Me: hmmm..well, IDK what to say about this chapter. Still haven't beaten the game so that's kidna funny. Anyway, enjoy.

"Me first!" Teepo yelled as he tore his armor off before jumping into the deep end of the stream, where is started to flow into the woods. Rei removed his clothes, leaving his purplish pans on and dived in after. Ryu sat at the edge of the river, kicking his feet in the water.

"Hey Ryu! You'll never learn to swim sitting over there!" Teepo said and a fish caught his eye and he started to chase after it. The woren came over and laughed.

"He's right you know."

"But..what if the stream takes me away?" Rei hit his chest slightly.

"Give me a little credit. I'd like to think that I was stronger then this water." And held out his hand.

"Come on." Ryu pouted a bit and then stood up, taking his shoes off and took Rei's hands, slowly stepping in the water. He felt his stomach rise into his throat, then practically jumped into the woren's arms.

"Don't let me go!"

"Whao. What's his problem?" Teepo complained as he tried to grab a fish and then slipped up, turning in the water and popped his head up laughing.

"Who knows. Maybe he had a bad experience with water before. Ryu?" The tears where flowing down the boys' face again and Rei sighed.

"Alright. We'll take it slow." The rest of that day, they had Ryu sit at the water side for the first few days. Later, when he was alone with Rei, he would get closer and further in the water, wanting to be near the large tiger. One day, Rei lifted his tail, sighing.

"My fur gets so heavy when wet ya know." He laughed, seeing Ryu standing in the water that was up to his knees.

"I'm jealous of you and Teepo. You guys don't have to worry about this." Ryu shook his head.

"What! But your fur is soo cool and warm! And I love your tail." He laughed. Rei blinked and then held it out so Ryu could grab onto it.

"Well. Will you come out here then?" Ryu looked down at the water and wanted to come further in but shook his head.

"I I I can't!. I'm sorry." Rei walked over and held the boy against his body.

"Why?" Ryu lowered his head.

"Remember when we fought the Nue a while back. And I fell in the water. I thought maybe I was going to die." He rubbed his head against the wet fur.

"I don't want to die!" Rei cleared his throat and knelt down.

"I won't let you die. Not on my watch! Now." He lifted Ryu.

"Forgive me." And tossed the boy into the deep end of the stream where the water didn't much move. The boy began to sank and the kicked around frantically, breaking the surface.

"REI!" He started crying and the woren swam over and held the boy with his tail.

"See. You're pretty light. you can float practically on top of the water." Ryu began to sink slowly, still holding onto Rei's tail and opened his eyes, seeing the clean water and the bottom of his older 'brother's' legs. It was actually quiet fascinating. The fish swimming around and away from him. He imagined trying to fish underwater. This was the first step. The next few weeks, Rei slowly taught Ryu to swim. By the time the leaves all started to turn green, you couldn't tell Ryu had ever been afraid of the water.

"Hey Ryu!" Teepo dunked his head under the water.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Rei. Have you told him yet?" Ryu blushed.

"Wwwhat? But. I can't do that.." Ryu fiddled with his fingers. Teepo laughed.

"Leave it to me. I'll think of something." Unfortunately, the lavender haired boy wasn't able to come up with a plan all day. This got Ryu thinking about it though and felt more and more like he wanted to ask Rei about it. Then, the more uncomfortable he felt. Then again, the woren had done only what was best for him. Even teaching him to swim wasn't too bad as long as it was Rei.

"But..like like?" The boy wondered, floating on his back.

"I already told you. You have to kiss him then." Teepo snickered.

"But..he's our brother."

"Technically now, you know." Teepo said, flipping the hair from his face. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he made it his mission for Ryu to tell Rei the truth, even if it killed youngest. The tiger stood at the edge of the bank.

"You guys ever getting out of there? You're going to catch something ya know!" He finally got his brothers out of the water..and into more. They didn't have a real bath or shower, so the modified one out of a large barrel. They boys couldn't help it. Once Ryu could swim, they liked to be in the stream for ours. It was not only fun, but Rei couldn't really yell at them to take a bath at the same time.

"Hmm. They must still be outside." Rei stood up and left the room after he filled their 'bath' with hot water and the younger ones were settled. Teepo turned to Ryu.

"Ok. I'll tell ya what to do. It'll be the perfect prank also. Kill two birds with one stone..so to speak" The older one got up and grabbed a near-by towel he had hidden from the tiger.

"I'm done anyway. I hate baths." He frowned and then continued, whispering in Ryu's ear.

"WHAT?" He was red and Teepo hurried out.

"Do it or you'll never know!" Ryu sunk slightly in the water, just so his nose was above the surface.

"Hey Ryu Uh..where'd Teepo go?" The tiger glanced around.

"I suppose he went to get his own towel?" Ryu nodded and then his eyes trailed as the woren set his hands in the water.

"You're both spending way to much time in that stream. Well,you can swim pretty well now huh? And it's not all that bad; at least its not freezing outside. This will be your first Summer right?" The tiger asked. Ryu had told only him about how he really couldn't remember anything before meeting them, except his name.

"Rei?" Ryu finally asked but then hesitated when the tiger's eyes met his. He didn't really understand much what Teepo was saying but when he looked at Rei, he did feel like more then just his brother, but why?

"Ryu?..Ryu!" Rei leaned over quickly and pulled Ryu from the water and wrapped him in a towel before siting him up in his lap.

"Yo Ryu. Please wake up." His blue eyes opened slowly and turned red, seeing Rei's face next to his, listening for breath.

"You scared me Ryu. Looks like you stayed in too long. Or I made the water too hot. I'm sorry." Ryu lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly before kissing the side of Rei's face. There was a moment of silence and Rei put his hand on top of Ryu's head, tilting it back.

"What are you doing?" He said seriously. Ryu started crying, not liking the tone the tiger was in.

"N n nothing..it's just that Teepo said that I liked liked you and that I had to kiss you to see, because I don't understand what he means!" The boy rubbed his face and continued to cry.

"I see." The woren narrowed his eyes to look towards the door he figured Teepo had been listening behind.

"I know you'll never be able to see me as a brother like Teepo...Ryu." He then gently smiled and relaxed his hand, rubbing Ryu's head.

"But, you should only kiss people you really love. And besides, you're too young for that."

"But I do love you!"

"But you also love Teepo."

"Yes!" Ryu blinked, seeing what Rei meant.

"Oh...should I kiss Teepo also?"

"WHAT? NO WAY!" The mentioned boy fell through the door as it opened.

"That's gross!" Rei busted into laughter.

"Your prank didn't work to your plan Teepo?" He stood up, lifting Ryu to his feet

"Now. That's enough of this. When you're older I'll explain it to you." Rei said and the grabbed Teepo's ear slightly.

"Don't confuse your brother." He teased and Teepo waved his arms.

"Alright Alright!" Then he walked over to Ryu.

"Are you ok though? I didn't plan on you fainting in the tub." Ryu nodded.

"I'm fine." And he yawned slightly.

"Ok. Bed you two!" Rei pointed towards the door and the 'brothers' pushed him slightly, teasing him for sounded all responsible and such. Rei entered the room as the two slept, fighting each other for the covers.

"I love you both too ya know." He whispered, throwing another blanket on top of them. He stared at Ryu a moment and knelt down slightly.

"I'm sorry Ryu. It's wrong for both of us. Even if we are both just a pair of kids..well a child and a teen." He laughed and lowered his face onto Ryu's, kissing his cheek in return.

"Maybe someday I'll tell you that..I like like you as well." He laughed and stood up.

"If you still feel that way."

Me: Thanks for reading. Hey. I actully got all the yours and you'res correct this time XD