Love

Chapter 19, Epilogue

I wish my body was completely healthy, free of anything that will cause me harm, where all of my body is in perfect physical shape so that nothing is causing it damage.

Kate read the Miracle scroll and followed that by reading the other three scrolls. Then she wore Rick's ring for the next month. It had been a year since then and she was still alive so they both assumed that it had worked.

They'd also come up with a plan. It was going to be a bit hit or miss, but it just might work.

She'd finished her yoga out on the main deck and was down in their room changing into clothes and shoes. Real clothes and shoes from before she came here. She also had to find something that would still fit her.

Rick walked in and looked her over. Save for a little extra weight, she looked like he remembered her when he first saw her. "Ready?" He wasn't dressed since he wasn't staying.

Kate checked her pockets for what she would need. She had her wallet, her passport, a little bit of money, and her credit card that had access to what was left in her bank account.

She placed a hand on her bump. "I think so." She wasn't really sure just what she was going to tell everyone. She was dead as far as they all knew. Hell, if she hadn't found Castle and come with him she would have been long ago.

And if any of them noticed she was pregnant, she and Rick had had a long talk about how to deal with it.

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Several months ago

Kate was late, not really late, but late. Okay, really late, like two months late. "Castle, can we have children?" She had been taking her birth control pills religiously yet she was late.

"Yes, the child will be half human and half demon. It's called a tiefling. They're barely tolerated in the Abyss. Most are treated very poorly. A few, if they're lucky, escape the Abyss or find a powerful demon that will protect them while still using and abusing them." Rick was instantly curious but Kate had still more questions.

"What will he or she look like?" She'd finally talked him into revealing his true self. It had been a shock and he'd been right. She had never seen the Castle she had fallen in love with ever again.

However, she did see that Castle in his eyes every day she saw him and it was enough. He hadn't really changed any. He treated her the same as he always had. He loved her and she could still feel in her heart that she loved him too. "Wings, huh?"

.o[X]o.

"Just tell me, Castle." She was sure she would love the child no matter what, so she wanted to know.

Rick took a deep breath. "Their skin will be a little reddish, a deeper darker reddish, much like my own. Possibly horns though they'll be small, even smaller than mine most likely. Hair might hide them. Possibly wings though that's rare. Most definitely a tail. Even that will vary. It will likely be a whip tail like mine though it may be more substantial.

"After that it will be just how much of you the child has. Are you…are you pregnant?" Rick was ready to burst, if she gave him a reason.

"Possibly, I'm not really…" Kate stopped talking when Rick hugged her too tight and then kissed her deeply. She melted into him. It looked like he did want children.

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"Will you be alright here alone?" They'd been together for a while now. They had actually seen a few things while sailing around. The most memorable one so far had been a surprise to both of them.

It so far had been the most exciting thing either of them had seen in that year.

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"CASTLE! GET UP HERE!" Kate had spotted something and even from this distance it looked big, really big.

"What?" Rick was huffing just a little since he'd sprinted the entire way. Dumbfounded, she simply pointed. "I've never seen or heard of anything like it." They watched it swim by, if you could call what it was doing swimming.

"I have, but it was swimming in water. It looks like a humpback whale. But there's no water. How the hell…" The Astral Plane was mostly a whole lot of nothing as they were finding out.

They both watched as it leisurely swam past them and paid them no mind. They saw one of its eyes and it didn't look like it had even seen them. It certainly hadn't cared they were there.

"That was interesting." It was quickly disappearing from view.

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"Remember, summon me when you are ready. Never forget that I love you." He wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you, too," Kate answered then suddenly they were both in a woman's bedroom. She was black and maybe just a little heavyset. Her build was generous and curvy.

"Where are we?" Kate asked her. Only she saw that she only had eyes for Rick's cock since he had an enormous erection as usual. "You try." She was being ignored.

He used his commanding voice. "Tell me where we are."

"Boston." She moved to take hold of his cock. She couldn't help it. She had to touch it, to lick it, to have it fuck her senseless.

"I can make that work. Take care, babe." Kate kissed his cheek and watched him vanish. She turned, strode out of the woman's bedroom, then out into the living room. From there she went to the front door and outside. It was dark out but it was easy to tell that she was downtown in some kind of motel or motel converted to apartments or condos.

"First things first." She needed to see if she could access her bank account so she went in search of the first ATM she could find.

"Well that works, so train or plane. It might be too late for either. I need a taxi after I withdraw a little money." With cash in hand, Kate went in search of a taxi.

"Train station or airport, which ever is closer," she said to the driver and sat back to wait and see where she was going.

"Airport." Kate saw and paid the driver and walked inside. The big question was where could she to go to find a late flight. He parked her out in front of Jet Blue so she started there.

"Flight 1619 leaves at 10:14 pm," the ticket agent told her. Kate checked her watch. She had barely an hour.

"I'll take it." Kate handed over her passport and her credit card and said a lot of no's. No, she didn't have any bags to check. No, she wasn't interested in upgrading. Then she just about had a heart attack when she was told the cost. She knew it would be expensive, but not that expensive. Once she had her boarding pass in hand, she took off running.

She found herself sitting in the tail section, so far back that only the stewardess was behind her. It was going to take her an hour just to get OFF the plane. However, she was headed for NYC. "Newark's close enough, I just have to get across the river." Kate sat back and waited.

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It was well after midnight by the time she cleared the airport and made it to the transportation services. She reasoned that a taxi would cost her a fortune so she chose one of the van airport service companies. It was going to take her longer to get there but it cost a lot less.

It was almost two in the morning and while Kate wasn't tired she was sure he was in bed asleep.

She looked up at the building. This could be bad or amazingly good. Either way she knew there was going to be a lot of questions. "I hope I'm ready for this."

Kate went inside, up the elevator, and stood outside his door. There was no doorbell so she had no choice but to knock. She knocked and knocked and then started pounding. "I'm coming!" She could hear his voice and while she thought she might be ready for this, she wasn't. Her heart was in her throat and it was almost choking her.

She watched the door open and there he stood. He was in a robe; he looked dead tired and maybe he looked like hell. But there he stood. "Hi, Dad." Kate felt the tears flood her eyes. She started crying and was having trouble breathing.

It turned out she was the one that wasn't ready.

Jim wasn't sure what was keeping him standing. "Katie?" It wasn't possible. He hadn't seen her since that one day and hadn't heard from her for over a year. Not even one lousy postcard, let alone a phone call.

"Daddy!" Kate launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. She felt like a little kid again. She was crying; she loved him and had missed him terribly.

Jim hugged her back and was squeezing her tight so she couldn't get away. He didn't dare let go of her or she might vanish. Hell, he wasn't sure he wasn't dreaming. "HOW?" His voice was cracking and his tears were falling. His daughter was dead from cancer and yet there she stood. "Katie? Is it really you?"

"I'm here, Dad, I'm here." Kate just kept on crying. She could feel him and hear him crying with her.

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"Thanks, Dad." Kate took a cup of his coffee, sipped it, and watched as he sat down across from her. "You probably have a lot of questions." She had told herself just how much she could tell him, desperately wishing she could tell him everything.

"If you mean by a lot, you mean the first million, yeah," Jim agreed quickly. "You can start with how you're here. You told me you had terminal cancer and you were going away. AND I never heard from you again." He really didn't want to be angry with her, but he was.

"The doctors were wrong, obviously. No one was more surprised than I was. I actually feel great." She hated lying to him but she really couldn't tell the truth. Actually over a year ago she would have said it was crazy and wouldn't believe a word.

Jim wasn't sure he believed her and he felt like she was hiding something, but he also knew his daughter was stubborn and if she wasn't going to talk, she wasn't going to talk.

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He tried to get information a different way. "You're cancer free, you don't call, don't even send a postcard." Jim tried to glare at her and feared that hadn't worked. "What happened to your boyfriend?"

"Sorry about that. It's just we've been traveling a lot and Rick's busy." Busy protecting their ship.

"Rick." Jim couldn't remember if he ever knew his name. His mind had been fixated on his daughter dying of cancer.

"Richard Castle. I love him so very much, Dad. So very much." Kate placed a hand on her baby bump.

Jim had seen her do it and had seen it before when his wife was pregnant with Katie. "Katie? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Kate started smiling. There was actually a whole lot she wanted to tell him and wished that she could. "I'm pregnant. It's one of the reasons we traveled here. I wanted to visit a doctor and find out how the baby's doing." It actually was one of her reasons. Get a sonogram and show it to Castle.

"I'm going to be a grandfather…finally." Kate smiled and chuckled softly. She'd never known her dad wanted to be a grandfather. "So when do I get to walk you down the aisle or have you already gotten married?" Had he been left out?

"We're not married. At least not yet. To be honest we haven't talked about it. We've been busy with other things. But we can see what we can arrange if you want." If this worked they could come back a lot before going home.

"Not want to walk my daughter down the aisle? Of course I do! I need to meet this young man of yours, too." Jim really wanted to meet him and find out what kind of man had stolen his daughter's heart. A heart he'd been certain she had locked away forever.

At first Kate feared what he would see since all she saw anymore was the demon that Castle was. She had broken his illusion and had never seen him again. However, his illusion would work on her dad, so he could if Castle stayed.

"I'll see what I can arrange. We plan on continuing to travel until the baby is born." It wasn't like they had a choice.

"Traveling in what?" If his daughter said a car he was going to give her a piece of his mind.

"We have a ship. It's about eighty feet long with two main decks, lots of storage, and lots of wood. It's nice. It's a sailing ship and I've learned to sail it." In the Astral Plane but he didn't need to know that.

"It would be nice to see your ship, too." He wanted to see just where was his daughter staying.

"I'll see what I can arrange." Like never, most likely, unless something changed drastically.

"How long are you staying?" He was eager to know how long was he going to have his daughter for company.

"I need to make an appointment with a doctor so I'm guessing two or three days." Less if she could get an appointment quickly.

"GREAT! I'll take tomorrow off and we can spend the day together. You can tell me what you've been doing for the last year." Jim had her so he was going to spend time with her.

"You don't have to do that, Dad. You have work."

"My daughter isn't dead and she's in town. So I'm calling in sick tomorrow. Besides, if I don't I'm going to be really sick." Jim smiled at her and watched as she chuckled. "Maybe I'll tell them I have the flu and miss several days of work."

"It'll be nice to spend time with you. Perhaps we can hit that restaurant you and Mom liked so much, if it still exists. The baby's hungry." Kate laid her hand on her bump.

That was another reason this needed to work. She needed to trade in some of her gold coins and go shopping for groceries. They were running really low on supplies. Plus they had nothing for a baby.

She had also found that after she had been cured she ate a lot more and got hungry easily now. She had always thought her lack of appetite was for a different reason. Never because she had cancer.

"I'll make reservations in the morning. Where are you staying?" If she was at a hotel she was going to be canceling it so she could stay with him if he had his way.

"Here, if that's okay, I don't want to impose." She didn't want to impose even if she kind of had to until she had more money.

"Impose? Your old room is still right where it's always been. Along with everything that you left in it. I'll even make something for breakfast." Jim raised his hand when she opened her mouth to protest. "You don't have a choice. My pregnant daughter is not cooking for me." He needed to reset his alarm to make sure he got up early.

Kate caved quickly and rose to take her little bag to her old room.

"Sleep well, Katie. It's so good to have you home." Jim hugged her and kissed her head.

"It's good to see you too, Dad." She hugged him back and went into her room.

An hour passed and she hoped her dad was asleep. "Richard Castle, I need you." Like old times he showed up naked and with an erection.

"How did it go?" Rick asked softly since he didn't know where he was.

"Dad's full of questions, naturally. I hate lying to him but what choice do I have?" She didn't see an alternative.

He hugged her. "I'm sorry."

"Dad wants to meet you so next time I summon you, you need to be wearing clothes," she warned.

"I'll put on my very best," Rick said which earned him a swat to his arm. He smiled at his joke. "Your clothes it is." He kept his smile.

"You better mean the clothes I bought you and not my clothes." He chuckled at her and it earned him another swat. "He wants to know when we're getting married, too."

"Married?" It was a term he was unfamiliar with.

"I'll explain it to you later. But since you're here and naked with an erection…" Kate smiled widely and began stoking his cock. She wasn't sure if she'd lost her addiction to his cock or not. Not that it really mattered. At the rate they made love it really didn't matter any longer.

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Rick was long gone; Kate had taken a shower and changed into what little she had brought with her that fit the best. Stepping out to the kitchen she found her dad busy at the stove.

"Morning." It was like looking at a different time. She actually found that she missed Hot Stuff. The little guy had gotten pretty good at judging just how much heat she wanted depending on what time of the day it was.

"Morning, Katie-bug, you slept well, I trust." Jim made a quick turn to look at her before going back to cooking.

"I slept fine." Having been worn out by making love to Castle had helped. What hadn't helped had been the mattress. She had gotten used to a Githyanki mattress, not this one. "How much are you making, Dad?" She saw a lot already.

Jim defended himself and his overdoing it just a bit. "My daughter's home and pregnant. Besides, you said the baby was hungry."

"You're going to make me fat." She already feared she was going to be as big as a house as it was. She didn't need her dad adding still more pounds.

"I, ah, may have overstated how long I can be gone from work. I have court date today that I can't miss." His decision to stay away from work had been an emotional decision.

"That's fine, honest. I have a lot of shopping to do myself. I have plenty to keep me busy." Actually the longer he was gone the better.

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Kate was a little tired but there was still so much to do. "Richard Castle, I need you." She watched as he appeared and picked up one of her boxes. "Frozen food, more frozen food, and still more frozen food. There's a lot more so empty those as fast as you can and bring back the boxes." Kate watched him vanish and got the next load of boxes ready.

"Frozen food, frozen food, and frozen food. Same as last time, babe." Kate watched him vanish after dropping his empty boxes for her to use.

"Food, food, and more food." Kate filled his arms with boxes. "That's it for today. I might need to stay longer than we thought. We need so much stuff and you can only do this three times a day." She had a lot to buy and she was quickly using up her gold coins. "Stay safe." She kissed his cheek and watched him vanish.

She put her boxes in her room to hide them and went back out to go shopping. This time for things for the baby. Her dad would understand her need to have such things.

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Rick had come and gone twice the next day and he'd listened to what Kate was giving him but didn't actually see any of it until he got home. "Baby food?" He looked it over before putting it on a shelf. He looked at all of it like it was something he didn't want anything to do with. "A baby's supposed to eat this stuff?" For a moment he considered tossing it all over the side, but Kate would kill him if he did that. So onto the shelves it went. Then he went and put his clothes on and waited.

Kate had talked her dad into going and getting real coffee since she couldn't take what he called coffee any longer. "Richard Castle, I need you." She saw him arrive dressed in the first outfit she had ever bought him.

"So handsome." She looked him over. To her he looked handsome and weird. "Magic." She was starting to get the hang of it. It explained how he didn't rip his shirt open with his wings not to mention what he should do to his pants with that tail of his.

"Dad's out getting me coffee, he should be back soon. He is going to see the old Castle, right?" she questioned.

"He and everyone else will see what I want them to see. Not to worry." Rick stepped in close, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her.

Naturally Jim chose that moment to return and spotted his daughter kissing some guy. That caused them to jump apart had Jim smiling.

"DAD!" Kate almost shrieked. "Um, Dad, this is Rick, Rick this is my dad, Jim."

"Sir." Rick actually bowed slightly since to him it showed respect.

"Please, call me Jim. So this is the man that has stolen my daughter's heart." Jim actually liked what he saw. He was larger than he thought he would be. He was certainly handsome and maybe a little taller than he'd envisioned.

"I stole it?" Rick whispered to Kate. He was loud enough that Jim heard him and he grinned. His grin only grew when Katie smacked his arm for it.

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Rick remembered something like this when they were dating. But he didn't recognize any of the words being used on this thing. "Don't worry, babe, we're going to order a selection of different things then pick and choose from it all."

Rick listened to it all and didn't know what they were ordering. Szechuan Chicken, Hawaiian Chicken, Beef with Broccoli, Chinese Pork Ribs, white rice, and pork fried rice.

Jim began grilling Rick since he had a number of questions. "So son, what do you do?"

They had talked about this a little before coming so that Rick had answers and didn't have to worry. "I'm effectively retired. It allows me to travel where I want to and see what I want and not have to worry about…money." Rick was all set to say gold and had to stop himself.

"Sounds nice. I'm still working toward retirement. I'm thinking that I'll have to move. New York's just too expensive to retire here." Jim had given it a little thought.

"Move where, Dad?" She only ever saw her dad living in New York.

"I was thinking beach property. Corpus Christi, or maybe Brownsville, or even San Antonio if I can afford it," Jim remarked as their food was delivered.

Kate wasn't sure she like his choices. "Texas. …That's hurricane country."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "The east coast is hurricane country, Katie. I could have said California, but it's far too expensive." He had done his homework.

"Earthquakes." Kate shook her head. "One of these days Arizona is going to have beachfront property." That state was a really bad choice.

"So tell me about this boat of yours." Jim was curious since that was where they were living.

"You should see it, Dad. It's eighty feet long, more or less. It has four decks and a bridge. Lots of sails, it's very pretty. You should see the range." Kate spread her arms wide to try and show the size of it. She had no idea what her dad would think of Hot Stuff, Frosty, or Splash.

"A sailing ship. I didn't know you knew anything about sailing, Katie." Jim had been thinking or hoping for a mega yacht. Eighty feet sounded a little small to him. "Pictures?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, maybe next time."

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Three more days of shopping ensued with the last two having Jim returning to work.

"Richard Castle, I need you. …Food, food and food." Kate watched him disappear yet again.

This might be their last day, at least until the next trip. "Richard Castle, I need you." She saw him show up wearing clothes this time.

"How are we doing? What do we still need?" Kate had been buying and buying and was running low on money. They needed to plan for what was going to happen next time.

Rick already had what he thought they needed. "Sheets for the bed, pillows, soap for washing. You know the kitchen better. What do you need there?"

Kate was ready to kick herself. "SHEETS!" How she had forgotten that escaped her. "Some cast iron skillets and Teflon pans would be nice. Our silverware is looking a little worse for wear, too." She tried to think.

"Coffee?" Rick had found that he hated the stuff but Kate loved that crap.

Kate let her forehead rest against his chest. "Coffee." She was losing it, she was sure of it. "Okay, one more day. Then when we come back we can get married and my dad can walk me down the aisle." She was actually looking forward to it. She just wasn't sure what she was going to be wearing. She was using up what money she had fast.

"Married." She had explained it to him. He still wasn't sure why they needed to get married, except she kept talking about it.

"You'll survive it, Castle. Here's the last of what I have. I'll have more tomorrow. Food, food, and spices." She watched him vanish after loading him up.

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"We'll be back, Dad, I promise." Kate hugged him and kissed him.

"I'll be waiting. I still have to walk you down the aisle." Jim just wouldn't leave that alone.

"I promise, when we're ready you'll get the honor." Kate patted his chest.

"And I expect to see my grandchild. It's my job to spoil him or her." Jim was dying to be a grandfather. He just wished his wife could see that day.

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Kate was piloting and was holding a hand on her stomach. She was happy she was past the morning sickness part and into the next phase. Everything was going so well. She was broke but she was happy.

Then a dot in the distance caught her attention so she moved to the window and zoomed in. "CASTLE! GET UP HERE!" She didn't know what it was, but she was betting it was trouble.

Rick was huffing a little since he had sprinted again. "What? Is it the baby?" He laid a protective hand on her belly.

"The baby's fine. I found something." Kate took him to the window. "What is it? I mean, I know it's a rock but it looks like it has a building on it."

He knew just what it was. "It's a Githyanki outpost. Looks like a little one. Maybe a dozen Githyanki or so."

"Oh, swell." It was just what they needed.

"It might be swell." Rick was thinking something.

"How is finding a Githyanki outpost swell?" It sounded like anything but to her.

He shared what he was thinking. "It is if we take it."

"You're not serious. It's Githyanki!" Kate swung her hand at the outpost.

"It will also have magic that might help us. It will definitely have food and we need all the food we can get. Plus you used up all of your gold coins or have you hidden a few away?" Rick twisted his head while he looked at her.

"Maybe a few. The Temple priestess told me they were priceless and worth a lot in Silverymoon. We might need them one day," she said defensively.

"Smart and pretty." Rick smiled at her. "The outpost?" He pushed her.

"A few months ago, maybe. But I can't risk the baby even if there might be something there. Besides if we attack them…" Kate shook her head. She saw it as an evil act.

Rick thought they could take the place. Something that small would be lightly manned and all of the Githyanki would be easy to take. Full of a bunch of rookies will little to no experience.

"Fine, change course. But we remember this place for later, after the baby. Remember, if the Githyanki find us they won't hesitate to attack. You being pregnant would make no difference to them. In fact it might be worse for you.

"They'll make you suffer, have the baby, and terrorize it before killing it in front of your eyes, before finally killing you." Rick knew they wouldn't think twice about it.

"Attack defensively before they attack us." Kate groaned, staring at the rock that looked like it had two little towers and a small building. She did need to protect her baby. "It's hollow, isn't it."

"Most likely, but we have an advantage." Rick was counting on it actually.

"Which is?" She didn't see where they had an advantage.

"We're in a Githyanki scout ship. You'll be wearing Githyanki armor and they won't be expecting me." Those were lots of advantages.

Kate huffed out a laugh. "Armor that won't fit me." She placed both hands on her belly.

Rick glared at her. "Have I taught you nothing?"

"How to fight with that stupid magical foil, yes. I prefer my weapon, thank you." She wasn't following.

Then Rick held up her hand to show her that ring she had been given. "What does this do? What happens to your magical gear if it's around this ring for ten days or more and what else does it do? And what makes you think your armor won't fit?" He did his best to get her to see.

"Magic. …My armor will fit me?" She hadn't even tried; she'd had no reason to. Rick stared at her, not saying a word. "We have to wait ten days and come up with a plan." Kate saw him smile widely.

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Kate was dressed just like she had been when she went to Silverymoon save for one small change: she was wearing her gun and had all of her speed loaders on her. She even had her veil covering most of her face. So long as they didn't notice her ears she would look like a Githyanki from a distance.

"This is a bad idea, a really bad idea." She could see all kinds of things going wrong.

"Nice positive attitude." Rick smiled at her which had her glaring at him. "Remember the plan and be ready for anything. You don't have to kill them, just take them out of the fight." He, however, was going to kill everyone he came across.

"Yeah, I know the plan. Be careful, babe. I'm not raising this baby alone." All alone trapped on the Astral Plane.

Kate went down the stairs and all the way to the bow. Rick sailed them closer and closer and began taking down sails so they could dock.

She saw two Githyanki and watched as one of them threw her a line that she caught and used it to tie their ship to what barely passed as a dock area. There was room for two ships.

Rick slipped over the side and flew to the tower that was jutting out of the bottom. Once there he sliced the lone Githyanki almost in two with his sword. Then he went into the base using the tower as access.

Kate needed to get to that building on the side so she hopped over the side and ran, so to speak, to the building, ignoring the two that had helped her dock.

Rick opened one of the doors down a long hallway and found quarters for someone, except it was empty. So were the next two so he skipped the last two and entered the main room.

They'd caught them at a meal. This group was sans armor and had no weapons. Rick chose to use his sword's skill and used Wail of the Banshee. It emitted a terrible soul-wrenching scream that had the Githyanki screaming from the pain before falling dead. "Eight down." He didn't know how many this place had but their odds were getting better.

Kate, meanwhile, entered the room and only saw two Githyanki who looked at her for a moment. They started screaming and rushed her. She raised her weapon and put three rounds in each of them. Then she stopped, ejected her spent casings, used one of her speed loaders, and slapped the cylinder back into place.

She was now ready and looking for trouble. The sound of her gunfire would be noticed. She was proved right when one showed up in a door and looked around until he saw Kate. Even weaponless he charged her and fell after she put three rounds into him.

Kate kept going, she needed to meet up with Castle. She took a peek around a door and saw nothing. Stepping into the room she had her weapon kicked out of her hand. It was a Githyanki and he was already swinging an arm to hit her. She blocked it and kicked him in the ribs and put her hands up ready for his next attempt while bouncing on her feet.

She blocked his wild swing, swung her body, and threw her elbow into his mid-section. Then backed up and spun, sending her foot against his head which had him flying.

Kate went back to bouncing on her feet while holding her hands in front of her and waited. When he charged her she tripped him, grabbed an arm, and twisted it until she heard a bone snap. Then she kicked him in the face and watched him fall.

"Don't mess with a pregnant woman," she told the unconscious Githyanki. She retrieved her gun and moved on.

Rick had a Githyanki step out of a room who got sliced and fell. That was followed at the next door and then the next. He was beginning to think he'd underestimated just how many Githyanki were stationed there.

Kate saw a Githyanki come running down a hallway so she put three rounds in him. She kept walking while she ejected her spent shell casings. At the end she found a room where Castle was in combat with a sword-wielding Githyanki. His sword was nothing like she had ever seen before. It was silver and seemed to not be overly solid, yet he blocked all of Castle's swings.

Then another Githyanki came screaming into the room with a sword. "CASTLE!" He was going to be hit in the back. Her weapon was empty! She had just enough time to raise a hand and point at the Githyanki. She watched as two silvery objects came from her hand and stuck the Githyanki who instantly fell. She was too worried about Castle to question how that had happened. She frantically used a speed loader and drew a bead on the Githyanki still fighting with Castle. Kate followed him as he moved around and waited for an opening. She finally got one and put two rounds into him. It was enough to give Castle an opening and he killed him with a swing.

.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.

An hour later and any living Githyanki were all tied up and locked away inside their own outpost.

"I'll gather the weapons and armor and put them under lock and key while you look for food and any gold coins." They raided it to gain supplies so it was time to find what they came there for.

.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.=.o[X]o.=.x{O}x.

It was hours later and they were turning away from the outpost. Castle was raising sails while Kate used the windows and zoomed out to see if there was any trouble in the area.

She stopped looking because she had something she wanted to talk about. "I don't understand. I raised a hand and these…things came from my hand and struck the Githyanki."

"Really. You cast your first spell. Impressive." Kate was adapting and coming around.

"But I didn't do anything really. I just pointed at him." She wasn't even sure why she'd done that. She had wanted him to stop and, well…he did.

Rick stepped over to her and hugged her. "Your first step to becoming a sorceress. The power to cast spells is inside you. You just have to tap it and use it. It's what I do."

"Spells." Kate rested against him as they sailed away. "Now what?" She really didn't know how she had done it.

"Practice, lots and lots of practice. Maybe you can teach the baby how to cast spells." Rick grinned as he teased her.

"Yeah, right." She wasn't sure she was ever going to do it again, let alone teach their child.

"Don't short change yourself. You're smart, beautiful, and sexy. And I love you. A feeling I didn't even know existed until I met you. …You are my life, Kate. I can't see myself anywhere else but with you." Rick now understood just what love was and he was reveled in the feeling of it.

Kate felt tears begin to well up. She had found what she had wanted most. Someone to jump into life with and love freely and know that she was loved in return.

"I love you too, babe. So very much. We just have to get married." She saw the look on his face. "You'll like it. It means we'll be together till death do us part." It was the only way she was losing him.

Rick liked the sound of it. "Till death do us part." It meant he'd found someone. There actually was a woman that was his instead of being destined to belong to his former master.

He teased her. "More children?"

"Let's get past having the first one, shall we?" Kate smiled and raised up to kiss him.

Love was such a wonderful thing and now they both had it.