Chapter Twenty
At the sound of Piper's voice, Cole jumped forward. "LET GO OF HER! GIVE HER ROOM TO BREATHE! PIPER! PIPER, TALK TO ME!" He was very shaky, but he knew he had heard Piper's voice and that, by some miracle, she had been returned to them!
Joxer stared at Cole as though he was nuts even as he pulled Phoebe away so that he could not hurt her in his mad dash to reach Piper.
"Cole!" Piper called. "Where are you! Where are we!" Her heart roared within her chest. Was that really him, or was this a horrid, cruel trick of some kind?
"Piper, I'm right here," he reassured her.
It wasn't until every one had grown quiet and was staring at Cole because of his outburst that they, too, could hear Piper talking. Prue ran back from the stairs. Had the mere mention of the Book caused the Book to make Piper become a Zombie! All Prue knew was that Piper was back and she was glad of it! "Piper!" she cried and went down on her knees to hug her sister. "Thank the Gods you have returned!"
Even as Piper hugged Prue tightly, her confusion grew. She knew Cole and Prue were there yet she still could not see anything! "What's going on?" she asked. "Cole? Prue? I know you're . . . " She was broke off as she was tackled on another side by Phoebe and Paige simultaneously with joyous cries. They hugged their sister tightly, clinging to her as though they'd never let go.
Prue waved her hand in front of Piper's face. "Can you see me?" she asked.
"No!" Piper cried. "Everything's so dark! Where are you . . . "
She was broken off as Prue cried, "Brendan!"
Brendan was by her side in an instant. "Somebody get me a candle!"
Joxer ran for a candle, carried it back very carefully, and handed it to Brendan. Phoebe smiled at him. "Thanks, Joxxy." He moved back to stand beside Carl.
Brendan hooked a hand under Piper's chin and gently tilted her head, moving the candle in the same directions as he did her head. He examined her eyes intently as he did so but finally shook his head. Then he moved the candle back and forth in front of Piper's eyes. "Piper, can you see any light?"
Her growing confusion and worry were tearing at Piper's mind. She'd felt some one moving her head back and forth and had allowed them to do so even as her questions had ran rampant. Where was she? What was happening? Were the others okay, and where had Cole gotten off to! "No! Why do you keep asking me if I can see! It's too dark in here!"
"Piper, it's not dark in here. It's light. We don't know if the damage to your eyes is temporary or permanent. Only time will tell." He hoped Prue was not too disappointed, but surely she couldn't be? After all, her sister may be blind, but she was alive!
Crystal spoke up quietly from behind Brendan and Prue. "The crystal," she tried to explain, "must not be capable of restoring senses. It's never been tried on that before."
Piper could not believe what she was hearing. "You're telling me . . . " she asked Brendan in a quiet but determinedly even and still voice, "that I'm . . . blind?"
He nodded. "Yes." He then added quietly, "I'm sorry."
The blindness scared Piper, but still as concerned as she was over that, her concern for the others and relief and joy that she still lived and had been granted a chance to straighten her life out was far greater. "Then somebody tell me what the heck's going on!" she pleaded. "Cole . . . My sisters . . . Are they okay!"
Prue reached out and touched Piper. "I'm right here, Piper, and all of us are okay. Do you remember anything of what happened?"
"What about Auntie 'Ro?" Piper asked her. "They got her first!"
"I am here, my child," Ororo gently touched Piper's leg, "and I am fine, thanks to the Lewis sisters."
Piper shook her head even as she fought tears down. "Cole?" she asked. "Where's Cole? I know I heard him!"
He reached out his hand and touched her. "I'm right here, Piper. I'm fine. I haven't gone anywhere. I just moved out of the way and let your family get close to you." He now slipped his arm around her waist. "I never did get my answer this morning, so I didn't know . . . where I stood? Or where you wanted me to stand? Family comes first, so I moved and let your sisters get to you."
"Cole . . . " She had barely began to speak when she was interrupted by Phoebe.
"What do you remember?" Phoebe called to her. "Did you see anything?"
"I did," Piper admitted in a quiet voice. She reached out her hands, seeking Cole's hand with one and Prue's with the other.
Cole was glad to be able to hold Piper's hand. He wanted to pull her closer to him and kiss her but did not want her family going crazy because of it. He had told Piper he would not give them away, but he wasn't going anywhere unless she sent him!
Piper felt Cole take her hand, and she squeezed his gently and reassuringly. She also felt Prue take her other hand, and her fingers entwined with her sister's. "I . . . I saw Mother," she announced, "and Grandmother."
Cole looked at her with a strange look on his face. So that's what was taking so long. They almost didn't let her come back! He didn't know what had brought her back, but he had closed his eyes and quickly thanked the Goddess for her safe return. "Piper, if you'll allow me, I'll be yours eyes until your sight comes back."
She nodded. "Thank you, Cole. I . . . " She could think of no one she trusted more than he and Prue, and still she preferred him hands down. Besides, that'd give her an excuse to be with him more without dashing her lady image to bits. It was then that she remembered her mother's words. She had told her to be happy, but what did that mean? Piper knew in an instant as she was faced with the situation with Cole and his looming question. She had always placed her family before her own happiness, but if her mother was telling her to be happy . . . It could only mean one thing. "I would like that," she told him, "but first, I have an announcement to make, one I want you and my sisters to hear."
Prue was full of questions. "You saw Mother and Grandmother and yet you got to come back! That's wonderful! But what kind of announcement do you have? What Grandmother and Mother had to say?"
"That's part of it," Piper answered her with a nod. "They send their love, and . . . they want us to be happy. Prue, Phoebe, Paige . . . You're my sisters. I love you, and I will always treasure my family." She took a deep breath. "But it's time I started being true to myself."
Paige looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Cole wondered if Piper was about to expose them. He had thought she meant to keep it quiet. "Piper? Are you sure you want to do this?"
Her hand slipped from his, and she had to grope in the darkness for a moment before finding his face. Her hand ran lightly over his cheek before touching her fingertips to his lips. "Absolutely."
He kissed her fingertips before taking her hand again. He now braced himself for the attack he figured was about to hit.
"I have tried . . . all my life to set the example you needed set. Not that Phoebe and Paige have ever bothered to pay much attention to it." Her younger sisters thought of protesting but were too glad to have their sister back to say anything naughty. "I never had a reason not to act that part before, but now . . . Now I do, and you're going to have . . . to find another role model . . . Because I'm in love."
Cole smiled at her. He knew she couldn't see it, and then he squeezed her hand, trying to give her courage to say what she needed to say.
Prue looked at Piper. She hoped she was about to say what she thought she might be about to say. If it was, she thought it was more than past due time that Piper chose to be her own woman.
Phoebe and Paige looked at Piper in confusion. What could be so important that Piper was trying desperately to tell them about being a role model? They had had fun all their lives and never paid any attention to Piper's attempt to be a role model!
"I'm in love," Piper continued, "with Cole, and I'm going to follow that path." She really did not know how to make it any clearer for them.
"'Bout time!" Prue said. "Congratulations!" She hugged Piper and then moved so that Phoebe and Paige could also reach Piper. Prue reached out a hand and offered it to Cole. "Congratulations, Cole. You'd better treat her right!"
"You can count on that," Cole told her. "I never thought I'd get to be so lucky!"
"Piper, are you sure?" Phoebe asked her sister as she moved to take Prue's place in front of Piper.
Piper frowned in confusion. "Sure of what?"
"Cole," Phoebe clarified.
"Of course I'm sure, Phoebe! I would never . . . do this otherwise!" Nor would she have done what she'd done the night before!
Phoebe shook her head before announcing, "Guess Auntie 'Ro and I are the only ladies left."
Ororo cleared her throat. "Do not be so sure about that," she whispered. When the girls looked at her in surprise, she quickly clarified, "I plan to stay with this crew and . . . " She thought quickly. " . . . be the best Piratess I can be!"
"WHAT!" Prue asked. "I don't believe you!" Then Prue looked at Wolverine standing ever so close to 'Ro. "I think I understand," Prue said with a grin. Her own eyes darted quickly around the room, trying to see where Brendan had sneaked off to, but she could not see him anywhere. Figures. I'm not going to be the role model, and he's not going to get away that easy!
Paige's mouth was still open as she turned from staring at Piper to look at Ororo. "All right!" she announced. "That's enough of that!"
Ororo looked at Paige cautiously. She tried to smile. "Enough of what, dear?"
"Enough of that crap!"
"Paige!" Piper admonished.
"Not now, Piper! If you've got enough courage to stand up and let the world know what you did last night, Aunt 'Ro should too!" Both Piper's and Ororo's mouths dropped open in shock. Phoebe, feeling the room's attention on them, tried to move to cover her younger sister's mouth, but was not in time. "Don't look so innocent! We're a family; we shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other! Besides, I know what you both did -- " She side stepped Phoebe's grabbing attempt.
Prue stared at Paige. "Paige, just because you had a good time last night, doesn't mean you have to drag the rest of us into it with you!"
"Prue, I'm not making this up!" Paige told her. "Look. It wasn't just me, and it wasn't just them. There was a load of loving going on in this house last night!" She noticed several blushes. "All I'm saying," she relented a tad bit, "is that we are a family and we shouldn't have to hide what we're doing. So what if they're not ladies? Who wants to be a lady any damn way!"
Prue stared Paige down. "And I suppose you think I was in a party of that too? Let me tell you a little secret: I slept with Brendan last night!"
There was a crashing sound in the kitchen, but Paige's attention was diverted by that for only a second. "Well," she told Prue with a grin, "congratulations! I don't know how you managed to keep it quiet when the others didn't, though!"
"I have my ways," Prue replied with a wicked, little smile. "Don't need a whole world as an audience! Now leave the others alone! What we do in the privacy of our bedrooms should be just that -- private!"
"All I'm saying is that we shouldn't have to fake who we are!"
Ororo sighed. "The girl does have a point," she admitted.
Wolverine growled. He wasn't about to stand there and say he took 'Ro, but he wouldn't deny it if she said that they had! It had been the best night of his life!
Ororo had never chose her words more carefully in her entire life. "Paige," she said, looking the redhead directly in her face, "I understand your concern yet . . . whatever . . . fun we may or may not have had last night and whatever repercussions may fall from that . . . do not dictate who we are. However, you are still right for I have been hiding part of myself from you girls. I promise you that will stop this day. Life is too short for secrets or," she glanced at Piper as she knew her next words held true for them both, "concealing our true selves."
Prue smiled when she heard the racket in the kitchen. Brendan was running! At least now she knew where he was hiding! Had he heard her words? She had never stopped to think that he might think that she had taken advantage of him. After all, he sure wasn't giving it up willingly! She'd have to talk to him about it later even if he did blush and attempt to run away from her when she tried. She didn't want him thinking that she'd ever do anything like that to him! When 'Ro had not given herself away, Prue thought, Thatta girl, Aunt 'Ro!
Ororo's words had silenced Paige, and 'Ro had to smile. "So what do you say, my girls?" she asked her goddaughters, not realizing that she had actually called them her girls for the first time. "No more secrets amongst us but we leave whatever happens in that part of our lives in private unless, for some reason, the woman wishes to talk about it?"
"That's a good idea!" Prue said.
Phoebe agreed. She didn't want any one else to know that she and Joxxy had not been doing it!
Piper nodded. "Exactly what I was trying to say."
Paige turned to her family with open hands and an innocent look. "That's all I was trying to get at! We just don't need to hide from each other!"
Piper looked like she was exhausted, Cole thought. He wondered if he could spirit her away from her sisters for a while? "Piper? Would you like to rest for a while?"
Piper was about to answer Cole when the door to the kitchen opened and a Chinese man carrying a steaming mug entered. "Oh no! The breakfast!"
Chong looked at her. "It is well under way, but I am looking for a fellow by the name of . . . Angel, I believe?"
"That's me," Angel called out. "What do you need?"
"A man with shaggy hair," Chong explained while walking over to Angel, "told me to give you this." He held the mug out to him. "It is for the lady."
"Cordy?" Angel said, taking the mug. "Brendan fixed this for you. I know what it is. It'll do you good, but it'll taste like crap going down."
Cordelia's nose wrinkled as she looked in the mug. Whatever that drink was, it looked like mud! She imagined it probably tasted worse. "What does it do?"
"Cures hangovers. I imagine you've got a really bad one, darling, from that champagne. You look like you're sick this morning, and you've got a hard day ahead of you. We need to get started training."
Cordelia sighed. "You're right," she admitted. Still, she didn't want to even touch, let alone drink, the concoction staring her in the face. She felt like crap and had been fighting the urge to run for the bathroom for a while now. There was no way she could train with Angel until she felt better, but if she declined the training this day, he may never give her another chance out of the belief that she didn't really want to learn or do what he did. "Oh, well." She tried to mask her disgustedness with a cheery smile as she forced herself to take the mug. "Bottom's up!"
The urge to spit the horrid stuff out filled her stomach the very instant she began drinking it. Her nose wrinkled, but still she continued until there was not a drop left. She had just been about to hand the mug back to the Chinese man when something hit her gut. The mug slipped from her hands and she left them to catch it as she fled up the stairs.
Angel caught the mug and handed it back to Chong. "That'll keep her down for a while." He hated the fact that she was sick and wouldn't be able to start training. He hoped she would be better tomorrow and able to start her training today. He followed Cordelia up the stairs. "Can I do anything for you, sweetheart?" he called through the door.
Cordelia had just spat up food that was so far beyond Piper's supper the night of the wreck that she didn't even know when she'd ate it. She trembled but then froze as she heard Angel calling to her. He couldn't see her like this! "No!" She quickly tried again in a cheery voice, "Not right now, love! Why don't you go help your Captain?" She couldn't believe she was sending him to dinosaurs but knew that allowing him to do his duty would keep him from seeing her sick!
"Okay, but if you get to feeling better, Cordy, let me know so I can start your training!" He almost sprinted from the room, heading straight for the basement, in hopes to be able to fight only to see the others begin to slowly leave the basement. They looked like Hell! The dinosaurs had torn their clothes all to Hell, and they were all covered in blood!
Angel was still taking in the scene the fighters presented when Chong called out, "Breakfast is ready!"
Faith grinned. "Good! I'm starving!" She marched right over to the table, picked up a muffin, and popped it in her mouth.
Jack looked at Will. He reached out and wiped some blood off of his cheek. "Think we need a bath first?" he asked.
Will looked at Jack. How could he even ask such a question! "We can't eat like this!"
Delvira shook her head. "I'm not even eating."
While the conversation floated around her, Kitty looked at Chong. "There's no need to go hunting today," she told him. "There's plenty of meat in the basement."
Jack pretended he didn't hear that. "Chong, can ya hold off on breakfast a bit? We need a bath. Can't eat with blood all over me."
"I understand that, sir," Chong replied with a polite nod, "but I have no means of keeping it warm."
"Sure we do," Kitty told him.
"Captain," Chong protested, "you know what happened the last time Lockheed tried to keep food warm!"
"Aye," Sean added. "I knae the wee lad meant well, but 'twasn't anythin' capable o' bein' ate left!"
Angel didn't figure Cordy would want much breakfast, not after being sick from taking Brendan's treatment. He still had to thank him for whipping that little concoction up, but he didn't see him anywhere. "Blue might be of help. I can ask Crys."
"Who's Blue?" Kitty asked him. "Your sister's dragon?"
"Yes. He has a very good mind for details. He could probably do the job with very little trouble." Angel walked back to where he had seen Crys standing.
As soon as Jack had entered the living room after Angel, he was flooded with relief when he saw both Piper and 'Ro talking to their family. He didn't know how they'd been saved but figured that Crys and the Lewises were to be thanked. He looked around for the Lewises but did not see them. He did see Crys, however. He walked over to her just as Angel called, "Crys?"
She had been so lost in thought that she actually jumped when he called her name. "Angel?"
"Could Blue keep breakfast warm while the fighters get cleaned up?"
She looked at the dragon who was now perched on her shoulder and looking at her with concerned eyes. "What do you say, Blue?"
"Coo."
"Thank ya, Blue. You're needed in the kitchen." Angel grinned at him.
"Lorne," Crys asked, turning to him but not meeting his eyes, "could you take Blue there for me? I'll join you guys in just a bit."
Lorne didn't like the look on Crys' face and wondered what the devil she was up to. "Angel can take him. I'm not leaving you. What are you up to?"
Angel looked at Crys with concern in his eyes. It was at that moment they heard another voice pipe up.
Jack cleared his throat. "Crys, how are things going?" He had been concerned over her since her uncle's last attack but had not had a chance to talk to her.
Crystal looked at Jack with a mixture of curiosity and slight confusion on her face. "Things, Captain?" She hoped he was not talking about what she thought he was.
"Do you still feel the need to talk to the crew?"
"Sir . . . if I am stay . . . " She felt Lorne's hand tighten around her waist. " . . . they must know . . . " She would not meet his eyes.
"We're going to clean up and then come back down for breakfast. Would you like to talk to the crew after breakfast?"
She nodded mutely. She was not looking forward to doing so but knew it had to be done.
Will's eyes darted between Jack and Crystal. He knew the woman was responsible for healing him and then remembered that Donkey had told him that she had something she wanted to discuss with him. Could this be it? Just what was this topic Jack and she were hinting all around but not actually stating?
"See you in a bit," Jack said, "but if you change your mind, let me know." He headed off for the stairs, feeling Will next to him. He'd talk to Will when they got to their bathroom. He knew his love was full of confusion, and he didn't want Will to think that what was involved between himself and Crys had to do with him except indirectly.
Delvira was also heading for her room but was having to walk at a considerably slower pace as she picked her way through the creatures that crowded her. "No," she told them sternly, "you can not come with me. We're all tired from the fight and are heading for baths!"
Even as the Goblins and Fieries shuddered at the word they thought so awful, Faith called to Delvira, "Talk for yourself! I can eat like I am. Now," she asked, her dark eyes scanning the crowd of people, "where's that boy?"
Lex shook his head. He knew exactly what Faith was after and only hoped Dawson was ready for it!
Dawson was always ready for the ride! He had once heard Faith say that after ya slay, you're hungry and horny. He figured she had already eaten and now was horny. "Meet ya in the room, Faith!" he called, starting to run up the stairs but almost tripping over Salem.
Faith shot after him like a bullet out of a gun.
Salem raced out of the way just in time. He didn't want to get caught by those two! He couldn't imagine how they could hold up to it as they had been going like bunnies all night long!
"If you need me, Lorne," Angel called back, "let me know. Blue, got another dragon for you to meet."
Both Crystal's and Blue's heads snapped up at that. "Another dragon?" they asked together, though Blue cooed his words.
"Yes, but he's a male and purple instead of blue. Crys, ya might want to come in and meet his owner. Or maybe I should've said mother. I don't know. I know you're Blue's mother, but I don't know her relationship. I'll introduce you two and you can get to know each other."
"Sounds good to me," Crys agreed hurriedly, grinning a grin that her babies knew she did not feel completely. Before anybody could say another word, she raced for the kitchen.
"Figures," Lorne said. "You can run, but you can't hide from me, Crys!" He trotted along right behind her, knowing full well she was up to something.
The minute Angel regained the kitchen, he looked at Kitty. "Kitty, this is my sister, Crystal Frost. And, Crys, this is Kitty. You've got a lot in common. 'Heed," Angel said, "like ya to meet Blue."
Crystal had stopped right before colliding with Kitty, so the two and the dragons were already looking at each other when Angel arrived to make the introductions. The dragons did not even so much as blink as they stared directly into each other's eyes. "Coo?" Lockheed tentatively asked.
"Coo!" Blue replied, and then the two burst into a rapid succession of dragon talk.
Crystal could not help but to laugh, though her laughter died as soon as it had began. Blue was just too cute as he was actually meeting another dragon for the first time!
Kitty, however, did not and was eyeing the blonde instead. "You're not related to the Frost aboard the Saucy Wench, are you?" she asked her straight forward.
Crystal's forehead creased with slight confusion. "No," she told her. "I haven't even heard of the ship before. Why?"
"Just the same last name on one of those bitches." Kitty's face then lifted with a smile. "But since you're not, it's great to meet you!" She extended her hand, and Crys took it.
Lorne eased into the kitchen but did not approach the women. He did approach Chong and start talking to him instead while keeping his eye on Crys the whole time. She was up to something, but he didn't have any idea what it was! He had to be ready for anything she might try!
After the T. Rex had passed them by, Tom had left Zora still in shock and Connor to deal with her and had slipped back toward his wife. He'd waited for things to calm down before going right up behind her and beginning to whisper. "Katrina," he called, "you've got to come sniff this new cat."
"A new cat?" she asked. "Where?"
Tom gestured toward the doorway. "Over there. She's in cheetah form right now. I don't know what her natural is." His tail flicked.
Katrina walked over and spoke to the cheetah, "You seem familiar. Do I know you?"
Zora had not moved from the porch. She couldn't believe these people, but yet she found herself nervous about approaching them. She looked at Katrina and shook her head slowly.
Sniff her, Tom urged Katrina through their mindlink, hoping he had not imagined part of the girl's scent.
"My name is Katrina Lewis." She held her hand out to the cheetah.
Zora growled, telling her to wait a minute, and finally began to demorph. She morphed back to human quickly and looked up at the catwoman from underneath a fallen lock of shaggy, blonde hair.
Katrina was taken aback as the scent of her long-lost cousin met her nose! "Oh my Goddess! Seraphina!" she cried.
Zora jumped to her booted feet and began to back away from the couple. Her wild eyes had the expression of a caught cat. "How do you know my name?" she demanded.
"Not yours," Tom gently told her. "Your mother's."
Zora froze. She stared at the two. "My Mother?" she whispered. Her mother had been . . . like them? Half cat and half human? That would definitely explain at least some of her own strangeness!
"Seraphina was my cousin," Katrina managed to get out. She was in shock. "She disappeared about the time our planet blew up. I was afraid she had died."
"She . . . She did die," Zora replied in a quiet voice, her sad eyes looking anywhere but any one's eyes. "I . . . I never knew her . . . "
"She took off from our planet, heading to Earth, but we lost track of her. We couldn't even find her ship! We didn't know what had happened to her, but there's no mistaking that you're her daughter! Your eyes are just like hers!"
Zora was stunned, but her shock grew with each word Katrina spoke. She was caught between wanting to run from the unknown and learning the answers that she'd always prayed for. "So you're saying . . . " she spoke slowly, her heart beating so loudly that Tom and Katrina could both hear it despite the distance between them, "that my Mother was . . . an alien like . . . like you?"
"Yes. She was several years younger than me," Katrina said. "Hold on a minute. I want you to meet some one else -- my sister, Celina." Katrina thought to Celina, Come quickly, Celina! I have some one for you to meet!
Celina wondered the instant she heard Katrina in her mind but knew it would do no good to ask her sister. Whatever it was Katrina had discovered, it was clearly meant to be a surprise. She hurried over to the doorway, her hand in Morph's, and came to a sudden halt at the sight of the blonde girl dressed in leather and the wild, green eyes that turned her way. "Katrina," she breathed, "is that who I think it is?"
Katrina told Celina, "Come here, my dear, and meet Seraphina's child."
Celina released Morph's hand to step beside her sister. Her blue eyes looked wonderingly at the girl. "Your mother was Seraphina?"
"Yeah . . . " Zora answered though still shocked by the revelations that these new people were bringing her. "My name's Zora. My Dad gave me the first name after my Mother, but the second's what I go by. He's human."
"I guessed as much," Katrina said. "Where is he?"
Zora's eyes fell to her feet. "Gone."
"I'm sorry, my child," she said as she stepped forward. "May I hug you?" She was afraid the girl would be as wild as Faith and put up a fuss if she did try to hug her without permission.
Connor had kept his mouth shut the whole time and watched the proceedings. He wondered if Vang would know the catpeople. "Maybe you should call Vang?" he suggested to Zora. "They might know him too."
"They won't," she told him. "He was born in . . . Well, where I grew up at any way."
It was then that a tiger came walking out on the porch. Vang had seen the others but had been nervous about approaching them. When he'd noticed them all grouping up outside, however, he'd known it could be put off no further and had left Sebastian with the cubs. Zora rushed over to him. "Vang, you're not going to believe this! These people . . . well, the catpeople any way knew my mother! Isn't that amazing?"
At first, he did not answer her, and she looked at him with nervous eyes. "Vang?" He hated to lie to her, but he wasn't ready for his revelation to come. He was still too afraid of how she'd take to the facts, so instead he nodded.
Katrina looked at Vang. She remembered him as being a catman. "It is good to see you, Vang," she told him. "What happened to you?"
Zora looked at Katrina in confusion. "You don't know him. He was born in the refuge."
"His scent's the same," Tom spoke.
Zora's eyes widened. There was no way that they could mistake a scent; she knew that from personal experience. She looked to Vang, her arms freezing where they had been around him in a light hug. "Vang?" Her heart barely beat.
The tiger sighed and hung his head. "I . . . am sorry, Zora."
Zora stared at him but could not voice a single word.
"Your father swore me to secrecy," he tried to explain.
"You . . . " Tears of anger and disbelief were welling in her eyes but also tightening her face and voice. "You lied to me!"
Vang closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."
Zora bristled. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! Vang had lied to her her entire life; nothing could have cut her more deeply! "Connor," she called, her voice speaking volumes of her anger, "where'd those raptors go? I've got cubs to feed."
"Zora, you need to hear the whole truth," Katrina told her. "Do not blame Vang as he did what he thought was best according to your father's wishes. It is past time for you to know of your heritage. We will come with you to feed the cubs."
Her hardened yet teary eyes moved from Vang to Katrina. She'd always wanted to know about her mother and how she had such powers as she did, but now, after knowing that whatever happened had made Vang lie to her her entire life . . . She didn't want to know any more. "My heritage," she spoke through gritted teeth as she stood, "is dead. I don't need to know about the dead. And I didn't ask for help." She shoved past Celina but found Morph blocking her path. "Move," she growled at him.
"Katrina's right," he told her quietly.
"Please hear us out," Katrina told her. "If you still don't want to know all the details, we can skip them, but haven't you waited long enough to hear the true story?"
She paused but would not look at any of them. "I always thought I wanted to know," she admitted. "But not any more."
"I didn't want to lie to you, Zora," Vang tried to explain, "but I didn't know how you would take it. Please give me a chance."
"To what?" she snapped at him. "Lie to me again!"
"No," he told her. "I . . . I shall give you the same promise I gave your father." He looked up at her. "I swear to you on my love for your mother that I will never speak a false word to you again."
Slowly, Zora turned to look at him. "Your love for my mother?" she repeated hoarsely.
Vang nodded. "I was once a man," he explained, "and I did love your mother greatly."
That last bit was too much for Zora. She'd always thought herself strong and would have laughed if anybody had thought she might faint, but at that moment, she did just that.
Connor scooped her up. "We can go in the room, take care of the cubs, and wait for her to come around." He headed straight for the room with the others minus Vang following behind. Vang had returned to Sebastian to fetch both him and the cubs.
Connor lay Zora on the bed and turned back to get the raptors only to see that Tom and Morph had them in hand. "Bring them in here and tear them up. The cubs will eat them."
"Where are the cubs?" Celina asked.
"They're coming," Meesy called. He had ran into Vang downstairs and still could not believe that his old friend was back!
To Be Continued . . .
