The Lost Returns

[Maira]

Until the past week, it had been a while since Aeven had been attacked by a vision. And by attacked it meant not during one of her meditation sessions where she purposefully opened her mind up to whatever visions may come. It took her a long time to get the visions not to force themselves on her at random and she was very proud of her control. Now, for some unknown reason, her control seemed to be slipping. If she hadn't been hugging Saiyuri when the vision attacked her she would likely have wound up flat on ber butt in the middle of the grocery store. As it was, her older cousin was looking at her a little funny.

Once she vision fog had cleared from her head, Aeven apologized. "Sorry Yuri, these darn visions are a little unpredictable lately." The older woman just nodded her understanding.

Then after a moment Saiyuri gave a small laugh and joked, "Maybe you should pick up a pregnancy test, my abilities always went wonky when I was pregnant."

Saiyuri may have said it in an offhanded manner, but considering that Aeven -was- married and that they hadn't been particularly careful over the past couple months she was suddenly more than a little worried. Not wanting to focus on the possibility of her body growing another demi-god, Aeven instead focssed on what the unexpected vision had shown her. It had hit her as soon as she had greeted Saiyuri with her normal hug reserved for family and friends. She had Seen two distinct time periods, one in the past and one in the near future, but they had both been centered on two figures. She recognized Saiyuri easily enough, but the blond haired baby boy/man that Saiyuri was hugging she didn't recognize at all. After all, all of Saiyuri's sons had dark hair and her quasi step-son Larkin hadn't been in her life as a baby and he didn't even look like the man in the vision.

Curious, Aeven couldn't help but ask, "Who was the blond baby boy?" Seeing confusion, followed by shock and then deep sadness sweep across her cousin's face, Aeven instantly regretted asking.

Barely audible, Saiyur choked out, "The blond boy was Zach's twin, Gabriel.

Aeven stared, open-mouthed, for a moment in shock before blurting out, "I totally forgot he hand blond hair, now I remember! Darius showed me so many pictures of him hoping I'd have a vision that would show where he had been taken to, or who had taken him."

Saiyuri smiled sadly and nodded, "I remember him asking me for those pictures. He was so sure you'd See something."

The old feeling of failure hit Aeven anuew at Saiyuri's words and she answered softly, "I know. And I never had a single glimpse of him and I couldn't understand why."

The look on Saiyuri's face shifted ever so slightly then. The sadness was still there but there was also a glimmer of hope. "But you just Saw him didn't you? Does this mean he is okay?"

Not wanting to give her cousin any false reassurances, but unable to hold back what she'd Seen either, Aeven started wringing her hands and answered nervously, "If what I Saw, you hugging the baby and then a tall man with the same color hair, is True then I would say so."

This time it was Aeven's turn to hold Saiyuri up, she wrapped her arms around the other woman in a supportive hug. When it seemed that Saiyuir was at less of a risk for losing her balance, Aeven slowly released her. "Do you need me to call Theiry? Or to drive you home maybe?" Aeven asked, more than a little worried.

Just then the man in question walked around the corner. At the sight of his obviously upset wife he hurried to her side and Saiyuri clung to him and buried her face in his shoulder. All the while she was sobbing and trying to tell him what Aeven had Seen, that Gabriel was alive and coming home to them, but her words were muffled by his shoulder.

Seeing the confusion on Theiry's face, Aeven explained, "I Saw Gabriel. Saiyuri was hugging him as a baby and then again as an adult." Luckily he seemed to take the news more in stride and she didn't have to try holding them both up.

[Demeter]

His hands were sweating. Cursing, Zayne scrubbed his hands against his jeans and continued to stare at the pretty house across the street. He'd had the courage to come this far but he wasn't able to cross the street to meet his birth family. Maybe he should have just called Zach. It still stunned him that his best friend was his twin brother.

It had all started about four months ago when he'd returned to the United States in order to help out around the house. His father's illness had taken a turn for the worst and he hadn't been expected to recover. So Zayne had done what any child would do. He left his position at the design firm, sold his house and returned him. His father had beat the odds but the recovery was slow and the healers had ordered him to take it easy. His father had reluctantly given over command of the family and Zayne had reluctantly accepted. And that was when he's found the papers.

He's been going through the family documents, trying to get familiar with everything when he'd stumbled across his own adoption papers. His parents had never meant to hide the truth from him but they'd also never told him. He didn't blame them but something about those papers made him uneasy. It had come to him a few days after the discovery. The lawyer who'd handled the private adoption was crooked and had recently been incarcerated for black market adoptions. And that had put a whole new spin on things. Some fact checking revealed that his adoption had never been filed with court and there was no record of his life prior to the age if three months. He'd been baby-snatched.

With the agreement of his parents, Zayne hired a private detective and started the search for his birth parents. He wasn't about to give up the people who'd raised him but he also felt that the people who'd lost him deserved to know that he was still alive. It turned out that he was Gabriel Greenwood.

And now he stood across from the Greenwood family home trying to gather enough courage to go and knock on the door. Exactly what was he supposed to say? Hi, you lost me nearly three decades ago but I'm back now?

Shaking his head, Zayne started to cross the street but stopped at the edge of the sidewalk when a minivan pulled into the driveway of the Greenwood house. This is gonna be interesting, he thought as the people who were supposedly his birth parents exited the vehicle. As the wind changed, Zayne wondered how to introduce himself.

[Maira]

The whole ride home from the grocery store, Saiyuri was silent. She wasn't nearly as talkative as two of her daughters, but still her not talking at all the whole ride home was unusual. When they finally pulled in the drive, Saiyuri barely noticed the man standing on the sidewalk in front of the house and got out of the van. As she shut the door and started walking to the back of the van to start hauling groceries inside the wind shifted and Saiyuri stopped dead in her tracks. The wind was blowing from the direction of the man standing on the sidewalk right at her and her head turned toward him slowly, not quite believing what she smelled.

She watched as the young blond man slowly walked toward the driveway, and in turn her, and uknown to her there were tears streaming down Saiyuri's cheeks. She knew that smell, she knew those eyes, she had no doubt in her mind that Aeven's vision had been True and the man standing before her was Gabriel. Barely above a whisper the words, "I've missed you so much..." escaped her before Saiyuri closed the short distance between in three steps and she wrapped the unsuspecting man in her arms after kissing him on the cheek.

[Demeter]

He was nearly knocked over the woman ran into him and caught him a death grip. This was not how he’d expected things to go. He’d expected questions and blood tests but not death grips on the sidewalk. Had he been thinking, he would have remembered that they were all feline and she would have memorized his scent within the first hour of his life.
Gently, Zayne got himself out of the woman’s grip. “I expect you know who I am. I don’t know what you named me but I’m Zayne now. Zayne Roberts. I just found out about…about what happened and I wanted to meet you.”

Theiry stayed by the car. Any casual observer might think that he didn’t care but he knew that scent as well as Saiyuri did. He knew what all of his children smelled like, even the missing one. The minutes and hours and days and months and years after his son had been taken were terrible. He could still remember the sound of Saiyuri screaming when someone had taken her cell phone and called home. The mindless panic as he drove like a crazy man to get to the mall. Now, as Saiyuri lead the blonde man, Gods but he had the same color hair as Lani, towards the van, Theiry was very aware of just how tightly he was gripping the door to keep from falling down.

[Maira]

As her son gently extracted himself from her embrace, Saiyuri realized just how tightly she'd been holding him and she quietly whispered, "Sorry." Then he started talking and her heart both swelled with joy just looking at him, and rebroke knowing that he would never truly be Gabriel. At hearing the name his adoptive parents had chosen for him, a slight smirk turned up the corners of her mouth and at the odd look she got from Zayne, she explained, "I just think its funny that both you and your twin have names that start with the same letter after all. I got so many comments from people about naming you and Zach, just like I did with Livvie and Shay, and I'm not sure why but people think twins need to share names as well as a womb." Her smile was full on now, and a soft laugh escaped her at the memory.

Hearing a scuff on the driveway pavement behind her, Saiyuri turned and saw Theiry holding onto the van door for dear life and it hit her that she was hogging Zayne. Not as fiercly as before, Saiyuri slipped an arm around Zayne and led him toward the tall dark haired man staring in shock at his once-missing son. To her husband Saiyuri spoke gently, "Theiry my love, I know you see this man for who he was, but his name is Zayne Roberts now." Then, with a gentle push to get Zayne within handshaking reach, she told Zayne, "This is your father, Theiry Greenwood." With that, Saiyuri took a step back and let the men get acquainted. While she watched them, she slipped her phone out of her pocket and sent the same text message to three people (Zach, her own mother Dion, and her grandfather Darius), "Gabriel has found his way home. His name is Zayne now. I'll let you know more later once I know more." Then, before putting her phone on silent and slipping it back in her pocket she sent one more text to Aeven, "Your vision was True, I held him in my arms again."

[Demeter]

He fell back on a old childhood habit and kept his hands in his pockets while he look around the Greenwood's living room. His birthparents were busy putting away the grocerys and probably talking about him. He'd been put into the living room and had sent a text to his Dad, explaining that he'd met Saiyuri and Theiry. He didn't know what to say, or do, in this situation. Exactly what did someone say to people who were complete strangers yet shared his DNA?

He turned and looked at the pictures on the wall. He grinned at one of Zach with his siblings. He knew most of their names as his friend had always been telling stories about their expliots. When Saiyuri came into the room and turned and pointed at Zach. "I already know him, but not as my brother. It was a large surprise to me when my best friend turned out to be my brother."

[Maira]

It had taken them a little longer than normal to put away the groceries and Saiyuri blamed it at least partially on the fact that she couldn't stop shaking. Her lost baby, Zach's twin, was finally home. He was actually standing in the same room he'd been born in and that thought brought a sad smile to her lips. She should have more memories of him than that, but they were just hard to come by as he'd only been with them for a few months before being taken.

When the dishes were finally finished, Saiyuri looked at Theiry and they both went back out to the living room to talk to Zayne. Saiyuri smiled when she saw he was looking at all of the pictures of their family. When he saw her, Zayne turned and pointed to a picture of Zach as a teenager and informed her that he knew him, that they were in fact best friends. Reaching out a hand to Theiry to steady herself, Saiyuri asked, "You mean your twin? He's not just your brother Zayne, Zach is your twin. How did you two meet?" Saiyuri's heart was pounding and the blood was rushing in her ears. Little black dots were starting to encroach on her field of vision and she gripped Theiry's hand tighter in hopes of warding off a fainting spell she was sure was coming.

[Demeter]

Zayne scratched the back of his head when Saiyuri mentioned the whole twin thing. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out. His birthday, well, I guess our birthday, is only a couple weeks before when I've always celebrated my birthday. Unless there was something freaky going on, twins was the only logical explanation."

He grinned sheepishly at the two people. "It was actually kinda cool to discover that mu best friend is my brother. And it explains the kind of insane jealously I had over Kyo. As for how we met, a couple of years ago I inherited a hot spring hotel in Japan. It was in shambles and I hired the firm Zach works for to help me rebuild it. Zach actually held both if his weddings at my hotel but I wasn't able to make it to either one."

He blinked at both Saiyuri and Theiry. Both seemed a little stunned. Now, he knew that they knew about both of Zach's weddings so he knew that wasn't the problem. "Um, is everything okay?"

[Maira]

When Zayne informed them that he was the owner of the hot springs and hotel that Zach and Kyo had gotten married at. Twice. The same hot springs that their family had stayed at when they finally found Zach and went to visit him in Japan. Grabbing Theiry's hand for support, Saiyuri held on tight and answered his question with one of her own, "Do you spend a lot of time there, at the hot springs? Or are you a less involved owner?"

As she waited for his answer, Saiyuri prayed to all the gods and goddesses that she could think of that she hadn't just missed him when they were there. None of the kids would have known, she and Theiry would have. They left early because Zach had made it pretty clear that he thought she was overbearing and not wanted in his life at the darkest part of his life. If Zayne had been there and she and Theiry had missed him because of her own emotional break-down...

When Zayne told them that he spent a lot of time on-site, Saiyuri nearly collapsed. If it hadn't been for her grip on Theiry's hand and his quick reflexes to get her to a chair she very well may have crumped into a heap on the floor. It took all of her will power not to run from the room sobbing. Instead she asked another question, "Did Zach ever complain about being invaded by his family and making reservations for everybody at the hotsprings?" Zayne confirmed that Zach had indeed told him all about that and he'd met many of the family members too. At the time the boys didn't know that they were brothers and so Zach had introduced him as his best friend.

Hearing that last was too much for Saiyuri to bear. She could have found her son then, on that trip, but she hadn't all because she was overprotective of Zach because his twin had been taken from her. Damn fate! Cursing herself and her awful rotten luck, Saiyuri got out of her chair and walked to Zayne. She kissed him quickly on the forehead and whispered to him, "I've missed you for so long and wished for you for so long that I'm afraid I've ruined my relationship with Zach. Its not your fault, its my own." Then she hugged him gently, not wanting to smother and alienate him too, and she looked to father and son before begging forgiveness as she excused herself and headed down the hall to her bedroom.

[Demeter]

Zayne sat on the tabletop of a picnic table, feet on the bench, and watched as his princess, decked out in all pink today, raced Alessandro to the swings. The princess was his daughter, Yuri-chan. Alessandro was the worlds best personal assistant. Both if them were about to introduced to his natural parents.

It had been three weeks since he'd first approached Saiyuri and Thiery that he was their long lost son. In that time, there'd been blood tests done and meetings with lawyers and detectives. Alessandro had coordinated everything with skill. Now that most of the initial bumps had been smoothed away, he felt it was time to introduce them to their Granddaughter.

At five, Yuri-chan was his world. And thank the gods that his bitch of an wife had died. He supposed he shouldn't still be happy that Yuri-chan's mother had died in a car accident but he'd never wanted to marry her. That woman had put pin holes in all his condoms in order to get pregnant so that he'd marry her and she's be part of a wealthy family.

The marriage had allowed Zayne to take custody of his daughter when Yuri-chan's maternal grandfather would have taken her.

When he spotted Saiyuri and Thiery's van pulling into the parking lot, he waved over his daughter and his assistant. He eased off the picnic table, scooping up Yuri-chan as she bounced up to him. He propped the little girl on his hip.

He could see the confusion on both of his natural parents' faces. "Saiyuri, Thiery, I'd like to introduce you to some people who are very important to me. First, this is Alessandro, my very awesome personal assistant. And this is my daughter, Yuri-chan. She just turned five two months ago."

While the two stared at the black haired, blue eyed little girl, Yuri-chan tapped her father on the shoulder and whispered into his ear. He grinned. "You're right. It is the same."

She whispered again. Zayne set her on the ground, crouching down to the girl's level. "Well, why don't you ask her."

Yuri-chan looked first at her father, then at 'Sandro before inching over to Saiyuri. She tugged at the woman's pants until the woman knelt down. "Why do you have my name?"

When his parents looked at him, Zayne rocked back on his heels. "Most everyone calls her Yuri-chan. Her legal name is Sayuri."

[Maira]

Saiyuri was more than a little glad she was already kneeling when Zayne shared the little factoid about his daughter's name. As it was she wound up sitting rather ungracefully on the grass and stared between her son and granddaughter for a moment before answering the little girl's question. She wasn't sure why exactly Yuri-chan's parents had named her that, but she knew it wasn't because that was the girl's grandmother's name, so she just told her,"Well, our name is a very pretty name and lots of girls probably have it, just like many girls have the same name as my daughter Olivia."

That answer seemed to satisfy the little girl and she watched as the youngster ran off to go play some more, leaving Saiyuri sitting on the grass as she recovered from the shock of the news that she had another grandchild, and that this one had the same name as herself. After a moment, Theiry helped her up from her place on the grass and she smiled first at her husband, then at her son. "She's a beautiful girl Zayne, and while I know I had nothing to do with why we share a name, I'm going to admit it makes me really happy we do. All of my girls are named in one way or another after one or more of their grandmothers. I'm not sure if you're aware, but Pard often name their children after family."

She didn't wait to see Zayne's reaction to her words, instead she held out her hand to Alessandro and greeted him warmly, "Its nice meeting you Alessandro."

[Demeter]

Zayne watched as Alessandro greeted Saiyuri and Theiry. The man was more then just his personal assistant. He pretty much ran Zayne's life for him. Alessandro was friend, confidant and babysitter all rolled into one. Zayne wishes he could also add Lover to Alessandro's resume but the Italian-Japanese Mutari remained stubbornly ignorant of Zayne's feelings. After the introductions, Alessandro excused himself to keep an eye on Princess Yuri-Chan since they didn't need a repeat of last years Koi-pond incident.

Zayne caught the look from Saiyuri. "She fell into Grandfather's koi pond last year. I say that Yuri-chan is playing in the garden. He says that's fine and how nothing can harm her. Next thing I know, my four year old is screaming bloody murder after falling through a rotten, decorative bridge and I'm pulling her out of the pond," he said while watching Alessandro lope back over to the swings. He turned back to his biological parents. "I didn't know that about the Pard. There isn't a large Pard presence in Japan. We moved to Japan when I was six and my...the people who raised me only returned to the states a couple of years ago."

Christ, he didn't know what he was supposed to call anyone anymore. Parents were, well, his parents but Saiyuri and Theiry were the ones to bring him into this world. Zayne paced in a circle. "Yuri-chan's mother name her. I wasn't there for the birth. Since I foresee being in the area for a while, I pulled her out of school to be here with me. I'm looking at the local schools."

There was more to the story of Yuri-chan's birth but he wasn't ready tell these two people about how he'd acted back then. "But I didn't ask you here to talk about Yuri-chan. She's just the bonus surprise. Meg and Hiro, the people who thought they adopted me would like to meet you."

[Maira]

Saiyuri had barely recovered from the bombshell of having another granddaughter when Zayne kept right on dropping surprises on them. Apparently they were going to be in the area for a while, long enough for him to put Yuri-chan in a local school, and apparently his adoptive parents wanted to meet them. Leaning into her husband for support, twining her fingers with his, Saiyuri couldn't help looking around the park before asking, "Are they here?"

Looking at her husband for confirmation of what she expected, she then looked back at their son and Saiyuri told him, "We'd like to meet them." Then, even though it put a lump in her throat, she added, "They're your parents Zayne, which means they are just as much family as you and Yuri-chan. I know our other kids would like to meet you too, so maybe we can do family dinner?"

[Demeter]

Zayne shook his head. "They aren't here. The reason I returned to the states was because my dad was sick. Really sick; like we might have lost him sick. He's out of the hospital now but only because he promised to stay home and home is an Inn in the Cascades near the Washington-Oregon border. They've invited you down, if you wish to go. Ah, a big family dinner can come later."

Later that night, after his biological parents had agreed to drive down to The Cascadian Onsen in two weeks, Zayne slouched on the couch in his hotel suite. Spread out before him was the paperwork for several parcels of land in and around Cedar Valley. Grandfather was big on family and believed that Zayne needed to explore his biological heritage. Grandfather was also a shrewd businessman and saw the potential to expand their American chain. When he wasn't exploring his heritage, Zayne was to oversee the construction of a new resort location.

He jumped, yelping when something cold and wet nudged his neck. Spinning around, he glared at Alessandro and the bottle of beer he held out. Zayne snagged the bottle and took a drink. "She finally asleep?"

Tugging on his tie to loosen it, Alessandro flopped on the couch. "Only took three stories. These the properties that Kimura-San is interested in?"

Zayne nodded and passed the stack over. "His assistant has already set up viewings for later in the week. I like the look of this lake front one."

"Been abandoned for some time but the building looks solid."

"Am I doing the right thing?"

Alessandro blinked. "About making this property a favorite or is this about something else?"

"The parent thing. Is it right to introduce my parents to each other?"

"It would happen sooner or later, you know. You are all involved in this together and as the official investigation progresses its inevitable that they would meet. By extending Hiro and Meg's invitation, you are making the event your own."

"God, Alessandro, what would I do if you weren't around?"

The vampire laughed, tipping back his head. "You'd be dead by now."

***

Hiro paced the living room, peering out the window every five minutes. His son and granddaughter were on their way down. Along with Zayne's biological parents.

Trailing along behind him was the narrow oxygen tube that tied him to the house. Zayne's assistant, Alessandro, had been instrumental in getting the at home oxygen concentrator set up with enough tubing to let him wander the entire house.

Meg was up at the Onsen's office, dealing with the daily tasks that had once been his. Curse this illness, Hiro thought. He was soon distracted by the crunching of tires on gravel. Bounding over to the wide windows, he watched as first a sedan and then a van pulled into the drive.

Stopping to call the office and let Meg know that that were here. Stepping out on the wide, wrap around porch, Hiro approached the two older people. First he sank to his knees and then pressed his forehead to the wood. "Please accept our deepest apologies. We never meant to take your son from you."