A Tale of Two Torrents

By Dixxy

Chapter Seven: Late Night Musings

(Cye)

As part of our act, Sara and I ended up sharing the bed in "our" room. Sara was to my right, her arms wrapped tightly around her pillow. I couldn't help but watch her sleep like that- with a few exceptions from when I was small, I had never slept with a girl before, and at that, never with a girl who wasn't my mother or my older sister.

I carefully fingered a lock of blue hair that had spilled over onto my pillow. She yawned slightly, mumbling to herself as she repositioned her small form. The cotton nightgown she wore ruffled the sheets slightly, making just a little bit of noise. She was a very quiet sleeper, hardly making any noise aside from the occasional yawn.

Aside from my anxiety over THAT, there were other things on my mind, too. Whatever Termini was up to, which I knew he was up to something, was serious. Sue Lee had been right- the conversation at dinner had seemed funny, but I couldn't recall what it was. Something had rubbed me slightly the wrong way. Our host had slipped out something that he probably didn't want slipped out.

It was obvious he wanted us to stay. Every time we tried to ask to go home, he changed the subject or begged us to stay. Okay, he didn't change the subject- he just plain cut us off. I could understand getting sick of the same people day in and day out, but not letting visitors leave? That was. . . wrong.

My mind went to the conversation. I went over the different points of the conversation, slowly working my way through it numerous times. It seemed so normal now that the hour had passed, but it wouldn't leave me alone. Sue Lee had been right- something was very not right about that conversation.

Thinking things through isn't my department. God, I wish Rowen was here, he'd have figured it out by now, I thought. Thinking of my old friend made my stomach drop. Rowen might've been able to think it out, but he wasn't there, and with the ways things were going, it looked like I'd never see him or Ryo or anyone else from my previous life (outside of Kento, Sage, and my father) again.

Well, no. The Senshi, Anubis, and Cara had all helped Sage, Kento, and me put together a nice letter to Ryo and Rowen about what had happened. Pictures, drawings, and anything else that the group wanted to throw in was put into a large manila envelope, which we then sent to Japan. The three of us were apprehensive about it getting lost in the mail, or having it get to the wrong person, or just having them not respond. They were our friends. We were all connected by our armors.

Get some sleep, Cye old boy, I thought to myself. Think it over in the morning after you've gotten some rest. I rolled over, somewhat agreeing with myself over the matter. I sighed heavily, sticking one hand under my pillow and the other a few inches from my face.

I grimaced as I saw Sara's eyes twitch. She opened two groggy eyes and looked at me in confusion. "Cye?" she asked, sitting up. She blinked and yawned, her eyes still very droopy. I sat up next to her. Like I was going to sleep NOW. "Is something bothering you? You look. . . upset about something."

I nodded. "A little bit of everything," I said. "I'm still worried about Termini."

"And you have every right to be that way," said Sara. "He's a Dynasty lord."

"Exactly," I said. "That man isn't telling us something and it's bugging the hell out of me. Sue Lee even sensed something wrong with the man. Sara, a nine year old girl sensed something wrong. Just try and tell me there isn't something strange about that." I rested my head up against the headboard of the bed. "I can't get over it."

"And you have every right to be upset. He's keeping us prisoner here," said Sara. "The man won't let us LEAVE. Neither one of us can armor up. We've got Sue Lee with us. If it weren't for her we probably would have been able to try something drastic by now, but we can't do that with her. She could get hurt."

"I know how you feel," I said. "The Ronin Warriors feel that way about Yuli. Don't get me wrong, I know that Sage and Kento are both very protective of her- I am, too- but he was actually THERE when we fought our wars. When Toyama was first taken over, a Tin Can nearly killed him. The Dynasty had taken his parents, and. . . we never found them." I looked up at the ceiling. "Throughout the first battle, he never gave up hope that they were alive. But when he realized that there were a lot of people who weren't coming back. . . I don't think he stopped crying for a full day."

Sara was listening intently, waiting for more.

"Not that he was always a burden, mind you," I said. "He saved our lives a few times. Sometimes, when it seemed as if he WAS getting in the way, he was the one who either inspired us to keep fighting or he ended up either using a problem to his advantage. A tractor trailer had exploded on a bridge that Sehkment and I were fighting on, and Ryo had been severely hurt. He had dived into the sea to try and revive me from my armor's resting place- you know about that, right?" I asked. Sara nodded. "The water had worked against his armor and sapped his powers. Plus, he was the only one around. Sage and Mia had gone to revive Kento, and we didn't even have a clue as to where Rowen was. It was just me, Ryo, White Blaze, and Yuli there, and I was getting my butt kicked. When Yuli and White Blaze saw the blaze from the explosion, he dragged Ryo over to it to recharge him. We probably would've lost that battle if it weren't for him."

Sara nodded. "Sue Lee has been our inspiration to keep fighting. She hasn't done anything like Yuli has done, but she's what keeps us going. She reminds us of what it is we're fighting for. She and every other child her age are going to be the future. If we don't fight to save this world, there won't be a future for anything," she said. "That's how I feel, anyways."

I looked at her, trying to decide what to say to such a well-thought statement. This wasn't just something she blurted out just for the sake of blurting something out. This must have been something she thought about often, and it showed in the way her eyes just slightly glistened in the Dynasty moon light. "Is that what we're fighting for?" I finally asked her.

Sara nodded. "I think it is." She gently placed a hand on my cheek. The cheek she'd slapped. Though the sting and the red were both long gone, I can swear that it was like she could still see both. She gently rubbed her hand back and fourth, and I closed my eyes. That feels. . . relaxing, I thought to myself. "Feel any better?"

"A lot, actually," I said.

Sara smiled and leaned in to kiss my forehead. I blushed slightly as her lips brushed against my skin, blinking in surprise, and slightly embarrassed by the action. She had been throwing me some very unusual surprises ever since we'd arrived there, and this was just another item to add to a very long list. In response to me blushing, she laughed. "That's good to know. Now get some sleep already, Cye!"

I nodded. "Good night, Sara," I said.

"G'night."

The following morning, I arose long before Sara. Taking an outfit with me- a deep crimson set similar to the one I'd worn the previous day- I went into the bathroom adjacent to our room and took a shower. That done, I used some magic (I hadn't lost ALL of my powers) to dry myself off. I dressed, and went back into our room to find a groggy looking Sara waiting for use of the bathroom.

Sara looked pretty much worse for wear. Her eyes were somewhat narrow and maybe a little bit puffy. Her hair was a mess and struck out in several directions. She was sitting on the bed, her nightgown riding up so I could see a decent portion of her thighs. She didn't seem to notice and stood up, the skirt falling down to her ankles. She yawned and looked at me in that strange stare that sleepy people always use.

"My you look lovely this morning," I said.

Sara mumbled something incoherent and went into the bathroom. I sat down on the bed, closing my eyes to think. Something was wrong. And it wasn't what Termini had done either. No, this was more. . . different. More recent, even. Someone had just done something that wasn't quite right.

As I heard the shower turn on I knew EXACTLY what was amiss.

"Uh oh," I said, looking at the bathroom door. "She doesn't have a dress in there." I gulped and nervously went to the door. Gathering up all my nerve, I opened it and stuck my head inside, my eyes closed. "You didn't grab a dress before you came in. You want me to get one?"

"CY-CALVIN!" Sara cried from the shower. "Get out of- oh, you've got your eyes closed." She paused, thinking about what I'd pointed out. I can only imagine what her face must've looked like as it dawned on her. "Oops! Um, yeah, would you mind doing that for me?"

"Not a problem," I said. I pulled out of the bathroom and walked over to her wardrobe. I opened the doors and started to look through some of the different dresses. Most of them were the same design as the dress she'd worn the previous day, only varying in colors. I found a nice green one and pulled it out.

Being very careful, I quickly opened the bathroom door and hung it on the inside doorknob. Sara would have to worry about underwear later, because there was NO WAY she'd let me get away with going through panties and bras she was going to end up wearing. Yeah, we'd forgiven each other, but that had only been about, oh, maybe fifteen or sixteen hours earlier. I didn't want to re-spark the argument, especially where we were on some potentially dangerous territory.

I heard a grumbling sound near the foot of the bed. My instincts first told me to panic, but then my mind kicked in and reminded me it was probably just the Gruff. As if on cue, the huge wolf creature stood up, opening its huge mouth to yawn. It looked over at me, yipped his greetings, and lumbered over in search of a good morning pat. I sat down on the bed and the Gruff lowered his head into my lap. I scratched him behind the years, getting a content sigh of happiness from the creature.

"Good to see you two are getting along." I looked up to see Sara standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body to hide her. . . personal parts. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel and she looked much more awake than she had been. But the fact that she wore only a towel made me nervous.

". . ." was the best answer I could come up with.

"Cat got your tongue?" asked Sara as she went over to the wardrobe. She opened a drawer and started to leaf through was I could only assume to be undergarments. "Really, Cye, don't be so embarrassed. I just shared a bed with you last night. This should be NOTHING. It'll only be an issue if I drop the towel."

I was still stunned. "But you're in a towel!"

"Am I naked?"

"Under the towel you are."

"But with the towel I am NOT naked. You cannot SEE anything GOOD. Got it?"

I sighed heavily. No use arguing with her now. "Got it."