A True Hero

31 - Welcome to the World

The room was silent for a moment. Then Blizzard turned to Garlude and asked if it was true, but I didn't hear her response. Meta Knight had pulled me away from the table to one of the giant windows in the oval office. I stared out into space, not even trying to stifle the stream of tears flowing down my face, and let my mind wander between guilt and nothingness.

Behind me, I caught snippets of the heated conversation. Amai said, "Garlude, is it true?...You'll need...check up...tomorrow..."

Blizz interrupted, saying, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know, either," Garlude replied. "Nikki...guessed."

"We're married, Garlude...communication...success...need to know these things...my stars...a father!" Then Arthur said something and the discussion was moved outside. Then The Sage appeared beside me, shaking his head and laughing to himself.

"You're a wonder, Lady Sensei," he said. I wiped my face and glared at him. "I know you're upset, Lady, but you are. Just like your mother."

I sighed and studied my boots. "It's not going to stop her," I said quietly, crossing my arms. "She'll keep fighting until she goes into labor."

The Sage chuckled some more and kept shaking his head. "Blizz won't let her do anything too rash. Anyways, how did you know she was with child?"

"I felt a new chi," I said. "I felt the same kind of chi before when my youngest brother was born."

"When did you first suspect she was pregnant?" Meta asked quietly.

I ran my hand through my hair. "I had a feeling something was up with her after the mumbies attack since she was highly emotional and easily fatigued. But I didn't know for sure until today. My guess is that she's going to deliver soon. At least within this month or the next."

"Lady Amai will take care of that," The Sage said.

And so the quest for Galaxia was postponed until after Garlude gave birth. Arthur, although flustered over one of his top warriors rendered unavailable, agreed with me about keeping Garlude and her baby safe, so any missions she could have joined were kept a secret from her and she was given her own room in the hospital. The following day, Amai gave her an ultrasound. Garlude was nearly nine months pregnant with a baby girl.

I didn't see much of Garlude for the next few days. She was confined to the infirmary, stuck sitting in a bed like a prisoner behind bars. Whenever I passed by the hospital, I reached out with my sixth sense and sensed her chi. It was just as fiery as before, if not more enraged. The Sage visited her once five days into her confinement and meant me afterward with a flushed face. Garlude was beyond ticked with me.

"It is best that you don't see her until after the baby is born," he advised.

"When will that be?" I asked cautiously.

"Amai's predicted it will be sometime in the next two weeks," The Sage replied. His star radiated as he picked up on my stress, then he reached out and touched my shoulder. Immediately, my worry was lifted and replaced with peace. "She'll understand why you did this after all of this is done. No need to worry, Lady Sensei. All will work itself out."

Unfortunately, fate deemed it unnecessary for the drama to work itself out. Within the next week, it tangled itself up even more. I was sword training with Ren when I received word that he and Blizzard were being sent back to Minoa. NME had threatened another attack on the Cambria System, specifically targeting the snowy planet Minoa.

"It's like NME knows that Garlude's giving birth!" I complained to Ren as I watched him pack some gear from the weapons room. Arthur had reopened it to the army for anyone's use, but a guard kept watch day and night in case the room and its contents were misused. "He's trying to pull Blizz away to stress her out. This isn't going to end well, I just know it!"