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Her father woke a moment later, though he seemed to be in pain. Sarah tried to find out what was going on with him but he refused to say much. Finally they left him alone as that was clearly what he wanted. Sarah wondered if he could ever accept her.

She was troubled after visiting her father. Not only was his power beginning to manifest, though still unidentifiable, but there was something wrong with him. She couldn't put her finger on what, though.

"What's bothering you?" Erica asked as they stepped onto the elevator.

"He's changed. There's so much anger in him." she replied.

"But that's rather normal for him, isn't it? Especially since he did lose just about everything, even though he brought it all on himself. And he's probably still blaming you or your mom for it all." Erica said.

Sarah shook her head, "No, it's not just that. And most of his anger seems to be aimed at himself, anyway. Something's bothering him, but he won't talk about it."

"There's not much you can do until he lets you in. Although him developing a power is rather disturbing. With his track record that could be bad." Jill said.

While I cannot yet identify his power, I feel that it is more of a danger to him than to anyone else at this point. It is good that you got his new address out of him, Sarah. We're going to need to keep an eye on him. If you don't mind, I think I'll fly by at night to see if his dreams reveal anything about his state of mind, or his powers. Vash said.

You can spy on his dreams?! Sarah thought as the elevator opened on the ground floor.

It isn't much different than reading waking thoughts. In some ways it is even easier. Though interpreting the meaning of dreams can be difficult. he replied.

Maybe we should take turns or something? I don't want you exhausting yourself. Jill thought worriedly.

Vash mentally chuckled, Don't worry, I don't need much sleep. And I won't spend the entire night there. I'll just stop by for an hour or so. And the rest of you are ill-suited for this. Except perhaps Tiffany, but she needs her rest much more than I do.

"Yeah," Tiffany agreed, "and I still need to see about getting myself a new place to live."

"Not on your own. After what happened I have to agree with Mana. We need to stick together. Once we've got some money together from the business we'll see about getting a bigger place for all of us. In fact, we need to talk to Mary about that." Mike said.

"I should tell her how things went with Dad, anyway. I guess I can call her when we get back." Sarah said.

"Why not pay her a visit?" Erica suggested.

Sarah smiled, "Yeah, we could do that. We've still got some time before your flight. I know Mom will be happy to see you again."

"We won't have time if we drive, so I suppose we should go home first and portal over?" Mike asked as they walked toward his car. Sarah nodded.

A short drive later they stepped briefly into Sarah's apartment before portaling over to Mary's house. Thanks to a quick telepathic message from Sarah she was expecting them. "Hello again! How are you all doing?" she asked after getting hugs from each of them and scratching Vash behind the ears.

"Fine." Sarah said less than enthusiastically.

"She's unhappy about me leaving today." Erica explained to Mary's concerned expression.

"Oh, I see. But can't you communicate now? Or doesn't that work over such distances?" she said.

"We can, but she's still a little down about it. Frankly, I'm not too happy about it either. It's almost like we've just discovered each other. I suppose, in a way, we have." Erica replied thoughtfully.

Mary nodded, "I suppose I can see that. You've learned a lot about each other, particularly about Sarah, over the last couple of weeks. But you'll have a long time to spend together after you get back."

Erica laughed, "You don't know the half of it!"

Mary looked curiously at Erica and was about to ask what she meant when they began to fill her in on Mana's visit. Erica went on to explain what Sarah would be doing for the next couple of days or so, which would preclude them from visiting until Nathaniel was caught.

Mary shook her head in amazement, "You certainly have an interesting life. Quite a change from the simple life you had not so long ago, isn't it dear?"

Sarah nodded, snuggling up to Erica, "Yeah, the biggest thing I used to have to worry about was waiting for Erica to get back and dealing with the jerks at work."

"So, I suppose one of the reasons for visiting was to talk to me about this moving in together business this Mana woman was talking about?" Mary asked.

"That, and our visit with Dad." Sarah said.

"You saw him already? How was he?" Mary said.

Sarah shrugged, "He wasn't very communicative. He's not hurt badly, but there's something weird going on with him. Vash is going to try and figure it out. But we think he's developing his own magical power now."

Mary gasped, "Not him! How will we handle that?!"

Jill shook her head, "Vash doesn't think his power is a threat to anyone else but himself right now. That's part of the reason Vash is going to keep an eye on him. He seems to have mellowed out some, though. Not that he's really in any better shape, he's just shifted his anger inward."

Mary shook her head sadly, "I do wonder what ever went wrong with him. I hope he can get his act together before anything else bad happens."

"So," Erica said, hoping to get things on a lighter topic, "what do you think of moving in together, once we have the money to get a bigger place?"

"I wouldn't mind. It's rather lonely here all by myself. If I sell the house I can help with the cost of the new one." Mary said.

"Don't worry about that yet. Once the business is up and running we should have enough income to get the house and cover the payments. Once that's done you can move in and sell this house if you want to or not. We shouldn't be hurting for money at that point." Erica said.

Mary hadn't heard anything about their business plans yet, so they spent some time filling her in while she and Tiffany prepared sandwiches for everyone. They brought her up to date with all that was going on while they ate, even getting her into their telepathic conversation a little.

"Are you sure this Nathaniel business is safe, Sarah?" Mary asked once she understood what Sarah was going to do.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't see why not. Without that talisman thing he's basically just a normal guy. I've got Mike's training, Erica's strength, my girlifying touch thing, and my other magic to fight him with. If all else fails I can just portal away."

Mary frowned, "Even so, I'd feel better if someone else was there to keep you safe."

"But we can't, or Nathaniel won't show." Mike said.

"What about Vash?" Mary replied, looking hopefully at Vash where he was polishing off his fourth sandwich.

He flicked his tail dismissively, As if I would do anything else?

Mary smiled, "In that case I suppose it won't be so bad. Just the same, I don't want you taking too many chances. Is that understood young lady?"

Sarah smiled, happy to have her mother accept her so easily as a woman, "Of course Mom. If I'm in trouble I'll open a portal and get Mike and Jill there right away."

That seemed to satisfy Mary. It was getting late, so they said goodbye. Erica hugged Mary, "I hope you'll help Sarah with the wedding plans while I'm gone?"

Mary smiled, "Of course! I'm looking forward to it. But you'll have some input, too, won't you?"

Erica shrugged, "I'm not too picky, so long as it happens! And I think Sarah has some ideas about what she wants anyway. So long as she's happy I'm happy."

"Well, we'll make sure to keep you in the loop anyway. Make sure to make some time for my daughter and not get caught up in a lot of wild parties while you're away!" Mary said.

Erica laughed, "I doubt I'll have a lot of time for wild parties. Besides, I can assure you that any spare time I have will be spent with Sarah there, or out here. I'm already missing her and I haven't even left yet!"

Mary laughed and said goodbye again and watched as they disappeared into one of her daughter's portals.

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To Be Continued…