The journey to Tethe'alla's capital took longer than she thought. It was after midnight, when she came into the streets of Meltokio. Because the gates were closed, she had to go through the sewers, but luckily the journey through them was uneventful. Climbing the ladders was the only troublesome part.

The streets were quiet and dimly lit. A few times she heard the movements and meows of cats, the barks of dogs, and shouts and songs of drunkards and other late goers, but other than those few disturbances, the inhabitants of Meltokio took the noise to sleep with them.

The chill of the night caused Sheena to hug the sleeping boy closer. She was carrying him against her chest, awkwardly though, due to her swollen belly. Despite the chilliness, sweat dropped down her neck, back, and chest. It glistened on her brow as well. She was exhausted. She knew that she should have stopped a while back to sleep for the night because of the toll of her pregnancy, but she foolishly decided to keep heading toward her goal. Even if she weren't pregnant, she should have ceased her journey a couple hours ago. She was running on little sleep, and carrying a three-year-old and a pack on her back. The fact that she made it as far as she did amazed her. But of course she took many breaks, which was one of the reasons why she came to Meltokio so late. Now, though, she was determined to make it to her destination. She wasn't going to stop to rest until she arrived.

Her whole body ached, her breathing was heavy, and her eyelids threatened to close, but she still struggled onwards. At this point her body seemed to be moving on its own accord. After what seemed like an hour, though it was not, she arrived to the front door of the mansion that she had in mind. She knew that the occupants were probably fast asleep, but she could not bring herself to try to pick the lock, so she banged the metal knocker against the wooden doors. The ninja tiredly leaned on one of the pillars next to the door and waited. She knocked again, and then a third time. Finally, on the fourth time, she heard the door being unlocked, along with some grumbling. Through half-lidded eyes and by the light of the lamps on either side of the door, she saw unruly, long red locks of hair in the opening of the doorway. She did not expect to see Zelos Wilder open the door.

"Sheena!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide and all sleepiness now gone. He wasn't even able to say anything perverted or womanizing as he usually would. "What are you doing here?" He stepped towards her, but then stopped when he registered what she held in her arms and then the size of her mid-section. "What's going on, hunny?"

She ignored his question as well as the nickname and walked towards him. The walk turned to a stumble, but Zelos was able to awkwardly stabilize her. Sheena slumped against him, her forehead resting against his shoulder; exhaustion was taking its toll. As for Zelos, he was so surprised at all that was happening that he didn't do or say anything for almost a minute. But on feeling the soft squirm of the child she carried, he took action. He clumsily took the sleeping boy from Sheena, while helping the exhausted woman to sit on the ground. The man would help her in a moment. First he took the boy to the couch where he was sleeping and laid him carefully there. His eyebrows raised at the appearance of the child, taking note of his hair. Zelos pulled his still warm blanket over him and then returned to the crumpled woman.

The former chosen bent down, removed the bag from Sheena's back, and placed it to the side. Then he placed her arm around his neck, and lifted her up, not without the woman's dull protest. Standing up he staggered backwards due to the weight of the pregnant woman, but he quickly recovered his balance. With her head resting against his chest he carried her up the stairs and to the bedroom in which she usually slept when she would visit.

After she basically fell into Zelos's arms, the next thing Sheena knew was the sun shining brightly outside. By the sun's position she deduced it had to be around noon; she was too lazy and comfortable to move in order to see the clock. Usually if she slept this late, she would have rushed out of bed and scolded herself and those who let her sleep that late, but at the moment, she was thankful for sleeping until noon. She was very drained.

Feeling the weight in her middle she looked down at her stomach in surprise, but she quickly remembered her situation. She groaned and buried her face into her plushy pillow. With her face in the pillow, her mind ran through the events of yesterday. The last thing she remembered was being lifted up. Her face reddened slightly when she realized Zelos must have carried her to this bed. She hated being carried, especially by that certain red-headed man. He also must have taken off her straw sandals as well as her blue haori. She partially felt violated at how much contact there must have been, but she tried to focus on being grateful. Pushing those thoughts aside, the ninja felt that she was forgetting something. There was something else that was important. She struggled to remember for what seemed like two minutes before the realization dawned on her.

"Sen!" she exclaimed and did the best she could to sit up. Upon sitting up she scanned the large bed and around the room, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Huh, I'm already feeling so protective of him," she sighed.

Deciding to search for him, she heaved herself out of bed and stretched. "Whew," she exhaled, "Being pregnant is tiring." Getting out of bed was difficult, and her whole body ached, especially her back and feet. "This isn't going to be easy," she said to herself as she held her stomach. "I must be at least a couple months till the whole birthing thing." Sighing, she turned, and with aching feet, she walked to in front of the large mirror. She looked at herself in shock as well as dismay. This was the first time she looked into a mirror since she woke up in the forest. Though her hair was in a mess, she paid more attention to the size of her stomach. Looking down at it was one thing, but seeing herself in the mirror was another. It just helped confirm the reality of her unforeseen pregnancy. She let loose an exasperated sigh and then groaned, but soon Sen returned to her mind.

"I guess I should find him," she said to no one. After putting up her hair and straightening her clothes, she left the room and went to the railing that was on one side of the hallway overlooking the front living room and entry way.

"Oi, Sen, where are you?" she called. "Sen!"

She heard him before she saw him, as his small feet hit the floor while he came running to her. "Mommy! You're awake!" he blurted. The three-year-old was on the ground level now looking up at her with a large grin. "You slept forevah!"

"Sorry," she replied as she began descending the stairs toward him. When she was just stepping onto the level floor, he rushed to her and hugged her legs, surprising the ninja, as she was still not used to having a child so attached to her. "I taut dat you were gowing to sleep forevah, Mommy! But Sebasen said you'd wake up," His voice was muffled by her clothes.

Sheena gently patted his head, smiling at his childish worrying. "What are you up to?"

Sen pulled away, and she saw his face scrunch up as he tried to remember. Remembering, he lifted his face up, a bright expression gracing his childish features, "Sebasen's making pancakes for lunch!"

"Oh, is that so? That sounds really good!" She could feel her mouth begin to water.

"Eat wit me, Mommy!" he happily exclaimed while grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen she helped Sen back onto his stool, and took up a seat next to him at the counter. Sebastian hailed her good morning and placed a plate topped with pancakes in front of her. She said a quick thank you and joined Sen in digging into the delicious food.

"So how long have you been up, kid?" she asked between forkfuls.

Sebastian answered for him, "Since eight, Miss Sheena."

"Wow, that long! I hope he hasn't been bothering you, Sebastian."

The butler shook his head. "No, No. Quite the contrary. It's nice to have his young energy in the house."

"That's good. Oh, and where's the Chosen—urh—ex-Chosen?" she sideway glanced at him, while stuffing another forkful of pancake into her mouth.

"He's at a meeting with the king. He should be back shortly," the butler answered.

"Has he seen Sen yet this morning?"

"No, Master Zelos left half past seven." Sebastian took Sen's empty plate away and began washing it.

"Oh, I see. That's good," she murmured to herself.

"Okaa-san," Sen said, pulling Sheena's attention back to him, "What are we gowing to do today?"

"Huh," her eyes went to him. "Oh…I don't know. Do you have something in mind?"

"I wanna see daddy! He's been gone fah long time," came his quick response.

'Well, he's not here right now," she replied, just assuming that Zelos was the dad since Sen's reaction to the mansion seemed to point to it. She took a moment to think of things a child needed or usually wanted to do. Then she noticed his sticky fingers and face.

"Hey, kid, let's give you a bath," she said.

His face visibly brightened at her decision. "I wuv baths!" he said, and he began to climb down the stools rungs. Sheena stuffed her last bit of pancake into her mouth and quickly descended her stool to help him, even though he was doing a great job by himself. When the boy's feet touched the ground, he dashed out of the kitchen, through the small bit of hallway, across the front living room, and up the stairs, all in the span of about thirty seconds.

Back in the kitchen, Sheena stared out the door that he went through, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. "I've never seen a kid so excited for a bath before!"

"I've never seen a three-year-old run so fast," Sebastian said, slight surprise on his features as well.

"Hurry up, mommy!" she heard Sen yell. She sighed and shook her head. He was going to be a handful. She then thanked Sebastian for the food and made her way upstairs.

When she reached her bedroom, Sheena found the boy impatiently in front of the conjoined bathroom's open door. "Come on, Mom! I need to be kwean!" he complained.

"Okay, okay. Just a second. I have to go to the bathroom first."

Sen pouted, but he let her into the bathroom. She patted his head on the way in. When she finished, she opened the door, and he rushed in. She tested the temperature of the water that came out of the faucet, and finding a good temperature, she put the plug in the bathtub and let the tub fill up. When she looked over at Sen, he was just pulling his underwear off. Now clothes-free, he went to enter the tub, but Sheena stopped him.

"Settle down, you'll get in there. Let the tub fill," she grumbled. When the tub reached a good amount she unblocked his path. Sen quickly climbed into the tub and began splashing around.

"Hey, now, stop it!" she complained, as a wave of water hit her, "You're getting me all wet!" She tried covering her face, but that barely helped.

"Mommy, you need bath too!' He happily said and splashed more water at her.

"No, I don't!" But after thinking about the last time she presumably took a bath and how much exercise she had the day before, she responded, "Fine you're right. Anyway, I'm already wet."

"Yay, Mommy's taking bath too!" he rejoiced as he splashed even more water at her.

Sheena stood up and slid off her clothes, knowing that she need not worry about her modesty in front of such a young child, especially since he probably saw her naked before. Up to a certain age, it was not uncommon for children to take baths with their parents in Mizuho.

With all of her garments off, she threw them in a corner, not really caring, and she carefully stepped down into the tub. She knelt down next to him and with a wash cloth covered in soap, she began rubbing his body. After cleaning his hands, she told him to squeeze his eyes shut, as well as keep his mouth closed, and she wiped his chin and cheeks. When she rubbed his cheeks with the cloth, he giggled and grabbed her hands with his.

"Mommy, dats enough. It tickles," he said through his giggles. Sheena couldn't help but laugh as well.

After he rinsed himself of the soap buds, Sheena was ready with the shampoo.

"Okay, Sen. Shut your eyes again," she said, and after making sure he obeyed her, she rubbed the shampoo into his shaggy black hair. With that finished, she let him rinse himself off, while she rubbed soap over her body.

"Wait, Mommy!" he said, stopping her hand, "I want to cwean yur belly."

"Huh, okay." And she gave him the cloth.

"Mommy, you take up most of the tub," he giggled as he carefully rubbed the cloth in circles on her bulging stomach.

"Hey, now. I'm holding another person inside of me," she pointed out. She was going to take back the cloth when she saw that he was finished, but he kept a hold on it. "No, Mom. I hav to cwean your back wike you cweaned mine." And he moved around her and began washing her back.

After her body was clean, her hair shampooed and conditioned, and she was rinsed, and deciding Sen spent long enough in the tub, she ordered Sen out. "Come on now, you don't want to get all wrinkly do you?"

He pouted, but he eventually climbed out. Sheena soon followed him out and grabbed them both towels from the rack, giving one to Sen so that he could dry himself. After drying herself, she wrapped a bath robe around her clean body, and went into the bedroom to get clothes. Zelos always kept extra clothes for his friends in their respective bedrooms. But she didn't get to even put on her clothes after she found them, for in the corner of her eye she saw a streak race out of the bathroom and into the hallway.

"No!" she moaned. She picked up his towel that followed him into the bedroom, and she ran the best she could after him.

He wasn't that hard to follow, since he left trails of water behind him and his laughter rang throughout the mansion. Catching him, though, was the problem. First of all, she was pregnant. Secondly, just as Sebastian had said, he was really fast.

When she finally caught him, she buried him in his fluffy and large towel.

"Caught you, you trouble-maker," she said, as she began drying the laughing boy with the towel.

"No fair, Mom! The person inside you helped! Dat's cheating!"

Concentrating on drying his hair, she answered proudly, "No, the baby has nothing to do with it. I'm just that good!"

After Sen was dried, she wrapped him in the towel despite his protest, and she lifted him up.

"Ugh, you're heavy," Sheena teased. "You shouldn't have eaten all those pancakes."

"I'm wight as a feather," he argued as his hand came loose and hit Sheena in the face.

"Hey, now, settle down, kiddo!" she said back. "Let's get you upstairs. I can't have a naked boy streaking around the house."

At that Sen laughed even more and allowed the ninja to carry him up the stairs. Back in the bathroom, she made sure Sen put his clothes on, and when they were on, she quickly brushed his hair. With a final touching of straightening his woolen kimono and trousers, she said with a hint of pride, "Look how handsome you are."

"I don't wanna be handsome," the little boy pouted. "I wanna be fierce."

"Well, you don't look fierce," she said bluntly, standing up.

"Mom", he complained, which caused Sheena to smirk.

"Well, now what should we do?" she asked.

"I wanna nap."

"What? Nap?" she questioned, surprised by his answer. "But you were just running around, a ball of energy!'

"But, now I'm tired," he yawned.

Sheena knelt back down. "I guess you have been up for a while." She placed her hand on his small shoulder. "But you can't wear your good clothes to bed."

"I swep in these las night, okaa-san."

"You weren't supposed to," she said as she began pulling off the clothes she just helped him in.

She rummaged through her bag and found a small yukata for the boy, and helped him into that. Finally, she helped him into the large bed, where he soon fell asleep.