A/N It's been a while my friends. I have been very sad about not being able to write on this story. Unfortunately, my hard drive crashed and I lost EVERYTHING for what I was working on, so I have to rewrite everything from chapters 9-14!

***Please reread Chapter 9! It's no longer an Author's Note! It's the REAL Chapter 9

Chapter 10- Beloved Lost

"Please send your findings in an anonymous, unmarked envelope to the Red Shield," Argiano commanded. He then added, "I think Dr. Julia will find this quite amusing."

The scientist smirked as he found the hidden tracking device and camera on Lulu's clothing. He turned to Argiano and handed them to him. "I believe they were trying to create a map of the facility."

Argiano smirked as he took the two small items and dropped them at his feet. His expensive loafer crushed both objects as he watched the tears stream down Lulu's face. "I suppose they failed in that attempt," he surmised. He then looked at the small Schiff girl.

"Boss, what should we do with her?" asked one of the guards.

"I suppose Dr. Julia hasn't discovered how to cure the photosensitivity?" the scientist wondered with an evil grin.

Argiano shared the same wicked thought. "Open the skylight!" he commanded the guards. His hands made short work of tearing the cloak off Lulu, exposing her tiny frame, clothed in only a lavender sweater and jeans.

Lulu tried to shrink to the ground, but the creature held her broken wrist in a death grip as the skylights opened. The light burned her pale skin. The beast grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to standing, forcing her to face the light by pulling her lavender hair back. She wailed in agony as her skin bubbled and blistered. It was over in minutes.

Argiano and his men looked on the scene in disgust. He commanded, "Clean up this mess and dispose of the remains. The Red Shield will never infiltrate this facility now."

~0~

The technical team assembled looked on the scene with sad faces. It was terrible to lose such a valuable comrade, but the information they had assembled was crucial to the defeat of Fimm Örvar.

The general watched on as the information about the spy was repeated on the screen. His cool grey eyes narrowed as he thought, "Lulu, you have not sacrificed in vain. We will destroy this facility and it's CEO for you." He turned on his heels and exited the tent. It was time to call David and Joel VI.

~0~

It had been a trying week for Dr. Julia. Standing outside her office, enjoying the sunlight, she took a long drag off her cigarette. It was a week ago that her husband had found that Miles Hunter, a man she had mentored and thought only positively about, was actually the spy that had caused them to lose Mary Frances. David reassured her several times that she had no way of knowing.

On top of all that, they had lost a valuable comrade and friend. Lulu was killed in a secret mission and her body had not been recovered. They sent a feed of her death to Dr. Julia, hoping that she could give them some reassurance to look for the Schiff girl. The general was quite fond of her and hoped she somehow managed to escape with her life, but Julia watched the grisly scene and was convinced Lulu could not have survived.

Thankfully they had managed a map of the facilities. Also the intel that Lulu had gathered from the file room was very useful. It told them how much Fimm Örvar knew about those they held and also the technology they used to create the chiropterans. Julia and her staff were working feverishly, hoping to discover a way to eliminate the threat of creating more. It was a serum that could be injected into the princesses that would neutralize their blood. She was hoping to create a gas that would be pumped through the ventilation system, hoping that when the princesses breathed it in, their blood would neutralize. It would eliminate the chiropteran threat, but the princesses would become completely human.

Unfortunately, the gas could only be tested once. All three of Amshel's daughters agreed to be tested. They all responded, "We have lived so long. We watched our children, our grandchildren, all grow up, have families, and die. We don't want to continue to live on as the world continues to pass us by."

She was startled from her musings when her assistant came to the door. "Dr. Julia, the mail has arrived." When Dr. Julia gave her a confused look, she explained, "I know I normally don't interrupt you with stuff like this, but there's a weird package here. It has no return address or any markings to say where it's from."

Julia still wore the confused look as she pushed off the wall and followed the assistant inside. Sure enough, a large manila envelope was separated out from the other mail. It was addressed

Dr. Julia

Red Shield Clinic

She took the envelope to her office and shut the door. When it was opened, the first thing to greet her was a letter.

Greeting Dr. Julia:

You may or may not remember me. I went to medical school with you many years ago. You surpassed me and became Dr. Aston Collins' research assistant. It has been several years since we last spoke, but I trust you are doing well.

I have written to inform you of some findings that the company I work for has discovered. The CEO believes you will find them "enlightening." There is no need for you to respond to this letter as I have left you no means to do so.

Just know that the evidence comes from a reputable source. Without any further gloating, I give you the results of the paternity test for the princess Mary Frances Reyes.

Sincerely,

Dr. Earnest Smith

The next page few pages were maps of DNA sequences and the final page was the results of the two test subjects. Julia recognized a few of the patterns that matched and was astonished to find the names on the last page. "Impossible!" she gasped as she sunk down into her chair, dropping the pages on her desk. The last page on top revealed the father of Mary Frances Reyes was none other than Hagi, Saya's chevalier.

She recalled the Dr. Smith as the intern that had graduated first in their class and had many accolades to his name. Everyone was astonished when Dr. Collins had passed him over for the voluptuous blonde that had taken second place. He was indeed a reputable scientist. There could be no argument to the results except for what Julia knew about the chevalier. "He would never do this," she said out loud to the empty room.

~0~

Hibiki took one last glance in the mirror as she heard Kai shouting downstairs for her to hurry up. Her hair had just been cut and she couldn't get it to behave the way she wanted.

Kanade had finished brushing her long black hair and straightened her pink blouse as she brushed off her jeans. Upon entering the bedroom, Kanade placed her hands on her hips and watched the vanity of her sister in full force. "Geez Hibiki, it's just a graduation. You're not accepting an award or something. We're just going to watch George graduate from college."

"You never know who will be there," she retorted as she pulled one of her blue streaks of hair to the top, being sure it was seen.

Kanade rolled her eyes, "Yeah I do. A bunch of people that will be watching the graduating class of 2036 and not giving a rat's ass about your hair." She grabbed her sister's arm and began to drag her out of the room.

As they came down the stairs, Kai ranted as he turned his orange-mixed-with-grey head. "It's about time! What were you two doing up there? Plastic surgery would take less time than you two!"

Kanade glared at Hibiki who glared at Kai as they made their way to the car. George had already arrived there, having taken a ride with some friends. Riku sat patiently in the back seat with a pair of ear buds pumping Japanese rock music into his ears. He had dyed his hair completely black and always had a shaggy cut that he spiked here and there. Kai groaned when he saw it, but the three earrings he put in his ears a year ago cause Kai to ground him and threaten to kill him.

The nineteen-year-old human didn't even lift his head as the trio clambered into the car. Hibiki always sat back with Riku to share music with her youngest sibling. Kanade liked to be up front with her dad. She loved Kai. It was a general knowledge that they weren't really his kids, but Hibiki and Kanade were not shorted in any way of affection with the man that raised them like his own. Kanade growled as she felt the back of her seat dip when Hibiki gave her a sharp kick. "Suck up," she heard from the back seat.

"Ingrate!" she responded.

"Daddy's girl!" Hibiki shot back.

Kai ground out as his knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, "I've had it with you two!" He came to a stop and looked at both girls. Taking a breath to calm himself, his voice in turn became gentle. "I don't want you two to end up like your Aunt Saya and your mom. They fought all the time and you know what happened to them."

Hibiki turned her angry gaze to the floor of the car as Kanade looked contrite. Hibiki was hurt when she found out that the reason her mother died was because she wanted to destroy the world. Kai had told them a few years ago about the whole thing. She was angry that Kanade seemed to side with their Aunt Saya, whom they never had met, and Kai over their mother.

She was still upset, but she did understand. Their mother was confused and pretty messed up. All the horrible stuff that was done to her made Hibiki cringe, she wondered if having her and Kanade would have changed their mother. She sighed as she guessed they'll never know.

Deciding to change her mindset with a change of view, she turned her gaze to the window. Her brows came together as she caught the sight of a blue streak darting among the trees next to the road. She gave a knowing smirk and wasn't the least bit surprised when the blonde haired man smirked back. His frills on the periwinkle shirt danced in the breeze as he disappeared back into the trees holding up two fingers. She knew the signal immediately. She would meet him in two hours in the heavily wooded area by the school. Hibiki sighed. At least now she had something to look forward to.

~0~

The family took many pictures with the handsome red-headed man his cap and gown. Kai appeared so happy that he was about to burst.

Kanade was so proud of her adopted brother as they both read over his awards and of course, the degree itself. He would be leaving for Boston in a few days. His new career was already mapped out. She was sad to see him go, but she knew he would have a wonderful life to start there.

The girls had both attended college, but only Kanade had completed it. She was a Registered Nurse that preferred to help out at Omoro, watching over Kai, her sister, and her brothers. Hibiki may decide to go abck to school and finish the degree in bio-engineering, but for now, she was just enjoying being eternally young.

Julia and David approached with their son and his new bride. They offered congratulations to the young man, but the girls and Kai all noticed the almost melancholy way Julia seemed to talk. Her smile seemed forced.

The group was standing and talking companionably when the darkly clad figure approached. Julia's look became even more grave as she acknowledged Hagi. The rest of the family greeted him warmly as Kanade beamed at him.

Hibiki nudged her with an elbow and a low growl, "Geez, make it obvious."

She returned in a whisper, "Come on, Hibiki, he's been gone a long time. Don't you miss him too?"

Hibiki's expression became cold as she responded, "Nope. I don't pine over a man that can't keep his hands (or other parts) to himself."

Kanade rolled her eyes as she hissed with venom in her voice, "You can't condemn him just because you think he's done something wrong." She started to move toward the man she called her uncle when she was pulled back by the wrist.

"Slow down, sister," Hibiki warned. "You don't know what he's been up to and I'm not letting you get yourself twisted up any more than you already are."

Kanade shook her wrist from her sister's grip and gave her an angry glare. "What are you talking about?"

She responded with a smirk, "You're in love with him."

The two sisters stared at each other for a moment- one in shock and one with anger. Kanade finally broke the glare and looked down at her feet, proving what Hibiki claimed was true. She had grown very fond of her aunt's chevalier over the years, but her attachment had become an attraction- a dangerous one. When Saya awoke, her memories and feelings would return and from what Kai had told them, Hagi was in love with her… and her with him. Kai explained that when the Red Shield returned without Hagi, Saya lamented over the fact that she wasn't able to tell Hagi how much she loved him.

"You better break your own heart now and let him go," Hibiki warned. "You'll only hurt yourself with this fantasy that he'll share your feelings." Her glare returned to the man they spoke of. Her gaze had darkened as she continued, "You'll end up hurt like Aunt Saya will be when she finds out that he had an affair while she was asleep."

Kanade gave a low growl and responded, "You don't know that it's true. Until I see a DNA test proving he's the father, I'll keep believing there's been a mistake." She then looked at her feet and added, "I know it's stupid to think he'll ever share my feelings, but…" She became quiet as her gaze turned to the dark haired man as he spoke with her father and brother. His face always held little to no expression, but his eyes conveyed an eternity of knowledge and pain.

Hibiki nearly growled as he came to the pair. Looking past her uncle, she saw Kai giving her a look that warned against any upsetting behavior. Kanade, of course, began gushing like some school girl about all the stuff he'd missed the past few weeks, causing Hibiki to roll her eyes. She honestly didn't see what her sister saw in the man. He was too quiet- too creepy. Sure, he was undeniably the most handsome man she'd ever met, but he was just so… weird.

She recalled all the times when she was young. Kai had members of the Red Shield over for meetings and Hagi would quietly stand against a wall or near a window. People would completely forget he was even there, but you could feel him watching. He was so tall, yet he could hide himself in plain sight.

There was a connection between the chevalier and his nieces because they were not human, but that connection felt different now that they were older. To Hibiki, he was the property of the eldest and reining queen of the chiropterans- someone that was to be given due respect. To Kanade, he was forbidden fruit.

Something was troubling the chevalier. Kanade was overly eager to share all the stories of the family and what the neighbors were up to, but that wasn't unusual. It was Julia and David's behavior- they seemed to be upset about something. There was a fire in David's eyes as he motioned for Hagi to join them a distance away from Kai's family.

Kai was too busy with his son as the girls and Riku joined in a group hug and giving George a round of praise. They didn't notice the others go off a distance to have a small meeting.

David's jaw was set in anger as he spoke, "I am certain you have heard about the loss of our friend and colleague, Lulu."

Hagi gave a grave nod.

"Her sacrifice is a great loss, but its benefits are great. We have learned that Miles Hunter was a spy panted at first in Julia's clinic to finds information on chiropterans for Argiano and the scientist Earnest Smith," he informed. "When he was moved to work as an operative, it gave him even greater access to what he really needed- locations on the princesses. He has since disappeared from headquarters and cannot be found."

He waited before he added, "The operatives have been able to create a map of the facility and the information from the files gave us insight on the people that are working there. They are mostly scientists and assistants that worked for Cinq Fleches. General Elliot is working on a plan to storm the facility, but there's a problem."

Hagi nodded and spoke, "The chiropterans they produce are stronger."

"Yes," David admitted. "It appears they wasted no time in using Mary Frances Reyes' blood."

Julia elaborated, "The fact that these chiropterans are so much stronger is proof of the red lines potency."

Hagi's jaw clenched as he looked at the floor in front of him and closed his eyes. The look was subtle, but Julia could read all the frustration in his stance.

"I didn't want to believe it either, Hagi, but it appears that Mary Frances Reyes is your daughter," Julia informed as she produced a manila envelope that had been opened once before. Indicating the folder, "I received this from Fimm Örvar recently. When you fought with Mary Frances, she scratched you. They took samples of that DNA and compared it to hers. I even cross-referenced the DNA found under her nails to yours- they are a match."

Hagi stared at her coolly and responded, "It's a mistake, Dr. Julia." He tried to return the envelope without opening it.

Refusing to take it, she answered, "I have a copy at the clinic." She added with feeling, "You're her father, Hagi."

He looked away and kept his voice even, "No, I am not. There has been a mistake."

David turned to Julia and asked her politely to leave them for a moment. Once she was far enough from them, David spoke to the man who had turned from him. "Hagi, I know I usually don't speak freely- it's not in my nature. You know somewhere in your past, something happened. You might be ashamed of it, but pretending it didn't happen won't make it go away. You have to face this- the same way you made me face my self-loathing in England 30 years ago."

Hagi looked at him but kept his guarded expression. Why deny again if they were just going to think their own way?

"Take the file with you. Look at it when you have time. Julia wouldn't even bother with this if she thought there was even the slightest chance it was fake."

Hagi gave a nod and left the building. The path that led from the university meandered through a small park with cherry trees along the path in full bloom. His dark silhouette blended in with the contrast of light and shadow. The soft pink blossoms fell around him as he thought about the situation.

"I have been following Saya for 157 years. I have fought by her side, taken wounds that would kill, and I have always returned. There is no way that this has happened."

He continued to retrace his steps mentally, to see if there was ever a moment of weakness. Nothing came to mind. All his thoughts were of Saya.

The path had made a complete circle back to the place it started. On the side of the pathway, he noticed a trash bin. Lifting the file in his hand, his mind came back to the moment where they looked into each other's eyes and both seemed completely shocked at the similarities. He could almost hear her calling out to him.

He sighed and shook his head of the thought that this could be his daughter. The next moment, he was gone, leaving behind a gust of wind and a manila folder in the trash bin near the university.