Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter three! Thanks to all of you for the kind reviews, I appreciate them! Please enjoy!

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"You look very pretty, Mother."

The woman rolled her eyes in disgust as a reply, turning away from the small girl and moving to do her dark hair. "What did we talk about?" she snapped, her voice laced with annoyance and the girl winced, knowing she had messed up. She just hoped she could fix her mistake before things got out of hand like the last time she had done this.

The young child hung her head shamefully. "Never speak unless spoken to," she reiterated. "Apologies, Mother."

The woman smiled, though it was not the warm, loving smile you'd expect from a mother. No, this one was colder, the corners of the woman's mouth were turned up in satisfaction at the display of obedience. "Very well, darling, all is forgiven." The girl sighed in relief; she was safe. For now. The woman ran a hand through her daughter's brown hair. "Oh, dear..."

The girl's eyes widened in alarm. "Is something wrong, Mother?" She prayed to God that she hadn't done something to upset her mother again.

The woman tugged, none too lightly, on the girl's thick, brown locks. "I'm afraid it's your hair, dear... It's horrid." She tutted. "No boy will ever want a girl with hair such as this. Such a shame."

The girl turned away as to not alert her mother that she was crying.

Jinja's eyes fluttered opened gently, very unlike the previous night. Yet, the tears from her dream had somehow made their way into reality and she wiped at her eyes. While her father had been the one to physically harm her, her mother had done the real damage. Every little remark, every nasty comment had imbedded itself in her mind. When she was older, she realized what a smart move that had been. Putting her down verbally at a young age so that she was less likely to rebel when she was older. Clever. Maybe it would have worked in another life.

She noticed that Chase was asleep, once again, in the chair and gently nudged him. "Chase," she spoke softly, though she didn't know why since they were the only two in the room. "Chase, wake up."

Chase yawned and opened his eyes to meet hers. "Oh, hey Jin," he greeted tiredly, rubbing his neck. She realized that it must have been a result of sleeping in that godawful chair. "What's up?"

Jinja glared at him, ignoring the fluttering feeling in her chest. "Chase Suno, did you spend another night in that thing?" she scolded. "I told you to sleep in your own damn bed."

Chase shrugged. "I got nervous," he admitted. "I was afraid that if I left your side, they'd take you away from m- us." Dammit, not again. Why did he keep slipping up like that?

Jinja's cheeks turned pink as she tried not to think about how amazingly sweet that was. "What happened after I fell asleep?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"They tried to convince the doctor to let them see you," Chase told her. "but she was adamant that they leave." He grinned. "She even called in some of the soldiers to escort them out. They weren't too happy about that though."

Jinja tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "Did they... say anything?"

Chase's eyes shifted nervously. "Nothing you need to worry about," he assured her.

Jinja groaned. "Chase, don't," she snapped.

"Don't what?"

"Sugarcoat things," the brunette answered crossly, folding her arms over her chest. "I told you, I'm not a victim and I don't need to be protected. I can handle the truth."

Chase raised his hands up in defense. "I didn't say you couldn't. There are just some things that they said that I don't feel comfortable repeating." Jinja sighed, but seemed to except this answer. She looked like she wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the door swinging open.

There Bren stood with Dax and Beyal on either side of him. "Jinja!" he exclaimed, rushing over. "You're okay! I mean..." He cleared his throat, quite embarrassed. "You're okay."

Jinja giggled. "It's good to see you too, knucklehead."

"Gave us a bit of a scare there, Princess," Dax commented, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Alright?"

She smiled and nodded. "Alright," she confirmed.

"It is good to see you are well, Jinja," spoke Beyal.

"Thanks, Beyal." She winced and stared distastefully at the IV that was still in her arm. "Ugh, can one of you tell them to cool it with the painkillers? At this point, I can't even feel my arm." She looked directly at the black haired boy as she said this.

Chase got the memo and stood up, stretching his stiff legs. "I'll do it," he 'volunteered.'

Dax smirked a little. "Surprised you're willing to leave this room, Lil' Suno," he remarked teasingly.

Chase chose to ignore his as she looked over to Jinja. "I'll be right back," he promised her, then glanced at the four guys. "Make sure she doesn't get up for anything, okay? Doctor's orders." He sent a smirk her way before exiting the room.

"What if I have to use the bathroom?" Jinja called after him, to which all the guys laughed. Well, Bren and Dax laughed. Beyal gave a little chuckle due to the fact that he had no idea what was so funny.

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When it came to his feelings surrounding Jinja, Chase was at a lost.

Of course, Chase was at a lost when it came to a lot of things; math, science, politics, etc. But those were things he didn't really care about. And he definitely cared about Jinja. He guessed it had always sort of been there, a little spark between them (at least on his end), since the day they met. It had somewhat quelled itself after they met Beyal and Dax, himself lacking when it came to those two. He knew he'd never be able to compete with the edgy bad boy or the mysterious monk, so he gave up, tried to bury his feelings for her.

Now, however, with the revelation of her troubled past, he felt those feelings resurface tenfold along with some others. He was angry, more angry than he could ever remember feeling. He was also... sad. His heart ached for her. The pain she must have felt growing up, he could hardly imagine it. He wished he could do something to ease her pain, but he couldn't just erase years worth of trauma.

Sighing, he alerted the doctors that Jinja wanted them to ease up on the painkillers before retreating back to her hospital room.

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When Chase returned, he was relived to see her laughing at something that Dax said, which also caused Bren to blush. He deduced it must have had something to do with Tango, seeing as he was sure his brother had a very big crush on her. "They said that they'll lessen the drugs," he announced, making himself known to the four teens.

Jinja noticed him out of the corner of her eye, smiling softly in his direction and he swore his heart skipped a beat. "Thanks, Chase." She pursed her lips. "Sorry I ruined our night out, you guys."

Dax rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid, Princess."

Chase frowned at her. "Jin, you didn't ruin it," he insisted.

"I am just glad you are alright, Jinja," spoke Beyal softly.

Bren nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Jin. You're safety is way more important than a night out."

Jinja seemed to regard them, trying to decipher if they were just saying all that to make her feel better. She finally just accepted what they were saying and smiled. "Okay, then." She looked like she was about to say more when the doctor came into the room.

"Miss Kay, there's a woman outside here to meet you," she informed the young adult.

Jinja looked panicked. "I-Is it my mother?" she asked tentatively.

The doctor shook her head. "No," she answered. "This woman says her name is Joyce. Should I let her in?"

Jinja's eye widened, but not in fear, Chase noticed. No, her sky blue orbs held something akin to excitement. He wondered who in the world this woman was. "Send her in," she confirmed with barely contained anxiousness. The doctor nodded and left the room. She turned to her friends, guilt shining in her eyes. "Guys, I don't want to be rude, but could you all leave for a second? I just want to be with her alone."

Bren and Dax looked like they wanted to protest, but Beyal simply nodded. "Of course, Jinja. Come along friends." He practically dragged his two friends out by their ears, making Jinja and and Chase glance at each other awkwardly at the scene.

Chase shuffled nervously. "I guess I should be going too..." Though, he really didn't want to.

"Chase wait."

Chase felt his heart stop as her turned around to face the brunette, noticing her head was down and her cheeks were tinted pink. "Yeah?"

Jinja raised her head up to meet his gaze. "Can... can you stay?" She managed a small small as she reconciled the few bright moments in her childhood. "Joyce... she was the maid when I lived with them. She was the only one who showed me any affection and didn't hit me growing up. She's like a mother to me. I... I really want you to meet her."

Chase seemed to consider this for a minute before nodding. "Of course," he answered, sitting back down in the chair.

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A pretty, middle-aged woman with long brown hair soon entered the room. Upon seeing Jinja, her face broke out into a wide grin and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "Oh, Jinja," she muttered, bringing the young girl in for a tight embrace.

Jinja also had tears in her eyes. "Joyce..." she murmured into the woman's hair. "Long time, no see, huh?"

The woman, Joyce, pulled back and kissed the top of Jinja's head. "I've missed you, sweetheart."

"I missed you too, Joyce." Chase shifted on his feet nervously, not wanting to interrupt the surprisingly tear-jerking reunion. Jinja seemed to notice this because she gestured to him. "Joyce, this is Chase Suno," she announced. "One of my best friends."

Chase rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Nice to meet you, ma'am," he greeted politely. This woman obviously meant a lot to Jinja, so he made sure he was on his best behavior, that included manners which he definitely didn't use very often.

Joyce smiled warmly at him. "Very nice to meet you too, young man. How long have you and Jinja known each other?"

"Oh, feels like decades," joked Chase, making the girl in the hospital bed glare at him. "but we've known each other for seven years... not in the most normal way either."

"Sounds like an interesting story," remarked Joyce. "Do tell."

Jinja chuckled. "Not as interesting as you might think, Joyce. But okay. Here's how it happened."

Flashback

"Run, Bren, run!" shouted an eleven year old Chase as he ran as fast as he could down the street. He could feel himself giving out, but kept on pushing as if his life depended on it. Which, it kind of did. "Faster, B!" Perhaps defending your nerdy friend against three older, burly boys by calling them names wasn't the smartest idea, but he couldn't just let them humiliate his brother.

Young Bren, who was a few feet behind him, suddenly keeled over, holding his side. "Chase, I can't," he wheezed. "I think I have a cramp."

"Crag," muttered Chase as he doubled back to help his friend. "Bren, they're coming, we gotta go."

"Too late, losers," sneered a voice.

Chase gritted his teeth. "Get lost, Hider," he snapped.

The boy, Hider, approached menacingly. "I don't think so, Suno. You see, you disrespected me and my friend over here. You ought to be taught a lesson on how to treat your superiors."

Bren stood to his full height trying to look menacing, but failing greatly. "Being our superiors implies that you're better than us," he stated. "That seems false to me."

"Not helping, B," muttered Chase nervously as he saw the two boys get even angrier.

"Why don't you fight someone who can fight back?" All four boys turned to see a girl their age with long brown hair and bright blue eyes.

Hider sneered. "Who, girly, you?" he snorted.

Jinja clenched her fist and before anyone knew it, Hider's friend was on the ground and Hider himself was thrown into a wall. "Yeah, me," she snapped. "Now leave."

"Freak!" yelled Hider as he and his friend retreated.

Jinja put her hands on her hips in satisfaction before turning to the remaining two. "Are you boys okay?" she asked, holding a hand out to either of them.

Chase immediately took it and stood up, grinning stupidly at the girl. "We're fine," he assured her. "Thanks for the help though." He nudged the brunette boy next to him.

Bren adjusted his glasses before smiling shyly. "Yeah, thanks," he muttered. "What's your name anyway?"

"Jinja. Yours?"

"I'm Chase," said Chase. "and this is Bren."

"And that was the start of a beautiful friendship," finished Chase dramatically in the present. "Since then, me, Jin, and Bren stuck together through everything, then we met Dax and Beyal and the rest is history." Jinja rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile fondly at the memory. That had been the day she had found her real family.

Joyce, on the other hand, was beaming. "That's my Jinja," she stated proudly, caressing said girl's cheek. "Such a good girl."

Jinja blushed. "Joyce, how did you even know I was here?" she asked. "And how did my parents for that matter?"

Something flashed in the woman's eyes when Jinja uttered the word 'parent,' but as soon as it was there, it was gone. "They were contacted as soon as you were brought in. By law, STORM has to contact your immediate family. I heard and followed them here. Of course, they don't know I'm here."

Jinja nodded, knowing that her parents' abuse didn't just extend to herself. "I'm glad you're here," she spoke softly. "I'm sorry I left you." That was her only regret in running away all those years ago.

Joyce ran a hand through the girl's brown locks. "You did what you had to," she insisted firmly. And somehow, that made everything alright.

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Well, that was longer than I expected. Anyway, please review and I'll see you next time!