Surprise! I sure have been prolific this week, haven't I? (And no, that was not a pun about what I wrote yesterday with Cole and Hagar's nightly activities.) You guys remember me? I am SO SORRY! Once summer comes I'll hopefully have time to be more consistent, but right now I'm just trying to get the yard clean. Today's goal is to organize the barn. Wish me luck, it's disgusting. XP

It might help you guys to go back and skim the last few chapters, just in case you don't have a fresh memory of what's going on. You'll feel less lost. And I really am sorry. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Five Letters

Zane awakened in the middle of the night to an ear-splitting scream. Half-asleep, he focused his attention on the sound, which had died away. Maybe he had imagined it?

"No! No, no, no!"

There it was again.

He swung his feet to the floor, wiping drowsiness from his eyes with the back of his hand. It sounded like Nya was having a nightmare. Strange. She did;t normally have those.

He padded down the hall and opened the door. Inside the room, Jay knelt on the bed, shaking Nya's shoulders.

Jay was trying to calm her. "Hey, it's just a dream, wake up-"

"No! Help me, no!"

"Nya! You're safe!"

"No!"

Zane crossed the room and got between Jay and Nya. "Not like that," he said. "Watch."

Jay gave him a sleepy glare. "H-Hey, how did you get in-"

"Shh." Zane set a hand on Nya's back and pulled her close.

It's all right, love.

"No!" She thrashed, fighting the monsters of her dreams. "No, no!"

I'm here. No one can hurt you.

"Shh." Zane eased her sweaty head onto his chest. "Shh. We're here."

Nya shuddered, then settled down.

"What's wrong with her?" Jay asked. "She's not usually like this. Is she still asleep? How did you know that holding her like that would-"

"It's just a nightmare," Zane said. "She has them..." He caught himself before he could add the word 'frequently'. Now was not the time to arouse suspicion about his past- or...future.

What does it matter? Both Past and Future have messed things up for me, he thought bitterly.

"J-Jay," Nya whispered, trembling despite Zane's warmth.

"Nya," Jay said. He took Nya from Zane's arms and held her close.

Nya's eyes opened with a start. She gasped. "N-No..."

"Are you okay?" Jay asked. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes were wide and glazed. "I...I..." She sniffled. "It was Kai. He...he..."

"It's all right," Jay said, rubbing the small of her back. "Do you need anything before we head back to bed?"

Nya wiped some sweat from her brow. "I...want to go outside," she said. "Get some fresh air."

"I can do that," Jay said. "But just for a few minutes. You shouldn't be stressing yourself right now." He stroked her belly. "Little Wren Tate is coming soon. You need to save all the energy you can."

Nya forced a smile, then coughed. "Okay. I..." She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and went tense, brow wrinkled in pain.

"Another contraction?"

Nya dipped her head once.

Jay took her hand and kissed it. Once the contraction was over, she relaxed.

"That one went on for a long time," he said.

"Yeah." Nya rubbed her thigh with her free hand. "I felt it squeezing down there, even."

Zane slid from the bed. "I'll leave you two alone now."

"Sure. Thanks, Zane."

At the door, he smiled. "Anytime, Jay. Goodnight."

He went back to his room, his sixth sense whispering into his consciousness. It was vague; a few unsettling emotions, as though something terrible were far on the horizon.

It's just you, Zane, he thought as he sat down on his bed. You're being a pessimist again.

Still, sleep was slow in coming for his restless soul.

Nya rested in Jay's arms on the deck of the Bounty, breathing in the cold, fresh air.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jay asked. "The nightmare, I mean."

Nya shook her head.

"It's kinda strange that Zane knew what to do when you wouldn't wake up," Jay said. "It's almost like he's had...experience."

"If you're implying what I think you're implying," Nya said, "then your answer is no. Me and Zane? That's gross. Just...ugh." She shuddered. "And it's silly to think that Zane would know how to deal with the nightmare. It's the first time I've had it. He can't have had experience."

"What was so different about this nightmare?" Jay asked.

Nya's eyes clouded as she stared up at the stars. "I saw the bomb," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It was there. And..."

"And?" Jay prompted. Finally. I'm drawing her out.

"And Zane wouldn't stop screaming," she whimpered. "He...and Kai..." She shut her eyes and grabbed his shirt, squeezing hard. She made a strained noise, body tense.

She was having another contraction. Jay held her through it, counting the seconds that passed by until she relaxed, breathless.

"Guess what?" he said.

Nya groaned, hands down on her belly. "What?"

"I love you."

Nya smiled, though it looked a little forced. "Guess what?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow's the due date," she said, rubbing little circles on her nightgown. "Tomorrow we could had little Wren Tate in our arms."

"I wouldn't raise your hopes too high," Jay said. "If he's gonna take after me, he'll be at least a week late. Mom says I was born ten days past my due date."

Nya gasped. "Your poor mother!" She frowned at her belly. "Now you listen, little guy. Be like me. On time. I love you, but this is painful. I just want it over with!"

Jay chuckled. "I'm with Mommy on this one," he said. "I can't wait another minute. Plus, I'm tired of having to help her hobble to the bathroom every ten minutes." He kissed her cheek. "Not that I mind, but it does get tiring."

Nya scoffed. "Try being the one with the squished bladder." She turned her head and allowed him to kiss her lips. "Mmm. Rub my shoulders, please. They're all tense."

"Whatever you say, Milady," Jay said.

For the next few minutes they sat in silence, him rubbing her shoulders, both gazing at the twinkling stars.

Nya moaned as his thumb dug into a particularly tight spot in the back of her neck, and she smiled. Jay pushed harder.

There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe his love for her. It was an all-consuming passion. A wildfire. A tsunami. An ice-cream cone with all one-hundred flavors stacked on top.

Okay. So that last one was a little cheesy. He was just glad he hadn't said it out loud.

"Do you hear that?" Nya asked.

Jay cocked his head and listened. In the distance he heard a high-pitched whine. "It sounds like an aircraft," he said. "Drat. Our light isn't on, is it? The plane can't see us. I'll be right back." He stood and took the steps to the bridge two at a time. By the time he was inside, the sound was so loud that the floor beneath him trembled.

Not good. He had to work fast. He punched in the computer password, pressed a few more keys, then pulled a lever to his left. The searchlight on the quarterdeck sparked to life, burning his eyes. He wiped away a few pain-induced tears, then peeked out the window, confused. The noise had stopped. Why was that? An airplane couldn't just stop making noise.

He ran from the control room and back down the stairs. "Nya, did you see anything?" he called, still trying to blink the stars out of his vision.

No reply. Jay went to the deck where they had been sitting, fear crawling down his spine like icy fingers. "Nya? Hey, Nya!"

It's all right, he thought, biting his nail. She just had another bladder emergency. I'll go and check on her.

Yes, this was a good idea. Strange things were happening up here. But down below, everything was fine. Nya was there, just fine.

But before he could reach the stairs to justify his thinking, he heard a clanking nose behind him. He whirled and saw a pair of glowing red eyes. A Nindroid.

A blunt object made impact with the side of his skull before he could call out, and the world went dark.

Zane made his way to breakfast the next morning, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. He opened the door and was immediately assaulted by the scent of eggs, ham, and bacon. Lloyd was cooking breakfast.

"Ah, there he is," Cole said, popping from the kitchen with a stack of plates. "Late for breakfast. That's unlike you."

"But very much like Jay and Nya," Lloyd said as he trailed behind Cole, a stack of yellow omelettes on a plate. "Late. Always late. They used to be the early birds, up with the sun. Now they're love birds."

Cole and Lloyd laughed at the joke, but Zane stayed quiet until they were finished.

"Being pregnant is exhausting," he said. "And so is being a man, taking care of a pregnant woman."

"What do you know about that?" Cole said, still laughing. "You've never had a family."

The words cut deep. I know more about family than Jay ever will. I had to take care of the toddler twins while Nya was stuck on the couch for nine months. I did the potty training stage all by myself!

Zane forced a laugh, shrugging. "Yeah, you're right," he said, settling into one bench. "It smells good, Lloyd. Thank you."

"Sure thing," Lloyd said. He slapped down a cup of orange juice by Zane's plate. It splashed a bit, and Zane used his sleeve to wipe up the mess.

"Should I go get those two?" Lloyd asked. "Their food's gonna get cold."

"They'll be upset if you wake them up," Cole said.

"Yeah, but they'll also be upset if I don't." Lloyd rolled his eyes. "They can't ever make up their minds."

"Tell you what," Cole said. "Stick their portion in the oven at a low temperature. Then it can still be warm when they get here."

"But it'll get all dry," Lloyd said.

"Stick a bowl of water in the rack beneath it," Zane said. "I don't know. It might work."

Lloyd snapped his fingers. "You're so smart. I'll be right back." He took two omelettes and made for the kitchen.

The bridge's messaging alarm blared through the speakers.

"What could that be?" Lloyd asked. "I wasn't expecting any calls. Cole?"

"Don't look at me."

Zane stood. "I'll get it," he said. "And don't touch my food!"

Cole gave him an impish grin.

Zane slammed the sliding door, muttering under his breath. They just didn't get it.

He threw open the bridge's door, went to the control panel, and punched the receive button with his fist.

A tiny red blip popped onto the screen, strobing unsteadily. Above it was a string of letters and numbers. Coordinates?

With a groan, he flipped off the screen, certain it was a glitch in the system.

Then he stopped and considered it a moment longer. What if it was a call for help?

But that was ridiculous. No one had access to this line unless they were on the Ninja team.

He flipped the screen back on and stared at the dot. It was over the City of Ouroboros, nearly six hours away.

Who could it be? Lloyd was present, Cole was present, Jay was present-

Zane felt his heart sink with cold dread. No. Jay was not here! Zane had been awake for hours after that incident last night with Nya. She and Jay had gone up to the deck, and there had been a rumbling sound maybe thirty minutes later. He had assumed it was the Bounty's engines.

Also, their bedroom was at the end of the hall. He would have heard their footsteps of they'd returned to their room. They had not.

Both Jay and Nya were gone, he was sure of it now. So this was indeed distress signal, most likely from Nya or Jay. Though how they had managed to get their hands on the equipment to do this, he had no idea.

And then Zane noticed a pattern in the strobing light. A quick flash, a long flash, two more quick flashes. A pause. Another quick flash, then a long flash, another pause. It went on like that- Morse code, he'd decided- spelling the only five-letter-word that could possibly make his day worse.

"Aargh!" Zane screamed at himself, a step beyond angry. He slammed around some equipment as he set the coordinates into the piloting system. He set the jets on full power, and the ship rocketed forward, nearly pulling him from his feet. Lloyd and Cole were probably on the kitchen floor right now, broken dishes all around them, dazed form the impact.

But Zane could care less about the mess. For once, there was something out there more important than cleanliness.

The light continued to strobe, repeating the same five letters over and over again, urging him to push the ship faster.

L-A-B-O-R

Soooo yeah. This is the thing that was taking me forever. I was really nervous about it, 'cause of certain plot thingies I don't care to explain, but now I've decided to just roll with it. That's what I do anyway, right?

We are nearing the end. Only a few more chapters, and then the epilogue. And then the story is over. D: I've got a good idea of how I want it to end now, but knowing me, I'll discard the plans and wing it on accident. (How does that even work? I swear, my brain makes no sense.)

I really messed some stuff up here, too. Started some subplots that might not get tied up and a bunch of other junk. I'm really sorry about that. The ending just kinda snuck up on me. :/

Well, I hope you enjoyed, please review, and check out the other one-shot I made yesterday. I'll see you all next week for the great Misako Reveal in True Grit! XD Jaa ne!