Saya awoke with a start. Her dream had her in a cold sweat. She couldn't remember what it was about, but she did recall being in a dark place where she could not escape. She was screaming for Hagi, but she knew that he couldn't hear her. Her hibernations always frightened her because she worried that the cocoon wouldn't release her, she'd suffocate, or she'd die in some kind of way. She figured the dream was a result of her fears. She kicked the covers off and headed to the bathroom for a hot shower.
She came out to a room full of children. She shrieked and went back into the bathroom, peaking out the door as she opened it a crack. She was only wearing a towel around her and was not sure why the kids were there in the first place.
"Aunt Saya," Hibiki asked the door, "C'mon it's Christmas! We have to open gifts."
"Yeah," Kanade added, "don't you want to see what Uncle Hagi gave you?"
Saya called out the door, "Yes, but I'd also like to put some clothes on." When the children made no moves to leave she added, "I'm not coming out until there's no one in my room!"
The group hurried for the door with squeals that Aunt Saya was coming.
She found the living room was already full of family and friends. She smiled as Kaori held George in her lap, keeping him from the gifts surrounding the tree. The twins looked up and saw their Aunt Saya which seemed to give them permission to suddenly dive into the gifts followed by Michael, Becca, and George.
Saya smiled as she wondered over to Hagi and Marva. She leaned against him as she handed him a small box wrapped in a shimmery crimson paper with a small gold bow. "Merry Christmas," she said softly as he took the gift in one hand and wrapped his free arm around her.
"Merry Christmas, Saya," he returned and then leaned in to her. He watched her close her eyes as he whispered in her ear, "Your gift is not here. I will take you to it when we are alone."
She grinned and gave a small giggle. She opened her eyes and pulled him down to her. She whispered, "I hope you will grant my request to a sparring match later on."
He gave a small chuckle as he brushed his lips against her cheek, "I look forward to it."
After the gifts were opened and everyone had breakfast, Joel led everyone in the Red Shield to the dining room for a meeting. Hagi stood against the wall behind Saya with his arms folded over his chest. She had noticed he was in his more casual clothes, a button down black shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans.
Julia informed everyone of the progress of the Red Shield. The advancements made in medicine through the use of chiropteran DNA gave Saya hope that chiropterans were not really a blight on the human world, but rather an enhancement.
She relayed that they had tested Hibiki and Kanade's blood. It was indeed toxic to each other, but neither of their bloods were effected by Saya's or Saya's by theirs. It was apparent that only that generation of queen's seemed to be able to crystallize each other. This meant that Saya's blood would not be effective on the queens and their chevaliers.
Julia gave more information on the injection given to Saya. She had discovered that queens do not sexually mature until they reach 50 years of age. They go into hibernation as soon as they are no longer in heat. That is why they are awake for 3 years and sleep 30. They are only able to conceive in that 3 year period and the 30 years they sleep is so their body can heal and regenerate from their active time. "Saya no longer hibernates," Julia informed. "When she is given the injection, her heat cycle lasts for 1 year and then for the next 2 years she will be less active, but she will not go into hibernation. Then the process restarts."
"What side effects will Saya need to expect from these injections?" Joel asked the scientist.
"She will feel a lot more energy in her inactive times than she has before," Julia answered. "Other than that, we can see no other chance of side effects."
"So I won't hibernate anymore?" Saya asked as a smile came over her face. No longer will she sleep through the world around her changing or losing loved ones. She won't miss the birth of babies, the first time they talk, loved one's hair turning grey, or all the times good and bad.
"No," Julia smiled. She caught the small smile that played at the chevalier's lips for a second. She took a breath and added, "I have also decided to request that Hagi and Saya be given full disclosure of all information the Red Shield has on chiropterans- past and present, as well as future." Her eyes met the leader of the Red Shield and demanded, "We owe this to them, Joel. They have been treated badly by the Red Shield and I feel they should know everything that we know."
Joel nodded as he thought of what he had seen yesterday and the revelation he had about the stoic man. He rose to his feet and came up to the man. Hagi's hands went to his side as he regarded the man who now had small silver hairs in his sideburns. Joel stated formally, "I cannot atone for the ones that came before me, but I can offer you my own apology. Hagi, I am truly sorry for the way that we of the Red Shield have treated you and Saya. I have apologized to Saya before, but I know that the Red Shield has treated you with even more disregard. Please accept my sincere apologies for what has been done to you."
Hagi's eyebrows raised and then he listened to the speech. He had never imagined an apology would come from all this. He accepted the man's hand and replied, "I accept your apology."
Saya smiled as she turned to Julia and asked, "Is there anything we should know about?"
Julia nodded, "Amshel's journal has come into our possession and so have all his medical notes and procedures. I am certain you will want to read them. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them."
Before anyone else could speak, Kai rose and commented, "I want to know one more thing before you end this Christmas meeting." He was obviously not thrilled at the idea of having a meeting on a holiday. He knew that Julia called the meeting because Lewis and Lulu were leaving to the CIA headquarters in D.C. tomorrow, while Mao and Okamura were headed back to Tokyo in the morning. All eyes were on him now so he continued, "Have you discovered anything new about Saya being able to have kids.
Saya looked at Kai in shock while Hagi had an ominous feeling. There was no way they could reproduce. He knew that he had been warned that if they did have children, Queen Aksaya would bring about a new war that would be fought between all the immortals and he and Saya.
Julia responded, "Sadly, I believe Amshel was correct that the barrier around her ovum cannot be broken down. This means that only Diva's chevaliers can impregnate Saya." She turned to Saya and said, "I am truly sorry, Saya."
Saya gave a small smile, "That's okay, Julia. I'm surrounded by Kai's family and now I'm part of Hagi's family, too. I really don't need any kids." She came to her feet and commented, "If you will all excuse me, Hagi and I have a sparring match with Lulu and the girls before Lulu and Lewis leave for the CIA."
Hagi followed her out, and they headed for the room to get his cello case. Claudia cleared her throat as they moved though the opening to the hallway. They both turned- Saya had a questioning look. They saw her pointing for them to look up as the kids giggled. Marva hid her smile behind her hand as the ranch hands chuckled lowly. The Red Shield members filed into the room as the pair looked up to the small green sprig with a red ribbon tied around it.
Kai asked, "What's that?"
Claudia gave a knowing smile as her brother sighed and Saya blushed. She answered, "It's mistletoe."
Kai gave a questioning look as he turned his gaze to the pair, wondering what the idea was behind all this.
The couple looked at each other, a blush still coloring Saya's cheeks. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close as they kissed each others cheeks.
The gathered crowd sputtered laughter as Claudia came up and scolded, "No. No. No, Big Brother. Kiss her like you mean it! Those are the rules."
"There are no rules, Sister," Hagi retorted. "The tradition is that you kiss, it does not say anything else."
She physically turned him to Saya and commanded, "A real kiss this time!"
Kai finally got it. He added, "Come on, Saya! You said you love him- prove it."
Saya's face turned red as she responded, "Quit it, Kai! I'll put you and Kaori on the spot!"
"We'd be happy to show you how it's done," he suggested with a raised eyebrow.
Saya puffed her cheeks at her brother. She turned and closed her eyes, trying to forget the crowd gathered. It was quick- she grabbed Hagi's lapel and pulled his mouth to hers. Their lips pressed together and he wrapped his arms around her, still a bit surprised at the bold action. At first, their minds were on the crowd, but the feeling of being in each others arms drowned out all that was going on around them. They held the kiss, even though there were cheers and applause that normally would embarrass them. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she rose to her tip toes, deepening the kiss. He pulled back from her and commented, "Should we get the cello and our weapons?"
She blinked and for a moment she couldn't remember what she had wanted to do. If he didn't have his arms around her still, she would have stumbled backward. The kiss was supposed to be a way to get back at Kai, but it seemed to have a different effect than planned. She came to her senses and pushed his arms away as she answered, "Yeah." They turned away from the laughs and cheers that followed them, leaving Saya blushing madly and Hagi trying to hide the color in his cheeks as well.
The twins were off in a full run, followed by blue streaks. They were stopped by tall, dark figure, wielding a huge katana. Silver flashes left his hands and whizzed past their heads four metal clangs were heard behind them as Lulu blocked every dagger with her huge axe as she turned it against each one.
Saya dropped in front of Lulu as her blue streak faded and her katana clanged against the axe. Saya turned and swung her sword around in an arc, coming back around to meet the axe again. She pushed until the axe moved away and connected her foot to the schiff's stomach, sending her flying.
Hibiki came in on his left, Kanade to the right. The girls played on their strengths. Kanade was the physically strong one, so she attacked his dominant side. She slashed as the chevalier easily blocked each attack with his katana with a clang.
Hibiki had to deal with getting around the cello case. She finally opted to jump into the air and use the momentum of a spinning kick to force the case from him, sending it flying away. The chevalier now had the two queens to contend with. He swung around, razor sharp sword singing. The girls dodged with a jump backward as Hibiki looked at Kanade and they knew what the plan was.
Kanade slashed at the man, coming in fast. She lunged and then turned, bringing her leg around and connecting with his side. He was thrust into the air, but righted himself, skidding on the ground a few feet only to be met by a slash of the blade on Hibiki's sword. He saw it coming and had transformed his left hand into a claw, holding the blade. His blue eyes met hers as he thrust her away. She and her sword were separated as she spun in the air.
Lulu had righted herself and brought her axe up just in time to block Saya from claiming victory. Her feet came up as well, kicking Saya into the air. She came down, blade in front of her and awaited Lulu's attack. Lulu jumped up and brought the axe up. The two circled each other slowly, awaiting the other's attack.
Hagi took the offensive with Kanade, knowing Hibiki would be busy finding her sword. He sent four silvery darts ahead of him and brought the katana back. She dodged them effortlessly, but the chevalier was another matter. He brought the katana up in an arc and then back down. She ducked and dodged, but felt the blade graze her right shoulder. She brought her blade around, connecting with his, but she didn't expect his free left hand to come around, dodging the connected swords and hold a dagger to her throat. His face held the same unreadable expression and he gave no indication of the effort he had put forth. She dropped her sword, telling him that he had won.
Victory celebrations would wait, Hibiki was already upon him. She descended from above. He did not look up, but brought his left hand that held the dagger above his head, blocking her with a clang. She managed to push away and land a few feet to his right, on one knee. He didn't wait for her to regain her feet as she was surrounded by a barrage of stiletto daggers, pinning her jacket to the ground as the cold blade of his katana rested at the left side of her neck. She huffed as she wiped a cold sweat from her brow.
Kanade and Hagi helped Hibiki remove the daggers from her coat and free her from her position of surrender on the ground. He retrieved the cello, reloaded his daggers into the wrists of his jacket and watched the final battle between Saya and Lulu, waiting for his turn to face off with his queen. She was amazing in his eyes. Her eyes were glowing red as she faced off with the lavender haired girl, calculating her opponent.
He watched as the scene seemed to move in slow motion in his mind. Saya lunged forward, beads of sweat glittered from her brow, her sharpened katana sang as it swung forward- complimenting her battle cry. The staccato of metal clangs as sword met axe played an amazing song in the background of the glorious battle. Saya brought her leg up, the kick was blocked as Lulu brought her axe handle up, barring the attack. She spun the axe and then brought it around, singing through the air. Saya jumped high into the air, dodging the blade.
Saya saw her chevalier out of the corner of her eye, standing next to her nieces with his usual stoic expression. His blue-grey eyes followed her as she moved. This was a great practice but she was anxious to push herself to her limits. She came down and began her onslaught. Her sword came down, across, up- Lulu dodged, jumped, blocked, and then swung only to find Saya's sword came against the handle, followed by a foot to her grip on the handle. The axe went flying and a surprised Lulu stood before Saya. The battle was over.
The group of chiropterans said nothing as Lulu retrieved her axe and joined the twins. They found a seat in the cool grass, next to the cello as the weather began to turn colder. Kai arrived on the scene in a red sweater and jeans, carrying three coats- red for Kanade, blue for Hibiki, and lavender for Lulu. Hibiki asked, "What about Aunt Saya and Uncle Hagi?"
"Marva's on her way," he informed as he watched the two love birds circling each other. He knew that the feelings they had for each other would be put aside so they could face off to see just how much each had grown in strength. Suddenly, a barrage of glittering daggers came hurtling toward Saya. She didn't bother to dodge as she brought up her blade. The daggers met the blade in a sound of repeating metal on metal. She gave him a look- You'll have to do far better than that!
I am just getting started. He jumped into the air, landing in front of her. His dagger blocked her katana as he brought his sword around. She spun away, bringing her sword around, meeting his dagger again. It looked like a tango of metal and strength as one would charge, the other dodge and then attack.
Marva arrived with her arms full with a burgundy coat and a black, wool lined trench coat in her arms. She was wearing her denim, wool lined, jacket. Her silver straight tresses were hanging loose to her hips. She usually wore it in a long braid or opted to pull it into a bun, but felt like wearing it loose today.
Kai regarded the woman that Hagi called "Mom", wondering how she had managed to break through that stoic exterior. He noticed Hagi was warm and caring- so different from the man he knew 12 or 13 years ago. He remembered how difficult it was to convince the man to tell Saya how much he loved her, but Kai had seen it from the first time he met the stoic man. His eyes would continually slide to where Saya stood and he could somehow sense the feelings the expressionless man hid away.
The two continued to spar into the sunset. Saya was still sweating as she brought her blade across only to find his dagger once again. He jumped back as he sensed her hunger, which she was mentally pushing aside. This had to stop- she had skipped lunch and was about to miss dinner. He took two daggers and brought one against her blade, the other he held as he brought his sword up and pushed her to the ground, pinning her down with the dagger and placing the blade to her throat. Her glowing eyes opened wide in shock. He had won- for the first time in a very long history of sparring matches, he had won.
She was panting and was surprised to find that he was as well. Her breath came in puffs of steam in the now cold air. He pulled the katana away from her throat as he remained straddled over her hips, panting out puffs of steam as small white snowflakes fell around them. The effect was taking her breath away- his hair fell around his porcelain face in a halo of black. His blue eyes enhanced by the deep blue sky that surrounded him, dotted by the falling white snowflakes.
He was in awe of the scene on the ground. She lay below him, her hair falling back against the green grass, her eyes fading from red to a happy burgundy against her somewhat sun kissed and flushed skin. Snowflakes adorned her black hair like baby's breath against black velvet. She panted out in puffs of steam, giving the effect of some romantic dream where faces were hidden in the mist.
She commented, "You finally won." Her stomach growled angrily as he removed the dagger and moved his leg over and rose to his feet, offering a hand to help her up. Marva came to his side with the jacket and coat. Saya took hers and quickly slipped into it, not realizing until a moment ago that it had gotten so cold. Lulu had already headed back to join Lewis as they prepared to leave. He shouldered his cello on the right and wrapped the left around Saya as they headed to the house.
"That was truly amazing," Marva commented as she looked at Hagi and Saya while they headed back to the house with thicker snowflakes falling around them in a hiss.
Hagi smiled and responded, "Thank you, Mom."
Hibiki and Kanade asked at the same time, "Uncle Hagi, has anyone at the ranch seen your wings?"
He looked at the twins and responded, "Claudia has."
"Please, could you show your mom?" Hibiki asked.
"Just this once?" Kanade added.
Marva was a bit nervous. She had never seen his true form before and Claudia described it as completely amazing. Marva found it may be a bit unnerving. She heard him ask, "Are you certain, Mom?" She took a deep breath and nodded with a nervous smile.
Saya took his jacket and stepped in front of him to give him some room as he placed the cello on the ground, knowing that he needed quite a bit of space. Marva resisted the urge to close her eyes or look away. A sudden rush of wind came forth as huge black wings erupted from his back. He stretched the wings to their full span. Marva was in awe. He looked like something from another world. She nervously approached him and touched the tip of his wing, it felt like thick leather. She thought something like this would be thin, but it wasn't. They were not only used for flying, but to shield from attacks as well. She thought, Anyone else would be frightened by this. Anyone else would be running. She looked into the face of the man she knew for more than 40 years. His eyes held worry that maybe this was more than she could take. Regardless of his age, he would always be her son- wings and all. She touched his cheek and responded, "You're my son. I told you long ago that it didn't matter to me what you were- I meant it."
The black wings retracted and he pulled her into a hug. His voice was as soft and lulling as the hiss of the snowflakes that fell, "And I am grateful that you are my mother."
The group walked back to the main house, Hagi had one arm around his fiancée and the other around his mom still managing the cello case on his shoulder. He seemed to be the only one that noticed the dark haired woman in the floor length black gown and vest, brightly colored beads adorned her neck as she danced near the tree line.
Hibiki asked in their secret language, "Does he see her?"
Kanade answered as she looked back to see his gaze was directed to the tree line, "Yes. Should we tell him?"
"Not yet," Hibiki answered. "Maybe in a few days he'll be ready to know."
They came to the house as someone else was watching from a distance. His blonde waves blew away from his face, revealing the amused smile that stretched across his lips. He commented, "Batman."