This is probably the next to the last chapter of this story so time has been fast forwarded a bit.
Mama Bird
"Bird," Corbeau repeated to Isshin pointing to the picture of the blackbird with its wings outstretched in flight.
Isshin patted her wing then stroked her feathers. "Bird, Mama," Isshin said.
"Bird," she patiently repeated again. She pointed at Sui Feng who had Himawari in her lap.
Himawari laughed and clapped her chubby little hands together as everyone's attention turned to them. She looked something like a sunflower with her bright orange hair that poked out in all directions and her dark brown eyes. They hoped time and length would tame that hair.
"That's Mama," she corrected, still pointing at the smiling woman.
"Mama Bird," he said, laying his head on her back against her wing. "Mama Bird, I love you."
Corbeau glared at Sui Feng when she snorted from stifling a giggle.
"I think it's precious," she chuckled.
"Oh, yes, of course you do. You're not the one being called that," Mama Bird snapped, smiling at the little boy when he came around to look at her face. "I love you too, Carrot Top."
Isshin kissed her cheek then plopped down by Allete. The kids were growing way too fast. The boys, Isshin and Hiro, were now four years old and Allete was three. Himawari was eighteen months old and her parents had just celebrated their first anniversary.
Life had carried on after the nightmarish incident that occurred over a year ago. It had not been easy, but it was move on or die. There was no choice. Besides, there was too much to live for: spouses, children, and many friends, some so close they were like family. Things had been weird for everyone for a while but time healed the pain and diminished the memories. Time is a process that continues with the inability to stop. Whether they are good or bad, it brings changes.
"MAMA!" Allete's terrified and pain filled shriek pierces and carries above the dull roar of the crowd teeming in the midway.
"She's at the fortune teller's booth!" Kenny yells from ten feet away.
Corbeau is thankful the man can see above the crowd. She sees one of the fortune tellers bent over the six year old Allete speaking loudly and hurriedly in Romani to her friend. The name Hana catches her attention before the other woman quickly runs off. What could Hana possibly be needed for? Her eyes see that the back of her child's white t shirt is covered in blood and two bony projections have pushed through the material. She runs to her terrified child who is bent over her knees sobbing in fear and agony. It's beginning.
"Sweetheart, look at Mama," she ordered in the calmest voice she could manage. The panicked child ignored her and continued to howl. "Allete! Look at me, baby!"
"M-m-mama, i-it h-hurts," the child stuttered, her pretty face twisted with suffering.
"I know baby. I'm sorry, but it will hurt. This is what we talked about. Just calm down," she murmured in a soothing voice, stroking her child's long red hair that was the same color as her father's. It was difficult for her to keep herself calm. It was hard to see her child in so much pain, especially when she knew what it felt like. At least Allete's wings would NEVER be cut off; that was one pain she would never have to endure. Bile rose in Corbeau's throat from the memory as she held her child tightly in her arms and kissed her forehead.
"What is it?" Hana asked, his big blue eyes wide with dread. He had been nervously anticipating this moment along with the child's parents.
"It's happened," she responded, showing him her daughter's back. She lay her hand around the bony protrusion poking through her daughter's shirt.
Without another word, Hana gathered the child into his strong arms to carry her back to his medical trailer. He did not want to do this in front of the audience of unwelcome spectators that had gathered.
"Corbeau, take off her shirt and wrap this sheet around her. Lay her down on the table on her belly," he gently ordered, leaving them alone in the separate room while he went to gather supplies. When he returned, he gave the pale and frightened looking woman a brief hug before he explained what he was about to do. "I'm going to make a small incision around the exit points of the wing bones to allow them to come through the skin with less resistance. This should lessen the pain and speed the healing. I'll give her something for pain. Sit down and don't worry."
Corbeau nodded dumbly, unable to speak as she held back the tears. Nausea unexpectedly overwhelmed her. "I-I've got to leave for a minute," she informed him, exiting the room.
It startled her how sick she felt as she ran outside to hide behind a nearby tree to vomit. She was grateful her daughter was in capable hands and her suffering would soon be stopped. Her stomach threatened to empty itself a second time as the memories started flooding back to her. It was a mixture of images like a slideshow mashed together with sounds and feelings that unfortunately made perfect sense: the scream of a child, pain, blood, a scalpel, the sound of crying, more pain, black feathers lying in pools of blood on a white tile floor, long white bones – oh, dear God, please stop the pain. Her body could not take it anymore. She dropped to her knees as her body seized again and her stomach forced out its contents.
"Raven! Oh, baby!" Renji cried out. He had heard her before he saw her and followed the sound to find her on her knees getting sick. He pulled her up into his arms and took her into the trailer once she stopped.
Hana had been standing over a now sleeping Allete carefully examining the burgeoning wings. He was startled when Renji came crashing in with a shuddering and sick Corbeau.
"What happened?" he asked when the upset man lay his wife on the other examining table.
"I don't know. I found her outside vomiting profusely. Now she can't even talk. She won't stop crying," Renji said, restating the obvious as the woman sobbed loudly while writhing as if in pain.
Hana resorted to his original methods of medicine and healing by placing his glowing palms on her head. He shuddered violently because he could see what was going on in her head. That was a new and interesting in development in his powers.
"Oh, damn! No wonder. I've got to stop this," he muttered, going to his locked medicine cabinet. He quickly opened it with his key and retrieved a bottle of clear fluid and a syringe.
"What is that?" the concerned husband inquired, his eyebrows drawing together as he scowled fiercely.
"It's a sedative. It will put her to sleep and stop the flow of thoughts running through her brain. Renji, it was terrible. She was remembering what that psycho had done to her," he explained, poking the needle in her arm to administer the drug.
"Is there any way to get rid of her memories? Like wiping them totally out of her brain?" Renji asked, stroking her hair.
"Not without frying her brain and destroying them all including the ones of you and Allete. No. It's not worth it," he said resolutely, holding his glowing palms over her forehead and belly. A smile suddenly curled Hana's lips.
"What are you smiling about, Doc?" Renji asked.
"Congratulations, Dad. You've got another one on the way."
Eight months later they were blessed with a baby boy they named Jiro. He had black hair and brown eyes. When he was born, he did not have the bony protrusions on his back like Allete had. Even so, Hana closely observed him like he had his sister. As time passed and nothing happened, he determined that apparently the anomaly would only be passed to females.
Allete was sitting under a tree reading when Hiro appeared. She liked the company of her friend, but she would prefer to be alone right now. Her fourteen year old mind was whirling with so many confusing thoughts. Most of them were about her feelings concerning the boy standing in front of her and their best friend, Isshin. Lately she had been feeling like she wanted to be more than friends. But which one? Both of them had given her hints that they wanted to be more than friends. Of course, Isshin had given more than hints but that was just his way. She never had to wonder what he was thinking or feeling. Hiro was more sly and subtle about it. He would find ways to brush against her or be near her along with making veiled statements of intentions or feelings.
"What are you reading?" he inquired, sitting down beside her.
"Just a stupid romance novel. I'm a girl I can't help myself," she said, slightly embarrassed when he raised an eyebrow.
"So is romance something you think about a lot?" he inquired, staring at the ground. He turned his icy blue eyes on her. "Is there anyone in particular you think about when you do?"
Allete remained silent when he placed his hand on her arm near her shoulder. His palm was cool and felt good on her warm, bare skin. Her eyes met his, and she had just opened her mouth to answer him when Isshin appeared.
"Get your damn hand off of her, Hiro!" Isshin yelled, glaring at the blond.
"I don't hear any complaints from her," Hiro replied spitefully, running his hand down Allete's arm. He did it just to piss off the jealous, short tempered boy even more. "Besides, you don't own her."
"And neither do you so paws off, Shorty!" he bellowed, his tanned skin reddening with anger.
"All right you two, stop this!" Allete exclaimed, standing up. At times like this she wanted nothing to do with either one of them. In the end, they were both idiots.
"I'm not doing anything! It's him!" Hiro quickly defended himself.
"Well, if you hadn't had your hands on her…" The orange haired boy poked his friend in the chest and that was all it took to set off a fight.
"Stop it! Stop it you idiots!" she shrieked as they traded fists.
Corbeau was inside RV just a few feet away so the noise caught her attention. She shook her head, deciding she better go outside to stop it before they drew blood like they sometimes did. This was nothing new. As soon as the hormones had started to rage so had tempers. How long would this continue?
The boys were into it in a severe way this time. They resorted to using martial arts techniques to take each other down. They had become too closely matched and knew each other's signatures moves by this time.
"Mama, are you going to stop this?" Allete asked, her eyebrows drawn together with concern.
"Allete, when are you going to pick one so they'll stop this?" her mother queried, getting ready to step in when Isshin was knocked to the ground. Before she could move, he had sprung off the ground and back to a standing position, quickly landing a punch to Hiro's gut. "Impressive," she murmured.
"Mama!" her daughter gasped. She could not believe her mother's reaction.
"All right, I'll stop it," she said, walking toward the two boys. She opened her wings using them to knock the boys to the ground. Her eyes studied them as they both lay there panting with bruises beginning to form on their faces. "That's enough you two."
"Mama Bird, he started it," Isshin accused, pointing at Hiro who glared at him angrily.
"No he didn't. You did. I heard the whole thing," Corbeau snapped. "The three of you need to work this out. I've had enough of the fighting."
"Mama Bird!" a deep male voice calls, banging on the door of the RV. It sounds like Ichigo but it's his son Isshin. Thankfully, he's the only one who has ever called her that nickname. She is still trying to adjust to his grown up voice.
"Jiro, go attack Isshin for me," Corbeau told her rambunctious ten year old.
"Okay, Mama!" her son enthusiastically replies before he runs to the door. He loves Isshin who is like big brother. He throws open the door and leaps onto his favorite person.
"Help, Mama Bird, I'm being attacked," Isshin yells, tussling with the little brother of his girlfriend.
"Allete! You're future husband's here!" Renji yelled, hiding behind his newspaper with a big grin on his face.
"He's just my boyfriend, Dad!" she shrieked back, appearing from the bedroom.
"Just because I haven't asked yet doesn't mean I won't, Allete! You're only sixteen!" he yells from outside while playing with her brother.
Allete rolled her eyes then spun around for her mother's approval. "How do I look?"
"Perfect," Corbeau complimented, thrilled that the child was wearing a t-shirt and jeans instead of running around half naked like most girls her age. "Where are you two going?"
"To the movies," she answered, walking toward the door as an orange head peeked in.
"Hey, Uncle Renji!" Isshin exclaimed, bounding up the steps.
"Hello, son in law," he responded, keeping his face hidden.
Corbeau shook her head. She could tell her husband was smiling.
"Dad!" Allete shrieked in horror. She grabbed Isshin's hand while he grinned happily. Obviously he liked the idea. "I'll be back by eleven."
"All right, dear. Be careful," Corbeau called as she watched them walking away holding hands.
"Mama, what's a promise ring?" Jiro inquired, glancing back and forth at his parents as they gaped at him.
"A what?" they yelled in unison.
"Isshin said he planned to give one to Allete."