Hey, I'm back again, and sooner than I expected too. Thanks to those who reviewed (I love you guys!!), it's always nice to know that others care. Please, go on and read now, I know you've been waiting for this!!

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Lili sat silently in the topmost branches of a giant oak, it's leaves the rich shades of amber and rust that it usually took on with the approach of winter. She didn't have to worry about patrols spotting her or anything anymore since some 'deadly phenomenon' had entered the forest and decimated entire forces in their sleep. She had become quite a legend in these parts, and it was a role she intended to keep.

She sighed as the wind rustled through the trees, reminding her of the one who had loved her most in life. Her son. Zephyr. Lili wiped a stray tear from her eyes, reminding herself that she had to keep it together, to be strong.

Allen's death had been a complete shock to her world. Not only losing someone, but actually being the cause of their death as well. One could argue that she should treat him as just another hybrid, but he wasn't. He was Allen. Her friend, her savior, the only person she had ever been able to truly trust first in this mixed up world. Still, she had dealt with it. Accepted it. Felt it was what she had needed to do. Nothing would change her resolve, she had been in the right in doing this....hadn't she?

And regardless, he had forgiven her. He had said so in his last words, and she had said what he wanted to hear just to make him happy. Friends did that for each other, try to make each other feel happy. But if she had made him happy, why did she feel so sad? So lonely? So empty in side?

A bright flash of light distracted Lili from her thoughts, causing her to swing around quickly with a fireball ready just incase. Before her sat a small, red bird; one that was familiar enough with an indignant look on his face.

"Put that away," he demanded huffily. "There is little time to waste, Protector."

"Protector?" scoffed Lili, leaning back against the tree lazily. "You've got the wrong gal. Go back to whatever it is you use for a nest and try again later."

"That is enough out of you, Lilianne," snapped the Phoenix, reverting to her real name. "Listen to me. You must return to your friends, they are not enough to defeat The Creator alone."

"Why is that?" drawled Lili, starting to get annoyed. "Are you saying my cousin and his friends can't fight?"

"What I'm saying, Lilianne, is that together you create a puzzle. Each member of your group is a single piece, and each has fit into their roles well. But a piece is missing, the key piece to complete the picture. You, Lilianne, are that piece."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Lili suspiciously, sitting up straight and staring him in the eye. The Phoenix stared right back, completely sure of himself. "What if the piece was supposed to be Zephyr? He's dead now, so all's lost and that means you can go away and leave me to live my meager existents.

"Lilianne!!" thundered the Phoenix, his voice going several tones deeper than it had been before. "You are not in any position be arguing with me. Do you know who I am? I am the Guardian of the Mortals! The one who knows all past, present, and future combined. I know this is your destiny, Protector, and you will full fill it!"

Lili sat there in shock, looking at the Phoenix, who had grown in size as well, for awhile before coming to senses some. "Um....ok...."

"Lilianne," said the Phoenix more gently this time, shrinking back down and standing before her, a sad look in his eyes. "I know this has been a hard time for you. You lost your son and your best friend, but that doesn't mean you can just quit. They need you. This world needs you. I need you. Will you go?"

Lili sat there for a moment, the wind blowing through her hair as she listened to it, seeking some words of direction in its low moan... "I will."

"Go directly that way without turning at all," said the Phoenix, pointing towards the mountain in the direction. "Don't stop until you've found them, and you will meet them if you go this way, I promise."

"Thank you," said Lili, smiling halfheartedly as she stood up and brushed herself off. "I will try to do what I can, Phoenix. Especially if it means saving my friends."

"I thought you would see things my way," said the Phoenix with a bow. "Until next time, Protector."

"Until next time."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Claws and Frost wearily plunged on through the thick forest, hoping they were going the right way for the millionth time as they threw themselves on the ground by a pond and drank from it thirstily, ignoring how undignified they looked as they sucked it's cooling liquid down their parched throats as fast as they could. Several monsters following them closely from behind and sucking down the water as well.

"How much ....longer..." panted Claws, wiping her forehead with her paw. "Do you think ....it will be....?"

"How should I know?" replied Frost with a shrug, sprawling out the grass after he had had his fill. "We've been traveling for weeks. Stupid Phoenix, told us to take back and army with and head directly north. We still haven't run into them yet." He glanced around the group, making sure everyone was there as they began to set up camp, assuming their superiors were too tired to carry on.

"Our supplies are gone," said Claws, looking in her knapsack. "We ate the last of it last night."

"But they gave us enough for two months!" argued Frost. "How in the world did we eat all of it that quickly."

"We gave half out food to the orphans, remember?" replied Claws as she stomach grumbled loudly. "Screw this, I'm fishing and we're cooking over a fire, smoke or not."

"Sounds good to me," sighed Frost, heaving himself up and gathering some dry brush together. "What kind are in there?"

Claws leaned over the water, her claws outstretched but motionless as she waited for something to dive by. It slashed out suddenly, faster than Frost's eyes could follow as a fish landed at his feet. "Bluegill," yelled Claws, sending another his way. "And bass."

"Those will be good to eat," said Frost, building the fire quickly and gutting the fish as they were tossed at him. Skewing them on a stick, he set about roasting them one side at a time over the flames.

"That's enough," said Claws, coming back sometime later. "I'll get some more if we need it." She took a fish that was almost done and devoured it whole, spitting out the bones as she came across them.

"Cool," said a Draco Kato with a grin, giving her a thumbs up.

"How can you do that?" asked Frost in amazement as he picked at his with a knife. "I try that and I choke on the bones."

Claws smiled with her fangs bared. "I have nimble teeth."

"All mew types do," said a Bowwow from near by, doing the exact same thing as Claws had done.

"Right...."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Genki and Holly stood together at the top of the tree with Pixie, looking at the scene below them. There was a definite plume of smoke coming from by the pond they had hoped to camp by that night.

"What should we do?" asked Pixie, gnawing on her lip. "They could be a squad just waiting for us to show up and then attack.

"It's not like we couldn't take care of them," said Genki with a shrug. "But I'd rather they not find out about our new powers until later, if you know what I mean."

"I agree," said Holly. "But something still tells me to at least go and check it out. What do you think, Pixie?"

"I feel it too," she admitted slowly. "We'll send two people as scouts and have everyone else wait somewhere nearby for who it is."

"Who should go?" asked Genki as he super jumped out of the tree, the other two following close behind. "The smallest for sure, that would mean Slip and someone else."

"We want to go," said Ice and Temi from below, having been listening the whole time.

"Not this time, pups," said Holly, scratching them behind the ears. "Maybe next time, but this could be too dangerous.

"I'll go," said Allen, getting his dark cape (which had somehow reappeared after he came back alive) and following Slip into the brush. "We'll go straight towards them, and you guys circle around to the left in case we need you."

"Alright," said Genki, getting everyone together around him. "Whistle if you need us."

"I will."

"Let's go!"

Allen crept through the underbrush as he and Slip neared the camp, splitting up and taking each side through hand motions sent to the other. Allen stuck his head through some leaves, keeping himself hidden as he pushed some branches away so he could see.

A small fire surrounded by fish cooking on sticks and fish bones burned in the middle, several monsters sleeping silently around it but no one on guard duty at all. Allen glanced about and stepped out in the open, feeling by the prickling on the back of his scalp that something was wrong.

"Gotcha!!!" Allen knocked his captor in the gut and then stomped his foot, or what he thought was his foot, and got his hands under the bicep that was cutting off his air supply. Quickly pulling it away, he heard Slip whistle loudly as he was attacked by a smaller figure, one with long, familiar claws....

Allen spun around, backing away from the glowering jell. "Frost?" The monster jerked his head up, surprise in his eyes at the sound of his name.

"How do you- Allen?"

Allen grinned and rushed over, grabbing Slip and holding him out of reach. "Easy, Claws, we're friends."

Monsters in the camp, roused by the noise, got up quickly with their weapons and joined Frost and Claws' side at their backs, making sure no one else would attack them. Two worms exactly alike stood on either side, acting as guards.

The catdoll jerked back at her name and rushed over to Frost, sitting on his shoulders and hissing menacingly. "It's alright," said Frost comfortingly. "Don't you recognize them? It's Allen and Slip. Stand down, everyone, they're friends and other will probably follow."

"Allen? Slip?" said Claws as if the names meant nothing to her. "Who are you- oh!!! Where's Pixie and the others?!"

"Right here," said Pixie as they crashed through the underbrush, all out of breath from running the whole way here. "We heard the whistle and thought you guys were in trouble. I guess we were wrong."

"We were in trouble for a moment there," admitted Allen. "But we got things straightened out now. Welcome back, guys! Who are you friends?"

"Thanks," said Claws, winking before she threw herself at Pixie, who hugged her back in return. "Master Pixie, we're back!!"

"I can see that," laughed Pixie, giving the monster a final squeeze. "You guys made it ok, then?"

"We're alive, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I guess that is the best we could expect..."

"Good to have you back," said Big Blue, grasping hands with Frost. "But really, I think I've seen some of these monsters before..."

"Worms!" cried Allen, getting on his knees and greeting the two monsters affectionately. The worms screeched in reply and clicked their mandibles happily, nearly knocking him over for attention. "It's an army from the Valley, you guys!"

"Remember me?" asked a hefty Pong Pong, a large cudgel slung over her back. "I cooked you dinner for you that night you came ."

"That's right," said Genki, stepping forward with his hand out. "I assume you're in charge here, Miss....?"

The Pong Pong shook it firmly, a battling glint in her eyes. "Call me Pong. In a way I am, but we all serve under Lady Lili, Guardian of the Valley. Where is she? I do not see her, nor Master Zephyr who is always at her side."

 At the mention of those two names, everyone fell silent, no one wanting to be the first to speak. Finally, Holly stepped forward, tears in her eyes.

"Come," she said, "And sit by the fire, there is much to tell..."

 *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Lili flew through the forests, heading straight in the direction the Phoenix had given her without stopping. Seeing a stream below, she swooped down for a second and filled her water skin once more, getting ready to take off when she caught her reflection in the water.

Her hair was messy and greasy, her skin coated in dirt from weeks of living out in the wild alone. Her clothes were as dirty as her skin, and what clothes she stolen after she got rid of the blood stained ones were dirty and smelly as well.

"I know the Phoenix said not to stop," she murmured to herself. "But a quick was won't hurt anything." Twenty minutes later and sopping wet as well, she dried herself and her clothes on the bank, keeping only her cape to cover herself as the rest of it dried in the sun.

For the first time in a long time, Lili felt her body was truly clean of the blood that had covered it and reveled in the feeling of it. Some how or another, she had been set free.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Claws buried her head in Pixie's shoulder, crying softly as Frost remained motionless by the fire. "I can't believe he's gone," he whispered, his lips quivering slightly. "All that has happened, just in the time we were gone?"

"We haven't even told you about the mountain yet," piped up Slip.

"Does it explain why some of your are dressed differently?"

"Yep."

"My goodness..."

Pong wiped her eyes on her sleeve, comforting some of the younger monsters in her troop and helping those who had known the pair with their grief. Genki was impressed with her control over the situation, but understood that now was not the time to mention such a thing.

"I know it's a lot to take in," said Genki, patting Slip on the back as he did. "But things have changed some. We haven't seen Lili since she left us, and we don't know when she'll return either."

"She will return," said Allen resolutely. "I know she will. The Phoenix said so..."

"But he never said when or where, and time is not on our side right now," Holly reminded him gently. "I'm not saying she's not coming back, but you must understand that our chances aren't too good right now..."

"Good or not, we're still going to try," said Genki with a firm nod. "We'll tell you everything else some other time. Will you be alright, Claws?"

"I think so," the catdoll sniffed softly, curling up in Pixie's lap. "I just never thought....he seemed almost invincible at times...."

"I know," said Holly, stroking her head gently. "Just relax, ok? We'll talk more in the morning."

"Then she was alive when you last saw her?" asked Pong, doing it for the others in her group.

"Yes," replied Pixie, nodding her head slowly. "You can go look for her if you want, I don't think the others would mind and we really don't have any real power over you."

"Are you the one who is the cousin of the Guardian?" asked Pong, pointing at Genki solemnly. Genki nodded, keeping a serious look on his face as he did. "Then we stay and will follow you, Master Genki, until she finds us."

"Alright."

Tiger and Stormy slept side by side with the pups between them, talking quietly as everyone else fell asleep. "What do you think?" asked Stormy. "We could always just have someone take the pups south..."

"I don't think there will be that much danger with what we're going to do," said Tiger, licking her on the side of the face. "Relax, honey. We have more allies back, now, and Lili will be coming eventually."

"But still, sometimes I just can't help but wonder...."

"Shh," said Tiger, closing his eyes. "See me? This is what you should be doing, sleeping. Good night, dear."

"....Goodnight..."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Big Blue and Golem strode along the back of the column as always, talking as Genki and Holly led them from up front closer and closer to the enemy's fort. Everyone from the new group was strung out along the middle, stretching their line longer than it had been for quite sometime. "What will you do if you cannot find them?" asked Big Blue, giving his friend a concerned look.

"I don't know," admitted Golem softly. "I just always assumed that we would be able to find a way to free them....but now...somehow I don't think I will be able to..."

"It will be alright, friend," said Blue reassuringly. "The others will understand, and if you cannot save your friends, then they are already at peace elsewhere or will be so by the time we are done."

"Do you think so?"

"I am sure."

"Thank you."

"You're quite welcome."

Pixie and Claws walked along in the middle, talking quietly together as Claws still dealt with hearing about Zephyr's death. "His sister really did kill him?" asked Claws again, tears forming in her eyes. "How in the world could anyone ever be so cruel...."

"Sometimes," said Allen slowly, coming up beside them. "Things happen, and you can't change that. Zelda would probably be much like Zephyr was if not under the control of the dark master, but there is nothing we can do to change that. She did what she thought was right, and for it was enough."

"Sometimes, even doing that can hurt the person, though," said Pixie, giving him a short glance.

"What are you talking about?" asked Claws, seeing a pained look come across Allen's face.

"Nothing," said Allen quickly, smiling as he did. "Hey, you just relax and get your strength back and then we'll talk more, alright?"

"Alright."

Genki stopped by a spring, taking quick sip to check if it was alright before waving the others over and starting to set up camp for the night. "What do we have to eat?" he asked Holly, quickly building a fire for her.

"What's left of the fish that Claws and Frost had last night, and some vegetables we found earlier today," she said, taking out a pot and filling it with water. "Given the time, and maybe some herbs I can find around here, it should make a decent soup."

"Your soups are always better than decent," he said, giving her a quick hug before going around the group and making sure everyone was ok from the day's journey. Hare sat off to the side by himself, doing some calculations as Genki approached him.

"What are you doing?" asked Genki, sitting beside him on the ground.

"Hm? Oh, I'm just figuring out how long we've been out here," replied Hare with a grin.

"Why?"

"Grace and I have an anniversary coming up," said Hare proudly. "It'll be our fifth year together. I just want to know when it is, even if I can't celebrate it with her."

"Wow," said Genki, sounding surprised. "Um, congratulations....when ever it is...."

"Thank you," said Hare, nodding politely. "Now, I have to go back and figure out some more dates.....I'll tell you when later, ok?"

"Ok..." Genki went over to Pong's fire, around it all of the monsters she had brought with her. It was about fifty in all, ranging from small Bowwows trained to use small spears and slings to dragons that towered over head. He stayed with them awhile, checking to make sure everything was ok with them and that no one had been left behind.

Genki got up again and walked over to the Tiger family, sitting with them as Tiger and Tigress watched over their pups and Slip as they played. "Hey, how's it hanging?" he asked, patting the younger ones on the head.

"We're good," said Tiger, smiling slightly. "How much farther, do you think?"

"I'd say a week or two," replied Genki with a shrug. "We're not even completely off the mountain yet, you know."

"I know," replied Tiger.

"A week at the least to come up with a battle plan," said Stormy, surveying the group from where she sat with her family at the edge of the clearing. "So, how are we planning to beat this guy, oh fearless leader?"

"Well," started Genki slowly, unsure of what to say. "Um....this guy....what's his name again?"

"Raymond, was 5'8", was 145 lbs, and I hate his guts," said a voice from behind them, everyone turning to see a shadowy figure approach them.

"Lili?" asked Genki excitedly, thinking he recognized the voice.

"In the flesh, cuz," she replied, giving him a lopsided grin as she stepped into the light.

"You're back!!!" Lili was swamped with monsters coming to greet her as Genki practically crushed her with a bear hug, quickly letting go so others might have a chance to get through. Old friends from the valley pounded her on the back, quickly telling her about how they got there. The pups came and washed her face with their tongues, overjoyed to see her again. Slip came with Pixie and showed her their new clothes, trying to impress her until she burst out laughing from it. Hare came forward and she shook hands with him, and she even took the time to go back to where Golem and Big Blue where standing and greet both of them personally like she always did.

"Hey," said Holly, being one of the last to get to her and giving her a big hug. "We're glad to have you back, Lili."

"I'm glad to be back," said Lili, smiling at her honestly. "Where'd you get the new stuff?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," said Holly, drawing her off to the side. Everyone else took the hint and backed off, everyone but Genki, Allen, Pixie, and Slip going after them into the brush.

"What's wrong?" asked Lili, seeing Holly frown in the light of the setting sun, it's orange tinge practically setting her scarlet figure aflame.

"There's someone you need to meet," said Holly, gesturing to where the other four stood. Lili let her eyes roamed the group, her mind picking up nothing unusual or different until it clicked.

That was Allen.

He was alive.

And he was no longer a hybrid.

Allen stepped forward so he stood alone in a patch of light, looking at her warmly as she stood there in shock. He could tell when she had realized it, just by the widening of the eyes before she had stepped back some into the shadows as if to escape from some vision of evil.

"Hi, Lilianne," he said softly, holding his hand out to her. "How've you been?"

"Who are you?" whispered Lili in a half growl, knowing for a fact she had killed him herself. "You're not Allen, you can't be, you had a sword straight through you middle. I did it myself, you son of a ....there's no way...."

"It's me," said Allen, holding out his hands as if to prove it was true. "See? Look here at my side, it is your blade, Lili. The one you used to kill me with."

Lili made a high noise in her throat and shrunk farther back, leaning on a tree she had run into for support. Her eyes were huge with disbelief, tears forming in the corners as she began to shake her head back and forth, mouthing the word no as the memories began to flash back at her.

Allen standing there that night, the scythe in hand as he charged at her....

Fighting him....knowing one of them was going to die...

She couldn't let him win...

Had to do it...

There was no choice....

The Greater good....the lesser evil....

And then, he was dead.

"Shh," said Allen, putting his arms around her as she began to shake from the sobs that wracked her body. Holding her close as everyone stood on watching them, wishing they could do something more.

"No," she whispered as she settled down, pushing away from him. "You're dead, you're dead to me..."

"What was once dead, is now alive," quoted Allen from a book he had once read. "Please, Lilianne, listen to me. The Phoenix healed me and turned me to a human once more. He said my time wasn't up and I was needed for other things. So I'm back, to live out what years I have and such."

Lili looked up and touched his face hesitantly, running her fingers along it until she realized it was true. He was alive! He had come back to them! "Allen, I..."

"It's ok," he said, helping her to her feet and giving her a gentle hug. "It's over now, and nothing can change that ever again."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, glad to at least have him back in her life.

"I told you I forgave you in the clearing," he said, drawing back and removing the weapon from his belt. "This is yours, Lili. You need to take it back."

Lili reluctantly did so, slowly connecting it to hers before drying her eyes and looking at the other, having a seat on the ground. Everyone else moved closer and sat down as well, knowing it was time to talk.

"So," she said quickly, returning somewhat to her old self. "What have I missed that was so big that you got new clothes?"

"We went up on a mountain and saved these people from an Ice Queen," piped up Slip. "So they brought out this crystal and from it we got five stones. Miss Holly had hers before, but it changed somewhat and when we all got on we just changed-*poof*! Just like that."

"Say what?" asked Lili, looking very confused.

"The mountain was guarded by some queen from the Creator," said Pixie, trying to sort things out.

"And we beat her and her evil minions!" cried Slip, brandishing his short sword bravely.

"In return," said Pixie quickly, making Slip settle down with a look. "They gave us this huge crystal they called the Phoenix Stone."

"I've heard of that," said Lili, quickly searching her memory. "I think it was from the Phoenix. But go on."

"So, I put my stone with the other three that were already there, and a fifth one appeared at the top," started Holly, showing Lili her stone on the band around her head. "This was the result of when I put mine back on around my neck."

"So now you have new powers?" asked Lili hopefully. Holly nodded and opened her hand, a flame appearing in it.

"It is more for healing than hurting," said Holly, unsure of how she knew all this. "But it does quiet nicely for me."

"I was next!" said Slip proudly. "See this blue stone here?" He pointed to the one set in the middle of his chest armor. "It called to me, so I picked it up and put it on, and this was what happened!"

"Then you have powers as well?" asked Lili in surprise.

"Of course!" he said, creating a glowing ball of ice in his hands. "Like Holly, I can heal but I have more fighting skills than she does as well."

"Cool."

"Then they had me try the green one," stepped in Genki. It wasn't far off from what he had been wearing originally, and Lili hadn't even noticed the difference at first at all. "I did, though I wasn't entirely sure I was doing the right thing at the time, but this is the result."

"Powers?" asked Lili, falling into a routine.

"Fighting only, and shields," he replied with a shrug. "Much more power than Holly's attacks, but I can't heal others either. My stone is in the hilt of my sword." He handed it to Lili, who inspected it carefully with a whistle.

"Nice," she admitted. "I'd hate to be up against you when you're wielding this thing."

"Thanks."

"They told me to take the last one, it was pink," said Pixie, touching the armband with her left hand as she traced it slowly. "I wasn't sure at all, but I guess I could kind of tell. This is what it did to me."

"Powers like Genki's right?" asked Lili, raising an eyebrow. "But no weapon, like Holly. Interesting. What happened to the fifth one?"

"It's right hear," said Allen, drawing it out of his pocket. "Waiting for you as it has since the beginning of time." The clear crystal shown in the moonlight, it's pink, blue, green, and red lines clearly visible from where she was. "It's yours Lilianne. Take it and see what happens."

"Thank you," said Lili, taking it and putting it over her head without really realizing what she was doing. It was like she was distanced from her body, her soul and flesh no longer as one. She began to glow as the others had done, but instead of being engulfed in flames she was swallowed by a beam of light from above, changing in size and shape as she transformed herself into her new and deadliest creation of all. The Protector.

Her hair lengthened itself and sprung loose from its ties, streamed down her back around the huge shoulders and muscles that were protruding more than normal. Her legs got longer and thicker, quickly resembling tree trunks as her feet ripped loose from her boots, from her hips to her toes covered in scales with new leather pants at their cover. Her middle was covered in fur, keeping her decent as all she wore were the pants and a gigantic belt about half a foot wide. Her wings had taken a thicker, stronger look to them, growing in size as well to accommodate for her change in weight. Her arms, thick as a limb and just as strong, were covered in a light tan skin similar to Pixie's, gauntlets on her wrists and long claws extending from her hands. Her head had two horns coming from it, a cross between a Pixie's and a Tiger's but being thicker than both and extremely sharp. Her tail whipped out from behind her, a scaled creation with a tuft of fur on the end hiding a spike or two that resided there. Her transformation was complete.

"You know," she said, her voice sounding fairly normal. "I would've been quite content with just the clothes change, but if you insist..."

"Look," said Genki, motioning to her weapon. "It changed your blade as well."

"What?" Lili drew it from its sheath, now bearing a foot and a half wide blade that was at least five feet long. She could now set it on the ground point down and lean on it comfortably she was so tall. At least 8 feet or so in all.

"Very nice," said Slip, running his finger down the middle of it before she put it away and checked out the rest of her.

"I guess this whole fur thing is something some Pixie's have," said Lili, motioning to her front.

"Some," admitted Pixie. "But not all."

"Impressive," said Genki, looking up at her thoughtfully. She now dwarfed him by almost 2 feet. Holly stood beside him, feeling even smaller than he was being 2 1/2 feet shorter at least than her.

"We should get back," said Allen, nodding his head dutifully. "I've done what I was told to do. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now, but I guess I'll hang with you guys until I figure it out."

"Under orders from the Phoenix?" teased Lili.

"He did kinda bring me back from the dead..."

"True...we should be getting back to the others."

"You want to catch up with them?" asked Holly with a knowing smile.

"It has been awhile," admitted Lili with a grin. "I wonder if I can....there!" She began to glow again, changing back into her normal self with wings out and fur and fangs showing as well. "That's better."

They walked back into the camp, everyone sitting around and chatting idly or playing a game of dice while eating dinner beside the camp fires. Pong saw them coming and rose to her feet, a few of her Captains around her. "Welcome back," she said sincerely, grasping hands with Lili tightly.

"Welcome back," replied Lili in true valley form. "Who sent you to me and my friends for help?"

"The Phoenix did," explained the Pong Pong with a bow. "He said we would be useful in the battles to come."

"No doubt, you will be," replied Lili, patting her on the back. "Go eat now, I'm sure you're tired and we can catch up on stuff later."

"As you wish, Lilianne."

"Lili!!" cried the pups, rushing in for another round of washing her face with their wet, pink tongues.

"You came back," said Tiger with an approving nod, standing near by to keep an eye on his pups.

"No," said Lili, shaking her head. "I came home. Where your heart is, there your home will be too. My heart is with you guys, and there is shall always be."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

The Creator stood with a displeased look on his face by a bed in one of the rooms from his fort. Tubes and wires streamed in and out of the figure laying there, just barely breathing with machines near by keeping constant track of her health and vital signs as she continued to heal.

"Fool," he hissed angrily, tail lashing about behind him. "Stupid fool. You killed one only to nearly get killed yourself. If not for that rock self, you would be dead now, along with your useless armies that were decimated by a single blow."

A pair of light brown, but hard as ice, eyes turned towards him. "Then why are you keeping me alive?" a rasped voice asked, the mouth barely moving.

"You are still useful to me," replied The Creator with a toothy grin. "I do not wish to engage them in battle quite yet, and since that meddler found a way to bring back their human friend from the grave, I want to throw a rather unpleasant surprise in their face."

"Me."

"Exactly."

The icy brown eyes turned away from his red ones, halfway closed as she started to drift of to sleep. "How kind of you, Master," said the voice sleepily with a touch of sarcasm, making it seem as if it she really didn't care.

"I know," replied the Creator lightly. "Drink this, little one. My plans for you have....changed.....but you are still of use to me."

"As you wish," she replied, sipping down the concoction he held before her. It burned down her throat like liquid fire and sent white bolts of pain through her head.

"Do you like it?" he asked mockingly. "Normally, it only heals the body of its wounds and such. But for you I added a few....adjustments to show you how unhappy I was with your work."

"Yes......Master....."

"Good," crooned the hybrid, making his way to the door. "Sleep tight, Zelda. Tomorrow is a new day. A new torture. And one more chance for you to show me whether you deserve to live or die."

Zelda refused to grant him an answer and closed her eyes tightly, vowing silently in her head that someday he would die.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

That's all, folks!! Another chapter of ZW for you reading pleasure. I'll apologize now because I started the chapter and it had only been a week since the last one had been posted. I finished on time, but I added this later due to the fact that our phone line wasn't working and I had no way up updating anytime since then until now. I thank you for your patience, and your reviews!!

~crosseyedbutterfly~

PS~ Someone remind me to post the results of the votes next time, of whether you want a prequel or sequel. That way I'll actually have it for once... ^_^;;