A Return To Arms

by Eboni

A fatal error made in battle leads to the premature deaths of the Ronin Warriors. With their destinies unfulfilled the world will fall into darkness, and Mia Koji can only think of one way to bring them back. RWGW crossover. Warning: Shounen ai

9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Ok, ok, I know, this took forever and it's long. I don't apologize for it being long, lol, since I'm starting to get the feeling that people like longer chapters ;), but I do apologize for taking so long. Working and writing is not agreeing with me at all. I finally came up with a plan where I can get more writing done, so I pray the next chapter doesn't take as long to get out :). Thanks you for all of the wonderful reviews I've been receiving, it makes me very happy to know that you guys are still enjoying this story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it. Well, anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter too, and Sage fans will be pleased with it, **hint, hint, wink, wink.** Take care, and please review! :D

Disclaimer: Uuuuh...hmmm.... lets see, if me owned even a single portion of any of these animes, me would not be writing fan fiction, but mangas, or more episodes to be drawn. Who agrees with me that The Message stinks as a conclusion to the Ronin Warriors, and Gundam Wing needs another movie? Don't all speak up at once now... (lol).

Chapter 8

"Come on NOW, or I'll leave the lot of you! Where the HELL are my keys?!"

"Heero I NEED those Snickers Bites! Give them to me!"

"No sugar!"

Trowa was sprawled over the couch laughing his head off, as Heero burst out of the kitchen dragging Duo behind him attached to a large back of frozen candy treats. He must have hidden them in the back of the freezer. "Who MOVED my keys?!!"

"Give them to me!"

The plastic bag of candy ruptured, just as Wufei stalked in the den holding Quatre's keys, "SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! Can you not learn from previous experience that this chaos you create every time this happens, is ineffective? You're always yelling, you're always fighting over candy, and you're always laughing! Think ahead, plan ahead...like I have. I move your keys to my bedroom every night, because I don't trust you driving in your manic state. I snack proofed the kitchen, moving all the treats up higher than Duo can reach without a chair so Heero would get the chance to snag him before he grabbed something..obviously he prepared for such an occasion. And Trowa... Shut up! It's not funny! Now all of you line up, and we'll go to the car. Heero, watch Duo..."

Too late, while Heero was staring at Wufei open mouthed, Duo had collected and crammed all of the spilled chocolate candies into his mouth and smiled with chocolate teeth at everyone looking at him. Wufei blinked, and then without warning, Trowa began to laugh again, as Heero scowled and stood letting Duo glomp onto his back, and Quatre bellowed, "SO YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEEN SWIPING MY KEYS!!"

"Injustice..." Wufei grumbled covering his face with his hands.

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"Cye where are we?" Kento asked staring at his friend, gawking at the length of his hair. After Cye had calmed Kento down considerably by holding him, Kento began to hammer him with questions. Before Cye could open his mouth to answer, however, Ryo and Rowen were entering the room, followed by Dr. Po. "Kento!" Ryo called running to the bed and hugging his friend tightly.

"Hey buddy," Rowen approached the bed as well, unable to touch Kento while Ryo held him in a choke hold.

"Whoa, whoa, Fire Boy, Kento can't breathe, here," Kento tried to pry Ryo's arms from his neck, blinking at the fact that his friend had tears running down his face. "Just how long have I been out?" he ogled Rowen's long hair back in a ponytail as well. "Where's Blondie? I'm in a hospital aren't I? Oh boy, is Mama out there? Bet she can't wait to get in here, and kill me. What did Mia tell her happened to me? Hey, you guys are ok too, right? I was the only one knocked down in that fight....say, did we win?"

"Kento," Cye laughed, "Hush your mouth for one minute, and maybe you'll get some answers. First though, let Dr. Po check you over."

"Hello Kento," the pretty blond woman smiled, "I'm Dr. Sally Po, and I'm the head physician over the care of you and your friends."

"And my friends? You guys?"

"Shhh, Kento," Cye held a finger to his lips, and Kento scowled letting the doctor do a standard check up. Once she was through, "Would you like me to call a few friends for you, Cye?"

Cye grinned and nodded.

"Call a few friends? Mia and Yulie? Dudes, what's going on? Why is everyone's hair so long...in...including mine! Oh my gods!" Kento held his hair for his eyes inspect. "Somebody better start explaining, and fast...and where is Blondie?"

Rowen and Ryo both looked to Cye to do the talking, "Me?"

"You know the story best, you've heard it 3 times," Rowen smiled crookedly, and Cye sneered at him before turning back to Kento, "Aright Kento I'll tell it."

"Good, I always preferred audio books better when the reader has an English accent. Tell away, Cye, I'm listening," Kento leaned back on his pillows with his arms tucked behind his head, a big lazy smile on his face, that fell minutely until it was replaced with a frown as the story was told.

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"OI!"

"What Duo?" Heero jumped at Duo's exclamation.

"I forgot Cye and Rowen's clothes! We have to go back!" Duo unbuckled his seat belt to climb over the passenger seat to stare at Wufei. Quatre glared up at him, "We are not turning around for the sake of some dumb clothes. Give it to them tomorrow!"

"No! They'll appreciate them more tonight. They'll have put on the same old clothes again by the time we get there in the morning," Duo complained, "Wuffie!"

"Duo, we're halfway there!" Heero objected.

"Please, please, please?" Duo begged, batting his eyes and poking out his lower lip at Wufei, who knew he could never resist that face. "Stop it Maxwell, it took forever to get you all situated in the car."

"I'll only get out!"

"You can't carry all of those bags on your own."

"Hee-chan will get out with me!"

"WE WILL NOT TURN AROUND!" Quatre roared.

"Geez Quat, take a chill pill! Please Wuffie-kins?"

Wuffie-kins? Was it him, or were these pet names getting progressively worse? He chanced a look at Duo's face, and felt his resolve begin to wither... then he glimpsed Quatre whose eyes were quite alarming when simmering with pent up rage. Hmm, please Duo and face the wrath of Quatre, or please Quatre, and face having to listen to Duo whine for the rest of the trip.

He glanced at Duo again, and sighed deeply, "Alright Maxwell, alright. But only because I had to carry all of those bags today, and would like to see them get to their owners so I know that my efforts were not in vain."

"Yay!"

He didn't dare look at Quatre in the seat beside him, he could hear him growling, and feel the fire's heat. He was a dead man, but he was a dead man with Duo Maxwell's approval.

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"So...we died?" Kento asked blinking up at the ceiling, still in his relaxed position with his hands behind his head.

"Yes," Cye said.

"And... we came back."

"Yeah," Rowen nodded.

"But it's centuries in the future."

"Yup," Ryo patted Kento's hand.

"And we gotta live with 5 strangers, and still gotta fight no good uglies?"

"Sums it up pretty good," Rowen checked off an imaginary list in his head.

"You got all of that, Kento? You really understand, and you're ok with it?"

"Yeah sure, what's not to understand. You were all pretty clear about everything but..."

"But what?"

"When I get my next meal, I'm hungry! This liquid they're feeding me just ain't hitting the spot. I mean look at me, I'm skinny as....as one of you!"

Cye, Ryo, and Rowen all rolled their eyes at one another and laughed, "About 200 years, and Kento STILL hasn't grown up yet."

Kento beamed proudly, then sobered, "So Blondie's still asleep, huh?"

Rowen shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"What do you mean you guess?" Kento raised a wooly eyebrow at Rowen, "What's up Galileo, you know something you ain't sharing? You never say, 'I guess.'"

Rowen could do nothing but shrug again as his friends looked at him. "Is something going on Rowen?" Cye asked with a frown. "We shouldn't be worrying about anything should we?"

"I...no.." Rowen said, then sighed. "He's asleep, but..."

"But what?"

"I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe its not the coma-like sleep we were all in... I, well, I think...he woke up from that a long time ago, probably before you Cye. I mean, feel him in the web. Yes, it's quiet, but it's not exactly the same type of quiet, as what came from Kento. I mean you've seen it yourself Cye, he changes positions, and makes small noises. You've been feeling him flicker in and out..."

"You think he's playing possum?" Kento was fiddling with his IV. "Why would he do that? You think he'd spring up the minute he heard your voice Blue Boy."

"I don't know," Rowen was frowning, "and then his sleep is so quiet. No dreams, no nightmares, nothing... It's like, he's awake, but totally unresponsive. But all of the equipment and check ups say he's ok, said we're all ok. That's why I'm so unsure about just saying, he's awake."

Cye rubbed his chin, "You are right Rowen. The stillness in the web from him isn't the same...but I sense nothing, no emotion, from him. It's like he's awake, but he's shut his senses off."

"Maybe it's the hospital. You know places like this have always bothered him. Maybe he's getting like a psychic overload," Ryo was beginning to bite his nails. "We should get him out of here."

"If it was a psychic overload, I'd know, believe me," Cye said waving a hand. "There's something else..."

"You know, this almost seems like..." There was a knock at the door that caused them all to jump. Cye broke off mid-sentence and an affectionate light came into his eyes, "Kento?"

"Yeah?" Kento was looking toward the door curiously.

"Remember those 5 people I was telling you about?"

"Yeah."

"Would you like to meet them now?"

"But we were discussing Sage," Ryo interrupted. "They can wait! What were you going to say about Sage?"

"It just seems like it did after New York, Ryo, think about it. Remember how he was able to shut us all out?"

"You think he still remembers that...of course he does! But we'd gotten him over that, why would it still bother him now?"

"What if he doesn't remember getting over it. All he knows is he's awake, and he's attached to tubes and wires..."

"Holy shit," Rowen uttered. "He must have freaked out."

"What do we do about it? Ryo demanded.

"We can't do anything until he decides to wake up...the stirring, the shifting of position, he's trying to wake up. His mind goes into massive protect mode autonomically sometimes to seal him off from psychic shock...it's happened before, and he's just got to break through the shield. It's probably harder this time because this body, though programmed with old memories, is new and has never had to do it before."

"Can we help him?" Kento asked.

Cye looked at a loss, "He has to break through himself...but Rowen staying with him, talking to him, and people visiting and talking with him...I think it helps give him a focus. I feel him stir the most when he and Rowen are alone."

Rowen nodded, "He does, when I nap in the room and lie next to him..." he blushed a bit, "when I wake up, he's rolled over toward me."

"Little by little, we bring him back. We just stay with him, offer as much contact as possible, talk to him, he'll come around eventually."

The knock came again, except this time more insistent and followed by a "Yoo hoo! Any boys with fine asses in there? I was told this is where I could find some!"

"Duo," Cye chuckled rolling his eyes. "Mind if I let them in Kento, he'll keep giving cat calls until we do."

Kento laughed, "I like getting cat calls."

Cye shook his head and walked to the door to open it, "He..umph!" He nearly tumbled backward as he got an armload of Duo, "Cye, babe! Haven't seen you ALL day! Wait til you see what I got you!"

Cye giggled trying to set the brunette down, but finding he couldn't because the braided bundle had wrapped his legs around his waist. "Don't tell Hee-chan this, but you smell better... Old Spice?"

"No, bar soap," Cye corrected him, "Hello Quatre, Trowa, Heero, Wufei...look at all of those bags..."

"Duo, get down off of Cye!" Quatre exclaimed tugging at Duo's braid, then grabbing him around the waist and pulling. Cye felt Duo's legs loosening around his waist and his hands losing their grip, and watched thoroughly amused as Duo toppled back into Quatre's arms. Quatre, not being much bigger than Duo, ended up stumbling under Duo's weight and falling onto his bottom with Duo sitting in his lap. "Q-man!" Duo wrapped his arms around Quatre's neck, "If you wanted to get in my pants all you had to do was ask."

"Duo!" They struggled, Quatre trying to free himself from Duo who held him tight trying to plant a kiss on his cheek. Cye shook his head, and as Heero, Trowa, and Wufei stepped over the tiny altercation he began to introduce them, "Heero, Trowa, Wufei, this is Kento Rei Fuan, Kento, this is Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, and Chang Wufei...I'll introduce you to the two on the floor as soon as they stand up."

Kento's eyes rested on the dueling children on the floor, before moving to check out Heero, Trowa, and Wufei, appreciation glowing in his eyes at their fine forms. "How are you doing? I really gotta thank you guys for doing this for us, and taking care of all my buddies and me." Kento's overwhelming friendliness hadn't dimmed a bit over the centuries. Heero and Trowa set down the large shopping bags they held, and came to the bed with Wufei to shake Kento's large hands, and personally greet him.

"Stop groping me Duo, and let me up!" Quatre growled, finally getting to his feet, and marching away from Duo to Kento's bedside, "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner, Kento."

Kento shook the blond's hand eagerly, he certainly was a cute one. Kento had always been more attracted to people smaller than himself, it made him feel larger, stronger, as if he could become their protector. "I'm Duo!" The one who'd jumped on Cye, came barreling toward the bed, skidding to a halt just before crashing into the metal railing of the bed. The blond had extended a hand in front of him to stop him from colliding with the metal.

"I hate Duo on Snickers Bites," the one called Heero muttered.

Kento thoroughly appraised the small brunette with the long hair swishing down his waist and tapping the top of his thigh in a thick braid. His large purple eyes were thickly lashed, and finely shaped, his face small and heart shaped, and he was so little. He looked like something that one would find in an enchanted forest sitting on a mushroom dressed in green. He wanted to pick him up and sit him on his lap. He looked over to Cye, giving him a wink, he definitely had found himself a crush.

Kento grunted as the tiny long haired brunette vaulted over the silver railing and landed beside him in the bed, his body making contact with his. The long hair was a trifle damp, and smelled clean, fresh like a baby's. "Quatre was the last person to get to tell the story so now it's my turn, and I promise not to use big words...unless you want me to."

"Actually Duo, there's no need. I already told him the story. Kento is rather impatient, and didn't want to wait."

"Awww....I really wanted to tell it. I had come up with a new way to tell it, and I had all these jokes I intermingled in there. It was going to be great!"

"Well maybe if we could have gotten here earlier, Duo, you could have told it," Quatre seethed, "But no, somebody here, had to make us turn around for clothes..."

"OI! That's right, your clothes.... Oi again! Cye, you didn't introduce Heero and me to Ryo!"

"Oops," Cye blushed, "I am so sorry. It totally slipped my mind that you two didn't meet Ryo...oh and Ryo has something he would like to say to all of you as well. Duo, Heero, this is Ryo, Ryo, this is Duo here on the bed, and Heero standing there next to Trowa. Now that we all know each other, Ryo, you have the floor."

Ryo looked flustered, and ducked his head seeming rather embarrassed, "Uh.. Geez Cye, you could have prepared me. Uh..." he looked to the eyes focused on him, "I... Listen, about the way I acted the other day, I was upset and out of line, and I'm sorry. I'm not ungrateful or anything, I was just so shocked I could have pleaded temporary insanity. I hope you guys can forgive me for that. I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings with my words. I just don't think before I talk sometimes..."

"You can say that again," Rowen grumbled, and Cye elbowed him in the ribs making him grunt.

"Oh it's ok Ryo, I understand your reaction," Quatre was quick to catch Ryo's eyes and offer a warm smile, causing Trowa and Heero to roll their eyes. They knew how Quatre had analyzed and re-analyzed Ryo's anger, and worried over the matter, they all did.

Ryo blinked at Quatre's warm reception, and accepted Trowa and Heero's nods. Wufei still looked at him with open scorn, and Duo... "Ah, you know we love you Ryo-kun!" If Kento hadn't been in the way, Ryo felt sure Duo would have flung himself into his arms as well.

"We are going to have to Duo-proof the kitchen and get rid of ALL of the sweets after 6 pm," Heero moaned rubbing a tired hand over his face.

"Aw, shut up Hee-chan, you love me!"

"No I don't."

"Funny, that's not what you said earlier..." Duo smirked wickedly, his lashes lowering demurely, and Heero turned pink. "Isn't he cute as a little button when he blushes like that?"

"Duo stop it!" Quatre interjected, "You're embarrassing Heero, and we are in the presence of company!"

"Hello, Quat, we are not in the presence of company, we are the company present. Which means they are supposed to be humoring us. And as long as we are being humored... Turn around Ryo, let me see how those jeans are fitting you."

Ryo's eyes widened, "Hey, I just wanna make sure I bought the right size, I'm not checking out your ass or anything... Ok, that's a lie, I am checking out your ass, but it's for a good cause."

Rowen and Kento, and Trowa were chuckling, as Quatre stared at Duo in horror, Heero hid his face, and Wufei smirked. Ryo blinked incredulously at Duo's infectious smile, and slowly complied, turning around so Duo could see his behind, all the while thinking 'this is the one that attracts Rowen's attention?' True, the boy was absolutely gorgeous, but he didn't seem to be the intellectual type.

"I am a freakin' genius! So far every pants size I've guesstimated has been correct," Duo giggled gleefully, "Maybe I should pursue a career as a tailor."

"You can't sew, baka," Heero said.

"I'd have to sew?"

"Yeah."

"But don't they have machines for all that now, and all I'd have to do is enter in measurements?"

"Duo, those machines are delicate, and you have to work in close proximity to them. A lot of them are hands on."

"I use a lot of hands on equipment, and I can sew...if stitches count."

"You do stitches, like doctor stitches?" Kento asked.

"Yeah, I'm good too," Duo bragged. "Heero said I do it better than him."

"He does give good stitches," Trowa commented. "He gave me some right here above my eyebrow..."

"Oh yeah, and you can't even tell. There is virtually no scar," Quatre gave a half smirk.

"See, I can sew! I can be a tailor!"

"Meaning you'd leave your lab."

"Hell no! Do you know how many projects I've got on hold just for this week. Sally won't even let me go in just to look at my petri dishes! What if alien life springs from them, I won't even be there to document their first appearance? Valuable scientific discoveries will be lost, all because Mama Sally is too overprotective."

"Duo, she's not being overprotective, you're not taking care of yourself."

Duo pouted, looking miserable for approximately 5 seconds, before making a funny face, "Man I want some chips... sour cream and onion... I'm...um...going to go to the bathroom, in the hallway. I'll be back in a few minutes." He was stopped cold by Trowa, who had been moving to be nearer to Quatre.

"No chips," he said with a slight smirk, and Duo glared at him. "I just want a few! I'll buy the bag, get about 3, and you can eat the rest. How does that sound, Tro-man, tempt you?"

"No."

"Hey, it tempts me!" Kento raised his hand, "I'm starving!"

"Kento wants some chips," Duo said looking at Trowa pointedly. "Can't deny him of treats just because you're afraid I'll get some, can you?"

"Kento can't eat solid foods yet," Quatre stated matter-of-factly, and Duo growled. "I can crush the chips up and put them in his IV..."

"Duo, are you really that desperate?" Quatre's tone was amused.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean Kento can't eat solid foods yet?" Kento demanded.

"Just what he said, your body has never had to break down solid food. Now your digestive system is fully operational, and we're all quite sure you shouldn't have any problems..."

"So WHAT'S the problem?"

"Kento!"

"It might come as too much of a shock to your system for you to introduce complex solid foods to it too quickly."

"Oh."

"They'll give ya soup and nutrient shakes the first day, then try you on mush the next. If you take a crap after the mush, they'll give you your cheeseburger," Rowen said drolly.

"Yuck, speak of defecating is incredibly unappetizing!" Duo scowled.

"Are you saying you've lost your appetite?" Heero stared at Duo incredulously. Duo flashed him a smile, "I said it was unappetizing, not de-appetizing, Hee-man!"

"Of course," Heero said, then smirked devilishly, "but you're still not getting any chips."

"Dammit Hee-chan, I need my fatty starches! If eat one more vitamin rich, mineral saturated tofu dish I'll... I'll make you go with me to the salon the next time I get my hair trimmed!"

"No!" Heero shrieked.

"Hey, maybe I can even get you an appointment! You know Franz likes you, my Heero. Hey you can get a color rinse...get some auburn highlights, like Trowa! Oh man, I'm getting excited!"

The door to the room swung open and closed as Heero sped out into the corridor. "Well that got rid of him," Duo rubbed his palms together, "Now lets get down to the serious discussion shall we? You all saw Heero's ass when he ran out of here, isn't it great?"

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"Cye said we all should talk to you," Ryo pulled the chair next to Sage's bed. "Well here I am, it's Ryo... Ok, that was stupid, you know it's me." He sat down and regarded the blond on the bed. His heart thudded in his chest at the boy's unearthly beauty. He reached to caress his cheek, and run a hand through his fine golden waves. "So...uh... I wonder what all you know about our current situation. Probably everything huh?"

No response. "Well... Since I don't have anything to talk about... maybe..." Contact, Rowen said Sage responded to contact. But he hadn't moved when Ryo had touched his face, or hair... did he only respond to Rowen? No, no it couldn't be. He ran his fingers through Sage's fine hair again. It was so soft, as soft as he could remember it being. He loved its length, he played with the tresses letting the blond waterfall wash his hands. He leaned in to smell it, and grimaced... Rowen should wash it. Or better yet, he should wash it! Yes, Rowen was not being a good koibito. He wondered if Sage would be able to tell that it was him who was the thoughtful one. He crawled onto the bed slowly, smiling as he felt the warmth of Sage's body against his, he spooned him wrapping his arms around his waist. Yes, this was what it was supposed to feel like, yes... It felt so right. He placed a gentle kiss against Sage's temple, letting his lips rest on the tender skin. He tasted like heaven, sweet and cool, clean, and...

"Sanada, you got 5 seconds to explain what the hell you're doing to my Dreamer!" Ryo bolted from the bed nearly jerking Sage up with him with his abrupt movement. "Rowen? It...I..."

"When I get my hands on you!!!" Rowen rushed toward the bed, his face red with wild fury. Ryo blanched, he'd never seen Rowen look so...deadly. He leapt off the bed with the grace of a panther, and tried to dodge Rowen's charge, and slip around him. No avail, Rowen's arms flung out on either side of his body and caught Ryo, slinging him back toward the bed onto the floor. With a roar, Rowen launched himself onto Ryo, fists flying, and Ryo covered his face to protect it from the blows. He grunted as Rowen nailed him in the stomach, then in the ribs. He was really hitting to hurt him. Ryo finally gathered his wits about him, after Rowen popped him in the stomach again, in the same area, and bucked him off flipping Rowen onto his back. Angry with letting himself get beat up on, being denied his moment with Sage, and at the whole situation he was in again with the armor, he flung himself onto Rowen striking blindly in a wild barrage of attacks. Rowen was not one to take a beating lying down, on the contrary he quickly used his legs to flip Ryo off, and the two went rolling across the floor tearing at each others' limbs, hair, and whatever loose article of clothing they could latch onto to cause one another pain.

"You freaking shit, always going behind my back trying to steal what's mine!!"

"Sage is not an object that anyone can possess! Why are you so threatened of me, if you're so sure he's YOURS as you say? You must know something Rowen. Does he ever mention me when you two are alone, does he think about me? You know I had him first don't you? You know he wanted me first, and you had to get in the way. You had to manipulate him, you waited until he was weak... You waited, and made him trust you more than he trusted anyone else in the world and then you made him THINK that he wanted you!"

"What a load of BULLSHIT! You KNOW Sage and I have always been close. You KNEW we were heading towards the direction of courtship, you lousy bitch! You're just jealous! Get over it, get over him! Why don't you just leave us alone, Ryo, get a freakin' life, and get out of ours!"

"Stop..."

"Leave you alone? I can't stand by and watch you two... you're so wrong for each other, so wrong. You don't appreciate him, you can't appreciate him! You don't know how! You don't know what he likes to do first thing in the morning, you don't know how he looks in the first rays of dawn..."

"How long had you been following him around Ryo? How long after you knew he was mine had you been trying to steal him from me?"

"Stop it, please."

"I thought you were my friend you bastard, I can't believe I ever trusted you! You couldn't even give us a chance then, and you still can't now! Why can't you give us the chance to be happy, me the chance? You had a mother and father who loved you, grandparents that adored you... Even if it was only for a short while, you still got to know love. I never had that, never, until Sage. Finally, maybe someone can teach me how to be happy, the moments I spend with him, spent with his family, are moments I would die all over again just to keep those memories."

"They should have been my memories! You stole them from me!" Tears were beginning to stream from Ryo's eyes. Why had Rowen mentioned his parents, his grandparents. The recollections of their deaths flashed before his eyes, and soon he was on top of Rowen again, pounding him for all he was worth.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Fine boned hands were pulling at his arms, and soon he was collapsing into a chest lined with slender muscles. His face was wet with his torrent of tears and his nose ran a river, he let his head fall back onto the shoulder of the person holding him from behind tightly, coddling him.

"Dr....Dreamer?" Ryo opened his teary eyes to see Rowen sitting up slowly his long legs sprawled in front of him, his lower lip was split and bleeding freely, blood staining the collar of his shirt. His dark blue eyes were wide with wonder as he stared at what was behind Ryo, holding him with the touch of an angel. Slowly Ryo turned his head to see a spill of blond hair dusting his shoulder... "S...Sage? Oh Sage!" He quickly changed his position to throw his arms around the blond, passion and pure undaunted joy pumped throughout every living cell of his body, and even a few dead ones, and in his blind bliss he kissed Sage full on the lips.

He didn't come back to himself until he realized the blond had frozen against him, his warm lips not returning his kiss, but instead receding from his. Ryo's eyes popped open to meet the cool, but confused, analytical grey stare of Sage Date. "Sage..."

"Ryo."

"You're awake, I'm so happy you're awake. Are you ok? How do you feel? Oh my gods, you took out your IV, we better call a doctor..."

"Too late for that call," both teens looked up to see Sally Po, and two other doctors frowning down at them. "Oh, Dr. Po, I'm so glad you're here! I need you to check Sage out for me, he just woke up, and took out his IV..."

"Where's Rowen?" Sage was murmuring getting to his feet gracefully. "Rowen?" Ryo's eyes scanned the room to see that the blue haired teen genius was no where to be seen. Oh well, "We can't worry about that now, Sage. We have to make sure you're ok. Hey, you look pale as a ghost, let's sit down, ok?"

"I gotta find Rowen," Sage moved passed Ryo swiftly, slapping away his hands. Sally held out a hand to stop him, but withered a bit under his cold gaze, and stepped back, as did the other two doctors. Sage left the room without looking back.

"Sage.." Ryo felt like he'd swallowed a large block of ice. His beautiful Sage was abandoning him...to look for Rowen. He hadn't even looked back.

What about the kiss I gave him?

*What about the way he held you?"*

There had to be something there for me!

*Sage does love you, he does.*

Damn that Rowen!

*Well then, you should do something about him.*

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"I am in love with Duo Maxwell," Kento lie on Cye's bed with his arms behind his head. "Really, you are?"

"Yeah, he's short, he's cute, he's funny, and he's got great eyes."

"He's got a scary boyfriend too," Cye chuckled, he was standing in the mirror playing with his hair. Ponytail, or should he just leave it down? His hair wasn't quite long enough to pull off the braided look Duo wore.

"Boyfriend? Heh, Heero? I could take him."

"Sure you can," Cye pulled out the ponytail holder deciding he liked his hair down best. "What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"My hair! Down or back in a ponytail?"

"Uh... I don't know. You're actually going to keep all that?" Kento sat up a bit in bed to gaze at Cye's reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah, I like it. Rowen's keeping his."

"I figured that when I saw the clothes Duo got him. He's planning on being a cool guy this life time, I see."

"Yeah, he wants an earring too."

Kento guffawed, "Oh man, Blue Boy with an earring? What's Blondie gonna say about that when he opens those big grey eyes of his?"

"Blame us probably, for not stopping him," Cye smirked, "but I don't know. I think the look might suit Rowen."

"I guess."

"So I'm assuming you're cutting your hair?"

"Damn skippy I am! I ain't prancing around here, looking like no girl."

"I highly doubt anyone could mistake you for a woman, Kento."

"Good, H...HEY! Hey, you insulting me, Fish Boy, you wanna take this outside?" Kento sat up on the bed mock glaring at Cye and shaking a fist at him.

"No, not at all Gorilla Man, I just......" He stopped as enormous waves of raw anger surged through his body, anger that wasn't his own. Fresh pain gripped his head, and his stomach felt queasy... "Oh gods...." The web, in the web he felt heat, passion, anger..hatred and jealously.... "Ryo and Rowen...they're fighting..."

Kento had already sprang from the bed, and was at Cye's side, supporting him. "Ryo and Rowen, fighting? Now? In the hospital?" Cye cringed as he felt Kento's anger arousing, "Those bakas are fighting over Blondie again, I know it!"

"Kento..." Cye gasped, the flood of emotions was too overwhelming, but then....he'd felt something else too. A cool prickling, a sharp sense of awareness and purpose... "Gods, it's Sage."

"What's Sage?"

"He's awake, Sage's awake!"

"Great, the gang's all here. Lets just hope Ryo and Rowen aren't getting into it in his room. I can see that getting real ugly, real fast. Lets go!"

Cye and Kento dashed out into the hallway just in time to catch Rowen who was barreling towards them, his face lined with tears. "Whoa there, Ro... what's going on? Where's Ryo?"

"He's....that...he's trying to take my Dreamer away from me..." Rowen's knees went weak, and Kento sank down to the ground with him as he fell. "He's, Sage is holding him, and Ryo...Ryo's kissing him. When I first went in the room...to comb Sage's hair, maybe wash it with permission...Ryo was there. He was in the bed all curled up with him, and then we started fighting...and....and then Sage was there, and he held Ryo and let him kiss him, and he didn't even look at me! Why is he doing this to me? Why can't Ryo leave us alone...?"

"Oh Rowen," Cye stroked his hair. Kento held Rowen tightly rubbing his back, getting angrier by the second. "Take care of him Cye, I'm gonna go talk to Ryo."

"Kento, please don't..."

"I'm not gonna hit him, Cye, I just wanna talk to him....and check up on Blondie."

Kento passed Rowen off to Cye, and stood, trooping down the hall to confront Ryo, only to be run into for the second time that night. "Rowen!"

"Whoa, hold your horses, Blondie!" Kento caught Sage around the waist. "You ok, did a doctor look at you, kid?"

"No, not yet," Sage said impatiently. "Kento, Ryo...he... Please let me go." Kento pulled the blond to his chest, giving him a quick hug, before letting go. Sage brushed passed him to where Cye and Rowen were kneeling on the floor together, Rowen's head buried in Cye's neck. A few nurses and orderlies peered at them curiously as they passed by. Sage cautiously approached, and sank to his knees to touch Rowen's back tentatively, "Rowen?"

Rowen's back tensed, and he lifted his face from Cye's neck to peer at Sage, "Dreamer? You're here? Where's...where's he?"

"Ryo?" Sage questioned. "He's still in the room I left him in, I suppose. Are you crying Galileo?"

Rowen was silent.

"Why?"

"You..Ryo, he..."

"He was out of line, Rowen."

"But you didn't pull away from him."

"I couldn't believe he did it," Sage said softly. "You shouldn't have left."

"I couldn't stay in that room with him for one minute longer. I wanted to kill him, I still want to kill him!" Rowen made his hands into tight fists, as his eyes narrowed. He looked into Sage's pale face, and felt some of the tension and anger leave his body, "How are you, Dreamer? You ok?"

Sage nodded, blond hair falling over one eye stubbornly. He ran a smooth hand along Rowen's face wiping away his tears, "Are you?"

"I'm all good, now," Rowen smiled, drawing Sage into his arms and pulling him into his chest. "I missed you so much."

"I haven't been gone long," Sage whispered to him. Rowen frowned into his hair, "Sage, do you know where we are, and what's going on?"

"I think so, if I haven't been dreaming...."

"Lets get out of the hallway, and you can tell me what you think you know," Rowen said. They stood together, Rowen's eyes widening at Sage's lack of dress, "My gods..." He pulled Sage's back to his body, "Sage you've been flashing the entire hospital!"

"I wondered why all those nurses were smiling at me."

"Yeah, I bet Ryo was too," Rowen muttered dryly. "Come on, I got some shorts you can put on in my room, and we can talk alone."

"Sage," Cye joined them then, "it's so good to see you finally awake." He reached to hug Sage, frowning at the way Rowen was holding him against his body, "Ease up Rowen, I'm not going to grope him!"

"He's not wearing anything but his gown."

"Oh dear," Cye blushed for Sage, who didn't seem to care at all about the amount of skin he was revealing. "Come along then, we'll go to my room, I've got plenty of things you can cover up with."

"Alright."

"But we were going to my room..."

"Oh nonsense, your room isn't half as cozy as mine," Cye took them both by the arms and began to usher them forward, careful to try to block the view of Sage's rear end. He shot a few heated glances at the wandering eyes trying to catch glimpses of Sage's bare behind. "In, in, in..." Cye pushed them inside his room, Sage first, and then entered himself and shut the door.

"They did all of this?" Sage was asking gazing around the room at the decor.

"Who?" Cye asked, opening his small closet and shifting around through the drawers inside to find a pair of shorts for Sage. "Here we are."

"Those boys, the 4 who take care of us...though I get the feeling there are 5," Sage said, catching the shorts Cye tossed to him and stepping into them. He frowned as he noticed the smiling fish stitched onto the crouch, "Hmm..someone definitely had you in mind when they bought these."

"Sage... you know about the ones who...the boys who bring us things?" Cye asked.

Sage nodded, "They've been coming and talking to me, along with you and Rowen. I remember the one with the beautiful aura the most though. He's an empath, like us Cye. And then there's the one that talks a mile a minute, his aura is so cloudy, I can't read him clearly. Then there's the gentle soul, and the strong spirit."

Quatre, Duo, Trowa, and Heero, that's who he'd just described. "Sage, you said you knew where you are. Where are you?"

Sage blinked and looked at Rowen, his expression serene, "In a hospital, on the North American Continent, roughly about 247 years after the date I originally expired on November 12, 1989."

Rowen choked, and Cye tripped over his own feet. After getting over themselves, "Wha...what..how?" Rowen sat down in a chair, away from his lover staring at him oddly, as was Cye. Sage's knowledge of what he'd never been told was always uncanny. "You said you could hear us when we talked to you. Did someone tell you what happened?"

Sage moved to the window, pressing a hand against the pane as he stared out into the night, marveling at the fullness of the moon. The moonlight set him aglow with an ethereal fire that made Rowen shudder with passion at his beauty, and Cye feel chills at the spookiness of the situation. "Sage?"

"Yes, someone told me what happened."

"I bet it was Duo, he's the one that talks a mile a minute, with the funny aura," Cye said, sounding a bit relieved. Of course Sage learned about their situation via one of them, the boy was not that creepy, he just looked it at times.

"No."

Cye's eyes widened, "No? But then who, one of the others?"

"No, not one of you. I didn't need one of you to tell me what has been going on. I knew long before any of you did. You see, all those years after we were reborn, after our lives were hung in suspended animation....when you were all sleeping, I wasn't. At least, not in the way you all were, you got to rest."

"Sage?"

"There's no rest for the weary," he turned so they could see the clean cut of his profile, "you see...my mind is never really at rest, and in that state of frozen sleep, I was left the most vulnerable. The Ancients spoke to me a lot, Anubis, Kayura, the Old One. They wanted one of us to know our future, our new destiny."

"And of course they would choose you," Cye said. "So you know about Mia's project, and how it was a failure scientifically?"

Sage nodded, "Silly girl... she should have known the Ancients had something up their sleeves. All she did was interfere. She collected our essences when she collected our hair, and blood.. The embryos she created were enough to keep the magic of the armors from passing on to the next warriors, and when she put us in suspended animation, she doomed the world to darkness until we reawakened."

"There have been many wars since we've been gone, our benefactors fought in the more recent ones. The armors are calling to us, whatever it is we're supposed to be fighting is coming."

"It's not coming," Sage said quietly.

"What do you mean it's not coming?" Rowen asked.

"It's here...it's always been here, for over 200 hundred years it's reigned. Wars fought, and blood spilled over jealousy, greed, power, deception... Every generation Fate saw to it that 5 were born to uphold the balance, 5 that could rightfully bear the Ronin armors...if we still weren't keeping them in retainer. This generation there seemed to be an upset. The other generations were only able to keep the balance, this generation seems to have put a halt to Its plans. There have been no real wars for over a year, human nature seems a little kinder. Its so hungry, and something horrible is going to happen... The 5 that stopped It... the 5 who would bear our armors and kanjis...Its been trying to get rid of them, and It's almost succeeded a number of times. They need us, It's why we were discovered now, why we woke up now. This is it. We use them, and together either we save the world, or it all ends." The blond finished his prophecy with a small shiver.

"Oh...my..." was all Cye could choke out, which was far more eloquent than Rowen's, "Shit."

"For ...you've been aware for 200 years? You've been listening to prophecies, and feeling...that horrible thing for that long..." Cye was on his feet moving toward the blond, who stood stiff and straight never turning to face either of them. He placed both hands on Sage's shoulders, feeling them tremble in his grasp, "You weren't ready to wake up yet were you? When we were released, your level of awareness decreased, and the Ancients and the Evil left you alone, didn't they? You were finally getting some rest here, trying to ignore us, and shut out our voices."

Sage nodded as Cye spoke, resting his head against the glass as Cye massaged his shoulders. "I'm sorry we were so loud Sage," he rested his head on the blond's left shoulder, peering up at his face. "Do you forgive us?"

He didn't relent until a corner of Sage's lips turned upwards, "You weren't so loud Cye...it was those other two. I thought they were going to kill each other."

"Yeah, I thought so too, but Kento and I were on our way. You could have slept a little longer."

Sage shook his head, "You guys are hopeless without me, besides... I missed Rowen."

Rowen smirked from the chair he was sitting in, "Love the way you can pour on the gloom and doom, and then turn right around and make a guy feel special."

"Yeah well, what can I say, I got skill," he ran a hand through his long hair, and frowned, "and I need a hair cut."

"I knew you were gonna say that," Cye remarked, "you and Kento both."

"You're going to keep all that?"

"Yes, I think it makes me look dashing...gives me an air of mystery. Don't you think?" Cye whirled around in a circle so Sage could study him.

One blond eyebrow raised, "The look does suit you, Cye, but I'm not too sure about the air of mystery. Your face has too much of an open, honest, appeal."

"Hey! I can look closed and deceptive if I want to!" Cye tried his hardest to look insulted but couldn't quite pull it off, he pulled Sage to him in a hug from behind, "I'm glad you realized we need you, Sage."

"Mmmhmm..."

"Not to fight, not to keep us from killing each other, but to make us complete."

"And you're going to tell me there are some people I just have to meet, huh?"

Cye laughed, "No, because I know you already know...and I bet you know these people are the five you've been telling us about."

Sage nodded, "Of course I do, why else would I sleep so long, if I didn't know the ones we're to join and fight with were right under our noses."

"Fight with? Oh Sage, we came to an agreement that we don't want them to fight," Cye said softly, and Sage frowned. "Your agreement holds no potency with the Powers That Be."

"But...but they have no armor, how are they to protect themselves against the enemy."

"They won't need any," Sage sighed, "the enemy is not a corporeal form at all, it's the wickedness of human nature itself. There will be another war, and we will have to wait and see what body the enemy will choose to possess for battle."

"Meaning?"

"The enemy could be a single person, a country..." Sage shrugged, "anything, really."

"And how close is It to finishing Its preparations for battle?"

"Oh my friends, it had already began. We're just waiting for the signal."

Cye's stomach fell to the floor, and Rowen turned cold the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, "Oh my..."

"Shit."

"And what do we do in the mean time...besides wait I mean? We get our armors, I know, we..we train? We tell people?"

"We live."

"What?"

"We make up for lost time. We died too young then, and we still might die too young now. Why waste our second chance to be kids again? We're ready for this fight, as ready as we can be. I can't tell you when It'll strike, but I can tell you that It wants us to be miserable, wants us to feed It our anxiety and fear... It wants us to freight and dwell on It. I say we don't oblige It, I say we get acquainted with our new world as if we plan to live here...which we do."

"But...I don't know if I can, not knowing that the world may end this time, and that decision rests on my very head..."

"We've got more people to help us this time."

"But they have no armor, no real insurance of protection..."

"If we fail, then they shall."

"Oh gods..."

"You're feeding It, Cye."

"Let him eat then..." Cye chewed his nails, and looked at Rowen who remained as calm as his counterpart. "Gods...do we tell Quatre and the others?"

"I see no reason why we shouldn't...after they see the armors of course," Rowen said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "So our theory was right about those 5 being compatible to our armors, and that it was no coincidence they were the ones who found us. Fascinating!"

Cye rolled his eyes, "Oh really, of all the people to be stuck in a room with when you get the most nerve wracking news of your life..lives! This is just wonderful, simply wonderful. I never wanted to be a hero..."

He ignored Rowen's mean spirited chuckle, concentrating on Sage, who was now leaning against his chest, suddenly becoming very heavy. "Sage? Are you alright?"

"I don't know," he whispered.

"Lets get you onto my bed ok, you're probably just tired," Cye made his voice as gentle as possible, trying to calm not only himself, but Rowen who had jumped up from his seat and was at Sage's side immediately taking hold of his arms.

The blond curled up like a kitten on Cye's neatly made bed, and Rowen crept into the bed beside him, wrapping his arms around the boy's waist, and curling around his shivering frame. Cye bit his lip, "I'll get Dr. Po, she should look at him."

"Do you mind if the doctor checks you out, Dreamer?" Sage's grey eyes were closed, but he shook his head, murmuring that he didn't care at all. Rowen kissed his hair, hearing the door latch as Cye left the room. "This won't be much of a romantic reunion if you fall asleep before the first kiss, Juliette," Rowen teased lightly, causing Sage's eyes to open a crack, and his lips to turn upward, "I thought you said the next time, YOU would be Juliette." The warm pink lips searched for Rowen's, not stopping until they made contact with the object of their affection.

"Well then Romeo," Rowen growled, his voice rough with lust, "tell me how beautiful I am, and all of the wonderful things you want to do to me."

"Lie still Juliette, and I'll show you. Two hundred years is a very long time to wait for someone..."

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

Kento didn't knock before entering the room. Sally Po sat in a chair chatting with Ryo, her face full of sympathy. "Hey Doc, long time no see, huh?"

"It's only been 3 hours Kento," Sally said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Great, I feel refreshed and ready to run 10 laps and do some sit ups," Kento said confidently, he looked to Ryo sitting on Sage's empty bed. He looked so broken that it broke Kento's heart to remember that he'd come in there to yell at him. "Hey Ryo."

"Is he ok?"

"Sage?"

"Yes."

"He's fine, he's with..."

"Rowen," Ryo sighed. "I know. I..."

"Boys, let me leave you alone, ok?" Sally stood up, "I can tell it's time for some serious boy talk, and your blond friend needs to get his check up. Could you kindly directly me to where they went?"

"Knowing Rowen, he'd want to go to his room, but since Cye was also out there...they are in Cye's room. Bet Mama Cye took one look at the way Blondie was flashing his natural lily white ass, and wrapped him in a swaddling cloth and carried him to his room," Kento chuckled. Sage's bare butt hadn't even been an issue before he'd stormed down there, now it was damn funny. He waved to Sally as she left and looked back to Ryo's sad demeanor. "Great woman, that Sally. I just met her, and she already feels like family. You like her Ryo?"

Ryo blinked, a tear falling from his eye, "Hmm...oh Sally? Sure, I like her lots, she's been really nice, everyone has."

"I think we're gonna get along great in this life time, hell we might even have more fun. I bet there's tons of stuff we could get into! Night clubs, juice bars, VIP parties..."

"Kento, we're still minors."

"But our sponsors kick ass for a major league corporation, I bet they can have anything they want. Did you see all that stuff they bought for Cye and Rowen just for today, not to mention all the stuff in my room and everyone else's combined. These guys are bankin.'"

"Cye told me Quatre is very wealthy," Ryo supplied, and Kento nodded, "He talks like he comes from money."

"He looks it too, so innocent and fresh, and so sweet."

"Cye's got a mad crush on him."

"He does?"

"Oh yeah, he blushes whenever he comes close...but Cye says he's with Trowa."

"Oh..you know, now that I think about it, I think they're together too. They always stand so close."

"Yeah... they're cute, huh?"

"I think so, yeah."

"How about Heero and Duo? Think they fit together? They are really a funny pair, I never would have imagined they'd be an item."

"Stranger things have happened."

"Yeah...like us, being brought back from the grave...well we never really got graves, did we? But you know what I mean, old pal," Kento joined Ryo on the bed, putting an arm around him and pulling him close. "Us being back is strange, Rowen and Sage being together is the only normal about us in this situation, man. Those two were made for each other."

Ryo tried to push away from Kento, but Kento held him tighter, "Listen to me, man, those two are in love. They've been moving toward each other since they first met, Cye and I saw, and I know you had to have seen it too. It was all there...we just can't understand HOW they waited so long. Rowen practically had Sage's family's permission to court their son, you know they loved him like a surrogate son. Sage's mom was a cool lady, she knew her son was different, and she all but gave Rowen her blessings to go ahead. If there was ever any reason for you to believe Sage might have some romantic feelings toward you, put it aside man. He's Rowen's...for life, they're linked those two. Ain't nothing severing that rope holding them together, not even those twin swords of fervor of yours. Get over it man, all you're doing is distancing yourself from Rowen, and you know Sage and Cye are going to take his side."

"And you?"

"Ryo, you trying to mess up something really beautiful, man. Leave em' alone," Kento patted Ryo's back and stood to leave, but before he could go he had to look into Ryo's teary blue eyes one last time to make his point clear, "Let them be happy for as long as they can, because only the gods know what the Fates have in store for us."

He left Ryo alone on Sage's bed to curl up for the night, not fearing that Sage would return to find his bed occupied. He would be sleeping with Rowen, as he always had when they lived together...as they always would, if Kento had anything to say about it. "Good night Ryo, think about what I said, man. I know you'll do the right thing."

Good night Kento.

*Of course you'll do the right thing.*

The right thing for me.

*Why should only Rowen be happy?*

He doesn't deserve it.

*He doesn't deserve him.*

No.

*But you do.*

That's right.

*Good night Kento.*

Be sure that I'll do the right thing.

**Author's Note: Hmm, wonder what that right thing will be? Muhahahahha!! This is really too much fun. Well tell me what you think, hated it, loved it, didn't care for it, I'd love to know :) Take care, and thanks for reading!