Part 12: Heliodore Meets the God of Death

-February 26th, 2000-

Sage sighed as he watched Raye from afar.  She was sitting in front of her temple, by herself, eating lunch.  Why is she ignoring me?  What did I do to her that made decide to not talk to me all of the sudden? Sage thought with his heart in his throat.  For the last two weeks, Raye had made it a point of ignoring Sage, going out of her way to not talk to him at all costs.  Sage didn't understand.  Their relationship had been going so well up until the point of Heliodore's first attack and he'd been killed by her. 

Ever since then, not only had the Universal Warriors been bombed by attacks from Heliodore's monsters, Raye had pointedly ignored Sage and pretended like he didn't even exist.  And when she did talk to him, her words were cold and emotionless, like she felt nothing for him, which couldn't be further from the truth. 

As Sage watched Raye, Raye could feel his eyes on her and longed to be with him.  Tears came to her eyes.  She wanted to be with him so bad.  But, if I go and be with him, he'll just end up leaving me again.  Like Chad and Grandpa did.  I don't think I could handle losing Sage as well.  It's best for him that he just stays away from me, Raye thought with a heavy sigh.  A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks at the thought of never being with Sage, but she put a stop to those tears quickly; she didn't want to be caught crying by anybody, especially Sage at that moment. 

Sage watched Raye for a few more moments before turning his back to her and walking away.  He couldn't be near her any longer; it just hurt him too much to know that she had turned him away for no apparent reason.  He wandered through the forest until he reached the lake and found that Julie and Margot were sitting on the dock, also eating lunch.  Julie spotted Sage first and waved him over. 

"Sage!" she yelled, "Over here!"  Sage smiled slightly at the younger twin and walked over to the two.  "Hey Sage, how are you doing?" Margot asked as Sage sat down.  Sage considered his next words carefully, but decided to just tell them how he felt.

"Not too good, actually."  Both girls had looks of confusion and worry on their faces at his statement.

"Why?  What's wrong?" Julie asked.  Sage sighed.

"Well, it's Raye.  She's ignoring me.  Ever since the day we first met Heliodore, she's gone out of her way to ignore me and pretend like I don't exist.  And the sad thing is that I don't understand why she's doing it.  If I knew, then maybe I could fix it."

"Sage, you can't fix it because it doesn't have to do with you," Margot said, sighing.

"What do you mean?" Sage asked; did these two know something that he didn't?

"Well, if you didn't already know, then we'll tell you," Julie said, "You've heard about Chad, right?"  Sage sighed with frustration.  "YES!" he said with a groan, "You don't know how much I hate that guy.  The guy's been dead for over two years and it still feels like he's alive.  It's like I have his shadow hanging over my head." 

Julie, in an opportunity to mock Sage yet again, stood up and examined the area over his head.  "Nope, shadow free.  You've been spared for the moment, light-boy.  It seems you spirit buddy, Chad, has flown the coop."  Sage's eyes narrowed.

"Har har Julie," Sage muttered, "Very funny."

"Aww, does someone have a case of the grumpies today?" Margot said in a sugary-sweet voice.  Sage stood up with a growl and said, "Well, if you're going to make fun of me, then I'm leaving."  Sage started to walk away and Julie grabbed his hand.  "No, don't go Sage.  I'm not finished telling you about Raye and her situation."

"Yeah, and lighten up Sage," Margot said, "You need to learn to loosen up a little bit because before you know it, you'll start losing hair."  Sage's hand, in a protective gesture, automatically flew up to his hair, as if he was worried it was going to start falling out at any moment. 

Sage looked down at Margot, who was patting the empty space on the ground next to her.  "Come on, sit down," she said coaxingly.

"Yes," Julie said, "Let Aunt Julie and Aunt Margot tell you what you want to know."  Sage eyed the two suspiciously.  "Have you two taken your medication today?"  Julie and Margot both giggled.

"What medication?" Margot asked, "We're perfectly and normally sane."

"Right, perfectly and normally sane, my butt," Sage said as he sat down in between the two girls.  I don't know how they talked me into this, Sage thought with a sigh.

"Anyway," Margot said once Sage was settled, "Back to being serious."

"Wow!  You being serious?  I think I may have a heart attack!" Sage said sarcastically.  Julie glared at Sage.

"Hey, we're trying to help you.  If you don't want to know why Raye is ignoring you, then you can leave us to our wonderful food and be gone."

"No wait!" Sage said, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it.  You left yourself wide open and I just had to say something.  I really am sorry.  Please, help me."

"Oh, alright, but only if you promise that there will be no more smart-ass comments from you," Margot said.

"I promise," Sage said. 

"You better," Julie said, "Anyway you want to know why Raye is ignoring you, don't you?"  Sage nodded.

"Good," Margot said, "Well, simply put, Raye is ignoring you because she thinks she's cursed."

"What does that mean?  Why does the think she's cursed?" Sage asked.

"Well," Julie said, "Think about it.  Every guy that Raye has loved has died on her: Chad, her grandpa, and then you, but you were brought back to life."

"She probably figures that if she stays away from you, then you'll stay alive.  She cares about you too much to let you die on her again," Margot finished. 

Sage was extremely quiet as he mulled over the information.  How much did she care about him?

"Am I going to die?  Will she be hurt again?" Sage asked, concerned for Raye's emotions and well being.  Margot and Julie looked at each other.  Do we tell him? Julie asked Margot.

I suppose so.  I mean, in this case, it would be doing more good than bad.

So, we tell him, Julie said and Margot nodded.

"No," Margot said, "You're not going to die.  Not for a really long time at any rate."  Sage smiled; so maybe there was hope for him and Raye after all.

"And if you want to tell her that you love her," Julie said, "then you're going to have to force her to listen.  She's really stubborn, as you know, and once she gets an idea in her head, it's hard to get it out.  So, she's probably not to listen to you at first.  But, if you continue to push, she'll listen eventually."  Sage nodded and stood up.

"Well, thanks for the advice.  I guess I'll see you two later."
"Where are you going?" Margot asked.

"Are you going to talk to Raye?" Julie asked after Sage.  Sage smiled and he looked over his shoulder at them as he walked away.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."  Margot and Julie only growled at Sage's retreating figure, who was laughing all the while.

***
Sage, once again, was a nervous wreck.  He stood, hidden behind one of the many trees that surround the small temple.  In his light-of-sight stood Raye, who was practicing Tai Chi, her body moving in slow, calculating moves, sweat gleaming off of her bare arms and shoulders. 

When he walked away from Margot and Julie, he was confident and felt that nothing could go wrong.  But, in the space of about 20 minutes, the butterflies had managed to multiply in his stomach and Sage felt like he was going to pass out.  How was he supposed to force Raye to listen to him?  Coming up with no plan, Sage decided to improvise. 

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he strode out of behind the trees and walked for Raye.  Surprisingly, she didn't see or sense him coming and jumped when Sage called out her name.  "Look Sage, I don't want to talk right now.  Just leave me alone."  She started to walk away, but Sage grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him.  "Ok, but just let me say this one thing and then I'll leave you alone if you want me to.  I promise."  Raye sighed.

"Alright, but just this one thing."  Sage smiled and paused before he began, suddenly more sure of himself than ever before.  Sage took in one last deep breath before he began.

"I love you."  Raye blinked in surprise before attempting to pull her arm away from Sage's tight hold.  She didn't know if she wanted to hear what he had to say anymore.

"Let me go, Sage.  I don't want to talk to you."  Sage's grip on her arm tightened, if possible, and he fixed a soul-piercing gaze on Raye that made her freeze.

"No, you said you would hear me out.  Well, I'm not finished.  I love you so much.  And, as much as I hate to admit it, I need you like you would never believe.  I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you; without even knowing you, I gave you my soul.  I love you so much that I would do anything for you.  I love everything about you from your sense of humor to that cute way your nose twitches before you sneeze.  There is nothing I wouldn't give to be with you and to have you push me away hurts.  I don't know if you understand how much it hurts me.  I don't know what I did, but if you tell me, I just might be able to fix it."  Raye started at Sage with tears forming in her eyes.  She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but she couldn't endanger him.

"You don't want to be with me," Raye said, her voice quivering as she tried to hold back tears.  "If you be with me, you'll only end up getting hurt.  I'm cursed, Sage, I really am."  Raye couldn't hold back her tears anymore and she started crying, her tears running down her cheeks.  "Every guy I've ever loved has died on me.  I don't think I could bear it if you died again." 

Raye began pounding her fists against Sage's chest, but her sobbing had left her weak and her actions were futile.  "I love you too much to have you die on me again.  And I hate the influence you have on me because there's nothing I can do to keep myself from falling in love with you more and more everyday.  I…"  Raye was abruptly cut off as two hands grabbed her wrists and Sage's lips captured hers in a passionate kiss. 

Sage could taste the salty tears on Raye's lips as the two kissed; Sage knew he could never be with anyone else as long as he lived.  Raye savored the feeling of Sage's lips on hers because she knew that it would be the only time that she would ever be able to feel it.  Abruptly, she pushed Sage away, shocking him greatly.  "I-I can't," Raye said, "You'll just end up dying.  Good-bye Sage." 

Raye turned to walk away, still crying, but Sage, once again, grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.  His other hand gently tipped up her chin so he could look into her eyes.  "I'm not going to die on you, Raye."  Raye gasped unbelievingly.  Was he telling the truth?

"How do you know?" Raye asked.  Sage smirked.

"Let's just say that I have it on the highest authority that I'm not going to die."  At Raye's confused look, he explained further.  "I asked Julie and Margot and, seeing as how they know almost everything about the future, I think I can trust them.  They wouldn't lie to me about this."  Pulling Raye closer, he said, "Besides, with you with me, how could I leave?"  Raye smiled through her tears as Sage kissed her once again.  His arms came to wrap around her waist and Raye's hands rested on Sage's chest as the two of them kissed.  They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't hear the soft click.  Margot smirked as she put away the disposable camera that she kept on her at all times.  "Blackmail," Julie said softly in a singsong voice.

"Yup," Margot said, "We already have a really cute picture of Ami and Rowen asleep in one of the chairs in the living room.  All we need now are cute pictures of Lita and Kento, Mina and Cye, and Ryo and Mia."

"I wonder when those couples will get together," Julie mused.

"All in good time, Julie, just be patient," Margot said.  Julie sighed.

***

"NONONONONONONO!  You can't make me go in there!  You can't!  You can't!"  Michelle looked at Alex and rolled her eyes at her significant other's temper tantrum.  Alex looked at the pair of glass sliding doors with disdain and fear, as if they were a deadly viper, posed to attack.  "Come on Alex," Michelle said, "You need to get a dress for our upcoming concert."

"But Michelle," Alex whined, "It's scary in there with all the lace and frilly stuff and ribbons and…ah, hide me from the horror!"

"Alex, stop acting like a baby.  They're just dresses; they won't bite.  Now, in you go."  With that, Michelle gave Alex a stern push through the double doors and into Alex's hell: a women's department store.

***
An hour later, Alex emerged from the store less than thrilled and in a sour mood.  On her face was her best and most pitiful wounded puppy dog look.  Clutched in her hands was a single bag with a dress that Michelle insisted looked fabulous on her.  Although it was a simple midnight blue dress, Alex still insisted that it was too frilly.  "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it Alex?" Michelle said simply.  Alex turned to glare at Michelle.  "If you ever make me go in there again, I swear, I'll demolish the place."  Michelle sighed; she knew Alex wasn't serious enough to destroy a women's department store, her worst enemy.  "Alex, I love you and everything, but I just don't get you sometimes."   Alex opened her mouth to respond when a loud snort filled their ears. 

They looked at each other with confusion and turned to look at the source of the bull-like snort.  Their eyes widened with surprise at the sight of the monster that was in front of them.  It greatly resembled a fire-breathing dragon that stood on its hind legs.  It stood about 9 feet tall with deep purple scales.  Alex's bag dropped to the ground as Alex and Michelle both dove out of the way of a long stream of fire.  Alex smiled as she watched the monster's fire ignite her bag with the dress she just bought.  Well, well, looks like this monster was actually good for something, Alex thought with a smirk. 

All thoughts of the evil dress pushed out of her mind, Alex pulled out her communicator that she still carried around with her and paged all of the other Mystical Warriors, not bothering to look whether anyone would respond or not.  "You guys, there's a monster attack in downtown Tokyo; your help could be greatly appreciated."  With that, she put the communicator away and transformed.  "Power of Earth!" Alex cried out.

"Power of Seas!" Michelle yelled.  They then both transformed into their armor and assumed flawless fighting positions.  They began fighting the monster, trying to stab it with their weapons, hoping to weaken it by the time the others arrived.  The two warriors were currently having a hell of a time.  With only two of them, one with a short-range weapon, hitting the monster was out of the question. 

Alex dove in again, her daggers ready to strike, but she was easily blocked by the monster, who pushed her out of the way with its tail.  Alex flew through the air and landed on the hard asphalt, sliding back a few feet.  She let out a growl; she was getting extremely mad at this particular monster and she would normally use her attack on the monster, but to use her attack would be like setting off a bomb.  If Alex used her attack in the middle of downtown, she would destroy half of it.  Prudence was required with using her attack.  And a wide berth of about a half a mile, Alex thought bitterly as she pushed herself up from off of the ground. 

As her eyes focused on the battle scene, Alex saw Michelle stab at the monster with the spokes of her trident.  The monster growled in annoyance and shifted its attention to Michelle, leaving Alex a perfect opportunity to move in and attack.  Alex flew in and buried one of her daggers in the monster's side, right underneath the creature's arm.  It howled in pain as Alex pulled the dagger out and stepped away from it.  "Michelle, use your power.  It's safer than mine."  Michelle nodded in understanding.  It wasn't that Alex was saying that Michelle was weaker; although Michelle's power was every bit as strong as Alex's was, Michelle's was safer to use in an enclosed area. 

Michelle readied herself to use her power and Alex turned back to the enraged monster.  Immediately, she froze.  The monster, in its pain filled rage, was expressing it by howling loudly and spewing fire.  Alex watched wordlessly as the monster lit all of the trees that lined the sidewalks on fire.  The monster locked its gaze on Michelle through its pain and it swung its tail violently.  Michelle was defenseless.  She was in the middle of attacking and had no way of protecting herself from the monster's tail.  Michelle wasn't hit too hard by the swinging tail, but her trident was knocked out of her hands and flew through the air, landing several yards away. 

Michelle instinctually dove for her trident, but was stopped as the huge monster stepped in between her and her weapon.  Michelle's eyes widened in horror and surprise as she realized that she had no way of getting to her trident.  The monster closed in on Michelle, ready to do some serious harm.  "Michelle!" Alex yelled as the monster prepared to strike Michelle down.  The scene surrounding them had turned into a fiery pit, with many trees that were ablaze surrounding them.  Just when it seemed when all hope was lost, two voices called out.  "SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"RAGING ICE STORM FREEZE!"  Suddenly, the fires were snuffed out in the assault of Ami and Cye's water attacks.  The monster looked taken aback as it was suddenly faced by 16 more warriors. 

Serena stepped forward from the back of the group and, giving it a little knowing smile, held her staff out in her hands and used her attack.  "MOONLIGHT VANQUISH!"  A bolt of light in the shape of a crescent moon made its way towards the monster, killing it immediately. 

Serena smiled a wide and genuine smile at Alex and Michelle.  "Hey guys, sorry we're late.  It took a little bit to get here."

"No problems, the point is you made it to save our butts," Alex said.

"Yes, and we thank you," Michelle said gratefully, after picking up her fallen weapon. 

"Was that the only one?" Mia asked, "Are there more?"

"No," Michelle said, "That's the only one that attacked us."  The entire group of warriors stood in the middle of downtown Tokyo in contemplation; there seemed to be no point to that monster.  It didn't have as much power as the previous ones and seemed to have no purpose. 

The Universal Warriors were brought out of their contemplation by a throaty female laugh.  "Perfect; it appears that my plan to lure you all here worked like a charm."  The warriors watched as Heliodore appeared right in front of them, wearing a malicious smile, one strand of blonde hair wrapped delicately around her index finger.  Raye growled, "Heliodore, what are you doing here?" 

Heliodore's sights fell on Raye and her smile widened; she seemed to hate Raye more than anyone out of the Universal Warriors.  "My, my, what a big temper you have," Heliodore said sweetly.

"Yeah, all the more better to kill you with," Raye barked.

"Now, there's no need to get upset.  No need to jump the gun.  Attacking me now will only make me hurt you more when I destroy you."

"And what makes you think you'll be able to kill us, Heliodore?" Sage asked, standing next to Raye, who had pushed her way to the front of the group.  Heliodore smirked.

"From the sole fact that I am stronger than you.  Besides, I've already killed one of you before.  It shouldn't be that hard to do it again."  At Heliodore's words, one could see that behind the mask of superiority and arrogance a hint of shame lingered. 

But, Raye didn't pick up on that and she charged for Heliodore, her fire power gathering in between her cupped hands.  "FIREBIRD FLARE!" Raye cried out, sending a firebird headed in the general's direction.  It hit Heliodore before she could react.  Heliodore screamed.  She took a few steps back, clutching a wounded arm that had been scorched by Raye's attack, and glared at Raye.  "Ooh, you'll pay for that!"  With a frustrated yell, Heliodore let out her own attack. 

The force of the attack hit Raye, sending her flying into the air, crashing to the ground in a heap of armor.  "Raye!  NO!" Sage yelled as he watched his love go flying through the air with not the greatest of ease.  His anger deepening, he faced Heliodore with murder resonating in his eyes.  "I'll get you for that," Sage said lowly, his voice no higher than a hoarse whisper. 

He charged the general, his sword clenched in two hands, and raised his sword over his head to attack.  He brought his sword down to strike her with and was met with a power shield in the shape of a sphere that surrounded Heliodore perfectly, protecting her from Sage's wrath.  She had her head bowed, her eyes purposely avoiding looking at him.  Sage continued to bring his sword down on the shield, trying his hardest to break it so he could get to the person inside.  Slowly, she raised her head and looked into Sage's eyes.  Sage froze at the look in her eyes.  Heliodore looked almost…  Apologetic, Sage thought. 

Giving him a small smile, Heliodore whispered tenderly, "I'm sorry, Sage."  His eyes widened in surprise at her gentle tone and there was nothing he could do as she raised her hand so that her palm was facing Sage.  With nothing more than a mere thought, a blast of energy came out of her palm, which sent Sage through the air.  He landed on the ground with seemingly minimal damage and when he got up, he looked at Heliodore, only to see the compassionate look vanquished and the cruel and dangerous look back in its place.  "I say we get the bitch," Raye said, moving to stand besides Sage.  Sage looked down at her with concern. 

"Are you all right?  Are you sure you should be fighting her still?"  Raye smiled at him softly.

"Yes, besides, I have to get her for what she did to you."  Sage smiled back and together, they turned to face Heliodore.

"Heliodore, you're going down!" Raye yelled.  Sage only smiled at Heliodore with a knowing smile.  All the other Universal Warriors just watched as Raye and Sage turned towards each other, preparing for their attack.  Raye and Sage's gazes met and together, they were brought back a thousand years to a different world…

***
Prince Sage looked down at his sleeping princess who, not five minutes earlier, was in his arms.  I really don't want to go, but if anyone catches me, I'll be dead.  If news of this reached my father, I'd be dead and he'd blame me for ruining his peace treaty because my engagement to Heliodore will have been broken off.  Not that I care about her anyway.  She thinks we're in love, but I don't love her back.  For me, it is just a marriage of convenience.  The girl I love is the one I'm looking at right now, Sage thought as he looked down at Raye. 

She was wearing a deep purple, silk negligee; her normal nightwear, she said.  It managed to cover everything while still alluding to the figure underneath.  The loose-fitting material was held up by two, thin straps and Sage noted that when she stood up, they seemed to strain under the weight of the silk.  He smiled as he stretched out on the bed again, this time on top of the covers, and draped on of his arms over her waist, pulling her closer to him in the process.  He sprinkled light kisses on her shoulder and neck, which caused Raye to start to wake up. 

She moaned lightly as she felt Sage's kisses through her sleep-muddled mind.  She slowly opened her eyes and turned around in Sage's arms.  She saw his fully dressed form and pouted slightly.  "You leaving?" she asked quietly. 

"Yeah," Sage said, equally as soft.

"Why?" Raye asked.  Sage smiled slightly and kissed Raye.

"You know why I have to go," Sage said, "If anyone catches me here, I'll never be able to see you again.  I don't think I could bear never seeing you again."

"Oh, ok.  I understand.  I know what you're risking by being with me.  I'm also risking the same.  If anyone ever found out about us, there's no telling what could happen.  Besides, I wouldn't want to get Jedite mad.  He would kill you with no problem if he found out what was going on between you and me and I don't think I could live with you dead."  Giving Sage a tear-filled smile, Raye kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck to the best of her ability while lying down.  Sage kissed her back as passionately as she was kissing him.  His love for her seemed to know no bounds; he loved her more with each passing day. 

She ended the kiss slowly, aware of the need to get Sage out of her chambers before he was discovered.  Together, they got out of bed and Raye walked Sage to the door, holding onto his hand the entire way.  They stopped when they arrived at the door that lead out to the hallway where all the rest of the Sailor Scouts' chambers were located.  Sage turned his back to the door and looked down at Raye, one of his hands cupping her cheek.  He leaned over to deliver one more kiss, his fingers tangling themselves in her long, raven-colored hair.  Raye's arms rested on Sage's hips as they kissed and they were both in heaven. 

When they finally parted, Raye whispered, "I love you."  Sage smiled tenderly.

"I love you too," he said before opening the door and slipping out into the hallway, making his way back to his unused chambers.  Raye smiled as she leaned against her door.  She loved him so much.  And it wasn't all the secrecy of the matter.  Oh, yes, of course, the fact that no one knew about it, not even her fellow Sailor Scouts, made her experiences with Sage all the more passionate.  But, she truly did love him.  They had so much in common and she could talk to him for hours about everything and nothing.  She couldn't do that with Jedite or any of the others girls. 

She wished almost every day that she could break off her engagement with Jedite, Sage would break it off with Heliodore, and the two of them could be together without the worry of everyone else finding out.  She banished all thoughts of her and Sage's separate fiancés as she thought about the feeling that came from being in Sage's arms and receiving his kisses.  Smiling at the warm feeling inside of her, she practically floated over to her bed and lay down on it again, her thoughts fully focused on Sage.

***

To Sage and Raye, the experience of traveling back in time and seeing their past seemed to take many minutes when, in fact, it had only been a second in the real world.  Everyone watched, waiting to see what would happen.  Raye and Sage turned away from each other, both facing Heliodore, and Raye knelt on the ground in front of Sage as he removed his sword from its sheath, gripping the hilt in both hands, both of their eyes closed, focused on their power. 

Raye raised her hands into the air, her wrists touching and her palms facing heavenward, and her power, in the form of flames, started to gather in her open palms.  Sage, at the same time, was pouring all of his power into his sword, power crackling around his sword like lightning.  Slowly, he lowered his sword so that the tip of the blade rested in Raye's palms, combining with the power that was already there. 

The combined power grew in its intensity, reaching blinding levels.  Before looking at it became unbearable, Raye and Sage shouted, "LIGHTNING FLAME!" 

With those two words, a combination of lightning and fire, mixed with Raye and Sage's natural power, hurled towards Heliodore, who thought she was safe behind her shield.  But, the fire, which was surrounded by lightning, easily broke through Heliodore's shield. 

With a scream, Heliodore was killed, disintegrating from the power of lightning and fire.  Once Heliodore was gone, Raye got up off the ground and her and Sage detransformed into their sub-armor.  Immediately, Raye began fussing over Sage.  "Sage, are you ok?  You're not hurt?"

"No, Raye, I'm not hurt," Sage said.

"Are you sure?" Raye asked, checking for wounds or signs of weakness, "I mean, she hit you pretty hard a couple of seconds ago.  You went down pretty hard.  If she hit you any harder she would have…"  Raye was cut off as Sage did the only thing he could think of to stop her tirade: he kissed her.  Raye melted into the kiss, savoring the feeling of her lips on his, while the rest of the Universal Warriors, minus Margot, Julie, and Celia, looked on in surprise at the kissing couple. 

When they pulled away, Sage smiled and said, "Raye, we have got to work on those little tirades of yours."  Raye smiled back.

"I don't know, you seem to have a good way of dealing with them," Raye said, her eyes sparkling with mirth.  Sage only chuckled at Raye and turned to look at the rest of the Warriors, their expressions all that of dumbstruck.  "Well, I guess the secret's out," Raye said as she too looked at the rest of the group.  Rowen, who had detransformed into his sub-armor as well, walked over to Sage, a smile on his face.  "Congratulations, Sage.  I'm really happy for you.  I mean it looks like you got your memories of the Silver Millennium back and you got the girl you love.  I couldn't be happier for you; really, I couldn't."  Sage smiled at Rowen as his best friend turned to Raye.

"And Raye," Rowen said, "If you hurt him, I have every right to hurt you, understand?"  Although Rowen's words were serious, the smile on his face gave it away.  Raye smiled back and said, "You have nothing to worry about, Rowen."  Rowen nodded.

"Good," Rowen said, "Now, can we get home?  Ami and I were in the middle of a really good movie and I kinda wanna get back to watching it."

"No," Sage said, "You just want to get back to your making-out session."  Rowen glared at Sage and smacked him on the side of the head.  Sage laughed.  "Ooh, I got you, didn't I?" Sage said

"And to think that I came over here to tell you that I was happy for you.  I shouldn't have even bothered," Rowen said.

"Aww, Rowen, you're just too sensitive," Sage said as he, Raye, and Rowen walked over to the rest of the group.  "So, do we go home now?" Darien asked.  The rest of them nodded and fully detransformed.  As they were walking, Michelle suddenly realized something.  "Oh God!  Alex, your dress!  The monster destroyed it!"

"Yeah, and lucky for me, it did," Alex said, "And Michelle, no matter what you say, I just don't think that I was made to wear a dress.  So just forget it."  Michelle only glared at her true love.

***

"We haven't done this in a long time, have we?" Kento asked as he and the other Ronin Warriors sat in a circle on Ryo's bed.

"No, not since Julie and Margot arrived," Sage said.

"Yeah, too much risk in getting caught and video taped," Ryo said.  Rowen sighed.

"Those two are trouble makers to the extreme."

"Yeah," Cye agreed, "Like the little episode with the shower.  That was so not cool."

"But, we have no physical proof that they did it," Rowen said, "Though it has their names written all over it."

"Ah, I get it," Kento said, "We don't do this anymore because there's a chance that Julie and Margot could be waiting outside this door with a tape recorder, recording all of our words."

"Yup," Sage said, taking a sip of his soda. 

"Hey Sage," Cye said, "Why aren't you with Raye?  I figured that seeing how this is your first night together, you two might spend it together."

"Yeah," Rowen said, "I did with Ami."  Sage looked at Rowen with a hint of a smile forming on his face.

"Rowen, you spent your first night with Ami on the couch in the library, having sex."  Rowen shook his head.

"No, we didn't have sex, we made love.  There's a definite difference."  Sage rolled his eyes.

"Well, sorry for using the wrong terminology," Sage said sarcastically. 

"Hey about that," Ryo said, "I wouldn't expect Ami to be so forward as to sleep with you right off the bat."  Rowen snorted.

"Well, you don't know Ami that well then.  I swear, underneath that somewhat shy and prudish behavior is a little minx.  I won't say anything else.  But, Sage, you didn't answer Cye's question.  Why aren't you with Raye?" Rowen asked.

"Well, we would be spending time together, but she has that girls-night-out with the others and it's something that she's been planning for a while."  Cye smiled.

"You know Sage, you really are lucky.  I do envy you for what you have with Raye.  I wish I had something like that with Mina." 

"You'll have something like it someday," Sage said,

"And when you get it, it'll be wonderful," Rowen said, "Being in love is the best thing."

"What's it like to be in love?" Ryo asked.

"Well, you're already in love with Mia, so you know what it's like to be in love," Rowen said, "But to be in love and know that the other person loves you back and to be able to tell that person that you love them…that's a different story."

"Yeah, it's like there's this barrier that disappears," Sage said, "And you feel this sense of…"

"Freedom," Rowen said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Man, that's not fair," Kento said, "I wish I knew what that felt like."

"You'll have your chance with Lita soon enough, Kento," Rowen said. 

"Are you so sure?" Kento asked.  Rowen and Sage looked at each other with knowing looks; they had seen how Lita acts towards Kento and that it was only a matter of time before the two hooked up.

"Yes," they both said at the same time.

"How do you know?" Kento asked; he didn't understand how Sage and Rowen could be so certain.

"Well," Sage said, "We just know."  Kento only shook his head as he dismissed Rowen and Sage. 

"Well," Ryo said, "We haven't had a guys night in a while.  I say we actually do something instead of sitting around here and doing nothing."

"How about we go out to a movie," Kento said, "There's this really great one I want to see about these aliens who try and take over the world and this guy has to save it."

"Ah, the story of our lives," Cye said, "Well, I'm up for it."

"Yeah, that's sounds pretty good," Ryo said, "Come on, let's go."  Sage and Rowen wordlessly agreed as they all got off of Ryo's bed and began getting ready to go to the movie.

********

Hi! So, everything is all pretty as Raye and Sage finally end up together!  Yay!   So . . . who wants to take a stab at who next chapter's couple will be???  Four chapters . . . three couples left!  And one large battle, naturally.  Someone's got to kick Metallia's behind from here to eternity.  Ok, review and take a guess as to the next couple.  I'll hopefully have a chapter up by Thursday, but I've go a concert on Weds and two rehersals Monday and Tuesday for it . . . not to mention I need to work on my solo for it a lot!!!!  EEP!  Hope to hear from everyone!  : ) ~Des