Thunder stood outside on the balcony watching the two siblings play in the water. So much had been happening in the amount of time that he and Flash had been in Japan. Now he was letting his confused emotions run through him. He held his head in his hands and kept his eyes forward. How had this happened? He wondered. Why did his real parents give him up? Was there a serious war? That could be the only reason why. So what should he do? Call them up? Write them a letter? Just go and see them? At this point he didn’t know what to do. He was so lost and confused.

Stop it, he told himself. You’re being selfish. A girl was just taken violently. His thoughts turned to Mia and he frowned deeply. While he could heal wounds he could not heal emotional scars. But he did know someone who could. He stood up on the balcony and leaped off it, landing gracefully on his feet and immediately headed out to the forest.

*~*

Ryo paused for a moment as he noticed the tall warrior walking quickly toward the forest. "Guess Thunder’s going to meditate," he said softly.

"He must still be in shock," Rekino said. "Hana definitely is."

"Not surprising. All I’ve been hearing from her is how much she dreams of getting a kiss from him."

Rekino stifled a giggle. "I think Hana would pass out if he did."

Ryo smiled and playfully splashed water at his sister.

"Why you! That’s it!" And the water war was on.

*~*

Thunder stood in the center of the forest looking around. Not many animals were out. A rabbit had run from him, followed by White Blaze. A bird flew overhead, and a squirrel darted into its home high within the tree. He called out. "Blaze?" There was no answer. And he tried again. "Blaze, I need to talk to you!"

There was a rusting behind him as the wind picked up. He turned around just in time to see Blaze appear on the large gray boulder.

"Look, I’m sorry. But this is important. You know how we were captured right?" The gigantic wolf nodded his head and waited for Thunder to continue. "Mia was taken forcefully, ripped of her purity."

"Now that is important," the wolf said shaking his head. "Her emotional scars must run deep."

"Very deep. Will you help her?"

The wolf was silent for a few moments, as the wind seemed to pick up. Then he answered staring deep into Thunder’s eyes. "I can help her, but she must be willing to be helped. If she is not willing to let go of the pain I cannot heal her emotional scars."

Thunder nodded. "I understand. I will go and tell her."

Thunder watched him turn and disappear into the forest. He sighed and turned and headed back for the house.

*~*

Back inside the house, Josephine and Kento were glued to the TV screen watching the football game. Kento and Josephine were cheering for the Toyama Dragons while Rowen and Cye were cheering for the Tokyo Eagles. Suddenly, the Dragon's caught the ball and ran down the field, scoring a touchdown, which won them the game. Josephine and Kento got up and cheered for one another.

Josephine looked at Rowen and Sage, "You guys owe me and Kento twenty bucks a piece! Cough it up!"

Rowen grumbled and got forty dollars and handed twenty to each of them. Cye did the same. Josephine and Kento high fived each other and started talking about what they were going to do with the money. Suddenly the door opened and a soaking wet Ryo walked in laughing with a wet Rekino over his shoulder. She was screaming at him to put her down. The others just stared at her.

Kento looked at Josephine, Rowen, and Cye, "Five bucks says that they fell in the pond."

"You're on!" Josephine said and slapped her money down.

"Okay!" Cye said and put five bucks on the table.

"No way!" Rowen said.

"What're ya? Scared?" Josephine asked.

Rowen shook his head, "Nope. That's not it. I bet Kento alone ten bucks that they were fighting and Rekino pushed Ryo in the pond!"

"And I bet Ken and Jo that Rekino was the one who started the fight," Cye said.

"You're so gonna lose dudes!" Kento said and put his money down.

Flash hung her head low, "You're all gonna lose one way or the other."

Instantly the room became silent as everyone stared at Flash. What was she talking about? And furthermore why was her head down? She looked…. worried? Depressed? Unhappy? What was wrong?

Rekino frowned deeply as she stepped forward. "Flash, what’s wrong?"

Flash slowly raised her eyes to meet Rekino’s. The taller girl stared back worriedly at her friend. She could tell that Flash was hiding something, but what? Flash frowned deeply. "I can’t talk about it right now. I’m sorry." She turned on her heels and ran up the stairs, running so fast she was only a blur. The next everyone heard was a door closing shut.

Rowen frowned. "What happened?"

"I don’t know," Sage said as he tried to smooth down his hair. It had been blown by the swift air currents that had come from Flash when she ran past.

Ryo sighed and smoothed down his own hair. Hana was brushing hers, wondering how anyone could run that fast, but deep inside she was worried about Flash.

"Shouldn’t someone go and talk to her?" Cye asked worriedly.

"Yes, Cye, and I’m going to," Rekino said. And she went up the stairs, heading for Flash’s room.

Kento turned to Ryo. "Hey how did you two get wet anyway?"

Ryo immediately turned red which everyone noticed.

"A hah!" Rowen exclaimed. "I knew it! Rekino pushed Ryo in!"

"No way," Kento exclaimed as he looked back at Ryo.

"Kento, she pushed me in okay, but she got it too. It’s not that big of a deal," Ryo said as he moved toward the steps. He really wanted to change into some dry clothes right now.

Kento sat down grumbling as he took out more money. "It is when I lose."

Ryo shook his head and headed up the stairs.

*~*

Rekino knocked on Flash’s door. "Flash? Flash please open up." There was no answer and Rekino was worried that Flash was doing something drastic though she really didn’t think Flash would be like her. She hoped not. She knocked again. "Flash, please."

The door finally opened and Rekino walked inside, shutting the door behind her. Flash was lying on her side on her bed with her back facing Rekino. She was staring at a photo in her hands; dried tears were on her cheeks.

Rekino stepped closer, frowning. "Flash?"

Flash turned and looked at her, then back at the photo in her hand. Rekino looked down at it also. It showed a woman that looked startlingly like Flash with hair a shade lighter than Flash’s brown hair. "Um, who’s that?" she asked, having a feeling she knew who it was.

Flash spoke softly, yet clearly and sadly. "My mother."

Rekino frowned. She herself had been thinking of her own mother earlier, and for a moment she was afraid to ask Flash about hers, but she did anyway. "Where…what…happened to her?"

Flash swallowed. She knew she had to tell somebody. She had hid it for so long, and the only ones who knew about it were her family and her Warrior friends. No one else did. She sat up, bringing her knees to her chin. "She was murdered," she said. "She and my brother Jacob."

Rekino sat down frowning deeply as she waited to hear the girl’s story.

"I was eleven years old then, and living with my family in San Francisco, California. My dad was at work, and I had gone to a basketball game. When I came home I noticed right away something was wrong. The table was messed up, the water was running in the sink, and mom and Jacob were nowhere to be seen. I contacted my dad and he came home. We searched everywhere for them. No sign of them. Even the police couldn’t find them. It was two weeks later while continuing my search for them that I came across an abandoned warehouse. I immediately went in there, not caring about any dangers. And there… I...I…s-sa-saw… th-them!"

Flash had tears streaming down her face and she begin to rock herself back and forth as she forced herself to go on. "They were already dead! Both had been stabbed! My mother had been raped and stabbed repeatedly! My brother had been stabbed right through his head! They had been killed moments before I arrived! And the killer was still there! He laughed at me telling me every horrible detail of it! He forced my brother to watch him rape our own mother before killing her, and then he killed him! I was enraged, blinded by it. I was so pissed off I was on fire from the inside out. I set his face on fire. Everything else was a blur...I don’t remember how I got home and told my dad. But after that I was never the same again."

Rekino was crying now, not out loud, but tears were running down her cheeks. So this was what was bothering her new friend. Unable to say anything she grabbed the smaller girl gently and allowed her to sob on her shoulder.

*~*

Thunder entered the house and immediately Hana wanted to pass out again. Amaya grabbed her and hissed in her ear, "Don’t you dare pass out! You’ll scare the poor boy!"

Hana blinked at her friend. She couldn’t help it! First the boy was hot; second he was royalty, what could be better than that?

"Hey Thunder," Rowen waved. Then he stopped. "Or should I address you as Prince Thunder?"

Thunder looked at Rowen. The archer truly wanted to know. He smiled and shook his head. "Just Thunder. I don’t think I’ll get used to this prince thing. It has me in shock."

"I bet," Cye said.

Rowen nodded and Thunder headed up the stairs. He had to speak to Mia.

Hana was fanning herself.

"Dang girl, what’s your problem?" Josephine demanded.

"He…he…smiled!!!" Hana clutched her heart and fell over with a sigh.

All the others sweatdropped.

*~*

Thunder timidly approached Mia’s door. He went to knock on it, and then hesitated. Why did he have to be so afraid of girls? He was going to be around them a lot, so why not start opening up a little? Yeah, right, and have every girl hounding at my feet asking for my number, or even yet, my address? Don’t think I want that…

He mustered up the courage and knocked on the door. There was no answer at first, and he thought she’d be asleep. He was about to turn away, when he heard her voice telling him to come in. He nervously turned the doorknob and pushed on it, opening the door.

Mia looked up at him in surprise. She never expected to be visited by shy boy. She sat up a bit, rubbing her eyes. There were several tissues surrounding her. She had been crying. "Thunder…wha-what brings you here?" she asked as she sniffled.

Thunder had a hard time speaking as he stared at her. But he knew he had to do this.

Mia waited patiently, surprised that she didn’t throw him out like every male she had already. What made him so different?

Finally Thunder was able to speak. "Mia, I…I know someone who can help you and who can heal your spirit."

Mia blinked, confused. "Who…?" she asked, wanting to know.

Thunder took a deep breath, and then slowly let out. "Blaze."

Mia was staring blankly at Thunder, “How?”

“I can’t tell you. Meet me in the woods before dusk,” Thunder said politely. He saw Mia nod and he turned around to leave the room. He inwardly sighed. Well, that’s one girl down. Maybe I’ll be more comfortable around them. He walked down the stairs and saw Hana sitting on the couch with Josephine. She was looking straight at him. He sweatdropped. Okay, maybe not.

Josephine followed Hana’s glance and saw Thunder on the stairs. She stood up and bowed, “Your highness,” She cracked up at the end and looked up to see Thunder smiling, “Well I’ll be damned. That’s the second time we’ve seen you smile. Special occasion?”

“Nah, I’m just not use to that Prince thing yet,” Thunder said politely. He looked at Hana and noticed that she had stopped breathing, “I think she stopped breathing, Josephine. You may need to help her.”

Josephine looked towards Hana, and, sure enough, she wasn’t breathing. She took in a deep breath and the next thing that was heard was a loud WHAP. Josephine drew her hand back and placed it by her side once again. Hana had fallen off of the couch and was looking shocked at the Lady of Hardrock

“You’ve got two seconds,” Hana said sternly. She gave Josephine her evil eye.

“You weren’t breathing!” Josephine said, “You need to control your hormones, chick!”

Hana stuck her tongue out at Josephine. “My hormones are just fine! You don’t see me jumping him do you?”

“Not yet,” Rowen said with a smirk.

Hana gasped and suddenly leapt at him. Rowen’s arms went up to shield himself as Hana hit him several times, not enough to hurt him; in fact they weren’t even really fighting. Rowen was laughing though as Hana continued to hit him.

“Take it back! Right now!”

“No way!” Rowen said laughing beneath her.

“Yes!” Hana growled, trying to sound dangerous.

“No!” Rowen laughed.

Josephine shook her head in amusement. She wasn’t sure who was funnier right now. Rowen or Hana. Come to think of it, this was a good show. Where was the popcorn when you needed some?

Thunder watched them for a few minutes, before he finally shook his head and walked out onto the porch to sit and think about a few things. Tonight he would lead Mia to Blaze. He could only hope she would be willing to be helped.

Thunder watched them for a few minutes, before he finally shook his head and walked out onto the porch to sit and think about a few things. Tonight he would lead Mia to Blaze. He could only hope she would be willing to be helped. He suddenly thought about Flash. Where was she? He hadn't seen her in a while and hoped that she was okay. He sighed and stood back up heading into the house where he saw that Josephine and Kento had joined the fight between Hana and Rowen.

"Kento, get your ass outta my face!" Hana screamed.

"You guys be quiet," All heads in the room turned to see Rekino standing on the top of the stairs. She looked like she had been crying, "Keep the noise down please."

Rowen immediately got out of the fight and was at Rekino's side, "What's wrong?"

"Why would you care?" Rekino spat. She shot everyone and angry glare and walked into her room. She shut the door lightly.

The others were just standing there in shock. Rekino had never spoken to Rowen that way in the past six months! Rowen's ice blue eyes were soft and looking at the ground. What was wrong with Rekino? He sighed and walked up to his room and shut the door behind him.

"What crawled up Rekino's ass and died?" Josephine muttered. Suddenly the phone rang and she went to answer it, "Moshi Moshi, this is the Koji residence, Josephine speaking. Oh, hey okaasan!"

Meanwhile, Ryo had been upstairs taking a shower. The pond wasn't the cleanest thing in the world and he planned to get all of the algae out of his hair. He had been scrubbing for the past twenty minutes and he still wasn't clean! He shook his head and turned off the shower, got out, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked out of the bathroom and into his room and collapsed on the bed. He was so tired that he fell to sleep.

Ryo's Dream

Ryo woke up in the volcano that Mia and Yulie had found him in. He stood up and washed the molten lava off of his body. He looked around and saw Rekino right next to him. She appeared to be asleep. He ran over to her and shook her lightly.

"Rekino? Rekino wake up," Ryo whispered. Suddenly, there was a blinding light and Ryo stood over his sister protectively.

"She can't hear you, Ryo of the Wildfire."

"Show yourself!" Ryo demanded and unhooked his katanas from his scabbards.

"You need not fear me," The light formed into the body of the Ancient One, "I'm here to assist you, Wildfire."

"Ancient!" Ryo said in astonishment.

"Mesu is a powerful demon from the Nether World. Years before Talpa first attacked, Mesu had tried to. My clan and I bravely fought against him. Our numbers decreased slowly during the battle before I realized that Mesu had to be contained. We set up a trap for him and sealed him and his powers in a dimensional time warp. After you and Lady Wildfire destroyed Talpa, one of Mesu's dark priests set him free from the warp. I'm afraid to say that not even the Inferno could stop him if he was to regain his full power," The Ancient One said solemnly.

"So, what you're trying to say is that we have no hope of winning this battle?" Ryo asked.

"No, I'm saying that you'll have to junction with you sister to beat Mesu. A single Inferno attack from both you couldn't stop him, but once you were junctioned, it would be more than enough to send him back into the time warp."

"Um…what is junction?" Ryo asked. He could've sworn he saw the Ancient One sweatdrop, "Well, so sue me if I don't know what is it."

"Lady Rekino and yourself need to become one in this battle. Not only that, you have to help her and the fellow Lady Guardians bring out their non armor magic," the Ancient said calmly.

"Okay, what the hell is non armor magic and how do we become one?" Ryo asked.

"Here, I'll show you," The Ancient put a hand on Ryo's forehead and started to chant.

Ryo felt his body start growing with immense power. His kanji light up brilliantly on his forehead and he saw images flash before his eyes. Him and Rekino were standing together forming the ultimate weapon against Mesu with Flash beside them, helping to fuel their powers. Those stopped and another one flashed with just Rekino standing in the yard trying out something. He heard her call out an incantation and a stream of fire shot out from her two fingers.

"Now that you have the knowledge, go and put it to use," The Ancient said and vanished.

End Dream

Ryo shot up in his bed and wiped the sweat from his brow. He shook his head as the memories from the dream replayed in the back of his mind. He stood up and walked over to his dresser to get some clothes, "Wait till the others hear about this one."