"Explain it to me again." said Kale.

Anubis didn’t look up from his position on the quilt that Mia had spread on the shore of the lake. "This is the day that the Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in which they separated from the British and became their own nation. It is a most patriotic day when Americans display loyalty and faith in their country. " the red head stated calmly.

"And they celebrate this signing by…firing explosives into the air?" asked Kale with a confused look.

"They are called firecrackers." supplied Kento as he walked by. He carried a large brown paper bag out onto the dock.

"They’re fun." added Yuli as he followed.

"I always thought them to be weapons." said Sekhmet lightly. He was lying in the grass enjoying the hot weather.

"Firecrackers are used for their bright colors and bloom patterns. They are supposed to be pretty." said Anubis.

Sekhmet propped his head up on one hand and lay on his side. "Really?" he asked.

"Mostly, but some are used for noise." said Rowen. He showed him a pack of bottle rockets.

"Anyone ever get hurt?" asked Sekhmet with badly hidden glee.

Sai and Mia walked up with trays of drinks. "We try to avoid it." said the water Ronin sourly.

"Spoil sport." muttered Sekhmet.

"Hey Ryo, Sage, you two done yet?" asked Kento. He stood at the beginning of the dock with the firecrackers and Yuli. White Blaze stood by them, watching the two at the other end but not moving toward them.

"Yes, Kento. You may join us." answered Sage’s smooth voice. They had put a large piece of wood over the deck so that they didn’t damage it.

They walked down to them. "Give me the bottle rockets, Kento." demanded Ryo. He tore into the package and began to arrange them in a standing coke bottle. A soft laugh drifted from him.

"Oh, that sounded just evil." said Kento, backing away. Yuli ran down the dock to join the others on the shore.

Sage moved down the dock as well. "I must state my disapproval of giving Ryo objects that blow up." he said.

"I second that motion!" cried Sai.

Ryo scowled at them over his shoulder and stood. "I’m beginning to think you people don’t trust me." he said as he walked toward them.

"Oh, I trust you perfectly, just not with anything that can create fire." said Kento with a cheeky smile.

"Ha ha."

"Can we start?" yelled Yuli. "It’s dark enough."

"Of course, Yuli. I’ll get the matches." said Mia. A soft chuckled from Anubis stopped her. "What?"

"I think you are forgetting who Ryo is." said the ex-warlord. Mia frowned toward the dock and then sat back down. "We are probably the safest people to ever set off fireworks in the whole world." said Anubis. Dais chuckled next to him and nodded.

Ryo mocked bowed. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Anubis." he said. As he straighten all of the bottle rockets went off. They twisted in the air and spun around each other before exploding in a series of bangs. The others blinked as Ryo searched through the paper bag for more firecrackers.

"You knew he could do that, control it like that, didn’t you?" Dais accused his lover.

"Yes." said Anubis with a smile.

"Wow." cried Yuli, jumping up. "Can you make them fly all over the place, Ryo?"

"Yeah," said Ryo. "Fire is fire even if it does have a big explosion at the end." He tossed a few bottle rockets into the air and they streaked away. A few skimmed the water of the lake while others wove a double helix up into the sky. Ryo continued to throw bottle rockets into the air while he set fireworks on the dock. Never did he use matches and never did any of the rockets near the group on land. Finally he stopped and marched up the dock playfully. He turned sharply at the end and stood like a tin solider. The others chuckled and Ryo relax. "I hope there isn’t anything flying over head or it’s gonna be really crispy by the time I’m done."

That said a loud boom sounded and a purple and pink bloom flashed in the sky. A thin stream of continues gold balls followed on both sides as a deep blue bloom shot higher up. A large fountain spray started on the deck and pinwheels of red and yellow buzzed across the water. Three large blooms mixed together in one shot and two streaks of bright color flared out to the side. Several balls of different colored light went off one after another and looked like they were climbing steps into the sky. A row of firecrackers in the back went off at the same time and created a fall of blue, red, and white sparks that fell in a wave to the ground. After a moment of silence everyone began to cheer and clap.

"Ryo, that was amazing!" exclaimed Mia.

White Blaze lowered his ears and growled. Yuli hugged him. "Oh, come on Blaze. It’s just some noise and light." said the child.

Ryo grinned and laughed low again before grabbing up the bag. Sage and Kento backed away. "Dude, you are way off it." said Kento.

Ryo looked up and sighed happily. "Yeah, isn’t it great." He then spilled the whole bag onto the ground. "Where are the sparklers?"

"Oh God." whispered Sage.

"What is a sparkler?" asked Sekhmet.

"Oh God." echoed Anubis.

"Ha!" cried Ryo as he stood with the package. "Come on, Sekhmet, I’ll show ya." Ryo opened the package and took out a long sparkler. It lit in his hand and he carefully gave that one to the waiting Yuli. He took out another one and it lit also. "Hold it by this end so you don’t burn yourself." cautioned Ryo. He gave the stick to the green haired man and proceeded to get out a sparkler for everyone. White Blaze watched with unease in his eyes.

"Try writing with it." suggested Rowen, who had already spelled out his own name.

"Kale! Stop that!" yelled Sai when he saw the other trying to set the grass on fire.

The ex-warlord looked up guiltily. "Sorry." he mumbled. Sekhmet danced gleefully past him and Kale blinked. Kento moved his like he was holding a sword and fighting an imaginary foe. Dais grinned as he wrote dirty words in a language he thought the others didn’t know.

"I know what you are writing and I can tell you that so does Mia." said Anubis next to him. Dais paled to the color of his hair and looked toward Mia to see her glaring at him. He paled even more.

Ryo stepped back from the others and stuck his tongue out in concentration. Sage’s eyebrow rose as he watched. Holding the sparkler up right a stream of gold light began to detach from the tip and floated out horizontally. A thin line of gold floated through the group as they stopped to watch. It was as if a live snake of light was crawling around them. The sparkler that Ryo held reached the end and the stream of light faded from sight.

Yuli was jumping up and down in excitement. "This is better than the show on the river!"

Ryo breathed deeply. "Okay, that’s the last time I do that."

"Are you all right, Ryo?" asked Sage.

Ryo nodded with a smile. "Yeah. The sparkler trick just took a bit more than the fireworks stuff did." he reassured him. Everyone dropped their sparkler into a bucket, although they knew that nothing would catch fire with Ryo around, but Mia insisted. Ryo sorted through the remaining fireworks and tossed some more bottle rockets. He made them twist knots in the air before exploding. They went through some odds and ends before Ryo declared that to be it and, per Mia’s wishes, dumped all the used stuff into water.

Sai got the hose and wetted the dock down. He looked idly at the stream of water coming from the hose and then turned swiftly to spray Rowen in the back. The air Ronin screamed as the cold water hit him. Sai was double surprised when Kento dumped a bucket of water over him from behind. He spun, getting those on the quilt wet, and aimed for Kento. The other boy ran off at high speeds.

Anubis sat open mouthed and staring at his wet shirt, his favorite shirt. A silk long sleeved red shirt. That was now wet. Dais laughed at him and Anubis glared at the other man. Then his glare turned sickly sweet as he poured his glass of water over Dais’s head. The white haired man was stunned into silence. "Who’s laughing now, dear?" said Anubis before bolting as fast as he could.

"I’m not getting into this." said Kale, folding his arms. Sekhmet grinned and pushed his lover into the lake.

"Water fight!" yelled Sekhmet before diving into the lake himself. The two ex-warlords surfaced and began to splash each other.

"Why you!" screamed Kale.

"Why I what?" cried Sekhmet back. He dunked the other under the water.

Another hose was soon wielded by Rowen who laughed loudly as he created a rain shower. Mia screamed as she was pushed off the dock and pulled Sage off with her. The blond boy came up looking suitable annoyed and wet. "Sorry, Sage." said Mia through a curtain of hair. Sage only snorted at her. A small waved hit them as Kento canon balled from the dock. Soon Sai and Rowen were trying to spray each other with their hoses and Anubis and Dais were trying to drown themselves with laugher.

Suddenly they all stopped and looked at the dock. Standing there with an innocence look on his face was Ryo. Perfectly and completely dry. His look became nervous as they stared at him. "Oh shit." Ryo turned and ran like the wind.

"Get him!" yelled Sage. Everyone took off after their leader. Three minutes later Ryo was neck deep in the lake with dripping hair. Sage swam over to him. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked.

Ryo looked at him and spat a mouth full of water into his face. "That." Everyone laughed at Sage’s stunned look. Ryo took a deep breath. "And…I have not begun to fight!" Ryo promptly dunked his lover.

The area around the dock and the shore was now nothing but mud. If Mia thought it wasn’t wet enough to calm her worries of fire then it was now. So was everyone else for that matter. A pile of towels was brought to the porch and the group tried to dry themselves. Ryo sat on the step before Sage and between his knees as the blond boy rubbed at his hair. Dais and Anubis had claimed the swing and Dais was finger combing Anubis’ red hair. Sai and Rowen leaned against each other, too tired to move. Kento and Mia were perched on the railing. Mia was twisting her long hair to get some of the water out. "Well, that went well." said Mia softly.

Sekhmet was sprawled on his back on the wood floor. "I like the 4^th of July." he said.

Kale balled up his towel and dropped it onto his face. "Shut up, Sekhmet." Kale slumped in his chair.

White Blaze trotted up from the dark and sniffed at Ryo’s bare toes. The fire Ronin made a noise and kicked out weakly, already half-asleep. "Stop that, Blaze. He’s tired." hissed Sage. The large tiger rubbed his nose and snorted.

"We’re all tired." said Mia.

Rowen raised a hand and looked at his watch, which was thankfully waterproof. "Man, it’s after mid-night." he said

Kale groaned. "No wonder I’m tired. I didn’t sleep at all last night." he said.

"Oh, I didn’t need to know that." sighed Sai.

Kale glared. "That’s not what I mean. We didn’t…"

Quickly, Sekhmet cut him off. "Can we go home now? Please?"

The Staff appeared floating in the air. "Say goodbye like good boys. Bye bye." mumbled Anubis. He waved once and the four ex-warlords disappeared with the Staff.

"Everybody up and in." commanded Sage. He lifted Ryo into his arms and carried him into the house. Rowen and Sai supported each other as they walked inside. Mia picked up a sleeping Yuli and she and Kento closed the door behind them. Soon all the lights were out in the manor and the night was still.

White Blaze looked around the yard and up at the house and grinned. "Happy 4^th of July America!"