Mia sat in her kitchen…alone. It had been ten months, a long ten months, since the guys had left her. They needed training with the new armors and there was only one place to get it…the Nether Realm. Even though she knew deep down that one day they would drift apart, it still hurt. She wasn't eating, she wasn't sleeping….she was just existing. There were no more tears to cry, though at this point she would welcome them. If she closed her eyes she could almost see the Ronins:

Cye chiding her for letting her tea get cold

Ryo outside with White Blaze and Yulie playing soccer

Sage on the porch meditating

Rowan with a book

Kento trying to sneak a snack

That did it. With a scream she flung her cup across the kitchen into a wall, shattering said cup. /I'm just like that cup./ she thought to herself. Ten months with no word, not even a visit from White Blaze just to check on her. Another broken promise. Being here in this house was painful. They had made it come alive after her grandfather had died. She didn't want to be here….she couldn't be here alone. Even Yulie never came around anymore, he was hurting too. Getting up, she walked out of the kitchen door and for just a moment, she saw a glint of metal (armor?) only to realize it was the wind chime Sage had placed on the porch. A sob escaped her as she closed the door behind her.

Slowly she made her way to the dock where the lake lay. It was chilly, but she didn't care. Standing at the edge of the dock, she let her gaze drift across the lake. No matter the weather, Cye could be found floating in its waters. He would say it helped to "center" him from time to time. Without much thought, Mia leaned forward and fell face first into the cold water. At first the shock jolted her and for a brief moment, she remembered the search for the Jewel of Life…and Anubis. The last night they spent together in her bed was one of her most bittersweet memories. She had lost so much…her grandfather, her lover, the child they had created, and now her friends abandoned her. Needing air, she turned over to float on her back. It had been dusk when she had come out here and now the stars were out. She could sense warning bells go off in her mind but she ignored them (after all, who was there to worry about her?). She didn't want to be here anymore. She watched the stars and floated.

Soon she didn't feel cold anymore.

"…a!"

"...a!"

"MIA!"

Sage quietly closed the door behind him and leaned his head back against it trying to settle his nerves. It had been so very close. Bracing himself, he walked down the stairs to where the others waited in the den. "Sage?" Cye asked, afraid to know more. "She's alive, but very weak. I wouldn't rule out her getting sick still." he said bluntly. He didn't mention the fact that she was a skeleton or the scars. "But you can heal her right?" Kento asked hopefully. Sage swallowed and steeled himself to say it. Closing his eyes, he told them the truth. "I could heal her, but only if she wants to live." The others were silent a moment, before Ryo blurted out "What do you mean if she wants to live?! Of course she wants to live!" The look on Sage's face said it all though: Mia didn't want to live. "We'll make her want to live!" Kento blurted out, unfazed by the look the others gave him. "You can't force someone to want to live Kento, no matter how much you want them to." Rowan said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. Angrily, Kento shoved his hand off of his shoulder. "I'm NOT going to sit her and let her give up and I'm NOT going to just give up on her!" he said emphatically, glaring at Rowan for even holding the idea of letting her give up. "No one is going to give up without a fight Kento, but we can't force her." Sage said quietly even though he himself wanted nothing more than to pour every bit of his armors energy into her.

Kento relented then and his shoulders sagged a bit. "Help me move this chair into her room. I'm going to stay the night with her." Sage said as he leaned the small recliner back to carry it upstairs. Snapping out of his thoughts, Kento picked up the other end and the two quietly brought it upstairs into her room. Her desk light was on with a towel draped over it to mute the light some and for the first time, Kento got a good look at Mia's face. He stopped short, causing Sage to nearly drop the chair. "Kento?" Sage said softly. "Kento." he spoke a little louder, finally breaking his friends' reverie. "We can't force her to want to live Kento. All we can do is help her." Sage said quietly. Kento inhaled and nodded as he helped Sage place the chair by her bedside. "Do you need anything?" he asked as Sage made himself comfortable. "No, I'm good." he replied as he prepared himself for a long night. Kento just nodded and left the blond haired warrior to his vigil. Closing the door, he leaned his head against it much as Sage had done earlier. He couldn't believe his "older sister" would ever come to harm from herself. He and the others had always done everything to protect her from their enemies; they never would have thought that Mia's worst enemy would be herself. He pushed away from her door and walked downstairs to see the others standing around, lost in their own thoughts. All they could do was wait out the long and lonely night.

It was close to midnight when Mia's fever appeared. It struck like most fevers with little fanfare, but Sage could feel it like an enemy in the dark. The others felt his concern but there was nothing they could do. Getting up, he went to her bathroom and got a cold washcloth to place on her forehead. He returned to her bedside and putting the cloth on her forehead roused her some. She opened her eyes and he could see the shine of the high fever in them. "Sage?" she asked softly with her brow scrunched in puzzlement. "Hey Mia." he answered her softly, clasping a bony hand in his. She shook her head in denial. "No. This is just another dream. A nice dream but, still a dream. Sage is gone, they're all gone…every last one of them. It would….have been…" she stopped as she drifted back into her uneasy sleep. He was worried. She was so weak and the fever was just getting higher. He tried to feed her his healing energy, but it was rejected. He closed his eyes in despair. /C'mon Mia please/ he thought to her, placing his hand on her head smoothing her hair. He tried again, and once again it was rejected. He remembered the last time she rejected his help. He and the others had stayed with her in the delivery room when she miscarried. He had tried to save the baby but it was too late. They nearly lost Mia to the blood loss, and it had taken all of them to not let her follow in her grief. It had been a mistake leaving her so soon after that, but she had seemed so happy for them. It had only been a few months after the miscarriage and they believed that she had moved on from her grief with the happiness she had showed when they told her of their plans. They were so very wrong.

He sent for the others. He knew what had to be done…what they should have done. No one had been able to sleep and was wide awake when his summons came. Quickly they hurried into her room and all but Kento and Sage gasped at what she had become. Her hair no longer had the shine it did, her face was skeletal and her arms….her arms were the worst. Small, thin scars marred her skin. Sage's silent command brought them to attention. "We can't force her to want to live, but we can push her to realize we are still here for her." he told them. They understood, remembering that day, the worst day since Talpa had shown up. Cye swallowed and forced back the memory of 18 months ago. There had been so much blood… "Cye!" Ryo's voice snapped him out of it, the look on his face showing that he too had been through that memory. The four Ronins closed their eyes and willed their strength to their friend and healer. Sage, with his hand on Mia's forehead tried once again to help her, this time he felt hesitation instead of outright rejection. /Mia please, we're all here. Please let us help you. / he sent to her sending her memories of their time together. He could feel her resolve weaken and he sent her more:

Kento and Rowan arguing over a game

Rowan showing her the constellations

Ryo trying to give White Blaze a bath

Kento teaching her how to defend herself

Cye making her favorite snack with tea when she was having a bad day

Sage always going to town with her to protect her

All of them protecting her from Talpa…ready to give their lives for her to see her safe…

Her resolve broke a little and Sage, not wanting to miss this one chance, poured their combined energy into her breaking the fever that was raging through her. She could hear murmured words of comfort in her darkness.

She knew she wasn't alone.