Two days later, and Sheena was still worrying over the reaction of her grandfather, the former chief of Mizuho. She actually had much to worry about, but her grandfather's reaction was at the forefront, especially since every minute Sen and she were drawing closer to the hidden village.

Right now, they were walking down a dirt path towards the forest in which Mizuho lay, though this forest was still a couple of hours from view. The day wasn't especially cold nor was the sun especially bright. The only thing special about that day was the heightened danger that stood before the pair.

Seeing four menacing looking men standing still about forty feet ahead of her stopped the ninja in her tracks. She squeezed Sen's hand and cursed inwardly. These men looked as though they did not have a bath in days. Even dirtier were the smirks on their rough faces. Sheena took notice of the weapons in their hands and their builds. She guessed she could take them down if she were not pregnant and protecting a three-year-old, but that was not the case. She was definitely in a compromising position.

Mentally she reviewed what lay behind her, and she quickly side-glanced at the areas on either side of her. There was no one else in sight and the safest places lay in front of her, meaning the places with the most trees. There was no escaping, unless she called upon one of her summon spirits to get the two away from there. Otherwise, she would have to fight. Sheena was not allowed to think anymore, though, since one of the ruffian's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing out here?" he snarled. "Shouldn't you be at home, getting a steak ready or something." For some reason the other three men found his remark hilarious, since they all broke out into a crude laughter.

Sen came closer to Sheena, and she squeezed his hand more tightly.

"Look boys, we found ourselves a delicious snack," another said as they started to progress closer to Sheena and Sen.

Sheena responded by inching backwards with the boy in tow. She slowly and carefully reached into her robe to pull out her cards. She deduced in her mind that she wouldn't be able to summon a spirit in time now and still be able to protect Sen as well if the ruffians rushed at her in the process.

The ruffians were still coming closer, appearing more dangerous and uglier as they did.

"Mommy," cried the terrified boy as he clutched even closer to Sheena.

"Everything is going to be fine," she tried to reassure him, while her hand found his head. She gently and protectively hugged him close. She knew her words were defiantly not reassuring her.

Two of the larger ruffians began walking towards them, and Sheena backed away more, keeping Sen close to her.

She threw her bag to one side and pulled out her cards and held them with her one hand. One of her feet was in front of the other, as she attempted to stand in her battle position.

The men began running towards them. She took her hand away from Sen's head and called 'Cyclone Seal!". The two ruffians were caught in a green light and they were repelled backwards after being lifted in the air, taking some damage as well.

Sheena backed away even more. "Sen, stay back," she ordered, and she nudged him behind her, longing for him to stay out of harm's way.

Her first two opponents were now even angrier and the other two were now joining them. Sheena stood ready for them, pushing her fear and doubt to the back of her mind. She had to somehow win or at least escape, no matter what.

All four men came charging towards here and she yelled for Sen to move further back.

One man's fist came rushing towards her face but she was able to easily dodge it and force him back with a pyre seal. The next guy came, and she used a demon seal on him before he landed a hit. The third one quickly replaced him, but suffered the same fate. The last man tried to rush past her towards Sen, but she speedily blocked his path.

Again and again they men came after her, but she was able to dodge their hits as well as repel them.

But Sheena was quickly growing fatigued. She clutched her stomach and grimaced when the baby kicked in protest to all her motion.

Two of her opponents came after her but she jumped back further away from them using 'Cyclone seal' to keep her enemies back, all the while making sure Sen stayed away from the battle.

When she was far enough away from the men, she took the chance to summon. She was much quicker with the process now than six years ago. She held out her cards and the black light engulfed her, and soon symbols appeared at her feet, as she chanted, "I call upon the light of the heavens, I summon thee, come, Luna!" She finished with her hand raised. Quickly, Luna appeared, and her pillars of light struck them to the ground.

Sheena stumbled backwards, and she wiped her sweat from her brow. "Dammit," she cursed mentally, "I should've asked Aska to get us out of here!"

"Mommy!" Sen called and he began to run towards her. But out of the corner of her eye she saw the first two men who attacked her struggle to stand back up.

"Stay back," she yelled to him. Sen stopped and stepped away, pure terror on his face as the two began rushing towards Sheena.

"Damn, these guys are tough," she cursed, as she ninja braced herself for their attack. She sidestepped the first man's attack, which caused the man to barrel forward and crash to the ground. As for the other ruffian, Sheena barely got out of his way, and she grabbed his arm, flipped him, and smashed him against the ground, where he lay stunned.

As pride began to well up inside her, the first man rushed towards her again, his face red with rage. Sheena tried to dodge him as well, but she lost her balance, and his huge fist slammed into the side of her face. She was propelled backwards, crashing onto her back and skidding across the ground.

"Okaa-san!" screamed the three-year-old, as he ran towards the fallen woman.

Sheena struggled to push herself up. "Sen..." she struggled to say, but her eyes widened with fear when she saw the ruffian who just punched her running towards her, the ground shaking with each footfall. The ninja tried to scramble away, but there was no way she would be able to escape him, not in the state she was in.

"Okaa-san!" Sen screamed again. Sen was almost to her, but the second larger ruffian, who was now recovered from the shock of being thrown by a pregnant woman, grabbed him. All Sheena could do was hold her breath and squeeze her eyes shut.

But instead of the heavy impact of the ruffian, Sheena heard an explosion and felt the heat of a blast. She opened her eyes and just before her, saw the result of 'Flame Lance'. The opponent who was about to pummel her, now lay burnt on the ground, twitching.

Then she heard the sounds of a finishing skirmish behind her. She turned to look, and she saw the second ruffian lying on the ground at a pair of white boots. She followed the legs up and saw the owner of those white boots gently setting the terrified boy on the ground.

The white boots then walked towards her, and soon a hand was held out in front of her.

"Don't worry, my voluptuous hunny. You're knight in shining armor has arrived."

Sheena stared up in shock at the smirking face.

"Zelos…" she murmured.

"Come on, hunny. You can't stay lying on your back in the dirt all day," he said in a jovial voice, as he grabbed her hand, and helped her up.

Now standing on her feet, she swayed, but Zelos was there to steady and support her.

"What is happening? Why are you here?" she asked, her voice failing to convey her astonishment.

"I'm here to escort you, my lady."

After a few moments of Sheena still staring at him in shock, Zelos laughed, "Hunny, you can let go of my hand now."

Sheena quickly snapped back into reality, and she pushed his hand away, while blushing profusely. She looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Sen," she suddenly said, and locating him, she hastily made her way to him. He was standing still shocked, just where Zelos had left him. She knelt down checked him for wounds but found none. She then wiped the tears from his face.

"It's okay, kid."

The boy threw his arms around her neck, and Sheena could feel the wetness of his tears on her collarbone.

"Okaa—kaa-san," he sobbed. Sheena began rubbing his back, desperately trying to soothe him. Meanwhile, Zelos stood in the background observing the two. A slight smile shone on his pale face, but at the same time, he was in that awkward state of feeling out of place and not knowing what to do.

The ninja pulled away and looked at Sen's face.

"Hey, Sen, look at me," she softly ordered.

The boy obediently did as he was told, and he lifted his puffy red eyes towards the young woman's.

"It's all good now."

"Hai, dat's cuz daddy sa-saved us, mommy," he hiccupped. A big grin appeared on his tear-stricken face, and he peaked around Sheena at the red-haired man.

At this, Zelos felt even more awkward and averted his eyes from the gleaming child. "Sheena was right," he thought. "Sen does have my eyes."

Sheena looked back at the man, who was now donning her pack, and she gave him a sympathetic smile. She then began standing up, but a sharp pain jolted through her, making her sharply hiss and revert to her kneeling position. While trying to ignore Sen, Zelos hastily ran to her side and knelt beside her, a comforting hand on her back.

"You okay?" he asked.

Sheena's face was pale, and sweat shone on her brow. She carefully changed to sitting cross-legged on the dirt road, her eyes clenched shut.

"Here, I'll heal you." Worry was evident in his voice.

Zelos lifted his hand and it hovered by her bruised and cut cheek, but before he could heal it, the ninja's hand clutched his wrist.

"No," she uttered. She turned to look at him, her face even paler and contorted with pain. "No, please heal the baby first. I don't know if he—she—he or she is alright. I want to make sure."

Zelos silently nodded, and Sheena guided his hand with hers to on top of her swollen stomach, where he began healing the life inside.

After he finished healing that area, he tended to the rest of her. Upon finishing he slowly helped her up. Her body leaned heavily against his.

"Thank you, Zelos," she wearily, but gratefully muttered.

"What?' he questioned, taken by surprise, which his face showed.

"I said 'thank you'," she articulated, some annoyance sneaking into her voice.

"Hmph," he smiled, "You've hardly ever thanked me before, hunny. Do I get a kiss this time?" His face leaned closer to hers.

Sheena tried to push his face away, but because of her exhaustion, the action ended up basically being her hand touching his face.

A smirk formed underneath the hand, and Zelos gently grabbed her wrist, taking her hand away from his face.

All of a sudden, Sheena felt her body being lifted, and his strong arms encircling around her torso and legs.

"Wha-what are you doing?" she yelped, her body tense.

"Carrying you of course," he gleefully replied.

"Come on br—uhh—kid. Can you walk still?" Zelos asked, Sen who was beaming cheerfully at the two, but still seemed shaken by the skirmish.

"Hai, papa!"

Uneased by 'papa' and the boy's grin he turned back to Sheena as if to ask her what to do.

She was not interested in what he was implying. Instead she reiterated her past question, "Why are you here?"

"Hush, hush, my number one hunny. I'll tell you later. Like I already said, just know that I'm here to escort you."

"Fine," she sighed, and then began to protest against his hold more. "Just let me down."

Zelos clutched her tighter. "No, no, that won't do. You are exhausted. You won't make it another five steps."

The ninja was going to protest again, but she decided against it, realizing he was right.

"Okay," she breathed with just a hint of frustration. "Just get somewhere where I can rest, quickly."

"Yes, yes, my princess."

"Daddy—"

"Hey, Sen," calmly called his mother, who now was actually comfortably (though she would not admit this) sunk into Zelos's arms and against his chest with her eyes closed, "Let's play the quiet game."

"Why, Mommy?"

"Because I said so."

"I don't wanna."

"What about if you stay silent the whole way, then you get a treat," she sleepily suggested.

"What kinda tweat?" he asked, now interested.

"Any treat you want."

"Any tweat?" His voice got higher with excitement.

"Yes. Now no more speaking for you because the silent game is beginning right now."

He gave a sound of acknowledgement, but just as he started to follow Zelos, he paused and looked at the scene behind them. He gazed at it, still frightened at what occurred.

Hearing the pause of the small footsteps, the red-head turned around. A twang of guilt spasmed within him, seeing the innocent boy standing in front of the blackened ground and fallen bodies. "Hey, c'mon, kid."

At the older man's voice, Sen slowly turned around, and seeing the man looking at him, the boy jogged to his side and followed him down the path.