Rowen's eyes cracked open as a crash resounded through the house. At first, he thought it was a thunder storm until he realized the "storm" was coming from the kitchen. Rowen propped himself up with his elbow to look at the clock. 5:32 PM, he'd fallen asleep two hours ago, if he slept any longer the guys would come and wake him for dinner.

    Rowen headed downstairs, grumbling all the way. He could never get enough of sleep and books. Unfortunately, his friends couldn't understand his passions.

    "Hey, look who's up," Kento kidded trying to get into the kitchen.
 
    "Very funny. How come you didn't wake me sooner?"
 
    "Like we could," Sage replied setting a plate on the table. "I know dead people who are easier to wake than you."

    "All right guys, that's enough," Mia interjected stepping between them.  White Blaze growled in agreement. Rowen fondly scratched behind the tiger's ears.
 
    "Wait a sec.., where's Ryo?" he asked searching the room for their ebony haired companion.
 
    "Babysitting." Ulie's parents often called the five teens when they needed someone to watch him. They must've figured if they could protect him during a war, babysitting would be small potatoes. Ryo always offered the others
the jobs, but they all knew Ulie liked Ryo best.

    "Good, we can talk about him behind his back," Sage commented with a smirk. Mia shot him a dirty look. "Well, he's been acting really weird lately."

    "Maybe he's still suffering from the effects of the Armor of Inferno," Kento suggested.

    "Kento, it's been three months," Rowen thought for a moment, "besides, his sleeping habits haven't changed. He's just really quite all of a sudden."

    Cye came in carrying a plate of food, "Ryo's lived alone for years, it's probably difficult for him to realize he doesn't have to be a loner anymore.  Even if the Dynasty is done for, we're still going to stick together, right?"

    "I'm in no hurry ta leave."

    "Who would cook for me if I left?"

    "And I need to stay here ta keep Rowen awake," the blond teen joked as the five friends sat down to eat.
 

    "Ryo, is something wrong?" Ulie scooted closer to Ryo on the couch. The teen hadn't even been looking at the television, let alone watching the movie on it. "Are you sick or something?"

    The older boy smiled, "Nah, I'm just thinking 'bout someone. You ready for bed, kiddo? Nine o'clock is bed time." Ryo ruffled Ulie's short black hair.

    "I still got half an hour. Who were you thinking about?"

    "I don't suppose you want to hear about a friend of mine, do ya?"

    "If it'll make you feel better, sure."

    Ryo sighed, "Well, once upon a time..."

    "Ryo," Ulie interrupted giggling.
 

    Capricorn drummed her fingernails on her desk, her paper lay blank in front of her. Well, not completely blank, she had written her name on it and the title, "My Impact on the World Around Me." She looked over at Ryo, he
wasn't doing much better, but at least he was on his second sentence sentence; she didn't even have an openning one yet.
 
    "Remind me again why we're doing this," she turned to Ryo.

    He looked up, "To reflect upon how we influence others and our surroundings," he replied quoting Mr. Horo. Capri rolled her eyes as the bell rang. The two friends left the classroom and joined the mass of kids in
the hallway.

    "Well, Ry, I got good news and bad news," Capri said when they reached her locker. "The good news is I'm going on vacation, the bad news is I'm not coming back."

    "You mean you got adopted?!"

    "Yeah, aren't I lucky?"

    "Where ya going?"

    Capricorn took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "The U.S."

    Ryo looked crushed. She put a hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off. She opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it and followed him out of the school.

    "C'mon, buddy, I wasn't about to leave without telling you. Look, I'm not leaving for another week." Ryo put his hands over his ears; he didn't want to hear anymore. First his mom, then his dad, and now Capri; why did everyone close to him always have to leave?
 

    He looked down at Ulie, sound asleep with his head in Ryo's lap. Ryo shook his head and carried him to his room. He hadn't wanted to talk about Capricorn, some wounds were better left unopened.