Okay, I planned to post chapter 2 pretty quickly, but some stuff called life happened. Yay! Reviews! Thank you so much! I am really happy that I got four reviews. I do kind of jump time-wise in this chapter, mostly because I want Helena to play an actual role.

I don't own Saint Seiya, Masami Kuramada-sensei does. Helena is owned by Rihannon, who is nice enough to let me use her character.

Many thanks to Rihannon, Jenny DeVic, Thrudgelmir2333, and Obsessive-Fan Number 1.

Shun was humming while making the vanilla frosting. The chocolate cake was in the oven. Streamers and balloons were everywhere. In a few hours, people would be pouring in to celebrate Helena's third birthday.

"Daddy! Daddy! Is my cake done? Is it?" A small child with blond hair and emerald eyes came darting down the stairs, grabbing onto Shun's leg.

Shun laughed, grabbed his little girl around the waist, and twirled her through the air. Helena let out a squeal of delight. When they stopped spinning, she wrapped her arms around Shun's neck into a hug. Shun beamed at his daughter as she looked at him expectantly, eager to hear the progress report on her birthday cake.

Shun let out a chuckle. "It's in the oven right now. It'll be ready soon."

The child grinned. "Hooray!" Then she paused, thinking. Shun waited patiently for his daughter to say what was on her mind: eventually, she always did. Finally, she asked, "Will my uncles come?"

Shun was confused, to say the least. Whenever there was an event that involved Helena, at least one of Shun's siblings would always show up. "Of course they will. Don't you remember? You called them yourself. Seiya, Shiryu, and Hyoga all swore they would come."

"What about Uncle Ikki?" That one innocent question almost made Shun collapse onto the ground. He knew that she had heard about Ikki from him a few times, but she had never asked if Ikki would show up for anything. Shun had just thought that she would assume that she would assume she would get "Ikki's present" via email, like always.

Coming back to his senses, Shun slowly shook his head. "Uncle Ikki is very busy. His present showed up yesterday, though," he said quickly as the tiny blond started to pout. "I'll give it to you during the party. I know it's hard, but I'm sure he would be here if he could." Shun pulled Helena into his arms, hugging her. Would Ikki ever show up?

After Helena was born, all of them had tried to find the Phoenix saint. Just like usual, though, there had been no sign of the immortal warrior. It was only when Shun was in danger that his brother ever showed up, and, when the battle would end, Ikki would disappear once again. It hurt every time, but Shun had thought of a couple of reasons for Ikki's constant disappearances that made sense.

His first idea was one that he had thought of years ago, back when all of them were still being constantly thrust into battle. Ikki was the phoenix, a giant bird. He had wings. Buildings, people, all of these things must feel like a cage. Once, when Hyoga was threatening to force Ikki to stay, Shun had drawn a picture of what he imagined Ikki was feeling in order to stop the swan from getting into a physical fight with his brother. He still had it in his room, that picture of a glorious bird. It was trapped, and despite pulling in it's wings as tight as it could, the bars were still pushing into it. Shun wouldn't trap Ikki. He couldn't. So, instead, he would let his brother stretch his wings and fly, even if that meant he was left behind.

The second theory had dawned on him more recently. Ikki was immortal. Every time he died, he came back. While that meant Shun could have his brother longer, it also held a deeper meaning, like a nightmare. Someday, the rest of them would die. Ikki would be left behind, losing them one by one. If that happened, he might lose it, just like last time, after Esmeralda was killed. Shun and the others had brought Ikki back from that, but what would happen to the phoenix if he lost all of them?

"….d. Dad!" Shun snapped back into reality at the call. Helena was staring at him, worry in her eyes. Shun gave himself a mental shake, smiled, and held his little girl tight.

"Come on, daughter mine. Let's get you back to bed."

"Aww, Daddy," Helena whined, but came along anyways. Shun tucked her in, and she quickly fell asleep. Shun chuckled. Helena was so worried about missing her own party. Even if she slept in, though, it's not exactly like they could start the party without the birthday girl.

Shun couldn't help feeling selfish as he stroked her hair, soft and silky like her mother's. He wanted to lock her away from the outside world, where people got hurt like Ikki did. Shun was even using his own daughter as a link to the brother he missed. He could tell everyone that is was because it was the name of the only female who had died that any of them were close to. He could say that again and again, but he still knew that he had chosen Helena's middle name in order to forge a link between him and his older brother.

She was Helena Esmeralda. She was his link to Ikki, proof of his love for June, and his little girl. What would Shun do if, like Ikki, her wings got to big to stay close to home?

Okay, here it is! Actually, I do have another reason that I had to post this now. It's to celebrate the arrival of Saint Seiya Omega! New Show! Yay! It starts on April 1st. I know that Seiya, Shaina, & Saori will be in it (I'm also pretty sure that Shiryu will be too, since the new Dragon gets his cloth from his father. It's two plus two logic.) However, I don't know about Shun, Hyoga, and Ikki, so if anyone knows, please tell me! I really have to know!

Anyways, I hope you all liked it, and I will post the next chapter as soon as possible. Sorry it's still short, I'm still working on the length. In the meantime, please, please review! And try to watch Saint Seiya Omega! We must celebrate, people!