Disclaimer: Some characters appearing courtesy of Starhawk; other canon ones courtesy of Disney; and all the rest, courtesy of me. :)

bRaInWaVe: Yay! I'm so glad that you're still liking it. They'll find Ash and Andros soon...hopefully. Keep writing, only a few days left!

A Sibling's Destiny

Chapter 9

When Caden, Kylie, Karone, and Zhane clambered out of the mega lift on deck six, they heard the sounds of voices before they even reached the work bay. Caden was the first to enter, followed closely by Kylie and Karone, and Zhane silently made his way in last.

Carlos was standing slightly in front of his wife and very young child, who the siblings had never met before. Karone walked over to Carlos and waited for him to set his things down before pulling him into a hug. "Thank you for coming Carlos," she replied pulling back and nodding to the Aquitian girl now at his side. "Aura."

The girl she addressed bowed her head slightly and pressed her fingertips together and moved them in a circle. Caden shot a sideways glance at his sister and telepathically asked 'Some form of greeting?' He received a 'duh' look seconds later when their aunt mimicked the gesture and then looked at the little girl standing just behind Aura. Kylie had taken several foreign customs classes on KO-35 and was a lot more familiar with them than Caden was.

Karone was now bent down to the girl's level, trying to coax her out from behind her mother. She gave her a slight smile and held out her hand. "Hi there," she told her. The girl moved a little more out from behind her mother peering at Karone curiously. "My name is Karone. What is yours?" Karone asked in a sweet and welcoming voice.

The girl looked up at her mother. Aura grinned and nodded at her, "It is okay, she is a friend." The girl slowly moved out from behind Aura and over to stand in front of Karone. "I am Opal," she said in a small whisper.

Karone smiled again and did the same hand gesture that she had greeted Aura with. The girl immediately followed her movements. "It's nice to meet you Opal," Karone told her before turning to toward the three behind her. She motioned for the girl to come a little closer. When she did, Karone said, "You see those two kids over there?" The girl nodded slightly and Karone continued. "That's Caden and Kylie, they are your cousins. I think you will like them."

Opal smiled at the two of them, who were giving her friendly smiles in return, and then pointed at Zhane, who was still standing just inside the entryway to the work bay. "Who is that?"

Karone shot a grin in his direction. He was doing a very good job of averting his gaze from hers and did not even look in their direction at the girl's question. "That," Karone said chuckling slightly, "is your Uncle Zhane."

Zhane still did not look up. Opal walked over to Zhane and, looking back at her parents to make sure it was alright, reached out and grabbed his hand. Karone's little talk with her must have made her feel a lot more comfortable than when she first got there, she was a lot less timid now. Zhane looked down at the girl and gave her a soft smile. "Un-cle Zhane, you are the silver ranger." Opal stated. She said it in a slightly questioningly way, as if she was not entirely sure.

Zhane opened his mouth slightly before closing it and just nodding his head. The girl smiled and went back over to her parents. When she turned her back, Zhane shot a glare at Karone, who was now saying something to Carlos and Aura. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame in aggravation. He really did not like this not being able to talk thing and was really hoping that Karone would undo her magic soon.

Karone turned as she said, "Well, how about you guys go ahead and get settled in and meet us on the bridge when you are ready."

Carlos nodded and picked up the bags that he had brought. "Thanks Karone," then, taking in the rest of them, said, "Zhane...and Caden and Kylie, it's good to see you again."

"You too Uncle Carlos," Kylie told him with a smile.

Carlos grinned at her and then looked at Karone. "We'll meet you guys on the bridge in a bit."

Karone nodded and said, "Alright, we should be arriving at Earth in an hour or so." Carlos nodded and led the way toward the doorway and down the hall.

The others slowly made their way out of the work bay and up to the bridge. About twenty minutes later, Carlos joined them there, alone.

Karone frowned at him and asked, "Where are Aura and Opal?"

"Aura is putting Opal down for a nap, but she said she might be up once Opal is asleep," Carlos replied. He walked over and sat in Cassie's old seat right beside Zhane, who was still sulking. Carlos had noticed and was getting curious, Zhane had not said a word since he had arrived, and that was nothing like Zhane. Something was wrong. His curiousness won out and he asked, "So...how are you?" He did not mean for it to come out so awkward but somehow, it just did.

Instead of answering him, Zhane turned his chair to face Karone, who was standing at the consoles directly behind them. Carlos also turned his seat and followed Zhane's gaze to Karone. She did not even look up, just continued doing whatever it was that she was doing on the console in front of her. Carlos looked back and forth between the two. He had no clue what was going on. Finally, he frowned and shook his head. "What is going on?" he asked, speaking his thoughts aloud.

Karone stopped punching buttons on the console and looked up at him. "Well, Zhane here decided to share some wonderful songs with us that he had learned for nearly the entire trip and somehow, miraculously, he lost his voice in the process," she shrugged her shoulders almost too convincingly, but it was the wink that followed it that told him that she had something to do with Zhane's miraculous loss of voice.

He chuckled slightly and said, "Do I even want to know what it was that he sang?"

"Probably not, I am still trying to get them out of my head," Karone replied. Looking up at one of Deca'a cameras she asked, "Deca, how much longer until we reach Earth?"

"ETA to Earth is approximately fourteen minutes," Deca answered in her usual calm computer voice.

Caden and Kylie had been sitting in the seats on the far side of the bridge, keeping mostly to themselves. At Karone's question, Caden wondered once more if they would be going down to Earth when they got there. He turned in his chair to look at Karone. "Are Aunt Cassie and Uncle TJ and their families going to be teleporting up here as well, Aunt Karone? Or," he paused slightly before continuing, "will we be going down there to meet them?"

Karone knew what Caden had meant. He had longed to visit Earth ever since he had first learned about it. She threw him a sympathetic glance before speaking. "They will probably teleport Cade, it will be faster if they do."

Caden nodded in reply, a tiny bit of disappointment written on his face. He looked up as the doors at the back of the bridge opened and revealed Aura. She smiled at them all and then walked over to join Carlos, talking quietly in conversation with him.

Minutes later, Deca informed them that they were receiving a transmission from Earth. It was TJ, telling them that they were all at his house, Cassie and her family included and that they were ready to teleport whenever the megaship was ready.

Caden and Kylie went down to meet them on Karone's request. The rest of the adults stayed on the bridge. Caden had a feeling that Karone wanted to tell the others something without him and his sister overhearing.

They got to the work bay just as teleportation sparkles appeared and then dissolved to reveal six people. Their Uncle TJ and his wife Tessa, and their Aunt Cassie, Uncle Saryn, and their two kids, Amanda and Brianna.

Cassie was the first to step forward, smiling at the siblings. Looking at each in turn with a hint of sadness and sympathy in her eyes, she said, "Caden, Kylie." Then, as if she did not know what to say, walked forward and pulled them both into a hug.

Caden could feel his sister's emotions start to get the best of her and, when they pulled back from the hug, he could see tears in her eyes. She tried her best to hide it from the rest of them, but was not quick enough. She went to turn away and Cassie reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. Kylie turned back to her and stayed looking down at the floor. Cassie put her hand under her chin and gently pushed her head up to look at her. The tears that had been in her eyes were now freely flowing down her face. Cassie wiped at them and told her, "We are going to get them back safe and sound." After a few seconds she said, "Okay?"

Kylie nodded slowly and gave Cassie another hug. "Thanks Aunt Cassie," she whispered. "It's good to see you again."

Cassie smiled as she pulled away from Kylie, "It's good to see you again as well, both of you," she added looking at Caden. "I just wish that it were under different circumstances."

"Trust me, we do too," Caden said glancing at his sister, who nodded silently.

Out of all of their aunts and uncles (that did not live on KO-35), Caden and Kylie had seen Cassie and her family the most and were closer with her than the rest of them.

Caden stepped forward and addressed everyone in the room. "Aunt Karone wanted me to tell you guys that we are going to have a meeting on the simudeck as soon as you guys get settled into your rooms." He then stepped forward and reached out to take one of Cassie's daughters' very large bags. The girl smiled slightly in appreciation and relinquished half of her load to him. "Thanks," she told him.

Kylie followed his lead and took one of Tessa's bags. TJ's wife had not been carrying much, but smiled anyway and let her help. Her now free hand moved to the small round bump on her stomach and she winked at Kylie when she noticed that she was still watching. Kylie grinned widely and followed her brother and Cassie's family out of the work bay.

A/N: Current word count: 31,392...and 7 days to go. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Review please!