Family.

Chapter Ten: Saffy To The Rescue.

Saffy and Mihoshi walked along street by street through the strange city, as they got deeper into the city there were more shops showing posters of what Saffron assumed were the natives of this particular planet, they looked similar to Mihoshi but they didn't look like they had powers and she certainly didn't sense all that much magick from the planet. Something caught the corner of her eye as she walked along. It was a sports shop and in the window was a large poster of someone she'd missed greatly over the past eight years, he still looked the same with the same thick blonde hair but he wore it longer. What shocked her most was the pendant around his neck, she'd thought she'd lost it back when her clan was murdered but there it was plain as day around Nosedive's neck, tied with a piece of black cord. He was smiling but something about his eyes told her that he wasn't happy when the picture was taken for the poster, they were sad and distant.

"Saffron," Mihoshi turned form her cat form to her normal form in the blink of an eye to check on her charge, "what's wrong?"

"This guy," she tore her eyes away form the picture to look at Mihoshi, "I know him," she smiled and looked down, "he's a very dear friend of mine, from when I was little." Mihoshi nodded in what she hoped was an understanding way, she'd never really had a friend before Saffron, and they carried on in silence.

Not far away a lone boy walked the streets of Anaheim wondering why his life had turned out the way it had. As he walked he fingered the pendant hanging around his neck and wished for a miracle to bring back the rightful owner, but doubted it would happen. He felt more tears at his eyes but they wouldn't fall, he had cried so much lately that there were no more left. He'd slipped into a mild depression, not enough for Tanya to worry about him but that didn't stop Wildwing and Phoenix, Lizzie had tried to cheer him up as well, she'd got him a black cord for Saffron's pendant so it looked like one a guy would wear. He knew they loved him and were just worried but he just wanted to curl up somewhere and be alone where no one else could hurt him, he desperately wanted to go home, for things to be the way they were before the fear, the tears and the death, the saurians had ruined everything for him. Nosedive didn't notice the figure in the shadows tailing him.

Saffron rounded a corner and looked back at Mihoshi who, back in her cat form, had lagged behind looking lovingly at a food store. It had been three days since they had more than just scraps they could find and berries, Saffron was capable of conjuring up food but magick food was by no means nourishing or tasty and the poor girl looked like a walking skeleton she tried to hide it with baggy cloths she'd conjured but to no avail, her facial features alone showed that she desperately needed more then a few square meals a month. Saffron looked back down the road she was heading and she felt her heart in her throat when she saw Nosedive walking towards her not noticing who he was approaching because his eyes were down and looking at the floor.

"N. . . Nosedive?" She squeaked a little higher than she expected. The blonde teen looked up as soon as he was addressed and his eyes went wide when he saw a girl he'd known so well years ago that he'd thought was lost to him. She was older now, taller, skinnier, but it was her, it was his Saffron. She was the one who made the first move, she leapt towards him and hugged him for all she was worth it wasn't long before he was tightly hugging her back and they fell to their knees. Saffron started to cry for the first time since the saurians had invaded, she didn't care anymore Nosedive understood her and he'd understand. "Oh Nosedive I missed you so much!" she sobbed and he gently started to rock her back and forth in an attempt to comfort her.

"I thought you were dead Saff," he said with a cracking voice, she leant back to look into his eyes, "I saw. . . on the screens, they. . they showed it all, to everyone." There were tears in his eyes now too.

"My dad made a double of me and told me to escape, we didn't get far, I saw it all too it was horrible." she looked down and closed her eyes, a tear rolled down her left cheek and Nosedive delicately wiped it away, she opened her eyes leaned into the comforting hand and smiled at her friend fingering the pendant at the same time. There was this small little voice in her head telling her how right this felt being with Nosedive and him comforting her like this. She had felt so comfortable in their embrace, she leaned forward again and nuzzled into his chest, smiling when she felt his arms wrap around her once more.

"Who were you with?" He asked her.

"Huh?"

"You said we, we didn't get far, so who helped you." He hoped she didn't think he was accusing her of anything he just wanted to know, after all she'd only been ten, he'd had his brother to look after him, who did she have?

"She had me." Said a voice to his left, he looked around to see who it was that spoke but all he could see was a white cat with red eyes, he looked a little closer and the cat began to glow, suddenly she turned into a white haired pointed eared woman with red eyes. Nosedive gapped, "close your mouth kid you might catch a fly!" Mihoshi joked and he did, "The name's Mihoshi, demoness Mihoshi, at your service," she performed a very dramatic low bow, "I'm Saffron's gaurdian, oh and uh the cat thing was Saffy's idea, it meant we could still mingle on Puckworld without people noticing me, same goes for here I guess."

"Nice to meet you Mihoshi," he smiled, "wait till Wing knows your okay I. . . "

"He won't," Siege interrupted, "cause you two'll be dead before he can get to you!" a whole horde of hunter drones appeared and headed in their direction. Mihoshi growled like an angry Lioness and set to work throwing any and all of her destructive spells at them. Saffron used her magick to protect Nosedive, whilst Nosedive changed into his battle kit and started blasting, Saffy was shocked to see him so good with a gun but grateful that he could take care of himself. An explosion went off way too close to Nosedive at one point and she had to concentrate all of the spell on one point to protect him from the blast but she made a mistake and realised it when she felt the hot laser sear through her right shoulder. Nosedive looked around to find Saffron and paled as he saw her drop to her knees he fired his Puck Blaster at Chameleon who had fired the shot and ran to her holding her close.

"Hold on Saff, don't die, please don't die." he whispered softly, she smiled weakly up at him and he changed back into his street clothes keeping his blaster separate and took off his shirt, tearing it into smaller pieces he started to wrap up her shoulder with the material to create a make shift bandage. He went to pick her up to get her to the pond when he felt the cold metal of the end of a laser at the base of his skull.

"So long you stinkin' waste of feathers!" Siege said triumphantly before Mihoshi threw one of her energy balls at him throwing him at a group of hunter drones.

"Get her out of her," Mihoshi yelled, "I'll hold these low lives off, you just save Saffron!" Nosedive simply nodded and picking his friend up ran for all he was worth, there were four blocks to run, which wasn't much but when your carrying another person it's a little more difficult. For Saffron it was so painful, she'd never been shot before and it hurt, her right arm hung limply down towards the ground whilst her other was resting against Dive's chest, she tried to stay awake but it was becoming a loosing battle her eyes began to droop and she was soon unconscious.

In her lab Tanya was tinkering away at one of her inventions that she couldn't seem to get to work the way she wanted it to when;

"Tanya," came Dive's voice over the intercom, 'what now?' she thought, "Tanya please, you gotta get to the infirmary I need you please!" His tone was Bordering on hysterical and in that state he wasn't about to tell her unless she went to him. As she rushed down the corridors that would lead her to the infirmary she noticed that everyone else had beat her there and were crowding around one of the beds.

"What's wrong?" She asked but got her answer when she saw who was occupying the bed. A young girl of around Dive's age maybe a little younger was lying there, she had a laser wound in her shoulder, she was deathly pale, not to mention thin and to top it off Wildwing was having to restrain Nosedive on the other bed to stop him doing anything to make the girl's situation worse. She immediately set to work, activating the medicomm, cleaning and re-bandaging the girls wound with something a little more sterile. An hour later she was satisfied that she was stable and decided it was time she would ask her questions. "Who is she Dive?" He didn't answer only stared with frightened eyes at the figure in the bed, so she looked at Wildwing.

"I don't quite believe I'm saying this, but that's the girl I told you about the other day, Saffron Thorn-Blood." He looked past Tanya at Saffy, still not believing it, but he had checked her with the mask when Dive had first arrived with her in his arms covered in her blood. Nobody was going to learn anymore form Nosedive or Saffy that night so Wing offered to stay in the infirmary whilst everyone else went to bed. The next day Dive told them everything that had happened, doing his best not to cry. He'd only just got her back and now she might be taken away from him again, he shook with emotion and shock and Tanya gave him some sedatives in his drink to get him to sleep a little more.

The next evening Saffy woke up it took her a while to remember what had happened, she looked around and saw Nosedive in the bed next to her fast asleep, she stared up at the ceiling and tried to go back to sleep. However after a little while she was distracted by Nosedive who seemed to be having a bad dream, he started to toss and turn and groan in his sleep, and soon he started to weep. She groggily and unsteadily pulled herself to her feet and walked the few paces over to him and tried to wake him after a few attempts his eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly. He shook form head to toe and had tears streaming down his face. He looked over at Saffy and lunged into her embracing her like he did two nights before, he'd dreamt that she died again. Both felt that same feeling they had felt when they had first seen each other again, how right it all felt and when they looked up at each other their beaks were so close neither knew what to do, Saffy blushed and simply rested her head on his chest, he leant back down on the bed and they fell asleep in each other's arms. That's how Wildwing, Lizzie and Tanya found them the next morning.

Sorry this took so long but I forgot I hadn't put this one up so it's been on my computer for a few weeks, hope you like it. Hugs n Kisses Angel. X X X