Author's Note: I would like to apologize to my readers for the long delay. It has been a hectic few months and I have had so much going on leaving me NO time to write. But I would also like to thank all of you for your reviews. Without them, I might have decided to give up on this story. So it is because of you all that I am continuing. I will try to update more regularly like I did in the beginning. Thanks again for your reviews and your patience.

Chapter 9

"At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet."
- Plato

Solomon and Nathan landed on the roof of Cinq Flèches' headquarters just in time to hear a piercing scream.

"Why, that sounded just like Mr. Collins," said Nathan thoughtfully.

Solomon narrowed his eyes. "Yes, you're right."

Nathan smoothed out his hair with his right hand. "I suppose Van must have found out that Collins betrayed him."

Solomon nodded in agreement as Nathan sighed. "It's too bad we arrived as late as we did. We missed all the drama!"

Solomon pursed his lips. "Well, hopefully we did not miss anything too important. Now let's see if Van will reveal his next move to us."

As Kai finished preparing breakfast, David closed his cell phone impatiently.

Lewis looked up from his newspaper. "What is the matter, David?"

David shook his head in frustration. "Collins is not picking up his phone. I have been trying to reach him ever since we brought Saya back here."

"Do you think everything is alright?" asked Lewis.

"I don't know," said David. "I think, perhaps, we were a little careless. We should have figured that Argeno might suspect Collins. After all, Argeno had to have known that we were aware of his plans. Why else would we have decided to wake Saya? We knew it was probable that we might run into Argeno at the tomb."

"What should we do? Do you want to go over to Collins' place?"

"No. There could be some other explanation as to why I have been unable to reach him. We'll have to wait a little longer. Besides, we don't have the time right now."

"Good morning!" said Saya, as she and Haji walked into the kitchen.

Everyone smiled at them as Kai said, "Good morning, Saya!"

As Saya looked around at everyone, her gaze at last rested upon Julia, who was busy fussing with her son and the twins.

Julia looked up and noticed Saya staring at them. "Saya, Haji! Come over here... I've got a few people I would like for you to meet. This is my son, Sean. And these are Kai's girls... Manami and Asuka."

Saya bent down so she was eye level with the children, and rested her hands on her knees. "It is so nice to meet you! My name is Saya."

Julia smiled. "Girls, Saya is Kai's sister."

Manami and Asuka stared wide-eyed at Saya. "Is she really Saya?" asked Manami.

Asuka grinned at her. "Kai talks about you a lot, Saya!"

"He does? All good things, I hope," she said with a light laugh.

Kai looked over at Asuka sternly, as he placed a platter of eggs on the table. "Are you ever going to call me, 'dad?'"

Asuka giggled. "Yay, eggs! I'm so hungry! Thanks, Kai!"

Manami studied Haji for a minute. "Who's he?"

"That's Haji," said Julia. "He is Saya's close friend."

"So, David," said Kai, "What's the plan for today?"

"We need to meet with Joel this evening. All of us are going because from now on, we will be staying at Red Shield's headquarters. It is no longer safe to stay at this house. Argeno probably already knows where we live and it would only be a matter of time before he would show up. After breakfast, we will pack only what we need and depart immediately for France."

David's cell phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID, and flipped it open. After a short conversation, he hung up and cleared his throat. "That was Joel. Apparently Solomon contacted him earlier this morning. He and Nathan will be present for the meeting. Hurry up and eat. We have to get going."

As Kai began to wash the dishes, Julia walked over and said, "Kai, let me do the dishes." As he started to protest, she said, "Please. You were kind enough to fix breakfast for all of us. Let me clean up, okay? You need to go pack."

Kai smiled and nodded. He put down the dish that was in his hand and walked over to Saya. "I'm going back to the Omoro to pack a few things. All of your things are there as well, so I thought you might like to come with me. You can ride on the back of my bike, like old times!"

She nodded happily. "That's a great idea."

"Saya and I are going to go pack. We'll be back shortly!" said Kai, as they started walking out of the kitchen.

"Be quick about it," said Lewis. "We have to leave soon."

"Yea, yea," said Kai, raising his right arm over his shoulder in acknowledgement as they walked out the front door.

He smiled as they approached his bike. He was finally going to spend some time with Saya! He handed her the extra helmet and then strapped on his own. As he started the bike, she got on behind him and put her arms around his waist. It had been so long since he had ridden with her, and it felt so good to have her close to him again.

"Hold on!" said Kai, and she tightened her arms around him as he drove off.

"I wish we could take the scenic route," he said, at a stoplight. "I know how much you love riding next to the ocean. But, unfortunately, we just don't have time."

"It's okay, Kai," she said. "We'll have to go for a ride some other time!"

He nodded and grinned. "Yes, we will."

Saya studied the Omoro as Kai pulled up and parked his bike. "It looks great!" she exclaimed. The off-white building looked like it had been given a fresh coat of paint rather recently. The word 'Omoro' was written in large, black, block letters right above the doorway.

They walked inside and she took a good look around. "Yes, it's exactly as I remember it," she murmured as she glanced to her right at the empty bar, which was lined with upside down stools on top of it. Bright colored paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. The chairs were upside down on top of the tables, and there wasn't a speck of dirt or dust in sight. Saya was willing to bet that the floors were clean enough to eat off of.

She walked over to the cork board on the wall with pictures pinned onto it. She was almost immediately drawn to the picture of their whole family: Riku, Kai, herself, and their dad. She slowly and lightly ran her fingers over their faces as she was overcome with happy memories.

Kai walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder as he, too, studied the pictures.

"That was the best year of my life," said Saya softly, as she turned to face him.

"Mine, too," said Kai. "We should cherish those memories that we have of Riku and dad. No one can ever take that away from us, Saya. No one can ever take them away from us. They will never be forgotten, and they will always live within us. Right here," he said as he placed his left hand over his heart, and his right hand over her own. He gazed into her eyes intently. "And we will always have each other."

They stood there like that for what seemed to be an eternity. There was something in his eyes that Saya was having trouble reading. "Kai?"

Her voice seemed to pull him out of his stupor. He smiled. "Come on. We need to pack so we can get out of here."

She smiled back and nodded.

Nathan swirled the wine in his glass absently as he leaned against the counter at his home in France.

"We must leave soon, Nathan."

He nodded as he took a sip from his glass. "Yes, I know." Nathan paused for a minute. "Solomon... you are still interested in Cinq Flèches, aren't you?"

Solomon looked quizzically over at Nathan. "Of course I am. Don't you remember? That is why we began this little endeavor of ours."

"Yes, yes," he said impatiently, "Of course I remember. I was just wondering if you did."

"What makes you think that I wouldn't?"

"Ever since we found out about Argeno's plan to wake Saya, it seems as if you are more interested in her than in taking back Cinq Flèches."

Solomon smiled. "As much as I have appreciated your help these past six years, I was still under the impression that you were the one who didn't care about Cinq Flèches."

Nathan placed his empty wine glass on the counter and brought his right hand up to study his nails. "You're quite right, Solomon. I was simply wondering what you are planning to do, now that our dear Saya is awake again."

Solomon gazed off into the distance. "My plans have never changed, Nathan. I want Saya to be my bride. I love her and I want to see the world with her. I suppose I could still take over Cinq Flèches. After all, we must kill Van no matter what. I cannot allow him to take Saya. But I no longer care about the wealth and power that I used to possess."

Nathan sighed. "Yes, you really have become quite the romantic, Solomon. You've changed."

"But have I really changed? I wonder. I think that I really changed when I became Diva's chevalier. I forgot who I was when I was a human. I forgot why I had wanted to become a chevalier in the first place and turned into something completely different."

"Why, Solomon... I wasn't expecting you to get all philosophical on me!"

"But don't you remember? You were there that day. The day that I came to speak with Diva about the past and the future. The day that I told Diva that Saya was the one I wished to be with."

"And from then on, I became your Chevalier. I felt as though, being liberated from my former life, I was forgiven for my previous deeds of killing fellow humans. After the war, I thought that peace would come. However, in reality, upon becoming a Chevalier and begin granted eternal life, all I could see was the insignificance of the human race. That was it. From the view of the human value system, I thought my former life was trivial. I saw humans as foolish and ugly creatures. To put it simply, I was full of joy, having been released from that world. For the first time, I was able to find peace. But even in our world, there was still conflict... the conflict between you and Saya."

"I realized something that day, Nathan. When I became a chevalier, I turned into a completely different person, forgetting all about who I had wanted to become... forgetting why I had chosen to become a chevalier in the first place. Saya is the one who helped me to remember. She was different from Diva and her other chevaliers. She didn't see humans as insignificant. She cared about them. She cared enough to fight against her own kind for them. That is why I was so drawn to her... why I didn't want her to be killed. Saya helped me to remember myself, Nathan. And she made me feel as if I was not alone in this world."

Nathan exhaled loudly, as he gathered his thoughts. "Yes, I do remember that day. I have to admit, I was a little curious as to what it was about Saya that made you fall in love with her. I always figured that, naturally, you were drawn to her as she was one of the queens." Nathan nodded as the right side of his mouth curled upwards. "Oh, Solomon," he said whimsically, "That was truly beautiful!"

"I was only speaking the truth," said Solomon as he glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen. "Are you ready, Nathan? It's time to go."