CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Cierra was a nervous wreck, but if ever there was a day to bring light back to Salem, it was the Summer Solstice. She stood in her room, where she'd cast the original spell by accident, and focused on her intention to reverse it. Thankfully, she wasn't alone this time.

"You've got this, girlfriend," Chad encouraged her as he sat on her bed, just outside of the circle she'd cast.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit in the circle with me?" She asked.

"You started this mess on your own, Cierra," he reminded her. "I can't reverse it directly, but I'm here to lend you energy, encourage you, and make sure you get it right."

She nodded. "I'm ready," she lied. She shook her head and took a deep breath, clearing away any little voices that were telling her she'd fail.

"I'm ready," she said again, much more firmly this time. "I am the descendant of Erica Vitti, but more importantly, I am Cierra Joan Denton, and I can do anything I set my mind to!"

"That's right! You shout it to the world, girlfriend!" Chad cheered.

"By Earth, by Air, by Fire, by Sea, this wayward spell shall no longer be!" Light began to glow from her hands and Cierra knew that she was tapping into the energy she'd touched when she accidentally wished Salem into an eternal night. "Sun Gods, Sun Gods, shine anew! Return to us, cycle renew!"

With a final burst of energy, Cierra felt her previous spell shatter. She looked at Chad and asked, "Did it work?"

"I guess we're about to find out," he replied. He walked over to her window. It was still dark out, but the sky was changing, and light was slowly creeping back in. "You did it!" He cheered, pulling her into a tight hug. "I can finally get a tan again!"

Cierra smiled as she watched the sun slowly begin to peak through the dark clouds. "I did it..." She whispered. "I did it!"

"I knew you could," Chad said with a smile. "Come on... Let's watch the sun rise for a couple of hours before it has to set again."

~*~

Cassandra was walking home with Kurt, Josh, and Himari when a powerful man approached them. "You'll do," he said with a sadistic smile before impaling Himari in one swift motion with a sword.

"Okasan!" Josh cried in horror. He immediately summoned his soul's sword and Cassandra pulled out her own sword as she tried not to focus on the fact that Himari was bleeding.

"No one told me this was going to be a sword fight, so I've kind of only got my skateboard, but screw it," Kurt said. He immediately attacked the man, who used a spell to fling him backward.

"Kurt!" Cassandra shouted. She could see that his head was bleeding.

"I'm okay," Kurt replied with a groan. He crawled toward Himari and began trying to tend to her wound.

"Who the hell are you, you bastard?" Josh demanded as he tried and failed to stab the man who'd attacked Himari.

"My name is Bartholomew Bryce," he replied as he used magick to pull his sword out of Himari. It landed back in his hand. "And that delightful woman is my first victim since my release."

"Like hell she is!" Cassandra shouted. She began to duel against him. His sword met hers at nearly every turn.

"Cassie, look out!" Kurt shouted just as Bartholomew attempted to attack her with a spell while she focused on his sword. She threw herself to the ground and dodged the spell just in time. Josh took over dueling against Bartholomew as she stood up.

Cassandra ran toward Himari and quickly examined her injury. "There's too much blood," she said as Kurt kept pressure on the wound.

"Kai-chan..." Himari said softly.

Cassandra knelt beside her. "I'm here," she replied.

"I am so grateful I found you." Himari sounded too weak now, and Cassandra understood what was happening.

"Don't," she said. "Don't give up."

"Kai-chan, you have always been so strong... You must be strong now as well. I love you. I am so proud of you." Himari's eyes fluttered shut, and Cassandra could no longer deny the truth.

"Himari..." She said. "Himari, no... Don't go... Mom, don't..." Her voice cracked as she screamed, "Okasan!"

Kurt had tears in his eyes as he said, "I'm so sorry, Cassie."

She shook her head, pulling herself together. "There's no time for this," she replied. "We're still in a fight." She stood up, refusing to look at her mother's body.

"Okasan..." Josh whispered as he realized what had happened. "You'll pay for that, you son of a bitch!" He lunged at Bartholomew with such speed the warlock could not avoid the attack. Josh's sword impaled Bartholomew's chest. It would have killed a mortal man, but Bartholomew couldn't die. Instead, it made him scream in pain as his flesh burned around the sword.

Josh pulled his sword out and left Bartholomew to try to put the fire out as he ran to his sister and Kurt. "Josh... There was nothing we could do," Cassandra said, feeling guilty.

"It's not your fault," he replied, hugging her tightly. "It happened too quickly." He pulled away. Cassandra saw his eyes suddenly widen in horror. She tried to figure out what was going on, but before she could, Josh moved in front of her, shielding her with his body.

The next thing she knew, Josh vanished, and the residual energy of a spell lingered where he'd been standing. There was blood everywhere, including all over Cassandra, and Josh's sword vanished from its spot on the ground before her eyes, returning to the realm it existed in when not in use. For a second, she couldn't process what that meant, until Kurt grabbed her and pulled her to safety as a fully healed Bartholomew sent another death spell her way.

"I bet your immortality can't stand up to a Reaper!" Aideen shouted as she came running toward them with Evan, Arnie, and Melissa right behind her. She attacked Bartholomew with everything she had.

Arnie and Melissa backed her up as Evan moved closer to Kurt and Cassandra. He looked at Himari and cursed softly. Silently, he started cleaning up the large gash on Kurt's head.

As Aideen hit Bartholomew with a fire attack, Arnie kicked him in his chest and Melissa deflected a spell he sent their way. Finally realizing they weren't going to go down easily, Bartholomew fled.

"Should we follow him?" Melissa asked.

"We're not strong enough to kill him yet," Arnie replied.

"I'd love to keep trying and prove you wrong, but Cassandra needs us now," Aideen added.

Cassandra was still staring at the blood on her hands. "Josh is dead," she finally registered. "They both are..."

Intense pain filled her entire body. She clutched her stomach as she realized that was the source of the issue. Cassandra screamed in agony as something seemed to tear inside of her.

"Cassie!" Kurt said in alarm as she fell onto her hands and knees.

"What's happening?" Arnie demanded as he ran closer to see if he could help.

"She's in labor," Evan said.

"It's too soon," Aideen replied. "Ev, can you do anything to stop it?"

"There's blood... We don't have time," he replied. "Cassandra, lay down."

Cassandra couldn't figure out how to do that with how much pain she was in. Aideen and Melissa gently eased her onto her back. "What do we do now?" Melissa asked.

"I can deliver the baby, but a hospital would be a lot more ideal... Cassandra's losing too much blood," Evan said. "We need help, and we need it fast, but we can't move her."

Cassandra screamed as she felt her labor getting worse. "We don't need help," Arnie said. "We need a miracle."

"Cassie, don't leave me," Kurt begged her. "Please hang on... You can do this. I'm right here. We're going to get through this together, okay?"

Everything happened quickly, and it was a blur for Cassandra. The only thing she could make sense of was how much pain she was in.

"Cassandra, you have to push," Evan said.

Cassandra didn't feel strong enough to do that. She was struggling not to black out. "Evan, she's too far gone," Aideen said in alarm. "We have to try something else..."

"I can't do a C-section," Evan said firmly. "Cassandra will bleed to death before I can finish."

"I'm trying to heal her, but it's getting harder," Arnie said. "Even with Melissa's help, it's not enough."

"Cassie... Stay with me," Kurt begged as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You're a warrior. You never quit. Don't start now."

Two people arrived suddenly. "Lou Anne? Jonathan! What are you doing here?" Aideen asked.

"Y'all did request a miracle, right?" Lou Anne replied.

"We couldn't just leave Cassandra to die," Jonathan added. "It's not her time."

"What about the rules?" Melissa asked.

"Honestly, to heck with the rules!" Lou Anne said firmly. "Evan, do the C-section. We'll find a way to save them both once the baby's out."

"She's lost too much blood already," Evan said as he hesitated.

"I'll resurrect her if I have to," Aideen promised. "Just do it, because if she loses that baby after she already lost her mother and Josh, I don't think she's going to let me save her."

Evan pulled out a scalpel and set to work. Kurt continued holding Cassandra's hand, willing her to survive as Evan tried to save their child's life.

As soon as Evan got the baby out, Kurt knew that something was wrong. "Come on, kid," Evan said softly. "Take a breath." He flicked the baby in several spots before starting to massage his or her chest.

Suddenly, the baby started to cough. Nothing had ever sounded so good to Kurt's ears before, because even if the baby wasn't crying, the coughing meant that the kid was alive.

"It's a girl," Evan told him. "You have a daughter."

"A daughter..." Kurt repeated. All he wanted was to hold her, but he knew they needed to help her first.

Jonathan was already trying to save Cassandra's life. Lou Anne took the baby and set to work on her. "The baby's lungs aren't developed enough," she said. "You just stay with me, Sugar," she added to her. "I'll get you where you need to be."

Nathaniel, James, and Carolyn arrived then. "Lou Anne... She's not strong enough," Nathaniel said firmly, but not without a hint of sympathy. "Your efforts would be better spent on Cassandra. Let the child's father hold her before he can't."

"I don't give a hoot what you think right now, Nathaniel," Lou Anne replied with determination. "Look at who her parents are! She's stronger than you're giving her credit for, and I'm going to save her."

Arnie and Melissa both focused on helping Jonathan heal Cassandra. Now that the baby was out, they were able to stop the bleeding as they worked together.

Aideen was worried as she watched everyone try to help. Evan wrapped his arms around her. "They'll make it," she said. "They have to."

Evan didn't dare contradict her. Instead, he whispered, "The sky..."

Aideen looked up and realized that light was starting to return. In the chaos, she hadn't even noticed the sky was slowly brightening up.

After several minutes, the baby began to cry. As she did, the sun suddenly fully appeared as if it had finally been freed from its cage.

"Gah! That's blinding," Aideen complained, but it was still kind of a relief to realize that Cierra must have broken the spell. "It burns! I'm melting..."

Arnie laughed. "The sun had to rise eventually," he said as Melissa continued helping Jonathan finish healing Cassandra. "Here." He handed Aideen a pair of very dark sunglasses.

"We've been in constant darkness for I don't even know how long, Arnie. Why did you have these handy?" Aideen asked in surprise.

"I had a feeling you were going to need them," he replied with a shrug.

"You're the best."

"I'm aware."

"Do you have an extra pair?" Carolyn asked. "I'm not a fan of all this light either."

"Sorry, Carolyn. I didn't expect you to show up today," Arnie replied.

"And you call yourself a Seer." She rolled her eyes.

Everyone stopped talking as Lou Anne carefully carried the baby back to Kurt. "Congratulations," she said. "You have a healthy, beautiful, full-term little girl."

"Full-term?" Kurt asked. "How is that possible?"

"I used my energy to incubate her until I could progress her growth to that of a full-term baby."

"So she's okay? She's going to make it?" He asked with tears of relief in his eyes.

"She's better than okay, Kurt. She's perfect," Lou Anne promised.

"Can I see her?" Cassandra asked softly. That was how everyone realized that she was fully healed and aware again.

"Cassie..." Kurt whispered in relief. He shifted so Cassandra could see their daughter. "Look what we did," he said.

Cassandra studied the little girl in silence, clearly uncertain of what she was supposed to do. Finally, she took her into her arms. She didn't have much experience holding babies, but she knew enough to do it without hurting her.

"Hey there," she said to the infant. "I'm sorry you had such a rough entry into the world, but you're a slayer, so you should probably get used to things like this." She turned toward Kurt. "Pick her first name," she said.

"Me? Don't you want any input?" He asked.

"I trust you to give her a strong, meaningful first name. I'll handle the middle name."

He nodded. "Solstice," he decided. "She was born on the Summer Solstice just like you were born on the Winter Solstice, and at the moment she let out her first cry, the light returned to Salem. If naming her after such a powerful moment isn't a strong name to carry her through life, I don't know what is."

"Solstice," Cassandra agreed. "Solstice Kaida Jones." They'd already agreed to give their daughter Cassandra's last name, since she had decided not to change it simply because she was married and Kurt felt like it would make the baby even stronger to carry her mother's name.

"Are you sure you don't want to give that to her as her first name? I know it was important to your family," Kurt said.

"It was Okasan's middle name," Cassandra replied, deciding that would be how she would refer to Himari from then on as a sign of respect. "I think the best way to honor her memory is to give it to our daughter as a middle name, keeping the spirit of the little dragon who protects our family deep inside of her."

"Solstice Kaida," Kurt agreed. "Our little dragon."

"Congratulations, guys," Aideen said. She hugged Cassandra, who hugged her back tightly as if she needed to draw a little extra strength from her.

"Cass... I'm sorry about your family," Arnie said softly. "More than probably anyone here, I get it... I know how hard it is to find your birth mom and lose her so soon after... You had even less time with her than I had with Dawn, and I'm so sorry for that. I know emotions aren't in your programming, but I'm here if you need me."

"I know," Cassandra replied. Then, she said something she would later probably blame on too many hormones, but it was the truth. "I love you guys."

"We love you, too," Melissa said.

"Thank you for saving us tonight," Cassandra replied. "Especially you, Lou Anne... You broke every rule in the book to come here tonight and you saved my daughter even when everyone thought it was impossible. I owe you so much more than I can ever repay."

"You'll repay me by being that little girl's mama," Lou Anne replied. "You love her and raise her to be just as strong as you are. That's all I need."

"Let's get back where we belong," James said. He paused before adding, "Congratulations, Cassandra." With that, he led the rest of the Powers That Be away.

"Come on," Evan said as he offered Kurt his hand to help him stand up. "We should get them inside so they can rest."

"Wait," Arnie said. He pulled something out of his pocket. Cassandra was confused as he placed a necklace around Solstice's tiny neck. "For your sun baby," he explained. "From my mom."

Cassandra knew about Dawn's collection of necklaces. She offered Arnie a sad smile. "Thank you," she said, understanding how hard it must be for him to part with any of Dawn's belongings.

"Alright, Cassie," Kurt said. "It's time to bring our little girl home."