Justice will triumph. Amelia told herself as she sat in the carriage watching Benny as he slept curled up to Zelgadis. Just keep telling yourself that.

She struggled with tears as they drew closer to the palace. All of her life she had told herself that no matter what she was going through justice would triumph in the end. She wore the words as an emotional security blanket, born from a need to exert some sense of control to her life after her mother was murdered. If she ever tried to think about it logically she quickly gave it up, because the inevitable conclusion was that if her mother was a just person and the universe was a just place, then she never would have been murdered. Yet logic never fit into it. Heroes of justice are protected, and justice always triumphs.

But thinking in terms of such rigid absolutes did little to guide her in this suddenly grey toned world she found herself in.

A just person would hope that Benny had loving family members out there.

A just person would not wish for Benny's entire family to be dead.

A just person would hope that Benny could find happiness with his family.

Yet there she was, hoping that this was a mistake, or a trick, or a mistake.

She was not thinking like a just person. Which made her wonder if the reason she did not have a child of her own was the universe's way of punishing her for harboring such evil thoughts. She closed her eyes and steeled herself against going down such a path and told herself once again, justice will triumph.

The man in the room had blonde hair and green eyes and bore a faint resemblance to Benny, none of which Amelia or Zelgadis could claim. Amelia had not liked to think about Benny's parents. But now that she was face to face with people claiming to be his relatives, it was unavoidable. Benny had real parents. Parents who looked like him. Just like Benny's uncle did.

"Benny!" he cried as soon as they walked through the door. He ran to Benny and reached his arms out, but Benny backed away, closer to her and Zelgadis, and Amelia felt a moment of triumph as she smiled. And then she instantly castigated herself for the unjustness of the feeling. Amelia put an arm around Benny as the man wiped tears from his eyes. "It's me, your Uncle Gene." He said, and then he smiled as his wife came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. Amelia felt her breath leave her as she realized that the woman was pregnant, "And this is your Aunt Winnie. He probably doesn't remember me. He was just a little baby when we last saw him."

"Oh." Amelia said quietly, and then her royal training started to kick in, "Won't you have a seat?"

"Thanks," Winnie said as the group seated themselves on the couches, "And thank you so much for rescuing him and caring for him. When we heard about the attack we just assumed the worst, that no one had survived."

"We held a service for her sister and her family at our temple even." Gene said reverently.

"So when Manus Koff tracked us down…"

"Who?" Zelgadis sputtered.

"Manus Koff." Winnie said and Amelia felt her ire rise, as well as her suspicions, "He said he was tasked with finding the family members of the survivors."

Amelia stared at Zelgadis in shock, and saw that he was staring at Winnie in horror. Neither Winnie nor Gene seemed to notice as Winnie commented, "Benny looks so much like Gene's sister."

"It's just good to know that there's something left of her." Gene said as he wiped continued to wipe tears from his eyes. Was it an act? If it was, it was an unsettlingly good one. Gene and Winnie seemed like genuinely good people.

"What proof do you have that you are his blood relation?" Zelgadis asked stiffly. Amelia wished she could read Zelgadis' mind.

"Of course," Gene said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of papers, "This is the record of my birth in Esouh. Manus Koff brought this to me. He raided the temple archives to track me down." Gene handed the record to Amelia, and then pulled out another one, "Eileen Baker was my sister, and you can see we were born in the same family. And here is my sister's marriage certificate to Bartholomew, and here's the record of Benedict's birth. Oh, and here are my papers, proving I am who I say I am."

Amelia looked numbly at the official seals. She wondered if Manus Koff had forged them. At the same time, it would be far safer for Koff if Gene really was related to Benny, because then Amelia would not be able to retaliate against him and for it to be considered just. He could honestly claim he was merely trying to reunite the family. Tracking down blood relatives to claim Benny would be the best revenge, because technically, he wouldn't even have done something wrong.

Amelia felt the dissonance within her rise again as her neat and tidy view of justice cracked and strained.

Zelgadis scrutinized the papers closely as Benny curled up next to him. Finally he said with a resigned air, "I suppose you'll be wanting to take him home."

Winnie put her hands on her stomach as a hardened look crossed her face while Gene shook his head, "Winnie is a bit overwhelmed right now. We have twins at home, they're with Winnie's parent's now, and the healers say we're having twins again. Manus offered us some financial assistance, but we're doing good enough that we don't need money. No, it's time we're pressed for. We'll manage I guess. I can't let him languish in an orphanage."

"Oh, we would never let that happen!" Amelia exclaimed, "We were planning on adopting him actually!"

Stunned silence followed her words, and Amelia felt her insides curl up as she worried that she had blown their chances by throwing down all of her cards at once. Winnie looked at Gene and then back at them. "Really? You wanted to adopt a commoner?"

"Noble blood doesn't matter." Amelia said, "I married a commoner."

Winnie and Gene looked at Zelgadis, and Amelia felt her anxiety peak. What if they let their prejudice over his chimerical nature influence their decision? "Of course." Winnie said, and then she turned to her husband, "Oh Gene, I think we should let them. He would grow up in a palace, have an education, and be spoiled. We have so many children he'd get lost in the hustle and bustle."

"I don't know." Gene muttered, "He's my nephew."

"Well, you were never planning on raising him, were you? You expected Eileen and Bart to do that." Winnie asked. "I'm sure they'll let you visit as often as you want."

"Of course!" Amelia said, trying to keep the desperation in her voice to a minimum.

"Pardon me, Princess. I don't want to be impudent." Gene said, "But royals tend to hire nannies…"

"We can show you our chambers." Amelia said and she hoped that Zelgadis wouldn't object to her proposal to throw away their privacy in order to appease two strangers to prove their innocence. Innocence for something that was not even a crime in the first place. "We don't have a nanny for him."

Amelia relaxed as Zelgadis nodded.

"I'd hate to intrude…" Gene began.

"We insist." Zelgadis pressed.

Gene looked into the empty room beside Benny's that was reserved for a nanny, and Zelgadis tried not to bristle too much. He hated the intrusion into his privacy. He hated having to prove to someone that he would be a good father to a child who Zelgadis already considered to be his son. And besides, why didn't Gene have to prove he was fit to be a parent? Blood wasn't exactly the best requirement!

Still, if it meant he would get to adopt Benny, he would endure it.

Gene finally seemed satisfied that there was no nanny and came back into Benny's room, crowded with toys. "Never in a million years would we be able to afford all this for him." Gene said.

"It is a beautiful room." Winnie gushed as she looked around.

"Possessions aren't everything." Gene pointed out.

"Rest assured, Mr. Gene, we love Benny deeply. We feel like he is our son." Amelia said.

Zelgadis noticed how Gene looked at him, and he knew exactly what the other man was thinking. Gene was wondering if a creature like him could even feel love. Benny came up and wrapped his arm around his leg, and Zelgadis patted him on the back. He hated feeling like he was giving a command performance, but when Benny asked him to play, Zelgadis did his best to see that he was the most paternal he could be so he could shatter every prejudice he was sure that Gene harbored.

"I'll have to think about it." Gene said.

Zelgadis bit his lip as Amelia said, "How long until you know?"

"We can't be away from home too long." Winnie said sharply.

Gene nodded, "Three days."

Amelia and Zelgadis got into bed quietly sure of the fact that at least Benny would not wake them in the dead of the night. By now Benny was sleeping well through the night. They had stayed up with him and sacrificed their sleep during the hard months after he had been traumatized and had been present to comfort every nightmare and somehow form family bonds with him. And now he might be cruelly torn away to go with a family who had never made such sacrifices.

To a family who already had more children than they felt they could managed and who didn't even want Benny like they wanted him. Still, Amelia had to admit, the situation was better than it had appeared during the carriage ride. Benny's family could still be living and they could still keep him. Now, there was hope, and a path ahead that seemed just.

Amelia sighed. She kept waiting for Zelgadis to launch a litany of complaints about this intrusion into his personal life. But for once he was quiet. Cautiously she curled up next to him, half expecting him to turn her away like he tended to do when he was crushed. But that evening he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her gently on the crown of her head.

"It's going to be a long three days." He said.

"But justice will triumph." Amelia said.

He chuckled a bit. "You sure about that?"

"Positive."

AN: OK, the story I thought I had planned out was not what I ended up with when I set out to write this chapter. Now that that is all worked out, I am hoping to wrap this up in the next two chapters, and soon!