ZEDD - A WEEK LATER

We left Eltar early so that we can take a side trip on the way home. A couple of days after the Calan incident, Kira, Dar and Pina took Mara Jane to the park while Thomas rested. They came home a short time later, none of them looking happy and Mara Jane looking down right devastated. Apparently, while the children had no problem playing with her, most of the parents had a major problem with it and many of them snatched up their children and left. The few parents that stayed - all three of them - explained that, with her being MY daughter and the rage she had showed a few days before, most of the parents were afraid of what she might do when angered.

As their children were much younger than Mara Jane, she didn't really want to play with them, so they returned home, in spite of those few parents assuring the small group that they were fine with her staying. I really wanted to destroy something after that, but as Thomas pointed out, it really wouldn't have helped her case at that point.

Instead, we're headed for Earth. We're going to see about acquiring a house there so that Mara Jane will have other younglings to play with. Not to mention that Thomas can spend more time with his friends and family. Fortunately, I can conduct my business anywhere so living there won't be much of an issue.

Although Thomas has explained that being on Earth for any real length of time might be an issue without the proper paperwork for Mara Jane and myself. We've both put some calls in to see what can be done, but we haven't gotten any answers yet. Stupid ass backward planet. Now if I could just get the two of them to quit moping, that would be great…

Seeing the planet come into sight, I heave a sigh of relief. Maybe Jason and Jimmy can get through to them. I love them both but I swear I just want to shake the hell out of them.

Our arrival is nothing new to Jimmy. In fact, he beats the adults to the ship, boarding as soon as the ramp lowers enough for him to clamber on. "Uncle Zedd! Uncle Tommy! Mara Jane!"

"Just a minute!" I call back through the intercom as I finish shutting down. It's only half a minute, however, before the boy is beside me. "Excited?"

"I always like when you visit, Uncle Zedd. You and Uncle Tommy don't treat me like a baby when we're sparring." While I don't take it as easy on him as his parents do, I'm still nowhere near treating him like an adult, even if he doesn't realize it. "Did Dar and Pina come with you this time? Are they on their ship? How far behind you are they?"

"No, Jimmy, they didn't come this time. They might visit later, but I think they're going home." The boy looks disappointed. "Come on. Let's see if we can find Mara Jane and Thomas."

We make our way through the halls to the bedrooms. I know that Thomas wanted to take a nap and Mara Jane was supposed to be playing or reading or something. Sighing as we find her room empty, I quickly restrain the boy before he heads to our room. "What?"

"Jimmy, you can't jump on Uncle Tommy like you usually do, okay? He's - not feeling well right now." I really have no idea if or what Hayley and Jason have explained to him about Thomas' current physical or emotional state.

The boy is clearly disappointed, but nods. We head for the other bedroom and enter quietly. Thomas and Mara Jane are curled up together, both sound asleep. Gently, I wake my daughter. "Mara Jane, baby, we're here." Slowly she opens her eyes and blinks owlishly for a minute before she recognizes the child at my side. Before she can call out, I softly tell her, "Be quiet. Daddy's still asleep. Go ahead up to the house with Jimmy and tell Uncle Jason and Aunt Hayley that Daddy and I will be up shortly."

She nods and wiggles out from under Thomas' arm and in a minute the pair have disappeared. Once they're gone, I study my mate as he sleeps. I know he's not been resting all that well, but he swears that he's not lingering on what might have happened. It's only a couple of minutes before his brow furrows as his dreams change, I'm certain. In another minute, he becomes restless and I know what's coming next. Shortly, he snaps up, gasping for air, our daughter's name on his lips. He looks around wildly for a minute before his gaze locks on me standing nearby, arms folded over my chest. "Want to tell me again, Thomas, how you aren't worried about Mara Jane?"

"Where is she, Zedd?" he asks anxiously.

I sigh and barely avoid rolling my eyes. "She's on her way up to the house with Jimmy. She's fine, love."

He scrambles off the bed, slams his feet into his boots and tries to hurry out. "I can't believe you aren't watching her, Zedd! Who knows what could happen?"

I catch him before he gets past me. "Thomas, what is wrong with you? Did you really just accuse me of putting our daughter in danger by being negligent?"

"I- no, of course not. I just-" He falters. "Let's just go and see everybody, okay?"

He's lying to me, no two ways about it, but why? Reluctantly, I agree. Perhaps Jason or Hayley can figure out what's going through his mind. It's not long and we're at the house. As soon as Thomas hears the voices of the playing children, he relaxes considerably. We all sit down to talk and during the course of conversation, I mention that I've found a number of houses that I want to look at in the area.

"Well, we can certainly watch Mara Jane while you two look at houses" Hayley says easily. "Since you don't have any paperwork for her yet, it might be a little awkward trying to explain why she isn't in school."

"Home schooling" Thomas says instantly. "After all, it's the truth."

"Right, and have you figured out how to explain her purple eyes?"

"Contacts."

"At her age? There's not a doctor in the world who would allow such a thing, Tommy. She's too young."

"Most people won't know that" he argues. "Fine, then we'll just say that she was born that way - again it's true. It's no big deal. We can take her with us."

I exchange a look with Jason. "Love, she's going to get bored looking at houses all day."

"So will we, but it's something that needs to get done."

"But she doesn't have to do it." Suddenly, the giggling children fly past us on their way to the backyard to play as they have before. Instantly, Thomas is on his feet. "Where are you going?"

"To keep an eye on them."

Before he can take a step, Jason speaks firmly, "Tommy, nothing is going to happen to them in the backyard."

He hesitates before he sinks back into his seat. "I guess."

"The last I heard, the most recent big and bad was defeated a couple of months ago. It should be quiet for a while" Hayley says.

Talk changes to other things, although Thomas remains tense. I don't understand why. We can hear the children playing in the yard, their laughter carrying to us clearly. I, for one, am happy to hear my daughter laughing again - something she hasn't done since Calan attacked.

Out of nowhere I hear Mara Jane say very melodramatically, "Help! Oh, help! Will no one save me?"

I'm shocked when Thomas shoots out the door. We all follow quickly even as we hear an adult male cry out in surprise. When I see who Thomas is currently standing over, I race over and grab him, knowing that he'll be even more upset if the punch he's getting ready to throw connects. In a minute, Jason and Hayley are helping the prone figure to his feet. "Dude, what is wrong with you? You've never had a problem with me playing with the kids before!"

Realization sinks in and my mate falls to his knees. "Oh, god, Connor, I'm so sorry."

In a moment, Mara Jane is hugging him tightly, patting his hair and assuring him that she's okay. I've found the boys to be more tolerable as they grew up and matured, but Mara Jane adores them. Conner runs and plays with her, Ethan tells her stories and Trent draws and colors with her. Right now, however, she's ignoring her newly arrived playmate in favor of calming her daddy. As she tends to him, I very quietly fill the others in on what happened on Eltar - both with Calan and the parents later. I'm not real surprised when they all look angry or upset.

"No matter how much Thomas reassures her, Mara Jane still thinks he's upset that she broke the rules. Thomas swears that he's not dwelling on what happened, but I know that he is. I don't know what to do."

"Let me try to talk to Tommy" Connor says. "I might have an idea how to get through to him. No offense, Jason, but if you try to talk to him, he's probably going to think that you're just saying it to make him feel better and since Kira isn't here to yell at him…"

"She's tried but go ahead."

The rest of us herd the children into the house, no easy task when Mara Jane doesn't want to leave Thomas, but it's finally accomplished. Jason looks at me as Hayley redirects the children's attention to a movie in another room. "Other than this, how are you dealing with what happened?"

Rather surprised by the question, it takes me a minute to answer. "As well as I can, I suppose. Honestly I'm more concerned about something else that happened." I proceed to tell him about Mara Jane's eyes changing color. "I'm fairly certain that means that she has power, dark power no less, but I have no way to assess her to see how much."

Jason frowns. "Shouldn't you be able to feel it if she has any real amount?"

"Unless the only time she could potentially access it is when she's enraged past all reason. When it happened in the park, that wasn't my first thought and I've gotten nothing from her since then. I just don't know."

"Maybe Hayley could run some tests on the equipment in the lair" he suggests. "She'd have to run them on you too so that she'd know what to look for, but it might help."

I had hoped that Jason would be able to help Thomas feel better, but I didn't expect that he'd have helped me. I mean, after all nobody really talked to me about it except Thomas and I didn't want to unload on him with him already shaken and upset, not to mention pregnant. "It might" I admit. "Thank you, Jason."

"Hey, we take care of family." I feel some of the tension ease away.