Disclaimer: Same as always, guys.

Wedding Aftermath

It had been two days since the disaster of her wedding. Mia was still in shock over the events that took place, but more hurt at how Ryo had been acting towards her. They hadn't had a decent conversation since it happened. The only thing that relieved her was the fact he hadn't taken his wedding ring off. That meant that he still loved her.

Today was the second day she woke up in an empty bed. After the battle, all of the Ronins, Guardians, James, and Twyla returned to her home. Rekino had been unconscious since, but Hana reassured everyone she was just sleeping from the over use of her armor's powers. The Strata Guardian reminisced about how Ryo had done nothing but sleep after attaining the Inferno Armor.

She sat up in bed as the duvet fell around her waist. She looked around the room expecting emptiness, but found Ryo sitting on the balcony. Deciding it was time, Mia threw her legs over the side of the bed to put on her house shoes. She sat in the chair next to her husband. They were separated by a small table.

"Ryo," she said softly. "I need you to talk to me."

"About?"

"Your feelings."

"Haven't you had enough of that?" Ryo didn't look at her, instead choosing to stare into the morning sky as he drank his tea.

Mia reached over to put a hand on his forearm, "Did you forget our vows? I'll never have enough of you."

"How long have you known her?"

Mia pursed her lips together, "Since the summer. She came here with Hana after she graduated high school."

Ryo turned to look at her with intensity and hurt in his eyes the likes she'd never seen, "And you just, what, thought it was okay to keep me in the dark forever? To have nightmares for the rest of my life?"

"N-no!" She protested as tears gathered in her eyes. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. Kayura said that the time wasn't right. Do you honestly believe that I got joy out of you waking up in tears every night?"

"Mm," Ryo returned his gaze to the sky, "and where is Kayura?" He spoke in disdain and sarcasm. Everyone knew that Kayura had been unreachable for months.

"Please," Mia pleaded with her green eyes, "forgive me."

The bearer of Wildfire leaned his head against the chair. Slowly, he put his hand over his wife's that was still resting on his forearm. He rolled his head towards her, "I love you, Mia. I'll always forgive you, but just give me some time until I talk to my sister."

—

Rekino awoke to an unfamiliar environment. Her amethyst eyes slowly adjusted to the light as she rubbed the crust away. Where was she? How long had she been out? As she sat up, she noticed Hana sitting in a chair with her arms crossed and sleeping. Rekino couldn't help but smile at the blonde who was her best friend. Hana never left her when they were down. To be honest with herself, she had honestly expected Ryo to be here.

She patted the other girl on the knee, "Hey. Wake up."

Hana's eyes opened almost instantly. She smiled brightly, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"How long was I out?"

"Two days," the blonde handed her friend a glass of water that had been sitting on the nightstand. "Ryo, Mia, Rowen, and I have been taking shifts watching you."

Rekino choked on the water, "R-Rowen?"

Hana gave a sly smirk, "It seems he's been attached to you ever since Halloween night."

Shit. Damn. The ebony haired teen was in disbelief. Halloween had been the night they spent together watching horror movies. She had nightmares for weeks after that. She and Rowen had been texting, but it was nothing serious. He mostly sent her memes of horror movies which she responded with a string of curse words.

"Where are we?"

"Mia and Ryo's," Hana stood up, stretching her long limbs as she did so. "We all agreed that it would be safer for us to all be in one place until we figure out what's going on with these enemies."

"And everyone is here?"

"Yes."

"Waiting on me to wake up?"

"Yep."

Rekino let her head drop in defeat. She couldn't avoid this situation. As it stood, she didn't have the energy to jump out the window and flee. She had honestly thought that she would have just ran away after the wedding and not had to do this awkward situation. If only her supernatural abilities were to make herself invisible instead of wearing mystical armor. Looking at Hana, she sighed.

"No way around this," Rekino straightened her back with pride. "It's okay. I can do this. But I need a shower first to psych myself up and not smell like ass. And coffee…always coffee."

"I'll let the others know."

An hour later, Rekino stood in front of the mirror checking her appearance. Hana had helped her shower since she was still a little weak in the knees and also to wash the mane of her ebony black hair. She had on a pair of red leggings and a long sleeved white shirt with a red emblem of her favorite American football team paired with some white ankle socks. The option to leave her wild black hair unbound and free flowing was to help it dry faster. She slapped herself on the cheeks a couple of times before turning to Hana.

"Any chance you would just let me haul ass outta here?"

Hana shook her head, laughing, "No. This is long overdue. It's time to air out all of our dirty laundry."

"What if I liked my laundry dirty and hidden?"

"Everyone here has been worried about you-especially Ryo," the blonde grabbed her friend's hand, pulling her towards the door. "C'mon. You and me, remember? I got you, bestie. Always."

That made her smile, "Always."

"Besides, coffee is downstairs."

The walk to the door was agony, but going down the long hallway to the staircase seemed like an eternity. It was almost like a prisoner's last walk before an execution. The creaking of the stairs sounded like gunshots ringing in her eardrums. As soon as the two reached the last step, Hana's grip tightened as she was led into a huge formal sitting room that she was in awe of. Weapons and photos hung on the walls. She had no idea Mia was this wealthy. Hana pulled at her hand lightly which stopped her gawking.

In the room sat the other Lady Guardians, Ronin Warriors, and Twyla all staring at their entrance. Rekino's palms felt clammy as the urge to hide behind Hana was suddenly overwhelming. When the Halo Guardian released her hand, Rekino cleared her throat, lifting her arm and waving at the audience.

"Um, hi. Sorry I lied. Um. Okay, bye," it almost all came out as a single sentence from the haste in which the words were spoken. Rekino turned on her heel attempting to flee, but was surrounded by her friends just as she had made her move. Four female voices were whispering to her all at once in harsh, yet comforting tones.

"You know, it's so hard to see," James started, "with all of you surrounding her like that. She's so-"

Rekino suddenly pushed between Josephine and Amaya just as she took off her sock, throwing it at James, who only hit it back at her while laughing. She caught it without any effort, but pointed at him.

"Say it. I dare you."

The blond male smirked, the humor ever present in his eyes, "Tiny."

Josephine had to pick her up like a sack of potatoes before another move could be made. No one else in the room spoke. Whether it was out of shock or fear was unknown. James, however, didn't hold back his laughter. Twyla attempted to shush her husband, but it didn't work.

"Put me down, Josephine!"

"Can't do that!" Jo replied. "Stop squirming!"

Rekino interlaced her fingers and slammed her joined hands right on the place in the Hardrock Warriors back where the kidneys were located twice in rapid succession as hard as she could given her present state. As the bigger of the two fell to her knees, Rekino was able to wiggle away into the center of the room.

"Rekino!" Josephine glared at her friend. "That really effin' hurt!"

"Serves you right!" The Wildfire Guardian retorted. She turned to everyone, lifted her arms up in the air, and pointed down at herself with her two index fingers. "I am not short or tiny; I am a petite dose of flexible, dynamic, explosive pocket size fun! Anything other than those adjectives are fucking unexceptable-"

"Ahem!" Amaya cleared her throat loudly.

"-and will result in bodily harm. Proceed at your own discretion."

Rekino lowered her arms, pulling at the hem of her shirt angrily. Taking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly, "Now-"

That's when she saw it. From another room walked the biggest white tiger she had ever seen. Her amethyst eyes widened in shock and amazement. She bent down, resting her weight on the balls of her feet, and stared at the animal.

Mia cleared her throat, "Um. That's White Blaze."

Rekino's eyes twinkled with happiness as she extended both arms to the tiger, "Oh my goodness. Who do you belong to?"

"H-he," Ryo's voice cracked as he spoke, "he's more of a 'family' pet, but he came to me when I was young."

"Huh," it was more of a statement than a question. That's when the baby talk started. "So, you took my place? Auntie Rekino will take good care of the baby, don't you worry. You like them belly scratches, don't you? I knowed it. Sweet little baby boy!"

Kento scratched his head in confusion, "He's full grown."

"He's a baby!" Rekino glared at Kento. "He said so. I heard him." She laughed when White Blaze licked her cheek. "Thank you for the sweet kisses."

Amaya smiled at the group, "She has an affection for felines. Any and all."

Sage smiled as he waved at Hana to take a seat beside him, "Obviously so."

Ryo took this moment to get up slowly from the couch. He made his way to his sister and animal companion as she continued with the ridiculous baby talk. He stifled a sniffle as he sat down beside her.

"He's so soft and fluffy! What do you feed him?"

The bearer of the Armor of Wildfire put a hand on White Blaze's head, "He mostly hunts for his own food. Mia and I give him steaks or whatever meat we have too much of."

"Well, him is such a soft baby."

"He died once, but was brought back."

Rekino turned her head so fast she could have gotten whiplash, "Wh-at?" She managed to choke out. "Is he a zombie? Please, don't be a zombie."

Rowen shook his head, "Typical zombies eat humans. We're all still here."

"White Blaze died," Ryo cleared his throat as it was still an emotional subject to speak on years later, "and another tiger, Black Blaze, fused their souls together."

"The spirit of Black Blaze lived inside him for many years until the original Inferno Armor was destroyed," Cye finished the story.

"Phew!" Rekino fell on her butt, putting her hands on her chest for dramatic appeal. "Thank the power because I don't do zombies. That's where I draw the line, even if it's a cat."

"Finally something we can agree on," James nodded his head. "Felines are the best."

Rekino started to smack her lips, "That confession left a bad taste in my mouth."

"Redneck."

"Yankee."

Twlya waved her hand, "Would you two stop this childish name calling?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear," James kissed his wife's cheek.

"How do you stomach him?" Rekino asked Twyla. "He's not funny."

The brunette smiled, "I love him. I think he's funny."

"Uh huh," Amethyst eyes turned to the American, "that's only one person. Don't quit your day job to be a comedian."

James waved her insult off, "I'll stop when you win 'The World's Tallest Woman' competition, arm rest."

Hana stood abruptly and clapped her hands, "How about we talk about the elephant in the room."

"Roll Tide!" Rekino pointed to the emblem on her shirt, but was met with confused gazes from all except for James. She lowered her head in mock sadness. "American football thing. You said elephant and it's their mascot so, damn. I'll stop."

"You're the elephant," Josephine whispered with a smirk on her lips.

Rekino pursed her lips. She nodded in understanding, "If we talk about me can I at least have coffee?" She gasped in surprise when she felt something tugging at her hair. "No. You can't eat Auntie's hair, White Blaze. Bad kitty!" Rekino wrapped the long strands around her hand before letting the ebony tresses rest over her left shoulder and pool in her lap from where she sat on the floor.

"I shall make you coffee."

"You do make the best coffee, 'Mya," Rekino smiled at her friend. "You're a blessing."

Amaya smiled sweetly and left the room. Rekino looked around at all of the eyes in the room that were staring at her. She played with the ends of her hair. A nervous habit she picked up as a child. It was then that she realized that Ryo was sitting on her right side. She looked at Ryo biting her lip nervously then around the room.

"Why am I the elephant when we should all be one? I wasn't the only one to keep secrets."

"Because you've been out of it for two damn days. We've all had time to talk," Josephine replied.

"What is important to know?"

"You," Ryo said softly and smiled. "I want to know about you."

Rekino took a deep breath, "Well, where do I start?"

An hour had passed by before anyone realized. While Rekino drank her coffee she told Ryo about her life. From waking up in the hospital after their house fire to living in America to learning Ninjutsu. She was so animated in her tales that she didn't notice the few tears that fell from Ryo's eyes.

"So," Rekino finished off her coffee as she started another story, "I had just about enough of this walking douche I could take. The last day of my junior year I finished my exams early. I was the first one on the bus. In comes Tommy Henderson. He gave me this nasty smile when he realized we were alone on the bus. I got pissed, y'all. My anger got the best of me. I got up and walked towards him, put both of my hands on the ends of the seats, pushed myself up, and kicked him in his big ass ugly forehead."

Twyla gasped, "That's atrocious."

Rekino raised her arms in the air, "It ranks on the top five best moments of my life. I didn't give a shit. I got suspended for the first two weeks of my senior year, but it was worth it. Tommy stopped picking on people and I got fourteen more days of summer. Was a win-win if you ask me."

Hana rolled her eyes, but laughed, "I do love that story."

"Hell yeah," Kento snapped his fingers. "Stopping bullies is always a good thing."

"I started practicing the martial arts to focus my anger and defend myself," Rekino wrapped her hair around her hand, but let it fall out at the same time. "I was so scared of upsetting my parents, but that day I decided I wasn't gonna take his shit anymore. I realized I could protect everyone and not just myself. I became the bully who bullied the bullies. Ha. My senior year was full of nothing but fighting. I gained a pretty badass reputation."

She started rocking back and forth from her sitting position on the floor, "Halfway through my senior year I found my armor, my memories came back, and then Hana showed up outta nowhere. It was all pretty intense for a while. I felt like I was almost two people in one body, but it all came together. I graduated, moved here, and that's all she wrote. I'm sure the other girls have told you all about it. I work at the ER in Shinjuku with Hana," Rekino continued. "I'm a certified phlebotomist. I'm studying nursing at university in hopes to go to medical school to be a pediatric doctor of some kind. I love babies and children as much as cats."

Ryo cleared his throat, "What's your favorite ice cream?"

"Strawberry," Rekino smiled. "Sometimes chocolate."

"Favorite time of day?"

"Twilight."

"Favorite flower?"

"Hydrangeas"

"Favorite sport?"

"Softball. I like track, too."

"Favorite drink?"

"Oooh. That's a tie between coffee and sweet tea," Rekino looked at her brother. "I don't drink soda. If I do, some sort of weird planetary alignment is going on. I've always got water with me, though. I drink eight ounces first thing in the morning to kick start my metabolism"

The corner of Ryo's mouth started to curve into a small smile, "Favorite food?"

"Don't do me like that. Damn," she started to rock back and forth. "I'll give you top three I'm always down for. Pizza, burritos, and Chinese."

Amaya grumbled, "I'm still washing your mouth out with soap."

"What about," Rowen sat on the edge of the couch as he spoke, "the butter beans and cornbread you talked about."

"Ahhck!" Rekino shushed the Strata Warrior. "He didn't specify an area. He just said food. Southern cuisine is a food group all on its own."

Ryo laughed. It was probably for the first time in two days, "Let's hear it then."

"Butter beans and cornbread, biscuits and gravy, and chicken and dressing. All of which were made by my mawmaw," Rekino pursed her lips. "Sorry. My grandmother."

That made Ryo sober, "What are they like? Your adoptive family, I mean."

"Well," she twirled a small strand of hair around her finger while avoiding her brother's gaze, "kind, caring, strict. The whole family was really close. Mom and dad couldn't have kids. I always knew I was adopted. I mean, look at me. It wasn't hard to figure out," Rekino chewed on her bottom lip for a solid thirty seconds. "They run and operate several chain restaurants in Alabama. I grew up in them. So, my life consisted of ninjutsu, school, and working."

"Rekino–"

"Ryo–"

The siblings laughed as they said each other's name at the same time. Ryo waved his arm showing that she could go first.

Rekino took in a nervous breath, "My adoptive family was good to me. I was taught to love unconditionally and put family first. My sensei instilled in me to put honor and loyalty before anything else and to always show integrity."

"I would like to meet them one day," Ryo said happily.

"We could always facetime them," Rekino nodded in affirmation. "Plane tickets are expensive."

Without warning, Ryo close the distance between the two and wrapped his arms around Rekino's lithe body. The kunoichi was taken by surprise, but she eventually fell into the embrace and returned the gesture. She grasped the material of his shirt tightly as she buried her face in his neck. She could feel hot tears running down her face.

"I missed you, sis," Ryo choked out between his own sobs.

Rekino exhaled heavily on the skin of his neck as she spoke, "Me too, bro." She sobbed into the material of his shirt, "It hurt so much."

No one would dare interrupt the reunion between the siblings.

—

Rowen leaned against the banister of Mia's balcony that overlooked the lake her property had. He had watched with much joy as Ryo and Rekino had reunited. He pretended not to be captivated by Rekino. Seeing her without having to keep herself in check and guarded intensified his attraction to her. Her insanely long hair was entrancing. He had watched her brush it as she talked to her brother. Ryo had reached out to finger the ebony locks commenting on how soft it was. He couldn't help but wonder what it felt like.

The door opened. He looked behind him to see the person plaguing his mind and thoughts. She looked just as shocked to see him as he did her. He noticed she had braided that beautiful coal colored hair.

"Hey," she said quietly.

He gave her a small smile and nodded a greeting. He turned back around to stare back out into the darkness. He didn't know what to say to her, but he didn't want to be rude. He turned back around, but she wasn't there. Movement from his right side startled him and he moved to come face to face with Rekino.

He never even heard her move.

"I figure I need to apologize to you."

"For?"

"Lying to you. Well, hiding my true identity."

"Oh," Rowen half smiled at her. "You're good. I understand."

"My legal name really is Candace Askea so I didn't lie to you about that."

The Strata Warrior chuckled, "The past two days have just been full of revelations. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me Talpa returned."

"Ew," Rekino stuck out her tongue. "That would be horrible news."

The two stood in the silence of nature. A chilly wind made Rekino shiver and pull her jacket around her tighter. Rowen watched her lithe figure from the corner of his eye.

"So, do I call you Candace or Rekino?" He asked to break the ice.

She laughed. It sounded like a melody, "Rekino. I plan on changing my name in time. Things have just been a little chaotic."

He couldn't help but join in with laughter. Rekino reached out and took his hand. Warm. She was so warm. He didn't know if that was a natural thing or a part of the Wildfire Armor. His royal blue eyes looked into her beautiful regalia orbs.

"I may have kept my name from you, but I didn't lie about who I am. I just wanted you to know that on Halloween you spent time with the real me."

Rowen didn't know what was going on. He felt extremely weird with her being this close to him. He noticed that her cheeks were red and eyes were a little hazy. He didn't know what came over him when he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

She tasted like cherries. Her lips were as soft as rose petals. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her closer to his body as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The two broke apart. The kiss didn't last long enough to be anything but innocent.

Rowen hastily turned around and excused himself, leaving Rekino outside. As he shut the door, he stopped as Ryo appeared in front of him.

"Hey buddy," his friend said happily. "Everything cool?"

"Yeah," Rowen mumbled and walked past him. He had to put some distance between himself and that intoxicating woman.

Next Chapter: The Mission is Revealed