Note: All Suikoden elements belong to Konami.

Quick note: This one took a while…it was because my auntie and cousin were visiting, and I was kinda distracted…but anyways…here it is!

Rebirth

Chapter 5: Source

by ArchFaith

She heard the muffled noise of a door creaking open, of two pairs of feet making their way into the hot, stifling room where she lay, unable to move a muscle as the footsteps shuffled towards her. Drifting in and out of various states of consciousness, she momentarily lifted an eyelid, observed the dark shapes moving against the curtain, coming nearer to her as she blinked with indifference. Helpless against the whims of her own body, her ruby eye languidly closed, and she was prisoner to her inner self once more.

(-)

The blonde boy's mind was slightly agitated as he and Joker quietly entered the room. Being careful to close the door behind him, his eyes immediately darted to the weak, miserable vampire lying asleep on his messy bed; surely this did not look good to his friend. But then again, what other choices did he have? Indeed, it might have been a blessing that Joker had shown up when he did—the sooner the source of this problem was located, the better. And Joker could be trusted; out of any friend he had made since his aristocratic expulsion from Harmonia, he trusted this old scoundrel the most. No betrayal would befall this relationship; he was sure of it.

Sierra's hand rested idly upon her stomach as Nash approached the bed, the older man respectfully following behind. "Well," Joker murmured, thoughtfully observing the pale girl, "you told me she was cute, kid, but I wasn't expecting such a knockout!"

A forced half-grin formed on Nash's troubled face as he turned back to his friend. "Yeah, yeah," he answered, scratching the back of his head. "Ogling her all day isn't going to get us anywhere, old man."

"I know," Joker answered, coming to stand at the side of the bed next to Nash. "Afraid it's not going to be a very thorough exam, though…I don't have any tools with me, see. Wasn't expecting to be put on doctor's duty when I came to see ya."

"That's alright. Just have a quick look at her." His eyes darted down to her closed eyelids. "I don't know if it will take you very long to figure out what's wrong with her."

Joker nodded, his hand absently stroking his chin. "Okay then. You undress her though. Don't want you to accuse me of having sticky fingers!"

The side of Nash's mouth twitched as he quickly bent down and began to undo the clasps on Sierra's white shirt.

(-)

Two voices—one was the boy, and the other…unfamiliar. A friend of his, perhaps…? The low, muffled tones were difficult for her to discern as she drifted deep within her own unconscious mind, straining to hear through the deep veil of silence.

"….cute…such a…."

"…figure out what's….her…"

"…me…sticky fingers…"

The two voices ebbed and convulsed like ocean tides, developing slowly into a deep, loud murmuring. As much as she tried to open her eyes, tried to tune her ears to hear the conversation, it was a failed venture. Senses dulled, she reluctantly sought to keep awake, to keep one little ounce of her spirit active as she strained to put some kind of meaning into the conversation they were having.

Hmm…apparently Nash meant for this strange man to examine her. Insolent fool, she thought angrily, the frustrated thoughts burning through her inner soul. How dare he allow a complete stranger to see me as such? Perhaps he wants to show off the prize he has won…perhaps he will abandon me to my fate…

The incoherent ideas tumbled in and out of her mind as she felt Nash's familiar hands slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Try as she might, she could not move a muscle—if she had been able to do so, she would have killed them both, Nash and this strange doctor. Embarrassing enough that she had to be seen by anyone in this condition; that she should be seen unclothed by a stranger…

Such an idiot, boy. As always…but you will pay for this in time.

She let herself be comforted by the vengeful thought as unfamiliar hands, calloused but gentle, suddenly set themselves against her heart, underneath her breasts. She sighed as she slowly reminded herself that there was nothing she could do about it; perhaps the best thing would be to allow this mortal doctor to examine her, no matter how embarrassing it might be. There might be a small chance that whatever he had to say was worth hearing.

"…low heartbeat….weird…"

"Oh…always been…born with it."

At least the boy was trying to make a good excuse for her extremely low heart rate. Unable to do anything, she quickly realized that Nash was only trying to do the best for her, and that to spite him for any humiliation she might feel was foolish. Praying beyond hope that this doctor was an honest man, she resigned herself to the subconscious as the examination moved down her ribcage, and onto her white stomach.

Here the hands gently pressed against her abdomen, causing a tight little wall of pain to suddenly spring up inside of her. Her mind rapidly tried to suppress the pressure as the doctor's hands settled onto her stomach, gently patting the area around her bellybutton. What was so important about her stomach, anyway? She was sure the center of pain was located elsewhere…

"…careful…gentle…"

The hands rested on her stomach for a while, gently massaging and patting her abdomen for a few minutes as her puzzled mind seemed to turn over in impatience. She heard Nash shuffling his feet—he was becoming restless. And so was she. What exactly was this man doing? Why was he focusing so much on her stomach? Surely there had to be other places in her body that needed to be looked at; her head, her legs…her stomach had only very recently started to pain her. Of course any stomach cramps weren't the main problem…

The hands suddenly left her body, and she heard the strange man turn around as he stood up.

"…serious….go outside…"

The next sensation was of Nash quickly buttoning up her shirt again, then turning to leave the room with the doctor following behind him. Apparently something had happened—something had troubled the doctor, caused him to become disturbed or curious. It was probably due to her vampiric anatomy; perhaps something inside was not quite the way it would be in a mortal, and this had scared him.

Well, she couldn't blame him. She was quite a strange woman, that was true. But…perhaps it could have been….something else entirely? But what, then? What could this illness possibly be? She had given up on any rational claims, and doubted that the interference of a mortal doctor would contribute to the scant information she had already gathered.

The last bit of energy was used up, and the small part of activity her soul was witnessing slowly began to fade. Resolving to consult—and beat up—Nash when she awoke, she let her weary body drift into fitful slumber.

(-)

"I tell ya, kid. They train all the medical students to be able to tell the symptoms."

Nash's eyes were wide as he stared back at the older man. "That's just not possible, Joker. I mean…it's impossible…"

"And why wouldn't it be?" Joker leaned against the arm of the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest. A frown formed on his lips as he eyed the blonde swordsman. "You're a man, she's a woman. Put two and two together."

His mind reeled at the information his friend had just imparted with him. Of course he had had an inkling of it, had felt that this result might be a possibility; but it had never actually crossed his mind that it would come true. Never.

It was impossible…

"Listen now," he began, his azure eyes blazing as he looked to his friend. "You might think it's a natural thing, but it isn't natural. For Sierra, anyway. She can't do that…she lost the ability to do that a long time ago."

Joker shook his head. "Well, if that's what she told you she was wrong. Nope…everything's working just fine inside her. The conditions were just right, I reckon…"

The blonde boy creased his eyebrows in frustration. "You don't understand, Joker…Sierra has many abilities, but she just can't—"

Joker unwaveringly shook his head. "I've seen a few of these cases before, kid. I oughta know…and I hate to tell you this, but it looks like you and her weren't thinking well enough of the consequences when you two had your time together. It's harsh, but it's the truth."

"There wasn't any need to think of consequences!" His voice had risen to a shout now, as an angry frown crossed his lips. "Look, Sierra is…well, different. Her body is different from a normal woman's…and it's impossible for her to—"

Joker sighed deeply. "Well, you aren't going to listen to me, I see." He gave Nash a serious look before he continued. "But then how are you going to explain her illnesses? Migraines, leg cramps…then this fainting episode this morning. And I examined her, Nash. You mentioned something about being careful near her stomach…c'mon now, didn't you have a feeling something like this was gonna come up?"

It was Nash's turn to sigh as he brought his hand up to his forehead, praying that a migraine of his own would not suddenly turn up. "I don't know. I just…ah…" Dominguez, noticing his master's troubled air, swooped off the edge of the cabinet and landed squarely on Nash's shoulder. As the bird affectionately nibbled on his earlobe he raised his head. "Listen…thanks for stopping by, old man. Sorry your visit had to turn into such a mess."

Joker shook his head. "Don't worry about me, kid. Worry about her. And you. And how you're gonna deal with all this when the times comes."

Nash watched, with a seeming indifference, as Joker quietly found his way to the door. Clasping the metal knob with a strong hand, he stopped on the threshold as he turned back to his young friend. "Listen…if you'd want it…I know some people who do a little side business for girls like her…they could help you out…"

Glaring with a hawk like intensity, the boy's azure eyes quickly traveled to his older friend. "I appreciate your advice…but I'm not even going to consider doing that," he declared, calmly brushing Dominguez off his shoulder without hesitation.

Joker nodded, as if in anticipation of the answer. "I knew you wouldn't. I never would either. Just thought you might like to know." He cocked his head in sympathy as he observed the frustrated look on the boy's face. "You're pretty young yet, kid. Look…if you need me to look at her again, I'll be at my usual room at headquarters, alright? Don't think twice about calling for me."

His azure eyes seemed glued to the ground as he opened his mouth to speak. "Thanks," was the only word he could choke out. Frowning, Joker gently shut the door, the frame gently trembling as the boy heard his heavy footsteps padding against the sandy floor of the ground outside the house.

A sudden, almost gasping sigh escaped his throat as his eyes remained on the closed wooden door, his eyes tracing the small cracks etched onto the smooth surface.

"Master?" the bird's high-pitched voice squawked. "Master?"

He did not answer; his mind, worried and anxious only a few minutes ago, was now…now…he did not know what it was. Perplexed? Definitely. Protective? That as well. And ever more worried and anxious. Now he wished he had never asked Joker to examine Sierra…it had only brought another unexpected problem into his life, one he did not possibly handle…

But it could not be so! It was impossible for a vampire to do such a thing! Surely Joker had mistaken her condition; her body had stopped functioning normally over eight hundred years ago—why would it start working again now? What had brought it to be? And if it were always possible for Sierra to achieve such a condition, then why hadn't it occurred when she was with Rean?

But still, he had had a notion that Sierra's condition was not coincidental; Joker had only confirmed it. The voice, the small voice that had spoken to him just last night…so firm, yet still so uneasy. But truthful.

Besides, what other possible cause could there be?

His distraught reverie was suddenly brought to a close by a muffled stirring from the bedroom. Raising his head, he automatically walked to the door, slightly ajar, and glanced inside. The vampire's ruby eyes were half-open; her face turned to his as soon as she saw him appear at the door. Too weak to summon an angry face, she settled upon a questioning glance as she slowly made a simple gesture with her hand.

In a moment he was sitting down next to her, his hand tightly grasping hers. "You…you have quite a nerve, my boy," she whispered, her eyes staring up at his. "I assure you, if I were not confined to this deathbed you would be dead in the blink of an eye."

His normal response would be to tease and ridicule her; but he could not think up a standard retort in his troubled state of mind. "Sorry, old girl," he answered weakly. "I just thought having my friend take a look at you would be of some help to us."

"Oh? And I suppose 'your friend' is an expert at such things, is he? He looked like another one of your low-down, drunken mercenary friends to me."

"He was trained as a doctor for two years before he joined the SFDF…I was thinking he might have a clue as to what was wrong."

"Hmph…you have no idea how humiliating it was for me," she whined, her thin mouth twisting into a pout. "To lie naked in front of a total stranger! What were you aiming to do, you idiot? Show off your captive prize?"

He knew that her feelings were only surface-deep; that somewhere, within her soul, she herself felt just as anxious and tortured as he did. He looked into her ruby eyes once again; his serious demeanor, so different from his usual teases, caught her quite off guard. The worried look on his face literally killed any negative feelings she had towards him; in a sudden wash of guilt, she inexplicably felt red tears welling up under her eyelids. "Ahh," she whispered, as a crimson stream slowly formed down her cheek. "You are upset."

In a moment his fingers were gently wiping the stream away. "Why are you crying, old girl?"

She shook her head. "I do not know. Perhaps it is because you seem distressed." She closed her eyes. "Perhaps it is because we have so few options open to us…I am sorry for bringing this pain to you, Nash; I brought you so much grief months ago, and I have only returned to bring you more."

"Don't say that," he whispered as he reached out his hand, twirled a strand of silvery hair between his fingertips. "I'm not upset, you see…just kind of shocked. But not upset."

She cocked her head. "Shocked?" she repeated, sitting up, propping her back against the white pillow. "Why? What did that man say to you? Surely his thoughts are misguided…he was examining me as he would a mortal patient, when I am much more than that."

He did not reply.

"Nash?"

No reply.

"You imbecile!" she exclaimed, some of the old acidity returning as she quickly reached out to give him a mild slap on the cheek. "You claim to be a man, yet your actions are like those of a child! Will you not tell me what he said? What could possibly be so disturbing to you?"

He raised his eyes to hers, trying, in one instant, to convey everything he felt for her—love, admiration, frustration, pain…all those things. More. She had to know that he needed her, that he could not survive without her; and that it was right, it was right she had returned to him now; now, in this most impossible position, they had to go together. They could not go through it apart.

He grasped her hand tightly as he steadily held her bewildered gaze.

"You're pregnant, Sierra."

To be continued…

Author's note: Well, there ya go! Hope it was dramatic enough…and yeah, I think most of you got the picture and knew that yes, Sierra (and Nash) have a little bun in the oven...And yeah yeah yeah, vampires can't pregnant and all that, but don't worry…I've got it all planned out. It's all gonna work out in the end, just wait and see. I'll have a good explanation. And please stay tuned for the next chapter…it'll be a smash, I'll tell you that! Now please review, it really brightens up my days to hear all your comments and constructive criticism regarding this fic of mine!

Kuroi Neko-kun: Pick, pick, pick! Well, I hope your brain feels alright now…

GreatLight432: Hehehe…Nash is basically shocked out of his mind…as for Sierra…well, we'll see…

Virtue: Sorry bout the wait! I'll try to write faster next time, teehee.

Aoi-butterfly: Uh, not sure what you mean. This story takes place after Suikoden II for Sierra, and after both Suikogaidens I and II for Nash. But before Suikoden III, though. So Nash isn't all old yet.

Next chapter: It's impossible…but it's real. A miracle, or a curse is disguise? Sierra refuses to believe while Nash does her worrying for her.