Simone was her best friend and someone she had deeply trusted. Over the years she noticed Simone's sadness at being unable to have children. After their last biological children, Simone had been searching for surrogates to birth her children but Dala knew she would only accept herself. A surrogate would never be what Simone truly wanted. She wanted to be able to have kids one last time. Dala knew how important it was for Simone. That was why she decided to visit the temple and see if she could find Xeix. She knew him vaguely from the parties and events with the Terrowins so she felt that he would be willing to help her. Around her finger was a red ribbon and she followed it into Elysia, walking straight past all the pretty sights and everything that the realm had to offer. Her eyes were determined and she didn't give two shits about anything but finding Xeix and getting him to do what she wanted him to do.

She swiftly moved into the Dashuri Palace and began her search for Xeix. She first went to the library, after getting lost, then wandered around looking for him. Finally, she went to one of the clergies and asked if any of them had seen Xeix. Apparently, he was out doing something important. The disappointment was a bitter feeling but she came here and wasn't going to go until she got her questions answered. There was only one person she could visit now. The infamous Angela. She was a difficult person to read. One moment she was all sweet and nice but the next second she could become terribly angry. And there was no way a person could tell what she was thinking. At least with Xeix he usually had a focused behavior that rarely got surprised. But she needed to do this, so she decided to go seek Angela out and hope it didn't go badly.

Suddenly, she heard a massive explosion as she was passing one of the labs. Yes. Nothing would go wrong. Smoke poured out from the doors and windows as coughing could be heard from inside. Somehow the windows weren't broken, possibly an installment to prevent replacing the windows every time they got broken. The woman wondered for a moment if it would be a good idea to say hello now, but if she didn't do it now she never would.

"Miss Angela?" Dala inquired into the smokey room, "Are you busy at the moment?"

It was a wise idea to be polite to goddesses, especially when you were in their temple.

Working in her lab was a lot easier when Terra season had passed. She sat by herself watching as she trickled the volatile liquid into a mixture. The wrong move would mean an explosion, not that she wouldn’t survive… It was just messy to clean up. Carefully. Carefully.

One of the clergies slammed the door open not realizing the goddess was working sending Angela into a jolt as she jumped off her seat staring at the new help. Did they not knock? More importantly… “GET DOWN,” the Goddess yelled as the concoction began to react and an explosion rocked the temple. Smoke rolled out of the door. Angela was coughing as she waved her hand. The clergy member had taken off scared down the hallway.

“Oh, it’s you.” It didn’t come off hostile as Angela waved her hand a bit more. “One moment,” the soot-covered goddess came out next to her for some air before whistling. Raine came in and looked around.

“Boy, oh boy! This was one heck of an explosion this time!” Raine was all cheerful but her smile dropped as she looked up at her goddess. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Can you clear the air of the smoke? Out the windows preferably…” Angela looked defeated for a moment.

“YES!” Raine went into the room closing the door behind her.

“Sorry about that,” Angela began to walk towards her office. “Come on Dala.” The goddess beckoned her. Once they were in her office she washed her hands and her face before taking off her coat and hanging it up. “New clergy members don’t know how to read very well… This is why we don’t slam the doors open around the temple.” She fussed softly before falling into her chair and popped a candy into her mouth.

Pushing the bowl forward she looked into the eyes of the young woman, “It’s not like you to come to see me. Normally it is Simone or Lewis… How can I help you today?”

There were piles of books around her room. Most to-do with reincarnations, body building (literally), fertility, and transplants. If one noticed most of them had been labeled ‘Terrowin’. The last decade of her life was spent trying to figure out a way to help Simone with her issue but it wasn’t an easy one to solve.

Dala waited as the soot-covered goddess emerged from clouds of smoke. The young woman covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh at the soot covering Angela. She managed to hold a neutral face and entered the beautiful office. Her eyes widened at the piles of books in the room which were mostly labeled 'Terrowin'. It was only now that the woman realized how much research was being done to help Simone. Perhaps Angela would be capable of such a feat?

"I wanted to ask if there was a way to switch wombs, er maybe give someone else your ability to have kids?" Dala asked.

Her eyes were filled with a powerful sense of determination as she asked the question. Simone and their entire family held a special place in her heart. Simone had been there for her all those years and was her best friend. The ability to have kids, even if it was just one more time, would mean so much to Simone. Even if there was pain or blood or anything else, Dala was willing to go through with it.

"If there's a way to do that, I wanna try it and help Simone." The young woman explained, "Having kids is something she cares about so deeply. A surrogate won't be what she's looking for. She wants to have children herself and I know it. So… please."

That last please was a rare vulnerable moment. Most of the time she walked around with her defenses high or some sort of trade ready for what she wants. But now, she had nothing that would be worth trading. The only thing she could do was ask and to say please. She hated having to do so. She hated being unable to just come up with a solution that required no help but if she was to actually give this to Simone, she would have to shove her pride away. Simone and her family were worth more than any pride.

Angela sat at her desk tapping her foot as she mused over what Dala was saying. “I think…” She got up and went over to a chalkboard and started to draw. “Her body has a womb but it doesn’t work. We haven’t been able to restore function to it because of a reaction from the fey lord. We say it’s missing but that’s not accurate for Simone. The body I created for her has all the parts they just…” She couldn’t think of how to phrase it.

“Have you ever been to the city of Baltil?” She looked to Dala for the answer. Dala nodded yes and Angela continued, “It runs on a series of gears. But if you removed one of the gears what would happen?”

“The whole thing would stop moving,” the young woman answered.

“That’s Simone’s womb. She is missing a vital piece and we can call it life energy,” Angela continued to draw on the board. “When we recreate life within the womb we go off of the life energy that the person had when they were living. In Simone’s case, she didn’t have any because the fey lord had ripped it out and kept it under lock and key. The spell was so good that when Simone’s body turned to ash the damn womb was still alive. When Simone destroyed it to protect herself we lost the ability to understand the life force her womb had. So we lost the ability to create compatibility without suffering.” She wrote suffering and circled it. “The one thing we don’t want is for Simone to go through miscarriages until we get the formula right. So it’s out of the question for me to just experiment like that on her. For as strong as she is… She would break under that pressure.”

Angela looked at Dala and thought about it. “Dala, if we do this. You’ll be incompatible with your own womb after. I can tune your life energy into the resonance Simone and Lewis has. It should be enough to create enough life force for one pregnancy. However, you’ll lose the ability to have children. Is that something you are willing to do? Even for Simone?”

This was a high-risk, high-reward thing. “It’s a temporary solution for Simone is a never-ending nightmare for you. You would need to always be careful, always guard yourself.”

As Angela explained Simone's situation, Dala began to understand the situation better. A little. She didn't fully understand the concept of life energy or whatever the formula stuff was about. But she did understand that no life stuff equals no baby stuff. The diagram Angela made was very nice but Dala was noticing the chalk getting all over the woman's face and the fact she was scratching herself with chalk. Perhaps this was how medicine people were? It had been a while since Dala did more with a healer than a checkup. After Angela finished her complicated explanation, she turned to Dala and explained to her the consequences of doing such a thing.

The young woman paused for a moment, trying to organize her thoughts into a proper explanation. She had already thought about this for a long time and had gone over it to see if that's what she truly wanted. The only reason why she didn't decide to do this earlier was that she really wanted to make sure its what she wanted. After a moment she looked at the goddess, with a proper explanation.

"I did think about having kids. I did wonder what it would be like. But I also wondered what it would be like for Simone if she was never able to have kids again." Dala explained, "My happiness is valuable to me. But my friends and family are worth more to me. Even if it's temporary, even if it's just one more kid, I know that it will bring her an enormous amount of joy to have a second chance."

It was a risk she was willing to take. At the end of the day, no matter how much Dala liked to pretend, she cared deeply about those around her. The young woman had a fierce love for her friends that could rival even the strongest of bonds. It was why a sacrifice was worth every single bit of pain she may experience in the future. The loss of her ability to have kids would bring such a great temporary joy to Simone and Lewis that she had always hoped for them. She would always do everything she could to build up those she cared about.

"So yes. I am going to do this." She said with strength in her voice, "And… don't tell Simone about this. She'll feel guilty about it if she knew. If anybody asks, just say a woman didn't want to be pregnant or something."

The last thing she wanted was to dampen one of Simone's happiest moments.

Angela tapped her chalk to her lips, “Simone will figure it out Dala. She’s very smart but I won’t tell her straight up what is happening.” She batted her eyelashes at the girl as she thought about it. “It’s a very noble sacrifice. Giving Simone what she’s always wanted. It gives her nightmares at night. It prevents her healing from completing. You knew about all this… Didn’t you?” She wondered how much Simone had told Dala but Dala was also just as smart when she applied herself.

She flopped in a chair and opened up a book. “I have to have you in the room with Simone. It’s not as simple as me taking it from you right now. I think what we can do is hide what the consequences of this gift are,” Ang spoke as she looked up. “Is that alright?”

"That works. I just want her to have her moment, even if she finds out the truth later,” Dala spoke up to the goddess.

“Then let’s not waste any time prepping you. We will need a series of herbs to connect to Simone and Lewis. It will be temporary but your body might get overwhelmed by their magic. Just remember to breathe in and breathe out… You should be sitting the whole time but getting up we’ll have to have Xeik help you.”

Angela pulled Dala out into one of her many herbal gardens. “For the next week, you’ll have to eat these herbs alongside every meal you have. It is absolutely important that you don’t miss any of it. If you do the spell and alchemy we’re using will fail. I’m not quite too sure the consequences of a failure but we’ll cross that bridge if we have to.”

She began to round up many of the herbs and separate them out. She explained how to eat them and when writing down the prescription for Dala to follow. “If you need more… Let me know.”

–

The week passed and Angela had managed to get Simone into her clinic without much hassle. She said it was a check-up for the resonance. As usual, she handed Lewis a clipboard with questions, and Simone stripped of her clothes so she could lay down on the examination table.

“Your tattoo looks good. It’s almost all filled in,” Angela moved Simone’s long hair so she could check out the tattoo that now ran down their backs. It was bright azure. “I have good news.”

“Oh?” Simone looked up at Angela. “What kind?”

“I’ve found a way for you to get pregnant. You can come in now,” Angela yelled towards the door.

Simone and Dala had many conversations and even if Simone didn't speak about the nightmares and difficulties directly, Dala was always able to figure it out. Unfortunately, Simone would eventually figure out the unpleasant details, as she was smart enough to figure it out, but for now, she wouldn't know. Her best friend would have her happy moment and that's all that mattered in the end. Angela quickly began talking about the prep that such a process would need so that she wouldn't get overwhelmed by magic. Dala didn't bring a notebook to take down notes but she grabbed a blank piece of paper and began jotting the details down with a random quill. It was lucky they had this conversation in an office.

For the next week, Dala had been very careful to take the herbs along every meal as Angela had instructed. She even made sure that her meals were slightly healthier in case that would affect anything. Dala would have done more research about it to try to improve things but every time she cracked open a book over healing she would get completely lost after the second or third page. And that was usually the index. So instead she just followed Angela's instructions and made she was ready for the day. The week passed and soon it was time.
-
Dala waited in the area she was instructed to and listened to the conversation inside. Once she heard Angela's cue, she stepped through the door. The young woman had a bright smile on her face as she stepped into the room and sat on one of the chairs.

"Surprise! Angela and I figured out a way to get you pregnant again. Well… it was actually mostly Angela. She's the brains behind the operation. I'm just the brawn." Dala said in a joking manner before growing more serious, "Think of it as a gift for my best friend. I knew how much this would mean to you, so I asked Angela if there was a way to help."

She was very careful to keep the details vague and let Angela steer the rest of the conversation. There was genuine happiness in her chest for Simone as she smiled. The young woman hoped that this, even if it was temporary, would help keep those nightmares away.

It had been a long few weeks for Xeik. His initial reaction to the whole idea was a solid ‘no.’ Of course, Angela talked him into a very reluctant yes, but he hated the whole idea through and through. Not only was it insane to attach a human to something as insane as Lewis and Simone’s resonance, but to share and siphon a lifeforce could cause irreversible damage. It was all in theory at best, and even though Xeik had no doubt that Angela was capable of pulling it off, the risk was absolutely insane.

“Fine,” he said after one of their more in-depth run-through of the procedure. “I can see it working. I absolutely do not like this one bit, though.” He sighed. “I won’t tell Simone. Nor Lewis. Though I can’t make any promises if things start to go wrong…” He gave Angela a look. “There are just some things that I can’t forgive, Angela…”

Angela looked at Xeik with gloomy eyes, "I don't want this either…”

—-

The fateful day came, and Lewis found himself filling out more…unusual questions. The ex-assassin sighed as he marked the first few questions off with ease. Name. Age. Sex. Place of Residence.

The next few, though, got a look from him. “Seriously, Angela? What is the first thing that comes to mind when I read the word ‘kumquat?’ How the hell is that relevant?”

Xeik rolled his eyes as he walked in, “Just answer the question.” The healer looked between Dala and Simone, and blinked. From what he could see of their life energies…

“I won’t bore you with the specifics,” Xeik said as he waved his hand, answering for Angela. He was lying to his best friend and his wife, and he hated it. “It’s just a quick and simple thing. If everything goes as planned, you’ll get one chance.” Short and to the point. “It’s that easy.” He was, of course, leaving out the fact that Dala would have to potentially endure excruciating pain and magical overload. Not to mention the potential of death, or worse…

“So, what are you feeling?” Xeik asked Lewis, trying to keep his mind off of the absolutely crazy thing they were about to attempt.

Lewis shrugged. “I guess…happy? It’s hard to feel anything right now. Simone is absolutely dominating all of the emotions in the resonance. It’s more than I can really process.”

“Huh…well…that’s interesting,” Xeik replied with a bit of surprise. He knew that she wanted this more than anything, but was it really such a powerful feeling? The healer frowned. To Simone, this meant everything. Did Dala really know this? If so, the girl was far smarter than she let on sometimes.

He walked over to Dala, and pulled her aside. “A quick check up,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “Last chance,” he whispered. Of course, Xeik already knew her answer before hand.

Simone was sitting there looking in between everyone. Her eyes were huge and her heart was beating fast and hard. She was just handed what she had wanted for a decade on a platter. Even if it was one chance… She was getting her wish. Looking at Dala she had to wonder what the girl was giving up for this. If it was this easy then Lady Angela would have done it already. No, there had to be a drawback of some sort but knowing Dala she wasn’t going to be able to talk her out of it.

Her senses were overriding anything Lewis’s had. Happiness and excitement were filling her to the brim. “I’ll do checkups on Simone while you do Dala.” Angela got some alchemy powder and handed it off to Xeik. “Here is the magic circle can you draw it on Dala’s tummy when she is ready?”

Angela laid Simone down and looked into her eyes. “You need to calm down. I’m going to connect Dala to the resonance and if you are overloading Lewis… You are going to overload Dala.” The goddess’s voice was calm as she stroked Simone’s hair.

“Ye-yeah,” Simone was nervous now as she choked down how she was feeling to a normal level. Angela applied the powder to her stomach in the same pattern.

“Alright, when Dala is ready I’m going to begin now.” Angela brought Dala over and sat her next to the table Simone was laying on. “This is going to feel weird,” Angela whispered a few things and the tattoos on Lewis and Simone started to glow and burn lightly as Dala felt one appear across her own back. It wasn’t a strong connection but it was there.

I’m nervous Lewis.

Me too Mone.

Wait, she’s here. I can feel her.

She is here.

Their thoughts invaded Dala’s mind as well as their emotions and how they were feeling. It was disorienting. It was an emotional ride as Simone tried to contain how she was feeling. “If you need to lay down Dala you can. Once you ground yourself we can continue.”

Don’t be scared Dala. This is normal. This is resonance. It was Simone calming her down. Her voice was filled with joy.

Mone, careful. You are overwhelming the resonance. Lewis warned gently as a cool feeling got pulled into the link to calm Simone down.

"Look at Simone. There's no way in hell I'm going to back down." She responded to Xeix with a fiery determination.

The pain, the magic, the risk, all of it would be worth it in the end. Dala knew that more than anything she'd ever known. She allowed the magic circle to be drawn on her stomach while Angela took care of Simone and Lewis. Her own excitement for both of them was growing as the process began. The young woman had no idea what to expect or even what this would feel like but she was mentally preparing herself for the worst. Dala was guided over and sat down next to the table Simone was on and listened as Angela explained how it would feel weird.

"I'm ready." She said gently.

Her eyes closed as she mentally prepared herself for whatever came next. Suddenly, she felt something on her back and burn lightly on her back. It didn't hurt as much as she expected. Then she entered the resonance. A swirl of thoughts and feelings entered her mind as her own mixed with theirs. Excitement, joy, fear, anxiety, all of it was like some bomb of emotions that just went off. Dala carefully laid down, letting herself be guided by Xeix as she concentrated on trying to regain control of her own emotions.

Sorry. Trying not to be too scared. Or joyful. It's a little hard to tell which.

A cool feeling entered the link to calm the situation down. She was partially glad she closed her eyes so she didn't have to worry about looking at anything.

Geez if this is what they're feeling all the time it's no wonder they freak out when they're separated.

Then she remembered they can hear her now.

Ah shit. Sorry.