A/N- Just wanted to thank everyone out there for your continued support and love, I'm truly overwhelmed. I hope to be back online soon, my laptop crashed last night and I am currently using a friend's iPad to put the bad news out there. You guys may have to be even more patient with me than usual, at least until I can get online again. Much, much love to you all!
The year was coming to an end. The vibrant colors of Autumn were fading into the dull shades brown and black on white blankets of snow. Hagi had decided to travel to Boulder, Colorado to see the mountains in the winter. Marva was right, it was breathtaking. He parked his car at a small diner that overlooked one of those amazing landscapes. He found a window seat and removed his black hat and overcoat, laying them neatly beside himself. Marva insisted he wear coat, scarf, and hat in the cold weather. It was always a dramatic issue when he tried to explain all the extra clothing was unnecessary so he decided to just humor her mothering nature. He had made plans to drive to Denver and catch an early flight to Okinawa.
The girls were growing so fast and he enjoyed sparring and playing chess with them. He held his emotionless expression as he inwardly smiled at the thought of seeing Saya again. This hibernation was becoming the most painful to endure. He had felt that emptiness before, every time she hibernates, but it was much more overwhelming now. He knew it was because he had finally admitted he was in love with her. His hope was that she would wake up and at least remember who he was this time. He sipped his tea and looked at the picturesque view, thinking how Saya's eyes burgundy eyes would dance if she was looking at these snow covered mountains. They reflected the early morning sunrise, causing them to appear lavender, pink, and glacial blue.
He placed a crisp bill under the napkin holder, enough for the tea and the tip, and he pulled on his heavy black overcoat, and hat. He slipped his hands in his pockets, fingering the keys to his car as he exited the quaint little diner with a quick polite nod to the waitress. The air was crisp and biting as he made the short walk to his car. He breathed in the cleanness of the mountain air, it was definitely a place he would want to visit again.
Claudia was enraged at what she had seen- in the society columns no less! It was over a year ago that she called her brother, profusely apologizing and asking him to look at the email she sent. She had then called the publisher and the site where the blog originated and demanded a retraction. The write up on her wedding included a few photographs of the wedding, her reception, and some of the famous guests. What had the family in an uproar was a small photograph at the bottom of page 2, a photograph of Hagi and Dan, talking as they held flutes of champagne. It was obvious that neither of them was aware of the camera. The caption underneath the photo read, co-owners of Burrows Ranch Winery Dan Valdorn and the brother of Claudia Trudeaux- Hagi Trudeaux. Claudia was seething with anger as she demanded the idiot photographer that published the image be fired. But the publisher explained that it was too late to retract the photo as the finished product was already distributed and he couldn't fire a freelance photographer, he could only refuse to use his services.
The blog was taken down, but had already begun to spread all over the internet. Someone had put the photo on the internet and the label for the winery. Amid all the turmoil, they neglected to notice the name of the freelance photographer.
Mao and Okamura were on the move again, now that she was feeling better. She had a bit of trouble with an infection she had contracted, but was ready to be on the go again. They were heading back to Okinawa for the latest meeting of the Red Shield. The miscarriage had been difficult for both of them to get over. They married the next year, while they were traveling through Kenya. Mao was packing as Okamura read through an email of a blog that was sent by a friend over a year ago. Mao had nagged him to check his emails more often. He was reopening the file again and again, but the damn picture wouldn't load. The article came up fine. He tried to pull Mao away from her organizing, "Hey, Mao, check it out- the owner of this winery has the same first name as…"
"Who cares about that right now?" she snapped as she tried to close the overstuffed suitcase. He came over and plopped himself on top of the suitcase, reached down and snapped the clasps shut. She huffed as she put her hands on her hips, "Well!"
He gave her a sly smile and pulled her to the screen with a command, "Read."
She gave him an exasperated look and then obeyed. Her eyes scanned over the words on the screen as Okamura held on to a cheesy grin that said, "I found something fascinating!" She finished reading and gave him a look that wiped the smile right off his face.
"What?" he asked.
"Are you serious?" Mao asked. "There's billions of people all over the world, just because some guy has the same name as Hagi doesn't mean it is Hagi. It's probably just some old fat guy."
"Damn picture won't load!" Okamura cursed as he slammed the keyboard.
Mao put her arm between the computer and her husband and simply told him, "Chill. I bet you the guy doesn't look a thing like him."
Okamura's eyes opened wide. "Oh really? What if I'm right and it is Hagi? Will you-" he began and then whispered in her ear.
Her eyes shot open wide now and she looked at him as if she'd never met him before in her life. She added, "You're sick in the head, you know that?" She turned her gaze to the screen again and then stated, "Okay! But if I'm right, you have start shaving everyday. I mean, seriously, you look like a bum with all that stubble."
His expression fell, but he was certain he was going to get what he wanted. He agreed to the bet with a hand shake and finished packing together.
Joel was going through some older business pages from New York and ran across an apology notice from the society pages for an error in the publishing of a picture for Claudia Trudeaux's wedding. He wondered if Mao had seen the 4 page article that was published last year as he didn't follow those things, but he knew she did. She was the only one he knew that did. He prepared to leave for Okinawa for the meeting Julia had called. She seemed to be a bit nervous, causing him to wonder what she had gotten into and hoping she had not tried her serum on Saya.
He recalled that an operative had seen someone leaving Saya's tomb a few weeks ago that was originally thought to be Hagi, but the man was shorter and had short brown hair and eyes. He wore a navy blue suit with a light blue t-shirt. Could that be what the meeting was about? Was someone sneaking into the tomb where Saya slept?
Kai was talking on the phone with a vendor as he wiped down the bar. "Yeah, we're hosting a meeting tomorrow so I need that delivery in the morning… no that's fine." Kaori came in with little George squirming in her arms. She placed the boy on the floor and watched him pull himself up and take a few shaky steps before he plopped down on his diapered bottom in a cloud of powder. Kai smiled as he listened to the vendor. He then scowled and commented, "Wine? This is a pub in Okinawa, what would I do with wine? We sell beer here."
He listened again as Kaori stifled a laugh. The beer vendor was a fan of wines from France and was constantly trying to talk Kai into stocking a few wines for his customers to try out. She wondered what the vendor was trying to convince him to try today. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll look into it. Okay- okay." Kai groaned as he scribbled an email address on a pad one of the waitresses had left. "Yeah, sure… okay, see you tomorrow." He hung up the phone and rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable," he mumbled.
"What's he trying to sell you now?" Kaori asked as George let out a squeal as he picked up a ball one of the twins had been playing with before they left with Lulu to the park.
Kai ran his rag over the counter to clean up a few more bits of food and drops of liquid left from the lunch crowd. "Oh, you know how he is. He wanted me to check out some website for an American made wine. It's supposed to have won some awards or something."
Kaori laughed and then asked, "Are you gonna check it out?" She lightly pushed the ball George had rolled to her.
Kai stopped wiping the counter and gave it a thought. He finally responded, "Nah, I'll just tell him I did and trail off with some excuse- the usual."
Lulu and the twins left the park for a secluded area in the nearby woods where curious eyes couldn't see. She wielded her giant axe and moved into a defensive posture, sharp blade in front of her and a large tree to her back, awaiting the swift movement she knew would soon come.
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in front of her, bringing down the long blade of his katana which she blocked with the handle of her axe, the clang of metal against metal rang through the woods. She pushed him away and reappeared in front of another tree about 20 paces to his left. She deftly dodged the barrage of razor sharp daggers that embedded themselves in the tree behind her. She appeared behind him and swung her axe only to find he had already turned and blocked her attack with one of his many daggers. He used his booted foot to kick her off and then lunged forward with his katana in front of him, but she jumped over him into the air. She landed and gave him a backward kick, knocking his legs from under him. A dagger pinned her cloak to the ground as he jumped to his feet. She freed herself and jumped back to another tree. He charged her and swung the large katana back and arched it upward in the place where she had stood. She was in the tree above him, but she hadn't anticipated his speed. He had seen her movement and another two daggers had her pinned by the arms of her cloak to the limb above her.
She watched as he appeared in front of her, perched on the thick limb. He carefully reached up, pulled the daggers out and allowing her to jump to the ground below.
"Gee, Hagi, you have sure gotten faster," Lulu commented as she made it to the ground.
"You have, too, Lulu. How are you feeling these days?" the tall man dressed in all black asked.
"Great! The medicine Julia gives keeps me from getting the thorn and now I can go out in the daylight- obviously, but I need to stay in the shade. The sun hurts my eyes and I get sunburns easily."
"That was amazing!" the twins exclaimed. "Thanks for showing us!" Kanade grinned with excitement. They continued to talk excitedly about the amazing sparring session between Hagi and Lulu as they retrieved all the daggers. They all walked together to the park as the twins returned Hagi's daggers.
Hibiki came up to Hagi later and commented, "You were holding back a lot with Lulu. I wonder how strong you really are, Uncle Hagi."
He looked at her down and responded, "It is my hope that I will never have to find out."
"Uncle Hagi," she asked shyly, "will you play chess with me? I'm not as good with swords and fighting as Kanade, but she's no good at chess."
He followed her to a table where the board had already been set up. Lulu came to his side as Kanade went off with a friend to play a game of tag.
"Hagi," Lulu began as Hibiki moved a white pawn forward, "I'm kinda worried about something." She was obviously nervous. She watched the chevalier's black gloved hand move a black pawn forward two spaces. He kept his eyes on the board as Hibiki made her second move and nodded at Lulu to continue. "Um, well, Julia had an idea she ran by me," she mumbled and then added, "b-but I told her no."
Hagi suddenly understood where the young Shiff was going with this and assured her as he continued to concentrate on the board, "She has found a way to awaken Saya without my blood. You were correct to tell her no."
Her cloaked face seemed relieved for a moment, but then her brows knitted together and she chewed he lip. She persisted, "Julia said it wouldn't…"
"What she says will happen is different than what will happen," Hagi interrupted. "I would not want to repeat the events that happened in Vietnam."
Lulu nodded and added, "I'm sorry I tried to talk you into it. I didn't think about that."
"There is no need for apologies Lulu," he responded. "No harm was done." His steel blue eyes met her vibrant green ones and he added, "Under no circumstance is Saya to be awakened. I have regained my strength and will resume my duty of guarding Saya's sleep when I return again." His gaze softened as he spoke again, "Thank you, Lulu, for watching over her and keeping her safe for me."
"You're welcome, Hagi," she responded. "I hope I didn't mess up too much."
"You did well. It is difficult to guard Saya and now you know why," he explained as he moved a black knight from behind the line of pawns.
Julia stood before the table surrounded by the members of the Red Shield. Kaori and Lewis' girlfriend, Layla were upstairs watching Michael, the twins, and George. The projector cast a blank screen onto the wall behind Julia and reflecting off her glasses. She began the meeting and started right into the discovery she made.
"I have discovered a way to awaken Saya and end her hibernation periods for good," she announced. She watched the faces around the room that urged her to go on. "The active times she experiences are a result of her breeding cycle. Amshel discovered this during Diva and Saya's second long sleep. The chiropteran queens do not mature sexually until they reach 50 years of age. They have a time when they are able to be impregnated that lasts two and a half to three years, when that cycle ends, their brain releases a chemical that triggers their long sleep. I have developed a serum that counteracts this chemical."
"How do you know that there will be no side effects, Julia?" Joel asked as he folded his hands on the table in front of him.
Julia answered, "We know that a chiropteran queen's memories come back in pieces when given the blood of awakening from her chevalier. It seems that the piece that came back at that moment was her fighting ability, but of nothing else. I can only go on the fact that Saya's reaction in Vietnam was to Hagi's blood being injected into her. All she could do was fight. From the accounts of survivors, the former David, and the more recent account from Hagi, we know that her language skills were gone and she seemed as if she only knew to fight. ."
"It all seems like a great idea," Kia interrupted, "but how do you know that's not gonna happen again, Julia? I don't want to be the one that get's in her way if she goes nuts like that again- you know what happened to Hagi's arm."
"Kai is right, Julia," Lewis added. "Waking Saya could be a very bad idea. If Hagi could not control her in Vietnam, what makes you think any of us could?"
"I know for certain that it will not happen this time," Julia reassured. "The serum does not contain any blood. She would slowly regain any memory she has lost in one steady pace, but it should only take a few days or a week for her to fully awaken. During that time, she will be very weak and need constant care."
"That would be the job of her chevalier," Okamura commented.
"Yeah, that reminds me," Kai noted, "wouldn't you need Hagi's permission to do this? You know that there's no way in hell that he'd let you do this, Julia."
"But Lulu is acting as her chevalier in his absence," Julia responded.
All eyes moved to Lulu and Kai stood and shook his head, "Oh no. No way you guys are gonna try to talk Lulu into this! There's no way."
Lulu stood up and looked at Kai. "It's okay, Kai," she reassured and then addressed the people gathered, "I know there's no way that Hagi would want to do this. It doesn't matter what you say or do, I will not agree to it. Saya is in her long sleep and I know Hagi would never force her to wake up. I'm sorry, Julia."
Julia sighed and then responded, "I am not upset. I just wanted to run the idea by everyone, in case it became necessary to awaken her."
Joel's look became serious as he spoke, "You have information that someone has been around the tomb."
The faces around the table held a look of surprise as Julia responded, "Yes." The projector flashed an image on the wall. A tall man with short brown, straight hair and brown eyes, wearing a navy blue suit with a light blue t-shirt was in front of the entrance to the tomb. She explained, "We had security cameras installed on the top of a nearby building. These are the images that were captured." The next was a shorter man with dark curly hair and olive color skin wearing a red 17th century coat and pants. He had a scar that ran along his temple. Then a man with almost silver- white, waist length straight hair that wore a grey colored outfit that was trimmed in blue.
The next image was taken at night, but the moon was full, outlining the man in all black with a bluish glow. Huge black bat wings extended as he landed at the entrance to the tomb. Everyone recognized the man and gave a collective gasp.
"I knew he was alive!" Kai shouted as the group shushed him.
There were a few others that came up and it made everyone a bit nervous. Who were these men that were coming to the tomb?
"Lulu," David asked, "have you never felt any presence at the tomb?"
"Only once, but I never caught him. He was too fast."
"Who are they?" Okamura asked.
Kai responded, "Well, it's obvious by the way they dress that they're either actors in some Shakespeare play or they're chevaliers, like Hagi. Why can't you sense them, Lulu?"
"I don't know," Lulu said. "I can sense one, but not the others. This is the first time I've even seen them."
"Does anyone know who they are or what they want?" David questioned.
"No," Joel answered. "When we first found out, we tried to contact them, but they vanished in an instant. All that we know is they are obviously chevaliers we did not know about. I do not think they belong to Diva or they would have killed Saya by now."
The image of Hagi came up on the screen as he finished the statement, "But it is obvious that Hagi is indeed still alive and he must know about these other chevaliers. The burning question is what do they want or more accurately, what does their queen want? He turned to Lulu and asked, "Are you still able to contact Hagi?"
She squirmed and responded, "Uh, yeah."
"Could you ask him to come speak with us," Joel requested.
"I can try."
"Is he very far away?"
She looked down as she heard the music of the cello ringing in her mind the way Diva's song used to, reminding her that the stoic chevalier was near. She lied, "Yeah, he's really far away."
Hagi said goodbye to Saya and to Lulu and the twins telling them he'd return soon. He reassured Lulu that the chevaliers were no threat and he would try to get them to speak with her soon, but he would not be speaking with the Red Shield.
Claudia had called him to let him know she had some exciting news. "I'm pregnant," she informed him and he offered a polite, "Congratulations." She wanted him to be at the ranch when she announced it to everyone, so he planned to take the first flight he could back to Denver to get his car and drive back to the ranch.