Chapter Twenty-Five

Written: 2007

Rewritten/Edited: May 8, 2008

The Ronin of Wildfire had to give the young woman next to him one thing, the minute they were out of the others sights she always backed off and gave him his space. Of course, it fell very close to Elayne ignoring his existence entirely.

Ryo really couldn't keep thinking of her as a 'girl' now, especially with the fact that she was aging. Even if she hadn't pointed out the fact to them during the Nether Realm, they would have picked up on the changes in her appearance. The girlish qualities that she had were now gone, to the point she looked the twenty she was supposed to be.

It was about time though, being forever a teenager must have annoyed the hell out of the millennia old Senshi; especially when all the other warriors got to age and she didn't. Well, that one thing had now changed and he had to wonder exactly how much else would.

The Ronin Leader cast a side-ways glance at her, sighed through his nose, and turned his attention back to the road, "Why do you do this all the time?"

"Do what?" Elayne murmured eyes turning away from her window, and onto him.

"Try and humiliate me in front of the others, go so far as flirting with me publicly, and then the minute we're alone ignore me completely," Wildfire's bearer stated in a cool voice, he briefly glanced over at her, "I want to know, why?"

She chuckled a little and shrugged, "I don't know, I can't help it sometimes. I know it annoys them when I don't react the way they want me to, and I know how you get bugged by my attitude and need a reprieve."

Suddenly she got an evil idea, and leaned in close to him whispering, "I'm sorry I'm ignoring you, would kissing you make it better?"

Ryo felt a little warm under his collar, he tightened the grip on the steering wheel with his right hand, but with the left pushed her back into her seat, "You're unreal, did you know that?"

She was smirking at him now, eyes sparkling with mischief, "Hey, Hot Shot, this was your idea not mine. As I recall, nowhere in this deal did it say I had to actually be nice to you or behave."

He would've retorted, except for the fact that they had arrived at the restaurant; he carefully parked the car reminding himself to be more civil towards her than she would be towards him.

Supper was rather uneventful, considering Elayne had received such a 'bad omen' earlier. It was spent in light conversation about various topics, starting off with what he had been doing with himself for the past several years (besides fighting Talpa).

Really, in all this time neither of them had been able to sit down and just talk about the 'normal' aspect of their lives. What had occurred all those years they had been apart…It wasn't that they didn't want to talk about it, but the fate of the world tended to override one's everyday life.

The meal had been spent reminiscing on their pasts, and then it spanned to include the other four Ronins. It hadn't surprised either of them that the four young men had intruded into their thoughts, for them it was as normal as breathing.

Elayne had chuckled though, bringing in the fact that the guys had managed to interrupt the evening, even without their knowledge. He had merely shaken his head at her, the slightest of smiles on his lips, but when he caught the look on her eyes it had faded. Granted it was gone, the minute he tried to look again, but he swore he had seen sorrow in there…Regret perhaps?

She had gone quiet after that, only answering queries with yes or no responses, that had irked him a little bit, but he had also known immediately something was wrong. It was always his first hint to when there was trouble afoot with her; she had always been that way.

The two were outside now, leisurely walking back to the car the cool night air slightly refreshing compared to the warm and stuff restaurant. He watched the young woman with some puzzlement, noting that she kept closing her eyes and sighing, and also the fact that she was walking with less purpose than normal.

"I should kill you," Elayne mumbled all of a sudden, opening her eyes.

Ryo frowned at her, asking with a raised brow, "What did I do this time?"

"You," she tried to glare at him in annoyance, but this was more in play than in anything else, "Got me drunk."

He gave a roll of his vivid-blue eyes, "You're more than past legal age, and had barely half a glass of wine!"

Elayne let out a chuckle, stating in slight humor, "It doesn't take much; alcohol numbs what senses I have that actually work."

"Probably your common sense, the only sense you actually have," the Wildfire Ronin grumbled under his breath, thus earning a severe rasp in his head from her.

"I'm tipsy," she growled at him, eyes narrowing, "Not deaf!"

Ryo looked at her and stated in a taunting tone, "Could have fooled me."

Elayne let out another growl her one eye slightly starting to twitch. She was fully prepared to throttle him, but his sudden inquiry diffused her immediately.

"When we were talking about the guys before, what is it that you were upset about?"

She came to a full halt, turned and looked at him, "What makes you think I was?"

"Because you're still upset," he told her matter-of-factly, "I know the look I saw, and your current mood is giving you away. Layne, just answer me, please?"

The young woman let out a forlorn sigh, "I-it's a bunch of things Ryo. I don't think I could explain it to you if I tried, half the time I don't even know."

"Are you afraid they don't trust you?" the Wildfire Ronin gently pried, and catching the look in her eyes he was aware he had correctly guessed. "An, Sage and Kento have never been this defensive of you. They got mad at me when I tried to point out the fact you were loitering about as Universe."

Elayne shook her head, "Ya, they're cute that way." She then started to walk again, perhaps a little more dejectedly than before.

Ryo was frowning now and ran a few things through his head, trying to put it all in place. A realization dawned on him and he cursed at himself then he jogged forward catching her by the arm.

She gave a surprised yelp at his action, but halted refusing to look up at him, hair effectively hiding her face.

He let out a sigh and tilted her head up, giving her a small smile, "Well see, you're human after all."

She rolled her eyes, and pushed his hand away, wiping her eyes on her sleeve; only he could leave her in tears. That gave her only further reasoning to throttle him in his sleep.

"And that's your entire problem, isn't it?" The Wildfire Ronin gently pressed, "You're used to being able to remove yourself from your emotions and now you can't. But no matter what Elayne, we trust you. Remember what Seiji promised?"

A small smile had formed on her face and she gave a nod, she remembered all too well. The swordsman had promised during the first lifetime that no matter what came, they would always trust her.

Ryo grinned, "And you can't tell me that they haven't kept it. Why did they trust a stranger when she was protecting them from Kali? We know better than to trust a figure that looms in the shadows, and yet we trusted you completely."

"We made a promise, and I guess somewhere in the back of our minds we remembered it. They still trust you; as do I," the Ronin of Wildfire assured her, then said with a smirk, "It's just, well like Artemis commented, you're very intimidating when you're pissed."

She managed a laugh at this, and shook her head at him, "You just like to mess with my emotions, Hot shot. I should strangle you for this one."

The young man put an arm around her shoulder, "I'm sorry; but you're doing what you always do, you're holding it in. How many lifetimes, and languages do I have to tell you in before you understand that I'm here for you?"

"You know me," Elayne leaned against him, suddenly feeling very drained, "I'm too stubborn for everyone's good."

Ryo chuckled a little, guiding her back to the car, "Yeah, I'll give you that," He decided to change the topic confident that the issue was now resolved; "It's still early, any place you want to go, before we head back?"

The girl was quiet for a few minutes, "Actually," She murmured quietly, "There is one place….but I don't know if you'll want to go or not."

"Where?" The Ronin leader curiously inquired, somewhat unprepared for her answer…

There was a pleading look in her eyes, as she murmured, "Home."

He still couldn't believe what her answer had been; it had slightly startled and surprised him. Then again he should believe it; Elayne always did things that ended up throwing him for a complete loop. Universe had been just as bad, actually she had been worse.

Ryo now drove down the all-familiar route to him, for perhaps what was the first time in several months. He let himself relax since he knew these roads so very well.

The Wildfire Ronin stole a glance at the young woman in the passenger seat, before turning his eyes back to the road ahead. The minute he had said yes to her plea, Elayne had quickly kissed him on the cheek and got out a thank you before going silent.

"You're driving me insane," he suddenly mumbled in annoyance, glancing at her again to see if he had acquired a reaction.

She snorted at this statement, coolly stating, "That's a long trip off a short pier."

He felt his cheek's burn at the remark, and grumbled out, "Can you please decide on whether to like me or hate me? I'm getting tired of your mood swings between the two."

"Oh but darling," she cooed to him not willing to pass up the chance to annoy him, "I'm in between those two points, don't you know?"

Ryo ran a hand over his face, "Remind me to never let you touch an alcoholic beverage again, your sarcastic nature gets worse when you drink."

Elayne laughed gleefully, "Oh what a smart guy you are! May I remind a certain Ronin of Wildfire, this was his idea."

"You've reminded me every hour, on the hour," he gritted out at her, "If you've got a point to make, just state it already!"

She backed off immediately, eyeing him with a frown, "Are you all right?"

"No," Ryo responded sourly, "I have a migraine."

"Sorry," Elayne quickly apologized stopping with her play, "You should've said something sooner."

He rolled his eyes at her, grumbling, "Not like it would've shut you up any."

She gave a 'hmph' and went back to staring out the window, saying loud enough for him to hear, "You started it."

He would've retorted to that, but he went silent and slowed the car down, not that surprised when she got out before he had gone to a complete stop.

"I still can't believe she considers this home," Ryo murmured to himself, eyeing the cabin.

With a sigh, he got out of the car; at least the night hadn't been as horrible as it could have been. He ridiculed himself it wasn't over just yet; better not jinx it, especially with his luck.

The cabin was starting to show its age, rain and sunlight had worn down the once bright brown boards and new foliage had sprung up. The once young pine trees were thicker now, taller as well.

Had it been that long, since she had last stood here? Ten years, yes it had been a long while indeed.

"It looks different, yet the feel to this place is still the same," Elayne mused to herself out loud.

Ryo let out a chuckle, "I'm dreading when it warms up; got a lot of gardening to do." He was referring to the plants that had sprung up on the walk-way; he hadn't had a lot of time last year to foil with maintenance on the cabin and boy did it show.

"If you actually do a chore, it'll be the end of the world!" She laughed at him, recalling all the times he had refused to do his chores to do more tolerable things instead.

"Oh and as if you were perfect," he teased back at her.

She was still laughing, and tossed out, "At least I made sure everything I had to do was done, before he walked through the door."

Ryo had to give up; he had him there, "Want to go in?"

"Could we?" She seemed to brighten at the mere suggestion of this.

He merely chuckled at her, shaking his head in mirth, "Sure."

It was hard to put into words, exactly how dazed the Wildfire Ronin was when the girl had slipped out her keychain and inserted her cabin key into the lock.

The action left him utterly dumfounded, and as they now entered the living room he found himself asking, "Why didn't you come before this?"

She had been dreading the question, and let out a sigh, "You needed your space, and Kaosu agreed with me. We also thought you didn't need distractions from the task ahead, and I would've been that…"

"I had friends at school that I had to figure out an excuse as to explain my absence; the other guys did as well! How would you have been a constant distraction to me, or to any of us?" Ryo demanded with a frown.

The young woman sighed, trying to carefully pick her words in the hopes to help him understand better, "I was a lot closer to you guys, than any of your friends. You all would've been worried about my safety, and you, Ryo," she gave a small grin, "Had enough to worry about without me being around."

"But Layne, we could've tried to patch things up years ago," the young man murmured out.

"But we've still managed to 'patch things up' regardless of that," Elayne pointed out failing to see why he was being so adamant about this. She sighed again, "'Sides, I was never a very brave person, you know. Rash and thick-headed sure, I did get up the nerve to come around here, once or twice after I got back from the States…But you weren't here, maybe it was just as well."

"I wish I had been here," he let out a sigh, and placed his arm around her shoulder, "I know it may not seem like it, but I missed you. You've always been there to listen to me, and I missed having that."

She snorted out a laugh, "Please, don't go all mushy on me, it's so corny."

"You make a mean drunk," Ryo retorted in annoyance.

Elayne gave him a look, trying hard to hide the smile on her face but failing to do so, "What happened to the "it was only a half-glass of wine" defense?"

The Ronin of Wildfire let out a groan, "Just for fifteen minutes, could you and I not argue?"

The young woman laughed and shook her head at him, before throwing her arms around him in a hug, "Thanks, Ry. I had a good time, and actually enjoyed myself."

"But we won't tell the others that," the Ronin Leader finished for her with a grin, having been slightly taken aback by the hug before returning it.

Elayne smirked up at him, "Unless you want them teasing you even more." At the awful face he made she could only chortle, "Yeah, what I thought."

"Heh," suddenly the Ronin of Wildfire snapped his attention to the window, his eyes narrowing. She sensed it too, her gaze followed his but she couldn't sense anything.

Ryo was frowning, his eyes going half-lidded as he tried to reach out further to see if he could pick up what had just been there. All of a sudden the pair were out of the house, the Ronin Leader in subarmor the young woman in Senshi form (having no desire to try and fight in a dress with heels).

Thanos had a rather amused look on his face, as he remarked, "Now isn't that cute. The Leader and Secondary Guardian, what an interesting couple."

"We're having a private party Frosty, buzz off," Universe flatly stated.

The Ronin of Wildfire raised an eyebrow, "Frosty?"

"I'd call him Ice Queen, but Kento gave that title to Kali," she gave a loose shrug of her shoulders, before turning her attention back to Thanos. 'Even though, he's more of a Queen than she was.'

Ryo mentally chortled at that.

The ice demon was looking at the pair through half-lidded eyes upon the mentioning of his sister's name. To him, that wound was still fresh and did not need to be picked at by anyone, least of all the Secondary Guardian. Neither she, nor Wildfire, saw the blade he left lying on the ground.

"I was hoping for a fight," Thanos' tone was one flecked with mock disappointment, "But if all you can do is sit there and call me names…I guess I am out of luck."

Ryo's face was filled with boredom, with a slight eye-roll he summoned a substantial amount of flame to his palm, and tossed it at Thanos, hitting the ice demon square in the chest.

Thanos gave an exclamation of surprise, quickly putting the flame out, his features showed the substantial amount of shock he was currently in…And even Universe was gaping at her charge.

"The Lady said to leave, take a hike," the Ronin Leader said in a calm tone, "Unless you want to make like the snowman, and melt."

Thanos wisely took the hint, simply because he had done everything he had come out here to do.

Universe was scowling, "He doesn't show up without a reason. So, what did he want?"

"We could spend the entire night guessing," Ryo shrugged his shoulders and willed away his subarmor. "And still come no closer to an exact answer."

"Ya, seems to be the way it goes," she admitted letting go of her power, and then immediately falling to her knees.

"Elayne?"

She placed a hand to her forehead and tried to clear her vision, and then forcefully shook herself, placing a hand down, right on top of the blade that had been left behind.

"Ouch," she grumbled placing a hand over top of the now bloodied one; her eyes went a little wide when she watched the object explode into ash. "Oh great. So they know."

"Know what?" Ryo asked sounding concerned, "And are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the young woman murmured continuing to remain in her kneeling position, clutching her bleeding hand. "My transformer has been acting up, that was their way of letting me know they're aware."

"They're keeping tabs on you too," the Wildfire Ronin helped her to her feet, "Come on, let's get that cleaned up before the crystal heals it over."

Elayne gave only a nod in response to this, and allowed herself to be led back inside. With it being so late, the two would not bother to make the trek back it'd be safer to wait until morning. Besides, it'd leave the others guessing.