"E…Espio!" Mariko exclaimed and embraced him with a tight hug.

Espio fought through the pain of his injuries that were intensified by her grip around him. "Mariko, you're here!" He said, in a slightly higher pitch. "And you're not trying to kill me anymore…?"

Mariko didn't even look up, still wrapped around him and tears trickling from her tightly shut eyes. "I know – I'm so sorry *sniff*. I should've believed you from the beginning…I-I don't know why I eve-"

"W-What're you even doing here?"

Mariko released him, looking almost confused. "*Sniff* I-I came looking for you."

"Espio, you know this broad?" Vector interrupted, before turning his sights over to her. "Hold on a sec lady, if you've come here to 'help' Espio, why'd you come so concealed?"

"Well, I'm a ninja. What did you expect of me?"

Charmy stumbled over to the group. "Did I miss anything?" He said woozily, but was immediately cleared up when he saw Mariko. "*GASP* A girl?!"

Mariko appeared confused. She seems surprised by the presence of all of us here – maybe she wanted to get him alone, where he's most vulnerable. Just look at how her eyes shift like that Vector thought.

"Why were you looking for me?" Espio enquired. "I'm a wanted 'criminal' – how'd you even get out of the village?"

"Aya." She replied, a smile grew on her face.

The smile was contagious, as Espio gave out a light chuckle at the response. "Heheh, I see." He said. Mariko giggled lightly in return.

"I tried to get Shiro to come along, but he was 'too busy'."

"He said he was helping to cover me the best he can – he was trying to clear my name whilst I was gone."

"I suppose so. He was, sort of a 'part' of the distraction with Aya anyway…" The pair laughed again, until Mariko started coughing harshly.

"Mariko…?" Espio's smile faded into concern.

"I'm fine." She said.

Predictable answer Vector thought.

"You caught something during our fight didn't you?"

"It wasn't that bad, I'm fine – I got myself here didn't I?"

"You don't -"

"You fought her?" Charmy interrupted.

"Oh…" Espio shook his head. "Everyone – this is my friend Mariko." He gestured to her, before pointing back at Charmy and Vector. "This is Vector and -"

"And I'm Charmy!" Charmy leapt in. "So you're a ninja too? You fought Espio? *GASP* Did you win? Do you have a sword too? Are you gonna teach us to be ninjas too? Huh? HUH?"

Mariko smiled and gave a friendly chuckle at the enthusiastic bee.

Vector just stood and watched with his arms folded and a stern look of disapproval That kid is way too trusting in a world like this. Look at them, they're already introducing themselves without a care in the world when this stranger could strike at any one of…wait… "Where's Mighty and Ray?" He suddenly asked aloud.

"Huh?" They replied.

Espio darted his head over towards the two bodies lying by the edge of the lake. The three rushed over to them.

"Guys, guys!" Vector called to them, tapping their faces for a reaction. "They're not responding."

"Mighty! Ray!" Charmy called out in desperation.

"What happened?" Mariko asked.

"They were caught in the Necrodragon smoke clouds. I think they've been poisoned!"

"Okay, I know what to do." She said, pushing them out of her way as she kneeled over to the bodies.

"You do?"

"Yes, there's no time to explain now – you need to get me some things. Espio; I need you to get me a fire spice plant from the forest."

"Roger!" He dashed off into the forest.

"You!" She said, pointing at Vector. "I need you to get me some samples of water bamboo – it should be near the lake." Vector took off as well.

"But what about me!" Charmy cried. "What do I do? I wanna help too!"

"Of course." Mariko said calmly. "I need you to bring me some water from the lake, can you do that dear?"

"Yeah – okay!" Charmy buzzed and whizzed off to the lake.

It took just over an hour, but Mariko was able to mix an antidote for the toxins in their bloodstream. Mighty was the first to awake, dazed and still pretty weak. "W-What happened?" He murmured.

"You inhaled the toxins from the Necrodragon's smoke." Espio answered him. "You and Ray were both struck pretty hard and it was fortunate we had Mariko's knowledge of it to create a cure."

"M-Mariko?"

Mariko then stepped into view. "Hi." She waved gently.

"Hi." Mighty replied with a groan. "Wait. Where's Ray?" He tried to get up, but Mariko held him back down. "Where's Ray?" He repeated.

"Calm down. The squirrel's doing better, but his condition is still pretty bad."

"He was exposed the longest, and his smaller body couldn't take as much damage as yours could." Espio added.

"We've set up a new camp site, and he's resting in that tent there." Mariko gestured over to a small, blue tent. "I think you should rest too."

"Rest…yeah, rest…thank you…" Mighty drifted into sleep.

The group got settled once again under the night sky. No-one knew what time it was, nor did they want to – for much of their time for sleep had been lost with that battle.

Although the Necrodragon threat had been extinguished, they knew that there were ninjas trying to kill them still. Espio was keeping watch. Mariko cautiously approached him.

"Hey." She greeted softly.

Her appearance seemed to bright him up. "Hi!" He returned. "What're you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep…" She sat down next to him. "Can I join you for a little?"

"Sure – of course!"

They sat quietly for a moment; taking in their surroundings. The leaves rustled with the gentle evening breeze, shooting stars zoomed by within the night sky, bats chirped here and there and the warm fire crackled.

Mariko broke the tranquil silence "E-Espio?"

"Huh?"

"I just wanted to say how sorry I was…for everything I did back up there…I wasn't the friend that I should've been – I didn't hold on to what my heart believed and instead let myself be swayed by everyone else's words…"

Espio didn't say anything, but a smile surfaced upon his calm face.

"Could you ever forgive me?" She pleaded.

There was a moment of silence. "Of course. The murderer had not spared any of us his trickery – we were all fooled."

"B-But why did you run? You could have had a fair trial – they could've fixed this."

"Well…" Espio rubbed his hand at the back of his crest. "You see…Shiro, kind of, broke me out…"

Her face went flat. "Shiro?! BAKKA!" She said raising her fist. "He is such an idiot! You could've been killed - executed!"

"He just wanted to help. And from what you've said, it sounds like he's still paying for it."

"Yeah…he is working pretty hard up there – trying to clear your name. He is a real friend to you – to all of us." She slowly began shuddering, causing Espio some concern.

"Mariko?" He said. "You are not well..."

"Uughhh…" She continued to quiver from the cold. "After our fight, I collapsed under the rain. I guess I kinda caught something bad. The nurses said it was a combination of shock, injuries from the fight and maybe even hypothermia...?"

"If that's so, then you should still be in bed back at the village!"

"I know...I-I just wanted to..." She interrupted herself with more quivering.

Espio darted his eyes around. "Well, I don't have any blankets, or extra clothes, but…" He then pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. "D-Does this help?"

Mariko's scales blushed the brightest shade of pink that it had ever turned. "Oh…uhh…oh…"

"Sorry. But if what you say is true, you need to keep warm. You can't get sick after helping Mighty and Ray."

Mariko was still relatively speechless, but instead gave a warm smile.

Again, they were silent for a moment, until Mariko came up with another question.

"Any ideas yet?" She asked.

"About what?"

"Who did it of course!"

"No…" He sighed. "I've tried everything I could think of; I investigated the dojo and found some scale fragments and…"

"And…what?"

"A letter…master's letter!"

"A letter? What?"

"There was a letter there for us – maybe there's some clues hidden in it." He jumped up and retrieved his bag. The letter inside was damp, but fortunately not damaged.

"Well, go on – read it!" Mariko said, pushing herself up against him again. Espio then unravelled the note and began reading:

Dear Young Espio,

Chancellor Katsumi has just left to speak with the other ninja masters, so I am taking the remaining time to write you this letter. Please remember to relay this with both Shiro and Mariko once you have read this.

I know things may have been arduous lately; with this war coming upon us, your friends finding out your secret, memories of your father and I am truly sorry for that my young student.

I just want you to know that despite how harsh I may be; You, Mariko and Shiro are my most prized possessions – my beloved students, whom I see as my own children. You are all doing so well in your training. Sometimes I begin to fear that your training is going by too fast and that I will lose you all. But, my time grows thin, and I cannot delay your training because of my own sentimentalities.

This rescue mission that you and Shiro had heard of, will not involve you. You must realize how GLAD this makes me young Espio, not because I wish to punish you but because I wish to keep you all safe. Know this; that in the place of our ninja trainees, that many ninja masters (including myself) will go instead on this mission. That is why I am writing you this letter – in fear that I may not be able to speak to you all in person before our departure. I will be gone for some time, and I am not sure when I am to return.

I expect the skills of you all to have improved by the time I return – but do not worry of that too much; you must also enjoy the blossoms of youth as I have forgotten.

Chancellor Katsumi has arrived, thus my letter shall have to conclude now. There is much more I had wished to speak of with you. Tis strange however, as I do not recall the requirement of a debrief so soon – and I had hoped to say good-bye to you all in person.

I must now bid you all farewell. Please relay this to the others Espio. Sayonara my students and take care Espio. Please remember that I love you all and I will return to you very soon.

Sincerely,

Your Master Shen

P.S – When I return, perhaps we can all join Mariko at the Sakura Murasaki for a celebration. I know how you love her Apple Pies. I anxiously await that day with you all. Sayonara.

"Oh master…" Mariko wept. "If only we could've seen him one more time – just to say goodbye…"

"Master." Espio murmured to himself. His eyes then widened as he looked back to the letter. "Look what he said Mariko! Look!" He passed her the letter, pointing to the line he was referring to.

She picked it up and read "It seems that Chancellor Katsumi has arrived. Tis strange however, as I do not recall him requiring to debrief me so early...?" She looked back up to him. "What are you saying?"

"Katsumi!" He said. "Katsumi's the one who did it!"

"What makes you so sure? Chancellor Katsumi isn't a pleasant person, but even for him that's a pretty serious accusation."

"It all adds up! He and Master didn't see eye-to-eye on sending the ninja students into battle – master fought against his wishes, Katsumi wanted him out of the way and so made him believe that he had won the debate and that they were going instead. In the false security, he killed him – using my sword to cover his tracks after seeing our argument beforehand!"

"W-wow…that makes…that makes sense."

"We have to get back to the village – we must expose him before he does something terrible!"

"But Espio, no-one's seen Katsumi since that night."

"It must've been him who sent the Komori ninjas to kill us – he must've known I was going to discover the truth."

"Wait, Komori Ninjas?"

"Yes – in the United Federation too!"

"No, I mean, how many of them? Did you injure them in a fight?"

"Well, there were three…and Mighty did fight th…wait, you've seen them?!"

"Yes, this morning – and I think I found their hideout too."

"Well, then we must go there first thing tomorrow – we don't know how much time we have on our hands."

"Yes, definite-*YAWN*-ly…" Mariko's eyes began to droop. "We'll go after them…in…the morning."

"You have no idea how happy I am that this is almost over Mariko. After all this time, I thought I was never going to solve this…to avenge our master…to see yo…" He looked down to find that Mariko had fallen asleep on him. "Uh…Mariko?"

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Vector had been listening in on their conversation the whole time. Heh, I guess my detective skills have rubbed off on him already. Good work Esp he thought. But that girl. There's something not right about her. She just comes out of nowhere and offers her aid?! Sure, she may be close with Espio, but women are deceptive – she could've been the real culprit the whole time and is just trying to tie up loose ends. I don't like it. I don't like her.