Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

you seen Jamie around here?” Chips asked me.
“He’s at the bar with Aaron,” I told him, with Luna nodding in agreement.
Chips shook his head, disappointed in his best friend.
“He’s supposed to be in the picture, too, isn’t he?” Shane asked him. All of us: Chips, Jammins, Luna, Shane, Derrick, my sisters, Shannon, Nick, Cool Cat, Big Guy, Loraine “Love Joy” Joyce, the twins, and the kids were going to pose for a “Crusader family” portrait. It was Shane’s idea, which I loved.
“He’ll be there, trust him.” Chips assured us. “Even if I have to drag him away from an experiment, I’ll make sure he’s there.”
“Thanks, Chips.” I replied.
Chips rubbed his hands together. “Now, we eat.”
I laughed. Trust Chips Deneson to liven up a party.
I felt a kiss on my neck, and knew it had to be Derrick, trying to grasp my attention away from the rest of the world.
“What’s on your mind?” Derrick whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes and said in my head. You.
He hugged me from behind and whispered in my ear. “Let’s go somewhere private.”
He took my hand and led me outside, where the California sky was as bright as ever. Only a light breeze made the day more perfect.
We kissed once we found a secret spot to talk. I put my head on his chest; listening to his heart beat its steady rhythm.
“This is absolutely perfect.” Derrick whispered, holding me close. “No Crusading to fight the bad guys. No secrets kept from each other, nothing to stand in our way of having the perfect evening.”
Nothing, huh?
“You’re right.” I told him, looking up into his chocolate-brown eyes. “Once we’re together as one, nothing can stop us.”
“We know everything about each other, right?” Derrick asked me.
I looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. “Not everything.” I told him.
“Why do you say that? We’ve known each other for nearly five years.” He told me.
“If we knew every tidbit about each other, our life together would be a bore.” I remarked. “True?”
Derrick nodded with a grin. “True.”
He hugged me, kissing the top of my head. For a few moments, I felt I was in heaven.
“I knew I’d find you two out here.” I heard Shane’s teasing voice behind me.
I blushed red as a beet, and Luna saw it.
“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.” Luna replied.
“Yet.” Shane supplied. “Come on in, it’s almost time for the festivities to begin.”
I took Derrick’s hand and followed my sister and her fiancée into the Café, where I saw all the System’s agents, plus the six Companions (in human form, of course), and even Enchantra was there, holding Lord Guardian’s hand. They were Earthbound shortly for the ceremony. Katherine, Kitten’s Claw and Marie were talking in the corner with their beaus, Wolf, Toby and Panther.
I caught their eyes and waved. The kits waved back, and the boys nodded their hellos. Panther, who looked so much like his Mark Grey self again, raised his glass as he held onto Marie’s hand. I smiled.
To think, this was my family. I was someone special at last, a part of it all.
The only people I didn’t see were Aaron, Aimee, and Shannon. I dismissed it, once remembering Aimee telling me Shannon was going to do a quick induction on them before the wedding tonight.
I heard clinking on a glass, to get everyone’s attention.
“May I have your attention, please?” It was Nick. He spotted the four of us gathered and raised a glass to us. “May I be the first to congratulate the happy couples? To whom which our Dream Realm wouldn’t be safe every night. Shadow, I’ve known you first as the enemy, then a Crusader, and finally a friend. You’ve shown me how to have fun and be myself. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be dating Shannon.”
The crowd laughed.
Nick continued. “Luna and Ariana, the second most beautiful belles I have ever met, the two of you are astounding. There were many a time you tricked me into telling some secrets of my own.” That statement was directed to Luna. “Ariana, I have you to thank for helping me in the second Crusades against Sabrina and her Warriors.”
I smiled.
“Derrick, you are one of the best Junior – I mean, Senior – Detectives I know.” Nick replied, nodding to him. “Heck, if it weren’t for Shannon, I would have picked you up myself.”
“Of course, if that had happened,” Derrick began, looking into my eyes. “I wouldn’t have met my darling Dream Girl.”
Nick laughed. “True, true.” He remarked. “I propose a toast to the four best friends, best fighters, and best all-around good people I know. Here’s to you.”
“Here, here.” The crowd of people chorused.
That afternoon was only the beginning of the fun.
In the middle of the party, I watched Shane slip away after whispering something in my twin’s ear. I looked at her in wonder, but she shrugged silently.
By that time, Shannon still hadn’t shown up. I excused myself from Derrick to confront Nick.
“Nick, I thought you told me Shannon was going to be here in an hour?” I asked him. “It’s already been two, with the picture coming up in a few minutes, and she’s nowhere to be found.”
“Look Ariana.” Nick replied. “I’m sure she’s fine. Why don’t you search for her in your mind? Then tell me what you know.”
I stared at him. “What about –?” I asked, thinking about whenever someone used Magic around him. It made him nearly go nuts.
“I’ll be fine.” He assured me.
I took a breath and closed my eyes.
What I saw in my mind confused me. It was the picture of Shannon’s mother, Sarabeth, holding a pair of babies. I shook myself out of the vision and opened my eyes. “I don’t know what to think about it.”
“About what?” He asked. “Is she okay?”
I nodded, just to assure him. I didn’t want him panicked over nothing.
“Well, what did you see?”
I told him, but he didn’t know what to make of it. “That is odd.” He shrugged. “Oh well, I’m sure she’s fine.”
“Yeah, Shane’s with her.” I heard Luna’s voice behind me. I hadn’t heard her come up to me.
I turned. “Why must you do that to me?”
She shrugged. “He told me as he was leaving where he was going. Turns out, Shannon has to meet her phantom caller at Paradise Peak, and he volunteered to help watch over her.” Luna explained. “I hope they’ll be okay.”
“You’re worried about Shane?” I asked her.
“Sure, even Shadow’s have to be cared for.” Luna smiled. Shadow was Shane’s codename here at the System. Hers was Lu-Lu, Derrick’s was Reading, and mine was Sister. That is, until I met my family, the Woods’.
I shook my head and laughed. My twin sister was a card sometimes, and I loved it.

II

Later that afternoon, I was urged to see what Lady Doc, Dana Swanson was doing. As I walked the halls of Third-Floor to the Medical Clinic, I felt something wrong. My head hurt, and an empathic vision of Dana’s sorrow was clear.
Two years ago, she’d lost her father, Antony “Doc” Swanson. He was the best, and she was his apprentice. With all the diseases he cured, and all knowledge he had of the human body, even he wasn’t able to escape a heart attack. He died two years ago this month, and I could tell when I knocked softly on the Clinic door, Dana was still thinking about it.
I walked in cautiously, poking my head in the door. Dana stood with a small smile, ready to treat my ills. I decided to play around with it. She knew who I was since her father introduced us when I arrived.
Dana reached for the stethoscope around her neck and waited while I seated myself on the examination table.
“What’s the matter, Agent Sister?” Dana asked.
“I’m sick – not just a common cold, mind you.” I made myself sound sure. “It feels worse than that.”
“How so?” Dana asked, checking my blood pressure, heartbeat, and muscle-structure. “What are your symptoms?”
“Nausea, upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea. You name it, I got it.” I told her with a smile.
“Just a second.” Dana replied, amazed. “What are you really here for?”
“Promise not to tell anyone – not even Shannon?” I pleaded.
Dana had to smile. “I promise. What is it?”
“I want to see if I can get pregnant again.”
Dana blinked. “Again?”
“That little girl with the reddish-brown hair?”
“What about her?”
“Her name is Kelly, and she’s my daughter.” I confided.
“How old is she?” Dana wondered.
“She just turned seven last week.” I told her.
“That would mean –”
“I had her when I was thirteen.” I nodded. “If you don’t believe me, ask Aaron Schmidt.”
“Is he the father?” Dana asked, and I smiled.
“Now, about a pre-pregnancy test, or whatever you call it.” I spoke up, grinning. “Derrick and I are finally getting married, and I want to know.”
She paused, thinking.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” Dana sighed. She headed to the cart and pulled out a kit filled with two needles and a home pregnancy test. “Here.”
Dana’s hand just brushed mine, and I gasped.
In my mind, I saw Dana and Shannon burying Doc Swanson. I could feel how hurt Dana was, and how utterly alone she felt back then. “Dana, are you okay?”
Dana looked away, placing the tray down beside me. She assured me softly, “Sure, I’m okay.”
“Oh.” I replied with a small shrug. Sometimes my clairvoyant visions could tell things wrong. “It’s just that, when my hand brushed yours, I thought I could read your aura. It said you’ve been dreaming of your father’s death again.”
Dana should’ve known better than to keep something so secret from me.
“Care to talk about it?” I whispered, sneaking a look at Dana’s eyes.
Dana cleared her throat, and told me the dream.

In her dream, she watched as the casket was being lowered into the ground.
She knew the person inside was a prominent doctor before he passed.
He was also her father.
Of all he know about modern medicine, even Antony “Doc” Swanson couldn’t fight the disease that eventually killed him – a heart attack.
Dana Swanson stared at the casket, not bothering to listen to the Preacher’s words of farewell. She didn’t even feel the hand of her good friend, Shannon Ryan, comforting her. Dana didn’t even know anyone else existed but her and her father.
A single tear was left to run down Dana’s cheek. She may have been in her early twenties, but inside, she felt like a little girl of only six-years-old.
The image changed.
Now, Dana really was six-years-old, watching as a casket was lowered. The woman inside – who she had loved and adored, cherished and trusted – was dead. While her mother Michelle Diane Swanson was on an assignment for the System, a criminal killed her.
A hand was on her shoulder. Dana looked up and saw tears in her father’s eyes.
It was the only time Antony Swanson would cry.
She awoke in tears.
Relieving her anguish on the pillow, Dana cried for a few minutes before falling asleep again.
She realized finally – she had no one, no family to mourn with her but her good friends in the System. She was convinced that no one would understand.

“Interesting.” I told her. I should have told her ‘intense.’ It was the first time in years I actually controlled the dream-aura-reading ability. I amazed myself this time.
“That’s all you can say – ‘interesting?’” Dana