Chapter One-Cyla's Appearance

"I'm glad you and the others returned safely, Seiya. I was beginning to worry." Princess Sienna smiled.

"Yeah. Ikki must get some kind of power boost in the future. His Iron Knight was next to impossible to beat. "

"But we did it. Together." Shun added. "It was great."

"Yeah…" Hyoga seemed to be thinking of other things. There had been a couple of fatalities in that fight. For instance, the mother of the little girl that had followed them. He was glad she'd stayed out of the way while they fought the Knight, but he wondered what had happened that she'd ended up with the Cygnet cloth.

"Hey, Hyoga…Are you okay?"

"Yeah, man. I'm just thinking about that little girl."

"The one who was trying to protect the Cygnet cloth. She was adorable." Seiya explained, when the Princess gave Hyoga weird look.

"What was a child doing with the cloth?" Sienna wanted to know. "That's not how it was supposed to be."

"That what we said." Shiryu said. "But she gave it to us easily enough."

"That she did." Seiya stood up. "Well, I'm going to bed. We've had a very long day."

Shun and Shiryu nodded in agreement. "You comin' Hyoga?"

"Sure, in a little bit." The swan-guarded knight went outside and stood on the balcony.

"Is he alright?" Sienna asked.

"I'm not sure. He's been sort of quiet since we got back." Seiya said softly. "Maybe he'll come around eventually."

"I hope so. It's not like him to mope around." The princess turned to the balcony door. "Don't forget to lock up, Hyoga."

"No worries, Princess." He gave her a half smile before returning his gaze to the courtyard.

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When he heard the inside door close, he leaped below. He needed a walk. He realized what the problem with him was. He was beginning to feel cramped in the apartment with those other three knights. He wanted his own space. Of course, he didn't know how to tell the other guys. He didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. He let himself sigh, and continued towards the gates that led out of the embassy. He stopped very suddenly when he heard crying. "Um…hello?" He looked around for the source. The sound was coming from the Princess' bushes. Hyoga walked over to check it out. He pushed the brush aside, and gasped. There sat the little girl from the future, staring up at him tearfully.

"No hurts me…" The small child cowered away from Hyoga, burying her face in her hands.

"I'm not going to hurt you…" Hyoga wasn't sure what to do. He only knew that it was cold, and the child was in nothing but rags. An idea sprung to his mind. "Come with me?" He asked her softly, reaching in to pick her up. "You shouldn't be out here like this. It's cold." He added. The swan was rewarded, when the girl let him pluck her from the bushes. "There now….it's goin' to be okay, Little One…." He wrapped both arms around her, to help warm her up. "How did you get here?" Hyoga asked, as he headed back towards the embassy. His walk would have to wait. The girl gave no answer, and Hyoga realized she might be too afraid to tell him anything. Well, this is going to be interesting to say the least. We've never dealt with a child this small before. He let himself into the apartment suite the four knights shared. "Alright now. Let's just make sure you're not hurt anywhere, okay?" The child nodded silently, as Hyoga sat her on the kitchen counter. She watched him through deep brown eyes, as he examined her gently.

At length, she spoke up again, softly. "What name?"

Hyoga blinked, then smiled. "Hyoga. But you can call me "Swan" if you want to. I bet that'll be easier to say for you."

"Hyoga? What's…? Who is that?!" It was Seiya. He gotten up to use the bathroom, when he heard talking in the kitchen.

Hyoga whirled around, the little girl in his arms. "Sorry…Did we wake you up, dude?"

"No…not…it's her!" Seiya's eyes widened. "How did she get here?"

"I don't know. She was hiding in Princess Sienna's bushes. I knew she'd catch a bad illness out there, so I brought her inside. Isn't she precious?"

"She's adorable…" Seiya breathed. "Does she have a name?"

"How about it, Little One? What's your name?"

"Cyla." The small girl buried her face in Hyoga's neck.

Seiya shook his head. "What are we supposed to do with her?"

"I'll take care of her." Hyoga suggested. "She likes me already."

"You, take care of a child? I don't know, Hyoga…"

The blonde headed Hyoga stared at him. "What do you mean, you don't know? I can take care of a child!"

Cyla began to fuss again, not liking the yelling. Seiya used it to his advantage. "That, for instance. You made her cry already!"

"Excuse me, Seiya, but you're yellin' just as much as I was." Hyoga held Cyla close to his chest. "Shhh…It's okay, Cyla."

A minute later, the boys turned their heads, hearing another door open. Shiryu and Shun were joining them. "What's all the noise?"

"Hyoga found that child from the future." Seiya told them.

"No way! She must've followed us into the portal!" Shun exclaimed.

"She's tiny…." Shiryu remarked. He sat on one of the breakfast stools, and held out his arms for Cyla.

Hyoga handed her to Shiryu. "These are my friends. This is Shiryu. He likes children."

"Oh man…Sienna's not going to like this at all…" Seiya moaned. "Especially since we're still at war with Ikki and his Black Knights. Can you imagine what he'd do if he knew we had a child?"

"Probably use her against us." Shiryu replied in an undertone. He was rocking the small girl gently, hoping she'd fall asleep. "We can't just abandon her though. We don't know how to get her back. That portal was a one time thing."

"That's true…." Shun agreed, pouring a glass of water. "We'll just have to keep a close eye on her."

"I guess you're right." Hyoga replied, getting a glass of water as well.

"She's asleep…" Shiryu looked up at Hyoga. "We're going to have to buy things, man."

"Like pajamas and the kind of food she likes…" Shun began ticking things off on his fingers.

"Whoa whoa…No one said we'd be keeping her." Seiya intervened. "We can't afford to keep her. It would be putting her in danger."

"Are you sayin' we can't protect her? Of course we'll keep her." Hyoga contradicted firmly. "Come, Shiryu. She can sleep in my bed. I don't mind."

Shiryu nodded, and led the way to the room he and Hyoga shared.

Seiya looked at Shun, with a sigh. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Don't worry, Seiya. It'll be okay. I think it's a great idea. We'll all take care of her, like older brothers." Shun smiled, and retired to their room for the night.

"I hope we know what we're doing…" Seiya muttered, as he turned off the kitchen light, and went to join Shun.