Ryo walked through the forest, searching for Sakura. Ever since he had talked her into sparing Seriyu's life a few days ago, she spent most of her time alone by the river. She even turned Kero's company away. But this had gone on far enough, and he needed to get some answers. He had asked the warlords what had happened between Sakura and Seriyu, but out of loyalty to her, they remained as tight lipped as before. He found her sitting on the bank staring dismally at the crystal clear water. She had her legs pulled up and her chin was resting on her knees. She turned and looked at him when she heard him approach, but returned to staring at the water and made no objection as he sat next to her. The two sat in silence before Ryo decided to break the ice.

"You having second thoughts about our wedding next month?" he asked. Sakura continued to stare at the water as she gave a small smile.

"No," she answered. "Are you?"

"No, I just wanted to know if you were."

"Well, I'm ready for it. Everything is all set." She answered.

"Good." Ryo said with a nod as he let his eyes roam his surroundings.

"So you got your dress?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Look, I know you didn't come down here to talk to me about the wedding, Ryo." Sakura said bluntly. "So why don't you just cut it with the small talk and ask me what really want to talk about!" Ryo sighed. He had never been good at keeping things from her.

"I guess, what I came down here to talk about is this whole Seriyu thing." Sakura stiffened and Ryo continued talking. "Please, stop avoiding the subject, you need to talk about this with me. You have been sitting down here for the past couple of days ever since you let him go…"

"Ever since you made me let him go." Sakura corrected him sharply.

"Fine, either way, all you've done for the past couple of days is mope down here. You won't let anyone near you, you won't even talk to Kero!" Ryo yelled frustrated.

"What am I supposed to do Ryo?" she demanded angrily as she finally looked at him. "I have waited my entire life to finally be able to repay that jerk back for what he did to me and I let that chance slip through my fingers."

"You did the right thing!" Ryo protested.

"Not if you knew what he did!" Sakura muttered.

"See! This is what I'm talking about! You won't tell me! You won't tell anyone and Dais, Anubis, Cale and Sekhmet know, but they won't say anything, out of loyalty to you." Ryo yelled at her his frustration growing that she kept hiding this big secret from him.

Sakura turned her head and stared at the water again as Ryo sighed in annoyance. This wasn't going the way he had planned.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she said sternly.

"Why not?" Ryo said with pleading in his voice. "Whatever happened happened a long time ago. Don't you think that you've held onto this grudge of yours long enough?"

"You have no idea of what he did." Sakura responded in a low voice.

"Because you won't tell me!" Ryo finished wearily. He was starting to really get really angry about this. But he quickly cooled down when he saw the lone tear slip down her cheek. Ryo instantly regretted his harsh tone and pulled her close. Sakura leaned her head against his chest and cried silently.

"I'm sorry, don't cry Sakura." He soothed as he stroked the top of her head and kissed her forehead.

"I'm just not ready yet." She said softly. "I'll tell you one day, I promise I will. Because I know that one day I'm going to have to face this and tell people, but I'm still just not ready to talk about it. I'm sorry; please don't be upset with me." She whispered as she cried on his shoulder. Ryo hugged her tighter.

"Then I'll wait." He said simply. "Until your ready to tell me." The two sat there for a long time, Ryo holding onto Sakura protectively as she attempted to dry her tears. He had no clue as to what Seriyu had done, but she had promised to tell him when she was ready and that was good enough for him. He would just be patient, and in the mean time, they still had their wedding. Maybe after they were married, she'd be ready.