lostmoonchild: Thanks for the birthday wish and for the reviews! It was an interesting birthday and last night we had a storm roll through that had the destructive force of a small tornado. Nobody was hurt but it made for an interesting homecoming. Anyway, here's the chapter!

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


Chapter Forty Eight

"Here, gum this to death."

Conrart frowned slightly as he watched his son take the bread from Nieve and stick it in his mouth, drool going down his chin. He knew that his son was beginning to teethe and was grateful that he was so far taking teething in stride. Then again, it was just beginning and the worse of it was going to come sooner or later. Conrart just wished that his fiancée wouldn't give their son food to "gum to death" as she phrased it. The last thing any of them needed was for the boy to think that he needed to eat nonstop. "You're staring again." Nieve said, her unfocused eyes staring ahead.

"Do you want me to take Dan?"

"And if some dingbat tries to pull an assassination?"

If anybody tried to assassinate anybody, Conrart was fairly certain that it'd be focused more on Nieve than Yuri. Taking out the one person that could see it coming years before it even happened seemed like the smartest thing to do. "Of course. I just thought you'd like to have both arms free." The brunette watched as the small boy dropped the saliva-drenched bread onto the table before taking it back into his chubby fingers. "Anything happening?"

"The sperm donor's getting closer but I can't tell how close because there's so many headaches around."

Dan looked at his parents for a moment before giving them both a toothless grin. Just seeing Dan grinning at them was enough to help Conrart relax a bit. It was almost as if everything in the world was fine and would continue to be that way. "And you don't want to spoil Yuri and Wolfram's big day." Conrart commented with a smile.

"Nope. I'd actually much rather stay away from them at the moment since the greatest headaches of all time are all around them."

Conrart frowned slightly when he saw one of the soldiers heading towards Gwendal obviously trying to keep his face neutral. "I'll be right back." Conrart told her before going over to his older brother. "Is something wrong?"

"Brandt decided to come here."

"Aldo's coming this way but we don't know where he is at the moment. Nieve can't see him and it's too dangerous to let her be alone." Conrart reported. "Aldo got in here once before without being detected and I'm fairly certain he can do it again."

"There are soldiers watching all possible targets. I know you're going to marry her, Conrart, and that she's the mother of your son but you need to concentrate on Yuri-Heika's safety and let us worry about hers." Gwendal told his younger brother.

Conrart couldn't deny that he wanted to protect his family but as he glanced back to see that Nieve was standing with Yuri and talking to him with a look of absolute seriousness, it was clear that she wasn't about to let them have all the fun. "Heika, we have a guest." Gwendal informed the young Moah patiently.

"Yeah, Nieve just got a glimpse of both." Yuri laughed a little. "Seems we can't have anything major going on this year without someone from her family trying to kill everybody."

"That's so far from hilarious that it doesn't even tickle a funny bone." Nieve said with a frown. "Do I need to show you what he's learned or even remind you why his husband's here too?"

"Nah, that's fine. It's not like they're gonna get very far."

It was heartening to know that Yuri had absolute faith in them but there was still a bit of wonder. How could he handle being so naïve about anything but still be so cautious? It was clear that Yuri realized the danger they were in but he was still trying to be so light about it. "Nieve." Conrart said patiently. "I can't-"

"You can and you will." Nieve told him. "I'm a lot more pissed at the world than Jeremiah ever could hope to have been and I've got a lot more to protect than he did. If that walking sperm donor thinks for a minute that I'm going to play nicely then he's got another thing coming."

"What do your parents have to say about it?" Gwendal questioned suddenly. "Do they even know that Nieve's planning on sacrificing herself for everybody?"

Nieve and Yuri glanced at each other guiltily, telling everybody that their family didn't even know. "We'll let Aldo and Brandt think that we don't know what's going on." Yuri told them. "If there's one thing that I know for certain, it's why she saw herself being pushed towards her biological father."

She misinterpreted a vision? "Don't give me that look, blondie. Unless I see somebody actually dying then I don't pay attention to what it is that I'm seeing when I'm resting my mind." Nieve grumbled. "Besides, it's just going to be a minor nip and tuck so it's nothing big."

"It would be best to let your family know what's going on." Conrart told them.

They all watched as the two siblings immediately reached for each other, Yuri's left hand immediately grasping Nieve's right. "Nieve?" Yuri asked softly.

"I've pushed it back until late tonight after everybody else has gone to bed." Nieve told them before looking at her brother with a worried expression. "You do realize that the fight between Aldo and myself will be purely mental? Somewhere along the family tree someone married one with the right genes. He may not have everything but I know he's felt that damned déjà vu several times and he's been developing it to the point he can simply do it at a whim."

"Yeah."

"Let's go tell Momma and Daddy then. If I could hold it off long enough for you and Wolf to enjoy your honeymoon then I would."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Yuri smiled softly at his sister, knowing that she was only trying to soothe the doubts she felt. "Just be the summer snow." Yuri told her.

Nodding slightly, she gave her brother an adoring smile. All things considered, she enjoyed this life so much more than the last dozen lives she had lived. Gazing at Conrart, she knew that never again would she experience this joy and she'd be damned if she gave even one part of this up.

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

The crickets sang softly in the summer night as the moon above gazed upon the world below. The stars above shone brighter than ever before as if every soul that had passed into the next world and had yet to be born again had gathered to watch the events of this night unfold. "You don't need to be here watching." Yuri tried to tell his parents once again.

"I want to see the man that fathered your sister." Jennifer told her son. "Then I intend on slapping him."

"Momma, you can't interfere." Nieve told her mother. "They murdered the woman that bore me and the man that once carried my soul and held my fiancé's heart."

Shoma held onto his wife, feeling the anger that radiated from her. He couldn't deny that he felt the same anger towards the man that had sired his daughter but a small part of him was grateful. Because of the man that was about to arrive, their family was complete with two handsome sons and a beautiful daughter.

He knew how often his daughter protected their family from harm and wished as a father he could take away every bit of pain his family had endured. As he gazed at his youngest children, seeing that they were standing side by side with their non-dominate hands clasped together, they were prepared to face the danger that challenged them. Every soldier was stationed in various parts of the castle to protect the guests and to help them escape to safety if it was required.

While he knew that he and Jennifer should have stayed with the other guests, he knew that he couldn't bring himself to sit away from his children. Measures had been taken so he and Jennifer could stay with them. "You're positive this will work?" Shori questioned patiently as he glanced at his brother and sister.

"Considering how many times his family's killed me… not really." Nieve responded. "But if you and Yuri can make it rain hard enough then there's a chance."

"Nieve!" Shori exclaimed as he stared in shock at his sister.

"What?"

"You have no clue if this is going to work?"

"Not really. God supposedly protects children and fools so we should be covered."

"The children are inside the castle." Yuri informed his sister.

Nieve gave him a lopsided grin. "I also said 'fools,' dear brother." Nieve replied before looking dead serious as a cold wind blew softly. "They're here."

The two men approached and with them came the deafening Echoes of the murders that they each had committed. They took pride in those murders and she felt her hatred growing towards them. She knew that she wasn't right in the head, always eager to shed the blood of those that had wronged either herself or someone precious to any of her precious people. There were even times she just wanted to kill for the sole reason of being able to take a life but she had never once given in on that impulse.

Yuri gripped his sister's hand tightly knowing full well that she was growing angry at the sight of her biological father. "Welcome." Yuri said with a forced smile. "My sister said that you'd be arriving late so we thought that we'd meet you outside."

Something flashed in their eyes and Gwendal wondered for a moment if they were trying to determine just how much they knew. "We apologize for being so late, Your Majesty. You see, I had known for the past eighteen years that I had a daughter but when I heard that she was here, I must admit to having been worried." Aldo said with smile that couldn't conceal the coldness in his eyes. "Also hearing of my son's betrayal and his death…"

His sister could make someone feel guilty much better than the man could. "It could have been so much worse than what it was." Yuri replied simply.

Nieve gave a small smirk and raised an eyebrow ever so slightly as if to say that she had made the tragedy occur just to claim one life for herself. She could almost taste the hatred radiating off of the two men, her heart beginning to race. Every fiber of her being said to play with them so she could grow stronger but another part of her said to wait. Yuri was furious at them for several reasons and needed to see if they'd brag about what they'd done. "This is true. I suppose my beautiful daughter-"

Screw it. She couldn't let Yuri start literally shoving her towards them. "Yuri, I swear I'll break every bone in your face if you so much as 'suggest' that I go back with them." Nieve growled at her brother.

"Nie-chan!" Jennifer scolded. "You know better than to threaten your brother!"

"Momma, they're both murderers! He," she pointed at Brandt, "murdered that horrid wretch that decided to throw me in the trash! That I can forgive but it's what he wants to make a reality that I cannot and will not allow!

"That one," her finger shook angrily as she pointed at Aldo, "murdered countless people that share the same talents as me. During the war, he led several soldiers to my village and killed them all. Jeremiah survived and he came here where he was murdered waiting for Conrart!" Tears gathered in her eyes. "Momma, I know I need help and I'll see whoever you guys want me to. One of the things I swore was to defend the Maoh in exchange for my life and each time I'm born, that gets taken away."

"Lies!" Aldo shouted. "You can't prove-"

"I've already shown the ones that were willing to listen to the truth!" Nieve screamed at him before smiling. "I'm not going to let your husband kill what's mine and I'm sure as hell not going to let you kill me."

"Who said anything about killing?" Aldo demanded.

Nieve lightly tapped the corner of her left eye, tilting her head slightly. "Saw it," she responded lightly. "If I actually feel like getting off my lazy ass then I'll go back to when a person first started developing conscious thoughts in the womb."

"We also have confessions from those involved." Gwendal stated patiently.

Aldo's eyes narrowed as he realized that there was no way he could escape. They were all just playing with him by allowing him to believe that he had gotten away with everything he had done. "So that's how it's going to be." Aldo said with a suddenly amused look. "I must admit that I was hoping for everybody to be unaware. Yes, I led the attack on that village and of course I'm not going to deny murdering my son. He would have been the cause of the Originator's return."

At that Nieve laughed as if he had told a joke. "What's so funny?" Brandt demanded, his entire body radiating anger.

"Just that he thinks that Jeremiah was going to be the cause of the Originator's return." Nieve said, her entire body shaking with laughter. "That's hilarious."

"I fail to find anything remotely hilarious."

The woman's eyes flashed slightly as she rested her head on Yuri's shoulder, knowing that her family and friends were all trying to understand where the humor was. "I find it funny because you killed the wrong one. He was still too weak." Nieve replied. "Don't worry, he's coming and with his arrival will come the one that will be able to stop him but your concern at the moment had better be me."

"You wouldn't dare." Brandt said with a glare. "You'd leave them all defenseless as well as yourself."

"Verano de la nieve." Nieve said just as a bitterly cold wind swept through the area, ever mindful not to touch her family and friends.

Aldo and Brandt fought the urge to shiver, neither making any indications they cared as rain suddenly began to fall, turning to snow when touching the cold wind. "If that's how you want to play, dearest daughter, then so be it." Aldo said with a cruel grin. "We'll play this game of yours and when we're done, you and everybody else in this castle will die."


lostmoonchild: Next week will see the last chapter. Last chapters are always hard to write since I don't think the stories really want to end. Anyway, verano de la nieve means "Summer Snow" so I thought it'd be somewhat interesting to make the title of the story connect with Nieve's defense that doesn't involve her eyes. Read and review, I'll see you guys next week!