Colonel Freiheit watched the cadets training from the window in his office. He loved the spirit they possessed, but they were lacking in grades. Nobody had passed the Gauntlet, and that was necessary to become a member of the Guardian Force.

"Well, what do you suggest we do? Run another test now, or later?" Colonel Thomas Schubaltz looked over at his partner.

"Let's give these guys a break. We'll run another test later." Van sighed in exhaustion. The new cadets were promising young men and women, but their training wasn't over, yet.

Fiona burst into the room, which gave both colonels a start. She ran over to the computer and checked the messages in front of Van. "You've got to see this!"

Van was glad to see Fiona so happy, even if he didn't understand why. "What's going on?"

"We're finally receiving responses to those invitations we sent out. See for yourself."

Thomas and Van scrolled through a few names until they stopped at a certain one.

"Bit Cloud…" Van whispered the name to himself over and over as he looked at the application.

Fiona was tearing up as she saw her husband's state of disbelief turn into a joyful expression. Finally, Van said something else, "Our son's coming home."

She nodded her head as Van grabbed her to give her a hug. They held each other for a while as the idea sunk into them. After sixteen years, they would finally see their son.

Catherine walked in and took her husband's hand, "Come with me. They need some time alone, Thomas."

He nodded his head and followed his wife out of the room.

"When is his arrival time?" Van pulled away from Fiona as she went to a desk in the back of the room.

"He should arrive tomorrow. We're expecting six or seven people." She found what she was looking for. It was a scrapbook that seemed years old.

She sat down and opened up it for the hundredth time. In the beginning, there were wedding and baby pictures. Most of Bit's life was a mystery to them, but when the Zoid battles began, Fiona had spotted her son once again. There were several pictures of the Blitz Team and profiles supplied from the Zoids Battle Commission. She had read over them so many times that she felt she knew them personally. The rest of the book followed Bit's career ending at the Royal Cup Tournament.

A chilling thought entered Fiona's mind as fear flashed through her husband's eyes. "Van, I just thought of something."

He nodded his head slowly, "I just thought of something, too."

"But all these years have passed, they couldn't…" Fiona's thoughts trailed off as she pulled the book closer.

"We still can't take that risk."

"I'm tired of this, Van. I want to see our son again. I want to be able to look at him in person. I'm tired of living in fear of his life."

Van leaned up against the desk and looked at the ground. "He's not a little boy anymore. I don't think he'd have a problem fighting anybody that got in his way."

Fiona nodded her head in agreement. "Think of it Van, after all this time, we could be a family again."

"I wonder what we should tell him. He grew up knowing different parents. It would be hard to explain to him why we did what we did."

"You're right," Fiona was having a hard time speaking, "maybe it would be best if we--if we just acted like recruiters for the Guardian Force when he first arrives. Then after we get to know him, we could think about telling him."

Catherine had to keep dragging Thomas down the hall to keep him from listening to the conversation only a few feet away.

"C'mon Thomas, they could use the time alone. Let's go do something. What do you say?"

The colonel had a confused look, "Could it be their son that's coming to apply for a position here?"

Catherine loved her husband very much, but she couldn't understand how an intelligent man like Thomas could be so dense as well. "It looks that way. Do you doubt it's really him?"

He shook his head, "No, it's just been so long since I've seen him. It's hard to believe."

"I remember when Van and Fiona made the decision to let Bit go. I don't know if I could be that brave. I know you cared for her, and it must have hurt you in some way, too." In the back of Catherine's mind, she thought about how she could not have children of her own.

Thomas' bright green eyes looked serious as he spoke his words carefully, "I cared for Fiona at one time, but I also know that Van cares for her more. And nobody could care for you more than I do."

He never stopped amazing her, and she still didn't know how he did it. "Let's go home for a while."

This time, Thomas was the one leading Catherine.