So, next chapter. Yippee! By the way, I'm warning you lot now. If you don't review I won't continue it. Thanks to those who have reviewed, now if the rest of you would just stop being lazy...

Chapter 5

Mia was furious.

'Ryo's chosen her over me?'

"I guess I'll go get dinner." she said, moving towards the kitchen.

"Do you want any help?" Karala asked her.

"No, thanks, I'll be fine." Mia replied coldly.

Karala looked worried.

"What did I do?" she asked as soon as Mia had left the room.

Ryo was puzzled.

'Why did Mia do that? She's usually really easygoing!'

"Nothing." Kento reassured her. "Maybe she's just in a bad mood."

"Maybe she's jealous?" Rowen suggested.

"Jealous! Jealous of what, exactly!" Karala exclaimed.

"I don't know, I'm just trying to come up with reasons here!" Rowen defended himself.

Karala sighed, then turned and walked out of the room. Sage smiled suddenly.

"I think I know what you meant." he said to Rowen.

Rowen raised his eyebrows. The rest of the Ronins looked mildly interested.

"You think that Mia's jealous of Kal because Ryo likes her..." Ryo went red at this point. "...and she likes him, and that Mia might be in love with Ryo!"

Ryo followed Karala out of the room.

"It's not so much that I think Mia loves Ryo, I just think she might get a little protective of us, and so she doesn't like any-one taking over." Rowen said thoughtfully.

That night...

Ryo woke with a start.

'What the hell was that?' he thought wildly, trying to bring his scattered thoughts back together. He saw his nightmare over and over again in his head. He got up abruptly pulled on a few clothes and climbed out his window. He landed with a soft thud on the ground below. He started towards the lake. He always went there when he had a dream like this.

When he got there, he was surprised to find someone else there as well. Karala turned around, a dagger halfway out of it's sheath before she registered who it was. She returned the dagger to it's sheath on her thigh before sitting down and inquiring what Ryo was doing out here at this time.

"I had a nightmare" he answered, sitting down next to her.

Karala studied his face for a moment, then, turning back, she asked:

"You too, huh? What did you see?"

"I didn't know what it was that I was seeing at the time, but I think that I saw your family being..."

"Being murdered, you mean." she said it very matter-of-factly. "I get that nightmare every night. I don't go to sleep any more, because I'm scared of what I'll see if I do."

"But why did I see it though? I wasn't there, so how could I remember it?"

"I don't know." Karala admitted. "It should be impossible, except in the case of family. If a close member of your family saw it, then the telepathic link that exists to a certain extent in everybody might show it to you. It would have to be a very close member, either a parent or a sibling, or the link doesn't work. Even if you've never seen this family member it could still happen."

"But I haven't got any family left. My mother died when I was very young, and my father a few years ago on a safari trip. I don't have any brothers or sisters."

Karala sighed. "Maybe it's just an exception to the rule." She stood up, brushed herself off, and started back towards the house. Ryo caught her arm as she went past him, and when she turned back, kissed her softly on the lips. When they broke apart, she shook herself free and ran back to the house.

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Carline