Chapter 11: Realizations

"I can't believe this happened to my friends…" Kayla sobbed quietly as she sat in the waiting room of the hospital. "They're fighting for their lives and there's nothing I can do about it! Oh, what do I do?"

"It's okay Kayla we're here now." Sage said as Rowen, Ryo, and Kento entered the hospital lobby behind him.

"We felt Cye and Clara's energy disappear." Ryo said as he knelt down by Kayla's chair and looked up into her eyes, searching them for an answer. "What happened?"

"It's…a long story…"

Clara woke up to find herself in a small beige colored room laying on an examining table with a large white belt wrapped around her stomach. This can't be good. Something's happened to me, I'm in danger here… she thought as her eyes darted around the room.

"You're not in danger, young phoenix." Came a gentle voice that slowly floated towards her like waves as a figure slowly walked into the room, concealed by shadows.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Clara asked, terrified of what might happen next but dared not show it.

"I'm a friend. My name is Dakota Roxann Wind-Song." The figure responded softly as a young woman with dark tan colored skin and ivory black hair that fell past her shoulders walked into the room. Slowly she walked over to Clara's bedside and sat down as she took her hand. "Like Anubis, I was born with the ability and responsibility of watching over the guardians of earth. I know how you came to be on earth, how you were sent to this time and befriended the Ronin Warriors, how they were torn away from you while trying to protect you, and I know how much you sacrificed to reunite them. Very soon, your love for your friends and the strength of your powers will be pushed to the brink of destruction."

"Then you know about the vision I saw when I touched Cye." Clara said as she quietly looked into the girl's violet eyes. "Please can you tell me what it means?"

"All I can tell you for sure is that the world will be put into grave danger because of you and that eventually you will have to choose between your love for your friends and the fate of world. It will not be an easy decision, but I know you will make the right choice and in the end everything will be all right. But now we must talk about why you're here right now." Dakota said as she turned to a computer screen and flipped on a switch, then resumed talking. "Right now you're going through some changes and this will happen on and off for approximately the next nine months."

"What do you mean?" Clara asked as she stared at her with wide eyes.

"You're pregnant Clara, congratulations!" Dakota said cheerfully as she held out her hand to congratulate her, but to her surprise Clara drew back.

"That…that's impossible, the doctor told me I could never get pregnant because of a rare genetic disorder…" Clara said in shock as she tried to come to grips with the situation. Then suddenly she remembered Chaos' words "More than one life depends on your survival, somehow he knows that my child can change the future."

"You mean your children," Dakota corrected her with a smile, "you're carrying twins. Would you like me to go tell Rowen the good news?"

"No thanks," Clara answered her new friend with a small smile. "I want to tell him myself."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that."

Meanwhile as Dr. Thompson tried to repair the damage done to Cye's body, it soon became painfully obvious that the young man's body couldn't take much more stress.

"Audrey what do you think?" he asked as he turned to his assistant. "Should we use the bionic implants we used on Clara?"

"I don't know doc…" Audrey said as she thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "We could try it, but I don't know how well he'll respond to that."

Suddenly as if in response, Cye's heart monitor suddenly went into a flat line as Dr. Thompson bowed his head.

"We've done all we can do, now we just have to pray for a miracle." He said sadly as he began to prepare himself for defeat when Audrey's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Not unless we make ourselves one!" Audrey said with a grin on her face as she leaned in and whispered her plan to Dr. Thompson.

Cye found himself floating through a vast empty darkness that stretched out for as far as the eye could see. Slowly he could feel his limbs going numb as he realized what was happening to him. So this is how I die…Clara, tell Kayla I love her and that I'm sorry we couldn't be together…

Tell her yourself. Clara responded as her spirit materialized in front of him. You're stronger than this Cye, you can't let it beat you!

But I'm so weak…I don't know if I can… Cye answered sadly as Clara gently took his hand and smiled.

You're not alone Cye, never forget that… Clara replied with a warm smile on her face as she disappeared.

Cye, please come back to me. I don't want to be alone… Cye's head jerked up as he heard Kayla's voice echoing around him and he came to a decision.

I CAN BEAT THIS! he screamed as he clenched his fists down at his side and began to draw upon his energy. As he felt it slowly draining away, a light purple streak of energy came from nowhere and flew into his body as he heard Kayla's voice once more.

We can beat this together…I'll be waiting for you.

"How's he doing?" Kayla asked anxiously. "Can I go see him?"

"He's doing great." Audrey said with a large smile on her face. "Just as soon as we had opened him up to get to his heart, it suddenly began beating normally again. You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?"

"I kind of helped." Kayla shyly admitted as her friend smiled. "Well can I go see him?"

"Sure go ahead." Audrey said with a coy smile on her face as Kayla entered the room.

"Hey beautiful," Kayla said softly as she crossed the room to Cye's bedside and gently brushed his matted hair away from his face. He moaned softly in his sleep as he slowly turned his head towards her and opened his eyes. "feeling better?"

"I've felt better," he managed to croak softly as he squeezed her hand softly. "I have a surprise for you, go open the door."

Slowly Kayla went over and opened the door as a fuzzy red-haired kitten lumbered into the room with awkward clumsiness. Giggling, Kayla bent down, scooped the kitten in her arms, and gasped in surprise as she found a ring tied around his neck with a note attached as well: Will you marry me?

"Oh Cye!" Kayla cried as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him until he started gagging. "Of course I will! By the way, what should we name him?"

"How about Shin?" he asked with a grin on his face.