August 27 in The Year 724 After the Founding

It was fairly late in the afternoon when a cab pulled up in front of the Donetti home. A rather bedraggled looking, obviously malnourished, young man paid the cabbie and then painfully descended, leaning heavily on a walking stick.

Before he could knock, the door opened and Mimi offered her arm. "I'm pleased to see you...but not in this condition." Looking more carefully at his face she whispered, "Oh dear."

Seconds later Ailin was there. Each of the maids took one of his arms over their shoulders and half-carried him down the hall to the large bathing room in the back of the building.

When he'd arrived, Genie had stuck her head over the railing ringing the balcony, as she'd done every time the door had opened lately, hoping against hope that this time it would be Mario. They'd expected him back almost three weeks earlier. Seeing that it was finally him, she'd started to call out to him, only to find the words caught in her throat when she saw his face and then Ailin appear to join Mimi.

She rushed down the stairs then down the hall only to find the door to the bathing room closing in her face after Mimi said, "Not now."

Immediately she fled upstairs to her mother's office and threw open the doors. Before Miranda could reprimand her she blurted out, "Mario's here, but something is terribly wrong! He looks awful. Mimi and Ailin took him to the large bathing room and won't let me see him!"

Miranda didn't run. She never ran. She always said that it was completely and totally undignified and that one always had time to walk, albeit sometimes briskly if the situation so required. For someone not running, it was remarkable that she still managed to reach the door of the bathing room on the floor below in less than eight seconds.

Once admitted she also closed and latched the door behind her, leaving Genie fuming and terrified outside.

Less than a minute later Miranda opened the door, commanded, "Get Jason, the twins, and Kaho, immediately," then slammed it shut again.

Genie tore toward the front door, then bonked herself on the head, hard. She strode to an alcove to the right of the front door and leaned against the wall. "Jason, Biki, Yoko, EMERGENCY. Mario is here and something awful has happened. Mother says to come right away and to bring Kaho as well."

There was a short delay then she heard a triple echo, "Coming," "On our way," "I'll bring Kaho, but I need to get some clothes on her first."

For the next 15 minutes Genie alternated between peering out the window in the alcove and pacing down the hall and trying the door to the bathroom, which remained infuriatingly locked.

Everyone arrived in a rush. Genie lead the way to the bathroom. This time the door was opened by Mimi. She let the others in and made as if to restrain Genie but changed her mind and stepped aside.

Genie hurried in and beheld a man in the soaking pool. She knew it was Mario, but she barely recognized him. To say he was gaunt was to be generous. He was perspring profusely, far beyond what could be attributed to the heat.

Hearing all the feet, he'd looked up. When he espied Genie he croaked, "I'm sorry my love. I know I should have spared you this, but I guess I'm much too selfish. I wanted to see you before...well...."

He pointed to his right leg. It was somewhat distorted by being under water but all present could see the rotting flesh just above the knee and the deep red streaks running up the thigh to his groin.

Genie's hands flew to her mouth and smothered her gasp, "OH NO!" She forced herself to stand tall and look at Mario, but tears were streaming down her face. and she was shaking violently. Nobody ever survived something like this. He probably had a day, maybe two at most.

Kaho however was looking at him clinically and entirely without emotion, "Mimi, how long has he been in the water."

"Not quite 30 minutes."

"All right. Here's what we'll do. Jason, you go find Sven and bring in that massage table of theirs. A few months ago Genie mentioned that she saw one once when she was little. They should still have it. No Donetti in history has ever thrown away something that might be useful someday."

She turned to Miranda. "I trust that hasn't changed?"

"No, it's still here somewhere."

Jason didn't wait for further instructions. He hurried out to find Sven.

Genie had approached the pool. She stripped off everything but her t-shirt and shorts then joined Mario, sitting to his left, holding his hand, and gazing into his eyes..

Kaho motioned for the twins to follow her and stepped out into the hall. "I'm sure that, with your help like at the wedding, I can stop the infection. But healing that wound is another thing. Oh, I can probably get it to close up, and get new skin to grow over the hole, but I have no idea how to put the muscles and tendons back together. I've never seen someone's insides before, just drawings. I doubt that he'll ever walk without a cane or crutch after this.

"Still, if Genie is as tough as I think she is, she won't care as long as Mario is alive and with her."

Yoko and Hibiki had a very brief "twin" conversation, and included Jason. Then Biki spoke, "Every since we married, we have been able to do things better than before. For your purposes that means we can feed you more energy than we did last time. Hopefully that will at least keep you from getting so worn out as you did at our wedding."

The twins wrapped their arms around Kaho and Yoko added, "We really didn't get ta thank ya properly then ya know. You were still too tired and we weren't sure you'd remember, so we'll do it right now. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."

Kaho wrapped an arm around each of them. "You're good kids. Looks like Jason got himself hooked up with the right women."

"I hate to interrupt you, but we should perhaps be moving on."

The three young women turned toward the voice, which was Ailin's. "While you do not understand the structure of joints, muscle, and tendons well enough yet, we do. When you repair his leg, we also will merge with you and provide you with energy. It is likely that it will still not be enough to heal it completely, but we think that, probably, he will be able to walk unaided, though with some degree of a limp."

Kaho nodded. "That's encouraging."

Shortly thereafter Sven and Jason arrived and slowly maneuvered the massage table around the corner and through the door.

Kaho consulted her internal clock, meaning that she asked Mimi, "How long has it been?"

"Forty-three minutes."

"Good. That should be long enough. The healing properties of the water should have cleaned out the superficial putrefaction and given us a clean wound bed. All right everyone, let's join the others and get to work."

Once inside again, Kaho instructed Jason and Sven to lift Mario and place him on the massage table, which had been covered with towels. Mario winced several times but made no sounds until he was properly on the table. Then he turned to the twins, winked, and rasped, "Please do me a favor. Don't tell Genie...that you saw me naked. On our wedding night, I want her to think...that she's the only one." Then he sank back, either asleep or unconscious.

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Kaho began giving instructions, "Mrs. Donetti, Eugenia, and Sven, please leave. We don't need you, and you'd only be distractions. And close the door behind you."

She turned to Genie and stamped her foot. "You heard me Genie. You have a choice, stay here and possibly interfere with his healing, or go out and let us be about our work."

Genie looked resentful, momentarily, then she strode to Kaho, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed her on the cheek. She hadn't realized it before, but Kaho was even taller than her mother, and her mother was the tallest woman she'd ever seen. After that she left without a backward glance closing the door behind her.

Kaho turned to the others. "All right then. I think I know what we need to do. Mimi, Ailin, if I say it wrong, please let me know."

They nodded, and Kaho continued, "I'll stand on his right side. I'll put my right hand about 8 centimeters below his knee, and my left hand over his groin. Jason, you do what you did before and stand behind me with your hands on my shoulders but this time I also want Yoko sandwiched between us, with her hands under yours. Mimi and Ailin will stand across the table from me. Ailin put your right hand on my left, and Mimi put your left hand on my right. Hibiki will stand between you and hold your other hands.

"The first thing I'll do is concentrate on clearing the infection. Since we'll be connected from the beginning this time, instead of only afterwards like at the wedding, go ahead and feed me right away. I'm not lying when I say that this is going to be very hard. I don't entirely know what to do, and I'm going to have to make adjustments as I go."

She looked at Mimi and Ailin. "I trust that you'll direct the repairs of the tendons and muscle?"

They nodded. "You presume correctly. Unfortunately we cannot ourselves heal. All we can do is guide and give to you of our energies."

Kaho answered softly, "That's a lot more than I expected. Thank you."

Then more briskly, "All right then, let's get started."

They all positioned themselves. Nothing happened at first, but slowly and tentatively a faint glow began to cover the leg between Kaho's hands. It wasn't long however before the light became so bright that the twins, Jason, and, finally Kaho had to close their eyes.

Because their eyes were closed against the glare, they never knew that first Mimi's and then Ailin's eyes began to glow a bright lavender and that, shortly thereafter, their entire bodies took on the same hue and almost faded to transparency.

Those waiting anxiously outside heard not a sound, but flashes of multi-colored light leaked from under the door where it didn't seal completely.

"Mother what do you..."

Genie's words were blocked by Miranda laying her finger across Genie's lips and shaking her head. Genie nodded, wrapped herself around her mother's left arm, then buried her face against her shoulder. Miranda used her right hand to gesture for Sven to leave. He wasn't needed any longer, and Genie needed some privacy while she cried.

He nodded and paced back down the hall. He'd be ready for however he was needed in the future.

For those inside the room, the concept of time became meaningless. For the rest of their lives they couldn't have told you if it was five minutes or an hour. Genie forever after swore that they were in there for at least two hours. Miranda, even though she was less involved, didn't have a clear idea either. It was like she was being blocked from thinking about it.

However long it took, like all things, it eventually ended. Mimi and Ailin returned to solidity, the light faded, and almost everyone opened their eyes, including Mario. The one exception was Kaho who was leaning half her weight on Mario's leg.

She straightened up and exclaimed, "That wasn't nearly as bad as I'd thought it might be!" She turned to her left, took a step forward, and her knees buckled. Fortunately Jason was still right behind her and caught her before she hit the tiled floor.

He maneuvered her into a chair in the corner of the room where she sat, looking slightly comfused, but clearly not nearly as exhausted as she was after her performance at the wedding.

Mimi, who looked disgustingly normal, retrieved a towel and covered Mario's privates but left his right leg fully exposed.

Ailin opened the door and stood back. Genie rushed in, followed by Miranda who walked with a deliberate pace, as always. When she saw Mario, Genie gasped. The streaks that had been running up his leg were gone. The crater where the wound had been looked to be about 90% filled in, and there was now healthy looking skin covering the area.

From the corner Kaho said, "Some was in his lungs. We cleared that out too."

Then she added, "Food. Now please." She looked at Mimi, Ailin, then the twins and Jason. "It would seem only for the four of us."

The maids exited. Kaho stood up and tested her balance.

Nodding to herself, she approacted Mario, "Everyone except Genie out. I need to examine him, and a patient deserves privacy when it's possible."

Jason smiled. "You sound just like a doctor."

"What do you mean little brother, I AM a doctor."

There was surprise and shock on the face of everyone in the room.

"What are you staring at? Did you think I was just sitting in my room these past four years since I graduated? I completed my medical training this June. I'm still working with my preceptor. There's a lot about herbs I still don't know. You'll all meet him soon. We'll be doing Mario's rehabilitation at his place just like Darci did."

Seeing blank faces, she explained, "You know Jason, Darci Witherspoon, the girl I was tutoring a while back."

"OH. I thought she was your girlfriend."

"My girlfriend? Why'd you think that?"

Jason blushed. "I saw you kissing her. So I figured..."

Kaho laughed, "Congratulations, you're just like everyone else. You've become an expert at jumping to conclusions. The reason I was tutoring her at home was because she had a chronic illness. Her monthlys were too heavy and too long. She was very gradually bleeding to death.

"She likes girls, not boys, so when she wanted to kiss me I figured, why not? It wasn't unpleasant, and I could slip in some healing without her noticing.

"It took me several weeks after that to figure out what was wrong. I told you that I'm still not great at internal anatomy and such. It turned out that there was nothing wrong with her uterus. The problem was that some itty bitty things in her bone marrow, they're called 'cells', weren't working right. When I realized what the problem was, I took her to my preceptor. We fixed it so they'll function properly from now on. It hardly took any energy at all, what with them being so small.

"That's why she doesn't come over any more."

"Oh. I see. I thought..."

"That I was a lesbian. You made that pretty clear. In trurth, I'm not against being with a girl, but I'm not against being with a man either."

She rested her chin on her fist for a while then said, "Actually, I'm not particularly interested in either. I'm probably one of those people I learned about during my training. We're called 'neuters'. It's pretty rare, probably because we almost never have children."

Seeing puzzled faces all around, she clarified, "Neuter is like a gelding, but without having had the surgery."

Enlightenment dawned. So that's what it was.

A masculine voice drifted up to them, "That's all very interesting and all, but do you suppose I could get up and put on some clothes?"

Oh, right, Mario.

Genie, who had been holding his hand ever since she came back into the room, bent over and gave him a kiss, after which she looked to Kaho. "The answer to your question my love is probably, no?"

Kaho nodded, then spoke one more time, "All this talking is really wearing me out. I've probably used up enough words for a month. My throat is dry too, so that's the end."

For the rest of the day, nobody heard a sound from her.

She herded the others out the door and closed it. After she completed her examination, Kaho opened the door and gestured for Genie to call the others back in.

Jason and Genie carried Mario back to the soaking pool. Genie was going to join him, but Kaho took her arm and pulled her out of the room, after gesturing for Jason to stay. Then she pointed at the clock and made a waving motion.

Jason nodded. Another half hour of soaking before they could get out. Just as they settled down, Mimi appeared and set down a tall mug of incredibly sweet tea by each of them. Over the next half hour, they sat and soaked in silence, broken only by Jason occasionally awakening Mario and making him drink some more of the tea.

When the time was up, Kaho reappeared with Mimi in tow. The three of them got Mario up and dressed in some new clothes, his previous outfit now being just a pile of shredded rags as a result of them cutting him out of what he had been wearing when he arrived.

He was extremely weak and required two people to support him while they got him down the hall to the kitchen. There he was fed a hearty soup and a bit of bread. After half a bowl Kaho called a halt. She wanted to make sure that it stayed down. If it didn't, Cook would likely be after them with the largest knife he had.

Genie was banned again. Mimi had told her, "Miss Kaho says that until you can control not only your emotions, but your body's reaction to them, you are not to be anywhere near him. If he sees you worrying about him, he'll be too busy thinking of you to take proper care of himself."

After half an hour passed with no signs of problems, Mario was allowed to finish his meal. By then he was so groggy that he was swaying slightly at the table, so Sven picked him up and carried him to one of the guest rooms. He was asleep even before the sheet could be put over him.

Kaho performed another quick check then returned to the others. Once more she gestured at Mimi who reported, "His breathing and color are normal. He'll recover. How well remains to be seen. That will depend on how much residual damage there is and how hard he works to build back up the muscle that remains.

"He won't be ready to be turned over to Master Hiroshi for several weeks, at least. He will however, probably, be well enough to get through the wedding without falling on his face."

Wedding? There's to be a wedding? Jason and the twins had a quick conversation in "twin". None of them had heard anything about it.

They sent a quick query to Genie, which basically was, "GIVE!"

"Oh that. I guess I forgot to mention it. It seems that we're getting married next month. Actually, it will be a week from today. Uh. Can you come?"

The twins shrieked and jumped on her. Kaho sat back with a happy smile. After this, there were only two more to go. Then the primary linkages would finally be complete.