The Lost is Found

By: HelenofIllium

Summary: Sequel to Never a Moment of Peace. Takes place two months after the sequel ended Jak chooses to accept his birthright and take the throne of Haven City. Soon, when he meets the Desert King of Spargus he learns that it might hold the secrets to his unknown past. JK TA TD pairings

Okay...so I'm making it so that Jak's not The Mar... and I'm switching a few other details around later...sorry if that confuses anyone!

Chapter 1: Responsibility

Christmas time was welcomed in Haven City for the first time in years. The past Christmases, and all holidays for that matter, could hardly be called happy under the late Baron's power hungry reign. Nowadays, it was a time of great celebration, especially at the Palace.

In the past two months, Torn had fully recovered from the 'incident' and all had put the ordeal behind them. Although, despite everything, there was an important issue that had been brought up by their past tribulation, and it had yet to be solved.

"Our government now is temporary, Jak, you know that. We need someone to take charge," Ashelin said to Jak, folding her arms against her chest.

"Then why don't you do it?" Jak asked, holding and feeding his restless three month-old son.

"You know I can't. No one wants another Praxis as a ruler. Plus, I'm not the one related to Mar..." she said, emphasizing the 'Mar' part.

Jak looked at her as if she had said a forbidden word, "Shhh!" he hushed.

Ashelin moved her arms out of their folded position and slid her hands to her rounded hips, "You haven't told Keira yet?" she said in disbelief.

Jak only looked down and pretended to concentrate on feeding little Trajan.

Ashelin shook her head; "You're just making this worse for yourself, Jak, and everyone else. You're Mar's only living relative..." the red-haired elf stopped mid-sentence and paused before speaking again, "Well, his closest living relative," she motioned to the green-haired baby.

"I didn't ask to be that...I don't want to be in charge of any more lives," he retorted, taking a seat on a nearby armchair.

Ashelin let out a moan of frustration and left the Council-Room, almost knocking down the short-statured Samos over in the process.

"She's right you know," Samos said, walking up to the side of Jak's chair, looking down at his grandson.

"Eavesdropping, Samos?" Jak questioned with a grin.

"Of course not, I just happen to have exceptional hearing," Samos calmly replied, but with a hint of sarcasm.

Jak nodded at the old elf, searching his magnified eyes for some sort of guidance on what to do next.

The elder Sage spoke again, but this time with all seriousness, "You are young Jak, I know. Nineteen years is hardly old enough to experience all that you have. You have to see though, that you were born to do great things, and you have, but you have still yet more accomplishments to be made in the future. You're a natural leader. I know you will do the right thing," He finished, giving Jak a good look in the eye before he turned and left the room.

Jak was now alone, except for his now sleeping son cradled in his arms. Taking care of Keira and Trajan was hard enough, let alone a whole city. He mused to himself. Maybe I should just tell Keira...Maybe she can help me... He stood up. Yes that was what he would do.

Jak opened the door to their spacious apartment-like room and called for Keira. No answer came, but the sound of metal striking metal could be heard. He smiled; of course she would be back there. Ever since he had had one of their large closets revamped into a little workshop for her, Keira hardly spent time anywhere else. Gently, he laid Trajan down in his crib next to their bed. Then, he brushed back his hair with his hand and took a deep breath, walking to the door to her workshop.

He opened the door slowly and peeked in. There she was, tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration, as she adjusted the nuts and bolts on her Jetboard with her wrench.

"You know, I'm beginning to think you love that wrench more than me," Jak chuckled, making Keira startle and drop her tool.

The green-eyed mechanic turned and smirked at him, "Maybe a little bit," she said jokingly, further emphasizing it by holding up her forefinger and thumb with a little space between them. Jak put his hand to his chest in mock sadness as she stripped off her greasy gloves and threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck.

"How's my baby?" She asked looking into his eyes.

"I just put him to bed. He was fussy all day but-"

"No. You!" She cut him off and giggled, "You've been looking a little distant lately."

"Yeah...I wanted to talk to you...about that," he said, evading her stare.

Oh no, she thought as images of young pink-haired she-elves danced through her mind thinking that he had met someone else. The look of concern shone on her face, "About what?"

"Let's go sit down," he suggested as she let her arms fall from around his neck and followed him out of her workshop and toward their bed.

Once they were situated, Jak delved into how he was the descendant of Mar and heir to the throne of Haven City. It was a relatively short story, but Jak's reluctance to let it be known made it difficult to tell. He finished after about five minutes and looked to Keira as if waiting for an argument to start.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked, no anger in her voice, just curiosity.

"I didn't want anyone to know, or treat me even more different than they already do. After defeating Kor, I thought everything could just be normal, or as normal as if can be for me...I guess I t was hard enough even to accept it myself..." Jak said, struggling to find the right words to explain with.

"So, does this mean...You're technically King or the Ruler or something?"

"Not yet...But that's what Ashelin has been bugging me about. I just don't want the responsibility of so many lives in my hands."

"Jak, there's no one else I could even imagine being more suitable for that than you," Keira tried, rubbing his leg in a comforting manner.

"I just wanna concentrate on you, on Trajan...On us." He said, taking her hand, "But I know what I have to do."

Keira reached up to Jak's face, tracing his jaw line, "That's one of the reasons I love you so much..." She kissed him lightly on the lips, "You always do the right thing in the end."