Title: Little Sister Was Born Trouble

Author: Tigergirl

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors, only Emily.

Summary: Third story in the series. Life is finally quiet for Emily. It's her last year of college and she's planning the wedding to the love of her life. After a horrible thunderstorm, Emily discovers her whole world has been turned upside down once again. How can she change everything back when she's not sure of who to trust?

CHAPTER ONE

It was a beautiful afternoon at Pineview College. A morning storm had lowered the temperature and humidity. Now a double rainbow could be seen against the clear blue sky. Emily jogged down the stairs of the library and started on her trek back to her apartment.

She took a deep breath, sucking in the fresh air, before releasing it. She felt so at ease as she thought about the current events in her life. She had started preparing for her wedding to Rowen only a month ago. She was in her fourth and final year at Pineview and he had proposed to her in her freshmen year of college.

Thinking on that matter brought back other memories. It stirred up memories of the dynasty, memories of Talpa, and memories of the warlords. She remembered well how the three warlords had apparently stalked her and her older brother, Sage, five years ago. Then, once she was alone they had kidnapped her back to the dynasty. That had been the worst week of her life with discovering her untapped power unknowingly given to her by the ronins. It had ended when the ronins had arrived and Ryo had summoned the Inferno, thus supposedly destroying the opposition.

"If only it had been that easy," Emily murmured with a small chuckle.

Emily stopped at the curb and glanced both ways down the road before crossing along the crosswalk. At the end of her first semester of her freshmen year, she had unknowingly and unintentionally met the fourth warlord, Anubis. The ability to see through Dais' illusions caused Emily to panic when not one, but all four warlords made an appearance. It had been a confusing second semester of activity that had involved several encounters with the warlords in which Emily had had the pleasure of driving the full power of a lightning bolt through the Warlord of Corruption.

And it felt so good to do that, Emily said to herself.

In a bid to lure her out, the Dark Warlords had nearly killed her roommate which had caused her to drain her energy healing him. This had sealed her fate in once again becoming a…"guest" of the warlords. They had forced her to reveal the location of the dynasty gate she had hidden and had dragged her unwillingly back into the Nether Realm. The biggest shock of her life was what had happened next.

Emily took out her card and scanned it before opening the sidewalk gate for residents. She stopped near the front gate at the mail kiosk to check her mailbox. Surprisingly, it was empty

today.

The warlords had taken Emily to a place within the Nether Realm that had been drowning in pure energy. Together with the combined power of the warlords' armors and her ronin energy had brought forth a new armor. The Dark Inferno. The ronins almost hadn't survived that encounter and she had literally died. Thankfully, the Shadow ancestors had been able to bring her back.

We overcame all of that and permanently sealed the dynasty gates. Even if they lived through that, they'll never be able to get through to here again, Emily thought.

Walking past her parked motorcycle, she walked up the steps to her apartment. She unlocked her apartment door and walked in. Life had been especially quiet since Tom had moved out. She missed her best friend dearly, but he was having an exciting time with his post-graduation internship in D.C. The young adult was happy her friend would be back after Christmas to move back home.

A familiar White German Shepherd bounded into the room after hearing the front door close. Cooper jumped up to stand on his hind legs and licked Emily's face as he leaned his paws on her shoulders. She laughed as she accepted the kisses on her cheek before stepping back for Cooper to drop back down.

"Been a good boy, Coop?" Emily asked cheerfully, scratching him behind the ears.

The intelligent dog bobbed his head up and down. Thinking of her canine companion reminded Emily of the other shocking turn of events that had occurred in the beginning of her freshmen year of college. After Rowen had proposed to her, Sage had told her of a shocking family secret that had tilted her world upside down.

She was adopted. Emily Annalise Date had been born Emily Annalise Wolfe. Her mother, Annalise, had died giving birth to her. She had only been with her father, Andrew, for a few months when their village had been attacked. He had been gravely injured when his longtime best friend and brother in everything but blood had come to his side.

The man had been unable to save him, but had helped make him as comfortable as possible. He had also promised his best friend to find a safe home for his daughter. Her father's best friend and her Godfather had turned out to be the Ancient One. He had felt Talpa rising in power and knew she would not be safe in the Nether Realm.

He had gone into the Mortal Realm where he had searched for a family. After three days of searching, he still did not feel he had found the right family. He had used the power of the Staff of the Ancients to foresee into the future. He saw five young men in armors that resonated Talpa's power.

It had not taken long to locate one of the families, the Date Family. He knew their son would be the future bearer of one of Talpa's armors and he knew Emily's placement with them would be best. As luck would have it, the Date's had just learned that it would be impossible for them to have any more children after Satsuki.

When the strange man with long, snow white hair had appeared on their doorstep with the young infant, it had seemed like a dream.

"I cannot care for her and she will need a loving family to take her in. Please consider my offer," he had told them.

They had not hesitated in the least to take her into their arms and home. The Ancient One had collected several documents on her family's medical history from both sides of the family so as to make life easier for them. The three children – Yayoi, Sage, and Satsuki – had been so young and hadn't questioned why they suddenly had a younger sibling. They had been too excited over the baby to question her sudden appearance.

Emily knew all of this because the Ancient One had appeared before her again during the winter holidays. He had told her all she had wanted to know about her parents and it had explained so much. She had quickly adopted the spirit as a second father.

Emily let back a sob as she followed Cooper into the living room. Thinking of her Godfather forced her to bridge the connection and think of her Grandfather of twenty-one years. His body had become weakened over time and he had finally passed away last March.

A loud banging from her door broke her out of her thoughts.

"Em, my arms are full! Come get the door, sis!"

Emily smiled as she pushed herself off the couch and jogged over to the apartment door. She pulled it open to reveal her older brother Sage with his arms full of grocery bags. Or what should have been her brother. The man who stood in her doorway had dark brown hair, light green eyes, a ring embedded in his bottom lip, and a circle tattoo of ying and yang on the side of his neck.

Laughing, Emily took some of the bags from her brother and they carried them into the kitchen. Sage grabbed up the bag of items for the bathroom and walked away while Emily opened a cabinet to stash away a can of Spaghettio's.

"How did your disguise work out?" Emily asked.

"A lot better than I thought. I ran into Elizabeth Ann and she didn't recognize me at all. In fact, I think she almost called the police on me," Sage answered from the bathroom.

As he came back, he pulled off a silver watch he had been wearing around his wrist. After the watch left his wrist, his appearance dissolved away to his normal appearance. Sage handed the watch back to her. During those three years, she had been experimenting around with the power she had gained from the warlord armors. She had recently discovered she could create an illusion and have it last a long time without her needing to focus on keeping it "active." All she had to do was focus on the image while holding an object that the person could wear such as a watch or necklace. It appeared it could work for at least a few hours without any show of wearing down.

Emily pulled a packed bag of Boar's Head ham which immediately brought Cooper back to her side. She laughed as she opened the packaging to pull out a thin slice of ham and handed it down to him. Cooper took it with a big grin and darted away to eat his prize in peace.

"By the way," Sage said. "I didn't appreciate that little trick of yours."

Emily turned around to smile innocently at him. "What trick?"

Sage shot his sister an annoyed look.

"You know darn well what you did, Emily Annalise."

Emily cracked from an innocent smile to a teasing grin. He was right; she knew good and well what he was referring to. At the bottom of her grocery list had been a certain feminine product she was low on.

"Your own fault for offering to do my grocery shopping, Sage," she teased.

He merely grunted in response as Emily proceeded with unpacking the groceries. She unpacked the bags in silence until all of the recyclable bags were empty. During that time, Sage had decided to check out Emily's recent paintings. While Tom was gone, she used his room as an art studio. As Emily stuffed the recyclable bags under the kitchen sink, she noticed her brother walk out of the room with a surprised look on his face.

"What?" Emily said.

Sage pointed over his shoulder while speaking.

"That…thing surprised me. When did you paint that?" Sage asked.

Emily chuckled as she walked around the bar counter and stools to stand in front of her brother.

"I started it this summer and I just finished a few weeks ago. Do you like it?"

"It's frighteningly accurate in its details."

Emily clasped her hands in front of her with a smile.

"What time is your flight again?" Emily asked him.

"Six," Sage answered.

Emily glanced at the clock on the stove and sighed. She reminded her brother they would have to leave in about an hour if they wanted to be early to the airport. Traffic was going to be a nightmare and he would be cutting it very close if they left any later.

"You only have your backpack of stuff, right?" Nod. "Do you mind if we take my bike instead of Tom's car?"

Sage thought on it for only a moment before agreeing. For the next hour, the two siblings did odds and ends around the house. Emily finished a chess game with Cooper, Sage finished packing, and the two watched an old episode of The Big Bang Theory. Soon it was time for them to leave.

Emily grabbed up her helmet and spare helmet. She tossed the spare helmet to Sage as he walked out the apartment door. He caught it easily and jogged down the steps with it.

"I'll be back later tonight, Coop!" Emily called over her shoulder.

The only response she got was a single bark. Emily firmly shut the door behind, but didn't bother locking the door. No one would dare try breaking into her apartment with Cooper there. When she got downstairs, Sage was standing next to her motorcycle and was securely putting the helmet on. Emily pulled her helmet on and climbed onto the bike. Sage climbed on behind her with ease.

Emily started the engine and revved it up. She backed out of the parking space carefully before pulling her legs up and driving off. Confident with his sister's driving abilities, Sage kept his hands on his knees and simply enjoyed the ride. He made sure to lean the same way as Emily when she turned the motorcycle to the right to jump onto the interstate.

Sage was shocked by how quickly they arrived at the airport. Emily parked in the short term parking lot and followed her brother into the building. They checked the flight to make sure it was still leaving at the right time before deciding to stand around while waiting. They had about a half hour before the flight would start calling for the passengers.

"It's going to be nice to have you back after graduation. The weather will be wonderful at home for the wedding," Sage commented.

Having had his head turned to look at something, he missed the shocked expression on Emily's face and the mouthed string of curses.

"I thought Rowen told you."

Sage turned his head back around to look at his sister. He frowned.

"Told me what?"

Emily took a deep breath and a small step backwards so she could get some breathing space.

"Rowen and I aren't getting married back in Japan. We're planning to marry here in the States," Emily explained.

Sage's eyes went wide and his mouth threatened to drop open.

"What are you planning to do after the wedding?" Sage slowly questioned.

Emily grinned sheepishly which immediately made Sage tense up. He was shocked even more as Emily proceeded to explain to him how Rowen was going to move to the States with her. She was already applying to Graduate Schools to work on her Master's degree after graduation. She knew she wanted to become a Guidance Counselor, but she wasn't sure about working at the high school or college level.

"Wha-? Why? Why would you do this?" Sage demanded in a low voice.

Emily frowned. What exactly was he accusing her of? Marrying the love of her life and actually having a life?

"I am not doing anything. Rowen and I came to this decision together," she growled in a warning tone.

"I find that hard to believe."

Sage instantly regretted his words. He had spoken before really thinking about it. The mixed look on Emily's face told him how shocked she was about his words. The shock was quickly replaced with flashing eyes and a growl as Emily took a step forward.

"How. Dare. You? Rowen and I have been discussing this since last year. This has become my home now and he understands that. We plan to have a small ceremony and those we care about will be able to make it out here," Emily spat at him.

Sage couldn't argue with Emily's reasoning, but he still couldn't let it go just like that. He dropped his voice to a low murmur so as not to draw attention to them.

"All of our family and friends are back home in Japan. What are you going to tell them?" he asked.

"They will respect the decision we have made and, regardless of their feelings, we have made our decision. I would hope as my brother you would respect my choice. Our choice." Emily's voice dropped to an almost inaudible tone. "Apparently, I was wrong."

With that said, Emily turned away from her brother, snatched up her motorcycle helmet from the ground and started to walk away.

"Emily."

The blonde woman stopped, but didn't turn around to face her brother. She was afraid the rage would let loose if she did.

"How are you and Rowen going to make a living here? You only have an hourly job right now and you plan to go straight into Graduate School after graduation. You haven't thought this through."

Emily's gloved hands tightened into fists. 1…2…3…4…screwball! To Hell with the counting! Emily whipped around and, before Sage could even blink, punched him. Sage staggered back clutching his eye.

I can't believe she just hit me, Sage said to himself.

As he clutched his eye and wondered if it was actually starting to bleed, he tuned in to what Emily was saying. Or rather, snarling.

"You are not my father. Or Andrew. Both of them would just be proud of me for finding someone who has made me happy. Unlike what you are doing right now. Some brother you are. Unsupportive and an absolute ass!"

If the blonde half-Shadow had any regrets over the words she had just uttered, she didn't let it show. Without another word, Emily turned away angrily and stormed off. Sage stood there shocked. He and his sisters had had their fair share of arguments in the past, but none had ever been severe as this one.

/…/

Emily finished brushing her teeth. When she spat it out in the sink, she wasn't surprised to see her gums had started bleeding. She had been brushing a little harder than usual. She took a few deep calming breaths as she washed her toothbrush and gargled some mouthwash. She spat it out in the sink, wiped her mouth on a towel, and turned off the bathroom light.

She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Emily was alone for the night since Cooper had chosen to spend some time with Rowen. She crawled under her covers and snapped off the lamp on the bedside table.

Emily rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. All that she could think of was her argument with Sage. She kept replaying it over and over in her head. Both of them had exchanged harsh words yet they had spoken their minds. Emily sighed. She would give it a few days before she calmly contacted her brother.

With another large sigh, she buried her face into her pillow and fell into a fitful bout of sleep.

/…/

/Unknown location/

"Finally. After years of searching, I've finally found it."

Intricate designs and symbols adorned the relic. Loud cackling filled the night air.

"Soon the world will fall to its knees. And none of the warriors will be able to stop me."

END OF CHAPTER ONE

I hope you all enjoy the first chapter to "Little Sister was Born Trouble." Just remember to Read AND Review. Reviews do wonders for us writers! Thank you.