AuthorsNote: Small bit of swearing ahead just FYI. Otherwise, enjoy the chapter.
Ratchet and CS3 both held onto to grab bars near the door as the ship shook passing through orbit. His kids were glancing around in excitement and Sasha had gone up to the cockpit to be co-pilot. CS3 turned to Ratchet.
"I see you have changed as well Sarge"
Ratchet looked at him "What do you mean?" he asked slightly puzzled.
CS3 jerked a mechanical thumb at Ratchets children. "You used to be like that, always scanning, now all you do is stare at the wall, what's going through your head?"
Ratchet looked a little shocked "I, guess, just, everything. Am I doing the right choice by my children, bringing them to a space ship and putting them in who knows what danger? But would I be doing a worse thing by not doing my best to keep the galaxy safe for them?"
CS3 shrugged "Dunno, but didn't you give them the choice to come up here, and aren't they about the same age you were when you first set off after old Drek?"
Ratchet snorted "Yea, but my past isn't exactly theirs, they don't need to live my life. I've done a lot of things I'm not exactly proud of CS3. I really don't know if I want them living this life."
CS3 reached out and patted Ratchet on the shoulder "Their you're kids Sarge, they can handle anything, just give them some time."
Ratchet nodded "I know, I'm still worried though, but I can't help but be proud. I still remember the first time Stella built her first invention. Or Sky when he first did a back flip, much to Sasha's anger. Hell, what pushed us to make this choice was that they were sneaking out with out us knowing and had even gotten some of my old gear. Stella found my sling shot and used it to get her and Sky around Veldin. She even made her own version of Magna-Boots, that worked. I'm not really worried about them as wholes, I'm worried about what this galaxy will do to them."
CS3 nodded "I think you're right to be worried, at least a little bit, but you shouldn't let it bother you, because then its just going to throw you off your game. And Sarge, I've seen the things we'll be fighting, you'll want to be at your peak."
Ratchet raised an eyebrow at him "That bad"
CS3 nodded slowly.
Ratchet glanced one last time at his kids and felt gravity jerk softly as they entered the Phoenix's landing bay. Ratchet turned to face the door and watched as the ramp lowered on the main landing bay. Sky and Stella both were out of their harnesses before Ratchet was half way down the ramp. They tore past him and stopped in the middle of the bay looking up at the cavernous heights. They both turned to Ratchet with a pleading look.
Ratchet shook his head as Sasha came down the ramp "No way, you guys are helping us unpack, we still don't know what condition the Phoenix is in. Until then exploring is off limits."
Both Sky and Stella sighed and trudged back up the ramp. Ratchet and Sasha chuckled as they followed and began the process of unloading.
As they sorted through the boxes they first found their own. Then calling to their children Ratchet and Sasha led the way to where they would be sleeping. The all piled into the elevator and rode it into the under decks. The doors opened and Ratchet and Sasha headed out. About half way down they stopped and turned to face their children.
"Sky this is your room" Sasha said gesturing with her box to the door on their left.
"Stella this one is yours" Ratchet said gesturing with his stack of boxes to the one on the right. Then stumbling as he quickly tried to keep the tower from falling. Both kids laughed at him as he got it under control. Even Sasha laughed a little. Ratchet tried to look stern but couldn't quite pull it off.
"Anyway" Sasha said getting over her giggles "You're father and I are further down the hall. You both basically get this part to your-self's. I suggest you get comfy, this is you're new home after all."
Sky and Stella grinned at each other and both rushed into their respective rooms.
Stella was about to put her box on the ground, and go back to grab another, when she spotted the large workbench that covered the entire far side of the wall. Her bed was a large frame that was bolted partway down the right side wall. The left side held racks of shelves and drawers to hold various tools. She walked over to the workbench and set down her box. She couldn't believe her eyes, this room was designed for her. She already had ideas of what to put in the baskets and drawers and had various concepts flashing though her brain. She took the top off her box and went about unloading her various small creations.
One was a small alarm clock that was fashioned out of various bits of scrap metal. It would wake her by clapping two pieces of tin together, it had also worked for a little while, now she just kept it as a reminder. The next was a small device the displayed the temperature of her room. It flash up with a low 76 on it. She smiled, still worked.
The last one she pulled out of the box was her pride and joy, it was a smallish block about an inch high, it had absorbed nearly the last two years of her life but the result was worth it. It looked totally harmless, looked of course is something totally different. She turned it over and rubbed a fur covered thumb across a light indent. The device buzzed and she waited for a moment before she heard a slight crackle and then Sky's voice.
"Testing, Sky, can you hear me?" she whispered into the small cube.
"Yea" Sky's voice sounded as if he was in the room with her and she glanced around involuntary to see if he was. The walkytalkie device that she had custom built was stored in the cube and activated by her touch was impressive by all standards. It could transfer signals across the entire galaxy in less then a second and she was using it to talk to her twin who was fifteen feet away.
"You like you're room?" she asked
"Oh yea, how's yours?" Stella glanced around one last time and noted a perfect place to put a poster she had made out of a assembly guide for her dads first sling shot.
"It's perfect"
Sky reached for the small cube his sister had made for him when he felt it grow warm in against his leg. He rubbed a finger across the bottom and heard his sisters voice.
"Testing Sky, can you hear me?" Sky glanced over his shoulder quickly thinking she was standing in the door way and not in her own room.
He brought the cube to his mouth and whispered "Yea"
"You like you're room?" She asked him. Sky nodded and glanced around at his room. He had no bed, instead the floor was soft like his mattress at home, over in the left corner he had a large weight set that he ready to try out.. His had a bar ran through the opposite corner, if you pulled yourself up you could reach a small ladder the ended at the ceiling, which was lined with loads of little hand holds. This room was perfect for him the entire thing was a bed and testing ground for his abilities.
"Oh yea, how's yours?" he asked raising the cube to his mouth again.
"Its perfect." He nodded and pocketed the cube. H turned around and headed for her door. He knocked on it and felt the cube warm against his leg again. He knocked louder, and was greeted by the door sliding open and his sister staring crossly at him.
"You're supposed to use the cube, Sky."
Sky just shook his head "You're fifteen feet away Stella, I'll just walk over talk to you. Come on lets go see if Mom and Dad need any help."
Ratchet meanwhile had just manage to carefully set down the stack of boxes on the floor of their old room. Sasha had left him staggering down the hallway to unlock their room and see if they had brought something they wouldn't need. He glanced around the room for only to see empty space aside from an open bathroom door. He walked in and looked at her as she stared around the room.
"You okay?"
Sasha nodded her head once "Yea, just remembering."
Ratchet watched her as her eyes slowly grew moist. He shook his head and stepped forward pulling her into a hug.
"You need to stop thinking about the bad stuff in the past, and remembering the good stuff."
Sasha sniffed "Like what?" she asked quietly
Ratchet pulled away from her to glance up into her face "Like what? Do I honestly need to remind you?"
She nodded and he laughed "Alright then, How about when Stella first got out of their play pen, or when Sky first walked?" he sighed "How about their first words?"
Sasha nodded chuckling, it had been a rather humorous event.
Ratchet was heating up some milk for them in the kitchen while Sasha struggled to get the kicking and screaming year and half year old's into their chairs, at 2:14 in the morning. Sky had just swung his hand up and bopped Sasha on the nose, causing her to stand up straight with a small cry and rub it. Just in time to see Ratchet jerk around to see what had caused her cry of surprise, only to have most of the boiling water splash onto his hand.
Sasha watched as Ratchet's face grew blank for a moment, then he swore. "Fuck" he cried out as he started to wave his hand around trying to shake the hot water off. Sasha shouted his name scolding him, so she almost missed Stella's voice when she said "Fuck" with a thoughtful face. Both Ratchet and Sasha had stopped dead, staring at their daughter who had just uttered a very serious swear word. Then to add on, Sky who had been feeling neglected decided to be stared at to.
"Fu-Fuck"
Ratchet and Sasha's head snapped around to look at their son, before facing each other. After several moments of silence they both burst out laughing at the absurdity of it. Both of their children's first words was a very bad swear word. After they calmed down Ratchet turned around to finish heating the milk while Sasha sat down at the table and started to try and convince their children not to say what they had just learned.
"See?" Ratchet asked upon seeing her brighten up "It's not all bad"
Called unbidden to her mind, Sasha closed her eyes as she remembered another event that had led to happiness.
Ratchet and Sasha were sitting outside in during one of the cooler days of Veldin, their twins, now ten years old chasing after each other in a giant circle.
"Can't cath me Stell!" Sky called back to his sister, a slight lisp in his voice from a bruised lip.
"Can too!" Stella called after him as she put on a burst of speed and began to catch up to Sky. Who laughed and ran even faster, changing direction to head for their parents.
"Incoming!" he yelled out as he dove in between them, landing on his hands and rolling forward before rolling to a stop against a wall and running up it a few steps before jumping away from it to land behind a surprised Stella.
Sasha was watching Sky wide eyed as Ratchet nodded his head approvingly, she turned to face her daughter just to see her staring at Sky.
She stamped her foot once, raising a small cloud of dust. "No fair Sky, you promised no Wall Jumps."
Sky held out his hand with fingers crossed "Crosses Stell, Didt cout."
Stella had turned to face them "MOOOMMMM, DAAADDDD, SKY'S CHEATING!" she had called from two feet away.
Ratchet had glanced at Sasha before shrugging "I don't know, should we punish him?"
Stella giggled while Sky let out a moan, Sasha shook her head.
"By that, we should then Punish Stella for telling on her brother."
Now it was Sky's turn to laugh as Stella let out a loud groan with a "WHHHATTTT?!" buried somewhere inside it.
Ratchet chuckled along with Sasha as he turned to face his children. "Guess you'll just have to catch him and make him uncross his fingers." he said while Sasha got up and moved towards Sky. Seeing his mom coming forward on his left and his Sister on his right Sky did the only thing a Ten year old could do. He tore through the small space left between them and into his Dad's lap.
"Safe Zone" He said as he sat down, grinning.
Sasha had looked at Stella and winked before bending down and in a stage whisper.
"You know, there is a way to break the safe zone....We tickle you dad"
Stella grinned and stalked towards Ratchet hands outstretched fingers wiggling while Sasha mimicked her. Ratchet had begun to look nervous and glanced left to right.
"Uh, I don't like where this is going. Sky maybe you should-"
He hadn't gotten a chance to finish because Sasha jumped forward and began to tickle him.
As soon as he had started laughing Stella had pounced on Sky and started tickling him. They had spent the next twenty minutes tickling each other until they laid in a small pile of panting fur and bodies.
"Well, that was interesting." Ratchet said as he struggled to sit up with Stella on his lap, Sasha sprawled on his legs, and Sky sitting on his shoulders. He noted the setting sun and sighed.
"Looks like the sun's going down, you know what that means..." he let his voice trail off as the twins let out a huge groan.
Sky turned to him with pleading eyes. "Plaseeeeeeeee?" He asked "Just a lttle longr?"
As Ratchet started to shake his head Stella popped up "If I can make it bright again can we stay up longer?"
Ratchet raised an eyearch but nodded his head, Stella giggled and ran inside the house, leaving her parents and brother to stand outside and wait as the darkness surrounded them fully. Sky backed into his parents legs and spoke up.
"I hop Stell hurys up."
Ratchet chuckled as he ruffled his sons hair. "I'll keep you safe, don't worry."
Stella dashed back out of the house a few moments after that with a ball of some sort in her hands. She held it out to Ratchet who took it while studying it with a mechanics eye. It was about as big as his head, covered with all sorts of wires and had a few micro-chips poking out. The only thing he couldn't really gleam a use for were the small bits of a Vid-Screen that had been glued to a great extent of the balls surface. He glanced back down at his Daughter.
"What's this?" he asked as she stared at him with an expectant look.
At his question she giggled "Press that switch" she said as she pointed to a small on/off button. "Then throw it in the air and close you're eyes."
Ratchet glanced at Sasha who shrugged her shoulders. He turned back to the ball and pressed the switch, he felt it vibrate inside it and lowered his arm like he was going to serve a basketball. He brought his arm up as hard as he could and threw the ball high into the air. It reached its peak and started to come back down, but stopped about fifteen feet from the ground.
"Close you're eyes." Stella reminded everyone as she cover her own eyes with her arm.
Sasha closed her eyes tight and was surprised when a bright light was visible through them. Opening her eyes she shielded her face with her arm and glanced at the ball RAtchet had thrown into the air. It was spinning and emitting a bright yellow light from the Vid-Screen pieces attached to it. Effectively lighting up their little area. Ratchet was already down on his knees by Stella, both of them looking up at the bar with shielded faces.
"Now, where did you get that?"
Stella giggled as she rocked back on her feet. "Nowhere, I made it!"
Ratchet nodded his head "I'm impressed, what else have you been making with out our knowledge?" he asked her
She shrugged "Oh, this and that." then she giggled. "It only has enough power for fifteen minutes or so, but its like playing in the sun, right?"
Ratchet nodded "I did promise, you guys got until Stella's device shuts off."
Sky and Stella glanced at each other before Stella raised her arms and started to wiggle her fingers. Sky grinned and took off "Got to catch me first!"
Ratchet and Sasha had sat up late in the night, long after the twins had been laid down to sleep.
Sasha had rolled over and looked at Ratchet "Did you teach Sky to wall jump?"
Ratchet shook his head "Not as much as anybody taught Stella how to invent"
Sasha nodded. "That's what I thought."
They settled into silence.
"We're going to have an interesting time raising our kids, huh?" Ratchet asked.
Sasha sighed "Yep"
"That's what I thought"
She opened her eyes and looked at Ratchet.
"You're right, Ratchet, I've been focusing on the bad lately. I don't know why, but I just have." She brushed a gloved hand across his cheek, causing him to slightly limp with a happy look on his face. She leaned forwards to kiss him. "Thanks" she said before locking lips with him.
Ratchet was entertaining the thoughts of this becoming more than just a kiss, which he felt Sasha was leaning towards as well when they both heard something from the doorway.
"EEEWWWWW!"
Ratchet broker off the kiss as Sasha started laughing, he turned to face his kids standing in the doorway.
"You know, you should knock before you open a door." he said trying to be serious.
Stella grinned "But what's the fun in that?" she asked
Ratchet looked thoughtful "Good point" he said, then he clapped his hands. "Now, how about we finish unloading the ship and then take a tour of the Phoenix?
Sky and Stella shot each other a look and grinned. "Race ya" Sky called as he turned and ran towards the elevator, Stella chasing after him.
Ratchet chuckled while Sasha shook her head.
"We're really here, were going to live on the Phoenix with our children."
She turned to face Ratchet to see him with his hand out. "No matter what, Together forever?"
She grinned and let her smaller hand slide into his bigger one. "Together forever." she responded as they walked down the corridor after their kids.
ClosingNotes: Well, longest chapter ever, lol. I hope you all enjoyed it, because, now, I'm going to be evil. Until I get a review on this thing, No More UPDATES! MWAHA HA HA HA.
On a different note. Welcome back to ffnet by best friend, DUDEMAN. This chapters for you, that way you won't be bored all the time :P