Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7 or any characters affiliated therewith. Neither do I own Ran, whom I am using with permission of Motokonobaka.

Aya thought that Ran was very kind in showing them the way to Masamune's.

"Well, she looks to be only a year older than me. Why shouldn't she be nice?" Aya thought to herself. Now, it was nighttime, and below, the streets of Kougakyo were brightly lit with glowing signs tempting patrons to enter shops to examine the wares. Aya and Akio both stifled enormous yawns. Ran looked at them with amusement.

"You do want to reach Masamune's right? He's really only five feet away. Or are you going to collapse already?" she said, hiding a smirk.

"You don't need to poke fun at us, Lady Ran," Aya said, vexed at Ran's tone. She and Akio silently walked on.

"They have spirit. I'll give them that," thought Ran, as she walked through the doorway ahead of the three siblings. Inside, there were so many mechanical parts covered with soot that Aya sneezed upon entry.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow," said a short man with an artificial eye. "I'm closed for the night." Ran rolled her eyes.

"These kids," she pointed to the exhausted Aya and Akio, "wanted to find you for some reason. I knew where you were, so I brought them."

"Masamune isn't the one we're here to see," Aya burst out.

"We want to see the samurai!" Kai yelled, now fully awake on Aya's back. Masamune's face immediately became suspicious.

"What would you three want with samurai here?" he asked.

"Masamune, what's all the commotion…" Suddenly, Heihachi, Gorobei, and Kikuchiyo appeared out of a back room. They eyed the four newcomers suspiciously. Aya's mouth dropped open as she saw them. Akio stared blankly, his eyes wide in his face. Only Ran induced any recognition.

"Ran! I didn't expect to see you here." Heihachi smiled at her.

"It's been awhile, Sensei," she said, bowing.

"Oh, cut that out. I only made you stronger didn't I?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Aya continued to stare at the two samurai, hardly able to believe her eyes.

"H-Heihachi…? Gorob-bei…? K-Kikuchiyo…?" she stammered. Immediately, their hands flew to their sword hilts.

"How do you know our names, girl?" Heihachi asked quietly. Aya could sense fear and caution behind his steely gaze. Shaking herself out of her daze, Aya regained her composure.

"It's a long story, sir," she said, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, "And we'd rather not explain it until we are in the presence of Kambei and Kirara."

"Well, now you are." Aya, Akio, and Ran whirled around to see a man dressed in white with long, wavy brown hair that spilled over his shoulders. Behind him were Kirara, Rikichi and Katsushiro. Kai struggled to be free of Aya's grasp and she released him, causing him to drop to the floor.

"Kambei! Kirara! Katsushiro! Rikichi!" he cried, dancing in front of them. Kambei raised an eyebrow at Aya and Akio, who dropped to their knees out of sheer exhaustion and leaned against a pile of machines.

"Who are you children? You don't look like you're from around here," Kambei said.

"We're not. We have no idea how we got here. One minute, we were in our house watching TV, and the next we're waking up on the streets of Kougakyo. We're in an anime for cryin' out loud!" Akio shouted, wearily waving his arms.

"What's 'TV'?" came Katsushiro's voice as they all sat in a circle with the three siblings. Akio shook his head.

"You wouldn't understand. Well, maybe you would. It's like those electronic signs you have here that flash news bulletins and such," he said.

"Um… if you don't mind me asking, what are your names?" Kirara asked in a slightly timid voice.

"I'm Mori, Aya. Those are my brothers, Akio and Kai," she said, pointing at each of them in turn. Akio nodded and closed his eyes, obviously tired from walking all day. Kai plopped down next to him and cuddled up to his brother's shoulder.

"Well, then. How about you tell us how you happened to come here, Lady Aya?" Kambei asked. Sitting up straighter, Aya began to recount the details of how she and her kyoudai happened to miraculously appear in Kougakyo.

"…And then Lady Ran showed us the way here," she finished. A long silence greeted the end of her story. Looking around the room, she could tell not a single one of the samurai believed her story. Only Kambei was deep in thought.

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Preview: Four youths are brought together by a great and ancient power. They soon discover a second purpose awaits them .