Ice and Time

Anger, Frustration, and a possible hatred

Normal POV

Angela and Isabella walk through the park after stopping at the store to get some groceries for dinner. They are a few steps away from the exit when several groups of moogers surround them.

"Angela, did Tracy teach you the teleport symbol yet?" Isabella asks.

"No," Angela asks.

Isabella tells Angela how to write the symbol, and the young girl takes out her Samuraizer to draw it. A mooger grabs Angela's wrist and squeezes it hard enough to cause the Kindergartener to scream out in pain, making her drop her morpher. Then it spins Angela around and breathes in her face, and it doesn't take long until Angela passes out. Isabella drops the bag of groceries and does her best to fight off the moogers in front of her. But she couldn't get to Angela in time. One mooger kicks her in the stomach hard enough to send her flying back into a tree. The last thing Isabella sees, as things slowly fade to black, is the moogers escaping through a gap and one has Angela draped over its shoulder like the young girl is a rag doll.

Tracy's POV

My heart is breaking for several reasons, one - I failed to protect Amelia from getting captured by Octoroo, and two- hearing her crying from the pain at the ropes that the moogers tied around her wrists, cutting into them. A few seconds later, my heart stops for a second as some more moogers come in, and one is carrying Angela over its shoulder. That one comes over,  opens the door to the cage, and tosses Angela towards me. At that moment, I'm glad that my hands didn't get tied together, as I'm able to catch my little sister. I groan but manage to keep my balance, then slowly sit down on the ground. I breathe a sigh of relief when she starts to come around.

"Sissy, I'm sorry I couldn't stop the moogers," Angela apologizes.

"It's okay, Angela. You and Amelia may be strong, but asking you to take out enemies that are more than twice your size is a bit much," I say, hugging her.

"I find it hard to believe that you three are siblings since you don't look related," Octoroo says as he approaches the cage as well.

"Octoroo, you and several others need to learn a thing or two about human families," I say, sitting Angela down on the ground before standing up, "First thing, members of a family don't have to look alike to be family. Second, love is the most important component of the family. So, no matter how different a family looks on the outside, as long as a bond of love is there, that's all that matters,"

"Whatever, but how did the two younger ones inherit the ice Shiba power if you aren't related?" Octoroo asks.

"Sorry, Nighlok, but that's a question even I don't have the answer to."

"We know how we got the ice Shiba power," the twins said.

I spin around to see that Angela untied the ropes around Amelia's hands. The girls have a sad look on their faces.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"When you were in the hospital, mom told us how you and Chris become a part of our family," Amelia says.

"Mom said that your birth mom couldn't have a baby, so she asked our mom if she could have the baby for her," Angela says.

"Chris was the first baby, and you were the second one," Amelia adds.

"I can't believe that they never told Chris and me about us being adopted," I shout.

"Are you mad at us?" the girls ask.

"No, I'm not mad at you two," I reply, doing my best not to raise my voice again, as I feel anger and a few other emotion begin to build up inside me.

"Do you hate mom and dad?" Amelia asks.

"No, I don't hate them, but I am furious that I thought it was okay to tell you two this but keep it a secret from me and Chris our entire lives," I reply.

"So there is another member of the ice Shiba family?" Octoroo snickers.

"Don't bother trying to find my older brother, Squid face. He doesn't have any ice symbol power for you to steal," I say, spinning back around.

"That makes no sense. He would be the head of the Shiba clan, being the firstborn child," Octoroo says.

"One thing your little guide book doesn't say is that the ice Shiba family symbol is gender locked," I say.

Normal POV

Meanwhile, at the Shiba House, Ballade finishes wrapping the bandages around Isabella's chest and gently lays her down on the bed. A few seconds later, Lauren and Jayden run in and see the sad look on their mother's face.

"Mom, what happened?" Jayden asks.

"Are you okay?" Lauren adds.

"I'll be fine, you two, but Amelia and I got attacked by some moogers, and she was captured," Isabella replies.

"Don't worry, mom, we'll get her back, along with Tracy and Angela," Jayden says.

"So all of my daughters got kidnapped?" Ballade says.

"I'm sorry, Ballade, but the team is working hard to find them," Jayden says.

"We will bring them back here safe and sound," Lauren adds.

"What was Tracy doing in the field anyway? She is in no condition to fight," Ballade says.

"Because Tracy's been having a dream about another half-human/half nighlok whose name is Jacqueline and keeps saying that it is her mom," Antonio says as he walks in the room.

"Antonio, that's crazy. It could have been a fever dream. She was fighting off an infection," Jayden says.

"It wasn't a fever dream, Jay," Antonio says.

"Did you meet this nighlok?" Ballade asks.

"Yes," Antonio says.

"So you are saying that Jacqueline is alive?" Ballade asks.

"Yes, and what surprised both of us is that she was still able to use symbol power," Antonio says.

"What?" everyone gasps.

"I don't want Tracy to hate me for telling you this, but before we left, Tracy also mentioned that she wanted to talk about her maybe being adopted a while ago back when the triplets had their tonsils removed," Antonio says.

"But, that was last year. Why didn't she say anything to us once they were better?" Ballade asks.

"She said that part of her told her that she shouldn't because if she were adopted, then she'd be disrespecting the people who were so willing to bringing her into their home and raise her. She was afraid that you and your husband would hate her for mentioning it," Antonio says.

"Antonio, one thing you still haven't learned about Tracy is she doesn't have it in her to hate anyone or anything. She may be furious with me and my husband for not telling her about her family heritage and other things about her past. She might be mad at you for telling me this, but she may not talk to you or anyone for a bit while as she tries to deal with all her emotions when you bring them back to the Shiba house," Ballade says.