Dan whimpered as he opened his eyes, everything hurting. He heard someone shush his whimpers of pain, then his heart pounded as he heard a voice that was just a memory.
"Well, looks who's finally awake after sleeping for two days…" The feminine voice said.
Dan's eyes widened, and he moved his gaze around, finally, it landed on his beloved mother…who looked alive and well. His eyes watered with emotion.
"Mum…" he croaked, hardly able to speak.
"Hush, save your breath." She said softly. "You've practically drained yourself of all your magic. It's going to take forever for you to charge up. You need to rest."
Dan suddenly realized why everything hurt and why he felt so weak. He overexerted himself and exhausted his powers. It would take a long time before he would be able to do something like that again.
Jemma came into view, holding Jacob, and she was followed by a teary-eyed James.
Dan smiled at them, but frowned when he saw James' red, teary eyes. "James?" he croaked. "You okay?"
James nodded, wiping his eyes. "I've just been really worried about you, Dan. I've been so scared that you'd die."
Dan chuckled. "It'll take more than this to kill me, James."
James nodded. "Apparently."
Jemma set Jacob on the bed where he crawled up by his father's head, and gently hugged him.
Dan weakly lifted an arm to wrap around his son.
"Daddy, never do that again." Jacob whimpered. "You scared me so much when Uncle James carried what looked like your dead body into town…"
Dan felt guilty that he had scared his son. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I did what I thought was best. I guess it wasn't the best. I should have practiced that spell on Reaper first."
"You just wanted your mum back. You weren't thinking straight." Jacob said. "If I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same."
Dan sighed, laying his head back down. He was so weak from using his powers.
His mother took Jacob. "I think we should let him to rest, Jacob." She said. "He's still very tired."
Jacob whined. "No, I want to stay with him."
Jemma looked at her son. "Well, why don't you help me make him something to eat? He needs to eat, cause he's probably hungry."
Dan had to admit, a meal sounded pretty good right now. "I am really hungry, actually."
James smiled. "Well, Jacob, I think if you helped us, your father would really like it."
Jacob looked at his father, then at James. "Okay."
Maria handed Jacob to Jemma. Jemma and James then walked out of the room.
Dan looked at his mother, smiling softly. "Mum…I wish I could do that again…"
"Why would you want to almost die again?!" She breathed.
"So Kaida could come back too." Dan said. "You deserve to have all your kids with you. Kaida's not here…"
"Dan…it was Kaida's time. My time was cut short. You brought me back to give me the chance to live to my proper time."
Dan felt upset. "But I can barely remember her. I want to have all my family back."
"Dan…" Maria said softly. "Understand that you can't save everybody. Everyone has a time that they must die. And Kaida's came. You won't be able to bring her back if it wasn't her proper time to die."
"Unless there's a spell…." Dan began.
"Daniel, please, just listen to me!" Maria said. "I just got you back, I can't lose you again. Doing that spell again so soon would surely kill you."
Dan looked away, feeling a little hurt by his mother's snap.
Maria turned his head to look at her. "Sweetie. I just don't want to lose you again."
Dan sniffled. "I just…want you to have her back…"
"I wish I did, bug." She said.
Dan tensed. His mother used to call him 'bug' when he was very little.
His mother went on. "But she wasn't in limbo with me, which meant she wasn't able to come back to us if someone managed to bring her back. She's in heaven, a place you can't return from very often."
Dan sniffled. "I miss her as much as I missed you."
Maria hugged him tightly. "I miss her too, bug. But she's probably being taken care of by the spirits. We don't have to worry about her."
Downstairs, Jemma, Jacob, and James were preparing a meal for Dan. They were making soup.
Jacob shook some pepper into the soup pot. "Do you think Daddy will like the soup?"
"I'm sure he will." James smiled, stirring the pot. "He's probably hungry enough to eat anything that's food."
Jacob sighed.
"What's the matter, little one?" Jemma asked her son.
"I'm just worried about him." Jacob said. "I don't want anything to happen to him."
"Neither do we." James said. "Which is why we need to take care of him until he's better."
"Why did Daddy do what he did?" Jacob asked.
"Because he wanted his mum." Jemma said. "Dan is a person who loves his family very much. If he loses one person…his whole life feels different and broken. To lose his mother, and not have a father to care for him, he was very much broken."
Jacob looked sad. "Does his sisters even know their Mommy's alive again?"
"Not yet." James said. "But they're suspicious. Katie told them of your father's plans to bring her back from the dead. I'm surprised they haven't come over yet and asked any questions about it."
"So, Auntie Katie knows?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, she does, and we made her promise not to tell anyone yet. We want to wait until Dan is back on his feet to tell them."
They heard Maria call from upstairs. "Jemma!"
Jemma looked at the stairwell. "I'll be back. "She said, heading towards the stairwell.
When she made her way to the bedroom, she saw Maria holding a sleeping Dan in her arms tightly, and she looked sad.
Jemma came over. "Everything okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, Dan fell asleep, but I wanted to talk to you… about Dan."
Jemma looked curious. "Oh?"
"Has Dan….been in any fights?"
Jemma nodded. "But only if necessary. Like when he used to fight Denton, it was always to protect the ones he loves."
Maria looked a little alarmed. "Has he ever gotten hurt?"
"On a rare occasion has Dan ever been hurt in a fight." Jemma smiled.
Dan moaned, snuggling close to his mother's body.
Maria smiled, looking down at her son. "He's very brave."
"He is brave, and sometimes reckless."
Maria looked at Jemma.
"He and his friend Trayaurus like to experiment." Jemma explained. "Dan likes to be the test subject sometimes."
Maria sighed, chuckling. "He was always eager to try new things, even on himself."
James walked in. "Um….Summer's here…"
Jemma looked nervous. "Should we tell her?"
"Wake up Dan and ask." James said.
Maria looked hesitant, but woke up her son despite her worry.
Dan grunted. "huh?"
"Summer's here, sweetie." Maria said softly.
Dan yawned, slowly trying to sit up, eventually completing his task. He tried to get out of his mother's arms and stand up, but his mother ended up having to help him.
"I think my sisters have waited long enough to see you again, Mum." Dan said. "Let's go downstairs, and probably see Summer start crying in happiness."
Maria chuckled, helping her son to walk.
Downstairs at the time, Matthew and Summer watched as Jacob played with their daughter. Summer smiled softly, then looked as the stairs as she heard footsteps come down.
James came down, then Jemma, and a minute after, Dan, who was being supported by…
Her mother.
Summer's eyes widened, gasping in shock. Dan did it! He actually brought Mum back!
Maria smiled softly as her eyes fell upon her daughter. Summer has gotten so beautiful since we've seen each other last…
Dan sat down on the couch, and Summer walked up to her mother, unable to speak.
Maria smiled softly again. "Look at you…so beautiful…"
Summer wrapped her arms tightly around her mother, starting to cry.
Maria smiled, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "I know this is a lot of emotion for you to process. But it's okay. I'm back now."
Summer tried to stop crying, but couldn't. "I-I've m-missed you!"
Maria smiled, kissing Summer's forehead. "I've missed you too, child."
Dan smiled, glad he was able to make one of his sisters happy. He hoped Yoshi, Stardust, and Stormfly would be as happy as Summer.
But then, he thought. I wonder where my father is right now? I wonder why he left me and my family? If he's alive….where is he?
