Chapter XII

By the time Will, Layla, and co. arrived, Ann was very diligently practicing her guitar, and Warren was on his 523rd round of Pat-a-Cake with Ariel. As soon as the doorbell rang Warren made a beeline for it in an attempt to escape the obsessive child.

"Hey guys. Come in." Warren waved.

When the group came into the living room, Ann looked up and smiled at them. Magenta and Layla went over to see what she was playing, while the boys began gushing over her DVD and Playstation 2 collection.

"Classical Gas?" Layla asked, puzzling over the odd name.

"You've never heard of it?" Ann said, surprised. "It's really good. Difficult, but good. I've been working on it for awhile now."

Magenta leaned over Ann's other shoulder, studying the notes.

"I've heard it." She said. "I like it. What else do you play?"

With a little grin, the elemental flipped to a different song in her binder, and sang unnecessarily cheerfully.

Lovers forever
Face to face
My city or mountains
Stay with me stay
I need you to love me
I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me
My lace

Warren leaned back and shot her an "I'm SO not amused" look, making her double over her guitar with laughter. Layla and Magenta glanced at each other over the convulsing girl and smiled, shaking their heads.

"I like that one." Said Layla, once Ann had gotten control of herself again. "Can you play it for me?"

"Not with this." She replied, gesturing towards the instrument in her lap. "This is a classical. This is meant for a steel-string."

"Ah." Mag nodded in understanding. "I hear you have horses."

Ann grinned. "Yeah. Wanna see them?"

Walking towards the stables, leaving the boys to try and beat Warren's records on Dead or Alive 2. They left quickly, followed closely by shouts of, "Nooooo!" and "You just pile-drived Lei Fang you creep!" as well as no small amount of maniacal laughter.

Ann chuckled at Layla's horrified look.

"Warren has perfected the fine art of fighting with Ryu."

Layla shrugged, not really knowing what she was talking about, but accepted her comment.

"You like him don't you."

Ann frowned at Mag.

"What? Warren?" When she nodded, Em laughed. "That would be creepy."

"Why?" Asked Layla.

The other girl hesitated. She trusted the girls to a certain extent, but she wasn't sure if she trusted them that much.

Magenta bumped shoulders with her playfully.

"C'mon. You can tell us. Just about nothing you say could shock us."

"Unless you say he's your long-lost brother, at which point I will have to laugh my butt off." Layla added, and Mag nodded philosophically.

"Actually," Ann said, "My mother is, was… Eva Yost."

The two other girls stopped dead in their tracks, and stared at Ann.

"Eva Yost." Magenta repeated. "As in, the one who was…?"

"With Warren's father?" Layla finished when the other trailed off, and Ann blushed.

"Yeah."

Magenta frowned and considered this new information, before coming to a disicion.

"I think it's romantic."

Ann gave her the 'Three-heads' look that Warren had been teaching her.

"Yeah. I mean, in an odd sort of way." Layla agreed.

"Assuming you liked him."

"Which you never answered."

Ann took the first opportunity she could think of to evade that question.

"So, you're okay with me being the daughter of a… y'know… villain?"

"Warren is, and we're cool with him." Magenta pointed out. "You're obviously not like her in that way. So I really have no problem with it."

"Me neither." Said Layla. Ann smiled and wrapped an arm around each of her friends.

"You guys are the best."

"Speaking of which," Magenta asked, grinning. "How did Warren react when he found out?"

Ann rolled her eyes.

"Let me tell you."

"Ann! Phone!"

"You get it!"

"It's your phone!"

They were all gathered together in the living room watching Ann and Warren try to whoop each other's butts at DOA2, when the telephone rang. Finally, Ann gave up and ran into the kitchen, wincing at the sound effects as her character was KO'd yet again.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this the Cromwell residence?"

"Yeah."

"I understand that I reach Warren Peace at this number."

"Yeah, just as second." Putting a hand over the receiver, Ann turned and shouted into the other room. "Warren! It's for you!"

He sighed and hurried over to take the phone from her. Ann went back in with the others and watched while Will and Zach began a game. A minute later, Warren came back in, a very, very dark frown marring his already dark features. Ann noticed immediately, and stood up from her position of leaning over the back of the couch, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"Warren? What's wrong?" She asked softly, almost as if talking to a frightened animal ready to pounce.

"That was…" His voice broke slightly, and he cleared his throat before trying to speak again. By this time the others had turned to look at him, all interest in their game gone.

"That was the prison where… where my father is."

Ann drew in a sharp breath and stepped a little closer to him, her eyes filled with worry.

"What did they have to say?" She prompted him.

"He's in…" He looked down, shook his head, and finished in a bit of a rush. "They said that he's in the infirmary."

His friends exchanged looks all around. It would have to be something very bad for Barron Battle to be incapacitated enough that they would trust him outside of solitary.

"Warren." Ann stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "What is it?"

"He's dying." Warren finally choked out. "He wants to see me. They asked if I could come over immediately."

"Are you?" Asked Ann, voicing the question that had been running through his mind madly since he had hung up.

"I don't know." He admitted.

"If you'll excuse me putting in my two cents worth." She said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I can think of two important questions right now. One, how much would you regret it if he died without you seeing him. And two, should you be thinking about him right now as a villain who did many horrible things, or as a dying man who wants to see his son."

Warren gazed at her, brown into gray, and nodded.

"You're right. I should go." He turned away quickly, heading for the door. Ann took a quick step forward and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. I'll go with you."

He turned around, a little surprised, and Ann gave him a brief smile.

"Trust me. You don't want to do this on your own. No matter how macho you may be."

Warren gave her a single nod, and turned back to get his coat. Ann gave the others, who were a little dumbfounded, an apologetic smile, and followed him.

Their drive there was completely silent. Oddly enough, Warren knew exactly which way to go. When he was younger, he had developed a habit of looking at maps of where his father was. Eventually, they had been somewhat seared into his memory.

They were still silent as they entered the large, imposing stone building, signed in, and followed a man to the room outside where his father was. To their surprise there was a person already there.

She wasn't extremely tall, perhaps just a few fractions of an inch taller then Ann. Her high, delicate cheekbones, jet-black hair, and slightly slanted eyes gave away her Asian ancestry. Her eyes, however, were a deep blue, and deep within them Ann could see a hint of something familiar, an incredible strength that this woman had passed on to her son.

"Mom." She had never heard her friend use such a soft tone before. He walked over to his mother quickly and wrapped his arms around the smaller woman. Ann understood this. Barron was this woman's husband, she loved him, and she would mourn him. Just has her father had mourned her mother.

Looking over Warren's shoulder, Rosalind Li-Mei Peace noticed the other person in the room for the first time, and she drew away from her son slowly. Ann took a small step forward.

"Mrs. Peace." Ann whispered softly, shaking the other woman's hand. It made sense now. She had probably told them where to reach Warren.

"You are Ember Cromwell." She said simply.

"Yes Ma'am." Ann replied.

"I," Rosalind paused, considering her words. "Am very glad that you are here."

Needless to say, Ann was surprised, but she didn't have the time to ask questions as a young doctor came out of the other room, a very serious look on his face. He barely spared her a glance, but nodded at Warren.

"Mrs. Peace."

"How is he?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your husband has had Leukemia for the past eighteen months. He asked me not to inform you or your son, and as his doctor I had to respect his wishes. I'm afraid that his cancer has taken a turn for the worse… much worse."

"But why?" A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Your husband made the decision not to go through with treatment when we told him that he had Chronic Leukemia. I believe that he didn't want to worry you."

"Fine job." Muttered Warren as he wrapped an arm around his mother's shoulders. "How much longer?"

"A month. Maybe two. He asked to see the both of you as soon as possible."

Rosalind looked up at Warren and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You go. I can wait."

Warren scowled. He didn't want to see him, the man who had directly and indirectly caused so much pain to others, even… no, especially to his own family. His eyes lit on Ann's.

"Will you come in with me?" He asked her, and she only nodded. He didn't even have to ask really.

Rosalind didn't object when Ann walked past her and followed Warren to the open door. As they entered, she saw that everything was a typical glaring white or metal. There was the usual hospital equipment. Monitors, counters with jars filled with cotton swabs on them, and a bed.

Ann's heart clenched. For a moment she thought she would retch. He looked just as she remembered him, only a little older, and he looked tired. Barron Battle. Warren's father. Her mother's lover.

"Warren?" He asked softly when he saw the tall, handsome young man standing over him. "You came."

Warren nodded, and his father's eyes drifted to Ann, and a soft smile graced his lips.

"Eva." He whispered.

Ann winced. That was definitely not something she needed to hear right at that moment.

"No." Barron said, blessedly negating the need for a correction. "For a moment, seeing you, I forgot. You must be her daughter. You must be Ember. Come here."

Hesitantly, Ann stepped closer, and his smile widened.

"So you came here with Warren? I'm glad. I always wished you two could be friends. You were always so much alike. But now, I would like to talk to my son alone for a moment, and then my wife, and then, little Em, I would like to talk with you."

Ann blinked furiously, trying to not burst into tears right in front of these two men. One who she had once had such deep admiration and respect for, the other who she still did.

"If that's what you want." She didn't direct the question to Barron, but to the other, and Warren nodded. As quickly as she could, Ann stumbled out of the room and shut the door behind her.


So, this chapter is a bit shorter, but I didn't think it needed to be as long as the others. I felt that this was a good place to stop for now. Enough angst for one chapter! There will probably be a whole boatload in the next. Rolls eyes at self

Anyways, I just wanted to explain why this chapter has taken longer. Not only am I a procrastinator, and often very, very lazy, but I am actually busy for once! I will write and update when I can, which won't be too far apart now that I've reached a place that I actually have a bit more planned out then that other stuff before (Motions over shoulder). But yeah, I won't be quite as much of a chapter-spewing machine as before. Hahaha. Rolls eyes again