Hard to believe it's only been...three weeks since I last updated? It honestly feels longer, though that's probably school's fault lol. This is the last chapter that I've already had written up so the next one will be a while.

Review Replies:

lilly: lol, glad you like it. Hope the new year was great for you too!

nai: you do now

Layra: Thanks, hope you like this chapter

Alana: Thanks, lol

drake: Well I wouldn't know what it's like to find out you've had a child for a long time and didn't know it but I'm assume it would be shocking, so I hope I portrayed it well. Happy new year to you too, ditto!

I do not own Bakugan, only Soren, Sora, Ayden, Azreal, Lex, Nessie and other OCs. This fic is not associated with the Bakugan Battle Brawlers series.

Normal POV

"I just can't believe he would do this! Why would he just run away?" cried Sora. She paced back and forth through her living room wiping the occasional tear while Ayden sat on the couch watching her.

"Sora, I'm sure he's just fine!" cried Ayden. "Please sit down, you're making me dizzy."

"I'm sorry, I just- Soren's never done anything like this before! It's not like him to just up and disappear without a word! Where could he have gone?" Sora buried her head in her hands and sighed, wiping her eyes.

"He must have had a reason. What was the last thing you guys talked about?"

"Well…He asked about Ren again a couple weeks ago, so I finally decided to tell him about-"

"Um, Sora, I'm just going to interrupt you right there. We know something about Soren's disappearance," said Azreal as he and Nessie came into view.

"Oh. My. God. He went to find Ren, didn't he?" she cried in realization.

"That's a theory, but how could he get all the way to Gunda-wait a minute! Azreal?" asked Ayden, with an expression of shock and awe on her face.

"I may have had something to do with getting Ren to Gundalia…" said Azreal. Nessie nudged him. "Ok, all of it."

"Azreal, how could you do that?" asked Sora.

"I'm sorry, but Soren was determined to find Ren. I could see how important this was to him so I wanted to help," said Azreal.

"You don't need to worry so much, Sora. Lex is with him, after all. He'll be fine," said Nessie.

"But I'm his mother! It's my job to worry. And how can you expect me not to worry when my son is all across dimensions on another planet all alone," groaned Sora.

"Sora, I'm sure everything will be fine. Lex is looking out for Soren and they'll find Ren in no time. Just be patient." Ayden looked at her watch. "Listen, I hate to leave you like this but I've got to get home and make dinner for the kids."

"Go, go, I understand. And thanks for coming over Ayden." Sora skipped dinner and spent the rest of the evening sitting at the dining table drinking coffee. She decided to flip through her photo album of Soren, but she couldn't find it. 'Soren must've taken it with him,' she thought. With no other option, she flipped through her personal album of her younger years. It was filled with pictures of her and Ren together. With every page she flipped, it brought back happy and wonderful memories of her time with Ren, but it also brought back painful feelings.

"Oh Ren…" she said, fingering a photo of her and her former lover. She nearly jumped out of her seat when the phone rang. 'Who would be calling this late?' she thought as she picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello?" Nobody responded but she could tell someone was there when she heard someone breathing on the other end. "Hello?" she asked again, but still no answer. "Hello!" she shouted into the speaker in hopes of getting the caller to talk. She was just about to hang up when she heard a familiar voice.

"Sora…"

Sora stopped when she heard the voice say her name. She knew the owner of this voice well. For months she had been in his arms, the sound of his voice after all these years bringing back powerful memories and feelings of way back when. They cuddled, they kissed, they… Sora sighed and shut her eyes. She had not heard this voice in over fourteen years. And hearing it now, after telling her, no, their son the truth brought both a smile to her face and tears to her eyes.

"…Ren," she smiled slightly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"…It's good to hear your voice again."

"It's been fourteen years, Ren…" she answered in a stern voice, wiping the tears from her eyes. Though she still loved Ren, her anger and hatred towards him overpowered the former emotion.

"I know…" he replied sadly.

"Is Soren there? Is he with you?" she asked quickly in worry.

"Yeah, yeah he's here. Fast asleep. Sora, how could you not tell me about him?"

"I would've loved to tell you that I was pregnant with our child, Ren," she said in a sarcastic and condescending tone. "But if you recall, you were one of the bad guys AND you were on a different planet. It's not like my cell phone coverage could reach that far," she said with resentment.

"I know, I-"

"No, I don't think you do you, Ren. When I found out the truth about you, it broke my heart, more than you could ever imagine. It made me feel like everything we had was just a sham, a lie. I thought that what we had…that I meant nothing to you. And then when I found out I was pregnant, I was sad, but also happy knowing that I could have a reminder of how good things were then…even though they didn't end the way I'd hoped."

"Sora, please, if you just let me explain-"

"I gave you plenty of opportunities to for you to explain, Ren. You've had fourteen years to explain yourself," she said, sharply cutting him off again. "Ayden even told me that you defected and rejoined the Brawlers during that war."

"Yes, that's right I-"

"Then why didn't come back?" she asked, her voice growing weaker as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"…"

"I thought that if you really cared about us, about me, then you would have come back and Soren would have grown up knowing his father."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Sora. I messed up. There's nothing to excuse what I did. You just don't know what it's like finding out you've had a son for fourteen years."

"Its real shocker, isn't it?"

Ren chuckled. "Yes, um, what do you want to do with him? Should I just send him home?"

"No, no, don't do that. Soren made a big effort to get to Gundalia to find you. If I made him come home now, he'll resent me more than ever."

"So…what should I do?" he asked, unsure.

"Look, he's already out for summer vacation, so I guess he can stay there. Take care of him, you hear me? One tiny little scratch on him and so help me I'll-"

"I'll take care of him, don't worry…"

"Well, enjoy your time with him. Bond. You've got fourteen years to catch up on and only less than three months to do it."

"Heh, you're still as funny as always, Sora. I've really missed you…It's great to hear your voice again."

"Oh, shut up, Ren," she said softly, trying not to sound too angry. "You already said that. Just take care of our son," she said, realizing she said "our son" out loud instead of "my son."

"I will, I promise," he said sincerely.

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep, Ren. Just have Soren call me every once in a while."

"All right," said Ren.

"Goodbye," Sora hung up the phone and starred at the picture of her and Ren at the mall. Things seemed so much easier back then.

Now I'm sure you're all thinking 'where was the rage? the yelling?' Honestly, there wasn't going to be any. Even in the film I'm basing this on, "What a Girl Wants," there was no yelling between the mom and dad during their phone call, just calm voices with the lady subtly reminding him how much he hurt her.

Next Chapter - Bonding: Ren tries bonding with his son but his fiancee's return may threaten it.

~REview ZP