"Yeah! I'll get the tea in just a second!" Rowen walked into the kitchen, but stopped dead in his tracks as he lighted his eyes on Sage and Kia. Sage had Kia's waist pressed against the kitchen counter while he kissed her, his arms wrapped tightly around her lower back.

He back stepped, completely shocked, "Let me try walking into the kitchen again..." he slowly turned around.

Kia immediately broke away, "Wait, Rowen! It's not what you think!"

Rowen whipped around, "Then what was it, Kia?!" His tone grew suddenly hoarse.

Kia was left speechless. Her eyes drifted away from Rowen's and to the rest of the room. There she found Cye, Raya, Ryo, Aoi and Ayame - all staring at her. "Rowen... please-"

"Please what?! I should have known that you two would end up like this!" he rudely cut Kia off, then locked his eyes with Sage, who was still standing in the kitchen, "And you! What the hell do you think you are doing?" he pierced his dark blues into Sage's violet ones.

"What's going on?" Ryo stood up, demanding an explanation.

"Please, Rowen, Sage... calm down," Raya uneasily spoke up, looking softly to the two of them.

Rowen stole a glance at her for only a second, then he turned his upset and thoroughly confused eyes back to Kia, "I want a full out explanation of this," He slowly narrowed his eyes.

Sage sighed and looked towards the floor, "I guess now is the time, Kia..."

"Sage, should we tell them?"

"Yes!" Rowen shouted, "I want to know!"

Kia slowly met eyes with Rowen, "Okay. Rowen, please... sit down."

Rowen crossed his arms across his chest and stormed over to the couch, sitting down next to Natsuki.

"What the heck is going on?" Ryo looked to Rowen and Sage and back again. "When did Ro and Sage start fighting?"

"Ryo, just shut up!"

"Everyone, please settle down. I'm not going to say anything until everyone is calm." Kia looked once to all the people who had made there way into the family room.

"Ayame, honey, will you please take Aoi upstairs and go and play in your room?" Raya gestured to her. "I'll get you when we are done talking... okay?"

Ayame and Aoi nodded slightly, indicating that they both understood what was going on. Ayame stood up and grabbed Aoi’s hand, leading her to and up the stairs.

When they were both out of sight, Rowen turned his gaze to Kia, "Kia..." he exhaled deeply, "Tell me what the heck is going on between you two."

Kia moved next to Rowen and sat down in front of him on the floor. She tried to reach for his hands, but he wouldn't let her touch him. So she settled to folding her hands in his lap. Before speaking, she closed her eyes, "Rowen... first of all, I'm so sorry. My apologies can't be put into words for they are too deep."

Sage silently moved closer to the group, folding his arms across his chest and closing his eyes. He didn't want to look at Natsuki or Rowen when Kia was done saying what she had to say.

"Rowen... I... I-"

"Just tell me already!"

"I came here two days earlier than when you got the letter. I expected to find you, but you weren't here and well, to put into simplest terms... I'm... I'm pregnantwithSage'schild!"Kia heaved the last part of the sentence into one word.

The whole room went silent. Tension in the room went from suffocating to nauseating as it shrouded every person.

Rowen blinked in shock, "... Wha-what?" he couldn't believe his own ears.

"I'm pregnant and... and Sage is the father," Kia replied again, looking anywhere but into Rowen's eyes.

"No... you can't be..."

"Sage?" Natsuki suddenly spoke up, giving him an exasperated and worried look, "Is that true?"

He sighed, trying to delay the time before he nodded his own head.

But before Natsuki or anyone else had the chance to blink, Rowen jolted out of his own seat, jumped over Kia and bolted towards Sage.

Sage didn't even have the chance to move out of the way, for Rowen had grabbed him by the neck so fast, that even time itself could have gone backwards.

Rowen pressed Sage's neck up to the wall that lay behind him and stared threateningly into his eyes, "Sage! What the fuck is wrong with you!? I'm gone for only a day and this happens?!"

Sage tried to respond, but his voice box was smothered too deep into his throat.

"Rowen! Stop it! Let Sage go!"

Rowen didn't even hear the complaints made by his friends as he was into an emotion that stifled even his hearing. His heart was pounding so hard, that he thought it would pump right out of his chest - but he didn't know how to slow it down. All he knew was that he was holding Sage up against a wall by his throat, "You...” He physically realized what he was doing to his best friend. Rowen immediately let go of Sage and fell backwards a few steps. He soon came to a proper state of mind. "Gods, Sage! Why?!"

Sage stumbled forward and placed his hand on a nearby table to hold himself from the loss of oxygen. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to soothe his throat.

But Rowen wanted an answer, "Sage, tell me, damnit!" He walked forward until he was next to Sage again. "Why?!" His rage was taking over his body again and he didn't even realize that he was pulling back his clenched fist.

"Rowen!" Kia ran forward, grabbing Rowen's hands and slightly pushing him away from Sage, "Don't hurt him! Please!"

"Why shouldn't I? He-" Rowen stopped dead in his breath as he watched Kia's eyes slip back to Sage. Getting even further into his anger, he grabbed a tight hold of Kia shoulders, almost making her look to him, "Never mind about him! Kia, you betrayed me! You and Sage really screwed up this time and I'm never going to forget it! You cheated on me!"

Kia felt her heart skip a beat. She knew that she was probably going to take the blow from Rowen for Sage, but she didn't care. All she could do was close her eyes and wait, grimacing with the thought that her own Rowen would hurt her.

Rowen soon realized what he was doing. Looking at Kia's face as she waited for him to hit her, made Rowen calm down. He exhaled sharply and let go of her shoulders - well, it was more of a push. "Kia... hugging and kissing can be exceptions, but doing what you did to get pregnant by Sage behind my back... I can't believe it would end like this."

Kia looked to the ground, "Rowen... it doesn't have to end."

"Yes it does!" Natsuki butted herself into the conversation, "This has to end right now! I don't even want to see you looking at Sage, Kia!"

"What?" Kia looked behind her and met eyes with the enraged Natsuki.

"I agree," Rowen responded, keeping the grim tone in his voice.

"You too now, Rowen?" Kia ran her eyes back to him, "I said I was sorry and I'm sure that Sage is too!"

"I don't care about Sage!" Rowen yelled back, "Sorry can never undo what you did!"

Kia was getting frustrated, "But... but Sage-" Kia didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before Rowen slapped her hard across the face.

Kia was in shock. She breathed heavily like she had the wind knocked out of her. Coming to her senses only a few seconds afterward, she slowly turned her back on Rowen, bringing her hand up to her cheek and ran out of the room and out of the front door. Sage gasped and ran after her - wisely making a round turn around Rowen.

Rowen angrily marched his way out of the room, shortly followed by a weeping Natsuki.

"So... what just happened?" Ryo spoke up, his tone only in shocked confusion as he blindly glanced at the only other three people left in the room.

"Kia came back here three days earlier when only Sage was home. Rowe- none of us knew about it. She is supposedly pregnant with Sage's kid."

"This is so screwed up."

"Well, we can't just sit here. Ryo go and try to talk to Sage and Kia. Cye please check on the girls upstairs and I'll try to talk to Rowen and Natsuki." Raya ordered everyone off with some waves of her hand, then left the room to hunt for Rowen and her cousin.

***

Sage ran after Kia. He would of called out for her, but his throat still hurt to talk - much less yell across the yard. He caught up with her halfway down the driveway and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

Kia shrugged it off, "Leave me alone!"

Sage managed to force his voice to work, "Where are you going then?"

"I'm going somewhere... ANYWHERE but here!" she yelled. She only took a few more steps down the driveway before she really started to cry. She whipped around, locking her teary eyes with Sage, "... I don't know what to say, Sage." A tear that fell from her eyes stung her cheek and she brought her hand up to wipe it away.

"Then don't say anything," Sage replied softly, taking a step forward and taking Kia into his arms, "I'm so sorry..."

***

"Rowen! Rowen, wait a minute," Natsuki ran up to him, trying to keep up with him as he stormed down the hallways, knocking some things over and running into other things. He soon found his way into the den and finally stopped when Natsuki put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you know what I just did?!" he cried in anger, "I just slapped my wife!" Rowen collapsed on a couch and covered his face with his hands, but soon pulled them away to look at them, almost not believing what his hands allowed him to do.

"Rowen-"

"Gods, I am such an idiot!"

"Rowen!"

Rowen looked up, finally mentally noticing that Natsuki was with him. He studied her face for a moment, then sighed deeply, bringing tears to his eyes, "Natsuki..."

"Rowen, please," Natsuki sat down next to him and took his hands in hers, "Don't feel bad."

"Feel bad?! I feel horrible!"

"You finally slapped some sense into her, Rowen!" Natsuki yelled, pausing only a second to make sure that Rowen had heard her, "To tell you the truth, I think she very well deserved it."

Rowen continued his deep gaze into her eyes, only now they were filled with something close to unbelief, "She deserved it?! How can you just say that?! That is my wife and your husband that we are talking about, Suki! Kia is pregnant with Sage's child! Please tell me that you understand that!"

Natsuki sighed, "I know, I know, I do understand that. But-"

"I know that she sort of deserved it, but..." Rowen looked back down at his hands, "No! What am I saying?! She's pregnant... I can't get over that."

"Well, you have to get it through your head sometime. Sage and Kia turned on us, Rowen. They deserve exactly what is coming to them, don't forget that. I thought it was perfect of you to slap her. She cheated on us for god's sake!"

"This is not happening to me-"

"Are you two all right?"

Rowen and Natsuki turned their heads to see Raya in the doorway.

"Yeah..." Rowen sighed again, "Did you know about all of that - of what was going on between those two, Ray?"

She calmly stepped into the room, "Yes... I guess you could say that I did."

"What?!" Natsuki and Rowen both shot her an exasperated glare.

"What I mean is that Kia told me everything when we got here. I've only known this for the period of time that I've been here."

"Oh..."

"And, well, I'm sorry. But you guys should be sorry too. You slapped her, Rowen. That is a very big - not to mention emotional - thing for a woman like Kia."

"Be sorry?! But what do I have in it!? Sage cheated on me and there is no plainer way to say that!" Natsuki practically yelled.

"No, Natsuki... don't you remember?" Rowen placed his hand on hers, looking worry-some into her eyes. "We might as well say-"

"What? Don't tell me that you're pregnant with Rowen's child!"

Natsuki let out an evil laugh, "Heck no."

"Then what did you guys do?"

Rowen and Natsuki looked at each other for a second, then looked away. Rowen was scowling, but Natsuki was trying hard not to smile.

Raya rolled her eyes, "Well, if you're not going to tell me, than that's fine. But either way, I assuming that you guys cheated too."

"We know. But it wasn't as far as getting pregnant!" Natsuki shouted in reply.

Raya narrowed her eyes, "But the emotion and the attraction were there... am I right? It doesn't matter how far you two went."

"Whose side are you on anyways?"

Raya stepped back and smiled, "No one's. And if I'm on anyone's side, it's defiantly with you, Suki. But that's why I am here. Someone needs to talk some sense into all of you. I’m not leaving until Rowen, Sage, Kia and my cousin are friends again - more or less husband and wife's again.” She stared downward at the two, waiting for a reply.

But she didn't get one. Rowen only exhaled, bringing a hand through his hair and looking past Raya into the family room. Natsuki lazily crossed one arm across her chest and looked towards the window as she played with her blonde hair.

"You guys... we're not going anywhere if you don't talk." Raya sighed, "Rowen, you don't know how sorry Kia is. When I talked to her, she wouldn't stop crying and she made me promise not to tell a single soul. I think she was even on the line of threatening me if I didn't promise her that. Just by that much, you should be able to tell that she doesn't want to leave or hurt you." Raya bit her bottom lip as she slowly made eye contact with Rowen.

"Is there anything worse that she could of done, though?"

"Rowen, if you married her for what she was, then you two are still married. She hasn't changed."

Rowen winced, "But to go for my best friend behind my back!"

"You did it too! Don't deny it, Ro. Besides, she only took an at home test. She didn't get a full out doctors examination. She still has a chance of not being pregnant."

Rowen sighed, finally coming to a stage where words weren't necessary. He stared at Raya like he knew what she was saying, but he couldn't for the life of him understand why he had to be there and be right smack dab in the middle of it.

"If I were any of you, I would tell them what you two did and then apologize. Kia is the only one who has even tried to say sorry. I'm sure that if you get Sage talking, he is probably as sorry as she is. No one knows what is exactly going on and only the four of you can clear it up. Me, Ryo, and Cye are just here. We are your friends. Friends don't let friends fight and we take care of each other... am I right?"

Natsuki and Rowen both nodded, their heads seeming heavy with the truth that Raya was bringing into the light for them.

"See? So don't get mad at me. I'm only here as your friend to help you through this. But you have to make the choice. You can either make your friendship or break it. But no matter what happens, I'm still going to be both your friends. I'm not taking either side." Raya stopped there, exhaling extensively as though she was glad to have everything that she wanted to say off her chest.

"... You're right, Ray. I'm really sorry." Natsuki stood up and walked over to Raya. Her arms were outstretched to embrace her.

***

"Hey Sage! Kia!"

Sage and Kia both turned heads to watch as Ryo raced down the driveway.

Sage put a hand on Kia's shoulder protectively and pulled her closer to him, closing his eyes.

Kia glared at Ryo over Sage’s shoulder, "What do you want, Ryo?" Her voice was hoarse with an overwhelming weight of emotion. All her emotions were put into a blender and no specific one showed through.

"You guys..." Ryo stopped to catch his breath, "We need to work something out here. I've never seen you guys fight like this before and I'll tell you one thing... I'm kinda afraid."

Kia closed her eyes, dropping her head on Sage's shoulder, "What did Rowen say to you?"

Ryo let his mouth drop in shock, "Since when are you against Rowen? He didn't say anything to me and I didn't say anything to him! So-"

"You're lying, Ryo. I can see it."

"I'm not freakin' lying here! Sage and Rowen have never fought in there entire life! I would never lie about something like this! So you, Kia, you should just-"

"Just what, Ryo?" Sage opened his eyes, glaring at Ryo from the corner of his eyesight. He waited a bit for something from Ryo, but he cowered a little, showing that he somewhat respected Sage's authority. Sage smiled on the inside, but of course he didn't dare show it, "Don't get into this any farther that you need to."

Ryo sighed in something close to defeat. "Okay, I'm sorry. It's just that I don't want anything like something as stupid as this to ruin a lifetime of friends."

"You think this is stupid?!" Kia ripped away from Sage to glare at Ryo, "This is anything but! I don't even know why you are in this, Ryo! You are only making it worse than it already is," she narrowed her eyes for only a second then went to turn her back on both of them.

"But I need to be in it, Kia! We are friends, are we not?"

"It's bad enough as it is. If you get involved... I don't know what is going to happen."

"Kia, maybe we should listen to Ryo. I mean, we aren't going to stand out here all day. Rowen and Natsuki will never come out here and just suddenly say that they are sorry. We can't just magically poof be back to normal again-"

Kia groaned, "Gods, I can't stand this anymore! Am I the only one who wishes that I never came back here in the first place?!"

"Kia, don't say that."

"Kia!" Ryo pulled on her shoulder and turned her to face him, "Stop it! Everyone here wants nothing except for this to work out." Ryo continued to stare at her, even though her gaze was placed on the ground. "And neither of us," he paused to glance at Sage, "none of us want you to leave."

"But what are we supposed to do, Ryo?"

He sighed and softly shrugged his shoulders, "Go with the flow, I guess. We don't know what'll happen until it happens... right?" He thought his little input was slightly funny, for he held a wide grin on his face. But Ryo didn't get the reaction that he was expecting. Sage and Kia didn't even do so much as twitch a muscle because they seemed to be occupied with staring at the ground.

"Well, it looks like the redness in your cheek has gone down," Ryo brushed his palm against the side of Kia's face, sighing softly when he finally got Kia to look at him. "I don't know why Rowen would even want to be mad at a pretty face like yours."

Kia smiled. Her smile turned into laughter and just when you thought her laugh couldn't get any louder, she started to cry. Kia fled into Ryo, her arms wrapping around him, hugging him so tightly that Ryo thought that she was going to squeeze the liquids out of him.

"I don't want to go through with this, I don't!" Kia cried into his chest, her voice surprisingly clear considering how hard she was pressing her face into Ryo.

But all Ryo could do was slowly bring his arms around her in return, his wide eyes showing that he didn't know what else to do.

"Kia, settle down. Everything is going to be fine." Sage tried to reassure her, but he was as about unsure of himself as ever.

"No, things are not fine, Sage!"

Ryo reluctantly put his hand over the top of her head and pressed his face down next to it. "Kia... please, don't cry." He softly hushed her, continuing to rub his other hand over her back. "Please stop crying."

To Sage and Ryo's complete shock, she stopped. She just pulled herself free from Ryo's hold and walked away, walking to the grass lawn and sitting down on the ground, collapsing on her back.

Sage glared at her for a few seconds, then turned his confused glance to Ryo, who told him to follow him as he walked over next to Kia.

"Are you all right, Kia?" Sage asked as he sat down on one side of her, Ryo sitting on her other side.

She put one hand up to where she had been slapped and closed her eyes, "Would my husband really slap me? This all has to be a dream..."

Ryo sighed and laid down on his back.

"Why did I have to screw things up, Sage? Things were going so well for all of you. I just had to come back and mess up everything. Now because of me, two marriages are breaking up and a friendship of twenty years is about to be destroyed."

Sage's anxiety rose as he stared into Kia's blank eyes, "It's not at all like that! Kia, nothing-"

"You and Rowen have been friends for as long as you can both can remember. I had to fuck it up. I had to blow the trust that you all had," she stated blankly as she stared into the sky, and the way she stared at it, it almost seemed like she wanted it to fall on her. Snowflakes started to fall freely from the gray-blue overcast above, as if it was weeping for her. Kia closed her eyes, "I'm sorry..." she whispered, her voice as soft and shallow like the wind.

"Kia, stop it!" Sage bolted his hands to her face, pulling slightly on her to get her to look at him. "This isn't your fault, okay! Stop blaming yourself!" Sage was almost forced to tears as he locked eyes with Kia. Her eyes were so empty and her face was so white that Sage began to wonder if Kia was even mentally conscious. Sage began to shake her, trying to get her to enter a normal state of mind, "Kia! Don't even think for one second that all of this was your fault!" he screamed at her.

"Sage, stop! You're going to hurt her!" Ryo jumped up and pulled his hands away from Kia. "She's just in a state of shock, leave her alone!"

"Ryo, I'm fine, okay?" She lightly pressed on his chest, pushing him away from her. "I'm fine, really."

Ryo stared into her eyes, noticing that she really did look unconscious. Her eyes were now a soft gray and her skin was so pale that even the snow looked tan compared to her. "Omigod... you guys just stay here, okay? I'm going to go and get help-"

"Help? I don't need help, Ryo. I'm perfectly fine, okay!?" Kia yelled, her eyes shrinking to slits as she stared at him.

"I know, I know, I believe you. But I'm going to get a coat or something... you're going to freeze," Ryo retorted, his tone commanding authority. He stood up, "Just stay here for a minute, okay? Don't you even think of leaving me." With that said, he raced back towards the house.

"Kia... everything is going to work out fine, all right?" Sage reasoned, grabbing her hand and rubbing it to keep her calm.

But Kia took his hand and put it on her belly, "Sage, do you really want to go through with this?" she closed her eyes, squeezing them to keep her tears back. "Do you want a child?"

Sage quieted, hesitating for a couple of moments, "...Kia,"

She opened her eyes again, gazing almost dreamily at Sage, "Hmmm?"

He pressed his palm lightly on her stomach and rubbed it, "... Yes, I do." He swallowed the heavy lump in his throat, "I want this baby, Kia..."

Kia closed her eyes, placing both her hands on top of Sage's and let one single tear escape her defenses.