Title: Kimera: And after

Author: Starvoicereason

Series: Kimera

I don't own Kimera. I did this to keep my own brain from constantly worrying at the exceedingly cliff like ending of the series. Also, a couple of the things that happened during the show made me very… annoyed, so now I must fix it. And sooooo… Here it is….

The Beginning or Chapter 1

"Kimera! Kimera, I'm home! Kimera? Kimera, where are you?" Osamu took in the utter silence of the house for a moment, knowing full well that he couldn't use it to tell whether or not Kimera was actually in the house. She was perfectly capable of sneaking up behind even the guard dog, without moving even a breath of air. She was fond of scaring the crap out of the dog, ... and Osamu. She seemed to find it mildly amusing to see Osamu jump two feet in the air and fall on his butt. The dog would jump too, only he would land on his feet. Then he would sit and whine at Kimera until she reassured him, before settling down to become her foot warmer. Kimera did feel sorry for the poor thing afterwards, and nearly always said she wouldn't do it again... but then a few days later, the perfect opportunity would come up and she, of course, wouldn't be able to resist... And of course the dog always forgave her. She still possessed the remarkable gift that all animals loved her, no matter what. If she had her wish, they'd running a zoo. As it was, if an animal ever wandered onto the property, it was instantly loved, petted, fed and whatever else it might need was given to it. They had a regular following of animal house friends and a huge number of outside animals too. They helped the dog guard half the time and bugged him the rest of the time. For some reason, nothing ever came to blows though. Speaking (thinking) of which, where was that dog? Osamu knew he would be where Kimera was. So, find the dog, find his wife. He moved into the living room, and set his briefcase and jacket down on the sofa before going into the kitchen. The dog was asleep under the kitchen table. As he looked around the room, the dog began to twitch and growl in it's sleep, snoring occasionally interrupting the sounds of it's dream. Osamu sighed, then caught sight of Kimera, out in the garden. She still took his breathe away, even after fifteen years of living together, fourteen of them as a married couple. Utah still had a common law marriage act in effect, and the two had found out that they were married about two months after they could call themselves man and wife. Osamu had never been happier in his life and Kimera had practically glowed. He still felt a little thrill of pride and pleasure whenever he thought of the words 'my wife' applied to Kimera. Osamu still had to pause and think /I am the luckiest man alive/ whenever he saw her. She was, quite simply, the most beautiful creature anywhere in the universe,... well, besides their son, that is... So, he stood there, content to watch, as his wife gently heeled in a delicate flower, then sat back on her heels and wiped her forehead, neatly smearing dirt all over her face. She leaned down, cupped the bud in her hands, and began singing to it, softly coaxing it to live in its new home and become strong and beautiful. Osamu moved towards the door to the backyard, enchanted with the scene. She looked up and smiled, absently brushing back wisps of hair that had gotten loose from the braided bun she had it in. She only wore her hair down when she was inside; it was so long it brushed the floor easily, and she had even had about a foot cut off two or three months before.

"Osamu! I didn't hear you come home! ... how long have you been standing there?" she asked, laughter ruining her attempt at pretending to affronted. She moved into his open arms and kissed him hungrily. Though she had become more and more... human-like, she still showed flashes of the sex-crazed reproduction machine she had been when he first met her. Mentally, she had changed much, but physically, she remained much the same as she had been then. But that was of course, under the illusion of age that she had somehow cast on herself.

"So, what exactly are you brooding about, Osamu?"

"Huh? Oh, I wasn't brooding, I was reminiscing... hmm... more like thinking fondly of,... you, of course,... and of Kianu... where is he anyway?" Once again, Osamu found himself drifting into thoughts of the past.

{He looked down at the squalling child he held in his arms. He was speechless. Then the thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Oh, God, what are we going to name him?!" The lump under the covers that was Kimera struggled upright. Her mouth moved with difficulty and Osamu moved nearer in an effort to hear her. She tried a couple more times before giving up and sobbing silently, tears streaming down her sweaty face.

"Come on now, Kimera, you can do it, I know you can!" After several moments of staring at him in astonishment, she opened her mouth, and to her surprise, the offending organ actually made a noise. It was healing from the terrible injuries it had received while she was in the lab on her home planet, and warming up after disuse.

"Ki.... Kia..... Kia, ....nu...... Kia..nu... Kianu... Kianu....…" she looked mightily pleased with herself.

"Kianu? You want to name him Kianu? I agree. He saved our lives after all... Yes, a good name. Kianu is a very good name." Kimera lit up like a Christmas tree. More, and more, Osamu was finding that he lived for that look on her face. It made everything worthwhile. And this... his and Kimera's son! Life was perfect, even if they were desperately on the run from the rest of the world, and half the time they were starving. Well, Osamu was starving, Kimera was not. Osamu had considered teaching her to drive many times, especially when he was weak from blood loss right after a feeding. The only thing that stopped him was the strange feeling that letting her drive would be very, very, bad. He kept seeing her careening all over the road and speeding so high the speedometer broke, and then crashing the car, getting out and saying something like 'And I was just getting going, too!' He loved her, yes, but, ... he wasn't suicidal... And he'd been right to fear Kimera's driving, too, though he had only found out about a year later, when she had blackmailed him into teaching her one night after passionate lovemaking. But then, all sex was passionate with Kimera around, as he had also later figured out...}

Kimera once again interrupted his musings. "He's…" Her face took on a look of intense concentration. "Walking home from school with that girl he likes... you know the one... Fuyuko Fujimino?"

"'Immortal Winter'? Weird."

"And you are rude!" she smacked him upside the head, but lightly, because if she had truly smacked him, his brains and various other parts would have been spread out all over everything. That was not something she wanted to have to clean up. Besides, she liked him better intact.

"I hope you learned your lesson…" He just continued to looked wounded, rubbing his head and muttering 'ow' a couple more times. She sighed and couldn't help smiling as she said, "Here, let me kiss it and make it better…"

"Oh, sure. That would be... welcome. Hey... how long do you think we have until Kianu comes home?" he sounded hopeful.

"Oh, a few minutes...hmm, not long enough, sorry."

"Darn! Oh, well. Wait, a few minutes? He's not teleporting, is he?" at Kimera's look, he sighed in relief. "I know, but I had to make sure." They'd learned long ago that the government's team could somehow track the use of Kimera's, and now Kianu's, powers. Kianu, as a result, did not have much training in terms of energy manipulation... Which was just as well, seeing as he was a normal boy and he might have the urge to experiment on those he didn't like... Osamu's frozen little brain pulled itself away from it's musings, and focused back on Kianu. "He's taking her here?"

"Yes, I told you yesterday! I swear!" she threw up her hands in defeat. "Why do I bother to tell you anything? You never remember!"

"I remember your birthday!" Her eyebrow raised. Her birthday, they'd decided long ago, was the day that she truly became self aware again.

"When have you ever remembered my birthday?"

"Um, last... no, uh,... 3 years ago... no, you had to remind me that time, um, um…"

"Stop trying, please, it's painful watching you…" She sniffed the air suddenly. "Do you smell burning? I think it's coming…" she sniffed again, "from your head!"

"Oh, very funny, very funny…" the doorbell rang. "Hey, Kianu's home... why is he ringing the doorbell?"

/Authors note- I have this horrible urge to erase this part and do it over, but maybe later... And I do have to add in a part that describes the changes that happened in Kianu and Kimera.../

A chill went over Osamu. "He shouldn't be, not yet…" her brow furrowed as she checked his location mentally. "He is, but not at the door…" she pressed herself up against Osamu suddenly, shivering. He looked down at her. "It's dark, and he's scared, and angry, and the girl's there too, and, and it's small…" She was near tears. "They found us…" her voice was small and scared, but something much different hid below the surface; she was pissed. Her son, her son, had been shoved into the trunk of a car... and someone was going to pay for it...

"We don't know that they've found us, Kimera. But," and now the rage Osamu felt, the same rage as Kimera's, could be heard. "To even touch Kianu... they are going to pay! Why don't you stay here while I see if it really is them and if they know anything, or are just fishing around…"

"Alright... but if you're not back with Kianu in a couple of seconds, I'm calling the police, or I'm going to come out there after you…" she was barely containing the whirlwind mix of emotions inside of her.

"It will be fine, honey, I swear…" he lifted her face towards him as looked her over carefully, as though memorizing her features. "I love you…" He kissed her for the last time and walked out to answer the front door. Osamu opened the door, making sure he had a pleasant statement on his face, not the snarl he wanted to display. His son! How dare they?! He managed to plaster a pleasant statement on his face, somehow, as he opened the door. He only got glimpse of a van and a station wagon, both white with no distinguishing features, and armed soldiers everywhere before the guns spoke and he found himself falling forward in slow motion. Thoughts ran through his head at hyper-speed, or so it seemed, so many of them centering on things he had yet to do.

A couple, however, were just inane little things like, /Don't they realize that the pure un-eventfulness of those cars practically screams 'something is up, the feds are here'?/ /I have to teach Kianu how to find the perfect girl, how to know when he's finally found her. How to convince a woman she's getting what she wants while doing whatever you feel like… --(How to lie so well, even _you_ don't recognize it as one...) (All men are in denial, but only the females realize it. Don't ask me why, that's just how it is.) And I have to finish showing Kianu the basics of quantum physics so that he can stay ahead of his physics class, and... so many things I have yet to see... I want to see my son graduate, and I want to see him win the Olympic Gold Medal he deserves, and, I want to have a daughter, a perfect, sweet, wonderful little girl, one that looks just like her mother... I want to have grandchildren, and I want to see them and play with them. I have to be here for my family! I can't die, I can't!!! I want to stay with my wife, my lovely, wonderful, amazing wife... for as long as I can..../

The thought occurred to him, suddenly, that perhaps this wasn't that bad; now Kimera wouldn't have to see him wither away and die of old age... his thoughts drifted away into smoke, eternal blackness, leaving him with nothing but physical sensations. His heart beat one last time, then quit it's futile struggle. His body convulsed and his lungs collapsed, air whistling out of his body from many more than three holes. The feeling came and passed just as quickly, despair, an everlasting, aching sadness; he would never get to see his wife or son again. The last thing he heard was his wife's scream.

"Osamu! Noooooooooo!!! Osamu!!!!!!!"

*******************************************************

He was floating. Or he had been, when... When what? He wasn't sure anymore. It hurt to think. It hurt to do anything right now, actually. And the cold... it must be winter... no, if he opened his eyes... it would be spring, and there would be singing, and... someone.. would be just ahead, he was sure of it. He lost himself in the fantasy, leaving the body he couldn't feel, except for pain that couldn't be pinned down to any certain area, behind. But for some reason, the singer... he could never figure out who it was. He knew that if he could just see them, he would know, and everything would be ok again, but there was never anything there when he looked. Somehow, this fantasy,... somehow it would fix everything. He just had to find that person. He did it often, but for some reason, they never took him to... her... yes, it was a female, wasn't it? He liked her, more than he liked the people here. A noise came to him. It was loud and he couldn't help the whimper of pain that escaped him. *Boom* *boom* *BOOM* The noise went away, and now he felt a sudden surge of fear. Something... something bad always happened when the noise came and went like that... But what was it? He wasn't sure, and he didn't really want to know... Some part of him, a piece of himself that he had walled off for the time being, felt great contempt for the pitiful little child-like thing that he was allowing to inhabit his body for now. It was safer this way, the scientists couldn't get any information out of a personality that had been born the day they got a hold of it. All the being living right now knew was the lab, so that was all it was equipped for. And it was very well equipped too. The pain of being a laboratory specimen was it's life. Kianu would have gone insane and killed things or himself even by now. It was a good thing he could do this personality spawning. He'd set it so that when he was brought face to face with Kimera, the pseudo personality would be destroyed and he would once again be in control of his body. The only bad thing about this was that if Kimera died, he would have to co-exist with the personality for all time. Unless something drastic happened, that is. He could feel her presence constantly, somewhere far away, to the north. For years, the feeling of her had moved around, until ten years ago, when they had stopped where they were today. The presence of others like him, more of his kind… it had somehow grown stronger over the years. By now, it almost felt as though there were two of her up there, though the second was a little bit weaker and it felt different. Surely, it couldn't be a child. Any of Kimera's children being born would mean total annihilation for the humans on Earth… wouldn't it?

*******************************************************

Well, there. The first chapter. You've met nearly everyone, now. C/C is GOOD, people, good. Please tell me what you think!!!!!

--Starvoicereason

sephychanlover@yahoo.com

http://home.talkcity.com/ImaginaryPl/Starvoicereason/AIndex.html