Birth of a Newborn Light

Synopsis: Jim and Suzanne's romantic antics end in her becoming pregnant. Emily is not surprised, knowing how romantic they are, and actually welcomes the coming of her new baby sister, Amy. This tale explains how she becomes a Warrior as soon as she turns 11.

Chapter 1--Frisky Business

The weather was warming up and spring was in the air. The flowers had started blooming and all creatures, even human beings were in a romantic mood. No one had noticed Jim and Suzanne's friskiness as of late, but they were always absent at around afternoon, when lunch was through. None of the faculty knew where they had gone to, except for the gardener, Jacques, who had seen the two becoming a bit familiar in the biblical sense in his splendid garden. Jacques didn't care. They weren't bothering any of his flowers, and he always left the two in peace to be alone to make love together. But he kept their rendezvous secret, knowing that it wasn't his place to gossip.

Suzanne could tell a difference in how she was feeling. She was experiencing strange cravings. Usually, she would crave chocolate at certain times, and such a thing wasn't unusual, but even Jim was craving odd combinations of food which were spicier than usual. She tended to shrug that off, thinking possibly it was a side-effect of their steamy interludes together, making passionate love in the garden. She suddenly felt the urge to laugh, when there was nothing funny to laugh about. The students looked at her strangely.

"What's so funny, Mrs. Morales ?", one of the girls up front asked, curiously.

"Strangely, Irene, I am not quite sure what is funny. Isn't that strange ?", Suzanne answered. Irene, in her dark dreadlocks and her dazzling brown eyes, simply smiled. She didn't think anything was wrong with Suzanne chuckling out of the blue like that. Suzanne was typically happy and rather congenial. So, a bit of a titter here and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

After school, the two lovebirds met in their usual spot in a patch of green grass surrounded by fragrant roses.

"Roses for my own rose.", Jim said as he tenderly unbuttoned her blouse and tenderly nibbled her neck. Suzanne giggled again. He continued, causing her to laugh out loud, but fortunately, no one heard. The garden was secluded, and it wasn't open to the public just yet. She pinned him to the ground playfully and he laughed as well. A flurry of clothes went everywhere. She blanketed him kisses, affectionately taking him to paradise, and she soon followed. After hours of passion, the two laid side by side, the cold wind chilling their naked flesh. They curled up in each other's arms and sighed contently, feeling their souls come back to earth. Suzanne looked at her watch,

"Oh dear heavens…Emily will be home now and she's probably looking for us. We've never been late before.", she said, a bit frantically. Jim stroked her cheek, soothing her.

"Don't worry. We'll make it there, dearest.", Jim said as the two dressed and fixed their hair as if nothing had happened. The two came home, met by a rather inquisitive daughter.

"Where were you guys ?", Emily asked, noticing their clothing was a bit wrinkled. Being observant, she had a feeling they had been engaged in the throes of ecstasy.

"We were a bit…sidetracked is all.", Jim said, making up a little white lie. Emily knew he was terrible when it came to lying.

"I know what you were doing, and I'm not bothered by it. I was a little worried when you were late but I'm glad you're home safe and sound.", Emily said. She sounded more like an adult than a child. They hugged each other affectionately and then prepared for a simple dinner inside. The rest of the day was spent talking about the activities around campus and what they were looking forward to tomorrow. It was early April and Easter wasn't too far away in the horizon. Emily couldn't wait to celebrate Easter this year because it meant getting to see family members she hadn't seen in many months.

Chapter 2--Big Announcement

Suzanne and Jim were still experiencing the bizarre cravings the had been having rendezvous in the garden. There was no reason for Jim to be having these cravings except maybe for the fact that he worked so hard during the day that he needed a bit of a snack to refuel himself. He would have something light like cashews and some water or granola bars and some juice.

As for Suzanne, she could tell there was a change going on inside her body, and she knew what it was coming from. She had experienced these sudden bouts of illogical laughter when she had been pregnant with Emily. It hit her like a cold ocean wave. She would test herself immediately. Excusing herself from class, she took a bathroom break and used a pregnancy test to see if her suspicions were correct. Without a blink, the tester said she was definitely pregnant. She beamed, her grin widening from side to side of her mouth. She had never planned for a second child and wondered how her only Emily would feel once she was told the magnificent news.

School ended several hours later. Emily was talking with Michael, who had Jeramie's laptop with him.

"Mom's been acting funny as of late.", she began.

"Funny…how so ?", Michael responded as he was helping her research on a project about the French revolution.

"She's been laughing at odd times and having strange cravings.", Emily responded.

"She might be pregnant.", Michael surmised.

"Really ? How do you know that ?", Emily said, in surprise. She thought maybe her mom was just going through a phase, or perhaps going through her monthly cycle. Usually cravings came along with it.

"My mom had a lot of emotional highs and lows when my fraternal brother and sister Arthur and Bridgette came into the world.", Michael said, remembering their birth as if it were yesterday. The twins were only 9 now and they were doing incredibly well. He couldn't help but smile when he thought of them, and he missed them. Emily thought about what her boyfriend had said. She had been secretly wanting a baby sister of her own to play with and now it seemed that her prayers had been answered.

"Do you think mom knows ? Oh, I hope she tells me first!", Emily stated, cheerfully.

"I don't know, but we'd better return to the task at hand. You know how attached Jeramie is to his laptop.", Michael said, with a small chuckle as the two completed their first part of research. Just then, Emily received a call on her cell.

"Excuse me a moment.", she said, politely.

"Sure, take your time. I'm going back to the dorm to drop off Jeramie's laptop. I'll meet you back at the library.

Emily's expression became more delighted as she heard her mom's voice.

"Magnificent ! Does anyone else know ?", Emily said, eagerly.

"I only found out today, dear, but I will tell Jean-Pierre as soon as I can. I'm going to need some time off to prepare for the arrival of the baby. You'll be going to the doctor's office with me later today.", Suzanne said, effervescently.

Emily had to cancel her study-date with Michael but he was very understanding about it. After all, the two of them would have plenty of time together to prepare for their essay. They were already ahead of the others in class and they were simply looking for images and music to put their presentation to after editing it for affect.

Chapter 3--Taking Time for Preparations

It wasn't much longer until Suzanne was told that she was pregnant. The doctors weren't certain if the child was going to be a boy or a girl because they could only see a fetus and no defining characteristics.

"He or she is very healthy though.", they stated, pleasantly, congratulating her. Jim practically glowed.

"If it's a boy I want him to be named Timothy Eli.", Jim said. Emily quite liked the name, and didn't really mind whether she had a baby brother or sister. Whatever her mother gave birth to, she'd welcome with open arms. She knew what she'd name the child if it were a girl though: Amy Marie.

It wasn't long that the whole academy knew about Suzanne's pregnancy. Everyone was delighted to hear she was expecting a child. She was only a few weeks pregnant and had hardly begun showing any signs.

"So, have you begun decorating the room for him/her yet ?", many of the students asked.

"Yes, Jim and I have already begun doing that. We had our nursery closed off for a while and now we can use it all over again. Once we find out whether it is a boy or a girl, we can start repainting it, and Emily has agreed to help us with that.", Suzanne said. She was looking forward to the child being born. She wondered what the little one looked like and whether it'd be an Adam or an Eve. Her next visit to the doctor in a few more weeks would tell her that.

Jim had started picking out names for the baby. Timothy Eli or Robert Jay seemed to come out more prominently, and for a girl, he was thinking either Joanne after his mother or Rosalinda after Suzanne's grandmother. He had been to baby stores picking out toys for the baby to play with and clothing for it to wear. He had gotten clothes that were green, orange, purple, and the most common neutral color, yellow. They were gently used so he didn't have to pay much. Even some of Emily's old playthings and clothing would become useful again in these months of frantic preparation.

Before long, Suzanne began to become more pronounced but still looked glorious as ever. There were times she'd laugh because the baby was kicking and it tickled. She now knew, thanks to ultrasounds that the child would be a girl. She took her daughter's suggestion of Amy Marie, which Jim believed was a perfect name.

Even though Emily was occupied with helping with decorating as well as keeping her homework in check. She felt a bit worn out and had been taking naps to replenish herself in the middle of the day. She would be doing this much more often when Amy was born and she could tell the day was coming closer to her arrival. To be honest, she was a bit worried that Amy would take precedence in the life of her mom and dad, but something told her she wouldn't have to worry. After all, she had wanted to be a big sister her whole life and now her dream was coming true.

Chapter 4--Amy Marie's Birth

It was only 1 am and Suzanne had started having contractions. Emily was fast asleep and didn't even feel her father gather her into his arms. He put her in the car first and rushed back to get Suzanne, who's water had just broken.

"Hurry !", she pleaded.

"Be calm, dear. I'll get you there as soon as I can.", he said, scooping her up and getting her in the car quickly. He snapped her seatbelt on and opened the garage door, leaving the house a bit faster than he normally would. Suzanne was too busy focusing on her breathing to pay attention to Jim's driving.

The Morales Hybrid made it to the hospital exactly on time. Suzanne held Jim's hand tight as her contractions became more and more constant. The nurses and doctors began to tend to her, telling her when to push and encouraging her not to give up. Suzanne didn't have to push too terribly hard because Amy had no trouble coming into the world. She had a powerful set of lungs, crying until she was cleaned up and wrapped up by the nurses. By then, she calmed down considerably. Emily, who had witnessed this miracle, wanted to hold her baby sister first.

"It's ok if I hold her, isn't it ?", Emily asked in a bit of a tired voice.

"Of course it is.", her parents answered in concert. A bit teary-eyed and awed, Emily held her arms out and the nurses handed her Amy. Amy looked a bit more like her mother than she did. For a moment, little Emily opened her eyes and looked at her sister, just grinning from ear to ear.

"Just look at the peepers she has…Stunning.", Emily said, ebulliently. She kissed her sister's forehead and hugged her before giving her to her mom. Suzanne, Jim and Emily could all tell she was definitely a unique child, especially since she appeared older at birth than she should have been and could see perfectly when she had opened her eyes. According to the doctors, she was healthy girl and there had been no complications in her birth. Suzanne hadn't felt hardly any pain in labor. In fact, she couldn't wait to return home and show Amy off. Emily expected this, because she remembered stories her dad told her about how she had done the same with her. Life would be a bit hectic with little Amy around, but at least she knew her social life wouldn't suffer thanks to the Morales' maid, Rosalind.

Chapter 5--Time Traveler

The next day, Jim and Suzanne showed pretty little Amy to the Kadic schoolchildren. They made proclamations of "awww" and "how cute" at her beautiful, sweet face. Amy didn't seem to mind the attention. In fact, she adored the attention but quickly went to sleep when Rosalind was called to take her back home.

As Amy grew, the accelerated aging continued. Emily, nor her parents, let alone anyone else around them, had experienced this sort of phenomenon before. It seemed that she had done years of growing all within one night. She had been born for a greater purpose than any of them had initially imagined. She wasn't certain if she was worthy enough to become the Time Warrior, but there had been no other person who had been a Time Warrior before her. Yet she knew somehow this was a grand undertaking. She could only remember a vision she had in utero of a being even more powerful than anything the Warriors had faced before. She then saw a peaceful era returning to Lyoko for eternity, or at least what could be considered eternity in this plane. It was all very challenging for her to understand, especially since she was only 11 and more mature than anyone else her age, but in time, all would become crystal clear.

When the Wired, or Internet had been invented for soldiers in 1992, it was still in its infancy. Lyoko at that time didn't have a name but the people existed of their own free will. They developed their own customs, mainly Asian, thanks to its main creator, Dr. Akira Fujita. What Akira hadn't realized that everything written in the Internet isn't exactly deleted when one pushes the 'delete' button. He was writing a program that on a basic level, was the incarnation of his dead daughter, Aya. Aya was a brilliant young lady and loved life, especially nature. She wanted to be an activist for endangered species in the future as well as being an educator and scientist. She had a crush on one of her fellow schoolmates, Tskune, but his affections had been stolen away by another girl in her class who had 'developed' more than she had. Aya was a bit of a late bloomer, but stunning none-the-less. She was able to have her dying wish fulfilled on a field trip when she got to hold his hand. They were good friends but nothing more, sadly. The thing that killed her was a mysterious blood disease that only 1 in 10 people ever get and had no cure. So, in order to honor her, he gave the program his daughter's likeness. It was innocent enough but the AYA program developed a mind of its own. It started growing vehement, wanting to claim a Tskune of her own, no matter what the cause. This form later was imprisoned by the Elders and Overseers and locked deep in limbo in the Volcano Sector, sealed by many encryptions that could never be unlocked, but they never foresaw that Amy's birth would've reawakened her. Amy, strangely enough was the second half of that programming reborn in this plane. Confusing as it was, she told her friends what she had learned and they had begun considering her seriously as a Warrior. Before she knew it, she was being enrolled in Pencat Silat classes and being trained. The only question that remained was…when would the larval monster known as Aya arise and how would Amy be able to quiet that monster before such a catastrophe occurred ?

Chapter 6--Proving Ground

Once she learned she could transform without the ability of a communication device (and she was the only Warrior to have ever successfully done so just by willing it), Amy felt it prudent for herself to travel to the Volcano sector alone in Lyoko.

"It's too dangerous, sister. Let me go with you. I'm older and I know Lyoko better than you do.", Emily said, placing a steady hand on her sister's shoulder.

"No, you cannot go. I must do this alone. I have to speak to my other self.", Amy said, seriously. It made Emily's head hurt to hear someone speak like that, but Amy was indeed, fragmented, from what she had said. That past part of her had remained in stasis for so long, just waiting for contact from the outside world. She couldn't imagine how lonely Aya had been all this time. That is…until she met her, face to face.

In her new outfit, cerulean in color, accompanied by a staff that was a scythe for use of creating portals from one dimension to the next, Amy dove into the torrid Volcanic Sector meeting the lonely Aya. Her eyes seemed hollow, her complexion pale.

"Is that you, Tskune ?", she asked upon seeing Amy before her, momentarily seeing the man she had loved for over a century.

"I'm not your unrequited love, Aya. I'm half of you.", Amy said, quite straightforwardly. Aya looked at the French girl before her and squinted her eyes. Though she was clearly Japanese, she could see some of her own features staring back at her. Aya began to cry for the first time in a long time. Somehow, Amy could comprehend exactly why Aya was crying to begin with.

"Aya, you have to let go of the past. If you want to truly live and be free, let go of your grudge.", Amy said tenderly.

"It's so hard though…", Aya said, balling her fists and sniffling a bit. Amy placed her hands outside the craggy cell that held Aya in place. Aya could feel the warmth emanating from her hands.

"I realize it's difficult, Aya but a grudge can do you no good, let alone to the ones you love.", Amy stated, tenderly. Aya came forward to place her hands on the tube, transferring herself into Amy's body. Amy then released whatever pain Aya was holding through free-flowing tears. Now being completely whole, she felt even happier than she ever had been.

As soon as she returned from her trip to the Volcano Sector, she was approached by all of the Warriors who had been watching her progress via Jeramie's laptop. Despite the fact she was happy, she felt that it wasn't the last they would be hearing of the Aya program again somehow even though she liberated her through love and understanding. That program, in its most infantile stage, still existed and it was searching for an intelligence and drive to rebuild again. She reminded her friends of that.

"This is a time for us to continue fighting no matter the circumstances. I know none of this computes with anyone of us, let alone myself, but let's keep ourselves diligent.", Amy said, fist upraised emphatically. With a loud cheer, the Warriors shouted, keeping their vow alive.

Epilogue

The Warriors had taken Amy's advice to heart, keeping themselves fit both physically and mentally. No change had occurred in Lyoko for the longest time, but strange quakes had be occurring from time to time.

"That's possibly the remnant of the Aya program. When Doctor Fujita had developed it, like his daughter, it was resilient. Although initially Aya had been "healed" the remnant of the program, searching for a life source of its own, was its own being.", was the thought that echoed in the minds of everyone who kept constant contact with all sectors of Lyoko open. So far, no change had been seen, but they had been reporting the earthquakes to them. Jeramie sent a program called an Observer to watch the areas the quakes were being reported from. And then, he caught a sight of something strange.

The remnant, in numerical form, started to grow little by little. At first it resembled a worm that had begun eating data unopposed by any other force. It was a tiny worm, nothing to be too concerned about, but when Jeramie studied it closer, it bore the same code as the Aya program had.

"It's just as Amy warned us about.", Sam observed, leaning on William's shoulder.

"Can we do anything about it ?", William asked.

"I have an extermination program built in to the Observer.", Jeramie said, locking onto the worm's location and blasting it. But it seemed no matter how strong the laser was or the fast hacking he performed, the worm could defy it.

"I told you, it's a strong code.", Amy sighed. She felt a bit irritated she hadn't done a scan of the Volcano Sector before she had left. Now this little virus had become a problem, which was growing at breakneck pace. The only thing that could be done was to warn those in Stability of the worm's approach.

"I…am…Destrada.", the being said as it grew in strength. It became colossal in size, even larger than fabled giants in mythological tales. He had a spiked tail, curled horns, a draconian mouth and eight eyes as well as the symbol of the scythe on his breast. He breathed fire and could fly easily as well as immobilize the Overseers and Elders easily with a sonic roar. So much of what he had done was irreparable.

"We have to go, NOW. Too much information is being wiped out and soon Lyoko won't even exist anymore.", Aelita said, worrying about the fate of her people.

In a matter of nanoseconds, Amy took them there, but the devastation was almost too much to bear…

To be continued…

Can Destrada be stopped ? It is most likely he is the worst foe the Warriors have ever stood up against since the defeat of Umbra. Whatever he ingests or physically topples is lost forever. But he did forget the healing powers of Emily, Amy, Aelita, Taelia, Suzanne and Michael. With no weakness to be found, sadly, one of the Elders has to sacrifice himself to save Lyoko from obscurity.