Author's Note: Hello, it's me again, and yes this is another new story. I have not forgotten about my other two. I am working on them. A Touch Of Silver is almost done, thank goodness lol. Um, the summary was a little vague, but I want to know now, would you guys be interested in reading a Ronin Warrior, Gundam Wing crossover? Let me know in your reviews :) Take care!



Disclaimer: Own nothing, know nobody, no money... fiction is for recreational purposes.



A Return to Arms

By: Eboni



Prologue:

November 12, 1989 CE

He cradled the boy's head to his chest pleading with him to open his eyes. He continued to feed him more of his life energy, he didn't care if he could no longer clearly see the boy he held, and heard the roaring of blood, and hungry cells screaming in exhaustion in his ears. "Rowen wake up...please, don't leave me."

"Sage, Sage..." a hand on his shoulder..too weak to react... He was barely able to raise his head to meet the cerulean eyes of the black haired teen who hoovered above him. His vision doubled, then tripled, multiple Ryo's spoke to him in one soft voice, "Sage, let him go. We have to leave now."

"You'll have to carry him Ryo...I don't think I can..."

"Sage, we have to leave him here..."

Sage lowered his head until it touched the cold forehead of his fallen companion, forehead to forehead contact. He groaned as he felt more energy flow from him into the cold body. He wasn't warming...Rowen's body remained cold, he needed more, more, more! He pushed harder, feeling himself grow faint. Something grabbed him, something physical, and pulled him away. He was so weak, his arms so lifeless, he couldn't hold Rowen. The fallen blue haired teen tumbled from his lap, and Sage could not even holler in protest, "R..yo..." he was barely able to speak.

"Sage, you cannot heal the dead. All you are doing is killing yourself."

Sage couldn't fight Ryo, he was too tired to comprehend anymore just what was happening. "R..yo? O..thers? Can't...can't...feel them."

"Dead," Ryo's voice was so soft, so far away. "Sage, Sage stay with me! You're all I have left...Sage! Open your eyes, focus!"

"Tired..." The last tiny beacon of energy he possessed finally weakened, and flickered out as he collapsed.

Ryo was quick to catch his friend and lower him to the floor, putting two fingers to his neck where his pulse should be found. It was so faint, so weak.... He lifted the blond slowly, he was going to get them out of there. The battle...the battle had been a mistake. It had been a trap, they shouldn't have fought today. Ryo had been foolish. Both Sage and Cye had told him they didn't feel right about today, both had been hesitant to don their armors for battle. Something was wrong, they had said, something was terribly wrong. But Ryo only saw the enemy, and the victims they would hurt if Ryo did not lead his Warriors into battle.

It was wrong, all so wrong...they weren't supposed to die here, they weren't finished yet. He trudged through the carnage of savaged Underworld soldiers, more would come, and he had to get Sage out of there.

He'd led his troops into slaughter, he'd lost all of his men but one, and he was going to make sure that one got out alright. The only thing to stop him from achieving his goal would be death. A wall of soldiers suddenly stepped forward in the dark, their presence sent chills down Ryo's spine. The evil in the room was so great. He felt Sage shiver, it was getting to him. They were going to kill him without even touching him. "No..NO!" Ryo laid Sage gently on the ground removing his twin katanas from their sheaths, "You will not have him! I'll fight and kill you all if I have to, to my very own death. You will have not him!" His hands shook from fatigue...he was tired, the battle had raged for hours. He'd had to use his main attack so many times his throat was sore from yelling summons, and his knees knocked together in exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sage, his shivers calming...until he was still. As the last of his bond with his 4 friends, his companions, his Warriors, faded he let out a roar that had to have shook the building with its intensity and plowed head first into battle, "I'll be with you shortly my friends...." he whispered to himself as he felt the blades of the twin swords of a dark solider slip past his defenses and plunge through his armor deep into his heart and through his back severing his spinal cord.



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The traffic was dense, and practically immobile. Move out of the way! Her mind screamed irrationally, for she knew the cause of the massive traffic back up, and knew the other motorists could do nothing to help their unbelievable situation. But it was that cause that was infuriating her with the fact that she couldn't get through. Her boys, her Ronin Warriors, were in trouble.

"Mia, are all these cars stuck because of what's happening to the guys? Why is the sky so dark? It's only 2:00, it's not supposed to be this dark," Yulie complained from the passenger seat, where he sat strapped in and pale. His small hands wrung themselves over and over. He bit his lips and stared out at the darkening sky.

Mia Koji frowned at the boy. She shouldn't have brought him, he'd witnessed too many battles already, but she didn't feel right about leaving him alone in her manor. There had been a mistake, a horrible mistake that she herself had made. She shut her eyes briefly as memories from that very morning struck her and held her captive.

Cye Mouri was making breakfast. Kento Rei Fuan was hoovering over his shoulder sampling what he could, and expertly fending off the speedy smacks of a spatula Cye was giving him whenever he would catch him. Ryo Sanada was sitting at the table stirring a cup of green tea dreamily, as he had just woken up a few minutes earlier and was still trying to rouse himself. Rowen Hashiba was no doubt still asleep, lost among the turmoil of his rumpled bed sheets, and the sound of water running from above let them know Sage Date was still in the shower after his morning workout session.

Mia contented herself with the newspaper Ryo's pet tiger White Blaze had just retrieved and brought to her, sighing deliciously at the peaceful regularity of the morning. Suddenly Cye gasped, the spatula falling from his hand and clattering to the tiled floor. He brought a hand to his head, as Kento hurried to steady his friend and lead him to the table to sit. Ryo was now alert, he always snapped to attention when it seemed something was wrong with one of his friends. "Cye?" Kento asked setting the slight auburn headed boy down in the chair Ryo had just drawn out for him.

"Oh..my head..." Cye moaned his British accent always became stronger when he was in pain.

"Migraine?" Ryo questioned, "Cye, when did you start getting those?"

"No, not a migraine," Cye muttered. "It's...I can't think, something clogging my...my senses...something bad."

The hairs on the backs of all of the occupants in the kitchens' necks stood on end. "Something bad?"

"Something dark...evil," Cye nodded holding his head. He glanced upward then, "Sage...If it's affecting me like this, then Sage must be...."

Ryo nodded, "I'll go check on him..." He sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Mia..." Mia frowned at Cye, whose fair complexion revealing his partially English heritage, had paled considerably. "Do you know what this is? You said you'd discovered the key to our future battles. You said there would only be two more... is this the first of the last?"

Mia frowned, according to her calculations the last battles of the Ronin Warriors shouldn't happen for another 2 to 3 years. They were supposed to get a rest, grow up. Why would the first of the finale come so soon? The math was complicated and extremely parapsychological as well as fundamentally scientific. The cracks in the void separating the Nether realm from the Living Realm would take approximately two years to break again, even under the greatest of force. All legend and math lead to that conclusion, it was too soon for another battle.

"If this is what you feel it is.... then it's happening too soon. You weren't supposed to fight again for another two years."

Cye and Kento stared at her. There was the sound of pounding feet down the stairs, and Yulie appeared, his face anxious, "Ryo needs your help Mia!"

Mia rose urgently, "What happened?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't let me see! He's in the bathroom with Sage, I think it's Sage. I heard the shower going, and all of you were downstairs and Rowen's asleep. He broke down the bathroom door Mia, the wood's all splintered..."

Mia patted the young boy's shoulder and took the stairs by two as she jogged up. Kento wanted to bound up after her, but the hand Cye kept on his arm held him in place. "I'm not leaving you, Cye."

"Good... I feel so dizzy," Cye leaned his head on Kento's shoulder, allowing the thicker boy to stroke his hair gently to comfort him. "Kento..."

His voice was so soft Kento had to lean closer to his lips to hear them, "I don't want to fight anymore, not right now."

"I know, Buddy, I know," Kento held the smaller boy tight praying for someone upstairs to call down to them and tell them what was going on.

It was a few moments before anyone appeared. Ryo was walking carefully down the stairs holding a bundle in his arms, while Mia, Yulie, and a very groggy looking Rowen walked behind him. Kento rose slowly bringing Cye gently up with him, steadying the boy as he swayed, "Want me to carry you?"

"No, I can walk..." Cye said softly smiling lightly and patting Kento's arm in thanks. They slowly walked into the living room, where Ryo was lying the bundle wrapped in a large towel on the couch. He backed away as Mia knelt down before the couch, "Sage...Sage can you hear me?" Mia cooed delicately, stroking the damp blond hair away from the sleeping bundle's pale face.

"What happened?" Kento frowned staring at Sage, who was beginning to stir slightly.

"That's what I'd like to know. I heard a loud thud, and rush into the bathroom to find Ryo hoovering over my naked l...er...boy...er....best friend in the bathtub.." Rowen was muttering, still not fully aware of himself at the early hour.

"Shut up Rowen, I told you he fainted..." Ryo growled glaring at the blue-haired boy. "Yeah, he fainted and you just happened to be the one to rush in and save him."

"Well someone had to since you were comatose."

"Ryo, if you..."

"Stop it..." came the moan from the prone blond on the couch.

"Sage are you ok?"

"Let me ask him that!"

Sage sat straight up pushing both Rowen and Ryo away from him and looking to Mia, and behind her to Cye, "Something's coming."

Mia shivered yet again as 6 pairs of eyes came to rest on her for an explanation. "I thought you said we wouldn't have to fight again for another 2 years. I thought we were going to get to..."

"I don't understand either," Mia said softly. "I was so sure... I did the math just right, and I know I translated those scrolls perfectly. I'll look at them again, but I know I was right."

"Ow.... we don't have time for you to look at them again," Sage moaned bending forward wrapping his arms around his stomach, "It's here....it's in the city."

Cye could feel the heavy infringes of darkness closing in on his mind, but his ability to sense the supernatural was no where near as strong as Sage's. He rested a hand on the blond's shoulder to offer him comfort, as he struggled to bring up his mental barriers to block out the overpowering sensation of evil looming in their vicinity.

"We have to go then," Ryo said with a nod. He was about to don his sub armor when Sage caught his arm, "No!"

"No what?" Ryo looked puzzled, and tried hard to concentrate on what the beautiful grey eyed blond was going to tell him instead of glorifying in the fact that Sage Date was touching him.

"It's wrong...it feels wrong," Sage swallowed.

"Well of course it feels wrong; it's evil!" Kento shrugged, "And it looks like we gotta get rid of it. We'll be back in time for lunch, don't sweat it Blondie."

Ryo was about to nod in agreement, but Sage's hand remained firm on his arm, "It feels wrong for us to go after it. Something's not right."

"We're the Ronin Warriors, we fight demons. If there are demons in the city, we need to fight them," Kento puffed out his chest, but felt Cye take his arm, "Sage is right...it does feel wrong. Even I feel how wrong this seems. I think Mia's research is right, and according to it, it's too early for us to be fighting again. Something is happening now that is not in order..."

"Basically all you just said is, 'shit happens,'" Rowen shrugged. "You can't always plan your battles. I mean I looked over Mia's work, it looks legit. But maybe there's the occasional grit in the system that has to be accounted for. Maybe we're meant to have a lot of minor skirmishes along the way before the big bangs, huh?" Rowen's Yankee accent was always more prevalent in the mornings as he struggled to fully regain consciousness, making him a trifle hard to understand at times. Low blood pressure and early mornings just didn't mix with Rowen.

"This isn't...it's not small, and it shouldn't be here...at all. Not now, we're not ready," Sage breathed giving way to a brief grimace of pain, "I'm gonna be sick..." he pulled himself up using Ryo's arm that he still held and stumbled to the bathroom clutching the large towel he'd been carried down in around his waist.

Rowen ran a hand through his tousled hair and slowly ambled after the blond, after shooting a glare at Ryo who had taken a few steps in pursuit. Cye rolled his eyes at the exchange.

"Ryo, you keep that up and Rowen's gonna gut you, man. I know you got it bad for Blondie, but Sage chose Rowen not you," Kento tried to catch Ryo's blue eyes, but Ryo looked away. Kento sighed loudly, "Ok fine, don't listen to me, continue tearing yourself up, and pissing Ro off beyond belief. But if I ever sense that any of your overactive hormonal lust is bothering Blondie, I'll help Rowen gut you. Sage has been through too much shit to be hurt by friends. You need to sort this out within yourself. What Sage and Rowen have is new to them, and they are still trying to work it out amongst themselves, they don't need you in the middle of it."

Ryo's face was unreadable, but Kento knew he'd heard every word he'd said. Kento glanced at Cye, wondering what his best friend was thinking. Cye's face was gentle, compassionate...but stern, but that stern expression was not directed at Kento. Cye, like Kento, was tired of Ryo's unsubtle attempts to interest the blond in him. Ever since Sage and Rowen had decided to tell the others that they wanted to try out a relationship with one another, Ryo had been throwing himself at the blond. It was like the announcement told Ryo, he's gay, he's fair game!

"Mia, you can do all the research you want. We're moving out. We can't let whatever it is out there hurt innocent citizens just because some old parchments and strange math you've concocted say we shouldn't be fighting for another two years. Everyone into sub-armor. I'm going to go outside for a bit. You give Sage and Rowen the order, and I would like for someone to watch the news to see if there are showing any reports of a disturbance downtown. It would be nice to see our enemy before we fight it."

They'd left 30 minutes later, and Mia would never see any of them alive again. She was too late, much too late to tell them they didn't have to fight; it wasn't their battle to win. They'd interfered with something they shouldn't have...and she should have been able to tell them. They trusted her to know, they lived with her because she was their source of information. She'd let them die too soon. They were supposed to live to be old men with many children to pass on their armor's legacies. The time line would be altered...there would be no more Ronin Warriors. The mystical armors had to be passed from owner to descendant, until the Ancients called them back. The Ronin Warriors had died, and had taken their magic with them. Who would protect the world now? It was all over, and it was all her fault. She had to do something to make it right, but what could she do?







August 29, 2028 CE

"You see the brain patterns here?" Dr. Yoshi said pointing at a solo monitor, "They are coming along quite nicely. Their body maturity and their mental maturity are in perfect synch. If we were to let them out now, they'd be normal 15 year old boys."

Dr. Mia Koji nodded at Dr. Yoshi, "Excellent, and their muscles are being properly stimulated?"

"Yes, Dr. Koji."

Dr. Koji smiled, "You are dismissed Doctor."

Dr. Yoshi took his leave to join the other scientists in the lounge to rest. Dr. Koji was left alone in the cool laboratory, the dim lights casting an eerie glow over the technology in the room. Dr. Koji walked the length of the lab, stopping in front of each of the five large capsules lying on their backs. At the foot of each capsule was a computer console constantly giving out bio feedback readings, like heart beat, brain waves, body temperature, body mass, muscle mass, blood oxygen levels... She walked to the head of one of the capsules pressing a large red button on the side of it, and standing back a bit as the milky white covering over the capsule rolled down like an automatic window. Frosty blue glass was left in its place. Behind that glass laid a young boy with hair black as night, a strong chin, and a rather devilish shape to his eyebrows. Heavy black lashes weighed down eyelids that hid cerulean blue eyes that hadn't been opened in the 15 years since the boy had been born and left the stages of being a fetus. She eyed the umbilical cord that protruded at the boy's navel feeding him nutrient supplements fresh from a hidden IV bag of life sustaining substances inside the capsule. In a few more months he wouldn't need that. In a few months he would be at the correct age to be released, and then she would be able to test his memory.

Though scientific theory stated that from using DNA from one body the new entity should retain all of the same memories as the host... it had never been tested on humans before. The slumbering being that Dr. Koji loved so dearly certainly looked like Ryo Sanada at age 15, but he may not ever remember being him.

She shuddered a bit and pressed the button to recover the capsule moving on to the next to look at all of her creations, her babies, her Warriors reborn. They all looked very much the same, except for the long hair. She would cut it when they were released and oriented to their new surroundings. If they remembered who they were, she always wondered how they would take to this future, to her, nearly 30 years older than what she had been when they had last known her.

After their deaths, and after the collecting of all she could find of their corpses that she took and stored away, Mia immersed herself in the study of science. She scrapped all of her mystic work, she was through with magic and legends, she just wanted her Ronins back, as the boys they were. She'd failed them, and had to make it right. She didn't know how, until a few years after she'd earned her doctorates in science. Some of her colleagues had been discussing the concept of clones. Clones...

Perfect genetic duplicates of an original work or body, twins literally. All that was needed to make a clone was DNA that could be taken from a single hair, or blood... Mia had hair, and even blood. Mia had all of the Ronins medical information from when they'd first come to stay with her, plus the clothes they had worn in death. If cloning was real, if it could be done....she certainly had everything it would take to try, and a fortune to fund it.

She went into an intensive study regiment for years learning every theory, every attempt, and every ethical debate about cloning. It wasn't until she heard the project had been successfully done with sheep, and later body organs, that she started laying down the foundation of her project. She'd learned from the ethical debates that she'd have to keep it a secret. She conspired with her most trusted colleagues, and others she had met while studying cloning. Together they slaved over programs and microscopes studying DNA and RNA, and discussing concepts. While the scientists worked to come up with the foundation of the project, Mia began the plans for building the laboratory in which the project would commence. She had it built below her manor, underground, and hidden from suspicious eyes. Highly overpaid contractors exceeded her expectations with their careful and thoughtful subterranean architecture. They asked no questions, and finished before the expected date. They had even asked to stay on, to held in retainer, just in case she needed something else built. She'd let them, they had done so fine of a job.

Her scientist had been amazed at the size of the facility they would be working in, and at the seeming infinite supply of money they had at their fingertips to use for their work. Soon the large lab was filled with machinery, computers that were upgraded monthly, medical apparatus, and other supplies. Quarters were built for the scientist to sleep in when some decided to devote their lives to the project and didn't want to return to the surface world. Mia herself also had a room built inside, for she wanted to be as close to her boys as she could. Soon their was a mess hall, and a recreation center. All small and compact but very comfortable. The only ventures made to the surface world was by Mia. She had to keep up a public appearance. All supplies were ordered and shipped to the lab directly through a special company.

It had taken years for Mia and her team to actually have a break through, fetuses were created with regular heartbeats. Finally... it was working. In 16 years, Mia would have her boys to share her days with once again. She would reintroduce them to the world, and teach them new skills they would need. She only prayed that their memories would be intact. From everything she had read, DNA carried memories, and with the careful boost she and her scientist had instilled, the clones should have every memory their hosts did up until their demise. They would truly be her precious Ronin Warriors.

Her scientists had asked her, who are these people. Why them? But she was never able to answer them truthfully. She only told them, they were young boys who deserved a second chance, and that they were once very dear to her. Being enabled to work on a project of a lifetime, none of the scientists pried too far into the curious matter. Some didn't even wish to be paid they were so passionate about their scientific endeavor. Each scientist was assigned a boy to work on, in teams of 3 or 4, and each team began to refer to their clone, as their son.

Mia still shuddered over the 8th year of her children, when her Sage had gotten a viral infection. They thought they were going to lose the boy, and Mia and Sage's team had cried, trying everything they could to save him. They released him from his capsule to treat him. To touch him only helped solidify Mia's feelings of love towards her children...they were real boys. Her Sage had been carried to their small infirmary where he was hooked up to IV's of different antibiotics. He'd opened his eyes then... and his parents had gasped at his beautiful grey eyes. The blond panicked at not knowing where he was. Where were his mother and father? Where was his grandfather and sisters? Mia calmed the child, making up some lie, as her heart leapt. They remembered! They would have their memories!

It took 2 weeks for the child to fully regain his health, and then he was sedated and put back into his capsule. Why not let them out? One of Sage's team had asked after getting to meet with the boy in a conscious state, and seeing his beautiful eyes. They were healthy children, and it would be to their benefit to have a healthy childhood. Mia had shaken her head, they had to remember everything... they had to be at the ages they were. They needed to know how to fight. Their last battle had never been won, it had never happened...but Mia knew something had changed in their future because of it, something that would eventually need to be rectified, and only her heroes could do it.

During their 15th year, so near to the time of when they would be able to join her, Mia began to get contacts from Yulie. Little Yulie, whom she hadn't thought about in years. He was grown up now, working for the Japanese Military Intelligence Unit, and wanted to see Mia. He'd heard about her reclusive lifestyle, and had been hearing rumors of her insanity. He sensed something wasn't right with her, and he wanted to visit.

She'd told him no. They were too close to finishing the project, and there would be too much activity going on in the lab to go undetected by a suspicious guest. Now Yulie could never in a million years have guessed what she was doing, or where, but he had always been a nosy child, and had an incredibly annoying knack for getting in the way. No, Yulie, I won't be seeing you this year, she thought. She closed the window to Cye's capsule, and moved on to Rowen's.

Such beautiful boys they were... She sighed. She left them after bidding them all goodnight, and went on about the task of shutting down the lab. She made sure all of the new data was properly downloaded onto the main computer, and then she provided the back up disks that she stored in a safe box hidden away under the desk of the mainframe computer in a secret compartment.







November 3, 2028 CE

"What's going on?"

"There's been a breach!"

Scientists were scrambling from left to right deleting their data and personal files, Mia had run back to where her boys were resting. No! No! Not now, not when I was so close! They were to be let out in a week!

Yoshi ran in to take Mia's hand, "We have to shut it down...the police..."

Cloning was illegal....it hadn't mattered before, but now that they'd been discovered they would all face time in prison. They would all lose their licenses and prestige as doctors! "Get out of here Yoshi... go with the others and escape. I'll finish shutting down the project and let them catch me...or I will die in here with the children. Go Yoshi... money, I will send the last of my inheritance to accounts that I've set up for you all out of the country. You will find all the information on file for you in the library of the University! Go now Yoshi!"

"Koji, I cannot.."

"Go please, before it's too late, and I will be responsible for your losses as well!" Mia pushed at him, "Go!"

Yoshi blinked, giving her a final hand shake before running to join the other scientists as they took the emergency exit that would lead them through a tunnel that would release them onto the streets of Tokyo. Mia ran to the door to see the men with their guns ransacking the empty facility cursing at finding the computers useless. They mustn't find my children. They deserve a chance... A final glance through the doors at young Yulie in uniform holding a gun and looking disgusted made her cringe. She shut the vaulted doors to the lab, pressing a detonation device she'd secretly had installed by her contractors years ago without her scientists knowing. By now they would be safe enough away in the tunnels to not be affected by the blast. The explosion brought the Koji manor down onto the heads of the police men, it collapsed the tunnel that led to the lab filling it with heavy debris, walled off the exit as well. Nothing would be able to get into the lab now, and nothing would be able to get out. Mia laughed to herself, almost hysterically. She'd doomed them yet again. She gave them promise of a new life....but that life would be one underground in a small facility... She shuddered and shook her head. No...no... She walked to the computer and began to type...she would fix this, she would.

How much power did she still have, and how long could she sustain their bodies at the ages they were? The answer of course was cryogenics. She would freeze them, give them a third chance to live...but that time would be without her, lest she froze herself too, but she lacked the supplies. The generators would last up to 200 years, maybe even more if she shut down all life support to the facility..meaning she would die shortly having no fresh air or water. But she was already dead to the world anyway. She couldn't live down there alone with no company but her frozen children. She thought to let them out right then, but that would be pure selfishness on her part. She quickly began reading all the information she had about cryogenics. Her lab had the technology..one of her scientist had been working on it.

It didn't take long for Mia to figure out that cryogenic properties had already been installed into the capsules, all it took was the right commands. Mia checked the life support systems of the capsules, smiling when she affirmed that without the laboratories generators working to sustain both her and them, her children could be kept alive for centuries. Someone would have to find them by then and let them out... They'd be so confused, but they would know who they were, and they would be...alive. The day of their release, was the day Mia switched on the cryogenic technology in each of their capsules by hand, bidding them each sweet dreams, and good lives when they awakened. That was the day Mia Koji wiped her computer files cleans, storing the last of her backup data in her safe box. She shut down all other life support operations that weren't connected to the capsules, and went to her room. Her diary... she pulled it from its hiding place and put it on her night stand...her children would want to read it when they awakened, she had to leave them something of her. She lie down on her bed, closing her eyes, and waited.






**A/N: Please tell me what you think. It's going to be a crossover, but if you guys don't like it, I won't do it. **