Chapter 10

It was Saturday morning. Sun was out teaching a class and Nora was doing a photoshoot. Pyrrha had not been feeling particularly well, in more ways than one, so she had decided to stay home. Nora had been polite enough to give Glynda a call, telling her about Pyrrha's difficulties and that she would be alone for the day, and Glynda decided to keep Pyrrha company. They sat on the couch, watching television, talking about everything and nothing. So far the trouble Pyrrha had been having had not come up.

Pyrrha flinched. "G-Glynda...I think I felt a kick!" She gasped.

"The child won't start kicking for another three months Pyrrha." Glynda said. "It's barely a baseball."

"Then could something be wrong?" Pyrrha asked, her voice shaking. "I shouldn't feel anything yet, but I felt something bump. I'm sure I did." Pyrrha's stomach growled loudly and her eyes went wide. "OhmyGodwhathappened?!"

"You're stomach growled Pyrrha." Glynda attempted to calm her. "You're hungry. What did you have for breakfast?"

"Breakfast…" Pyrrha trailed off.

"Pyrrha…" Glynda sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "Nora and Sun let me sleep in and it slipped my mind."

"Then I'll make you a sandwich." Glynda offered.

"I-I can do it…" Pyrrha started to get up.

"Sit!" Glynda commanded, putting an arm in front of Pyrrha. "Stay!"

"Yes ma'am." Pyrrha said, sinking back into her seat.

Glynda made her way to the kitchen and opened up the pantry. "I swear, it's finals all over again." She laughed. She pulled out a loaf of bread before heading to the refrigerator.

"At least my fears were rational then." Pyrrha sighed.

"You were never going to fail Pyrrha." Glynda countered. "You were too intelligent and too driven to achieve anything less than a passing mark. I was and still am proud of you. You've come so far. What would you like?"

"Cheese and ham please." Pyrrha replied. "Making you proud has always brought me joy. You were my first role model, my first idol. You pushed me when I needed it, praised me when I earned it, and loved me. You loved me Glynda. No one had given me that love before you. I know I sound like a broken record, but I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me. I would be nothing without you."

Glynda finished the sandwiches and returned, sitting beside her and setting the plate on the coffee table. "You are my reason for living Pyrrha." Glynda declared. "Being my best for you is what kept me going during those early times, when my mind would find itself wandering to darker places. I could feel myself slipping, losing heart and losing hope. Then I would find you asleep at your desk, or fretting about a test, or I would just find myself thinking about you, how much you needed me, how much I wanted to help you, how much we meant to each other. Were it not for you Pyrrha, I may not be here at all. You may not be my daughter, but you are my girl, and I'm proud of everything you've done, especially this." She laid a hand on Pyrrha's, which had unconsciously migrated to her belly. "You will be a wonderful mother Pyrrha. I'm sure of it."

"I have a wonderful example to follow." Pyrrha smiled.

Glynda smiled back and kissed Pyrrha on the forehead. "Mother says it's time for lunch." Glynda laughed.

"Thank you." Pyrrha nodded, picking up a sandwich. "They look delicious. I just hope I can keep them down."

Glynda reached down past the side of the couch, grabbing an empty garbage can. "The bucket's ready, just in case."

As the days turned to weeks, Pyrrha's sanity began to slip. It seemed the hormones, or the stress, or some combination of the two, were messing with her brain. She was anxious, prone to sudden mood swings, and had trouble concentrating. The others found it disconcerting. She had always been the put together one, and now she appeared to be coming apart at the seams. She noticed too, but it only made her worry more. Nora underwent changes as well, but they were very different. Where Pyrrha's sanity was slipping, Nora's increased. She was abnormally level-headed, surprisingly patient and even quiet. The others thought of it as a nice change, but Nora found it unsettling. She just did not feel like herself.

Despite the changes, life went on. Nora and Pyrrha were part of a campaign featuring their pregnancies. Twice a week, they were photographed, always in the same pose and wearing the same clothing. Once all was said and done with, it would be put together for a time lapse. Pyrrha went first, then headed into the break room to wait for Nora. She would have watched, but she was feeling tired and needed to sit down and rest. The hot lights of the studio were not conducive to comfortable rest, so the break room was the only real option.

"How's it going?" Yang asked.

"Oh, you know, slowly losing my sanity." Pyrrha forced a laugh. "Nothing I haven't dealt with before. Just not used to it being me and not a patient."

"I think you're overreacting." Winter warned. "It only looks like you're losing it because Nora's so...lucid. I've never seen her so...normal."

"Yeah, she's the one taking care of me more often than not." Pyrrha shook her head. "It's strange to be on the other side. And she hates it. I guess it was all sunshine and rainbows in her head before, and now she's got a hard dose of reality."

"How's Sun handling everything?" Yang asked.

"Well, no signs of running." Pyrrha laughed. "He doesn't seem very different to me. Maybe a little more responsible."

"See, it's not too bad." Winter encouraged. "You get a little more loopy, them less. It all balances."

"True." Pyrrha nodded. "But I'm a little worried about what will happen when Nora and I are too pregnant for sex. Their libidos are off the charts."

"If the darker corners of the internet have taught me anything, it's that you're never too pregnant for sex." Yang joked. "And that and there are some things that just can't be unseen."

"I guess you're right but…" Pyrrha started. Suddenly there was a loud pop, and the sound of shattering glass.

"What the…" Winter gasped, jumping up from her seat.

"Shit that was loud!" Yang exclaimed.

Blake burst into the break room, breathing heavily. "What happened?" Winter asked.

"One of the lights exploded." Blake replied. "It's fine though. No one's hurt or anything. Just a little clean-up ahead of us."

"Oh, well that's a relief." Yang sighed. "It sounded like we were under attack."

"You should have seen the flash and the sparks." Blake said. "Hey Pyrrha...you okay?"

Pyrrha was hunched over in her chair, clutching her chest and hyperventilating. "I...I...can't…" She struggled.

"Pyrrha?!" Winter gasped, rushing to her side. "What's wrong?"

"Can't...breathe…" Pyrrha said. "Chest...hurts...something...wrong…"

Winter grabbed Pyrrha's shoulder. "Come on Pyrrha, look at me." Winter implored. "Everything's fine. Breathe. Try to calm down."

"I...can't…" Pyrrha groaned. "Head…"

"Pyrrha, can we help?" Yang asked desperately.

"Can't…" Pyrrha trailed off. She slumped in her chair, sliding toward the floor. Yang and Winter caught her under the arms.

"She's unconscious!" Winter shouted. "Blake, call an ambulance!"

Pyrrha opened her eyes and was blinded by white light. She heard beeping, along with some jumbled voices. Her eyes quickly adjusted, and she could see that she was in a hospital bed, surrounded by her friends. She vaguely remembered being unable to breathe, her chest tight, her consciousness slipping away. Nora was just beside her. Pyrrha reached out, grabbing Nora by the arm. Nora jumped and spun to face Pyrrha. "Oh!" Nora gasped. "Pyrrha…"

"Nora, is the baby okay?" Pyrrha asked desperately.

"Yeah, the baby's fine." Nora replied. "You had us all really worried though."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha pressed.

"The doctors ran a lot of tests and they said the baby is fine." Sun assured her. "They want to do a few more scans to be sure, but you shouldn't worry."

"Oh, that's good." Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief. "What...what happened?"

"You passed out in the break room." Yang replied.

"No, why did I pass out?" Pyrrha asked.

"The doctors think you had a panic attack." Winter explained.

"A panic attack?" Pyrrha groaned. "What's wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you." Nora encouraged.

"But there is!" Pyrrha protested. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me! Being anxious and moody was bad enough, but this…" The monitors keeping track of Pyrrha's vitals began beeping louder and faster.

"Pyrrha, you need to stay calm." Winter advised. "For the baby."

It did not work. "How am I supposed to stay calm?" Pyrrha asked, tears streaming down her face. "I'm losing my mind!"

"You're not losing your mind." Nora declared. "Trust me, I know what it's like. The hormones are just making you a little silly. You're still you, the way I'm still me, even if I'm not bouncing off the walls. Everything's going to be fine. You just need to relax."

"I...but...okay…" Pyrrha sighed. The beeps began to subside almost immediately. "You're right. If I freak out it'll only make things worse. I'm not losing it. I'm just stressed. That's all. I'll be fine."

"That's the spirit." Yang said.

Glynda burst into the room, followed closely by Raven. "Is everything alright?" She asked. "Is the baby okay? Is Pyrrha?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Pyrrha answered.

"Oh, Pyrrha." Glynda said. She rushed to Pyrrha and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I was so worried when I heard."

"I'm fine, the baby's fine, everything's fine." Pyrrha assured her. "I just...I had a panic attack and passed out."

"A panic attack?" Glynda gasped.

"Yeah, I know." Pyrrha groaned. "What's wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you." Glynda encouraged. "We all have our moments. Even I ended up in the hospital after a panic attack once."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked.

"Really." Glynda confirmed. "The important thing is you're okay. If you want we can work on some calming techniques."

"I already know them." Pyrrha noted. "I just...I never expected I'd be the one who needed them."

"We all need help sometimes." Glynda declared.

Pyrrha craned her neck to look past Glynda. "Raven, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked.

Raven was white as a sheet, tears in her eyes. "I...I...I was just so scared." She sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, come here." Pyrrha reached out to her. Raven walked over and bent down into the embrace. Glynda latched on as well. In seconds Nora, Yang, Sun, Winter, Blake and Velvet were all in on the hug as well. "I like this. This is nice."

"It would be even nicer if we weren't in the hospital." Raven said with an uneasy laugh.

Yang pulled away from the others with a smirk on her face. "Do ya' think they'll let us order pizza here?"

Blake and Velvet were not rushing things with adopting a child. They were exploring many options, having visited a few orphanages, talked with Vale's adoption organization, and even looked into adopting a foreign child. They had made one decision, they were not going to adopt blindly. They were going to meet a child in person, to make a connection before pulling the trigger. The pair scheduled another orphanage visit, this one on the outskirts of Vale City. Then, at the last second, a photo shoot in Vacuo popped up. Winter would be the model and needed Velvet to go along.

Rather than cancel the visit, Blake decided to go ahead and visit the orphanage without Velvet. Her fear of flying would keep her at home anyway. But she did not want to go alone. Luckily Pyrrha's increasingly loose grip on sanity meant Winter had ordered everyone else to stay home to be there, just in case. Blake asked Yang to go with her, and - loving kids - Yang readily agreed. Though Yang did not have the solid plans Blake and Velvet did, she too hoped to one day adopt, to expand her family with Winter.

Blake picked Yang up Saturday morning and they headed for the orphanage. "Why are you wearing so much?" Blake asked. "It's the middle of summer?"

Yang was indeed wearing more than usual. Rather than her usual tank top and short shorts, she wore capri pants and a jacket over her top. Blake had dressed up a bit, hoping to make a good impression, but Yang had no such obligations. "What, you want me to give the kiddies a show?" Yang joked. Blake huffed. "Eh, I figured I'd wear something that covered my tattoos. Wouldn't want to scare the kids, ya' know?"

"Why the pants?" Blake pressed.

"A jacket and short shorts?" Yang laughed. "Don't you think that would look a little weird?"

Blake thought for a moment. "Good point." Blake nodded. "Well, I'm glad you dressed up, good first impressions and all that." She pulled the car to a halt in front of a building that looked more like a warehouse than a home for children. The only indication that it was an orphanage was a play set occupying a small patch of grass on the side. "Well, this is it."

"Looks depressing." Yang observed as they got out of the car and started for the building.

"Most orphanages are." Blake sighed. "At least the kids don't have to be lonely."

"Welcome, can I help you?" An olive-skinned blonde said as the pair entered.

"I'm Blake Belladonna, I scheduled a visit." Blake replied.

"Oh, hello, I'm Arslan." The woman said. "I oversee the facility. You must be Velvet." She gestured toward Yang.

"Nope." Yang laughed. "Velvs couldn't make it. I'm just here for moral support."

"Yes, something came up at work so Velvet can't be here." Blake explained. "This is my friend Yang."

"Oh, well thank you both for coming." Arslan smiled. "The children are excited to have new guests. Come with me." Arslan led Blake and Yang to a large room just beyond the lobby. Judging by the toys scattered about the floor, it was a play room. "Children, our guests have arrived!" Arslan announced.

A dozen children raced over, standing before Blake and Yang. "Welcome!" They cheered, their faces beaming with smiles. To Yang it seemed a bit rehearsed, but it still gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling.

"Hi, I'm Blake." She said.

"And I'm Yang." She said. "But she's the one you want." Yang laughed.

"Do you think I could have some one-on-one time with each of them?" Blake asked.

"Of course." Arslan replied. "We have a room prepared for just that." Arslan directed Blake to the room. "Are you coming as well Yang?"

"That's okay." Yang shook her head. "I think I'll just hang out here." She walked over to a table covered with plastic building blocks. "I'll keep the kids company."

"Very good." Arslan smiled. "Asher, you're up first." A small boy with silver hair rushed off into the room with Blake.

Yang sat in one of the child-sized plastic chairs and started snapping blocks together. "Come on, build with me." She encouraged, waving the other children over. A few joined her, with others straying to other parts of the room to do their own thing. Slowly most congregated around Yang as they build a haphazard and multi-colored house. After a few minutes Asher returned from his meeting with Blake, and Arslan called in another child. Yang and the other children kept building until the structure was complete, mostly because there were no more blocks to add.

One of the children, a little girl, had been looking at Yang's hand. "What's that on your hand?" The girl asked.

"Oh, this?" Yang said. She turned her arm over to see part of her tattoo protruding from her sleeve. "I have a tattoo. A dragon."

"Can we see it?" One of the other children asked.

"Well, It's a bit scary." Yang warned.

"We won't be scared!" Asher boasted. "Come on! Show us!"

"Well...alright." Yang agreed. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal most of the dragon. She was met with chorus of gasps, "awesome"s, "cool"s, and other compliments. Soon almost all the children were gathered around for a closer look at the colorful artwork.

"Lilly, you're next!" Arslan called. Looking a bit disappointed to have to leave Yang, Lilly headed for the side room.

Yang looked up and noticed something odd. One of the children was not gawking at her tattoo. The little black-haired girl was off on the far side of the room, drawing something with crayons. For some reason Yang was drawn to her. "I'll be right back kids." Yang pulled away. "Why don't you knock that house down and start a new one?" The children eagerly disassembled the block structure as Yang walked over to the lone little girl. "Hey there. Are you alright? Why aren't you playing with everyone else."

The girl shuddered. "I'm...I'm fine." She replied. "I just like to draw." Her squeaky voice sounded familiar to Yang but she could not place it.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked. "We're having a pretty good time. Want to see my tattoos?"

"I saw them from here." The girl answered, still not looking up. "They're pretty."

"Even prettier up close." Yang declared. "Have a look." She held out her arm.

The girl hesitated, but put her crayon down and looked up. First she examined Yang's tattoo, then looked Yang in the face with...shining silver eyes. Yang gasped. Ruby? "Are you okay miss?" The girl asked, giving Yang a confused look.

"Y-yeah." Yang struggled. "I...I just...hold on. I'll be back." Yang headed over to the side room where Blake and Arslan were meeting with another child. She knocked.

"Come in." Arslan called from inside. Yang opened the door and leaned against the doorway. "Is something the matter?"

"Uh...the girl...the one drawing...with the silver eyes…" Yang struggled, her voice shaking. "What's her name?"

"Oh, that's Summer." Arslan replied. "She's a bit shy."

"S-Summer…" Yang gasped.

Yang turned, looking at the tiny girl who had already gone back to coloring. Everything else faded away, Blake and Arslan, the laughing children, the brightly colored toys scattered about. One phrase echoed in Yang's head, words she had not thought about in years. Ruby's last words.

"I hope Summer is okay."

End Season 1

Solstice will return...eventually!