PART 5
"AUNTIE!" exclaimed the other kids as they hurried to their uncle.
The younger Ronins rushed to them and Sage said, "Let me see her!" Ryo watched as his older self let Sage check her over.
"Well Sage?" asked the worried husband.
Sage sighed and said, "It's not to bad I think. I think she just fainted because of the lack of sleep and the energy drain on her body caused by the babies and that portal from before."
Ryo sighed in relief as Sage said, "BUT I'm no doctor, not yet at least; you might want to have my older self check it out."
Ryo nodded and said, "He's already on his way."
"What?" Rowen asked.
Ryo laughed and said, "Oh yeah you don't have telepathy yet."
"Telepathy?" asked the younger Ryo.
"Yes, your about nineteen now right?" Ryo asked his younger self.
"Um, I turn nineteen in one week."
"Then Cye, you'll find yourself hearing things when the other guys are near you. You'll ask them about it but they wouldn't have said it, they THOUGHT it but not said it. That's when you all find out about your, your um, NEW powers."
"So we all have powers then?" Ryo smiled and said, "Lets just say that your armors aren't the only things that have magic."
The younger Ronins stared at the older Ryo, but was brought out of their stupor as Elder Sage and Miaka with Hariel, Yuri, Kori, Suki, and Ariashi ran into the room. Sage sat down and grabbed Makoto's hand. He closed his eyes and began to glow a light green.
Sage exclaimed, "Hey! He's not in armor! How can he, I, do that!"
Ryo smiled and said, "I told you the armor's aren't the only things with magic."
He laughed and held up his left hand. The younger Ronins watched him confused, but gasped as his hand burst into flames.
Sage stopped glowing and said, "She'll be fine. Just a loss of energy and the strain of keeping the twins happy."
"Twins?" asked the younger Ryo with wide eyes, as he finally comprehended that she had two inside of her.
His older self smiled and said, "Yep! Makoto's pregnant with twins."
"But! She's not that far along! How can you tell?"
The older Sage smiled and said, "Lets just say, after ten births I have learned how to tell if the girls are pregnant early on for one, and I know what ONE baby feels like. Makoto on the other hand, she has two distinct presences inside her. She's carrying twins no doubt about that."
Ryo asked flustered, "Um, just how many children are you…me…um us oh you know what I mean! Just how many are you planning on having?"
Elder Ryo, Elder Sage, and Miaka laughed as Elder Ryo said, "As many as possible really."
"But how old are you?" asked his younger self.
Ryo smiled and said, "One thousand six hundred twenty four, why?"
"Um, just how much longer can she…? I mean?" asked Ryo still flustered.
Elder Sage laughed and said, "I think understand your problem. What you're wondering is, how much longer can she carry children?"
Ryo nodded his head quickly.
The older Sage had a thoughtful look on his face and began, "Well before the world fell apart women could be impregnated up till their mid fifties, and since Makoto and the girls are all one thousand six hundred twenty three/four years old and look to be only twenty five/twenty-six then I'm guessing that they can continue to carry children up till about two thousand five hundred."
"That's still nearly nine hundred years away for her…them!" exclaimed Cye with wide eyes.
The elder Ryo nodded and said, "I'm going to take her to our room. Hariel, kids go with your Aunt back to the main hall and continue your lessons. Younger Ronins you can go with them or follow me. After I place her in bed, I'll be going to the command room where the others are gathering."
"Where is my older self going?" asked Sage with a thoughtful look.
"Oh, I have to go out and scout around. I won't be back till a little into the meeting so bye everyone." Said the older Sage as he vanished.
"Hey! Where'd he go!" asked Kento.
Miaka smiled and said as she pointed to the far wall on the right, "He just used the light and bent his image. He's over there now. He travels in the light and shadows himself in the darkness. He learned those tricks from Kale. They are very close friends you know."
"Oh." Said Sage.
Miaka stood up and said, "Come along kids, time to go back to your lessons."
"Yes Auntie." Said the children sadly.
As Ryo picked Makoto up, he said, "This way please."
The Ronins, Mia, Yulie, and White Blaze followed silently. After a few twists and turns they came to a set of double doors with decorative flames dancing around the doors.
The younger group watched as Elder Ryo's eyes flashed red once and watched amazed as the doors opened and red flames appeared on the candlewicks. They followed him into the room and saw golden colored walls. There was a wall-sized window off to the right with ruby red curtains pulled to the sides with golden cords. Outside the window, they saw a beautiful garden with a sparkling blue pond in the distance. The carpet was soft, thick and ruby red in color like the curtains with a golden braided thread winding in and out of itself covering the entire carpet.
They watched as Ryo walked to a four-poster bed made of red oak. It had ruby red silk sheets and the cover was ruby red with gold swirls on it. It was cotton with silk trimmings. On the other three walls, tapestries hung.
The first tapestry was behind the bed. It had a picture of the Armor of Inferno. Beside the bed, on the left, was a stand with a red candle. Beside the candle were two pictures. One was of Ryo and Makoto on their wedding day dressed in traditional ruby red kimonos. It was framed in a golden heart shaped frame with words engraved in ruby red that said True Love. The second picture was of Hiko and Hariel in ruby red kimonos standing beside a fountain with a statue on it. The statue was of a swan with crystal clear water coming out of its mouth. The second tapestry was opposite of the window wall. It had a picture of Ryo in his Wildfire Armor with White Blaze by his side.
Also, on the far left of that wall, double doors were seen tightly closed. They turned and saw the last tapestry on the wall behind them. It was of Ryo in a completely different armor. It was pure white with red trimmings. Under the red trimming were golden ones. On his chest was the familiar four diamonds that formed one big diamond.
In the corner, next to the window, were three chairs made of red oak. They were cushioned with red velvet.
On the other side of the window, parallel to the bed, was a small traditional Japanese table with a traditional Japanese tea set on it. Around the table were four seating mats.
They turned back to Ryo and watched as he placed Makoto on the bed, it shifted to accommodate her weight. He pushed a few strands of bright red hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead.
They heard him say softly, "Sleep well my love. Get well soon, I love you."
She sighed and shifted to her side. They saw her hands slide under her head. The guys thought she looked angelic like that.
As they exited the room, Rowen asked, "What do the tapestries represent?"
"And why the silk?" asked Kento.
Elder Ryo smiled and said, "The one of the Inferno Armor is a picture or a scene honoring the first Ronin."
Ryo gasped and said, "The first, you mean Hariel!"
Nodding Ryo continued, "The second one is of me and White Blaze as you saw. It was just something that the guys got me a while back for my one thousandth birthday."
"And the one with you in that white armor?" asked Mia as she scooted closer to him while they walked. He smiled at her.
She felt her heart melt.
As she leaned in to kiss him, he said, "That is my new armor. Mako thought it'd be nice to have one of me in it. It's nothing but fun; it means nothing, and the silk beddings? No reason really, the people here just gave the silk to us."
Ryo turned to her and asked, "Are you feeling all right Mia? I could get Sage to look at you."
Before she answered the younger Ronins minus Ryo all shared a look. They knew she had a huge crush on Ryo, but he was oblivious to it.
Sage
smiled and thought, 'I wonder if he ever knew about it? The
older one doesn't seem to know about her little advances either,
either that or he's to in love with Makoto to see it.'
"No,
I'm fine. Just a little hot." She answered with a sly smile.
He frowned thoughtfully and said with a friendly smile, "Oh I'm sorry. I'd better not stand to close to you then. I didn't realize I was generating that much heat. You'd better sit next to Cye then in the Command Room."
"Oh why?" she asked confused.
He smiled and said, "He's water, I'm fire, and water cools down fire. He'll have cooler air generating off of him. He'll make you feel better."
"Oh thank you." She said dissipatedly.
Younger Ryo shot her a curious look and asked Rowen, "Why is she coming on to him? She knows that my older self is in love with Makoto."
Rowen smiled, shook his head, and said, "She's had a crush on you since probably the very beginning. She wants him to notice her, but he's to in love with Makoto to see it."
Ryo felt his jaw drop as he exclaimed in a whisper, "She has a crush on me!"
TBC
