Back with chapter four!

This is the Life

Chapter 4: The Jewel, The Flower, And The Bird

Recap-

A shriek filled the air, nurses ran into Room 109.

Coming from Rose's hospital room...

Was a flat-lining.

-End Recap

At the sound, Syrus panicked. He tried to wheel himself over to the room, but Zane's grip tightened. He wasn't letting go.

Everyone just stared in shock as nurses began to fill the room. Weren't they just about to see her? What happened to that? Their shocked expressions turned to worry and confusion once all the nurses that entered, exited.

They turned toward us, "Are you here for Rose Truesdale?" a woman asked. We nodded. "She seems to have gone missing! There isn't anyone in the bed." she explained.

"All that was left was a note with a picture." she went on, "Do any of you know what it means?" she held out two pieces of paper.

Zane grabbed them from her hand and handed it to Syrus. Syrus looked it over, he shook his head. His eyes shone with confusion and worry. He wanted to know what was going on!

Jaden, being on Syrus' right, got a look at the picture. His eyes widened as he snatched the photo from his hands.

"Hey!"

Jaden examined the picture closely. It was of two girls. Both looked at the age of 10. He had no idea how he never saw it before this.

The photo was of two ten-year-old girls smiling at the camera. On had short, brown hair that reached a little past her shoulders, and chocolate brown eyes. The shorter girl had flowing, wavy blonde hair, but you could see her red roots. Her eyes were a deep royal blue. And, if you squinted, you could see the faint shadow of a boy in the background.

Jaden whispered something to himself, something no one else could decifer. "What do you know?" Sy asked, eagerly. "Read the note, it makes no sense to me." He handed Jaden the note.

Jaden quickly, yet hesitantly, unfolded the note. It read:

Hello J-Bird,

Do you remember me? Ah, it's been so long hasn't it? What was it, about 25 years ago, eh. Well I took Rosey with me. I missed her. I needed her to help me with my plans. I advise you to keep one eye open at night. You never know which one of your friends is next. Or maybe I can meet my nieces and nefews? Hmm, tempting. I can reassure you that Rose is in no danger, but we can't say the same for anybody else. Oh, and that coma crap and no visitors was all me. She was perfectly fine! And don't come looking for me. I'll find you when the time is right.

With all my hate,

A long lost jewl.

Jaden's jaw clenched. At least he knew Rose was safe. "She's fine Sy." he tried reassuring more himself than anyone else. "But you're going to be living with us for a while." He revealed. He couldn't take anymore chances, especially now that he knew what they were up against.

"Jay... don't blame yourself when you find out."

This is what Yubel meant.

"What?" Alexis asked. "They're staying?"

"What's going on, Slacker?" Chazz growled. Yup, even after all these years. A habit is a habit. The Duel Academy gang will never change.

"Rose has been taken, but she's perfectly fine." Jaden explained. "She was never in a coma in the first place."

"What do you mean she was never in a coma in the first place?!" Syrus shrieked. "The doctor said she was in a coma!"

"Would you believe me if I said we're dealing with the force of magic?" Jaden asked.

"..."

"Well, crazier things have happened." Jaden pointed out.

The former Duel Academy gang nodded. "Yeah, too true." Sy agreed, sighing. "But where's Rose? Who took her? How do you know she's safe?!"

Jaden sighed and closed his eyes, "The Jewl is incapable of lying. Plus, she would never hurt her best friend."

"Who is this 'The Jewl'?" Asked Aster.

Jaden frowned, "I'll tell you when we get back to my house. I'll go tell Jesse we're going. Everyone's coming to our place. The kids will be kept out of our conversation, except for my daughters, and Leslie."

Mandy frowned, "Why can't the rest of us? Or at least the older ones? P-lease Uncle Jay! I wanna know, too! We're old enough." Jacqueline, Damion, Dominic, Julianna, Eric, Zack, Jonie, Jack, Rex, Ross, and Junior nodded in agreement.

Mara growled, "I am not going to be left out of this one." the ten-year-old said to her father.

"Neither am I." Mark humphed stubbornly. Ah, the Princeton gene. To this, you could say, Father Chazz was proud of.

Chazz looked at his only son, then lazily turned his head to his past-rival. "So?" he asked the two-toned adult.

"No."

After everyone entered the Yuki household, the kids, except for a select few, went into Katherine's room. They left Julianna, Eric, and Jessica with their parents because they weren't needed and wanted to stay anyway. Syrus was discharged, with a little breaking of a rule here and there. So here they all were, sitting around the living room.

"'The jewl' is Jade." Jaden started, breaking the prolonging silence. "My younger sister."

"I have an aunt?!" Katherine gasped.

"Correction, we have an aunt?!" Cassidy was just as surprised. Jaden ignored them.

Alexis looked at her husband quizically, "But I thought you said that-"

"I know what I said." he cut her off. "She must have came back or something. I did say she could use magic." Jaden was silent for a moment, then he began to speak again. "Hey, as I recall, The Jewl and The Flower learned it together."

"Ok, now who's The Flower?! Why are you speaking in code?! What is my aunt's real name?!" Katherine started shooting question after question.

"The Flower is The Jewl's partner in crime." He smirked lightly at his own joke, that only he could understand. "The Bird is speaking in code because The Bird always does that."

"The Bird?" Alexis giggled, rolling her eyes. "Who dubbed you that? Jade?" Jaden grinned. Cassidy frowned. So her name was Jade.

"What does this have to do with Mom?" Leslie cut in. "Why did this The Jewl take my mother?!" she demanded.

"Rose is The Flower. Jade is the Jewl. They are partners in crime. They are best friends." Jaden explained. "Also, The Flower is my ex-girlfriend."

Syrus' eyes widened, "You knew and dated my wife before me?" he squeaked. Jaden nodded like it was no big deal. It wasn't really. Not to him at least.

"So Rose was that girl you dated before DA. Wow." Alexis commented. "But wasn't she blonde?"

Jaden rolled his eyes, "She was a red head, then my sister poured blonde dye in her hair at school. That's how they became best friends. I never saw her with her red hair. So I had no idea it was Rose." he shrugged. "I thought they just shared a name." They dropped that subject.

"What do you mean, they were partners in crime?" asked Aster.

Jaden chuckled, "They came across this book one day. The discovered that it had spells in it, and that they were able to perform them." he explained. "Jade made the 'popular girl' in school admit her biggest fear. Which, by the way, was to be taken down by Jade Yuki. Rose got out of her... nevermind. And once I got my sticky hands on it, I accidently turned Jade jade. She was green for... about a month." he shrugged.

Despite the curent situation, Jaden just had to smile. He loved his sister. He missed her very much. He hasn't seen her years.

You know why?

Well, Jaden 'conveniently forgot' to mention...

Jade Emerald Yuki was considered legally dead for the past 25 years.

You didn't think I'd kill her, did you?