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This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, also the next two chapters after this one are pretty short so they'll be uploaded on the same day. Hope I can get more reviews with this new chapter added :)

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Ch. 4 Telling a Secret

Emily sat in bed sending a private e-mail to her sister.

Dear Serena,

I'm sorry I haven't sent anything the last two weeks, we've been busy with attacks and I've been sick the last two days. Jayden's spending all his time taking care of me. He's such a sweetie. Hope everything at home is okay. How are mom and dad? How are you doing? I feel a little guilty that I haven't told the others about you. I don't know how they'll react if they learn that I'm not the true yellow samurai. I still don't know what to do about Jayden. I know mentor told us we couldn't date, each other of all people but I can't help how I feel about him. I wish I knew what to do, I've never felt this way about anyone. Do you have any advice?

Emily sent the e-mail just as Jayden walked in with more orange juice. "I brought you some more juice."

"Thanks,"

"What were you doing?" He asked handing her the glass.

"I was sending an e-mail home," Emily answered before taking a drink.

"To your parents?"

"Um…my sister actually."

"Oh, you never mentioned a little sister."

"She's not my little sister," She said quietly.

"So she's your older sister then?" Emily nodded. "Then why isn't she here? Not that I don't like having you here because I do, but I don't know if I understand why you're here."

"She's really sick," Emily sighed. "I started training after she was first diagnosed with her disease. I was only twelve."

"I'm sorry about your sister,"

"Thanks, please don't tell the others. This is supposed to be Serena's destiny not mine."

"I won't tell anyone. This job is a bit of a burden and having heard you took the responsibility when your sister couldn't only makes you stronger to me."

"It does?"

"Yes, we sacrifice a lot for this job. We train from childhood and keep training even after actually fighting. We never had the chance to be kids or now teenagers, at least I never did growing up here." Jayden sighed as memories came back to him.

(Flashback)

Ji walked out to the training area and found Jayden drawing and coloring. "Jayden you should be practicing your symbol power, not drawing sketches."

"Can I play now and practice tomorrow?" A young Jayden asked.

"Jayden, your father didn't leave you with me to play. He left you with me so I can train you in the ways of being a samurai and drawing these meaningless pictures aren't going to help you save the world." Ji said taking Jayden's drawing and crumpling it up. "Now get to work." Ji ordered.

Jayden sighed and began drawing a symbol. "All I've done the last six months is work." He grumbled.

(End Flashback)

"I didn't get the chance to socialize with others after I came here. When Ji would take me to town with him when he went to market I'd look out the car window and watch the other children play in their yards and the playground. I felt jealous and alone. One time I actually got out of the car and went to play in the park with a boy named Antonio and Ji was furious with me. He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me to the car."

"I guess you had it hard growing up huh?"

"It wasn't that bad. Better me than the rest of you."

"I admire that, you'd much rather suffer than see the rest of suffer."

"You're the same. Taking that hit for me, taking your sister's place, even wanting to keep fighting even though you have the flu. You're a true fighter Emily."

"Thanks but I'm nowhere near as great a fighter as you."

"I can give you some private training if you want."

"I'd like that, sounds like it'd be a great help."

"It will be. Plus it'll make the team even harder to defeat and it'll be good quality time we'll be spending together."

"If you're going to train me to fight like you, why don't you train the others too?"

"Because they don't have the determination that you have."

"I just want to make Serena proud."

"If you've been keeping her up to date on everything going on around here then I'm sure she's very proud of you."

"Or she may feel like she's missing out. She was born for this, not me."

"Yes you were, it's in your blood."

"Until Serena got sick I was just my parents' other daughter. I didn't get much attention from my parents and the kids at school teased me, Serena was the one that taught me to ignore them."

"Well at least she gave you attention when your parents didn't."

"I also didn't get the same training she did. My mom had to balance out training me and taking care of my sister. That's partly why I'm not as good as the rest of you."

"Who says you're not as good as the rest of us? If anything I think you're better."

Emily shook her head in disagreement. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not, you've got the heart of a samurai in you and you strive to be the best to prove to yourself that you belong here but please believe me, you do belong here just as much as the others do."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I do, why would you ask me that?"

"I guess I'm lacking in self-confidence."

"You have no reason to be lacking any."

"Thanks Jayden," Emily let out a soft yawn.

"Sleepy?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll let you get some sleep then," Jayden grabbed the now empty glass and left the room. He returned a minute later with an extra blanket but Emily was already asleep. "She must've been sleepier than she thought." Jayden covered Emily with the extra blanket and went to turn off her lamp when Emily's laptop beeped. An e-mail opened from Serena.

Dear Emily,

I'm sorry you've been sick but glad you're being taken care of. I'm sure soon you'll be all better and out saving the world again. Everything here is fine, mom and dad are fine and the doctor says I'm starting to show signs of improvement! I'm sorry I don't know what to do about your situation though. If it wasn't against the rules to be with him then I'd say go for it, but then again you don't know how Jayden feels about you. Would he be worth breaking the rules for?

Jayden didn't mean to read the message but he was glad he did. For weeks he drove himself crazy trying to figure out how Emily felt about him and now he could rest easy. He closed the laptop, turned off the lamp and left the room with a smile on his face.

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Isn't it so cute how I can make them easily talk & confide in each other when they're having their moments? Poor Jayden didn't get to play as a kid but ironically as a man in his late teens all he does is work

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