"My brother?" Sae asked. "I’ve only been gone for a week…the time space! I forgot."

"Yep, here you should be 34 years old," he chuckled. "You’re well preserved don’t you think?"

"Ha ha ha," Sae replied dryly.

"I can’t wait to officially meet you," Ken went on excitedly. "So much has changed while you were gone."

"I can see that," Sae observed. "Where’s Dad?"

"He’s still on the moon," Ken answered. "He hung around after the game."

Sae scrunched her nose. "What game?"

"The basketball game…"

"Say no more," Sae chuckled as she thought about her father, Darien, Kayin, and Rowen trying to best each other. "Ken…how’s Skye?"

"She’s great," Ken smiled. "Speaking of Skye, she told me to tell you hi if I ever talked to you and she wasn’t around. She would’ve killed me if I forgot."

"I’m glad you two get along."

"I should hope so, she’s my girlfriend," he replied.

"You’re girlfriend?" Sage and Sae repeated.

Ken leaned over and looked to the side. "You must be Sage. Yep, just like Dad said, perfect hair and a play boy style."

Sage shook his head. "You’ve got nothing on me from what I just heard."

"Well at least the age difference is nothing like Mom and Dad," Ken replied.

Sae nodded. "That’s true but she’s my bestfriend!"

"What do you mean it’s nothing like your mom and dad?" Sage asked.

"Our mother is 1100 years old," Sae answered. "I’ll explain later. And you I’ll talk to when I get back."

Ken winked. "Dad’s back. I’ll get him for you."

"Thanks," Sae replied nervously. It had been awhile since she had seen her family and she missed them.

"Hi, pumpkin," Kento greeted as he sat in front of the mirror. "How are you? Is everything okay?"

"Everything’s fine, Daddy," Sae smiled at her father’s concern. "We were able to take care of everything."

"That’s great."

"There’s so much I have to tell you, Daddy," Sae began.

"Some of which you’ll never believe," Sage muttered.

Kento move slightly to see Sage off to the side. "Hey, Sage, what’s up man? It’s been years."

"Not for me," Sage replied, "but I know what you mean. We were about to start looking for you when Sae showed up. I’m curious…you’re pushing fifty-five and you still look twenty-one."

"I’ll let Sae explain that one to you," Kento smiled mischievously.

"We’re back, Sage and Sae," Cye called as he and the others walked into the house.

"You’re just in time to say hi to Dad," Sae replied.

"Kento?" they asked in unison. They quickly ran over to the mirror to greet their friend.

"Whoa. Whoa, guys! One at a time. Who knew you’d miss me so much," he chuckled. " I missed you guys too. It’s been thirty-five years for me."

"How is everything in…where the heck are you?" Cye asked.

"Well we live on Mercury though we seem to spend a lot of time in Crystal Tokyo," Kento answered. "But right now, I’m on Mercury."

"That’s wild," Sage commented in amazement.

"How could you have been so irresponsible and take off like that," Kayura interjected suddenly.

Kento looked down sheepishly. "I had to make a quick decision and I thought that realm keeper chick would explain what happened, but I guess she forgot."

"The realm keeper….you mean the realm keeper?" Kayura asked. "Well I guess it’s okay then. We’re glad you’re okay and thanks for the present."

"You’re welcome," he smiled.

"Your majesty, the Queen called to say that she and the other queens will be sleeping over in Crystal Tokyo since they haven’t done it in awhile. A "girls night" out she called it."

"That’s fine, Hermes" Kento replied. "That means Ken and I hang out with the guys. Oh yeah!"

"Very good, Sire," Hermes said before bowing and leaving the room.

Kento turned back to the mirror and saw his friends looking at him curiously.

"Your majesty?" Ryo asked curiously.

"Sire?" Cye mentioned.

Kento smiled nervously. "Well I kind of married the Queen of Mercury and that made me the King. Go figure."

"Anyway," Sae broke in to disrupt the silence, "I’ll be home soon. I just have some things to do. I’ll talk to you later, Daddy."

"Bye, pumpkin," he replied.

"Pumpkin?" Sage asked jokingly. He had been so shocked to see Kento earlier that he totally missed it when he called her that before.

"Pumpkin?" Cye joked.

"Don’t start with me," Kento and Sae said in unison.

"That’s my girl," Kento winked. He waved to everyone and then the mirror went back to normal.

"I guess that’s that," Sae said as she sat down in a chair. "Everything’s fine here and I guess I’ll have to go back now."

"Sae, can I talk to you alone?" Sage asked as he ushered her to the patio.

The others nodded and looked at one another. Sae would leave an empty place in their hearts when she left.

"I don’t want you to go," Sage said once they were alone.

Sae smiled and touched his face tenderly. "I have other duties that I have to put before my own wishes."

"Then why did you come here?" he asked

"I sensed trouble…"

"Is that all?" Sage asked as he looked in her eyes.

Sae stood silently. She knew he could see what was in her heart and into her soul. She came there because she had fallen in love with the stories and dreams. They were a match set.

"I want you to stay," he said again as he kissed her softly.

"They could always call me if they need me," she sighed softly in his mouth. "And you need someone to keep you out of trouble."

"Shut up," he said passionately as the kiss deepend.

"I guess Sae’s staying," Rowen commented as he moved away from the window and turned to the others.

"I feel a presence," Kayura said as she looked toward the center of the room. A cloaked figure rose from the floor. The guys got into a defensive stance and Kayura knelt. "Realm Keeper," she whispered lowly.

White blaze licked a hand affectionately and then kneeled before the cloaked figure. "There’s no need for such formalities," a feminine voice replied as she removed her hood. A woman with long blue hair and metallic skin stood before them. "I just came by to apologize for not telling you outright that Kento was not coming back. I knew Sae was coming so I did not bother. I did not mean to make you worry…"

"Realm Keeper," Sae said in shock as she and Sage came inside. She courtsied out of respect.

"Hi, Sae, it’s nice to see you made it out okay. You should stop by and see Yoake, she did something new with her flame."

Sae smiled and nodded. The guardian fire sprite was always up to something.

The Realm Keeper turned to Sage. "Take good care of her," she said.

"And by the way, Sae, tell Kento, I am not the ‘Realm Keeper Chick’ my name is Devon," she replied indignantly. She started to sink into the floor again. "Catch you guys on the flipside. I’m always watching."

"Whoa," Cye remarked after Devon left. "Not what I expected."

"Devon’s a bit weird," Sae replied, "but she’s has a great sense of humor. She’d have to in her line of work…"

Kayura stood and looked sadly. "It must be nice to have the power to influence situations. But why didn’t she intervene when…" Kayura looked in her hand and saw a piece of paper and a rose.

Devon

Kayura smiled and sighed inwardly as Cye put his arm around her waist. Things were going to be hard, but she had her friends with her to help. As she watched everyone talk animatedly and move on slowly pass the losses, she smiled, somehow this was only the beginning.

© 2001 Devon Masterson

Another Bond Girl Production

We all know that I didn’t create RW/YST, this is just something fun and non-profitable to do. The rest of the characters are all mineJ