The forest echoed with the sound of screams. Normally this sort of thing would have sent the weak running for cover and the brave scurrying to go discover the source, whether it be damsel in distress or a foe to be defeated. These screams, however, no one would follow, had there been anyone around to hear them. They were screams of anger, frustration, pain, and loss. So the source of the screams continued to release her pain upon the world.

The screams ceased, and the girl who had been emitting them was now crouched on the forest floor, among the shards of the tree she had just destroyed with her bare hands. The pinched expression on her face told the world how much she wanted to cry, but would not allow her tears to cool her red and bleeding hands. Instead she rose, turned and walked out of the rubble towards a camp that was set up a small distance away.

Setting up a stove she began to prepare some food. Chopping the vegetables, she seemed to notice her wounded hands for the first time. Despite the thick calluses that laced her fingers and palms, they were scored badly and bleeding. Looking up, she saw a small bird with black feathers and a red breast perched on a rock, staring at her. She smiled at it and spoke aloud. "Wouldn't auntie be ashamed of me. I better go wash up." She rose and went towards the steam to try to pull the wood out of and wash the blood off of her hands.

"I do feel awful, you know," she said to the bird, or to no one in particular. "Running out on auntie like that. I know I should have stayed, to help, but I just couldn't be there anymore. I couldn't stand all the tears and the empty comfort words, or..." She broke off and sat down on the ground. "I guess that is one thing I inherited from grandfather - running away." She looked dejectedly into the pine needles.

"I think she understood, though. There was a bag of food left on the table. It was like she knew what I would do. She always seemed to know.... and then I ran so no one could find me, and she would have stopped them from coming after me, finding me..." she seemed to even slightly smile at that. "Well, she couldn't have stopped him, but he was the only person who I didn't need to worry about. If he couldn't find me in my own house, what hope would he have here? Yea, he would have wanted to find me, to protect..." Her expression turned dark again and she slammed a fist down on the ground as tears began to leak down her cheeks, unheeding of her efforts to stop them. "See? - see how weak I am? No wonder they died, I couldn't have protected myself anyway - I am just a weak child, and they died, and it was ALL MY FAULT!" The last words echoed back off of the surrounding mountains, as if affirming her harsh words. She brought her knees up and placed her head upon them, finally giving in to the flow of tears that threatened to drown her.

All of a sudden she stopped crying and leapt to her feet, already in a defensive fighting position. In front of her, sitting on the rock where the bird had been, was a man, looking at her with a sad expression on his face.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded, all trace of tears gone, burned up by the angry aura she now emanated.

"I heard your pain and came to help," he said quietly.

"Help? Of course you want to help me, I need nothing but help, since I can't help myself, I have to have others do it for me." Her anger hadn't abated at all, and she still stood tensed and ready to strike.

"What would you have done? How could you have helped your parents anyway?" he said, still with a quiet note in his voice.

"What would you know of it?" She demanded "You just appear here, in the middle of nowhere, and ask me questions about my parents? Who are you, anyway?"

The man remained silent. She finally grew frustrated and yelled, "Fine, you want to know what I would have liked to do? I would have liked to be able to stop him, to destroy that demon and make sure that my parents would have survived. He came after me, you know, and it took both of them giving up their lives to save me. They didn't have to die, but I couldn't stop it. I would prevent this from ever happening! I would get them back!"

"If that is what you want, I can give it to you"

For the first time, her anger wavered, as surprise drew her to lower her guard slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I can help you see them again"

Her shackles went up at this. In her life, she had learned that most offers could be two sided, especially coming from a certain businesswoman she knew.

"By sending me to the spirit world? No thank you. I may want to see them, but I don't really consider that as an option" The "quite yet" part of that statement hung in the air as clearly as if it had been said aloud.

"Not dead," he said "neither you nor them. They would be alive, and you would get your wish. If that is what you really want."

"You are granting me a wish? Are you some kind of genie or something?"

A small smirk appeared his face. "Or something. You have a wish. Do want it granted or not?"

The girl thought for a moment. She knew that this could be her only chance for revenge, however fishy the scheme sounded. They would be alive, as would she. That part at least checked out. She knew if she went back home, she would be greeted with the same pity she had run out on. Her parent's friends would try and help, but she didn't want help. She wanted to be the one to take control.

"All right. I want to see them again. What exactly are you going to do?"

The man smiled again. "I am sending you home." She was about to protest when she felt a force pulling at her. The world began to swirl around her, and she felt herself falling, falling......

Until she hit solid concrete. She wasn't hurt, but a yell from close by warned her that unless she moved, she might be. She leapt up and found herself in the path of a charging man. He didn't seem to see her, and was throwing a fist in her direction. She heard a voice from the sidelines yell, "watch out! There is someone else in there!" She looked to one side and saw a fist plummeting quickly towards her face and a leg coming towards her midsection. With a short leap upwards she landed on top of the incoming leg and caught the fist in her hand. Everyone involved froze and the two boys who she was balanced upon just stopped and stared at her for a moment, their eyes wide and jaws agape. Then they dropped their fists and the girl landed on her feet between them. The girl from the sidelines ran up and asked, "Are you ok? That baka didn't hurt you, did he?"

At the word "baka" the girl finally focused on the faces around her. One of the boys wore green leggings and a yellow tunic with a bandana, the girl a blue school dress, and the last boy a red...Chinese...shirt. The girl's jaw dropped as she stared into a pair of wide eyes exactly as blue as her own. "Oh, my..." was all that would come out, before she sat down hard on the ground.