CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Riley's eyes fluttered open and she was immediately aware of another presence in the room. Not only did she very quickly detect a hint of smoke—something she didn't outright react well to within the use of her own powers because of the memories that conjured—but she also didn't sense there was any sort of danger around her.

As a matter of fact, it was the first time as far as she could remember that she felt completely safe. The feeling that had been ripped away from her years ago.

Recognizing that feeling, she shot up, nearly knocking herself off of the bed and onto the floor. She hesitated for the slightest second before turning to see who was in the room with her and her friends and family. Within that second of hesitation she was suddenly overwhelmed with all of her dreams and wants that she had felt over the years. Things she had managed to push down to the very back of her mind, almost to the point that she had forgotten they even existed, suddenly came flying back to the forefront and as the realization hit her, tears immediately sprang to her eyes.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to demand why they had sat back and allowed so much stuff to happen to her family without letting them know they were always there. Actually, she wanted to punch something. Anything. When her temper flared to the point she couldn't control it, when her emotions got the bets of her, she wanted nothing more than to cause chaos and destruction. It was self-debilitating for sure, it hurt a lot of innocent things around her, but it helped her at the time. Keeping things in for so long made her a volcano, pun intended. But she still did it, and now she wanted to explode on the closest thing to her. She didn't want to put anyone in danger, but she wanted to explode. It would truly be the first time in almost ten years that she allowed herself to do that.

Hot angry tears that melted away to cool, sad ones within the few that dripped down her face. One after another they fell down her cheeks until she was consistently wiping them away. She was glad she started to cry; the warped, shimmery, silvery view of her parents distorted in front of her for that mean they came to her and enveloped her in their arms. She didn't have to be the one to move across the room and try to give them a hug and have them ripped away from her once more.

No.

This time it was real.

"You know, for a bunch of zombies, you all look pretty good," Patrick managed to joke.

"I wish we could've let you know before, Cherry," Reed said to her, gently rubbing her hair as Renee wiped away her tears in the gentle, comforting grasp that only a mother could manage. "It would have made things a lot easier, but we were only thinking of your guys' safety, yeah?"

"Mummy!"

Sydney, who had just woken up, leapt off of his cot and dashed over to his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face into her stomach. Renee smiled and knelt down, pressing a kiss to her youngest son's cheek and ran her hands through his hair. As the others woke up, Julius, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah immediately noticed the presence of their parents and hurried over to greet them as well. Then as Crystal and Aaron woke up, Kristin's attention was brought over to them as well.

It was Tapeworm's cry of surprise that gathered the attention to the others that were in the room. Max smiled over at him before the two were in each other's embrace, holding onto each other tightly in obvious fear they'd be separated once more. It was then Riley realized the scent of smoke wasn't the familiar acrid smell she had become used to. Her eyes shifting around the room, she spotted a tall blond figure leaning against the wall, trying to keep attention away from him as he leisurely smoked a cigarette.

Catching her eye, he dropped it to the ground and crushed it under the heel of his shoe.

"You can't expect me to sit back and watch while you guys have all of the fun, can you?" Koto asked.

"Yes, yes, this reunion is all very heartfelt," Akito murmured as he walked into the center of the room with the aid of his cane. "You shall have plenty of time to continue with said festivities…if you manage to come back alive." He cleared his throat and turned towards Zack, Cody, and Bailey. "I have it on good authority that you all are the ones that are to take down Uriel once and for all." He reached out and ran a hand along the back of the fox that sat by his side. "I also have it on good authority that you've all managed to figure out who you truly are meant to be."

"Who we're truly meant to be?" Zack repeated with a raised eyebrow. He stood between his mother and father with Cody on his other side with Carey's hand on his shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Akito turned towards the Martin family and nodded. "Your mother, father, and I have managed to have them realize their past lives. I believe you may have realized them as well." He cleared his throat. "Not only is it that you've tapped into a sense of power that has managed to make your fire black, when it should have the consistencies with those that align with the light, but your moment of worry about your abilities as well as whether nor not you felt it was something you wished to continue with…has elements of darkness within those dark thoughts." He then turned towards Cody. "Your brother, on the other hand, had a different thought of your abilities since your start. While you found it to be cool and slowly moved through the motions of realizing how real and horrifying it could be, Cody was the one that realized the seriousness of your situation as soon as you two were awakened. Even then, he continued to find nothing but a sense of pride and dare I say patriotism when the time comes. Much like those that revel in the light."

Bailey then gasped loudly, causing all eyes turn to her. She clasped her hands against her chest before an expression of determination slid over her face. "That's what Geneva and Gattaca were telling me. That I'm the reincarnate of an ally of Mother Nature and Father Time….Aeon."

"You're correct," Core agreed. "And as such, your mother and father have found that they have a special connection with the Element World as well."

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "The trait of being an Elemental usually come from the lineage of the mother." She motioned to her own mother, who nodded. "It's passed down through that part of the family, which is why even though Mum doesn't have a power, we have a family guardian." The fox beside Akito bowed its head before lowering itself to the floor.

"So you're saying that Carey and Kurt are the reincarnates of Mother Nature and Father Time?" Aaron asked slowly. It wasn't completely surprising he was the first to figure it out, his connection to the Element World, while not completely known to those around him despite the instances of power he's managed to show, was enough to help them out of stick situations from time to time. "And that means that Zack and Cody are reincarnates of Geneva and Gattaca."

Cody frowned at the news. "Which one is Geneva?"

"You are," Zack said without a second of thought. The statement made Cody's frown deepen.

"Why do I have to be the girl?"

"Have you seen your hair?"

"If that's the case then that means their power combined is the only thing that truly will stop Uriel," Sydney piped up. He brought a hand up to his chin and started to pace back and forth as he thought about it. "Theirs and Bailey's as she is a reincarnate of a strong power back in the Element World."

"Aeon was a medium that worked very closely amongst those that were considered royalty in the Element Kingdom," Christian explained. "It's the kind of power that Uriel was after and could very well be the one that could take them down as he's just as strong. It's no wonder he tried to kill Geneva and Gattaca when they were so young, eh? While your power is strong, Core and I have started up a project all of us had started back in the day before we had to go into hiding."

"What is it?" Tapeworm asked. He still had his arms around Max and while his gaze was focused on the wall behind him. Canis, who had woken to see her mistress alive and well, was now hugging onto Max's leg like a little child having just been reunited with her mother. "If there's anything we can do to make sure this guy is defeated, we'll do it."

"Well, considering the media coverage we've been getting as of late as well as those within the government that may still be against what you all are doing, I can't imagine that the thing we have created will go over well," Diamond said, his gruff voice punctuating the silence that came from Core, Christian, Reed, Renee, and Kristen. "Not to mention if it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, it will cause fallout no one could anticipate."

There was another punctuated silence that shifted throughout the room.

"You're building a bomb," Patrick said.

Riley's head lifted and she turned towards her brother with a cocked eyebrow. A bomb? What was a bomb going to do other than create massive destruction? The energy from the bomb alone would more than likely destroy Boston even more than any of their attacks could do. Through their own attacks they had control over where their attacks went or made them stronger or weaker when going towards their opponent for what was needed. But with a bomb it was true that the fallout from it would be worse than they could ever imagine. Not so much the fact they would be responsible for it, but because of the nuclear fallout that would come out of it in return.

That is, if the bomb they were to use was going to be a nuclear weapon as opposed to the modified weapons they had managed to make so far. If anything was going to come out of this it was either going to be the satisfaction that everything was finally over, or the start realization things had only just begun.

"We're not building a bomb, we've built a bomb," Reed corrected. With a wave of his hand, he motioned the group of teenagers towards the other side of the room where there was a metal container. He pressed a combination of buttons on the side of the container and lifted the lid in one quick movement. He must've noticed the jerky movements of the teens, afraid it was about to go off in their faces. "There's a specific way you can have this open up and do what it is it's meant to do," he reassured them. "It won't suddenly blow up."

"What's it supposed to do then?" Cody asked. "If it can only open up a certain way."

"Well, considering the information we've managed to get from the Anima Nano Energy Particles over the years…" Reed trailed off with a wistful sigh. Riley glanced at her father, suddenly able to feel for him, her own feelings aside. They had been on two sides of the same coin; not being able to interact or speak to each other for years at a time but holding out hope for the chance to see each other again. "It has helped us figure out what it is about human DNA that has been able to merge with those of Elementals. Of course there are still many things we don't know for sure, but from what we understand with our research this bomb will halt Uriel's abilities when it goes off." He bobbed his head back and forth. "It'll be pretty aggro and we don't know how long it'll last. Unfortunately, whoever is in the vicinity that has the same sorts of abilities, an Elemental or a guardian, will have their powers halted for that time being as well."

"Maybe there's something in the Book of Esme that can help?" Bailey suggested.

"Or," Koto suggested. "We take the bomb, use the double mint twins over here,"—he motioned to Zack and Cody—"to knock this Uriel guy far enough away from wherever any of us are going to be, and blow him sky high."

"That'd only work if we were sure there was no on in the vicinity," Max pointed out. "Who knows who we'd have caught in the crossfire if we do it randomly?"

"Hopefully the rest of his fleet," Rhuben commented. She crossed her arms over her chest. "If that were the case, don't you think it'd be worth it? We get rid of his lackeys and get rid of him at the same time; it's a win-win."

A solemn silence fell down around the room as the reality of their situation came in. They wanted to stop Uriel at all costs…but at what costs were they willing to go? Were they willing to allow any more innocent people to die just so they could get rid of one person in one blast? Would they even be innocent? It looked like they were the only ones that were going to be able to stop this guy; everyone else was on Uriel's side, taking down as many humans and whoever else stood in their way when they got the chance. Even Mother Nature had found a way to turn things around with what she wanted by taking the Elementals back to her World and showing them their destiny with those powers.

"So where can we get something good to eat around here?"

All eyes turned towards London who had a wide-eyed innocence about her. Either she was doing her best to keep the spirits of everyone up or she truly had let her time with Uriel manage to shock her so badly she was forgetting they were in a fight for their lives. Riley had actually expected Patrick to say it, as he always had a way of making them all laugh when he felt things were getting too serious. But now he had the same expression on his face that Rhuben had, showing at least the rest of her family were on the same page when it came to Uriel's end.

There was a reason they hadn't mentioned it to the rest of their friends in the first place.

"Yes, London, there's plenty to eat," Carey said to her. Her eyes moved around the room. "I'm sure there's plenty of time to get acquainted with everyone again. It's been a while." She reached out and gently ran her fingers through Zack's hair before reaching out and hugging Cody to her chest.

"That's a good idea," Diamond agreed. He cleared his throat and started to move out of the room. "This room has been set up to house our sleeping arrangements. I feel it may be a good idea to do some tests on them one last time; to be sure their energy levels are up to par when it comes to what they're going to be up against. If you're hungry there's plenty to eat in one of the rooms down here. I can't imagine there's much left as we hadn't planned on staying here so long. But as you can tell we can't always plan for everything."

Zack, Cody, Max, Tapeworm, Bailey, Carey, Kurt, Esteban, Mr. Moseby, London, Koto, and Reihu left the room so that the families that had been broken for so long could get some time to themselves once more.

Riley brushed her hair back out of her face and turned back towards her parents and gave a small smile as she noticed Sydney continuing to hug onto their mother, obviously afraid to let go again. He had only been one year old when everything had gone up in a burst of flames and a blast of energy. And while there hadn't been many lasting effects of the absence of two people he didn't really remember as it was, being the only one of his siblings that didn't remember them was harder for him than the others could imagine. He had done a great job of hiding it as not to upset his siblings who did his best to take their place, but the way he continued to hold onto Renee showed it hurt deeper than he had ever showed.

"I'm sorry none of us could tell you what was going on," Renee said. She reached out and smoothed Riley's hair back from her face before smiling lovingly at her children. Her voice was as they had already remembered, with a slight hint of the Australian accent she had managed to learn from her husband as well as years spent living in the Oceanic region. "I'm sorry we all had to sit back and watch you go through everything without knowing we were there watching the whole time."

"You couldn't tell us why?" Crystal asked, her voice breaking as her mother reached out and hugged her daughter before turning to Aaron and kneeling down in front of her. Aaron took a step back then his features screwed up in confusion before he stepped forward and brought his hands up to gently feel around her face.

"They couldn't reveal ourselves to you in case we brought you in even more danger," Christian explained. He took a deep, painful breath. "I hadn't known about it, either. If I had….maybe things would have been easier this time around."

"What are we supposed to do with the Oracle Element now?" Julius asked his parents. He gestured towards himself and out the door. "Tape and I were going to use it to…" he trailed off and reached out, grabbing onto his father and holding onto him tightly. That broke the dam for the rest of the Jackson-Manning family as Reed and Renee were encompassed by their six children and Christian and Kristin were free to hold onto their two children.

Pressed against her father's side, Riley didn't know how to feel. She was a flurry of emotions that she was glad she had been able to control years before; after years of having subdued her hurt, anger, and sadness now she was expected to have forgotten all of that and be able to live peacefully once they were returned. To forget the fact that Uriel was still stalking them and waiting for the perfect time t strike them all down before they could even blink?

What was to happen if he went after them again after finding out they weren't dead?

If he doesn't already know, she thought.

/Mistress, if I we may be so forward…/ DalFang said. Seconds later there was a bright flash of light and their guardians all appeared in the room around them. Noah reached up and ran his hand along SilverTatsu's neck. "Our guardians wanted to introduce themselves to you. They've been working really hard to keep us safe."

"I'd hope they would," Kristin said. She reached out and ran her hand along Dricer's back. "It's funny, I feel like I've met you before," she murmured to him. "Or else I've always felt you around, taking care of my daughter even before she awakened." She let out a long sigh, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Unfortunately, Uriel has been plaguing our lives longer than any of you could ever imagine."

"Is that why he's always been going after us?" Noah frowned. "I thought he was just going after Zack and Cody."

"There are lots of things he's going after that we haven't figured out yet, Zack and Cody aren't just it," Renee reminded him. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and motioned for her grandfather to come join them after giving their group some to themselves. "Your Great-Grandfather here, he's faced Uriel himself years and years ago. Whatever he's after is much more than Zack and Cody though the prophecy is shows that they along with the help of Bailey can defeat him."

"So what about the Oracle Element?" Patrick asked.

"I think I know what we can do with it," Sydney said slowly. He let go of Renee and turned to Aaron, placing his hands on his shoulders. "But I'm going to need your help, of course." Aaron smiled and nodded back at him.

"This has been a very long day," Akito murmured. "You've all been through a lot. You should get some rest, get something to eat." He tightened his grasp on the head of his cane and gazed around at all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "It's nice to see everyone together once more, let's hope it's not the last time it'll happen. I have faith that those boys, Zack and Cody, can do what we haven't been able to do before. I have faith in all of them and their friends."

Reaching out, Riley ran her hand along DalFang's back and watched as he stretched forward like a dog before lowering his behind to the floor, spreading out his wings. "I want him dead," she said to her parents. "I want all of this to be done."

"Don't worry…" Christian turned towards the bomb that continued to sit quietly in the corner of the room and sighed. "It will be. Soon." He reached out and put his arm around his wife's shoulders and hugged her to his side before making his way out of the room.

Riley sighed as DalFang moved to his small form and perched upon her shoulder. He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing. "You know snuffing you emotions will just make it harder to control later," he reminded her.

"Better than the alternative, yeah?" She said seconds before noticing how badly her hands were shaking. Instead of anger as she was usually accustomed to, it must've been shock and surprise of seeing her family. It would probably have been a bigger reaction if there wasn't the threat of imminent death. Otherwise she probably would've blacked out from the sheer amount of emotions that would've steamrolled her.

"So how does it feel?" Zack's voice came from behind her. She turned around and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing.

"Your part bird and yet you come in here like a freaking ninja, mate," she remarked. He smiled. "As to your question, I don't even know how to feel. I'm trying not to focus on it. It could be taken away again. For real this time. Though I think I would be used to it happening to them rather than one of the others." She shrugged. "But we have Max and Koto back so…I guess it wouldn't be too bad." She studied him. "How does that feel?"

Zack let out a low breath as he ran his hands down his sides before resting them on his hips. He chewed his lower lip before pressing his lips together. "I don't know," he admitted. "I tried not to think about it. I mean, at least with you guys it was someone else at fault, but this time around it was mine, so…I don't know." He twisted his mouth to the side. "Can I at least say the thing I'm afraid of most is actually having to meet your parents."

Now Riley's face screwed up. "You've faced a guy that's wanted to capture you to take away your powers, survived a bomb explosion, a sinking car, countless daily fights, falling out of an airplane while unconscious, and knowing you're marked for death because of a prophecy and you're afraid to officially meet my Mum and Dad."

"Yeah, me and the parents of my girlfriend don't go together."

"You're an idiot."

"You know, it makes me hot when you put me down like that." Zack grinned.

She matched it with a grin of her own. "Why do you think I do it?"

A/N: Whoo! Next five chapters are the last. I'm actually going to miss this story for the most part but I plan on taking another break from writing Elemental stories after this, to continue with Help Me, Save Me and figure out other stories I want to do.

For time/speed I took out the longer scenes with Max and Tapeworm's reunion as well as those within the Tipton hotel. While they'll be touched upon in the last five chapters, the scenes will be shown in deleted scene one-shots after the story is over.

Cheers,

-Riles