DISCLAIMER: Sunrise owns Mai Otome and its characters. This story however is mine, along with the heartburn and sleep deprived thoughts.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I enjoyed doing all of the research attached to this story, from the children's names to the new GEMs and the often looked down upon 'parthenogenesis'.

Our Legacy ch24

Youko had been chasing her thoughts all day. Midori had not come by since what happened nearly a week ago and it was killing her. Youko wanted to apologize so badly. Because of this, Youko had been thinking of bringing Kimiko to the Aswad herself. There was something in that kiss they shared, but Youko would not give up her friendship with Midori for it. If Midori had truly moved on and wanted to be with Nao, then Youko would concede to her loss.

Miss Maria and Yukariko were watching Kimiko while she was busy here in her lab. The day off should have been devoted to more pleasant pursuits, but any pleasantries had gone out the door with Midori. The GEM's were nearing maturation and Youko wanted to get some answers. 'The Founder brought them forth, but would she give a reason,' Youko asked looking at the new GEM's. They were black, white, blue, pink and green in color and Youko had not as of yet been able to get any readings of their composition.

Youko had been distracted and did not hear Shizuru come into the lab. The strain of her guilt was so plain that Shizuru noticed it growing worse and had to comfort Youko. To hate yourself so badly, you had to in turn be capable of loving so deeply. Shizuru was not sure, but figured that these feelings of Youko's must have been for Midori. Midori had not recently been around, but it had been thought this was due to Nao's absence.

Shizuru stepped up to the table and leaned, casually, over to speak with Youko. The woman had been so lost in thought; she jumped from her chair ready to strike Shizuru. Youko really was on edge with such a reaction, but this had been her only sanctuary. The child she loved so dearly needed her too much for Youko not to have some place she could find peace.

"We both know that violence is not the answer. Feel free to strike, so that I might feel free to return the gesture," Shizuru said as she winked at Youko.

"We would both deserve it," Youko said as she relaxed even if only slightly.

"I do not usually interfere with such matters without being asked, but is there a problem between you and Midori?" Shizuru asked taking a seat at the table.

"Only the one I created. Midori and her iron will are two things I seem to have forgotten how to deal with," Youko answered returning to her seat.

"Should I even ask how badly? You are only human, Youko. Midori is a very powerful, emotion charged woman from your past. I do not know the circumstances, but sometimes our needs come before our thoughts," Shizuru said allowing herself to relax a little more now.

"I allowed passion for her to consume me. We had been rebuilding our friendship through the time we spent together with Kimiko. Old memories crept up to bite me in the ass and I kissed her," Youko said looking away towards the GEM's.

"A kiss is not an unforgivable action. Midori allowed this kiss?" Shizuru asked looking at the new GEM's also.

"Yes, she did at first. After the moment passed, she ran from the room and I could not chase her to apologize," Youko said playing with the pen she was holding.

"Then I guess Nao has become very important to her or is it vice versa?" Shizuru asked even though not really looking for an answer.

"Both I would say because they did not intentionally seek each other out at first. Something happened to forge a strong bond between them. A bond that I had Midori betray by playing with her in the only way I knew how," Youko said mentally kicking herself for the forthright nature of her action.

"Okay Youko, enough with the self abusive semantics. Midori responded of her own free will, iron or not. Her relationship with Nao is for her to contemplate. You allowed a momentary weakness to consume you, but it was not all yours," Shizuru was not the devil's advocate as Youko had expected, "Ahn still burns me through when she is around, but I chose Natsuki as my life time partner, my true soul mate. We are passionate by nature, but we have choices. Those cannot be decided for us, good or bad. Nina Wang learned that lesson and has been trying to repay every debt with her work. This is no different Youko; Midori gave you that kiss in return, so it would be that she has feelings of her own to sort out."

Youko just couldn't get around this logic because she really didn't want to care about their feelings. The recent events made Youko stop and think of her needs, her own future, and with such thoughts she had no room for the other woman. If there was even the slightest chance, her Aswad blood screamed for her to take it, to take Midori. If Midori came back before Nao then she would press for answers. If Nao came back before Midori then Youko decided she would face the music.

Shizuru changed the subject to the GEM's in order to get off this nasty little affair. Youko refused to make any guesses in her given state of mind. Amongst the three women they had made a pact of secrecy but the Pearls would be soon to graduate, would the pact hold? There were only five little GEM's here not much that should truly concern them, right?

Over the recent time she had to spend at home, Chie had become very attached to Mitsuko. Aoi would watch over them of course, but Chie truly loved being with them so closely. This morning Chie woke as usual to Aoi nursing Mitsuko. Chie bolted upright and blinked rapidly. There were extremely blurry images before her, but this was better than the all encompassing darkness she had been living with.

"Aoi, honey, I think it's going to come back," Chie said as she got out of bed.

"Chie, do you mean your sight?" Aoi asked awake but very sleepy still herself.

As if to prove her point, Chie crossed the room and kissed Aoi. There had been no guided touches and no momentary pauses to get around objects. Chie continued to kiss Aoi and started to softly stroke Mitsuko's head. Their daughter was always feeding so it was easy to guess where she was, blur or not.

"Everything is blurry, but I can make out the edges and well some color," Chie said as she stood breaking their kiss.

"Chie…" Aoi's voice was happy, but held a pleading tone to it also. Even though they were still quite young, they knew each other well enough to learn even the simplest of gestures.

"Don't worry Aoi; I am not going to get my hopes up too soon. I had already resigned myself to a life of darkness so long as I had my two favorite girls to comfort me," Chie said as she turned to smile at Aoi.

"Just go take a shower, you flirt," Aoi replied as she recognized that smile.

"That sucks for me. I was hoping to share the hot water with the woman I love," Chie said as she stole another kiss and headed for the bathroom.

Aoi heard the water start in the bathroom and started to cry. This had been worse than being separated from each other for long periods of time. Aoi was with Chie every day, but the mischief in her eyes had been gone since the night Mitsuko was born. Chie was an excellent soldier and an even better partner, but those mischievous eyes had been her most endearing quality.

Chie said she had resigned herself to the darkness, but Aoi had not. Aoi wanted to find Tomoe herself and kill her for what happened. Chie may have over reacted, but with people like Tomoe there was no guarantee for safety. Aoi understood why Chie took such a chance because she would have done the same thing.

Nao had been in Lutesia Remus for only about a day or so when she realized that Tomoe was not one to mess with. There had been very few contacts that Nao made who would do more than whisper her name and then shake with fear. Tomoe had been a very naughty girl indeed, because even these people were hard to come by. The street people that did talk to her spoke of Tomoe's odd behavior and the disappearances that happened to any who crossed Tomoe's path.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Nao said as another contact ran from her. This woman was screaming obscenities of Tomoe's rather perverse sexual fetish, "This one I have got to ask Viola about."

Nao started keeping a map of empty buildings of the area. After she was finished with the locals, Nao would take in the scenery from their perspective next. Tomoe had been staying around here somewhere and Nao was determined that she would find out just where.

Thoughts of Midori had been keeping Nao focused on getting home safely. The woman had become a very big part of Nao's life that they had even shared thoughts of…well let's just say more than what they were now. Midori gave Nao so much to think of every time they would leave each other's arms. A future for them was not something Nao would turn away from.

"What has she done to me?" Nao asked herself laughing.

There were two women in the alley ahead of Nao, not particularly caring that they were being watched. For a moment Nao thought of Viola and Kruger as she passed by these women. Just before turning the corner, Nao heard the cries of lust making her think of Midori once again. 'At least my red-headed beauty came by hers' naturally,' Nao thought before heading towards the flat she was using as her base.

"MIKOTO…" Mai screamed as she woke from her dream soaking wet. The wetness was not sweat; Mai realized all too quickly that her water had broken. Mai knew Mikoto was down by the stream again, but really didn't want to go down there to get her right now. Before Mai could take another step though, pain rippled its way throughout her entire body. Once again she screamed for Mikoto.

Mikoto was on her way back from the stream, taking her time because she knew Mai had been sleeping. Suddenly one of the cats was there and the first scream tore through the beautiful afternoon with heart stopping clarity. Mikoto broke into a run that caused every muscle in her legs to scream in agony. On the second scream, Mikoto felt fear clutch her heart and tears well up in her eyes. Mikoto was not far away when she saw Mai lying on the porch holding her stomach. Each cat watching over her until Mikoto arrived.

"Mai is something wrong with the baby or you, or is it both?" Mikoto asked as she got to Mai's side. Mai was in tears and a lot of pain. Mikoto tried rubbing her lower back, but nothing was helping.

"Oh God Mikoto, the baby is coming but no one said it was going to be this painful. We need to get to a hospital and I…I can't materialize like this," Mai replied as she bit down hard on the next wave of pain.

"I want you to share this with me, Mai. I will carry you as far as necessary, so please be strong," Mikoto said as she cradled Mai and stood. Looking down at the cats Mikoto yelled, "Help for Mai, GO."

The walk would feel like an eternity, but lasted no more than a few minutes at most. It was not as straining on Mikoto, as she was now, thanks to her workouts. The fact that Mikoto was now nearly as tall as Mai helped quite a bit also. Mikoto would not allow her own pain to stop her until Mai was safe and their daughter was born.

'Please don't take them,' Mikoto thought as she neared the mouth of the path.

Once they hit the open road, Mikoto put Mai down and stood in the road in front of an oncoming vehicle. At this point Mikoto did not care who it was just that they stopped. Mikoto's luck held firm as the vehicle was actually carrying Queen Mashiro and Arika who had noticed the cat on the road heading for them

Mashiro authorized Arika before they could even exit the vehicle. Arika looked at Mikoto and picked up Mai flying off to the Garderobe infirmary. Mikoto got into the car and thanked Mashiro, but said no more. The comfortable cat moved closer to Mikoto and laid his head in her lap. Mashiro said nothing to Mikoto the entire drive understanding the pain she must most certainly be feeling.

Mashiro couldn't believe how much older Mikoto looked now. Mikoto was taller and looked nearly as muscular in tone as Nina did. Her hair is what actually caught Mashiro's attention most. There were actually a few grey hairs at Mikoto's temples, a little odd because Mikoto looked as though she were only in her twenties at most.

Arika was waiting outside for them and ushered Mikoto past everyone. Mai was no longer screaming, but Youko and Moira had given her some kind of shot to stop the pain. Mikoto asked of the baby and the shot. Youko informed her that the shot would not hurt the child only help Mai not feel so miserable. As for the baby itself, both she and Moira were concerned because the pain Mai had been feeling was abnormal unless there were complications. They were running tests to make sure the baby was in no danger first before they proceeded any further.

Mikoto asked to speak with Mai quickly, insisting that she would not interfere with whatever they needed to do. Youko agreed as she ushered Mikoto into the room leaving Arika and now Mashiro waiting outside. Mikoto came out of the room crying and walked by Arika and Mashiro to find a bathroom. Mikoto stood in front of the mirror just staring at her reflection. Mai only gave her a quick kiss and told her not to worry anymore.

Mikoto saw the grey and for a moment did not really enjoy the sight of it. She knew this would eventually happen, but now Mikoto hoped she would have more time for Mai and their daughter. In a few hours their child would come into the world and break Mikoto's heart as Youko brought her out to Mikoto to hold. Yes Mai would be fine, but the child had been a breach presentation. All was well, so it mattered not to Mikoto as she held another perfect being full of such possibilities, promise, and hope once again.

Arika asked Mikoto what they had decided to name the child and through her tears Mikoto replied, "Megumi…Megumi Tokiha, our blessed child."