After a few more minutes Sakura's sobs, turned into quiet sniffles. Ryo led her over to the bed as they sat on the side. Ryo looked over her, mentally checking to see if she looked hurt.

'She must have fallen asleep in the chair.' Ryo concluded looking at the fallen book and discarded blanket heaped on the floor. 'But what could she have dreamed about that would make her so scared?'

"Sakura, what happened?" he asked her gently after she had calmed down a bit.

"I was reading in the chair." She started as she looked at him. "And I guess I fell asleep and I had this…horrible dream, and it seemed so real." She said as she started to ramble incoherently.

"Whoa, calm down." Ryo said shushing her by putting his finger on her lips. "Tell me slowly what you dreamed about." Sakura took a deep breath and told him her dream. Shuddering when she got to the part of the monster that was about to kill Ryo, before she woke up.

"What was it?" Ryo asked in reference to the creature.

"I don't know." Sakura admitted. "I couldn't tell. It was so dark. But whatever it was, it gave me the chills." She said shivering in remembrance.

"Well whatever that thing was, it's gone now." Ryo said in comfort. Sakura didn't say anything but her mind was in a whirl. There was something about that creature, she couldn't put her finger on it, but it was almost…familiar. 'But where would I have known a creature like that?' she asked herself. She pushed the thought out of her head, not wanting to dwell on that terrible dream any longer. It was over and it was just a dream. 'At least it wasn't a dream about Kanna,' Sakura thought wirily. 'At least I can still take my time in telling Ryo about her.'

Ryo, not knowing of the inner turmoil Sakura was going through, continued to hold her protectively against his chest. He didn't know what else to do. He wanted to help her and he felt sure that this dream and Sakura's other dream about Kanna were all somehow linked back to that whole Seriyu incident. But there were so many gaps.

'It's like this is all a big puzzle, and I don't have all the pieces. I know that Sakura and the warlords have the other missing pieces, but they keep hiding them from me, keeping me from completing the puzzle. I'm pretty sure that this dream somehow relates to the Seriyu thing. And so does that dream that Sakura had about Kanna. But who is Kanna? How does Sakura know her? I wish she would just tell me. I can't help her if she won't let me.'  Ryo continued to mull things over in his mind, trying to piece things together, when he heard the front door open, followed by a chorus of voices. Sakura and Ryo looked at each other as they both stood up to go downstairs to greet their friends. Before they left the room, Sakura hugged Ryo one more time.

"Thanks for being there for me Ryo." She whispered in his ear.

"I'll always be there for you." He promised as he returned her hug. Sakura then dried her eyes as Ryo made his way downstairs. Kero came up behind her and nudged her in the leg. Sakura turned around and patted the huge tiger on the head.

"I hope that that was the last of the dreams Kero." She said sadly as he licked her hand. "I don't know how much longer I can hide this from everyone." Kero gave a growl in response.

"I know, you think I should tell them." She said as Kero nodded his massive head. "I will." She protested. "Just not yet." She added as she turned and headed downstairs to join the others. Kero following in her footsteps.

If anyone noticed that Sakura's eye were red from crying they decided not to mention it. At least for the moment and Sakura was grateful. But she knew that sooner or later. Someone would ask her about it, and she would have to tell them something. She just didn't know what.