Arigatou to SailorMoon, Ryo of Wildfire and Jenna of the Wind for the kind reviews. I hope you like this chapter as much as the others. Sorry it has not been updated in a while. Oh and if you see any errors please let me know. I edited this late at night and I am kind of tired. Ja Ne!!!





Chapter 7:



Ryo woke to the sounds of many birds chirping. He moaned as he sat up and looked around. He was in a meadow of some sort and it was early morning. Fog still twisted and turned among the tall grasses of the meadow, making things slightly murky looking. Ryo could see dew on the grass but oddly he was not wet, not even damp, though he was only clothed in a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. He was also barefoot. Confusion marred Ryo's features as he looked around the meadow in an effort to figure out where he was; his tiger blue eyes landing on Kira who was sitting only a few feet away, watching the tall grasses blow in a gentle breeze.



Kira was wearing a red full length dress which Ryo realized must have been what she had been wearing all day long. She too was barefoot.



Ryo got up and walked over to her. "Kira?" he said softly so as not to startle her.

Kira's voice came to him then but it was not normal. It took him a few minutes to realize that she was speaking to him in his mind, much the way he and the other Ronins do. Though they had only learned of this ability recently.



"Ryo, there's no need for you to be so quiet. I know when you are near."



Ryo looked at her, but she did not say anything more. Joining her on the grass, he knew instinctively that they were waiting for something. He was not disappointed.



A few minutes after he had settled in to wait, he heard boyish laughter mixed with a girlish giggle. Kira turned toward a clearing in the meadow where a young boy and a young girl suddenly appeared. The girl was wearing a pair of cut off shorts with a pale yellow tank top and sandals, while the boy had on a white t-shirt and jeans. His sneakers were scuffed and dirty but obviously well worn. The two small children were very similar in appearance, but it was obvious to anyone looking that the boy was a couple of years older than the girl.



The girl laughed suddenly and looked over her shoulder as a much younger and smaller ball of white fur and black stripes came into view. It took Ryo several minutes to realize that the ball of fur was really White Blaze, but the shock was palpable through the mind link to Kira.



She smiled sadly at her brother as he watched the scene in front of them, but said nothing. She knew that he had to see this, and that she should not interfere with the images. She, however, did not want to see them. These were memories that stole her away from her brother. Yet, she couldn't seem to tear her gaze away. It was like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't just be sitting there watching it, but what can you do? In rapt fascination, Kira continued to watch. Watch as her world came crumbling down around her and her brother.



Ryo suddenly felt uneasy as the young boy looked up from playing with the white tiger and smiled a knowing smile as he looked straight at Ryo. Ryo then realized he was looking at himself when he was six years old. But that wasn't possible was it? He shook his head in confusion as the young Ryo abruptly turned away and went back to playing with the young girl and the young White Blaze. Ryo then heard the boy call the girl Kira and he looked over at the young lady by his side in mild surprise. Though why, he wasn't sure. He shouldn't have been surprised since he had after all recognized himself. It only made sense for Kira to be there as well if she was who she claimed to be, and Ryo was beginning to think that she was indeed his sister.



Kira had silent tears streaming down her face. Ryo went to put his arms around her, but she told him to look back at the clearing. Ryo did as he was told and saw that the boy had a soccer ball that he was playing with and that the ball had gotten away from the boy's small hands. Ryo watched as his younger self went into the tall grass in search of the ball, White Blaze by his side.



The young girl was left alone in the meadow. As Ryo watched, a dark form materialized in front of the young girl and tried to grab her. However, the girl named Kira was quick for her age and backpedaled only to end up in another captor's arms. The girl struggled a bit before she was subdued. The three looked up at a sound signifying young Ryo's return and at a nod from his compatriot the green haired, black-eyed man that held young Kira made a sign of some kind with his hands as if conjuring a spell, and the three individuals simply vanished into the morning.



Ryo looked up as young Ryo appeared from the tall grass, his triumphant smile indicating that he had found the lost soccer ball. The young boy went to yell for Kira, but his words died on his lips when he saw that she was no longer in the clearing. He whistled for White Blaze to help him look for her but all he found was a red ribbon that had held Kira's long bangs back from her face. The boy took to crying so hard that Ryo could feel the pain of the loss. He felt his own eyes start to tear up because there was nothing he could do. These were his memories, but he had locked them up and placed them so far back that he almost did not reach them, and if not for the young woman standing next to him; he doubted if he would have ever reached them.



Kira bade him to look one more time at the young boy and as Ryo turned he saw the Ancient standing over the boy. The Ancient was murmuring things in the young boy's ear to try and calm him, to no effect. The young boy had seen his father brutally murdered by a lioness when out on a safari hunt and the one thing that he was supposed to protect above all else had simply vanished. It was too much for the young boy to bear. The Ancient looked sadly down at the boy who was clinging to his robes and then over at the white tiger that was looking forlornly at its master. The Ancient saw no other choice but to block the memories from the young boy until they would be needed again.



Ryo watched as the spell was cast and as it ended he saw the young boy slide to the ground next to the tiger unconscious, all memories of the sister he had forgotten until now. Ryo felt rather than saw the bright light as he and Kira were once again transported in time only this time to the present day.