Anubis spoke
quickly but passionately to Mia as he could see the belief in her eyes. She missed the guys terribly now that she thought
about them and she knew that she would never be happy anywhere that she would not be
around them.
Kento, who was
always good for a laugh or two during her blue days.
Cye, who was
the best listener and friend any one could ask for. Whenever she had guy troubles in understanding the other sex, she could
always turn to him for help and not get laughed at.
Ryo, Who pushed
her to be the best that she could be in anything she ever did. Always challenging her to do better in her
practices or in school with his silly little competitions.
Sage, who
taught her the value of meditation and how to be alone, but never lonely during those
times.
Rowen, Who was
always there when she hit a snag in her thoughts and needed someone to help her get her
ideas thought out or her reports to sound better than they did.
As she thought
about her five closest friends she thought about Yulie and how he was always there to help
take care of White Blaze. Those two were
almost as close as Ryo and the Tiger had been. White
Blaze was always there when she was dealing with strangers at her door who were being
pushy about her living alone or living with the guys.
Yulie had grown
into the way of the sword and honor much like Sage. This was to everyone's surprise since he idolized Ryo so much during the
battles that they had been in in the past.
She thought
about the Warlords and the day they came back to the mortal realm. Everyone had been on edge, but then they all
proved themselves to have truly changed. The
only thing that took them all a long time to do was get along with out getting into a
major fist fight after an insult or two was thrown.
Dais had taught
her how to trust him even when he was being a pain to the guys and pulling his old tricks
with Kento.
Cale had always
been a considerate listener and had some surprising insights into the human mind. He knew more about the way most people worked than
even his closest friends gave him credit for and she always had a good conversation with
him no matter the subject since he was also a rather learned man for his ways.
Sekmet had
taught her about field healing and how to look beyond the front layer of everything. He was not so bad once she got used to his
slightly sibilant speech. She could tell that
he was really trying to make up for his past as he found ways to counteract the poisons
that he let lose on the world during the time of Talpa's reign and the battles with the
Ronin Warriors.
Anubis had
already more than made up for his past with the Ronin's when he perished in the successful
attempt to free Kayura from Badamon's hold. It
was at that point that the tide of the battle turned in the Ronin's favor and they were
able to destroy Talpa for good.
Kayura had made
a formal apology to each of the Ronins alone and as she worked with Mia and the others on
bringing the Dynasty up to a better standard she learned that there was more to Talpa that
first met the eye. His constant scheming
extended beyond the time when he perished and she had to work with everyone to gain a firm
and yet fair control on the Dynasty realm.
These were her
closest friends that she could ever hope for in her life. She was crazy if she thought that what ever was on the other side of the
light would be better than what she had out there in the real world. She knew somehow on the instinctive level that it
was not yet her time and that she would probably outlive the Ronins and the Warlords if
they had anything to say about it. Yet as she
thought about things she realized that she had not heard all of Anubis' feelings on the
subject matter.
"Anubis?" She looked up into those blue-green eyes that had
never failed to capture her in them. "What
do you want? If you are going to go back to
the realm of the dead after all of this. What
good would it do for me to go back? I would
be alone again. If I were to continue the
path of me being dead. Then at least I would
see you again soon." She looked down at
her feet.
"I know
that is a terribly selfish thing for me to think. But I have been putting the Mortal realm and my
friends ahead of me for so long. Even at your
expense when you died. Now I have a chance to
be at peace with everything I have done and I want to be a little selfish. I want to be with you."
Anubis smiled
as he heard her words and understood what she meant He loved her deeply and wanted to be
selfish too. But always something came in the
way. Saving the Mortal realm was a full time
job and he and Mia were never able to be together in the way that they wanted to be. They knew that they were right in wanting to be a
little selfish. Now in the moment that they
could be together they realized that there was again. The possibility that they would not be together again.
"Would you
risk it though Mia? Would you risk us just
knowing that there was a chance that I would be able to be with you? Would you make the guys live with out you in this
manner knowing that you were dead and that you had made the choice that you did not want
to live just on the chance that you would be with me sooner?" It hurt him deeply to have to ask those questions. But he knew that he had to make her see all sides
of the issue and see what was at stake here before he could ask for her decision.
"Mia we
all love you. Please come back to us??" The image of Ryo appeared by Mia and soon they
were surrounded by the others. Each of them
reaffirmed what Anubis told her about how they felt about her and what they felt about her
being gone from them in this manner.
As the images
vanished she realized that the inferno armor had provided them all with the link in which
to speak with her just for that short moment. It
was also in that one moment that no matter what happened, she would not be able to
continue down the current path that she had chosen.
Peace from the
battles sounded like a good thing since the vigilance over the mortal realm was tiring and
the loneliness away from Anubis was almost unbearable. But it was these 9 friends that made that time bearable. They knew her and they knew that in the time she
would be alive, she would never love any one like she loved Anubis. They accepted it and helped her to ease her grief
on her bad days and they were with her when she knew that she would need them the most.
As selfish as
she wanted to be she knew that she would never be able to deny them their greatest wish. They wanted to be her protectors. They loved her
enough to put their lives at risk over and over again because she believed in them. She knew now that she would have to repay their
trust in her and return. Now was not her
time. If Anubis were to be taken from her
again. It would be a hard time for all.
Both Mia and
Anubis felt another presence as she looked at him to speak of her final decision. When they looked around they saw a woman in black
shadow armor. Instantly Mia recognized the
Woman from the person she saw in her mind. "SilverRaven. Why did you come?"
"Mia, I
had to come because I knew what your decision would be. I too have made a decision and I will share it with you when you make your
decision." She backed off and let Mia
and Anubis have a few moments of time to themselves.
"Anubis. I will return. I love you and the others too much to leave right now. You know that. You knew it when you came for me." Her quietly stated words matched the soft joy in Anubis' eyes as he leaned
down to her. Kissing her softly he could feel
her through his armor wrap her arms around him in the loving embrace she never permitted
herself before. He knew then that no matter
what. He would be by her side always, and he
would sell his own soul to do it.
As they parted
SilverRaven stepped up to them and smiled softly. "The
ties that bind us all are those of love. They
can never be broken, only changed, whether they are changed into something stronger or
weaker is up to you. My decision is actually
a gift of sorts."
As she laid her
hand on Mia and then on Anubis, SilverRaven's spirit glowed brilliantly and then as the
light died down. Mia was found clad in the
SilverRaven Armor. "This is my gift to
you. You have a heart and soul stronger than
any I have met in all of my years of wandering. Your
Love of the mortal world and the wish to protect your friends even though they were able
to protect you shows that you are a kind and loving person. It is your strength and in this we shared a common bond. I loved the people I protected from harm. Now I have found someone who can release my spirit
from the Armor that I created."
"I thought
that if your spirit was released from the Armor, it would cease to be the armor that you
made it into." Mia was a little puzzled
until Anubis laid his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
"Mia, I
think that SilverRaven is referring to the fact that with six of the nine armors here and
the Staff of the Ancient to link the others to me, we can make the SilverRaven armor a
tenth Ronin armor. One that should have been
from the beginning."
As the
confusion cleared Mia nodded in agreement. "I
know that she deserves to rest. Her oath was
fulfilled and I am willing to be the bearer of the SilverRaven armor."
SilverRaven
smiled as she heard this and she nodded her agreement. "Thank
you."
Anubis gathered
the staff and started the chant that had created the original Ronin and Warlord armors. Mia started glowing as the magic's started
taking hold of the armor around her. She
felt it change and knew in her minds eye that what she was seeing was the changes being
made to the armor. The Subarmor was being
changed to a black and dark blue and gray subarmor with the Ninja coverings being a
separate level. The main armor was still as
it was but instead of a helmet to protect her she had a circlet that held her hair back. The helmet would come from the circlet should she
get into a full-fledged battle. Her weapons
became sleeker and better fitting to Mia's style and her reach in the armor. She retained them all but was just placed better
for how she fought.
She saw the
armor reform around her and as she opened her eyes again she felt the Kanji that she had
seen on the others form on her forehead. She
knew that hers would be that of "abiding love". She also knew when the link with SilverRaven had been severed, as she could
not feel the extra presence about her any longer.
Looking over at
SilverRaven she knew that her Spirit was freed and as they bowed to each other in
farewell, Anubis took Mia's hand to lead her home and SilverRaven continued down the path
that Mia had been traveling shortly before.
"It is
time Anubis. Time to go home." Mia smiled softly to the man she loved as she knew
about the real gift that SilverRaven had given them.
Anubis kissed
her softly and then turned to the staff. As
they followed it home the light dimmed and soon all was black. A soft light and voices soon had Mia opening her
eyes and she realized that she was in the middle of the Circle of Protection gathered up
in Anubis' arms. Looking up at him she smiled
at the look of worry in his eyes as it changed to a look of such loving tenderness that
she could not help it. She reached up to him
and kissed him deeply.
As they kissed
the Armor of Inferno dissipated and the energies returned to their owners. Anubis picked her up after he completely armored
down and as she realized that she was fully armored again and healed of her wounds. She focused quietly and banished the armor to the
Kanji Crystal that hung around her neck by a small silver chain. The crystal was smaller than that of the other
armors. But no one mistook it for anything
but the most powerful individual armor of the group.
Mia was one of
them now, but no one wanted to celebrate. At
least not until Mia smiled at them all. "Anubis
is not leaving us any time soon now." As
she looked at the inquiring looks she kissed him softly. "Anubis. SilverRaven gave
you a gift as well for helping her and me."
Everyone wanted
to party then. Anubis had another chance at
life! Anubis had other ideas though as he
looked at the others he put Mia down on the ground and then had the others gather about.
"Mia. You know that I can love no other. I know that you feel the same way about me but I
cannot put this off any longer. To do so
would cause trouble in the future for my conscience."
As Anubis
dropped to one knee he pulled a small ring out of his sleeve. "Mia Koji. I am going to be plain about this." He took a deep breath and then as he looked up at her and into those eyes he
loved so much he uttered the words. "Mia,
Will you marry me?"
Mia grabbed him
by the arms and hauled him off his knee and then pulled him down to her level and kissed
him soundly. When she had released him she
smiled. "Yes. You know that I will."
Everyone
cheered at that and backs were slapped and hands shaken as congratulations were passed
around. As they walked back to Mia's house. Plans were already in the works for the wedding
and as the sun set behind them. Mia could
only sigh in happiness. Finally everything
with the world was right.
Well guys. That's it. As i have mentioned countless other times. I do not own the Ronins and SilverRaven is Mine. Please let me know what you think. Send Flames QC&C to Dragon Dagger