The afternoon was about to end and while Lin was laying on her side on bed menstruating and feeling all blue, Bat was all ready to return to Medicine city. He picked his sword, recharged his quiver and headed off. On his way out, he passed through his bedroom and saw his spouse in such a condition.

"Lin, is … everything alright?"

"Almost … Where are you going?"

"I'm cleansing the old medicine city from any remaining bandits. If Sophia wants to stay with Aures, that place best be safe. "

"Good luck, then." Lin said in a monotone voice.

"... Still sick?" Bat approached his wife out of concern.

"Not really... You can check up on me once you're back." Lin buried herself in the thin sheets.

"Lin-"

"Bat! You have priorities, go!" Lin weakly shouted at her man.

"Uhm, well... Later." Bat spoke under his breath, gently pulling the door behind him. Once he left, Lin cried on her pillow out of the regret of not telling him anything yet.

A while later, the north star army arrived at the abandoned medicine city, disguised as average citizens, while planting dynamite under every suspicious building. The amount of thugs who were hiding in that abandoned city came out like summer ants in no time once the sticks were blown. The soldiers split and dealt with every team or individual they caught, who was responsible for the fall of the only source of meditation in a world of ruins and dreadful emptiness for the previous decade, with the elderly sage farming couple who made their herbal medicines undercover being the only villagers left there until Aures bit the dust. Despite the equipment and number of men that the army had, the fights were intense and resulted in a couple of North Star martyrs, a traumatic head injury for Bat, but the freedom of the old medicine city and the saving of the common sage widow.

After the cleansing was done and the men accomplished burying their two martyrs next to her husband, Sophia thanked them for their bravery and dedication to get rid of such human parasites that worsened the lives of many, telling them that her husband will finally be able to rest in peace. The red haired man hardly stood up, blocking the bleeding of his head with his left hand, and announced: "Alright, folks! Now we gotta find any doctors and pharmacists left to move back here." The men shouted in unison: "Yes sir!". Just a few moments later, Bat could not stand up any longer and let gravity drag him down, weakly shielding both sides of his head using his arms as he fell down. The soldiers surrounded their fainted leader, realizing the massive wound on his scalp. For that moment, they delayed their Repatriation plan to the next day.

"Shit! We forgot to get first aid." One of the soldiers hissed.

"Lin's been the one to always get it." Said another.

"There's only one solution now. Not the best one, though." A third soldier suggested, "We block the bleeding with our clothes for now and fully treat it once we get home."

"Welp… Hope that works." Said the 1st soldier, helping his comrades carry Bat into the back of a truck that the army brought more soldiers in. Two of them sat beside Bat and tried blocking the blood flow from his head by a piece of cloth that they ripped out of one's turban.

The troops had finally arrived at their base, and they continued carrying the injured fainted Bat up to his room. The leader had somehow managed to regain his consciousness before the couple of dudes, who carried him by his shoulders and legs, reached his room.

"Hnnng~ Where… Wait… We're done?" Bat hissed in pain.

"I mean, we evacuated the old medicine city from all the bandits who used it as a hiding place." The man who lifted his top explained.

"But since you're heavily injured, we decided to delay the repatriation part 'til you get well… Unless you demand otherwise." The other man who held him by the legs continued after his comrade.

"Agh!" A quick intense wave of pain sparked around Bat's big open wound, "Y-yeah… We'll delay that for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

"But that big ol' wound is in your head! That'll take more than one day to heal, don't risk yourself!" The other soldier added. "Hey … That chair over there." he pointed at a wooden chair that laid next to the small double sized bed that Lin was in. The two gently placed him on that chair while making sure he doesn't lean in any side and fall off. After Lin lead them to the first-aid box's whereabouts, they grabbed it from beneath the bed she laid on, cleaned Bat's wound and replaced the blood-soaked sleeves, that they wrapped his injured scalp with earlier, with clean bands. Bat commanded the two soldiers to give him and Lin some privacy after thanking them both for their service, the two left, gently closing the door behind them.

"Hey, I just remembered… Back in the old medicine city when you and Kosuke were with us … what did you do at the old man's grave?" Said Bat, while trying to stop his own head from swinging right and left.

"I …" Lin tried her best to hold back her tears, "… buried our … unborn child."

"What?!" Bat jolted, "But you said you didn't get pregnant!"

"That's what I believed too … Until I saw the incomplete fetus that fell out of me." Lin cried, "That was what caused me pain yesterday. It wasn't just a delayed period like I thought."

"Oh…" Bat didn't know what else to say, he did feel sad for the love of his life, not as sad as she was, but he didn't want to sound like he underestimated her feelings as he wasn't so hurt about such a loss since he also believed that there was no expectation anyway.

"It's not you who should apologize …" Lin disclaimed, "It's just … I can't even … return the favor." Lin clenched into her pillow, building up more tears, "You gave up on your own life for me when I couldn't even make one for you! No matter what I do, I feel like I'm never loving you enough! Because of how much you give to keep me happy and safe."

"Wha- Ow! Q-quit the nonsense, Lin!" Bat slowly turned his head towards Lin, "You're already doing more than enough. Besides, you wanted a child. You owe me nothing." The man noticed Lin get so much sadder, which drove him to regret what he just said. "Ah! I'm sorry- Ow! Please don't read it the wrong way... I meant... Why are you so desperate for one?"

"I... I want to have who could carry our legacy... If we didn't make it to the end of this cruelty." Lin sniffed. "And... I want to be the mother I wished to have."

"Lin- Agh!" From a lean towards her, another wave of pain sparked in Bat's scalp one last time before completely losing his balance and almost falling on Lin. Thankfully, he stretched both of his arms and stopped his own torso from falling on her. "Whew! That was close- Augh!"

"By the way, Lin." Bat lifted his head up and ran his hand across her sweaty hair, while still holding himself up with the other elbow, "You tried, after all. Look on the bright side! at least he or she didn't get to live right now... not before this world gets its peace back, right?" Lin smiled back.

"Y-yeah..." Lin cheered up, especially after thinking out loud: "Even if it had a soul yet or not. I guess it got it good either way, right?"

"About time you got it!" Bat smiled, "I mean, if you really want a kid, I wouldn't say no to what makes you happy. It's just... You gotta take a rest, first, okay?"

Lin nodded and turned her head to an angle that made her lips meet up with his palm and kissed it. "So... Doesn't it hurt to be in that position?"

"Eh? Ah~ Y-yeah, I... Sheesh~ I feel dizzy..." Bat tried his best to adjust himself back on the chair.

"I think I should call the men to tuck you in."

A few more months had passed and Rihaku took longer than promised to come back, but the force did not mind since Lin and Bat got used to the responsibility , but still waiting for Rihaku to come back. Many good things happened during those months; Kosuke came back with a few more books in his hands to load his little collection even more, Sophia finally found someone who would take care of her sage crops after the army relocated most of the remaining doctors, nurses and pharmacists to the revived medicine city. Since then, it was easier to Sophia to look up on her young best friend.

After nearly a year of staying at the Celestial castle, Rihaku finally made it back to the North Star headquarters. The old chariot of the South Star was surprised by Bat's reaction when he came back, he received a big welcoming hug from his young lieutenant who ran onto him once he walked into the base.

"Rihaku! Welcome back!" The young leader ran to hug the old man, his assistant and wife walked out of her room in a long yellow housedress.

"Welcome. Did you guys miss me that much?" Rihaku patted Bat's head.

"So much! By the way, how was it back there?" Bat released Rihaku from the hug.

"How is big sis?" Lin was panting while slowly walking downstairs .

"Oh, they're all doing perfectly fine. In fact, many things were accomplished there; Falco's old soldier, Saiya, is now ready to be in charge of the Celestial force until Misshu's old enough for the position. The electricity from Jakoh's old work will be now powered by the water flow from now on and will be available for the whole empire for the moment." Rihaku turned back to Bat, "What about you? What did you do when I wasn't around?"

"Oh, many things! We started saving books and any piece of literature, thanks to a wanderer named Kosuke, brought the medicine city back to life and we had a new friend." Bat replied, as he rushed to hold Lin "Master Rihaku, this is Lady Sophia." The leader extended his arm towards Sophia.

"Hi, Master Rihaku." Sophia bowed to Rihaku, "I hope you don't mind me around here. I used to be a herbal meditator back at Medicine city, and now I've been a nurse these few months, and soon will be a midwife."

"Hm? No offense but what would we need a midwife for? Wait…" Rihaku's realization answered his wondering, and wanted to confirm his guess by looking closer at Lin, who was panting while holding on to her husband with one hand, and her bulging belly with her other. He couldn't believe his eyes but was also joyous that the once little kids whom he took care of would have their own kid.

"Oh, congratulations!" Rihaku pulled Bat back to him to hug him so tightly, "And I thought that I would never be a grandfather after losing Toh~"

"H-hey! I'm not the pregnant one." Bat scoffed, and everyone laughed with him.

"Wait! We must message the empress!" Rihaku exclaimed, "And speaking of messaging, why did you guys not send me a single letter?"

"Oh, we … completely forgot." Bat scratched his head in embarrassment. "The bird!" Bat gasped and was about to run, until he remembered that he does not even recall where the falcon was kept anyway. Until one of the men who were in the base during Rihaku's absence replied: "Don't worry, sir. I took care of it." The guard looked at Bat, "It's been in its cage next to the top balcony, by the way."

"Well then, get me my writing equipment from my room so we can contact them once more." Rihaku ordered.

"About what?" Lin asked.

"About you! Your sister would love to hear such great news." Once the letter was sent, Lui ordered her men to take shifts in the liberation and investigation duties, for that Bat had more time to look after Lin along with Sophia.

Lin was at the verge of her third semester's end, which got her more exhausted and feeling heavier than ever. This was when her husband and midwife started taking precautions, like keeping an eye on her more often and preparing stuff for the baby, like swaddling blankets and a cradle.

One night, around that time, Rihaku decided to look at the sky and gaze upon the stars and full moon of that beautifully shimmering night. Suddenly, he spots the thing he always feared, but never expected at such a joyful time; the star of Omen had shown up for the first time in forever. The glimmering of that star, right next to the big dipper, broke this man out in a cold sweat, the sight froze him like a stone.

"This … can't be." The man uncontrollably shook, "Oh … no …" Rihaku fell on his knees as disbelief and horror of upcoming misfortune got the best of him. Many thoughts hit his head at once, but the one that hurt him most was whether the evil brought upon this cursed star lies on Lin or her baby. Rihaku spent that whole night sleeplessly praying for whoever is up there, controlling what mankind cannot control, that his thoughts may not occur and wished any evil to be laid on him instead. Despite it all, he refused to entirely show his worries to anyone even if they caught him in his coldest sweat, just to not make it more difficult for his lieutenants.

One morning, Lin woke her up from a nightmare whereas her times of being kidnapped and shipped across the ocean of death rewound, finding out that the wetness down her body from the nightmare was real. She believed for a second that she simply wet herself, until she felt the fluid still uncontrollably flowing out of her vulva. That was when realization hit her, and anxiety started building up as she didn't know what was going on.

"Bat? Lady Sophia?" Not a reply from either. The soon-to-be mother heavily stood up and walked to the door, and as she reached to the doorknob, her old lady friend opened the door and the two faced one another

"Lady…" Lin held her breath.

"What is it, baby?" Sophia noticed Lin's sweaty red face, the soaking wet housedress and her shaking legs. "Oh, it's time... It's time!" The elderly gasped, helping her friend walk back to bed and lay on it. Then, she rushed out of the room to call the lieutenant from upstairs.

"You! Get Bat here! It's time!" Sophia shouted to a soldier whom she eyed downstairs. The man below did as she demanded and ran to Bat who was cleaning dust off of the armory and its containment.

"Bat! Sophia's calling! She says it's time!" The man slid his way to the door.

"Lin?!" Bat dropped a crossbow that he was checking up. He exited the armory, running as fast as he could, "Continue my task. Dust the rest of the stock off!" He turned towards the soldier before continuing the run.

On the other hand, Rihaku was somehow relieved that day. He went out to the balcony and gazed upon the sky with a wide smile and a sigh of relief. He said: "It's time … I will see my grandbaby." Although no one told him yet that Lin was already in labor. He went to lay in bed and comfortably laid down, as if he never gave the death omen star a thousand thoughts the night before.

A couple more hours later, Lin's sharp scream was heard across the halls, and the soldiers realized that today was the day. Some of them informed master Rihaku about that, only to find him nesting in his bedsheets, with a relaxed smile, as if he had the best slumber in forever, despite not closing his eyes that looked empty yet peaceful and calm.

"Sir! Lin is finally giving birth." One of the men approached Rihaku.

"Yes, I saw him …" the laying man gently replied, "Isn't he gorgeous?"

"But … He wasn't born yet, was he?" One of the men asked in confusion, still hearing Lin's painful cries some steps away, "... Still wasn't."

"He? Who told you guys it's a boy anyway?"

"Yeah, wait. Why did you assume it's a boy… M-master?" The man noticed the unusual shallowness in Rihaku's eyes, as he looked at his face that slowly turned more pale.

"Sorry, Lin … Sorry … Bat." His men slowly realized what those words meant after many nights of witnessing their master fearing an inescapable fate, and it was already too late.

More hours went by, as Lin felt so much pain that she passed out, woke up and felt the same pain until she was able to push one last time. Bat gave her his hand to grasp and even claw and clench for how utterly painful the delivery was. After gallons of blood, tears and sweat, the infant was finally brought into this world. Before she even had to see it hanging by feet from Sophia's hand, Lin fainted once more.

"It's a boy!" Sophia pinched the newborn to hear his first cry… nothing happened. "Huh… Let's do it the old fashioned way." She lightly smacked the baby's bum… still no cries. "Okay? Let's uuuh…" Once she held him on his back and rubbed on his chest, his arms and legs fell loosely around her hand that carried him by the back, she realized … The child was born dead.

"L-Lady Sophia? Don't … tell me" Bat stuttered as he saw that too, the old lady shook her head as her tears escaped her eyes, then Lin woke up to see her baby, completely unaware of the misfortune.

"Our baby! Was he born just now?" The innocent question drove Bat to burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, Lin … I'm sorry." Bat quietly sobbed onto one of Lin's hands with both of his.

"Why? … No, wait! Don't tell me-" Lin saw her stillborn with Sophia. She bawled: "No~! I waited more than a year for this!?" Meanwhile, the men who were with Rihaku decided to go to Bat and tell him the worse news. Suddenly, one of them knocked on the bedroom door, Bat opened it and the two met one another with teary eyes.

"Bat, can you come out here, please?" The guard whispered. Bat exited the room, following the man to a few steps away.

"Did you guys... overhear us?"

"What?" Confusion appeared in Bat's teary eyes.

"Master Rihaku, man..." The soldier shed more tears. "He just… passed away." The news made Bat's stomach twirl, head spin and legs weaken. The two horrifying deaths in a row got the young man panicking so hard that he started hurling, his stomach was empty so he only let his own acid out and every gag triggered a more intense one after until he couldn't push any further. The men were horrified by such a scene once they reached Bat who couldn't believe that everything was now on him. The two women in the room heard Bat's thud and gagging and knew something else went wrong. Sophia quickly swaddled the stillborn then went out to see Bat on the floor, laying his face on a pile of tears and next to another of hydrochloric acid, shivering and weeping.

"What just happened?!" The widow was worried.

"It's master Rihaku…" One of the soldiers sorrowfully looked down. "... He passed away." Sophia gasped with her mouth covered as she heard the news, Lin heard that too and fainted one last time that day. The widow ran back in the room just to see her little lady already passed out. She screamed: "Lin! Lin!"

The next few hours, Rihaku and the stillborn were buried far away at Medicine City next to Aures, Sophia's husband. It was one of the darkest days the force had ever witnessed since the last South Star general's identity was revealed to Raoh. That night, Bat went down the hallways and stairs, the headquarters never felt so empty before though it was only one man who left. He went inside one of the storage rooms where he hid the cradle that he built for his baby as a surprise. The leader took a good look at it and started clenching his fist while holding back any tears. Despite its sorrow, that day passed very quickly, but the crew did not get over the loss just yet, especially the couple, although Lin was the most hurt.

A few days right after the funeral, Lin was already mentally and physically drained from all of what happened to her and her lover, she saw the stillbirth as another failure from her, and that it had been all her fault, for not being able to "return the favor". That morning, she asked Bat to take his army and collide with the heavenly emperor's force until he was able to take Rihaku's place, since he gave advice and tactics for the former force before his passing. But before agreeing, an argument had to happen.

"What about you? Am I just gonna leave you here on your own?" Bat kneeled to his postpartum wife.

"Lady Sophia's here with me … Don't worry."

"I'm not dropping my entire responsibility on her! She's already helped enough!"

"Bat, honey. It's not a big deal, I promise." Sophia reached her hand towards Bat's shoulder.

"No, aunt Sophia. We were supposed to be the ones helping you out."

"Bat, you can't help me in a situation like this. Only another woman can. So please … go do what I told you. There are others out there who need you."

"What about Aunt Sophia? Am i gonna leave my job to-"

"Bat! Your job here is over! Why can't you understand?!" Lin cried, "Just… Go."

Following his wife's demand, Bat went to the Celestial castle on his own, for the sake of colliding his army's powers with the celestial one. Once he arrived, he parked his motorcycle inside the gatehouse, went into the great halls and faced the empress from afar. He walked towards her then kneeled once he reached her.

"Bat!" Lui pranced her way to Bat.

"Greetings, Lui." Bat hesitated to lift his head up.

"So... Is she here? With my nephew or niece?"

"Oh! N-no … This isn't about them."

"Huh?"

"In fact … It's just a stillborn."

"Oh… " Lui sadly gasped, "Oh no... Is Lin alright?"

"No… But I'm here to request colliding both forces, so that we can-"

"Stop it right there!" Lui yelled, "So you're telling me that you left your own wife... MY sister behind?! over something..."

"Lui, please lis-"

"That we are ALREADY handling?!" Lui stepped furiously towards Bat. "Are other people's lives more important than your own wife's?! Who carried your child for about-"

"For heavens' sake, Lui! Hear me out!" Bat screamed angrily. The guards around the two suspected such an act for an attack, and pointed their crossbows at Bat, he turned around with his hands sliding so fast beneath his belt, reaching for his throwing arrows.

"Everyone! Stop!" Lui ordered loudly, "I demand this argument to stay verbal. No one shall harm nor be harmed!" All of the men in the halls lowered their crossbows and Bat put his hands back out of the belt.

"As I wanted to say, Lin wanted me to come here. She told me I shouldn't be wasting time with her." As Bat explained himself, Myu walked in with her baby Misshu, cradled in her arms. She heard his reasoning.

"But… Why would she do that?" Silence spread across the hall as everyone noticed Myu's presence. "… I'm sorry for intruding in your conversation, what are you here for, Bat?"

"... I just… You see, Rihaku suddenly died a few days ago." The announcement made the whole hall gasp at once. "Along with my and Lin's baby… technically. Anywho, I stayed with her yet she insisted on me to go bring the army back to, quoting her, stop wasting my time with her since this old lady named Sophia's her midwife."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would she do that to you and herself?" Lui frowned.

"My best guess is that she doesn't want you to carry the sorrow with her." Myu wondered.

"We won't find out just by guessing. Bat, go back to Lin and stay with her."

Myu nodded, "I may not know her personally, but I do know that what she is doing is neither normal nor okay."

"Yes." Bat bowed to the empress and ran leaving the castle. But before he made it to the gate, Lui called him to apologize for yelling at him earlier.

Bat headed off of the celestial castle, riding on his way home. Suddenly, he noticed a group of people chasing someone far away. He couldn't tell what was going on, so he drifted a little closer to the scene, just to realize that it was a gang chasing a weirdly young mother with a toddler. The woman seemed like having a difficult time running away from these goons who swung their swords like how a Texan cowboy swings his lasso. He drifted much faster to cross between the gang and the woman. Right before he increased his hog's speed to reach the victim, one of the goons threw his sword at the back of her neck and dropped her, and despite that, she succeeded to fall on her back to save the baby from dropping her weight on it. Bat saw the horrible fate of that woman and angrily stepped harder on both brakes.

"Yeah~~~!" One of the thugs cheered, "Nice shot, asshole!"

"I can shoot in the sheets and streets." The murderer among them flexed.

"Fuck off! I bet that was my seed!"

"Oh, who gives a shit?! We're taking them both down since she couldn't turn her pussy off! Gyeehehehe!"

"Hey, how about we have another round on her before her shit gets cold and dry?"

Bat slid his motorcycle between the bandit duo and harmed others. "Filthy animals…" Bat hissed, as he looked back at the wounded woman for a second to hop off of his seat.

"Ehh?!" The murderer's mate shivered.

"The fuck are you pissing yerself about?" Once he turned his head towards Bat, he received a fist into his face so deep and fast that it broke both of his nose and front teeth. "Y-y-y-ya bvucking byetch?!" The thug tried to hit the lieutenant back, who grabbed his head and snapped his neck.

"Fuck this! I'm outta here!" The second thug ran as fast as he could, completely forgetting about his own motorcycle and not knowing that Bat would hop on his and run him over right away. He drifted to face the man whom he broke the spine of. The young man drifted back and wheelied until he quickly calculated the exact point for he dropped the front wheel and smashed the last thug's skull open like a watermelon in a Suika event. For a brief moment, Bat forgot that he killed the thugs to save a woman and a baby from them. He rushed to her, looked at her better to learn that the dying woman was still a teenager, and that the baby was her daughter.

"Please… find her… new… parents." The dying girl struggled to speak, "Don't let… her… know… her bastardly… roots…"

"What about you?!" Bat carried her and the weeping baby in his arms.

"Just… let me die… please… I… don't…" The pitiful adolescent breathed her last before speaking it, and died laying her stabbed head on Bat's chest.

"... Life sure was too rough for you to bear living one more moment in it." Bat hugged the corpse before burying it and rushing back to Lin with the starving infant.

"Lin… Stop insulting yourself like that."

"But I'm telling the truth! I brought nothing to his life but pain! Then, when I promised him to be his children's mother, I couldn't do that either!" Lin cried into the pillow.

"It's not like it's in your hands. Sometimes, things aren't meant to be."

"I've been nothing but pain in his back, he was right that day…" Lin started hearing echoes of a toddler's cries, "Hng! He's haunting me! I am a terrible warrior and mother!"

"A baby?" Sophia looked around.

"What? You heard it too?" The cries got closer, followed by fast footsteps. The sounds were approaching the room door that was pushed by the toddler carrying Bat.

"Bat?!" Sophia and Lin asked in unison.

"Lin! I beg you!" Bat ran to his wife with the wailing infant, "Nurse him, please. You still lactate, right?" Lin was staring at the baby, frozen as a stone.

"What're you waiting for?!" Sophia snapped her out of the zoning, Lin picked the swaddle from Bat's arms, adjusted her on her chest after pulling one of her breasts out for the child to feed. Her husband looked at the breastfed baby, and there was indeed milk to be suckled. He sighed: "Oh, thank goodness~!"

"Whose kid is this?" Sophia asked.

"She's the fruit of an atrocious crime… She does not deserve being treated any worse… Neither did her mother." Bat looked at Lin to ask her a thing, just to see her crying with a hesitating smile.

"Lin… I know, nothing can replace what we lost… But please, this little girl does not have any other home that takes care of her-"

Lin's eyes sparkled more than they already did, "We will… keep her with us?!"

"Please?" Bat's eyes sparkled as well. Lin nodded in return and pushed herself onto Bat's chest for a hug.

The baby was finally fed. Lin gently rocked her new bundle of joy, as her husband sat by her and sung their daughter a lullaby until she hit the hay.

"Y'know… She bloomed into rough moments of our lives, just like flowers. So… how about we name her… '*Hana'?" Bat suggested, "Since that's always been your favorite thing in the world as well."

"Oh… Bat, how much I… I don't deserve a noble man like you!" Lin sobbed and leaned in to snuggle on Bat, who wrapped her in one arm.

"Heh... I love you, Lin." Bat kissed Lin on her forehead as tears ran out of his eyes

Ever since that day, the couple decided to be the parents of every child who wished for safe two pairs of an adult's arms to hold them. As years went on, Hana lived with a few more, older siblings, along with her parents, who were the leaders of the north star army.

*[A.N: Hana ( 花 / ハナ)=Flower]