lostmoonchild: HAPPY BIRTHDAY: SUMMER SNOW! And thanks for the review! Okay, to celebrate the one year birthday of "Summer Snow" I decided to add three chapters this week then go back to one chapter per week. I've got the ending of the story poking at my head so when I get a minute to actually write it down then I'll wrap it up. Until then... yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own KKM so don't sue.

Chapter Thirty Five

Coughs left his lips as the brunette pulled the dark-haired woman from the still burning ruins, the adrenaline preventing him from feeling the full force of the burns. By all rights they should have been dead but something told him that Shinou had kept them from getting killed. "Nieve." Conrart said as he laid the woman down, seeing immediately that she wasn't breathing. "Nieve?"

He checked for a pulse, his heart skipping a beat when he saw that there was none. Ignoring his own burns that were now beginning to scream angrily at him, the brunette tore his shirt and quickly wrapped the worst of the woman's injuries before trying to get her heart started again. She couldn't leave him like this. Not when they had a chance to make a life together. Wasn't it enough that they had been denied once before? Were they really going to be denied a second chance at being together? "Come on." Conrart whispered, his eyes frantic as he pushed down on the woman's chest before blowing air into her lungs. "Please. Please, Shinou, don't take her from me. Not again."

"Ever since I was little you've always been in my dreams. When I figured out how to control my eyes, I tried to find you and when I did, I wanted to find out how to get to you. Then I saw that you had a relationship with Jeremiah and now I don't know who you see. I don't know who you want. Jeremiah or Nieve."

Shinou, he had been so stupid. Even if he had by acknowledged which one he wanted, he had still been so stupid not to fully realize his feelings. "You've always been in my dreams too." Conrart murmured as he pushed down one more time on her chest. "Please, Nieve. Stay here and be part of my reality."

He leaned down and blew as hard as he could, feeling her chest rise against his hand. He jerked away suddenly when he heard somebody calling for him and as he stared at the familiar orange haired man that rode towards him, he could feel a faint pulse just barely push against his fingers. If she had heard him then she was determined to stay with him regardless of what anybody else wanted. If some higher power had heard him then he was eternally grateful that his lover had been returned to him.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

His mother and younger brother were both passionate people and he had never been more grateful to feel his mother's arms protectively holding him despite the medic's attempts to tend to his burns. It was impossible to pretend that they didn't hurt and that he didn't mind the sting as the soot and bits of wood were removed from his cuts. However it was even more impossible to pretend that he wasn't bothered by the fact that his mother was upset enough that there were still unshed tears in her eyes. "Mother, I'm fine." Conrart tried to reassure his mother again.

If he looked at his mother then Conrart knew that he'd see his mother's green eyes glistening with the tears that had yet to fall. They had all been so worried when they saw the temporary bandages that he had been wrapped in. The look on Yuri's face when he saw his sister lying unconscious and covered from head to toe in both burns and cuts was something that he had never wanted to see again. "How are you doing, Conrad?" Yuri asked.

There was hesitation in the young king's voice as if he was blaming himself for the injuries. "They'll heal." Conrart replied with a smile. "Is everybody okay?"

"No serious injuries other than Nieve's." Yuri frowned slightly at the thought. "Gisela won't let me in to see her. I think no one's going to be allowed to see her for a while. Her burns looked pretty bad. I don't know if she'll respond well to the burns on her face. Those looked pretty bad."

"Heika, how did you-"

"Know about you and Nieve?" A small smile showed on his face. "I couldn't sleep that last night we were in Jeremiah's village. I saw you two."

He had known for months had had let them believe that they were sneaking around? Maybe there was a chance that Yuri and Nieve were in truth biologically related instead of just through adoption papers. Both just had that little compulsion to let people think one thing when in fact it was the exact opposite. "We were going to say something." Conrart told him quickly.

"Nie-chan's kinda strange but it's hard to be mad once you look at her reasoning." Yuri gave the brunette a solemn look. "If you hurt her, Conrad…"

The threat was silent but still Conrart could understand the implications. "I'll ask if I do." Conrart informed the raven.

Yuri nodded slightly before looking at the medic. "So how bad are his injuries?" Yuri questioned.

"Considering that the house fell on them, the injuries aren't too terrible. Mostly first-degree burns but there are a some second-degree burns as well." The medic gave Conrart a stern look. "You'll need to stay in bed for a while, Lord Weller."

He hated bed rest but he knew better than to argue. Conrart knew full well that his mother would make sure that he was in bed and if she didn't then Yuri would be there to make sure. "Of course." Conrart told her with a gentle smile.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Three medics, including herself. That's how many people it currently took to keep the Moah's sister in this world. Gisela sighed as she looked at the unconscious woman, seeing that she was struggling to keep breathing. There was clear respiratory distress, which meant that the younger woman wouldn't be allowed to be alone for some time. She dreaded to think about what would happen if the woman were to be left alone while her respiratory system was in that condition and she suddenly stopped breathing.

Talking softly seemed to soothe the woman's pain but Gisela found herself unable to say anything as she carefully applied to healing salve. She just couldn't believe that someone that was barely a child would be put through so much pain and yet still wanted to fight for her life. What was there that she wanted to desperately to be around for? Did she want to remain in this world for Yuri and their family or was there another reason that she didn't know about yet?

It wasn't the first time that she had ever seen such terrible burns nor would it be the last but Gisela prayed that the younger woman remained unconscious while her body healed. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd be feeling the second-degree burns that wrapped around the third-degree burns. "Gisela, there's something here," said one of the younger medics.

The green-haired woman quickly and carefully applied the rest of the healing salve before covering the burns. Stopping in the middle of the task would not be appreciated by anybody and would not be acceptable in her standards. As she gathered her maryoku, she checked where the younger medic had stopped.

Shock crossed her features, her heart freezing a moment before she looked serious. Forget hoping that the younger woman remained unconscious during the healing process. Without saying a work, the woman began working to determine how long Nieve had been in such a delicate condition.

+{}+{}+{}+

She had practiced this several times in her head while she went to report the extent of Nieve's injuries but as Gisela looked at the group and saw that they were all concerned, she suddenly couldn't remember what it was that she had planned on saying. Nothing she could have ever practiced could prepare anybody for the fallout of what she was to report. There was just no way she could comfortably make this report and not have somebody shocked or upset. "Gisela?" Gunter asked as he put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Father." Gisela said before taking a deep breath. "Lady Nieve's injuries are rather extensive. Much of her body is covered in burns and there are several deep cuts that have avoided any major organs. While she isn't out of the woods yet, she is stabilized although we won't know for certain if she will awaken for some time."

"There's something else." Yuri said suddenly. "Isn't there?"

Gisela nodded slightly before answering, "I was applying salve to the burns on Nieve's face when one of the younger and less experienced medics noticed something while examining Nieve's abdomen for any internal bleeding when she noticed something and requested that I check."

"What did you find?" Lady Celi asked.

"Lady Nieve… is pregnant and from my examinations of the fetus, I'd say that she's perhaps three to four months along."