Author's Note: Wow, I'm spending more time on Straydes than any other fanfic I'm writing. It's because I've decided to finish all the fanfics I have up before I put up any new ones. So, I'm not working on the new fics that I didn't post yet. Oh, well. So much for the Kaiyako lemon I was wrote and can't put up because only the lemon part is done and the other parts of that particular fanfic isn't finished.

- Rose Silverstein

ps. what the hell did i just do?

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Straydes
Part 6 of Chapter 3
By Rose Silverstein






The war had most of Straydes buisy and tension was evident in the air. Especially in the Imperial Palace.

The town was busier than usual, getting ready for the war. Straydes didn't know how Davis was like, but a rumour broke out that he was almost as bad as Ken. Maybe worst.

The people of Straydes weren't taking any chances. They stuck with their current emperor. Besides, it was always better to stay with a devil that you knew, than to join a devil that don't know anything about. (a/n Guess where I got the 'it was always better to stay with a devil that you knew, than to join a devil that don't know anything about' thing. it's not the exact quote though)

Ken and Draco had both thought defeating Davis and TK would be easy. But, it wasn't. The first battle had occured a couple of weeks after Davis declared war on Straydes. Davis' army would've been pretty weak alone. But, TK was always there to back them up.

Nobody had suspected that the war would last this long. Everybody had thought Ken and Draco would've won in just one battle. But, Davis had been smart enough not to send all of his forces out at once. Ken and Draco won most of the battles. They only lost a few.

Ken was always out, fighting. And if it wasn't in the war, he'd be sparring with Draco or beating up one of his own soldiers. Of course, he never killed them like he'd usually have done.

If someone saw Yolei for the first time, during this period, they would've automatically guessed that she was pregnant. It was pretty obvious now. She wasn't as slender as she used to be. Well, she'd still be slender as she was ten months ago if it weren't for her pregnancy. And Straydes knew she wasn't fat. She was just, again, pregnant.

Somehow, Yolei and Draco's wife got along. Most of time. They had very different personalities.

His wife was kind of pretty with brown hair and green eyes. She was almost as tall as Yolei, maybe an inch shorter. She was pretty skinny and didn't have a difficult time keeping her face sober while talking. She rarely smiled and even more rarely showed emotion.

The first time, Yolei met her, they hadn't introduced themselves until they relised they didn't know eachother's names. They relised that after five minutes of talking. Draco had just said, "this is my wife," when he introduced her to Yolei.

At first, the two were just acquaintances. They weren't really friends. Yolei found it very hard to call her an actual 'friend' when the only time she had smiled was when Draco introduced them. The only other time she smiled during their small conversation was when Yolei refused to eat these chocolate frogs.

When she had asked Yolei why, Yolei had just told her that she was pregnant and eating something always makes her want to throw up. Of course, Yolei had some other reasons. She knew that Draco was a wizard and his wife was a witch and stuff, but she wasn't being racist or anything. It was just the name. Simply put, Yolei didn't want to eat the stuff because well, they were chocolate *frogs*!

Draco's wife gave her a smirk, but she didn't say anything. But a look of amusment in her eyes made Yolei ask her what was so funny. Draco's wife had actually laughed out loud and told her that they weren't real frogs. She reduced her laughter to a small giggle, but the dumbfounded expression on Yolei's face, made her laugh all over again.

When Draco's wife told Yolei her name, she was very surprised she was called that. But, Yolei decided, names never did tell much about people.

Pansy Malfoy. Her maid name had been Parkinson. Tough last name. Her maid name, that is. Who knew what Malfoy meant? (A/N What does Malfoy mean? I bet it doesn't even have a meaning . . . )

Though their first conversation, was dull, dull and dull because Pansy almost never smiled. The second conversation went a bit more smoothly. The third one went even smoother.

In no time at all, Yolei had made a new friend.

Pansy had a son who looked just like his father. Same blond hair, pale skin, silver eyes . . . His name was Cephius. Both father and son were named after conselations. Typical.

At the momment, Yolei and Pansy were talking. They were in one of the rooms at Draco's castle. The room had three white couches. One with one seat, one with two seats and one with three seats. A fire blazed in the fire place. There was a pink carpet. There was a pink table in the middle with flowers on it. Actually, there were flowers everywhere in the room. On the table was also a big bowl filled with fruits which they were munching on while talking. Pansy had locked the door so that no one would disturb them.

"So, what are you going to name your baby?" Pansy asked.

"My sister asked me the same thing yesterday," Yolei mumbled.

"Well, what?" Pansy asked.

Yolei shrugged. "I don't know," she said, "Don't you think I should wait and see if it's a boy or a girl before I pick anything?"

"Do what I did," Pansy said, "Pick a few names you like. And narrow the choises down to two. One name for a boy and one for a girl."

"You picked the name Cephius?"

"No, I didn't think of it. My mother-in-law did."

"What's her name?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"What did you think of if it's a girl?" Yolei asked.

"Actually . . . " Pansy said, "I had a hunch it'd be a boy."

Yolei stared at her. "How?" she asked, "Did you take fortune telling classes when you were in school?"

Pansy shot her a triumphant look. "As a matter of fact, yes, we did take fortune telling class. Wait, it's divinations. But, that's not how I guessed."

"Then how?" Yolei asked.

"Well, it's kind of been going on for a long time," Pansy said, "All the Malfoys had sons first. Maybe followed by another sibling, girl or boy, but the first one is always a boy."

"That's kind of . . . " Yolei's voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I wish I had a daughter," Pansy sighed, "I've always wanted one."

"If you have always wanted a daughter, then why on earth did you marry Draco Malfoy?" Yolei asked.

Pansy looked at her. "I had a small crush on him in school," she said slowly, "but, it passed . . . "

Pansy wrinkled her forehead, trying to remember everything. She gave up and sighed. "My parents made me marry him," she said, flatly.

"You mean . . . you didn't want to marry him?" Yolei asked, staring.

"Yes," Pansy answered, "well, I sorta did."

"I don't get it," Yolei said, shaking her head.

"I DID have a crush on him, but then again, the crush passed, I was getting on with my life, then one day, my mother comes up to me and goes, 'you're marrying Draco Malfoy.'" Pansy finished off, her voice flat.

They stared at eachother and burst out laughing.

"And . . . and of course, I sort of didn't want to-" Pansy managed to choke out before her laughter over took her voice.

Yolei stopped laughing long enough to say, "You crack me up."

"I didn't mean to do that," Pansy said, still laughing a bit.

"I know, I know, but you're voice was so flat. You made it sound as if it were nothing," Yolei laughed.

After a few more minutes of laughing, Pansy decided to ask Yolei, "Well, what about you?"

Yolei stared at her. "What about me?"

"Did you fall in love and get married or is your story the same as mine?" Pansy asked, smiling a bit.

"I didn't fall in love or anything like that . . . " Yolei's voice trailed off.

"Your parents make you do it?" Pansy asked.

Yolei sank into the couch.

"What's wrong?" Pansy asked.

"Can we not talk about that?" Yolei asked, "Please? My parents died about an year ago."

"Oh," Pansy said, quietly.

"My parents didn't make me do it," Yolei said.

Pansy nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but another voice cut her off.

"Well, I'm glad you women are getting along, but, Pansy, did you have to lock the door? I walked straight into it."

Draco Malfoy was standing by the window, rubbing his nose.

Yolei stared at him, then at the door, then back.

In a flash of blue light, the emperor joined them.

Pansy noticed Yolei was looking confused.

"We can apparate," she told her.

"Wha-?" Yolei asked.

"It means we can disappear and turn up in a different place in less than a second," Pansy explained.

"Sort of like what I do," Ken added, "they can never get the blue flash."

Draco scowled at him and Ken smirked in return.

Yolei nodded, slowly. "Look, we have to go now, okay?" Ken asked, "It's getting late."

"Okay," Yolei said. She got up along with Pansy. Ken slipped his arms around Yolei's waist.

"Bye, Pansy," Yolei said.

"Bye, Yolei."

In a flash, Ken and Yolei were gone.

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

The emperor and the empress reappeared in their chamber at the Imperial Palace.

Yolei had gotten used to the whole disappear and turn up somewhere else thing. The first time, it almost killed her because it had taken the Empress by total surprise. She had paniced.

But, before the second time, Ken had asked her, or ordered her, to trust him and not panic and not to get tense. He told her that if she'd keep her eyes closed for the small ride, it'd help.

Of course, she had still paniced a bit. But, the thrid time around, it was less painful. It got less painful every time it happened until once she went with him and she felt nothing at all.

No pain, no nothing. It was as simple as blinking.

The chamber was dim. A white candle which had half burnt itself out was the only light source.

Outside, a full moon cast an unearthly glow on the lake. The navy blue sky was splashed with stars that looked like sparkling diamonds. A cool breeze whispered through the branches of trees as if flying around giving messages or spreading rumours. The beautiful scenery held no signs of the war.

Ken imediatley flopped onto the bed and moaned. His voice was muffled because his face was crushed into the soft pillow.

The white hem of Yolei's sky blue gown trailed across the carpet as she moved closer to the bed and sat down. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Though, she was constantly telling herself that she did not love him, she had spent enough time with him to know that the emperor was not the kind of guy who moaned often. Especially a painful kind of moan.

"Nothing," Ken answered, turning around, "I just have a huge head ache, that's all."

Yolei brushed away her hair a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. She moved closer to him. She picked up his head (a/n that sounded wrong, but work with me, it's 11:56pm) and gently placed it on her lap.

"What's causing your head ache?" she asked him. She began to gently massage his forehead. Ken slightly smirked. Without moving his head or the rest of his body, except his arm, he lightly touched her stomach.

"I don't know," he said, "I just have it." 'It's just that I might die before this child is born,' he silently grumbled inside his head.

'But, then again,' he said, 'the key word there is might. I've fought lots of wars before and I didn't get seriously injured before. This is just another war . . . '

She began to run her fingers through his hair once in a while.

"Anything bothering you?" she asked.

"Nothing much," he mumbled, sleepily.

"Nothing or nothing much?"

"Nothing much."

"What's bothering you?"

Silence. She looked down at her husband. He was asleep.

Yolei slightly giggled. And her brother and both her sisters took forever falling asleep whenever THEY had headaches. (a/n. so do i. the pain doesn't *let* me fall asleep)

She moved his head onto a pillow and lay down beside him. She blew out the candle, plunging the room into darkness.

She lay herself down without changing. She was too tired. After making sure that there was distance between herself and him, she let her eyes droop and soon she saw darkness equivalent to the darkness in the room.

She always did that whenever she could. Make sure that there was distance between herself and him. She always convinces herself that she didn't love him.

That's one of the reasons she felt like commiting suicide everyday, but never did. She was married to someone who she didn't love and probably didn't love her. She had assumed that what he had said a few nights ago was just probably something to throw her off.

If that wasn't enough, she was pregnant! Of course, she cared for the baby. Any mother would care for her own child. But, the fact that this was the child of her enemy that had killed most her family and friends sickened her.

So, every night, whenever she could, she always tried to put some distance between herself and him.

But . . . after two minutes, enough silvery moonlight had danced through the open window to show that in her sleep, Yolei had moved closer to him.

Quietly moaning in her sleep, the empress snuggled up to the emperor. He turned around, slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

The emperor and the empress couldn't be any closer to at the momment.

The End of Part 6/Chapter 3

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Author's Note: Part seven! We are here! Oh, the glory! Now, in the last part there was this line: 'it was always better to stay with a devil that you knew, than to join a devil that don't know anything about.' Where did I get it from? WWF, sorry, WW*E* fans might know. I got that line from Vince MacMahon. Sure, he's a jackass most of the time, but that line sounded cool. It was one he used while trying to persuade the Rock to stick with the WWF (it wasn't WWE back then) during the whole EcWcW Alliance thingy. Hey, I don't know if Vince invented it, but I heard it from him.

Enough about that. Onto part seven!!

- Rose

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Straydes
Part 7/Chapter 3
By Rose Silverstein








Yolei walked through maze in the garden, stopping occasionally to admire the flowers. She was making her way to the center of the maze where she knew Ken was.

She needed to talk to him. He had sent May to deliver a message to her. Yolei remembered the conversation she had with May word for word.

~ * ~ * ~ flashback ~ * ~ * ~

"What is it, May?" Yolei asked, impatiently. She folded a corner of the page she was one and snapped the romance novel shut. Yolei suddenly noticed that May wasn't wearing her usual bright smile.

"I wanted to-" May stammered, "he told me to tell-" She paused. Yolei just looked at her.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news . . . again." May shut her eyes tight. "He's leaving."

Yolei looked at her and blinked two times. "Who's leaving?"

"The emperor."

"What?! Now? Where is he going?" Yolei paused.

"When will he be back?!" she asked, finally.

May opened her eyes and looked sympathetic. She licked her lips. "He said that an important battle was going to take place tomorrow night. Both he and Draco need to be there. He said they might not be back for a while."

Yolei just covered her face with her hands.

The news wouldn't have been too bad. He had left for other battles. This whole wouldn't have been bad *if* the doctor hadn't told her that the baby would be arriving sometime in the next three or four days. (A.N. Sounds lame? Well, work with me. *Again*. It's now 12:44am. Yes, I like to work late.)

"I'm sorry," May said.

* ~ * ~ * end of flashback * ~ * ~ *


He could've made it a little better by telling her himself. She reached the middle of the maze. Not to her surprise, her husband was there. He was sitting on the swing, sharpening a dagger. For some reason, what he was doing didn't surprise her either.

She walked over and sat down next to him. She waited for him to say something. He didn't even look up, but she knew that he knew that she was there.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

When she got no reply, she tried again. "Did you just find out this morning or something?" Dumb question, but she still got nothing from him.

"Are you even going to talk to me?" she asked finally.

He got up and what he did shocked and terrified her for a split second. He whipped the dagger right at her face. She did what came naturally. She shut her eyes and hunched back into the swing. When, the pain didn't come, she slowly opened her eyes. The dagger was sticking out of the swing only millimeters from her ear.

Did he do that on purpose or did he just miss? Was he trying to kill her?

Realising that she had been holding her breath all this time, she slowly started breathing again in long breaths.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pull the dagger out. "That'll have to do," he murmered, looking down at the dagger.

Yolei stared at the hole. She jumped a little and turned back to him when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Did I scare you?" he asked with a small and sly smile.

"Yes," Yolei snapped. She tried to get up but he held her down. He moved over and sat down beside her. Yolei kept her angered expression and her mini-pout even when he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm guessing you want to talk about tomorrow night?" he asked her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Look, I'm really, really sorry," he said.

Yolei just stared ahead of her and said nothing. She heard him sigh and felt the swing move as he got up.

He left without a word.

'Good thing I don't love him or I would be really, really ticked off instead of annoyed,' Yolei thought still staring straight ahead of her.

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

TK stared at the map layed out on the table. Then, he looked up at Davis.

"What do you think? Great plan, eh?" Davis asked.

"It doesn't even make any sense," TK answered after a few more seconds at staring at the map.

"Aww, come on," Davis said.

"What the hell was going on in that pea-sized brain of yours?!" TK asked, really annoyed.

"Nothing," Davis answered.

"Exactly! How could you declare war on two kingdoms, both with bigger armies than your own kingdom, at the same time?!" TK asked, "it'll take a miracle for us to win this war."

"Hey, you never know," Davis said, more to himself, "Miracles happen."

"Oh, yeah? Name one miracle that actually *did* happen," TK challenged.

"Ummm . . . " Davis said. "Wait, lemme think."

TK sighed. "We can't stand here for hours while you try to think of something. We need a plan and the one on this map is really, really screwed up."

Davis almost pouted. "Why? What's wrong with my plan?" he asked. He stared down at the map. "It's perfect. Especially the fire part. They'll never know what's coming."

"Davis, the fire's not going to do any good. That town you're planning to set on flames is already a ghost town. Nobody's gonna get hurt and it's no use, raiding the place, because there is nothing left!" TK snapped.

Davis was barely listening. He was still staring at the map in front of him. He saw a fool-proof plan but what TK saw was an ordinary map with a lot of lines criss crossing all over the place forming what looked like a messed by spider web.

"This doesn't make any sense, but since we're out of time, I'll just trust you," TK said, sourly.

"What if it doesn't work? Not that it won't, but-" TK cut Davis off.

"Davis, if you're plan doesn't work, when we're up there," TK pointed up, "I'll kill you again for getting us killed in the first place."

"We won't die!" Davis insisted.

"Sure, Davis," TK said as he left the room.


* * * * * * * * * * * *
Later on that night . . .

Yolei was laying on the bed, trying to read the novel she had been reading earlier. But, she couldn't concentrate. She was too worried.

It was winner take all in this battle. The last battle. This one would end the whole war.

Yolei wanted to scream. Why in hell was she worried?! She didn't even like that bastard!

Or did she?

Yolei began to think about this, but a sharp pain in her stomach snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, God, no . . . " she murmered, shutting her eyes.

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

"Where in hell are they?!" Ken muttered under his breath. He gripped the reins on his horse a little tighter. He was starting to get impatient. They had been waiting for hours.

The sun was starting to set. A few stars had already come out. Ken rode his black horse back and forth, kind of like he was pacing, but he was just on a horse.

Draco, who was on a dark brown horse which wasn't moving at all, stared at him. "Maybe they *are* there somewhere?" he asked, sarcastically.

Ken turned to him. "What?" he asked.

Draco laughed. "Hell," he said. Ken just looked at him.

"They probably already figured out that they're going to die and probably commit suicide in a less painful way," Draco guessed, smiling evilly, "But, you know, it *was* pretty smart."

Ken turned away from him. "Actually, they're only a mile away from here," he said, "should I go tell my men to start the attack from behind or do you want to wait until they get here?"

Draco thought for a momment. "Perhaps they'll be more surprised when they find out that the whole army's not *infront* of them," he said, thoughtfully. Ken nodded and turned back to the direction of where the opposing army was coming from.

* * * * * * * Meanwhile . . .

"You called?" May stuck her head in the doorway and almost gasped. "Your highness?" she asked, hurrying over to her side.

"Get the healer," Yolei gasped out. She was in so much pain.

"Yes, your highness," May said, as she rushed out of the room.

A few minutes later, May returned with Sara, Selina and Misty. Selina and Misty had accidently started a small fire in the kitchen. May had burst in and started yelling at Sara to get up to the master bedroom. Selina and Misty had followed, both knowing that if Ken was at war, Yolei would be the only one there.

"Dear Lord, are you alright, Yolei?" Selina asked. Selina was paniced and scared at the same time. She was worried about her sister and her unborn niece or nephew.

"Calm down, Yol, you're going to be fine. Everything's going to be alright," Misty said in a soothing voice.

"Omigod, what's wrong with her?" May asked.

Everyone in the room, including Yolei, gave May a look for that one. Could she get anymore dense?!

Sara rolled her eyes. (A.N. The next few lines are going to be straight out of an old movie I saw. Almost the whole lines, but I'll change the names and stuff. You know I'm talking about, work with me.) "Selina, get hot water. Lots of it. Misty, I need you to get me some clean sheets and towels," she instructed, "May-" Sara paused for a second, but continued. "Get me a knife."

The three nodded and rushed out of the room.

* * * * * * * *

"Charge!!!" Davis yelled for the fourth time since the battle began. TK heard and rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He plunged his sword into the heart of an opposing warrior.

He was beginning to believe that they stood a chance. So far, the battle had been even. No one was better than anyone. The armies were equal. But, there was something eating away at the back of his head. A little voice was telling him that something was not right.

He shrugged it off and he begun a fight with another opposing warrior. Maybe there would be a miracle and Davis' plan would pull through.

TK had come into the war, thinking that the poison tipped arrows were the only Davis had thought of that would actually cause some kind of damage to Draco's men.

TK stopped short, allowing his oppenent to deliver a punch to his jaw. TK just stabbed the man and watched him fall. He examined the now dead man, curiously.

On the dead warrior's chest was a glistening silver snake. The rest of the uniform was mostly green.

TK looked around him. The whole army was wearing green with the silver snake. That was Draco's symbol. Not one, not one single soldier, was wearing blue with the golden whip symbol.

Where the hell was Ken's army?!

* * * * * *

"You're holding your breath. Please, don't hold your breath!" Sara said.

"Listen to her, Yolei," Misty added. "Come on, breathe. That's it. Breathe. Big, long breaths."

"It hurts," Yolei said in an almost whining voice.

"I know, but you'll be okay," Sara said, reasurringly.

"I don't believe you," Yolei said, stubbornly.

"Come on," Selena said. "Don't be stubborn."

Yolei didn't reply, but she calmed down a bit.

* * * * * *

TK on the other hand, was doing everything he can to keep himself from panicing. Something was wrong . . . Terribly wrong! Ken never backed out of a battle. Where was he? Why would he not show up for the deciding battle?

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Author's Ending Not: Yes, I left you all at a cliffhanger, but isn't that what most authors do? For example, J.K. Rowling finished GoF after Voldemort came back to life. Oh, well. Hey, the mort reviews I get for this chapter, the faster I'll get the other chapter done. So, please, R&R!!!