"What is your name, child?" Aara asked gently.

"I want to go home!"

"And so you shall. But we need to find out where you live first." Aara led him into the dining hall and told the maids to bring food and milk for him. The boy ate hungrily, shoving food into his mouth and gulping down the milk. "Now, then, please tell me your name."

He looked at her. She didn't look terrible, not like those horrible wolves who surrounded him last night and forced him to come to this place. "My name is Kimi."

"Kimi. And where do you live?"

"On a farm. With my father and my brother and sisters."

"Your father? Does he have white hair?"

"No, he has dark hair like mine."

"Three sisters and one brother?"

"How did you know that?"

Aara bid him finish his meal, then whispered to Kurama, "Is he one of them?"

"I think so," he whispered back, "but I have no idea which one. Both Hotoshin and Kenji have dark hair and blue eyes. Have you ever seen Hotoshin?"

"Only as a baby. We need to bring someone from Suzaku here."

"I'll send one of the guards."

"Will you take me home now?" Kimi asked, interrupting them.

"We're working on it." Aara answered. "Are you tired? Would you like to rest?"

Kimi nodded and Aara took him up to a room, waiting until he washed up and put on a nightshirt, and then tucked him into a warm, soft bed. Within minutes he was sound asleep. Poor boy! Was he one of the kidnapped children or just another lost little child like little Mariah?

"The wolf patrol found him. He looks to be about 16."

"Sixteen! You think that monster could have doubled his age?"  Boushin doubled his fists in anger, then he shook his hands out and took a deep breath to calm down. "May I see him?"

"Of course, but he's asleep. The boy was hungry and tired. The wolf patrol found him wandering in the forest.   We're not sure how long he was wandering alone.  He claims his name is Kimi." Aara told the Emperor as she walked with him to the boy's room.

She opened the door quietly and Boushin peered inside. The sleeping boy was faced away from them.  Boushin tiptoed into the room, and looked at the boy.  He looked at Aara and nodded.  He would have known his son anywhere, at any age! He kissed the boy's cheek lightly and then joined Aara in the hallway.

"That means all the children were together. Hotoshin said that he had a brother and three sisters and that they lived on a farm. We must get the location of this farm out of him." Aara said

"But you said he was found alone and hungry?"

"Yes, that is another thing we must learn." Aara agreed. "But at least now there is hope."

"I think it would be wiser to wait until we've actually found her son. If we can't find him right away, she will lose hope again and be even worse." Aara said.

"I need to talk to that wolf patrol. I'll go find a Wolf Demon to translate." Kurama said, leaving Aara and Boushin alone.

Suddenly a commotion rose outside and a guard came running up.

"Princess, there is an officer at the gate carrying a young girl.  He says he found her at his brother's farm. He also says his brother and his family have disappeared.  This girl claims she lives there.  He's hoping that you can get more information out of her."

"Escort them into the courtyard," Aara said.

Minutes later the guard escorted a tall man roughly dragging a hysterically crying young blond haired girl into the courtyard.  She appeared to be only about ten years old.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Aara told the man sharply. "What gives you the right to treat a child that way?"

The man paled at the angry words of the Princess and immediately released the child. Freed from his hold, the little girl ran, trying to find any avenue of escape. Discovering all her escapes blocked, she went as far away from the man as she could and cowered in a corner, hiding her head and trembling with fear.  Aara could feel the poor child's terror right down to her bones.

Aara turned to the guard, "Please fetch Isabo and Akina."

"We're already here," Isabo said entering the courtyard with Akina.  "She's broadcasting so strongly, only the powerless humans are spared."

"That girl was found at my brother's farm!" the officer exclaimed.  "She knows what happen to him and his family!"

Aara turned and faced the man, her voice still tinged with anger.  "That child could not have done anything to your brother's family and now you've made her a victim too.  If she's who I think she is, she knows nothing of your family.  Kurama will talk to you when he returns. Right now I want you out of my sight!" Aara said waving the man off.  The castle guards escorted him out of the courtyard.

Isabo knelt as near the child as she dared. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. He'll no longer harm you. You're safe here."

"I want..." the girl started but then she stopped and started crying again.

"What do you want?" Isabo asked, hoping the child would look at her. The child just shook her head and looked further away.

"Do you have a brother named Kimi?" Aara asked on a whim as she stepped to Akina's and Isabo's side.

The girl's head shot up. and looked at Aara. "Did you find him?  He was lost.  Everyone else went to look for him. I was left behind. They thought I would slow them down but I wouldn't have. Then the soldiers came. I was so scared..." She trailed off as she looked at the woman crouching near her and the other one standing behind.

"Momma, is it her?" Akina asked.

The girl rose and stood facing them. No longer afraid, she took a step towards them.

"I know both of you.  I saw both of you in my dream. You were crying," the girl said.

"Yes, because someone took you away from us," Isabo said.

"But I don't know you," the girl said.

Akina had an idea. "Tell us about your dream."

"A Unicorn like this?" Isabo asked as she stood and transformed. The girl gasped.

Akina put her arms around her mother's neck. "Her name is Isabo. She's your mother. I'm your sister Akina. Do you know your name?"

The astounded girl could only say "Luka."

"Well, that's close," Akina said, "Your father was named Luka. Your name is Lukana."

Isabo walked up to her daughter. "Let's see if I can break down the gate that keeps you from us." Isabo extended her head to Lukana. The girl couldn't resist touching the Unicorn's muzzle. The flash of power passing from mother to daughter was invisible to everybody but Akina and the two of them. Then Isabo changed back to her human body.

Akina joined the embrace. "Welcome home, little sister."

"I'm sure that he understands and knows that you love him," Aara said.

The pair talked for a long while until Kurama returned and gave them the report of where the boy had been found, and what the officer had said about the farm and his brother's family. The wolves had just finished searching a five-mile radius from both locations but they found no one else in either area.

A couple of hours later, Kimi woke up and maids gave him clean clothes and bade him come downstairs when he was done dressing. After dressing, he went to the stairs and stood there looking down. Several people were waiting in the hall. He recognized the lady who had been kind to him and the red-haired boy who was a just little older than he was. There was also a tall blond man, a mage with long purple hair, and a young man with long dark hair. He walked down the stairs cautiously.

"Come down, child. We are all friends here." Aara called to him. When he got to her side, she began the introductions. "This is Kurama who you already met, this is my mate, Vash, our healer mage, Kaiba, and this is Boushin, the Emperor of Suzaku."

"Glad to meet you." Kimi mumbled, looking at Boushin from under his eyelashes. An Emperor!

"Tell me what you remember of your life, dear." Aara said gently. It had already been decided between them not to tell him who he was until they could get as much information as they were able to about the other children.

"I live on a farm with my father and my younger brother and my three sisters."

Kimi looked at the redhead. He looked young, but there was something about him that made you think that he was not. "My younger brother name is Bouya. He's 14. My sisters are Akai who is 20 and Buru who is 16 like me, and Luka who is 10."

"No." Wait! He frowned, puzzled. How could they be the same age and not be twins? When Shinashi told him their ages, it all made sense. Now it didn't. 

"That's okay, don't worry about it." Aara said gently. "Kimi, I want you to listen to me very carefully."

Kimi looked at her, his brow furrowing. He didn't like the sound of that.

"The man who said he was your father lied to you. He's not your father."  Aara continued, lightly projecting calmness and support.

"Yes he is!!" Kimi cried. "How can you say that?  He's the only father I remember.  I've lived with him all my life!  You'll see!  He's going to come to get me!"

"He was not even human, only pretending to be a man. He stole you and your sisters and brother from your real families and took all of you to that farm to live."  Kurama said.

That's impossible!  Nobody ever said they remembered any other life!  I have a family that loves me!  It's real, not pretend!"  The boy cried, approaching hysterics.

Aara put her hand on Kurama shoulder and took control of the situation again, this time making her power stronger. "We know you can't remember.  It's something the entity did. Please believe me, you are all stolen children.  The reason all our emotions are running so high is, except you and Luka, the rest of your "siblings" are missing and we're worried about them. We checked the farm. There was no one there.  The officer that brought us your sister Luka saw no one else but after seeing how he treated Luka, he might have scared them off and now they are out there alone and frighten.  We need to find them as soon as possible so they can be returned to their real homes.  By the way, your sister's real name is Lukana and she has been reunited with her family.  Would you like to see her?"

The boy nodded.

The door opened and Lukana ran in and hugged him, which he returned.  She dragged him over to meet her mother and sister, all excited to show that her dream came true.  It was easy to see the family resemblances.

"Akai isn't my sister?" Kimi asked as realization started sinking in. Hope suddenly sprung into his breast.

"No, dearest, her name is Kayla and she is the daughter of Kome and Ayala, two Wolf demons."

"Wolf demons!  She doesn't look like a Wolf!"

"Well, she is only part Wolf. She's also a Fire Master. Her parents miss her very much."

"But she isn't a child."

"Not anymore. The creature -- the one who pretended to be your father…"

"Shinashi. His name was Shinashi."

"Okay, Shinashi.  He aged all of you. You were an 8-year-old boy five months ago, when he stole you. Kayla, or Akai as you know her, was 14. Kara and Kenji, whom you know as Buru and Bouya, were only two year old toddlers and Lukana, here, was only a one month old baby."

"I was 8?" Kimi could not wrap his mind around it. As a matter of fact the only thing going through his mind right now was that Akai was not his sister. It was okay to like her!

"But you said he was the Emperor of Suzaku." Kimi said looking up at Boushin.

"And you are Prince Hotoshin." Boushin said. "You are my son."

"I'm a prince?" Kimi gasped. "A real prince?"