***

Aimie's eyes were wide with anxiousness as she raced through the forest. Rowen had told her earlier that they wouldn't be practicing so close to the house today. He had already set up an archery range for his own use, so it was no big deal if they had used that one. A smile accompanied her singing as she flew past the branches and trees, leaves flying by her, "Koibito!...Koibito...! Anata no watashi no shitsui! Anata nomi kara watashi...so watashi iku ni naratte anata...!"

Rowen turned to see Aimie skip into the clearing, singing and spinning towards him, "A little hyper today?" he asked as she neared him.

"Ah..hai, masta!" she nodded.

"Oh! I didn't know ya could speak Japanese."

"Second language course in high school. Can you speak it too?"

"Of course," he smiled. "So, where's your bow?"

"Oh! Right here..." she dug into her duffle bag and pulled out a Target Recurve, glowing with its custom made sparkle handle, "Isn't it neat? My parents had is custom made, just for me! It's a recurve, one of the best."

"Hmmm..." Rowen held up his bow, "Do you know what this is?" he asked. She stared at the bow for a moment.

"Not...really. Why?"

"It's a Longbow; a Vision to be exact," he handed her the bow, "Feel the difference? Mine is slightly lighter. At least, it should be."

"Huh." Aimie handed Rowen back his bow and took out her quiver. In it was her own arrows, also sparkled.

"Are you going to use those? I brought you my old longbow if ya'd li-"

"What? You scared my bow'll perform better?"

Rowen shrugged, taking an arrow from his own quiver, leaning against a nearby tree. He aimed it at the target face ahead, and shot, pinning, of course, a bulls eye. He looked to her and smiled. Slightly irritated by Rowen's silence, Aimie picked up her own bow and did the same. Her arrow struck the red band on the outside of the target. "Not really," Rowen finally replied, "Longbows are more traditional, and therefore, they perform better than any other bow I've used, including the type you're holding right now."

"You're just gloating," she said, turning her back to him.

"No. Actually, I'm offering you advice. Ever hear of it? It can be useful at times."

Aimie spun back around and stared at him. "I don't need sarcasm from you anymore. I don't have to be here."

"Then why are you?"

"I...-..I..uh! Because..-"

As Aimie tried to put her thoughts into words, Rowen reached around and held out his old longbow to her. She stopped muttering and stared at it. "I'm here to coach you, not gloat. I can tell you right now, a few years ago, I wasn't even as good as you now."

Aimie blinked at the bow for moment, and then slowly grasped it. She was quiet for a moment, placing down her old bow and quiver.

"Shoot with it."

She looked at him. Rowen nodded and smiled. She reached back and picked up one of her arrows. As she turned to place her arrow on the arrow rest of the bow, Rowen's hand stopped her movements, and replaced her arrow with one of his own.

"This is a cedar arrow. It's more fitting to the Longbow. Try it."

Aimie nodded, and pulled back her bow arm. Her eyes widened almost immediately, "Uh! My anchor is smaller...but, I'm not this weak!"

"Don't let that falter your shot, for now, Aimie. I'm going to teach you how to fix that later. Just try this one shot."

Aimie complied, and shifted her head again to aim. All at once, her arrow was gone, and had pierced the small bit of target face next to Rowen's arrow.

"Alright!"

Aimie stared. "...Wow!! That rocks!" she said, lifting the bow into the air. "This is a far better bow than the one I've been using!..." Then she was quiet, and brought back down the bow. She looked at it, half saddened. Rowen turned around to pick up his other arrows. He picked one, and aimed it at the target, "...I'm sorry."

Before he could release the arrow, he paused and brought down his bow. Rowen looked at her for a moment, her eyes still focused on the bowstring and arrow rest. "I am, really."

"About what?"

"I've been so reluctant and selfish. I refused to see that I was the inferior one, not you. It's just that...-...well, never mind."

Rowen watched her for a moment. She began to pack away her own bow. "Done for the day, Aim?"

She looked back at him, "Yeah... I guess."

She swung the duffle bag strap around her shoulder and began to walk off. "Hold on a moment." She stopped and looked back at him.

"What?"

"I'm not just here to bluntly teach you about archery, you know. We can talk, if you want."

"About what?"

"You and Sage. I know you two have had some trouble in the past. He just lacks what you want out of him."

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow, fully turning around to face him now.

"You know, he doesn't know...how to express how much he cares?"

She dropped her duffle bag and lowered her head. "He used to..." Rowen placed down his bow, "He used to know. That's why he came with me to all my sessions."

Her shoulders began to shake vaguely. "He was...my only brother...and...then he came here. He didn't even tell me why. Not only that, but he didn't even want me to come with him. I know he doesn't love me as much as he used to. I can see it."

Tears slowly flowed down her cheeks. Rowen walked forward, and placed each hand on her shoulders. She looked up at him.

"That's not true, Aimie. He's changed, I can tell you that, but he does not think any lower of you. If anything, he loves you more. He told me how much he's missed you. Over here...all five of us have to go through the same thing. This is a savage destiny we must live, but he does it for you."

"I...I don't even know what this 'destiny' is. How can I smile about that? How do I know what to think about? It's not like he could have died."

"Aimie, he could have. Twice."

She gasped and pulled away from him, "W-what?"

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I wish I could, but I can't."

She turned, gradually at first, but as soon as her back was fully turned to Rowen, she sprinted into the woods. Afraid of where she was running off to, Rowen raced after her. Her speed left her reckless, her foot catching on a root. Aimie fell forward, and spun downward into a steep furrow. She wanted to scream, but the rocks and the fall had knocked the wind from her lungs. She fell, with one last thump, her arms caught in a bush of thorns.

Rowen stopped at the route, looking around to see where Aimie had gone, "Aimie? Aimie!"

There was no response. His eyes searched all over. As he peered down into the furrow, he noticed one of Aimie's red sneakers at the bottom of the ditch. When his eyes had fully focused, he realized that Aimie was attached to that sneaker. Without hesitation, he plunged down into the ditch, and slid to her side. He inspected her. Her head, arms, and legs were bruised and a bit bloody. There was a moderate slash on her left arm, but his main focus was something else.

Aimie wasn't breathing.

Almost immediately, Rowen began rescue breathing. He tilted back her head and began to breathe for her. Time passed, still she was relatively non-responsive. She hadn't started breathing on her own. Damn it...He thought as he gave her another breath, this is my fault. I shouldn't have said anything to her. He checked her pulse. It was weaker than before, but still there. She was fading.

"C'mon, Aimie!" he pleaded, continuing with the exercise, "Please...!"

Her body still did not respond to Rowen. Finally, he was beginning to give in to the inevitable. He shouted with remorseful frustration and slammed his fist down onto her chest. As he leaned forward to grieve, she coughed. Again. Again and again. Her arms moved.

Rowen's eyes shot to the side. She moaned with pain, "Auuughhhh...."

"Aimie!" Rowen got her attention. She looked over to him.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay! Really!" She sat up, and he hugged her, just to make sure she was really alive. "You're alive."

"I am."

"You stopped breathing." She looked to him.

"You...saved my life?"

Rowen blushed, "Well...uh,...yes?" She was still for a moment. Then, she clung to him, burying her bloody, wet face into his chest. He pat her head, trying to comfort her.

"I wanna go back."

"Home?"

"...No. To the mansion. I want to see the others, and apologize to Kento."

"Hm..."

"I could have died, Rowen."

"I know. Let's go."

***


The back door burst in, Aimie's hurried footsteps following the bang. The noise had alerted the others in the house, Sage standing from his seat on the couch, Cye and Ryo appearing on the overhang, and Kento emerging from the front door. "Yo, like what was that huge bang?"

Before Sage could answer, before anyone could answer, Aimie raced into the living room and hugged Kento. Kento's face spoke the word 'disconcerted'. She pulled back from him and did a Harley Davidson around the edge of the couch and hugged Sage. She rubbed her face into his shirt and cried. That's when his face turned into a questionable slate. There were bruise marks all over her arms and legs, and she was bleeding.

As if to purposely act as a cliché, Rowen walked in, right at that moment, and watched them. He was smiling, when Sage looked up at him. When he noticed Sage wasn't, Rowen knew something was going to happen. "What did you do?" Sage snarled, gently seating Aimie on the couch.

"What did I do? Well, why don't you ask her?" Rowen stated, attempting to get Sage to stay put, rather than walking right into his face.

"I don't have to. Those wounds are enough to tell me you did something."

"Yeah. I did." Rowen looked back at Aimie.

"What the Hell did you do to my sister!?"

"Cool your jets, it's not like I inja'ed her or somethin'."

"Really now?"

"Yeah, really, Sage." Rowen countered, "In fact, I did quite the opposite. I came in here thinkin' you were gonna thank me."

"Thank you? Thank you for what?!"

A hand made its way between Sage and Rowen's nearing faces, and Aimie followed it. She stood in front of Rowen and held out her hands, as if to block him. "For saving my life, Sage."

Sage stood there flabbergasted. "What?"

"I...fell down a ditch, and got the wind knocked out of me. Rowen found me and saved my life."

"Why were you in the woods? I thought you were practicing out in the field?"

Aimie's shoulders tingled with tension. She could feel Rowen's anxiety level rise, strangely enough. She answered, responding to his mood swing. "I was...coming back to see you, and I tripped over a root. No worries. What's done is done, right?"

Sage sighed and hugged his sister, "Be more careful you spastic little brat."

"Sorry..." she sighed, hugging him back.

He smiled. "At any rate," he pulled back from her, "Mom called. She wants to know what time on Saturday you want to be picked up at the airport."

Aimie rolled her eyes. "Rushing me already."

"Not at all."

"I get it," she teased with a smile. "You just want me gone, right?"

"No!"

"Sure, sure."

"Aim!"

"Just kidding!" she laughed, patting his shoulder. "Duh!"

After a moment of registering that his sister was joking, Sage chuckled a little and said. "That fall must have knocked some screws loose."

"I don't have any screws, but I'm sure you have some on record, Score Keeper!"

"Ohhh!! Dissed!" Kento laughed. Sage's mouth hung open.

"Now, hold on!" he said, calling her back from the stairwell. "Where did that come from?"

"Kento told me all about how girls hang all over you at school. I'm no dog, but I think I smell a mutt when I smell one, Sage."

Rowen coughed, trying to cover up his laughter.

"Gotta go!!" Aimie said, racing up the stairs.

"Aimie! Get back here!" Sage said, beginning to run after her. He stopped and turned to the hysterical Kento, "I'll handle you later....AIMIE!!" he shouted, trotting up the stairs after her.