Polly rushed forward, wrapping her arms around one of his, "So what if you don't remember? You've been given a new chance. We're here aren't we? We're your family. We love you! I know it hurts. I had no idea you would not be reborn without your gem. I have no idea what tortures you went through day in and day out... But you're here now! And we love you! Gem or not! You're my brother. I love you!" She yelled at him, refusing to let go.

He tried to throw her off at first but he didn't have the energy to keep struggling and he just gave in, falling into her embrace as he wept.

She didn't let go, she let him toss her around in the mud till he could no more. She wrapped him in her embrace. "I don't care if you aren't that man anymore... All that matters is that you're not alone anymore. We're here for you."

"I don't even know who you are" Horatio spoke, his voice a little hoarse by now, "all I know is that I missed you and it hurts like hell..."

"Course you do. I already introduced myself silly." She waved her hand and a dom of blue surrounded them, blocking out the rain. "I'm Pallas also known as Polly. And you're my long lost big brother. I'm the second youngest of the lot." She put her forehead against his."And that feeling you're having. I'm having it too. I was beginning to think we'd never see you again... It's a feeling of home. of Family. Your family." She smiled lightly, putting a hand on his head.

Horatio shook his head lightly, he suddenly was feeling exhausted, "I'm not him... Other than these strange feelings and the occasional memory... I'm just not him anymore. I'm Horatio now" he looked at her, "Horatio is the only part of me that I really know."

"Then Horatio you shall be." She put a hand on his head and kissed his forehead. "You're not alone anymore Horatio. You have us now." She smiled warmly.

Horatio looked at her, her face was so familiar. He touched her cheek and couldn't help but give a small smile, "Thank you..." he hugged her tightly, "Thank you."

She returned his hug in tightness, "Anything for you, Horatio." She said softly.

After a moment he was able to collect himself and he got back to his feet but he was still covered in mud. "We should probably head back inside... I think I need a change of clothes" he frowned, flinging some of the mud off.

Polly chuckled, "That makes two of us. Come on, if I remember correctly, there should be showers in the gym as well as some extra gym clothes." She took his hand and started leading the way. "So, I don't know how long you'll be able to see... " She commented referring to his eyes which were blue in tint.

"That same thing happened with Ceres" Horatio explained, "It's a bit of a relief. I'm not usually stuck without any eye sight for so long. I mean... I've been blind since I was born-uh-into this body, but I was also a mutant. I could stop time, move through universes and realities. Whenever I did so, I could see. Everything that was frozen was black and white but at least I could see. Now even that ability's been taken away from me."

"...Hmmm I guess that makes sense. If I remember correctly, which is hard at times, you had quite an important job of creating worlds and pointing out any problems that arose in them. It would only make sense that when you were reborn you'd have the same ability to cross to different worlds...So your powers aren't working? Well don't you worry. I'm sure Ceres and I can come up with something."

"I certainly hope so" Horatio replied, looking rather forlorn, "because if I can't get those powers back... I can't even think about it"

"Hey. One step at a time." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "And that first step is, bathing." She pushed open the door to reveal a very Japanese styled bath house. "You can tell Ceres' grandfather had some input in the construction of some of the building. Very traditional."

"This place is beautiful" Horatio looked around. There was a fountain at the entrance and he ran his hands through the cool, clean water, watching it run through his fingers. He had never been able to see how it moved before and the beauty of it pulled at his heart strings.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Polly asked, picking up a basket and handing it to Horatio, "For your clothes."

He took it gratefully and went into the male change room.

A small grey kitten followed Horatio into the change room

What Horatio didn't realize was that there was merely a divider up between the two sexes. So you could see each others heads as well as the pool at the end was open to both sides.

Polly walked out, wearing a towel, "Have you ever been to a Japanese bath house?" she asked

"Not really, no" Horatio admitted, "My father was a fan of them... um... that is, Logan... How does this work?"

"You have a towel on?" She asked before coming over to his side.

"Yes..." Horatio peeked out a bit uncertainly. He was still taken aback by how beautiful it was. With all of the water in motion and the wind blowing through the leaves. These were all things he had experienced in part but never really put together.

Polly came around to the mens side. "You take a wooden bucket and a step stool" She instructed. There were several on the shelf as well as hand towels and bottles of soap.

She set her stool down and set her towel down. Her body was covered in cuts. "Then you sit down on the stool in front of a station. Fill up your bucket with water and wet yourself. Then you clean yourself and rise-" She paused after she had sat down and noticed he hadn't, "It's alright, I'm not making a move on you or anything see?" She held up her ring finger. "We're family, so in japan this would be normal. I'm sorry I should have asked if this would make you uncomfortable." She rubbed the back of her head.

"Uh-no, it's not that" Horatio replied, reaching out to lightly touch one of her scars, "it's these... what happened to you?"

"Oh." She looked over her shoulder to where Horatio was touching. "They're mostly battle scars. I work in Shield's Magics division. My husband calls them beauty marks, like each one is a precious collectible ... But the one you're touching is from falling out of a tree when I was little." She smiled.