Author's Note:  Legal stuff, don't own 'em, wish I did…yadda yadda, yadda yadda.  I've gotten 3 reviews so far! ::feelin' pretty darn proud of herself:: Thank you so much for those who responded. You're the ones who make this stuff really worthwhile! =)

Yoroiden Samurai Troopers

a.k.a. Ronin Warriors
and
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

a.k.a Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon

in…

Boys meet Girls

Argos snarled at the figures that had suddenly appeared before her. 'How dare they interrupt me!' she thought to herself. 'Don't they know who I am?' She clenched her fists in anger. "Don't interfere!" Argos bellowed as she fired at them.  "Youjas, attack them!"
        One shadow stepped forward.  "Venus Lovely Chain!" A gold chain ripped through several of the youjas. 
        "They're just spirits," explained another.  "I can take care of the rest.  Aku-ryo Taisan!"  White scrolls flew everywhere, dissolving the remaining youjas.
         Argos snarled. 
         "Give it up!" the figure that had first stepped forward said.  "Or else!" 
         "Or else what?" Argos scowled.
         "Rainbow Moon Heart Ache!" A pink beam came shooting towards Argos, only to be simply deflected.
          "Stay out of my way!" Argos yelled, firing dark energy at the figure.
          "Sailor Moon, watch it!" A male figure pulled her out of the way.
          Argos took this moment to evaluate her current situation. All of her youjas had been destroyed by ofuda (AN: translation - those little prayer scrolls). She was outnumbered 6 to 1 and the odds would be further out of her favor once the troopers came to. Argos slowly began to back away. "Fools, do you think you can thwart me so easily?"she snarled.  "I will return." She then vanished.
          "Good riddance." Sailor Moon sighed.
          Rowen got to his feet.  "Who are you?"
          Sailor Moon stepped forward.  "It's all right, Rowen-kun," she said.  "We're all friends here."
          "You know us?" Cye asked.
          "Of course we do, Cye-chan!" Venus answered. With that, she and the other Senshi de-henshined.
          "Whoa," Kento replied.  "You guys are those Sailor girls from Tokyo?"
          "Surprised?" Lita asked, grinning.
          The troopers willed away their yoroi and stood before the five girls and Darien in their sub armor.
          "Well, who would have guessed you girls were the Sailor Senshi." Sage mused.
          "You mean you didn't know, Sage?" Rowen asked, smirking.  "I thought you were the one who kept track of cute girls in short mini skirts."
          Sage was about to reply when Ryo's voice brought everyone to a halt.  "Mia! Can you hear me! Mia!"
          Darien rushed over to Ryo, who held a limp Mia in his arms.  "Mia, say something!" Taking the initiative, he quickly checked her pulse. It was very low, but thankfully still there.
         "Whoa, what happened?" Kento asked.  "She looks worse than we do." Cye jabbed him in the ribs with an armored elbow.
          "Cool it, Kento." he hissed.
          Ryo held Mia tightly.  "I couldn't protect her . . .," he said quietly.
          "It's not your fault, Ryo," Darien said.  He had guessed Ryo's feelings for Mia and new exactly what it felt like to see the person you loved in pain.
        "Yeah," Rowen agreed.  "There wasn't anything any of us could have done."
          Ryo looked up at them.  "We've gotta do something!" he said anxiously.  "We've got to help her!"  He turned to Sage.
          "You want me to use the shiatsu technique?" he asked.
          "Hold on," Cye replied.  "Don't forget, you got pretty beat up, too."
          "Yeah,"Rowen agreed.  "You sure you wanna risk it?"
          Sage glanced at Ryo who had a pain filled expression in his eyes.  "All right, I'll do it."
          Ryo nodded.  "Thanks, Sage."
          Kento walked over to Ryo.  "Why don't I hold her for ya', man." he said.  Ryo seemed reluctant to let her go.
          "You've been through a lot," Cye replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.  "We all have.  Whaddya say we all head back and get some rest?"
          "That sounds like a good idea." Ryo said in a soft voice, giving Mia to Kento.
          "All she needs is a little rest." Amy assured Ryo. "She'll be fine before you know it."
          "Still," Rowen replied.  "We better get back to the house before anything else happens."
          The others nodded in agreement as the Troopers and the Senshi headed back to the house.

~*~Later that Night ~*~

          "She seems to be fine now," Darien replied to the Troopers and Senshi, whom were all sitting in the living room.  "She's still very weak though, what exactly happened to her?"
          "There's some hag from the Nether realm that calls herself Argos," Rowen answered.  "She attacked us and Mia looking for something called the Ginzuishou.  She must've thought Mia had it."
          The Sailor Senshi all went pale.
          "Would it be all right to go see her?" Ryo asked quietly.
          "Sure, I don't see why not." Darien answered. "Just try not to disturb her."
          Ryo nodded.  "Arigatou." With that, he excused himself from the group and walked upstairs.
          "He's taking this pretty hard, ne?" Raye commented.
          Sage folded his arms and nodded.  "He always does."
          "Hm?"
          "What Sage means," Rowen said, "is that Ryo has a knack for going on major guilt trips whenever someone he cares about is hurt, in trouble, or in danger."
          "Poor Ryo-kun . . ." Serena sighed.
          "Don't worry about him too much." Kento replied. "He'll be okay."

~*~Upstairs ~*~

          Ryo watched Mia as she lay fast asleep in her bed. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.
            "Gomen ne, Mia-chan," he whispered, taking one of her hands into his.  "No matter how hard I try, or how hard I fight, I can't protect you…" He pressed his forehead against the back of herhand.  "Onegai, Mia…open your eyes.  Tell me you're okay."  Unable to bear her silence anymore, Ryo closed his eyes, unable to hold in the tears that had threatened to overwhelm him.  "Mia…please forgive me."

~*~Outside ~*~

          Sage had gone outside to think after everyone had gone his or her own way throughout the house.  Sitting on a tree branch over the lake, he couldn't help but think back to the battle.
          'Ryo,' he thought, 'he looked so helpless back there…does she really mean that much to him?' Sage knew that he himself had had a crush on Mia at one point, but he had never come out and admitted it. (AN: Ryo/Mia fans, don't beat me up.. but could you see a possible pairing of Mia w/ Sage or Rowen? C'mon... you know it's there.)  Mia may not have been physically strong, but she had proved numerous times that she was fearless. She had stayed by the Trooper's side throughout all of their battles.  He had to admire her for that.
          Still, he knew that Ryo also had feelings for Mia, and this incident had certainly proved it.  Ryo was in love with Mia, but had yet to realize it…or had he?
          "Yen for your thoughts?" Sage looked down from his branch to see Raye standing at the trunk of the tree by the lake's edge.
          "I was just thinking." Sage shrugged.
          "Your thoughts are pretty clear." Raye replied. "You're thinking about the battle, ne?"
          "How'd you know?" Sage asked.  "I didn't think anyone could read me that well."
          "ESP... it does wonders." Raye shrugged. "Do you mind if I join you up there?" she then asked.
          "Nah, come on up." Sage answered.
          Raye climbed halfway up the tree easily enough, but when it became more difficult, Sage leaned down and offered his hand to her.
           "Arigatou-oops!"Raye's foot caught on a small branch, causing her to loose her balance and fall backwards.
          Quick to react, Sage grabbed her hand quickly and pulled her back before she fell outof the tree.
          "Daijobu?" Sage asked worriedly.  "I don't want anyone else I care about to get hurt." Sage blinked as he realized what he had just said.  'Nani…I care about her…?  How can I care about her when I just met her?'
          "I think I'm all right…" Raye answered, having not heard his last sentence.  "Domo arigatou, Sage-kun."
          "Oh, no problem." Sage answered.  "So, uhm…you were able to read my thoughts.  You meditate?"
          Raye nodded.  "I do that a lot back home, at the Hikawa Jinja my grandfather runs."
          "So, you're a fire priestess," Sage mused. "And a Sailor Soldier as well."
          Raye nodded again.  "Sailor Mars, a reincarnation of the Princess of Mars." she looked up at him sheepishly.  "That doesn't sound freaky to you, does it?"          Sageshook his head.  "No freakier than being destined to wear an armor forged from an evil emperor who's over 1,000 years old." he answered. "As a matter of fact, I could tell that there was something about you and the others when you first got here." he said.  "While I was meditating, I could feel an aura coming from you."
          "Same here." Raye replied.  She could notice the worried expression on his face.  "I can tell now that you're worried about your friends."
          "Ryo and Mia," Sage said, "they care a lot for each other, but they don't realize it yet."
          "Maybe they do and they're just afraid to accept it." Raye said.  "In any case, they'd make a good couple."
          "Oh?" Sage said, somewhat dejectedly.
          "I can tell these sort of things." Raye grinned. "I can match up anyone."
          "Really?"Sage grinned, tilting his head to the side. "Who would be my perfect match?"
          Raye blushed.  "Well…" she said, "I can tell that you've got a good head on your shoulders. You're intelligent, calm and collected, not to mention handsome..."
"Are you sure you're not just trying to flatter me?" Sage smirked.
Raye grinned at him. "Don't interrupt the master at work." She laughed when Sage gave her a goofy 'oh, excuse me' look. "To be quite honest, your perfect match would have to have a good head on their shoulders.  They'd have to be intelligent and understanding.  Not to mention they'd have to have the courage to face anything. They'd also have to have the same interests as you."
          Sage smiled thoughtfully.
          "Doushita no?" Raye asked.
          "You forgot something."
          "Oh?"
          Sage's thoughtful smile turned into a grin. "You forgot dark, violet eyes, and long raven black hair."
          Raye looked around her.  "Are you sure you're not just trying to flatter me?" she asked.
          Sage chuckled. 
          Raye'scheeks turned bright red.  (They would match her fuku had she been wearing it.) "Sage…"
          Sage smiled warmly at her, as they both leaned in towards each other for a kiss.  However, Sage stopped midway and turned away from her. (AN: ::laughs evilly:: Leave it to me to ruin the moment, ne? )
Raye looked up at him.  "Doushita no, Sage?" she asked, concern on her face.  "What's bothering you?" "Nothing…" Sage lied, turning back to face her.
  "Nothing's wrong."
The raven-haired Senshi looked deep into the blonde Trooper's eyes. She then looked down and smiled. "You care a lot about Mia-san, don't you?" she asked.
Sage looked embarrassed.  "Raye…I," he stammered. Raye looked out onto the lake.  "It doesn't seem fair, does it?" she said.  "To like someone and know that their heart belongs to someone else." Sage followed her gaze across the lake towards the house, where he could see Kento, Lita, Mina, Cye, and Serena leading Darien along towards Mia's jeep.
"I take it you used tolike Darien?" he mused.
"We used to go out."Raye said.  "It wasn't anything serious, I think Darien just thought of me of a little sister.  I really liked him, demo… I realized how much he and Serena needed each other… So I…"
"You stepped aside." Sage finished, knowing exactly what she was talking about.  "I know what you mean.  Mia was the first girl I ever really warmed up to."
"Are you kidding?" Raye blinked.  "I always thought you'd be beating girls off with a stick?!" She covered her mouth when she saw Sage blush.
"I've never been that good when it came to talking to girls," he admitted.  "Sure, I can reel them in, but none of them really ever stick around long.  Mia's the only girl I really talk to."
Raye smiled sheepishly.  "But you're talking to me…"she said quietly."That's because you remind me a little of Mia." Sage answered honestly.  "I feel as though we are kindred spirits."
"Kindred spirits?" Raye repeated.  "Really?" Sage nodded, blushing slightly.  "I…uh... I really like you,Raye," he said nervously, leaning closer to her.  "I'd really like to get to know you better."Raye blushed and leaned towards him as well.  "I'd like to get to know you better, too, Sage..." she replied. 
"So, we're friends?" Sage paused for amoment.  "Hai…" he then said.  "Good friends." They both smiled at each other.  Just then, the branch they were sitting on decided to give way, sending them both crashing into the water.
        Sage was the first to break the surface. "Raye?  Raye-chan?" he called.  "Where are you?"
        Raye came up soon afterwards, gasping for air.
        "Daijobu,Raye-chan?" Sage asked.
        "Hai, I think so," she answered.  She brought up her hand to brush her hair out of her face only to realize that it was still held tightly within Sage's.


End of Chapter 4

Author's Notes:

Miss Chang Po: So, what'd you guys think of that?

Wufei: ::can be heard making gagging noises in the background::

Miss Chang Po: Hey, how'd you get free?

Wufei: ::Heero-like smirk:: I'm not a Gundam pilot for nothing?

Miss Chang Po: Oh, so that means you'll be able to see the new paint job I gave your Gundam.

Wufei: ::gasps:: What have you done? ::scurries off in search of his Shenlong Gundam::

Miss Chang Po: Hehe, see you all later, minna-san. ::grins when she hears a horrific scream in the background::

Wufei:: NATAKUUUU!!!!