Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story, they are the sole property of their creators (Sunrise/Naogya TV/Bandai).

Summary: Sequel to Idle Recollections. Every now and then the Ronin Warriors need a time out from their normal lives to get together and reminisce. After all the storms they have weathered, will they be prepared for the next challenge should it ever arise? Rated 'T' for exceedingly mild language, and subject matter in later chapters. It's not the 'adult content' but it's definitely not suitable for kids. You'll know what it is when you get there.

Key:
"Text" dialogue in speaker's native or commonly preferred language (in this case Japanese)

'Text ' thoughts/thought-speak; when a paragraph or more is italicized it means the scene is a flashback.

"The Storm's Weathered"

August 1996

By: LG

Save for the occasional typing on the keyboard, the room was oddly silent. Outside of it, the young man was sure there was chaos...You could expect no less from his family. If it wasn't noisy there was something wrong.

He had lucked out in getting this room to use as his office, as it was the only room on the premises that actually had thick enough walls to block out the racket. Papers lay strewn about the mahogany desk on which the computer sat...Papers, which had been neatly stacked prior to one of his siblings coming in to 'help.'

Kento Rei Faun rubbed vigorously at his temples, a headache starting to come on. He jerked his head up when the phone started to ring, from somewhere underneath the confetti lying on his desk. He swore softly to himself hastily shoving papers out of his way, some fell to the floor...All the while, the phone continued to ring.

Ah his beloved siblings, Kento thought to himself as the phone neared the point where it'd cut off the caller, just one more reason for him to buy an answering machine.

"Hello?" He managed to get it just in time, or so he hoped. Yet, silence greeted him on the other end...However, the line was open.

The young man scowled, "Mei Ryu! I swear, if this is another one of your prank calls, I'm going to bust out my mystical armor. Proving that I didn't make it up, and then I'm gonna teach you a lesson."

The person on the other end of the line let out a deep snort in amusement, and Kento knew immediately it wasn't a prank call.

His face lit up, "Hey, Sage."

"Bust out your mystical armor?" The Halo Ronin chuckled, trying his best not to laugh outright.

"Heh, you don't have any younger brothers; they're nothing like little sisters. Little sisters are nice, little brothers?" the Warrior of Strength rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I wanna Iron-Rock-Crusher the numbskulls."

Sage let out a laugh, "With all the horror stories about your brothers that you've given me in the past? I'm even more thankful for Satsuki."

"Speaking of Suki, heard from her lately? She still crushin' on Ro?" Kento inquired, now holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he tried to straighten up his messy desk.

"No I haven't, and last I heard she was dating some boy from school," here Sage did not sound exactly thrilled, as he was quick to get to his point of calling, "Are you free this weekend, Kento?"

"Let me check," the Ronin of Hardrock dropped down the program he'd been working in, and opened up his planner, "Yeah, nothing's on the schedule."

"Good. Cye and Rowen are also available," there was a pause, before he continued on, "My grandfather is out of town he'll be leaving Friday morning, and mother is willing to let us all stay at the house until his return."

"You know your Mom is awesome, right?" Kento exited out of the planner, and pulled the other program back up, "But I do have to ask, what brought this about? I thought we were just going to wait to see each other until Pyro's birthday."

"We were, but I decided waiting another two weeks wasn't a good idea," Sage commented with a slight frown, "I'm worried about him."

Hardrock's bearer snorted into the phone, "Sage, when are you not worrying about Ryo? You worry about him more than Rowen, and I thought that was impossible. You proved me wrong though."

The Ronin of Light huffed, "Well I'm so sorry that I woke up to find Ryo almost dead. That would traumatize any fourteen-year-old; worrying about him has easily become second nature since then."

"Oh believe me, I know," Kento said with a slight chuckle, he hadn't been aiming to ruffle feathers, "But why are you worried about him, this time?"

"Rowen saw him in Tokyo last week some time, and so they talked...Come to find out Ryo dropped out of college. Rowen also said that he looked like he had something on his mind," Sage answered slowly, "Kento, Ryo and I talk every week; he and Cye once every other. He never told either of us that he dropped out!"

"That's probably because he figured you'd both freak out," the Hardrock Ronin pointed out, "Which you are currently doing, may I add?"

"I'm not freaking out I'm concerned, Cye's the one who flipped out," the corner of Sage's lips twitched upwards briefly, recalling just how badly Cye had reacted. However, he quickly became solemn, "And that alone isn't what bothers me. For the past two weeks I've been getting the feeling from our bond that someone was upset, I called Ryo on it this morning."

"Oh, so it is him then?" Kento asked a slight frown on his face, dropping everything else he was doing so he could pay attention to the conversation.

"You've sensed it too?"

The Warrior of Strength sheepishly grinned, "Sort of, I get this vague impression of sadness. But, I've had an awful lot of headaches too. I had one that actually woke me up this morning at six. Never thought you could get a headache while you were sleeping..."

"I called him not twenty minutes later," the swordsman had a thoughtful look on his face, as he pondered over the new information.

"Weird that the bond is starting to act like this, but ever since we got these armors...It's like the more we try to pull away from each other, the more they want us aware of everyone else's feelings," Kento mused aloud, "Cause let's be honest, before Suzunagi showed up we were so into ourselves and trying to find our own paths that we just forgot each other."

"True," Sage acknowledged. If you would've talked to him back when they were still fighting the Dynasty, he would've told you Kento didn't have enough common sense and logic to pass middle school. But over the years, Hardrock's bearer had proven just how intelligent he could be...Though; it was obvious to Sage that Kento was more than content to play the role of the comedian and never let anyone know just how insightful he was.

"You know, it doesn't surprise me Ryo dropped out," Kento admitted, changing the phone to his other ear, after silence reigned for quite a few minutes.

Sage's eyebrows shot up, "What do you mean?"

The young man ran a hand through his purple-ash hairii, sighing trying to figure out the right way to word everything, "Just hear me out for a few minutes, okay? Ryo's a warrior and had training, just like the rest of us. But, Ryo was raised in a cabin away from the rest of the world. We had our families, Rowen had me, my family, and his other friends, all Ryo had was that cabin and White Blaze."

"Now," Kento took a breath and then plowed forward, "We all know the Ancient appeared to Ryo first, meaning Ryo was in training to be a Ronin Warrior long before the rest of us. Those of us learning how to fight were training in order to prepare to take over our clans someday; we weren't being trained to fight a war. By the time we got involved? Ryo had already known and been training with the Ancient for four yearsiiii."

There was another pause, this one somewhat awkward, "I guess the point I'm trying to get across here is, that the four of us always had something other than the fighting while Ryo didn't. So now that it's over, he isn't really sure how to move on. He doesn't think he can, because the fighting was all he ever knew. He can't let the armors go, because without them he would've never met us in the first place."

Kento was frowning as a minute passed and there was no response, he was hoping that it was due to the fact Sage was trying to absorb the information, and not because he'd fallen asleep or because the call had been cut off.

"Kento?" the Ronin of Halo asked quietly.

"Yes?" the frown on Hardrock's face deepened, Sage didn't normally talk in such a low tone.

Sage shook his head, bordering on amusement, "Remind me again, why are you an accountant? You should've been a therapist, or a counselor of some sort."

Kento eyed the diploma on the wall, reading that he had a Bachelor's in Business Accounting, for a brief moment trying to recall why exactly he had chosen to go into this line of work. Unable to come up with a reasonable one in his head, the young man merely laughed, "Hey, there's nothing to say that I can't pick it up later. Right now the family business needs me; you wouldn't believe how badly the figures were messed up before I straightened everything out."

Hardrock's bearer realized he would need to try and get Sage to lighten up a little bit after dealing with such a serious conversation. It was never a good idea to end things on too much of a serious note, especially with Sage...The way Kento saw it? The Ronin of Halo brooded enough as it was, if you could avoid giving him something else to worry over it made it all the better.

"I would've said something about what I thought was going on sooner, but I've been so busy lately. I'm luck that I can remember my own name," He said, once more holding the phone with his shoulder as he began to input a few numbers into the computer.

Sage saw an opening and couldn't let it pass him by, "Hardhead extraordinaire?"

"Yup," Kento remarked absently, briefly stopping what he was doing to cry, "Sage!"

The other man sniggered, "I'm sorry, couldn't help myself."

"No, that has nothing to do with it," Kento commented as he elaborated, "You showed that you actually do have a sense of humor. I'm stunned."

"Kiss my ass Hardrock," Halo's bearer retorted with a snort.

"Sorry blondie, I don't feel like bending over that far."

Sage laughed, feeling somewhat better now; leave it to the Ronin of Hardrock. Sage shook his head, saying, "Thanks Kento. Let's just hope you can work your magic on Ryo."

"I'll do my best," Kento quipped with a chuckle, "I'll see you Friday; I should get there about one or so."

"Okay then, later," Sage hung up the phone, and massaged his extremely sore ear...He was dreading when the telephone bill showed up. He had spent about thirty minutes on the phone with Ryo, an hour on the phone with Cye and then Rowen, and a hour-and-a-half with Kento. Then there was the fact he still had to call both Cye and Rowen back to find out what time they'd be coming.

"Good thing I have a nice long distance plan," Halo's bearer grumbled to himself.

Kento got up and stretched his stiff muscles, before bending over to pick up the papers that had fallen to the floor. He then spent a few minutes re-arranging everything on his desk, after saving what he'd been working on and shutting down the computer.

He cast one last look around the room, and with things seeming to be in order, he left, locking the door behind him.

Cye wasn't exactly sure what had brought about his sudden need for change, all he knew was that he needed one. The Ronin of Torrent may have had a bachelor's degree in the marine field, but he had yet to find a job that felt like it was the one for him. Thus he'd been working in the family business, and while he was extremely good at making pottery he slowly lost the interest and enjoyment that it had once held for him.

So here he was, once more back in Tokyo living in his old apartment, trying to figure out where he needed to go and what exactly he needed to do. Which was why newspaper ads and job applications lay strewn about the table...Or rather, his side of the table seeing as how Rowen had unceremoniously shoved them over.

"So," Strata's bearer drawled out, tilting back in his chair in order to lift the front legs off the floor, "Kento and Ryo will be showing up on Friday too, huh?"

"Don't break my chair," the Torrent Ronin snapped out, amidst the pile of papers on his side of the table. "Yes, that's what Sage told me. Kento said he'd get there at one, I said we'd be there maybe a little after, but definitely before two-thirty."

"Why'd you give him such awkward times?" the bearer of Strata raised his blue-eyebrows in confusion, the chair's four legs were all on the floor now.

Cye smirked at him, "Because I know how long it takes you to get up in the morning."

Rowen snorted, rolling his eyes as he did so, "Gee, thanks a lot Cye."

"Oh you don't have to thank me yet," the Warrior of Trust continued to smirk, in fact now he was practically beaming, "I'll be at your place to wake you up on Friday."

"I hate you," the Strata Ronin sulked.

Cye shook his auburn head and laughed lightly, that was a typical response from Rowen...He was so used to hearing it, but he couldn't help but laugh every time the archer said it. If Rowen hated him so much, he wouldn't be here in Cye's apartment, eating Cye's food and pouring over one of Cye's Marine Biology books.

The Ronin of Torrent had re-rented the apartment earlier in the week, having moved back in yesterday afternoon. He had only been able to notify Sage of his change in address, before promptly falling asleep due to all the traveling.

Cye had planned on calling the others today, after he came back from picking up a few things at the store...Except, Rowen caught sight of him on the street and that was pretty much the end of both plans.

Rowen really reminded Torrent's bearer of a puppy, the one that followed you home after you gave it something small to eat because you felt sorry for it. It then stationed itself outside your door whining, and when you opened said door it looked up at you with these pitiful eyes, until you relented and finally let it in.

It would then proceed to eat you out of house and home...Cye was placidly wondering why he hadn't just drop-kicked this puppy down the hall. Oh well, too late now, but there was always a next time...That was practically guaranteed.

"If you hate me so much, why are you still sitting here?" the Ronin of Torrent inquired arching an eyebrow, having stilled his laughter.

"Because I really don't feel like going back to my dorm," Rowen admitted with a sheepish grin, "My roommate has been a total and complete pain lately. I'd much rather hang out here and bug you."

"You'll excuse me if I don't dance for joy," Torrent's bearer responded once more looking through the newspaper.

Rowen pouted a bit, trying to see if he could get some sort of reaction from his friend, "You're awfully crabby today Cye."

"You can leave at anytime free-loader," was the response.

The Strata Ronin fell silent trying to come up with some witty comeback, but could find none at this point. He let out a sigh and sank dejectedly into his seat, grabbing a cracker and starting to chew on it.

The Warrior of Trust knitted his brows together, picking up a highlighter and outlining a portion of the classified ad he was reading. He then put the cap back on it, and put the paper down to look at Rowen.

"All right, I'll give in," Cye said whilst crossing his arms in front of his chest, "What's the matter?"

"Have you ever wondered, 'why us?' Why out of the millions of people on this planet, we're the only ones who qualified for the armors?" Rowen inquired in a soft thoughtful voice, "They could've picked anyone, yet they came to us. Were we really that special, that different?"

It was odd for Torrent's bearer to hear this question coming from the Ronin of Strata; Rowen may have been young but had always come across as old and wise. To hear this, especially seeing as how Cye had often asked himself the same question, was enough to throw the man off, if only momentarily.

This time, it was Cye's turn to be the wise one and he easily slid into that role, "I have, and I've come to realize that the armors picked us out, because we are who we are. We were the embodiment of our virtues, the one's the Ancient instilled upon them, the ones he told them to look for. Each of us is special and different in our own way Rowen, and in others we're the same."

A small grin crossed the archer's face, the answer more than enough for him, as he commented, "You're starting to sound like Sage."

"Bugger off."

"And where did you ever pick up the British lingo?" He inquired, once more leaning back in the chair, seeing just how far he could press Torrent's buttons at this point.

Cye scowled, eyes narrowing at the blue-haired man, "I must've told you all, especially you, a thousand times now! My father used to do traveling for the company; I spent plenty of time in London when I was young so I picked it up. What about your horrible imitation of a New York accent, huh?" Two could so play at this game.

Rowen grinned smugly, "I'm a New Yorker at heart, Red Coat."

"Ya, you are a stupid Yankee," Cye admitted trying not to grin outright at the look on his friend's face.

For the second time that day, Rowen Hashiba was unable to come up with a witty retort. Sometimes? He really, really hated Cye Mouri.

A/N: Yes ladies and gentlemen, this would be the sequel to my Ryo One-shot "Idle Recollections." "The Storms Weathered" takes place directly after IR. As such the other Ronin are the main focus for a bit, Ryo doesn't show up until a later chapter. While it does not pertain to "The Gathering of the Legends" TSW can be taken as a prequel if you like. It does cover a few things I feel I skimped over in that story, but you don't have to read this to understand TGOL.

1) Yes I know some people regard what I've used for Kento's hair-color as being a fanfic cliché. I found a tree though, the "Autumn Purple Ash" and in one picture the leaf color of it in fall was awfully close to Kento's hair in Message. So that's my reasoning for using 'purple-ash.'

2) According to most sites I've searched, Kaosu appeared to Ryo first in 1983. The Ronins/Troopers didn't get their armors until 1987; meaning the others didn't meet Kaosu until then. So Ryo was in training long before the others were.