Rose's Dilemma

Only days after the huge fight, the Element Warriors reached Toshio's home among the rice fields. They made sure the coast was clear before Odin knocked on the door. When Toshio opened the door, he was clearly surprised, but nevertheless delighted that they came to visit him.

He left them in and looked out the window to make sure that nobody saw them. Returning to his weaving machine, Toshio started the conversation by saying, "You've certainly made a name for yourselves."

"Hey, it comes with the job. If men didn't want their butts kicked by sexy women, then they should have left us go," replied Aki.

Toshio looked at Aki and saw the tonfa blasters in the holster around her hips. "I take it that Uncle was very helpful then."

"Yeah, he was awesome. You should go visit him sometime, Toshio," said Aki.

"I can't. I need to keep up with my orders," replied Toshio.

"That's a lame excuse. What's more important, your family or your work?" exclaimed Aki.

"Being alive to be able to see my family again," answered Toshio. He stopped weaving for a moment. Rose could clearly see that he was upset. The last time she saw that expression from him, she informed him that Keiko was dead.

"It's terrible that he's remaining in power by making his subjects live in fear," said Odin. The Wind Warrior's statement brought Toshio out of his trance, and he started to weave again.

Sonny left out a yell o frustration. "We have to stop this. People shouldn't have to live in fear, and Lord Oromashi doesn't know any other way to run his country. We have to slay that dragon, no matter what."

Toshio stopped weaving and glared at the Fire Warrior. "No matter what," he repeated. "You're willing to throw away your lives on the slim chance of slaying that dragon. Do you really think that's what Keiko would have wanted? I highly doubt she thought about dying before she left on her quest to kill that dragon. Look where it got her. She's gone and she never once faced that dragon."

"It was Master's ambition to slay that dragon and free the people, and it won't be a slim chance that we slay the dragon either. Odin will figure out a way to kill it," replied Sonny angrily.

"Okay, say that you accomplish that. You can't just stop there. Lord Oromashi won't relinquish his command. To truly free the people, you'll have to assassinate the lord after you're done with his dragon," said Toshio, matching Sonny's level of anger.

The Element Warriors remained silent. They never considered taking the life of a human being, let alone the lord. All their focus has been on the dragon. Rose walked to the door, and Aki said, "Hey, where are you going?"

Rose turned to her and said, "I just need to get some air." She opened the door and left.

"That's a good way to be seen," stated Odin. Ignoring her sister's comment, Sonny checked the window and went after Rose.

"Rose," said Sonny. The Earth Warrior didn't reply. Sonny said, "Rose, talk to me."

Rose turned and looked at the Fire Warrior with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to kill somebody, Sonny. Just because he's a terrible ruler, doesn't mean it's right to end his life."

Sonny looked to the west at the setting sun. After a moment, she said, "It wasn't right for Lee Wong to end Master's life either."

"That's different, Sonny. Killing Master wasn't his intention," replied Rose. A tear rolled down her cheek as the Fire Warrior glanced at her. "Maybe so, but it still worked out that way," said Sonny. She paused before saying, "He did it out of cowardice, not to benefit Lord Oromashi. Killing the lord will serve to a higher purpose. We're not doing it for ourselves. We'll be doing it to return peace to Japan, to fulfill Master's wish."

"If that's what it takes to bring peace to the people, then I want no part of it," replied Rose.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you have to stop and consider what Toshio said. He'll have us executed for slaying his dragon, not to mention posing a threat to his reign. Lord Oromashi might not have his pet anymore, but that won't stop him from finding a terrible, painful way to kill us. Not to mention another way to keep the people afraid of him," said Sonny. She examined Rose's faces before saying, "You do plan on keeping your word to Master? After all, killing the dragon was the promise that we all made to her before she devoted her time to training us."

Rose looked away from Sonny and mumbled, "Of course."

"Alright then," stated the Fire Warrior. She looked back at Toshio's house. "We'd better get back before they start worrying about us."

Sonny led the way back, making sure to check the area so that no one was watching. Once inside, they found Toshio working that the other two warriors sitting on the floor. They sat down to join their sisters, and the Element Warriors began their conference.

"Okay, supposing everything Daisuke told us was correct, the dragon has fire breath and gold scales," said Odin. She huffed before saying, "We need to figure out a way around the gold scales. That's the real problem. Any ideas?"

"I don't know, Odin. Usually, that's your department," replied Sonny.

"What about diamond?"

The girls turned their attention to Toshio. "Diamonds?" asked Odin.

"Yeah, wouldn't that work?" said Toshio as he handled his machine. "Diamonds can cut glass, it should be able to deal damage against gold."

"He's right, but where would we get our hands on diamond. Especially diamond big enough to do efficient damage?" replied Odin.

"There's an earth manipulator who mastered the art of influencing gems like diamond. Her name is Ami Rakia. She made her won palace off the shore of the earth territories. She's been living in that palace, all alone for years," said Toshio.

"Everything is fitting into place then. We'll go to the palace, and Rose could be her student and learn the technique," said Odin.

"Yeah," said Rose, unexcited. She looked away from them all nervously.

The Element Warrior's spent the rest of the day telling Toshio of their adventures while he worked. When they went to bed, Rose couldn't manage to fall asleep. She tossed and turned several times until she saw a glowing light blue image near Toshio's weaving machine. Rose narrowed her eye lids to try and see what the glowing image was. When she recognized it, Rose couldn't believe it. Standing before her was Keiko Kurogane

Okay, Rose. You know you're dreaming. You fell asleep without realizing it, Rose thought to herself. The Earth Warrior got to her feet. "Master?"

Keiko smiled. She looked around at the others in the room until her eyes came back o Rose. "I know something is troubling you, Rose. Please tell me what it is."

Rose looked at Sonny and back at Keiko. "I don't want to kill anyone, Master, even Lord Oromashi. It's wrong."

Keiko puzzled over Rose's words and said, "We all must do things that we find either difficult or wrong, Rose. I've done three things in my life that was difficult. I left my parents that I loved dearly to comfort my husband after he lost his parents. I then left him to free him from slavery, which was also wrong. According to our ways, my duty should have been to support my husband. Lastly, I had to tell you and your sisters that night that my death was approaching."

A tear rolled down Rose's cheek as she recalled the memory. Not wanting to sleep in fear of her master's life slipping away.

Keiko, seeing the tear, walked up to the Earth Warrior and embraced her in a hug. She whispered into her daughter's ear, "I'm not telling you to do it, and I'm not telling you not to. That's your choice. I just need you to promise me that you'll always be with your sisters, no matter what happens. They need you just as much as you need them."

Rose started to sob and said, "I promise, Master."

This is definitely a dream, thought Rose. How could Master possibly know I was thinking of going out on my own?

Keiko pulled herself away from Rose, but held the earth girl's shoulders in her hands. The ghost wiped away the tears on Rose's cheek and smiled. "Remember Rose, there are no limits to what you can do, but when the four of you are together, you're unstoppable. Now go to sleep."

With these last words, the light blue glowing silhouette disappeared. Rose blinked her eyes I disbelief and looked at the others. All of them were sleeping so Rose decided to lie down and fall asleep as well.

The next morning at the first sight of sunlight, Toshio was up and working as usual. Hearing the noise of the contraption, the Element Warriors except for Rose woke up shortly afterwards.

"That's unusual. Any other time, Aki is the one that refuses to get up," replied Odin, observing Rose.

"Wow! Maybe we had a total change in personalities overnight," said Aki.

"Well that can't be possible. You're still saying stupid stuff instead of barely talking at all," said Sonny.

"You never know. Anything is possible," said Aki.

"Whatever. The only reason Rose is still sleeping is because she went to bed late last night," replied Sonny.

After a moment, Rose finally opened her beautiful brown eyes and looked up to see her sisters looking down at her. She smiled and raised herself up to a sitting position. "Were you waiting for me?"

"No, not really," said Aki as she sat down next to her earth sister. "It was cut watching you sleep." She leaned towards Rose and whispered, "If Sonny was the last one to wake up, I would have dumped some water on her."

Rose laughed, and Sonny said, "I can hear you, Aki. Try it and we'll see who has the last laugh."

"Oh, Sonny. You're just jealous because I'm adorable," replied Aki with a smile.

Sonny narrowed her eyebrows. "Don't kid yourself Aki. I only love you because I have to."

Aki pouted and said, "Now, Sonny. You're just saying that to hurt my feelings. You know you love me." Her pout quickly turned into a smile, and Aki said, "And it's because I'm adorable."

Sonny rolled her eyes. She turned her attention to Rose. "You want t take a walk with me?" asked Sonny.

"Sure," said Rose. Following Sony's lead, rose stood up and walked out the door with her fire sister.

After walking for ten minutes, the two of them stopped to rest near a rice field. Looking at the crops, Sonny said, "Do you think Master is with us?"

Rose stared at her sister in confusion. "Sonny, you and I both know Master is dead. She couldn't possibly be with us."

Looking directly at Rose, Sonny replied, "Then who were you talking to last night?"

The Earth Warrior looked away and said, "That was only a dream."

Turning her gaze back onto the rice field, Sonny said, "We just had the same dream then. Master looked beautiful and young again with the light blue glow around her." She looked at Rose to see the surprise in her sister's eyes. "Rose, it wasn't a dream."

"But how could that be possible?" asked Rose in disbelief.

Averting her eyes down towards the ground, Sonny said, "I don't know." Looking at the sun above the rice field in the sky, Sonny puzzled over the question. "She was dedicated to teaching us, helping and even caring for us. She must be doing the same as a spirit, aiding us when we need it the most."

"What do you mean, Sonny?" asked Rose, walking up to her sister to close the distance between them.

After a moment of silence, Sonny said, "Remember that time you were abducted by those two soldiers?"

"Yeah, I was hanging over a fire on a spit when you rescued me."

Another silent moment past before Sonny said, "At first, I had no hope of finding you. I found your torn cloth at the fruit tree, but I didn't see any footprints. In my moment of frustration, I heard Master's voice." Looking at Rose, Sonny continued. "Master told me to 'See the heat.' Before that, I didn't even know that I could see the infer red radiation people left behind."

Looking at the rice field, Rose said, "So you know what Master came to say to me."

"What Master said was for you to hear," replied sonny.

"But you also heard, right?" asked Rose, looking into Sonny's eyes. Rose's stomach started to feel sick from her guilty conscience. Yesterday, she didn't truly want to abandon her sisters, just the responsibility that became acquired of her: to assassinate a human being.

Avoiding Rose's gaze by looking at the rice field, Sonny answered her sister's question, "Yes."

Tears formed and rolled down Rose's cheeks. "Are you mad at me?"

She looked at her earth sister with hurt confusion, Sonny said, "No. Why would I be?"

With her eyes looking down, Rose said, "Because I was thinking of leaving the group.

The fire girl waved her hand at Rose. "No. You'll only make me mad if you break your promise to Master." Rose returned the smile Sonny gave her. "Come on. Let's head back before Odin starts to worry," said Sonny.

As they made their way back, Rose said, "It's nice that we still have Master in some way."

"Yeah," replied Sonny. She checked to make sure nobody was looking, and opened the door for Rose.