Chapter 5: The Fire

Ryo was practicing his katana moves while White Blaze was off on the side watching him closely. Rei was sweeping the patio when she saw her friend practicing his moves. She smiled a little as she leaned against the rail. Suddenly feeling like she was being watched, she looked down and let out a shriek when she saw her grandfather standing there. "Enjoying the view are you my dear?" he quipped.

"Grandpa! I have no idea what you are talking about," she replied, turning her back to Ryo.

Her grandfather smirked before walking away. Rei looked back at Ryo, but then she continued with her chores.

While Ryo was finishing his practice, White Blaze suddenly let out a loud growl making him look at him. "What's wrong, boy?" he asked.

"Nice looking tiger you got there," a voice said, making the teen spin around.

He saw two men standing there, both looked like they were about to go hunting. "How much you want for him?" the first one asked. Ryo looked at him.

"Uh he's not for sale sir," Ryo replied as he stood beside White Blaze.

The tiger stood up, resting his head on Ryo's side as he scratched his neck. "Name your price," the first man insisted as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a checkbook.

"Sir, he's not for sale," Ryo insisted, "He's mine."

The two men glared as he took a step forward and White Blaze let out a loud roar, standing in front of the boy. "What's a tiger doing at a temple anyways?" the second man demanded. Ryo glared at him as he kept his katana held up.

"This boy here is training to be a Samurai and as you would know that the tiger is the emblem for Samurai warriors. He is our protector, our warrior," Rei's grandfather replied.

Ryo glared at the two men as they reluctantly left the temple. "White Blaze, stay close to me," he told the tiger as he put his katana away. The tiger nuzzled Ryo's knees, making him smile as he walked away.

That night, Ryo was asleep in his bed with Rei asleep beside him. It was becoming a habit where she would sneak into his room because for some reason she felt more comfortable sleeping with him than in her own room.

As they were sleeping though, White Blaze woke up with a loud groan. Standing up, the tiger walked out of Ryo's room and went outside to see the two poachers standing there with torches. "Well there's the big cat," the first poacher said with a grin. White Blaze snarled, but then he bounded off the patio and towards the forest. "After him!" the poacher exclaimed as they chased the tiger.

White Blaze ran as fast as his legs could carry him into the forest as the poachers chased him. They started lighting the trees on fire in the attempt to smoke the tiger out. White Blaze roared loudly as the forest caught fire.

Ryo woke up with a jump. "White Blaze?" he called out. He saw that his tiger wasn't in the room and got out of bed.

"Ryo?" Rei called out as he ran over to the window.

His eyes grew wide when he saw that the forest was on fire. "No…NO!" he exclaimed.

"Ryo?!" Rei exclaimed as he ran out of his room.

Ryo looked around the temple. "WHITE BLAZE!" he shouted for his tiger. He heard his tiger roar in the distance and his heart dropped. "NO!" he shouted.

"NO, RYO!" Rei shouted as he ran towards the forest, "RYO! COME BACK!"

The teenager ran into the forest, searching for his tiger. "WHITE BLAZE! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he shouted.

Ryo jumped over a fallen log, letting out a shout when another landed almost on top of him. He heard a growl and saw White Blaze running towards him. "Blaze!" he said relieved, hugging the tiger tightly when he reached him. He rubbed the tiger's neck when they heard screaming in the distance. The poachers were now trapped in the fire that they had started.

White Blaze looked at his master, resting his head on his stomach. "We can't leave them here," he murmured. The tiger started running towards the screams with Ryo right behind him.

The closer they got to the men, however, the worse the fire was. Ryo let out a shout when a flaming branch was going to land on his head. He held his arms up to protect himself, but then he realized that he wasn't burning. He wasn't even feeling the fire's heat around him.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he had some sort of armor on his body. "Ryo Sanada, you decided that instead of leaving these men to die, you risk your life to save theirs. Your sacrifice shows your true Virtue of Righteousness. Ryo, it is time for your armor to be returned to you," a voice echoed around him. Suddenly, Ryo's head started throbbing. It felt as though the inside of his head was on fire. Letting out a scream he fell to his knees, holding his head in pain.

There was an image of him as a baby, wrapped in what looked like rags in the arms of a man he didn't recognize. He saw himself growing up in a temple, meeting his friends as they were fighting old Samurai ways. He saw himself at 12 holding two katanas as a red orb floating in front of him. He saw Rei, she was dressed like a princess. She was a princess. Her name wasn't Rei…no…no…it was…it was…Mars! The last image he saw was them lying on the floors of a temple, her hand touching his cheek as she was smiling at him. "I love you," she whispered.

Ryo let out a gasp, jumping to his feet. "I remember…" he whispered. He could hear the men screaming for help and the teen ran towards their screams.

When he found them, they were lying unconscious on the ground. He took one man, placing him onto White Blaze's back before he hoisted the other one up onto his shoulders and they both started running through the forest.

Rei was standing outside with her grandfather, her heart racing in her chest.

Ryo exited the forest, the armor disappearing as he fell to his knees gasping for air as he was lying on the ground. Two paramedics ran over to him. "What's your name?" the paramedic asked.

"Ryo…Ryo Sanada…" he replied, closing his eyes tight as the doctors checked him for any burns.

"Can you tell me where you are?" the paramedic asked.

"Tokyo…Master Hino's temple," he replied.

His head was swimming from everything he had just remembered, losing consciousness.

At the hospital, Rei was sitting in the waiting room with her grandfather when a doctor came out "Who is here for Ryo Sanada?" he asked.

"I am, I am the boy's guardian," Master Hino answered.

The doctor looked at the little, old man in front of him. "Ryo is actually just fine. Not a single burn on him, no smoke inhalation, and not even a scratch from the forest fire," he told the old man.

"So why did he pass out?" Rei asked.

"Probably exhaustion from carrying one of the poachers out of the forest," the doctor replied, "He is free to go home."

Rei entered Ryo's hospital room to see him pulling a shirt her grandfather had brought for him. "Rei…" he started to say when she swung out, smacking him as hard as she could in the face.

"You jerk!" she said with tears in her eyes before she shoved his chest, "You're a jerk for scaring me like that!"

Ryo just stared at her. "You're a jerk for making me care too much about you! I should hate you!" she snapped as she pushed against his chest. She was trying to keep herself from crying. "I wasn't supposed to care about you! I'm supposed to be a regular priestess, who worries about her own work and duties, not about someone else!" she told him, "You make me care about you!"

Standing up, he hugged her tightly as she struggled against him. "I wasn't supposed to care about you more than my friend," she said crying as she hugged him back finally. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly as he rested his forehead against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Rei."

She held onto him as tears spilled down her cheeks and onto his shirt.

Two days later, Ryo was cleaning up some of the things that were destroyed in the fire. He tossed them into a pile when he looked over to see Rei heading towards her meditation room. Ever since the hospital, she hadn't said a word to him. She had been sleeping in her own room, suddenly he felt that his room and bed were too big and too cold.

He let out a sigh and looked over at White Blaze. "You knew this whole time didn't you?" he asked the tiger. The animal cocked his head as if telling him that he had no idea what he was talking about. Ryo shook his head slowly, sighing as he went to practice his fighting skills.

Rei was in her meditation room trying to concentrate on a vision that had been bothering her for the last few days but all she could do was think of Ryo. She let out a huff. "How dare he make you worry about him," she muttered to herself, "You're supposed to not care about men."

Giving up on her meditations, she went to leave the room when she saw Ryo standing there. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to
talk to you," he replied.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "We have nothing to talk about, you shouldn't have done that," she insisted.

"White Blaze is all I have left from my family. Were you expecting me to just let the fire kill him?" he demanded.

Rei glared at him. "You could've found White Blaze then come back you didn't have to save those men," she hissed.

"You would've rather me let them die?" he asked raising a brow.

Rei scowled, she knew that wasn't right either. "No…" she muttered. She let out a frustrated sigh. "You have too good of a heart, Ryo. You care about people who have done you wrong, why?" she asked.

"Because even if they're evil, they tried to kill White Blaze, they were still people and them dying in that fire wouldn't be the justice they deserve," he replied.

Ryo looked at her as he rested his hand on the side of her neck. "Rei, I'll never leave you," he told her, "And I know you care about me more than you'll admit it to yourself. You worry about me, because you care about me more than a friend." She glared at him and she went to shove him back when he grabbed her arms, pinning them to the wall.

"Let go," she told him, glaring at him.

"No," he answered.

She glared at him but then he leaned forward and kissed her. Rei was stunned and tried to fight against him but then she started kissing him back. He let her arms go and they went around his neck as he held her to him. Pulling back, he kissed her lips briefly before he moved his kisses to her cheek then pulled back completely. Rei was gasping for air, gripping the front of his shirt as his arms moved around her back. "I'll never leave you, as long as I live I will never leave you," he whispered into her ear. Rei closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder as they held each other close.

Ryo breathed in her scent as he stared out the window. She may not remember their lives back during the Silver Millennium, but he was going to love her just as much if not more like he had then. Even if she may never remember their lives together all those years ago, he would and he was going to make sure that they experienced their futures together this time and never to experience any regrets.