I'm particularly enthused with this chapter for one reason: Jr. makes his big return! Hehe, you could only imagine what I'm going to do with this.

Neo: …Even I've gotta admit that it's funny.

-Squee!- Thankies baby!

Neo: I shouldn't have done that. Anyways, KOS-MOS rox doesn't own anything in this chapter.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Second Station: Jesus carries His cross

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xenosaga Episode III: Lager Unsere Kreuze

Chapter 2: Arms Wide Open (pt. 1)

The sound of waves crashing onto the shore filled her ears as she looked into her lover's eyes. The color of them was the same as the ocean, tranquil and blue, filled with love. She sighed and rested her soft curves against his more masculine form. Then, she saw something glimmer on his left ring finger. Studying it closer, she realized that it was a golden band. She quickly looked at her own hand, seeing not only the engagement ring, but a wedding ring.

They kissed as the sound of the tide welled up again, and she felt him gently place his hand on her belly. Beneath her clothes, her belly swelled with the life now inside of her. Holding her breath in awe, Shion could feel the baby stirring, the new and precious life the shared love between her and her husband had brought into being. Allen smiled and kissed her again. He laced his fingers through Shion's and she closed her eyes, savoring the moment. Everything was peaceful and serene, and nothing could destroy what they were feeling right now.

Yet, thought it all, Shion couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them from not so far away…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shion's emerald eyes opened slowly as she found herself back in her bedroom. She sat up in the darkness, stretching and yawning. Looking down, she saw that her stomach was still virtually flat and there was no band on her finger. "Strange, that felt so real…" she whispered to herself. "I could even see color…" Normally in her dreams, everything was in monochrome, except for the people she saw. In this one, every color was as sharp as real life.

Sighing and rubbing her eyes, she noticed that her headache and nausea were gone. She glanced at the clock and let out a sarcastic laugh. It read exactly noon. I guess the baby takes the meaning of "morning sickness" quite literally, she thought.

She slowly got to her feet, feeling joy swell in her chest when she didn't immediately feel like she had to vomit. As a matter of fact, she was hungry. Wonder if Allen took it upon himself to make me lunch… she mentally laughed, knowing full well that Allen had woken from their nap about thirty minutes earlier.

She walked into the kitchen, shaking her head disdainfully as she saw Jin and Allen sitting at the table. Jin was leaning forward in his seat, glaring angrily at the younger man, who was frozen wide-eyed like a deer caught in a headlight. Walking over to her fiancée, she stood behind him and loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing the top of his head.

"So how long have you two been sitting like this?" she asked, giggling.

"Since I woke up," Allen replied, trying not to move his mouth. "I think that if I don't make any sudden moves, he won't attack…" Jin's eyes only narrowed more.

"I think that now would be a good time for the three of us to discuss this baby," Jin said, not removing his icy stare from Allen. Shion's stomach growled audibly, and she grimaced.

"Can't I get something to eat first?" she whined.

"No," Jin said firmly, the glare fading from his face. "Just because this was unplanned doesn't mean that you don't make a plan."

"Fine," Shion said grudgingly, sitting down next to Allen. He laced his fingers through hers, smiling at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Now," Jin began, resting his elbows in the table and leaning towards them. "What are you going to do about money?"

"…Lost Jerusalem to Jin?" Shion said, raising her eyebrows at him. "We're the Chief and Vice-Chief of Vector's first Research and Development Division. I think we're alright on cash."

"Yeah," Allen chimed in. "Besides, I have money put away. Living as a bachelor for so long did me well."

"Okay, so you guys have a plan for you money. Good." Jin cleared his throat. "What if Shion stops working to take care of the baby? Then what?"

"Then as vice-chief, I'd take her place as chief," replied Allen. Shion nodded.

"And…what about a home?" Jin continued.

"We'll start looking for a house right after we get married," his sister answered.

"You two are more competent than I expected," Jin remarked wryly, smirking. "But…one thing's been bothering me. Shion, how did you get…pre-pregn-" He paused, shuddering, unable to correctly form the word, "pregnant…while you were on the pill?" Shion laughed nervously and blushed.

"Well, Jin…" she started, "I kinda…stopped taking it after I got into Vector." Jin's face froze and he stared at her. Slowly, he got to his feet.

"I'm off to my bedroom to cry for a bit," he announced, walking slowly to his room. Allen's shoulders began to shake and Shion looked at him in alarm, thinking he was crying. She then smiled and rolled her eyes when she realized that he was trying to hold back hysterical laughter. Then, she sighed again, eyes falling to the table. She had to let him know sooner or later…

"What's wrong, Shion?" he asked, putting his arm around her. "This isn't a mood swing, is it? If it is, I'm running now." She raised her eyes to meet his, smiling sadly.

"Allen…you knew that Kevin and I were engaged, right?" she began, looking up at him.

"Of course," he replied. "The entire first division was in an uproar." A sarcastic smile formed on Shion's face.

"Well…you don't know the real reason." Allen furrowed his brow at her, confused. Shion sighed, not wanting to say what she was about to. She hadn't brought up this topic in years, and the memories it brought back were horrible. "Allen, I was pregnant. We didn't tell anyone for fear of us both being fired. Instead, he promptly proposed and I accepted. To this very day, you're the only one I've ever told."

"W-wow," Allen said, completely taken aback. "That's a real shocker…"

"Isn't it?" Shion paused. "At first, Kevin was extremely freaked out about it, but he eventually came around. He actually became ecstatic about it, and immediately wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl. So, we went to the doctor to find out. We were going to have a baby girl," she continued, now trying to hold back tears. "We decided to name her Dinah. Kevin was so excited that he named KOS-MOS's transport after her."

"So…what happened?" Allen asked gently.

"I got a terrible viral infection with a high fever, and we ended up losing the baby." Shion sniffed, quickly wiping away a tear that had spilled from her eye. "Then, not four months later, I lost Kevin too. You see, that's why I was so afraid of being pregnant."

"I understand completely," said her fiancée, embracing her. "I know how much that must have hurt. But I promise, nothing like that will ever happen again. I'll do my best to protect you and our baby."

"I know." Shion smiled. "I can always depend on you."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flower petals floated about majestically, caught in the wind. Long black hair was also caught in the draft, and the young woman smoothed it down with her hand. Bright, beautiful blue eyes scanned the horizon. A vast, flower-filled field met her gaze.

Standing a few strides behind her were young twin boys. They looked to be no older than five. Each of them had milky white hair, but although they were almost identical, there was one big difference. One boy had peaceful blue eyes as clear as the sky above, and the other had fiery, determined claret eyes.

"Raph," the little one with cerulean eyes said, pointing at the woman in front of them. "She's pretty, isn't she?" The other boy folded his arms and looked at the ground, unimpressed.

"Hhmph. Girls are yucky," he said, knitting his brow.

Hearing their conversation, the girl turned to face them, smiling. "You guys are too funny." Yeshua watched, entranced, as she turned her back to them again, slowly inhaling the sweet aroma in the air…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

chaos awoke with a snort, his peaceful nap on the couch disrupted by the high-pitched ringing of the holophone. It's the worst feeling to be wakened up by a phone, isn't it? Well, not as bad as being wakened by a pack of hungry bears or pumas, but I'm rambling.

"The phone's ringing!" Jr. announced, quite unnecessarily, from his bedroom. Yawning and clearing his throat, chaos hopped off of the couch and hurried over to the chair in front of the desk that held the device. He pressed the button, and a holograph screen popped up, bearing Shion's smiling face.

"Hey Shion," chaos said cheerily, smiling back. "How are you?"

"I'm…great, thanks," she replied. "Just wanted to make sure that you guys were coming tonight. Six o'clock, remember?"

"Yeah, we know," chaos said. Suddenly, Allen ran behind Shion, terrified by something. A second later, Jin also sprinted behind her, bearing his sword and, oddly enough, a carton of milk.

"Aagh! I thought you were okay with this!" Allen's voice cried from somewhere in the house.

"Jin, if you do so much as touch him I'll beat your ass down!" Shion half-screamed. "Sorry, something's happened that you'll find out tonight," she informed chaos politely.

"A surprise, I see?" chaos asked, smiling. Shion nodded. Jr. emerged from his room, wearing his black jeans and striped sweater, still intent on reading a book that was open in his hand. Suddenly, the familiar image of the female scientist caught his eye.

"Homigod, I know you!" Jr. exclaimed his greeting, pointing spastically at Shion.

"I know you too!" Shion replied. Jr. set down his reading material and stood behind chaos, propping his elbows on the back of the chair.

"How've you lovebirds and Jin been lately?" he asked with the trademark cocky grin.

"We've been really good," she responded. Suddenly, Allen ran up behind her, frantically looking at her.

"You've gotta help me, he's going to kill me!" he begged. Jin entered the shot and waved at chaos and Jr. before dragging Allen off-screen again. The younger man whimpered.

"I mean it Jin, I can kill you!"

"Hehe, Jin finally regretting his allowing Allen to move in?" the U.R.T.V. commented. Shion rolled her eyes.

"We'll be there at six," chaos said. Jr. nodded briskly.

"I'm looking forward to seeing Momo again. I called her a few days ago, and she said that she loved living with Juli so far," he said.

"That's good…I was just about to call them,"Shion said. "Do me a favor and give Gaignun and Albedo a call so that we can start getting ready."

"No problem," chaos said. "Well, we'll see you guys lat-"

chaos's voice trailed off as they saw Jin run back on screen and tilt Shion's head backwards, pouring the contents of the milk carton down her throat. She choked and sputtered, trying to break out of his grip.

"I think you should start drinking more milk now, Shion," he said. Shion elbowed him hard in the ribcage, knocking him away.

"Jin, are you just trying to make me sick again?" she snarled, wiping her mouth. The holographic screen disappeared as the call disconnected.

Jr. rubbed his cleanly-shaven chin thoughtfully as chaos turned to look at him. "Hmm…Shion is the same person, yet she seems…different, somehow," he mused. There's a strange glow about her, her chestular region seems to have grown, and lastly, Jin is basically force-feeding her dairy products." He paused, coming to the obvious conclusion. "Those damn character designers!" he snarled. chaos shook his head slowly.

The teen had to admit, living with Jr. had been an adventure so far. Every day, it was something different; debating the theological issues raised by The Da Vinci Code with the curtains, trying to tackle chaos whenever he turned a corner…never a dull moment. Allen's apartment wasn't too shabby, either: two bedrooms (which chaos wondered why he had a second one), a small kitchen, and a small living room.

"So what have you been up to?" chaos asked him. Jr. shrugged nonchalantly.

"I was reading for a while, then I started going over my bedroom with this blacklight I found in the closet," he said, retrieving said blacklight from his room. "Just wanna make sure Allen didn't leave anything behind, we'll say."

"Find anything?" chaos asked reluctantly, not wanting to know what the answer would be.

"Not in the room. But check this out!" Jr. grinned from ear to ear and shone the light on himself. Small, ultraviolet splotches appeared all over his body. "Look, I'm an inverted dalmation!" chaos slowly turned his head to face away from Jr.

"I don't even want to know what that is."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juli's home was nothing as Momo expected it to be. It was small, quaint, and quiet, in a more remote area of Fifth Jerusalem. Since she moved in two weeks ago, she truly felt at home. She finally had a real room, a real bed that was all her own. But most of all…she finally had a true mother.

She sat on the sofa, silently reflecting on her decision that she made earlier that day. The entire Vector third division had begged and pleaded for her to come in so they could run tests. With her help, they could create more advanced Realians. She had happily agreed.

Suddenly, Juli's connection gear began to vibrate, making a horrible buzzing sound against the coffee table. Momo snapped from her daydream and quickly picked it up. "I've got it, Mom!" she exclaimed.

"Okay," Juli replied from the kitchen. Momo pressed the button for the video communication, and the small square screen materialized just above it.

"Hi Shion!" the woman exclaimed enthusiastically. "…and Allen," she added, eyeing the man who was hiding behind Shion. He shushed her harshly.

"Hi, Momo," Shion replied, laughing and shaking her head. "Allen's hiding from my brother. Jin's in a…very bad mood right now."

"WHERE'S ALLEN?"Jin's voice boomed from somewhere off-screen. Allen's eyes widened.

"Relax," the green-eyed woman told her fiancée. She turned to face Momo once again. "You, your mother, and Ziggy are coming over tonight, right? Six o'clock." She stumbled over the word "mother"…it had a whole new meaning to her now.

"Of course!" Momo replied happily. Juli walked into the living room, sitting beside Momo on the couch.

"Hello," she said, smiling.

"Hello Doctor Mizrahi," Shion greeted. Allen waved from his awkward position. Juli raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask," Momo whispered to her.

"Please, call me Juli," the older woman told Shion. "Being called 'Doctor' makes me feel old."

"Ah, point taken." Shion nodded. "Remind me to call Jin 'Doctor' later…" she added aside to Allen. Momo giggled.

"Is anything new with you guys?" the pink-haired woman asked the couple. Shion and Allen exchanged uneasy glances.

"Well…yes," Shion replied honestly, smiling nervously and blushing. "But, you'll have to wait until we tell everyone tonight. Nobody else knows yet, so we're not leaving you out in the dark or anything." Juli narrowed her eyes in thought.

"I can't wait to find out," said Momo. "Well, I'm sure you guys are pretty busy getting ready and all. We'll see you later tonight!" Juli nodded.

"Looking forward to seeing you all again. Bye!" The holographic screen folded and disappeared. Momo placed it on the table and looked at Juli, who was lost in thought with a concerned look on her face.

"Uh-oh…" she said in a singsong voice. Momo tilted her head to the side, confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Call it women's intuition, but I think I know their secret."

"Ooh, tell me!" Momo said energetically. Her mother closed her eyes and shook her head, chuckling.

"Could you not tell by how she looked?" Juli said. "By her glow, by how much she was smiling? By how Jin is out for Allen's blood?" Momo's mind raced for an answer, but one never occurred to her. Of course nobody else would know…I'm the only one who has gone through that before, Juli realized.

"Well…I guess I'll just have to wait until tonight to find out," said the younger woman, slightly disappointed, before she walked off to her room to get ready. Juli remained seated, and her hand rested concernedly upon her chin.

Oh my…what are Shion and Allen going to do?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Citrene walked through the labyrinth of hallways that was Hyams Industries Headquarters. She put a hand on her rounded stomach, closing her eyes. Five months down, four to go.

Suddenly, the device on her hip began to vibrate. She was receiving a message. As she read it, a smile of gratification instantly spread across her face. The message was short, simple, and exactly what she wanted to see:

SUBJECT: ALDEN DEMETRIUS – TERMINATED.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mwahahaha! –Dances- Short chapter because I wanted to be able to post it quickly. Summer break is finally here! Oooh I'm so excited.

How will the others react to Shion and Allen's news? Hehe.

Until next time, this is KOS-MOS rox, signing off!