Chapter 4-The Owl Returns and the Story Begins

Just then, the door burst open to reveal one Athena Jane Smith, Owl Master and teacher to the rangers and Fran. Ena, as she was known to her friends, looked simultaneous anxious and annoyed as she sought out one familiar lean figure.

"RJ! I just got the messages! How are you feeling?" she asked as she rushed to her boyfriend, checking his forehead for a temperature, sighing as she found he was only slightly warmer than normal. Turning around she finally noticed the woman who had been caring for her "Wolf-boy" and let out an ear-piercing squeel.

"Ann! What are you doing here?! Wait, no, don't tell me, Master Finn called you. It's so good to see you; it's been ages!" The two women hugged and began talking extremely fast. So fast, in fact, that the only person who could understand them was Lily, who simply smirked at the confused faces of her team/roommates. Having enjoyed enough of the boys' confused faces, Lily stepped up to the two older women and asked them to "please explain what the heck is going on" before taking a seat next to her own boyfriend (Casey).

"Sorry, we just haven't seen each other in what-6 years?" Ena asked the other woman.

"Actually, it's been 6 years, 7 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days," Ann told her.

"Close enough."

"Could someone please explain to us what is going on? I believe we were offered an explanation as to who Ann was?" Theo asked as he put his plate in the sink and refilled his glass.

"First, there is one other person who should probably get in on the explanation, so we're going to want to wait about 30 seconds," Ena told them as she settled into a chair next to Dominic.

Sure enough, 30 seconds later a chirpy-looking Fran emerged from downstairs, her backpack bulging with what must have been a dozn books. Dominic got up and helped her with her burden, placing the bag on the special beanbag that the blonde man had declared solely Fran's shortly after they started their daily "read and meditate on what the author meant & it's implications in the universe" (as RJ had dubbed them) sessions before joining everyone back in the kitchen area. Ena and Fran hugged, with Fran asked when she'd gotten back and other such curtious questions.

"She got here about 10 minutes ago, Fran" Theo told the bespectacled brunette, his voiced laced with annoyance at having to once again wait to hear about the woman who had been taking care of his Master for the past 3 days. "Can we get on with it?" he asked the older adults (Lily, Casey, and Fran were only 1 year older them him, the others were 4 years older).

"Of course," Ann said. "You wanted to know why I'm the only person who can deal with RJ when he's being an uncooperative patient, right?"

"Right," Casey, Fran, Lily, and Theo said as they anxiously waited for their elders to explain to them what was going on.

"Well," RJ began. "Ann is my little sister."

"By 4 minutes," she added.

They pair were met with silence as the younger members of their group looked at them with surprise written all over their faces.

Yay, only one more chapter!