Resident Evil

Children of the Seraphs

By: Xenogears

Chapter five

In no way do I own the characters of Capcom's legacy, Resident Evil. They are used for non-profit purposes, only for entertainment. The characters Ryan Joseph Davidson, Anna Yamaguchi and Mark belong exclusively to me and may not be used by anyone without my permission. The stories Resident Evil: Silver Blood, Resident Evil: The Seraphs and Resident Evil: Children of the Seraphs are also copyright by me, and may not be used in any way without my exclusive written permission.

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Next day...

It was lunch time. Ryan was sitting at a table near the main entrance to the cafeteria with his friends, Christopher Abel, Steven Gonzales, Tom Young, and Cindy Tsu. The food at Niles West cafeteria was excellent, far beyond other high schools had to offer. Ryan however, found that he couldn't even touch his Chicken Patty Sandwich, one of the best foods available in the cafeteria.

Just as Anna had related the story to her friends, Ryan had told his friends the same thing. Tom Young, the partier of the group, had given an impressed laugh, but he was quickly silenced by the continuation of the story and a slap to the back of the head from Cindy "The Tomboy" Tsu.

"Well," Christopher said, "we got your back. You know that, right? You need anything, you come to us."

"You know, Ryan," Cindy said, "I could probably get you back on Anna's good side. We're pretty tight."

Ryan chuckled to hide his sadness. His friends didn't see though this facade.

"Ha! I'd like to see you even try. She's stubborn as, hell, she's worse than an ox. You can't make up her mind. She'll do it herself, and once she does she follows through no matter what."

"Hey," Steven said, "she'll eventually come to her senses. She's just like a hurricane. You have to wait for it to pass."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, the hurricane doesn't have an eye. I'll have to sit the whole thing through without a rest," Ryan said as he started to take a gulp from his chocolate milk carton.

"Dude," Tom said with a grin, checking around for anyone in hearing range. "We gotta get ya to a rave and get ya laid. That'll make ya forget all 'bout 'er!"

Ryan went wide-eyed, and chocolate milk came streaming out of his nose along with his mouth, receiving laughs from his friends, and the tables surrounding them.

"What?!" Ryan exclaimed, keeping his voice at a whisper. "Hell no! I don't do Ex--I probably never will. Besides, I don't want to forget about her. I'm not giving up on her. No matter how long it takes."

"Dude, a rave ain't just Ex," Tom explained. "There's also Pot, Acid, 'Shrooms, Coke, Heroin, Speedball...ya name it, it's there!"

"Okay, let me put it to you this way," Ryan said calmly, then hardened his voice and said slowly through his teeth, "I'm not a drug addict."

"Hey! I ain't either. Just like to have a little fun once in a while, eh?"

"My answer still stands."

"Pssshhhh...! Have it your way, man." Tom shook his head.

Ryan leaned back in his seat.

"D'you know that I was under so much strain these past few days, I nearly reached for a cigarette even with my patch on..." Ryan said.

"Ryan," Christopher said. "Don't scare us like that. You need to stay off that shit."

"Yeah, yeah..." Ryan responded. "Hey. What about Tom? He's the one taking hallucinogens."

"Like I said," Tom said, defending himself. "I don't do 'em all da time."

"So how else does your life go?" Cindy asked.

"Like crap. I just got a one-month detention, and one week I'll have Saturday detention."

His friends groaned sympathetically.

"What did you do?" Steven asked.

"Just slammed some asshole against the lockers. That is, after I beat him down with a gut punch, spinning elbow, and an uppercut."

Ryan left out the part about the eye color change, and began to think of how close he was to blowing his cover to what he really was. He trusted his friends, but either they wouldn't believe him, or he was taking a chance of getting caught by Umbrella--or the government, both of which were probably just dying to get hold of such a creation as a Seraph.

'If they ever get me, then it's no doubt that they'll want Anna too,' Ryan thought. 'They get her over my dead body. No matter what she has in for me, pregnant or not...I'll still protect her.'

"Hey!" Tom said, snapping his fingers in front of Ryan's face. "Earth ta Ryan! Are ya listenin'?"

"What? Sorry. I spaced out."

"Whatever," Cindy said. "We're going to Old Orchard Mall this afternoon. We'll be there about the same time you get out of detention. Meet us there, okay?"

"Nah..." Ryan responded. "I'm going straight home."

"Reconsider?" Tom asked.

"No. I want to take my chances with Anna."

"Have it your way," Steven shrugged. "Man, what you do for that girl..."

"What do you mean, Steve?" Ryan asked carefully.

"What do I mean? You've been drooling over her since I the first day I've known you," Steve replied calmly. "It's kinda funny how you revere her like she's some sort of goddess, and she didn't even notice you until you two started to date."

"Watch yer tongue, man..." Tom warned. "Don't diss 'er in front of 'im."

"And she did notice him, Steve," Cindy interjected. "She's had her eyes on him for some time."

Ryan placed his elbows on the table and rested his head on the back of his roofed hands.

"Listen to them well, Steve," Ryan said, an edge forming to his voice. "Don't write checks with your mouth that your ass can't cash."

"Fine! Fine! Sorry!"

"Whatever!" Christopher said. "Just stop this, okay?"

Ryan and his friends spent the rest of the lunch period in silence.

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Ryan and Sherry walked in the door. Ryan was about to throw his backpack on the couch, when he saw Anna lying there. If he hadn't caught the pack quickly before it left his hands, there would have been a good excuse for Anna to flare up at him.

He knelt down at the foot of the couch, and attempted a mental link with Anna. To his surprise, there was contact.

But he found that she was in a dream, and was paying no heed to him. He decided to try a new technique that Anna had taught him a while ago. She called it a "Double Dream," a Seraph technique where two people share the same dream, one by invasion. He then attempted to 'invade' the dream. Concentrating to the absolute fullest, he applied all the steps that Anna had taught him. There was a blast of colors, then his vision suddenly went white and then black.

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Ryan was in a kitchen. It took him a few moments to realize that he was in Anna's house, in the same exact place he had met her. He immediately held all his thoughts in the dark recesses of his mind, and hid his identity as an invader to her dream. Just as Anna had taught him to.

He walked toward the pantry, knowing exactly what would happen. Without much thought, he flung open the pantry door.

"YAAAAHHHHHH!" From inside the pantry came the warlike cry.

The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, staring up at a girl with green eyes and long untied black hair that fell halfway to her knees, in a red T-shirt and blue jeans and a gold chain around her neck. She looked very edgy, and she was hefting a frying pan threateningly in her right hand. Ryan gaped at her, waiting for her to make her move. Then she spoke in a touchy voice,

"Daré desu ka?"

Ryan tried to hide a smile. He hadn't thought much of her that day, but by now things had changed dramatically. Who could have known that this girl that he was staring at now would end up being the mother of his children just a year and-a-half later?

"Ryan Davidson," he answered.

The young woman looked skeptically at him for a moment, and at that instant Ryan saw her eyes change to their Seraph color, only for a second.

"Nihongo o hanashimusu ka?"

"Hai," He replied. "Eigo o hanashimusu ka?"

"Yes," she replied in English, but with a slight Japanese twang. As long as he had known Anna, she hadn't gotten rid of that slight accent, and he liked the sound of it. "I suppose you do, too?"

"Yeah. May I ask who you are, and why you came at me with a kitchen utensil?" Ryan said, slowly rising from the floor.

"Sorry about that. I just thought you were another one of those men in masks with machine guns. My name's Anna. Anna Yamaguchi."

Ryan's world then slowly faded to black.

When he could see again, he found himself in the helicopter hangar, looking over the dead body of Mark. He had been shot in the head. Ryan would always be haunted by the memory of the day that he took Mark's life. It had been a sad month for him, and especially for Anna. He suddenly felt Anna embrace him.

She was crying profoundly.

"Y-you...d-did the...right th-thing, Ryan..." she said between sobs.

"Yeah..." he murmured into her ear. "I know..."

He placed his chin on her head, using it to cradle her. Ryan knew that this wasn't what Anna had done back at Carlton. Is that what she felt like doing?

"Anna," Ryan said. "Don't cry...be strong..."

The scene suddenly switched to the house they now lived in, on the second floor. They were very close in physical space.

"...Please be with me tonight, Ryan-kun."

Ryan was a bit overtaken by the speed that the dream had taken, but he still went with the flow. Pausing for the amount of time that he had remembered, he said,

"You're...so beautiful...so...so lovely..."

Anna smiled.

"Just remember that whatever happens, I'll always care for you..." she said.

Ryan was alarmed by this sentence. Anna hadn't really said anything like this. Was this another example of what she had really wanted to happen?

The scene once again shifted to the backyard. This time, he was an observer of the dream.

Ryan approached Anna, who was sitting in the hammock, her back turned to him. Judging by the sun's angle and strength, it was high noon. The sky was very clear, and it looked a little hot, though the dream didn't sort out such things.

"Anna--" he started.

"Go away..." She replied without emotion.

"I-I want to be with you, Anna! I want to place all of what happened behind us!"

"We can't!" She shouted. "You made the single biggest mistake you have ever made with me!"

"The single biggest mistake I've ever made with anyone!" He retorted.

"So what?!"

"Anna, have you ever heard, 'To err is human, but to forgive is divine?'"

"Some things can't be forgiven..." Anna answered, her voice full of venom.

Ryan paused to catch his breath.

"If that's the way you feel then...shikata ga nai...I guess..."

Ryan then moped back into the house.

Anna waited a few moments until she started thinking again.

'Go after him! If you don't, you'll lose him forever!' her mind told her.

'I...can't...'

'Yes you can! Now go! Isogi!'

Anna rose from the hammock and walked into the house. Apparently, they were the only ones there. The observing Ryan found it funny how dreams sorted all these kinds of things out.

"Ryan?" She called out.

She could hear faint singing from upstairs from Ryan's room, and she thought the song was 'Fly Me to the Moon.' She took the steps upstairs slowly, one at a time. When she came near Ryan's room, the singing stopped.

"That was the first song she played on the piano..." A languid voice from inside the room said. The voice was on the verge of tears. "And when we came here, to Skokie, she would play that song as well as sing it...the way she played...her voice...all so beautiful..."

She opened the door and found Ryan at the edge of his bed facing her, his Beretta 92 pointed at his head. His hand didn't even shake. He was really ready to kill himself.

"Ryan!"

"Stop!" He screamed. "Leave me alone! At least let me die with face!"

"You won't have one if you pull that trigger!"

"You know what I mean! Don't push me!" He spat back through clenched teeth.

Anna knew better than to fool with someone with a gun in hand who threatened suicide, but her mind was screaming at her to do anything to stop him.

"Why, Ryan?"

"You...you were the only thing I had left of value in this world!... Without you...I have nothing...Nothing at all!" Ryan said. "Without you, I'm in the seventh circle of hell!"

"What about your family?!"

Ryan snorted, somewhere between a sob and a harsh laugh.

"They were killed by Umbrella. I just got word of it today."

Anna was shocked. Now she was assured that he had nothing to live for, except her.

"I..." Anna began, searching for the words. They didn't come to her though. No matter how hard she tried, her mouth couldn't formulate the words. So she went with, "I-I...Had no idea..."

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" The trigger of the gun moved almost imperceptibly. "You never cared for me then, and you don't now! All you did was use me! I was nothing but a toy to you! Nothing else!"

"That's not true," she said sternly, yet desperately. "If I don't care for you, if you're really just a 'toy' to me, then why do I want to keep our children, huh?!"

"For all I know, you have something against abortion!"

"I believe in the right to choose, and I chose not to. You know why?"

Anna took a step toward Ryan. As she did, the trigger was pulled a little more. If it were to pulled about one-fifth of an inch, it would go off.

"Don't come any closer!" Ryan warned.

Anna ignored him and kept her advance.

"Do you really know why? Because I...Ai shiteru, Ryan-kun."

Ryan's expression turned astonished, and the gun wavered a little in his hand.

'She...loves me...?' Ryan thought.

Anna slowly closed the gap between them. Soon they were only centimeters apart. She squatted down to meet his face, and Anna then placed a gentle hand on his, begging him to lower the weapon.

"Please, Ryan, don't leave me...I need you..."

His grip on the gun faltered even more and Anna's voice dropped to a whisper.

"Our children need you..."

Anna started to lower the gun with him, not forcing him to do anything, simply helping him. Tears started to roll down Anna's face.

"Please Ryan...I love you...please don't do something like this..."

Anna continued to say comforting words to him as the gun lowered. An eternity later, the gun was lying on the bed in Ryan's open hand. He hung his head. Anna held her breath, tensed in readiness for his next move. He slowly brought his head up, his eyes full of tears. Then he was in Anna's arms, crying heavily into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Anna-chan...Domo sumimasen...Domo sumimasen!"

Anna shushed him like a child, and held him like a mother would her baby, silently crying herself.

"Shhh...shhh...it' okay...it' okay. You're forgiven...there's nothing to be afraid of...shhh...shhh..."

The observing Ryan was on the verge of tears.

'S-she...loves me...? Even after all that she's done to me? I can't believe this...I...I can't give up with her now! I have to go on...no matter what happens...'

The scene faded, and soon there was the sound of Anna loudly grunting, and crying out in pain. Ryan then saw that he was in a hospital, and Anna was in a bed next to him, and she was in the midst of giving birth.

"Okay, now, Ms. Yamaguchi!" One of the female doctors said. "Push!"

Anna gave a deafening cry of pain, and pushed.

"Okay! I'm beginning to see a head! Keep pushing!" The doctor urged.

Ryan was holding her hand, trying to be supportive, and he couldn't believe how strong her grip was when she was in pain. He thought his circulation would be cut off, or even his whole hand.

"You're doing great, Anna-chan," he heard himself say. "We're almost done. Not much longer now!"

The screaming went on for several more minutes, how long exactly, Ryan was too unnerved to tell. All he knew was that there was a lot of noise, so much blood it frightened him, and noises that he didn't recognize--could they be from Anna?--and the cries of a first newborn, then two.

"Congratulations," one of the doctors told them after they cut the umbilical cords. "You're now officially parents of a beautiful, healthy, girl and boy."

Ryan held one of the infants in his arms, amazed by how small and fragile they looked. The doctors had left the room, leaving them alone. He gazed down at Anna. She looked very worn out. More so than the time he had seen her swim for almost one hour straight. Her hair was plastered by sweat to the sides of her face, and her hospital gown was soaked through everywhere. She was smiling, though, and to him, she looked more beautiful than he'd ever seen her.

"Hey..." she said in a weak and drained voice. "Have you thought up names yet?"

"I'll name the boy, you get the girl, okay?"

"Sure..."

Ryan thought hard, but still kept his thoughts in the recesses of his mind.

"How about...Adrian. Adrian Davidson."

Anna then looked thoughtfully at the newborn she was holding.

"Nozomi. Nozomi Yamaguchi."

"Nice name."

"Both their names are..." She said, looking down at her daughter. "Do you know...that they're the first natural born Seraphs the world has seen...? We're makin' history here!"

"Yeah, really."

There was a long pause as the two new parents held the infants in their arms. By now they had stopped crying and had opened their eyes. Ryan's son, Adrian, looked curiously up at him and Ryan smiled back. Adrian reached up with his hand and touched Ryan's nose, rousing a chuckle out of Ryan. At that moment, Ryan forgot that this was a dream. All he knew was his children, and his girlfriend. He was at peace, and had forgotten all about the things that Anna had done to him.

"I know that I've said it before," Anna said. "But...thanks for being here with me...I know that I've treated dirt better than you for the past months..."

"As I said before, it doesn't matter. That was the past. Now we have to worry about the future. Our future. Together."

Ryan handed her Adrian, and then took another look at her as Anna began to breast feed the children. She was so angelic to him, and so he couldn't help letting one thought slip.

'You're so beautiful...even after the way you treated me, I still care for you...'

And that was his mistake. The world froze, and then Anna changed. She was in her normal clothing, she was standing before him, there were no newborn babies, and the whole world was gone as well.

"How dare you interrupt my dreams!" She screamed.

The thin line between a punch and a slap was blurred as she brought her hand across his face and with an abrupt halt, the dream ended.

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Ryan suddenly woke up and fell back. He looked up to see Sherry standing next to him. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew...I thought that something had happened to you. You just suddenly passed out and woke up like twenty minutes later...what's wrong?" Sherry said.

"She...she...she..." he stammered. "...nothing..."

"Why did you suddenly jump awake like that?"

"It's...nothing important..."

'So in the dream she had twins?' Ryan thought. 'Jeez, from what I hear, one is enough. Two? I don't know if I'd survive...'

Ryan gazed at Anna. She was still sleeping, but she looked like she was cold. Ryan had to admit, the heating had gone out again--something they were complaining to the landlord about--and probably wouldn't be back on for another two days or so.

He went up to his room and got an insulated comforter, which he laid on top of Anna's sleeping form. He was unable to keep himself from staring at her. This was the first time in a while that he had seen her so peaceful. He resisted the overpowering urge to touch her, just once, and simply watched her for a few more moments.

"Sweet dreams, Anna-chan..."

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As Anna slowly arose from sleep, she noticed that a certain blanket covered her. This blanket was not hers, nor was it Claire's, Leon's, Chris', or Sherry's. It was Ryan's.

She instantly threw it off of herself and got up, intent on eradicating Ryan from the face of the earth for even trying to show any form of kindness toward her. Storming toward Ryan's room, she pounded on his door.

"Open up Davidson!" She seethed. "Now! Don't start bullshittin' me!"

Ryan was almost instantaneously at his door. Before he even had time to speak, Anna shoved the blanket in his face, forcing him back.

"Here's your damned blanket back! Never, ever, do something like that again!" Anna seethed. "And if I find you in my dreams again, I'll pound you so hard, you'll feel it for weeks!"

Ryan tossed the bedding aside and looked Anna straight in the face. For some reason, Anna stopped talking, but her fury was still boiling under the surface. She turned her head in an attempt to avoid his powerful gaze.

"Look at me Anna," Ryan said, his voice deeply serious. "Look at me! I don't care what you do to me, I still care for you. Okay? I'm not letting something like this come between us. Especially when we're going to be parents. I know it will take some time, but we'll work this out. I know it."

"Shut up. You don't know anything, you ba--ah!"

Anna hunched over as dull pangs of pain started to rack her stomach. She gasped again and groped for something to hold onto, finding the wall.

"Anna? Are you okay?" Ryan said in a concerned voice as he reached a hand out for her. "Where does it hurt?"

Anna was too wrapped up in her pain to notice him lift her back up and bring her into his room and close the door behind him. She realized where she was when she was sat down on his bed. She almost instantaneously got up and pushed him away.

"You little...hentai! Don't you ask me things like that! And sure as heck don't touch me ever again!" She cried through her pain.

On the inside she was scared to death. She knew that the possibility of a miscarriage was highest at this time during a pregnancy, and even more so at her young age.

'Oh please, oh please...don't let it be that...' she thought in a sickening panic. 'I don't want to lose them...'

Anna was forced back to the bed and she lay there, her back to him. She rolled herself into a ball, clutching her stomach. A bead of cold sweat streamed down her forehead and she fought against the urge to cry out in pain.

"Anna! You have to tell me what's wrong!"

"It...it..." She started, debating weather she should tell him or not. "It...hurts..."

"Your stomach?"

Ryan sat down on his mattress next to her.

"Yeah..."

"Here..." Ryan turned her over, surprised to find no resistance. He placed his right hand on her stomach, and gently rubbed it.

Anna almost would have screamed for him to get off if the pains hadn't started to wane. His touch was warm and seemed to send waves of relief through her.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice low and once again deeply serious, yet at the same time warm and full of concern.

"It...just started to hurt..."

"Have any idea why?"

Anna shook her head.

Ryan continued this for a few minutes, until he decided to become a little bolder. He sat Anna up and hooked his right arm around her waist. Anna showed no sign of wanting to resist. They stayed like this for a long period of time, Anna couldn't tell how long. All she knew was that she felt like she was in the safest place in the world, like nothing could touch them. In her heart, she knew that she probably was in the safest place she could be. She knew that Ryan would jump up and defend her life at all costs without a second thought, no matter what she did to him.

Even at the expense of his own life, if need be.

"I...I don't want to lose them Ryan," Anna said, almost adding the 'kun' title to his name. "If I have a miscarriage, I just won't know what to do..."

"I don't want to lose them either, Anna," Ryan said softly. "I never did in the first place. They are our kids after all."

The sole sound in the room was their breathing. Only when Ryan started to move her in for a kiss was she violently snapped back into reality. She pushed him off and started to walk away, her pains miraculously gone.

"Don't even think that I took any pleasure in this," she said. "I just wasn't thinking straight! It's not like I love you or anything! Oh, and that dream from earlier? It meant nothing!"

Ryan bowed his head. Anna tossed her head, then hurled his door open and fumed out, making sure to slam his door on her way out. How could she let herself do something like that? How could she let herself give up so easily to him, the one she hated? She refused to answer.

'I shouldn't have even done that in the first place...' she thought as she stormed away, ignoring that she bumped into Chris as she went downstairs.

"The hell...?" Chris muttered to himself. "What just happened?"

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Ryan was still on his bed, her words ringing in his ears.

...It's not like I love you or anything! Oh, and that dream from earlier? It meant nothing!

It tore deep into him like a chainsaw, but he still knew that his feelings for her didn't, and wouldn't, go away. All he wanted to do was show her that he still cared, that he wanted so badly to put it all behind them. But she was still adamant in her decision to loathe him. And that wasn't likely to change anytime soon. Ryan weakly hit the bed with his fist, in a mixture of frustration and sadness. He should have known better than to make so drastic a move like that at this point. He had been so eager to just feel her loving touch again, that he rushed things, and that cost him what would probably be his best chance to get back together with her.

"Damn you, Anna," Ryan cursed. "There are a million other guys to choose. Why did you choose me? Why did you cast your spell on me? Make me feel this way? Why not someone else? Why stupid, weak, idiotic, incompetent, inept, no good, worthless Ryan Joseph Fucking Davidson?"

Ryan got up and started to leave his room, when he spotted a pack of cigarettes lying on his desk next to his computer. They were untouched, still encased in their plastic wrapper from three days ago. He had found them lying in an alley on his way back from school, and had picked them up on an impulse, knowing that a chance like this was at least one in one million. When he got home, he placed them on his desk. Apparently he had forgotten about them.

He picked them up and started to throw them in his trash can, when a small voice from the back of his mind said, 'What are you doing? You can use those.'

'What?! Hell no! I quit smoking!'

'Come on. You're going through a lot of pressure right now. A cig is just what you need. It's your favorite brand. Remember the relief you would get from just one, maybe two drags?'

'Shut up...'

'...Or how it got you with the 'in' crowd back in Bhrams Jr. High...?'

'Shutupshutup...'

'...Or how it would make your hand stop shaking?'

As if on cue, Ryan's right hand began to tremble.

'You know you want one...'

'Shutupshutupshutup...'

'You know you need one...'

'No! Stop it! I...I told you! I...don't...smoke...anymore...'

'Just stop resisting and give in. It'll make your life a lot easier.'

'I...I...I...'

Ryan's resolve suddenly crumbled into dust. He just had to have one, now. He searched his backpack frantically for his lighter. Finding it, he tore open the cigarette package relentlessly.

He quickly hit the pack against his palm twenty times, just as his former friends taught him to, and then picked a 'lucky cigarette' and turned it over, saving it for last. He took another and placed it to his lips, and lit it.

He then opened the window to air out the room, and, sitting on his windowsill, he took a long drag.

"You're a weak, pitiful man with an even weaker resolve, Ryan..."

Not even a small puff of smoke came out of his mouth as he spoke; yet another skill that his former friends back in Bhrams taught him. He held it in his lungs as long as he could, then breathed it out, the stress in his nerves instantly relieved.

"You don't deserve her, and never did in the first place," he told himself under his breath. "And you know it, you stupid bastard."

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Next day...

Everything was white as far as the eye could see. There were no sounds whatsoever. Anna didn't need to be told that this was a dream. Then, the sound of feet hitting the floor made her look around, but she saw nothing. The next sound was the giggle of a small child. She looked around, and again, nothing. Then a voice spoke from behind her, nearly making her jump out of her skin.

"Okaa-san!" came a young female voice from behind her.

Anna turned to see a young girl who looked exactly like herself wearing a white blouse with red flowers and with pig tails, her hair jet-black. She was only between five and six years old, no more than three feet tall. She looked Japanese, but not fully. Anna guessed that there was some type of Caucasian blood in her. There was one thing about her though, that made Anna stop thinking: her eyes. They were exactly like Ryan's. Even though both Anna and Ryan had the same color eyes, his were a shade or two darker than hers were, and a little deeper.

'Wait a moment. Why is she calling me 'okaa-san?' Could she be...my daughter? Nozomi? Could I have a daughter? Nah. I doubt it. This is just a dream.'

She found that her mouth moved without her giving it commands.

"Who are you?" Anna asked.

"That does not matter."

"...Okay, then what do you want?"

"Uhm...." The little girl looked up to the taller woman. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Where is otoo-san?"

"Otoo-san? Who is your otoo-san?" Anna said.

"His name is Ryan Joseph Davidson."

"What!? Then that makes...But why do want to know where he is...?"

"Because he is very hurt."

"Huh? Where?"

"Here," Nozomi said, placing her hand over her heart.

"What do you mean?"

"Why won't you forgive him?"

Anna stepped back, shocked.

'What the hell is going on here?!' Anna asked herself.

"Why won't you forgive him?" Nozomi asked, repeating her question.

"I...you just have to understand that we're...having a fight right now. Wait a moment. This is just a dream! Jeez. You're not even real."

"Ah, but I am," Nozomi said in a tone and vocabulary that made her sound older than she really was. "I am communicating with you from inside your womb."

"How do you even know all this?! You're still a fetus and you're still inside me! You've got at least seven months till you're born!"

"Give me a little credit. I'm a Seraph too, okaa-san."

Anna once again was taken by surprise. The not-quite-baby even knew that she was a Seraph?

'Just how powerful are we?' Anna thought. 'How powerful can a Seraph really become?'

"More powerful than you think, okaa-san."

Anna was shocked again. Nozomi's mental abilities must have been almost, if not just, as developed as hers.

"When are you going to forgive him?" Nozomi repeated. "In another day? Another week? Another month? A year? Ten years?"

"I...just don't know..."

"Look, okaa-san, I don't want to grow up without otoo-san. Can you promise me that you'll forgive him before I'm born?"

"No...I can't promise you anything, sorry."

"You have to!"

"I can't!" Anna snapped.

Nozomi stepped back at her mother's outburst.

"Why?" she asked, her voice pleading.

"Just because. There are some matters that you shouldn't involve yourself in. This is one of them."

"But--"

"No 'buts'!"

"Yes, 'but'! If you're too stubborn to try to mend the mistakes you made, then I have to try and do it for you!"

"Mistakes I made?!" Anna snorted. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"No, you did. Otoo-san has been trying to mend your relationship. He has been trying to apologize for what he did," Nozomi said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "While you have been shrugging him off and slapping him all the time. Don't tell me about what mistakes you 'didn't' make."

"Are you getting smart with me, young lady?" Anna said in a stern tone.

"No. I'm just telling the truth."

"...How old are you really, Nozomi-chan?"

"Not quite two months. In unborn time, that is."

"And how do you keep yourself from getting bored?"

"Adrian keeps me company, though he can be quite a pain in the...side sometimes."

Anna blanched, and she felt her balance start to fade.

"Wha...you...What do you mean?"

Nozomi giggled.

"Omedeto gozaimasu, okaa-san! You're carrying twins!"

At that moment, Anna didn't know whether she should be fearful or exhilarated.

"I'm...gonna have...twins...? A girl and a...boy...?"

"Yep."

Her balance finally gave way and she almost fell, if it weren't for a mysterious force that kept her on her feet.

"What the...did you do that, Nozomi?"

"Uh-huh."

"But I can't do something like that! If you can...then you must be better than I am!"

"Not true. I'm only able to do that and read your thoughts this well because I'm inside of you, and you're dreaming. I can't talk to you during the daytime, or hope to do anything like that for years. Both Adrian and I will be able to talk to you during the day in a few months."

"Ah. I see."

"Can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure."

"If you hate him so much, why did you let otoo-san embrace you like that?"

Anna turned a deep shade of crimson and she shot a mean glare at her daughter.

"I...I told him the same thing that I'm telling you. I wasn't thinking clearly because of the pain."

"Didn't you take pleasure in it?"

"I did not!"

Nozomi smiled.

"You can't lie to us, okaa-san. We know exactly what you're saying, thinking, doing, and feeling. You were about to think that you love him, even though you know that you really do in the first place. The night we were conceived, you wanted to tell him that, but you thought that it might hurt your relationship, so you kept your mouth shut."

Anna didn't have a comeback for that. So, she simply turned to the side in an attempt to avoid the obvious answer.

There was a pause between the two. The short silence was many times worse than in real life, even though it only lasted about five seconds.

"You know," Nozomi said. "The only thing that I hate about growing up is that I'm gonna forget all about this, and you're gonna have to teach it to me again."

"Is that so...?"

"Okaa-san?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Anna began to stiffen, but then something that had been dammed up inside broke. She bent down and brought the young girl up in her arms. Nozomi felt real, even though the real baby was more than ten times smaller than this girl was. A tear ran down Anna's cheek, and her voice slightly cracked.

"I love you too, Nozo-chan..." she said as she kissed her on the cheek.

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Everything was white as far as the eye could see. There were no sounds whatsoever. Ryan didn't need to be told that this was a dream. Then, the sound of feet hitting the floor made him look around, but he saw nothing. Then a voice appeared from behind him, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

"Hey, Dad."

Ryan spun around to face the voice. There, standing before him, was a young boy, about five or six wearing a black t-shirt with blue shorts, but no shoes. His hair was jet-black, with a streak or two of dark brown on both sides of his face. He was Asian, but not fully. Ryan took a shot in the dark that there was some sort of Caucasian blood in him. Western European perhaps?

Ryan suddenly froze as he realized that this boy looked somewhat like him. He had the same frame size that Ryan had at his age, along with his eyes, ears, hands, and even hair. His feet, nose, and other small parts of his facial structure however, looked very much like Anna. Even though the boy had called Ryan 'Dad,' he didn't quite believe him. Now however, the resemblances were too on the mark. The boy was his son.

"A-Adrian?!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Yep."

"B-b...but how?! You're...still inside of Anna!" Ryan said. "That means you can't be real! You're just a figment of my imagination. This is a dream after all."

"True, this is a dream, but I am indeed real."

"How can you prove that?"

"I can't really do that, since everything I know, it's a good bet that you know as well."

"So you really aren't real. Good bye."

'Wait!' Ryan heard a voice in his head say.

"Huh? Was that you?"

"Well, duh!" Apparently, Adrian had inherited Ryan's attitude and slight North Chicago Suburban accent as well. Ryan could only begin to guess how he had gotten such a vocabulary at his age.

"How?"

"Oh mein Gottimhimmel, would you stop asking obvious questions and just listen to the voice in the back of your skull? I'm a Seraph too, dad."

Ryan gave a 'huh!' of surprise.

"How the--? You're not even born yet!"

"The only way that I'm communicating with you now is that mom is nearby, and you're in a dream."

"I see...Wait! She's nearby?"

"Yeah, but don't bother looking for her. You'll probably find her back at 'home' or something."

"Well...what did you want to tell me?"

"Okay, sis and I--"

"SAY WHAT?!" Ryan shouted. "Did you say, 'sis?'"

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you. You're officially the father of twins."

"Holy shi--" Though Ryan knew that if this boy were to take after him, he would probably inherit his wide vocabulary of obscene words in several languages, but he didn't want to him to start filling that vocabulary at such a young age. "--ttake mushrooms! You've got a sister? I've...got a daughter?!"

"Yeah. Her name's probably gonna be Nozomi. That is, if mom really wanted to name her that. Anyway, we've come up with a plan to get you two back together. You just have to wait a few months while we grow, 'cause then we can talk to her even when she's awake. That way, she'll have to listen to us 24/7."

"Great plan. She'd hate someone talking to her constantly."

"On another matter," Adrian said, smiling, "you seem to have gotten intimate with mom yesterday. Well, kinda."

Ryan reddened, but still looked downcast.

"Right, but she just...pushed me off! Damn it! I want to get back together with her! I want this fighting to stop! It's...pissing me off to no end!"

"Trust me, she enjoyed it. Actually, she still feels for you."

Ryan smirked painfully.

"She sure has a mighty fine way of showing it."

"It's just that she can't bring herself to realize that she did wrong. Like you said: she's as stubborn as an ox."

"How did you know I said that?"

"I was there when you said it to her about a week ago."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, anyway, otoo--I mean, Dad--"

"It's okay. You can call me otoo-san. I don't really mind. You could call me 'father' in fifteen different languages for all I care," Ryan told the boy affectionately.

"All right then, Dad. See ya later."

The little boy turned to walk away, but suddenly swung back as if he'd forgotten something.

"Oh, Dad--"

"Yes?"

"I love ya."

"What? You love...me?"

"Of course! You're my dad! I couldn't not love you."

"Ahhh, come here you little squirt," Ryan said as his son jumped in his arms. Ryan gave him a bear hug and his son tried to return it as best he could. After a few moments he finally relaxed his grip on him and let him go.

"See ya in...seven months?"

"We hope so."

"Oh, and tell your sister that I said 'hi.'"

"Don't worry. I think that she already knows. Abayo, otoo-san."

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"...is Skokie. This Yellow Line train ends here. All passengers must leave the train. Thank you for riding the CTA."

Ryan awoke with a start. The loudspeakers were very loud in the first car of the train, so he really didn't have much trouble getting out of sleep. He had gone into Chicago to look for Anna, who had left a note saying that she would be going down to the Loop--downtown Chicago. She had said that she would be back two hours ago. So, Ryan had been worried, and took off on the Skokie Swift and took it to the Howard station. The Howard station was the closest way get to the Loop from where they lived, so he thought it a good place to start. He also knew that she favored the Red Line train, which was the main rail line at Howard, so he took that.

When he didn't find her, however, he went back toward Skokie, deciding to give up on the little road trip, reassuring himself that she was old enough to find her own way home. Besides, she could use her Seraph powers to protect herself, and she would call if she got lost. But he doubted that any of that would happen.

When he stepped off the train he saw that the bus leading back to his house, the 97, was at the end of the turnaround, leaving. He cursed and ran, his adrenaline started to coursing though his veins as he took off.

"Hold it! Wait!" He shouted.

He ran at top speed, using his electric Seraph powers to give him a boost. He reached the bus in seconds flat, leapt up the stair, paid his fare using his fare card, then turned around to find a seat. When he found one, he got a good look at who the other lone passenger was. He gasped.

'Anna!' He thought.

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"...is Skokie. This Yellow Line train ends here. All passengers must leave the train. Thank you for riding the CTA."

Anna was awakened by the voice over the train loudspeakers. She had ridden to downtown Chicago, the Loop, for no apparent reason. She walked around Michigan Avenue for awhile, visited the Chicago Art Institute, took a bus to the Shed Aquarium, then turned around and took the Red Line train back to its last stop, Howard, and then took the Yellow Line--Skokie Swift as it was more commonly known as--back to Skokie.

She groaned and stretched, then gave a deep yawn and got up out of her seat to leave the train. If she was lucky, she could catch the 97 bus to Oakton, and then get off at the corner of Oakton and Kenton. The house wasn't very far from there.

'That's one block from where he took that picture...' She thought. 'On the night of the Natsu Matsuri...'

She shook her head to dismiss her thoughts and went for the doors. As she got off the train, she could see the 97 bus starting to drive away from the turnaround known as the Skokie Swift Station. She ran as if for dear life, not wanting to wait thirty minutes to catch another bus.

She heard someone in front of her screaming out: "Hold it! Wait!"

Anna's step faltered and she almost fell, when she recognized the voice. Ryan. She was surprised that the blue bandanna didn't give it away when she first saw him. She thought of shouting at him for being so stupid to try and look for her, and even more stupid to go walking around Chicago of all places, wearing a bandanna. Either he wasn't thinking clearly, or he had no fear of gangs like the Vicelords and Latin Kings. In his own words he was "looking to get his ass capped."

He got on the bus just seconds after she did, not noticing her. Anna was breathing hard, and she felt a little perspiration slide down the side of her face. Usually, she wouldn't be tired, but she had been walking around for a while, and was also carrying two children.

'I really wish that they would bring back that 'Suite Home Chicago' attraction again...I don't care if the couches are fiberglass sitting on the busiest street in Chicago. They were a place to rest my legs...'

Ryan slipped his fare card in the payment box, then found a seat. He immediately stood up again once he saw Anna. She was sitting in a seat far away from Ryan, but he simply rose from his own seat and sat down next to her.

"Where were you?!" He whispered into her ear. "You told us you were going down to the Loop for awhile, but you were gone for five hours! And why didn't you take your car?"

Anna didn't respond. Instead, she continued to stare out the window, oblivious to him. Ryan didn't take too kindly to this, and tapped her shoulder. This was a mistake, because she grabbed his fingers and twisted them, causing him to cry out in pain. She released her grip when he said, "Mercy! Mercy! Ouch!"

"What was that for?!" He nearly whimpered.

"Touching me."

"Anna-chan--"

"I told you, do NOT call me that."

"Okay, Anna...I--"

Ryan stopped as he saw more people come on the bus, and so he switched to Japanese so they could have a little more privacy.

"...Look...I'm sorry, okay? I made a really, really big mistake. I'm really sorry."

"That doesn't cut it, Ryan." Anna responded in the same language.

"What? What else do you want me to do? Kowtow to you for a year? Just tell me! I'll do it!"

There was a pause then Anna spoke slowly, gritting her teeth.

"Okay, then how about this: go rot in hell. Then, maybe I can forgive you. Not gonna happen, right? Then get out of my sight."

"Anna, I..."

"Shut up. Just shut the hell up."

There was a thick, heavy silence for the rest of the ride, until Ryan decided to be bold and touched her hand with his. Anna slapped it away, then got up and prepared to leave the bus for her stop. When she got off, Ryan could be heard shouting after her, running through traffic. Various honks and screeches could be heard as cars stopped just short for him. Ryan ran with increased speed, dipping into his Seraph powers.

"Anna! Wait! Please!"

Anna stopped and turned around. Ryan was running up behind her, his breathing slightly labored.

"Achi ni ikeyo! Don't even try to sweeten your talk!"

"No! I'm not going to let you go!"

"Well, I am not going to let you back in my life, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"There's still something I can do about it!"

Ryan grabbed Anna's arm with a strength that Anna had never felt from him before. His grip was so strong, that she couldn't hope to try and break away. And as she soon found out, protesting had no effect on his either. They had reached the front door of their house, and Anna felt his grip weaken a bit. This gave her enough space to break free and run in the house.

"Anna! Come back!"

But Anna was still moving through the house as fast as she could. She thought he would pursue her inside, but she heard Leon stop him at the door and bark some sort of warning at him.

Anna kept her advance up the stairs, heading toward her room.

'Bastard...' Anna thought.

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"Damn you, Leon!" Ryan shouted. "Let me in!"

"Not until you calm down!"

"Calm down?" Ryan repeated hysterically. "Calm down?! You want me to calm down?!"

"Yes!"

"To hell with that!"

Ryan then came charging up the steps and tried to break though Leon, but Leon blocked the doorway, and sent his elbow into Ryan's side, sending Ryan falling back to the porch. Leon could hear Claire running up behind him.

"What's going on?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Don't worry. I've got things under control."

Ryan then got up and glared at Leon, his eyes turning purple. Just when Leon thought he would try to charge again, Ryan turned around and jumped off the steps, landing on the sidewalk. He gave them one last look, and then ran down the street. As he ran, Leon could swear that he saw remorse and tears in his eyes.

"He'll be back," Leon said to Claire. "He just needs some time to be by himself."

A little longer this time, neh? Well, I had a lot of ideas, and I wanted to cram them all into one chapter.

On a side note, I would like to thank my friends for letting me use their names for Ryan's friends. I'm sure you guys wouldn't have minded, but I was bein' polite. Oh yeah, if you're reading this, doh jeh, Cindy. You should know what for. : )

Another side note, the area of Oakton and Kenton is NOT anywhere near where I live. I just happen to know the area well.

Ai shiteru (I-E-shi-teh-rue)/(By the context, take a guess :)) I love you.

Achi ni ikeyo! (Ah-chi-nee-ee-keh-yoh)/Get lost!/Go away!

Isogi!(EE-so-gee)/Hurry!

Shikata ga nai (shi-ka-ta-ga-naie)/Literally, "It can't be helped." The most common English equivalent of this would probably be, "Shit happens."

Nozomi (NO-zoh-mee)/Hope, wish, desire, aspiration, ambition, etc.

Hentai (Hen-taie)/(Anime fans should know this one...) Pervert

Mien Gottimhimmel (Mean-got-eem-hee-mel)/My God in Heaven (Dutch) [The pronunciation may be wrong on this one. But then again, my foreign language in school isn't Dutch.]

Kowtow (COW-taow)/The deepest bow possible, it is where you get down on your knees and put your head to the ground and your hands are placed in front of you. Normally reserved for lords and people of high authority. (This was originally used by the Chinese, though, of course, it was adopted by the Japanese, and supposedly, most of the Asian world.)

CTA/Chicago Transit Authority

Draft: 6/25/01 (3:49PM)

Final: 11/19/01 (9:17AM)

Ja ne!