Okay, I'm back with yet another chapter of Return to Times of Yore! This time around, we finally get to read what happens with Rosette! Yay! (grins) I'm happy, now… And I'm sorry to everyone who reviewed who didn't like the cliffie. Gomen nasai!

WARNING: See chapter 1.

WARNING 2: This chapter has childbirth and blood in it. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 or chapter 5.

Return to Times of Yore
By GundamWingFanatic90
Submitted: 25 October 2005

Past, Eden, Rosette

I released another cry of agony as I arched my back. Rizelle ran back and forth across the room, carrying bloodied towels and hot water from Shader and me to the bathroom and back again.

"Rosette, push again! One more time, and then you're home free!" my feline companion urged. I huffed over my panting, and then pushed again, as hard as I could, attempting- unsuccessfully- to bite back a yell as I expelled my child from my body in a rush of blood and water. I fell back against Chrono's bed- his room had been the closest when I went into labor- and breathed heavily as I heard Shader tie off and cut the wailing baby's umbilical cord before handing it to Rizelle to clean up.

"Alright, Rozetto-chan, you're almost done. You have a daughter, and she's so damn adorable!" Shader exclaimed. "The cramps should be mild from here on out, so it won't last much longer." However, another contraction wracked my body, and, caught off guard, I shrieked, instinctively pushing again. Once she had uncovered her ears, Shader glanced down, and I could see her eyes go wider than saucers.

"Rosette, push! There's another head!" she exclaimed. My eyes crossed, and nearly rolled back into the back of my own head at those simple words.

TWINS? I screeched in my mind. There was a squeal from Shader, and I shot her an apologetic grimace from my position. Sorry about that, Shader! She nodded, but gave me a look that clearly read, 'PUSH, DAMMIT, OR ELSE!' I acquiesced, and I felt the second baby moving along the birth canal with painstaking sluggishness, causing my whole body to throb. Taking a breath, I pushed again, with all the strength I had remaining in me, a low moan rising in my throat, and I felt the infant leave me, Shader catching it between my legs. I weakly raised myself onto my elbows and watched her tie off and cut the umbilical cord of my second child, though I couldn't tell its gender due to the sweat running down into my eyes. I scrubbed at them violently with a shaking arm, completely and totally exhausted, but it did the trick, and I could see that the baby was a boy. He was wailing louder than his sister had, and as a mild contraction shook my body, Rizelle came back in, placing my daughter in a blanket-lined basket next to the bed, looking surprised when Shader handed her my son to clean up, as well. They exchanged a couple of words that I couldn't hear, and then the pretty spider-woman headed into the bathroom to clean my son up, as well. The cat-lady then turned to me with a grin.

"Congratulations, Rozetto-chan, you are now the mother of a twin son and daughter." she announced proudly. "Let's get you cleaned up, and then you can hold them and rest, if you want." I nodded weakly, grateful for her help, and then gave one more weak push, ousting the afterbirth from my womb, which allowed Shader to dispose of it and set to washing me off. That task didn't take long- it was the bed sheets that would be a pain to clean- and then, just as she moved to help wipe my hair out of my eyes and get some of the sweat off of my face, Rizelle re-entered the room and placed my boy next to his sister in their basket.

"Thank you… both of you…" I gasped out to Shader and Rizelle. "I couldn't have… made it through this withou-… without your help." Rizelle favored me with one of her rare, genuine smiles.

"You did most of the work." she stated softly, her eyes straying to my children and then back to me. "They really are beautiful. It makes me want to have some of my own one day." A small, tired grin upturned the corners of my mouth as I glanced at the lives I had carried inside of me for so long.

"Yeah…" I breathed, and then looked up at my friends. "May I hold them?" They exchanged glances.

"Yes, if you're up to it." Shader said, beaming with a sisterly sort of pride at me. She and Rizelle each picked up one of my twins- now asleep- and walked over to me. Shader gently placed my daughter in my arms when I reached out to her before moving behind me and setting the pillow upright- I scooted back a bit to allow myself to rest against it- and then Rizelle passed my son to me. As I gazed down at my children, one resting in the crook of each arm, I could not help but feel a strong mixture of pride, love, joy, adoration, and sadness well up in my heart. I loved these two babies so much already, but with my death looming on the horizon… I shook those thoughts from my head, and grinned at them as their faces scrunched and they opened their eyes at the same time, blinking up at me with identical pairs of dark blue eyes- those would probably change as they got older.

"Hello, little ones." I whispered to them. "I'm Rosette, your mother." I could feel Shader and Rizelle's equally large grins on me as, in unison, my twin son and daughter yawned widely, before falling back asleep. I turned my proud grin up to my friends.

"You guys… this has got to be a little bit of heaven on earth, here." I said with a laugh. They chuckled in agreement, and then Shader asked,

"What are you going to name them?" I closed my eyes in thought for a couple of minutes, and then,

"Aidan, for the girl. I'll call the boy Adrian." They both bore expressions of confusion.

"Huh? What do those names mean?" Rizelle inquired. I wracked my brain for the definitions of the names, finally coming upon them.

"Well, Aidan means 'little fire' in Gaelic- I learned it from an Irishman I met in New York one time- and Adrian is Latin for 'dark one'. He's got dark eyes, see?" I explained matter-of-factly. "I learned that one from Sister Kate." I was falling asleep by this time, the exhaustion of childbirth taking its toll on me, so they didn't ask any more questions, setting the basket on the chair in the middle of the room, next to the bed, and walked out, carrying the bloodied sheets and towels. I fell asleep smelling Chrono's spicy-sweet scent and listening to my daughter and son's gentle breathing.

Yay! She had twins! (grins yet again) Aww, aren't they adorable? Well, I have to clean my room, so I hafta go, but please leave a review! 'Til the next time, sayonara!

-Fanatic