The Last Kiss

It was raining when the soft rapping of the door knocker shattered the serene silence that had befallen the house that morning. Drowsily, Rakeal stumbled to the window to peer outside, curious as too whom this new unexpected visitor might be. She knew that it couldn't be either of her two friends, the two of them were currently in Japan, she would have been with them, but her job wouldn't let her go for the month. "Who is it?" Rakeal called, shocked vaguely at her own voice, sounding so low and agitated. She had been having a rather good dream.

"Com' on. Please open the door." A male voice called from the other side of the thick oak door.

That voice sounds familiar... She thought as she called back through the door. "Who are you! What're you doing here so damned early! It's five o'clock in the damn morning! Couldn't it wait till at least dawn?" She demanded, no sense being polite if this were some maniac who was going to kill her, right?

"Please, it's urgent, my plane leaves in an hour." She sighed and opened the door a crack, looking at him in annoyance.

"What..." She stopped. If it weren't for her military training, she would have gaped in shock at the person standing before her. No! I can't be him! She thought in awe, but quickly picked up her last train of thought. "is your problem." She demanded, eyeing him with sudden interest. What if it's true!? What if the Ronin warriors do really exist?! And Rowen is here at my house! She thought as the other started to reply.

"I was sent here. Can I please come in? It's cold and wet out here." He stated as he shook his jacket once to emphasize the rain gathering in droplets on his jacket.

"First, before I even think of letting you in, who are you? And who sent you here?" Rakeal asked with sudden impatience, she just wanted to go back to sleep. Even if this was Rowan.

"Alright, if it'll get me dry any faster. I was sent by a young woman named Genney. Does that name ring a bell, or do I have the wrong house?" Rowan asked her with a slight tinge of his own.

"No, I know of a Genney, did she tell you a last name?" Rakeal asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Yes, her last name is Horton. Are we through with twenty questions now? I'm going to miss my plane, and so are you." With that, he held up a second ticket with her full name on it. It was destined for Japan.

Rakeal closed the door, she took a big breath and unlocked the chain. When she opened the door again, she had the strange impression that no one would be there. Just the porch, and the rain. But there he stood, soaking wet. She felt a flush of admonishment.

"May I come in?" He asked her suddenly, Rakeal jumped to the side and gestured for him to pass. He stepped in and she got her first full look at him. He stood nearly as tall as she, perhaps an inch or so taller, his lock of hair, which she loved, was dripping with water. She felt herself flush a little as she realized that she had the man of her dreams, quite literally, standing inside of her house this instant.

"Now, why does Gen and Ash want me to come with you? Did they say?" Rakeal asked Rowan with a twinge of suspicion again.

"Well," Rowan started as he looked at his watch and shifted his weight a little. "All she told me was that she needed you there, that she'd explain it all to you in full. She didn't tell me anything else. I swear, now please, we have fifteen minutes to make it to the airport, please?" Rowan asked her as he looked from her eyes to his suddenly clammy hands.

Rakeal forced her mind to work in a complete circle, this was all happening way to fast, she didn't know where to start. How was she expected to just up and leave America for Japan, even if Gen and Ash had requested her. She had stayed behind for a reason, otherwise she'd have gone. It was just too hard for her to believe. Just as it was nearly impossible for her to believe that this was Rowan standing in front of her, but she had too, Gen and Ash needed her. "Can I make a few phone calls first? I mean, I need to let people know that I'm going to be leaving for a little while, I don't want to just vanish without a trace, things like that attract a lot of attention. Besides, I have a job, I think it would be nice if I let JC know that I won't be in on Monday." She replied, the words just rushing out of her mouth in a cascading waterfall of words.

Rowan looked at his watch again and gave her the most pathetic look he could muster. "We don't have that much time! You can call you work and have him give your family a message, but we don't have a whole lot of time. I can show you how to call them from Tokyo if you'd like, but we really need to go!" He urged her as she started to move towards the phone.

"I'll call my boss, and leave a written note for my mom and step-dad. How about that? Good." She picked up the phone and her address book, quickly she flipped through the pages and stopped, than started to dial the number.

Rowan almost laughed as he watched the sudden frantic movement of her fingers across the dial board. But stopped paying attention to her as he realized he would be eavesdropping and that just wasn't polite! For the first time, he really started to look around the room. It was really a quaint little house, the rooms were sparsely decorated, and there were faint outlines of drawn pictures on the walls, but the darkness around them kept them out of site. He tried to squint, but to no avail, the darkness won against him. So, he settled for the things illuminated by the light of the lamp Rakeal had switched on earlier. The door he knew the best, so he started there. It was a rather large oak door, its size made him realize that Rakeal had it more for security than for its looks, not that it was an ugly door, mind you, it had great beauty to it. From there, he went to the three different locks that secured the door when shut. She definitely had them for security, because, if they hadn't been decorated as they were, than they would have been an eyesore.

In the background, he heard Rakeal start talking to her boss. "Hey, sorry to wake you up, but I have a favor to ask of you. . ." He forced himself to stop listening and went back to his looking around. The furniture, there were six articles of furniture in the room and in sight. First was the couch, it sat next to the door, with its back to the wall, facing a large entertainment stand, that held a pathetically small TV in comparison to the box that could hold a 97 inch TV. The sight made him come close to laughing. It reminded him a lot of what his own friend, Kento, had done in his room. Only his TV was a bit smaller than her current one. The thought of his friends being so far away brought a sharp unexpected jab of sorrow. He really hadn't wanted to go to America, but Ash and Gen had seemed so certain that it was absolutely necessary. Especially Ash. He'd learned within the first five minutes of meeting her not to counter an order she made. She could make your life a living hell in less than nana-second! And that was one of the things he hated about her. She had such childish looks that it made you think she was as helpless as one. That would be a very big underestimation of her, and with people like her, that could be disastrous.

For a moment, he let his thoughts linger over the events that had taken place before stepping into the jeep to go to America, especially the part when they'd ran into Ash and Gen. He really hadn't made a very good impression with Ash, and from that first impression, he really hated her. I hope when I get back, the Dynasty's taken her. It would do her some good to go where people won't take her shit. She deserves to live in the Dynasty with the rest of the scums. Rowan caught himself this thinking and instantly regretted it. It wasn't right to say that about someone he'd just met. He should probably give her another chance, after all, she was probably just suffering from jet lag. . .

"BUT IT'S AN EMERGENCY!! I HAVE TO GO!!!!. . . . . ." Rowan snapped his attention instantly back into the present, something was wrong, Rakeal was yelling, no wait. . . "FINE!!!!! TO HELL WITH YOU AND THIS JOB!!!! I QUIT!!!! THERE!!! I FINALLY SAID IT!!!!. . . . ." She was screaming! This took Rowan back a little, it wasn't natural, she shouldn't be that angry! "ASSHOLE!" And just like that, the phone was slammed down, Rakeal was fuming and staring at the phone like she was gonna to kill it.

Rowan thought about saying something, but thought different about it as she stormed off towards her room, muttering something under her breath about men, assholes and balls. The muttering nearly made him laugh, but the fear of rousing her temper at him now was stronger. He was paying such determined attention to her that he jumped a bit when the phone rang. Rakeal made a strange sound and sulked back into the front, ignoring Rowan and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She nearly demanded as she listened to the person on the other end of the phone, than suddenly slammed down the phone. She started to walk away but the phone rang again, she grabbed the phone and nearly screamed. "WHAT?!!" A moment of silence. Than she suddenly slammed the phone down and jerked the cord so hard that it pulled it clean from the wall.

Being unable to withstand the eerie silence that had fallen, Rowan said softly. "Feel any better now?" Rakeal jumped and spun to face him.

"Yes! Actually, I've been wanting to do that since the first week of work!" A wave of relief washed over him as her expression and voice showed him that she had regained her composure and was in a good mood again.

He smiled at her a little and gestured to the clock on the wall. "Wanna get ready and catch that plane with me? If so, we really need to get going." Rowen reminded her, she looked confused for just the slightest second, her sleep deprived brain letting what he said sink into her head.

Than her eyes brightened and she spoke up. "Oh yea! I remember, yeah, let me just seal up the house first, alright?" She asked him, he nodded and watched her as she darted around the house, locking everything she came across, as she started to set the burglar alarm, he suddenly noticed what she was wearing, his usually pale face, suddenly flushed with heat, and. . .so didn't something else. She finished and looked at him. "Well, that's all done. . ." she paused, sensing something wrong, than noticed he was blushing, she furrowed her brow and looked at him oddly. "What's wrong?" She asked, he spun suddenly and put his hand up to his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's just that. . ." He stopped, putting his face in his hand, trying to will his body to not react this way. But the look of her body in what she was dressed still had this attention. He could still see her shapely hips, her defined waist and her well formed breasts. . .No! Stop thinking about it! STOP IT!!!! He demanded his body as he focused on the nearest picture sitting on the dresser.

As he mentally fought with himself, Rakeal noticed what was wrong. She was in her night clothes, which consisted of a long T-shirt and underwear. She blushed and muttered under her breath. "Oh shit!" Than disappeared into her room, shutting the door lightly, she leaned against the wall and caught her breath. "I can't believe Rowen is in my living room! I can't believe that Ash and Gen actually got to meet the Ronins!" Suddenly she jerked away from the wall and started to throw clothes on her bed, looking for her big bag and suitcase as she threw articles of clothes around, she found a good pair of jeans and slipped them on as she frantically collected everything she could, including her laptop, she couldn't go anywhere without it.

Rowen looked at the picture and smiled. It was one of Ash and Gen. Ash was making a face at the camera and Gen was laughing at Ash, while putting bunny ears on her. He chuckled at the picture and picked up the next one, it was only of Ash and an other man, her long white hair looked radiant in the flowers and ornaments, she had her hair in the tradition Japanese wedding knot. Her dress was absolutely perfect, a mix of white, silver and pale blues, with contrast of black and gold trim. Looking harder, he noted that the dress was made like a kimono. Her hand revealed the beautiful ring on her finger. A wedding band. He turned his attention next to the man next to her, he was obviously Japanese and much older than her, possibly by ten to eleven years. He was handsome, his smile looked like that was what had won her over, his arm draped around her waist, she was holding the wedding flowers close to her. She looked very happy. Funny, I don't recall Ash saying she was married, she surly wouldn't have left him here in America, or have been this calm if he were somewhere in Japan. I wonder what's up? He asked, mentally reminding himself to ask Rakeal when they were driving down to the airport in Wichita.

He moved to another picture and saw Ash being dunked by Gen, he laughed at it and moved on to the next. Each one depicted something of happiness and joy, but in none of them was Rakeal. He cast it aside and looked in on Rakeal. "About ready?" He was saying when she suddenly came out with a huge bag and a small suitcase.

"Yep! Let's ride, m'boy!" She said cheerfully as she leap up and started for the door, with a Rowen in tow.



The drive to the airport was filled with silence and Rakeal starting to drift back to sleep, but that all ended when they drove up to the airport and started to unload. "Well, we're here, now it's just a smooth plane ride from here all the way to Japan." Rowen said with a sigh of relief. Not that he didn't like America, but he just liked his own lands and familiarity. He was very uncomfortable with this strange land of 'opportunity'.

Rakeal froze in mid-stride. Her bag still in the back of the jeep. "I can't." She muttered, watching a plane take off in the still rainy and stormy night.

"What's wrong?" Rowen asked her, his eyes mirroring both agitation and concern.

Rakeal shook her head some more and looked at Rowen with fogged eyes of worry. "I hate planes, I can't do this! What if we crash?!" She demanded, jumping slightly as a particularly loud thunder shook the ground.

Rowen took a deep breath, he really didn't have time for this now, their plane was due to leave in ten minutes. "It won't crash, trust me, k?" He asked her with a hopeful smile, his eyes struggling to remain calm.

Rakeal looked at him suspiciously, than nodded. "Fine. I suppose I'll just have to do that. If Gen and Ash really need me, than I'll just have to go, won't I?" Rowen remained silent. There was nothing for him to say.

They walked out through the airline gates and onto the plane with the average conversations, about the sites she would see in Japan, if the other Ronins were the same as he and just how much of Ash they already knew. She gave him tips on how to humor her and Gen, but as they sat down, and the rain became harder, fear bolted her down to silence. "The runway's too slick, we're going to crash! There's too much lightning, it's going to destroy our engines!" She started to say, causing a few others around her to get nervous and look out the window.

Rowen, who was starting to lose his temper at this woman, simply turned to her in his seat and looked at her straight in the face. "There is nothing going to happen, you don't need to be afraid." With that implication, Rakeal gave him an indignant lift of her chin.

"Who said I was afraid?! I'm not afraid of the plane lifting off! I'm just worried about crashing." She remarked flatly. Her eyes glaring at him for the insult he'd just dealt her.

Rowen, sensing the opportunity to get her past take off, egged the fight on deeper. "Yes you are! You're terrified of this storm! You were cowering like a kitten in the jeep!" Rowen shot back, his eyes flaring with fight.

"Was not!!!"

"Was too!"

"I was not! Rowen!!!" Rakeal argued as the plane started down the runway, she didn't really notice, and Rowen intended it to stay that way!

"You were too! HA! Admit it! You're scared of thunderstorms!"

"I am NOT!!! I LOVE thunderstorms!!! I have a whole COLLECTION of CDs with THUNDER and RAIN on them!!! So you SEE!!! I am NOT afraid of STORMS!!!!!!" She yelled at him, emphasizing the key words, making sure that he didn't miss them.

Rowen snickered, but stopped as the plane was at max altitude. "Congratulations, you made it up in the air. It wasn't that bad now was it?" He asked her, she stopped and looked around. No one was dead, and the plane was flying smoothly, nothing was going wrong.

The pit in her stomach eased a little. She looked at Rowen and than snorted. "You planned that argument, didn't you?!!! You little SHIT!" Rakeal's voice didn't really tell him she was pissed, but that she was more astonished than anything.

Rowen laughed and they relaxed for a little while. . .enjoying the sounds of the thunder as it rumbled past them.



Meanwhile, back in Japan, the other Ronins had their hands full. "Ryo, don't you ever start to say that this is your fault, it's my own fault for tripping. You were clear over there, how could you catch me?!" Gen demanded as she stared at the apologetic Ronin before her.

Ash listened to it all from her melancholy. She had been growing more and more distant the longer she stayed there. Her eyes glanced upwards, the sky was clouded over with the Dynasty's fowl shield. "Not long now..." She muttered, her eyes looking upwards once again. "I will be home. . ." She said without thought. Cye looked at her questioningly.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked her suddenly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Ash asked suddenly, her eyebrows coming together in a graceful arch, her pale eyes depth less.

"I asked what you meant by 'Not long now. . .I will be home. . .'?" He asked her again, she looked at him blankly and than looked away suddenly.

"I did say that, didn't I?" She asked, her eyes focused on something unseen.

"Yes, you did. What did it mean?" Cye asked her gently, coaxing it out of her.

"It's just something I say every now and again, no real reason. It just comes out." She said humbly.

Kento watched her from next to Sage. He was actually starting to miss her bad attitude and spunk, but over the past few days, it had disappeared. The old Ash was slowly forming into a melancholy child of solitude. Ever since they'd rescued her from the clutches of a warlord, she'd been very melancholy. He leaned over to Sage and muttered softly. "Ya know what? I think she's a part of 'em."

Sage looked at him with a look of confused annoyance. "What?"

"Well, think about it! She seems to know exactly when and where they'll strike or be at! And ever since we got her away from that warlord, she's been depressed. It's like we ruined her plans or somethin." Kento insisted.

"Do you know what kind of charge that is? You're accusing her of being a traitor and we have only known her for little more than a few weeks. It's really not fair to just start accusing her of things like that. If you can find proof, than bring it up, other than that, let it go." Sage told Kento as he got up and walked away from him, no longer willing to carry the conversation.

"She is, and you'll see. Hopefully before she hands us all over to that Dynasty jerk!" Kento vented softly under his breath as he glared over at Ash, who was looking back out at the ocean again.

Sage walked up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Ash jumped and looked over at Sage, her eyes wide and unfocused. Than she seemed to recognize him and calm down a little. "Oh, hello." She said, before looking back out to the ocean.

"Hey, Sage." Cye said, from beside her, looking out at the ocean with her. "What's happening?"

Sage shrugged a looked at Ash with a pained expression. "What's wrong, Ash? You've been so distant recently. Please tell us, we're here to help and listen." Sage told her, Cye popped his head up and looked at Ash.

She gave him a glance and looked at Cye in return. "I appreciate your kindness, but you just won't understand what's wrong." She smiled at them both kindly, than got to her feet gracefully and walked away from them all. Gen watched her go and sighed, Ryo watched also and shook his head.

Sage watched her go and looked over at Cye. "Did she tell you anything? Or did you hear anything that might help us figure her out?" He asked his fellow Ronin.

Cye was shaking his head and was about to speak, but Gen interrupted him with Ryo at her side. "You'll never figure her out. She's just full of surprises. First of all, she's always been alone, she's not used to being part of a group this large. The most she's ever had is myself and Rakeal." She sighed and looked over at her distant friend. "Her depression is mostly because of her differences between normal society and herself. She's just lonely, let her get used to you all, than she'll open up a little. You just have to give her time." Sage gave a great sigh and shook his head.

"If you say so, but Kento has brought up some good points. She's been worse since we rescued her from that warlord, Anubis. After that, she's been so distant, like we ruined her plans." Sage said as he looked at the others, Kento perked up and walked over to the group, after hearing his idea thrown in.

"But that doesn't make any sense, she was not trying to get caught, we all watched her fight her best to avoid getting caught. Now, she does say that one phrase lots of times when she's extremely distant, but Gen said it herself, that she said it far before she came here to Japan. We all know that this has nothing to do with the dynasty. It isn't fair to judge her off of what she's just shown us. I think we should give her a little time to open up with us." Cye said as he looked around at his friends, Kento made a face and was about to say something when Ryo suddenly cut him off.

"Wait, Gen, how long have you known her?" Ryo's question took her by surprise, she stopped and blinked in confusion.

"Well. . .I suppose for nearly fourteen years, why?" She asked, stealing a glance back at Ash. She was back at the cliff side and watching the ocean with the same distant look.

"How long did it take you to get her to open up?" Ryo asked, glancing up at the sky.

"Well, probably a good two years to get into her real reasons for doing things. But only a year to understand her emotions and why she's so off to everyone else." Gen seemed to stop herself before she could say more.

Kento perked up at her sudden stop and smiled. "Oh? Why does she always turn herself 'off' around other people? Huh?" Ryo glared at him and Cye hit him hard.

"Hey! Don't press!" Cye yelled at him angrily as he glared at his friend.

Gen shook her head. "I really shouldn't tell you all, it's quite personal, and it isn't my place to say." She said, but Sage nodded agreement with Kento.

"I hate to agree with Kento, but he does have a good point. How do we really know that she isn't in league with the Dynasty?" Sage spoke up, Kento glared at Cye and stuck his head up proudly.

Gen looked at Ryo and than pleadingly at Ash. She sighed and began. "Let me just tell you a little bit, than I'll ask you to judge her this way. She has been abused by nearly everyone she's encountered. From her childhood, when she was little, her looks her so different that she was beaten up and thrown around until she was nearly out of Middle School. But from until we left the US, she was hurt beyond your imagining! She's been raped, beaten nearly to death and actually tortured by her family. So, please, leave her alone for now, ok? She's had an incredibly rough life, leave her out of the dynasty!" Gen told them with a stern yet cracking voice.

Ash looked out at the ocean, her thoughts were dark and morbid. Why do I always feel such loss? I don't understand them at all. I definitely don't want to go to the Dynasty, but there seems to be something about it up there that makes my heart long for home. Could it be that somehow my answers are there? She thought but shook her head and made a small sound of displeasure, the wind caught her hair momentarily, causing her to perk up instantly. "Anubis." She whispered, murmuring his name with a long exhale of breath. She could feel him, after he'd tried to abduct her, she could never forget his feel.

She shuddered and looked over at billowing fog just a few feet off the coast. She came slowly to her feet, her hands flexing slightly at her sides. "Their coming." She said out loud, but there was no one near enough to heed her warning. She took a step backwards as the greenish mist started to creep up towards her. She looked back at Gen and the other Ronins. "Gen. . ." She called uncertainly, than took another step backwards as the mist gathered around her feet. She jumped back, as if it burned her and looked forward; a figure was walking alone with the mist, she recognized the shape, the way he walked, the way he held his weapon.

"Hello again, little one." Anubis' voice echoed throughout the air around Ash. She took a giant step backwards and looked back at the Ronins. They were engulfed in conversation just too far to be in ear shot. She closed her eyes and grimaced at the unavoidable fight that was coming swiftly to her. "This time, your little friends aren't here to save you, are they?" His words taunted her, she looked back at him and straightened up.

She wasn't going to let him have her that easily. "They are here, you can't take me fast enough before they'll be all over you!" She said back softly, her eyes shining brightly with both defiance and fear.

"Ha!" Anubis laughed and than shook his head at the little child in front of him. "I'm afraid that isn't in my plans today." He said as he stepped forward a little more, Ash didn't back away. Excellent, she's trying to stand her ground. Just a little closer and I'll have her. He thought has he laughed out loud again and looked over at the gathered Ronins. "Well, my little one. I don't think that they'll be helping you today, they don't even realize that I'm here, so how can they rescue you now?"

She raised her chin in defiance and huffed. "All I have to do is scream and they'll be on top of you before you can even say a word!" She said angrily, her voice was starting to hold a tone that made Anubis' heart ache for having been ordered to hurt her.

Anubis took another larger step forward, but still, Ash didn't give any ground. She looked up at him in contempt. "I don't think so." He said, with a solid motion he lifted his weapon high and brought it down hard upon the back of her neck. She made a soft grunt of pain before she slumped down towards the ground. He reached out to catch her and noticed in that moment that the Ronin Kento was looking. He held her close to him and smiled wickedly at the Ronin. "Let's go home, little one." He said down to her as he quickly began to return to the Dark Realm.

Kento watched Ash in Anubis' arms and hurriedly got the attention of the others. "Look! See! I told you she was a part of them!!! I knew it! Is that enough evidence for you ?!" He demanded, his accusing eyes watching the warlord and Ash departing.

Ryo hurried past Kento and Sage with Gen and tried his hardest to catch them before they completely departed. "No!!! Let her go you monster!" Ryo screamed as he called his sub-armor on quickly.

Gen raced along behind him and past him quickly, leaping towards the warlord. "Let her go!! She didn't do anything to you or your master!" She screeched as she landed close to them and noticed that Ash was unconscious and slightly bleeding from the back of her head. "What did you do???!" She demanded, kicking and hitting at him, but Anubis just pushed her away with the blunt end of his scythe. Ryo tried to attack as well, but his attempts were equally blocked.

"She belongs to the Dynasty now, Ronin whelps!" Anubis sneered as he stepped back into the fog and began to disappear, he laughed and left them with a frightening thought. "Come and get her, if you dare, but I doubt you'll ever find her!" His wicked laughed caused Gen to fall to the ground and scream at the top of her lungs.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! ASH!!!! Please. . . no. . ." She sobbed, Ryo walked over to her and held her gently. She cried and held onto him tightly. "Please!! We have to go get her! She'll be so lost! So confused, I have to help her!" Gen bawled against his chest as he held her tightly.

Sage approached them cautiously in full armor and frowned towards where Anubis and Ash disappeared. "Hey, she alright?" He asked Ryo, who looked up and shook his head. "I figured. I'd be shattered if my friend was taken from me as well. I'm sure Ash is feeling pretty out of place right now." He looked over as Kento and Cye can running up too, also armored up.

"See!!! I told you she was one of them!!! I knew it. . ." Kento was proclaiming as Gen suddenly leap up and attacked him, she began hitting him and kicking him until she had him on the ground. Even though his armor, Kento could feel the hits, knowing that there would be bruises.

"You asshole!!!!! How dare you say that!! She hasn't done anything to make such a harsh judgment from you!!! She left the USA to avoid such accusations!" She screamed, tears running down her face. Cye hurried to pull her away and looked at Ryo.

"Shush!" Ryo said quickly, gathering her back up in his arms. "It's alright!" He tried to comfort her as she cried hard against him. He looked angrily over at Kento.

"What?" He asked, still babying his hurts from her attack.



Ash moaned in agony. Her head felt as though it were going to explode. "Careful. Don't get up." A soft voice commanded her as she tried to open her eyes. Bright lights flashed just behind her vision, keeping her from seeing clearly.

"Wha. . ." She tried to say, but even working her jaw caused her head to throb more.

"Don't speak." The stranger spoke again. She felt that she should recognize his voice, but nothing came through the pain. "Rest now." He told her, moved her head to the side and was overwhelmed by dizziness, she moaned again and a felt a coldness against her forehead. "Don't move." The voice commanded her once more, this time she obeyed.

The darkness was all around her, she couldn't tell if it was night or day, or even if all of this was merely in her mind. She moaned occasionally, and felt the instant presence of a cold cloth against her forehead, and the reassurance that everything was fine. Once, she lifted her hand to touch the familiar stranger, but all she ever reached was another hand helping hers back down. "Shush. . .don't worry, you're safe here." He would calm her and brush her hair with his fingers until she was back to sleep. He smiled as he looked down at her, she always looked so peaceful in sleep, but every time she awoke, he found her heartbreaking with all her agony. He took a deep breath and stood carefully, he stretched silently and walked the short distance to a table where a pitcher of cool water waited for him. He poured himself a glass and drank deeply, than retrieved a smaller glass for her and filled it. She needed to drink or she would become dehydrated. Her brow was furrowed when he came back, he frowned and touched her forehead.

She opened her eyes warily and looked at him strangely. Her icy eyes were unfocused and glazed with pain as they locked with his. "Where. . .am I?" She asked, her speech was slurred and unsure.

"You're safe, dear one. Don't worry." He said, reaching out to touch her hair.

She moved her head away a little and reached up to meet his hand. "Where." He sat up a little more at her statement. She was more alert this time, he'd have to be careful if he wanted to keep her from his master now. He would surely sense her alertness soon.

"Safe. Don't worry, no harm will fall on you here." His voice held caution in it, his eyes shone dimly in the weak light.

She sat up slowly, testing to see if her head would suddenly hurt to much, there was a little pain but not enough to keep her down. "I'll be the judge of that. Where. Am. I."

His expression darkened, and he pulled back into the shadows, completely disappearing in the darkness. Ash closed her eyes and tilted her head in his direction. "You're in the Dynasty, little one. As I said, you're safe." Her expression darkened immensely and she opened her eyes to look straight at him. He started in alarm, her eyes gleamed an eerie silver in the weak light.

"Being in the Dynasty hardly seems like a safe place to be to me." She muttered as she searched the room around her, her eyes releasing his.

He gave a sigh of relief and than huffed indignantly. "Would you prefer that I gave you up to Master Talpa now? Let him decide what fate should suit you best? Which of us he will give you too?" There was a bitter anger in his voice, she noted it for later. Instead of answering, she just continued her exploring the room with her eyes. "Good. Than trust me when I tell you that you're safe here. No one would dare enter to harm you, and I will not so long as you don't tempt me." He told her firmly, she looked back at him and locked eyes once more.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'll just have to remember that. But, if you insist that this is where safety is, than I will have to take your word for it." She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "How long have I been sleeping?" Her captor smiled at the question.

"Well, I'd say you've been drifting in and out of consciousness for a good part of the week, little one." He told her, she raised her eyebrows at this, but little else of her expression changed. She was really starting to intrigue him. He rather expected her to act like a little lost girl, scared and afraid of all around her. In fact, he was rather hoping on that one, since he was counting on her relying on him to be her support. Now that she seemed to have her own form of coping with this new stress, he would have to re-calculate his prior plans.

"Well, I suppose if I've been out for that long than I know for a fact that this is a safe place." She said with admiration, than her expression hardened and she changed entirely. "What are your intentions with me. Be truthful, or I will sense it." The look in her eyes was so intense that he felt himself swallow hard.

"It is not my intentions you need to worry about. It's Master Talpa's, dear one." He said gently, yet the implications were very think in the meaning. If she is as smart as she looks, than she'll pick it up. He thought as he observed her.

She looked at him thoughtfully and than smiled, it seemed to warm her face, but did not touch her icy eyes. "Yes, I suppose you're right on that part. I'll let it rest for now, but soon, you will answer that question for me. And when it comes to be, you will not lie to me." He nodded and smiled his own smile, unsure if she could really see him. She sighed and looked away, squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the tears. She was lost, stolen away to a place where her friends, especially Gen, could not reach her. She'd been with Gen for nearly ten years now, and though there had been grim and rocky times, she didn't know what to do without her.

He watched her suspiciously, than decided it would be best to try and comfort her. He touched her shoulder lightly, but she yelped as though he'd burned her and pulled quickly away. "What's wrong?" He asked, but she was already speaking.

"Don't you ever touch me again!" She yelled breathlessly, her eyes were wide and swirling with emotions that seemed misplaced. He blinked in confusion and frowned. She shivered and grabbed her upper arms tightly, squeezing in closer to herself. He's. . .he's a murderer! She thought, shaken by the things she had seen when he touched her. He moved his hand closer to her, but she pulled away. "Touch me and you'll lose that arm!" She practically growled. He took her word for it and watched her in the shadows. How could someone do all those horrible things and live with it?! She was thinking as her captor stood suddenly and spoke softly.

"I must go for a short while, I will return. Stay here and don't try to escape. You'll regret leaving this room if you do. And it will not be by my hand that you will suffer." He told her, she nodded and watched him go. She seemed so. . .shocked when I touched her. I must inform Master Talpa of this at once. He thought as he stepped outside of his chambers and teleported to the throne room.

Ash looked around curiously, she stood up from the place she'd been lying and began to wander around. The thing that intrigued her the most was the fact that it was so dark in his rooms that she wanted to know perhaps if it were night. If this place even has a night, or a day, or even seasons. She thought darkly as she carefully navigated through the darkness.

After only a few minutes of searching, she found something that shocked her. The dim light in the chambers was nothing more than a floating orb of dim light, it seemed to just float there, in certain strategic places of the rooms, as too give off the right kind of light. A smile came to her face. She now knew who her captor was. "So, that was Cale. . .the warlord of darkness. . ." She thought aloud distantly, her eyes searching the dim blackness for a sparse piece of foreign light. But after a while, she simply gave up.

:Were you looking for something?: A voice cooed in her mind, she jumped violently, and shuddered as she began to pick up images from the mental contact. :So, you're a strong little one, aren't you? Well, I suppose I didn't realize you full potential as well as I should have.: The voice sounded so familiar, she gritted her teeth and gave a quick touch to his mind.

A flash of an image shone through, a huge steed carrying a heavily armored man, a village in ruin, one man standing against the terrible odds to save his people. . .She shook her head. She didn't want to see any more. She closed her eyes and concentrated on speaking back. :You will stay out of my mind.: With that, she sent out a huge empathic wave of anger, shoving him out of her mind, than focused on placing a barrier to keep him out. She know knew how large her dilemma really was. She was trapped inside the Dynasty, in the warlord of darkness' chambers, and had caught the attention of the dark master himself, Talpa.

She sunk to the ground and put her head in her hands. "Why do I always have to get into these kind of messes?" She moaned as she let herself break down and begin to cry. Her tears were more out of frustration than fear, but they streamed down her face none the less.

"SHE DEFIES ME!!!!" Talpa roared as he tried to regain access into her mind, but couldn't. Cale closed his eyes and braced for his master's wrath, but it did not come. "How can she defy me? She has no ground to stand on, and no one to give her courage, how can she keep DEFYING me?!" He roared again as he looked through his viewer to the Ronins down below. Perhaps I should have captured the other one, she seems to be less sure of herself than this one here. But. . .she was so submissive and offish to everyone, she seemed to be the type to be gullible. How does she manage to remain strong? Where does she get her strength?! He thought silently to himself as he spoke to Cale. "Tell me everything you know about this little girl."

Cale looked at his master in confusion. "As you wish. . ." With that, he began to explain everything he had learned about his little charge.

* * * * * * *

Gen stared up at the huge castle in the clouds, deep in thought. She simply couldn't believe that they'd taken Ash. Why would they want to do such a thing? What could she possibly give them that none of us could? What could they possibly gain with her? She asked herself, but the answer seemed to continue to elude her.

"What indeed." Ryo murmured from beside her.

Gen jumped and than blinked at him. "What did you say?" Ryo repeated it a little louder this time. She looked back up at the sky and gave a small smile. "You must have been reading my thoughts." She replied.

Ryo laughed a little, but shook his head. "No, you were talking out loud. I simply heard you asking the wind your questions."

She flushed. "Sorry, I hadn't realized I'd said that out loud. Perhaps next time I'll try to be a little quieter." She said, her face still blushing as she looked away from the sky to steal a glance at the others.

"Rowen will be back soon, perhaps we'd better get going over to the airport, I won't want to be late when they're flight comes in." Ryo said softly as he touched Gen's arm gently.

She smiled at him weakly and let him help her up.