"Kento, do u wanna go get Uli for me?" asked Mia. Kento was hovering
over Cye trying to absorb the savory smell of supper. "Huh? oh okay." he
said leaving. It was dinner time, and Cye and Mia were cooking as usual.
Do to the fact that they were the only two who knew how to cook without
burning the house down. She smiled thinking back to the last episode where
Rowen and Kento decided to take lunch into their own hands. "What's so
funny Mia? asked Cye. She jerked her head up from the steaming bowl of
rice. "Oh nothing." she smiled.
"Hey little man. What cha doin?" asked Kento looking down at the eight year old boy. He looked up. "Hiya Kento, oh nothing." said Uli fixing the newspaper hat that fell over his eyes. "Oh who were u talking to?" he asked curiously. "Nobody." said Uli. "Oh okay that, well it's time to eat." said Kento grinning. "Okay." he got up and ran past Kento. "Race u there!" screamed Uli. Kento ran after Uli. Uli looked back to see Kento right behind him when, -ouff-. He landed right into something. His hat fell over his eyes again. Kento helped the boy up. "Whoa easy there." siad Kento. Uli noticed he bumped into the coffee table. He rubbed his head. "Let me see." said Kento. He brushed his fingers over his flamed skin. "Gotta be careful next time." said Kento, "Come on before the food gets cold, and we wouldn't want that to happen." Uli smiled and followed Kento into the kitchen.
"Smells good guys." said Rowen taking a plate of rice and chicken. "Mmmm, tastes good too." said Uli. Mia smiled. Everyone was in the kitchen. "Uli, what happened?" asked Mia noticing the bump on his head. "Oh, I was run-." he was cut off by Kento. Kento knew that he'd get introuble if Mia found out he was racing Uli in the house. "He fell on accident." said Kento, patting the boy on the head. Mia gave him a look. "Hmm, okay just becareful next time." she said giving him an ice pack. "So how was everybody's day?" asked Ryo. He got the usual reply, groans and mumbles. Rowen and Sage cleaned up while everyone else plopped down in the parlor.
Ryo was resting his head on White Blaze, Cye was teaching Kento how to play chess. He said it would be good for him. He was spending way too much time with that playstation. Mia was rummaging around doing a quick clean up, and Uli was sitting on the parlor floor playing with his new 'Super duper action man' action figure. Rowen and Sage finished up and came into the parlor. Ryo glanced at the clock then at Mia. She met his gaze and nodded her head. "Okay Uli, time for bed." said Mia. He pouted, "aw, do I have to? I'm not even tired," he yawned. She chuckled. "Yes, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." she said. How could he forget. They were going to the zoo tomorrow. He was excited, but not as much as Cye, he was dying to see the aquarium. His face beamed with light like a lit christmas tree. "I know." he said. He said 'goodnight' to everyone and headed upstairs Mia behind him.
He crawled into bed. Mia pulled the covers up to his chin. He stared at her. "Mia?" he asks. "Yes?" "Do u ever hear voices, and u look around but no one is there?" he asked seriously. She thought before she answerd. "Uh, no why do u ask Uli?" curious to what the boy was talking about. "Oh, nothing never mind." he yawned. "Okay then, good night Uli." said Mia. "Good night Mia." said Uli slowly closing his eyes. She brushed the hair from his head to the side. "Sweet dreams." she mumbled and shut the door behind her.
"Hey all set?" asked Ryo as Mia came down stairs. She looked a little distant. "Huh? oh yeah." she said. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned. "I don't know its Uli, he seems, well, I don't know, it's nothing." she said, she didn't want to bring up the subject. "Oh okay then." Kento pressed play as they all settled down to watch a movie.
"Ulie...Ulie what are u doin?" His eyes jerked open. They darted across the room. He couldn't see much, seeing it was dark. "Ulie, why won't u help me?" asked the voice again. "Just leave me alone, I don't wanna talk to u anymore. Please don't hurt me." he quivered. "Ulie...why won't u help me?" "Leave me alone!" he covered his ears and started to cry. After a moment he opened his eyes again and took his hands off his ears. He didn't hear the voices anymore. He layed down again and tried to get back to sleep. But too many thoughts ran through his head. He was scared. He got up and walked into the hallway. He heard somebody open the bathroom door. He hid behind his own to see who it was. The person caught site of him and walked over to the boy. "Hey Uli...what's wrong?" He noticed the tear stained cheeks. "Nothing." said the boy, almost in a whisper. "Want me to tuck u in?" He nodded his head. He crawled back into bed. "Are u sure everything is all right?" He nodded his head. "Okay then, get some sleep." said Sage. He shut the door behind him. 'Hmm...probably just normal nightmares.' he thought. "Sage!" He opened the door and looked in. "Sage can u keep the door open?" asked Uli. "Sure thing." He left the door open and headed downstairs.
"Hey Sage took u long enough." said Ryo. "Huh? Oh, no Uli was up so I tucked him back in." said Sage. Mia turned her focus away from the t.v. and at Sage. "Is he okay?" she asked. "Yeah, probably just some nightmare." he siad plopping down on the floor next to a snoring Rowen. 'Yeah, I suppose so. That and that we havent found the kid's parents yet.' thought Mia. They all decided to take him to the zoo, thinking that would cheer him up. They still hadn't found his parents. They knew they never would, but didn't have the heart to tell him yet.
* * *
Ryo awoke feeling something tug on him. "Go away White Blaze." he mumbled turning over in his sleep. Uli pouted. "Cooommmeeee onnnn Ryo." said Uli pulling on Ryo's sleeve. He still wouldn't budge. He sighed. 'Hmm...I know.' He got on top of the bed and bent over Ryo. He was about to put his fingers over Ryo's nose. "Uli!" he stopped what he was doing and turned around. "Uli come on don't worry. It's only 7:00. The zoo dosen't open till 9:00. Let Ryo sleep. Come on lets go get something to eat." said Mia. He jumped off the bed and ran downstairs. Ryo stared at the girl groggly in front of the doorway. She was wrapped up in her silk bathrobe, her hair in a loose braid. He blushed. 'I've got to stop doing that.' he thought. "Thanks Mia, you're my savior." he mumbled and closed his eyes again. "No prob." she smiled. 'He looks so cute like that.'
About twenty minutes later Sage was trying to get Rowen up, Kento could be heard racing downstairs to the kitchen, Cye was getting dressed, Ryo was just starting to wake up, and Mia was just heading downstairs. Uli was sitting on the counter getting himself a bowl of cereal. 'Man this has no sugar.' He stood up on the counter and grabbed the jar of sugar and added a couple, more like six tablespoons of sugar to his already sugar flavored cereal. "Uli, easy there, you're gonna be wound up." said Cye entering the kitchen. Cye was tooken by surprise when two humongous arms wrapped around his neck. "Cye old buddy, what are u cookin' me this morning?" asked Kento. "Kento! get off of me ya big ox!" said Cye squirming his way out of Kento's hold. "Aw, man chill out, I was just wondering what u were cooking." said Kento. "Oh Kento." sighed Cye. Mia walked in. She skirted past the two and walked over to Uli. "Hi Mia." he chirped. "Hey Uli, come on get down from there befor u get hurt." she siad helping him down from the counter top. Everybody was at the kitchen table eating breakfast. "I can't wait to see all the fish!" beamed Cye. "I can't wait to see the monkeys!" said Kento. "Why's that? Distant relatives?" asked Cye. Everyone chuckled. "Ha, ha very funny fish man." said Kento pouting. "What do u wanna see?" asked Uli to Mia. "Hmm...I wanna go to the petting zoo." she said. "The petting zoo? Nah, why don't u come with me and Rowen to the reptiles?" asked Sage knowing she was scared of snakes. "Hmm...very funny, but I think I'll have to pass on that one." she said. "Me too Sage, I wanna see the birds." said Rowen. "I wanna see EVERYTHING!!" beamed Uli. "Don't worry Uli, we'll see everything." said Ryo.
At the zoo...
Everyone had decided to split up and meet at the big tent in an hour. Rowen and Sage decided to go to the reptile land then the birds. Cye and Kento went to the aquarium. And Ryo, Mia and Uli went to the petting zoo. "Wow! Hey Ryo Mia come on!" said Uli breaking away from their hands and running to the billy-goats. "Hey Uli, wait a minute." said Mia. They ran after the boy. "Look Ryo, he's a billy-goat." said Uli peting the animal.
at the tent...
"So did everyone have fun?" asked Sage. "Yes, i know i did." said Cye holding up a bag of goldfish. "Yeah, me too." said Uli holding up his stuffed animal tiger. "So, hey how about we all go get something to eat." gestured Kento. They all agreed. "Well I don't think we should eat here, the prices are way too expensive and it isn't even good. Any suggestions?" asked Sage. "Hmm...I know lets go to Samo's." said Kento. They all set off there. They took Rowen's van, seeing it was bigger. Rowen was driving, Kento in the seat next to him, Ryo in the back with Mia and Uli wedged in between the both, sleeping, and Cye in the far back, his face still gleaming with glee, next to Sage. Mia looked down at the boy stirring next to her. He whimpered in his sleep. "Uli...why won't u help me, help us? U have to, we'll make u. You'll see." Ryo also took notice. He barley noticed though, with all the racket going on, Rowen and Kento were arguing over what music station they would listen to. He looked at Mia. She brushed a calm hand over his head. He settled down a little bit. He turned his body and rested against Mia, his head nudging into her ribcage. Mia looked at Ryo. She mouthed, 'we'll talk about this later.' All this racket was giving Sage a headache. "Kento, Rowen, just pick a damn station!" he roared. They stopped. Everyone turned around. He blushed. "Sorry, it's just giving me a headache." said Sage. "Uh, okay, lets just turn the radio off." said Rowen. He didn't want ot upset his friend.
"Well, we're here." said Kento. Everyone got out of the van. "Uli, come on hon, it's time to eat." He opened his eyes. 'It was just a dream?' Ryo helped him out of the van. "Kento!" "Hiya." A man in his late 40's came over and gave Kento a big hug. "Haven't seen u here in awhile, how's ur uncle?" he asked. "Uh, he's great." said Kento. "That's good, well I see u brough guests, friends, a pretty lady, a little boy? Kento are u not telling me something?" he asked. "Huh, oh no it's not like that. These are my friends." said Kento laughing, but blusing. "Oh, well then, lets find a special place for u and ur friends." he said brining them to a big table in the corner.
"Boy, that was good." said Kento. "Yeah, sure was." siad Cye sitting back in his chair rubbing his stomach. "Sure does feel good to not cook for once, huh, Mia?" said Cye. "Yeah, sure does." she smiled. Ryo looked down at Uli. 'Huh strange, usually his mouth is running a mile a minute. Maybe Mia's right, he probably misses his mom and dad. Man, I don't know how we're gonna tell him.' thought Ryo. "Uli, want some ice cream?" asked Mia. He looked up. "Huh, oh no thanks." he siad. She gave a sad smile. "Okay then." "I do!" said Kento. "Yeah, we know u do." said Sage. 'No ice cream? Since when doesn't a child not want ice cream? Poor thing.' though Mia. "Well Cye and I are gonna head out tonight, we're gonna go visit his parents." said Kento finishing his ice cream. "Yeah, me and Rowen are gonna go to my Grandpa's Dojo tonight, just in case u guys forgot." siad Sage. "Mia, do u mind going and paying the bill?" asked Kento handing Mia the money everyone pitched in. "Sure, Uli wanna come?" she asked. "Okay." Ryo watched her leave with Uli. "You know Ryo, it's only gonna be u two tonight, besides Uli." said Sage. He blushed. "Yeah, I know."he said. "So, are u gonna tell her?" asked Cye. "Maybe." he said. "Hmm...tonight will be a perfect night." "Yeah, but I think it would be good if u guys told Uli tonight. I think having too many people aroud would make things worse, and he'll have the weekend with u guys to cope with it." said Rowen. "Yeah, I know, don't worry, I'll do it somehow." he said. "Some how what?" asked Mia coming back with the change. "Oh, nothing." he said blushing. Sage grinned.
back at the house...
"Bye guys." said Mia and Ryo to Sage and Rowen. Everyone was heading off for the rest of the weekend. "Bye everyone." said Uli waving his hand. Kento and Cye came downstairs. Uli ran to give Kento a hug. He picked the boy up and hoisted him on his shoulder. "Don't worry Uli, we'll be back soon enough." said Kento putting Uli back on the ground. "Yeah." said Cye. He gave Cye a hug good bye. "Well, we're off." And they left. "Phew, it'll be nice to have a little peace and quiet around here." said Mia shutting the door. "Yeah, I'll say." She smiled back at him. 'Whoa, easy there girl, don't get your hopes up. Just because it's only u and him, well except for Uli this weekend dosen't mean anything.' she thought.
Uli was sitting on the parlor floor playing with his toys, Ryo was on the couch watching t.v, and Mia was just cleaning up around the house. It sure was nice not having to be in ahouse full of young men yelling all the time. 'I think now is a better time than ever.' thought Ryo. He got up to go find Mia. He walked into her open door bedroom. "Mi? I think now is a good time to tell him." said Ryo. She nodded her head and followd him downstairs. She saw little Uli sitting down on the floor playing. He looked so innocent. She didn't want to tell him, he's been through so much already. "Uli, come here for a minute." siad Mia taking a seat on the couch next to Ryo. He got up and trotted over to them. She looked over at Ryo. 'I guess I'll begin.' thought Mia. "Uli, u know now that it's been two weeks since the final fight with Talpa." she started. He just looked at her, wondering where this was going. "And u know that we've been looking for your parents, very hard." she continued. She watched the boy's face expression begin to change. She took his hand. "We've been looking and looking, a lot of people haven't returned Uli, u know that. I-I think it's time to let go." she said, she knew she sounded denomic. It was hurting her a lot to tell a child this, one she felt very attached to, but it wasn't any better to let the boy get his hopes up every day just to have them broken again and again. Uli looked over at Ryo, then back at Mia. "So-so u mean that, my momma and poppa, aren't aren't gonna come back?" he asked shakily. Mia could see his eyes briming with tears. "Uli, yes." she stated. He backed away from the couch. He couldn't believe it, they were just gonna give up hope? They can't, and I won't! "No, u don't know that, u don't know them!" he shouted. Mia felt tears escape from her eyes. Ryo took to the situation. He got off the couch and knelt down to the boy's height. "Uli, I'm sorry." he said. He put a hand on his shoulder comphortably, but was taken by surprise to feel it pushed away. "U DON'T KNOW THAT RYO!!!" he screamed, he turned to run away but felt two big arms wrap around his small body. ' I can't believe it, they're not gonna come back?' he though. The situation was too hard for a child to grasp, which made it even harder for the two young-adults to explain. He tried to brake the grasp upon him, but Ryo wouldn't let him go. He gave up and slumped into Ryo's embrace and started to wail uncontrollably. 'This isn't fair, Talpa's dead but he still continues to hurt people.' thought Mia. She was surprise though, how Ryo was handling the situation. He seemed to be doing well, for a male anyway. He gently rocked him back and forth. "Uli, I'm so sorry." he whisphered trying to soothe the boy. He felt remorse and anger at the same time. Mia looked at the clock. 9:56. It was late, she could tell Uli was tired. His crying slowed to a trickle but he didn't break from Ryo's hold. Ryo continued to soothe him by rubbing circles on his back. He dug his head deeper into the crook of Ryo's neck. Ryo could feel hot tears on his skin. After about five minutes he could tell Uli was asleep. "It's late I think we should bring him into bed." said Mia softly. He nodded and followed her upstairs. Mia flicked the light swith on and brought the covers down from the bed. Ryo gently layed Uli on the bed. Mia pulled the covers over him. "Mia, will u and Ryo be my momma and poppa?" asked a little voice. She was startled by his question. "Uli, do u want us to be? becuase of course, Ryo and I will." she said brushing strands of hair away from his forehead. He looked at Ryo, then replied, "yes." Ryo smiled and walked over to the bed. "Of course Uls." he said. "Now, try and get some rest." said Mia kissing his forehead with a light kiss. His eyelids started to droop. Sleep was winning over. Mia got up from the bed and walked out of the room. Ryo shut off the light and shut the door behind him. He met Mia in the hallway. "Oh, Ryo it's not fair." she said letting fresh tears escape.
"Hey little man. What cha doin?" asked Kento looking down at the eight year old boy. He looked up. "Hiya Kento, oh nothing." said Uli fixing the newspaper hat that fell over his eyes. "Oh who were u talking to?" he asked curiously. "Nobody." said Uli. "Oh okay that, well it's time to eat." said Kento grinning. "Okay." he got up and ran past Kento. "Race u there!" screamed Uli. Kento ran after Uli. Uli looked back to see Kento right behind him when, -ouff-. He landed right into something. His hat fell over his eyes again. Kento helped the boy up. "Whoa easy there." siad Kento. Uli noticed he bumped into the coffee table. He rubbed his head. "Let me see." said Kento. He brushed his fingers over his flamed skin. "Gotta be careful next time." said Kento, "Come on before the food gets cold, and we wouldn't want that to happen." Uli smiled and followed Kento into the kitchen.
"Smells good guys." said Rowen taking a plate of rice and chicken. "Mmmm, tastes good too." said Uli. Mia smiled. Everyone was in the kitchen. "Uli, what happened?" asked Mia noticing the bump on his head. "Oh, I was run-." he was cut off by Kento. Kento knew that he'd get introuble if Mia found out he was racing Uli in the house. "He fell on accident." said Kento, patting the boy on the head. Mia gave him a look. "Hmm, okay just becareful next time." she said giving him an ice pack. "So how was everybody's day?" asked Ryo. He got the usual reply, groans and mumbles. Rowen and Sage cleaned up while everyone else plopped down in the parlor.
Ryo was resting his head on White Blaze, Cye was teaching Kento how to play chess. He said it would be good for him. He was spending way too much time with that playstation. Mia was rummaging around doing a quick clean up, and Uli was sitting on the parlor floor playing with his new 'Super duper action man' action figure. Rowen and Sage finished up and came into the parlor. Ryo glanced at the clock then at Mia. She met his gaze and nodded her head. "Okay Uli, time for bed." said Mia. He pouted, "aw, do I have to? I'm not even tired," he yawned. She chuckled. "Yes, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." she said. How could he forget. They were going to the zoo tomorrow. He was excited, but not as much as Cye, he was dying to see the aquarium. His face beamed with light like a lit christmas tree. "I know." he said. He said 'goodnight' to everyone and headed upstairs Mia behind him.
He crawled into bed. Mia pulled the covers up to his chin. He stared at her. "Mia?" he asks. "Yes?" "Do u ever hear voices, and u look around but no one is there?" he asked seriously. She thought before she answerd. "Uh, no why do u ask Uli?" curious to what the boy was talking about. "Oh, nothing never mind." he yawned. "Okay then, good night Uli." said Mia. "Good night Mia." said Uli slowly closing his eyes. She brushed the hair from his head to the side. "Sweet dreams." she mumbled and shut the door behind her.
"Hey all set?" asked Ryo as Mia came down stairs. She looked a little distant. "Huh? oh yeah." she said. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned. "I don't know its Uli, he seems, well, I don't know, it's nothing." she said, she didn't want to bring up the subject. "Oh okay then." Kento pressed play as they all settled down to watch a movie.
"Ulie...Ulie what are u doin?" His eyes jerked open. They darted across the room. He couldn't see much, seeing it was dark. "Ulie, why won't u help me?" asked the voice again. "Just leave me alone, I don't wanna talk to u anymore. Please don't hurt me." he quivered. "Ulie...why won't u help me?" "Leave me alone!" he covered his ears and started to cry. After a moment he opened his eyes again and took his hands off his ears. He didn't hear the voices anymore. He layed down again and tried to get back to sleep. But too many thoughts ran through his head. He was scared. He got up and walked into the hallway. He heard somebody open the bathroom door. He hid behind his own to see who it was. The person caught site of him and walked over to the boy. "Hey Uli...what's wrong?" He noticed the tear stained cheeks. "Nothing." said the boy, almost in a whisper. "Want me to tuck u in?" He nodded his head. He crawled back into bed. "Are u sure everything is all right?" He nodded his head. "Okay then, get some sleep." said Sage. He shut the door behind him. 'Hmm...probably just normal nightmares.' he thought. "Sage!" He opened the door and looked in. "Sage can u keep the door open?" asked Uli. "Sure thing." He left the door open and headed downstairs.
"Hey Sage took u long enough." said Ryo. "Huh? Oh, no Uli was up so I tucked him back in." said Sage. Mia turned her focus away from the t.v. and at Sage. "Is he okay?" she asked. "Yeah, probably just some nightmare." he siad plopping down on the floor next to a snoring Rowen. 'Yeah, I suppose so. That and that we havent found the kid's parents yet.' thought Mia. They all decided to take him to the zoo, thinking that would cheer him up. They still hadn't found his parents. They knew they never would, but didn't have the heart to tell him yet.
* * *
Ryo awoke feeling something tug on him. "Go away White Blaze." he mumbled turning over in his sleep. Uli pouted. "Cooommmeeee onnnn Ryo." said Uli pulling on Ryo's sleeve. He still wouldn't budge. He sighed. 'Hmm...I know.' He got on top of the bed and bent over Ryo. He was about to put his fingers over Ryo's nose. "Uli!" he stopped what he was doing and turned around. "Uli come on don't worry. It's only 7:00. The zoo dosen't open till 9:00. Let Ryo sleep. Come on lets go get something to eat." said Mia. He jumped off the bed and ran downstairs. Ryo stared at the girl groggly in front of the doorway. She was wrapped up in her silk bathrobe, her hair in a loose braid. He blushed. 'I've got to stop doing that.' he thought. "Thanks Mia, you're my savior." he mumbled and closed his eyes again. "No prob." she smiled. 'He looks so cute like that.'
About twenty minutes later Sage was trying to get Rowen up, Kento could be heard racing downstairs to the kitchen, Cye was getting dressed, Ryo was just starting to wake up, and Mia was just heading downstairs. Uli was sitting on the counter getting himself a bowl of cereal. 'Man this has no sugar.' He stood up on the counter and grabbed the jar of sugar and added a couple, more like six tablespoons of sugar to his already sugar flavored cereal. "Uli, easy there, you're gonna be wound up." said Cye entering the kitchen. Cye was tooken by surprise when two humongous arms wrapped around his neck. "Cye old buddy, what are u cookin' me this morning?" asked Kento. "Kento! get off of me ya big ox!" said Cye squirming his way out of Kento's hold. "Aw, man chill out, I was just wondering what u were cooking." said Kento. "Oh Kento." sighed Cye. Mia walked in. She skirted past the two and walked over to Uli. "Hi Mia." he chirped. "Hey Uli, come on get down from there befor u get hurt." she siad helping him down from the counter top. Everybody was at the kitchen table eating breakfast. "I can't wait to see all the fish!" beamed Cye. "I can't wait to see the monkeys!" said Kento. "Why's that? Distant relatives?" asked Cye. Everyone chuckled. "Ha, ha very funny fish man." said Kento pouting. "What do u wanna see?" asked Uli to Mia. "Hmm...I wanna go to the petting zoo." she said. "The petting zoo? Nah, why don't u come with me and Rowen to the reptiles?" asked Sage knowing she was scared of snakes. "Hmm...very funny, but I think I'll have to pass on that one." she said. "Me too Sage, I wanna see the birds." said Rowen. "I wanna see EVERYTHING!!" beamed Uli. "Don't worry Uli, we'll see everything." said Ryo.
At the zoo...
Everyone had decided to split up and meet at the big tent in an hour. Rowen and Sage decided to go to the reptile land then the birds. Cye and Kento went to the aquarium. And Ryo, Mia and Uli went to the petting zoo. "Wow! Hey Ryo Mia come on!" said Uli breaking away from their hands and running to the billy-goats. "Hey Uli, wait a minute." said Mia. They ran after the boy. "Look Ryo, he's a billy-goat." said Uli peting the animal.
at the tent...
"So did everyone have fun?" asked Sage. "Yes, i know i did." said Cye holding up a bag of goldfish. "Yeah, me too." said Uli holding up his stuffed animal tiger. "So, hey how about we all go get something to eat." gestured Kento. They all agreed. "Well I don't think we should eat here, the prices are way too expensive and it isn't even good. Any suggestions?" asked Sage. "Hmm...I know lets go to Samo's." said Kento. They all set off there. They took Rowen's van, seeing it was bigger. Rowen was driving, Kento in the seat next to him, Ryo in the back with Mia and Uli wedged in between the both, sleeping, and Cye in the far back, his face still gleaming with glee, next to Sage. Mia looked down at the boy stirring next to her. He whimpered in his sleep. "Uli...why won't u help me, help us? U have to, we'll make u. You'll see." Ryo also took notice. He barley noticed though, with all the racket going on, Rowen and Kento were arguing over what music station they would listen to. He looked at Mia. She brushed a calm hand over his head. He settled down a little bit. He turned his body and rested against Mia, his head nudging into her ribcage. Mia looked at Ryo. She mouthed, 'we'll talk about this later.' All this racket was giving Sage a headache. "Kento, Rowen, just pick a damn station!" he roared. They stopped. Everyone turned around. He blushed. "Sorry, it's just giving me a headache." said Sage. "Uh, okay, lets just turn the radio off." said Rowen. He didn't want ot upset his friend.
"Well, we're here." said Kento. Everyone got out of the van. "Uli, come on hon, it's time to eat." He opened his eyes. 'It was just a dream?' Ryo helped him out of the van. "Kento!" "Hiya." A man in his late 40's came over and gave Kento a big hug. "Haven't seen u here in awhile, how's ur uncle?" he asked. "Uh, he's great." said Kento. "That's good, well I see u brough guests, friends, a pretty lady, a little boy? Kento are u not telling me something?" he asked. "Huh, oh no it's not like that. These are my friends." said Kento laughing, but blusing. "Oh, well then, lets find a special place for u and ur friends." he said brining them to a big table in the corner.
"Boy, that was good." said Kento. "Yeah, sure was." siad Cye sitting back in his chair rubbing his stomach. "Sure does feel good to not cook for once, huh, Mia?" said Cye. "Yeah, sure does." she smiled. Ryo looked down at Uli. 'Huh strange, usually his mouth is running a mile a minute. Maybe Mia's right, he probably misses his mom and dad. Man, I don't know how we're gonna tell him.' thought Ryo. "Uli, want some ice cream?" asked Mia. He looked up. "Huh, oh no thanks." he siad. She gave a sad smile. "Okay then." "I do!" said Kento. "Yeah, we know u do." said Sage. 'No ice cream? Since when doesn't a child not want ice cream? Poor thing.' though Mia. "Well Cye and I are gonna head out tonight, we're gonna go visit his parents." said Kento finishing his ice cream. "Yeah, me and Rowen are gonna go to my Grandpa's Dojo tonight, just in case u guys forgot." siad Sage. "Mia, do u mind going and paying the bill?" asked Kento handing Mia the money everyone pitched in. "Sure, Uli wanna come?" she asked. "Okay." Ryo watched her leave with Uli. "You know Ryo, it's only gonna be u two tonight, besides Uli." said Sage. He blushed. "Yeah, I know."he said. "So, are u gonna tell her?" asked Cye. "Maybe." he said. "Hmm...tonight will be a perfect night." "Yeah, but I think it would be good if u guys told Uli tonight. I think having too many people aroud would make things worse, and he'll have the weekend with u guys to cope with it." said Rowen. "Yeah, I know, don't worry, I'll do it somehow." he said. "Some how what?" asked Mia coming back with the change. "Oh, nothing." he said blushing. Sage grinned.
back at the house...
"Bye guys." said Mia and Ryo to Sage and Rowen. Everyone was heading off for the rest of the weekend. "Bye everyone." said Uli waving his hand. Kento and Cye came downstairs. Uli ran to give Kento a hug. He picked the boy up and hoisted him on his shoulder. "Don't worry Uli, we'll be back soon enough." said Kento putting Uli back on the ground. "Yeah." said Cye. He gave Cye a hug good bye. "Well, we're off." And they left. "Phew, it'll be nice to have a little peace and quiet around here." said Mia shutting the door. "Yeah, I'll say." She smiled back at him. 'Whoa, easy there girl, don't get your hopes up. Just because it's only u and him, well except for Uli this weekend dosen't mean anything.' she thought.
Uli was sitting on the parlor floor playing with his toys, Ryo was on the couch watching t.v, and Mia was just cleaning up around the house. It sure was nice not having to be in ahouse full of young men yelling all the time. 'I think now is a better time than ever.' thought Ryo. He got up to go find Mia. He walked into her open door bedroom. "Mi? I think now is a good time to tell him." said Ryo. She nodded her head and followd him downstairs. She saw little Uli sitting down on the floor playing. He looked so innocent. She didn't want to tell him, he's been through so much already. "Uli, come here for a minute." siad Mia taking a seat on the couch next to Ryo. He got up and trotted over to them. She looked over at Ryo. 'I guess I'll begin.' thought Mia. "Uli, u know now that it's been two weeks since the final fight with Talpa." she started. He just looked at her, wondering where this was going. "And u know that we've been looking for your parents, very hard." she continued. She watched the boy's face expression begin to change. She took his hand. "We've been looking and looking, a lot of people haven't returned Uli, u know that. I-I think it's time to let go." she said, she knew she sounded denomic. It was hurting her a lot to tell a child this, one she felt very attached to, but it wasn't any better to let the boy get his hopes up every day just to have them broken again and again. Uli looked over at Ryo, then back at Mia. "So-so u mean that, my momma and poppa, aren't aren't gonna come back?" he asked shakily. Mia could see his eyes briming with tears. "Uli, yes." she stated. He backed away from the couch. He couldn't believe it, they were just gonna give up hope? They can't, and I won't! "No, u don't know that, u don't know them!" he shouted. Mia felt tears escape from her eyes. Ryo took to the situation. He got off the couch and knelt down to the boy's height. "Uli, I'm sorry." he said. He put a hand on his shoulder comphortably, but was taken by surprise to feel it pushed away. "U DON'T KNOW THAT RYO!!!" he screamed, he turned to run away but felt two big arms wrap around his small body. ' I can't believe it, they're not gonna come back?' he though. The situation was too hard for a child to grasp, which made it even harder for the two young-adults to explain. He tried to brake the grasp upon him, but Ryo wouldn't let him go. He gave up and slumped into Ryo's embrace and started to wail uncontrollably. 'This isn't fair, Talpa's dead but he still continues to hurt people.' thought Mia. She was surprise though, how Ryo was handling the situation. He seemed to be doing well, for a male anyway. He gently rocked him back and forth. "Uli, I'm so sorry." he whisphered trying to soothe the boy. He felt remorse and anger at the same time. Mia looked at the clock. 9:56. It was late, she could tell Uli was tired. His crying slowed to a trickle but he didn't break from Ryo's hold. Ryo continued to soothe him by rubbing circles on his back. He dug his head deeper into the crook of Ryo's neck. Ryo could feel hot tears on his skin. After about five minutes he could tell Uli was asleep. "It's late I think we should bring him into bed." said Mia softly. He nodded and followed her upstairs. Mia flicked the light swith on and brought the covers down from the bed. Ryo gently layed Uli on the bed. Mia pulled the covers over him. "Mia, will u and Ryo be my momma and poppa?" asked a little voice. She was startled by his question. "Uli, do u want us to be? becuase of course, Ryo and I will." she said brushing strands of hair away from his forehead. He looked at Ryo, then replied, "yes." Ryo smiled and walked over to the bed. "Of course Uls." he said. "Now, try and get some rest." said Mia kissing his forehead with a light kiss. His eyelids started to droop. Sleep was winning over. Mia got up from the bed and walked out of the room. Ryo shut off the light and shut the door behind him. He met Mia in the hallway. "Oh, Ryo it's not fair." she said letting fresh tears escape.