Joe woke up with a sigh of contentment and slowly opened his eyes. His absolute favorite mornings were the ones where he got to wake up next to Joleena. The thick curtains on her windows helped to keep the morning sun from being to bright and cast the room in a soft burgundy haze.
Joleena slept soundly beside him making him smile. He loved it when Joleena let him spend the night with her. Her skin was as soft as silk sheets they made love on and the soft pants and moans she made drove him crazy. And when Joe made love to her, the weary look in her eyes disappeared for a while.
Joe reached out and gently caressed Joleena making her stir and roll onto her back. The blankets slipped down exposing her bare torso to him. His fingers trialed a path between the valley of her breasts and circled the only imperfect mark on her body. The scar. The scar from the wound he had been forced to inflict on her when she had been possessed by the Tenebrosi Sanction.
Seeing it still made Joe's stomach clench with guilt. It was large and jagged, the color a few shades lighter than her normal chocolate skin tone. And he was the one who did it to her. He forced his gaze back up to her face and found that she was awake and watching him.
"Bonjour." She said softly. "How are you?"
"Tres bein." Joe gently kissed her lips. "Especially when I wake up next to you."
Joleena smiled and pulled the blankets up to cover herself, earning a disappointed frown from Joe. She giggled and nestled into his chest, tracing the scar on his side.
"So did you want to go out for breakfast or just stay in?" She asked sleepily. "We could visit that bakery you like."
Joe ran his fingers through her hair. "I'd rather stay in. Maybe I can make you a fancy French meal like I did for your birthday last week."
"You know, I never did figure out how you did that. Maybe I could observe-"
"Or we could steal some of Anna's cereal." Joe said quickly.
"Oh Joseph, I already know you snuck into my library and stole one of my spell books. The catalog book on the desk records every request."
"It does?" Joe cringed at his own over sight. "So what's my punishment? Are you going to turn me purple or give me ears and a tail?"
Joleena laughed and rolled on top of him, leaning her chin on her forearms. She smiled at him and her eyes sparked with affection. Joe smiled back and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing her even closer to him.
"Isn't this great?" He said softly. "Just you and me being together?"
"But of course." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I love being with you."
"Well... just think of how much more time we could spend together if we moved in together."
Joleena opened her eyes and her smile disappeared. She rolled off of him with a sigh and got out of bed, pulling on her robe. Joe groaned and sat up.
"Come on, sweetheart why won't you let us move in together?" He asked. "We love each other don't we?"
"Love isn't the problem, you know that." Joleena cracked the window open and lit up a cigarette. "I've told you before, I refuse to move in with any man unless he's my husband."
"Well what if I'm not interested in getting married?" Joe said. "What happens then?"
Joleena looked at him a long moment before giving him a small nod. "As you wish."
Joe breathed a sigh of relief. "You know, for a second there I thought you were going to get mad at me."
He went to join her at the window, but she turned her head away from him and blew out a stream of smoke.
"I got a letter yesterday." She said. "The Grand Magic Council is finally considering officially bestowing you the title of Warp Wizard and recognize Anna as a legitimate magician."
"Really?" Joe's jaw dropped. "Th-that's incredible! What do we have to do?"
"There's a bi-annual convention that's taking place in Syrania in a few days." She said. "The Grand Magic Council meets to form or revise magic law and upcoming magicians can apply for their magic licenses. We'll go for a few weeks and you two can prove yourselves to them and acquaint yourselves with the magic community."
"That sounds awesome!" Joe grinned and grabbed his phone off the night stand. "I'm going to call Fina right now!"
Fina woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing on the night stand. She quickly reached over to silence it and saw that she had a new text message from Joe. Fina cast a wary glance at her sleeping husband. Thankfully the phone hadn't woken him and Fred continued to snore loudly, half of his face still buried into his pillow. They had been married for about eight months now and it still amazed Fina that he could sleep through almost anything.
Even so, Fina cautiously slid out from under his arm, pulled on his old high school jersey, and crept out of bed so she wouldn't wake him up. Fred bought her the phone so she could keep in contact with everyone, but he probably wouldn't be happy about Joe calling her so early in the morning. Fina walked into the living room to call Joe.
"Hey Fina." He answered on the third ring. "I hope I didn't wake you."
"Good morning sir." She said softly. "Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I was kinda wondering if you wouldn't mind taking an extended trip with me. Joleena needs me and Anna to go with her to the magic world."
"Um, how long is extended?"
"I dunno, a few weeks or so I guess. Is that a problem?"
"Not really," Fina bit her lip. "I would just have to clear it by Fred first. He doesn't really like me going anywhere without telling him first."
"Um, that's kinda weird but okay. Let me know as soon as you can alright?"
"Yes sir, I will." She nodded her head and hung up the phone.
"Who was that?"
Fina whirled around to see Fred standing behind her. He was smiling but Fina couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"No one." She smiled but kept her phone behind her back. "No one important I mean."
Fred returned her smile and came towards her. He gave her a loving kiss on the cheek before reaching behind her and grabbing the phone. Fina watched his expression carefully as he looked through the text messages and the call history. He didn't seem angry but it was hard to tell if he was irritated or not.
He handed the phone back to Fina before kissing her temple and headed into the kitchen. Fina set the phone down and followed him.
"So what do you want for breakfast?" Fred asked. "Omelets or waffles?"
"Um, whatever you want." Fina wrung her hands. "So... you aren't mad at me?"
"Nah, I'll let it slide this time." Fred teased and continued to make breakfast. "So what he want anyway?"
Fina smiled in relief. "Nothing big. He just wants me to go with him, Anna, and Joleena to the magic world for a few weeks. I told him I'd run it by you first."
"A few weeks?" Fred stopped what he was doing and turned around. "How many weeks is a few weeks?"
"I dunno. Three weeks maybe?"
"Huh. Just last month you warped with him to Nigeria for two weeks. Now he wants take you to the magic world for three."
Fina bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. But you know my first priority is to serve Joe. Especially with stuff like this. He's never been to the magic world before except the time when we rescued Joleena."
"Which is why I'm going with you." Fred smiled. "It'll be fun. Like a magic vacation or something. Go get my phone so I can call work and tell them I'm taking my vacation early."
Fina nodded and smiled. "Okay. Magic vacation it is."
Sam pulled up to San-Li's apartment and tried to quell the nervous flutter in his stomach. He sat in the car for a while trying to get the nerve to go up.
Part of him still couldn't believe that they had been broken up for almost a full year. Correction, he didn't want to believe that they had been broken up for almost a full year. Sam wished he could say that he had been trying to win her back this entire time, but to be completely honest his work in the labs at MIT kept him so busy that he could barely make time to visit Sammy and Keiko. And when he did visit them, San-Li always made herself scarce.
"Ah!" He jumped when his cellphone rang, breaking into his thoughts. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Joleena. He answered the phone with a small smile. "Hey, I'm glad you finally called me back. What did you think of my proposal?"
"That it couldn't have been better timing." Joleena chuckled. "I was just planning a trip to the magic world for Joseph, Anna, and myself. I think that it'll be an excellent opportunity for you to come along."
"Perfect timing. I just took a month off of school." Sam smiled. "Can talk more about this over coffee tomorrow? I just got to San-Li's place."
"Ugh, please don't tell me you still retain romantic feelings for that chienne."
Sam hung up the phone without dignifying her remark with a response. He took another breath to calm his nerves and opened up the car door.
"For the last time Joe, the answer is no." San-Li mumbled angrily. "Now stop asking me because I'm not going to change my mind."
"Come on San-Li, you know I'm right." Joe said calmly. "Neither of us really know what a time dragon is and or how to really deal with Alex being one. This magic convention might be a great opportunity to find out."
The two of them were in the kitchen finishing up the dishes while the children played in the living room. Or rather San-Li was finishing up the dishes while Joe spouted nonsense about taking Alex into the magic world. San-Li wouldn't even consider letting Alex attend a public school, let alone a place where he'd vulnerable to who knows what.
San-Li sighed and forced herself to calm her tone. "Look Joe, Alex is my little brother and it's my job to look after him. And I don't want him involved with the magic world. The Tenebrosi Sanction-"
"Already found him once and they can do it again." Joe said firmly. "We all need to know what Alex can do and so does he. If he's attacked or kidnapped he needs to know how to defend himself."
"No he doesn't. That's what he has me for! If you want me to go with you fine, but taking Alex is out of the question."
Joe remained silent for a while and took a deep breath. "San-Li, I know you feel strongly about this and I didn't want it to come to this, but..." He gently grabbed her hand and turned it over revealing their bond mark on the underside of her wrist, "I'm asking you as a friend, but we both know that I don't really have to ask."
San-Li snatched her hand away and slapped Joe hard across the face. Her own hand hurt but she was satisfied to see Joe's cheek already turning red. There was a knocking at the door and she went to answer it.
"What?" She said sharply.
"Um, hey San-Li." Sam gave her shaky smile. "Long time no see."
A/N- So Chaotic Light has officially begun! If you want to put this in a time line this takes place about two years after Fallen Light. Please review and tell me what you think.