Herro!

I again apologize for any spelling or grammar errors. I wanted to get this up quickly since it's been so long. I promise ill be better about it in the future!

Thanks again! ^_^

-Shuichi77

It had been a long and tiresome evening for everyone in Soubi's home, and his two new guests went to bed that night with a good amount of obvious tension towards one another. Despite the tension between the two women, Soubi decided it best to just leave them be, so he hurried Ritsuka off to bed in the room they shared just across the hall.

Once Regina and Emma had settled into the queen sized bed they were forced to share, they each drifted away to sleep without a single word to each other; each of them still trying to fully take in their situation. Just across the hall however, Ritsuka had quite a bit to say to his overly accommodating Sentouki.

"Soubi I can't believe you are actually just going to let them stay here. We have no idea who they are or where they are from or what they are capable of!" Soubi then closed and sat down the book that he was about to make an attempt to read, before turning in the bed to face his partner next to him.

"Ritsuka, it's not a bad thing to be kind to others. They seem like perfectly fine people and we do know that they are from the enchanted forest."

"Stop saying that like you actually believe it; it's just non-sense. There is no such place and the fact that they are even telling us that makes me suspicious." Soubi simply gave a chuckle and a charming grin at this.

"You are too young to be so pessimistic."

"I just don't trust them." Soubi then leaned over to place a quick kiss on the boy's forehead.

"Well you have nothing to worry about. I will always protect you." This caused a deep red to flush Ritsuka's cheeks that he tried to hide behind the large fluffy comforter of the bed.

"Shut up and go to sleep…" Soubi gave another chuckle as Ritsuka laid down and curled up beneath the covers.

"Goodnight Ritsuka. I love you." Soubi then leaned over and clicked off the small lamp on the nightstand before lying down and wrapping an arm around his partners' small frame and drifting off to sleep.

The next morning came quickly and started with a bang as Soubi shot up in his bed, awoken by the sound of yelling from across the hall. Ritsuka was startled awake immediately after and was quick to leap from the bed and head for the door.

"Ritsuka! Don't." The small boy turned around just as he reached the door to shoot a glare at the blonde.

"What?! They are going at it in there, we have to do something."

"No we don't. We need to let them work it out on their own. It is none of our business."

"But-"

"No. You would be furious is some stranger were to intrude on one of our conversations, no matter the volume." Ritsuka let out a long sigh before heading back to the bed and crawling back inside.

"Fine…but I'm not going to let them do this all morning."

"Fair enough."

Meanwhile, just across the hall, the two women were completely at arms…

"Regina! What is your problem?!"

"Oh? What is my problem?! You! You are my problem!"

"And what exactly have I done to you Regina?!"

"It's your fault that we are in this mess, it's your fault that I may never see my son or Robin again! Everywhere you go, you leave a trail of disaster!"

"Me?! What about you?! The Evil Queen! What about all the things you've done or all the times you have tried to kill me and endangered Henry in the process?"

"All I have ever wanted was to keep Henry safe! You are the one that is always taking him into dangerous situations!" Emma then let out an aggravated sigh before taking a deep breath to calm herself down. After a short moment, she replied in a much more even tone.

"Regina look…we have both made mistakes and I admit that I haven't exactly been great at keeping Henry away from all the crazy things that happened at home, but this mess isn't my fault. Even if it were, I really think that trying to drown me in my sleep is more than a little uncalled for. Not to mention the mess you've made of this room." Regina then softened her expression slightly as she gazed around the entire room that was now completely soaked in water.

"Like I told you before…I didn't do this."

"Well I don't think it started raining inside the house while we were sleeping." Regina's frustration then began to clearly show on her face once more.

"Well I must have done it accidentally in my sleep! I'm sorry ok! Are you happy now?!" This caused Emma's expression to soften to one of slight confusion.

"In your sleep? Is that…something that happens?" Regina was quiet for a short moment before she replied with an equally puzzled expression.

"No…it's never happened actually. I wasn't even sure if our magic would work in this place."

"Well clearly it works."

"Yes, thank you, I can see that Swan." The quarrelling duo was then suddenly interrupted when the tall blonde knocked softly as he spoke through the closed door of the guest bedroom.

"Good morning ladies. We don't have any plans for the day so we thought maybe we would take you shopping for some new clothes if you'd like." After the initial startle, Emma did her best to reply in a calm and unsuspicious tone.

"Uh…yeah! That sounds great. Just uh…give a few minutes to get dressed."

"No problem. We will be in the living room when you're ready." After hearing the faint sound of footsteps trailing away, Emma turned back to Regina to speak in a calm tone.

"Alright Regina, let's just try and take this one thing at a time. Let's go get some new clothes, then we can start trying to get to the bottom of all this and figuring out a way home." Regina crossed her arms in an annoyed manner before responding in a sour tone with her furred ears pressed firmly against her head and her tail twitching angrily.

"Fine…"

A short time passed before both women entered the living room dressed in the clothes that they had arrived in. Soubi and Ritsuka were also dressed and waiting patiently for them on the large couch. Upon noticing their entrance, Soubi gave a warm smile as he stood from his place to greet them.

"Are you both ready to go? There are a few shops within walking distance." Regina simply rolled her eyes in annoyance as Emma answered with a tentative smile.

"Yeah. That sounds great."

"Alright, then let's get going." Soubi then made his way towards the door with Ritsuka close in toe. Emma then followed with Regina reluctantly following a few paces behind. Once they had all filed out the door, Soubi led the way down the stairs and onto the sidewalk that lined their quiet street where Ritsuka stopped to face his Sentouki with a smile.

"So where are we going first Soubi?" Soubi felt relieved to see that Ritsuka's mood had brightened, as well as a small amount of smug self-satisfaction from knowing Ritsuka well enough to know how much he loved shopping.

"I thought we would start at the shopping center just on the corner."

"Ok!" Ritsuka then gave a big grin as he grabbed onto Soubi's sleeve and began pulling him down the sidewalk. Soubi gave a small chuckle at this as he turned his head over his shoulder to speak to his guests that were quickly falling behind.

"Sorry, you'll have to try to keep up, he really loves shopping."

"Shut up Soubi!" Ritsuka's remark only caused Soubi to chuckle more. The sight was enough to temporarily put the situation aside in Emma's mind and she gave a small laugh as she replied.

"Ok, we can keep up. She'll never show it but this one loves to shop too, she's a label queen." Emma then picked up her pace slightly while Regina shot her a look of utter surprise and disgust.

"I am not!" Regina then quickened her pace to catch up as Emma now looked over her shoulder with a giggle.

"Oh yeah? Who are you wearing?" The queen then glanced down at her outfit before answering in a pouting tone with her arms crossed.

"Prada…but that's just this one suit!"

"Right." Emma's sarcasm and earnest grin was finally enough to make Regina crack a small smile as they caught up to be side by side with their hosts.

By the time each duo was done heckling, they had all arrived in front of a small cluster of street vender style shops. As soon as Ritsuka laid eyes on the first shop in the center, he took off through a small door way and all but disappeared in a sea of racks and shelves. Soubi on the other hand hung back by the street, taking great care to make sure his eyes never lost the over excited boy. Emma and Regina soon followed Ritsuka into the first shop, leaving Soubi on the street to stand guard. As the afternoon passed, a certain routine fell into place; the group would arrive at a shop and Ritsuka would dart in followed by Regina and Emma, all the while Soubi waiting patiently and quietly outside. It truly warmed Soubi's heart to be a spectator for the afternoon and be able to see Ritsuka's face light up each time he picked up a sweatshirt or a pair of pants. It even pleased him to see, even if he wasn't exactly involved, that Regina and Emma both seemed to letting their guards down and were actually having a good time. By the time they had left their fourth or fifth shop, both the queen and the sheriff had several bags in hand.

A few hours past and the sun was just beginning to hang on the horizon, and the happy new trio was just setting out to their final shop of the evening with their tall body guard following closely. Once again, just as it had been with the shops before, Ritsuka and the ladies filed into the small shop with smiles on their faces as Soubi waited posed against a lamp post. A few minutes past until Soubi got a sudden chill that he couldn't quite shake. He did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut until something finally snapped inside his mind and he felt and all too familiar feeling. He suddenly darted into the shop where he found Ritsuka and he grabbed him firmly by the wrist. The sensation caused Ritsuka to jerk around to face Soubi with a sour expression.

"Soubi! Let go of me! What's your problem all of a sudden?!" Soubi did his best to reply in a calm and quiet voice.

"I need to speak with you." Soubi then gently pulled Ritsuka away from a display of jackets and out onto the sidewalk where he jerked his arm from Soubi's grasp.

"What is it Soubi?!"

"We have a problem…" Soubi's serious expression immediately concerned Ritsuka.

"What?"

"Someone nearby just engaged their Sentou systems. It's only one signature, so it's definitely a challenge for us."

"What?! Now?!"

"I'm afraid so." Ritsuka then began to panic slightly.

"W-what do we do?! We can't just leave Emma and Regina here."

"I know…they are going to have to come with us."

"We can't just take them with us Soubi!"

"We don't have any other choice." Just then, Emma and Regina appeared out of the shop with confused expression and Emma was quick to question the small boy.

"Hey Ritsuka, where'd you go?"

"U-umm…" Ritsuka then looked up at Soubi, being at a loss for the words to say. Soubi picked up on the boy's stress quickly and answered in his place.

"Emma, Regina, something important has come up and we don't have a lot of time to explain. Please come with us and we will explain what we can on the way." Both women were very confused but did not want to question their host's seriousness, so they followed without hesitation at a hurried pace. A short moment passed of their brisk walk before Emma timidly spoke up.

"Soubi…what's going on." Soubi took a deep breath before answering.

"Well I don't have a whole lot of time to explain in detail so please just try and bear with me."

"Ok…"

"You see, in this world there are certain people born a gift. These people are born with a counterpart, a partner, they share a true name and are bound together by a force stronger than fate. These pairs of people very often engage, for varying reasons, in spell battles." There was then a short pause as Soubi attempted to allow the women a second for this information to sink in. "Ritsuka and I are one of these pairs and just now we were challenged by another pair to a battle. We cannot run away and cannot concede and we don't have time to take you two back to the house. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to come with us." Emma, being too surprised to question the integrity of this claim, began to panic slightly.

"A-a battle? What do you want us to do?" Soubi then stopped suddenly dead in his tracks to whip around to face the blonde with a serious expression.

"Nothing. I want you to do absolutely nothing. I want you two to stand well clear of the battle area and not interfere at all." Soubi then continued walking just as suddenly as he stopped.

"I can't just stand to the side and watch something like that!" At this point even Regina had begun to worry slightly, if not only for Ritsuka's sake. She had already grown fond of the small boy and the thought of him in some sort of battle made her uneasy, so she quickly spoke up in protest.

"Are you sure there is nothing we can do to help? What if one of you gets hurt?" Soubi glanced over his shoulder to reply in a slightly solemn tone.

"There is truly nothing you can do." Ritsuka then glanced over his own shoulder to answer the mayor in a slightly more chipper tone.

"Don't worry, Soubi is the best. He doesn't lose. He always protects me." Before either woman could protest any further, they had all arrived back in the park where they had all met just the night before. Soubi stopped inside the tree line just at the edge of a small clearing before turning to Emma and Regina.

"Please, stay here. We will be fine. Just wait here and once we are done we will explain further when we get to the house." Emma and Regina turned to each other with worried and uneasy expressions before they each reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Soubi then took his sacrifice gently by the hand as they walked into the middle of the clearing just as the sun dipped below the horizon causing all of the lamps in the area to flicker and blink on. They stopped in the very middle of the clearing and waited for their opponent to appear. They weren't waiting long at all before two shadowy figures emerged from the darkness of the trees. Soubi squinted his eyes as he tried to make out faces in the dim light. The tall blonde then rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in annoyance and who was now standing before them.

"Not you two again…" Soubi then paused before shooting the duo a nasty sneer. "Breathless… This caused the cocky green haired boy to slip his hands in his pockets with a smug grin.

"Good to see you again too Loveless." Ritsuka was more than surprised to see those particular two once again and he called out in a confused voice.

"Ai?! Midori?! What are you two doing here? Why are you challenging us?" Midori gave a serious expression as he answered.

"I'm sorry Loveless…we have our orders and we have to follow them."

"But-" Soubi quickly interrupted in a low angry tone.

"Orders from who?" Midori then looked at Ai with a slightly worrisome expression before answering in a very serious voice.

"You know who…"

TBC