Sacrifice
A Sequel to Quietly into the Night
Conventional Couples
Rating: PG-13

Chapter Twenty-Three

Antar – Capitol City

Kyle and Naloch made their way through the streets of Capitol City, ducking into the milling crowds whenever they passed a group of Kivar's guardsmen. They turned a corner and walked slowly down the street leading to Naloch's shop when a bright light filled the air and the sounds of an explosion rocked the ground. Kyle was knocked to his feet, but he looked up and saw that Naloch's shop was completely destroyed.
"NO!" he yelled struggling to get up. He pulled himself up, and turned to Naloch who was buried under a pile of rubble. He quickly freed his friend, and the two ran down the street towards the remains of the shop.

Kyle reached what was left of the building and began to heave smoldering pieces of building material into the street. "Saranara! Saranara! My God, Saranara, where are you?" cried Kyle as he dug through the rubble. One by one, the neighbors came out of their homes and helped them sift through what was left of the building. Kyle shifted a beam and underneath it was Kam's body. "Naloch, over here!" he shouted.
"Oh Blessed Balatra is that?" asked Naloch.
"Yeah, now help me get him out of here!" The two men removed the beam that covered the child's body and Kyle reached down and gently lifted Kam into his arms.
"He's still breathing," said Kyle. "But it looks like his leg is broken."
"Here, let me take the lad for you," said an elderly woman who lived across from Naloch's shop. Kyle backed away, Kam still in his arms, he didn't know the woman and was not about to relinquish Kam to anyone. He looked over at Naloch who was nodding.

"Thank you Tragenta. He is very precious, you will guard him with your life," said Naloch.
"Blessed Balatra is that you Naloch?" whispered Tragenta.
"Aye Tragenta, it is good to see you."
"I have news for you Naloch. Malik was here, and he has three packages for you at the warehouse across town."
"Three packages," said Naloch. "That is very reassuring."
"He came to me and asked me to get word to Saranara or Jereon. I was just going over there when the explosion occurred."
"Was it Kivar?" asked Kyle.
"It was," answered Naloch. "You can tell from the explosion. He had his demolitions experts develop an explosive that would level a structure, but leave the everything around it still standing."

"We found someone else," one of the rescue workers shouted. Kyle placed Kam in Tragenta's arms and rushed back to the site of the explosion. Rescue workers pulled a conscious but badly wounded Saranara from the rubble.
"Kyle," she moaned. "Kam, where is he? He was in the shop with me."
"Shhh, don't worry sweetheart," Kyle said softly, brushing tangled strands of hair away from her face. "He's safe. We found him already. Your father left him with Tragenta
."
"My f-father," she said weakly.
"Yeah. The real one this time. Saranara, what about the others? Were they in the shop with you."
"In the tunnel," she gasped just before she lost consciousness.

"My daughter," said Naloch, kneeling down beside her and taking her hand in his. "Are we too late?"
"No," said Kyle. "She's still breathing, but we need to get her help, fast. We have to find Max. He can heal her. She said they were in the tunnel when the explosion occurred.
"We can't reach the tunnel from this entrance. "I'll have some men go in the other way and find them and bring them to the warehouse, where the others are hiding. Hopefully they'll get there in time to save my daughter."

Naloch quickly organized two teams, one to enter the tunnels from the other end, and one to help carry the wounded to the warehouse. Tragenta agreed to stay behind to watch the shop on the off chance that the others managed to find a way out of the tunnel. Saranara and Kyle were placed on liters and loaded into a transport vehicle and the small party headed across Capitol City.

Antar – Capitol City

The door slid open to reveal Malik. Isabelle lowered her arm, but Liz remained wary.
"Liz, it's ok, he's helping us," said Isabelle.
"Princess, Your Majesty," said Malik bowing. "We must hurry. Get the child, we have to get you out of here."
"Why?" asked Liz, her arm still upraised. "What's happened?"
"There's been an explosion at Naloch's shop. We must get you to safety."
"Naloch's shop?" asked Isabelle, her face draining of color. "What about – were there any survivors?"
"I do not know Princess. I was going to bring a message, but when the explosion occurred, my first thoughts were to your safety."
"What's he talking about?" asked Liz. "Isabelle, what's going on?"

Isabelle turned towards her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Naloch's shop was where the orbs were programmed to bring us when we left Earth. It's where Lexie and I were and where," she halted, unable to continue."
"Where Max and Michael would be," said Liz. "And quite possibly Kam and Kyle as well. Well, we can't stay here," she said we have to get to where the shop was and see if there are any survivors."
"Your Majesty, you can't go there," said Malik. "It's far too dangerous for you to be on the streets, you and the Princess's must remain hidden."
"Damn it!" shouted Liz. "I'm nobody's queen, and if my husband, and my son are in danger, I have to go to them. I just got my daughter back and I'm damn well NOT going to lose my son!"

"Wait," said Isabelle holding up a cautioning hand. "What's that? Did you hear something?"
Everyone stopped and listened and heard the footsteps crossing the floor above them. Malik quickly activated the panel that closed the door and tried to urge Liz and Isabelle to hide with Lexie.
"Look, if there's going to be a fight, we're going to be a part of it," said Isabelle. "We're not about to hide from that bastard Kivar."
Isabelle was about to say more, but stopped when they heard two knocks on the door before the panel slid open to reveal Naloch, Kyle and some others, bearing stretchers.
"Kyle," breathed Isabelle. "Oh my God Kyle, is it really you?"
"Kyle!" cried Liz at the same time. "Where's Kam? Is he alright?"
"I have him Liz, he's here. He's been hurt, but I have him," he said as he set the stretcher on the ground. Liz pushed past him and knelt down beside her son.
"Oh Kam," she cried. "My poor baby."

The others stepped into the small room and the other stretcher was set down beside Kam.
"Your Majesty," said Naloch respectfully. "I'm glad you were able to escape."
"Naloch, it's good to see you," said Liz. "It's hard to believe that we've been in the same city for three years and I've seen nothing of you."
"But your wrong Liz," he said smiling. "You saw me just the other day."
"What?" questioned Liz. "Where? The only people I've seen were Kivar and his," she stopped as she realized what he meant. "You were Cadrik, weren't you?"
"Yes Liz, I was. I regret that I wasn't able to inform you of my true identity."
"No Naloch, I understand, no regrets are necessary," said Liz. She looked down at her son again and at the other stretcher. "Who is this?" she asked."
"My daughter Saranara," said the Antarian. "She and your son were in the shop when the blast occurred. We were lucky to find them. We have people searching for Max, Michael and Jereon. When we find them, they will be brought here. Hopefully it will be in time to heal them."
"They're safe then?" asked Liz. "Max and the others are safe?"
"We are not totally certain of that, but they were not in the shop when the explosion occurred. They were down in the tunnels."

Liz closed her eyes in relief and whispered a silent prayer for the safety of Max and the others. A small hand crept into hers and she opened her eyes and looked down at her daughter.
"Lexie, this is Naloch, he's a friend of Mommy and Daddy's."
"I know him. I healed him in the tunnel with Auntie Isabelle. But she said he was a bad man," Lexie cried.
Liz looked over at Isabelle who was standing in Kyle's arms holding him tightly.
"Isabelle, can you come here please?" she asked. Isabelle reluctantly left Kyle's embrace and walked across the small room. When she saw Naloch, she hesitated briefly.
"I'm assuming you are really you this time?" she asked.
"What?" asked Naloch and Liz simultaneously.
"IN the tunnel, we found who we thought was you, badly beaten. Lexie healed him, and we followed him to what we thought was a safer location. It turns out that it was Kivar's second in command Nicoro. We knew him on Earth as Nicholas," she added for clarification. "Once I found out who he was, I had Lexie hide, and I killed him, but I wasn't able to really explain to Lexie in a way she could understand who he was."

"Lexie," said Liz kneeling down next to her daughter. "This is Naloch and he is a very good man. The other man you saw who looked like him was a bad man. He was dressed up in a costume to make him look like Naloch; kind of like at Halloween. Do you understand?" Lexie nodded but still refused to look at Naloch closely, instead, she looked at the two bodies lying on the floor.
"Hey, that's my friend Serena," she cried. "Does she gots a boo boo too? And who's that?" she asked pointing to Kam.
"Yes sweetie," said Isabelle. "That's your friend Serena, and she is hurt very badly."
"Poor Serena," said Lexie pulling away from Liz. She walked over to Saranara and laid her hands on her. A soft glow surrounded Saranara and Lexie both. In a few moments, Lexie removed her hands and Saranara sat up and shouted "Kam! Kam! Where are you?"

Naloch rushed over to his daughter and held her tightly. "Dear daughter, you are alive."
"Father? Is it really you? You must help me find Kam. Kyle entrusted him to me. I cannot let him down." Kyle knelt down next to Naloch and took Saranara's hands in his.
"Relax Saranara," he's safe. "We found him."
"I remember now, you told me that once, but I thought it was just a dream."
"It was no dream, see, he's here next to you."
Saranara looked over at the stretcher next to her and saw the small child lying on it.
"Oh, but he's injured," she whispered. "I failed."
"You didn't fail," said Liz, looking at the Antarian girl with compassion. "How can you say that? Your first conscious thought was of Kam and his safety. You are an admirable guardian for my son."

"Serena, you're all better now!" shouted Lexie as she ran and jumped into the Serena's arms.
"Yes, I am, and I bet I owe it all to you."
"Un-huh," said Lexie. "I made your boo-boos go away.
"You did a great job sweetie," said Liz. "Now, do you think you can do it again? Kam has a few boo-boos that need to be taken care of too. Do you think you can fix him?"
"Ok Mommy," said Lexie. She moved towards Kam, but stopped suddenly and burst into tears.
"Lexie, honey. What's the matter?" asked Liz in concern. "Do you hurt somewhere, is this too much for you? We can wait for Daddy to come if that's what you want?"
"No Mommy," cried the little girl. "I can do it, but I forgot. I promised Kam I'd bring him a cookie, and I forgot!"

Kyle, Isabelle and Liz looked at each other and burst out laughing. Liz hugged her daughter to her tightly and smoothed her hair away from her face.
"It's ok sweetie. I hope that pretty soon, we'll all be home together and then you can give Kam all the cookies you want." She kissed her daughter's tear stained face and smiled. "Do you want to take a rest and try and fix Kam's boo-boos later?"
"No Mommy, I'll do it now, and then maybe me and Kam can play together." Lexie sat down on the floor next to Kam and placed her hands on his body. Again a soft light surrounded Kam's body, but this time it grew and enveloped Lexie in it as well. Alarmed, Liz stepped forward to try and break the connection, but Naloch held her back.

"It's alright Liz," he whispered. "They are just making a connection. It's like they are filling each other in on the time that they were separated."
"Are you sure that's it?" asked Liz.
"I'm certain of it. Look, see, they are fine."
Liz looked back and saw that the glow was receding and Kam was sitting up on his stretcher looking at his sister.
"That was fun," he said. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
The adults in the room all laughed and the two children looked around. Kam spied his mother and Kyle and jumped off of the stretcher and ran across the room.
"Mommy, Unca Kyle! I missed you!"
"I missed you too, Kam the Man," said Liz hugging her small son.
"Yeah, me to Kaminator, but you were great," added Kyle. "You did just what you were told."
"Yeah, me and Serena was cleaning up the shop. Daddy and Unca Michael and Jeremy was down in the tunnel and there was a big huge boom, and then it got really dark," said Kam without pausing for a breath. "Who are you?" he asked looking at Isabelle.
"Kam, this is your Aunt Isabelle," said Liz. "She's been taking care of Lexie for us."
"Oh, you sure are pretty," he said with the innocence of a child. "What is there to eat? I'm hungry."

Liz and Isabelle sat Kam and Lexie down and gave them something to eat while Naloch and the others began to plan their strategy. Across the room, Kyle sat on the floor next to Saranara. He held her hand in his and refused to release it and the two talked softly. Isabelle watched for a moment and turned to Liz.
"He really does love her, doesn't he?" she asked."
"Very much I think," said Liz. "Are you going to be ok with that?"
"Me?" asked Isabelle in surprise. "Why wouldn't I be ok with it?"
"Well, I kind of thought at one time that maybe you and Kyle would end up together."
"Me and Kyle? You have got to be kidding me? Look, he's probably the best friend I've ever had, and I love him very much, and I always will, but it isn't that kind of love. I could tell right away that Serena, Saranara," she corrected herself. "Had feelings for him, and I already told her that I thought it was great."
"I just didn't want you to get hurt. I think you more than any of us have lost so much because of all this," said Liz.
"That's not true. We all loved Alex, and it hurt all of us when he died. And Jesse, well I loved Jesse, but I don't think he was my grand passion. That doesn't make his dying any easier to accept, but I have to believe that I will find real love someday."
The two women hugged and watched as Kyle leaned over and softly kissed Saranara on the cheek.