The Armors Unite

by Destiny and Fate 4ever

The Sailor Scouts gain new allies (and perhaps some new love interests?) as they enter a fight against a new evil. Book two of seven of the Universal Warriors, Crossover with The Ronin Warriors. Completed!

3. The Training Begins

-July 7, 1998-

Cye sat up wearily in his bed, looking around for a confused moment.  Where am I?  When he felt how sore his body was, memories of the day before came flooding in.  Memories of the trip over, memories of the fight the day before, memories of Mina… She is one gorgeous girl, if I ever saw one.  She's sweet, from what I've seen of her.  

A rumbling in his stomach summoned him out of bed.  He got out of bed and rubbing one of his eyes, opened his door and walked out into the hallway.  When he shut his door behind him, he found the other guys just opening their door.  Sage, who was standing directly across from Cye, said, "I feel as if I haven't fought in years.  You guys?"  The others gave half-hearted signs of agreement and stretched.  Ryo yawned, which caused everyone else to yawn as well.  "Damn you Ryo," Kento said, "You know yawns are contagious.  Why couldn't you yawn elsewhere?" 

"Sorry, it was all of the sudden." Ryo said, not really feeling all that sorry.  Suddenly, Kento perked up and started sniffing the air.  Cye looked at Kento and put a worried hand on his shoulder, trying to shake him out of his daze.  "Kento, buddy, what is it?"

"I smell food," Kento said pointedly.  Rowen chuckled and shook his head.  "Kento, you could smell food if it were a mile away," he said laughing.  Kento held up a hand to stop any further talk and said, "It's-it's-it's French toast, pancakes, bacon, and rolls.  Come on guys, let's move it!"  Kento started down the hallway and gestured for the others to follow.  Ryo looked at the rest of the group and shrugged.  Sighing, he too started down the hall, the others following. 

When they got downstairs, Sage said, "Now it's just a matter of finding the kitchen in this place."  Kento face lit up like a little kid on Christmas and said, "Just follow me and let my nose and stomach be the guides."  The entire group, including Kento, burst out laughing, knowing all too well that Kento's stomach and nose could guide them to food if it was buried under a mountain. 

After a few twists and turns, they finally found their way down to the kitchen.  Kento eagerly pushed opened the swinging doors and stopped at the sight of platters and platters of food that littered the counter.  The other guys shoved Kento into the kitchen and pushed their way into the kitchen, where they all stopped to gawk at the food.

Standing not two feet away from them, but out of their line of sight, was Lita facing the counter, busy finishing up a set of pancakes.  She looked at all of them and smiled appreciatively, for they weren't wearing any shirts, and said, "Well hello and how are we this morning?" slightly scaring the guys who hadn't seen her standing there.  Kento just looked at the food and answered in awe, "Just fine if you give us some food."  Lita laughed lightly and said, "Well then, you better get your butts out to the table.  No one eats until everyone's seated at the table."  The guys, except for Kento, rushed out to the table.  Kento just stood there, watching Lita as she methodically turned over pancakes one by one.  Overwhelmed by all the food, just waiting to be consumed, he breathed out, "Did you make all this food by yourself?"

"Sure did, bucko."

"Wow.  I didn't think that anyone could make more food then Cye can."

"How many people does Cye cook for?"

"Six."

"I cook for 9, sometimes 10 and now I'm cooking for 15.  I've learned to cook in large quantities."  She scooped the pancakes onto an almost full platter and turned off the stove.  Putting the spatula down, she rubbed her hands on her legs and picked up two of the platters, which were obviously too much for her to carry.  "Oh, here, let me help you." 

Kento rushed to take one of the platters from her hands and when he did, his fingertips brushed up against hers, causing her to blush and almost drop the other platter.  Kento froze when their fingers touched and looked up at her.  She was looking away with her cheeks colored a light pink and when she looked at him, green met blue and she too was frozen into place, but it was because she couldn't pull herself away from his eyes.  He looked away first and cleared his throat.  "I'll just, um, take, um, these out," Kento said before walking out of the kitchen, leaving a breathless Lita behind in his wake.

***
When the guys walked out into the kitchen, the girls barely even spared a glance for them.  They were too wrapped up in their own conversation.  Celia was sitting at the head of the table and the girls were sitting in a row on one side of the table.  Next to Celia was Heather, then Michelle, Alex, Serena, Mia, Raye, Amy, and Mina, leaving a space for Lita at the end. 

The guys moved to sit down and ended up, as if drawn by an inevitable force, sitting across from the girl that they liked.  Ryo was sitting across from Mia, Sage across from Raye, Rowen across from Ami, and Cye across from Mina.  While they were wrapped up in their own quiet conversation, Raye, Ami, and Mina were stealing glances at the bare-chested guys sitting across from them.  Ami gave Rowen a quick up-and-down look, so quickly that he missed it and leaned over to Raye.  Whispering into her ear, Ami said, "It's going to be hard sitting across from Rowen this morning with him shirtless.  I'll be lucky if I even eat a bite, I'll be staring so much."

"I know exactly how you feel," Raye said dreamily, looking at Sage, who was oblivious to what was going on around him.  Mina leaned over and said quietly, "What are we whispering about?"  Ami looked at her and whispered, "Shirtless guys and how sexy they are."  Mina looked at Cye and turned back to the other two, waggling her eyebrows, smiling coyly.  "Sexy is definitely an understatement," she drawled out.  Rowen leaned over across the table and said, "What are you talking about?" 

In a synchronized movement, the girls leaned on their elbows, looked the guys up and down, and said, "Nothing," each with an eyebrow raised.  The three guys looked down at their shirtless forms and turned a light pink.  Ryo, who'd been watching the exchange, chuckled at the sight of the guys' light pink faces.  Sage turned to Ryo and hit him on the arm none too lightly.  Ryo immediately stopped laughing and said, "Hey, what was that for?"

"For laughing at me."

"What, it was funny!  I've never seen you blush before, Sage.  It's a very good look for you."

"You're dead," Sage threatened.

"Oh-no," Ryo said mockingly, "Are you going to hurt me?"

"Maybe later."

"I'd like to see you try."

"You're on."  The argument stopped when Kento came bursting into the dining room, with a platter full of pancakes in his hands.  Ryo and Sage looked at each other with raised eyebrows and Rowen said, "Hey Kento, I didn't know you were our waiter."

"Shut up, Rowen," Kento barked out, "I'm helping Lita out."

"You're helping a girl?  You must be really gone over her," Cye said right before Lita walked into the room.  Kento looked at Cye with murder in his eyes if Cye repeat what he just said and walked back into the kitchen to get more food.  After all the food had been set down on the table, Lita and Kento sat themselves down and everyone started serving themselves.  "Wow Lita, did you make all this food?" Ryo asked.

"Yup, every bite.  Now eat up, you'll need the energy for training this morning."  The guys looked up from serving themselves and said, "What?"

"Oops," Mina said meekly, "I guess we forgot to tell you."

"We're having a training session after breakfast this morning," Serena said, "So be down in the training room at 10:00 sharp."

"Yeah," Raye said, "We don't want to miss seeing you guys fight.  We've been waiting to meet you guys for two years and we don't want to miss out now," she said, looking directly at Sage.  Sage smiled at her and started to eat along with everyone else and the rest of breakfast was basically silent.

***

The guys were sitting on the couch, waiting for the girls to finish upstairs.  The girls had complained that they needed showers, so they put off training for an hour so they could clean up.  The guys were all silent, deep in their own thoughts.  Sage was sprawled out on the couch, his feet resting on Rowen's legs, who was twiddling his thumbs.  Ryo was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch with his head laid back.  Cye and Kento sat on the other couch, sitting back to back, leaning against each other.  Sage sighed and said, "What do you guys think about us being kings?"  Ryo turned his head to look at Sage and said, "I think it's pretty cool."

"Yeah," Cye said, "I just wish I could get my memories back of that time.  It would be nice to have them."

"Yeah, but how do we know we can trust those girls?" Rowen said.

"Do you trust Ami?" Kento said slyly.  Rowen's only response was that he turned bright pink.  Cye looked at him and a wide grin split his face.  "I knew it!  You do like her!" Cye exclaimed.

"Of course I like her!" Rowen fought back.  "She's exactly like me, even down to the hair color.  How many people do you think I am going to meet that is as much like me as she is?"  Nobody had the time to agree when Mina came strolling down the hallway, towel drying her hair, wearing nothing but a towel and sopping wet from her shower. 

All the guys turned to see who it was and all blushed, Cye most of all.  Stopping, she gave a start and smiled.  "Oh, hello.  I'm sorry if I interrupted you.  I used one of the bathrooms down here since everyone was taking such a long time upstairs.  I'll give these towels back when I'm finished with them."  She was suddenly aware that everyone was staring at her and she too turned a light pink from embarrassment at being started at, not from being in a towel.  She was used to wearing clothes that barely covered everything when she modeled back in England.  Giggling, she turned and walked up the stairs, gliding past the guys.  Only Cye watched her until she was out of sight and when he turned back to the group, he found that everyone else was smiling at him.  "What?" he cried, still bright pink.

"You like her, you like her!" all of the guys exclaimed at once. 

"Does Rowen like Ami?" Cye shot back.  Rowen turned a light shade of pink as Kento started laughing.  Rowen turned to Kento and said in a low voice, "Shut up, Kento.  What about you and Lita, hmm?  I know you like her."

"I do not!" Kento whined.

"Ah, young love in denial," Sage mused.

"Be quiet, Sage," Kento yelled, "I saw YOU drooling over Miss Priestess."  Sage, like Rowen, had been caught red-handed and also turned light pink.  All of the guys turned to Ryo, who was on the couch laughing and said, "Hey, you like Mia, so shut up!"  Ryo immediately stopped laughing and said, "I know, I just don't know what to do about it."  The rest of the guys shut up and gave a nod of recognition at the problem that plagued Ryo because they had the same problem with the girls that they liked.  The group was silent again. 

5 minutes later, the girls, minus Mia, came down the stairs in their skintight sub-armor.  Well, at least the guys noticed that it was skintight, anyways.  "You ready to go?" Serena said enthusiastically.  "Sure am," Ryo said before transforming into his sub-armor.  The rest followed suit and looked at Serena in acknowledgement.  "Are you sure you're ready?" Serena said, hinting that they were up for a "fun" time.  The guys looked at each other and said simultaneously, "As ready as I'll ever be."  Serena smiled slightly and said, "Good," before bouncing down the stairs, leaving the other girls behind to shake their heads at the guys.  "What?" Sage asked, "Why are you shaking your heads at us?"

"You should have never said that," Mina said warningly.

 "Why?"

"Because Serena lives to make people eat their words, so to speak," Raye said, "And she'll have you feeling every muscle by the end of this afternoon.  Just pray she goes easy on you."  With that, the girls took off downstairs, the guys following and praying that they were ready for whatever Serena threw their way. 

***
Mia, who was sitting on one of the couches on the second floor family room, looked up to see the Ronin Warriors walking up the stairs at literally a snail's pace.  As they climbed the stairs, they gave sounds of pain and weariness.  Eventually, they made it to the couch and collapsed.  "Aww, did you guys play a little too rough?" Mia teased them, laughing lightly at their situation.  "Shut up Mia," came the unanimous reply as the guys shifted their sitting positions. 

Rowen slowly lifted a hand and pushed his sweaty hair off of his forehead.  "'Know what I'm going to do?  I'm going to take a long shower and then go find the library and immerse myself in a book and never come out until I'm not tired."  Reluctantly, he got up and walked in the direction of one of the bathrooms.  The guys heard a door shut and click and then Cye said, "I'm not even going to shower.  I'm just going to go to the lake and soak myself in it and get powered back up."
"I wish I could do that," Sage said, "but I'm going to shower and then find somewhere to meditate."

"Well, I'm hungry," Kento said.

"You're always hungry," Mia said with laughter in her voice.

"Yeah, well after I get cleaned up, I'm going to head down to the kitchen and find something to eat."

"And what about you Ryo?" Sage asked, but when he turned to Ryo, he found that Ryo lying on the couch next to where Mia was sitting, asleep.  "I guess he's going to sleep," Mia said, not really minding that he had chosen to fall asleep right next to her.  The other guys stood up, muttering something about leaving, and went their separate directions. 

***
Ami briskly walked down a long corridor to Mina's art studio, which was right by the library, consequently.  She really needed someone to talk to about Rowen.  She'd only known him for a day and already, she really liked him.  In fact, she liked him so much that she couldn't get him out of her head.  She kept seeing him, standing in front of her when they'd first met the day before.  The look in his eyes as he looked at her was filled with awe and reverence.  Ami had truly never felt more special than she did when he looked at her. 

The other image that she kept seeing was his face hovering not 2 inches over hers during training that morning.  They had been sparring and he tripped her, hoping that would be the winning move, but she pulled him down with her and he landed on top of her.  Ami could swear that she felt the tension surround them like an electrical current.  She shook her head to try to clear it of thoughts of Rowen, but it was another try-and-fail attempt. 

She pushed open the door to Mina's art studio and found Mina packing up a canvas and some paints into a satchel.  "Hey Mina, where are you going?"  Mina looked up wide-eyed and said, "I was going to go paint outside.  In fact, I was thinking about doing another picture of the lake."

"Another picture of the lake?  You've done so many, though," Ami said, thinking about the various paintings of the lake that had been spread throughout the house.  In fact, there was one in her room

"Yeah, I know, but I like to paint it.  Anyway, what brings you down to this neck of the woods?"

"I need your advice."

"Do tell.  Advice on what?"

"I need to figure out how to get someone out of my head."

"That someone wouldn't happen to be Rowen, would it?"  Ami cursed under her breath.  "You know me too well, Mina."

"Well, I've only been living with you in this house for a little over a year, Ami, I think I should know your personality quirks.  Plus, I've cracked your code.  You can't get anything past me.  But, so you wanna get Rowen out of your head?"

"God, yes.  I mean, I really like him, but he has taken complete control of my thoughts.  It's like a CD with a scratch.  It can never get past that one part, no matter how hard it tries.  Well, that's my problem.  If my brain's a CD, then Rowen's the scratch."  Ami thought about that for a moment and crinkled her nose.

"That sounded awful.  I made him look like the enemy."

"Ami, I know you didn't mean it in a bad way.  Have you tried reading?"

"No…"

"Well, then go to the library and pick out a book and get lost in it.  It usually works for you.  I don't see why this is any different."  Her resolve built up, Ami said, "It's not any different.  In fact, that's what I'm going to do right now.  Have fun painting, Mina."

"Will do.  Have fun reading."  Ami tossed Mina a smile over her shoulder.  "You know I always do," Ami said coyly.  She strolled down to the library, her spirits already feeling calmed down with the solution she had planned out.  Read a book and forget about Rowen.  She pushed open the double doors to the library and she felt like a little kid on Christmas in a large room filled with books.  The room was big enough to be a large gym and Amy couldn't get enough of it.  She looked around at the bookshelves and then to the tables, armchairs, and couches that littered the library floor. 

She thought that this place looked classic with its large fireplaces with comfy armchairs or large, luxurious couches spanned in front of them.  She walked over to the large stepladder that she had made specifically for this room and wheeled it over to the shelf by the door.  Climbing to the top, she stood on her toes to see the top shelf and started to look through her choice of titles and subjects to find a book that would meet her wants.  Although she was concentrated on the titles, her mind still kept coming back to Rowen.  "Come on, you know you like him," a voice inside her head stated.

Maybe I do, She thought.

"No maybe about it.  You really like him."

Do not.

"Do too."
Do not.

"Do too."

Do not.

"You know, I won't shut up until you admit that you really like him."  Ami sighed.  Fine, you got me.  I really like him.  Happy?

"Very," the voice said, satisfied.  Ami was so lost in the conversation with the voice in her mind that she didn't hear a person walk into the library.  "Hello," came a voice, loud and clear.  She was startled by the person's greeting, not hearing the person enter the library in the first place, and her precarious balance atop of the ladder was lost and with a small scream, she toppled off of the ladder and prepared to hit the floor.

***
After showering and dressing, Rowen patiently made his way down to the library, getting lost along the way.  After a few twists and turns, he realized that without the help of someone who knew the house well, that he wasn't going to find the library.  He found Heather, watering the plants that adorned one of the many hallways and approached her.  "Hey Heather, where's the library?"  She looked up at him and said, "Down at the end of this hall, turn left, and it's the last door on the right.  You can't miss it.  It's the only room on that hallway with a pair of double doors."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Heather said before turning back to watering the plants.  Rowen took his time in walking down the hall to the library, his thoughts dominated by Ami.  She is stunning, inside and out.  She's eloquent, vivacious, intelligent, and absolutely beautiful.  And, God, she's strong.  When we were sparring, I wasn't so sure I could beat her and I didn't.  It was a draw.  And when I fell on top of her…the look in her eyes was absolutely priceless.  The shock, the surprise, I saw everything in her eyes and I didn't want to move.

He found the doors that Heather was talking about wide open, so he figured it was ok to enter the library.  He got two steps in when he stopped in awe and his jaw dropped.  The room was huge!  He swore that it was the size of a large gym, if not bigger than that.  His eyes scanned row upon rows of bookshelves, holding books that just begged to be read.  With any luck, we won't ever leave here and I'll be able to bury myself completely in this room.

He found a stepladder not 10 feet away from him and his eyes quickly shifted to see the top of the 40-foot ladder.  Someone was perched upon it and Rowen knew right away that is was Ami, judging from the hair color of the person that he saw.  Smirking and not believing his incredible luck, he called out, "Hello."  She obviously hadn't heard him come in and his words startled her.  She lost her balance and letting out a small scream, fell off the top of the ladder.  "Oh shit!" Rowen cried out as he moved to catch her. 

Her whole body was tensed up, ready to hit the ground, but when she felt the pair of warm arms encircle her, she opened her eyes slowly and looked to her left to find Rowen looking at her, worriedly and guiltily.  "You ok?" he said cautiously.  He felt really bad about making her fall and realized that if he hadn't had been any closer, she would have hit the ground hard and at least really hurt herself, if not died. 

He slowly set her down, but her arms wrapped themselves around his neck involuntarily, unconsciously looking for human contact.  He could feel her shaking as she stood next to him.  She had her head bent and he put his finger under her chin and tipped it up, looking down into her face.  "Are you going to be alright?" he asked, now more worried than ever.  She nodded as a couple of tears escaped from her eyes.  "Don't cry.  It's going to be alright."  He wiped away the tears with his thumbs and closed his arms around her, pulling her close, feeling the shaking subside.  She hugged him tight and he rested his chin on her shoulder, right where her neck met her shoulder, and allowed her scent to fill his lungs.  She smelled like lavender and peach.  A weird combination, but for her, it fits.  Ami held on tight and tried to get her breathing calmed down.  If Rowen hadn't been close enough to catch her, she probably would have died and that thought alone scared her more then she would like to admit.  She was thankful for the human contact, knowing that it was a sure sign that she was really alive. 

She felt Rowen's warm body pressed up against her and she felt herself calming down, but her heart was still pounding.  And it wasn't all from the fall.  He had that affect on her.  She felt really at ease with him, but at the same time, being close to him was enough to send her senses on a trip.  They stayed like that for a few moments, until Ami's hold on his neck loosened and she whispered in his ear, "Thank you." Pulling away from her, immediately missing having her so close, he said, "No problem, I'm just glad you're ok."

"Yeah, well that's what I get for standing on top of the ladder like that.  I should know not to do it, but I still do it anyways." 

Moving slowly over to the couch, she sat down.  Rowen followed her example and took the seat next to her.  "No, actually, it's not your fault.  I was the one who startled you and made you fall."  She smiled warmly at him and said, "No, I've been told not to stand on the ladder like that.  It's what I get for not listening."  A silence hovered over the two.  Rowen sighed and said, "So, I hear you're always down here."

"Um, yes.  This is my favorite room.  My friends have a hard time dragging me out of here."

"Yeah, I can relate.  My friends have a hard time getting me to leave a bookstore.  So, why do you love libraries so much?"

"Partially because they remind me of my mother.  She always used to take me to the library when I was little."

"You said 'remind you of your mother'.  Did something happen to your mother?"  Ami sucked in a deep breath and let it out shakily.  "Oh, a year ago, my mother was killed by the hands of a youma.  Serena, Raye, Mina, and I got called out to fight another youma, but it turned out that it was just a distraction brought on by Queen Beryl so she could kill our parents."  Tears started to trickle down Ami's face at the memory of her mother's death.  "When I found my mother, I could barely recognize her.  The youma had burned her so badly that I couldn't recognize her face." 

Ami couldn't believe that she was telling Rowen, a person she barely knew, things that she hadn't told anyone, besides the Mystical Warriors.  Ami pulled a chain out of under her shirt and held the two rings that were hung on the chain between her thumb and forefinger.  "This is all that I have left of my mother.  I found it in my safety deposit box.  She told me that she wanted me to have these."

"What are they?" Rowen asked, his heart clenching every time a tear rolled down her face. 

"They're my parents' wedding rings.  She put them in a box with a note, saying that she wanted me to have them for when I got married."  Her hand closed around the rings and her face crumpled into tears.  "I miss my mother so much, Rowen.  I want her back."  Rowen pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him as her body was overcome by heart-wrenching sobs.  "It'll be alright, Ami, I promise.  You'll grow up, fall in love, and live happily ever after, wearing your mother's wedding ring," he whispered into her hair, "I swear it."

***
Mina drew in a deep breath as she made the short walk to the lake.  She looked around and marveled in the beauty of the forest around her; it never failed to amaze her.  She climbed over a small hill and found the lake, serene and sparkling in the sun.  Smiling at its beauty, she walked over to her small art shed that she had built out by the dock the past summer.  As she unlocked the shed, she thought about how much she had gotten into the whole art thing. 

After they all had beat Beryl, Mina had dove into the art scheme head on.  When she was younger, she liked to dab in the area of art, but she really got into it in the last year.  So much, in fact, that she begged for an art studio to be built along with Ami's library.  It was now her favorite room.  She couldn't remember a time when her fingers were void of any residue from an art supply that she had just used. 

She walked into the shed and took out a stand and a stool.  Placing both where she wanted them to be to paint the angle that she wanted, she went and got her satchel.  She sat on the stool and opened her satchel and took out her paints and a canvas.  She put the canvas on the stand and set up her paints.  She dipped her finger in the blue and began to paint the outline of the lake with her finger.  Her friends thought that she was funny because she preferred to use her fingers instead of a brush to do her paintings, but Mina didn't find it weird at all.  She felt that by using her fingers, she had more physical contact with the painting, therefore, pouring more emotion into it and she only used a brush when she needed to do more detailed work.  From what she had seen of her artwork, she thought she was right. 

She looked up from the canvas to look at the lake and all its splendid glory.  That lake is so beautiful.  So calm, so peaceful.  It reminds me of Cye… no, stop.  That's why you came down here, remember?  To get Cye out of your head.  So, do that.  Paint.  She shook her head of all thoughts related to Cye and continued to paint. 

She was working peacefully for about five minutes when a bird landed on the top of her canvas and startled her.  She smiled as the bird stared straight down at her and chirped lightly.  Mina giggled as her heart calmed down and said, "Hello, there.  And how are we today?"  The bird chirped its response and Mina smiled.  She held out her finger and cooed softly.  "Come here little one, I won't hurt you."  The bird started flapping its wings frantically as Mina moved her finger slowly towards it and right before her finger touched its feet, the bird flew away. 

Mina sighed and said, "Oh well, maybe next time."  She shrugged and began to hum a random tune.  She was working peacefully but stopped when she heard the rustling of leaves behind her.  She slowly and cautiously turned around to see the person she was trying to get out of her head standing there behind her.

***
Cye headed straight out of the house after the impromptu meeting with the guys upstairs and began to search for the lake, but he found himself getting lost.  When he found that he had been at this one place a couple times before, he stopped and tried to feel the power of the water, using his armor's power to find it.  He could feel it to his left and he turned to walk to the source of the power, following the hum of the water all the way.  The low, throbbing hum of the water's power became as intense as it was going to get and when he peered beyond the bushes to see the lake, he found something else. 

Or rather, someone else.  His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Mina.  She was breath-takingly gorgeous, sitting underneath a grove of tall trees.  The rays of sunlight that poked through the tree branches shined off her hair, making her glow slightly.  She was painting something with her fingers and from what Cye could see it was something blue, almost the color of the water in front of her.  It wasn't Mina that had him so captivated, although just looking at her could do it; it was the look on her face. 

She was looking at the canvas like it was a coveted object, like nothing else in the world mattered.  Her face was full of happiness and laughter and Cye found himself wishing that she would look at him like that.  She was startled when a bird landed on the top of her canvas and chirped at her.  "Hello, there.  And how are we today?" Mina asked the bird, a hint of a laugh in her voice.  The bird chirped back and Mina raised her hand, holding her finger out.  "Come here little one, I won't hurt you."  The bird flew off, leaving a bewildered Mina behind.  She sighed and said, "Oh, well, maybe next time."   She shrugged and turned back to her painting, humming something that Cye couldn't identify.  Cye just stood behind her, unnoticed, taking in the sight of her.  She was like a drug to him and he was addicted.  He couldn't get enough of her and he'd only known her for a day. 

He shifted the weight of his body to relieve some pressure that was building up in his leg and in doing so, he caused the leaves to rustle, making a noise that caused Mina to stop painting and her back go stiff.  She slowly turned around to see what was behind her and the confused look on her face turned into a smile as she saw Cye standing there.  Is she always this happy?   Cye wondered.  She swiveled on her stool and said, "Hey Cye, how's it going?"

"Oh, ok I guess," he said, stepping out of the bushes, "What about you?  What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm painting a picture."  Cye looked down at her fingers and said, "With your hands?"

"I don't like to paint with a paintbrush.  It's much more fun with your fingers."

"I'll have to take your word for that."  Mina smiled at him again and said, "What are you doing down here?"

"Oh, I came down to the lake to power up."

"Power up?"

"Yeah, when I'm exhausted or I'm tired after a battle, all I have to do is find a water source and immerse myself in it.  It powers up my armor, seeing how as I wear the Torrent armor."

"Ah, interesting.  I wish I could do that," Mina said ruefully.

"Why, where could you go to power up your armor?"

"Me?  The place where my armor was created."

"And where was that?"

"Venus."

"Venus.  You mean, like the planet?"

"Yep."

"That's pretty cool."  Mina inspected Cye for a moment and said, "You're from England, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am.  You noticed the accent, I see."

"Sure did."

"Ever been there before?" Cye asked.

"That I have.  I lived there for a couple of years.  Did you ever hear of Sailor V?"

"Yeah, I was so in love with her a couple of years ago.  Why?"

"Because that's me."

"You're Sailor V?"

"In the flesh."

"Wow, I didn't ever think I would ever meet you."

"Well, now you have."

"I know, totally unexpected."  Cye stretched and said, "Well, I better go soak myself."

"Mind if I come along to keep you company?"

"No, not at all."  They walked over to the dock and Mina sat down as Cye jumped into the water.  He stayed under for a few seconds before rising to the surface.  Mina lay down on her stomach as Cye rested his elbows on the dock, his face inches from Mina's.  "Are you really from Venus?"

"Yep, 100% Venusian blood.  But, don't get the wrong impression.  I was born on this planet almost 15 years ago.  I am from this planet.  Just like you are."

"I never said I had the wrong impression.  I was just thinking that it was really cool that you're from another planet."

"Yeah, well don't forget, you have a past as long and weird as I do, King Cye of the Torrent."

"I know that, Princess Mina."

"Are you mocking me?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Cye said.  Grinning at her mischievously, he grabbed her arms and pulled her into the water.  Mina let out a scream right before she hit the water's surface and when she went under, she grabbed onto Cye. 

When the two of them surfaced, Mina had her arms around Cye's neck and she was breathing heavily.  Turning to him, she glared at him and said, "I wish you would warn me before you do that."

"Aw, but if I warned you, it would take all the fun out of it."  Smiling at him, she pushed herself away from him and splashed him playfully.  He gathered up mock anger and said, "Oh, if that's the way you wanna play it…" and splashed her back.  They parried back and forth a few times before they realized that it had turned into a huge water fight that neither could stop.

***
Raye slowly and calmly walked along the path that led straight to her small temple.  She was dressed in her priestess clothing, the red bottoms and the white top.  She could feel her mind and soul finding its center as she neared the small temple that she had built for her as a gift from her grandfather's friends upon his death. 

As she came to the front of the temple, she stopped and bowed her head in remembrance of her grandfather and Chad, two people that she had loved very much.  She felt a tear roll down her face and she wiped it away quickly, scolding herself for crying over them.  She promised herself that she wouldn't cry for them anymore, but Chad was in the forefront of her mind, especially now that Sage had shown up.  The moment that she saw him, she was highly attracted to him, and not only physically.  Something about his spirit drew her to him and she was dying to find out what it was. 

And she felt guilty about it.  She felt like being attracted to Sage was in someway betraying Chad, even though he'd want her to move on.  That's why Raye was going to her temple, to meditate and try and sort things out.  She opened the door and felt the fire's heat as she stepped inside.  Closing the door behind her, she took in a deep breath and sighed in relaxation.  The fire of this temple never failed to calm her down when she needed it to.  She sat down cross-legged in front of the fire and closed her eyes, starting her meditation, trying in vain not to let thoughts of Chad and Sage enter her head.

***
Sage was wandering the woods, searching for someplace he felt he could meditate at.  But so far, he hadn't found it yet.  He didn't mind looking for someplace to meditate out there.  He felt calm and relaxed in the woods and being able to just be in them made his body feel more at ease.  He was walking through a small grove of trees when he spotted a small building.  His curiosity piqued, he moved closer to the building and upon closer inspection, he found that it was a small temple.  Just my luck!  I'm looking for a place to meditate and I find a temple.  This is truly a great day.

He found the door, having to circle the building a few times to find it, and he placed his hand on the door handle, taking the time to feel the heat from the fire that was obviously going in the temple. Smiling, he opened the door and was shocked.  Right in front of him was Raye, meditating in front of the fire.  From where he was standing, he could see her profile perfectly.  She was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, her hands on her knees.  Her head was tipped up barely and her lips were slightly pursed.  Her purple-black hair was slightly fanned out behind her and the fire was playing shadows on her skin, making her all the more beautiful to Sage. 

Needless to say, Sage was more than a little aroused by Raye.  She was everything that he'd ever hoped for in someone.  She was stunningly exotic, from her deep purple eyes to her what looked natural purple-black hair.  Not only that, but she was witty, smart, and passionate at the same time.  Sage realized he was staring, but he didn't care, although he soon would. 

Suddenly, Raye snapped to attention, like she realized that she was being stared at, and turned to glare at Sage.  Her purple eyes bore into his own and she said, "Excuse me, don't you have a little respect for people's privacy?"  Sage opened his mouth a few times, but no sound came out.  Around Raye, he became incredibly tongue-tied.  After a few moments, Raye said, "Well?"  Sage found his voice and said, "I'm sorry.  I was looking for someplace to meditate and I found this place.  I didn't mean to disturb you.  If you want, I'll just go…"

"No, don't go.  I'm sorry.  You just kinda startled me, I guess.  I'm not used to anyone else wanting to use this place besides me."

"Are you kidding?  This place is so cool."
"Really?  Thanks, I like it a lot, too."

"I have just two questions.  One, why is there a fire in this room?"

"Oh, because I read the fire."

"You what?"  Raye laughed slightly and said, "I have psychic powers and I can read the fire to get answers.  I had one at my old temple and I have another one in my room in the house."

"Ok, and my second question is why do you have a temple out here?  Since you're a priestess, wouldn't you live at a shrine?"  Raye's face fell and Sage said, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, you didn't.  I used to live at a temple with my grandfather.  He was the priest and I was training to be a priestess so I could help him out.  A year ago, he died.  Killed by a youma, actually, and as a gift of compassion, priests from other temples all over Japan who were friends of my grandfather's built this temple and blessed it for me so I could continue my work as a priestess and remember what my grandfather taught me."

"Oh Raye, I'm sorry."

"Don't be.  If the things that have happened hadn't, I wouldn't be the same person sitting in front of you today."  An awkward silence fell over the two and Raye was the first to break it.  Clearing her throat, she said, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my meditation.  You're welcome to stay, if you like, and if not, then I'll see you later, I guess."

"No, I'll stay.  It seems like as good a place as any to meditate."  Raye gave a small smile and turned back to the fire, beginning her meditation again.  Sage looked at her for a few moments before closing his own eyes and starting his meditation.

***
Lita stood in the pantry, assessing what she needed to make dinner with.  She scanned the shelves upon shelves of cooking ingredients and thanked God that Celia was loaded up on money.  The pantry that she stood in was every chef's dream.  It was a basement that Celia had turned into a pantry upon Lita's request that the kitchen wasn't enough to hold food for 10 people.  Lita picked up a bag of flour and a container of many different spices and walked up the pantry stairs to the kitchen. 

Kicking the pantry door shut, she set down the stuff in her arms on the counter next to all the other ingredients she had pulled out and began to sort through it all.  She surveyed all her ingredients and decided that she was going to make dessert first, triple-layer fudge chocolate cake, Serena's favorite.  Serena had been begging Lita for weeks to make her favorite dessert and Lita figured that since it was sort of a special night, seeing how it would be the first dinner between the Mystical Warriors and the Ronin Warriors, and that if she wanted to get Serena off her back, she probably should make that cake.  But the only thing about this dessert is that since there would be 16 people at dinner, she'd need to make 2, so she thought making the cake first would be the best idea. 

Moving all non-cake ingredients to the side, she began measuring out what she would need to make two cakes.  She had mixed all the ingredients into a bowl and was now beating them with a spoon when the door to the kitchen burst open.

***
Kento strolled down the hallway towards the kitchen, whistling "On Top Of Spaghetti" as he went along.  Suddenly, a loud grumble came from his stomach and Kento stopped walking.  Looking down at his stomach, he said, "I guess I shouldn't be whistling songs about food, huh?"  His stomach grumbled again in response and Kento laughed. 

He started walking again and eventually found the door to the kitchen.  Pushing it open, he found Lita beating something chocolate in a big, clear bowl.  The sudden noise of the door being pushed open made Lita jump slightly and turn to see what was up.  She gave a half-smile and said, "Hello, Kento, and what brings you down to my humble kitchen?"  Kento's stomach growled again and Kento said, "That."  Lita laughed slightly and said, "You're just as bad as Serena.  Well, if you're so hungry, there's the fridge, just pull out whatever you want."

"Thanks," Kento said before pulling out the necessary things to make a roast beef sandwich.  After a few minutes of silence, Kento had his sandwich made and hopped up on the counter, next to Lita, who was pouring cake mix into cake molds.  "Whatcha making?" Kento asked.

"Three-layer fudge chocolate cake.  It's Serena's favorite and she's been asking for it for weeks.  I figured that I'd give it to her."

"Really, that's so cool.  That's my favorite dessert."  Lita laughed again and said, "You and Serena are more alike than I thought."

"But wait, if you're making a three-layer cake, why do I see six cake molds?"

"Because I'm making two cakes.  There will be 16 people at dinner tonight and most of them I know love this dessert.  One cake will not be enough."

"Good call," Kento admitted.

"Thank you."  After a pause in the conversation, Kento said, "What are you making for dinner?"
"I don't know.  Why, do you have any suggestions?"

"No, just don't make anything with seafood in it."

"Why?"

"Because Cye hates seafood and he knows if anything has seafood in it.  He has a really deep connection with sea animals, so if you don't want him to make a fuss over dinner, I wouldn't make anything with fish in it."

"Ok, I can do that.  I think it's cool that you look out for you friend like that."

"Nah, it's just that I don't wanna have to listen to him whine.  I've heard it too many times before."

"Ahh, so I see you've known the other Ronin Warriors a long time, huh?"

"Yeah, I've known Cye since we were little and I've known the others for about a year and a half, during the battle with Talpa.  What about you and the Mystical Warriors?"  Lita, who was putting three of the cake molds in the oven, said, "I've known Serena, Mina, Raye, and Ami for about two years and the others for about year and a half.  But, I love all of them so much in the short time that I've been with them.  It's like living with the family I never had.  And it's a big family at that.  I always wanted a big family after what happened to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, when I was about 7, my parents died in an airplane crash, leaving me to live on my own.  I lived in my own apartment from the age of 8 to 14 when I moved in here.  Ever since they died, I've been afraid of airplanes and since they died, I've always wanted a big family to make up for the one that I never had when I was little."  Kento looked at Lita with sympathy in his eyes.  "I'm sorry about your parents.  It's really great living with a family.  I should know.  I'm the oldest of 5 and it's great.  But, I haven't lived with my family for a year and a half, ever since the battle with Talpa."

"Why?"

"Well, because when the battle with Talpa was over, I started going to school in Toyama and I was living at Mia's house.  When I told my parents that I wanted to stay there and finish high school, they let me, knowing that I wouldn't get myself into too much trouble," Kento said with a smirk.

"You, in trouble?  Nah," Lita said jokingly with a wave of dismissal. 

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Me?  I wouldn't dream of it."  Kento let out a little laugh and said, "Right, you wouldn't."

"Well, maybe a little."  Lita blew a few strands of hair out of her face and when they fell back in her face, she said, "Aww crap."  She took out her ponytail holder to fix her ponytail, letting her hair cascade down her back.  Lita shook her hair out and Kento watched her, mouth agape.  She is gorgeous with her hair down.  Why doesn't she leave it like that?  As Lita started gathering her hair up, Kento said, "Why do you put your hair up?" 

Lita, who was startled by the question, said, "So I can keep it out of my face."

"But, why?  You look really pretty with your hair down."  Kento, who realized what he had just said, turned a light pink and looked away.  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."  Lita, who was also blushing, although from the compliment, said, "No, thank you for the compliment."  Lita let go of her hair and put her hands on her hips.  Searching for conversation, Kento said, "So, do you like living in Tokyo?"

"Yeah, but the getting kicked out of school is no fun."
"What?"

"I've been expelled from three different schools."

"Why?"

"I was fighting."

"You?  Fighting?"

"Why, do you find that hard to believe?"  Lita peered at him with one eyebrow raised and Kento shook his head violently, thinking about her in battle the day before and training earlier that day.  "No, I don't find that hard to believe."  Lita tucked her now loose hair behind her ears and said, "Well, what should I make for dinner tonight?"  Kento smiled and said, "I don't know, why don't we figure that out?"

"Yes, let's do that."  Grinning widely at each other, they started to sift through everything in the kitchen, looking for dinner.

***
Mia curled her feet under her body as she continued to read Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time".  She had read the book many times before, but she never got tired of it.  She was turning the page when she felt something warm on her thigh.  She looked down to see Ryo, who was now using her leg as a pillow.  Smiling, she put her book down and studied Ryo's face again.  It had been a long time since she had been able to do this, watch him sleep. 

Some nights, when she wasn't tired or when she needed a break from researching, she would go up into his room, sit by his bed, and watch him sleep.  White Blaze didn't even notice her come in anymore, he'd gotten so used to it.  So, she would sit and watch him sleep.  She'd watch his chest rise as he took in every breath, she'd watch his eyelids flutter as he dreamed of something that she wished she could know about, and she'd watch him smile as he dreamed.  She lifted her hand and let it hover over his face for a moment before brushing away a strand of hair away from his face, her heart pounding all the way.  Never before had she allowed herself to touch him while he slept.  She'd restrained herself from doing it out of fear that he would awaken and blow her cover.

Becoming more daring when he didn't stir, she allowed her fingers to lightly trace the outline of his face, her fingertips memorizing the feel of his skin beneath them.  She followed his jawbone down to his mouth and ran her thumb across his bottom lip slightly.  This caused Ryo to stir slightly and Mia held her breath, fearing that he would wake up, but let it go when he only turned onto his side and sighed.  Mia put her hand on her chest to calm her beating heart, thanking the powers that be that he didn't wake up.  Taking one more deep breath in, she removed her hand from his face and picked up her book again, but her thoughts still lingered on Ryo.  Little did she know, however, that she was the subject of his dream.

***
In his dream, Ryo was sitting on the beach, listening to the waves crash against the shore, feeling the salt air blow through his hair.  He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply the smell of the sea.  With his eyes closed, he was more keenly aware of his other senses.  He could feel the sand underneath his bare feet; he could taste the sea air; he could feel the mist that rose off the sea settle on his face.  "Oh Ryo," a voice called out to him.  His eyes snapped open and he looked to his right.  Off in the distance, he could see someone approaching him.  He squinted to get a better look at the person and identified them as female.  She was wearing a long wrap-around skirt, tied in a knot at on hip, an emerald green bikini top, and she was barefoot.  Her long hair was blowing behind her and her face was fixated on him.  As she got closer, Ryo's eyes widened because he was now able to see who it was.  "Mia?"  She stood over him and said, "Yes, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you."

"Why?"  Mia laughed a little.  "Don't you know, Ryo?"

"Know what?"

"I love you."  Ryo was taken aback by Mia's statement.

"You do?"

"I have for the longest time."  Mia knelt down besides him and laid a hand on his arm.  "You just didn't know it."

"I don't know what to say, Mia."

"Tell me how you feel."  Green eyes met blue and Ryo couldn't keep it in anymore.  "I love you, Mia."  She smiled at him and said, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."  She moved closer to him, her face hovering over his, and laughed at the confused expression on his face.  She ran a hand across his face, down his jaw and over his lips.  "Mia?" he whispered.

"Shh, now's not the time for talking."  And with that said, she captured his lips with hers, completely catching him off guard.  After a moment of shock, he wrapped his arms around her waist and proceeded to kiss her.  In the real world, Ryo smiled.

***
After an hour of being in his arms, Ami had finally calmed down and apologized to Rowen for losing control like that.  She didn't know why she did it, but she felt her guard slipping with him around and all the pent up tears that had come from her parents' death had been let out.  She didn't regret losing control, not at all.  In fact, she felt better for it.   Maybe I should do that more often.  Ami mused. 

She got up and picked out a book finally and settled down to read it.  Rowen followed her example and sat on a huge armchair by the couch that Ami was on.  After taking one last glance at Ami, he opened the book titled "The World's Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics" and began reading. 

A few hours passed and the next time that Rowen looked up at Ami, she was fast asleep.  Smiling, he put down the book and walked over to her, getting ready to wake her up.  He kneeled down besides the couch and moved his hand to shake her, but one look at her face told him not to disturb her slumber.  She's tired.  She's had an emotionally exhausting day.  He remembered how he tried to calm her down when she started crying, but he eventually figured just to let her tears run their course.  From the sounds of it, she'd never properly mourned her parents' death.  Maybe now, she feels better for letting it go.  He took the book from her hands and set it on the coffee table in front of the couch.  Then, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the library. 

He went upstairs, cradling Ami in his arms, and stopped short when he reached the second floor.  On the couch were Mia, who was reading, and Ryo, who was sleeping and using Mia's leg as a pillow.  "Hey Mia, what's up with Sleeping Beauty and using your leg as a pillow?"

"Oh, he's really tired, I just didn't have the heart to wake him."

"Uh-huh, sure," Rowen said, not believing her for a minute.

"Well, what about you and Ami?"

"She fell asleep in the library.  I'm just carrying her up to her room."

"Right, and don't tell me you don't like having her in your arms."

"Never said I didn't.  See you later Mia."

"See ya, Rowen."  Rowen walked the last set of stairs to the third floor and suddenly realized that he didn't know which room was hers.  He entered the large family room in the center of the floor, which was so much like the one on the second floor, except bigger, and looked left and right down two hallways.  Down the hallway to the left were four rooms and to the right were 6.  He went right and opened the second door on the left.  He figured that he was lucky and that it was Ami's room that he had entered because of the amount of books stacked in it and because of the color of the room, which was done in almost all blue. 

The room was twice as big his, something that made Rowen almost envious of the girl sleeping in his arms.   In the middle of the floor was a large blue Persian rug.  There was a set of French doors straight ahead that led to a balcony outside.  On the wall to his right, there was a door, which he presumed was to the bathroom, and a fireplace.  On the wall to his left was another door that led to her closet and a bed in the middle of the wall.  On the wall where the door to the hallway was located was a large wooden dresser that was as tall as he was.  Anywhere where there wasn't furniture there was bookshelves built into the wall, obviously a modification designed by Ami herself. 

He was about to go over to the bed to put Ami down when he noticed the pictures on the mantle above the fireplace.  He walked over, with Ami still in his arms, to look at the pictures.  The first picture that he saw was of a woman with long bluish-black hair standing in front of a man who had his arms wrapped around her waist.  The woman was the spitting image of Ami and the man looked like he was related to her.  In the picture, they were both smiling and Rowen caught a glimpse of the man's left hand.  He noticed the ring on his fourth finger and remembered the ring that Ami had shown him.  The people in the picture were her parents.  Smiling, he moved on to the next picture. 

In the next picture, there was a girl about the age of four with shoulder-length blue hair in pigtails, smiling at the camera with a toothy grin, holding a book about as big as her in her lap.  It didn't take Rowen very long to identify the little girl as Ami when she was little.  She was so cute.  I bet she will have a daughter that looks exactly like her.  He moved on to the third and final picture. 

It was of 5 girls whom Rowen soon identified as the Sailor Scouts from the tiaras and the skirts.  He recognized the girls as Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, and Sailor Jupiter.  The girls had victorious smiles on their faces, but they looked a little weary, like they had just fought a battle.  That confused him.  All of the press photos of the Sailor Scouts that he had seen had them looking well rested.  He brow furrowed in confusion.  Why does she have a picture of the Sailor Scouts after a battle?  That is really strange.  He studied the picture for a few moments, trying to figure it out.  Suddenly, it dawned on him.  He looked from Sailor Mercury to Ami and back and forth a few times until he figured it out.  Ami was Sailor Mercury?  That means that Serena was Sailor Moon, Raye was Sailor Mars, Lita was Sailor Jupiter, and Mina was Sailor Venus.  Wow, that's cool. 

Smiling, he walked over to the bed and set her down on top of the comforter, which was a shade of light blue.  He pulled the thin quilt that was thrown over the bed and covered her with it.  He leaned into her and ran his fingers over her cheek.  Smiling slightly, he brushed his lips over her forehead.  "Sweet dreams," he said before walking towards the door.  His hand reached for the doorknob when he remembered the picture of the Sailor Scouts. Turning around quickly, he went and plucked the picture from the mantle.  He walked over to the bed, right beside Ami, and said, "You won't mind if I borrow this, do you?"  Ami's only response was that she shifted her body as she slept.  Rowen's eyes traveled down her body, which had somehow placed itself in a slightly erotic position.  The small quilt that Rowen had placed on top of her had managed to slip off her body, exposing the creamy white skin of her thighs.  Of course, it didn't help that the skirt that she was wearing had ridden up to show most of her upper thighs.  Her shirt had twisted itself, bunching up right below her breasts, exposing her flat stomach.  Rowen stifled a groan as he examined her body.  He swore to himself that he wasn't going to do anything inappropriate, so he quickly left the room, leaving Ami to slumber peacefully. 

Once outside her door, he leaned against the wall and let out a sigh of relief.  It had been hard not to, but he hadn't done anything to be ashamed of, but by God, he wanted to more than anything in the world.  God, seeing her lying down like that… it was almost too much.  In the day that he had known her, he had become more physically attracted to her than he had to any other girl in his life.  What made it more intense was that he was emotionally and intellectually attracted to her as well.  Composing himself quickly, he stood up straighter and pushed himself off the wall.  He walked down the hall and smiled.  He had a picture to show off.

***
Mina crawled up onto the dock, trying to dodge Cye's water attacks.  She was drenched from head to toe and all that she wanted now was to go back to the house and change into dry clothes.  She was halfway up onto the dock when she felt Cye's arms go around her waist, trying to bring her back into the water, but she was pulling too hard and she ended up pulling him out of the water and on top of her. 

She pushed him off of her back and stood up.  "Well, that was entertaining, but I really want to go change into dry clothes now," Mina said.  Cye, from his position on the ground, looked Mina up and down, noting the way her wet clothed clung to her body.  "Why?" he asked, "You look just fine like that."  Cye didn't realize that he had spoken out loud until he got a good-natured slap on the arm, which didn't affect him because he was wearing his sub-armor.  "You know, because you're cute, I'll let that one by with just that little slap," Mina said with a slight smile on her face.  She thinks I'm cute! Cye thought, a large smile forming on his face. 

She walked away and went to putting her art stuff away as Cye stood up from off of the ground.  He watched her with fascination as she put her things away.  He was looking at her, but most of all, the way her hips moved when she walked.  He usually pegged himself as a gentleman, but when he was around her, he couldn't help but stare.  She was too beautiful for him to even comprehend.  But, he didn't like her only for her looks. 

While a little ditzy on the outside, Cye knew that somewhere in there was an intelligent, kind-hearted girl who spread love and happiness wherever she went.  He watched as she began to walk away and he just stood there, looking at her until she turned around and said, "Well, aren't you coming?"  Cye snapped out of it and said, "Oh, yeah, I'm coming.  Just a little spacey today, that's all."  Cye ran to catch up to her and Mina said, "Yeah, I have days like that, too.  Of course, I think everyone thinks that I'm spacey everyday."

"Oh, I'm sure they don't think that.  I don't."  Mina looked at him flatly.  "You've only known me for one day."

"Yeah, but it's a feeling I have."

"Oh, a feeling," Mina said, giggling.  Cye didn't think he could fall in love with her any more, but hearing the sound of her laughter echoed in his heart.  Her laughter could bring him out of any dull or depressing mood because there was no way that anyone could hear the joy behind it and not feel their spirits rise. 

They walked the short trek through the woods, back to the house in silence.  They were trying not to think about the other one, but every once in a while, their hands would brush up against one another and it was like an electrical current passed through both of them, making their nerves tingle from that one slight touch.   I wonder what would happen if he REALLY touched me,  Mina thought.  The thought of his hands on her brought a slight touch of pink to her face.  They entered the house and climbed up the stairs.  As they reached the second floor, Cye said, "Well, I had fun this afternoon, how about you?"

"Yeah, I had fun, though I didn't accomplish what I wanted to, the painting of the lake, but that's ok.  I had fun too.  We'll have to do it again sometime, alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Cye said.

"Good," Mina said as she started to walk up the stairs that lead to the floor that her room was on.  "I'm going to change my clothes now.  They're still really wet."

"I still stand by my statement that you look fine like that," Cye said while laughing slightly.  Mina just threw him a glare before rounding a corner and out of sight.  With a sigh, he started to take off down the hallway when he saw Mia and Ryo on the couch, Ryo asleep and using Mia's leg as a pillow.  "That's an interesting development.  When did your leg become his pillow?" Cye said in a quiet voice, as to not wake Ryo up.  Mia looked up from her book and said, "I don't know.  It just kinda happened.  So, how was your afternoon?"

"It was pretty good.  I hung with Mina for a while."  Mia raised an eyebrow at that statement.  "Mina?"
"Yeah, she's a really nice person."

"I'm sure she is.  It's nice that you found a girl that you can talk to besides me."

"I know.  Well, I'm going to go and change from my sub-armor in to regular clothes.  See ya, Mia,"

"Bye Cye," she said before turning back to her book.

***
Sage couldn't stop looking at Raye.  No matter how hard he tried, he found himself stealing glances at her as they walked back to the house from Raye's small temple.  She was just too beautiful for him not to look.  Unbeknownst to him, Raye was also having the same problems.  She couldn't keep her eyes off of him, but she could only guess the embarrassment if she was caught looking.  So, she kept herself to small glances, although she could stare at him all day. 

They walked in companionable silence for most of the walk, although it was nervous silence, until Raye heard something rustle in the bushes.  She stopped walking and turned her head to look, peering into the bushes, but seeing nothing.  Sage, who noticed that Raye wasn't walking beside him anymore, turned to see what was wrong.  "What's wrong, Raye?"

"I thought I heard something in the bushes."

"I'm sure you're imagining things, Raye.  I don't see anything."

"Yeah, well, I…"  Raye never got to finish her sentence before a large figure jumped out of the bushes and tackled Sage.  Raye screamed, startled by the large creature, and jumped back.  She turned her head and covered her ears with her hands to prevent from hearing Sage get tortured by the large creature.  When she didn't hear anything bad, she uncovered her ears to hear Sage…laughing?  She opened her eyes and looked to see Sage laughing as a large, white tiger licked his face.  "Ok, White Blaze, yes, I know you're happy to see me, but, could you get off of me?"  Sage gave the tiger a good-natured push on his chest and the tiger reluctantly got off of Sage.  Sage stood up and brushed off his clothes.  "That's a good boy.  Did you run all the way over here, White Blaze?"  The tiger growled in response and Sage laughed again, scratching the tiger behind the ears.  "I figured.  I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Do…do you know this creature?" Raye asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"Yes, I do.  But, this isn't a creature.  It's a large Siberian tiger and his name is White Blaze.  Don't worry.  He won't hurt you.  He'll only hurt you if you threaten to attack Ryo in anyway.  He's Ryo's tiger.  Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared," Raye said defensively.  Sage looked at her, not believing her, and said, "You're scared.  It's written all over your face."  Raye glared at him, knowing that he had read through her, and said, "Fine, I'm scared.  It's not every day you see a large white tiger jump out of the bushes, you know."

"I know, but this is a special tiger.  Go on, give him a scratch."  Raye reluctantly moved closer to the tiger, slowly inching her hand towards his head.  As her hand neared, the tiger growled lowly and Raye pulled her hand back.  Sage only smiled and said, "Don't worry, he's anticipating your scratch.  He was purring.  Go on, scratch him."  Raye looked into Sage's eyes and found that they were devoid of worry and they were calm.  She trusted his judgment and she started to move her hand closer. 

She scratched White Blaze on the top of the head and giggled when White Blaze nuzzled her hand, encouraging her to scratch him more.  She laughed a little louder and used her other hand to scratch him, her fears about the tiger gone.  "You were right, he's just a big kitty," Raye said.

"Well, I didn't say those exact words, but basically, yeah, he is.  Just don't try to hurt Ryo and you're cool."  Sage was silent for a minute until he said, "Hey, White Blaze, could you give me and Raye a ride back to the house?"  The tiger growled in response and Sage said, "Good."  Sage climbed onto the back of the tiger and Raye looked at him skeptically as he said to her, "Get on."

"What?"

"White Blaze is going to give us a ride back to the house."

"Are you sure he can stand our weight?"

"He can stand the weight of two of us with armor on.  He can take the weight of two, armor-less humans."

"Well, ok," Raye said slowly as she climbed onto the back of the tiger and absently threw an arm around Sage's waist to hold on.  "Ok, White Blaze, let's go," Sage said and the tiger took off in a run for the house.

***

"Whew," Lita said as she hoisted herself up onto a clean part of the kitchen counter.  "We've come a long way in a few short hours," Lita said to Kento, who sat down on the counter next to her.  "Yeah, we managed to make two cakes and start a turkey for dinner."

"Yep, now all that's left is the vegetables and the potatoes and we're done," Lita said.

"We make a good team, don't we?" Kento asked, turning to face Lita.

"Yeah, we do," Lita replied, turning to look at him as well.

"I mean, you're a good cook," he said sheepishly.

"And you're a good helper," she said in response.

"Do you really think so?" Kento said, moving closer to her.

"Yeah, I think so," Lita said, moving closer as well.

"Well, if you're sure," he said, leaning into her.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Lita said breathlessly, preparing herself for the kiss.  Their lips met, brushing up against each other's for a millisecond before the back door to the kitchen burst open and they broke away, the kiss forgotten.  Kento looked in the direction of the door and saw White Blaze, carrying Sage and Raye on his back.  "White Blaze, ooh, it's good to see you," Kento said, hopping off of the counter and leaping over to White Blaze. 

Raye and Sage, who saw Kento catapult himself for the tiger, got off fast and moved out of the way as Kento tackled the tiger and the two began to wrestle.  As the events were unfolding in front of her eyes, Lita just watched with confusion and wonder etched on her face.  Raye walked over to Lita, noticing the look on her face, and said, "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, Raye, but, who's tiger is that?"

"It's Ryo's tiger.  Obviously he followed behind."

"I can see that," Lita said.

"Are you scared?"

"No," Lita said sincerely, "Just a little shocked at the large white tiger that's standing in the middle of my kitchen."

"I know, I was shocked too, though I was also scared."

"Yeah, I can see being scared.  I was a little scared at first, but when I saw you and Sage on it's back, I figured it was ok.  What's its name?"

"His name is White Blaze."

"Fitting," Lita said, nodding her approval.  "You know who would be really scared over this?" Lita continued, "Serena."  At that, Raye's lips contorted into a wicked smile.  Lita, who caught on immediately, said, "Oh, no Raye.  Don't you dare.  Serena will never forgive you."

"Why?  It will be fun."  Sage and Kento, who caught the last part of the conversation, said simultaneously, "What?"

"Pardon?" Raye said.

"What will be fun?" Kento asked.

"Scaring Serena.  She'll never expect a large white tiger in her bedroom."

"Especially while she's in there with Darien," Lita added.

"Darien's in there?" Raye asked.

"Yeah, and I don't suppose he'll be very happy if you scare Serena like that."

"He'll get over it and so will she."

"I still don't like the idea, but I know there's nothing I can do to stop you.  So, go and scare her."

"Ok, I will," Raye said before taking off out of the kitchen.  "Come on, White Blaze," Raye called to the tiger.  White Blaze followed with Sage and Kento close behind.  Lita hopped down off of the counter and went to take something out of the refrigerator when Kento's head popped back into the kitchen.  "You coming, Lita?"  Lita turned and sighed.  "Yeah, I guess so," she said resigned.  She bounded out of the kitchen after Kento.  Together, they all climbed the stairs to the second floor and were going to ascend the stairs to the third floor when White Blaze saw Ryo.  He turned and went over to the couch and Raye yelled after him, "What are you doing?"

"He's saying hello to Ryo," Kento said as if speaking to a 5-year old.  Mia, who had been reading, put her book down as she saw White Blaze approaching.  "Hey White Blaze.  When did you get here?" Mia asked the tiger.

"He just got here," Sage said, with a smile on his face as he looked at Ryo, who was still using Mia's leg as a pillow.  "So, Mia, what's up with that, huh?" Sage said, indicating Ryo's position on the couch.

"What are you talking about, Sage?" Mia asked, though everyone else knew what he was talking about.

"Why is Ryo using your leg as a pillow?  And why haven't you moved him off?"

"Well, his head just kinda wound up there and I didn't have to heart to move him."

"Uh-huh, sure," Sage drawled out.

"I'm telling the truth, Sage," Mia said, starting to get annoyed with Sage.

"Ok, ok I'm sorry."  Mia smiled at him and watched as White Blaze woke Ryo up.  White Blaze, in an attempt to wake up his master, stuck his nose under Ryo's chin and nudged him.  Ryo, who felt the figure trying to wake him up, opened his eyes to see White Blaze staring at him.  Ryo sat up and hugged the tiger, giving him yet another scratch on the head.  "White Blaze, it's good to see you.  How long have you been here?"

"He hasn't been here very long," Raye said.

"So, you just got here, didn't you boy?" Ryo asked.  The tiger only growled in response.  Suddenly, all of them heard two voices laughing and turned to look down the hallway to see Rowen and Cye walking towards them.  "What's so funny?" Kento asked.

"Nothing, we'll tell you later," Rowen said as Cye spotted White Blaze.  "White Blaze!  Come here, boy!" Cye called out.  The tiger moved for him and Cye kneeled down on the ground and gave the tiger a pat.  "It's nice to see you, too," Cye said as White Blaze nuzzled his hand.   Rowen also gave the tiger a pat before saying, "Well, half of the house is here, at least."

"The question is, where is the other half?" a voice said as they walked down the stairs.  The voice belonged to Mina and as she got off the stairs, she spotted White Blaze and gave a little scream of shock.  She looked at the group of people in the family room, hoping that she would find an answer as to why there was a large white tiger in the house.  When she didn't find an answer, she said, "Ok, next time, could someone please tell me that they're going to bring a large white tiger into the house before they do it?"  Mina walked over to the tiger and started to pet it, asking, "What's his name?"

"His name is White Blaze," Ryo said.

"Hmm, it fits," Mina said, "Now we have three cats in the house."

"Speaking of cats," Raye started, "Where are Artemis and Luna?"

"Well, Artemis is in my bedroom and I don't know where Luna is," Mina said, "She went off yesterday to check something and she never came back.  Something about a new central control and it giving her information," Mina finished, standing up.

"And it did give me information," Luna said as she hopped up the stairs. 

"Oh, hello Luna," Mina said as she leapt onto Mina's shoulder.

"Did that cat just talk?" Sage asked, not believing his ears.

"Yes, it did," Lita said, "Her name is Luna."

"Yes, but how did it talk?" Sage asked, still not getting an answer to his question.

"I'm from the moon, young man.  I'm Serena's cat, or rather, advisor.  And who are you?"

"I'm Sage."

"Sage?" Luna said.

"Yes Luna, he is one of guys that wear the Ronin Armor."

"Ahh, so you've arrived at last.  Why didn't anyone tell me?" Luna asked.

"Well, we didn't know ourselves.  Serena knew, but she didn't tell us because she forgot.  But, they came here yesterday afternoon when you were gone," Lita said.

"Guys?"  Everyone turned their head to see Ami standing at the foot of the stairs, wiping the sleep out of her eyes.  Her hair was tousled a little from her nap.  Rowen thought she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.  Running a hand through her hair, she said, "Why is there a Siberian tiger in the family room?"

"He's my tiger," Ryo said.

"Oh," Ami said, still a little out of it.  She looked at Mina and saw that Luna was on her shoulder.  "Oh, Luna, when did you get back?"

"Just now," Luna said to Ami.

"Did you get any information?"

"Yes, I learned that Queen Metallia has joined forces with her old general, Talpa.  They want the Silver Crystal so they can rule the universe.  That's all that I was able to find out."

"That's why we're here," Sage said.

"What?" Luna asked.

"We're here to help you guys with Talpa," Rowen said, "We fought him about a year ago and Serena asked us to come by and help you guys with him."

"That's good because we're going to need all the help that we can get.  I also found out that Queen Metallia has four other generals.  I couldn't find out their names, but we know that they're strong."  Raye, who was getting impatient, said, "I know this is important and all, but can I get back to what I was doing?"

"What were you doing, Raye?" Mina asked.

"I was going to scare Serena by surprising her with White Blaze.  She'll never expect White Blaze in her bedroom."  Raye smiled and took off for the stairs, calling out to White Blaze to follow her as she went up the stairs.  White Blaze followed and everyone else was close behind, all of them wanting to see what would happen.  They went up the stairs and down the hallway to where Serena's bedroom was.  Ignoring the "Do Not Disturb" sign on her door, Raye opened the door quietly and ushered White Blaze into the room, whispering to him, "Go say hello."  White Blaze entered the room and the others stood and waited for Serena's reaction.

***
Serena smiled against Darien's lips as the two lay down on her bed, making out.  They hadn't been alone in a couple of weeks, seeing how as she was in Toyama for the past couple of weeks, visiting relatives and with the arrival of the Ronin Warriors, their alone time had been put off.  But, now they had their alone time and they were enjoying every minute of it.  Serena shuddered a bit as she felt Darien's hand slide up under her shirt and caress the soft skin of her stomach using his thumb.  Of course, it only made her kiss him harder.  She entwined her fingers in his soft, black hair as they kissed.  Serena never wanted this to end. 

They went on kissing like that for a few minutes when Serena felt the bed dip slightly under the weight of something.  When she turned her head to look at what it was, she found herself face to face with a large, white tiger.  Serena screamed at the top of her lungs and launched herself into Darien's arms, who was also trying to move away from the tiger, although it was a little hard with Serena in his arms. 

When the tiger didn't do anything, Serena stopped screaming and looked at it with a wondering look on her face.  When she stopped screaming, she heard laughing coming from outside her door.  Her eyes narrowed and she leapt off of her bed and stalked out of the room into the hallway.  When she entered the hallway, she found everyone there laughing at her reaction to something they thought was obviously very funny.  Well, Serena didn't think it was very funny and she was going to tell them that she didn't. 

Serena felt her blood boil as they continued laughing and she punched the wall with her fist, the sound resonating off of the walls in the hallway.  Everyone stopped laughing and looked at Serena with their eyes wide.  Serena took her hand away from the wall and when everyone looked at where her fist had been, they found a large dent.  They turned back to Serena and all looked at Raye, now slightly annoyed at her seeing as how this was her idea.  "What do you guys thing you are doing?"

"Come on, Serena, it was a joke.  Lighten up," Raye said.

"I don't think this was very funny.  How would you like it if I did something like this to you, Raye?  You wouldn't like it very much, would you?  I don't think this is very nice to do to someone you guys consider your friend."  With that, Serena turned around and stormed back into her room, slamming the door behind her; it was surprising that she didn't knock the door off of its hinges.  As the sound of the door slamming died down, Lita said to Raye, "Well, I hope you're happy, Raye.  Serena's going to sulk for the rest of the evening now.  I told you this wasn't a good idea.  I'm going to go and finish dinner.  Kento, do you want to help me?"

"Yeah, sure," Kento said as they took off down the hallway.  The others left, mumbling something about other stuff they had to do.  Raye, who was the last one to move away from Serena's doorway, whispered, "I'm sorry, Serena," before moving off down the hallway.

***
Serena was pacing back and forth violently in her bedroom, still steaming over the incident that happened a few hours ago.  Darien had abandoned her a couple of hours ago.  Although he loved her very much, there was only so much of a ranting Serena he could take.  So, he left Serena alone with her thoughts. 

Over the past few hours, Serena's anger had redirected itself from her friends to her self.  She wasn't mad at her friends anymore, they were just playing a joke on her; she was mad at herself for reacting like she did.  They probably wouldn't want to speak with her again after the way she reacted.  She had blown up at them and she felt bad about it.  She had played plenty of jokes on her friends and they never acted like that towards her.  It wasn't fair to them for her to do it to them. 

Serena suddenly stopped pacing at the light rapping at her door.  "Come in," she said in response to the knocking.  The door opened and Lita stepped in, looking slightly guilty.  "Hey, Serena.  It's dinnertime.  Are you coming?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'm coming."  Serena looked at Lita's guilty expression and smiled.  "What are you looking so guilty about, Lita?"

"I feel bad about the joke that Raye played on you earlier."

"It wasn't your idea."

"I know, but I could have done something to stop it."

"No, you couldn't have.  Once Raye gets an idea in her head, it's hard to get it out."

"I suppose so," Lita said quietly, tucking her hair behind her ears.  Serena noticed the unusual act and said, "Since when do you leave your hair down?"

"What, don't you like it?" Lita asked self-consciously.

"I love it.  It looks really good on you.  But, why the sudden change."

"Well, if you must know, Kento told me that it looked good down, so I left it that way," Lita said, a smile beaming on her face, as she opened the door and stepped out.  Serena followed, saying, "You really like him, don't you?"  Lita closed the door and said, "Yeah, I do."  They started to walk down the hallway when Lita said, "And I was this close to kissing him," she said, holding her thumb and forefinger millimeters apart.

"Yeah, I know.  Love can stink," Serena said as they walked down the stairs.

***
After dinner, the guys headed upstairs, leaving the girls in the living room, and went into the family room, throwing themselves down on the couches that were in the room.  "I don't know about you guys, but although Talpa's come back, I'm happy he did," Rowen said.

"And why do you say that?" Cye asked, thinking Rowen crazy that he was actually happy that Talpa was back..

"Because, if he didn't come back, then we wouldn't have met the girls," Rowen said.

"And I'm in full agreement," Sage said.

"I know how you all feel," Kento said, "I think I may actually be in love.  Imagine that."

"You really do like Lita, do you?" Cye asked.

"Sure I do.  She's been the only girl who's really given me the time of day.  She's interested in what I have to say, though I don't know why.  I don't know why she'd want to be with me at all.  She's smart, beautiful, and talented.  She could have anyone that she wants, but she spent her day with me.  I somehow find that hard to believe." 

When Kento finished his speech, the room fell silent.  They never knew the deep maturity that his thoughts possessed and his little speech summed up exactly what the others felt.  "That is exactly the way I feel," Rowen said, "Ami shared something with me today that she had never shared with anyone before."  The guys gave him surprised looks and Rowen knew what they were thinking.  "No, you guys.  Get your minds out of the gutter.  She allowed herself to cry for her parents' death in front of me and she told me everything about what happened to them.  I don't think that she had ever allowed herself to really cry over her parents' death and the knowledge that she felt comfortable enough to do it in front of me made me feel like the most special guy in the world, but also made me feel like I didn't deserve it. 

"These girls are so special that I think it's hard to believe that they would want to spend any time with us at all.  These 5 girls have something special about them and it's great to be around," Rowen finished. 

"That pretty much sums it up," Sage said, "I mean, how many times do you hear me say I think I may have actually fallen in love?"  Ryo gave an uncharacteristic squawk and said, "You, fall in love?  I thought that you just went out with a girl for a few weeks, and then dumped her.  I never pegged you for the type to fall in love."

"Neither did I," Sage said, "But there's something about Raye that I can't help but love about her.  You guys have to admit that a lot of the girls that I went out with before were simpering idiots, not really worthy of my time.  I couldn't have any real conversation with them because they weren't after getting to know the real me.  All they wanted was to say that they went out with Sage Date. 

"But, with Raye, she doesn't seem like most of the girls that want to go out with me.  There's something about her that's independent and intelligent.  She's not afraid to speak her mind around me and she's not intimidated by anyone.  I love that about her, the fact that she can stand up for herself and that she won't yield to anyone else's opinion.  It doesn't hurt that she's absolutely beautiful." 

"Yeah," Cye said, "I understand what you mean about a different type of girl.  Mina may seem like a ditzy girl, a lot like the ones that we know back at home, but underneath that is someone who's really smart and funny.  I mean, her wit is sharp.  She never fails to pick up on things and comment on them, if the situation is right.  She's sensitive about things like that.  She can pick up on people's feelings and make them feel better almost instantaneously. 

"She did that at dinner earlier when Serena came down, remember?  She immediately knew that Serena wasn't feeling entirely better and she made her feel better.  Mina's special like that.  Oh, and did you know that she was also Sailor V and that she lived in England?"

"She was Sailor V?" Kento asked, "God, you were so hung up on her when we all first met, remember?  I think you had a shrine to her in your room.  God, I think that our meeting these girls was fated."

"Yeah, I'll agree that destiny had a hand in this," Sage said.

"Hell, according to Celia, this was prophesized," Ryo said, speaking up for one of the first times that evening. 

"Maybe," Rowen said, "Well, I don't know about you, but all this serious talk has made me tired.  I'm going to hit the sack.  I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's actually a good idea," Kento said.  The others agreed, standing up and walking into their rooms.  All of them changed into their pajamas and immediately went to sleep.