A/N Okay I know I'm posting early. I have already typed up to chapter 20 and just want to post this and put you all in suspense until Friday. Please don't forget to leave a review.

Chapter 14- Where the Heart Lies

Lulu played with the small device that was given to her by the very tall man that claimed he knew her. They gave her a few transfusions over the course of 2 weeks and so far, she was beginning to recall bits and pieces of her life.

She could remember Ghee and Irene as they spoke of freedom and one day being able to lie in the sunlight. She remembered Moses and his plans to keep them free while fighting some enemy she could not recall. The others were still vague in her mind, but she felt a warm sensation whenever they came to mind.

She did not remember Hagi or Saya, but whenever Hagi was around her, she felt a sense of peace and admiration. He must have been very important to her.

To everyone's surprise, she remembered Lewis right away. She chatted with him about all she did and the people she had met in the Marines' camp, but she did not recall what it was she and Lewis did together in the CIA.

Julia reassured that Lulu's memories would come back, but it would be a slow process and they shouldn't rush her. Each day she played her game and wondered around the clinic. Once in a while, she helped Julia.

After the second week, Kai thought it would help Lulu to be around Hibiki and Kanade. He took her back to Omoro with him and she was able to meet the twin daughters of Diva. The girls were thrilled to have their eternally young friend back with them. She did not remember either of the twins, but she enjoyed spending time with them and Kai's younger son Riku.

Kai thought it would be a good idea to let her see the weapons the other Schiff had used. Maybe it would remind her of them. Hagi had returned from the fight in Iceland to accompany her to France where Joel had stored the weapons in Red Shield headquarters.

While Hagi waited on the porch of Omoro for Lulu to finish packing for the week long journey, Kai came out to join him. It was the beginning of fall and the weather was very pleasant. A cool wind blew through the city of Koza and down toward the ocean. Kai sighed heavily. This was going to be one very intense conversation.

Hagi did not turn to regard the man behind him. His attention did not stir even as a strand of his hair was blown into his face.

Kai gathered his courage as he took a deep breath. He looked up to the heavens to give him some kind of divine strength and spoke, "Hagi, I know you don't agree with the results of the…"

"That is not your concern, Kai," Hagi interrupted as continued to stare at the ocean.

"Like hell it's not!" Kai shot back. He ran a hand through his now graying hair and grumbled something unintelligible. He then pointed to the second floor of Omoro and informed him, "Those girls look up to you and all you can say is that it's none of their concern?"

Hagi did not respond in any way. Kai took a breath to calm down. "Look, Hagi, there must have been a time- some time when you went somewhere to unwind. Maybe you had a few drinks and forgot what happened."

"Chiropterans cannot get drunk, Kai," he informed him calmly.

"Okay," Kai responded. "Maybe you got some kind of drug in you…"

"I do not eat or drink anything, Kai," he interrupted.

"Fine," Kai responded. He then reasoned, "Look, I get it that you don't want to remember, but there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. When you do get her away from Fimm Örvar, what do you think she's going to ask you, huh? She'll want to know exactly how it is that she is your daughter. She'll want to know where you've been and why you never checked on her mother. How do you intend to explain that? I'm sure she's figured out the timeline. You would've known there was a possibility!"

Hagi did not respond.

"Come on Hagi, there's no other explanation," he demanded. "When she does get free, you're going to have to learn to be a father to her. She's gonna want to know where you've been."

Again there was no response.

He sighed in frustration. Hagi had to explain this. "What about Saya? She wakes up in less than a year. What are you going to say…?"

He was cut off as a hand gripped his throat and lifted him from the ground. His gaze was met by a very angry looking chevalier. He had never seen Hagi look this agitated. The chevalier growled, "I will tell you this once more and I hope you hear it: I have never betrayed Saya."

Hibiki suddenly appeared in a blue streak, prying her uncle's fingers from her dad's neck. "Uncle Hagi," she grunted from the effort, "Let him go!"

The chevalier dropped the man and flashed a cold glare at him. Hibiki whacked him on the back of the head, causing his angry glare to turn to her. Unafraid, she scolded, "What the hell, Uncle Hagi? He's not nearly as strong as you! Why the hell would you do that?"

He coldly informed her, "I would appreciate it if nothing more was spoken about Mary Frances Reyes until she is here." With that, he walked calmly up the stairs to check if Lulu was ready.

Hibiki lifted Kai's head and shoulders into her lap. "Geez, Dad, did you really think you could take on a chevalier? Not only that, you took on Hagi! Are you crazy?"

He coughed and chuckled at the same time, causing more pain than before. He was going to feel this in the morning for sure. "I guess I am nuts, Hibiki. I just wanted him to explain the affair."

She looked at the stairs he had been on a moment ago. "He'll never admit it, Dad. Even when they perform a DNA test in front of him, he'll still say no way. He will do anything to keep Saya in love with him, including lie."

~0~

By the end of the day, Hagi and Lulu had arrived at the Red Shield headquarters. They chatted with Joel for a while before heading to the vault where the weapons were kept. As they arrived in the room, Lulu gave an ominous shiver. She walked along the corridor in her jeans and a lavender t-shirt with a large flower on the front. She looked un-Schiff-like without her cloak. For some reason, this bothered her here.

The heavy metal door blocked their way as Joel leaned down and punched in a code. A disembodied voice spoke, "Code sequence approved. Welcome, Mr. Goldschmidt."

The door opened with a low groan. The room was dimly lit, but still some light glinted over the razor sharp metal of the arsenal that was placed very carefully on the table. Lulu's ears twitched as she came to the table. Memories came rushing back in a deafening roar. She saw Ghee, looking at the moon and trying to reach up to grasp it. She saw Irene, smiling and talking with a much younger Kai. She saw Gundrif and Darth standing in front of her, protecting her as they fought for their lives. She saw Dismas and Jan, smiling at her and telling her to sleep well as the morning sun rose outside their hideout.

Tears fell as she saw Moses and Karman, arm and arm as they came to her. She saw Saya and Hagi, fighting alongside them on Christina Island. The sun was so bright as she saw the two of them walk into the sunlight together. Their weapons lay on the table in front of her.

"Moses! Karman!" she cried as she began to move toward the two.

Moses shook his head as Karman spoke, "You can't come with us, Lulu. You still have a lot to do. The Red Shield needs you to help save the world from chiropterans."

Her mind swirled with images of those grotesque beasts she had fought alongside David, Kai and Lewis at the Met.

"Chiropterans have returned and things will get worse soon," Moses informed her.

"Hagi's daughter," she breathed. Lulu remembered the face. Her face was slightly rounder, her lips a little fuller, and she had brown eyes, but there was no mistaking that she looked a lot like him.

They nodded, "Her blood may be what created the chiropterans, but she will be instrumental in fighting them," Karman added. "Hagi may not be accepting of her at first. You must help train her."

Memories of Lewis and the CIA flooded her thoughts, then the secret mission at the facility. She cried as the painful memory of her own death flooded her senses.

The pair led her to the table and placed her hand on Moses' over sized scythe. Moses looked through the lock of hair that covered his eye and informed Lulu, "She will be best suited for this weapon."

Lulu turned her gaze to him so quickly that tears scattered in the air like glitter. She sobbed, "I can't… I can't take your weapon. Your memory…"

"Will be put to good use," Moses interrupted. "There is something you must know. She is holding a dark secret- a secret that may destroy Saya and Hagi both. You must get her to tell them."

Lulu nodded as she felt very frightened. Hagi and Saya were the strongest creatures she had ever met. What kind of secret could this young woman be hiding?

As soon as her hand lifted the weapon, Moses and Karman disappeared with smiles so bright that they blinded her. She was left holding the staff of the scythe in her hand as she wept on the table. She was crying the names of her beloved friends as she recalled every moment she had lived.

When she finally stood and wiped her face, she saw Hagi and Joel looking at her as if they were simply waiting for something to happen. She walked up to Joel and smiled brightly, "Hi, Mr. Joel." She shook his hand and then turned to Hagi and informed him, "I am ready."

Hagi simply gave a stiff nod.

She turned to Joel and lifted the scythe. "Moses wants me to take this," she informed him.

"They belonged to your friends and those friends left them in your care, Lulu. You may do with them as you wish," he informed her warmly.

She noticed the now graying temples and the way his cheeks were sinking in a bit. He was older. Her gaze turned to her mentor. His hair was still shiny ebony and his face held no lines or any other indication that thirty years had passed. This part of her family would not age, but they may die in this new war.

"Oh, what the heck!" she said as she embraced Hagi. Who knows what was going to happen in this war. At his inquisitive glance, she explained, "Something may happen to you like it did to me. I don't want to say one day that I never hugged you and told how much you mean to me."

Joel smiled at the childish display of affection while Hagi did not even look bewildered. He simply placed his hand on the top of the lavender head in front of him. "Thank you, Lulu," was his simple response.

Hagi wasn't sure how much of Lulu's memory had returned until they arrived at the airport and began their venture through the security check points. As usual, they asked to search the cello case, but before Hagi could protest, Lulu piped up, "Look, Miss, my uncle is a musician and you know how temperamental they can be about their instruments." She gave the security woman her best pouty look and they were waved through with a simple scan. It was something Lulu always did when they were sent on a mission.

She murmured as they took their seats aboard the private jet, "You owe me… again."

He simply gave the girl a small smile as he placed the cello case in the storage space Joel had set up for that purpose. They had always flown this way. The jet would be ready for them at whatever airport they mentioned. Joel told them it was much easier than flying in a passenger plane- especially with the amount of arsenal they had to carry.

Moses' scythe was already with the luggage in the back of the jet along with some supplies for the clinic. The pair were to return to Okinawa and to allow Julia to give Lulu the all clear before they returned to Iceland and the battle.

After Hagi settled in, he responded to her earlier comment, "What about all the times that I have saved you?"

She turned to him with a knowing smirk and answered, "Face it, Uncle Hagi, you couldn't make it though a security check-point without me."

"It would be painful for the airport and not very good for publicity if they tried to stop me," he answered.

She giggled, "My way is so much easier, though."

"I never said that it wasn't. You told me that I'd never get through a security checkpoint, not that I could do it without a mess," he corrected.

"Okay, you win," she smiled.

His expressionless face didn't give away his thought that it was good to have Lulu back. He was a bit surprised when her face smile fell. She looked at him seriously, "Hagi, I saw her."

He raised an eyebrow.

"The girl," she elaborated. "Your daughter."

He gave a barely audible sigh as his gaze turned to the window. "Not you, too," he thought.

"Hagi," she reasoned in a calm voice, "I know she's your daughter. I've been around you for thirty years now. I would have been around Saya that long too, but she's in her sleep." Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of a way to explain this. "Hagi, I've been fighting by your side longer than anyone, except Saya of course. I know you're not the kind of man that would do what they think you did."

He looked at her with curiosity. No one- not one had given him the benefit of the doubt so far. He finally gave in and spoke openly, "I have spent the past 6 months searching through every street and every alley Mary Reyes was known to frequent. None of them reminded me of anything. I was never there. Even her picture- I know I have never seen her before."

Lulu was taken by surprise. Hagi was never open with anyone and he never spoke so freely of his thoughts and feelings. It hurt her to see the pain in his eyes because she knew no one believed him.

"Julia claims that Fimm Örvar conducted a paternity test and found that I am the father of Mary Frances Reyes," he informed her as his gaze moved to his hands that were folded in his lap.

"So what?" Lulu asked. "That doesn't tell you how you fathered her. Look, Argiano wasn't released from prison until 2021, but Collins had an assistant that was roaming the world- probably doing all kinds of experiments. How do you know that he didn't do something to Mary Reyes, causing her to get pregnant?"

"No one in Cinq Fleches or Fimm Örvar has my DNA- in any form," he answered. He had asked these same questions night and day for the past 6 months and the same answer came back- he must have forgotten a moment of weakness.

Lulu now jumped from her seat as the seat belt light went off. She took her mentor's hand in her smaller hands, "Hagi, don't give up! I know you and I know where your heart is. You love Saya more than anything. What they think happened did not happen because you love Saya." She pleaded with him, "Please don't give up. You and Saya are the only family I've got left now."

His eyes widened a bit at the open way she was speaking to him. They were bound together by this seemingly never ending war so they may as well be family.

Both were startled by the sound of the copilot clearing his throat. Lulu resumed her seat without looking away from the man in uniform.

"Mr. Hagi, Lulu," he greeted, "an urgent message has come over the radio from Dr. Julia in Okinawa."

They both kept their expressions even, causing the copilot to wonder if he should continue. After a moment, he added, "She wants you to return to Omoro right away. Kanade Myagusuku has been kidnapped."

They both showed no expression and thanked him for the information. Once he was gone, Lulu looked at Hagi with sadness in her eyes. "If you hadn't been with me in France…"

"It is not your fault, Lulu," Hagi responded to the distraught girl. "They have been watching Omoro for some time now."

He had known they were watching and he also knew that before they took Mary Frances, they did not have anything that could get past him to get to the twins. He knew they had to have used their chiropterans made from Mary Frances' blood to capture Kanade. The question now was, why didn't they take Hibiki?

~0~

Her short, black hair was accented with bright blue streaks that brought out the brilliant blue of her eyes. She pulled on a pair of spandex leggings that matched her streaks. She pulled the short, black, flared skirt to her waist. She topped the tight shirt with a short baby blue jacket that was very similar to the one Saya wore when she was fighting. The girl strapped on an arsenal of blades before she found her katana in the closet. Hagi had given her one with two blue roses etched into the hilt- a symbol of her mother and her.

The only difference in Kanade's, other than the fact that she never used it, was one rose was red and the other was blue. Kai always tried to hide the swords from the girls, but Hibiki always found them. He hated the idea of them fighting, but there was nothing he could do now.

She grabbed her sister's katana and headed for the stairs. Kanade was in the restaurant when those monsters crashed through the wall. Kai tried to shoot at them, but the bullets just bounced off like they were nothing to them.

Kai was grumbling about how long it was going to take to fix the wall and the restaurant when he caught a glimpse of Hibiki making her way through the rubble. "Just where in the hell do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to get my sister back," she answered matter-of-factly.

"No way," he argued. "Hagi and Lulu are on their way back right now. Let them handle this, they know what they are doing."

She gave him an injured look, "She's my sister!"

Kai stumbled through the piles of rubble to get to her. He then placed his hands on her slender shoulders, "You have to trust that they will get her back."

She gave a strong jerk to her shoulder and pulled away from him, "You wanted us to stay out of this war, Dad! You wanted us to just stay here and be little princesses. Well now the war has come to us… and you want us to sit here while the world crashes down around us!"

She looked up at him like he had said something very stupid. She scoffed and then smirked, "You'll never get it. We have to fight, Dad. Hagi was right about that. We are chiropterans- our blood created this mess and it'll take our blood to clean it up."

"Hibiki… I…" he stammered.

"No, Dad," she told him, "you can't protect us from what we are."

Before he could make another argument, Hibiki was gone. Looking at the piles of rubble, he realized that he had been holding on to them. The girls were going to be 30 next year. Even though they were not really mature chiropterans, they were mature enough to live their own lives.

He sat down on the ground where he found the photograph of him and the girls just before Carrie came into his life. The girls were about 6. Hibiki was on the right, holding her favorite blue teddy bear and Kanade was on the left, holding tightly to his hand. His hair was still fiery red and spiked in every different direction. He wore the usual smirk of a guy that thinks they know it all. He murmured to the image of himself, "The things I would beat into your head, if I could go back in time…"

"Talking to yourself?" a voice asked as the tell-tale signs of crunch- crunch came from the floor covered in rubble. Someone was walking into the torn up restaurant. "Tsk, tsk, tsk! I hate what you've done with the place, Kai…" the man commented before he smirked. "…but then, I never really liked it before."

Kai grimaced as he rose from the floor. A look of rage came to his features before he lunged at the man. "You!" was all he could growl out as he connected a fist to the man's jaw.