When I finally woke up, I saw Kratos beside me, a small smile on his lips as he held my hand. I smiled back as I tried to sit up and felt the immediate difference in my body. My stomach was much bigger then it was the day before due to the growth serum Hojo had injected into me and the gained pounds of the twins was felt, making my body feel heavier.
"Tiamatt, take it easy." Kratos warned as I sat up and examined my large stomach. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I feel fine its just, it feels odd. Of course that probably just due to the fact that our children were forced to grow faster then normal and my body hasn't had time to adjust to the change in weight and obviously, size." I sighed, as Kratos gently put a hand on my stomach and smiled.
"I still can't believe I'm going to be a father again." The Seraph smiled before turning serious. "If any harm has come to our children, Hojo will pay dearly."
"We don't have to worry about Hojo, Kratos. He's dead." I explained. "He will never torture another being with his twisted experiments."
Kratos nodded as he stood up before helping me to my feet. "Then we can concentrate on the health of you and the babies."
"Thanks," I smiled, kissing him quickly before walking to the door of the room. "Let's go see the others."
Kratos followed closely at my side as we went to the elevator that would take us to the cockpit. The others smiled at me as I sat down, Kratos still watching me closely. I looked over at the pilot seat where Lloyd was flying the ship in deep concentration, probably partially due to the fact that I was now in the room.
"You're doing fine Lloyd. Relax a little." I encouraged the swordsman who looked at me and grinned before returning his attention to flying and Garden soon came into view. "What the hell happened?"
The giant floating school had smoke rising from several areas and squads could be seen patrolling outside. Excious met us as we landed and lead us to the main hall where the directory was located.
"Ma'am, a small army of Remnants attacked us yesterday. We were able to defeat them but not without causualties. We also lost contact with Marth, Jo, and Nightfire. We sent a platoon out to investigate and they found them. They are currently in the infirmary in critical condition" Excious explained. "Nightfire is the only one who has regained consciousness. Would you like to speak with him?"
"No, let him rest." I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. "Are the cadets and students safe?"
"Yes ma'am. We were able to get them all to safety. Kayla put up a hell of a fight though. Said she wanted to fight along side Vincent."
"That sounds like her." I laughed. "Keep everyone on alert. Comi and many other Remnants are still out there and may attack again. Now if you excuse me, I must see Dr. Lecia."
Excious nodded and left to check on the various Seed that were patrolling around, leaving me with the rest of the group.
"So...what should we do?" Hiro asked. The Symphonians nodded in agreement.
"Hiro, take everyone to the emergency shelter on the lower level and relieve the current care takers. I want you all to take their places and help with the cadet and students."
"We can do that." Lloyd nodded as Hiro began to lead the others away though Kratos stayed with me. "Just be sure to tell us what you find out, ok?"
"We will Lloyd." I smiled, waving at my soon to be step-son before turning towards the infirmary. "Kratos, do you want to wait or do you want to find out now?"
"About what?" The Seraph asked, confused by my question.
"What gender our children are. Do you want to wait till they're born or do you want to know now?" I repeated, hoping he'd say now. My curiousity on the matter was getting the better of me and besides, its never too early to think of names.
"To be honest, I' m curious. I wouldn't mind finding out now." Kratos answered. I sighed and relief, which he must have saw because he hugged me before giving a quick kiss. "Let's just make sure they're healthly first though."
I nodded, taking his hand as we walked into the busy infirmary. Nurses and assistants scurried from bed to bed, treating various wounds. We passed Marth, Jo, and Nightfire, all of whom were covered in scratches and Jo appeared to have lost an arm. Nightfire was indeed, awake and looked over at his long time friends with a concerned look on his face but after noticing me and Kratos, gave us a small smile. I returned the smile before moving on to find Dr. Lecia who was checking a Seed who had recieved a nasty looking cut across her cheek.
"It's not serious but it will leave a scar. Be sure to take antibiotics to keep the swelling down and to prevent it from becoming infected." Dr. Lecia warned. The Seed nodded, taking the small bottle of pills from the doctor and walking past us, giving a respectful nod. "Headmistress, what brings you down to the infirmary?"
"I need a scan done immediatly. I've spent nearly a full day under Hojo's care and he tried to speed up the growth rate of my children. I need the scan done to ensure they are healthy." I explained. Lecia's eyes widened and she nodded.
"Please come this way." Lecia said, leading us to a small examining room but stopping Kratos. "I'm sorry sir but you'll have to wait out here."
"Doctor, this is Kratos, my fiancee and the father." I said.
Kratos nodded. "I would like to know that my children are safe."
"I understand. After being in with Hojo, I'm sure your primary concern is of Tiamatt's health and the well being of the babies. Come on in." Lecia nodded back, holding the door to the room open. I sat down on the table as Kratos leaned against the nearby wall, watching as Lecia walked to a small computer and typed in a command. "Lie down and stay still Tiamatt. This'll only take a few seconds."
I followed her request and laid down on the table, closing my eyes as a soft hum was heard over head. After a minute, the hum died down and Lecia told me it was done. As I sat back up, Kratos gave me a curious look to which I just gave a smile at.
"I'm guessing the technology of these worlds is not as advanced." Lecia said, noticing Kratos' expression. The Seraph nodded as he walked over to me after I signaled for him that it was ok. "The examining table contains the device that scans the body. It can detect vitals such as pulse and blood pressure as well as scanning the body for abnormalities or to create a picture of the inside of a person's body."
"I see. So this table allows you to see the organs and skeletal systems without performing surgury or other methods." Kratos noted. "This device is quite useful."
"Yeah. It should tell us if the babies are ok and what they are too." I smiled as Lecia scanned the results.
"Aside from appearing to be almost a full two months ahead of schedule, your son and daughter appear to be in perfect health." Lecia said, smiling as she faced us. "Their vitals are strong and they should be healthy when they're born."
I felt my smile widen as I flung myself happily at Kratos. "A boy and a girl! Kratos we're so lucky! Thank you for giving me such wonderful gifts!"
Kratos returned the embrace, also smiling as he kissed me. "Tiamatt, it is I that should be thanking you! With you, Lloyd, a son, and daughter, what more could I ask for?"
"Let's just make sure they actually get to meet their father alright?" I asked, laying my head against his shoulder as he continued to hold me close. "Now the real hard part starts."
"And what's that?" Kratos asked.
"Choosing names." Dr. Lecia laughed. I nodded and saw Kratos smile again.
"We already have a name for our daughter. Eria." The Seraph said. I laughed and nodded before grabbing his hand.
"Thank you Dr. Lecia!" I said happily as I pulled Kratos towards the exit to the infirmary. "Let's go tell the others!"
"Oh, one more thing Tiamatt. I recommend that you leave Excious to run Garden and to stay away from areas of high stress. I doubt you want to go into labor prematurly due to stress." Dr.Lecia warned. I sighed but nodded before leaving, dragging Kratos behind me.
We took the elevator down to the shelter level where everyone was waiting. Zelos was trying to flirt with some of the female cadets but a few slaps upside the head from Sheena stopped him before he started to flirt with the shinobi. Lloyd was sparing with some sword and gunblade weilders as Colette, Genis, and Presea played with some of the younger students. Regal scanned the crowd as he walked around. Raine was busy either giving a lecture or asking more about the history and techonology of our world. Hiro was talking to several of the older cadets nearby before noticing me and Kratos.
"So what's the results?" He asked, calm at first till he noted that we were smiling. "So they're ok?"
"Yep!" I said happly as the other Symphonians made their way over. "Perfectly healthy!"
"That's great news!" Colette cheered.
"So...what are you having?" Sheena asked.
"A boy and a girl." Kratos smiled, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me close.
Lloyd's face brightened immediately. "I'm gonna have a little brother and sister?!" Kratos and I both nodded, causing Lloyd to grin widely. "That's so cool!" We all laughed at his entusiasm.
"Imoto!" I turned to be embraced by Kayla for moment before she pulled away. "I can't believe we're both having a boy and a girl!"
"What? You are too?"
"Yes." Vincent answered. I noticed that he had removed the gold claw so that he had full use of both hands and gave him a questioning look. "Kayla finally convinced me to remove it. She's even taken my guns."
"I don't want our babies getting hurt!" The dragoness retorted, crossing her arms.
"I know." Vincent laughed, kissing her. "I don't want anything to happen to them either." It wasn't till then that I also noticed the gold band on their fingers.
"You two got married while I was gone? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, shocked.
"Sorry Imoto. We wanted to be married before the babies came and we would have told you about it but we couldn't get a hold of you. It was nothing big anyways." Kayla said, giving me a small smile. "Sorry."
"That's alright." I laughed. "I guess Kratos and I are going to have to do that same thing soon too. The only question is when?"
"Whenever you are ready Tiamatt." Kratos said, smiling at the thought.
"Thank you." I yawned. "Guess I'm still a little tired."
"It's late anyways. You should probably try to get some rest." Raine noted, looking aroung the shelter level. "It appears this is just a reinforced version of the upper level. Does that mean that there are dorms done here too?"
"Yeah, this area is meant to be able to support all of Garden if there ever was an emergency. There is even an infirmary down here but Dr. Lecia was probably concerned about moving some of the critical condition patients."
"That is understandable." Regal nodded. "I believe then, that everyone should retire for the night."
The group nodded and began to make its was over to the dorms of this level as the students and cadets did the same. Kratos left, saying he'd be back after he talked to Excious first so Hiro walked with me.
"Um, Tia?"
"What is it?"
"I was talking to Vincent and he said you brought him back from the Lifestream. How did you do that?" Hiro asked, looking curious but I could also see something else in his eyes.
"I used Time Compression to pull him from the Lifestream but doing so cost me half of my very life energy. Because of that, I almost died trying to fight off Dsanios." I explained. "Why?"
"Well, I was wondering...if maybe you could bring back Yuffie?" Hiro asked hopefully.
"Hiro, I would if I could but I would likely die. Even if I somehow lived, it could put my babies in danger. I'm sorry but I hope you understand." I sighed. Hiro's face dropped but he nodded. "Don't worry Hiro. I'm sure you can find someone else."
"Thanks Tia."
"No problem." I said, trying to give him a reassuring smile as we reached the dorms and I found an empty one. "Good night."
"Night." Hiro replied, walking further down the hall.
I sighed, watching him disappear into a room near the end of the hallway before entering my room and writing a quick note to put on the door for Kratos. That done, I laid down to sleep, pulling the covers tight around me. It wasn't much longer that I heard the door open and felt the bed move as Kratos laid down beside me, putting his arms around me.
"Good night Tiamatt." the Seraph whispered into my ear as I finally feel asleep.
Ok, another chapter done. Now I have a request of all the readers. I have a possible name for Tiamatt and Kratos' son but I will allow readers to submit their own choices. I also need a middle name for Eria so help me a little and give me ideas. Who knows, I might actually use one of the names! Thank you! Read and Review please!