A few hours after Kento had gone out there was a phone call for him. As he was not in the person left a message with
Ryo who had answered the phone. The puzzled
look on his face told the guys that it was the same person.
Looking at the guys he knew that there was the same discussion
running through their heads. Who was this
mysterious person that their friend had been trying to talk to and what was his problem. He used to be such a happy go lucky guy. They all knew that in the states he was a
respected speaker in the states of California and Oregon since they were the closest to
the fault lines of the area. His suggestions
for building had been taken seriously and had already been put to the test when a minor
quake toppled some of the older buildings. The
renovated buildings had stayed standing and he was now making money hand over fist and
donating most of it to several charities.
Lately he had been very quiet and pensive when they all talked about
their families. They wondered if he even had
one of his own but not even Cye could crack the big guy. What ever it was, it was serious to the point where White Blaze started to
follow him worriedly.
A few days later the mail that they had forwarded to them started to
arrive and in the first pile of letters, cards and bills there was a plain envelope
addressed to Kento at the Koji residence.
Kento quietly took the letter and the small package that it was taped
to up to his room and shut the door. Hours
later as the guys were worried about what kept him in the room they sent Cye up to find
out what was keeping him. Cye came back
puzzled, as Kento had no longer been in the room.
Suddenly they all felt a rumble and were violently thrown to the
ground. Ryo and Sage were up in a flash with
their sub armor on. Rowen thought a moment
and followed suit. "That had to be the
Iron Rock Crusher or I am not Rowen of Strata."
They all let their armors guide them and they found their friend in
the middle of a ripped up field behind Mia's house where Kento used to practice when
he had lived there. Kento only looked as if
he had tried to turn the blow on himself as he stood up. He looked around unseeingly and fell to his knees punching the ground. "NO!! No
No No!! This can't be happening."
The guys, worried that he might so something drastic also noticed
that White Blaze was there watching. Ryo was
relieved that his friend had not been hurt, the others were glad that Kento was not alone. As they stood their friend up and walked him over
to a large rock to sit on, Sage started healing him while Cye looked him over. "Kento, why won't you tell us what
happened??"
Kento looked at his friend despondently as the tears flowed down his
cheeks, pulled a small locket from under his armor out. The chain was small and delicate and looked more so in the hand of the
Hardrock bearer. Cye gently took the locket
and when he opened it he found the picture of a beautiful young woman on one side and
Kento on the other.
"Who is this Kento, she's beautiful." Cye and the others stared at the picture. Her Asian background was obvious in her features. But there was something about her eyes that even
though it was just a picture, held them all captive.
The warrior in Orange armored down out of his subarmor into his
street wear as he took the locket back. "That
was Natalia Blueriver. The most beautiful
woman I know and my fiancée." The
others were shocked as his voice caught on the last word and he broke into sobs again. Mia came up behind them all having been brought by
Blaze to the clearing to help deal with the situation she had heard what her friend
said.
"What happened to her Kento?" Her words were kind as she reached over as she sat
down and enveloped him in a hug. His haunted
eyes turned on all of them, "How can you expect to understand. She was the one. She knew who I was and understood me. I
saw the signs and I tried to protect her. But
I wasn't good enough. I couldn't save
her."
This worried the guys more than ever since the last time Kento got
like this his doubts and fears almost overwhelmed him. Ryo, who had tuned in to Kento better than the others some how gave his
shoulder a squeeze. "Comon man, you can
tell us. We may not understand exactly, but
I can just about bet we will all listen and try to help you through it. No matter what."
Kento sighed and though his eyes still held tears and were haunted
past their usual gray he started speaking softly. "She
was perfect. I met her on one of my
inspection runs after an Earthquake had hit the down town area of Los Sienna. I did not think that she could be true. I mean I know that I am not perfect or anything. But when our eyes met, it was like something
clicked into place."
"Later on she admitted that she had felt it too. Like we were meant for each other. Then it started. Only occasionally and when she thought that I wouldn't notice, but I did. The shadows and the sorrow in her eyes. It killed me because I could not understand what
had caused those sorrows. They were deep and
painful. Every time I asked her about it she
would tell me that it was nothing and change the subject. "
Kento's tears flowed freely now as he remembered her. Her long beautiful hair and her soft skin. She was also no slouch in the gym either since she
could keep up with him in most of the workouts. The
only thing he passed her on easily was weights. He
thought that she was beautiful when she was angry, but frustration just made her so cute
that he could not help but love her all the more and then help her out.
Mia's eyes shadowed. She
had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen and she really wished that she could
have saved him from the pain. "Kento,
keep talking. She sounds so perfect for
you."
Kento pulled a tissue out of his pocket and blew his nose. "When I was away on business we used to talk
for hours on the phone. I'm no dummy, she was
lonely and sad. I could hear it in her voice
and I wanted like anything to be with her. " He
took a deep breath and sighed. "We were
engaged four months after we met that was how certain we were of our feelings for each
other and we were due to be married next August. You
were all going to be invited, it was going to be fun." Kento lost his control again as he thought of
their planning parties and how they ended up with some kind of silliness.
Sage, Rowen, Cye and White Blaze were all sitting on the ground in
front of him and Mia and Ryo were sitting on the rock with Kento encouraging their friend
to keep talking. No one knew what to think of
all of this. They had never thought that
Kento of all people would fall so hard and so fast for someone and to have that someone
return that love.
"She was so beautiful, I loved gazing for hours into those dark
eyes of hers. She always got a major kick out
of me when I was being a goofball too. The
letter I got was actually two letters. One
from her mother and that was with the locket and the tape that got sent to me. The other was from her. She's gone. DAMNIT
THE ONLY THING I WAS LIVING FOR AND NOW SHE IS GONE!!!" His sobs intensified as the reality hit him like a
ton of bricks.
Through his sobs they could hear him say, "I can help save the world from an evil
greater than anything they planet has ever seen but I can't save the life of the one woman
I ever loved with my whole being."
Cye produced the tape that Kento spoke of and they heard the mildly
haunting strains of the song that had been sent to their friend by the woman he would have
called mother in law.
As the song came to a close they all had a better idea as to what
Kento had meant by everything he had said. It
was going to be a long and lonely holiday for Kento Rei Fung, for he had lost that last of
that light that had burned so brightly when he had arrived.
As the guys left to let him deal with his sorrow, the reaffirmed that
they would always be there for him should he need them. Mia opted to stay back and keep an eye on their friend for the moment. White Blaze stayed too as he sobbed, cursed and
screamed his rage out into the darkening skies. Mia
stayed with him and he knew that in spirit his friends were with him as well. He had given them all a lot to think
about. If Kento could love so deeply and lose
that which was most important to him so suddenly, what would happen when the rest of them
lost too?
With the Holiday marred by the incident they carried on though not as brightly as before. When the time came to say goodbyes. Kento opted to return to Mia's house and stay with her like in the old days. There was nothing left for him in the states and as he finalized his return to Japan with the company he worked for, he only returned to the states to say good-bye. Good-bye to the woman who had taught him so much about the joy and the sorrow that life will bring to everyone.