"How is she doing?" Luna asked. She was going to use her knowledge of the past battles to break Galaxia.

"There are different phrase of the moon on different times of the month. When its' the darkest, that is when there is no power of the moon. Like it's going on screen sever mode!" Ami said.

"What about when the moon's the brightest?" Serena questioned her best friend. She knew Ami did not have all the answers now, but it was a good start with Ami at the wheel when it came to the right answer.

"It's like charging a battery before you use it. You need a certain amount of power before you can even get started. To have a full battery, you must charge it for a long time!" Setsuna said. She was getting all the clues for the reason why that Galaxia was getting ready.

"Is she nearly there?" Lita asked. She was ready for a fight, but she had to stop herself from jumping to a fight without a plan.

"And we should get started with our own plan of battle?" Rio questioned Serena.

"They have been keeping quiet with everything!" Serena pointed out to the others. She had be keeping an eye on certain ideas that the anima-mates who were in league with former other creatures of the dark moon kingdoms. It seemed like they had stopped searching for star-seeds until the phase of the moon were going slightly off sync. There was also links up with other evil creates like kagato and Mara. It was as the meeting of the minds of the evil that wanted to destroy all that was good in the universe. The Sailor senshi had to put an end to it before it grew out of hand.

Laquiox was looking at night sky for a long time. For a while, he was thinking about moving on to another part of the world. He knew nick was no longer his son. He was bitter at first, but he knew he was going into danger waters if he purified getting Nick back for one minute.

"What is going to happen to Nick if decides to leave where he is staying at now!" Laquiox thought to himself as he sat in the study at the house in Lincoln.

The house was more like a place to see for him. He did learn to grow a bit more lax as he stayed in Salem. Like all small towns, Laquiox noticed the charming effect of such a life was not very bad.

"I'm going now!" a voice said.

He turned to see Natalie standing in the doorway. He noticed her casual dark-blue t-shirt and knee length shorts. He asked, "Do not stay out too long!"

"I know…" she sighed. "The sun?"

"No…there was a rumor about young warriors…mere girls that are looking for Nick, Vachon and Alex." Then, Laquiox remained quiet as he warned Natalie about the sun. She turned to see him. She knew he was looking after her if only Nick's best interest. She knew Laquiox was not himself in the past few weeks. He had witnessed the abduction of Nick, Vachon and Alex. Then, the strange appearance of young girls in sailor Uniforms. Nat puzzled over the ideas for days and could not come up with solution. Tracy had been juggling the ideas in her mind. She wondered if the abduction was stage and Vachon disappeared from sight. She was worried about him. This was time she had real feelings for a guy who liked her as herself despite by a vampire. Armond was a realist as he figured on Alex had left with arika for a dumb treasure hunt for stolen information or other worldly possessions.

Tracy was at the office she; Nick and Vachon had started months earlier. She had been staying there in hoping for Vachon to show up one day. Tracy would go back home from time to time to see if Vachon would show up. Every time she would wait for him, he was not there.

Laquiox said, "if he shows up...tell him from me that I will have nothing to do with him!'

Natalie knew Laquiox had grown weary of Nick's disappearing acts before. Why should this time be any different? She said, "I'm just want him to happy that all!"

"You wish all the happiness in the world while he had left you in this little flyspeck of a town?" Laquiox asked, sounding blunt. He slowly rose from his seat at the desk.

"Look...I'm sure that you and him have bad feelings for the past. I do for now is that i hope he comes back!" Nat griped loud enough that she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stood out.

"Hopeful...aren't we?" Laquiox snapped. He was about to walk toward teh door to give one his icy retorts when he was cut to the quick by Nat.

She gave a semi-crazed smile, "Yes...we are...when he comes back...then, I'll slug him!"

Laquiox had to give Nat a double take. That did not sound like her. She had known all about the vampire for years with Nick. Nick was still trying to comprehend Nat's human tendency still inside her mind. She was pretty much a person who had feelings of woman who did not like push around. "I'm glad that it's him and not I, Nat had a fanatic tempter when she was mad, but she learned to control it when dealing with Nick. "Just do one more thing…" he sighed. He knew she was still a young vampire.

"What's that?" she asked, her tempter was cooling down with his words.

"Be gentle with your fists…I want to have a talk with Nick when he does come back!" he said with a cool stare at the widow. It was still dark. Early morning was still hours ahead. "Be off with you!"

Nat gave him a glance for one last time. She said, "I need time to think!"

She took her purse and her car keys from a tiny end table, which sat near the door. She slipped into the hallway leading from the study to the back through the kitchen. She knew he was keeping Nick whereabouts a secret. She wanted to be sure; laquiox was not holding contempt on her for giving Nick a sense of hope back in Toronto.

A night bird flew past the window caught his eye. He murmured sourly, "don't lose your place or your station!"

A set of eyes were watching Nat as she left the house. She headed for her car in the driveway. She had her key fob in her left hand. She punched the bottom as she glanced at the house next door. She could scene the presence of Armond staring back at her from a back window. She thought, "do you worry about Alexander?"

The night was still, cool and clear. Nat heard the car horn beeped. She never stopped to think as she walked over to the car. The idea of a guardian angel was unheard in some circles. She had one in nick. Unfortunately, her luck was dash when Nick was kidnap by galaxia. Nat walked over to the door. Her senses were heighten with her vampire skills. She knew someone else was in the area when she was getting in the car. She thought, "Who's with me?"

Armond could see everything. He had a feeling which he could nearly tasted Nick's presence in the air. He scanned the area for Nick. In the shadows, he could see a figure. Was it Nick or even Vachon, Alex wondered in the deepest part of his mind.

Nat looked one last time at Armond's house. She could smell a sweet odor. What was it, she turned to see Nick standing behind her with a bunch of flowers in his hands. He smiled, "Hi…I'm back!"

Nat did a double take. She wondered if she should back to the house and call up the police. Was that all-possible?

"What are you thinking!" he asked. He smiled a little surprised.

She was put back a little as she tried to say, "Where have you been?" Then, a smile formed a little on her lips. She wanted so much to hold Nick in her arms. She was not all that convinced she was dreaming.

"I missed you too!" Nick smiled. He was setting up a prefect trap. He had been waiting in the wings for such a trap. He had talked it over with Galatia. Start with the ones he knew all too well. Nat, Tracy and then next the kids from America group. He and other two were going to hunt down every one of them, until they had found the sailor Senshi.

"Are you getting back on my good side?" she asked. She hesitated a little when she did spot the roses in Nick's hands.

"Yea!" he nodded, giving her a goofy smirk. He had a plan on getting her to bend to his will very quick. She was a soft touch when it came to flowers and sweet, tempting words. He just had to play up the idea of being sorry for disappearing as he did.

"Why did you get kidnapped and now you're set free?" she asked. She was going to play it very cool.

"I just got lucky!" he lied. He was going to feed her a line of being a prisoner to Galaxia. Then, by chance, Vachon, Alex and himself had escaped from the realm of the dark forces. Then, somehow, they got their memories and lives returned back to normal.

Nat had a feeling she was in danger, yet she had to string along with Nick. She asked, 'How long before you were set free!"

Nick had nothing really to speak of when he heard the question. What was going on with him?

Nat wondered aloud, "what will you do now?"

Nick had a plan, but he did not to get Nat involved in the plan now. She had to be broken down to the point that she was willing to surrender. She was just as stubborn as he was. She glanced at Armond who was still watching her from his window. He glared at Nick, knowing that Nick was a tool in someone else's hands.

"Hey?" a voice called out.

Nat and Nick were looking around to see two young girls dressed in sailor Fukus were standing in the driveway. It was Sailors Moon and Jupiter. It was a strange and prefect timing that they should show up. The two sailors were looking for a fight. "Who are you?" Nick asked loudly.

"We are the champions of justice!" Sailor moon said as she pointed at Nick.

"And why did you come here?" Nick asked. He was about to get his first taste of moon power.

"You have been changed over to the dark side!" Sailor moon said.

At first, Nick began to laugh hard. He glanced at Nat. she could read into this little idea of who was the more powerful, a young girl dressed in a strange looking sailor outfit or Nick, someone who she had seen both on and off his vampire lifestyle.

"Why are you laughing at her for?" she thought very softly.

"Look…little girl, you are not allowed to even think of such things…I was just trying to get back home, Miss Lambert had been very worried about me!"

Jupiter had seen this one before. She knew from the short years of fighting the Chaos forerunners that she would know all too well. "Don't fall for that one, Sailor Moon!" she whispered loudly.

"I'm not buying his story for one minute!" Sailor Moon said as she raised a hand up to protect Sailor Jupiter.

"Yet…you seemed like a very sensible girl!" Nick smiled when a cold grin.

"Thank you!" Sailor moon said, she was going to drop her guard for one minute. She knew from talking to Rio that Nick was not all that he appeared to be.

"But, all little girls need to be in their places!" Nick said, slowly. He did have a few tricks up his sleeve. His eyes flickered a little as a sort of signal to another of his kind in the shadows. He could see Alex in the shadows who was in the wait. Little did anyone knew a few more sailors were just down the street?

Sailor Mars had a feeling she was going to be need as back up. There was talk about getting the other sailors in involved. It was not very hard; the sailor scouts were having feelings of being close in, if they were not careful.

Sailor Mars and Pluto were crouching at one end of the driveway. There was a stone curbing that was used as more of a decorative boarder that anything else.

Sailor Pluto asked, "What is Sailor moon doing?"

Sailor Mars looked at the situation slowly, taking eyeing in. she said, "I'm not sure, but Sailor moon has herself in a corner. Vampires are not easily beaten down."

Sailor moon waited for a split second to ask, "Why do this to yourself and to Miss Lambert. Aren't you happy with the way it used to be?"

"No…" Nick snapped. He felt like kindness was creeping back into his mind. He knew the man what he used to. He wanted to human, to have a life. This silly cat and mouse game with Laquiox was old. After the mere brain washing of himself and the other two, Nick found the power he needed to hurt Laquiox in a way that nothing else would. He had found a certain blocking off the past and starting with pure hate was the only way he was going to be free of the past. "I wanted to have a normal life!"

Sailor moon knew that reasoning with a dangerous creature like Nick could either harm or hurt the situation. She had to act carefully as the night grew into complete void. The summer solstice had come and gone with a warning, Rio was visit by a couple of elves who came to the sailor senshi house nearly around ten in the evening. They knew the troll guards were on high alert of creatures who were loyal the King of the Sun-sand kingdom. Rio was now coming home to see what was going on with the dark moon kingdom.

"Where is Sailor Acarida?" Sailor moon thought. She noticed Alex's figure looming behind nick in a split second. Things looked hopeless.

"DREAM TIME!" rang out of nowhere. All eyes turned to see Sailor Acarida and the three Sailor Stars off the side of the driveway. At the same time, Laquiox was looking out a window near the front door. He heard the noises of Nick and Sailor Moon talking. There was fire in Sailor acardia's eyes. She knew she had to save Alex.

Alex and Nick ducked out of the way during Sailor acarida's attack. They had no idea where Vachon was lurking. Sailor Acarida said, "By the Seven winds of faith….i will punish you…for I am Sailor Acarida!"

"Another little girl!" Alex spat. His brown eyes flashed red as though he was powering for her own attack.

Sailor Star-maker said as she bent a little forward, spreading out her arms, "Watch out…they are dangerous!"

"You don't have to tell me twice…I know what Alex is!" Sailor Acarida said as she lowered her gaze to get a better view of Alex and Nick. She had one thing that protected her from all harm. It was her grandfather's Celtic cross. Giving a quick glance, the mystical Sailor scout gave a word of warning, "Just be careful they are both under Galaxia's powers. So, they are more dangerous than normal…it's like they are supped up on speed."

"You have got that right…little girl!" Alex snapped. He moved closed to Nick. He closed in the gap between the house for Nat. it was the only way that Nick could steal away Nat. "What a joke….the little super hero girl."

"You know this girl?" Nick asked, little blind to the fact of Rio who posed as sailor acarida.

"Yes…" Alex purring darkly, as he crouched down a little in order to get a better view. "I'm not letting the cat out of the bag just yet."

Then, he lunged at her with the velocity of an oncoming freight train. Rio knew right down the last second what Alex was going to do. She had a surprise attack of her own. She instantly threw something at him, which smacked at his face hard. He felt water hitting his eyes with a burn that he had never felt. Sailor acarida relied on luck and water balloon filled with holy water. She did not even show anyone at the time the balloon. Alex staggered as if he was on fire.

"What did you do?" Sailor Star-fighter asked in shock.

"You forget that I know Alex for years…he does have a few weakness. One is holy water. Vampires that had come in contact with this water will have burns…Remember they are the dead in all manors of the world of the living," Sailor Acarida said. Then, she shouted to Sailor Moon, "Cleanse these poor cures of the night…restore them!"

Nick became outraged when sailor moon held up her septate. All was left was getting Nick back to normal, then Alex. Sailor moon could do this with one sweep of her magical powers. Did Serena have time to even rethink any airheaded idea? She knew there was work to be done!

The moon became full and bright. Sailor moon raised her hands and proceeded to speak the phrase then suddenly a dark figure instantly appeared to everyone. It was a rather tall figure, dressed in thin coat of murky red armor. Its face was cover in a mask of obsidian and brown amber. It stood behind sailor moon as a hand shot out. Sailor moon felt a hand reach around her neck to pull her close to it. Sailor panicked a little as her one hand came up. It seemed like it was a one on one battle. Out of the darkness, other creatures seemed to take shape. They were rather large and bulky as they surrounded the sailors. Sailor Acarida knew what or who they were. Just by the very scent of them, these other worldly creatures were in fact trolls.

Sailor moon did not turn to see who was behind her. She tried preforming the end of the task in hand and finding out a hand wrapping around her neck.

"Sailor moon..." Sailor Jupiter screamed. She and others were shocked.

Meanwhile the trolls were gathering up speed as they took shape. They were starting first as rocks or stones. Their magic was strong.

Sailor moon could not move. She felt the grip being so strong that she found out so hard to even breathe.

'What's going on?" she gasped.

"Sailor moon…" a voice pureed deeply in her head.

"What…who?" she thought in a panic.

"What a pretty little princess!" The voice said.

Nick or the others had not seen this creature before. He wanted to get a closer look, but could hear the oncoming troll army. He noticed now Sailor Moon had to fight a new creature. He and Alex watched as Sailor Moon asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm the King of the Trolls!" the figure said as it raised a hand up the mask. With a flick of the wrist, the mask was pull off to revile a young man nearly twenty with dark green eyes, His black hair feathered back to a wispy cascades of hair. "I'm Aveel!"

"I don't know!" she gasped. Her face now struck with horror. She looked at the king of the trolls as she tried to figure out on breaking free.

"Who I am!" he smiled darkly. Then, he turned to see where Rio was. She was not hiding from his sight. "What another pretty little girl!"

There was nothing that Avell want a more than the crushing of the Sun-Sand kingdom under his feet.

Rio looked at her oldest foe.

"Who is he?" Sailor Star-fighter asked.

"He's the troll king...he was friends with Jatken's family for centuries... but things change!

"Like what?"

The trolls on cue started to charge at the sailors. Sailor Acarida said, "Blind them with light!"

"What?" Sailor Star fighter asked as she began to dodge oncoming troll.

"Light….like in the Hobbit. They hate the light. They are dirt dwellers!" Sailor Acarida said as she used her bracelet to producing a light ball. "They hate the daylight…"

"I think I know what she is saying…" Sailor Mercury said as she brought up the rear guard.

"Venus, Love me chain!" sailor Venus called out as a bright yellow light hit the flank of trolls. She knew instinctually that these trolls were not cute or kind. These trolls were out for battle and possibly a new life outside of digging the dirt for jewels. The trolls had started out of the line of fire.

"That's it…" Sailor Acarida said as she felt her powers beginning to take shape.

"Hit them with everything you got…" Sailor Jupiter added. She knew if the other sailors were busy, than Sailor moon could distract the troll king and Nick for a minute or two.

"Then, let's do it!" Sailor Mercury said. She was just as determined as the others to get Nick and his friends back to normal and call it a night.

For each sailor there were at least ten or so trolls. The trolls were smaller and built thicker. There had to be a chink in their armor. These trolls were also dangerous as well for the carried swords, board-spears and hammer on chains. The troll king smiled when he realized the sailors were out number in all respects.

He was not expecting the eminence power of the sailors as they pulled themselves together. He realized they had come up with an ultra-plan of attack. It was the sailor planet celestial power. This was all of the sailors powers combined as one devastating blast. Sailor moon and chibi-moon were the fault point. Somehow, in their training with the Sailor stars, they had stumbled across such a power. This was the final power boost that the sailors had to use in the battle for the planet.

Sailor moon realized there was more to this king than met the eye. She had to back down gracefully, but in the same time, there were lives that needed to be spare. She had to find the underlying cause of Galaxia's plans.

"And what are you thinking of pretty little moon girl?" Alveen asked as he grabbed her chin once again after he had relaxed his grip for just a minute.

There was a slight pause as Sailor moon came out with a good come back. Sailor moon had a feeling that Tuxedo Mask was there in the wings with a rose for the first attack. She was she try to move her feet. She had a plan of kicking Alveen in the legs. He noticed her as she moved, "Anxious little one, aren't you?"

"Yea…to get away from you!" sailor moon hissed. She elbowed him in the ribs. He gasped a little from the attack.

"And what if you don't" he asked, grabbing her by the wrist. He squeezed hard. She nearly screamed out of pain. She felt things like her own fear bubbling up inside. What was going on with Tuxedo Mask. Why was he so late?

Then, instantly Prince Diamond appeared. "Don't harm her. What are you hurting her for?" he ordered sharply at Alveen.

Alveen looked at Prince Diamond with comment. He was just having fun at Sailor moon's expense. "You are such a pain. You were not from here," he narrowed his eyes as he growled at the Dark moon prince. Alveen had thrown Sailor moon to the ground. Sailor moon felt the wind knocked out of her as she thudded to the ground.

"Neither are you….you don't know who this person really is!" Diamond commanded, pointing to sailor moon.

Prince Diamond knew from the first time he had met up with the acaridan king, Alveen was not to be trusted. Was Prince Diamond was going to be on the mark about this situation with Sailor moon caught in the middle.

Sailor Mercury was going to be the first to start. She said, "Mercury Bubble Blast!" she had instantly raised her hands to attack. The attack had frozen some, but not all. A few of the others were come back for a second attack.

Then, Sailor mars used her Flame Arrow to bring light to the saturation. Like in the Hobbit, the trolls were not use to the light. They turned to hide in fear. Sailor Mars had hit upon a salutation. Not only fire was going to be the trolls down fall, but also all light could be use.

The trolls were attacking the sailors, as the sailors were counter attacking. Sailor moon watched in horror. She knew the others were outnumbered. She began in her wondered where Tuxedo mask was. There was no sign of him.

"Where is he?" she wondered in her mind.

If on cue, a red rose appeared out of nowhere. This could be the sailors' only hope. They were so wrong. The red had turned black instantly. To the inners, something was up with Tuxedo Mask. They took as a sign. Galaxia had captured him. The trolls were getting more brutal as they fought with the sailors. The outers and the sailor Starlights knew they were at a stale mate.

Sailor moon wanted to be sure that someone Galaxia's camp was not outsmarting her and other sailors. Yet, something inside of Sailor Moon, Princess Serena was crying out for was justice. She wanted to be sure that Tuxedo Mask was safe. She experienced the same feeling she had once before in the lift at Tokyo tower. When she was battling out with Melchite. He had trapped both Tuxedo Mask and Sailor moon in the final quest of the silver Millennium crystal as crystal itself was still in the seven rainbow crystals. Her Neo-queen powers were starting to kick in.

Alveen had felt the power of the Millennium crystal as he looked at Sailor moon. Then he broke away from his hold on her. He quickly threw himself on the ground and said, "What is this…power?"

Nick and Alex had to shield their eyes from the bright light. It was like the sun to them. They had to find shelter before they could melt.

"In the name of the Moon kingdom…I will punish you!" Serena called out as she felt the power growing. She had to get to Nick and Alex before it was too late. She held out her hands in front of her. A pure large crystal flower took shape as she focused her power into Nick and Alex.

The trolls were stunned into terror. It was the first time that they had seen such power. Alveen had pulled back as he darted backwards with a graceful, light step. He knew even the forces that prince Diamond had ordered needed to pull back. There was an unforeseen power surge from Sailor moon. This was just a taste.

Prince Diamond had other plans. He had previously kidnapped Darien from the night before. He knew Serena was juggling between two loves. She had been fickle since Seyia had shown up. She still loved Darien, but Seyia was a little bit of fire that she had to witness if only for a minute or two.

The black rose was a warning, but the Prince Diamond gave a telepathic command for someone to show up. Sailor moon was now back on her feet, glancing around to see if Tuxedo mask had shown up. She was right when she noticed the black rose pinning the ground. He was there in a darkened mood. Prince Diamond said, "Looking for someone…little girl?"

Everything became still as the collected beings of the Moon kingdom grew in power. Prince Diamond had seen this power before. He was careful about the young queen. He had known for a while Sailor Moon's limits and how to break them. He narrowed eyes as he instantly began to focus his own power. He called out, "PRINCESS!"

"I'm giving up that not easily…we will win…remember that!" Sailor moon said with fire in her voice.

"What?" Prince diamond asked.

"You heard me…you have no idea what I can do…the last time, I was not ready all the way to cleansing your soul…I want you to be happy. Why did you have to be awaken one last time?" she asked. She felt like there was a detail left undone.

The other sailors fought hard as they pooled their powers into something positive. The army of trolls had been outrank by the power of the sailor scouts. The trolls needed to pull back in a hurry before they were toasted.

Then, as a final twist of fate, Sailor moon had given one last burst her power. It was something very new, but extremely foretaste of the future. Where was this power coming from? She could not have time to stop and think. She needed to find Tuxedo Mask. She called out, 'Celestial Cosmic Moon Power!"

This was the final transformation of the Sailor scouts. All the powers of the sailors given a huge jolt of accent Moon strength. Even the Sailor Stars had given a taste of what this ancient power was like. All the sailor fukus were change in a nearly perfect silver-white, as their planet colours were refined into a brighter alinement.

Then, the light made harder to fight for the trolls. They started to fling themselves into the ground in order to protect their eyes. The light was too much for them.

The silver millennium crystal rang in the distance and Sailor moon felt her power draining. She needed to pull back as the others were nor ready for their final power boost. She felt a little intimated for the power was the final and last leg of the sailors' mystical powers.

Yet, the powers of the prefect alinement was in hand if needed to be use. Sailor moon said, "You need to be cleansed for all the transgression that you had caused, I will do that for you!"

Prince diamond and King Alveen were both stunned at Sailor Moon's latest power. How to harness this for the power had been not of the dark forces was a question that was running in Prince Diamond's mind. He said to himself, "This is not the little girl I had to clash with just a few years ago!"

At the same time, Galaxia was watching. She knew the timing of taking sailor moon down was coming to fusion. The moon was going to be eclipsed which could be leave sailor moon weakness. She had done a few weeks' worth research in the myths that were moon related. One ancient Celtic story about a moon maiden peeked her interests. She felt safe in her little bunker in other dimension, but she had to be on the alert for Prince Diamond, as if Alex had strong ties to two-sailor senshi.

Then, another force had a hand in halting the battle. This was stronger than the two of them combined. The skies grew eerie black, then purple then red. This was not cause by either the sailor senshi or Galaxia's forces.

A creature from another world and time was pulling these strings. It was as if this creature with invisible hands and eyes was trying to look for another being. Where was a presence in which the creature was hunting for on earth? Was this a trap of such finite whims that nothing could be a roadblock? There was no time for that. It needed to hurry in order to have everything so perfectly done up, in which case time was not an option.

"What?" Sailor moon asked. She glanced around to see what was going on with the rest of the battle before a light of equal power over took her hand to the rest of the sailors.

Then, the sailors had found themselves back home on Union Avenue. It was like the unseen forces who had nearly erupted a couple of battles between the sailors and Galaxia's forces were hampering the flow of stopping the dark forces finally.

The next day the sailors had to meet somewhere very out of the way for a time. There was so much to talk about; Serena felt Darien had chickened out on the battle. Yet, Rei said, "I don't think he did. I had a fire reading early in the morning with the fire pit in the back yard. I knew something was not right when I tried to get a fix on Darien's vibe. There was nothing yet. I hope for your sake that he is not kidnapped again!"

Serena knew in her heart of hearts that Rei could be right. She did try to put on a brave face on the whole idea of Darien being kidnap. How many times that trick was use to get Serena to break. She had proven herself that Darien was stronger than she gave him, credit. She knew in the end, he was hers for the rest of their lives.

Rio also was at cross roads. She knew she had power, but there was more to her power boost. She had to find within herself. There was a phone call from the hospital for her. She was call upon from Joe-casey for a visit. Rio did not like hospitals to the least. She had talked it over with Lita and Muchuri about going or not. She knew this could be the last time if she did show up. She kicked herself still about the time she had missed with Bobbie. She yearned with herself to make a revive for a clean break with her stubborn ways. After the talk with Lita and Muchiru, rio was going to the hospital for a very short visit.

Joe-casey was listening to the Band as the movie called the Last waltz played on the TV. Rio came up to his hospital room. She noticed the door was open. She knocked as she asked, "Joe -Casey, are you awake?"

Joe-casey had heard the knock and whispered loudly, "Yea..you can come in."

Rio entered the room despite the scent of strong disinfect. She knew the life support machines were in the last throws of keeping Joe- Casey alive. She had put a very brave face on. She said gently, "Hi! I was told you wanted to see me!" She managed to ask, "Where's Marie?"

He said, "She and Hiram are at the cafeteria. They needed to eat...They hadn't had anything to eat for a while!"

Just the he said it, Joe-casey knew he did not want be burden with making his sister and brother sad.

Joe-casey watched as Rio took a chair after she walked over to his bed. He smiled, "Yes...little coyote. You are going to fight in battle for Mother Earth. I have a feeling you and your friends are going to win!"

At first, Rio was a little surprised at the statement. She wanted to question him, but stopped herself.Joe-casey had to give Rio a powerful gift he had within his soul. It was a power of extreme courage. It was interlace with the full knowledge of second sight and the healing strength for another's soul. He was born with the mix and carried it until he became too ill to substantial it.

On being puzzled in the split second, Rio tried to comprehend on what Joe -Casey was saying. He knew she was going to be marrying Dusty, then have kids later on. Joe-casey knew about wolfsbane, Rio's adopted elven boy child. Was Joe -Casey having a vision? He said, "Little coyote...some day, you will be a mother."

"What?" Rio questioned him. She managed to hold back the tears, which were beginning to form in her eyes. She heard a wheeze, a rattling noise coming Joe-casey. The situation was slipping away from her. Joe-casey winced slightly as he said, "my time is going to be shortened than I thought. I need to give you your wedding gift!"

"No…your strength is enough. You can get through this!" Rio said, as she shook her head.

"And what do you want?" he asked.

"Nothing…." she griped. She looked at him with a perturbed stare.

He smiled at Rio. "I had a good life."

The smile began to fade. She heard a rattle in Joe-Casey's breathing. He started to feel the ebb of his soul slipping into another realm. He knew where he was going.

Rio felt a very slight session of burning. It was not bad scent. Instead, it was sweet and pungent which filled her nose to the point she could taste it. She barely recognized the scent. It sweet grass which she could remembered it from long ago. Who could be burning it? Any sort of fire or smoking was not permit on hospital grounds.