I do not own Sakura Wars or any of it's characters…'cause if I did, I wouldn't be calling this a fanfic and I would be sailing on the Caribbean in my private yacht, literally swimming in pools of money.

So, now that that's over, you can read the fanfic. Enjoy!

Oh, and this is set in sort of a past/future sorta way and it's based on if Orihime and Reni hadn't come in ST2.

Jacques, Fifi, Clarice, Sophie, Mikel, Reina, Ravina, and Peter are all my characters. (Even if Fifi is a dog!) NO TOUCHIE!!!

Chapter 26

"Come in Kayama." came Yoneda's gruff voice from inside. Cautiously, Kayama opened the door and poked his head in. Yuri was standing in front of Yoneda's desk, talking to him about something rather. "Sit down Kayama. You're going to need to hear this…" Yoneda said as Yuri turned to face the Captain of the Moon Division. "Yuri, tell Kayama what you just found out. And after that, Kayama, tell Yuri what the conversation between you and myself was about." Hmm…this should prove to be interesting.

Maria awoke to the sounds of chirping birds and laughing children. Groggily, she opened her eyes and blinked a couple times. And when the room was in focus, the blonde looked around. The room was as unfamiliar to her as were the sounds, since she usually awoke to the sounds of Kanna and Sumire's arguments…that is, if she slept. Where am I? She wondered as she sat up in bed. But as she did, a sharp pain surged through her, causing her to look down at her bandaged leg. It was bandaged all the way to her thigh, and most of the bandages were bloodstained. I'm injured?! How…Maria never finished that thought. It all came back to her in a flood of memories. The man with the French accent…the fishing shack…and the daggers… "Oh! Oh dear! Did you tear the stitches?!" A slightly plump woman ran into the room and took a look at Maria's right leg. Then she sighed and began to rummage through the cabinet next to the bed. "Indeed you did. That's the third time!" "Reina! Is she awake?!" came a familiar voice from the other room. That sounds like… "Ohgami?"

"GIVE ME THOSE BATTERIES!!" Clarice shouted, chasing Sophie around the room for the 40th time. Jacques and Valentinov had stopped arguing, sat down on the couch, and decided that this was more entertaining than the MTV channel on at the moment. *WHAM* The door to Sophie and Clarice's apartment burst open and a man of 20 years raised an eyebrow at the scene. Clarice stopped immediately and looked at the newcomer. "May I help you sir?" she asked, looking directly into the man's violet eyes. The man sized up the girl in front of him before speaking. "You work for Valentinov, do you not?" he asked. Before Clarice got a chance to speak, Valentinov stood up and took a good look at the man, then a wide grin spread across his face. "Ah…Peter! So good to see you! Did you bring…" Valentinov stopped short when a woman in her mid thirties appeared in the doorway. "Ah, Raven…you look just as beautiful as when I last saw you." "Cut the formal junk and let's get down to business." the woman known as Raven stated. "And you still have that temper…" the Russian man muttered. The dark haired woman cast her gaze over to Jacques and put on her most charming smile, showing off her pearly white teeth. "Well, well. Who's this charming prince?" she asked, looking back at Valentinov. "Oh! Forgive me. That's Jacques." Valentinov pointed to Clarice, who was still staring at Peter with hearts in her eyes. "That's Clarice, and that, (points to Sophie, who is now on the couch, chewing bubble gum) is Sophie." The brunette Russian stared daggers at the dark-haired beauty who was now flirting with Jacques with her eyes. Getting the feeling that she was being watched, Raven turned around and looked at Sophie. "I thought I recognized you, the moment you walked in the door." the Russian said flatly. "Ravina? You go by Raven now? What are you doing here?" Raven stared at Sophie with a blank stare for a moment and then grinned wickedly. "Sophia Alexandra? You go by Sophie now? That's an improvement. Not that your attitude has been in a few decades." "Heh, my attitude may be awful, but I guess it just reflects your beauty…you stuck up witch!" "Witch? Have you resorted to just name calling?" Raven asked, trying not to look irritated, but it was showing through big time. "Yeah, I've resorted to name calling because it works." Sophie replied. "You two know each other?" Valentinov asked. "Know each other? We were practically sisters about 16 years ago." Raven said with a sweet, sticky smile. "Sisters? Yeah, major rivals." Sophie replied, turning her baseball cap the other way. "We hated each other." Raven glared at Sophie who had her back turned to the dark-haired woman. Clarice cleared her throat and looked at Peter, who was pleasantly chatting with Jacques. "So, Peter, how did you become acquainted with Ravina?" she asked curiously. The American looked uneasily at Raven, and then spoke. "I-well, see, Ravina is my half-sister." "No way! Family relations in the mafia? I never thought I'd hear about this!" Clarice gushed. "Yeah, well, if the person we're after was still here, people would think the same thing about you." Sophie replied with a bored tone. The Russian could feel Clarice's penetrating gaze even with her back turned. She knew that the American teenager was only trying to make a conversation, but… If she wants to flirt, she needs to stop being so obvious.

"Ohgami…what are you doing here?" Maria asked as Reina began to remove the bandages from her leg. "He was the one who brought you here. You should thank your lucky stars that you have such a prince charming at you service." Reina interjected. Ohgami turned an amusing shade of red at this compliment, and he suddenly found the floor to be quite interesting. "Is this true?" Maria asked suddenly. And when Ohgami nodded, the blonde smiled. "….Thank you." she whispered. Reina smiled to herself and then got up. "Well, it doesn't look too bad." she announced. "I'm going to call the Theater and tell them that you two are here. There's probably a 4 island alarm for you guys." And with that, she left the room, leaving the two lovers alone. They probably want to be by themselves for a while…

Ohgami knelt by Maria's side and held her hand. "How are you feeling?" her asked with concern in his eyes. The Russian smiled weakly. "I have had better days…but that's no reason to fuss over me." she said, trying to sit up. "Hey!" Ohgami exclaimed, standing up. "Don't you dare get up! You're injured, and you need to lay down!" Maria blinked a couple times before laying her head back on the pillow and smiling approvingly. "Such a forceful tone…" she commented with a dancing sparkle in her eyes. "I have no choice but to obey…" "OHGAMI! THERE'S A MR. YONEDA ON THE PHONE FOR YOU!!" Reina called from the other room. Maria's eyes went wide at this announcement. "Oh my god…what's Yoneda going to say about this?" she asked worriedly. "Don't worry about a thing, Jade Eyes." Ohgami said reassuringly. He bent down and kissed the blonde then looked her in the eyes. "I'll take care of everything."

Reina handed the phone to Ohgami, who, hesitantly took it and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" he asked uncertainly. "Ohgami? Is that you?" came Yoneda's voice. "Um…yes sir, it is…" "WHERE THE DEVIL HAVE YOU BEEN?!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU?!" Ohgami held the phone away from his ear as Yoneda continued to shout. Reina looked over at the man with a sympathetic smile. When Ohgami didn't hear anymore noise coming from the telephone, he cautiously put it back up to his ear. "Sir? Are you still there?" he asked. "Yes Ohgami I am…" Yoneda replied. "I take it you found Maria…how is she?" "She was in critical condition when we found her-" "We?!" Yoneda asked. "Yes, myself and the local doctor, Reina Tsuni." Ohgami replied without flaw. "…continue with what you were saying." Yoneda replied after a minute. "But she's fine now. She suffered a serious injury to her right leg, and a deep cut on the side of her left hand, but she's still the same old Maria. She said that she felt good enough to get out of bed this morning, but I wouldn't let her. Anything else sir?" Ohgami asked. "No. That will be all. I want you to stay with Maria until she's recovered enough to where you both can come back here. I'm going to postpone rehearsals and the date of the play will be decided once Maria is back on her feet again…literally."

"Well!" Valentinov stated, clearing the silence and the tension between the arguing women. "Since you three women seem to be such good friends, you're going to room together." "WHAT?!" Came the simultaneous reply from both Sophie and Ravina. "NO WAY AM I SHARING AN APARTMENT WITH THAT WITCH!" Sophie exclaimed. "AND NO WAY AM I SHARING A LIVING SPACE WITH THIS…THIS…BUM!" Ravina exclaimed. "Like it or not, that's how it's going to be." Valentinov said flatly. Clarice ran to her room and slammed the door, knowing that if she didn't, she'd be the one sleeping on the couch. Ravina and Sophie glared at one another, then both made a break for the other room. "OW! Lemme in!" Sophie exclaimed as Ravina made it halfway in the room and managed to close the door halfway. "No! Hey! Jacques wants to tell you something!" Ravina exclaimed. "Yeah, right." Sophie snapped. "Actually…he has your gum…" "WHAT?!" Sophie asked as she stepped out of the doorway and then realized, as the door slammed shut, that she had been tricked. "She did that last time too." The Russian muttered as she went to the couch and laid down, giving the signal for Valentinov, Jacques and Peter to hightail it out of there.

Name: Peter Gyra

Age: 20

Nationality: American/British

Weapon of choice: Katana

Hair color: Sandy brown

Eye color: Violet purple

Name: Ravina (Raven) Turner

Age: 35

Nationality: American/Japanese

Weapon of choice: None. Has psychic powers

Hair color: Midnight black

Eye color: Ice-cold blue