The characters used do not belong to me. I haven't seen the show, so I'm writing from what I know from the other fanfictions and my own imagination. Comments and constructive critisism welcome however any flames will be vigorously laughed at. Sorry this has taken so long to write, but inspiration has been slow.

Not only that, but I only recently discovered this again on my computer and just HAD to post it! Enjoy.

April 2002

Ryo was going to kill him! He was going to wrap his hands around that british bastard's scrawny throat and strangle him! He could feel the anger starting to make heat waves rise from his body already. Would he set off the fire alarm again? Frankly he didn't care. He leaned on the kitchen bench, peeking between the curtains and watched Sai and Rowan dragging the body of a Warlord towards their house. The little bastard! He went and did it on purpose, in spite of what Ryo had said. Ryo was most definitely going to kick his skinny little ass from here to next monday.

"What you glaring at?" Kento sidled up behind him, looking over his shoulder to see. Kento made a surprised sound when he realised just what it was he was seeing. "Well look at that! I wonder how they did that? Do you think he's dead?"

"I. Don't. Care." Ryo ground out through clenched teeth. "But I know a certain fish lover who's going to wish HE was dead by the time I'm finished with him."

"Be careful, Ryo." Came Seiji's voice from the base of the stairs. Ryo and Kento turned to him as he approached. He reached the kitchen and drew back a curtain to look out as well. "Some thing has happened to Sai. He's a lot stronger now than he has ever been. I don't know what exactly, but... it does worry me." To hear Seiji confirm his own earlier thoughts made Ryo frown.

"Hey guys! Come out here!" Rowan called to them as he and Sai reached the varranda. The three of them exchanged glances and then complied. Rowan and Sai dumped the warlord on the ground by the steps. By this time the armor had left the warlord, leaving him in his green komono.

"That's Sekhmet." Seiji identified him with surprise.

"What happened? Sai." Ryo said sternly, crossing his arms across his chest, his eyes narrow. Sai met Ryo's glare easily, with his now normal bland expression.

"He attacked me while I was at the lake. I defended myself, and in doing so I defeated him. Rowan helped me carry him back here for you to question at your lesure." He shrugged like it was all nothing. Like it was every day that he totally stomped all over a warlord. Ryo exchanged looks with Rowan, who gave a quick nod to back up Sai's story.

"He's alive?" Kento spoke up, pressing forward to have a closer look at the warlord. "Why's he look like a shriveled prune?"

Sai smiled his slight smile up at Ryo. "The lack of water does that to a person." That was not something Ryo wanted to hear. Not in that tone of voice. Not directed at him. He resisted the urge to take a step back from fright, or a step forward in anger. Seiji's hand on his back helped. Ryo swallowed nervously, then growled at himself.

"Where are we gonna keep an unconscious warlord?" Rowan implored to Ryo. His eyes slid over to Sai's direction then back to Ryo. "What are we gonna do when he wakes up?"

/Very good questions./ Ryo thought to himself. /Ah, the perfect pay back./ "How about..." Ryo said slowly, feeling like the clever fox. "since Sai caught him, Sai get's to keep him in his room?" However he did not expect Sai's slight smile to grow quite so alarmingly as it did.

"Of course." Sai grinned, and bowed his head in what Ryo thought was a mock show of respect. Ryo didn't comment on it though, he just spun on his heal and stormed back inside.

Sai stood at the kitchen sink, his hand under the running water. On the stove a pot of soup large enough to feed all of them was sitting, the flame turned off. Sai took his hand out from under the water and examine the burn. He frowned slightly and consentraited. After a few seconds the burned skin began to heal until there was not even a scar left. He then leaned down to the tap to drink from it. Great big gulps. /I wonder what Ryo's reaction would be to me doing this?/ He thought to himself. Then he changed his thoughts. /I don't care./ And then he realised that he didn't even care that he didn't care. Sai straitened and then turned to head up the stairs to his bed room.

Seiji and Kento were in there guarding Sekhemet. Seiji sitting in a chair by the window cradling his sword, and Kento on his own bed with his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face. He didn't really want to be stuck in the same room as the warlord. Both of them swung their heads around as Sai entered the room.

"What?" Kento asked shortly.

"Soups ready." Sai said quietly. Kento's dour mood immediately lifted.

"Really?! Great!!" Kento was up and running out the room. Sai did not move to stop him, but side stepped to allow him past.

"What's going on?" Came Rowan's voice from down the hall.

"Soup's ready!" Kento reaplied.

"FOOD!" Rowan again. The sound of running footsteps down the stairs reverberated back into Sai's room. A few minutes passed in the bedroom in silence. Seiji and Sai just looking at each other. Finally Sai spoke.

"Don't you want to eat too?" He asked quietly.

"Thank you, but not right now. " Seiji replied with carefully placed politeness.

Sai shrugged. "Hopefully there will be enough left for you then. You know how Kento is." Seiji nodded, but stayed where he was. Realizing that Seiji was not going to leave anything soon, Sai sat on the bed at Sekhemet's feet. After a few moments of Seiji sending a hawk's eye in his direction, Sai frowned at him. "What?"

"How did you do it?" Seiji leant forward.

"Do what?"

Seiji rolled his eyes in a very uncharactoristic mannor. "Every thing. You vanish for several days and then when you return you're suddenly stronger, more powerful, able to do things you could never do before-"

Sai burst out laughing, and it was Seiji's turn to say "What?"

Sai smiled his smile to Seiji. "Dear, dear, Seiji. Wielder of light." He stood and did a little twirl so that he was now standing at the head of the bed. "Don't you have any little secrets?" He bent down to Sekhemet's head, looking back at Seiji who had now raised from his spot with some alarm. Sai pouted at him. "Awww... No fun." He straitened. "I'm not about to hurt him," His expression went dark. "Not like he wanted to do to me." He searched Seiji's face. "He wanted to hurt me Seiji, I could feel it when we we fighting. I could taste it in the water in the air around him. He wanted to do bad things. Nasty things that no one should have done to them." A small blue ball appeared in Sai's hand, and he tossed it so that it landed on the warlord. Seiji was almost alarmed more, until he saw the prune-ness fade away, leaving a normal looking unconscious warlord behind. "If I wanted to kill him I would have." Sai walked up to Seiji until they were almost touching. Seiji took a step back, Sai was almost too close. "By the way," He whispered into the shell if Seiji's ear. "I could always do these things... I just... CHOSE not to." He stepped away from Seiji, winked, and was out the door. A slight giggle floating in the air behind him.

to be continued...

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