Art belongs to little-Ianita on tumblr :3
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"Step, dodge, step, thrust."

I stepped forward and thrusted the sword into the zombies stomach, causing it to fall over dead. Huh. Dianite and Mots techniques are actually pretty useful.

"Just keep the sword always pointed directly at the heart in case one tries to run at ya. Don't think I have any other advice for you. You got any Dia?" Mot asked the sky.

"Nothing he doesn't already know. You're becoming a strong fighter Sparklez. That little girl has a mighty protector." Dianite chuckled.

"That's what I'm going for." I put my sword back in its holster and wiped some sweat off my forehead. I was getting less exhausted with every work out. Mot and Dianite have been helping me with new techniques and better ways to beef up. Its working really well. I actually have some strength now.

It's been three weeks since the others left. In a week and a half, they'd be home again. I still had no clue what to tell them when they saw Ianita. She was still a mystery to me and the others.

Toms been calling me non-stop to the point where I've taken out the batteries to my communicator. I haven't called him back since the night I broke down into tears. I was still angry with him.

"Alright, well we better get back. Martha's probably exhausted with that wild child and there's a blood moon about to rise. Wouldn't want to get caught in that."

I followed Mot down the path we took to the forest, both of us sprinting to avoid the blood moon and the monsters that came from it. We finally arrived at Martha's doorstep after a long jog through the forest. Mot knocked on the door and waited for Martha to open it. But she didn't. No one did. Mot knocked again, louder this time. Still no answer.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" I heard a scream. It was sort of far away, but Mot and I both heard it.
Martha.

Mot pulled out his sword and took off in the direction of the scream and I followed behind him. The blood moon was slowly rising now. I could hear monsters from a good distance away. This was bad.

"MARTHA?!" Mot yelled.

And then we saw them. Martha held Ianita in her arms as she tried to crawl back away from the large gang of skeletons that surrounded them. She had an arrow lodged in her side and the blood was slowly seeping through her grey shirt. Ianita looked terrified. She was hugging Martha tightly, trying to hide from the skeletons.

Martha met our gaze for only a second before an arrow flew through the air and tore into her shoulder, barely missing Ianitas head. She cried out in pain and lost support on her hands causing her to fall completely to the ground.
I didn't think. I ran towards them and pulled out my sword. These bastards would pay for hurting them.

Step, dodge, step, thrust.

Bones clattered to the ground as I finished one off.

Step, dodge, step, thrust.

Two more dead.

Step, dodge, step, thrust.

They were nothing but dust now. I was stronger. Mot finished off the last skeleton near him and we both ran to Martha and Ianita.

"You get Martha and I'll take the kid. We have to move fast. You ready?"

I nodded and began to pick up Martha while Mot scooped up Ianita from her arms. Martha groaned in pain when I moved her, and I felt a twinge of guilt hit me. "I'm sorry. I have to." I picked her up from the ground and she whimpered in pain. I heard a cry and I looked up, only to see Mot get hit with an arrow in the side of his leg. Oh no. This is bad. This is very bad. He fell on his knees and let go of Ianita, clutching his ankle and growling in pain. She ran to me and hugged my leg like it was a stuffed animal. She closed her eyes in fear and I could feel her tears leaking through my pants. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew I couldn't at the moment.

The mobs were closing in. Skeletons, zombies, spiders. I can't carry Mot and Martha and Ianita. I can't kill all of these mobs alone. We were going to die out here if I didn't get any help.

"Speriols, I'm scared!" Ianita sobbed into my leg.

I swore to protect her. I swore to be strong.

I don't need help.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I focused on Ianite. Peace. Balance. Forgiveness. Love. She gave me power to keep those things true. She gave me power to protect the ones I love.
And now it's time for me to use them.

I heard large crashes of thunder and I felt the ground shake. Was I doing this? I opened my eyes again. I was surrounded by an aura of purple glowing fog. Violet lightening struck the mobs that were around us. I could feel something pouring from me. It was terrifying. I could feel Ianita tighten her hold on my leg as the lightening struck the mobs. One by one, they all fell.

Bringer of justice. Holder of peace.

My breath was cold and it made me shiver when I breathed in. Everything had a purple tint. I could feel something dripping from my ears.

The one she chose. The one she knew was right.

Purple flames danced in front of my eyes. I could see monsters burning. I could see a face in the flames. A face I knew but didn't recognize. The face watched in awe as I transformed.

The champion of Ianite.

I felt like my body exploded. Everything flooded out of me at once. My feelings, my fears, my dreams. Everything left. I wasn't Jordan. I wasn't Sparklez.

I was Ianites champion.

And then it stopped. The flames died down. The fog vanished. The mobs remains scattered the land. The sun shone again in the clear blue sky. Everything was how it should be. Balanced.

"Sparklez?"

Tom. He stood in front of me with a look of pure amazement on his face. He saw me.

"Unggg..." I heard someone moan in pain from behind me. Martha. I forgot about them. I ran over to Martha and tried to pick her up without hitting the arrows lodged in her. She looked nearly dead. Her eyes were closed and her clothes were soaked in blood. Poor Martha.

"Martha? Can you hear me?"

"Yes..." She mumbled.

I looked over to Mot. He looked less worse than Martha, but he still needed major help in getting out of here. I turned back to Tom, who was still just watching me with that same look on his face.

"You just gonna stand there or are you gonna help them?" I snapped at him.

He blinked for a moment and then snapped out of his trance. He went over to Mot and helped him stand. Ianita was standing beside me with tears in her blue eyes.

"It's okay. You're safe now. You'll always be safe with me."

She sniffled and nodded.

"Stay beside me okay? We're gonna go visit doctor Champwan."

She obeyed and followed me as I carried Martha across the field. Tom walked on my other side, occasionally gazing at Ianita or me for a moment before looking away. I didn't ask why he was here. I didn't speak to him the whole way to Champs. I just proved to him that I wasn't weak or worthless. I was strong and I could protect my loved ones.
~
"Alrighty Miss Ianita, you're good to go. Healthy and cute." Champ pet her head and she giggled. He had just given her a check up just in case anything was wrong with her. I was next after her and then it was Toms turn. He sat beside me in one of the chairs in the room. It was really awkward given that we hadn't spoke a word to eachother since we'd been here.

"Are you gonna give Speriols a shawt?" She asked Champ while he scribbled something down on his clipboard.
"Hmm I dunno. What do you think I should give him?" Champ was trying to hold back laughter.

"I fink he needs a shawt!" She exclaimed.

"Then I'll give him a shot. Why don't you go outside and see how Ms. Martha's doin?"

She obeyed and ran out of the room with a large smile on her face. A shawt. That's so adorable.

"You're turn Speriols. And I may have to give you an injection because of a promise I made." Champ teased.

"Fair enough." I laughed and went to sit on the white bed Ianita had been on previously.

"Any broken bones or major cuts?" He asked while he pulled on his stethoscope.

"Not that I know of." I shrugged. Tom was staring at me and it was sort of making me uncomfortable.

"Okay that's good. Can you take your shirt off so I can check for bruises and cuts?"

I began to strip off my t-shirt. I didn't think I had any injuries, but I guess better safe than sorry.
Champ began to look around my back and then my sides and then he looked at my chest.

"Er, this new?" He pointed at a fist sized bruise on my chest that was a nasty purple color. I forgot about that. A flashback of Tom shoving me hard against the wall appeared in my head and I quickly dismissed it.

"No." I cleared my throat.

"Where'd you get it? Looks pretty bad." Champ touched it lightly and I winced at the pain.

"Dunno." I wasn't going to say a word with Tom in here. He was staring directly at me now.

"You got it from me, didn't you?" Toms voice interrupted. I tensed and swallowed the nausea coming up my throat.

"That's what you were talking about over the phone. I hurt you. Oh my gods I hurt you..." His voice faltered as he put his head in his hands.

"Oh...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. Uh, you're good if you want to go. Just um...put some ice on the bruise. Doesn't look like it's healing properly." Champ handed me my shirt and I quickly put it back on and left the room. He feels guilty. He should. He hurt me.

"Sparklez please wait!" I heard him say. I felt a hand grip my wrist and spin me around.

"What? What do you want?" I asked annoyed.

"I-"
I interrupted him."Why are you even here? You weren't supposed to come back for another week." I kept walking towards Martha's room. I didn't care about his nervousness. He should feel guilty.

"You wouldn't answer my calls..." His voice took a sad tone.

"Because I've been busy. I already told you that." I went to grab the door handle to Martha's room, when his hand stopped me.

"Can we please talk about this outside?" He begged.

I let out a sigh of annoyance. "Frankly I don't even want to see you right now. I don't want to talk either."

"Please?" He begged again.

"Fine." I walked past him and left out the door that lead to the outside.

The evening air was cool on my skin. I would've enjoyed it if it weren't for Tom being here.
We walked a few yards away from Decs place before we began to speak.

"What do you want?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to look tough.

"Who is she? And why does she look like you?" He got straight to the point.

"Her names Ianita. And I have no idea why she looks like me. Ive never had intercourse with anyone but you. I don't know why, but she was hiding in Ianites room all alone. I don't know why she calls Ianite her mom. I just know that she's partly mine and I have to protect her. No one is going to get in the way of that." If he even tried to keep me away from her, I would leave him. I loved Ianita more than anything. I thought I felt that way about Tom. I guess I was wrong.

"What happened out there? Why was there purple shit everywhere and why did all those mobs die immediately?"

"I protected the ones I love. That's what happened. Turns out I'm not as useless as you think." I sounded way bitter, but I really didn't care. I was angry at him.

I saw something flicker in his eyes when I said the last part, but it quickly vanished just as soon as it appeared. "What's the real reason you never answered any of my calls?"

"The real reason is that I was busy. I was busy taking care of Ianita and I was busy training. I didn't have time to listen about how much of a dead weight I am."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw tears shoot out of his eyes. I triggered something. His sobs filled the air and he hid his face in his hands as he cried. "I-I d-didn't mean it! I'm s-sorry...I l-love you so much...I was angry and I lost control...I hurt you and I'm so sorry. As soon as I left I felt so horrible. I wanted to go back but...they said it was a bad idea. And yesterday I called Martha and asked what you were doing...and she said you were busy being happy...so happy without me..." He took in a deep breath and let it out shakily. "I realized how miserable I was without you and how happy you were without me hurting you...I'm the one who's a terrible husband...you're the best anyone could ask for..."

He hastily wiped away tears straying down his cheeks. I stopped his hand and used my own to wipe away his tears. He smiled sadly and sniffled. I pecked his lips gently and stared into his eyes lovingly. "You're not terrible. You're my Tom. I'll always love you no matter how much you hurt me."

"Does that mean you forgive me?" He asked in a choked tone.

"If it'll make you stop crying." I joked.

Instead of laughing, he sobbed harder and hugged me so hard I could barely breathe. "I love you!" I heard him say through the muffled sobbing.

"I love you too. Stop crying. It's okay." I ran a hand through his faded blue hair.

"No it's not...I should've let you go on that mission...I was just afraid that Mianite would turn on us and then all of us would be dead...and I knew you wouldn't stay here without something keeping you here. "

"Yeah...I'm still a little peed that you forcibly made me stay here while you went on a mission with someone with tried to kill us multiple times."

"And I'm still a little peed that you made...a thing...with Ianite. When you gonna get rid of it?" He made a disgusted face.

Seriously? We just had a tender moment and he just said that? Why do I keep forgiving this jerk?

"She's not a thing or an it. And I'm not getting rid of her. Ever." I said in a hateful tone.

"If I had a kid with Dianite, would you want me to keep the thing? Do you know how weird this is from my point of view? You had a kid with someone else before you had one with me." He was irritated again. He had been sobbing and begging for forgiveness no less than thirty seconds ago.

"If you loved that child with all your heart, then I'd understand. I love Ianita and I want to take care of her. This is our chance to be parents, Tom. You can help me raise her too." I gave him an encouraging smile.

He didn't return it. "I don't want to raise a kid that isn't mine. I want a kid that's ours, Sparklez. I don't want to be the awkward step dad, I want to be the dad."

How could he be so insensitive? She was a little girl who was lost. She needed parents who could care for her and we could take care of her together. Why didn't he want that?

"We can't have kids Tom. Have you forgotten we're both guys? This is our only chance at being parents. Can't you just consider it?" It's a simple request.

"I'm not raising something that isn't mine. That's just that." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Then I'll just raise her myself. Thanks for the help." I scoffed. I pushed past him and went into the direction of Decs house. I don't need him. Martha and Mot love her. They'll help me any time I need assistance.

Ianita will be my daughter only, and I'll be proud to have raised my little angel alone.
~~~~~