Disclaimer: I do NOT own Suikoden 3 or any of its characters used in my story.

Pairings: No new couple's to announce but there are several new character's being introduced

Readers information: "quotation marks" (Talking), italics (thinking) and there's no dreaming or sexual situations in this chapter.

A/N: This chapter is not beta'd so there's probably a lot of grammar errors. It is another long chapter and if anyone is interested in being a beta for this story please let me know. It took a long time to get this story updated, I thought I lost it years ago, but here's the next chapter. Please enjoy.

Chapter 4: Long Time No See!

Waking up, Chris could see the daylight shinning through the trees. She found that Hugo was nowhere in sight. Rising up to s sitting position, Chris winced as she felt a slight discomfort in her muscles. Even muscles she never though she had. Wrapping the blanket around herself, Chris stood up slowly and yelled into the woods, "Hugo? Hugo, are you here?"

Putting a hand up brush her hair from her face, that was when Chris noticed she was wet and she felt clean. Her wound was even re-bandaged, "Glad to see you awake and standing."

Chris turned around so fast that she twisted her wounded shoulder and cried out. Hugo was then right in front of her, studying her wound. "Try not to reopen it again Chris. I had a hell of a time wrapping it back up and cleaning your body off after making love. You had some dirt on you, even when we were on the blankets and you had some other…"

Hugo looked into Chris' eyes as he finished his sentence; he wanted to see her reaction, "Body fluids."

Hugo wasn't disappointed, even after the night they had she blushed a deep scarlet. Hugo threw his head back as he gave a deep laugh. "Glad I know I can still make you blush, even though I'm the one with claw marks on my back and shoulders."

Hugo didn't think Chris' blush could be any deeper, he was wrong. When Chris got that serious look on her face Hugo knew he was in trouble especially when she asked the question he dreaded the most. "Yuiri must have had her child already; she's going to be pissed off at me. How long was I out for?"

Chris knew she was not going to like the answer as she saw Hugo turn around and start pulling her clothes out of his bag. Hugo's shoulders tensed up as heard Chris behind him, anger in her voice as she hissed out, "Hugo!"

Giving a deep sigh Hugo stood up and threw her clothes at her. Catching her clothes, Chris' blush returned as she said to Hugo, even though it sounded like a small squeak, "You're not going to stand there and watch me get dressed are you?"

Hugo gave Chris a blank look as he replied, "Chris…I've seen and even touched your whole body. I think seeing you change isn't going to be a big deal. But to ease your discomfort I'll turn around and keep my back to you."

Doing what he said he was going to do he turned around and gave Chris his back and heard her whisper a small thank you. Knowing that now would be a good time to tell her how long she was out; Hugo started talking, "After you fell from your horse, I carried you to a tree to prop you up. I removed your shirt and coat to look for the wound, you lost a lot of blood so I tried using some of my healing magic but it didn't seem to work and neither did anything else. That night, you stopped breathing. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you so I tried to get your heart to beat and your lungs to take in air. When you finally regained life, I pulled the arrow out and started cleaning your wound before bandaging it up. Then I grabbed blankets from my saddlebag, I wasn't going to move you with that wound through your chest. Before I was even finished setting things up, I could hear you crying. It was so quiet I almost missed it."

Flashback

Hugo dropped the blankets and his bag as he walked over to Chris to see what was wrong. Kneeling down beside her Hugo could see she was sweating and when he placed his hand on her forehead she was burning up with a high fever.

"Damn it Chris!" Hugo then also noticed that her lips were a light blue and she was shaking almost as if she were cold.

'This isn't good. Come on Chris, I need you to wake up.' Once again, Hugo tried all his healing spells as well as his herbs and medicines. But nothing seemed to work.

Sharply standing up, Hugo ran his fingers through his hair and started yelling curses that would make even Yuber blush. Hugo turned towards a tree and started hitting it aggressively. Unnoticed by him, because of all his emotional rage, the fire rune was acting up and flames started licking at the base of the tree.

Hugo at last calmed down and decided to go to the small pond that was deep within the woods to try to cool Chris down with. He also decided to take his clothes off so he could wash the blood from them and once he finished Hugo took Chris' clothes to clean as well.

On his final return to their temporary camp Hugo noticed Chris' lips had become bluer and she was covered in sweat. Hugo kneeled down beside her as he tore at his clothes for fabric and then wiped away the sweat from her brow, neck and chest.

After his third run from the pond to gather more water for Chris, Hugo soon realized that it wasn't doing much good. He felt there was only one logical option left, something he learned from his mother to use in dire situations.

"Chris is going to kill me if she ever finds out," Hugo muttered to himself.

Since their clothes were drying on some rocks in the sun, Hugo was still very much naked, which saved him the trouble of having to undress a second time. Hugo moved the blanket aside to slip beneath the cover with Chris and then wrapped her up in his arms for warmth. Spooning her from behind, while wrapping his legs around hers and rubbed his hands over the skin to help create warmth.

"Come on Chris. You have to get better. You just have to. Percival would kill me if I ever let anything happen to you, not to mention I would gladly help him if you died on me."

Chris' fever lasted for two whole days and nights. Hugo never left her side except on the occasion that he left for water. On the second night of her fever, Chris started crying and yelling in her sleep. That was what woke Hugo from his sleep causing him to tighten his hold on Chris. Chris kept struggling in her sleep until Hugo positioned himself on top of her so he could hold her arms to her sides and used his legs to keep her legs form kicking out.

Hugo froze when he heard what Chris was crying out in her sleep, "No! I…I didn't mean to. It wasn't my fault…my fault…it was an accident. I'm sorry, please just leave me alone and just get out of my head. I'm sorry about Lulu, I'm sorry!"

Hugo wrapped his arms around Chris once again and rolled over with her in his arms so that they were chest to chest. Hugo placed his left hand on Chris' head and started rubbing her hair and then he placed a hand on her back to start rubbing soothing circles. While Hugo was doing this, he was whispering into her ear. "Shh, it's okay baby. Everything's going to be okay. It's just a nightmare, don't worry about it…"

Chris began to relax to the soothing sound of Hugo's voice. Unfortunately, Chris still talked in her sleep. Hugo vowed to never repeat anything she said, not even to her.

End Flashback

"I was unconscious for 2 days!"

Hugo looked at Chris from the corner of his eye, "Not only 2 days Chris. After your fever broke you still didn't wake up. We have been in the same spot for 4 days."

"What, four whole days?"

Hugo backed up with his hands waving in front of him as he replied, "Now Chris, calm down. You weren't in any condition for me to move you. I wanted to at least wait until you woke up."

"Four days! That means Yuiri has already had her baby. She is going to kill us." Chris started packing her things as she had finished dressing while Hugo was telling his tale to her.

Hugo started helping her but they didn't exchange words of conversation at they gathered their things up and got their steeds ready for departure. Before Chris could mount her horse, Hugo grabbed her arm to gain her attention, "Wait, before we go I want to know something."

Chris turned to look at Hugo while asking, "What is it? We have to get moving. If I know my brother, he's probably worried sick, along with Yuiri."

Though Hugo said nothing, Chris saw the serious and determined look in his eyes, "Hugo? What's wrong?"

"Where do we go from here Chris?"

Chris flushed brightly as she gave Hugo an innocent look and then diverted her attention to the ground for a failure to look into his eyes any further, "What do you mean?"

Hugo placed his hands tenderly on Chris' chin, then very gently raised her head back up, "Chris, look at me. Please, look at me?"

Doing as Hugo asked, Chris met his eyes with her own but she said nothing. "You know what I mean, don't act oblivious. You were with me last night, you know what happened. So I'll ask you again, where do we go from here?"

Chris gently bit her bottom lip as she thought on the situation quietly before stating her desire, "I don't really know. I'm not ready for anyone to know about us yet. Can we keep this a secret a little while?"

Hugo gave Chris a brilliant smile as he replied, "Of course my lady. Does this mean I'm officially courting you then?"

"Now, don't get too cocky Hugo. I admitted that we had a relationship, don't blow it Romeo." Hugo gave a deep laugh as he helped Chris onto her mount before mounting his horse as well.

"Well Chris, let's get moving. I have the perfect excuse; I'll have to tell the truth but not the whole truth."

Hugo started off towards Alma Kinan village, he could feel Chris' eyes burn into his back and he knew that she was suspicious of him before she even spoke. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Hugo smirked as he felt Chris' mount approach until they were right next to each other, "You'll find out soon enough."

They didn't speak the rest of the way to the village but it was a comfortable silence with both of them smiling.

"Something's happened Percival I know it! One day I can understand, two days I'll let it slide but four days! That proves that something has happened."

Percival watched Yuiri as she paced back and forth from one side of their house to the other; Percival himself was also worried about his little sister. 'Hugo, if anything has happened to Chris, I'll kill you.'

Out loud, however, he could only say, "I'm sure everything is alright. Remember dear, Hugo is with her."

Yuiri let out a sigh of pent up frustration, "You're right Percival. Hugo wouldn't let anything happen to Chris. But I'm still…"

Crying and wailing deep in the back room stopped the Chieftain from finishing her sentence, "Yuiri, your baby's fussing again."

Percival gave his wife a playful smirk as Yuiri returned it with a not so playful glare, "Hold your tongue, I'm going."

Yuiri left Percival with his thoughts as she went to the back room to see what was bothering their 3 day old baby. As she finally reached the side of the cradle, Yuiri reached in with both hands to hold the baby. "Shh, mommy's here don't worry. Stop crying little one, come on honey you have to stop crying. Are you hungry?"

Yuiri smiled at her child as she walked back out to the living room cradling the baby to her chest. While she was away, Percival took up her pacing from one side of the house to the other. Yuiri raised an eyebrow as she spoke to him, "Now whose worried? Bad nerves my dear."

Percival temporarily stopped his pacing to give Yuiri an evil look that asked her to stop teasing, "Sometimes I wonder why I married you."

Yuiri held the baby out in front of her and started talking to the child, "Daddy's being mean to your mommy again little one. But daddy's a hypocrite, yes he is."

As Yuiri sat down on the couch she laid the baby down so she could lower the front of her top. When she finally got one breast out of her clothing she picked the baby up to hold to her chest to feed the darling.

Having seen his wife feed the baby for a few days no, Percival was no longer embarrassed of seeing his wife flash her breast in order to feed their child. Unfortunately, this was the moment that Chris and Hugo decided to walk into their house without knocking. "Get the hell out of my house!"

As quickly as they entered, Chris and Hugo exited the house. "Percival I think you scared them. You were just worried about them a few minutes ago, what happened?"

"Go in the bedroom Yuiri."

Yuiri gave him a curious look from her seated position, "Why do you want me to go in the bedroom?"

Percival walked over to Yuiri with his hands on his hips he looked down at her and the baby she was still feeding. "Because you seen here with the baby is why I yelled at them. Yuiri, maybe you hadn't noticed but, when you're feeding the baby you flash anyone and everyone in a 10 mile radius."

Yuiri blushed as Percival's hint finally got across. Yuiri got a firm hold on the baby and slowly rose from the couch before walking back into the bedroom. Percival followed his wife to close the door behind her before heading for the front door to deal with his guests.

There was a light drizzle outside as Chris and Hugo sat down on the porch steps. "So Chris…how are you doing?"

"I'm wet Hugo."

Hugo gave Chris a devious smirk as he replied, "Oh yeah. You were wet last night too."

Chris quickly glared at Hugo before she elbowed him in the ribs roughly as she hissed out his name. Hugo grabbed his side with his right hand before he replied, "Hey, that hurt! I was only joking Chris."

Chris gave Hugo that signature cold look before replying, "It wasn't very funny. Not one bit."

Hugo looked away from Chris to the floor as he mumbled under his breath, "I thought it was hilarious."

Hugo winced as Chris elbowed him even harder in the ribs than before and said without looking at him, "I heard that. If you keep this up you'll…"

The front door opened to reveal Percival with a grin on his face just before Chris could finish her sentence, "Why don't you come in before you catch a cold."

Hugo stood up and reached down to help Chris up before all 3 walked back into the house. The bedroom door opened with Yuiri holding a couple of blankets for Chris and Hugo. "Here you go, let's get you dried off before you tell us why you're so late. Chris you can join me in the bedroom, I think some of Yumi's old clothes might fit you."

Yuiri walked over to Percival to hand him a blanket and some of his clothes. "See if these fit Hugo, okay Percival?"

After handing them to Percival, Yuiri grabbed Chris' hand and guided her into the bedroom. Once the girls left the room, Hugo and Percival just stared at each other awkwardly. Percival threw the blanket and clothes at Hugo. He caught the items a second before Percival spoke, "Take your wet clothes off so I can put them by the fire. My clothes should fit you well enough."

While Hugo was taking off his wet clothing Percival walked over to the fireplace to get a fire started. While Percival was trying to get a higher flame that would burn warmer he felt something wet hit his back. Percival turned his body to see Hugo's wet clothes lying behind him. From above him Hugo smirked, "Your reflexes are getting slow Zexen."

Raising with a smile on his face and taking in Hugo's appearance he couldn't help but laugh slightly, "You look more like a Zexen than I do right now."

Hugo frowned as he crossed his arms and turned away from his friend, "That's not funny Percy."

Giving Hugo a big grin Percival couldn't help but to reply, "What was it you said, oh yes, 'I thought it was hilarious.'"

Percival busted out laughing when he saw the look on Hugo's face. "I never knew a Grasslander could blush, especially the Chief of a clan."

"You heard? You heard everything!"

After Percival got a hold of himself, Hugo was surprised and scared at how fast the knight's expression changed from wild amusement to stone cold seriousness in less than a second. "Yes, I hear everything. I'm still debating on why I shouldn't pick up my sword and run you through right now. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for what you did to my little sister."

There was a dead silence between the two males that seemed to last for eons. The men never looked away from each other and never blinked either. Percival was shocked and slightly pleased when he finally heard Hugo's answer. "I love her."

Percival looked at Hugo with respect and understanding. "It sucks sometimes doesn't it, being in love with a strong warrior-like woman."

Hugo laughed softly, "It does, she doesn't need me to protect her but it's worth it. At least now I have someone to talk to about it and also understand the way I feel. You're not going to tell Chris or Yuiri that you know are you?"

Percival grabbed Hugo's wet clothes so he could start laying them flat out near the fire in order for them to get dry. "No, Yuiri would kill me since I'm the one who recommended you to guard Chris."

"Guard her from what exactly?"

Percival sat on the couch to start explaining things. "Yuiri and I knew we both wanted Chris as our child's godmother, but we didn't know who was going to be the godfather. The Zexen Federation and Grasslands were finally in a peaceful state. Chris and her knight's helped rebuild the destroyed villages from the war. Unfortunately, some of the Grasslander's still hate the Silver Maiden of Zexen. They didn't want the Captain and her Mighty Six knights helping them. Yuiri and I were afraid that while Chris was riding from Brass Castle to here and vice versa, that an 'accident' might happen to her in the Grasslands by herself."

"Yuiri and I thought that the godfather should be someone with a high position in the Grasslands or have the respect of the nation. That way, when the godparents rode together, no one would dare attack and so in the end we picked you Hugo. It was exactly my idea, Yuiri wanted Nash, but I thought the Flame Champion would be better. That's why I'm not going to tell Yuiri or Chris, that I know what happened between you two."

Hugo was standing in front of Percival during his explanation with a playful look of disbelief, "I don't know whether to be insulted or not."

Percival stood up next to Hugo and gave him a rough pat on the shoulder before they both broke out in a laugh at their antics.

"Try to be as quiet as possible Chris, the baby is sleeping."

Chris turned away from Yuiri so she could get dressed. The moment she took her top off Chris heard a loud gasp from behind her, "Chris! What the hell happened? Did you get that treated?"

Yuiri approached Chris from behind to inspect the wound. Chris attempted to capture Yuiri's probing hands at the action, "I'm fine really. It's not as bad as it looks. Yuiri stop it…stop, don't touch me there."

Chris finally slapped Yuiri's hands out of the way causing the Chieftain to back away with a look of hurt, "I'm just concerned for you. I mean, you disappeared for a few days. What happened, where were you?"

Chris turned so that her back faced Yuiri as she continued to undress and put Yumi's clothes on. "I really don't want to talk about it. But you can try asking Hugo, I'm sure he'll tell you."

Yuiri saw a sad expression on Chris' face as the knight turned towards her once again. Yuiri couldn't help but pull her 'sister' into a comforting hug, "It's fine Chris, I won't pressure you into telling me. I was just worried that's all."

Chris returned Yuiri's hug and thanked her kindly. Yuiri stepped out of the embrace to look Chris up and down then smiled at the woman. Both ladies could hear the boys talking out in the living room, even though they couldn't hear what was being said. "You make one hell of a Grasslander Chris! That outfit looks great on you. Good thing you and Yumi are around the same height and size."

Chris shook her head in amusement, she figured that Yuiri was just in post-pregnancy bliss and that's why she was so unusually happy. "Where exactly is Yumi?"

"Oh, she is out at Budehuc Castle. Thomas has been having Yumi help train Cecile."

The baby started fussing once again causing Yuiri to walk over to the baby's bed and told Chris she could go ahead to the living room, "I'll get the baby and meet you there."

"Sure thing Yuiri, I'll let the guys know." Chris opened the door and entered the living room.

Hugo and Percival stopped laughing when they heard the bedroom door open. Both stared in wide eyed shock when they saw who was standing in the doorway and what she was wearing. Simultaneously they said in bewilderment, "Chris?"

Starting from the grassland boots Chris was wearing, the two men's gazes traveled up her body. The boots ended just below her knees, but since Chris was a few inches taller than Yumi, the skirt was a bit shorter on the white knight which showed a lot more leg. The small top seemed like a second skin to Chris and she looked glorious with a pink tint to her cheeks.

Percival grinned from ear to ear while Hugo attempted to close his mouth and get his eyes to settle themselves somewhere appropriate. Percival couldn't help but comment on her current wardrobe, "By the Goddess Chris! I knew you were pale, but your legs seem to be glowing."

Something came flying out of the bedroom and hit Percival dead in the face. Percival was knocked on his ass and Hugo caught the object as it bounced off Percival's face. "Damn it! That wasn't funny, that hurt like hell."

Yuiri stepped out of the bedroom with the baby in her arms choosing instead to look at Chris instead of Percival, "Well it serves you right. Crude remarks like that aren't needed, dear. Chris don't pay those two any mind, you look great in that outfit."

Chris smiled at Yuiri before placing her wet clothes next to the fire, "Thank you Yuiri but I still want my clothes back the moment they're dry and I do appreciate you lending me your sister's clothes."

Yuiri was about to reply to Chris when Hugo interrupted the conversation, "Is that the baby? Can I hold it? Can I hold the baby?"

Chris, Percival and Yuiri all shared a look of surprise before Yuiri replied, "Sure Hugo, you can hold her."

"It's a girl…oh Yuiri, Percival I'm so happy for you two. What did you decide to name her?"

Yuiri handed off the baby to Hugo so he could hold her, "Here Hugo, put your hand right behind her head. That's it right there. Gentle Hugo, you have to be gentle with her."

It was an amazing sight to see, the baby's head fit in the palm of Hugo's hand and her body stretched to the crook of his elbow; she looked so tiny in his arms. Yuiri sat down on the couch with Percival before answering Chris' question, "Her name is Athena Yumi Fraulein. We thought it would be nice to name her after one on my sisters."

Percival watched carefully as Hugo gently handed Athena over to Chris who seemed to know how to hold a child without any instruction; natural instinct Percival would guess. Chris rocked the baby gently in her arms with a smile and she hummed a tune to the small girl. Hugo could barely contain his excitement as he kissed Athena's forehead, "I think that's enough, it is way past Athena's bedtime."

Hugo looked up from the baby nestled within Chris' arms with a pout on his features, "But I like her. Can't I keep her? You can go ahead and have another one; you can give Athena to me. Please?"

Yuiri shook her head as she stood up from the couch, her husband joining her at her side, "Hell no, I am not going through that again! Hugo, you can go and have your own baby."

Hugo turned his head to look at Yuiri then back to Percival, Hugo blinked his eyes a few times then with an innocent look he backed away from Chris and Athena so Percival could gather the little girl in his arms. When Chris handed off the baby Hugo rested his eyes on her in thought.

Chris gave Hugo a curious look before he enfolded her in his arms and said loud enough for the other individuals in the room to hear, "So Chris, when do you want to have baby? We can start tonight if you want."

Chris blushed deeply before kicking Hugo in the shin causing him to fall to the ground and allowing her to step away from him, "First off, before I have children I want to get married. Secondly, what would make you think I would want to have yours?"

Hugo grinned up at Chris from the floor where he was holding his left shin, "That's not what you were saying the other night."

"Okay Hugo, now you're pushing it. That's enough, you're going to piss Chris off and I will be highly upset if my house gets destroyed because of it."

Chris walked over to Percival and gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek before thanking him. Percival smiled slightly with a blush at her use of his nickname, "Not a problem, anything for family."

"Hold on!"

Everyone turned to towards Yuiri, who looked beyond confused at the current conversation. The female Chieftain was glaring at Hugo and looking for answers from Chris, "What happened last night Hugo."

Chris and Percival exchanged a look after they realized their mistake and did the one thing they could think of. They both turned to Hugo and at the same time they asked him, "Yes of course Hugo, what do you mean?"

Hugo thought quickly of something he could say that would satisfy Yuiri's interest, forgetting that Percival didn't know this half of the story, "When Chris was hit with that arrow, it nearly killed her. The fever she had made her hallucinate and she said some things. One of those things was that she wanted to have children someday."

"Damn it Hugo, stop right there."

This time, everyone turned to look at Percival for his outburst, "Shot with an arrow. Why did no one tell me this? Hugo you left out details."

Percival handed over Athena to Yuiri before inspecting Chris by pulling the top of her shirt down so he could see the wound on her back. Chris, used to this kind of behavior from Percival just tried to keep the front of her shirt from falling too low. "I want you to see the healer in the village before you leave Chris, understood?"

Chris smiled softly as he released her then she turned around to stand up on her toes and kiss him on the cheek once again, "Yes sir!"

Everyone started laughing at Chris' answer but Percival regained his composure faster than the others, "I want you two to stay the night here instead of the inn. You spent 3 or 4 nights sleeping on the hard ground of the forest. I think you two deserve a nice, soft bed for once."

Hugo put his hand up and then back down in a mock two finger salute, "No problem. Well Yuiri, take Chris to the healer, I need to talk to Percival in private."

Percival quickly agreed at seeing the serious look flash across Hugo's face, he could tell the young Chieftain had more to say on the subject of Chris' attack. Yuiri spoke briefly, "Just let me put Athena back to bed and then I'll take Chris to the healer. Can you boys do me a favor and make two beds?"

Yuiri walked over to her husband to give him a tender kiss on the lips as a thank you in advance. Chris followed Yuiri into the bedroom so the two gentlemen were finally alone, Percival turned to address Hugo. "I think we should do what we did last time and go into the woods to talk. I have a hunch no one else, not even the girls, should hear what we're talking about."

Hugo nodded his head in silent admission before both walked out of the house, not even bothering to make the beds Yuiri had asked for.

They finally reached the same area that was the last place they had a deep conversation. The two men turned to look at each other. It was about midday, the rain had stopped, the sun was shining down on them and the heat would have been unbearable if the trees didn't give them any sort of cover, "So what is it you need to talk to me about Hugo?"

"It's about the attack on Chris' life. I think there was about 4 or 5 riders. I'm not sure, I was too busy trying to get myself and Chris to cover within the woods that I didn't bother to count how many. I believe that there was at least one woman riding with them. I was too far away to see her features so once again I'm not sure. There is one thing that really bothers me…and I pray to the spirits that my eyes are playing tricks on me." Hugo stopped and closed his eyes as if he was reliving the memory and clenched his hands to his sides in tight fists.

Percival was getting worried and concerned as he did not understand yet what could scare the Karaya Chief this badly, "What is it Hugo? Just tell me."

When Hugo finally looked up into Percival's eyes, the knight had never seen such shock and cold-terror in Hugo's eyes that was there now, "It…it was…Yuber was one of the riders with them Percival."

Chris was getting frustrated; the healer kept poking and probing her wound. She could see Yuiri standing next to the healer with an amused expression on her face because she knew how much this was pissing Chris off, but Chris would rather die than complain. "The wound is not as bad as it seems."

*poke-poke* "It's still bleeding a lot though." *poke-poke-poke* "It's hard to believe that the Captain of the Zexen Knights got hit in the back with an arrow." *poke*

Chris finally stood up and muttered under her breath that she could take care of the wound from here on out. The healer was still kneeing on the ground, looking up at Chris with a bemused expression. Then she just shrugged gently and stood from the ground. "If that is what you wish, I may not deter you. I'll give you some herbal medicine; make sure you rub them into the wound so they will help the wound heal faster."

Yuiri stood in front of the healer to take the gathered herbs and told the older woman thank you. She bowed to Chris and then to Yuiri before she left the house. "I would love to know how that woman became a healer. I think she did more damage with her incessant poking."

Yuiri laughed before placing herself behind Chris so she could rub the medicine into the wound and then wrap it up again. "She was just inspecting it Chris. That's her job."

A moment of silence took place before both women broke into soft laughter. This is what Hugo and Percival were greeted with when they walked through the door. "Hey what's so funny?"

Soon the entire room was filled with laughter at Chris' expense once Yuiri finished telling her tale. Once the laughter died down, however, Yuiri was telling Percival how irresponsible he was for not making the beds like she asked.

The next day Chris' shoulder felt like hell. It itched, burned and felt sore beyond anything. She convinced herself that she would rather die than to tell anyone how bad it bothered her, although she was sure that her small family could tell by the look on her face.

Chris and Hugo wanted to change into their own clothing, but their clothes were not dry yet. Hugo said they could wait a little while longer until they were dry, but Chris said she wanted to leave before her Knights got worried and formed a search party for her. Chris and Hugo said good-bye to the Fraulein family, giving little kisses to Athena, and then left for home.

Halfway to Karaya Village Chris finally asked the question that had made her so curious the day before, "What did you and Percival talk about yesterday?"

Hugo was quiet so long that at first Chris thought he wasn't going to answer. She knew, however, that she was going to regret asking when she saw the grin break out on Hugo's face. "Well, if you would really like to know. We compared sex notes and different positions."

The Grasslands soon erupted with a loud bang, followed by a string of expletives coming from Hugo because Chris had knocked the guy off his horse. Chris also attempted to run him over a few times and then rode off without him, taking Hugo's horse with her.

Percival left with a few young warriors to catch something for dinner before Yuiri began feeding Athena. Suddenly, Yuiri heard a lot of commotion coming from the village. The Chieftain quickly covered herself and set Athena back in her bed. "Mommy will be right back honey. Just stay here nice and quiet for me okay."

Yuiri leaned down to give Athena a kiss on her head before grabbing her bow and quiver on her way outside. When Yuiri stepped out into the village square she saw everyone looking up into the sky with their bows at the ready, arrows ready for release. As Yuiri quickly approached one of her warriors she asked, "What's the situation?"

The warrior turned to look at Yuiri with confusion on her features, "I believe it was a dragon my lady. It looked pretty low flying in so we believe it may be landing somewhere close."

"What would a dragon be doing all the way out here?" Just then a loud thud could be heard a few seconds before the ground shook like an earthquake. Everyone, including Yuiri, turned towards the sound. All were prepared to fire upon the Chieftains command.

It was just a few minutes, though it seemed like hours, before they saw anyone reach the entrance of the village they heard laughing, loud, male laughing. Soon enough, Percival walked into the village with his arm over the shoulder of a young man in a brotherly gesture of affection. Walking behind the two men was a full grown dragon.

The two men stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted 30 some arrows pointed in their direction. Percival held his hands up in front of him as he walked over to his wife. He stood behind Yuiri and wrapped his arms around her waist. In the process his hands took hold of Yuiri's arms and gently pushed her arms down to break the arrows line of attack.

Percival placed his mouth next to Yuiri's ear saying loud enough for the rest of the warriors to hear, "You remember Futch right honey? Remember, the Dragon Knights, they helped us during the war."

Yuiri took a closer look at their two guests. The young man, Futch, looked about the same as he did last Yuiri saw him. He wore the same clothes, had the same hair, hell he even wore the same headband. The only difference was that he had more muscle and was a bit taller. One thing, however, seemed wrong. He looked too much the same from the war, almost like Futch hadn't aged.

Everyone else waited for Yuiri on what they should do. Release the arrows for a swift kill or still them swiftly. Gently, Yuiri stepped out of Percival's hold and put her arrow back within its quiver. Yuiri approached Futch with a smile, "Welcome back to the Grasslands old friend."

They shook hands briefly before Yuiri glanced up at the dragon that placed himself next to his faithful owner. Yuiri gave the dragon a smile as well before placing her hand on his nose, "My have you grown Bright."

"I really don't see a reason why you have to come with me Hugo. No matter what you may think or believe, I am capable of riding back to Brass Castle alone."

Hugo smirked at Chris' irritation, he wasn't insulting her by any means, and he was just truly worried for her safety. "And as I believe I have told you Chris. I know you are far from capable of riding alone. But until we catch the people who injured you, I don't want you riding alone…ever. So, I will ride back with you and explain to your knights what happened. From past experiences, I know for a fact that they won't let you ride alone either."

Chris gave a deep sigh as she decided to give in. "Have it your way Hugo. I'm too tired to argue at the moment."

Then Chris turned on her steed to give Hugo a fierce look, "Just wait until I get some sleep, because this is far from over."

Hugo laughed slightly at Chris' comment then realized he was doomed for sure and thought briefly if he should take his chances with her or bolt before Chris had time to recover.

Pacing had occurred within the council room, back and forth, repeatedly. Louis and the knights, including Nash, were getting impatient watching Borus pace. After finally having enough, Nash slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. "Damn it to hell Borus! Stop that fucking pacing, it's driving me crazy. Look, we're all worried about Chris but pacing isn't going to make things better. So sit down."

Borus turned to glare at Nash, anger burning within him; they didn't call him the swordsman of rage for nothing. "How can you say that when Lady Chris is out there in the damn forsaken Grasslands with that damned Karaya Chief doing Goddess knows what to her?"

Calmly interrupting, Roland spoke to Borus in a way to cool his temper. "Lady Chris is capable of taking care of herself. You know better than to think she would let some guy, any guy, take such liberties with her. To think that Hugo would do such a thing, that young man has more honor than most Zexen's I know."

The group of men all nodded their heads in agreement. Before Borus could respond there was a knock at the door. Salome turned to answer it in kind, "Come in please."

A young infantry knight stepped into the room with caution from having heard the yelling before all the way down the corridor. "Sir Salome, there is a guest at the front gate."

Borus jumped from his seat thinking that it could be the one and only Chris. Everyone else had to wonder why he would think that when she could walk through the very doors the message was delivered at. "We'll be right there, thank you."

The knight gave a bow and left, closing the door behind him. Not even a second after the knight left, Borus went rushing right after him to meet their guest downstairs. "Borus wait!"

Borus was already gone and the others had to quickly follow. The closer they came to the front gate, the sooner they saw a figure than was male and wearing knight's armor of a different nation. Seeing who it was, Louis ran up to him and gave him a brotherly hug, then a manly handshake. "Fred! How have you been? What's the occasion?"

The other's were greatly disappointed that it wasn't Chris or anyone that would have know Chris' whereabouts but they were happy to see an old friend. That is, everyone except Borus. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

Fred gave Borus a big grin as he placed his hands on his hips, he could see Borus' aggravation written all over his face, "Well hello to you too Borus. Long time no see everyone."

After all the welcome backs and greetings were finished they all wondered what Fred was doing back at the Federation. "Well, I received a letter not too long ago from an old friend that I might be needed once again, so here I am. That's all the letter said though, it didn't explain why or when."

Salome couldn't help but give Fred a curious look; it was almost suspicious in his eyes. "Who was the letter from?"

"Sorry Salome, I'm not at liberty to say."

Salome gave a silent nod of agreement because even he had been guilty of such letters before, "Very well, we trust you so there's no need to worry."

Borus wasn't having any of that though; he wanted answers, "Not at liberty? What kind of horseshit is that?"

Salome quickly turned to Borus to address him in a strict and firm command, "That is quite enough out of you Borus. You are a Knight of Zexen, so I expect you to act as such."

Borus glared at his temporary supervisor before turning away and marching straight back into Brass Castle. The older man gave an exasperated sigh as Nash spoke to Fred, "Apologies. Borus has been on edge since we discovered Lady Chris and Chief Hugo's disappearance."

"Missing?"

Roland then spoke next, "We received a message from Percival and Yuiri that Lady Chris and Chief Hugo never made it to the birthing of their baby."

Fred seemed utterly awestruck from this new information, he had been out of the loop for years after all, "Hold on just a second. Percival and Yuiri, I knew one of you was missing. What's this about a baby?"

After everyone had a laugh at Fred's surprise, Salome recommended that they all go inside to catch Fred up to date. Louis stopped suddenly to look around before turning back to Fred, "Hey, where's Rico?"

Fred slowed his pace so Louis could catch up quickly then tilted his head down to address the young knight, "Oh her? Rico went out shopping, she said something about resupplying."

The group laughed at the arrangement and Leo even got in a quick word, "What is it with woman and shopping? Pointless…"

Nash turned to Leo with an evil glint in his eyes as he worked his good friend into blackmail, "I'm telling Elaine you said that?"

"What? Hey wait a minute Nash. You wouldn't that, really, would you?"

Nash and the others continued to walk into the castle with Leo running to catch up with them, "Hey Nash! Come on Nash. Let's talk this over buddy."

"You are just the damnedest, cutest little girl I've ever seen!"

Futch was holding up a happy, laughing, baby Athena. "She seems to like you Futch."

Percival and Yuiri had just finished catching Futch up on the trials between the Grasslands and Zexen as well as personal affairs of any known individual they were in contact with. Futch returned in kind with some rather interesting information as well, he was now the proud owner of a True Rune. In his hand has the Dragon Rune passed down to him from Milia. "You two should be proud; Athena is beautiful just like her mother. She is going to be a heartbreaker in the future when she gets older, watch out Percival."

Yuiri went to grab Athena but the little girl had a death grip on Futch's tunic, "Looks like you have a new friend."

Futch smiled before jokingly responding, "Hey I'm not complaining. I wish beautiful girls grabbed me every day."

"Don't get too comfortable Futch, remember that's daddy's little girl." Percival replied with a laugh. Futch finally broke Athena's death grip and passed the young girl off to her mother before looking through his bag.

Percival watched as Futch desperately searched deep within his bag for something, the knight was unsure. Suddenly the Dragon Knight gave a sound of excitement as he stood up and approached Athena and Yuiri. The two girls sat on the bed with Athena giggling and rolling around, Yuiri kept a watchful eye of her little girl. Futch hopped on to the bed and placed the parcel next to Athena with a smile. "Here you go little one. Think of it as a welcome to the real world present."

Percival came to look over his wife's shoulder to see the present that Futch presented to Athena. When the Dragon Captain unwrapped the parcel from the blanket it was covered in Athena's parents took to shock, "Is that a rune?"

Futch never took his eyes off Athena who was playing with the rune. "Yes, it's a really rare rune. They call it the 'Blessed Lady' rune. I found it a couple years ago. I have no use for it so if you two don't object I would like to give it to Athena. I have no idea why I kept it this long; normally I just sell runes I have no use for. Maybe I was supposed to give it to Athena."

The parents looked at each other in silent communication, agreed that Athena could have the rune but they would keep it hidden and safe until she came of age. Percival took the rune to put it somewhere safe Yuiri watched Futch interact with Athena, "You never told us why you're here."

Futch tilted his head in confusion as he looked upon Yuiri letting a moment of silence pass, "Didn't I? Long story short, I got a letter from a friend to come back. It didn't say why or when exactly, just that I would be needed soon. Just in case anything bad does happen, I came as soon as possible."

Percival returned without the rune to sit next to his wife, "Who sent the letter?"

Futch could only shrug in response, "Sorry, the letter said not to tell. It said that we all play into effect, whatever that means. I do know this person is to be trusted, so don't worry. You two know who wrote the letter, I will say that much."

"Really? We know them. I wonder who it could be."

Percival turned to Yuiri with a smirk, she was always so curious, even on her birthday he had to hide her gifts in the most secretive of places, "Don't fret about it Yuiri. It said we will come into play soon."

With that said Futch finally stood with a stretch, "Well I'm off then. I want to say hello to everyone I have missed."

Futch leaned down towards Athena to give her a kiss on the forehead, "See you later little one."

The Fraulein's watched Futch walk out into the village and heard the loud whistle for Bright.

"I hate skirts." That was about the hundredth time Hugo had heard Chris mutter those words. Of course, he couldn't blame her. So far, he's been forced to knock out 5 men; at least 2 had broken noses and 2 more had broken arms. Hugo couldn't help it; he was a jealous man at times. The way he sees it, he wouldn't have to hurt anyone if they just stopped with the cat-calling and excited hollering towards Chris. There was one thing he knew for sure, he was damn proud for having Chris as his side because damn if she didn't have dynamite legs.

Chris turned on her saddle to say something to Hugo but she noticed he had a smirk of arrogance on his features. Chris narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his demeanor, "What the hell are you smiling about?"

Hugo shook his head at her to erase the smile from his face, or at least attempt to, "Nothing, I swear it."

Chris gave Hugo one last glare before turning forward once again as they reached Brass Castle. When they finally reached the stables, Chris and Hugo dismounted their steeds and began their walk to Chris' private chambers so she could get changed at last.

All of a sudden, something came crashing into Chris, pulling her into a tight embrace. Before Hugo had time to react and knock some manners into the pervert, Chris returned the hug with laughter. "Louis, what's wrong? Are you crying? Why are there so many tears?"

Hugo relaxed at the sound of the young knight's name and gave the young boy a greeting of his own. Louis broke out of the embrace and looked to Hugo, "You're back too."

Hugo gave a nod just before once again Louis pulled someone into a hug. Hugo was slightly shocked by the boy who had grown over the years and finally became a knight. "What's happened to make you cry so much?"

Louis pulled out of the embrace to wipe his tears away, he was the same age as Hugo but somehow he seemed just a few years younger at the moment, "We thought something happened. We received a message from Lord Percival that you never arrived in Alma Kinan. Your mother came by with Beecham yesterday to see what happened."

Hugo crossed his arms over his chest blinking calmly, "My mother's back, go figure."

"Hugo!"

The young Chieftain turned to Chris with a playful smirk, "Okay, I'll behave."

Chris gave a look that stated she didn't believe him for one second, then offered that they go upstairs to let the others know they were fine, "Chris!"

Upon opening the door to the room next to Chris' private chambers, she was pulled into several tight embraces before she fully entered the room. Hugo didn't mind, after all, they were worried about her. When Borus' and Nash's turns came up, Hugo's entire body tensed up in irritation. "Alright, settle down. I think that's enough, you're all going to suffocate her."

"Don't I get a hug Lady Chris?"

Upon hearing the familiar but unknown voice Chris turned to see Fred standing at the back of the room near the windows with his arms open wide and a smile on his face, "Fred! How are you?"

Chris lightly jogged over to Fred and they embraced each other, which made Borus and Hugo tense up. As they broke the embrace Fred replied, "I'm fine Chris. I heard you've been busy with the Peace Treaty. The Zexen Council still sounds like a bunch of jerks. They caught me up on the personal things, you're not married yet."

Chris smiled up at him then gave a soft laugh, "Not yet no, no one is worthy of the affection. Did you hear about Thomas and Cecile?"

"Oh yeah, that one shocked me a bit. I have to see how they are doing nowadays."

Hugo, feeling slightly unnerved with all the male attention Chris was getting had to say something, "Chris?"

Everyone turned to look at Hugo, all but Louis and Chris acted surprised to even see him there. Hugo stilled temporarily at all the sets of eyes on him before continuing, "Chris, do you really want to keep it a secret?"

At first Chris was a little confused by what he was talking about before it dawned on her that Hugo was referring to their new relationship. Chris looked at Hugo curiously wondering what had him so down at the moment, 'Is he upset about all the hugs? Of course…'

Finally noticing how unnerved Hugo was Chris took a few steps away from Fred with an apologetic look, "For now, yes I do Hugo."

The two were almost gazing longingly into each other's eyes; they were in their own little world at the moment, communicating without the necessary words. Not liking the looks they were giving each other, Borus yelled in frustration, "What are you two talking about? What secret?"

Noticing what was going on, Nash gave a soft laugh before replying, "If they told you it wouldn't be a secret any longer now would it."

Knowing that no one was going to back him up Borus regretfully dropped the subject for the time being. It was enough silence for Nash to ask the question they had all been dying to know the answer to, "Tell us about the baby. Was it a boy or girl? What did they name it?"

Leo gave up his seat for Chris so she and Hugo could explain what happened, including the attack of their Lady's life. "What? I can't believe someone tried to kill you Lady Chris. See, I warned everyone, the Grasslander's don't want peace no matter what they say."

Hugo stood in outrage, approaching Borus in absolute anger, "It was not the Grasslander's who attacked. I saw Yuber with my own eyes and a woman. The woman with him is the one that tried to kill Chris."

Noticing the glares that Borus and Hugo were giving each other Salome decided to intervene, "I believe that we should talk about this at a later date."

Catching onto Salome's hint Chris stood up and grabbed Hugo's arm gently, she pulled on it gently to break his glaring match with Borus. "Come one Hugo, shouldn't you get ready to leave? Your mother and Beecham are worried about you."

At the sound of Chris' voice Hugo let his rage over what Borus said go. Hugo turned to Chris with a smile and let her walk him out of the room to the stables. Chris made sure all was good with his steed before she heard Hugo speak from above her, "Come to my village tomorrow, we should talk."

Without waiting for an answer Hugo galloped off towards Karaya. Chris watched Hugo ride away until he was out of sight, then she gave a soft sigh and headed back to the council room. This time upon opening the door, instead of hugs, Chris was greeted with a dead silence. When she walked in and gently closed the door behind her, everyone turned to look in her direction. They each had a confused expression on their face; they also looked like they wanted to say something to her but were too afraid to. Louis was the one to finally break the silence with the question that had settled within all their minds, "Lady Chris, forgive me for asking but why was Chief Hugo wearing Percival's clothes and why are you wearing Grasslander clothing?"

Chris' face turned a deep scarlet red as she felt more than saw everyone's eyes travel up her legs.

Budehuc Castle had flourished greatly since the end of the war. It was still located on Zexen and Grassland territory. The castle looked much nicer and livable since all money from the now high population helped repair it. There were also a few new rooms added to each floor of the castle. All was peaceful and quiet. "Lord Thomas! Lord Thomas!"

Young Cecile, now sweet 16 and still full of lots of energy came running into the castle entrance. Her hair was now waist length and almost always pulled into a braid. Since Cecile no longer wore her helmet, people could now see how beautiful her hair was. Thomas had convinced her to lose the helmet. Thomas, with the help of Lady Chris, gave Cecile a new body of armor that would fit her better. Chris had Louis get it specially made with the Budehuc crest. Thanks to Chris and Yuiri's knowledge, the armor was made with a mixture of Zexen and Grassland style. Plus the girl no longer carried the large shield that protected her.

Thomas ran out of his room at the sound of the young girl yelling for him, "What is it Cecile? Has something happened?"

Thomas raced down the stairs to Cecile. He still had shoulder length hair but from spending so much time in the sun he now had light blonde highlights. Over the years Thomas had grown significantly, he was now close to the same height as Hugo if not a few inches shorter. He still wore a similar outfit but without his brown coat and his shirt sleeves are always rolled up to his elbows. From working outside to help rebuild Budehuc Castle, Thomas built up some muscle, enough to defend himself. Thomas was now 19 years old.

Thomas caught Cecile as she run into the castle and from the impact of him racing down the stairs the young lord just barely caught her in his arms. "What is it Cecile?"

Cecile took time to catch her breath as Thomas held her up to keep her from collapsing onto the ground, Cecile announced between gasps, "Lord Thomas we have company. It's Geddoe and his gang."

Setting Cecile down gently on the bottom step of the staircase Thomas kneeled in front of her, holding both her hands in his and making sure that she was breathing okay. He restated her comment just to verify to which Cecile nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright then." Thomas leaned down to give Cecile a kiss on the cheek, stood up and told Eike to help Cecile to her room. Thomas then left the castle to go and welcome Geddoe and his lovely gang.

"Budehuc Castle! How I have missed this place."

"You're full of it Ace. You didn't miss this place, you missed its alcohol." Ace winced just slightly at Queen's remark and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No really, I missed this place."

Queen passed by him with Aila by her side, both of the women holding their little girls who couldn't wait until their mother's put them down so they could play. The older woman replied to Ace with false enthusiasm, "Sure you did Ace."

Geddoe, Jacques and Joker stayed in the back as they watched the other 3 individuals of their group argue. They followed the two beautiful women and single jackass up the stairs where Thomas waited for them with a brilliant smile. "Well, well, this is a surprise. How are you Geddoe?"

"I'm quite fine Thomas. You've grown up and the castle looks amazing." To hear this from Geddoe was quite a surprise because last Thomas remembered, the man was silent and almost unexpressive.

Thomas gave a prideful smile as he shook Geddoe's hand, "Thank you but I only did an ounce of work. All the residents here at Budehuc did most of the hard work."

Thomas heard a young voice asking if she could be let down and the laughed at the sight of Queen and Aila holding children. "Someone's been busy. Whose are they?"

Jacques immediately walked up behind Aila with a pleasant smile, "These two angels are mine, the little one is Aisleen."

Aila laughed gently before turning to give her husband a kiss. Geddoe placed himself next to Queen as she placed their child on the ground. The little girl stood in front of her father smiling as he ruffled her hair with one hand and placed the other around Queen's waist, pulling her tighter to him. "I'm guilty of being with these two beautiful, loud females."

The little girl with short black hair jumped up and down with a smile as she introduced herself, "I'm Lita, I'm 2 years old!"

Queen gave her husband a playful look with a smile as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "See Geddoe, you can be sweet when you try."

Joker laughed as he hugged Ace from behind, "Ace and I are as single as ever. We can't settle down on one woman."

Thomas laughed along with the group when Ace elbowed Joker in the ribs to get his space. Thomas then invited the gang inside the castle for a place to discuss things. Thomas has to catch Cecile as she raced down the stairs and almost tripped, he held her in his arms tenderly, "You remember Cecile right?"

"Damn she grew up to be a looker!"

Joker hit Ace upside the head. Judging from Thomas' facial expression from Ace's comment and the way that he was currently holding Cecile in his arms, the martial artist knew that something had happened between the two. "Sorry about that. Please forgive Ace, he hasn't had his daily dose of alcohol as of yet."

Still glaring at Ace who was still rubbing the back of his head in pain Thomas replied, "It's okay, as long as he keeps his hands to himself."

Joker gave Thomas his promise that Ace will behave or he'll kill him before Thomas gets the chance to. Cecile noticed her predicament and blushed slightly, "Sorry Thomas, I didn't mean to trip like that."

Smiling down at the pretty blonde knight in his arms Thomas replied, "Not to worry Cecile. Just don't run up or down the stairs any longer."

"Aww…you two make such the cutest couple."

Queen's comment made both individuals blush and little Lita stick her tongue out in disgust. Thomas turned to address Geddoe, "I'm sure this wasn't a pleasure trip. Anything the matter, and if so, is there anything I can do to help?"

Queen interrupted before Geddoe could give Thomas a proper response. "That reminds me Geddoe, honey. Have you figured out where we are going to live after we finish this favor for Chris? Remember you said that since Aila and I have children we have to stop being mercenaries. But the deal was that in order to retire you pick where we live. Have you decided yet?"

Geddoe glanced at Queen, deciding on a new home was important but this favor was important. Out of the corner of his eye Geddoe noticed Lita attempting to climb the pillar and was a good foot or two off the ground, "Lita, no honey get down. Sorry Queen but right now we have to finish this favor for Chris and that alone will take a while."

Queen agreed reluctantly as she left to grab her trouble maker from the pillar. Geddoe meanwhile told Thomas he had to speak with him privately. Thomas guided him to his office where Geddoe shut the door. The halls of Budehuc were once again silent. Ace then clapped his hands excitedly, "I'm glad that's over with. If you need me I'll be at the tavern."

Blank stares followed Ace out the door and then Joker shrugged before actually following the man into the tavern. Aila shook her head in a knowing manner before addressing Cecile, "Could you show us to our rooms? It's close to their nap time."

"Sure, follow me."

Later that night, Geddoe finally got out of his conference with Thomas. He finally found his room after Cecile was kind enough to point him the way after he accidently went to her room. Upon opening his bedroom door, Geddoe saw Queen sleeping soundly on the bed. Lita was curled up against her mother's left side. The mercenary removed his armor, boots and other accessories before climbing into bed to the right of Queen. At the sound of his name coming from her lips questioningly he encouraged her to go back to sleep.

"I did it! Yes, I finally took the might Silver Maiden of Zexen down."

A young woman jumped up and down, laughing and singing happily because she had finally killed Lady Chris of the Zexen Knights. "I wouldn't be too sure if I were you Miss Pendragon."

Shrieking, Lilly jumped in fright as an older looking man came out from the shadows. Lilly yelled at the individual with her hand placed over her heart trying to calm its rapid beating from the sheer terror of the man's voice, "Damn it Albert, don't do that. I hate it when you and Yuber do that."

Albert gave Lilly a disgusted stare before growling out in anger, "I don't give a damn what you hate or like. You nearly ruined our plans you little brat. I told you, you'll get your chance at Chris but right now we need her alive. I talked to Yuber, you cancelled his death spell just in time or Chris would be lying dead somewhere at this moment."

Lilly screamed in outrage as she slapped Albert across the face, before she even had a chance to think about what she had done, Albert grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall. "Do that again or make one more wrong move to ruin our plan and I will kill you. Understand?"

Albert tightened his hold on Lilly's windpipe, her face losing its color and her lips a little purple. Albert finally let go causing the girl to drop from his grasp and crabwalk back into the wall. Albert looked down at her with a blank expression, "Stay right here and don't do anything stupid again Lilly or it will be your last mistake."

Lilly watched Albert walk away as she slightly trembled in fear from his anger and gently rubbed at her neck.

'Something woke me up, what was it?' Rising out of bed and careful not to wake Queen, Geddoe grabbed his sword and then opened the door to explore the halls of Budehuc Castle. He heard hurried footsteps on the floor below him.

Quietly walking down the stairs, Geddoe saw a figure hidden in the shadows. From his outline, Geddoe saw it was Albert but before he could make a move an arrow flew right by his head and almost hit Albert in the back.

Before Albert got a chance to run for it, Geddoe tackled him to the ground. The lights were turned on and Geddoe could see Jacques standing on the staircase with his crossbow. "Geddoe get off him!"

Geddoe snapped his head in the direction of Queen's voice to see that Thomas and the gang with the exception of Ace was gathered at the top of the staircase. Aila gave Geddoe a worrisome expression as she spoke, "Please get off Caesar."

'Caesar?' Geddoe looked down at the man he had pinned to the ground. "Hey Geddoe, nice welcome you got there."

Geddoe quickly stood up and gave Caesar a helping hand off the ground, "Sorry, you just looked like Albert."

Caesar brushed himself off as he shook his head with that uneven grin, "I get that a lot nowadays. No harm done though."

"I take it you got my letter, since you're here."

Caesar gave Geddoe a quick nod of reassurance, "Sure did. So here I am, Caesar to the rescue."

Thomas looked at the two men gathered at the bottom of the staircase with a frown; it was too early for this kind of activity, "Why don't we discuss this in my office?"

Everyone followed Thomas into his office space, when everyone was gathered inside, Geddoe explained things thus far. When Geddoe was finished with his story Caesar accepted his proposal, "Sounds simple enough, I'm in."

Geddoe nodded his head in silent agreement when Jacques intervened with a question of his own, "Where's Apple?"

Caesar could only shrug his shoulders, he was rather happy that Apple hadn't followed him this time but he did miss her a little bit, "Apple stayed home this time. I guess her old age is catching up."

"I don't know about you all, but I am going back to bed. I have a hangover to work off." Joker replied and then turned to leave the room with a loud yawn.

"I think we better follow, you look ready to fall over Aila." The young woman smiled at Jacques concern before he put his arms around her and led her back to their room.

"Queen, why don't you head back to bed? I'll be with you shortly." Queen gave Geddoe a goodnight kiss, bid Caesar a goodnight and headed straight to her chambers for more sleep.

Geddoe turned towards Thomas and Caesar with a frown marring his features. "Now that Caesar has finally decided to join us, let's talk about serious business."

All was dark and silent, but footsteps could be heard walking beyond the dark. The closer it got to the council's meeting room, the louder the footsteps. As the council room door opened, the council member walked in quietly. Shutting the door behind him, the council member stood in the center of the room. "It took you long enough. Remember, this is my time you're wasting."

The council member jumped in surprise when he heard the voice come out of the darkness. When the council member calmed down again he said to the shadowed figure, "Do you have everything set and ready to put into action?"

This time, the voice seemed to come from directly behind him causing the councilor to shriek slightly, "Of course, I'm no amateur. You wanted the best, so you get the best."

A wicked smile came upon the council members face. "How soon can you get the plan into action?"

"As soon as I tie up some loose strings, I'll be ready." When this was said, a shadowy figure appeared in front of the councilor in a black ninja outfit.

"Then I won't waste anymore of your valuable time. The quicker you assassinate the person, the better." The council member turned to leave the room as the dark ninja figure disappeared back into the shadows.

Unknown to the council member and assassin, another dark figure emerged from the shadows and he overheard everything. As soon as the two left, the shadowed figure left to report what information he was able to steal.

"Master Thomas! Master Thomas!"

Thomas' head snapped up from his business work when his office door slammed open. Nurse Mio was standing in his doorway, gasping for air. Thomas calmly put his pen down and asked what was wrong. "It's Cecile."

At the sound of his beloved's name Thomas stood from his desk asking if Cecile was alright. "She's in the clinic at the moment milord. Please follow me."

Thomas appeared to be calm as he walked around his desk and followed Nurse Mio at a speed a little faster than a walk. When they arrived at the steps he skipped 3 at a time and almost blew by Mio to the clinic. Thomas stood in the doorframe to see Yumi apologizing over and over again to Cecile who was lying down on one of the beds. Thomas knelt by Cecile's bed and took her left hand in his own. "Are you okay Cecile?"

Cecile giggled a little bit as she hugged Thomas gently, "I'm fine Thomas really. I just had a little accident with Yumi during training today."

"I am so sorry Cecile. I really thought you would have found a way to counter to dodge my attack. Please forgive me. Lord Thomas I didn't mean to really."

Thomas shook his head, understanding that the entire ordeal was an accident and Yumi was truly sorry, "Yumi nothing serious happened. It was just an accident, don't worry about it."

Thomas spoke softly in order to try and calm Yumi. The Lord then turned to Cecile to ask her what happened. "Well it's rather stupid but Yumi went to punch me and I grabbed her arm to twist it behind her back. She threw her head back and hit me in the face. Then Yumi ran towards me, I thought she was going to flip over my head but I was wrong. Yumi went sliding between my legs and while she was doing that she grabbed my ankles to pull me down. Well, I landed wrong and forgot to twist my body to avoid injury. I landed on my arm and popped it out of place. So you see I'm fine."

Thomas would have laughed if once again the sound of someone yelling for him wasn't echoing through the halls. Thomas sighed as he stood up and leaned over to give Cecile a kiss. "I'll see you later today. Take it easy okay?"

On his way out the door, Thomas could hear Cecile asking Yumi if they could finish their match today. As he shut the door behind him Thomas heard his name being called from outside the manor. Thomas started laughing the moment he stepped foot outside and discovered the disturbance. Jacques had Caesar in a headlock and was yelling all the things he would love to do with a knife to Caesar. Thomas had never heard the silent man raise his voice let alone really talk at all. Thomas then noticed Aila on the sidelines with an expression mixed with anger, concern and worry. "Jacques, that's enough! He didn't do that much damage I promise. Jacques!"

Thomas walked up behind Aila who was holding a cheering Aisleen almost afraid to find out what was wrong, "Why is Jacques trying to kill Caesar? This is twice in two days."

"You heard me yelling for you? I'm glad you're here. I can't find Geddoe or Queen anywhere. Joker and Ace are in the tavern getting drunk as per usual. I can't get Jacques off Caesar."

"Maybe I can help if you let me know why Jacques is so angry." Aila gave Thomas a surprised look as realization hit her.

"That's right I forgot to tell you. Jacques went to look for the boss; while he was gone Caesar said he wanted to talk. I never would have guessed that he would turn into a pervert over the years. Jacques left the tavern just as I slapped Caesar and told him not to touch me again. Then Jacques jumped him."

Thomas was quiet a moment before he started laughing and soon Aila with Aisleen joined the young man in his joyous moment. Hearing Aila's laugh, Jacques looked up from his beating on Caesar. Curious as to what was so funny, Jacques dropped Caesar to the ground and walked over to them. "What is so funny you three?"

Aila walked up to Jacques with Aisleen in her arms and gave him a tongue-dancing kiss. "Nothing dear, I'm just glad you decided to drop Caesar."

Jacques smiled as he pulled his wife to his side, "I'll drop guys like that if you would give me a kiss like that every time I did."

Aila cradled Aisleen to her chest and laughed once again as Jacques picked her up. The small family went back inside the manor to enjoy the day, search for Geddoe and Queen forgotten.

Monster bodies were lying all over the cave near Vinay del Zexay. Queen and Geddoe were already late for a meeting with one of the man's spies. "Is it just me or are these monsters easier than the last time we were here?"

"It's not you."

They finally reached the open area at the back of the cave. Geddoe walked out into the open area with Queen close to his side looking for their third party member. Queen sighed softly, "And I thought we were late."

"You are," replied a figure that back flipped from behind them.

Queen looked on in shock as she saw who was standing in front of her and Geddoe. "Is that…"

The ninja bowed before them before trading looks with Geddoe, to Queen and then back again. "Ninja Master Watari, at your service sir."

Queen was only slightly confused but Geddoe had gotten straight to business as usual, "What information do you have for me?"

"I have kept close watch on the Zexen Council members, as you have asked me to do so. Last I saw, one of the councilors had a late night meeting with another ninja. They plan on assassinating someone. I don't know who, when or how yet but I will find out."

Geddoe nodded his head in acknowledgement, satisfied with the information Watari had to pass on. The Ninja Master bowed to the two of them once again and disappeared as fast as he had appeared. Queen then turned to Geddoe with a smirk, "What now sir?"

Geddoe raised an eyebrow at his wife's playful words before turning to leave the cave. "We head to Budehuc and wait for now."

A/N: Chapter 4 is finally finished, i'm happy to get it out there at last. Chapter 5 will be typed up this week. Any question that you may have, please feel free to ask. Just in case Percival and Yuiri's wedding was 3 years from the war. Athena's birth is a little over a year later. Lita is 2 and Aisleen is 1.