Sakura made her way downstairs to see what the fuss was about. She entered the living room to find a very indignant Alanna, hands on her hips, glaring at a laughing Sage.

"You should have seen your face." Sage said in between laughs. "It was priceless." He said as fell back against the couch laughing." Alanna glared at him.

"You jerk!" she sputtered. "I can't believe you did that!"

"Did what?" Ryo asked as he entered the room behind Sakura. Alanna looked up to watch them come in as Sage tried to calm down.

"We were coming back from the city and we were in the middle of the woods. I turned around for a second and when I looked back Sage was gone. I looked for like fifteen minutes and I couldn't find him and I started to think something happened to him when he sneaks up behind me and scared me half to death." She told them.

Sakura had to choke back a laugh. Yeah, that was Sage all right. Ever since Alanna had come to live with them, Sage had had the biggest crush on her, and she was the only one who didn't know about it. "Yeah," Sage said. "It was great. She tore off through the forest screaming like this." He laughed as he did a high pitched scream and ran around the room. Alanna watched his antics angrily.

"I do not scream like that!" she yelled.

"Yes, you do. Everyone knows. They all heard you when you screamed." Sage said falling into another round of laughter.

"Shut up Sage Date!" Alanna said. "Wait till I get my hands on you, then we'll see who is screaming for help." She threatened as she advanced on him. Sage quickly got up and ran out the room, tailed by Alanna. Sakura and Ryo looked at each other and laughed. They stopped laughing long enough to hear Alanna.

"Got you!" she shouted followed closely by a shriek from Sage. Ryo and Sakura broke into laughter again as they sat down on the couch.

"Should we go help him?" Ryo asked her.

"Naw, I think he's actually enjoying it." Sakura answered. She knew that even though Alanna was acting mad she really wasn't. She returned Sage's feelings; she was just to shy to say anything about it.

"Alanna sure has changed since we first met her." Ryo's voice broke into her thoughts. Sakura nodded. Alanna had been very shy and timid when she first came to live with them. But that had changed soon. The other Ronin Warriors treated her like one of them as did the Warlords. She quickly became best friends with Sakura and Mia and the three often stayed up late at night talking about different things. Mostly the guys. Alanna spent quite a lot of time with Sage and even though they argued a lot, it was still obvious to everyone but themselves that they were crazy about each other.

"Hey, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Ryo asked suddenly.

"I don't think I have any, why?" she asked.

Ryo shook his head. "No reason." He answered mysteriously. "Just keep it that way." He said as he got up off the couch.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sakura called after him as she followed him outside. "What are you planning?" she asked as she jogged to catch up to him.

"What makes you think I'm planning anything?" he asked.

"I know you." Sakura said. "Come on, tell me." She begged.

"You'll find out tomorrow." He answered as he wandered into the backyard. Sakura stood there for a few minutes with her hands on her hips.

'What is he up to?' she wondered as she turned and headed back inside the house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The mysterious man who had been watching Ryo and Sakura ran through the forest until he came upon a dragon. This dragon had a saddle on its back and appeared to be waiting on him. The dragon looked at him as he approached.

"What took you so long to get here?" the dragon questioned in a deep voice.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I did my job right!" the man commented as he situated himself in the saddle. "Besides, I wasn't expecting you to be here, Bronx."

The dragon spread its leathery wings and took off into the air. "I wasn't planning on it, but Master requested that I come pick you up. He's very anxious to hear what you have to say on that girl."

"Well, I have good news and bad news to tell him. So we better hurry and get here. Oh, and as a suggestion, you might want to make yourself scarce when I tell him the bad news. You know what happens when he hears bad news." The man shuddered.

Bronx nodded his understanding as he flew high above the trees toward their destination.