OK, I did a disclaimer in the other chapter, does that mean that I have to do it in this one two? Shrugz Oh well. I don't own the Ronin guys, and I reserve the right to dis Britney Spears (Sorry if I offend any Britney fans!) By the way, can someone tell me if I got Kento's last name right? Anyways, on with the story! (It's weird, I know. Everything I write is like that. I think that also falls under the warning category.) Oh, its now, in my opinion, sap. Or romance. Just warning anyone that's anti- mushy stuff!

Through Thick and Thin

Chapter 2

"Sage, you have to get up!" Rowen had cleaned Sage's now nude form in the bathtub, and now was trying to stop the wounds from any further bleeding, though he doubted that possible. How someone could bleed so much went past his knowledge. He scrambled to bandage the wounds, but he'd have to cover the blonde's entire body for that to work. Normally, they'd have Sage heal the hurt party member, but the golden one had never been on the receiving end till now. This was definitely not a good thing. After managing to stop most of the bleeding, he set Sage's lifeless body across the bed.

"What did they do to you?" Rowen asked again to the crumpled form, but didn't expect to here a reply. He walked out of the room momentarily to compose himself and grab a washcloth to use if Sage started to bleed more. As he re entered, his face fell. Finally, he looked over the blonde's wounds, and realized that there were too many to count. Scratches and infected scabs were the least of his injuries. Worst being the stab wound to his abdomen and the numerous slash wounds of a whip marring his flesh. Rowen choked back tears at the sight of his lover in this condition.

"No one deserves this treatment. And I do mean no one." He slowly crawled in the bed, curling up to the swordsman and letting his tears flow freely.

~~~~~

What have I done?" Cye repeated over and over again, as if hopping that his apology would heal his friends. He glanced around the area, and spotted Mia, hiding fearfully behind a gingko tree, hoping that he hadn't noticed her.

// She must think that I'm still controlled.// Cye told himself as he walked over to her.

"Mia, I'm sorry about what I've done. The armour, it was controlling me, and I couldn't fight it till what Kento said, and.... and...." Mia set a gentle hand on his shoulder soothingly.

"Its OK Cye... Why don't we go see if they're Ok?" Cye nodded as he and Mia approached the still forms. Cye knelt down next to Kento as Mia did the same for Ryo.

"Kento, mate, you have to get up... you've got to!" Cye shook the bulky body rather harshly and urgently, trying to wake his comrade. The blue haired boy stirred slightly, eyes cracking open with double effort.

"Cye?" He murmured slightly as Cye grinned.

"Your OK!" Cye exclaimed as he hugged the muscular boy. Kento squirmed under the steely grip, unusual for the quiet Brit.

"I'm so sorry about what I did, I can't believe that I was that easy to control. I should have put up some resistance, I was so weak, I can't believe I... oh my..." Kento slowly, almost timidly, replied to the auburn boy's hug, wrapping strong arms around the smaller figure.

"Don't worry brat, not your fault. There was no major harm done. I say we just grab Ryo, and get home to make sure that Sage isn't dead or something." Cye nodded as he pulled away from the warmth of the larger boy. He crawled over to Mia and Ryo, pulling the bearer of Wildfire into his arms and rising to his feet.

"Come on Mia, we're going to go home, and well make sure he's OK there." Mia nodded as Cye turned to Kento.

"And you're going to the doctor as well. We have to make sure that there are no internal wounds, or a concussion or something that can be fatal if left untreated." Kento sighed, but didn't argue with Cye. He knew that the Brit was not in the mood to fight, after what had just happened to him and the rest of their team.

~~~~~

When Sage finally awoke from his unconscious state, the first thing he felt was a rush of pain filling his body. He gasped in un prepared shock at the feelings in him. And the next thing he regained was the unwanted memories flooding his mind and filling him with fear.

"Sage?" Sage cracked his violet eyes open, to be directly in the line of vision with a set of Midnight blue ones. He gasped in surprise at the closeness of the blue haired archer and pulled away slightly. Well, tried to pull away. The sudden movement of his fresh wounds caused him to instead gasp, and fall forward on Rowen, trying to keep calm and not scream out in pain. Gentle arms lied him back down on the bed, as he looked up through hazed eyes.

"Rowen... Why did this happen? What did I do? Am I that horrible of a person? That evil to deserve to be lowered to... to this?" Sage gestured to his body had touching the sword wound as he winced in pain. Rowen quickly shook his head in reply to Sage's words.

"Sage, you are not evil, and you did nothing to deserve this in the slightest. No one in your position would deserve what happened. You did nothing, nothing, to deserve this. Please remember that." Sage stared aimlessly at the ceiling, eyes void of all feelings. Rowen looked on, sadness apparent on his face.

"Sage, please don't let all your feelings go and become a wall. You show so little to begin with, to lose the rest would to be to lose you in general. And I don't want that." Sage turned his head slightly, so that his blank eyes met the midnight ones full of compassion and sorrow.

"Why not? After what happened to me, does it really matter?" Rowen grabbed Sage's face between his palms, ignoring the fact that the blonde's face was scrunched in pain.

"Sage, don't you ever, EVER say that! You damn well know better then that! Its a well known fact that we all care about you, and just because some damn enemies decided that it would be fun to screw around with you..." Sage winced. Rowen didn't realize how close he was to the truth. Sage had been screwed around with, literally. But the archer wasn't aware of that fact.

"Rowen, you're hurting me." Sage pointed out softly, as Rowen released the blonde's face, after letting a finger gingerly trace the bruised lips. As gently as Rowen could muster, he let is lips meet Sage's, tasting the copper of blood from the cuts where his lover's lips had been bitten. Sage's eyes widened, as he tried to pull away out of instinct. Rowen pulled away slowly, looking the blonde in the eyes.

"Sage, you were only beaten, why wont you let me kiss you? What's the matter?" Sage turned away, skin paling.

"Rowen, just leave me alone. Please." Sage pleaded as Rowen shook his head.

"Not in your condition." Sage sighed.

"I'll be fine." Rowen looked at him.

"Sage, look at yourself. Can you honestly say that?" sage looked down as unshed tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

"Your right." He said hoarsely, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. His body quivered slightly, in fear, and in anger. Anger at himself for not listening to Rowen, anger at the warlords for doing this to him, and angered at his armour for deserting him.

"I'm sorry Rowen, its all my fault. I should have listened to you. Just because the drinks were free, doesn't mean that I should have excepted them." Rowen nodded in agreement.

"Well, you sure learned your lesson. Next time we go out..."

"There isn't going to be a next time." Rowen gave him an awkward look.

"Don't let this one bad experience make you never want to do it..."

"There isn't going to be a next time." He said in a final voice. Rowen was about to question the blonde again, but the deep sorrow hidden within those violet depths silenced him.

"Sage, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you when you needed it the most. I really am." Sage let his head hang.

"Rowen, you didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault this happened to me. I let it happen, not you. You were sick, there was nothing that you could have done." Rowen shook his head in protest to Sage's words.

"Correction love, there is nothing that anyone could have done." Sage didn't reply as he looked down and finally realized that he was nude. He blushed slightly and pulled the blanket tighter around him. Rowen crawled up next to Sage, lying down next to his lover.

"Sage, I know that the wounds are fresh, and so is the pain in your heart, but I also want you to know that we're here for you. And if you don't want to talk to me about what happened, talk to Mia or one of the other guys. I don't want you to suffer by keeping your emotions locked in." Rowen ran a hand through sage's golden locks, brushing the hair out of the eyes of his loved one.

" Please promise me that." Sage didn't move, he sat still and gave no response to his blue haired companion. Rowen sighed softly as he noticed that blood was seeping through one of Sage's arm wounds.

"Love, you're bleeding again. Let me help you with that." Rowen stood up out of the bed, as he walked into the bathroom to get the bandages and washcloths. When he returned, he gently took Sage's arm in his hands, and undid the soil bandages. He winced to himself as he examined the numerous wounds the single bandage had been covering. Grasping the damp washcloth, he gently cleansed the wounds, hoping that it wouldn't hurt Sage too much. But as he looked in the eyes, now their normal hard, slate gray tone, he realized that the blonde was perfectly still, not giving off a single hint of even feeling the administration. Rowen wrapped the injury with a bandage, tying it tightly to help stop the flow of blood.

"Sage, you still with me?" Rowen asked, worried at the absence of movement on the swordsman. He slowly waved a hand in front of Sage, and still heed no response. Worry crossed his face as he began to panic.

"Sage, are you OK? Sage? Sage?" Sage's head slowly turned to face Rowen's, eyes locking.

"Rowen, please go away. You deserve someone better. Someone who hasn't been demoted to this worthless fool." Sage stood up slowly on weak, trembling feet. His head buzzed and he could feel wounds tear opened at the new movement, but he forced himself to walk out of the room, leaving a bewildered and confused Rowen lying on the bed.

"Sage! That's not true! Wait!" He leapt to his feet and ran off in search of his lover. He found Sage a few minutes later, collapsed on the living room floor, back propped up on the couch. He was clutching his stomach as blood seeped through his fingers, coursing through the freshly torn wound.

"Sage, you are in no condition to run off like that! Your body can't handle it!" Rowen slid his hands behind Sage, and hoisted the other boy into his arms, trying his best to ignore the fact that Sage was still nude, and his hands were now stained with the swordsman's blood. As he walked off to clean up Sage, the door flung ajar to reveal the other troopers, Ryo being carried in the arms of the tear stained Brit.

"Man, Rowen, what are you doing to Sage?" Kento asked as Rowen blushed.

" I was about to re dress the wound on his abdomen." Rowen said in embarrassment as Kento laughed.

"Cye's making us go to the hospital. Bring Sage too. He looks like shit." Sage shook his head rapidly in reply.

"No, he's not coming." Cye said faintly, eyes locked with Sage's in some form of understanding.

"But Cye, I have to go, and he's a LOT worse then me." Kento pointed out.

"Rowen, stay here and take care of Sage. Were leaving. Sage doesn't want to come. He doesn't have to." Kento looked on in bewilderment but said nothing as Cye lead them out of the house.

~~~~~

"Well Mr. Mouri, your friend here has a minor concussion, and that's about it. Just give him plenty of rest and he should be fine in a few days." Kento grinned at the declaration.

Told you I was fine Cye!"

"Mr. Rei Faun, this is not to be taken lightly! You need plenty of rest to ensure a healthy recuperation!" The doctor exclaimed as Kento sighed.

"Fine fine fine. I'll rest and be careful." Kento rolled his eyes as he began to walk out of the room.

"Mr. Mouri, I doubt he is the kind to listen to a professional opinion. Please make sure that he stays off his feet and rests as much as possible. And his blood sugar is a bit high. Have him lay off of the sweets." Cye grinned brightly.

"I'll do that sir. Thank you." Cye bowed his head slightly, something unusual for him and his British customs. He then dashed off in pursuit of his blue haired friend. After finding Kento, the two began their search to find the room Ryo and Mia were in. Ryo had awakened during the trip over, and was drowsy and had a severe headache, leaving them to only guess what had happened. Finally, arriving at room 8, the furthest away from the waiting room (They had been in room one) they found their auburn friend, a long with a very peeved Ryo. Obviously the onyx haired boy did not take to kindly to doctors.

"I'm fine, I've just got a little headache. Some nice Tylenol will clear that all up." Ryo stood up, but feel weakly on Mia, who caught him.

"And will the Tylenol take care of that as well?" She teased as Ryo glared at her. She helped him to the patient bed, as the doctor came up to him.

"OK Mr. Sananda, give me your arm." Ryo looked at the blood pressure device in horror.

"What the hell is that thing?" the Doctor looked on in confusion as Ryo pulled his arm close to his chest in a protective stance. Mia couldn't help but burst into laughter. Ryo and doctors were almost as bad as Sage and them. The only difference really, was the fact that Sage actually scared the doctors away.

"Ryo, it doesn't hurt. All it does is take your blood pressure." Ryo looked at it with a hint of mistrust in his eyes.

"I still don't want that thing near me." Ryo said, pointing at the machine. Mia sighed.

"Ryo, if it'll help, I'll have my blood pressure taken to show you that it doesn't hurt." Ryo nodded at the idea as Mia turned to the doctor.

"I'm sorry, but he's never really been to the doctor other then to get shots. Take my blood pressure first... please?" The doctor nodded as he led her over to the bulky machine. She gently put her arm in it, as it began to squeeze down on her arm. She turned to smile at Ryo.

"See? Everything's just fine. It's not hurting me at all." Ryo nodded as he watched the machine squeeze harder and harder on her arm. She tried to keep a calm, smiling face, but it was to no avail as the machine squeezed to the point of pain.

"Umm.... doctor? I think theirs something a matter with the machine." She yelped as it hit her pressure point. The doctor quickly ran up and stared at the machine. Mia looked up at him, anger flaring in her eyes.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" the doctor nodded fiercely.

"I'll go get a technician." He quickly bolted out of the room.

"Well, that's fine and dandy, but that's not going to help the fact that I have no blood circulation, and I am fond of my right arm. I would like to keep it, working at all." She turned to Ryo, who had a grin plastered to his face.

"What are you smirking about?" She demanded as he began to laugh harder.

"And to think, that could have been me if I had listened to you." Mia said nothing in reply as she looked at her purple arm.

"Could someone help me here?" She asked as she looked at Cye, who was crawling on the floor.

"Cye, what are you doing?" She asked in confusion, as Cye smiled triumphantly.

"Ah ha!" He quickly pulled out the cord to the machine. It slowly went back to normal, loosening its grip on Mia's arm. Mia yanked it out as she began to massage the arm, trying to get the blood to flow again. After she regained feeling to her arm, she grabbed Ryo and dragged him out of the room. She stomped down the hallway and turned to the people at the desk.

"I nearly lost my arm to that damn blood pressure machine. I refuse to pay for the checkups." She began to walk away as she turned to look at them.

"Oh, yes, and have a nice day." She dragged Ryo away as Kento grabbed one of the lollipops and followed her out, along with Cye.

~~~~~

Rowen sat intently, watching sage in the depths of dreams. Sage stirred slightly in his drugged slumber, murmuring intangible words in his sleep. Rowen smiled faintly, brushing the locks of gold from Sage's face. Sage instinctively curled closer to Rowen's warmth, as Rowen continued the administration. After a while he stopped, hearing the car pull up in the driveway. He stood up to go and meet the others, but the moment he left Sage, the blonde began to whimper in his sleep. Rowen sighed softly as he made his way back to the bed, crawling in next to the blonde. Sage's whimpers in protest ceased as he pressed himself to Rowen. The azure boy gingerly spread one arm across the blonde, who welcomed the touch. Rowen jerked his head up as he heard movement outside of the door. The door slowly slid open a crack, and Cye glanced in, a smile spreading across his face.

"I was just...." Rowen began as Cye shook his head.

"Don't worry Rowen. I already know. Sage had to think about something to get his mind off of what was happening when they tortured him. And guess what it was?" Cye slowly began to shut the door.

"Don't worry, I wont tell." The door shut soundlessly behind Cye, as footsteps were heard growing dimmer. Rowen glanced down at the angelic face below him, thoughts running rapidly through his mind. In Sage's deepest, darkest moments, when he had been cast into the turmoils of hell, he had thought of Rowen? Not his family, not his precious Kendo, but instead of the blue haired archer? Unbelievable. Unthinkable. The cold hearted, self-centered blonde had thought of him, the shy, wussy, traumatized from his past, little archer in the pits of depression? This was beyond comprehension. His intelligence of 250 couldn't understand this, this newly acquired fact.

"Sage, do you really care about me that much?" Rowen questioned the drugged form. Sage moaned softly in what Rowen took as a response, Sages head snuggled against Rowen's chest in emphasis. Rowen laughed slightly as he looked up at the ceiling. For his birthday, sage and Cye had taken the liberty to put stickers of stars that glow in the dark on his ceiling. When he walked into the room and saw it glowing, he had freaked. Sage and Cye had come in laughing, and pointed out exactly what the glowing things in his room were. He had laughed when he figured it out, and had never taken them down. He kinda liked them and they reminded him of Sage, even though Cye had done it too. He wondered to himself of what had persuaded Sage to go along with it and help Cye. It just seemed very, well, un Sage-like to say the least. Rowen shrugged off the thought as he felt Sage stir unexpectedly. He turned his attention to the blonde who moaned softly again.

"What's the matter Seiji?" Rowen asked aloud as Sage whimpered slightly, jerking to the side, un able to awaken past the drug filled Haze he was swimming in. Rowen looked on in a bit of confusion, unsure of what to do until Sage began to thrash wildly, murmuring and whimpering intangible words. Rowen grasped the blonde, and was about to shake him, when Sage's words because readable.

"No..... please... only for Rowen...no more..."

"Only for me what? Sage, what are you saying? Why don't you make any sense! Ugh!" Rowen shook the blonde rapidly, forgetting the injuries covering the Sage's body. As the swordsman's wounds re opened for what seemed like the hundredth time, the blonde sat up with a gasp as he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Sage, what happened!?" sage's eyes met Rowen's for a fleeting instance, at which he broke the lock and turned away.

"Nothing..." He murmured as Rowen looked on with anger.

"Sage, is that your excuse for everything?! That's all I hear from your mouth! Well, something has to be wrong or you wouldn't BE like this!" Sage took a deep breath, trying to stop the blood flow and talk to Rowen at the same time.

"Well, what if there is something wrong? Does it really matter to you? It's not your life that's been ruined, it's not your pain! If I want your help, I'll ask for it. But it seems to me that I haven't, so you have no right to yell at me about what's not your business!" Rowen was taken a back for a moment, until fire burned in his midnight blue eyes.

"Not my business! This is damn well my business! Anything wrong with you I make an effort to make my business. And I can damn well tell you that what happened to you was not just torture. What happened Koibito? What did they do to you?" Sage choked back sobs and held back tears.

"Rowen, I want to be alone, please." Rowen wrapped his arms around Sage, and held them there for a few moments.

"Sage, you're not alone. That's my point. And you never will be as long as I'm standing on this green Earth." He kissed Sage's forehead, and let his lips linger for a brief moment. Finally, he forced himself to pull away from his pale lover, and concentrate on fixing up the wound.

"Sage, stay here and move as little as possible, kay?" The blonde nodded faintly. Rowen stood up and went to get more bandages. After fixing Sage up and getting him back to bed, Rowen couldn't resist but to loosely tangle his arms around Sage's form. At first Sage hesitated at the touch, but eventually he came to except, and even welcome the touch of his lover.

"Rowen, I'm sorry about earlier...." Sage murmured through a yawn, head resting on Rowen's chest. Rowen shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. Yesterday you were in hell, now you're free. Its gonna be weird, its gonna be traumatizing, but you'll... WE'LL get through this. Together." He took sage's hand in his, and gently kissed each one of the fingers tenderly. Sage's eyes slowly fluttered shut and he sighed in contentment at where he was and what he was doing. Rowen smiled to himself. Such little things had never made Sage this happy before. It was nice to be able to pleasure the blonde in such simple ways.

"Sage, Ai Shitaru..." Rowen murmured as Sage nodded.

"I know Rowen, I know."

~~~~~

"Cye, bud, wanna go outside? You can help teach me how to swim." No reply. Kento tapped his foot in frustration. After Cye had attended to everyone else's needs, he had then gone off and taken drastic measures to lock himself in his room.

"Come on Cye! Ryo and I don't blame ya, so why do you blame yourself?" Again, he heard no reply to his question. Finally, out of sheer desperation, not one to invade on others privacy, he pulled out the key to the room he shared with Cye and unlocked it. He slid the door open gently and quietly, peering inside for any sign of his friend. He opened the door the rest of the way, and realized that the auburn boy was nowhere to be found. Glancing around the room in confusion, his eyes set on the ajar window.

"Damn..." He murmured as he opened up his mind link to tell his other friends about Cye's disappearance.

//Guys, Cye's gone. And I don't know where. He left through the window.// Kento said sullenly, well, as sullen as the demolisher of food could get.

//Shh....// Came his reply, adding to his confusion.

//What?//

//Sage is asleep, and if he finds out that Cye's gone, he's gonna wanna help find him. And Sage is in no condition at all to get up, let alone search for Cye.// Rowen pointed out, but a stern voice tended to disagree.

//Thank you for your concern Rowen, but I'll be fine. I'm helping you find Cye.// Rowen shook his head, and Kento could tell that the argument had been taken to their real forms and voices.

//Kento, I'll help you find him.// Ryo said softly to the muscular boy via the mind link.

//Thanks bud. I don't think Sage and Rowen will be of any help, fighting like that.// Ryo nodded in response, thought the blue haired boy couldn't tell.

//Hey! I wanna go!// Rowen exclaimed as Kento laughed along with Ryo.

//Rowen, if your so eager to go, why don't you go search with Kento, and I'll make sure Blondie doesn't do anything stupid.// the sense of Rowen smiling was overwhelming.

//Ryo, stay in your room. I have to tell you some things first.//

//kay. Kento, you go look for Cye now, Rowen will catch up later.//

//Can do. I'm off to find the British brat!// Kento said as he left the room and began his search for his comrade.

~~~~~

"Ryo?" Rowen asked softly as he peered into the onyx boy's room.

"Yeah, I'm here. What did you need to tell me?" Rowen sat next to Ryo on the bed.

"Well, Sage's a little.... well.... out of it if you catch my drift. And he won't tell anyone what happened. And Cye knows, but he doesn't want to go against Sage's wish and tell us. So, try to get him to talk. And he's blaming himself. I'm gonna go help find Cye, you try to get him to open up, OK?" Ryo nodded.

"One last thing. We didn't wanna risk upsetting his wounds, so he's nude under the blanket. Just warning ya." Ryo nodded once again in response to the azure boy.

"I'll take care of him. You just go help find Cye."

"Thanks Ryo." Rowen murmured as he quickly made his way out of the room.

"How hard can it be to take care of him? He can barely walk, let alone cause any trouble." Ryo muttered to himself as he made his way out of the room, and soon realized that Sage was harder to take care of then he thought. A lot harder.

~~~~~

Ryo walked into Sage's room, prepared to talk to the blonde, when he noticed that Sage was nowhere in sight.

"Sage?" He questioned, checking the bathroom for any sign of the blonde. He found no hint that the blonde had even been there. He glanced at the bed when something caught his eyes.

"A note?" Ryo asked himself as he proceeded over to the bed to retrieve the slip of paper. He glanced over it, reading it to himself.

Got bored. Gone out to meditate. Don't know when 'Ill be back

-Sage

Ryo groaned at the moment he read the note. So he was wrong, Sage could be a lot of trouble to take care of. There was really nothing he could do but try to find the other swordsman. Sighing, he headed to the door in pursuit of his comrade.

~~~~~

"If I was a Cye, where would I be?" Kento asked himself as a light triggered in his mind.

"The lake!" He exclaimed as he dashed off in the direction of Cye's favorite spot in the world. Sure enough, when he got there, the auburn Brit was swimming among the fishes, fully clothed but his shoes. In fact, he had run out without shoes, so that was actually quite irrelevant.

"Cye! Why did you run away?" He called out, then scolded himself for being so stupid. Why are you upset? Hmm.... that's a thinker. Good one Kento.

"Kento, go away." Cye murmured from in the middle of the lake, as Kento walked over to the edge of the water.

"Come on Cye. Even SAGE is taking this better then you are now. You were fine when we got home, what happened?" Cye slowly swam over to Kento, and climbed out, timidly sitting next to his best friend.

"Reality struck. I. I didn't think that it was my fault, 'til I realized what Sage went through. That, that was not his fault. He couldn't help what they did to him. He tried to fight as much as he could, and not give them the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. But me, I didn't really fight back. I was too worried about not getting hurt, that I didn't give resistance like I should have." Cye hung his head in shame as Kento set a hand warmly on Cye's back.

"Its OK bud. It doesn't matter if you fought back or not. What matters is that Ryo and I are fine now, not what you could have done differently. I say, screw the "what ifs" and look in to the future!" Cye couldn't help but laugh at his comrade's enthusiasm.

"Kento, you are a riot sometimes." Kento grinned.

"And damn proud of it!" Cye sat smiling for mere moments, until he thought again of the situation.

"Kento, I did still hurt you guys. If I didn't, you wouldn't have a concussion. Who knows what is going on in Ryo's body? Mia took us away before we could find out. I failed you all by surrendering. I'm so awful." Tears formed at the corners of Cye's eyes. His green eyes shined with Crystalline, yet unshed tears.

"Cye, bud, don't cry." Kento slowly wrapped his arms around the small body, and held Cye for a moment, letting him shed all his tears.

"Kento..." Kento looked down at the thin boy.

"Yeah..." He asked but he got no response. Instead he got a sweet, tender kiss to his lips, timid and soft. He gasped when Cye pulled away, in shock, not repulsion. Sweet little Cye though, was not one to catch on fast.

"I'm so sorry Kento! I shouldn't have done that! I had no reason to and I know it was wrong and please don't be mad at me and, and....." Cye's frantic apologies were cut off by Kento's lips meeting his own. At first Cye's eyes were wide, unsure of what this meant. But the moment he realized that the kiss was true, and Kento meant it, he calmed down and returned it with much eagerness. Finally, only for the lack of air, did the two pull away.

"I wonder if Sage and Rowen do this kind of thing, or how they got together?" Cye pondered to himself, not realizing that he had said it aloud until it was too late.

"Sage and Rowen are together?" Kento asked amidst shock as Cye blushed and hung his head.

"Oh my! I broke my promise! I told them that I wouldn't tell!"

"Sage... and Rowen?" Cye glared.

"Yes silly. They've been together for a while. They just didn't think we'd approve of their choice, so they hid it from us."

"You mean, cold hearted bastard, and shy little archer, together? Damn." Cye nodded.

"Haven't you wondered why they're always together?" Kento shrugged in response.

"Best friends are usually together." Kento pointed out as Cye shrugged.

"Your right. Kento, I really wanna know. Did you mean anything at all by that kiss? Or was it just to shut me up?" Kento paused before answering.

"Well.... umm... Well, I ummm... I like you Cye! I mean, who doesn't? Your nice, kind, sweet, caring..."

"Blows up their friends, blows peoples secrets...." Kento pressed his lips to Cye's again.

"That one was to shut you up." Cye laughed.

"Kento, lets go home. I have some apologizing and explaining to do." Kento nodded and stood up, extending his arm to Cye, and helping his friend to his feet.

"Lets go."

~~~~~

"Sage! What are you doing here?" Sage bowed slightly to the slender brunette before him.

"Malandriana, I came to see if you needed any help." She smiled sweetly to the blonde.

"Oh Sage, you do too much. And you don't look too well. Maybe you should get some rest. What happened by the way?" She asked in concern, as she observed the wounds covering sage's body.

"I was in a car crash. Its nothing." She nodded slightly, obviously not excepting the answer though.

" Sage, Misty had her puppies today. She didn't make it.... I tried! I really did! But it wasn't enough. After what she'd been through, it's a wonder she'd survived long enough to start the birthing process. And All but one of the puppies died. He's a survivor, I can tell you that. We nearly pronounced him dead, but then he started to breath again. He's a miracle puppy. That much is obvious. But he's still not out of the woods yet. He's too young to see, and he doesn't have a mother to get milk from." Sage nodded softly. Misty was a great dog, she was a Golden retriever. She had been so beautiful, it was a shame she and her puppies had to died. Well, her legacy would live on though. He'd make sure of it.

"Malandriana, may I see the puppy?" Malandriana nodded.

"You work wonders with animals, maybe it's for the best. Even though you're just an assistant, your work is amazing." She gently took his hand in hers and led him into the backroom, where a tiny basket, filled with blankets, sat on the counter top. She motioned for Sage to go to it, and he did so with great carefulness.

"May we be alone?" He asked softly as she nodded. She took one last glance at the boy and the basket, before leaving the room. Sage quickly undid the blankets in the basket, to reveal a tiny puppy, pinkish fur matted and wet from the cleaning process.

"You are just the cutest thing in the world. Yes you are." Sage murmured as he placed his index finger on the back of the pup. Summoning the little strength that he needed from Halo, he proceeded to heal the puppy with the utmost care. He stayed the rest of the day, cleaning animal cages, playing with them, feeding them, everything in the life of a veterinary clinic. As night fell though, he spoke to Malandriana about shutting down the place for her. She nodded as she grabbed her coat and left. The nightshift would watch the animals.

Sage slowly made his way to the back room, and picked up the basket. Then he walked over to the food supply, and grabbed 2 weeks worth of the puppy formula. Pulling out his wallet, he left the right amount of money, before leaving to go home, puppy in hands.

~~~~~

"When Sage gets back, I'm going to kill him dead. D.e.a.d. Dead." Rowen grumbled as he paced through the living room, in front of the door. Slowly the door opened and Sage limped in, immediately pounced on by a peeved Rowen.

"Where the hell were you! I was worried out of my mind, thinking that you were stupid enough to go out there and be attacked by the dynasty, in the condition you were in, and that you could be dead on the side of the road for all I know, and, and..... I was worried...." sage looked nervously between the misty eyed Rowen, and the rest of his friends in the room.

"Umm... If it's any consultation, we know." Sage turned his attention away from either of those things, and made his way, slowly and limping, to the kitchen. Everyone followed him in, to see that he was heating some formula.

"Sage, what are you doing?" Rowen asked as he watched Sage place the formula in the microwave. Sage ignored the question as he instead walked over to the counter that held the basket.

"Cye, come here. I need your help." He said flatly as Cye glanced at the rest before walking up to Sage. Sage pulled the puppy out slowly and carefully, before handing it to Cye. Cye gasped, as he looked wide-eyed at the puppy.

"Oh my! It's so adorable! Sage, it's so young! How dare you take it away from its mother!" Sage pulled the formula out of the microwave, and filled an eyedropper with it, before taking the puppy from Cye and beginning to feed it.

"Lets call him an orphan." Cye looked at sage and the puppy in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sage glanced up at the British boy.

"His mother died at the clinic, he's the only surviving puppy." Cye gasped in shock and horror, as did the others.

"Clinic? Dead? No more puppies?" Cye managed to choke out as Sage nodded.

"I never told you this. No one knows. But as a side job, since the dojo doesn't pay enough, I work in a veterinary clinic. I'm just an assistant though. But everyone says that I'm so good with animals, that I should be the actual vet. But, there was this dog, Misty. She was pregnant and caught in a fire for hours. When we got her out, she was barely alive. We tried to help her, but this morning, when she went into labor, she couldn't take it. She and all but this puppy died.

"What's his name?" sage shrugged.

"I was thinking something like Miracle, because that's what he is." Cye nodded.

"That's sweet."

"Well, Cye, I actually got the dog for you, I just need to take care of it 'til it's older, and can at least see." Cye smiled, glowing with happiness at his new pet. Sage's eyes lit up for a moment.

"Hey, Cye, how about we name him Rain? As in a lucky rainbow? And it works well since he's yours." Cye couldn't help but grin as sage finished feeding the pup and handed Rain to Cye, who began to cradle the small being.

"Sage, thank you so much!" Cye cooed as he pet the puppy gently.

"Cye, for now it'll have to stay in Rowen's and my room. I'm awake all night anyways, so it doesn't matter. It has to be feed about every two hours." Cye nodded in satisfaction as he handed the puppy to sage.

"There you go. Now Rain, be a good boy to your two uncles. Don't keep them up too late, got it?" The boys laughed at Cye's words, as Sage placed the sightless puppy back into its basket, and folded the blankets around it.

"Rowen, will you carry Rain upstairs for me?" Sage asked as Rowen nodded.

"You and the puppy need rest. I still can't believe that you left. When I got home and Ryo told me that you were gone, and I was freaking, I spilled it to him. And I found out later that Cye told Kento too, so everyone knew by then." The two entered their room as Rowen set the puppy's basket near Sage's side of the bed, then went to help the blonde out of his clothes.

"Sage, when we force you into the nude, its usually for a good reason. Well, unless it's me... but still!" Rowen unzipped sage's jacket, and realized that the jacket was the only thing Sage had on. He looked up at the swordsman in slight confusion.

"I didn't want to re tear my wounds. It already hurts enough." Rowen scowled at the blonde as he undid the restraining jeans from him. Sage watched nervously as Rowen slid his pants down his waist, leaving him clad in only boxers. The moment Rowen reached for his boxers though, sage pulled away, eyes wide with fear. Sage stepped back and stumbled, crashing onto the floor, but ignoring the pain throbbing in his rear.

"Sage! Are you OK? What was that for?" Rowen quickly ran to Sage's side, kneeling next to the blonde. Sage shivered in fear, and turned away from the archer, refusing to face Rowen in the eyes.

"Sage, look at me!" Slowly and timidly, nearly frozen in fear, Sage turned, violet meeting blazing blue.

"Sage, why are you scared of me? Why won't you accept my touch? Did I do something wrong? Did I hit a wound? Or was it something different?" Sage's breathing was labored, as he tried to free himself from the boring eyes of his lover. Sighing, Rowen ran slender fingers through his un-kept hair, trying to keep the persistent locks out of his face.

"Sage, tell me... please. I can't bear to see you like this, to have you fear me. I, I've already had too much rejection in the love and caring department, your the only thing I have left. I don't want to lose you too." Tears formed at the edges of Rowen's eyes, threatening to burst through. Sage stumbled to his feet, blank, emotionless eyes meeting Rowen's as he clumsily ran out of the door.

"Sage...." Rowen murmured as he watched the blonde leave the room. At the departure of the blonde, the puppy began to whimper faintly. Rowen sighed and approached the dog, and began to rub its back soothingly. Eventually it hushed, as Rowen's drooping eyelids succumbed over him, and he felt himself urged to enter sleep. Numbly he walked over to the bed, kicking off his shoes and not bothering to change as he climbed into the bed and drifted into sleep.

~~~~~

"Ryo... can I talk to you?" Ryo's left eye cracked open as he looked up at his guest.

"Sage?" Ryo muttered as he rose, sitting up, back resting on the bed pillows.

"Sure. What did you want to tell me?" Ryo couldn't help but notice that the blonde was clad in only a pair of silken green boxers, and scolded himself for even thinking about that fact. Sage was with Rowen. Enough said. Sage hung his head as he stood timidly in the doorway.

"Well...." Ryo beckoned for Sage to sit with him on the bed. Sage slowly did as he was told, sitting next to the raven-haired boy.

"Well, what is it?" Sage turned to Ryo with bleary eyes, dark bags under them from lack of sleep.

"I... I have to tell someone. As much as I don't want to, I have to tell someone. And well, I can't face Rowen with the truth. I can't face anyone really. I don't want to, but I have to. So I figured it be you because you are the leader and I'm hoping that you'll understand, and....."

"Sage?" the wielder of Halo turned to face Ryo.

"What did they do to you?" Ryo was unprepared for Sage to cling to him, sobbing his eyes out.

"Ryo... they, they raped me. And they beat me, and I was helpless! I couldn't do anything to stop them... It was so humiliating, and It hurt so much, and, and...." Ryo rubbed Sage's back gently, his own eyes filled with a burning rage.

"Sage, don't worry. I'll get my revenge, I mean, we will." Sage shook his head miserably.

"No, forget it. What's done is done and we can't do anything about it." Ryo couldn't help but feel the rage burning up in him deeper. He wanted nothing but to go over to the dynasty and beat the crap out of the warlords.

"Sage, who.... exactly, did this to you?" Sage glanced up at Ryo for a brief moment before hanging his head once more.

"Don't hurt Sekhmet. He did nothing." Sage murmured slightly as Ryo nodded.

"Sage, it's a good thing you told someone. I'm just surprised it was me and not Rowen." Sage merely shrugged in response, head lying raggedly on Ryo's shoulder. A shuffling in the doorway caused him to look up, startled slightly to see his azure lover in the doorway, eyes wide in grief and despair.

"Rowen..." sage murmured as Rowen set the puppy basket on the floor and turned away, his back facing the two on the bed.

"I.... I don't know what I did. But I guess I did something wrong, if you don't trust me to be capable of telling your problems.... I'm sorry for what I did." Rowen struggled to speak through his chocking sobs, before exiting the room at an extreme speed. Sage watched Rowen rush out of the room, and sighed in frustration, letting himself fall back on Ryo.

"He did nothing, this is my problem, not his. I wish he could see that this is, is, embarrassing, and disquesting, and something I'd rather never speak of, especially not to a lover." Ryo said nothing as Sage laid on him.

"Sage, you know better then the rest of us that Rowen doesn't like to talk about himself. But we all know that he was abused as a child. And didn't he indeed tell you what his father did to him during his beatings?" Sage nodded faintly.

"He, he told you everything about himself, and he wishes that you felt that you could do the same with him. He respects you enough to tell you what happened to him, he fells that it's his fault that you don't feel the same." Sage couldn't help the steadily falling tears pouring down his cheeks.

"There's a difference! He wasn't degraded! He wasn't raped and sent to hell and stripped of any dignity he had! I was! And I sure as hell didn't feel like talking about it! Not even to him. But I thought that telling someone was good enough. And he told me that he didn't mind who, as long as I talked to someone about it! And I did. Big deal that it wasn't him. He's not the one facing a life crisis at the moment!" Sage took deep, un-controlled breaths that ran ragged.

"Sage, calm down." Ryo urged as Sage nodded in agreement.

"I'm getting bad lately. I have been letting my anger out, not kept my cool, let my emotions run free. Ugh, this is horrible for me." Ryo couldn't help but laugh. It was as if the real Sage was back, if only for a brief moment in time.

"Sage, I know that this is the hardest thing you've ever faced. It was horrible, degrading, unjustifiable, but it happened. And to you. If I could have been the one, if I could have taken your place, I would have. But I couldn't have. And I guarantee that Rowen feels the same way. He'd die for you Sage, you have to realize that. He's just a little upset that you chose me, not him. And its good that you told, that you talked to someone about it, it truly is. But he feels that you either like me better to tell me your problems, or that you find him to be a horrible person that is not worthy of you. I know that it's neither, but he doesn't, and that is what counts. I know that you're in no condition to get up and get him, so I will. Just stay here and be good, OK? Why don't you feed Rain? He's been whining for quite some time." Sage glanced up at the basket Rowen had left on the floor. The tiny puppy was whimpering softly, as Sage sighed.

"Ryo, go find him, I'll feed Rain." Ryo nodded as he ran off, leaving sage and the puppy.

~~~~~

After Ryo went on an hour search for Rowen, he found Strata, and willed the boy to come back to his pain filled lover in an attempt to reclaim sage's spirit, if that was even possible. The moment the two got home though, they found Sage, crumpled on the floor.

"Sage!" Rowen called out as he ran over to the blonde. Sage looked up at Rowen in sadness.

"Weak.... I'm so weak. I can't even walk right without the pain in me. You deserve better. A lot better. I'm sorry I'm so.... so pathetic." Ryo observed the situation and decided that it was one suitable only for Rowen. He slowly left the two and noted to himself to warn Cye and Kento from coming near the living room.

"Sage, your not pathetic." Rowen murmured as he knelt next to the blonde. Gingerly he wrapped his arms around sage.

"Love, why are you on the floor? You're not bleeding." Rowen pointed out as sage nodded in agreement.

"I know. But, it hurts. Every ache, every bruise, every cut, every time... penetration... ugh... I'm a wreck, and I know it. People have had things much worse then this happen to them. Given my rape was a gang rape by immortal guys with inhuman strength, but it was nothing compared to say, a family member, or a lover doing it. Someone you trusted. I didn't trust the warlords, no big problem there. But some people, they are raped by loved ones, people they care about, thought were nice and kind and could be trusted, while in reality they were doing it on purpose to get what they wanted." Rowen nodded softly in agreement to the blonde. Sage was so wise when his judgment wasn't clouded by pain and suffering and memories. Rowen couldn't help but give full sympathy to the blonde. Sage had suffered so much. He didn't deserve this onslaught of horror and madness. No one did.

"Sage, I love you. Please, never forget that." Sage nodded slightly, burring his head into Rowen's shirt.

"I know, I just wasn't ready to tell you what they did. I'm sorry, I should have thought about your feelings, I was insensitive, yet again. I'm really bad, aren't I?" Rowen shook his head in disagreement.

"That's hardly the case. You were just, confused. And Sage, when I said that I loved you, I truly did mean it. From the bottom of my broken heart."

"Not Britney Spears..." Sage murmured instinctively as Rowen burst out laughing.

"No matter how close to death you were, no matter how wounded, no matter how torn you are, you still hate the American pop stars."

"Well, they can't sing worth crap!" Sage exclaimed as Rowen continued laughing his head off at his blonde lovers antics.

"Well, I love you, and I don't care what it takes to make you better. I don't care if it takes forever, if I spend every night holding you from nightmares, or even if I never touch you again. Whatever makes you feel better, I'll do."

"Then the never touching is definitely a no no. Because not touching you is the last thing I had in mind" Sage gently, timidly, ever so slightly pressed his lips to Rowen's, trembling in what Rowen couldn't really tell what. Rowen kissed back gently, trying not to scare the step of bravery from Sage. Finally, blushing crimson, Sage pulled away from Rowen, who groaned softly in protest. Sage's face flushed more at Rowen's groan, as he hung his head.

"Sorry Sage, your just so damn good at that. Even when you're sick." Rowen said with a smug grin plastered to his face. Again, sage brought his lips to Rowen, who was very responsive, trying to resist the urge to deepen the kiss further. Unbeknownst to them, Cye and Kento had decided to ignore Ryo's warning, and stood, watching the couple from the doorway.

"Aren't they just so cute love?" Cye murmured as Kento nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they are better together then I thought." Cye nodded as he leaned back into Kento's arms, watching the couple with no cares.

End of chapter 2