O.K. Since I gave spoilers last night on the #ffml, I'll send this part 
along. It's not a big chunk and very, very beta. ^_^

Shannon

************************************************************************


	"You gonna' help me, or what?" Jonah cocked the gun, chambering the 
first dart.

	"You gonna' shoot me, or what?" Lee asked back, seeing the calm resolve 
on his friends face. Jonah was so stupidly loyal to Travis. He just 
might do it.

	"Depends on how you answer, Bud." Jonah answered with no trace of 
emotion on his rugged face.

	"It was open the doors or get tranked. Tammi's an irresistible force 
when she has her mind set on something. You know that. Besides, a little 
roll in the hay isn't going to do that Ryudo any harm. I don't know why 
Travis is raising such a fuss." He answered with a shrug.

	Jonah studied his partner. He did know how Tamanji could be, but he 
also knew how Lee could be.

	"Travis has his reasons, I'm sure. So who's side you on, Bud? This is a 
sweet deal. Don't blow it."

	Lee's answer was a smile as cold as the frost of his gray eyes. "Your 
side, of course, Bud." It was a sweet deal and he wasn't going to blow 
it. Not for Tamanji. Jonah would cover for him. Besides, taking Tamanji 
down a peg or two would be fun.

	"Come on, then. We'll pick them," Jonah gestured with his chin at the 
gas enshrouded forms of the two brothers, "up off the floor after we 
deal with Tamanji."

	"Do I get a gun?" Lee asked, trying to gauge where he stood in Jonah's 
trust.

	"No." Jonah stated simply, motioned for him to go first.

	"You wound me, Jonah." Lee sighed as he stood.

	"Not yet, Bud." Jonah grumbled back with a grin. "We'll just see how it 
plays."

	Lee shrugged again as he proceeded Jonah out into the corridor. 


	Tamanji was just pulling the door shut behind her when Lee came 
sauntering up the hall, Jonah behind him, dart gun in hand. Lee shrugged 
at her questioning look. Huum. Was he going to try to cover his ass now?

	"Hi Jonah. Travis figured it out, huh?"

	"What did you do, Tammi?" Jonah asked, his eyes narrowed. *Yowsa! 
Tamanji's aura was way, way weird!*

	Was that fear she heard in his voice? "Oh, nothing much. Just had a 
little fun. So, what are you supposed to do with me?"

	"Lock you in the Quiet Room. You didn't kill him, did you?"

	"No. I didn't kill him." She emphasized that "I" with a grin. "Now, 
Jonah, I'm not going to let you lock me in that room. Lee is a neutral 
party. Aren't you Lee?" She gave her cohort a glare.

	Lee held up both hands, took a few steps back. Tammi had done something 
more than just 'spend a little quality time' with that Ryudo. But what 
exactly had she done? Whatever it was, it was...weird. It made him 
uneasy. "I'll back you up, Bud." He said with an almost inaudible 
whisper as he passed Jonah.

	"So, what do we do? Rock and Roll or stay friends and you just let me 
slide on by?" She smiled serenely.

	It was a question that never got the chance to be answered as the 
complex of caves that ran under the compound shuddered and rocked. 
Tamanji stumbled forwards, that the only thing that saved her as the 
huge door to the Quiet Room was wrenched off it's hinges and propelled 
across into the opposing wall, hailing them all with sharp points of 
shattered stone as the wave of power charged air and the backlash of the 
Fire Dragons' manifestation swept out into the hall.


	*Come ON!* Hajime snarled at himself and the doors he pulled with all 
his strength. Amaru was running out of time!

	Amaru flinched back, his hand throbbing and made a small involuntary 
gasp as he was painfully jolted by the blue-white glow that illuminated 
his brothers outline. He coughed as the gas stung his throat, tried hard 
not to breath any more of the stuff in as the doors bulged outwards, 
then exploded into a thousand glistening shards.

	Hajime picked him up by the back of his shirt and heaved him out and 
clear of the gray fog that rolled out of the shattered door frame just 
as the cavern convulsed. Amaru flipped and landed on his feet, then went 
to his knees as his vision blurred a little and he felt light headed.

	"Hajime!" He yelled as the ground quaked under him.

	Tsuzuku! He could feel the power coming. Tsuzuku had Changed. He saw 
Hajime stumble forwards through the doorway, coughing, sag to his hands 
and knees. Amaru ran back to his brother's side, ignoring the effects of 
that slight stupid breath of gas as the doors that led to the corridors 
groaned, came off their moorings and launched like burning paper into 
the spinning maelstrom that flooded into the large domed Lab.

	Hajime! He had to protect Hajime! He brought his hands up as he tapped 
into his power in panic and instinct, pushed them forwards as Tsuzuku's 
power slammed into the ward he raised against it. It parted around them 
and for a moment he stared in wonder at the sheer beauty of the flames 
that flowed around them, then it was gone. He slowly sank to his knees 
next to Hajime, breathing hard in the pitch darkness. He said a silent 
prayer of thanks as the emergency lighting kicked in, painting 
everything a dim red. It made him uneasy as he looked at his hands, they 
looked like they were covered with blood. Well, at least Tsuzuku's 
flames had burned away the gray fog of the gas.

	"Hajime-kun?" He asked anxiously, turning his head to look at his 
eldest brother. He had stopped coughing but was still seeming to have 
trouble getting his breath.

	"Hai. I'm O.K. Amaru-kun." He got out. "Just need a minute to catch my 
breath." He had involuntarily taken in a few good lungfuls of the stuff 
when the quake had hit and knocked him off balance back into the far set 
of doors right after he had thrown Amaru clear.  His lungs felt numb, 
and his extremities tingled like they had 'gone to sleep'. Still, he 
couldn't rest. Not yet. He had to get Amaru out of here. Who knew when 
Travis or his Dragons might show up. And Tsuzuku. Gods. What was he 
going to do about Tsuzuku? He could 'feel' him raging over their heads.

	"Thanks, Amaru-kun." He smiled at his youngest brother as he pushed 
himself up to sit on his heels.

	"Tsuzuku Changed. I couldn't let it happen to you, too." Amaru said 
with a frown, the strange and dim light making his features all sharp 
angles and shadows.

	"Why not?" Hajime asked, curious as to what Amaru's answer would be.

	"You just can't. Not yet. If you do, something really awful will 
happen." Amaru said quietly.

	Just for a instant Hajime thought he saw the reflection of a lightning 
blot in the depths of his brothers dark blue eyes. A cold feeling began 
in the pit of his stomach. Amaru had been passing along snippets of the 
vivid dreams he'd been having lately. Dreams that had to do with what 
they were. With what they had been or maybe would be. "What awful thing, 
Amaru? Do you know?"

	Amaru shook his head. "No. Just that it would be...awful." He really 
didn't know how he knew, he just did.

	"Well, then. Thank-you again for keeping me from doing something I 
would regret. I'm lucky to have such a brave little brother." He gave 
his brother's shoulder a squeeze with a gentle smile even though Amaru's 
warning was a cold dark spot in his thoughts. He knew they had to get 
moving even though he still felt like he couldn't quite catch his 
breath. But it was improving. He looked around the scorched walls of the 
Lab, his eye's narrowing as he looked through the transparent walls of 
the cell that had contained them for a while. For a brief second he 
hoped that Tsuzuku would burn Travis into the hell he deserved. But just 
for a second. He didn't want the death of anyone else on Tsuzuku's 
conscious. What else had he lied about? 

	"Are you O.K., Amaru-kun?" Travis had said that Amaru had an allergic 
reaction to the drugs in this gas. Yet he seemed to be all right. Better 
than he, himself.

	"Hai. Just a little dizzy, but it's getting better."

	"Good. Shall we find an exit, then?" He pushed himself to his feet, 
wiggled his bare toes to try to get a little more sensation in them as 
Amaru stood beside him.

	Amaru trailed in his footsteps as he headed for the hole where the 
elevator doors had once been, gone now as that chimney provided an 
escape for the power of the flames, looked up the shaft. A bass roar 
found it's way down to them as Hajime reached around the side of the 
empty door frame and ran his hand along the rock fused into crystal 
slickness by Tsuzuku's power.

	"Are we going to climb it?" Amaru asked.

	"Not unless we have to. Let's see if there's another way out."

*************

	Tamanji rolled over and stared at the strange shapes the emergency 
lights made on the ceiling with a frown. She brought her hands up to 
rest on her stomach, interlocked her fingers and twiddled her thumbs. 
Huumm...now this was an unexpected development. *What to do, what to 
do...* She thought as she took stock of herself. Bangs and bruises, 
already healing. Her shields had instinctively kicked in but she had 
still been thrown to the end of the corridor. Lee sat up suddenly next 
to her with a hissed, "Fuck."

	Jonah grumbled "Ouch." somewhere to her right.

	"Tammi, you O.K.?" Lee asked.

	"Oh, yes. Just fine." She answered lightly yet still didn't move. She 
was thinking.

	"Jonah?"

	"Ouch. But functional. You Bud?"

	"This is the second time that bastard has broken my ribs. I'm gonna' 
kill him." Lee snarled back.

	"You really think you can take him, Lee? All by your little lonesome?" 
Tamanji asked curiously as she sat up with a cold smile and cocked her 
head.

	Lee glared at her.

	"Well, you'd better. Jasmine's coming." She rose to her feet with one 
smooth graceful motion, held out her hand, offering to help him up.

	"What do you mean, she's coming?" He wrapped his fingers around her 
slender wrist, let her pull him up.

	"Oh, she's very close now." Tamanji purred. She could feel her sisters 
heading her way. "She's coming for her mate. You going to let that 
happen, Lee?" She taunted as she headed left down the intersecting halls 
and for the emergency stairway.

	"No. I'm not." Lee muttered as he offered his hand to Jonah. "Help me, 
Bud?"

	Jonah waved him off, slowly gathered himself up on his own. "Has to be 
caught anyway. We're going to need the bucks to fix the compound." He 
nodded as he dusted himself off.

	"Ever the pragmatist, Jonah." Lee sighed.

	"Damn right." Jonah grumbled back with a grin as they trotted for the 
stairway.

***************

	Matsuri opened her eyes with a snap, her heart pounding as the dream 
fled from her awareness leaving her with only a feeling of overwhelming 
grief and a strange disjointed sense of floating, not quite here but not 
totally in that other place, either. Things that were, things that had 
been, things that might yet be. Her dream had touched all these places, 
this she knew. She frowned, felt the warm silk slide of tears down her 
cheeks as she stared up at the dim lit buttons in the panel over her 
head. The vibration of the engines gave her solidity, location. She was 
on a plane heading for the United States. And Hajime. Something in that 
dream had been about him...she struggled to pull the images back with no 
success as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. *Silly girl, 
crying over a dream you can't even remember.* She chided herself.

	She looked over to her seat companion, was surprised to see Jasmine 
sitting up, her head turned away as she gazed out of the moonlit glow of 
the small rectangle of double paned window. Matsuri leaned farther back, 
looked between the space made by her pushed back seat and Jasmine's 
upright one, saw Owaru slumped down in the angle of the corner made by 
the seat and the side of the plane, his arms wrapped loosely around 
Elenora who was draped half on and half off him, her head pillowed on 
his chest as they slept. She raised her eyebrows, then chided herself 
again. They were just children and this just an innocent snuggle for 
comfort. She pushed the button on the arm of her seat and sat up with a 
sigh, stretched her arms over her head as Jasmine turned, her golden 
eyes seeming to glow in the subdued lighting.

	"Have a good nap?" Jasmine asked.

	"Hai. But a strange dream, I just wish I could remember what it was 
about." She smiled back even as the thought of that dream created an 
uneasy tension in her. "How about you?"

	"Much better, thanks." There was a edged sharpness in her voice.

	"Jasmine-chan? What's wrong?" Matsuri tried to read the beautiful face 
before her which at this moment and in this light could have been 
sculpted out of fine marble by a masters hand, and just that cold and 
hard. It scared her a little.

	Jasmine blinked and the image was banished as she smiled. "It's 
nothing, Matsuri-chan. Just nerves, I guess. I had a strange dream too." 
It hadn't been strange, really. Just horrifyingly real.

	"You want to tell me about it?" Matsuri asked shyly.

	Jasmine didn't, but the words came tumbling out in a soft harsh whisper 
anyway. "I was standing on a cliff by the sea. The moon was just 
starting to wane, like it is now. I could see them, barely. It was hard 
with the moonlight, but I could see them. They had just gone, it seemed 
like they had just gone." 

	Matsuri gasped as she saw, vividly, what Jasmine had just described. 
She too was standing on the cliff. She looked at Jasmine who was 
standing to her left, smiled as Jasmine moved one hand to rest on the 
bulge of the child she carried. Matsuri felt the cold wind off the sea 
whip through her hair, press her clothes tight against her body. Elenora 
and a fair haired beauty she did not recognize stood to her right. She 
felt something move inside and looked down at her own distended belly. 
*Hush, little Dragon-Prince* she wished him with a smile as she tipped 
her head back to watch the pinpoint lights that seemed nothing more than 
stars. White, Red, Black surrounded by it's white corona of lightning 
and Blue. The Dragon Kings. The Blue one held all of her focus as they 
darted back and forth, harassing the starless Void that blotted out one 
whole quarter of the night sky.

	She could still hear Jasmine's far away voice on the wind as she 
continued to spin out the event that Matsuri re-lived. The four stars 
came together as she described, touched, their colors merging into one 
scintillating super nova that dove into the heart of the Void. Matsuri 
reached out and took Jasmine's hand into her own. For an eternity that 
was no more than a moment the universe held it's breath as all things 
stopped. Then the Void tattered, leaving four dimly colored stars 
triumphant in the sky. Stars that resolved into the shapes of Dragons as 
they came home. Matsuri could hear their deep voices as they sang to one 
another, tired...so tired yet still exuberant.

	Then from the West a dark bolt of power lanced into the sky to  
surround the four Dragon Kings in a nimbus of hate-filled, life-draining 
fury. Their songs changed into screams of agony and anger. The Red 
Dragon threw himself between the power and the Black Dragon, taking the 
brunt of the attack as the Blue did for the White. The Blue Dragon King 
of the East sent his own blast of blue-white power back down the bolt, 
using the last of his strength to burn it out of existence at it's 
source.

	Four female screams joined the wind as two of the Dragon Kings fell and 
two...

	"Miss! Are you all right?"

	Both of them looked up startled at the concerned stewardess. Matsuri 
couldn't breathe for a second, dropped her head as the tears coursed 
down her cheeks.

	"Yes, we're fine. My friend just had a bad dream. Could you bring us a 
Coke?" Jasmine answered calmly, just a quiver of her own pent up tears 
touching her voice.

	"What happened, Jasmine? What happened to the Red and Blue Dragon 
Kings." She had to know. White and Black... *Amaru and Owaru? Amaru had 
changed into a Black Dragon and Owaru had said he was the White Dragon 
King of the West this afternoon...* had fallen to the sea, but the Blue 
and the Red... *Tsuzuku, Red Fire Dragon. That meant Hajime was the Blue 
Dragon King of the East! What had happened to Tsuzuku and Hajime?!*

	"They went into the Wind, Matsuri-chan." Jasmine got out around the 
hard lump that constricted her throat at the memory of her beautiful 
Dragon dissipating into nothing but sparks, sparks that the wind carried 
to sting against her face and mingle with her tears. "They went into the 
Wind."