The white tower
This story is rated PG-13 for sexual situations
Chapter 5 - A New Dragon
Kaiba and Rin rushed through the portal and up the stairs of the White Tower. They could hear the screams from the door. Kaiba examined her quickly and pronounced that she was definitely in labor, but the contractions were tearing her apart. Blood was pouring out of her pain-wracked body and the bed was already soaked red.
Kaiba decided to take a chance and perform a Caesarian as he had done with Yukina. It was obvious that Jaal would not survive a natural birth; he prayed that she would survive being cut open. He sent Bya to boil water, mainly to get him out of the room, and began laying out his instruments. Kain mixed the herbs that would put Jaal into a pain-free sleep. He told Tennu and Raike to bring in the water, but to keep Bya outside of the room.
With great reluctance, the Great Dragon went with the boys outside of the Tower. He sat on the door stoop and buried his head in his hands. Long minutes passed, an hour, then two and still no word.
Finally, Rin came down the stairs and Bya blanched when he saw her. Her dress and arms were stained red with blood. He stood up, wanting to hear what she had to say yet afraid to hear it at the same time.
"I'm sorry, I didn't take the time to wash up. I wanted to bring you upstairs as soon as possible."
Bya followed her up the stairs now terrified beyond imagining. He could read nothing on Rin's face. When he reached the top, he cautiously peered into the darkened room. Kaiba was at a far table, with his back turned, doing something, but Bya could not tell what.
Nearby, dumped on the floor were the sheets and blankets from their bed, all of them bright red as if they had been dipped in paint, but Bya knew it was blood -- Jaal's blood.
On the bed, wrapped in a clean sheet, was Jaal, his mate, his love, still and white.
He went to her side and knelt in front of her, taking her hand -- it was cold and limp. He felt his heart break in two with the loss of her. "Jaal," he whispered.
"No, Bya," Rin tugged at him, "We need you to lie next to her, to warm her up. She has lost a lot of blood and needs warmth."
He looked at her, not understanding her words. "She's not dead?"
"No! She is still in a deep sleep from the potion that Kaiba gave her."
Tears of relief ran unchecked down his cheeks as he climbed onto the bed and curled protectively around his beloved Jaal. Pressed against her, Bya could now hear the faint beat of her heart. She was alive!
After a short while, Kaiba came to the bed, holding a bundle of cloth. "Bya, here is your daughter."
He sat up and looked at the bundle, but made no move to take it. Kaiba opened the blanket to reveal a baby, not a dragon, with wisps of blond hair like his own. He nodded, his throat completely closed with emotion, and Kaiba gave the baby to Rin.
"We will give her a cow's milk mixture since Jaal is too weak to nurse. She is a healthy little girl."
As the days passed, Jaal got stronger and stronger. She insisted on sleeping with her daughter at her side, and even though she could not nurse, she fed her child with bottles.
Bya rarely left her side, except for the errands Jaal sent him on. At first he was afraid to hold his tiny daughter, but soon he was an expert, cradling her head like Rin had showed him. Rin and Kaiba stayed with them for a few more days, just to be sure that everything was going well and to help them with their child. Raike had gone to a nearby village and bought a cow for milk and some other odds and ends for his and Tennu's sparse lodgings. At least, they now had beds and did not have to sleep on the floor.
On the fourth day, Kaiba and Rin took their leave, with Kaiba promising to return if she needed him. Before he left, he told Jaal that she should never allow herself to get pregnant again; she would not survive another pregnancy. She nodded, already knowing this inside, grateful for her healthy daughter.
"Did you name her yet?" Rin asked just before they left.
"Yes, we have decided to call her Jae."
Until Jae was three months old, she seemed like a normal baby, then suddenly she grew to the size of a six-year-old within the span of a month. Kaiba was summoned and he examined her carefully, but could find nothing wrong. She seemed to have sustained no damage from the growth spurt; everything was growing at the same pace -- just very accelerated. Accelerated growth aside, Jae was beautiful. She was sweet and loving and both Jaal and Bya were very happy to have her.
During those months, Jaal worked with Raike, trying to find a latent power in the young man, but nothing was found. Raike was getting more and more depressed. Was he destined to be useless forever?
In an effort to stave off his unhappiness, she tried to teach him some fairly easy spells, but he showed no innate ability for magic. Jaal was at a loss -- she didn't know what else to try. Raike was too embarrassed to return home and face his father, especially after the words they had parted with, so he stayed in the White Tower, feeling useless and trapped.
Tennu was also feeling the same -- there was simply nothing to do in the White Tower. Both boys were bored to death.
Another month passed and Jae reached the physical size of a ten-year-old. Again Kaiba came, this time with Bakura, and both mages examined the little girl, taking samples of her blood, skin, hair, but nothing was different than a normal girl, except that she was only five months old and looked like a young girl instead of a baby. Her mind seemed to be growing at the same rate and her vocabulary and intelligence was far beyond a baby, and actually far beyond that of a ten-year-old.
When questioned, Bya admitted he did not know much about baby Dragons, so Kaiba made another trip to Suzaku to glean what information he could out of the always reticent Kyo.
Kyo offered no help whatsoever. Baby Dragons grew up normally, with no growth spurts -- it took them ten years to fully mature, and they stayed in dragon form until they were mature. Only then were they able to transform into a human. Jae was not behaving like either a Dragon or a human and Kaiba was completely at a loss.
Another month went by and Jae had yet another growth spurt, She was only six months old but the size of a thirteen-year-old adolescent girl. After two more months, she was physically about sixteen. Now her parents and Kaiba were more than worried; they were terrified. What if she continued growing like this? Would she live out a complete life, baby to elderly, in one year? Would she die of old age before the year was out? There were so many questions, but no answers. Jae was unique.