Author's Note: As it turns out, retirement is boring. What it really amounted to was that I needed a decent break from writing. But now that the holidays are over, and friends like en-lumine have been sweet-talking me, I'm up for working on a new project. Welcome! To readers both new and old, I hope you enjoy the adventure I've got planned this time around. Please feel free to offer up any constructive criticism you have for me, both positive and negative. I don't care if you think your opinion is dumb, it makes my day to get those reviews. So please, don't be shy! I'm here for it all :)

In the early afternoon on a March day, a wind rose over Arctika. North and east the wind blew as the cold sun barely climbed above the horizon to a dim but cloudless sky, north and east through mountainous glaciers and rolling drifts, scattering snow into a hazy mist that diffused into a white halo over the vast arctic island. Onward the wind traveled, eventually pounding an ancient arch of finely worked stone that some said had been a gateway to Outworld eons ago, when Earthrealm was still very young, that others thought was merely one of many monuments here that paid tribute to the Elder God, Himavat. Only weathered, illegible remnants of carvings remained on the arch, mutely recalling its true purpose.

Young Olivia Sullivan, aged twenty-one, marched through that archway and up the steps to the Temple of the Lin Kuei, returning home after a long month spent tracking a Black Dragon snake called Kira, who'd fled to the remote Arctic after she'd brutally murdered a squadron of Army Rangers. General Blade had sought the Lin Kuei's help when Kira unwittingly crossed into their territory, and Grandmaster Sub-Zero, Olivia's father, sent her to assist with the efforts. Initially, Kira had been clever and never stopped moving from one abandoned whaling town to the next, always covering her tracks well. But eventually, she made a grave mistake by traveling inland away from the sea with no real supplies to speak of, and when Olivia and the Rangers finally caught up to her, she was delirious and nearly dead from hypothermia. It had been easy to arrest her from there.

But now, Olivia was just glad to be home.

She slid into the Temple, nodding respectfully at Sherman and Gat, who were on guard duty that day, but saying nothing as she walked by. At that time of day, there were precious few people to be seen as most were in class, either as teachers or as students. But she nodded at the few she did see, even cracking a smile for the younger children who were excited to see her return. Olivia's path led her first to the infirmary where she knew her mother would be working, and as she predicted, Anya was examining one of the newest recruits to the Lin Kuei, a boy named Jacobi, an orphan the Seekers found in Italy. She had a temporal probe pressed to his head, clearly taking his temperature.

"Wow…" her mother said sarcastically, feigning amazement. "110 degrees." She crossed her arms and looked at Jacobi with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know whether to baste you or have the Grandmaster ice you down."

At the door, still unnoticed by the Hydromancer, Olivia inwardly laughed as she remembered a similar conversation with her mother several years prior. "The Grandmaster is probably busy," she said, stepping completely into the infirmary. "But I can do it if you want."

Jacobi's eyes went as wide as saucers as Anya now grinned at her daughter. She then looked at her patient once more. "Spill it," she ordered. "What's going on? Why do you want to get out of class?"

"I don't, Signora!" he protested. "I swear."

"Really." It was a statement, not a question. She was clearly unmoved. "I'm totally convinced you didn't put a hot towel on your head."

Sensing his own defeat, the boy hung his head down. "I'm not so good with languages," he finally confessed in a thick, Italian accent. "The other kids...they think I'm...idiota."

"I'm sure they don't think that," Olivia told him as Anya sighed and sat beside him on the table.

"Caleb makes jokes at me because I can't understand Japanese."

Now Olivia crossed her arms. "Well, you just remind Caleb that he can barely understand it himself. And I've taught him before. His roundhouse kicks need a lot of work too. And you can tell him I said so."

"Olivia," her mother said, but the Elite only shrugged.

"Hey, don't feel bad," the Cryomancer continued. "I lived in Japan for a little while and I still have trouble understanding it. You'll get it eventually."

"I don't think so," he said.

Anya lightly shook her head. "Just do your best," she told Jacobi. "That's all the Grandmaster wants from you. Now go to class."

"Si, Signora," he reluctantly agreed. He gathered his books and quietly walked out of the infirmary.

Now Anya turned to Olivia and threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Oh, I missed you," she said as she earnestly rubbed her back and patted her shoulders. Then she pulled away and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I was worried about you the whole time."

"I was okay," the Cryomancer reported. "The whole trip was pretty uneventful, actually. I'm kind of disappointed by the decided lack of action. She didn't even put up much of a fight. To be fair, though, she was almost dead, so..."

"You could've called," Anya admonished.

Olivia arched her eyebrow. "Sorry, my cell phone couldn't get a signal," she teased. "It was like there were no cell phone towers anywhere this far north. What's that about?"

"Okay, okay, Miss Smarty Pants," Anya rolled her eyes and put the probe in a drawer. "I'm entitled to a blond moment once in a while."

"Just once in a while?" she replied. "I'm sure it's more than that."

Her mother dropped her chin and narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to thump you, child," she replied, her voice betraying mild amusement. It prompted Olivia to laugh at her, so she then said, "Go find your father. He'll appreciate your jokes a lot more than I do."

"Where is he?" she grinned as her mom playfully pushed her shoulder.

"I think he said something about taking Sam's class outside to meditate," she replied.

"Okay." She turned to leave, but her mom stopped her.

"Olivia?" she said.

"Yeah?"

Her mother faintly smiled at her, her lavender eyes sparkling with joy and serenity. "Welcome home."

The Cryomancer smiled back. "Thanks," she said. Then she hugged her mother one more time.

After Olivia left the infirmary, she headed outside to the frozen courtyard where her father sometimes took his students to train. She emerged through the east doors into the frigid, Arctic air and spotted him immediately in front of the icy statue of Himavat, kneeling with the fifteen and sixteen year old apprentices on the ground, her sister included among them in the last row. Sam glanced up as her sister walked down the stairs, and a broad grin split her face in two. Happily, she waved at Olivia, who impatiently shook her head and rolled her eyes, but waved back as well before she put her fingers to her lips and then pointed to their father directly in front of the statue. Sam's smile faded but she nodded her understanding and then returned to her meditation before she earned a reprimand for not concentrating.

Now Olivia smiled when she saw the Grandmaster kneeling in front of his students, the little girl inside of her longing to run to her daddy to greet him with a hug. That's how it had been since Reiko had kidnapped her and dragged her to Outworld three years ago; she'd developed a much greater love and appreciation for him during her ordeal, and now she hated to be apart from him for any length of time. She was honored that he had asked her to assist General Blade, but she had missed him terribly this past month. But now, rather than obey her overwhelming and childish urges, she calmly stepped down the stairs and walked quietly to him, her long fur-trimmed coat lightly scraping the ground.

She said nothing as she joined his side and knelt beside him, closing her eyes, and for a long moment, he said nothing either. But finally, he softly murmured, "You're late."

Olivia frowned. "I got held up in traffic," she drily remarked, also keeping her voice a low whisper. "Stupid seals need to learn how to move out of the way when I'm coming."

That elicited a soft laugh from him. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at her. "I'm glad you're home," he told her, cupping her cheek. Then, he tucked a lock of her stark white hair behind her ear.

She wrapped her fingers around his hand and squeezed. His hand warmed her frozen one. "Me too." Sighing in contentment, she smiled back at him and then closed her eyes once more.

Several minutes passed by in peace as they meditated, but that peace was abruptly interrupted when the Grandmaster unexpectedly climbed to his feet and addressed his class. With his stern, intimidating gaze, he surveyed them all. They, in turn, looked up at him in reverent, curious respect.

"You have done well today," he praised them. "To reward you, I'm ending class early. You may quietly enjoy a little free time between now and your next class."

Smiles erupted on their faces, prompting Olivia to smile at them as well. She joined her father's side as the teenagers silently got to their feet and bowed to their Grandmaster, beating their fist on their heart as always in the Lin Kuei show of respect. Then, with the exception of Sam, they all filed back into the Temple one by one in an orderly, disciplined fashion like her father always expected.

Sam, meanwhile, ran to Olivia and their father. "You're home," she beamed.

"Thankfully," she said as she hugged the fifteen year old and then the three of them started walking back into the Temple. "I thought we were never gonna catch that lunatic."

"I take it your mission was successful?" the Grandmaster asked her, curious.

"Yeah, we caught her," she shrugged, draping her arm over Sam's shoulder. "She finally tripped up."

"How so?" he replied.

"For some stupid reason, she thought she was going to try to go inland," she said.

"Well, that was retarded," Sam said. "Didn't she know that's a good way to die?"

"She wasn't prepared for it at all," Olivia agreed. "She's probably lucky we found her when we did. She wouldn't have made it through the night."

"I know," her father said. "I know all of this."

"Oh, you do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd probably sent a squadron of Elites out to watch her. "How?"

"General Blade called me earlier to let me know you were on your way home so that we could watch for you," he said, surprising her. "She told me everything."

Olivia shrugged and tilted her face up to look up at the Grandmaster. Wings of snow white hair framed his stern face. "It was pretty routine, Dad," she said, meeting his sapphire eyes. "To be honest, I think they could've done it without me."

"She doesn't think so," he told her. "She was very impressed with how well you tracked the fugitive through the snow, and how professionally you conducted yourself on the expedition. She said you were integral to their success here in Arctika."

"General Blade said that about me?" she asked, puzzled. "I was certain she hated me."

"Far from it, it would seem," he said. "She's forming a special group of fighters to defend Earthrealm. She invited you to join them."

Olivia stiffened. "Oh," she said. His announcement flattered her. But after her ordeal in Outworld, she never wanted to leave the Lin Kuei again. Every time she thought about it, even for a short while to go on a mission, a strange feeling overwhelmed her...like she'd not only miss the people she loved but she'd miss the person she was now at this time and this place, because she knew she'd never be this way ever again. It was something she'd never shared with her father - she knew such sentiments made her look childish and immature.

"The news doesn't please you?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in puzzlement.

She shrugged, disinclined to explain her feelings. "It was nice of her to invite me, Dad, but I'm happy where I am."

The corner of his mouth lifted up ever-so-slightly. "Well, Livy, why don't you think about it for a while before you make a decision?" She said nothing, only turned her face from his and looked ahead, and now the Grandmaster addressed her sister. "Samantha," he said, "I wish to speak to Olivia alone in my office."

"Yes, Daddy," the young Hydromancer said before she pulled out of her sister's grasp and walked away. Her short, stubby ponytail bounced in time with her steps.

He and Olivia then walked in silence towards his office, through the magnificent halls and past the various classrooms and training rooms, all of which were occupied by students and teachers at the moment. The silence between father and daughter was not awkward or terrifying - it was comfortable. Too many people, she'd observed since returning from Outworld, were far too impatient and insecure to be at peace with silence, and instead chose to fill it up with empty words. But she had long since discovered how holy it was, and it made her love her father even more because he preferred remaining quiet to saying something that wasn't everything it should be. She had learned she was the same.

It didn't take them long to reach his office, and when she followed him in, she was met by the smell of a library, of old, brittle parchment and stale leather binding. A small fire that he always kept going flickered inside the hearth, warming the room ever-so-slightly, casting an orange glow on the otherwise dim room. Her father immediately rectified that when he crossed the room to his desk and flicked on his lamp. Olivia peeled off her long, fur-trimmed overcoat and threw it over the back of his couch before joining him at his desk and sitting cross-legged in one of the large, leather armchairs in front of it. He, meanwhile, flopped down in his own chair before he shuffled a stack of papers to the side.

"I'm very proud of you, you know," he opened. "I was just so proud to hear General Blade gush about your performance like she did."

"But…" Olivia trailed off slowly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

To her surprise, the Grandmaster just shook his head. "There's no 'but,' Livy," he replied. "You honored me and the Lin Kuei even more than I expected." He smiled at her as he reached across the desk and covered her hand with his large one.

"Then what do you want to talk to me about?" she wondered. "If you're going to try to convince me to go join her team, then Dad, I-" she trailed off.

"No, I'm not doing any such thing," he abruptly cut her off. "I'm not particularly anxious for you to go and join the Army. But it's your decision, and I'll support you either way." He now leaned back in his chair. "No, I want to talk to you because I want you to go with me tomorrow to see your Aunt Miyuki."

Olivia's happy disposition immediately soured, and a roaring surge of anger flared from her heart. "She's not my aunt," she hissed.

Her father sighed in exasperation. "Dammit, Livy, yes she is."

"She tried to kill you more than once, and she very nearly succeeded in killing Mom on multiple occasions," the young Cryomancer argued.

"All of which happened before you were even born," he firmly reminded her. "She's been locked up since we all fought Onaga. You know that."

"I don't care," she stubbornly declared. "I'll never forgive her for it."

"If I can forgive her for what she did, Livy, so can you," he replied. "Even your mother forgave her a long time ago, and she had more cause than anyone to hate her. Frost was a victim of Quan Chi's evil, just like your Uncle Bi-han was. Just like Grandmaster Hasashi was."

Olivia scoffed at that. "She killed her foster father, Dad," she protested, her face burning scarlet. "Not to mention her entire village and the Earthrealm Champions' families. How was she a victim in that?"

"She's done awful things, Livy," he agreed. "But she's spent her life since then atoning for them. Her guilt haunts her and punishes her more than you realize. And it's changed her. She's not the same woman she was all those years ago. And she wants to meet you. You're the only one of my children she hasn't even met yet, and it hurts her every time you don't go."

"I don't care if it hurts her or not," she snapped. "I don't ever want to meet her. She's a murderer."

"So are you," he bluntly replied. "So am I. How are we any different?"

His words were like a slap in the face. She had killed to survive, yes. But it was still killing. And it was the one thing that consistently kept her awake at nights these days. She couldn't quite get over the guilt of everything she'd done in Outworld, from killing a man to sleeping with Reiko to slitting her own throat. It was low for him to throw it in her face, especially since Miyuki - Frost - killed just for the sake of killing. Tears welled up in her eyes at that, and she furiously looked away from him as a couple of stray droplets streaked down her cheeks. Unconsciously, she rubbed the ugly, bluish scar running across her throat in a jagged line.

Her father seemed to understand he'd hit a sore spot with her, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Livy," he softly apologized. "But do you understand my point? We've done awful things too. Things we're both ashamed of. But if we're deserving of forgiveness for our sins, why isn't Miyuki?"

"Because she did it for fun," she muttered, hating herself as she wiped away the tears. Most of them caught in her throat, making it sore. She swallowed hard to force the sharp ache away.

"Well, unfortunately, Livy, this time, I'm not asking you to go," he replied. "This time I'm forcing you to go. I think it'll be good for you both. Especially since she's finally being released."

Olivia whipped her head around at him. "What?" she yelped.

"The doctors at Ft. Albany contacted me yesterday," he explained. "They told me that she's ready to come home. After twenty-two years, my sister is finally able to come home." He wistfully smiled at that. "And she's coming to live with us in the Temple."

Olivia's scowl couldn't have furrowed any deeper into her face. "Are you crazy?" she snapped as she jumped to her feet. "Why can't she go live with Grammy Maggie or Uncle Bi-han? Why does she have to come here?"

"Because she asked to stay with us," he coolly answered. "And I'm not in the business of turning our family away when they need me."

The young Cryomancer shook her head angrily and exhaled a loud, irritated sigh. "This is bullshit," she swore under her breath.

"I don't like that language," he snapped at her.

"Well, it is," she defended. "How can you willingly and knowingly bring a homicidal maniac into the Temple? I would've thought you'd have learned after the first time you made that mistake and she drove Mom away."

"You're crossing the line," he warned, now scowling too. "And this isn't up for debate. You're going with me to get her."

"No, I'm not," she argued, putting her hands on her hips, daring him to do something.

"Now, now holčička," a new voice spoke, and Olivia didn't even have to see him to know it was her uncle, Tomas, materializing from thin air. Sure enough, his form gradually filled in beside her. "This is not the way to speak to your father, even if he is wrong."

"You're not helping," the Grandmaster now glared at his best friend and second-in-command.

"You say that like I was supposed to," Tomas shrugged. He now side-hugged Olivia. "How was your trip, můj sladký anděl?" he asked.

"It was fine until I came home and heard this brilliant idea," she growled, angrily gesturing at her father. "Why didn't you stop him, Uncle?" she demanded to know. She looked up at his face, vaguely noting the deepening crow's feet around his unnaturally blue, cybernetic eyes.

"I tried, miláčku," he said. "But he's quite stubborn when he's convinced he's right."

"I can't believe this," she grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.

"You may not like it and you may not want to do it, but you are doing it, Olivia," her father sternly growled. "That's an order, not from your father but from your Grandmaster."

She narrowed her eyes at him and sighed. "You realize I've been away from home for a month, right?"

He frowned and rolled his eyes. "Of course I do," he said. "What's your point? That the world should just stop turning simply because you just got home from a mission?"

"No, the point is that I don't want to spend my first day back at Ft. Albany's insane asylum picking up your homicidal sister!" she shouted.

"Be that as it may, you are," he calmly replied.

"How does Mom feel about this?" she hissed, crossing her arms. "Or did you even run this by her before you agreed to it?"

"Nice try," he shot back, now concealing a vague smirk, "but she agrees with me."

"I'm gonna go ask her," she threatened.

"Go ahead," he retorted. "But we're leaving tomorrow for Ft. Albany at nine. And I already told Cyrax not to let you join his perimeter patrol tomorrow. So don't think you're going to slink off and hide to get out of it."

Livy swallowed hard, scowling as furiously as she ever had since before she'd been dragged to Outworld. "Well, if that's the case, I'm surprised you don't have people posted to guard me and keep me from leaving the Temple between now and then."

"Who says I don't?" he challenged, and now his amusement was all-too-apparent. "Now, this discussion is over. Since you have been gone for the month, I'm letting you have the rest of today off to rest. So go find something to do anywhere but here."

"Gladly," she growled. She grabbed her coat and then marched out of his office, making sure to slam the door for good measure. She heard him shout, "Olivia!" a moment later, but she didn't particularly care. He didn't follow her, and she wouldn't have stopped anyway.

Olivia stormed back towards the infirmary, wanting to know if her mother indeed knew and approved of this ridiculous, stupid plan of her father's. It was a short walk down the hall, and when she peeked in, her mother was cleaning up the main exam room, and dancing to music only she heard through her earbuds and iPod. The young Cryomancer vaguely thought how adorable Anya looked, jamming out in her Spongebob scrubs and ugly yellow Crocs, her eyes closed as she gently banged her butt into a drawer to close it.

"Send me an angel," she sang softly. "Send me an angel right now…"

"Mom?" Olivia called, but still didn't get the nurse's attention. Anya continued to dance around the infirmary, her long, glossy brown hair swinging around her gently. "Mom?" she called again, this time more loudly as she patted her shoulder.

The Hydromancer yelped and jumped a foot off the ground. "Oh, my God, Olivia!" she cried when she saw her daughter. She pulled her earbuds out and paused her iPod. "You scared me."

"Hey, you said, 'send me an angel,'" the Cryomancer replied. "Well, here I am."

Her mother narrowed her eyes in faux annoyance, but then put her stuff on the counter. "Your Uncle Tomas is rubbing off on you, and not in a good way. Did you see your dad?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, I saw him," she darkly answered. She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter, looking at her feet. Then she sighed out a bit of the frustration.

Anya leaned on her elbow and gently gripped her daughter's chin with her other hand, pulling her face around to look at her. "And he told you the news about Miyuki, didn't he?" she asked.

"Well, that answers that question," Olivia grumbled.

Her mother, sensing the question through her touch, nodded. "Yes, Livy, he and I spent a lot of time discussing it last night after they called us to tell us they'd be releasing her," she answered. "And whether you think so or not, he was very concerned about bringing her here again. He was at a loss because he knew what she'd done, especially to me, and how much you dislike her. But he didn't want to abandon her either. I was ultimately the one who made the decision to let her come back."

Olivia shook her head as she blinked back angry tears. "How could you do that, Mom?" she demanded to know. "After everything she's done-"

"Nobody knows better than I do what she's done, Livy, and part of me will never get over that anger I feel about it all," Anya interrupted. Now she sighed heavily. "But...I've been in constant contact with her doctors and nurses, and I've talked to her myself several times. When she went into that facility, she was very messed up. You can't begin to know how broken and destroyed she was. But I truly believe she's healed now - or, at least, as healed as someone like her can be. Between what An Zhi and Quan Chi did to her, it's nothing short of a miracle that she's come this far."

"But, Mom-"

"She's a survivor, Livy," her mother continued. "And I hope that someday, you can be proud of her for overcoming what she has." Now Anya sighed and pulled Olivia into her arms, hugging her tightly. "I know you're angry for what she did to me and your father," she opened. "I love you so much for your loyalty to me, do you know that?"

"No," the Cryomancer replied grumpily as she rested her chin on her mother's shoulder. The nurse, meanwhile, stroked her daughter's equally long, white tresses, which fell down her back in gentle layers of waves. Her touch, as always, calmed the Elite's restlessness.

"Well, I do," she said. "But I think that this time, it's going to be different."

"She could be lying."

"True," Anya agreed. "But this time, she'll be surrounded by several Hydromancers who can tell just by touching her if she's up to something. And believe me, if any of us feel that way, we're going to tell your father immediately, and he has to listen. That was my caveat to this whole thing."

Olivia pulled away. "I don't like this one bit," she declared.

The nurse smiled and pushed her daughter's hair away from her face. "I know you don't," she said. "But please try. For your father. He's tried so hard to save her and he wants - no, he needs - you to have his back."

She sighed unhappily. "That is the sneakiest, most underhanded tactic in the book."

"You only say that because it works when you don't want it to," Anya chuckled softly, patting Livy's cheek.

"I have a horrible feeling about all of this," the Cryomancer lamented.

"It'll be okay," her mother reassured her. "It'll all be okay."