For the next day and a half, Shintaro and everyone else struggled to explain to Ozai that this had to be done. Ozai had been reluctant to agree with them, insisting that they shouldn't go because it would all be for nothing. But after Abby had almost tearfully explained that they weren't just doing this to rescue the world from Brethren - but that they were hoping to rescue Kai too. After realizing that there was a close friend's, a boyfriend's, and a son's life in danger, Ozai eventually agreed to let them go when they had formed a plan. Though he was nervous and sorry for them, he tried to give them the most encouragement he could. 

Though Shintaro was very well aware that he would find no answers within himself, he searched for them relentlessly, to a point where he hardly slept that night. He'd lain awake until close to five in the morning, staring blankly up at the ceiling as the questions and his suspicions looped around in his head. 

How did Ozai meet Brethren? 

It was possible that Ozai had worked under Brethren all those years ago, driven by Brethren's threats and the Dark Magic Ozai had been given. It was possible that Ozai had been an innocent man, magically twisted to become The Dark Lord's lackey. It was possible that Brethren had captured Ozai and used him for many different purposes, eventually giving him magic. 

Why did Ozai hate Brethren? 

It was possible that Ozai had hated Brethren the whole time and eventually turned against him. It was possible that Ozai had never agreed to Brethren's terms and managed to get away from him. It was possible that Ozai, once he'd been given magic, had turned right around and attacked Brethren. It was possible that Brethren had killed his family and given Ozai Dark Magic in the process. 

When did they know each other? 

They couldn't have met after Brethren's second rise, because Ozai alluded that he had been living in the house long before then. They could have met a while after Shintaro had rebelled against his father and left, somehow managing to stay out of his clutches until he'd defeated Brethren. They also could have met and been meeting up while Shintaro and Cami were children, all those times that Brethren left the house for days at a time. 

Had Shintaro ever met Ozai before? 

Although Shintaro thought Ozai as familiar, he was sure he'd never met him. Shintaro only found him familiar because he looked like Brethren and acted like Cami. Those were the only reasons, and Shintaro continually tried to convince himself that people were similar to others in many ways. There wasn't anything behind it. 

What had Brethren done to Ozai to make him be so terrified? 

Shintaro didn't even want to go over that list. He knew that there were countless things Brethren could have done to Ozai, who seemed to be innocent. But Shintaro wasn't sure if Ozai was as innocent as he seemed. 

Had Ozai been just as bad as Brethren? 

That probably explained all those times that Brethren vanished for a few days. It was possible that he'd been meeting Ozai, and together they'd tried to shove terror into the hearts of innocent humans. 

Or had Ozai truly been innocent? 

Unless Ozai had changed his personality, attitude, and opinion completely after Brethren was defeated, Ozai seemed almost harmless - like he wouldn't even kick a cat out of the way if it was being annoying (Shintaro wasn't a fan of cats.). Ozai seemed quiet, peaceful, and organized; yet he was strangely odd, but not in a bad way. 

The last question Shintaro found himself wondering before he fell asleep was the one he'd been battling before.

Why did he have the strange feeling that no matter what, Ozai was trustworthy? 

~

When Shintaro woke up that morning, the room was lit up brightly even though the curtains were drawn over the window. Blinking away the sleepiness, Shintaro slowly sat up and rolled his shoulders in a stretch. He tossed the blankets off his shoulders, scooting forward to slide his feet onto the steps of the ladder. When he got down, he habitually glanced behind him to check on Falte - but found that Falte wasn't in the bed. 

How late had he slept? 

Pulling the hem of his shirt to straighten out the wrinkles, he walked slowly toward the door. As he opened it and walked out, he began to hear the voices from downstairs. The first voice he heard was Amy's, as it was rising above the rest in joyful laughter. Hidden beneath her laughter was the chuckle of Falte and Gabriel. As their laughter faded away, he heard Rachel and Abby's voices talking together, until their words bled into more laughter from Amy and Falte. 

As he walked down the stairs, he looked at the clock that was hanging in the stairwell and found that he'd been asleep for seven hours. In was nearly midday, probably already past lunch. 

Shintaro reached the end of the stairs as he yanked his long white hair into a loose ponytail. He rounded the corner to face the living room and stopped, confusion and amusement immediately crossing over his face. 

Amy was standing in the middle of the living room with Falte beside her. She was gazing intently at Falte's arms, which were bent at the elbows and sticking outward. She was grinning madly, but her eyebrows were creased into a focused and confused frown as she tried to match Falte's position. Falte was busy nodding at her while smothering a laugh, his mouth puckered into a line. Gabriel and Linda were seated on the couch, both looking confused yet entertained. Linda was shaking her head in a "you're both ridiculous" way, while Gabriel was smiling with his arms crossed over his chest. Ozai was standing to the left of the couch with a small, confused smile on his face as he watched Amy copy Falte. Zeke was on the other side of the couch, his arms crossed and his head shaking in disappointment. Nanami, Rachel, Abby, Moon, and Ruby were in the kitchen, talking among themselves joyfully. 

"Like this?" Amy said, her voice reaching a level of desperation that Shintaro had never heard her use. She was standing in a walking position, her arms jutted out at her sides and her hands closed into fists. 

"Yes, there you go," Falte said cheerfully, grinning at her. "Now you just toss your head and sway your arms while you walk around, like this." He began demonstrating for Amy, and Shintaro finally realized that Amy was trying to do the dance that Falte claimed Kai had done. 

Gabriel's smile dissolved into contagious laughter, his whole body bending forward while he laughed. "Oh, good gosh," he gasped between laughs. "That gets me.. every time-" His voice died away into more laughter. 

Shintaro walked around Falte and Amy, who was just beginning to walk around the room doing the same thing. He took a seat on Linda's left side, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing at her to see her reaction. 

Her mouth was puckered into a thin line, her crystal blue eyes following Falte as he walked around in a circle, tossing his head and laughing merrily. Her eyes were narrowed and her shoulders shaking in the attempt not to laugh, and Shintaro knew she was very close to breaking. 

Shintaro found himself looking up at Ozai. The man looked like he was trying to decide whether he was going to laugh with them or frown thoughtfully in confusion. His eyebrows were furrowed as though he was going to frown, but his mouth was set in the same confused smile that he'd been wearing earlier. 

"What the freaking heck is going on in here?" Moon's voice said from the doorway of the kitchen, which was behind the chairs. She was standing just outside of the kitchen, frozen in the middle of a stride toward them. Her silvery eyes were tracking Amy's movements, her mouth twitching like she too couldn't decide whether to laugh or to frown. 

Slowly, like she thought Amy would suddenly attack her with her dance moves, Moon inched into the living room. She maneuvered around Amy, narrowing her eyes in suspicious confusion, and sat down in one of the chairs. "Seriously," she said after sitting down. "What the heck are you doing?" 

"I'm doing the Kai dance!" Amy announced, circling cheerfully around the chairs and earning another narrow-eyed stare from Moon. 

"The what?" Abby said, appearing in the doorway. Her blue eyes skimmed across the living room until they found Amy as she danced around Falte, who had stopped to laugh hysterically at Moon's reaction. 

Abby's face scrunched up in amused confusion as she watched Amy circle around Falte again and again, carefully avoiding whacking him with her elbows. Abby stared at Amy in shocked confusion for a moment, then suddenly doubled over in a fit of laughter, clutching her sides. 

Shintaro couldn't help but smile as he listened to his daughter's lighthearted, wonderful laugh. How he'd missed that laugh, the one that he used to hear almost every day. The one that greeted him in the evenings when he came home from work. The one that had used to make Chase join in as well, and eventually had made Shintaro start chuckling too. 

Linda suddenly made a choked sound to his right, and he turned to look at her. Her blue eyes weren't focused on anyone in particular anymore, and her hand was clamped over her mouth while her shoulders shook. 

"Kai- Kai did- He did that??" Abby stammered through her laughs, straightening again to look at Falte. 

Taking off his glasses to wipe at his eyes, Falte nodded jovially. "He used to run down the hallways doing that, singing his favorite song." 

Out of the corner of his eye, Shintaro saw Linda bend forward and fold over her legs, pressing her forehead into her knees. Her quiet laughter paused for a moment as she seemed to picture Kai dancing down the hallway, then she burst into actual laughter, startling Shintaro. 

Shintaro felt his smile widen as he listened to Linda laugh genuinely. He couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed like that, and he had to admit that he'd missed her laugh too. She had a loud, hearty laugh that came from somewhere deep inside her, taking over her body because it finally felt free. 

"You all are the weirdest-" Zeke started dryly. 

But he couldn't finish. 

Because the front door slammed open. 

And eight Darks stormed in.

~

Chapter twenty-eight already? Gosh, I can't believe I'm already this far....

And I still have so much planned. 

But those plans are starting to take actioooon.

PREPARE YOURSELVES, YOU GUYS. 

Because this is going to get WILD.

Thanks for reading!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!! :D

P3ac3!!!~~~