Don't need no fortune teller...

The Nexus portal spits you out (Not literally! That would be gross. Although, now they're planning that for next year...) at the gates to an old, renovated, Japanese castle. The normally clean and well kept castle gates are left hanging open and are draped with spiderwebs. The path leading away from the gate and toward the castle is lined with cauldron shaped lights that smoke and glow. Eeeerie.

A fork in the path! One path leads to the castle. One path leads to... buh-buh-buh-boooom! Certain Death! ... err, candy! Delicious candy!

Follow the path that's lit, anyway. Do you want to stub a toe?

The path winds through a small orchard of plum trees. Spiderwebs and plastic -- you hope! -- spiders dangle from the branches and tickle faces and necks. Spooky music plays from up in the distance. And there are more lights. Sure, some of them have an evil, red glow... but more light is better than no light, right?!

When the path spills into a clearing once again, you find yourself walking amongst the graves of those who have come before you. Or, possibly, those are cardboard cut-out tombstones and some of them have clever epitaphs like:

Here lies my older bro.
Ate too much candy and 'sploded.
Now, there's no bro
no mo'.

Somewhere amongst the sadly departed, you might find a retaliatory tombstone for a younger sister. But, you're here for candy, aren't you? Persevere, intrepid Trick or Treater! Treats await you up ahead. Possibly a few tricks. But, they'll be nice. Promise!

On a slightly elevated area of the castle grounds ahead is an old building with wide doors that may have been a carriage house at some point. Tonight it is a PORTAL TO HELL! MUHAHAHAHA!

Ahem. Err. It is a welcome center. For weary travelers. Also, candy. There will be candy, yes.

The bones of travelers past crunch underfoot (Or is it just really neat gravel on the path? OR IS IT?). The doors hang open and loom ominously over those foolish brave enough to enter. That spooky music? Yeah, you found it. Fog rolls out from the building and down onto the path. Large cauldrons on either side of the entrance glow bright red and smoke billows forth. A tall, wooden perch stands next to another large caulron in the center of the room. Bouncing excitedly on top of the perch is a pygmy marmoset dressed as Jack the Monkey from Pirates of the Caribbean. The cauldron below him is indeed filled with delicious candy! Do you dare steal Monkey Jack's loot?

From the fog gathering at the back of the room, Alison emerges bearing a tray of caramel and toffee dipped apples decorated with Halloween sprinkles. Her devil's horns glitter merrily in the light from the cauldrons and her own, personal glow. She's decided to glow red, just for the occasion.

"Who's hungry?" She grins.

Charatcer: Alison Blaire (Dazzler)
Fandom: Marvel Comics

001.	Beginnings.	002.	Middles.	003.	Ends.	004.	Insides.	005.	Outsides.
006.	Hours.	007.	Days.	008.	Weeks.	009.	Months.	010.	Years.
011.	Red.	012.	Orange.	013.	Yellow.	014.	Green.	015.	Blue.
016.	Purple.	017.	Brown.	018.	Black.	019.	White.	020.	Colourless.
021.	Friends.	022.	Enemies.	023.	Lovers.	024.	Family.	025.	Strangers.
026.	Teammates.	027.	Parents.	028.	Children.	029.	Birth.	030.	Death.
031.	Sunrise.	032.	Sunset.	033.	Too Much.	034.	Not Enough.	035.	Sixth Sense.
036.	Smell.	037.	Sound.	038.	Touch.	039.	Taste.	040.	Sight.
041.	Shapes.	042.	Triangle.	043.	Square.	044.	Circle.	045.	Moon.
046.	Star.	047.	Heart.	048.	Diamond.	049.	Club.	050.	Spade.
051.	Water.	052.	Fire.	053.	Earth.	054.	Air.	055.	Spirit.
056.	Breakfast.	057.	Lunch.	058.	Dinner.	059.	Food.	060.	Drink.
061.	Winter.	062.	Spring.	063.	Summer.	064.	Fall.	065.	Passing.
066.	Rain.	067.	Snow.	068.	Lightening.	069.	Thunder.	070.	Storm.
071.	Broken.	072.	Fixed.	073.	Light.	074.	Dark.	075.	Shade.
076.	Who?	077.	What?	078.	Where?	079.	When?	080.	Why?
081.	How?	082.	If.	083.	And.	084.	He.	085.	She.
086.	Choices.	087.	Life.	088.	School.	089.	Work.	090.	Home.
091.	Birthday.	092.	Christmas.	093.	Thanksgiving.	094.	Independence.	095.	New Year.
096.	Waiting (Writer‘s Choice).	097.	Writer‘s Choice.	098.	Writer‘s Choice.	099.	Writer‘s Choice.	100.	Writer‘s Choice.

Originally posted November 2, 2006

Alison had been fidgeting about this for a while. Quietly. As much as she hated asking for things -- particularly when she already had so much and had been given so much -- there was something on her mind that she just couldn't shake. The nursery that Robbie and Miyuki set up for the babies was wonderful. She had no complaints at all. But, there was something missing.

Every time she was in the room and every time she imagined herself with the twins after their birth, she saw herself with one tiny infant held against each shoulder and sitting in an old fashioned, wooden rocking chair. Rocking them to sleep; feeding, nursing.

All the chairs in the stores and catalogs she'd seen lately had been the new, modern kind with all sorts of mechanical looking, moving parts. Not at all what she wanted.

Dakota had made beautiful furniture for the babies so far. The crib and changing table he'd given them was breathtaking. The work he'd done on the little bridge over their koi pond was lovely, too. She had no doubt in her mind that if she asked, he could make her exactly what she wanted.

But, he and Rogue were on vacation. And they'd already abused him enough with the koi pond.

She sighed to herself as she stepped out the back door and carried a cup of warm tea down the steps and out toward the pond. She wandered barefoot across the grass and marveled at how quiet it was. Longshot had gotten up early this morning to take the kids out on a horseback ride. A couple of horses had to be borrowed from camp to carry them all, but Alison had yet to see them deny Longshot anything.

She discovered she wasn't alone at the pond, though. Dakota was sitting on one of the benches overlooking the koi pond. Glad for the company and amused by the coincidence, Alison wandered over to sit by him.

"Enjoying your handy work?"

Alison didn't like it when her husband wasn't home. There were a variety of reasons for it, but the main reason was because he wasn't with her when he was gone. She had spent most of the day in a funk, waiting for Longshot and Asuka to return home from a clan mission. She couldn't complain too much when he was sent away. The jonin knew Alison was pregnant and somewhat clingy where her husband was concerned. So, if he had been called away, it was probably very important.

She still missed him, though.

So, she spent most of the day in her music room. Her single had done remarkably well since its release and now she was looking to find more good material to record. She had almost an album's worth already.

She was taking a break from working, having a sandwich for lunch in the kitchen, when she saw the glowy orange light from John's arrival. She hoped Lisa was with him. The girl had not been in her room this morning and that had worried Alison, too.

"Hi, guys!" She called. "Come have some lunch with me."

Aside from their initial visit, the rest of the visits Alison and Longshot had made to see Dr. Crusher had been exciting and pleasant. Tiny heartbeats and surprise twins. Things had always gone well and been fairly painless.

This one promised to be somewhat less appealing. Not baby-wise, of course. The twins were still growing healthy and strong. Alison had felt no pain or discomfort so far -- aside from a little morning sickness. The tea the jonin had given her was helping. She was anxious to see another ultrasound to see how big they'd grown.

But, this would also be the day that Longshot allowed the doctor to give him deeper brain scans to test the depth of the damage Mojo's constant mind wiping had caused. Her husband had been anxious about it for the last two days leading up to the visit. Alison had done her best to keep him occupied and not thinking about it. Her new habit of narrating everything she was doing for the benefit of the tiny lives growing inside her had been a constant source of amusement for the household. If the books said they could hear sounds, then she would give them sounds, darnit.

She had to sleep, though. And she kept waking to a husband with haunted eyes. If there was something she could do to ease his pain and fear, she would gladly do it. But, all she could offer was support.

They'd arrived to the visit with a portable DVD player borrowed from Lisa and a stack of new films neither of them had seen. Alison also brought some children's books to read to him so that they could pick out favorites to read to the babies. It was all she could think of to do for him.

Two weeks later, as arranged, Alison and Longshot were back in Dr. Crusher's office in the Nexus. Alison was anxious to hear what the doctor's scans and tests had concluded. She was hoping with the technology Dr. Crusher had that the doctor would be able to tell them definitively whether or not her previous miscarriage had just been a tragic combination of stress and environment as she had always thought. Or if the situation was much worse and her DNA was not compatible with her husband's. Alison would be inconsolable if that were the case.

Now, she waited -- as patiently as possible -- as Dr. Crusher set up her medical files and gathered her information for their visit. She sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Longshot was beside her in the other chair and she had a tight hold on his hand. Her thumb rubbed restlessly against the back of his hand.

There had to be good news. She needed good news.