The whole mass of his body slammed into my ribcage, sending me flying backwards. Had I been weaker, had I not prepared for this, I would have fallen. It would have all ended there. I would be staring up at the dark sky not able to tell faces from stars. He wouldn't have stopped there though he would have climbed on top of me, making me sink deeper into the darkness. But Kate had trained me well, she had pushed me to my breaking point every chance she got and eventually I became stronger, I became her equal, we pushed each other and became better. Because of her I was able to recover, because of her I would win. Not only now but always. She was my driving force. I could feel her eyes on me as I threw a hard kick to the man's solar plexus; she'll reprimand me for fighting fair after the match, but will be secretly pleased with my noble efforts, as noble as you can get in a situation like this. This man is not weak; he is a well-rounded fighter and responds to my blow with a hard left punch to the jaw. I will have a bruise when this is over and will wear it like a badge of honor, maybe if I'm lucky my driving force will tend to my wounds. As my thoughts absently worm their way back to Kate I wonder if I should be thinking this much during a fight. I easily finish this man off though with three punches to the chest in rapid succession and a solid kick to the ribs. He falls and does not get up. He is not unconscious, just smart enough to know he can't win. I do not here the ref yelling or the crowd cheering, I just barely feel him raise my arm. My thoughts have gone back to my trainer. I had been in a daze like state until I heard her speak.

"Good fight Rick, but you have to stop thinking. You could've had him out cold in two seconds! I swear I'll never know what captures that mind of yours."

"I'm sorry Kate; I need more of a challenge! After sparring with you, everything else pales in comparison." Her cheeks reddened.

"Rick you'll never last in a tougher fight if you keep thinking! You can't have your mind elsewhere Rick, this is serious business I couldn't bear to see you hurt." I shook my head, trying to clear it and make sure she had just said those words to me.

"What?" I asked hopping for her to repeat the words I so desperately wanted to here.

"Uh, if you have your mind elsewhere during a fight you could get hurt." I nodded sadly. "Also if you want to get a harder match you're going to have to stop fighting fair." I nodded again. She smiled at me.

"Alright Ricky, let's get you iced up, then off to bed." I raised an eyebrow.

"Tonight you get a bath with ice water, tomorrow morning is your steam shower and a quick workout in the gym for about an hour, and then you've got another fight at ten tomorrow night." I let my thoughts fill with her and her alone.

"Kate thanks, you always have my back no matter what and I wanted to thank you." I spoke sincerely, straight from my heart. Her green eyes flew up to mine and her smile grew tenfold. She replied with one word that made my heart swell, made my whole body warm, despite the frigid temperature and the fact that I was only wearing a pair of shorts.

"Always." We held each other's gaze until I felt something cold touch my bare skin. Apparently Kate felt it to because we looked up simultaneously. It was snowing.

Sorry this is probably awful I had to get it out of my head. If you're in the mood leave a review if not that's ok to.