It was yet another month on the road before Alfred and the others got back to Hessler. During the trip Adeline and Everette proved an interesting distraction for the Silver Saviors. They were young, so they quickly tired on the trip and Silber carried them for a large portion. When they weren't tired, they quickly got bored and started making the others play games with them! The games were simple fun and everyone could distract themselves from the depression they felt from not finding Adam. Alfred was also fretting over how he would break the news to Helen!

When they entered Hessler, over half of the group went to the Silver Saviors to report in. Alfred, Franklin and the rest continued on towards Adam's house with Silber carrying Adeline and Everette on his back. The two kids could not detect how moody the adults were as they wondrously looked around at the new city they were in. The port city they had previously lived in was smaller and not nearly as grand as Hessler and there were so many new sights to see.

Before too long, they found themselves in front of Adam's house. Adeline and Everette continued to stare at everything with their wonder filled eyes. “The Silver Savior's house is so big! And the yard is huge too! Are you sure this is his house Silber?”

Hearing Everette's question, the others couldn't help having a small smile touch their face. Alfred turned to the others and said: “Let me go in and talk to Helen first. If she sees Silber, she might get too hopeful that we also found Adam...”

Helen had been spending the morning like usual for her lately. It had been three months since Alfred had left and no word had yet to come back from him. The longer it took, the more worry that grew in Helen. Still, she held out and tried to keep herself from thinking negative thoughts about it. She was now around twenty-eight weeks pregnant. It was pretty obvious to any one who saw her that she was indeed pregnant. She had stopped dancing at Madame's until she finally had her child. Helen was dreadfully bored, though, as there was not a lot to do. Dancing was her work, hobby, and favorite pass time. While she could dance at home, it was much more fun to dance with the other girls at Madame's.

Helen walked out the front door to get some fresh air outside. She was thinking: “Should I just go to Madame's and talk to everyone?”

Helen had just stepped outside when she froze in place! Alfred, who had just finished talking to the others, had also turned around to freeze in place when he saw Helen. Silber's glowing silver fur had easily caught her attention and she could tell that it was obviously Silber. Excitement gathered in her heart. However, when she scanned the faces of everyone present... Adam was not among them!

“Wha... Where's Adam?”

Alfred took a step forward, unsure of exactly what to do or say. He could only start out with: “We...” but could not get anything else out. Every second that Alfred did not say something, Helen felt fear gripping her heart more and more. With this becoming apparent and tears starting to stream down her face, Alfred found it harder and harder to come up with proper words to break it to her.

“He... he's not dead is he!?”

After getting those words out, Helen's legs started to fail her and she slowly crumpled to the ground. Alfred rushed forward to try and catch her before she hit the ground. At the same time, Silber leaned over to gently force Adeline and Everette off his back before also speeding forward. Helen had started sobbing as she feared that it really was true; Adam was dead! Alfred was still at a loss as Silber came up and gave a small barking growl while stamping his foot before Helen. It was as though he was saying: “NO!” Through Silber's connection to Adam as his guardian beast, Silber could still feel that Adam was alive somewhere and whole heatedly believed in this feeling.

Silber's actions stunned Helen and stopped her crying. Silber had always been intelligent, even more so after he became a guardian beast. Through Adam, Silber has even conversed with others before. This, however, was the first time Silber had to try and intelligently communicate on his own. He had managed to make his meaning clear enough that Helen understood. Her voice quivered as she asked: “Silber... you don't think Adam's dead?”

Silber gave a firm nod of his head. Inwardly, he was saying: “Adam, where are you when I need you to help me talk to others!”

Helen pleadingly looked between Alfred and Silber. “Adam's not with you. Do you know where he is?”

Silber crawled up into a ball and flopped himself down in front of Helen while giving a depressed whine. While Silber knew Adam was alive, he had no idea where he was! Helen gave the pitiful Silber a sad smile as she gently petted his head. This was to comfort herself as much as him. Ever since Adam had disappeared, she would easily get emotional with anything dealing with him. She then leaned over and embraced Silber as she silently cried some more into his fur. Helen had expected Alfred to return with Adam. She had never expected him to return like this. After a minute, Helen finally leaned back up and took a deep breath to try and calm her emotions. She looked back over towards Adeline and Everette, who were confused at what was going on and were worriedly looking in her direction. Helen asked: “Who are these two?”

Alfred was finally able to give voice to some words as he explained the situation of Adeline and Everette. “Truth be told, I am not sure what we are going to do with them. Maybe Janette can take them in at Madame's?”

When Silber heard Alfred say that, he suddenly got up and went over to Adeline and Everette and put them on his back again. With an arrogant air as if he owned the house, Silber then marched into the house with the two on his back. Seeing Silber like that, Helen couldn't help but chuckle: “I guess that answers the question of where they will be staying.”

While Adeline and Everette brought some extra life to the house, the lack of news about Adam's whereabouts laid heavily upon Helen's and Vivienne's shoulders. Like Helen, Vivienne didn't quite take the fact that Alfred and the others weren't able to find Adam well. Alan, on the other hand, was quite happy to get some new playmates!

Time moved on and still no word of Adam's whereabouts came to light. The time even came for Helen to give birth! She was rather depressed that Adam was not present, but tried to stay cheerful. Soon, she would have a child to call her own!

After the arduous task of labor, Helen now held a baby girl in her arms. A warm smile spread across her face as she eyed the crying child. It had been a few hours since she had finished giving birth to the new baby girl and Helen had since been cleaned up. There were a few people coming into Helen's room and congratulating her while Vivienne and Reilly waited by her bed, in case she or the child needed anything. Vivienne asked: “Have you thought of the name for her?”

Helen nodded her head. “I hope you both don't mind, but I wish to call her Emilia!”

This name gave both Vivienne and Reilly a small tremor of surprise. Both had daughters that were named Emilia and had lost them. With this new child, it was almost as though they could once again try to watch their child grow up. Both of them nodded. “We don't mind, dear. It is a beautiful name!”

Years passed and still no one had seen or heard of Adam anywhere. Even though Silber was insistent that Adam was still alive and was constantly awaiting his return, hope ebbed away for everyone else. Even if Adam was still alive, what had he been doing for the past ten years? Even if he was still alive... would he ever come home? Such thoughts wedged themselves into the minds of Helen and Vivienne and wore away at their spirits.

Regardless of Adam's absence, life was lively at home. There were four kids to take care of and each brought some small measure of joy to Vivienne, Reilly, and Helen. Emilia grew up hearing of heroic stories about her father and desired to be as kind and as helpful as he had been. In some ways, her personality became close to what Adam's own sister's was like!

Alan, Adeline, and Everette were all fifteen years old now, almost adults! They had started training under Alfred in a much similar manner as Adam and the others had trained at their age. There was some trepidation about them training with the Silver Saviors, but it was actually quite safe. The only reason Adam had disappeared was because he had joined that war. Alan and the others had all sworn that they would not join any war to alleviate the fears of Vivienne, Reilly, and Helen. Emilia was the only exception to the training as Helen refused to let her. Even if it might be relatively safe, Helen had decided to not let Emilia get even close to a situation where her life might be put in danger.

Through these ten years, Alan had assumed a protective role over Emilia. He treated her very dearly during this time. Adeline and Everette had grown even closer together. One day, Helen had freaked out when she walked into a room to find the two kissing! Everyone had assumed that Adeline and Everette were siblings and hadn't pried too much into their previous family situation. As it turned out, they were actually close neighbors, instead of siblings. Still, it was quite a shock and some unexpected rules about 'intimate contact' for the house were put in place after this event.

Silber closely watched over the kids and seemed to favor Emilia as his 'favorite cub.' You were almost assured to see Silber wherever Emilia went. Between Silber and Alan acting as her protectors, she got into plenty of mischief as she inserted herself into any fight she saw in order to stop it. She would equally stop for any person who seemed down in the dumps and try to cheer them up.

Reilly would occasionally get some odd jobs to help bolster the spending money that their household had, but normally stayed home with Vivienne to raise the kids. Reilly was quite happy with this life. It was far more than she had ever dreamed of having after she had lost her husband and daughter when that war with Luxom had started up.

The war itself had ended long ago and then started back up to only end once more. The border constantly moved about but neither side truly took an advantage over the other.

Vivienne did not fare too well during these years. While caring for Emilia and the others brought joy to her, her worry over Adam became a heavy burden that weighed her down. It had gotten to the point where Vivienne was simply emotionally and physically exhausted and would often stay in bed for long hours. While she still had Helen and Emilia, loosing Adam for so long had severely impacted her. Adam was the last thing she had after she lost everything at Fort Erich and now he was seemingly gone... Ten years after Adam disappeared, Vivienne's body could no longer handle the stress and depression she felt and she passed away during the night.

After this, a depression settled over the house. Helen found herself often languishing in bed. It was not only Vivienne's death the threw Helen into a depression, but it was also the fact that it was another connection with Adam that had been lost. “Adam still has not come back after all these years and Vivienne has even died! Will Adam truly never come back?”

A few days after Vivienne's funeral, Alfred got tired of seeing depression grip this once lively household. He didn't know exactly what would help, but decided that if everyone went out for a walk they could at least get away from the house for a little while. It didn't take much to convince Emilia and the others to prepare for a walk. Helen, on the other hand, was a bit more troublesome. Alfred walked into Helen's room, where she was still laying in bed. “We are going for a walk. Come with us.”

Helen replied with a depressed tone: “Go without me, I will join another time.”

When he heard this, Alfred walked to Helen's bed instead of out of the room. Helen had only gathered the thought: “What is he doing?” before Alfred ripped the covers of the bed off of Helen and hoisted her over his shoulder. “I wasn't asking, I was telling you we are going on a walk! I will carry you like this if I have to!”

Helen was very surprised by this turn of events. As Alfred started walking to the door of her room, Helen realized Alfred was quite serious about this. She started hitting Alfred's back: “Let me down! At least let me get dressed first!”

Helen was still in her long night gown and would be dreadfully embarrassed to walk in public wearing only that! Alfred promptly put Helen down on her feet and said: “That's fine. If you don't come out in ten minutes, I will drag you out no matter what you are wearing!”

Helen's face was red from both embarrassment and anger as she stared daggers into Alfred's back as he walked out of her room. After Alfred was well and out of her room, Helen quickly got ready. She did not want to be draped over his shoulder again! After a few minutes, Helen came out and joined everyone else, who were already ready. They all left the house under Alfred's lead. As they hit the road, someone asked Alfred: “Where are we walking?”

Alfred replied: “I don't know. I just wanted to get you all on a walk!”

Everyone stared at Alfred. They had all assumed that he had a plan, but it seemed that his plan only stretched as far as getting them out of the house! They aimlessly strolled around. They visited a few curio shops along the way and bought snacks from a few stands. Eventually, they found themselves at the wall garden that Adam used to visit. Adeline and Everette stood side by side, looking out over the banister, Emilia was playing 'I spy' with Alan, Silber lied down on the grass for a sunny nap, and Reilly watched over the kids while Helen and Alfred watched the whole scene.

Helen gave a look as though she was seeing something far away, probably deep inside some memories she had of the wall garden. She would still occasionally come here on her own, but it had become painful to do so. Not only would she now think of her dead parents, but also of the missing Adam. Alfred leaned closer to talk to Helen: “This might seem, I don't know, a little harsh? But, stop dwelling on what you no longer have! Look at what is before you right now! You have 4 delightful kids you have helped raise and still need to watch over. I don't mean to simply forget about Adam or Vivienne, but look at the kids! They are doing alright, even if they are a little down. You, on the other hand, have been stuck in bed for days! Everyone is worried about you, especially little Emilia... don't let your grieving consume you.”

Alfred's words surprised Helen. She was stuck in her own thoughts until he started talking. Helen looked at the kids and noticed Reilly was giving a slightly worried look her way. Helen hadn't quite realized how she had been making the others worried, especially if Emilia became worried! “I... no, you are right. I need to stop grieving.”

Alfred looked at Helen. “I never said not to grieve. Grieving is important! Just... make sure you keep living your own life and be happy. That is what I wish for.”

Alfred gave a comforting pat to Helen's shoulder before walking a small distance away. Helen looked at Alfred. She felt a little guilty towards him. He has acted as an uncle to the children and treated them dearly. He has looked out for Helen too, during the time that Adam has been gone. And even with Adam gone, he had not attempted to make any advance on Helen, even though she new he still harbored feelings for her. “Alfred... is really to good to me.”

These events marked a change for Helen. Helen still dearly loved Adam and desperately wished he would come home, however... she quickly found that she had started to love Alfred too! She didn't start to love Alfred to replace Adam or to repay Alfred's kindness. She started to equally love Alfred as she did Adam because of who Alfred was. A man who could watch the woman he loved, love another man while having little jealousy. To still watch over that woman favorably. That even when she could be considered 'vulnerable' he would not make a move to 'steal' this woman from the man she was likely to marry, who was also his friend. Alfred was simply too good of a person and his silent love began to warm Helen's heart. As this happened, she decided that even as she came to love Alfred, she would never loose her love for Adam either. It was simply that... it seemed Adam was unlikely to ever come home. Helen wanted to keep grief from controlling her life, so she decided she would definitely have a happy life.

A year later, Helen and Alfred married. Helen was actually the one to propose, since Alfred was way too conscious over Adam! At this point, Adeline and Everette were also adults so on the day that Alfred and Helen got married, they also got married! It was an interesting double wedding. Not only the fact that it was a double wedding, but in the idea that Helen and Alfred could be considered Adeline and Everette's aunt and uncle and yet they were getting married at the same time!

Helen had decided that she would have one child with Alfred, to match having Emilia with Adam. She loved Adam and Alfred equally so she decided this was only right and would settle her heart. With this, Emilia came to have a little brother named Kerrick.

A few years later, when Emilia was older, the feelings between her and Alan started to grow closer and they too would end up marrying in the future.

Alan, Adeline, and Everette all became members of the Silver Saviors. In fact, the reason why Adam did not see any sign of Adeline or Everette present in the house was because they were currently on a mission for the Silver Saviors and had even taken their own children, who were also Silver Saviors, along.

Reilly ended up dying a peaceful death caused by old age. She had the distinct pleasure of seeing Alan and Emilia marry and have kids. She passed on with no regrets.

Silber diligently awaited for Adam's return the whole time. He watched over all the members of the house and acted as their guardian while waiting for Adam's return. He had slowly grown old and the silver glow of his fur faded. In the recent years, Silber spent most of his time sleeping and hardly moving. When he had suddenly got up and quickly trotted out of the house, everyone followed with worry in their hearts since this could be considered an odd behavior for Silber. Following Silber, they were led to the scene with Adam at the bench holding on to Silber.

Adam listened to the whole story with a bitter sweet taste in his mouth. He had been the cause of so much worry and grief! Enough that it had even forced his mother into the grave! He hadn't been there for any of the times that Helen needed him. Nor had he been there for Emilia or Silber. Adam could not blame anyone but himself. He couldn't even be jealous of Alfred! Adam had made a decision starting with Alan and Reilly. That single decision caused all of this to happen!

Tears had silently rolled down Adam's cheeks during various parts of Helen's story. When she had finished, all he could say was: “I am sorry Helen. I caused you and everyone so much grief! I.... sorry isn't enough, nothing I can say is enough for what I have done!”

Helen gently took hold of Adam's hand. “It is alright Adam. The decisions you made; to go to war and then to fight against the ghoul horde to protect innocent lifes, those are the decisions that the Adam I love would make! You gave me a beautiful daughter to care for and watch over. How can I blame you for anything?”

Adam could tell that every word Helen said came from the depths of her soul and she firmly believed in them. Still, it wasn't enough to satisfy his own heart! Adam had abandoned her and if nothing else, he had to at least somehow atone for that.

After a moment of silence, Alfred started speaking; “It's getting late! I am sure Adam has plenty to think about after learning everything. Why don't we call it a night?”

They had eaten dinner while talking and it truly was late. Adam was led to a room to rest where he lied down. He spread his elemental sight out and watched as everyone started to sleep. Alfred kissed Helen good night, but chose not to sleep in the same room as her this night. He was not acting guilty since Adam was here, just being courteous to him. Adam could see the whole house. It was vaguely familiar with how he remembered, but he felt like a total stranger here! Adam was at a loss and could only think: “What am I to do next?”

[AN: Here once again saying thank you for the reviews, follows, favorites, and comments! Recently got quite of few of each! I don't think I have yet to directly said thank you to Woodstockmonk yet, so yes, thank you! Also a thank you to younglink098 for writing a review. In addition: Just giving a heads up, my work Schedule will be a little crazy next week and maybe the week after as well. I am not sure when I will be able to get the next chapter out.]