Keith ripped the whip from the man's bleeding arm. When he had followed the others into the tiny room, all he saw was this beast raising his arm to bring the whip down a third time. He pulled out his blaster and shot the man in the arm, wanting him to hurt, but wanting him alive to pay for what he had done.

Declan and Gideon had grabbed the younger man and had been a bit heavy handed in subduing him. The man was on his knees, his bruised face bent towards the ground and his weapon confiscated. They handed both him and his sister off to soldiers who were escorting them to the police station in town.

Keith grabbed the man by his injured arm and hauled him to his feet, ignoring his cry of pain. "What do you think you are doing to my daughter?" He hissed in the man's face.

Pain had caused him to lose all color in his face and he passed out.

Keith waved over two soldiers, "Take him downtown and have his arm patched up. Lock him up and I will be down to speak with him tomorrow afternoon. Make sure there are at least three guards on him and his children at all times. Let no one, and I mean no one, see him except me or Chief Landers. If anyone tries to get in to see him, hold them for questioning. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Keith turned to see his daughter lying limply in the arms of her protector. With a heavy heart, he walked over, "How is she?"

Tristan didn't lift his eyes from her face, "She just passed out. Her arm is bleeding, but I don't see any other injuries."

"Come on," Keith laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go home."

With the adrenaline fading from his body, Tristan was suddenly very aware of his own injuries. His back screamed in pain as he felt the blood ooze down his back, soaking the waistband of his jeans. Realizing that supporting Cady was adding to his pain, he slowly lowered her to the ground and whispered, "I need help."

Keith called to his sons, "Help him to the car, carefully." He knelt beside his daughter, lifted her in his arms and followed the boys from the room. Tristan could hardly walk and from behind, Keith could see how the whip cut through his jacket and into his back. "Tristan, lay down in the back seat of the car, we'll get you to the hospital right away."

"I'll walk back," Declan offered as they approached the car. "Just get them home, Dad, I'll call ahead and let them know you're coming."

Keith slid Cady into the front seat where Gideon joined her after helping Tristan into the backseat. "Let the others know we found her and to head back to the castle."

Declan nodded and pulled out his communicator as the car sped off. He had offered to walk back, or rather run, to try and work out the anger he felt. When they had burst into the room and he saw Cady cowering against the wall, he was filled with such rage it actually frightened him. He hesitated a moment as Tristan and Gideon both sprang into action. He was angry at what he saw and how he had reacted. Disgusted with himself, he jogged down the road, calling Castle Control as he went.

Tristan laid as still as he could on his side. The pain was excruciating. The seat was too short and he had to bend his knees, which only added to his agony. Any movement caused the pain to intensify and he bit his lip to keep from crying out whenever they hit a bump in the road.

But he would do it all over again for her.

When he had seen Cady huddled, trembling against the wall, his only thought was to protect her. On hindsight he realized it would have probably been better all around to have attacked the man with the whip, but he could only think of her.

"How're you doing, Tristan?" Keith called over his shoulder.

He could only manage a quiet groan.

"We'll be there in thirty seconds."

………………………………………………………………..

Cady came to about five minutes after her rescue. She blinked and stared blankly at the white ceiling above her.

"Hi there, sweetpea," Becca said as she finished wrapping the gauze around her arm. "How're you feeling?"

Cady shifted her gaze and looked at her, "What?"

"How're you feeling?"

"Um, okay, I guess. My…my arm hurts and my throat's dry."

"I'll get you a drink in a moment. Were you hurt anywhere else?" Becca asked as she examined her charge.

"No. I mean, my head hurts."

"Did you eat or drink anything?"

"No. A cloth was put over my mouth and nose and when I woke up I was in the…the room."

"You were drugged?"

"I…I think so. Yeah."

"That would explain the headache. You'll just need to take it easy tonight, eat a little something and sleep it off. You'll feel up to opening presents in the morning."

Cady lifted her arm and studied the bandage, "What about my arm?"

"Your father told me about the whip. I didn't need to do any stitching, it'll be sore for a while, but if we keep it clean and wrapped, you'll be fine before long."

"Is Sky here?"

"She's in her room. She took a pretty hard hit to the head, I put her at a grade three concussion. She's off her feet for the rest of this evening and I sent her to bed, but she's fighting it, so I'm sure she'll be up and around soon."

"But she's okay?"

"She'll be fine."

Cady closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "Aunt Becca?"

"What sweetheart?"

"Would the drug cause me to hallucinate?"

"It depends on the drug. Why?"

"I thought…I thought I saw Tristan."

Becca smiled softly, "You weren't hallucinating Cady, he's here."

"What?"

"He wanted to surprise you for Christmas, so Sky was to get you out of the castle long enough for his ship to land. He was going to hide out in Erik's quarters until tomorrow morning when he was going to surprise you. But Sky's distress call came in right after he did and he went out with your Dad to find you."

Cady sat up, shaking off the dizziness that came with rising too quickly, "Where is he?"

"He's in the room next door, Dr. Gorma is tending to him."

"What happened?"

Becca lowered herself into the chair beside the bed and folded her hands over her stomach, "Stay right where you are, young lady. You can't see him until Dr. Gorma is done any way. He has two deep lacerations on his back caused by a whipping. He'll be fine."

"When can I see him?"

"After your family comes in to fawns over you and when Dr. Gorma says you can."

"Okay," she sighed.

"Ready for the family?"

Cady nodded.

Becca pushed herself up and walked to the door. Before opening it, she turned back to Cady, "I know you're anxious, sweetie, believe me I understand. But I don't want either one of you to push yourselves too hard. Understand?"

Cady nodded.

The door was barely open before her family packed into the room. All talking at once, asking questions and demanding to know what happened. Everyone took a turn hugging her and she assured her mother she was fine, but her mind was elsewhere as she thought of the man on the other side of the wall.

……………………………………………………………………………

Erik knocked softly on Sky's door. It slid open and Darcy smiled at him.

"How is she?"

"Surprisingly well," she replied.

Erik walked in and saw Sky reclining in bed, the quilt over her lap and pillows piled behind her. She looked pale and grumpy. "Hey, Sunny, how're you feeling?"

"How's Cady?"

"She's in the hospital wing now, Becca's working on her."

"But how is she?"

"I was more worried about you," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "She was passed out but Becca didn't seem too concerned."

"Can I see her?"

"No," Darcy said. "Becca wants you to stay in bed tonight. Erik, make sure she doesn't try to get up and walk around. I'm going to get her some dinner."

Sky stuck her tongue out at her mother's back as she left the room.

"Real mature," Erik teased her.

"I'm fine."

He reached up and touched her cheek with his fingertips, "Are you?"

"Well, my head hurts a little."

He slid closer to her and pulled her into a gentle hug, "I'm sorry, Sunny."

She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed, giving in. "It really hurts."

"What can I do for you?"

"Let me go see Cady."

He lifted his head and smiled at her, "No."

"I'm worried about her."

"I'm worried about you."

"Where's Tristan?"

Erik moved so he was stretched out on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his shoulder as he recounted the story of what had happened as he had heard it from Gideon.

Sky cuddled closer to him and closed her eyes, the pain still intense, but not as bad as it had been. "Poor Tristan."

"Your father said he would find out what's going on and come fill us in."

"Is he mad?" She whispered.

"He's relieved you're going to be okay. Why would he be mad?"

"Because…because I let Cady get kidnapped."

"I told you to stop that, Sky, no one is mad at you."

She pushed herself up and flipped the covers back, "I need to see Cady."

"Sky…"

"You can help me or you can get out of the way."

"At least let me go get you a wheelchair," he pleaded.

"No, I can walk." Sky stood, feeling a little weak in the knees. "With help."

Erik was at her side in a flash, offering his arm.

When the two of the arrived at the door to Cady's room, the noise was almost deafening. The Princess was sitting on the side of bed surrounded by the twins and her sisters. Allura sat in the chair with Nicky on her lap while Keith leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his face. They seemed relaxed and happy. No one appeared angry.

"You have to start carrying your communicator," Declan chided his sister.

"Everywhere," Gideon added.

"Or we will start following you."

"Everywhere."

"The bookstore."

"The University."

"The bakery."

"The bathroom."

"Boys," Keith interrupted as the younger kids giggled. "That's enough."

"Sky!" Cady saw her in the doorway and got to her feet. "How are you? Aunt Becca said you had a concussion. Are you okay?"

Sky released Erik's arm to accept a hug from her best friend. "I'm fine, Cady. How are you?"

"I'm all right," she held her arm out. "My arm's cut up, but I'll be okay. I can't believe Tristan is here, have you seen him?"

"Not yet."

"Neither have I, they won't let me."

"Sky, honey, come in and sit down," Allura waved to her.

No one saw Erik get Keith's attention and the two of them leave.

"Aunt Becca said you were supposed to stay in bed," Cady said as the two of them settled among her siblings on the bed.

"I am, but I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm okay, I'm just dying to see Tristan."

"Dr.Gorma will let you in as soon as he can," Allura reminded her.

"What happened to you?" Charlotte asked Sky.

"I was hit in the head, hard."

"Does it hurt?" Nicky asked.

"Yeah, a little."

"Schuyler Grace!"

Sky winced when her mother stormed into the room.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Darcy demanded.

"I wanted to see Cady," Sky said quietly.

"You've seen her and now you can go back to bed. If you rest you'll be up to joining us all in the morning."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sky stood and looked at her friend. "I'll talk to you later, Cady."

"Bye, Sky."

It was Keith who met her at the door. He offered her his arm and looked at Darcy, "I'm going to walk Sky back to her room."

Puzzled, Darcy nodded.

Sky swallowed hard as they left the hospital. Her heart pounded, her head throbbed, and absolute terror coursed through her veins.

"Sky, I just spoke to Erik," he began. "I want to make it perfectly clear, right now, that no one blames you. No one is mad at you. We are very proud of you, that you were able to get help so quickly. You did the best you could and we are all thankful for that, but most of all, we're thankful that you and Cady are home safely."

"But I failed. I c-couldn't protect her."

"Cady told us it was her idea to take the shortcut and, if I know my daughter, she wouldn't let you talk her out of it. All you could do was follow her. You didn't fail Cady any more than I failed Allura when she was taken."

Sky was struck dumb. Never in her life would she ever think of Keith as a failure.

He stopped in front of her door and looked down at her, "Schuyler, I couldn't have asked for a better Red pilot. You have proven yourself to be an amazing, talented member of the Force and as long as you want to be a member, you will be. We love you, Sky, and we're proud of you."

"Thank you, Uncle Keith," she said quietly, emotion making it difficult for her to raise her voice.

"Get some rest, we want you up and ready to open presents in the morning, soldier."

She saluted, "Yes, sir. Any word on what they were trying to do with Cady?"

"Paton is questioning him tonight and I'm going down tomorrow afternoon to see what else I can find."

"Will you keep me posted?"

"Of course. Go lie down," Keith patted her cheek. "Have fun sucking up as much attention for this as you can."

In a much better mood, Sky crawled back into her bed. She was alone barely a moment when Erik and Darcy returned, her mother carrying a tray.

"Under no circumstances," Darcy said as she set the tray on the bedside table. "Are you allowed to get out of this bed until morning."

"Does that mean you'll be bringing me a chamber pot?" Sky asked.

"Don't get smart with me, young lady."

"Feeling better?" Erik asked.

"Yeah," she smiled up at him. "I am."

………………………………………………………………………….

All talk ceased when Dr. Gorma knocked on the doorframe of Cady's hospital room. She jumped to her feet and hurried over to the older man, "Dr. Gorma, how is he? Can I see him?"

He smiled kindly at her, "He's in pain, Princess, but I gave him something for it. He'll be in pain for a while, but there will be no permanent damage."

"Can I see him?"

"Yes, but I want you both to take it easy."

All Cady heard was him saying 'yes'. Without another word, she pushed past him and to the room next door. Her family watched her go.

"I guess that's the last we'll see of her for a while," Gideon muttered.

Cady entered Tristan's room and closed the door behind her. He was lying on his stomach on the bed. A white blanket was pulled up, but the edge of a large bandage showed from beneath it. His face was turned away from her and he appeared to be sleeping. Moving slowly, she walked over to his bed.

Not sure what to do, or if she should say anything, Cady stood over the bed and watched him. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched his shoulder. His skin felt cold and clammy. She gently stroked his back between his shoulders, careful to avoid the bandage and his wounds, assuring herself that he was there.

"Not now, Sky, wait until Cady's not next door," he mumbled.

She jumped back, surprised by his words.

Tristan turned his head so he faced her, a weak smile on his lips, "Hi."

"What-"

"I was kidding, Cady, I knew it was you."

"How…how are you feeling?"

"Numb."

"Numb?"

Very slowly, he rolled onto his side and looked up at her, "Dr. Gorma gave me some pain pills. Come here." He patted the bed beside him.

Cady sat on the edge, "I can't believe you're here."

"Merry Christmas."

"I wish I had known you were coming."

"It was supposed to be a surprise, a grand romantic gesture."

Cady stroked his cheek, "I used to listen to the stories of everything my parents went through, how Mom had been taken, more than once, and Dad always rescued her. I thought it had sounded so romantic. But it's not, it's scary."

"Tell me about it," he replied. "How are you? How's your arm?"

"Okay. It's not too bad."

He patted the bed again, "Lay down, Cady, I can't stretch my arm out too far."

Confused, she kicked her boots off and stretched out beside him. She laid her head on his pillow and sighed contentedly as he slid his arm around her waist and rested his forehead against hers.

"Cady," he breathed, his breath warm across her cheek. "I have missed you so much."

She closed her eyes, swallowing hard around the lump forming in her throat. "I've missed you, too," she replied hoarsely. "I'm so sorry you were hurt."

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "I would do it all over again for you."

Cady tilted her head back to meet his eyes, "I love you."

"I love you too."

…………………………………………………………………………

The Christmas Eve party had somehow moved into Sky's room. It had started with Lance, Darcy, and Erik coming to check on her. When they couldn't find Erik, Sven, Romelle, and Delora found their way to her room. After that, more and more people made their way there, food was aplenty, the televiewer was on with an old Christmas movie playing, but that only served as background noise.

Sky, Darcy, and Becca were sitting shoulder to shoulder against the headboard of her bed. Tori and Nicky sat at the foot of the bed while every chair and spot on the floor was taken.

"Where's Cady?" Nicky asked.

"She's, uh," Allura hesitated a moment. "She's helping Dr. Gorma take care of Tristan."

"With her own special kind of medicine," Declan whispered to Gideon.

Brina pinched his arm, "Behave."

"Why would he start now?" Keith asked.

Since the team was still on duty, Brina had to stay in the castle, at least for that night. Barring any problems, Keith told her she could go see her family the next day. He had already sent a squadron of volunteer soldiers to patrol the Bittor settlement, watching for any trouble.

"Come on, Dad, its Christmas," Declan said.

"If you haven't been good all year, its too late to try and impress Santa," Erik said. He sat on the floor with his back against the bed near Sky, where her fingers were idly playing with his hair.

"We hafta put cookies out," Nicky whispered to Tori.

"We'll talk to Nanny," his mother promised. "She'll set you up with some goodies."

"They better be good," Gideon said. "It's your last chance to suck up to Santa for good presents."

"Hey! I've been good," Nicky insisted.

"Yes you have," Keith assured him.

"They never tried to set a trap for Santa," Becca said.

Lance laughed, "I forgot about that!"

"What happened?" Brina asked from her seat between Declan's outstretched legs where she leaned back and rest her head on his shoulder.

The twins were sitting side by side against the wall. They exchanged a look and grinned.

"It was pretty ingenious," Gideon said.

"It almost ruined Christmas," Allura replied.

"What happened?" Brina repeated.

"Well, about twelve years ago, when the twins were six, they decided to set up a trap by the Christmas tree so they could capture Santa and get all the toys," Keith explained. "They sneaked into the rec room after everyone else had gone to bed and had some how rigged up a system where if someone stepped from the fireplace to the tree, they would trip over a wire and, ideally, fall towards the couch where they had spread a sheet on the floor covered with jam and honey, assuming Santa would stick to the sheet."

Brina gasped, "What happened?"

"I went downstairs to put a few presents under the tree," Pidge said. "I tripped over the wire, but instead of landing on the sheet, I hit the tree and knocked it over."

"He made enough noise to wake the entire castle," Becca spoke up.

"I wanted to send all their presents back to Santa," Allura said. "But no-o-o-o-o, Keith was so proud that his six year old sons had come up with that, he only told them to never do that again."

Keith shrugged, "It was pretty smart."

"Can we go get Santa cookies now?" Tori asked.

"Sure," Becca pushed herself up. "I want to make sure Cady got something to eat."

………………………………………………………………………………

Cady sat in the chair she had pulled over to the bedside, facing Tristan who was sitting up on the edge of the bed. Ten minutes earlier, Dr. Gorma stopped by to check on Tristan and he was followed by Nanny who carried a tray laden with some of Cady's favorite foods. Comfort foods, her father had called them.

"I can't believe I'm dating a Princess whose favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and chicken fingers," Tristan teased after the doctor and Nanny left.

Cady licked her lips as the smells hit her nose and made her mouth water, "You have not lived until you have tried Nanny's homemade mac and cheese." She dipped a fork into one of the two overloaded bowls on the tray and brought it his mouth.

Giving in, Tristan allowed her to slip it between his lips. As soon as the thick, warm mixture of pasta and cheese hit his tongue, he couldn't contain the "Mmmm" that escaped.

She giggled, "There is nothing wrong with mac and cheese and chicken fingers. It tastes good and makes you feel good." There were two bowls of mac and cheese beside a plate with half a dozen chicken fingers, with two small bowls, one with honey and the other with barbeque sauce. There were also two cold bottles of water and a covered dish. "There is only one thing that could make this better and I think that's it," she said, removing the cover with a flourish.

"Is that cheesecake?" He asked.

"Chocolate chip cheesecake," she grinned. "Gotta love Nanny."

They were able to finish off one bowl of macaroni and cheese and most of the chicken fingers. Cady moved to sit beside him and they fed each other the cheesecake. She smiled at him, feeling giddy and truly happy to have him with her, to share this incredibly sweet moment with him.

He smiled back, albeit weakly.

"You're hurting," she said unnecessarily. She knew he was feeling pain, but he was doing everything in his power to keep her from noticing it.

"It's nothing," Tristan replied, unconvincingly.

"When did you take your last pain pill?"

"Uh, I guess it was right after we got back."

"Here, take another one and lay down."

He allowed her to fuss over him, clear away the food and get him another pill. It felt good. "Lay with me," he whispered.

"Are you sure?"

"I didn't come all this way and get whipped so that I can't be with you."

Cady slid into the bed again, pulling the blanket up over the two of them as they returned to their earlier positions of lying on their sides, facing each other. She rested her hand on his waist as he wrapped his arm around her and twirled her hair around his fingers.

She pressed her face against his throat and breathed deep, drawing strength and comfort from having him near. "Merry Christmas, Tristan."

"Merry Christmas, Cady."

……………………………………………………………….

By eleven o'clock, the party had pretty much broken up. The stress of the day had worn on everyone and they were all eager for it to just be over. With promises to see each other in the morning, everyone went their separate ways.

Darcy was still fussing over Sky, much to her daughter's annoyance.

"Really, Mom, I just want to go to sleep and end this day."

"Becca wants you to stay awake a couple of more hours," Darcy said.

Lance stifled a yawn, "Want me to get a board game? We can all play."

"Dad, you're tired."

"I can stay up with her," Erik offered. "I'm not going to sleep any time soon."

"I'm sure," Lance said sarcastically.

Sky rolled her eyes, "Oh, please, Dad! We're not going to do anything. I have a pretty nasty headache."

Darcy chewed on her lower lip, "I don't know."

"You guys are tired, I'll be fine. Just go."

"All right," she conceded reluctantly. "But we're staying here, so if you need anything, just call us on your communicator."

"I will."

"And I'll be in to check on you."

"Good night, Mom, Dad."

They both kissed her goodnight and made her promise, again, to contact them if she needed them. Lance paused a moment to glare menacingly at Erik before he left.

"Want to watch a movie?" Erik asked when they were alone.

"I guess so."

"What do you want to watch?"

"You pick something," she yawned.

"Stay awake, Sunny."

"I am."

"I mean it."

"I know."

He slipped a disk into the player and returned to her side, pulling off his shoes and curling up in bed beside her. "How're you feeling?"

"Same old, same old," she muttered, leaning against him.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen to you, Sunny, especially at Christmas."

"At least I got your present."

"Oh yeah?" His interest was piqued, he hadn't seen any bags or packages when they had found her. "What is it?"

"It's not Christmas yet."

He glanced at the clock, "It almost is."

"If I give you your present, you have to give me mine."

"Nope, you have to wait until morning."

"Then so do you."

Erik kissed her gently, "Merry Christmas, my Sky."

"Merry Christmas, Erik."