Author's Notes: Here we are. Chapter Thirteen is up and running. I'm going to try and update every Sunday (hopefully) because this story has gotten back on track again. It would have been up sooner today, but was being silly. So yeah. Exciting things happening here. Huzzah. Enjoy everyone!

Chapter Thirteen
Reunion

There was nothing but darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Jak felt nothing as he drifted through the emptiness, letting his mind drift in and out of thought. He could vaguely recall hearing Keira's voice call to him, sounding as if she were crying for him to wake up. While he drifted, he could hear a soft chanting break through to his thoughts. For a brief few moments, Jak's eyes opened to see nothing but blurred outlines of people he had no memory of. They were looming above him, their hands placed upon his head and shoulder. Words were muttered that he could not comprehend before he slipped back into his comatose state.

A swift chill down his spine broke through the darkness of Jak's mind, bringing his senses back to the surface. The haze from around his eyes was beginning to clear as he heard sounds around him once more. The sounds of faint muttering from voices that he could not recognize seemed close by to where he had been placed. The conversation seemed to be quick and focused, as if they did not realize that he was starting to stir. From head to toe, Jak felt cold. He tried to warm himself up by clutching to the blankets that came into his grasp.

'Blankets?' he thought to himself.

The young man was confused. He remembered feeling off as his conversation with the queen touched upon his parents. Flashes of Mira and her goons taking him on in the streets of Spargus came back to his mind. The pain in his head and shoulder as his clothing became stained with blood. Dragging his wounded self back to the square to only find Damas and Sig there to listen to the plan he had found out. His mind reached for more information, but the remainder of those moments faded back into an unknown blank.

There were no dreams or visions of the past while he slept. No burning Spargus or the image of his mother crying out to him that had been burned into his memories. All he felt was weakness and cold. His head pounded harshly at the same place he had gotten hit. The dull buzzing within the back of his skull made Jak want to fade back into the unconscious sleep he was stirring from. All sense of time had been lost to him as he began to have feeling come back to his limbs.

Letting his head move upon a soft pillow, Jak let a moan come through his lips. The voices grew quiet at his action, followed quickly by the sounds of feet across the floor. Even the smallest noise made his head ache terribly, unsettling his stomach. A soft touch came to his brow that felt cool against his skin. It was gentle, not trying to harm him in any way, shape, or form. Jak did not try to fight against the hand, letting them stroke the side of his face gently.

"He's still very warm," the soft voice of Lena cut through the darkness of his mind. "At least it's down from before."

"The monks were good on their word," Damas' voice told quietly, his voice almost in a neutral tone. "The eco was quick to calm the trauma."

The gentle touch remained upon Jak's brow, brushing stray hairs from his face. "It's been two days. He's going to need another to recover. We should let his friends know that he is alright."

"No one else is to see or speak with him until I talk to him." Damas spoke again, roughness coming to the surface of his voice. "As soon as he wakes up, I demand that he talk to me. I want to know where he got this."

It took Jak a moment to realize that the chill from before was from the fact that he was missing his shirt. He could feel the blankets be withdrawn from him slightly, trying to cool him down. He shifted slightly, trying to regain what warmth was there. When he tried to move, his body felt a huge amount of strain, causing him to groan again.

Opening his eyes slowly, he was surprised to find a dimly lit room. It wasn't his room, that was the first thought. It looked similar to his, though from what he could see, the view was of the ocean and not the city. Lena was sitting at his side, her glance looking as if it had just been brought back to him suddenly. On the other side of the room, the king of the wasteland stood against the pillars leading out to the balcony. His eyes were harsh as he stared him down, something held tightly in his fist.

Moving to sit up, Jak felt his head swimming in pain. "Easy Jak," Lena muttered quietly, a soft touch coming to his back. "You lost a lot of blood."

And yet, he ignored her words. Moving himself into an upright position, Jak found his long blond hair hung about his face and shoulders, which were covered in a thin layer of sweat. He was pale, abnormally so for him. A set of bandages were wrapped tightly around his shoulder and brow, slightly tinged red from a small bit of bleeding. He tried to form a small fist, but found it to be too much strain for his muscles. It was at that moment that Jak realized that his pendent was missing from about his neck. Looking straight forward again, the first thing he looked to was Damas.

"Your majesty," he choked out, causing Damas' glare narrow a bit more. "I…can explain."

"Explain what Jak?" He growled, causing the youth to withdraw a bit into the large amount of pillows behind him. Pushing away from where he stood, Damas moved towards the end of the bed, looking at him with a hate that Jak had never seen before. "Explain why you were roaming my palace and my city in the middle of the night? Why Sig had me call out my guards to go and find you, only to have to come back beaten to a bloody pulp? Or maybe why you lied to my wife and myself," he paused, holding out his fist in front of him. In one swift movement, the king opened his hand, letting the familiar ruby pendent come tumbling out from his grasp, having it dangle before the youth. "Or why you were wearing my son's pendent?"

Jak froze in his spot, knowing that there was no way around this. Jak faintly remembered calling him 'father' before he passed out in his arms. From the look in the man's eyes, he probably thought that he was lying to him on those grounds as well. In a way, he wished he hadn't said that damn word. It was the one thing that could complicate an already delicate situation. There was no way they would have believed him now. Especially since now everything was out in the opened. It wasn't a time to fast talk or try to lie again.

"Answer me boy," Damas' voice growled again, more anger than before coming to the surface. "Or so help me, I will have my guards come and beat the truth out of you."

Lena rose to her feet at her husband's words, "Damas!" she interjected, causing the man to draw back a bit. "He has to have a reason for his actions. Perhaps he just-"

But Damas shook his head as he looked to the woman, "If there is a reason, then I want it now." He looked to the young man in bed once more. "Speak boy. Before you loose your chance."

Looking down at the blankets that covered his legs, Jak thought for a moment, trying to find his words. His injuries were making it hard to try and focus on the words that he wanted to find to say. Beneath the bandages, every inch of his shoulder and head burned and ached with pain. On occasion, bits of the image before him would blur and grow unfocused. Letting his hands grip the blankets a bit, he tried to look past the pain that clouded his thoughts and to the matter at hand.

Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and just let the words come to him. "When Mira started the fight with us in the bar, the first person she went for was me." Jak began, keeping his words quiet, but loud enough for both to hear. Leaning against the pillows behind him, Jak let the cool night air from the opened balcony doors cool down his body, letting his once tense muscles relax. Keeping his eyes down at his hands, Jak let the dam he had built up about all these thoughts break through at last. "That pendent was something that I have had since I was young. I was found wearing it while I was wandering the streets of Haven. But it was taken away from me by the underground, saying that it was for my own protection that I did not have it. I just recently had it returned to me."

Looking up at the two, there was nothing but stern expressions upon both of the people. Swallowing harshly, he continued on. "It was something that never bothered me until I encountered Mira. That drug she gave me forced a memory to the surface."

Sitting back down onto the bed, Lena reached out to the young man. She was gentle in her movements, approaching him slowly until her hand rested upon his arm. "What kind of memory?" she asked him.

Glancing over his shoulder, Jak could see the woman from the corner of his eye. Her eyes seemed to be filling with tears as she came closer to him, almost as if she already knew. Taking in a deep breath, he slowly turned his head to face the wasteland's queen. He let his blue eyes lock with her own, letting the words come once more.

"Places and things I had never seen before," he told her, "All new things and yet feeling familiar. The one thing that stayed with me out of those dreams was one night. A city." He glanced over to Damas, seeing his face unchanged by the words, "This city, burning as metalheads and Krimzon Guards attacked. They were looking for someone. My…parents had no choice but to protect me from them. I was given to a trusted friend and went to Haven. It was the last memory I had of them."

The queen placed her hands to her face, covering her gasp of shock. Her eyes welled with tears as she stared into the young man's face, watching him turning slightly red. His hands were trembling as he sat there, letting his eyes meet the bed almost as if he couldn't bare to see her crying.

Damas let the pendent leave his hands as shock overcame him. He felt his blood run cold as he let his eyes watch the boy carefully. The words that he had spoken earlier were truthful and not the ramblings of the lack of blood to the brain. It was almost a foolish feeling that came to him as he looked over him carefully. The emerald blond hair with sapphire blue eyes like Lena's and his amazing agility and fighting techniques from him; the pieces were falling into place.

Lifting her now trembling hand from Jak's arm, Lena reached up to brush his face gently. "Mar…" the queen muttered, daring not to move from her spot upon the bed. "It can't be."

Looking up at the mention of his name, Jak let a small smile come to the corner of his lips. "Sig kept his promise to you. He said he would bring me back home, no matter what." He told quietly, watching as the woman let the tears flow down her face.

There was no restraint from the queen as he leaned forward, taking hold of Jak tightly in an embrace. She was sobbing heavily, letting her fingers run through his long blond hair. Lena could not let her emotion be contained any longer. Her son was there, in her arms for the first time in ages. It wasn't considered proper behavior of a queen to show such emotion, but she didn't care about rules or manners at that moment. Her son was alive and it was the only thing that mattered to her.

"Mar," she whispered through her sobs, pulling back from him. Jak was smiling at her softly, trying to keep his own composer in check. She let her hand grace his cheek, tucking loose strands of hair behind his ears. "Look at you. You're…so handsome." She muttered to him, causing him chuckle a bit as she brushed his face once more.

Damas stood silent, watching his wife cling to the young man from the city. She cried as soft whispers were exchanged between the two, both wearing smiles on their faces. He saw tears of joy trickling down her smooth paled cheeks as she continued to brush the hair from Jak's face. It was almost unbelievable that the precursors would finally grant the one thing he wanted more than anything. His son was alive. A warrior and a hero of the people, just like he knew he would become one day. It was the first time in ages that Damas felt the makings of a true smile upon his lips.

Reaching down to the bed, the king retrieved the pendant that he had released not even a few moments before. Taking a tight grip upon it, he looked up to where the two sat once more. "Mar," he finally spoke, causing Jak and Lena to avert their gazes to where he stood. The man moved slowly from his spot, moving to sit next to his wife on the bed. As the woman moved away from her son, trying to find her composer again, Damas held up the pendent. "You have grown into a fine warrior and man. And, you must have much to tell us."

Nodding slightly at his father's words, Jak reached up to take the jewel from him. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his chest at the relief of letting his parents know the truth. There was no more doubt within his thoughts as he watched the two of them smile at him. The stern cold king of the wasteland was no longer looking through him with an icy stare. Instead, there was a calmness about him that Jak did not thing was possible for him to have. It was the truth. There was no more hiding and lying. And, as much as he didn't want to think of thanking Mira, it was almost like she had made the reunion happen.

'Mira,' Jak thought for a moment. It was as if a switch had been turned on his head. Suddenly, every memory and event from that night came rushing back to him. Mira's whisper of a plan to hurt Samos for the precursor item that he held and her plans of something more for him came flooding back into his thoughts. His head felt like it was swimming in pain from all the thoughts coming back to the surface of his mind.

Jak looked to Damas, letting his concern become known once more. He leaned forward, despite his body's screams of objection at the action. Taking hold of Damas' shoulder for more support than anything else, he stared the man in the eye. "Samos. What happened to Samos? Did Mira—"

"I sent Sig and my men to go retrieve him from the city." The man explained, letting his tone remain stern. "Don't worry about it. You need to rest before you can deal with that."

But Jak shook his head in protest. Pulling back the sheets of the bed, he moved to rise to his feet. Placing a small bit of weight upon his legs, the blond tried to push himself up into a standing position. Rising quickly to his feet, a wave of dizziness fell over his head and body. His knees gave out beneath his weight, sending him falling back onto the bed. Bracing his head with his hand, Jak swallowed harshly, trying to keep himself from being sick.

Lena leaned forward to him once more as he breathed in deeply. Placing a hand to his back, she rubbed it slowly, trying to help calm his breathing. "Mar, you have to calm down. You were seriously wounded." She told him softly, seeing how Jak was starting to tremble slightly. "You still need time to recover."

"Alright," Jak muttered quietly, letting his breath calm once more. Looking up to face the two once more, he let his blue eyes narrow slightly, "I…don't really remember what happened. How long was I out?" he asked, moving himself back into bed slowly so as not to feel dizzy again.

Lena rose to her feet, moving away towards the door in a one graceful and swift motion. She quietly opened the door, speaking softly to someone who stood outside. As she did such, the man moved closer to Jak, watching him as he readjusted the blankets upon his body. Damas sighed a bit in relief to see that the young man had managed to calm himself down again into a more relaxed state. "About two days. Give or take a few hours."

"Two days?" Jak questioned, raising an eyebrow in question.

Damas nodded, a smirk forming on his lips at the young man's expression. "Bringing you back into the palace, your friends came looking for you. Sig had let them know that you had gone missing. Fearing for the worst, they came out to meet us as we brought you back inside. I assured them that you would be fine. They were in and out the first day to visit you."

Jak let his glance drop to the side slightly, "I don't remember that." He told softly, knowing that Keira and Daxter must have been worried. He could just imagine Torn's rude commentary while Ashelin would elbow him in the ribs to shut him up.

"I would have been surprised if you did remember it," Damas told him, causing the young man to look up again. "That hit to your head gave you a concussion and the wound to your chest caused a great deal of blood loss. You slept like the dead because of the combination. Whatever Mira did, she wasn't aiming to kill you."

Rubbing his head a bit, Jak tried to focus back on that night. The entire fight with the woman was fuzzy and a blur. He remembered her stabbing him in the shoulder and how she held him close to her, letting her lips run up and down his neck. The feeling of her reaching down his shirt to retrieve the pendent made his stomach turn and his skin crawl. Moving his hand to his neck, he rubbed the spot where she had kissed him. It was just about the same area where she had stabbed him with the drug.

"Are you alright?" Lena's voice broke through the silence, causing Jak to look up. The woman had returned to the other side of his bed, holding a small bowl of water with a rag over the edge of it. Placing it onto the end table of the bed, she placed herself back besides Jak, a look of concern upon her face. "You look a little pale."

Shaking his head, Jak could only force a smile to the surface. "It's…it's nothing." He muttered quietly, pushing the feeling of disgust away.

Lena smiled as she moved closer to her son. He let herself place her hand lightly upon his head as he sat back against the pillows of the bed. "I still can't believe that you're really alive." She muttered quietly, trying to lighten the mood from the thoughts of that were not happy. "Was everything you told me that night the truth, Mar? When I talked to you before you ran off?"

Jak smiled a bit at the words. It was odd to hear himself being called Mar out of his dreams. He was so used to Jak, he never thought of ever being called something else. But the thought of it being his real name was almost as confusing. The dreams had stopped when the truth was spoken and it was all because of a slip of the tongue and being semi-conscious. Now, they knew and it was time to explain about what had happened to him.

"Yeah. It was all true," he told, resting back against the pillows of the bed, letting himself relax more so than before. "But, it's a bit more complicated than how I had put it before."

Damas let his eyes narrow in question. "How so?"

Taking in a deep breath, Jak started to explain what had actually happened for the past few years. He started with traveling through the rift gate to Sandover. How the small island village was actually part of the modern day Haven City. It took him a few minutes to try and explain the traveling through time to the past, mainly because, he didn't understand it fully himself. He told him how he was raised to managed and manipulate eco because Samos found him to have a natural talent for it. It surprised him when he was younger to find that he was a rare individual who could manage all types of eco. Though, he never questioned it. There was no point to question it. The two listened intently as Jak told them about life in Sandover, and what had happened to Daxter with the dark eco. For a long time, Jak had blamed himself for not being able to help him, but it took a swift slap to the head from Daxter to let his friend know that he did not blame him for it. He explained about Gol and Maia, how they had been consumed by dark eco and how he had saved the sages and the island from their reign of terror.

Before Jak could even try to move on about the time he spent in jail and his life in Haven City, he felt himself growing tried of speaking. He let a small yawn escape him as he felt himself slipping out of a coherent conversation. Sliding down into the bed, he let his eyes drop down, causing his parents to blur in his line of sight.

"Get some rest Mar," Lena's voice muttered quietly through the oncoming darkness around his thoughts and eyes. "You don't have to worry anymore."

There was a feeling there that Jak couldn't place his finger one as he drifted off to sleep. The soft sound of humming entered his ears of the same song he had heard before. He could feel Lena running her fingers through his hair slowly while her voice entered his ears, making him relax even more so than before. It was something very vaguely familiar in the back of his mind, but he just couldn't grasp what it was. But it didn't matter at that point. Sighing a bit, he let his eyes close and his body grow limp once more.

"Step two is now complete," Mira's voice echoed throughout a large room. The woman had found her place at the head of a long wooden table. Her chair was placed higher than the rest of the men, who lined the sides as they awaited to hear her next words. The room they were in was dark, except for a few candles that lined the table, giving the area an eerie feel as the eyes of every man set onto the woman.

Crossing her long slender legs, the woman let her elbow rest upon the armrest, placing her hand into her palm. "The good prince will be mine once I meet him again." She cooed, letting her hair be tossed a bit. She let a dream-filled sigh escape her as she let her eyes close a bit. "I never expected to see that kind of fire in a young man's eyes. Like a wild beast behind bars. He's strong and untamable." She chuckled a bit, licking her lips like thinking about a delicious piece of food. "I've always liked."

One of the men closest to the woman's perch rose to his feet, placing his hands onto the table. "What is next Mira? Besides you trying to chase after the prince, what more is there to this plan of yours?" he almost demanded, gaining a few growls and agreements from the other men.

"Boys. Boys!" Mira shouted above the roar, silencing the room once again. Rising gracefully to her feet, she crossed her arms in front of her. Throwing her hip out to the side a bit, she let her smile crawl upon her face. "You know that drug within the prince's blood will make him weak and vulnerable to my every will and movement." Turning to face where she once sat, Mira let her long dread drip down her back. "When the right moment comes, he will be my puppet. He will bend to my every will."

"And then what?" Another voice called out to her. As she spoke to her men, they seemed to get more energized. As if they could go and take on an entire army of metalheads and Krimzon Guards and come out victorious. "What Mira?!" the voice cried again.

Snickering a bit, Mira raised her arms into the air. Tilting her head back, she let a loud exhale of breath escape her. "I am the descendent of the dark eco sage Gol. With his sister Maia, they came so close to filling this world with darkness, forming it into what they sought to be the perfect life." Dropping her head and arms, she turned on her heels quickly, looking back out to her men. "I wish nothing but that. With that prince's eco powers, he will be the key to it all. And all we need is to slip that ring upon his finger, and he is ours."

"And then?" one more man asked, now all the wastelander's stand to their feet in anticipation.

"And then," Mira began once more, letting her twisted grin spread across her lips again, "We'll take back the city. Take back what is rightfully ours! And let the dark eco rebuild was is destroyed in our paths. And the House of Mar will be reborn in my vision with the prince as my puppet."

The room exploded into roars and cheers of approval as the Mira replaced herself in her chair. As she watched her minions toast and cheer to her plans, the woman tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She couldn't help but let her smile grows as she gazed off to the side, thinking of the young blond from Haven. She couldn't help but lick her lips once more at the thought of having the prince once again in her grasp.

'Soon enough,' she thought once more, 'Soon it will all come together.'

Author's Notes: Ah yes. This is the longest fanfic I have ever written here on Hurray! Hope you all enjoyed it! Don't forget to read and review!