50 Outside Her Own Front Door

Licking her spoon, Sarai polished off the souffle. "So that is how you became a family of three! That is quite possibly the most adorable thing I have ever heard." 

"It had its moments of adorability for sure. It was hard at times, but what parenting isn't?" Noble did not want to lie and say it had all been perfect, but her daughter was worth every bit of the pain. "We have had more laughter than tears over the years, and I count that a blessing." 

"I am sure that was even more true when you had Brock and Blaze." Sarai had met Noble a short while after the twins were born.

"Ha, those boys were a bit of a shock. I did not anticipate becoming a family of five." Noble chuckled quietly.

"I am sure no one expects to have twins." The fiery Awakened agreed. 

"I didn't think I could have children at all," Noble corrected her friend's thinking, "so finding out I was pregnant with twins was a double blessing and a double shock. They are rambunctious and keep me on my toes, but I cannot imagine life without them now."

 "They are both spunky little fighters for sure. It is too bad they don't know your alter ego. They would be your biggest fans!" Sarai imagined their little chubby faces chanting Queen Bee's name. 

"Ha! My biggest fan is Fort. You know, he wants to sell Bee merchandise. He claims it is just to make more money for the kids to go to university, but really he just wants to keep it all for himself." Noble felt a pang of guilt as she said the words. 

Fort really was always in her corner. 'He is a good man.'

Sarai, on the other hand, was amused by Fort's antics. "Is he the one who got you into dueling?" 

"Sort of. Fort bought me the pod as a diversion. It started out as a hobby, but it turns out I am pretty good at it." Noble blushed. It was an understatement, but Sarai knew what she meant. 

The fiery Awakened frowned. "I am surprised you don't train Honey in combat. You really should."

"I did offer recently. She turned me down. I don't want to fail like I did with Seb, so I didn't push the issue. Anyway, Honey is happy with the way things are. I don't think she would listen to me like she does others." Noble and her daughter could butt heads from time to time. 

That would likely be made worse if their verbal spars turned into physical ones. 

"A shame," Sarai clicked her tongue, "She could learn so much from you. I know I have." 

"You are too sweet, friend." Noble smiled. "I want to do right by you. I am not sure that is always the case." 

"Are you kidding? You help not only me but hundreds of Sleepers every year. Your research has helped more people than you will ever know, and I have no doubt that your efforts help humanity for the better." Sarai's admiration gave the other Awakened pause. 

"I suppose…" she answered slowly. 

Noble did want to help humanity. It was why she had taken on the task of decoding her father's notes. 

If another gate was opening, she wanted to protect her children, her students, her friends…everyone. 

Doing that meant she needed to be strong. Although she tried to downplay her ability, Noble knew she was very strong. 

"But I'm not strong enough," her thought unconsciously escaped. 

"For what?" Sarai furrowed her brow.

Noble winced. "To save the world," she admitted guiltily. 

"Who asked you to?" The fiery baker pressed. 

Noble sighed, "All of humanity depends on Awakened to…" 

"Did you hear yourself? Humanity depends on all the Awakened, not just you. You aren't a real queen, you know." 

The tease brought a sad smile to Noble's face.

Sarai narrowed her gaze. "I see you trying to bear that burden alone. Stop It! No one was meant to exist in this world as an island. We are far superior when we work as a team."

"In life or in the Dreamscape?" Noble looked at her friend incredulously. Sarai had been not so subtly hinting at her desire to compete in the place between two worlds for over a week. 

"The Dreamscape, the waking world, the Dream Realm, everywhere! Have you not felt the difference when we fight side by side instead of sparring?" The auburn-haired beauty cocked her head to one side, genuinely curious.

Noble had to admit there was an advantage to fighting with someone instead of against them. Practicing moves in tandem with Sarai gave her a sense of satisfaction. Someone would have her back in the arena instead of her always having to watch it. 

Those who willingly conquered nightmares to become Masters or Saints always entered as cohorts. Did Noble really think she was better than them? Of course not! 

Maybe Sarai was right. The only way for her to truly be stronger as an Awakened–as a person– was to work and battle cooperatively. 

"Hmmm…" 

"What's wrong?" Sarai chewed her lip under her friend's scrutiny. 

"I'm just concerned with how easily you just talked me into that." Noble frowned. 

Her friend raised both eyebrows, "Into what…" 

"Competing in the Dreamscape the day after tomorrow as part of a group…" The professor smirked. 

"And that group is…" 

"You and me, of course! Who else would I debut with?!" Noble crossed her arms.

Sarai yelped, "Really?!" She leapt up from the table and hugged her friend. It took quite a bit of finesse for the floating woman to keep from bumping into the chair. 

"Really," Noble freed her arms and hugged the woman back. She stood. "Will you be ready the day after tomorrow?" 

"I will spend all my free time looking for the perfect teams to challenge. You can count on me!" 

"I will look as well, and we will get in one more practice beforehand, ok? I want to have our signs down before we go into an arena." Noble didn't speak while in the Dreamscape, and so they had developed a system of signals to communicate. It still needed some work, but was coming along. 

Having watched quite a few group battles over the past couple of weeks, most of the teams did not talk much during battle. Some of that was likely due to the fact that they did not want to give away their battle strategy to their opponent. The other reason was the action was far too fast and loud for conversation to be feasible. 

Noble looked down at her communicator. She had quite a few unanswered messages. "I need to go. I will see you tomorrow for practice then?" 

The professor began to press on the small screen at the edge of the table to pay for the meal. 

"You go on home, I got this," Sarai stopped her. 

"I said I would pay after I injured you," Noble still felt bad about the incident. 

"And you can…next time. This one is on me." Sarai sent payment even as she spoke. 

The two parted ways with Noble feeling lighter than she had in a long time. 'But not too light!' she reminded herself with a pale smile. There was no need to suddenly float to the moon just because she had unburdened her spirit. 

The ride home seemed very short and the walk down her street was lit with the last rays of the evening sun. 

The Awakened was so enchanted by the sunset that she even greeted her neighbor's friends who had just pulled up in a PTV next door. 

It was that very act of friendliness that caused her to miss the figure lurking at her front door. Before she could even reach for the handle, a hand shot out and pulled her away from the entrance. 

Wide-eyed, she came face-to-face with the assailant. 

His voice was barely above a whisper, "We need to talk."