Dawn's Well Kept Secret
In this story ,Modo finds a painting of the Milotic family that has several children who look exactly like Dawn and her siblings. I won't tell you anymore than that except that he confronts her about it and she tells him about her past. No more,read the story and find out what happens.
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Dawn's Well Kept Secret
All Rights Reserved!
Copyrighted 2000-3000
All Characters Are Trade Marked
Except The Biker Mice and Friends
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It was an unusually cold rainy morning in early May, Modo was upstairs on the third floor in the attic scrounging around with Dawn's four younger children,when Trey came across two large painted family portraits that were layered with dust and cobwebs from years of being hidden.
Jarring the pictures loose from the corner they had been stuck in,Trey wandered over to where Modo sat flipping through old baby albums of Dawn and her siblings from when they were little,tugged on his tail and led him over to the pictures that he pulled out to look at,almost dropping one in sheer shock.
A split second later, a loud crash of thunder slammed through the air causing four toddlers to come flying from all directions and gather close to Modo who picked up the ancient pictures,tucked them under his bionic arm and shepherded the four toddlers down the attic stairs to the second floor and into the sound proof playroom where they could safely play.
After ensuring the four toddlers were safely occupied with their toys, he went to his room,sat the first painting down on his bed,then sat beside it then Modo went over to his closet, got out a garbage bag, went back to his bed and slid the paintings into the bag and tied the top in a knot to keep the portraits from getting wet and getting damaged then he donned his rain coat, picked the pictures up and quietly slipped out into the hall, making sure that no one was awake to ask any questions and continued downstairs where he took his housekey off the peg in the front hall and quietly slipped out into the dark morning to head to a picture restorer down town who was a friend of Dawn's.
After he dropped the paintings off at the restorer,he went to get something to eat and to browse around the mall until his pager went off with a message saying that the paintings had been restored free of charge and he went to pick them up.
When he had the portraits that had been restored to their former glory,he whistled for his bike that came,secured the portraits securly to the back of his bike and headed home to dry out and warm up.
Once he arrived home,he carefully removed the paintings from his bike and headed to the garage door that lead to the kitchen, opened it with his key and slipped inside relieved no one was up, then hung his rain coat up over the mat and switched into a dry pair of boots,grabbed the paintings and went upstairs to put them in his room then went into Dawn's room to awaken her with a burning question.
Modo quietly slips into Dawn's room trying not to awaken a peacefully sleeping Vinnie and gently awakens her saying: Dawn? Dawn? Wake up,it's me. I need to talk to you about a couple of paintings Trey found in the attic.
Dawn slowly awakens and sits up being careful not to make the pain from her concussion worsen and says: What is it? I'm trying to sleep of a bad head ache from my concussion. What's wrong?
Modo still in a hushed voice: Can you walk or do you want me to carry you?
Dawn pushes back the covers on her bed to reveal a cast that started at her left ankle and stopped at the top of her left thigh and says: Get me my crutches. (Slides out of bed and with Modo's help,she managed to stand up on her crutches and followed him to his room saying as she entered ahead of him) What's so urgent that you woke me up after I took my pain medication?
Modo slides a stool under Dawn's injured leg then goes over to his bed,unties the garbage bag,removes the top painting then turns it around to say: This is what I woke you up for. Is this the painting that your father stated he hid his will and last testiment behind?
Dawn eases down into Modo's easy chair propping her injured left leg up on the stool that Modo had placed under her ankle to keep it propped up and ward off any cramping that might occur then looks at the painting then puts her aching head in her hands saying: I-I don't know. I was knocked unconscious by the intruder who wanted to get their hands on my father's will. This may sound crazy to you,but one sharp blow to the head, caused me to loose some of my memory. I-I don't remember what happened or where father said he hid his will. Everything's blurry and the sounds are fuzzy. I don't remember very much of what happened but I-I sort of remember that he said one of the family portraits that was the most recent at the time. I-I think that's the one he was speaking of.
Modo slips a latex glove on his real hand and gently runs his finger over the portrait until he hit a rectangular lump in the portrait and cautiously peeled the picture away from the stiff balsa wood backing and gently tugged out the hidden treasure saying: Dawn,I think we've hit the jack pot big time! There's several wills back here. Did your parents make their own wills separately or jointly?
Dawn adjusts her leg and says: Jointly,just incase something happened and they were both killed or came up missing.
Meanwhile in Dawn's bedroom, Vinnie wakes up to find Dawn gone and slides out of bed to go search for her,takes a heavy blanket with him and begins wondering where she had gone off to with a heavy fiberglass leg cast on her left leg. Wandering into the hall,Vinnie heard Dawn's soft voice coming from Modo's room and poked his head inside to find out what was going on.
Vinnie pokes his head into Modo's room and says to Dawn: Oh hi, I didn't know you'd even gotten up! What's goin on?
Dawn: Oh we were looking for my father's will and think maybe we found more than we bargained for. Did my absence wake you up?
Vinnie enters into Modo's room carrying a blanket to drape over Dawn's sore leg and says: The weight of that cast missing from your side of the bed is kinda hard to ignore. Here, I brought you a blanket to ward off the chill from making your leg throb more than it already does. (Walks over to Dawn who was sitting in the easy chair and drapes the blanket over her lap making sure to cover the casted leg to keep it warm and chill free saying) There,now the pain will settle down a bit. (Turns and says to Modo) Well? You gonna finish what ya started or do I have to do it for you?
Modo hands the delicate paper to Dawn saying: Here,you can read the writing better than I can. It's written in a language that has long since disappeared. (Moves around to read over Dawn's right shoulder and says) Hey! I recognize that name! Isn't that the Prince of Sapphireshire's name?
Dawn breathless at what the prince had left her and says: Yeah,it's Raider's will. When he died of an unbreakable fever,he willed everything to three daughters and a son who died when the first wave of small pox swept through the kingdom, after Coral, Shootingstar,Silversong and Axel all died, he rewrote his will willing everything to me the only other person who knows right where his castle probably still stands undisturbed by the war and modern building. A spell binder put a spell on it to protect and keep it from being touched by anyone but the rightful heir or heiress,which in this case is me. But I'm in too much pain and too doped up with pain pills to do anything right now. As for my parent's wills,well it's best that they're read by my family members who survived the out break. There's things written in the will that are personal and partain to certain people only. I'll call them as soon as I return to my room so that they all know that we've found the wills. (Peels back the blanket and says to Vinnie) Oh by the way, here (hands Vinnie his ancestor's will and says) Aeron would've wanted you to read his will. All his children became sicker when the small pox virus swept through the kingdom,I think he left you something very valuable that is hidden under Mars's soil. If you look you will find the pure heart treasure.
Modo: Wait,there's another painting that I think you should have that is rightfully yours by inheritance. (Goes over to his bed, picks up the second portrait and says) Here,this belongs to you. I don't know what it is because I only cleaned off the first one to see what it was. (Watches as Dawn gently removed the picture from the garbage bag,sees the misty eyes and says) What's wrong Dawn? Is something the matter?
Dawn breathless from her silent sobs,she dries her eyes and turns the portrait around to show both Vinnie and Modo who it was of saying: It's Carter and the kids before they died of small pox. No one was spared,not even our baby who was six days old survived. My parents and inlaws all died except for Sprite who is unaffected by time or death. My siblings and I were the only survivors of small pox. Our families both biological and procreational suffered then died from the raging fevers, each night I prayed to Ares to spare the baby but in the end the smallest Silversston died in her sleep at six days old. I nursed Carter day and night running the extreme risk of getting sick myself but I nursed him until he died in my arms. I was the sole survivor of my family that Carter and I started and my siblings out lived their loved ones and our parents who all died because of the out break. I never knew a portrait had been made by Carter of him and the kids including little Sakura who was a new born at the time the portrait was painted. This is the only memory I have of Carter and my babies who all died valliantly fighting till their end against the fever and the virus it's self.
Vinnie gets a good long look at Carter and says: Hey! He looks exactly like Scout from the future! Aww! Whad the baby's name?
Dawn: Cherry Blossom.
Vinnie: Cherry Blossom? You named your sweet baby Cherry Blossom?
Dawn: No her father named her Cherry Blossom 'cause she was pink as a Cherry Blossom Flower in full bloom when she was born. What is Cherry Blossom in Japanese?
Modo removes the glove and snaps his fingers saying: Of course! It's Sakura! Sakura in english means Cherry Blossom. She sure looks adorable! What'd she weigh when she was born?
Dawn: Vitals on my baby huh? Well lemme see if I can remember. Oh of course, the first born was 9-7-23,the second born was 6-9-21, the third born was 5-4-22 and little Sakura was 5-12-29.
Modo gets a good long look at Sakura and says: She looks like her father with her mother's eyes and hair. She'd have been a beauty when she hit her teens. But she never survived her infant years so no one knows what she'd have looked like if she were to survive.
