A/N: I have a rough, rough copy of this story in a notebook, so the story is done, but not typed. I had my ultrasound, it's a girl!

Hellfire - The ending will probably surprise you a lot, I hope you stick with it. I have a list of names, but I can't decide on one at all. Poop. I have traditional ones, foreign, biblical, random ones... I don't want to name her a plain name, but nothing too wild either. I may have something though. I hope.

Zorra - I debated on the 'an' 'a' thing for a while. I couldn't tell which one. Hehe. I still need to go back and edit the first chapter. As for medical I do mine for hobby and work. I use to volunteer with the rescue squad, but now I'm pregnant. LOL! But I dream of being a paramedic or midwife. It's all so fascinating, isn't it? Yes, Rowen took that very badly. Shame on him!

This chapter is sad. Sorry it's not story like, but I'm just writing it as if someone is telling it to you. I got a PM about how it wasn't story like... do your friends tell you things in third person like a narrator? No, I don't think so. That's what the brief memories are for.

I don't know how long I sat out there, but someone crouched down next to me and I recognized Cye with a stern look on his face.

"What do you want?" The blue haired boy growled out, twisting around to face the other.

"I came to see how you where."

"Leave me alone." He turned away and began picking at the grass before him.

Cye stiffened, then stood. "If that's what you want. But don't you think it's pretty selfish of you? How do you think Sage feels? Confined to that damn bed, having to watch you run away from him. What kind of friend does that?" He turned to go, before his face softened seeing the other's hurt expression. "Pull yourself together. When you are ready to see him we will give you some time alone."

With that he was gone and Rowen sat staring at his hands in guilt.

Cye's chiding had a significant impact on me, mainly because I knew he was right. What kind of friend runs out at the most crucial moment?

This one.

It hurt to know, hurt to realize that Sage could leave us.

A horrible death.

I felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I realized that I didn't want to see him go in that way. I wanted to remember him as the strong warrior I knew him as. But I knew then that I would take care of him, to the end, no matter what. I couldn't save him, but I could hold him up til the end.

It took sometime before I could "pull myself together" and get back into the room. True to his word, Cye left the room, taking the others with him. Sage sat starting at me calmly, as usual, picking up what I felt and understanding instantly. I couldn't help but stand there, hands in my pockets and blink sheepishly. How do you apologize for running away from your dying friend? It was silent for a long time before Sage beckoned me closer and I went. He pulled me down into a tight embrace and I realized he would always be the Sage I remembered. It was then he told me something that chilled me to the core and I would never forget it.

"If it gets that bad, overdose me. I'd rather die in a beautiful dream."

I can still hear that at night, sometimes, when I close my eyes to sleep.

The doctors were right about that type of tumor, usually it kills it's patient slowly reducing them to a simple shell, until they forget how to breath or function at all. But they didn't count on the power of Sage or Halo that flowed through him. They started him on chemo, and ended with mustard gas treatment, and surprisingly he started to get better. They had take a small chunk of skull out, so we always had to be careful of anything near his head. He got thinner, restless, and tired. The days he had treatments he spent puking his guts out til there was nothing left, it didn't help that they kept him dehydrated to keep the pressure off his brain.

Through it all Cye traveled back and forth frequently, since Kento and ryo couldn't always get away to see him. He brought things from my apartment a couple of times, and spent a lot of time informing Sage of the outside world or anything Sage wanted or needed to know. Sometimes when I was too tired to function he would make sure I got much needed sleep and even when he was exhausted he would stay up, talking to me, reassuring me that Sage was getting better and everything would be fine. He was the support of the group, the glue that bound us all together.

I had never been very close to Cye, but during that time I found that we were getting to be better friends then I ever imagined. He was the cheerleader that kept us all going, even when he didn't have the strength to take care of himself. If I had known then what I know now, I think I would've told him how I felt then, but I'm terrible at sharing anything. After all, I still hadn't told Sage how I'd felt. I tried to show him with simple gestures, but I never had the courage for words.

Sage was released after a six month hospital stay. They doctors could do no more to help him, but the tumor had responded so positively to the treatment, we were no longer as worried.

He was still required to go in for treatment, and after a long discussion with everyone I decided to stay at Mia's to take care of everything. I worked for myself and I could relocate easier than anyone. The others came and went, less frequently now, but Cye continued to visit us at least every weekend, if not more. We were told that Mia would be coming home as soon as her time on the project was up, and she wanted us all to stay, as long as we wanted and to make Sage comfortable. She called to check in on him daily.

Sage had good days, bad days, and some truly horrible days. He would get lost walking through the house or forget names and faces. Some weekends he wouldn't recognize Cye when he visited us. The skin covering the hole in his skull began to bulge outwards and looked as thought it would pop open. Four months after his discharge we returned to the hospital and Sage was admitted. The doctors had to lance the hole and drain it, collecting a huge amount of pus. They said it was a slight infection and believed the tumor to be regrowing. They shaved his head and prepped him for surgery again. That was when they informed us that the tumor had grown and become spongy. They could barely remove anything from his brain this time and were too afraid of damage to try again. They discharged him after two months to hospice and told us to make him as comfortable as possible.

It had been a year since this nightmare began and I still hadn't told Sage how I felt. My time was running out and I was in complete denial. I found little moments to hold his hand or make him food. If he was upset and I held him. I tried to bring him small things I thought he would like or take him to his favorite places. It seemed as though he was just getting further and further away from me. I started to let myself go to hell to make sure he was comfortable, and I think it got on his nerves, but inside he knew that it was more for my comfort as well, and started to let me help him. Cye, Kento, and Ryo moved into Mia's temporarily to help me care for Sage and continue working. Sometimes when I was too frustrated to finish a job Cye took over and made the deal for me, becoming a business partner and assistant over night. I became prone to short, angry outbursts quite frequently and he always handled me better than anyone else could have.

Cye leaned over the laptop to glance at his blue haired friend. "I know how you feel, Rowen. Maybe not a hundred percent, but I do. Sometimes life isn't fair. Don't roll your eyes, I know you hate that saying, but it's true. Just remember that everything happens for a reason, even if we don't understand it. We'll make it through this... all of us."

One night while I was reviewing an account Cye had closed, a feeling of dread washed over me and I felt sick. Sage had been staying overnight at the hospital for testing and I began to worry that something had gone wrong. It had been Ryo's turn to stay with him and he'd looked fine when he left, but I knew something wasn't right. Cye had left to run something to the hopsital and hadn't returned yet, so obviously something happened to that delayed him. I grabbed my coat and started for the door when the phone rang.

Once.

Twice.

The number showed up as the hospital's and I felt dizzy and ill.

"Hello?" Rowen's had trembled as he held the phone, as though he was afraid it would bite him.

"Rowen, there's been an accident." Kento's voice reach him, sounded forced and gruff, as if he'd been crying. "Get here now. He's dying!"

Rowen dropped the phone and ran.

I was afraid of what I would see when I got to the hospital, but I never expected that call would be about Cye, not Sage. I was informed that Cye was hit by a drunk driver as he crossed the street to the hospital. The driver had just take a corner very sharp and plowed over Cye, never stopping to check the victim, it was so fast Cye hadn't even seen the car coming. He had been responsive at first, answering all the questions the paramedics asked, but had a violent seizure as they wheeled him into the emergency room. By the time he was brought into surgery he had went comatose. He never woke up from surgery, he died there on the operating table. They were unable to revive him.

I cussed him, God, the planet, everything. I remember punching the side of my car, denting it, not caring what happened. Cye was taken from us with no warning, nothing. I later sold that car, the dent reminded me of that night every time I saw it.

Everything happens for a reason. Yeah right.

Surpise! I know, I suck.