A/N: Holidays delayed this chapter's writing and posting. Me is sorry :[.

Many thanks to my lovely beta reader, TheRish. X3

Emily awoke before light touched the sky, still feeling hazy and tired, but something told her she needed to get up. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she sighed. She only slept for three hours. She pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. Her shoulders ached more than her feet; that's what she got when she slept in a funny position. Her feet touched the floor, making no sound. Creeping down the hallway to her room, she opened the door quietly. Sure enough, Kazu was still there, sleeping silently, unmoving. Emily smiled. He looked so cute when he slept.

Emily made her way downstairs. No one was home yet, though she didn't really expect anyone. Her parents were still supposed to be in Kanto, and who else would come to Emily's house? Her parents were notorious for not liking Storm Riders, and as all the people she was friends with were Strom Riders . . . not a good mix at all. She remembered the time Ikki had shown up at her house at five in the morning to see if Kazu was there. Kazu wasn't at her house, of course. Turns out he was out on the racetrack that morning. Anyway, her parents weren't very happy and had promptly kicked Ikki out, and then they went on to yell at Emily about chastity and the such. She sighed at the memory.

Since she missed the training day before, Emily decided that she would leave Kazu to sleep and train today. If he was awake, he would stop her and tell her to do something else. It may be true that she overtrained and sometimes forewent spending time with Kazu for training, but if she were ever to feel like she belonged, she had to train. Unless some miracle happened, she had to accomplish her goals in the regular human way.

Emily walked over to the kitchen and grab an apple to eat on the way to the school. The school was where she usually trained, because many buildings were in close proximity. She went to the closet by the door and retrieved her AT bag. It felt like forever since she had seen her ATs. She took them out of the bag and admired them. They were unremarkable, black and purple with slightly above average wheels and screws. She touched one wheel, and it moved smoothly. Kururu, being one of Emily's close friends, made sure that Emily's ATs were always in perfect working order. She never had a problem with her ATs since Kururu fixed them six months ago.

Emily slipped on the ATs and buckled them. Her bag in hand, she left the house just as the first bits of dawn entered the sky. She moved at a casual pace, her ATs making virtually no sound as they rolled against the pavement. It was going to be a great day. She could see no clouds in the sky. Perfect day for ATs since, if the ground was wet or slippery, it could impair a rider's speed.

She reached the school when the sun had just fully emerged from the horizon. She passed the gates and rolled into the courtyard, enjoying the morning breeze and the faint sound of music on the air.

She paused. "Music?" she thought, searching for the source. Rolling over to the other side of the courtyard, she went through the space between the buildings that led to the back courtyard. Even from a distance, Emily recognized the person there.

Rikia Akimoto was standing, facing the sun, moving her head to the beat of a hip hop song. Her eyes were closed, and she had one hand on her headphones. She didn't have on her ATs and was in fact barefoot. Her ATs were sitting next to her right foot, glowing the morning sun. Emily remained silent, watching, wondering. Most normal people wouldn't be hanging around a junior high school at this hour, especially not barefooted and listening to music.

Rikia's eyes opened, and Emily receded further back into the space. Rikia stomped the ground with her left foot, making a very muted pound. She straightened up suddenly and turned to where Emily stood. Both her eyes were exposed, and Emily saw that one of her eyes was blue and the other yellow, an abnormality even among foreigners. She stomped the ground again and moved closer to the space between the buildings, making more sound. Taking off her headphones, she hung them around her neck, stomped again and smiled.

"It's nice to see someone else up this early, Emily," she said, turning around and making her way back to where her ATs were. Emily emerged from the space into the courtyard, a little puzzled at what just happened. Why did Rikia only notice Emily there after she stomped? "I assume this is your place to train. I'm sorry. I like it here, too. Best view of the sun from here."

"Umm, it is. I was going to do some training today . . . " Emily said, rolling after Rikia. "What were doing here exactly?"

Rikia paused. She didn't like to lie. "Just tuning my senses" Not a total lie. "The morning is the best time to get the blood flowing to the brain." she said, taking off her bracelets and putting them on the ground next to her ATs. She still kept her headphones on and her iPod in her pocket. It was a natural thing for her; she felt naked without them. "I'll warm up with you, if you don't mind. I have some training to do myself actually."

"Oh?" Emily said. She shouldn't be surprised that Kings and Queens still practice and train, but she was. Rikia had shown such strength just yesterday, and to think she did something as routine as warming up made her seem a little more human. "No, I don't mind."

Rikia sat down and put on her ATs, buckling them up. Emily noticed for the first time that they bore a remarkable resemblance to the Flame Regalia. Instead of being black and orange however, they were white and blue, and a wolf with frost surrounding it replaced the kitsune and fire. They also were shaped like female ATs, a little narrower and sleeker than male ATs. They fit to Rikia's foot like a glove, like they were made for her especially.

"What's the route you usually take for warm-up?" Rikia asked, standing up and stretching. "I usually end up going to the other side of town and back. That's about fifteen miles one-way. Thirty miles seems light enough to me."

Emily's eyes widened. "Light?" She said, shocked that Rikia considered that distance light. She vaguely wondered if miles were measured differently in America. "I'm not sure how it is in America, but thirty miles in Japan is quite the distance on ATs."

Rikia laughed, her blond hair shaking. "The Ice Road emphasizes strength and endurance over speed." She said, the last giggles fading from her body. "I can see why thirty miles can seem so much to you. I can run long . . . " She shook her head and smiled. "But I'm just on the edge of being B-Class speed. If my average was any slower, then I wouldn't be a queen."

Emily was surprised to hear this. Rikia seemed pretty fast the day before against Ringo, although now that she was thinking about it, Ringo did move just that much faster than Rikia did. Rikia's fighting style was more standing in one place and deflecting attacks. Combine that with passive aggressive environment changes and no wonder she was made a queen. Many mysteries still surrounded Rikia however, like those blue and yellow eyes that were looking at Emily funny right now.

"We can just take your route, no?" Rikia said, still wondering why Emily looked so pensive. "I mean, it's not that important that I skate thirty miles a day. I just do it to keep myself healthy . . . "

"Oh," Emily said, snapping out of her trance. She must have seemed like an idiot in front of Rikia. "Well thirty miles is too long for me, so I guess we can take my route. My house and back is about four miles."

"Well, let's go!" Rikia said, grabbing Emily's hand and beginning to power her ATs. Both got up to speed and shot off toward the house.

"That was great!" Rikia said, coming to a stop and smiling. Emily stopped next to her and leaned back against the wall. She wasn't so tired that she couldn't do anymore training but she needed a moment and a stretch. Rikia, surprisingly enough, was just a little bit faster than Emily on ATs but not by much. Rikia was fast enough so that she added three extra miles onto the route and still managed to make it back to school in the same time.

"Has anyone ever told you that your stance is wrong when you run?" Rikia said. Emily looked up. No one had, not even Kazu, who was more interested in watching Emily practice than giving her tips. Then again, not many people watched her train. She hated it when people watched her, too much like a bug under a microscope. "Your right foot turns out and causes air resistance. It could be why you're not an A-Class rider."

"Does that really affect speed that much?" Emily said. It seemed like too small of a thing to be the whole reason.

Rikia nodded. "Even a little air resistance can cause a decrease in speed," she said. She raised her hand and ran in through the air with the palm toward the wind and then again with her fingers facing the wind. "You get a lot more resistance with more surface area for the wind to catch on. That's why the Flame Regalia is always remolded to the rider's foot when it's passed on, to provide maximum speed. It's not only your wheels that make you go faster."

"How do you know so much about ATs?" Emily said without thinking and immediately blushed. Of course someone of King level would know everything about ATs. They were the best of the best, almost godlike. "I'm sorry that's a stupid question."

Rikia laughed and shrugged. "I learned everything I know about ATs from my tuner back in America," she said, her laugh fading into a smile. She seemed to be remembering something. Emily decided not to ask. "It's because of Ruby that I'm here right now. I never thought I would ever be a good Strom Rider, let alone a Queen. Everything has moved so fast since..."

Rikia shook her head, dispelling the thought. She didn't come to Japan to be reminded of it.

"Let me see you do some basic AT moves, and we'll see what else we need to fix, hm?" she said. Emily sighed and got herself off the wall. A bug under a microscope she would be then.

Turns out that Emily had been doing a lot wrong. For one, she didn't turn her feet right at all, and she couldn't wall ride at all. Rikia was patient however, showing her the right way along with throwing in some tricks of her own. Emily had just met Rikia the day before, but she liked her. Rikia was easily liked, despite her outward appearance, and she seemed to hold a sense of mystery that Emily had never seen in anyone. Her mood swings, her blue and yellow eyes and most of all, her ATs and how they worked were all something Emily wanted to know.

"Hm? What about it?" Rikia said, taking a bite of the lunch Emily brought.

Emily always packed extra in case Kazu showed up and was hungry. It was about noon; they had been training for about five hours, and although Emily didn't get much sleep the night before, it was one of the best training days she ever had. They were both in the shade of the north wall, Rikia cross-legged and Emily with her legs out in front.

"Hello? Earth to Emily, this is Rikia!" She waved in her hand in front of Emily's face.

Emily jumped out of her trance. "Come again? Sorry, I spaced out," she said, laughing lightly. She should have gotten more sleep.

"I said, how about I become your tutor until you become an A-Class rider?" Rikia said, her mouth full of rice. She held up a finger and swallowed. "I mean, I don't know you, so it's not like I would make any judgments." She took a drink of water. "If nobody teaches you, you can't learn."

"Umm . . . I don't know," Emily said. Secretly, she was shocked at the fact that Rikia would ask something like that so casually. She was a Queen, even if only for twenty-four hours, and she barely knew Emily, nor did Emily know much about her. "Would you even have time? You're a Queen now, and Kazu is always gone . . . " She bit her lip. She hated thinking about how little she saw Kazu anymore.

"Eh, I'm not one of the main eight roads." Rikia said, leaning her head back against the wall. "I'm a sub queen, if you get what I'm saying. I didn't come to Japan to be put to work. I came to Japan to be recognized, so when I go back home, all of America will call me 'Rink Queen Rikia' and my team will be considered the best of the best." Her one blue eye looked at Emily from the side. "I have lots of time, and I see a lot of potential in you."

"Thank you, Rikia," she said. No one had ever said that to her before. Living in the shadow of Kazu, Ikki and Yayoi had put her in an odd light in which she never got compliments and was expected to be more of a cheerleader than anything. When someone saw Emily, they usually waved her off as someone with no promise in ATs at all. It had only recently begun to bother her. "Would you really do that for me? I mean, you barely know me."

"I know you enough to see that what you lack in talent, you make up in pure strength and endurance," Rikia said. She smiled a small smile. "You're like me more than you know."

"Really?" Emily said, almost choking on her bite. Herself being like Rikia? It was a prospect that seemed so far fetched. Rikia was a strong female character and a fantastic rider while Emily was . . . less than that, to say the least. "Why do you say that?"

"No reason," Rikia said. She put the bento down and rode back out into the sunlight. The sunlight caught her blond hair like a jewel. Rikia ran her hand through her hair, laughing lightly to herself. Emily thought vaguely that she was enjoying the sun way more than most people. "I love sunny days."

"Oh?" Emily said. She put both bentos away and stood up as well. She remained in the shade, however; she didn't like the sun too much. It burned her always-pale skin.

"It's like seeing," Rikia said, smiling big and waving her hand through the air. "When the sun shines, I can imagine what the world looks like a little better. I know it's bright." She closed her eyes. "And when things are bright, they have brilliant color." Rikia looked toward Emily. Her eyes were open again and the exposed blue eye seemed to gleam even deeper then before. "Though, I don't know what a lot of colors look like."

"What do you mean by that?" Emily said. Colors were colors, weren't they? They aren't any different any place else in the world. "Colors are colors. The colors in Japan are the same as in America."

Rikia laughed, a reaction that nearly startled Emily. "Don't you all take biology here?" she said. She lifted her hair and Emily saw her strange yellow and blue eyes again. For the first time however, she noticed that Rikia's eyes were not looking directly at her but rather through her, like Rikia was staring off into space. "I'm blind."

Emily froze. Rikia . . . blind? How is that possible? Rikia seemed to be able to see just fine, in fact maybe better than other people. She found Emily earlier with ease and even identified her without seeing her. When they were warming up, she showed no signs that she couldn't see where she was going. In the fight with Ringo, Rikia gave no indication that she could not see Ringo's attacks or where she was. She recognized people, a feat most blind people have trouble doing. How was this possible?

"I've been blind ever since I was born," she said with a matter-of-fact tone. "I've learned to adapt to it. These," She pointed to her headphones, "are not just for show. They help me see." She turned to look at Emily. "Since I've lived without my sight for so long, my other senses have been heightened, especially my sense of hearing. I see with my ears, if that makes sense."

"See . . . with your ears?" Emily whispered.

Rikia stomped the ground with her AT, making a much sharper sound than her foot from that morning. She pointed to Emily. "The sound vibration I just made has traveled from my foot to you," she said. "Through that I can see that you're standing right there, motionless. But I don't need that loud of a sound to see. Even my voice right now is enough. I can see your every movement, hear your every sound and feel the roll of your ATs against the ground. You have your own distinct sound; everyone does. That's how I know who people are, even if I've only heard them on TV." She smiled. "You have a more harmonious sound than a lot of people do. That makes for a good rider."

Emily wanted to say something, but her lips couldn't move. She could say nothing. Rikia had just revealed a mystery about herself in such a casual manner. It was like she was talking about the weather, not about seeing through sound or how she could be a Queen and still be blind. This was such a rapid turn of events. Emily and Rikia were still strangers but Rikia seemed totally comfortable disclosing such a fact.

"Emily! Rikia!" A voice came from on top of the wall. Emily turned around and raised her eyebrows. Kazu was sitting on the wall, looking down at the two girls. He didn't seem at all affected by the atmosphere as he leapt down to the ground. Rikia spoke as he rolled closer to them.

"Good afternoon, Kazu," Rikia said without turning around. Despite her choice of words, she was still casual, not at all seeming angry or offended. "Are you here to pick up Emily?"

"You're awake?" Emily said. She hadn't expected Kazu to be awake so early, since he hadn't slept much for the past two days. "I thought you would have slept longer."

Kazu sighed. "I woke up and realized you weren't there," he said. "I didn't want to stay in that creepy house by myself so . . . " He flipped the end of Emily's hair lightly, teasing her. "I came here because I knew it's where you would be. Training hard as ever." He looked toward Rikia. "And it seems you have company as well."

"Actually," Emily said, blushing a little at the prospect of Kazu watching her. It had been a while since he did that. "Rikia's been helping me today. She was here this morning, so we warmed up together."

Rikia turned at the sound of her name. "She's a quick learner." Rikia said, fully turning around to face Kazu. "Though I am surprised you haven't yet told her a lot of things I told her today."

"Been busy a lot lately." Kazu said, shrugging. "As one of the main eight, I barely have any free time." He sighed and shook his head. "This is one of the few times I actually get to do whatever I want for the day."

"You can watch, Kazu. You'll see how much Emily has improved," Rikia said, turning back around and making her way to the south wall. "Emily, let's work on your wall riding a bit more, okay? I think you almost got it."

So it came to pass that Kazu sat in the shade of the north wall while watching Emily attempt to wall ride. Rikia didn't seem much different from before. She still threw out tips when needed and was very encouraging. Still, the whole time, the fact that Rikia was blind hung in her mind. She watched her closely, looking for any indication that she couldn't see anything. There wasn't any visible indication. Rikia followed Emily's moves with her eyes just like a person with normal vision would, and she caught things that Emily didn't notice.

"Emily," Rikia said after Emily had fallen off the wall for the third time in a row. She pointed to Emily's right foot. "Did you injure your right foot recently? You don't seem to put as much pressure on it as you should."

"I don't think so," Emily said, looking up. She moved her right foot in all directions. No pain or anything would limit full movement. "It's not painful at all. Why do you ask, Rikia?"

"You favor your right foot a bit," Rikia said, bending down to look at Emily's foot herself. She touched the wheel of the AT and moved it. It moved smoothly, as far as Emily could tell. Rikia pursed her lips. "Take off your right AT."

"What's up?" Kazu said, having gone from the north wall to the south wall almost instantly. He was interested in what Rikia wanted with Emily's right AT.

"Just wondering something," Rikia said. Emily complied with her request and took off her right AT. She gave it to Rikia, who looked at the wheel closely. In a quick movement, Rikia took Emily's wrist and put it up to her ear. She then took the AT and put it up to the other ear. Emily didn't move an inch, although Rikia looked a little silly like that. Rikia closed her eyes and seemed to be whispering something, like a beat. After a couple minutes, she put Emily's hand down along with her AT. "Ah, that's it."

"What?" Emily said, wondering what Rikia could have found out from that. It looked more silly than anything, not at all informative. "What is it?"

"When was the last time you got your ATs checked?" Rikia asked. "You're friends with Kururu, right? I'm pretty sure someone from Tool Toul To would be happy to help out a friend of the Pledge Queen's."

"Six months ago," Emily replied. "By Kururu herself."

Rikia smiled. "You're lucky. Kururu is an excellent tuner," she said. She picked up Emily's AT again. "Even so, your ATs have worn down since then. The tune is off and there's a screw loose in your right front wheel. Bring them to Kururu tomorrow, and she'll be able to fix them in a snap."

Kazu's eyebrow raised. "It's not common for a King to be able to detect problems like that in another's ATs," he said. "Did you used to be a tuner?"

"Yes, I was," Rikia said, standing up and stretching her legs. "My tuner, Ruby, taught me first about ATs, so I took after him for a while. But then I wanted to ride ATs, so I got myself a pair. I've been riding them ever since."

"Ruby is a he?" Emily said, catching the fact that Rikia used 'him' instead of 'her' in referring to Ruby. "Ruby is a girl's name, isn't it?"

"Yes, he is. Don't you know that tuners are generally the opposite gender of their tunees? As for the name, his parents are weird people, much like mine were," Rikia said. She tugged on the belt loop of her jeans. "My mother was big into the 70's and 80's. I'm wearing some of her old clothes from that era now, actually."

"Where is Ruby now?" Emily asked.

"Still in America," Rikia said. Emily detected a bit of a sad edge to her voice. "Tool Toul To is based in Japan, so I should have problem finding a tuner to help me."

"Oh," Kazu said, looking a little confused. "Usually if the Regalia was made for you, you wouldn't need a tuner. You mean those Regalia weren't made for you? Someone had them before you?"

Rikia's eyebrow raised. "Ruby made these Regalia, using the core of another similar Regalia, but he made them for me," she said, in a surprisingly rough tone. "I'm their sole owner. I simply have trouble hearing my own ATs' tune."

She turned and walked off in the direction of her bag. Kazu blinked, taken aback by the sudden hostility.

"What did I say?" he asked.

"I don't know," Emily said, shrugging. She looked at Rikia, who was taking out speakers from her bag, the same speakers she used the day before when she defeated Ringo. "I don't think you said anything wrong."

Emily stood up and looked at Kazu. He smiled and brushed her cheek with his thumb. He was happy to see her, happy that he could see her improve so much. It was no mystery that Emily wanted to become a good rider so that she could keep up with Kazu, the great Flame King. It didn't matter to him, however, how good a rider she was. What mattered was that she understood about ATs and his 'occupation'. Being away from her so much was still hard, but she understood.

He leaned in toward her face. Emily blushed, just like she always did before they kissed. He took her cheeks between his hands and kissed her softly. Her hands rested on his waist and her eyes closed. The sun beat down on Kazu's back but the real warmth that spread through them was from the contact. They kept kissing, their lips not moving from one another's.

Lost in their world, they didn't notice Rikia stand back up. She heard the movement of lips against another's and the quicker breathing that came along with it. The sound sparked a flash of memory through her mind but she quickly pushed it aside. Instead of focusing on it, she plugged in her iPod and turned the volume on the speakers all the way up. She clicked to a song and pressed play.

The sound made Emily and Kazu jump. They stopped kissing and looked toward Rikia, still holding the iPod and looking at the two of them. She didn't look angry but rather had more of an intent of getting attention.

"If you two want to leave, you can," Rikia said. She turned the volume down and kneeled to fasten her ATs. "I'm done with Emily for the day and was just going to do some training myself."

Done? Already? "Oh," Emily said. It almost sounded like a command to leave. She wanted to stay, however, and see what Rikia did for training. "Can I stay and watch?"

"Sure," Rikia said. "I won't be long. I just have one thing I want to see if I can still do."

Without another word, she walked over to the wall. She closed her eyes, and the Regalia on her feet opened, exposing a stainless steel inner working, not unlike something resembling a bird taking flight. She put her arms by her side and breathed in deeply. The familiar tingling feeling of using the Ice Regalia flowed through her. Rikia knew that feeling so well. Her eyes opened. She smiled to herself, though nothing had seemingly happened to the wall.

Emily and Kazu watched this in silence. Kazu was truly starting to get bored already, but Emily was watching intently. He didn't notice but she saw a small amount of a blue vapor travel from her ATs to the ground and into the wall.

In a sudden movement, Rikia swung her leg forward, landing a kick on the wall. It wasn't a strong kick, but instead it looked rather soft. But within seconds, a large crack appeared in the wall that branched out like a bolt of lightning. The wall then crumbled easily into a pile of dust.

Kazu was taken aback, muttering a small curse to himself. A seemingly soft kick had done that to a solid concrete wall. What kind of magic was this?

And the song that Rikia had been playing was already ending, though only seconds seemed to have passed. Emily noted it in her head as the same song as she had heard that very morning.

'Take my hand

Go Ahead

Play my Game

Keep your head'

A/N: Please Review if you can! It makes my day when I read one!