"Sins of the Father"

2. 'Whatever you became'

"You were born a part of me,

I was never good at hiding anything.

My thoughts break me

Do you understand what you mean to me?

You are my faith.

Won't you cure my tragedy?

Won't you cure my tragedy?

Don't take her smile away from me.

She's broken and I'm far away.

Won't you cure my tragedy?"

'Cure my tragedy (A letter to God)' Cold

"The baby?" Ken ran forward and put a hand around her.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain coursing through her body. It was shooting down her legs, making them feel weak.

She nodded her head to confirm his fears.

"We have to get you to a hospital."

He breathed and helped her to her feet. He guided her to the largest monitor and in a flash of light they landed in the human world, in Ken's bedroom. He hesitated and she looked at him.

"Your parents aren't home. You parents are both at work." She gasped when pain shot through her again.

He nodded and helped her to the door.

"Sit on the couch, I'm going to call an ambulance."

She nodded and lay down on the couch. Her world seemed to swim in and out of focus. This wasn't normal; she knew it and it made her panic. How could she have been so stupid to think that her baby would be all right after an evolution?

After making the call, Ken sat next to her and took her hand. He looked down at her and she noticed he was still wearing his Kaiser uniform but his hair was smooth and chin length again. He also had a very human look about his eyes. They were filled with guilt.

"This is my fault." He mumbled.

"No," she breathed, "It's mine. I was stupid for thinking the baby and I would be all right after evolving."

"But if I hadn't…"

"We can go around this subject for hours Ken and we will still blame ourselves."

He nodded. There was a knock at the door and he quickly got up and ran to open it. He let the paramedics in and they put her on a stretcher and into the ambulance.

Once they got to the hospital, Ken sat down in the corridor and opened his D-terminal. He hesitated and then finally began typing a short message.

Kouen is in the Tamachi hospital. Something is wrong with the baby. Come quickly.

Ken.

He sent the message to everyone and then made his way back into the delivery room. He started to put on the gown and mask when a doctor turned to him and said, "I'm afraid you are going to have to leave. There's a problem with the delivery."

"What is it?" Ken asked sharply.

"The baby is breach. We would usually do a C-section in this situation, but it's already in the birth canal, which means it's in distress. Because of the irregular heartbeat we think the umbilical cord may be wrapped around it's neck."

"Oh God." Ken breathed, all the blood suddenly draining from his face.

He felt the doctor shunt him out the room and into the corridor.

He sat down on one of the chairs and held his head in his hands, trying hard not to throw up. He knew this was dangerous and that both Kouen and his nephew were in a dangerous state. A birth like this would mean a lot of blood loss on Kouen's part and her baby might be born stillborn. He sighed and suddenly looked up. The Chosen had arrived. He stood up and looked from them to his feet. Daisuke stepped forward first.

"How is she?" He asked the question as if there had been nothing in between. No possession of the Kaiser on Ken's part, no fight, as if they had being friends this whole time.

"Not good." He stated quietly. "Both Kouen and the baby are in distress."

"I should have stopped her evolving." Daisuke cursed to himself.

Yamato turned to Daisuke sharply and frowned, "She evolved? Why would she do that…?" he asked angrily but got a stern look from Hikari to drop the subject. As if to explain, Takeru looked from his brother to Ken and back again and Yamato understood.

Ken turned and began to walk away, "You're all here now. I better go."

Miyako ran to him this time, just as he threw off his Kaiser cape. "Ken, wait."

He turned slowly to her, making sure not to lock eyes with her.

"She wants you here. We all do. We've missed you."

He looked at her hands. They were shaking and they were scared. He remembered after she had gotten out of her prison cell at Osamu's base, her hands looked painfully scabbed. Finally her words reached his ears and he snorted with bitterness.

"Yeah. Right." He said bitterly with a glance at Takeru.

"Don't take what he thinks personally Ken, you know how much he hates Darkness. He hates what the Dark Seed did to you, not you personally."

She took his hand and placed it in hers. Finally he looked up into her eyes.

"How can you forgive me so easily?"

"Because I love you."

He suddenly had the sensation that there was nothing under him and he fell to his knees. He clutched his head in his hands and began sobbing.

"She can't die Miyako! I don't want to feel that again! I don't want to feel!"

She bent down and wrapped her arms around him.

"She'll be okay Ken, I know she will be."

"Who invited them?" Ryo's angry voice said from behind them.

Miyako and Ken looked around to see a hoard of reporters from various television stations and newspapers. Ken frowned and looked at Miyako for an explanation.

She sighed angrily and shook her head, "They've been hounding us for months now, trying to get information on you and Kouen…they won't leave her alone either. They want details on the son of our Ex-Tyrant. It's sick."

Ken scowled at the media circus in front of him. He grew up in front of the camera along with his brother. He was famous and not all for good reasons either, but to hound Kouen and his unborn Nephew made him feel sick with anger.

One reporter with long brown hair and a red skirt-suit spotted Ken and lunged forward with a microphone.

"Ken! You're back! Where have you been all this time and why are you wearing what looks like the uniform the Kaiser used to wear?"

Another male reporter lunged forward, "Can you tell us about Kouen? Why is she here? Is there something wrong with the baby?"

At that moment, Ryo, Yamato, Daisuke and Takeru stepped in front of Ken and Miyako and told the media crew where they could shove their microphones.

Ken couldn't believe them, making a living on someone else's tragedies was so wrong and disgusting it made him want to be physically ill. How had Kouen being coping with this all this time?

A pang of guilt hit him again. He'd been gone, left her alone to deal with all this, it wasn't fair.

What seemed like hours later, the doctor stuck his head out the door and looked around. When he spotted Ken he said, "She's asking for you." Then he spotted the media behind them and muttered about getting security down here.

Ken, shaking, got to his feet and looked in the room. To his great relief, Kouen was awake and holding a small bundle in her arms. Her brow was sweaty and she looked very pale but otherwise she was beaming. He slowly walked closer and looked down at his nephew. The baby was small and had big violet eyes that stared at Ken as if knowing exactly who he was. Tears suddenly sprang to his eyes and he smiled widely.

"That's the first time you've smiled since Osamu died." She croaked.

"Can I hold him?" Ken asked.

She nodded and he took Sam in his arms. Ken glanced at Kouen and saw she was asleep. A nurse came to the bed and took the baby from Ken and then said, "She needs to rest. She lost quite a lot of blood; it's a miracle that she's still here. We'll be moving her to the recovery ward now, you can see her when she wakes up."

Ken nodded and left the room, feeling happy for the first time in years.

Everyone looked up at him with mixed expressions. He avoided their gaze and said, "She's going to be okay. She's sleeping now but we can see her later on."

They all nodded and so he turned and walked away down the corridor. He wasn't sure where he was going but he just needed to get away from his friends. He didn't know what they were thinking and he didn't really want to know. He just wanted to forget what he had done. He wanted to forget everything between his brother's death and the birth of his nephew. He turned into a bathroom and looked into the mirror. Despite himself, tears began to form in his eyes. The thought of his nephew, Sam, stirred mixed emotions in him. A pang of guilt filled his gut, 'Sam should have a father.' He thought to himself. 'I wish you could see him Osamu. He's got your eyes. You'd be so proud.'

Tears crawled down his pale cheeks and fell to the basin below.

'I'll take care of him, Osamu. I'll protect him with my life. I'll make sure he doesn't go through what we went through.'

He bent down and cupped the running water with his hands. He splashed his face and then dried it with a towel. He took a deep breath and turned to the door. He walked down the corridor and met up with his friends again. They all looked at him expectantly, as if they already knew what he was going to say.

"I'm sorry." He stated looking into their eyes. "There is no excuse for what I did and there was no real reason for it. I made some bad choices and some horrible mistakes and I have paid for most of them and undoubtedly will pay for the rest. Things got out of control and I'm sorry. It's not enough to say that, but it's all I can say right now. I'll understand if you never want to talk to me again."

"Ken," Miyako pleaded but Daisuke cut in.

"Ken, we don't hate you if that's what you think. We know you've been through a lot lately and we understand that the wheels fell off the bus but you don't have to push us away. We forgive you."

Ken looked down and nodded, "Thank you."

"Thank you Yamato." Kouen yawned as he took the six-day-old Sam from her so she could put her bag down.

"So Ken's moving in here with you and Shinsei will still be living here?" he questioned as he sat down next to her on the couch.

She nodded, brushing her red bangs out of her eyes.

"He's picking up his stuff now." She reached to take her son back from Yamato, "He didn't want to see his parents but I told him it would be the best thing to get it out the way now, instead of leaving it for a while. I'm so surprised he's still standing, what with all he's been through."

Yamato nodded, "You should have seen him at the hospital Kouen. He looked so worried about you and Sam. It was like he was a child again. Like when he was first Chosen, just a scared little kid."

Kouen smiled sadly, "He is just a scared little kid, Yamato."

Ken placed another shirt in his suitcase and looked around. His mother entered his room and petted Wormmon on the head before looking at Ken.

"Are you sure about this Ken?" she asked quietly.

There was an unsettling tension in the air.

"I think it would be best." He replied without looking at her. "This way I can take care of both Kouen and Sam."

"Ken, you're eighteen," his father's voice entered the room. "You're too young to be a father, or act the part anyway."

This time Ken did look up, into his father's eyes, "I grew up a long time ago papa. And Sam needs a father figure in his life, I feel I need to do this."

"Ken, we don't blame you for Osamu's death, don't blame yourself…"

"Don't blame myself? I killed him!" Ken yelled incredulously and it felt good to get it out. "I did it! I'm the reason he's dead!"

"Ken," his mother sobbed, "I know you didn't want to, but he wasn't himself anymore. It was kinder, what you did, it was kinder for him."

"I know, but I still feel…feel, God, I don't know what I feel, but I just have to do this."

He closed up his bag and hugged his mother, "I'll visit, and I'll bring Sam."

She nodded and he turned to his father. To his slight surprise, his father wrapped him in an embrace.

Ken pulled away and picked up Wormmon before leaving.

"I feel like I'm kicking you out Yamato." Kouen sighed after hugging him.

"No, I said I would stay with you until the baby was born and that was the deal. If Ken wasn't moving in, I would have insisted staying to help you, but he needs to do this I think."

Kouen nodded and closed the door when Yamato left. She turned around and headed to the nursery. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Shinsei standing by the crib, staring down at Sam. Kouen felt fixated on the young girl for reasons she never questioned. Shinsei was a powerful child; just a girl of sixteen but with a burden larger than any adult would ever carry. She was an oracle and her very name meant 'divination'. A couple of years ago, Kouen would not have wanted to be in the same room as Shinsei, but now Kouen felt responsible for her, or even a connection of some sort. Perhaps it was the maternal instinct she had now. It was funny, Kouen had entered the room, bent on questioning Shinsei about why she would allow her to evolve if she knew both her and Sam would be in danger, but now, she looked at her, she felt a deep pity.

She walked into the room and looked at Shinsei. She saw tiny, shining tears fall down her cheeks. She frowned and placed a hand on the pale girl's hand.

"Shinsei?" Kouen inquired, "What's wrong?"

Shinsei looked up at Kouen, her piercing blue eyes boring into Kouen's soul, "He's very lucky."

"Sam?"

She nodded, "He has a mother who loves him."

"Shinsei…"

"I see them you know. My parents. They have a child now. She's going to look a bit like me. She'll have brown eyes though."

"Shinsei…"

"I know they didn't give me up for adoption because they didn't love me, they just couldn't afford me at the time and my gift was too much for them."

Kouen turned to Shinsei, her heart full of emotion and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"I know you were scared of me before, Kouen, but thank you for taking care of me now." She whispered as tears rolled down her face.

"It's okay Shinsei."

The girl pulled away and looked into Kouen's eyes again, "You want to know why I said you should evolve."

Kouen nodded, knowing it was futile to argue with her.

"I saw Sam before you even knew you were pregnant. I saw Ken becoming the Kaiser before he even killed Osamu. And I saw your difficult labor and how it would be brought on. What I also saw was how Ken would come back to us. He realized that if he carried on as the Kaiser, he could loose even more people he cared about. I could not interfere with that."

"I'm glad you didn't."

They turned to see Ken standing in the doorway. A shadow of a smile was on his face as he walked to the crib and looked down at his sleeping nephew.

"Are you okay?" Kouen asked him.

"You were right, facing my parents was the best thing." He sighed, "It would be easier if they did blame me you know? If they were angry, but they're not. They forgive me."

"It's your turn to forgive yourself." She soothed.

"You haven't yet, have you?"

"I'm getting there."

"I haven't seen you in quite a while, Kouen…"

Kouen lifted her head as her therapist spoke. She was seated in a comfortable, straight back leather armchair, while Kouen sat on a soft blue sofa opposite her, Sam in her arms.

"But that can be expected what with everything that's happened in the past few years." She finished.

She was a kind looking woman in her early forties with short auburn hair and big brown eyes.

"Have you been sleeping?" she asked Kouen.

"Not really. Not for a long time actually. My medication ran out a long time ago and for obvious reasons I couldn't get another prescription filled out."

Dr. Tenshei nodded and made a note on her note pad, "I'll give you another prescription for some sleeping pills. Are you still getting headaches?"

Kouen shifted her arm and glanced down at the silver ring on her wrist. "No, not anymore really."

"Good." She shifted in her seat, "Now, tell me how you are, Kouen? Last time I had a session with you, you were just out of hospital and still dealing with the voices and visions. Now, you seems much more together and have a beautiful son."

Kouen took a deep breath, "I am doing much better. But I worry about Ken. He's…closed off. He doesn't want to deal with anything, face anything. I'm not sure how to be around him, what to say."

"Do you want to send him to me for a session?"

"He won't come." She sighed deeply. "I just…don't want to loose him too, you know?"

Kouen lay awake in her bed, crying silently.

'Sam should have a father. Why couldn't I save you Osamu?'

Suddenly she heard her son crying in the next room. She got up and walked to the nursery to tend to Sam, not noticing that she was not the only one suffering with insomnia.

Ken had been looking at the books in the lounge, trying to find one that would lull him to sleep, when he made his way back to his room and to his horror saw a tall woman with long white hair, dressed in red standing in front of his computer.

His eyes widened and at first he thought she was a reporter who had somehow snuck into the apartment, "Hey! Who the hell are you?"

She turned her head slowly to him, violet glasses covered her eyes and her red lips smiled, "Hello Ken." She drawled.

"How do you know my name?" he gasped and then felt silly for asking that question, who didn't know his name?

"I know a lot about you Kaiser. You could have had it all, but you gave it up for this."

She indicated to the photo of Kouen and Sam on his desk.

"Pity."

He made to grab at her but she vanished through the computer sitting on his desk. Ken's deep frown suddenly shifted to shock and it was Sam's cries that pulled him out of his revere. He quickly ran over to the nursery and saw Kouen trying to pacify him.

Wormmon looked up at his partner and friend, "Ken? Who was that woman?"

"I don't know Wormmon, but I think she was trouble."

(AN)

Right well that was a pretty short chapter, but this is a short story. It's about six chapters long and just filling the gap between "Doppelgangland" and "Cruel Angel's Thesis". Okay, some rules about reviewing, please give me some critique. Say what you hate, what you love what needs improving and so on. Don't ask me to update because I will don't worry. I do this for practice because writing is one of the things I want to do as a career and giving me info on my writing helps me. Thanks. Till the next time…