Setzer and his butler carefully loaded the fallen man into the running transport and rushed him to the hospital. There, the doctors quickly stabilized Locke, then took him into surgery in order to try and remove the blade from his chest. They worked on his grievous wound for five hours, then told Setzer that although Locke had survived thus far, the injury was deeper than they had thought. His friend was not expected to regain consciousness. Stunned, Setzer went out into the hallway and held his handkerchief under a fountain. He ran its cool wetness over his face and tried to think. Celes could not be told this news in South Figaro and then be brought here. The emotional impact of this on top of her very advanced state of pregnancy would devastate her. Even an airship trip would be out of the question. Locke probably should not be moved, thought Setzer, but if the doctors were right, and they were all in agreement, his friend was going to die. He was never even going to regain consciousness. There was no other way. Locke would have to be moved to the airship, and transported back to South Figaro, where Celes could be close to him for whatever time remained. Setzer slowly walked back to tell the doctors to prepare Locke for the journey home.

Setzer's airship set down in South Figaro, bearing Locke and a physician from the Jidoor hospital. He had sent a message to Figaro Castle telling King Edgar of the dark outcome of the mission, and he had stopped briefly at Mobliz to get Terra. Celes would need her friend. Terra, deeply saddened by Locke's misfortune, was sick about Celes. She dreaded the moment when they would have to tell her of her husband's injury. Before they went to the door, she had gone to Mrs. Duncan. They would need her to take the children. On the way to the Cole residence, Mrs. Duncan shook her head.

"On top of all the pain this tragedy will cause this poor family, I can't help worrying for young Leander."

"Leander?" Terra asked.

"Yes, the boy we took in after his grandfather passed away. Locke has been like a father to Leander, and Leander is devoted to him. This poor child has lost his parents, then his grandfather, and now, maybe Locke too. I don't know what will become of him if anything happens to Locke." Terra put her arm around the old woman's shoulders and leaned her head against hers.

Celes opened the door.

"Terra! What are...Setzer?" Through her confusion, Celes suddenly saw the looks on their faces. Her eyes darkened, and she began to back away, shaking her head. Mrs. Duncan rushed in around her, quickly going through the house, gathering up the children, and taking them out through the back way.

"Celes..." Setzer began. "He's alive, but he's in trouble. He was, he was accosted..."

"NO!!" Celes was screaming. "NO!!" "Don't say it, Setzer!! Don't say it!! It isn't true!! Where's Locke!! Take me to Locke!!" Celes was sobbing, her face a deep scarlet.

"Oh, Celes, darling..." Terra tearfully tried to embrace her, but Celes threw off her arm, her eyes wild.

"LOCKE!!

"He's at the hospital, Celes, "a distraught Setzer explained. "He's in a coma...not expected to..." "LOCKE!! LOCKE!! LOCKE!! LOCKE!!!" she shrieked. Celes' lips were white, and her eyes began to roll back into her head. Before Setzer could catch her, she had dropped to the floor, unconscious.

The doctor arrived quickly, and after examining the stricken woman, announced with alarm that she had begun labor. Celes was in shock, and drifted in and out of consciousness, her lips moving, her eyes unfocused, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. The doctor had called an emergency transport to get Celes to the hospital, not only because of the coming baby, but because her emotional state made things very dangerous for her. Terra and Setzer followed the emergency transport to the hospital, and kept vigil in a waiting room, awaiting word of their friend's situation.

"This should have been a happy time." Terra said miserably. "Children are supposed to bring happiness. Locke loved kids, they both did."

"You speak of them both in the past tense?" Setzer said. "Celes will live through this. Their kids will still have her."

"I don't know," Terra said nervously, remembering how close Celes had come to death when she had awakened on that solitary island, the last time she had thought Locke was gone from her forever. "I just don't know, Setzer." He moved next to Terra and put his arm around her. The two friends sat that way in silence, and waited.

Celes began to come around. She was heavily sedated and extremely pale. Terra and Setzer stood alongside her bed.

"It's a boy, Celes," Terra told her gently. "A healthy son. Would you like to see him?" Celes waved her hand and turned her head away. In a minute, she was asleep again. Terra turned worried eyes to Setzer.

"She won't talk," the doctor said. "She won't eat. She doesn't want to see the baby. She had a lucid moment this morning. We asked her what her child's name was, you know, so we could complete the birth registry. She told us that she and her husband always have named their children together and we would just have to wait for him." The doctor looked out the window. Setzer shook his head. Terra began to cry softly.

It was the morning after Celes had left the hospital, three days after Locke's assault. His condition had worsened, his vital signs becoming weaker. As predicted, he had shown no sign of coming out of the coma that gripped him. Celes was dosed with tranquilizers. Her newborn was with the rest of her children, at Mrs. Duncan's, still unnamed. Celes had not yet held him. Her face was drawn and thin. Terra couldn't get her to eat, and only got her dressed with the promise that she would take her to the hospital room where Locke lay in his twilight state. Terra sat next to her friend in the hospital room, an arm around her. She didn't think Celes even knew she was there. Suddenly, Celes began to speak, startling Terra.

"If anything happens to me, Terra," she said tonelessly, "I want you to see to my children."

"Don't, Celes." Terra said, her lip quivering. "Don't, please." Celes held her arm out in front of her, palm up, gesturing toward the hospital bed before her.

"There is my heart," she said in a chillingly matter-of-fact way. "There is my soul. Everything that I am. Out of my reach. And if he dies I tell you that I cannot go on. There will be nothing left of me to go on with. I will be an empty bag of flesh, that's all, just a body without spirit, just a soulless thing without hope of heaven. And I won't care anymore. This will kill me and I pray for one last kindness, that it might come quickly." Terra's head was on Celes' shoulder now, and the little brunette was weeping freely.

"Celes, think of Locke. Think of his love for you, for your children. What would he say if he could hear you now? If he could hear you giving up, talking about making his babies orphans? He needs you to be strong now, to be a mother and a father to your little ones. He stood ready to give his life for your protection. How would he feel if he thought it had all been for nothing, that his children would have to grow up without Daddy or Mommy? You have to go home to your children, Celes. You have to take care of yourself. It's what Locke would want."

"Yes, Terra, you're right," Celes sighed. "And if anything happens to me, I will have to answer to him in the next world. All the same, my heart is dead in my chest, and so I must ask again for your promise that if need be, you will take care of my children." Celes stared straight ahead at Locke, who lay unseeing, unhearing in his hospital bed. Terra hugged her.

"We'll talk about this later," she said softly. "Right now I want you to let Setzer take you home. He'll stay with you until I get there. I won't be long. I just have something I need to take care of." Setzer, who had been waiting at a respectful distance, now approached and gently lifted Celes from her chair. Supporting her with an arm, he slowly helped her outside to his waiting transport.

After they had gone, Terra quietly moved to the other side of the room, and stood alongside Locke's bed. She looked down at his still face. It hurt her heart to see him like this, he who had come to embrace life with so much love. This dear man had stood between her and death more than once, and Terra was deeply indebted to him. When she first met him, she had been an automaton, her energies used for the savage purposes of the Empire. Locke Cole had given her the benefit of the doubt, and had defended her life. She owed him everything. Terra thought about Celes, dearer to her than a sister. Celes was a strong woman physically, but the Empire's genetic engineers had never considered that she might be anything but a soldier, and she was delicate emotionally. Terra knew that the desperate things Celes was saying were out of fear and grief, but Terra was deeply afraid for her. Most of all, Terra's heart went out to the children. Poor young Leander, who had found a father in Locke. Little Cherry, just like Daddy, and who doted on him. Little Skye, and Lance. And most of all, the newest little Cole, still without a name, still to know the touch of a loving parent. Terra looked up and around the room. They were alone. She looked down into Locke's face. She hoped it was not too late.

"Dearest friend, I don't know if this is the right thing to do. Magic very nearly destroyed the world. Were we not both there to witness it? And magic went out of the world and everyone the safer for it, I'd warrant. But they forgot about me, you see. I am still half Esper, and my human half kept me anchored to this earth. But the Esper lives, Locke. It lives, and it still has the power. Yes, I still have the power. I swore never to use it, never to endanger the world again, but, my beloved friend, I cannot let this happen to you. To our dear Celes. To your sweet children. So, in repayment of so much I owe you, I give you this gift, whatever it may cost. May no harm come of it, and if it does, may God forgive me." Terra looked around once more. All was stillness. She bent over Locke, and placing one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest, she closed her eyes. Anyone watching then would have witnessed an amazing sight. The young woman at the bedside began to glow, brighter and brighter, until she was incandescent, brilliantly white and radiating a heat that raised the temperature in the room by thirty degrees. Her lips moved silently as she pressed her hands over his head and his heart. She bent farther down, bringing her face to within inches of the wounded man's. And she whispered close to his ear:

"Life Two, Locke! Life Two!"

Shaking and uncoordinated, Locke ran, stumbling and tripping, disoriented, wild to get to Celes. He had waited only for half an explanation from Terra. When he realized that Celes thought he was dying, Terra couldn't hold him. He didn't try to find a transport, but instead blindly ran as fast as his unsteady legs would carry him, home to his Celes. She must be insane, he thought, she must be on the brink! He had to get to her! Throwing his front door open with all his might, his first sight was that of Setzer's deeply shocked face. Ignoring it, he ran to his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway. Celes stood at the window, her back to him.

"Celes!" Locke cried. "Darling! It's all right! There's been a miracle! I'm home, my love! I'm home! I'll never leave you again!" Celes felt his arms around her, but did not turn.

"Oh, God," she wept. "You've taken my heart from me, and my soul, and that wasn't enough for you, you've come to take my mind too!" Locke turned her around.

"It's me, Celes, my love, it really is me." He pulled her to him. "My angel. You're not dreaming. You're not mad. It's me. It was Terra. She still has magic. She gave me my life back. It was Terra. Oh, my Celes! I'll never leave you again!" Locke was weeping as he held his wife close to him. He felt her weight as her legs gave out under her. He caught her, picked her up and looked down into her face. Celes lay limply in his arms. Again, she had fainted.

Celes began to come up out of the blackness. Locke! Oh, Locke! Wait for me! Wait for me! Her head tossed on the pillow, tears on her face, as she came out of yet another dream of Locke being carried away from her.

"Locke!" she cried aloud, coming fully awake, her head and shoulders up off the bed. Locke sat beside her, stroking her hair. It really was him. He really was here. Terra and Setzer stood just behind him, smiling. Celes reached out with her fingertips, and tenderly ran them all over Locke's face. He smiled and kissed them. She sat up and wrapped both arms tightly around her husband, embracing him for a full minute, then pulled back just enough to kiss him passionately, full on the mouth. The lovers kissed and whispered feverishly, their tears mingling, their words running together, promises of a new tomorrow, of never again being separated. Presently, Locke sat up a bit.

"One little piece of business we have to attend to, Mrs. Cole, before we can get rid of our friends here and get back to our life." He turned to Terra, who leaned down with his newborn boy in her arms. "I know we've always named our kids together, Celes," he said, carefully taking the child. "But you were so exhausted I didn't want to wake you. The hospital needed his name, and the little guy was overdue for one, so I took the privilege. I hope you'll forgive me."

"I'd forgive you anything," Celes said, loving him.

"I hope you remember that the next time my clothes are all over the bedroom floor." he answered, laughing, looking down at the baby boy in his arms. Terra handed Celes a folded piece of paper. It was her new son's birth record. She opened it. Gabriel Terran Cole. Locke had named their son for the Archangel of Resurrection, and the woman who had given him back his life. Celes bent her head over her sweet child lying in her beloved husband's arms, and once more began to weep, but this time, out of profound gratitude and joy.

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Footsteps echoing and cloak billowing out behind him, the soldier walked swiftly through the hallways of the underground fort, buried deep beneath the town of Tzen. He had urgent business with General Arian, the head of the steadily growing New Empire army. The soldier carried news that the General had waited for, that they had all waited for. News that they feared might never come. Walking through the flanks of guards at either side of the General's command chamber, the soldier stepped smartly up to where the the senior officer sat.

"News, sir. A signature has been detected, somewhere in or around the town of South Figaro." The General turned and stared. The soldier nodded. "That's right, sir. It's unmistakable. There was only one, and we're still working on locating its exact source, but it's there. There is no doubt. It was magic, and a really big bolt of it too." The General sat back heavily. Magic! The Returners still had it! He knew it!

"Good work, Elias," he said to the soldier. "Keep tracking its source. I want to know where that magic came from! Keep me posted."

"Yes sir, General Arian." The soldier saluted and left the command chamber. Magic, Arian mused, sitting back. Wonder of wonders!

"Then, we've got them," he said aloud, striking his fist on the arm of his chair. "We've got them!"

End of Part One