Storms of the Past
Chapter Two
Reunion
By: Lady Ava
Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors
The steak house that the Ronin had decided to go to was the Outback Steak House. They thought it would be fun only because it was a pretty new place and thought Sai might get a kick out of it. Ryo, Kento, Sai, Rowen, and Sage were sat in a large round booth in the corner of the busy restaurant. They were in the perfect sight of the television that had ESPN on. To their luck, the program on happened to be the Honolulu Surfing Composition.
"This is great." Kento said happily through a full mouth of steak. Swallowing hard, he grinned. "Good food, cute waitresses, and the best view of the surfing championships in the entire place."
Glancing over at Sai, who sat on the outer part of the booth, Rowen asked. "Well Sai, your our expert here on down under food. So, how do you rate it?"
Taking a sip of his soda, Sai cleared his throat. "On a scale of one to ten, I give it a 9.5." He laughed as he cut himself some more steak from his plate.
"Why the .5?" Ryo questioned.
"There aren't enough people working here that are actually Australian." He told the rest of his friends flatly, causing the table to break out into a fit of laughter.
Suddenly, a hand rested on Sai's shoulder. "Excuse me?" A husky Australian accent asked. Quieting their laughter to a dull roar, the group of teens looked up to see a tall man standing next to their table. He had a dark tan from being outside a lot and very brown hair. He was dressed in a blue surfer shirt with khaki shorts and sandals. His blue sunglasses hung from his shirt collar as he stared at Sai with his blue eyes.
"I'm sorry if my friends and I were too loud sir." Sai quickly stated.
Suddenly, the man burst of laughing, causing the teens to raise their eyebrows. "I knew I recognized you. You look just like your father did when he was your age."
His eyes widening, Sai jumped out of his seat with a big grin across his face. "Len! Oh my god! It's you!" He shouted happily as the man got him in a death grip of a hug.
"Ah Sai, you seriously do look like your old man." Len laughed. Pulling the youth away from him, he looked Sai up and down. "Identical. Unbelievable what the years will do."
The four remaining Ronins stared at each other, looks and shrugs being exchanged between them. Turning from his uncle, Sai was still in shock. "Guys, this is my Uncle Len from Australia." He said, sounded exasperated.
Sliding over, the five teens made room for Len at their table. "It's nice to meet ya." The older man said as he sat down next to his best friend's son. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" He murmured to the excited youth.
"Of course. That's Ryo Sanada, Rowen Hashiba, Sage Date, and Kento Rei Fuan. They're me best mates." He said proudly as his friends shook hands with Len.
Kento leaned over to Rowen and quietly whispered, "Since when has Sai called us 'mates'?" The question only caused Rowen to shrug.
Turning to the youth, Len smiled widely. "So how on Earth have you been? I haven't seen you since the day you moved."
"Life's been treating me alright, I guess."
"You here on vacation?"
"Just for the week."
"Have you seen the waves at the beaches? They're perfect of surfing. I was out there today. Never have ridden such smooth rides before." Len said, causing Sai to smile.
"I can't wait to get out there. I haven't been surfing in such a long time. What with school and all." He said modestly.
Grinning, Len suddenly stood from the table. "Well, better be getting back to my table. I left my wife and daughter there."
"You got married?" Sai asked, shock in his voice.
Nodding proudly, Len smiled. "Yup. Have been for three years now. And I have a beautiful two year old daughter."
Extending his hand out, Sai shook Len's firmly. "Congrats buddy."
"Thanks. Well, better get going. Nice seeing ya Sai." Len said as he released the boy's hand. As he turned away, he said softly into Sai's ear. "When you're out tomorrow, watch out for the undertow. Don't want anything to happen to you too."
His expression becoming stern, Sai told the man. "Don't worry about me. I'll be careful." And with that, Len made his way through the crowd and was gone from the Ronin's sight.
As the group spread out into the booth a bit again, Rowen turned to Sai. "Hey, what did he mean by, 'Don't want anything to happen to you too'?"
Sai gulped hard at the question. Then, putting on a fake smile, he simply stated, "Nothing. Just a little thing that we used to do back home."
As the rest of their meal continued, Ryo kept glancing over at Sai. He could tell that Sai was hiding something, but what was that something was, he didn't want to bring up.
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Later that night, Sai laid in his bed in an uneasy sleep. The balcony doors had been left opened so that he could hear the ocean crashing on the rocks below. Usually, the sound of the sea would calm Sai down and make him sleep better. But at that moment, it seemed to fuel the teen's nightmares.
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It was a cloudy day that showed signs of an oncoming storm. Thunder rolled across the sky, but there was no lighting in sight. The beach was very crowed, for it was the national surf composition that day. Surfers from all over Australia had come to the beach that Sai and his family lived near in order to compete.
Sai's father was going to be competing as well, so the entire Mouri family was set up on the beach, prepared to cheer on the man as he tried to gain his twentieth title. Mr. Mouri stood with his family as he waited to be called out. "Now remember, I want to hear you cheering your loudest." He said with a smile.
"No problem dad." Lily told as her new boyfriend wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You can count on me too, Mr. Mouri sir." The youth said as Lily hugged him back a bit.
Looking down at his ten-year-old son, the man grinned as well. "And can I count on you too Sai?"
Smiling a huge grin, Sai nodded happily. "You bet dad."
Suddenly, the name 'Mouri' was called over the loud speaker. Grinning one last time at his family, Mr. Mouri ran off and entered the water.
The waves that day were the biggest ones that Sai had ever seen. They towered over the usual size ones that he was adjusted to surfing on an everyday basis. Watching the giant walls of water, Sai scanned the area for his father. Suddenly, he saw him on top of one of the biggest waves that he had seen that day. His dad rode the water with ease, turning on a dime and doing the amount of tricks required in order to score high. But that's when the unexpected happened. The wave began to fall over and closed in upon itself. Sai felt himself hold his breath as he waited for his father to reappear from the water. He saw the tip of his father's board starting to emerge from the water. But he couldn't move fast enough. The wave crashed down upon him, throwing him into the water. Sai screamed out for his father as he watched him vanish beneath the rough seas.
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Sai let out a blood-curdling scream as he flung forward in his bed, covered in icy sweat. His entire body quivered under the white sheets as he sat there, panting heavily. Looking around, he saw that he was in the safety of his room. Breathing out a huge breath of air, Sai placed his head into his hands. "It was a dream?" He asked himself.
Suddenly, Kento burst into his friend's room, concern written clearly across his face. "Sai! What wrong?" He questioned as he ran over to Sai's side.
"We heard screaming. Is everything alright?" Rowen asked sleepily from the doorway as Sage and Ryo quickly joined him.
Removing his clammy hands from his brow, Sai swallowed hard. "It was so real." He murmured.
"What was so real Sai?" Ryo asked as he too sat down on the edge of the Torrent warrior's bed.
"My dream. Actually, is was more of a nightmare." He managed to tremble out.
Looking over at the digital clock that read the time, '6am.', Sage yawned a bit. "Listen, it is already morning. Why don't we get dressed and get some breakfast. Then, we can head down to the beach for some early morning surfing. That should get your mind off your nightmare." He suggested, causing Sai to stiffen a bit.
Averting his gaze to the opened balcony doors, the Australian boy saw that they were in for good weather that day. The sun was beginning to shine through into his room from the other side of the house. Smiling, Sai nodded in agreement to the plan. "Alright. Let's get a move on then."
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