Chapter 12: Love's Return

"I've got you Clara!!" Rowen yelled as he ran forward to catch her and fell backwards with Clara in his arms.

"Rowen…is it really you?" Clara murmured softly as she slowly opened her eyes to see Rowen watching her with concern. "Am I dreaming?" she asked in a trembling voice as she reached forward with a shaking hand to brush Rowen's lock of hair away and brought her hand down the side of his face, stopping on his cheek as she held it there for a minute as she let everything sink in.

Tears filled Rowen's eyes as he ran his hand through her hair, smiling as he felt his fingers comb her soft hair. "You're not dreaming Clara." Rowen said as the tears fell freely down his face and Clara moved her hand to wipe them away. "I'm really here."

"Rowen before I died I tried to tell you something important. I'm going to tell you now before anything else happens." Clara said softly as she gazed into his midnight blue eyes. "Rowen Hashiba I love you with all my heart, and although I saved you that day at the train station you really saved my life. Before I met you, I was just a cyborg with no memory of my former life. The love I saw in your eyes and the acceptance of your friends gave me the will keep on living. I will always stay by your side."

"Clara I have something important to ask you. Clara Ann Rishii, will you marry me?" Rowen asked as he held her hand tightly.

"You know I will Rowen, yes." Clara whispered softly as she felt her voice go hoarse due to her crying. Slowly Rowen leaned in towards her and kissed her on the lips, and as the tears of joy streamed down her face, Clara leaned forward and deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Rowen's neck. Suddenly, she broke off the kiss with a scream of pain as she felt a stabbing pain in her shoulders.

"Get her on her stomach now!" Sage commanded as he ran forward, still in full armor.

"Chaos never had the chance to attack her, so we know it isn't that. So what's wrong with her?" Cye asked a little out of breath as he knelt down by Clara's side and squeezed her hand. "It's okay sis, I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you." As he finished speaking, his forehead kanji lit up with a soft sky blue light as his body was engulfed by the glow and Clara's scream ended as she cried softly.

"If that freak did hurt you, he will pay!" Kento assured her as Sage and Rowen turned her over on her stomach and exposed her back, revealing two glowing spheres of silver light just where her shoulders ended.

"You're with friends who love and care for you. You'll be all right." Ryo consoled her as Sage began speaking and Kayla arrived out of breath.

"As a child, my mother told me stories about the Sacred Guardians to get me to go sleep at night. She told me that when a female guardian was reborn on the planet that she was supposed to guard that she wouldn't start developing her powers until she was 18 years old. Once her powers reached their peak, then she would receive her wings." Sage said as Cye allowed Clara to rest her head in his lap as he ran his fingers through her hair and whispered softly to her.

"How long does it last?" Ryo asked in concern.

"Minutes, hours, sometimes even days." Sage said as he watched Clara softly cry into Cye's lap.

"What else do you about this? Do male guardians ever get wings?" Kento asked anxiously.

"All I can remember is that only a relative or close friend can help the ease the young guardian's pain." Sage said as he watched Cye comfort his sister. "Male guardians never get wings, but they do emit an aura that only becomes visible to the naked eye, when they are exhausted or emotionally overwhelmed. In Cye's case, the latter is true. But don't worry, he'll be all right in a few minutes."

Then suddenly, Clara let out a long bloodcurdling scream as the two circles of light shot out two beams of light, which expanded and solidified into two huge wings. At first the wings held themselves close to Clara's body, but then Clara sneezed causing her wings to snap outwards, knocking Rowen and Kento over onto their backs. The others couldn't help but laugh at their friends' small misfortune.