…"

"Emma…you're part vampire. Regardless of what else you may be changing, you are always going to be vulnerable to sunlight. You can't take that chance. Especially now."

"Look, I know with the Ascension coming…"

"No, Emma. You really don't know?"

"KNOW WHAT? How about you guys just clue me in on what Nix saw? Stop dragging it out like this? Is it…oh Freya…is it Lachlain? Please tell me it's not." A sob choked her.

"No. It's…it's you Emmaline. It's you. You're pregnant and you're not going to survive it."