DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLOOD+. JUST THIS FANFICTION.

For the love of their Queen

~ When she awakened ~

"It's exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful."

- Adrienne Rich

She could hear a voice. A trustworthy, reliable voice, the voice of a man. "Saya..." Is...is that my name? "Saya, wake up..." Where am I? "Saya, it's me..." Who's there? The man held out his hand, and she raised her head to meet her visitor, a middle-aged man who had loyalty and honor in his eyes. He had fox red hair and a surfer's tan, his relaxed eyes obtaining a sturdy shade of brown. "Saya, welcome back."

She hesitated, startled by the man's familiarity to her. "Who—Who are you?" She had no memory whatsoever of anyone or anything she might have known before.

The man's eyes saddened, but his comforting smile had been kept, "Come, Saya, we need to go now." Go...? Then she realized she hadn't any clothes on and blushed, embarrassed in front of this man. But he chuckled, knowing that she would react that way. He then stood up, walked near the exit, and bent over to grab an object, a box, probably, and walked back over to her, presenting to her a white box.

"Open it," he said, "don't worry, I'll head out the room to give you privacy." And with that, he exited the door and walked down a stone staircase in the daylight. She then opened the box, which contained a light pink chiffon bubble dress, white yang wedge sandals, a ribbon that matched the dress's color, and some, um, well, needed clothing. She stood up, noticing her ebony hair had reached floor-length. I think I know what the ribbon is for now. She then fitted into her necessary pieces of clothing and slipped into her dress before equipping her high-heeled sandals. Then lastly came her long hair. She brought it up in a high ponytail and tied it with the light pink ribbon, fashioning it a bow. She then stepped outside and felt the sun's warmth on her beautiful skin, and it had this amazing effect of a radiant glow on the young woman's body. She closed her eyes and inhaled, taking in a breath of fresh air after being inside that dark, shadowy room. She then descended a long flight of stone stairs, enjoying the wind blowing against her face and neck, her long, raven hair flowing slowly and graciously to the wind's current. She came to where the man she saw only a few minutes before had been, in front of his car, still waiting for her but not noticing she was standing in front of him.

She cleared her throat, "Ahem."

He looked her way and smiled, "I knew it, you would look great, but then again, that's Kanade's sense of style for you." His harmless, amiable comment then became serious, but still soft. "Saya, don't you remember me at all?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, and why do you know my name?"

"Hmm, just about thirty years ago me, you and someone very close to us were just normal siblings. Well, if you view of 'normal siblings' as adopted, that is. Saya, I'm Kai. Remember? Your big brother?"

"Big brother?" She looked confused and slightly shocked.

He nodded, "Yes, Saya, and we had a little brother named Riku, remember?"

"Riku... where is he, then?"

Kai was hesitant on replying her one innocent question, but then, "He's dead." Saya didn't know what to answer, a little brother she had just know heard of since she had awoken who was dead, and if she had known him before, she had forgotten how he acted and what he looked like. She was saddened by this fact, and it had become an awkward silence between the two. Kai cleared his throat, "Ahem, well, um, so, shall we get going? I have a few people I want you to meet." She nodded and smiled sweetly.

The ride had been quiet, pleasant, but quiet. At last they reached at what looked like a restaurant. "This used to belong to our dad, you remember him at least, don't you?"

She shook her head, "No one. I can't remember one single person, the only one I'm at least familiar with is you, since you were the first and only one I saw since I had waken up."

He closed his eyes and smiled, "Oh well, then, I can't force you to remember. Come inside, the twins should be back from school by now." As she entered, she could smell a familiar scent of food and alcoholic drinks." She sat down on one of the stools in front of a bar that Kai was behind. "Hey, Saya, what would you like?"

"Anything's fine for me, actually."

Then he got to work cooking up some lunch (or breakfast in her case) for Saya. When he finished, he presented her meal in front of her, "You always loved boiled eggs, so I made some with rice just to see if you remember anything. Go ahead, you said I could really cook."

"I did?" He nodded happily. She picked up the egg with her chopsticks and took a bite. As she chewed, she smiled with satisfaction, then she gulped, "Wow, Kai, it is good!" She then finished the rest of her meal fast.

Kai laughed as he watched her eat her meal, "I see you haven't lost your appetite after so many years asleep." That then puzzled her, "so many years asleep"? How long was she asleep, she thought. But then the bell rang as the door opened. Kai turned towards the front to two girls with bluish-black hair, "Ah! Kanade, Hibiki," he gestured at Saya to the girls, "I want you to meet someone." The girls then gasped excitedly and ran towards Saya and Kai.

"Wow, you look just like us!" The one with spiky short hair and blue eyes exclaimed. The other one, who had shoulder-length straight hair with brown eyes, seemed more shy and quiet than the other, "You must be..."

She was cut off by Kai, "Yes, she's your aunt, girls." Saya blinked at the word aunt. The girls smiled as they hugged Saya, their aunt.

"Welcome back, Auntie Saya!" They let go of her to stand in front of her and introduce themselves. The one with the blue eyes was very lively and fun-loving, dressing her hair as if she were in a famous rock band, "I'm Hibiki, now for a short story of me: I love rock music, the color blue, I enjoy playing drums, and I hate my homework. There you go!" She splashed an eccentric smile on her pretty, pale face.

Kai laughed at how fast she talked, "I still think she has ADHD."

"Dad!" Hibiki placed her hands on her hips.

Then the brown-eyed one, who had a great resemblance towards Saya, stepped forward shyly, "Um, I'm Kanade. Nice to meet you."

Her demure nature made Kai smile, "Kanade is a little shy, but she loves books, clothing, classical music, and animals."

Saya looked at Kanade and Hibiki, her two pretty nieces, with a smile, "Wow, you two seem so different, yet you're twins."

Hibiki then flashed out her hands in the air excitedly, "Yeah! I'm a rocker, she's a quiet bookworm. Who do you think does my homework?"

Then she clasped her mouth with her hands as Kai looked at her with one eyebrow arching his right eye, "Really? Should I have a talk with your teacher, Hibiki?"

Hibiki then giggled nervously and held her hands behind her back, "Not necessary at all, Dad. I promise to do my homework right now."

"Good." Then Hibiki and Kanade headed upstairs with Hibiki leading while holding Kanade's hand. Then Kai said over his head, "Hibiki stay here and finish your homework. You can't ask Kanade to do your homework anymore."

They could hear Hibiki's cry of disappointment from the stairs, "Aww, man!" Saya giggled and Kai laughed heartily.

"Saya, look, we're a family again! You're the aunt, I'm the dad, and those two are the kids."

Then Saya had question that had bugged her ever since she saw her twin nieces, "Um, Kai, even though they're your daughters, they don't really look like you."

And from that Kai, stared for about five seconds then chuckled, his eyes looking melancholic, "They're not my daughters by blood, Saya, I just adopted them, like you asked me to thirty years ago." Thirty years...?

"Is that how long I slept, Kai?"

He nodded solemnly, "Yes, they were still babies back then and you couldn't take care of them yourself since, well, let's just say it's repeating phase in your anatomy." My anatomy...?

"Is that normal?"

Kai smiled, "For you, Kanade and Hibiki. Not me."

"Why not?" She looked puzzled at him, while he had a smile on his dace, the kind of smile that tells you that he knows a lot more of you than you'd think.

"Well, Saya, you're not human." She stared at him as if lighting had struck her. What...?

AUTHOR'S NOTES TO READERS:

Summary: Saya wakes up to find a man named Kai who claims to be her older adoptive brother. He then takes her to their family's (not Saya's biological, but adopted) restaurant/bar where she meets her now 16 year old (even though not stated in the story) nieces Kanade and Hibiki. Then Kai says something that Saya is shocked to hear: She ISN'T human...

I am a HUGE fan of the Saya and Solomon pairing (sorry Haji lovers), and even though he isn't in this chapter, he'll be mentioned in the next one!

Preview of next chapter: Saya is told she is not a human, but a chiropteran, and to make things more stressful, she is their Queen, along with her nieces Kanade and Hibiki. Then Saya starts to remember only a little bit of her past 30 years previous to her recent hibernation, even having a chevalier named Haji and another chiropteran man, handsome and charming, though she can't quite remember his name, only knowing that he loved her.