*Disclaimer: Don't own ronin warriors, just like to mess w/em! ^__~ *

"Movies"

At slow speed we all seem focused

In motion we seem wrong

In summer we can taste the rain.

I guess I always knew the Dynasty would never go away. As soon as Saranbo showed up, I must have known. It's just like our world anyway. Crowded with people, all waiting to get ahead, to get a little bit of power. When we defeated Talpa, there was another guy ready to take his place. I should have known.

But when I didn't think about it, I seemed to have more focus. I always thought we were fighting to destroy the Dynasty. I guess it's good to have a goal. I didn't think much about it until we defeated Talpa for the second time. We were all so happy, the other guys almost seemed to forget the Dynasty, they all went back to normal, but I couldn't. My nightmares never stopped, I never had peace, I always remembered. I guess that's because, deep down, I always knew the Dynasty would never go away.

I let it slide for a while, and, luckily, the Dynasty was quiet for almost 6 months, giving me time to figure stuff out. Every time I thought about the Dynasty coming back, it felt

wrong. I managed to convince myself that it was gone, that the fighting was over.

Eventually, I had to face the truth.

I want you to be free

Don't worry about me

And just like the movies

We play out our last scene.

I didn't want the guys to have to fight again, it wasn't fair, they all had lives to return to. My life was over, my parents were dead, I had no relatives, it seemed I was made to lead this crusade against evil. It seemed like this was what I was meant to do. And so I did exactly what a leader should never do. I lied to them. All of them. And they believed me, because I was their leader.

Two can play this game

We both want power.

The Dynasty wants to control my world, I just want to control my own life.

Both of which are not ever going to happen.

But hey, it's ok. Two can play at this game. The Dynasty may force me to fight, to give up any shred of a life I might have had, but they sure as hell won't drag my friends into this.

This is now my fight.

Sure, Kyra and the Warlords are helping, but they're like me: they were made for this fight. Kyra wanted all of the Ronins to help, she said I couldn't possibly take on the Dynasty by myself, that it was suicide. But I'm not by myself, she and the warlords are always there to back me up and, besides, the Ronins are my friends, my responsibility. I have a duty to protect them, to do what I think is best for them. I'll fight, but they're not going to, their fight is done.

I played along for a while and convinced them that the Dynasty was done for, that they could go home. I made sure that they never knew that the Dynasty was still around. I'll finish this myself. I won't ever let my friends take a hit for me again.

In winter we can taste the pain

By winter there was another attack, but it was ok, because everyone had already headed home. Cye and Kento left pretty quickly, Sage and Rowen were a little harder to convince, they always think things through. I think deep down, they knew, too, but somehow, I managed to convince them that they could go home.

And then I left.

Slowly, I made sure that we drifted apart. If I kept in touch I knew one way or another I'd end up dragging them back into this mess.

In our short years, we come long way

To treat it bad and throw away.

God, I've known them all for so short a time, yet I'm closer to them than anyone else I've ever known in my life. Our friendships have been through some trials, but they've always pulled through, and now I've deliberately pushed them out of my life. The only six people I've ever really cared about in my life are them, Mia and Yuli. It's hard without them here to pull me through. So much of my strength comes from them, even now when we're so far apart. Sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to handle this without them here.

I hope that they all stay friends, they can take care of each other. A friendship is such a horrible thing to throw away.

I want you to be free

Don't worry about me

And just like the movies,

We play out our last scene.

The hardest part about all this was saying good bye to all the guys and especially to Mia. God, I love her so much, maybe, if things were different, we could have been together. But I won't get her involved, she's done so much for me already, I can't let her know about this. When they left, they didn't even know that it was gonna be the last time we saw each other. They were all excited to be going home, to be moving on. We exchanged email addresses. I tried to look like I was planning on using them. I was always sure not to give out my new phone number, I just told them I didn't have one yet. Step one in Ryo's "get rid of your closest friends" plan.

You won't cry I won't scream.

No one cried. No one showed any hint of real sadness. They had no reason to, they didn't know. They all thought we would stay friends, that we would stay in touch and see each other all the time, they all though that nothing would change. I did my best not to scream out loud. War can be so frustrating.

In our short lives, we come long way

To treat it bad and throw away.

We've come so far together, all of us, sometimes I still can't believe I purposely got rid of them all. This is not the way I thought things would end up. But then again, that was back when I was still deceiving myself. Focused on the wrong goal. I should always have been thinking about them. I was such a fool.

At least they won't be throwing their lives away, but what am I talking about? This is why I'm here. I'm not throwing my life away. This is what I'm meant to do. This is my purpose. I should never have let anyone else get tangled up in doing my job, I should never have let my friends get hurt while they were fulfilling my duty.

And if we make a little space

A science fiction showcase.

Cye and Kento left together, they both lived near each other. I know they have really great families, they used to talk about them all the time. I wonder what they're doing now? Cye still sends me pictures and emails and stuff, even though I never reply. I'm glad he does, sometimes they're all that keeps me going.

Sage planned to leave two weeks after Kento and Cye and at the last possible moment, Rowen decided to go with him. Rowen didn't have much of a home to go back to, kinda like me. Anyway, he didn't wanna go home, so he went to live with Sage's family for a while. Sage managed to clear a little bit of space in his jam-packed car for Rowen's stuff, mostly star charts and pictures of the planets and stuff. I've always known that Rowen's gonna be really successful, he'll be a great scientist or something, and I know Sage will be happy wherever he goes in life, that's just the way he is.

I decided to leave the same day as Sage and Rowen, I had found an apartment on the outskirts of Toyama, on the other side of the forest from Mia's house. I needed to be in Toyama, near the forest (where White Blaze likes to stay) but away from Mia. I didn't tell anyone where I was gonna live, just that I was gonna be ok.

In our short film, a love disgrace

Dream a scene to brighten face"

I stayed a few hours after Rowen and Sage left, just to load up a few extra things, mostly it was because I wanted a few extra hours with Mia. I knew that if I told her that I was gonna keep fighting, she would help me, she would be there for me, but could I really ask her to do that? No. I loved her too much. It would be disgraceful for me to drag her into this fight again. Besides, she had a life to get back to, a future. She wasn't meant for this.

It was depressing, thinking that I could never see her again, but I put on a face. I made her think I was gonna be ok, that I was gonna be happy. I told her we would keep in touch. That was a nice thought, it was a delusion, but it helped keep me smiling.

In our short years we come long way

To treat it bad, just to throw it away.

I've spent these last few years getting to know Mia and the guys so well. So much effort and time, so much blood, sweat and tears shared. So much happiness and so much pain. All for what? Just to give up right at our peak moment. Just to throw all of our friendship away. I almost gave up on my plan. I almost told Mia. But then I remembered: before I knew them, these people had spent time building up their lives, planning for their futures. Could I ask them to throw all that away just to help me with my destiny? No. This is my fight.

I want you to be free

Don't worry about me

And just like the movies

We play out our last scene.

I want my friends to be free of this. I don't want them to have to worry about me. I don't want them to ever have to fight again. I want this to be our last scene. I want this to be the last time I see them and so, I'll drive away.