Ryo groaned as he reluctantly opened his eyes. Watery light stabbed into his eyes, and he threw his left arm over his face. Then he remembered Reika, the guys, Mia, the flames, and, and, the future?

He snapped his eyes open and sat bolt upright.

"Ryo?" A weak voice called from over to his right. He turned over to look.

"Who is it?" He frowned.

Sage staggered into view, one hand pressed to his forehead. "You okay?" He asked.

Ryo nodded and climbed to his feet. "I think so, have to seen the others?"

"Not yet, we’d better get going though."

"Do you think we made it to the future?" Ryo asked.

Sage shrugged. "Take a look around, you tell me." The warrior of Wildfire complied and took a long look at his surroundings. They appeared to be standing in the middle of a city. It was absolutely deserted, and reminded him strongly of Toyama after Talpa had first made his appearance, the buildings were empty and the sky was full of those ominous green-gray clouds. The only difference was that these buildings had obviously been empty for a while, vines grew along the walls and several of the skyscrapers were dwarfed by enormous trees whose roots crept along the streets, puncturing the pavement.

"Spooky." He commented.

"Yeah, I’d say Reika did it, we’re in her time."

"Sheesh, no wonder she’s so serious, look at this place."

"I’d rather look for the guys." Sage reminded him. Ryo nodded and the two began to search for both Mia, and the other Ronins. They assumed that Reika would know her way around well enough to find them instead of the other way around.

Halfway across town, Sai and Rowen had met in a similar manner. Both had been knocked unconscious by the trip through time, but fortunately they’d landed close to each other.

"Man, this place is totally trashed!" Rowen commented.

Sai nodded in agreement. "We’ve got to find the others before something finds us! Or vice versa, for that matter."

"Right." Rowen stopped and considered something for a moment. "Hey, shouldn’t our armors lead us them? I mean, they do link, after all."

"Good point. It’s worth a shot."

A mere subway trip away, Kento was wandering in what seemed to be circles.

"I swear, I’ve already passed that deli three times!" He sighed in exasperation and took a seat on a crumbling bench. The wood groaned in protest at his weight, but held firm. "And it doesn’t help that this place is totally spooky."

"There’s gotta be an easier way to find the guys." He thought aloud. Slumping over in his seat, he tried to think. Rowen was the one who came up with plans, not him. For that matter, he wouldn’t have minded Mia being there either.

The sound of rock shifting alerted him to a presence nearby.

"Who’s there?" He demanded, whirling to his feet, eyes shifting around.

"Kento?" A familiar voice asked. He relaxed as soon as he recognized it.

"Mia!" He grinned at the approaching girl. "I was wondering where you’d gotten to."

"Ditto." She smiled back and walked up to him. "Do you know where the others are?"

"Not a clue, not one clue." He shook his head.

"Hmmm." Mia’s eyes narrowed as she pondered a theory. "Do you suppose your armors are close enough to link up?"

"Why not give it a try?"

Ryo and Sage both stopped in their tracks as they felt their armors react to something. Their kanjis began to glow, and each murmured the name.

"Wisdom."

"Virtue."

The two friends exchanged a glance.

"The guys?" Ryo asked.

"It has to be, our armors are connecting, they’ve got to be close." Sage affirmed. Both Ronins took off at a run in the direction of the pull they felt.

Rowen and Sai felt the connection as well, and began to move towards where they knew they would find their friends.

"I wonder why the armors wouldn’t do this the first time we were separated in Toyama?" Sai frowned.

"I don’t know." Rowen shrugged. "We’re not even in our sub-armor and we can find each other. It could be that the longer we fight together, the easier it is for our armors to find each other."

"That’s the best explanation I’ve heard so far."

The stopped discussing and concentrated on finding their way through the maze of crumbling buildings. The thud of their footsteps echoed eerily off the walls, making it sound as though there were more than two people running around…

"OOF!" Sai and Rowen both tumbled back to the pavement as they ran into what felt like a brick wall.

"Oh geez guys! I’m sorry!" Kento gasped, extending a hand to each of them.

"No problem." Rowen grunted as he was hauled back to his feet. "Had any luck finding Sage or Ryo?"

"They’re not with you?" Mia’s worried voice came from behind Kento.

"No, sorry." Sai shook his head.

"Hey, if we can find each other, I bet they’re all ready on their way here!" Kento suggested brightly. "It looks like our armors are drawing us to each other."

The sound of voices just ahead grabbed their remaining two warriors’ attention.

"Looks like we’re a little late." Ryo grinned.

"Yeah, I bet everyone’s there already." Sage replied.

"What about Mia and Reika though?" Ryo frowned. "Our armors won’t help us find them, will they?"

"I think they’ll find us."

They rounded the corner and saw the other three Ronins and Mia.

"Hey! Did we miss anything?" Sage called out.

"Sage! Ryo!" Sai waved back. "What took you so long?"

"You didn’t run into any of those bucket-heads, did ya?" Kento asked.

"No, nothing like that, we just landed a little farther away than you guys."

"This time traveling stuff is pretty iffy, doncha think?" Ryo chuckled.

"Speaking of which, where’s Reika anyway?" Mia leaned over to look behind Sage and Ryo, as if expecting to find her there.

"We don’t know, we were hoping she’d be with you."

"Man." Rowen shook his head. "No such luck."

"Well, if our armor could lead us to each other, it should be able to find Reika, after all, she does bear the armor of Wildfire." Sai reminded them.

"Ryo, why don't you give it a try, after all, since you have the same armor, it should link easily." Sage suggested.

"I’ll try." Ryo hesitated, but then began to concentrate. For a moment, it seemed as if the hazy outline of his armor could be seen, flickering around him. The
red glow intensified and a frown flickered across his face for a moment. Then his eyes snapped open, and the illusion of his armor faded.

"I've found her, or at least, her armor." Ryo informed them. "She's over that way." He motioned to their left, and the group of teens set off through the streets.

Reika moaned softly and stirred in her sleep. White Blaze hunkered down beside her, prepared to wait until such time as Ryo ad the others found them, and he knew they would. He curled up next to girl to keep her warm. She'd hit her head on some rubble when they'd landed, and had been out cold since he'd awakened.

White Blaze jerked his head up in surprise; he'd felt the power of her armor stirring. He’d caught the tail end of her story, and now he knew that she did indeed bear the Wildfire armor of the future. The tiger nuzzled at the girl’s neck with his nose. He’d been told it was cold, and usually an unpleasant surprise for sleeping humans, and now he had proof. Reika's eyes slowly opened and she groaned as she sat up.

"White Blaze?" She mumbled, reaching out hesitantly to the tiger. "Are you okay?"

He rumbled in answer, nudging her hand. She smiled wearily, her whole body shaking.

"I guess time traveling has really been taking its toll on me, huh?"

The tiger just butted her with his head, perhaps telling her to get back on her feet.

"I'm working on it." She swatted him lightly and began to climb to her hands and still shaky knees.

"Reika!" Someone shouted. She turned her head to see the others approaching her.

"Guys! I was afraid you'd gotten lost in the time stream or something." She called back, getting to her feet.

"No way, we're not that easy to get rid of!" Kento scoffed.

"No," she grinned, "I guess not."

Rowen took a look around at the demolished city and shuddered. "So, this is your future?" He asked skeptically.

Reika smiled fondly at the wreckage. "Yes, I'm finally home." The relief in her voice was quite obvious. But then her face fell. "It wasn't this bad before though, you've got to believe me." She turned pleading eyes on them. "There were so many people here before, the place was so alive. I just want to see it that way again."

"Come on Reika." Sai said. "Take us to the palace, we'll meet up with our future selves, come up with a plan, and defeat the Dynasty, it'll be that simple."

She smiled at him. "I hope you're right." She said.

The seven teens set off through the deserted city with Reika in the lead. She knew her way around better than the others, and began leading them through a warren of alleyways which she insisted were shortcuts.

"Uh, are you sure you know where we are?" Ryo asked, sounding less than convinced.

"Sure I’m sure." Reika nodded. "I've used these passages a lot when sneaking in and out of the palace."

"Sneaking out, huh?" Kento grinned.

"Uh, forget I said th-" Her voice stopped as they rounded another corner and a scene of mass carnage met their eyes.

"Oh. My. God." Mia gasped. Piled twenty feet high in front of them was a heap of bodies. People. Their faces were twisted in pain and suffering and their eyes were wide in terror and agony. Mouths were open in silent screams. Blood trickled down the grisly tower, staining the pavement crimson. The Ronins realized that they were ankle deep in the liquid. Mia let out a squeak of terror and leapt onto White Blaze's back, trying to get out of the mess.

"No." Reika whispered in horror. "This wasn’t here when I left. What happened?" She couldn't help but take a step closer to the bodies.

Rowen grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "Reika, don't. Don’t go any closer to it."

She whirled around sobbing frantically.

"This was a warning." She choked out. "That could have been my friends, they're warning me, I just know it. I’ve got to get home!" Her voice rose hysterically. She pulled away and took off down another alley.

"NO!" Ryo cried. "Reika! Get back here!"

"Damn." Sage grated. "She's lost it, we've got to follow her."

The others nodded in agreement and ran after the fleeing girl.

Reika ran up the path that would take her to the Palace. She could see the massive structure of her home looming before her, familiar and comforting. But for some reason, she couldn’t banish the image of all those poor people. There had been infants in that pile, for Heaven's sake! She just kept seeing it, over and over, but instead of all those strangers, they were her family, her loved ones. If the Dynasty had been seeking to intimidate her, they'd done a great job of it.

She slowed to a walk and headed up the road. The buildings had vanished now, behind her, the palace was in it's own clearing. The steel of the entrance seemed extremely pale and worn. She took a step through, and cried out in surprise when she was slammed backwards by some unseen force.

Lightning forked down from those creepy clouds and slammed into the ground barely three feet away. Greasy looking black smoke oozed out of the ground, solidifying into half a dozen Dynasty soldiers.

"This is Dynasty territory." One of them said in a voice that sounded as if it hadn’t been used in a few eons. It leveled a finger at her. "Since you have trespassed, you will now become a servant to the Evil Dynasty."

"Dream on Creep." Reika muttered, taking up a fighting stance. One of the soldiers drove its spear at her. She dodged to the side, grabbed hold of the shaft and yanked the weapon from her enemy’s grip. Whirling it around, she skewered the walking tin can through the middle, taking a step back as its essence, greasy, foul smelling gray smoke escaped to the sky.

"You’re not taking me alive!" She cried, bring the spear up to block the downward swing of another. Reika wrenched it to the side, twisting her own weapon so the end of the spear knocked the helmet (and thus the head) off her opponent.

She was just turning to engage another enemy when a staff, swung like a baseball bat, collided with the back of her knees. She pitched forward, catching herself, but dropping her spear in the process. She was just raising her head when she saw the sword swinging down to chop through the back of her neck.

Or at least that’s how it would have gone, had a blur of white shot out from behind her, slamming into the soldier’s chest. The spirit’s eyes widened in surprise as White Blaze tore through the chest plate of his armor, letting his soul escape.

"White Blaze?" Reika gasped. The tiger growled, seeming to tell her to get her weapon and help him out. She nodded grimly and between them they finished off the remaining three warriors.

The Ronins came running up behind the girl and the tiger. Reika’s shoulders were heaving and the spear clattered to the ground as she lost her grip.

"Man, I guess I was weaker than I thought." She mumbled, falling to her knees. Mia knelt down beside her, supporting her.

"Are you all right Reika?" She asked.

"Yeah, they came out of nowhere, literally."

"They've got control of the Palace?" Rowen frowned.

"NO!" Reika shook her head. "I can tell, see?" She gestured towards the castle. There was a break in the clouds above it, a shaft of weak sunlight shone over the lake in the back.

"If the Dynasty had gotten control, that wouldn't be there."

"She's right." Sage nodded. "We've got to get in there."

"I think that we should be able to." Ryo said. "Think about it, those soldiers were guarding the gate to keep Reika from getting back inside, but now that they’re gone, it should be open again."

"Ryo’s right." Kento nodded. "Let's get in there, this place is just creepy."

"Thank you so much." Reika rolled her eyes, getting back to her feet. "You’re right though, if we don’t get in there now, the Dynasty will have won this fight."

"Well then." Sai motioned through the gate. "Let’s go."

As Ryo had expected there was no more interference as they made their way through the gate and across the courtyard. The atmosphere was noticeably less chilly there, even though there seemed to be an absence of people.

"Where is everybody?" Mia wondered aloud.

"I bet I know." Reika grinned and sped up her walk. "C’mon, let’s go inside."

She showed them in through a small door in the sidewall by the stables, rather than through the ostentatious double doors that obviously led to the throne room. That was a little too obvious, and they were trying to avoid detection.

They headed down a rather dark hallway, around several turns.

"Uh, Reika," Sai began.

"Before you ask, yes, I do know where I’m going. I’ve lived here my whole life, remember?"

He was about to reply, when an echo of voices reached their ears. All seven teens ducked around a corner and lay in wait to see who it was.

"I can’t believe you want to make a kitchen run at a time like this." One voice groused, it sounded oh-so familiar too. "Don’t you realize it’s been over two weeks since Reika left?"

Another voice sighed. "Can I help it if I get hungry when I’m worried?" It snapped.

The first voice sounded apologetic. "Sorry, I know you’re upset too, but she’s been gone so long."

"No kidding, Ryo’d have our hides if he knew we let her go like that. What if something happened, or what if…"

"Don’t even think about that. She’s coming back, you can bet on it."

"If you did, you’d have won." Reika grinned stepping around the corner to confront the owners of the voices.

"REIKA!" They both gasped eyes going wide. The Ronins from the past stayed in the shadows.

"Is it really you?" The first one asked. He had auburn hair just beginning to go gray at the temples, and sea-blue eyes.

"Of course it is Sai!" The second laughed, swooping Reika up into a huge bear-hug. "Have you ever seen anyone as pretty as Reika in your whole life?" He sounded really elated to see her. His ash gray hair had turned a lighter shade, salt-and-pepper, and he had blue eyes as well.

Reika giggled and returned the hug. "I missed you Uncle Kento, Uncle Sai." She said.

Kento and Sai, who were still in hiding, felt their eyes go wide. The others all stared at them in surprise.

"I can’t believe you actually made it back!" The older-Kento told Reika.

She just shrugged and turned back to the hallway where the others were. "I didn’t just make it back, I brought some people with me I think you’d like to meet."

Taking that as their cue, the Ronins stepped from around the corner. The elder versions of Kento and Sai both stared in astonishment.

"Reika, I can’t believe it, you did it." The future Sai said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Of course I did." She replied somewhat defensively. "I always do what I set out to."

"Isn’t that the truth." Kento grumbled. Then he took a step forward and regarded his younger self. "This is just strange." He commented.

"You’re telling me." His counterpart replied, stunned at being faced with himself.

Mia giggled. "Well Kento, Sai, you both aged quite well." She said.

Sai took his hand off Reika’s shoulder and stared at Mia. "Y-you brought her too?" He asked quietly.

"I didn’t think anyone would mind." Reika looked a little surprised at his reaction.

"Oh, we don’t." He apologized to Mia. "It’s just a surprise to see you again, it’s been forever." He seemed to be seeing something the rest of them couldn’t, and looked as if he would have continued, but Kento grabbed his wrist and shook his head.

"Thank you all for coming." Sai continued. "We’d like to take out the Dynasty trash again, but we’re not as young we used to be. Every time we use the armor, it gets harder to call and dismiss it."

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I think we’re getting old." Kento sighed ruefully. "Anyhow, I bet Rowen and Sage’ll flip when they find out you’re back." He told her. "Why don’t you go find them?"

Reika broke into a smile. "Great idea!" She grinned, but then sobered. "Any idea where they’ll be?"

Sai rolled his eyes. "Where else? The library."

"Yeah, Rowen practically lives there, and Sage is usually with him. Lady Ashal should be with them." Kento informed them.

"Duh." Reika smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I should’ve known."

"Lady Ashal?" Sage wondered.

"You’ll see." Sai grinned. "But the library is the most logical place."

The younger Kento snickered and elbowed Rowen in the ribs. "Some things never change, ‘eh buddy?"

"Oh shut up, will ya?" The blue haired warrior gave Kento a death glare and then proceeded to act as if Hardrock didn’t even exist.

Amid the general laughter, Reika turned to her Uncles. "Will you come with us?" She asked.

Kento’s stomach rumbled ominously. "Um, I think we’ll see you over dinner." He replied. "Unless you happen to have a sandwich stashed in there somewhere?" He raised an eyebrow at her twentieth century clothes.

"’Fraid not." She replied.

"If she did," The other Kento grinned. "I would have eaten it already."

"You’re absolutely impossible!" Both Sais exclaimed, with identical looks of frustration on their faces.

Sage shuddered. "Geez, this is like some weird sci-fi movie, you know?"

Ryo nodded. "The Clones or something." He said.

"Come on, let’s head for the library!" Reika prompted them. Exchanging a significant glance, the Warriors from the past did as she suggested.

As they walked down the maze-like hallways of the palace, the guys noticed a change in Reika.

She seemed so much more cheerful. She looked as if she was about to take off down the passage and leave them all in her haste to see her friends. In fact, it was that same anxiety that created to accident.

Reika had been humming something under her breath as she turned a corner, there was a crashing sound, of metal on stone, and the others rushed around to see the girl sprawled on the floor, a young boy next to her.

"I apologize!" The boy said, backing away as he tried to gather up the tray and its burden, several dirty dishes.

"S’okay." Reika shook her head like she was dizzy and began to help him pick up the plates.

"Are you two all right?" Ryo asked, kneeling down beside them.

"Yes sir, I’m fine." The boy replied. He looked up as Reika passed him a handful of silverware, and promptly dropped it all with a metallic clang as he saw her face.

"L-lady Reika!" He gasped. "I did not know you had returned!"

"Actually, I only now got back." She admitted, scooping the forks, spoons and knives up.

"A-and they…they..." His eyes became the size of baseballs as he caught sight of the Ronins.

"Correct!" She grinned brightly. "I brought the Ronins of the past with me."

He couldn’t have looked more surprised if she’d told him the world was about to end.

"I-I’d better go." He stammered, hurrying away.

"Damn." Reika muttered under her breath.

"What’s wrong?" Sai asked her.

"I didn’t want the people who work here to know I’m back, or that you’re with me. It’ll be all over the palace by dinner time." She sighed.

"Who would know?" Rowen frowned. "For that matter, why do you care?"

"Where do you think all the refugees from the city are staying?" She asked rhetorically. "Obviously they’re here, and as for why I don’t want them to know I’m back, well, never mind."

They continued down the hallways. Sage frowned and spoke up.

"Why is it so dark in here?" He asked.

Reika shrugged. "This place is so big we usually don’t go to the effort of lighting it all, usually the sun does it for us, see?" She gestured to windows, which were set high into the walls. Had the sky not been so overcast, the palace would have been very well lit indeed.

She led them to a set of huge double doors, at least fifteen feet high. "The library’s through here." She explained, gesturing at the entranceway. "After
Armageddon, Uncle Rowen made it his own personal quest to salvage as many books as possible. If there’s a single copy of anything left, you’ll find it in here, as well as prints of anything written since."

Rowen looked as if he was about to tear down the doors. Reika smothered a grin and pushed lightly on them. They swung open easily on silent hinges.

"Whoa, I would have thought they’d be heavier than that." Sage commented.

"The hinges are rigged." She explained. "It’s got something to do with weights and pulleys I think."

The seven young people strode into a huge room. Dozens of bookshelves stretched all the way up to vaulted ceiling, at least thirty feet above their heads. Thousands of books were crammed into the shelves, no one was sure if there was some kind of order to them or not.

"They should be somewhere near the center." Reika mused, leading them through the veritable maze of books. Sage and Ryo, realizing that Rowen was missing, spent ten minutes tracking through the place searching for their blue-haired friend.

"Rowen, you can look around after we get through this, okay?" Sage compromised.

"Okay." He replied, sounding somewhat glum.

"This way." Reika beckoned them. A soft glow from lamplight seemed to be just ahead; they rounded another corner to a rather surprising sight.

Seated in several comfortable looking chairs were three people, two middle aged men and a woman a few years younger.

One of the men had sapphire hair streaked through with shots of gray. He wore a pair of reading glasses and was flipping through a book at an amazing pace. If the other man’s golden blonde hair was going gray, it was hard to tell just yet, due to the light color. From the way he was squinting at the pages, he was probably in need of spectacles as well.

The woman had waist-length honey colored hair and huge baby blue eyes. She wore a mint green dress and was seated with both legs crossed gracefully. The only lines on her face were the slight beginnings of crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes and faint laugh lines around her mouth.

Reika cleared her throat softly, alarming the trio of readers. "Am I interrupting anything?" She asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Rei?" The man with blue hair gasped, setting aside his book and spectacles. "Is that you? You’ve made it back?"

She smiled and leaned against one of the shelves. "Sure I did, I told ya I would, didn’t I?"

The blonde man pulled her into a hug. "You did at that." He admitted. "But I think we’d all given up hope…"

She grinned and stuck out her tongue. "You should listen to Uncle Sai, and trust me a little more Uncle Sage."

"I think I should have seen that coming." The younger Sage murmured.

"What?" The man who was obviously Rowen’s elder self (how many guys with blue hair can there be?) whirled to stare at the Ronins. "You?! I mean, us, I mean, oh whatever!"

"Yep." Reika nodded, stepping back with the others. "I brought them with me."

The lady stepped forward, casting an inquisitive glance at the group of teens. She broke into a sunny smile.

"It was good of you to come, we really are in desperate straights at the moment." Her voice was soft and warm.

"Who are you?" Ryo frowned. The woman grinned at him.

"I was rather hoping you’d come Wildfire." She said. "It’s been a while since we’ve spoken." Ryo figured she was talking about his now deceased future self. She slipped her arm around the waist of the older blonde man (obviously Sage).

"If you must know, I’m Lady Ashal Date."

Sage looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. Reika had to cover her mouth in an effort to hide her grin, the others didn’t even bother with that.

"His WIFE!" They all shouted in unison, promptly breaking down into bouts of laughter.

Tears were streaming down Rowen’s face, all he could do was hold onto his ribs and shake a finger at Sage, whose face was glowing like a light-bulb.

"To use your own words Sage, you could have done worse." Ryo managed to say.

"That’s not very polite." Mia giggled.

"Mia?!" Both of the future Ronins gasped. She looked a little alarmed by their reactions, but then remembered how surprised Sai and Kento had been, and then Reika’s words: perhaps after you died, it just became too painful for them to speak of you, so it became a taboo subject.

"Anyhow." The gray-haired Rowen began. "Thank you, and welcome to the future."

Getting their laughter back under control, the others tried to appear serious.

Reika spoke up again. "Uncle Rowen, do you know where the guys are? I think the Ronins might like to meet them."

A mischievous smile spread over both Sage and Rowen’s faces. "Undoubtedly in the training arena, I’m sure they’ll he thrilled to see you." He said.

That smile appeared on her face as well. "I’m sure you’re right." Was all she would say.

"Where’s the training arena?" Kento asked.

"Across the courtyard." Lady Ashal replied.

"Oh no, not out there again." He sighed. "It’s creepy out there."

Rowen cast a plainly longing look at the thousands of book surrounding him. Sai grabbed his arm and towed him out after the others.

"Like we said before, you can come back later." He said firmly.

The air seemed to hang stilly outside, leaving a feeling of gloom and depression.

"Never did like those clouds." Rowen murmured. A snort of amusement came from Sage’s general direction.

In an effort to break the ominous feeling inspired by the gray-green sky, Kento struck up a conversation with Reika.

"So who’re these guys you mentioned?" He asked

A slight smile played over her features. "They’re your eldest sons." She explained. "We’ve trained together since we were little kids, they’re my best friends." A slightly reminiscent look spread over her face. "I never realized how much I’d miss them, they’re great guys."

"Nice to know we’ve got good kids." Sai put in.

A shrill cry broke the silence. "REIKA!!!" It screamed.

Reika winced visibly and slowly turned around to face the palace. A graceful figure clad in a flowing white dress made its way towards the group. A moment later it was possible to make out a girl.

Ice blonde hair poured down her back, soft tendrils framing a delicately featured face with alabaster skin. She was amazingly graceful, ivory-slippered feet making no sound on the cobbles. Large lavender eyes narrowed in anger at the other girl. All her beauty could not mask the fact that she had an ugly personality.

"So." She sneered, folding her arms over her chest. "You actually had the gall to show your face here again, you disgrace."

"Sorry to disappoint you Alera." Reika replied coldly. "But I don’t die that easy."

"Ugh." The blonde girl threw her hands up in the air in disgust. "Why couldn’t you have just gone back to the past and stayed there the way everyone expected you to?"

Reika’s face went blank. Mia could tell she was fighting back the legendary Wildfire temper, attempting to keep from hitting the girl. She balled her hands into fists at her side.

"At least I’m out doing something instead of sitting on my butt absolutely useless." She hissed.

Alera’s eyes flared up in rage. Quick as thought, she dealt Reika a slap on the cheek, leaving a red mark on her face. She pulled her hand back to follow through with another, but Reika reached out and caught her wrist.

"Careful ‘Lera," She cautioned. "You wouldn’t want to disgrace yourself in front of the Ronin Warriors, now would you?"

The blonde’s eyes flashed again, and she turned on her heel to huff away, only to disappear into thin air!

"W-where’d she go?" Kento blinked.

"That’s Alera’s talent." Reika replied tonelessly. "Teleportation."

"What a brat!" Ryo commented. "Who is she anyway?"

"Sage’s daughter." She growled in response.

"On man, remind me to do something about her." Sage muttered, utterly disgusted at what a spoiled brat the girl had turned out to be.

"Any more unpleasant surprises?" Rowen raised an eyebrow at the space Alera had occupied a moment before.

"Nah, everybody else is fine, the littles tend to throw the occasional tantrum, but that’s only natural."

"Littles?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, the little kids." Her eyes grew thoughtful. "Hmm, if Alera knew I came back, then the children-"

"REIKA!

This time the voice was shouted by a high-pitched childish voice.

"Huh?" They all turned.

"Now what?" Ryo muttered.

A white blur appeared to be shooting at them, screeching to a halt before the teens. The blur was revealed to a young white tiger with blue eyes. Perched upon its back were two children, with blue hair of varying shades.

"Kina! Tannin! Orion!" She dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the tiger’s neck, hugging him close. White Blaze looked in puzzlement at the other tiger, trying to place the other’s smell; it seemed so familiar somehow…

The two children slipped off of the huge cat’s back. Reika unwound her arms from around the tiger (Orion?)’s neck, only to be caught up by the kids.

The little girl had wrapped her arms around Reika’s waist and clung there, while the little boy was glued to her neck.

"You scared me!" The boy wailed. "I thought you’d gone away forever, like Uncle Ryo!"

"Yeah." The little girl sniffled, "Why’d you have to go anyway? S’not fair.
Chuckling, Reika gently pried them off and got to her feet. She turned to the Ronins, who were by this point completely mystified.

"Guys," She began, "I’d like you to meet Kina and Tannin. The twins I mentioned, your youngest Rowen." She laid a hand on both blue heads.

Rowen looked down at the little kids, barely hip high on the older girl. They had such sweet angelic faces. He felt a funny little lurch in his heart; those kids had a claim on him, he could feel it.

The little girl giggled and blushed shyly. Her hair was deep midnight blue, and fell in soft curls to her shoulders. Her sapphire eyes sparkled brightly.

"I’m Kina." She whispered.

The little boy grinned rakishly. He looked like his sister, only his hair was much shorter, and of a slightly lighter blue color. Instead of that one annoying lock which always dangled between Rowen’s eyes, the child’s eyes were obscured behind a veritable curtain of bangs. What little could be seen of them showed that he had his sister’s clear blue eyes. "And I’m Tannin!" He said proudly. He ducked out from under Reika’s hand and snatched her wrist.
"Reika’s my f-f-, what’s that word again?" He turned to her.

"Fiancée." She knelt down and hugged the little boy tight. "We’re betrothed."

"WHAT!" Ryo felt his jaw drop.

Reika winked up at them. "You heard me." Then she mouthed ‘it’ a game we play’ Reassured, he let out the breath he’d been holding.

Sage was desperately attempting to hold back a terrible fit of chuckles. The look on Rowen’s face was absolutely priceless. Finding out about the twins had to have shocked him, now he knew how he’d felt when Alera had made her appearance. Sage shuddered a little, coming up with ways to deal with that if this ever became his reality.

Kento chuckled quietly as he watched Sage. He could tell the blonde warrior was choking back laughs at Rowen’s predicament. This was strange; no doubt about it, facing your future self was awfully unnerving. He was sort of looking forward to meeting his ‘son’ in a few minutes.

"Hmm," Reika looked up from Tannin and gave both him and his twin a stern glare. "Wait a second," she said, "Where’s Graham?"

The twins began to fidget, "Uh, well, he’s…"

They were cut off from a shriek behind them. A small figure could bee seen running unsteadily towards the group. About five feet away, the short, sturdy little boy tripped and fell flat on his face. He got back to his feet with a wail.

"You guys always leave me behind!" He sniffed, tears dripping down chubby cheeks as he inspected a scraped knee. "Lookit this!" He pointed angrily at the blood oozing from the wound. Ash gray hair was plastered to his forehead, damp from sweat.

Reika pulled him over and began to look it over. "You’re okay Graham." She told him firmly, but gently. "Just a little tumble, you’ve done worse."

"Yeah." He admitted glumly.

The girl then turned to the twins. "Why did you leave him behind?" There’s plenty of room on Orion’s back for him as well."

Tannin began to grind a tuft of grass under the toe of his shoe. Kina fiddled nervously with a twist of hair.

"Well?"

"He’s too slow." Tannin said defiantly. "He can’t keep up, an we both wanted to see you, so we coudna wait for him."

"Next time, Graham comes too." She told them. "Orion’s my tiger, and I say there’s always room on the tiger for him."

"Oookaaay." Two voices chorused.

"Hey!" The little boy exclaimed, staring up at the Ronins. "Who’re those guys?"

"They’re our daddies, stupid." Kina shook her head at Graham’s ignorance.

"I’m not stupid!" He screeched, preparing to launch himself at her. For a three year old, he was certainly very well spoken.

"Hey there, cut that out." Kento leaned over and scooped the toddler up into his arms, preventing a scuffle. "Didn’t your mom tell you not to hit girls?"

He looked ashamed for a moment before considering the face before him. "You’re gonna be my daddy, right?" He asked.

"The kid’s quick." Ryo commented, surprised at how much these little kids seemed to know.

"No kidding." Rowen murmured.

"Uh," Kento looked a little stunned before replying, "Well, I will be, in about three thousand years, is that okay with you?"

Graham seemed to consider for a moment before answering. "I like you." He said seriously. The warrior of strength leaned over and gently deposited the child back on his feet.

With a stern look at the twins, he said, "Play nice."

"Okay." They replied, a little intimidated by him.

"Hey now Kento, leave ‘em alone." Rowen spoke up, "They’re just kids."

"Yeah." Kina said, running up and hiding behind Rowen’s leg. She peeked around and stuck her tongue out at the big teen.

Chuckling, Reika turned to Tannin. "Hey, d’you know where we’ll find the guys?"

"They’re still in the ring, you can find ‘em all there." He answered.

White Blaze gave a rumble and cocked his head at the other tiger. The two cats were peering at each other in unblinking gazes. Then they both turned and began to walk back to the palace.

"Looks like White Blaze and Orion are going to get reacquainted." Reika observed.

"Reacquainted?"

"Orion is the only descendent of White Blaze that we know about." She explained. "There’s probably others, but they’re totally feral, Orion chose to stay here with me."

The stocky teen backed cautiously away and regarded his sparring opponent, a slim boy a little younger than himself, with wild blue hair dampened down on his forehead by sweat. The two of them were practicing hand-to-hand combat, a little challenging on the part of the blue haired teen, as the other boy was much larger size wise.

Off to the right of the sparring duo, another group of two teenage boys were practicing with staffs. The other two had sandy blonde hair and auburn. The blonde had to keep shaking his hair out of his eyes as he thwacked away at his opponent with the staff of fire-hardened wood. The two were about matched up in size and strength; though the auburn haired boy seemed to have a greater skill with the staff. The blond found himself wishing he had a sword in his grip instead of the accursed wooden stick.

"C’mon Touma, try me." The big boy with ash-gray hair taunted.

"That would be suicide Shu, and I’m not a kamikaze, ya know."

"Coulda fooled me!" The blond spoke up.

"You keep out of this Seiji!" Touma snapped.

"Yeah, you’ve got to concentrate on me!" The kid with auburn hair reminded Seiji, smacking him upside the head with the end of the staff.

"Point taken Shin." He growled, rubbing his head and settling back into fighting stance.

Touma rushed Shu, only to find himself sailing head over heels through the air, landing with a crunch on the sawdust floor of the arena.

Shu gasped as he saw his smaller friend land in a crumpled heap. He hadn’t meant to throw him that hard! Rushing over, he leaned worriedly over the other boy.

"Geez Touma!" He blurted. "You okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, honest." He reached down and hauled the other to his feet. About halfway up though, Touma dug in his heels and strained backward, throwing Shu over his shoulder. No mean feet, considering how much he weighed.

Shu went flying into the rail, which encircled the practice ring, headfirst. The next thing he knew, little birds were flying in circles around his head. He swatted at one in annoyance. He glared balefully through blurry eyes in the direction the laughter was coming from.

"That was a cheap shot Touma." He growled, still trying to get back to his feet.

"Not surprising," Another voice, shaking with laughter said, "Considering that’s the only kind of shot he knows."

Blinking, Shu was able to make out a hand in front of his face. He reached up and clasped it, then followed with his eyes up the arm, to the face. It was one he knew.

"Reika!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "It’s you! It’s gotta be!"

She giggled and pulled her hand away. "Well, I was the last time I checked…"

He hugged her so hard her feet were five or six inches off the floor. Swinging her around in a circle, he said, "I can’t believe you’re still in one piece." He exclaimed.

"Well I would be if you weren’t trying your best to break all my ribs." She managed to gasp in return.

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly, setting her gingerly back on her feet. Reika just threw her arms around his neck and hugged him back.

"That’s okay, I missed you too cuz."

"Hey, just him?" Another voice teased. She spun around and stuck her tongue out at the blonde boy.

"Maybe Seiji." She retorted. "Why would I miss you?"

"Awww." He mock-wailed, pulling a long face. "That’s no fair."

"Just kidding Goldilocks." Reika reached over and ruffled his hair so it fell over both his eyes. Shaking it away impatiently, he too pulled her into a hug.

"If I didn’t know better, I’d think you guys were trying to break my back." She chuckled as she laughingly pushed him away. "Either that or you just don’t know your own strength."

"You know we’d never hurt you on purpose." A soft voice reminded her.

"Yeah Shin, I know, just teasin’." The other boy smiled at her. They were about the same size, so unlike with the others, she could actually look him in the eye.

"It’s a relief to know you haven’t changed." He murmured into her ear as he hugged her.

"Hey, I haven’t been gone that long." She protested.

"Coulda fooled me." The last voice snorted.

"That doesn’t take much." Shu smirked evilly.

"Oh hah." Touma glared at the bigger boy.

"Cut it out you two." Reika put a hand on either shoulders. "You guys are impossible." She shook her head.

"But we wouldn’t be as much fun if we weren’t." Touma grinned, the last one to hug her. "How’ve ya been hot stuff?"

"You’re an idiot Skye!" She pushed away, ignoring the sniggers coming from the other guys.

"Sorry Raven," He said apologetically, using her old nickname. "Like you said, just kidding."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled softly at her friends, reassured by how little they seemed to have changed.

Touma frowned and grabbed her chin. He tilted her head a little and peered at her cheek, eyes widening at the red mark.

"Rei, what happened?" He hissed.

"I had a little run in with ‘Lera on the way here." She confessed, grinning wryly. "I always seem to piss her off, for some reason."

Shu looked like he wanted to hit something. "That brat, Seiji, you really need to do something about her." He turned on his friend.

The blonde raised his hands in self-defense. "Hey, I’m not my sister’s keeper! And Reika’s got my permission to whack some sense into her."

"Why thank you Seiji." Reika mock curtsied. "But I think I’ll leave putting her in her place up to you. You are her brother, after all."

"Gee, thanks." He rolled his eyes dryly.

"So Rei, what’s the past like?" Shin asked, perching himself atop the guardrail.

"Why don’t you ask someone who can explain it a lot better than me?" She asked, gesturing towards the shadows of the arena’s entrance.

The Ronins had kept themselves out of sight in the shadows since they’d entered the ring. For a moment, they, Mia and Reika had paused in the entrance, watching the boys spar. They were impressive, to say the least.

It was fairly obvious just who each one was descended from, hair and eye color, not to mention general build, was a dead giveaway. Reika watched them all with a funny look in her eyes, staring faraway.

As the teen who was apparently Rowen’s eldest managed to hurl the larger boy (duh, related to Kento) into the rail which encircled the arena, she launched herself over the bar as well, and made her way over to where the boy lay, sprawled and seeing stars.

Deciding to wait it out, the warriors remained concealed and watched as the five were reunited. It was plain that they were all very close, the relief on the boy’s faces was so plain to see it was almost alarming.

Ryo wasn’t too sure what to make of this. It had been alarming when Reika had claimed to be his daughter, but to see people his own age, who were apparently the sons of his friends, well, anyone would be disturbed. He watched as Rowen’s son (Touma?) turned Reika’s face from side to side, frowning and voicing his dislike of Alera.

Hmm, Skye, Raven? Nicknames, I suppose. It’s not surprising; she did say that they all grew up together, so it makes sense that they should all be close. As close, perhaps, as me and guys.

When Reika made the comment about asking someone else about the past, the Ronins took that as their cue and stepped into the light.

"H-holy…" Shu stammered, not able to believe what he was seeing.

"R-Reika?" Touma questioned, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving her an inquisitive look.

"Yes, it’s them. I brought the Ronins Warriors."

Seiji shrugged. "I’m not surprised, you never break an oath Rei." He suddenly grinned triumphantly. "Looks like Alera owes me."

"Huh?" Reika frowned at him. "You bet against ‘Lera that I wouldn’t make it?"

He just gave her an innocent look. "NO, I said you would make it, she’s the one who said you wouldn’t."

"Right." She just muttered.

Shin was staring at the younger version of his father in shock; and it wasn’t too hard to see why. Out of all of them, Shin and Sai resembled each other the most, to a startling degree actually. The only real difference was that unlike Sai’s blue-green eyes, Shin’s were totally emerald in color.

"Whoa." Kento blinked, gaze flitting back and forth between the two. "Now that’s disturbing."

"Uh huh." Sai murmured, just as surprised as the other.

"Come on you two." Reika pushed between them, snapping her fingers in front of Shin’s eyes. "Snap out of it, it’s not that strange."

"Oh really?" Touma crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes kept flitting back to Rowen. His mother always told him how much he looked like a younger version of his father, and now he had proof. Everything was similar, right down to that annoying lock of hair over the bridge of his nose. However, Touma’s hair was a deeper blue, like Kina’s, and his face had a slightly different bone structure, slightly like his mother’s.

Seiji seemed to be the only one not stunned by the recent turn of events. Shaking his head ruefully, he took it upon himself to break the terribly awkward silence.

Bowing low, he began to speak. "Thank you for coming." He said, straightening up. "Though I don’t think any of us would admit it, we really are in need of your help." He reached out and gripped Reika’s shoulder. "Reika was brave enough to go back for you, and I realize you must all be tired from traveling through time." Seiji glanced up at a skylight in the arena’s roof, tracking the amount of light coming down through. "And now, I think it’s time for supper. Would you like to join us?"

"Wow." Mia raised her eyebrows. "I suppose courtesy runs in the Date family." She commented.

"You may join us as well, Lady, if you wish." Seiji smiled slightly.

"Food!" Kento grinned. "We haven’t eaten since breakfast!"

"I suppose the appetite’s hereditary." Shin commented. "I’ll bet he’s the only one besides your dad who can out eat you Shu." He elbowed his friend in the side.

"Hah hah."