Anna drove back home, wanting to see Hao and tell him good news. Actually, there wasn't much of the news, but still: both enjoyed everything about their child. She took a turn to their house and smiled, as she saw another silver car standing by it. He's already home. Good. Maybe we'll be able to go to stables? I haven't been there for ages! The blonde of all pregnancy prevented things missed ridding. She made a mental note to teach her child to ride as he or she'll take the first steps. Because nothing gave such a pleasure and harmony as ridding.

Anna got out of the car and headed towards the door. As she entered the house, Hao met her. He closed her eyes with his hands from behind and whispered to her ear.

"I have two surprises to you" Anna let out a slight laugh.

"Should've known; it's Friday" the couple had this ceremony to make surprises to each other every end of the week, so today wasn't an exception.

"That's right. Which side do you choose: left or right?" Hao smirked to her. Anna thought for a while: she knew this game all too well.

"Left" Hao smiled and pushed her gently to walk forwards. He led her to the room, which was chosen to be baby's room: it was colored with peaceful, but yet lively browns and only had few cupboards in it for now. What was in the middle of the room was a surprise to Anna. This little thing was supposed to be bought on winter, when Hao would get some day off, but the brunette guy wanted to make his wife happy. Wife? Oh my, forgot to tell that they actually are married. There wasn't much of a ceremony, only Pirika, Tamao, Horo and Ren attended it, because they were the only ones couple invited. Hao and Anna only said their vows and registered their marriage, nothing more. But this simple action made the couple feel like so good and full, that now only the third family member was still invisible. But hey, only five months left!

Hao slowly removed his palms from Anna's eyes and the sight in front made her gasp. It was a baby's bed, with veil and some musical toys, hanged over the supposed to be baby's head and it would turn around, playing lullabies. Anna stroked her hand through the wooden stall and smiled with a warm and motherly smile, which was a very rare sight on her face.

"Hao, this is wonderful" she whispered. Hao wrapped his arms around her belly, feeling the heaviness of a little growing body inside.

"I knew you would like it" he said gently to her. Anna kissed him from behind. She was so happy about Hao being so close and…fatherly. Anna no longer saw a half man, half boy in him, but a full-grown man with responsibilities and care ness for his family. Yup, he has changed a lot, but sometimes, the teen-aged Hao would come back with his drop-dead sexy smirking smile and playful attitude. However, Anna enjoyed those flashbacks and wouldn't miss them for a world. The blonde whirled around and wrapped her arms around Hao's neck.

"And what's the second surprise?" Hao smirked to her.

"Curious, aren't we?" Anna arched an eyebrow.

"Cruel, aren't we? You know I hate when you're playing with my impatience" Hao nodded.

"Hai, I do. Ok, lets go" he took her by the hand and led her after him. Anna followed, seeing that he's leading her to their bedroom. She couldn't help, but wonder what kind of a suicidal surprise Hao prepared for her this time.

Hao opened the door and lit the lights up. He led Anna to the bed where the old book laid. The blonde didn't understand at first, but Hao showed her to it.

"Go on. I knew you wanted it" Anna lowered her eyes to the book and read the title of golden letters in a dark brown cover: Ancient divinations from Asian and Baltic cultures". Anna gasped to it. This was what she wanted the most right now: a proper divination for her child. And she had Hao's agreement. Wonderful.

"Hao…I…" the brunette guy put a finger on her lips.

"You're welcome. Now go on, open it" he said. Hao was curious himself of what was said there. They sat on the bed and opened the book. The first pages told some history of divination and reasons and possible consequences of it. Anna found the chapter she'd been longing to read the most: divination for new lives, which are about to come. At the main page of the chapter was written a poem, Hao didn't understood. Some Baltic language.

"Do you understand this?" he asked Anna. She nodded.

"A bit. I could try to translate it" Hao nodded, looking to her with rapture.

"You're just…surprise less" Anna laughed and kissed him lightly.

"So are you" Anna looked back to the poem. It was hard for her to translate it, since the writings were of very old form and Anna herself hadn't been revising this language for quite a while. The poem said:

Ta gležna gyvybė, vos besilaikanti ant plauko

Yra svarbednė už bet ką šiame pasauly

Ir brangesnė už vandenį tyriausią...

Ta brangi brangi gyvybė...

Taip sunku laikyti ją...

Tačiau nepaleisk, o žmogau,

Nes jau niekad nebebus kas saugos ją!

Anna read the poem twice, not fully understanding it. When she read it the fourth time, it finally hit her: the poem was about little life, which was so…weak.

"I know now…" she whispered, still looking at two strophes. Hao looked at her confused.

"Would you light me up as well, Anna-chan?" he asked. Anna smiled and nodded.

"Hai, listen to it:

That fragile life, barely holding on a wink of hair,

Is the upper thing of all the world

And dearer than the clearest lymph…

That precious, precious life…

It's so hard to hold her now…

But don't you let her go, my dear,

Since there'll be no one to care!

Anna's eyes were filled with tears. This little poem only now hit her with its fullest. She knew this was all the truth she had to cherish. She knew, that only with her love this child will grow, knowing that someone cares for him. That was the main thing authors of ages tried to tell. Hao hugged her around shoulders: he knew that Anna became very emotional because of the motherhood and he was patient. And now, he saw a good reason for crying, since the poem was really hitting where it hurts the most: conscience.

"It's ok, baby, don't cry" Hao whispered to Anna, stroking his hand through her back, soothing her. Anna wasn't sobbing, only silent tears were streaming down her face. She didn't know how to stop them, but she didn't want to: it was such an easement for heart that Anna could just sit there and weep it all out. But Anna, no matter that she'd become very sensitive, was still the same Anna. She knew that the stress and unneeded worries weren't good for the baby, so she just tried to calm down by cuddling up by Hao. He would always comfort her in stressful times and would always be there for her when she needed him.

"I'm ok, Hao-kun. It's just that this poem…" Hao kissed her head, feeling kinda awkward about the words himself: yup, the ancient divination mages really done something worth thinking of, but Hao really didn't expect it to be so…knocking out. He turned Anna's head to him.

"We better put this to later, ok?" Anna shook her head.

"No. Let's just…continues. I want to know something more. Please?" Anna winked to Hao. The guy only rolled eyes, but couldn't say no to her. He was so vulnerable when she would look to him like that.

"Fine, just…not much" Anna nodded and took the book onto her lap. She read the writings, which had been translated to Japanese, but still were difficult: there was a great variety of divinations, one more mysterious than the previous one. In there was all kinds of Japanese divinations for unborn child: onmyodo (yin-yang tradition), futomani (divination from hind's shoulder), reimu (vatic dreams) and so on. Also there were many divinations and spells, came from other countries. Anna couldn't believe how much there was to protect the baby from evil and bad luck. She couldn't choose it.

"Hao, this is…unbelievable" she said, still skimming across the old pages.

"Yeah, it sure it. How are we to choose one and the right one?" Anna shrugged shoulders.

"I don't know. We should ask your baa-san. She knows way much more than I do" Anna looked to Hao seriously "Hao, this is important and you know that" Hao sighed and got up.

"Yes, I understand that we need to protect the baby from the bad things that could be waiting for it, but still…do you really think that we should…you know…try to interfere into child's destiny?" Anna let out a painful sigh.

"I don't know, Hao-kun, but we at least should take a deeper interest into it. You can never know what could happen" she impulsively stroked her hand through face feeling how drowsiness's getting thicker. Hao noticed this and took the book from her lap.

"Ok, we should, but later" he motherly laid her on bed and covered with warm covers "you need to get some sleep" Anna smiled to Hao.

"Haven't I told you that you'll be a great father?" Hao pretended that he's wondering.

"Not that I remember"

"Than I'm telling you this now. I love you, daddy – to – be" Hao laughed slightly.

"I love you too, Anna" he bent and kissed her full belly "and I love this little guy" the actions of Hao made Anna laugh, since she was very ticklish. And this Hao liked very much.

"Good" Anna said, when she stopped laughing "I wanted to tell you something: Yoh'd been here. Somehow he found out where we live" Hao's muscles tensed immediately.

"What? But…how?" Anna shrugged her shoulders. She'd been wondering this herself.

"I don't know, but I sense a great danger from him. Hao, I saw it in his eyes: he's full of hatred to both of us. He doesn't understand" Hao saw that Anna's becoming worried, but then again, the reason for it was really great.

"I understand. Don't worry, Anna-chan, I'll be here when you need me, ok?" Anna nodded. Hao stretched himself by her side, seeing how tears once again are coming down her milky cheeks. Hao couldn't help but wonder if their baby's skin will be as gorgeously pale as hers.

"I know you will, but still…I'm scared" Hao rubbed her back, smiling kindly to her.

"Don't be. Everything's gone be ok…"…

But nothing went ok at all...

Anna was sitting by the table that afternoon, looking through the window to the setting sun. Her belly got bigger, due to the seventh month of pregnancy. The blonde remembered the prophecy that was made, when she'd gone to Kino, to help her do the divination…

xxxFLASHBACKxxx

Anna and Kino were sitting in the temple of Izumo, looking at each other through the small wall of intoxicating smoke that rose from a small fire place in the middle of the two. Anna was panting heavily due to the things she'd just seen and heard, working as a spirit medium. The blonde knew this was a great risk for her and the baby, but she had no other choice: Anna had to protect this innocent life inside of her.

Kino looked to the blonde with a worry.

"Tell me, what you saw" she demanded. Anna collected her breath and senses, only then she talked.

"I saw…a night…fields in the night and…many shadows move around. I was alone in them…only one with the figure, carrying the…the baby in my arms…" she done a pause and continued, feeling how her voice trembles more and more "I was looking for…for Hao. I needed him to help me, because…because he promised to be with me each time I needed him…as I finally saw him in the crowd of shadows, he was consumed by them and became one of them…then I felt how the baby was taken away…from me by the same shadows…and it disappeared as well..." Anna did another pause. This episode with her baby disappear was hardest, so she had to collect her senses again "then I felt that I'm disappearing into the shadows myself…the darkness simply consumed me…then I felt a sharp pain, but…" Anna stopped.

"But it wasn't yours" Kino ended for her. The blonde looked at the woman, totally shocked.

"How do you know?" she managed to ask. Kino sighed painfully.

"I know because your destiny was written on your pale skin every since you were born. I could see that you will be strong and combatant child, ready to show the rightful places to everyone. But I also saw that you'll be the one who would suffer for your happiness. That's why I know that the pain wasn't yours. I wasn't supposed to be yours" Anna looked to Kino with disbelief, but also it made much sense to her: it explained why she and Hao had to prove themselves so many times. And one time wasn't yet over: Yoh.

"Kino-sama, tell me this" Anna stopped, rethinking of what she's about to ask. The positive conclusion came to her "do you think Yoh is any threat to me and Hao?" Kino looked to her for a while, inside admiring the providence of this young woman. Yup, Anna was both: highly minded and carried, loving. The old woman let out a sigh.

"I'm afraid so, my dear. Yoh's in the abyss and doesn't know how to act. I'm afraid he could do any suicide at this state" Anna nodded. Yes, she knew he could and she was afraid of that, afraid that he could destroy Hao and hers happiness…

xxxSUDDENxENDxOFxFLASHBACKxxx

A doorbell rang, waking Anna up from her thoughts. She rushed to the door and found Pirikas and Tammy behind them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Anna asked quickly. She wasn't aware of them coming.

"Visiting you of course" Pirika snapped as if being angry that Anna didn't appreciate their care for her.

"Oh I see. Come in them" Anna stepped out of the way to let them in and at that time, a sharp pain hit her belly. She collapsed to the floor on her knees, groaning from sharp pain.

"Anna! What's wrong?!" Tamao shouted out in horror. Both girls kneeled to Anna, holding her.

"I don't…know" she managed to say "but…call the doctor…and take me to the hospital…" she barely could talk through the sharpness of the pain. It was two months left until the coming of the baby so Anna didn't understand what was going on. However, she felt that something was terribly wrong with her, with the baby.

Pirika ran to the phone and done what Anna ordered her to do. The all there gotten into the car and Pirika drove away quickly. Tamao and Anna were sitting at the back: Anna held the handle of the door clenched with the fist: the pain was so sharp that Anna barely saw that things around. Tamao rubbed her back, looking fearfully to her friend.

"Anna, hold on. We're almost there" the pink-haired girl whispered. Anna nodded, knowing that for sure everything's about to end…

At the hospital, doctors examined Anna and put her into intensive therapy's ward. As the doctor came out of the ward, Pirika and Tamao quickly jumped off of their chairs. Pirika recognized the guy immediately.

"Daisuke? How's Anna?" the guy shook his head, looking very worried and tired.

"The inner bleeding began in her womb for some reason. The doctors are trying to stop it, but she'd already lost a lot of blood" Daisuke lowered hi head, feeling really guilty and responsible. Tamao asked in a fearful tone:

"Does it mean..?"

"Yes, if we won't do the Cesar immediately, she might lost the baby and even herself" Pirikas gasped to it. She was so shocked that her hands and shoulders began to shake. Daisuke looked even more crestfallen.

"You should call Hao. He must know about this." Tamao nodded for Pirika and ran to take her cell phone…

As Hao found out about what happened to Anna, he ran out of the office as fast as he could. He jumped into his car and drove through the city. The streets were as busy as the hive of bees so Hao took a short cut: right through the blacktopped way of the park. It was an early spring and the rain was pouring down. The winter was unusually warm, so there was nothing much of a snow left: only dirty reflections of it. Hao sped all the way and suddenly it took for him to hit the breaks: the reason stood in front of him. The black car, which he recognized as Yoh's, blocked Hao's way. The brunette guy knew why Yoh finally showed up, but why in the whole wide world right now? Hao got out of the car, straight into pouring rain. Yoh too got out, two katanas in his hands.

"What do you want?" Hao asked, but already knowing the answer: their father thought them well to fight with swords, but never thought how to fight against each other. Yoh threw one sword to Hao and pointed his to him.

"To fight you. The winner gets Anna" he stated. Hao pulled off his shirt and threw them somewhere.

"So be it…" …