A/N This is the second part of Life, Love, and Family. If you have not read part 1, you will be confused as I've compounded things by adding a few (more like several) characters I dreamed up. Anyways, please enjoy part 2!

By the way, I do not own Blood Plus, or the characters or the songs mentioned. If I did, I wouldn't be living in a 1 bedroom apartment.

Marva finished her tale and sighed. She sat back in the recliner and allowed a silent tear to escape her eye. Claudia stood next to the recliner with one hand on her mother's shoulder. The room was silent for a moment before the questions began.

"So," Clay began as he shifted on the sofa next to his wife, "if he lives on blood, where has he been getting it?"

Marva took a deep breath and then answered, "He's supposed to, but he doesn't because he worried that it will turn him into a monster, like Diva's chevaliers."

Clay nodded as Ray spoke up from his seat on the armrest of the sofa next to Clay's wife, "If he doesn't eat, and he doesn't take blood, how the hell does he survive?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "There are a lot of things he doesn't even understand himself."

"He loves Saya, but she cut off his arm and went to sleep," Bubba began. He was next to the ever silent Dan on the loveseat. "Why does he still trust her?"

"He is her chevalier," Marva stated, "her servent. From what he told me, it is in his blood. He cannot disobey or refuse her. If she calls him, he comes."

"BULLSHIT!" Jim exclaimed as he pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and went outside.

The room fell silent again, as he slammed the front door. Marva slumped forward and pressed her face to her hands. Claudia rubbed her mother's shoulder, reassuring her, "Momma, I'll go talk to Jim."

Marva nodded as she looked up to the remaining people in the room, searching their expressions. Bubba had a look of insatiable curiosity, for every question answered, he had at least 10 more. Ray and Clay looked shocked, but they seemed to trust that what was said was true. Clay's wife looked frightened, she clung to her husband's arm as her eyes kept glancing over to the window. Marva held back a laugh as she thought, don't worry, he's not coming back. That thought troubled Marva, but she put it aside. There was still time before that aweful day would come. Dan's expression was surprisingly impassive. It seemed almost like Hagi's own placid, expressionless face.

She was surprised when he spoke. "I knew there was something special about him," he muttered to no one in particular. He stared straight ahead.

"Jim?" the young woman asked as she stepped onto the porch. The bug zapper illuminated the porch with an eerie lavender-blue light. She reached back inside to turn the porch light on which bathed the porch in a yellow glow. Jim was leaning on the railing as Claudia leaned against the wall near the porch light. She had decided to grow her hair out again, but it was still very short, leaving her with dark brown ringlets covering her head. The porch light reflected off them causing a honey colored halo around her head. She had become a beautiful young woman. She wore a baby blue sundress and a pair of fluffy house shoes.

Jim turned his face to her after a few minutes.

"Jim, I know it's hard to believe, but it's true."

He didn't respond. He turned his head to the side and spit the brownish liquid off the porch.

Claudia ignored this and continued, "The night he saved me, he lost control a bit. He jumped from the second story window, he landed on his feet while carrying me and carried me home. When he carried me, we were moving so fast, I thought we were on a motorcycle, but Jim, we weren't. He was running."

"You were drunk."

"I was not, Jim. I went to the party and stood against the wall while the others got drunk. That boy came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go home. I told him yes, so he said let me just go get my jacket. He led me up to the bedroom where… it… happened."

"Claudia, do you really expect me to believe that he's a vampire?"

"How else do you explain it?" She folded her arms over her chest and waited for an answer from the aging man.

He thought about it, He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep, he rarely speaks. He's also impossibly handsome. The girls find him irresistable, as well as some of the boys. He drinks blood? I've never seen him do that. He never tans, either, but vampires can't go out in the sunlight. But what was it Marva called him? Chi-rop-ter-an… sounds weird. He's supposed to be some kind of monster. I've never seen that boy as anything other than himself- but he sure is good with those daggers. He even took down a 10 point buck last year and carried the thing back over his shoulders! Jim shook his head, "I just can't wrap my head around this." He walked to the steps and left for the cabin. He just couldn't believe this.

Claudia sighed and went back inside. She heard Marva warn the group gathered before her, "Now, it should go without saying, you can never let what was said here leave this group."

This brought on a roar of laughter and then Bubba's voice rose above the laughter, "Who the hell would believe us, Marva?"

Claudia slowly entered the room and sighed as she gave her mother a look that said- I tried. Marva nodded. "Well, Jim is having trouble with this," she mumbled to herself.

"Just give him time," Dan said.

"You guys are taking this well," she commented. She really was surprised at how well.

"Marva," Ray said, "you forget, we were all there the first day he rode with us to cut the calves from the cows."

Marva recalled the story that Jim had relayed to her. Hagi had rode Fury down to the valley where the hands were riding through the herd, driving the yearlings to the right and the cows to the left. He rode in among them. Bubba shouted for Hagi to take the outside and push the yearlings into a tight herd while Jim and Ray pushed the cows further away. Hagi didn't see one of the large females had strayed, he was busy pressing the yearlings together as he watched Bubba round up the strays. The old cow was snorting nervously and began to charge. Ray shouted, but it was too late. The female charged and Fury panicked. Fury reared up and struck out at the cow, causing Hagi to lose his balance and fall off. The yearlings stampeded in the opposite direction, but not before a few confused calves stammered back, crushing Hagi's right leg. He screamed in pain. When Bubba had got him back to the main house, Hagi was limping and his leg was healing! Hagi just said that it wasn't as serious as everyone thought.

"We have been dying to get someone to give us an answer to what happened that day," Dan informed, "but no one would give one. I ran up when I heard the scream. Hagi's leg was crushed and by evening, he was fine. Of course we believe you, Marva, Jim's just… Jim."

Things began to calm down around the ranch, the daily routines and chores kept everyone going. They were all intensely curious about what Hagi was up to. They had heard numerous reports of bizarre attacks that were occurring around the world. There were attacks on people that were drained of blood. Much of these reports were explained as terrorist attacks, but those at the ranch knew better. It had been a year since Hagi left. He sent letters every other month to Marva. He had been watching Saya from a distance. When he had arrived at her sleeping place, she had already awakened and was being carried to a man's house. The man kept a close eye on her and decided to raise her as his daughter. Hagi never mentioned last names. The name of the man she calls 'Dad' is George, he had two adopted sons- Kai, the older and Riku, the younger. Saya lives with them and laughs with them.

Hagi cannot interfere, he notices the Red Shield members are watching too closely. He plays his cello every day in a local market and at night he hunts chiropterans. He picked a spot she has to pass on her way from the clinic to play his cello. He feels that maybe she would hear the song and it would jog her memory and give him an advantage.

One day, he was playing a tune requested by a young woman when a young boy appeared and handed him a cold bottle of water. He recognized the boy immediately- it was Riku. Hagi thanked the boy and placed the bottle of water under his seat.

"Aren't you thirsty?" Riku asked.

"Not right now, thank you," Hagi responded as he began to play another tune. A lady dropped some money in the opened cello case, it joined the other money that was already given.

"I've never seen you here before," Riku commented, "you're new around here, huh?"

"Yes."

"Why do you play here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be playing in an orchestra or something?"

"I am looking for someone," Hagi responded as he kept playing.

Riku took his stiff expression as sadness, "Is it a girl? You look like you're sad, is she why you're sad?"

Hagi just answered, "Yes."

Riku continued to chatter away and Hagi kept playing. He enjoyed the boy's company, but he was carefully watching his surroundings, making certain that the Red Shield was did not notice him.

The young man noticed how late it was getting and he headed back to the family home.

Hagi put the cello back in the case and disappeared, leaving the bottle of water where he'd placed it earlier.

The next day, Hagi set up and began playing in front of an empty store front. It was next door to a small café. He knew he'd draw a slightly larger crowd, and he knew that if there was a crowd surrounding him, it would hide him from any Red Shield operatives that might spot him. He had watched Saya from a distance all night. She seemed to be happy now. She's smiling now, those big wide grins that were often accompanied by carefree laughter. He noticed she hadn't done that in more than a century. How he wished he could just leave her like this, he could never give her those smiles- not now or ever again. The thought sent a ache through him.

He knew he could never let her give up her goal, because the Red Shield would eventually become impatient and then find a way to force her to fully awaken. Then, there would be a repeat of what happened at Vietnam. He needed to be there to protect her from these humans that would use her for their own agendas. Just then, he caught her scent on the air. A crowd had gathered around him as he played the song she taught him all those years ago. He could feel her presence near him, but he didn't dare miss a note or stop playing.

Suddenly he heard her cry out, "Stop!" The crowd all turned to see her sprawled in a giant planter. He poked his head through the crowd to see a very red and embarrassed Saya dust herself off and quickly exit the scene.

Hagi had battled chiropterans while Saya had enjoyed her family this year, but he could sense it in the air, her time of blissful ignorance was about to come to an end. He had been tracking a chiropteran for a couple of days now.

The sun had left the sky by the time the chiropteran was on the move again. It was headed for Saya's school. Hagi had found it in a large tree, he was about to climb it when he felt Saya's presence. She had jumped the iron fence that surrounded the school.

Saya felt a chill as she found her way through the school yard. It was a little creepy in the dark. She saw a silhouette of a man with some sort of large case on his back. He wore a long coat with tails and his wavy hair pulled up in the back of his head. She sensed he was no real threat, at first, but then he spoke, "So we finally meet," and produced a dagger.

Saya's eyes widened in fear as she turned to run. She ran as fast as she could when she smashed into a man and screamed.

Marva and Jim walked to the mailbox chatting about the upcoming sale of the cattle. Jim opened the mailbox and pulled out the stack of bills and junk mail and handed it to Marva. She sorted through the letters until she found one with no return address, but the address to the ranch was hand written is scrolling letters that were very neat. Hagi's handwriting seemed so romantic, like a ghost from long ago come to life on paper.

"Oh, so he sent you another letter," Jim commented.

"Another adventure," Marva muttered. She was always excited to hear news of what her adopted son was up to, but she always dreaded it, too. He never gave last names or specific cities. He gave the names of the countries he was in. This concerned Marva, to her it seemed like he was trying to break all ties to his life with them. She worried that he wasn't going to try to convince Saya to continue to live. If Saya died, she knew Hagi wouldn't want to continue his life without her. The very thought of what he had planned tore at Marva's heart.

"Did you hear what I said?" Jim asked loudly.

Marva was startled from her thoughts as Jim called to her, "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to sell all the 3 year olds this year or did you want to keep any?"

"Oh," she said absently. "This one's from Vietnam. I hope everything's well."

"Marva," Jim turned her to face him, "I need you to come back to the U.S. for a minute."

"Jim, you know what to do with the cattle better than me," she decided as she opened the letter.

"You're not gonna read it to the guys?"

"Oh… I just wanted to check it out first- mother's intuition."

The men looked forward to the letters. It was like stories being told by the campfire, but Hagi mostly spoke of the fighting and the Red Shield. He clearly didn't trust the Red Shield. She remembered when Hagi told her of the last time he dealt with them.

Vietnam 1972

Hagi was staying with the Red Shield. Saya had been entrusted to their care as she slept. She worked with them during the Korean War and felt they were trustworthy allies. What was good enough for her was good enough for Hagi. When she fell asleep, after the war ended, they put her into a crate to keep her safe. Hagi would come and go for the next 18 years, when he was asked to give some of his blood to awaken Saya. The operatives claimed they were certain Diva was awake. Hagi knew Saya would be upset if she missed this opportunity to end the war. He allowed them to draw his blood, but when she awakened, she was out of control. She slashed through everything in her path, including him, but Diva never showed. Hagi lost his trust in the Red Shield along with his arm.

After dinner, the men relaxed in the living room while Marva read the letter aloud. Hagi spoke of how Saya was undercover in a private school, looking for the Phantom. The Red Shield had put him in place as a grounds keeper so he could keep an eye on Saya. She had battled the Phantom, but the Phantom ran off because he wanted Saya to be fully awake when they had their final showdown. They headed to a mansion in the swamp where they encountered children being turned into chiropterans by the Cinque Fleche company (Hagi then warned them not to use anything made by this company) caused him to lose one of his legs, but Diva's chevaliers had already rescued the crate holding Diva. The Red Shield believed Diva was headed to Russia, so they were following. Saya still was not awake, but Hagi felt that she needed to slowly awaken, her mind could not handle the full truth at once. David was impatient, though. He then requested that Bubba make sure Fury gets a couple of carrots and an apple in his absence.

The men moaned as the letter ended. Jim wondered how Hagi would have reacted to all the attention his letters were getting. He still had trouble with the idea of Pretty Boy was some kind of monster-super hero. This was beginning to sound too much like a comic book.