A/N: I figured I might need a Chapter 11 to wrap this story up. This one ran on too long (as you can see when you look at the scroll bar. Too tiny right?). So Chapter 11, the final installment for sure, will be posted up next week. So enjoy this one since it's here.

CHAPTER 10

The Past, the Present, and the Future

Mika watched the fight from the sidelines as she was supposed to. She didn't bother intervening every time Enishi was caught off guard and kept herself (with ease) from not screaming at the sight of Lei's jian covered in blood. Her mind was elsewhere, wondering on a past not so long ago . . .

-FLASHBACK-

It was summer that day, the kind of day that reminded you of the aftermath of a storm. The tall trees of green protected those who stood beneath them and blades of grass was their brightest hue yet. The birds sang and flew with grace as some of the most beautiful flowers of China laid withering on top of graves.

A girl stood there with her mixed family looking at the two caskets preparing to get swallowed into the ground. She didn't bother crying to show how she felt so the world can see. They were dead- they wouldn't remember they had abandoned their only child and given her to the world.

A hand came onto the girl's shoulder and urged her to go to the caskets. She did so and threw two flowers, one for each person. Then she looked around her at the people wearing their black outfits. Why such a beautiful day but so much dread, she wondered. Then her eyes caught someone and was surprised to see a man who looked Japanese. The girl knew half her family was Japanese but he was different somehow from all the rest. His hair was pure white and his eyes were emerald colored. His eyes had a malicious yet satisfied gleam to them. And she was drawn to them (and the muscular guy they belonged to).

"Come on, Mika," said one of her aunts. "Time to move away." Mika didn't move because their eyes met for a second before the man broke out into a sadistic grin. And then man walked away from the crowd as if telling her to follow him. She had to talk to that man, she had to meet him somehow and that was leaving her entire family behind. Instincts told her there was more than what most people who saw him thought.

Mika ran out of the area (after escaping her aunt) and followed him to where he seemed to have gone. There were trees to keep her out of sight of her family but this didn't become apparent to the naive fifteen-year-old. She walked a little farther in and passed several trees. Then she stopped moving when she heard a dead twig snap and looked back. It was a different man, one who she could tell was from around here. After all, he appeared Chinese.

"Well, who are you?" He said smoothly as he approached her.

Mika started to back away. He looked like he would try to hurt her from that glee in his eyes. And would enjoy seeing her squirm out of fear. She kept moving back until she bumped into someone much taller than she was. Her head tilted upwards to see the man she had been looking for. Instincts were yelling at her to run away while she still could but she seemed rooted to the spot. That's when the other guy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward.

"You don't have to be shy, woman," the man teased. "Just be compliant and you'll feel nothing but pleasure." Oh yeah, he was perverted enough.

"Let go of me," the girl grumbled, trying to yank herself away from the pervert. The grip only tightened and she began to start kicking. Eventually, she ended up kicking the man in the groin. The moment he let go, she started to run. But the man had managed to grab her long hair and pulled her back.

The white-haired man spoke for the first time during the fiasco. "Lin, what do you expect to gain from a girl who isn't . . . " He looked at Mika for the words to describe his point. "... fully developed yet?"

Mika was confused. She didn't know if she should be mad at the man who was hinting she was somewhat flat-chested. Or at the one named Lin for trying to assault her. Her father had always seemed to be joking when he said that she wouldn't be getting married and Mika had always laughed. But now Mika wondered if barely having boobs explained why she didn't have a boyfriend yet.

"I'm still growing!" She finally exclaimed, the only reason she had at the time. Then she felt a grip on her arm again and was pulled down onto the ground by Lin. Suddenly he was on top of her.

"Lin," the other man muttered. He looked like he was starting to feel guilty as if he was doing that to her. His voice didn't show that feeling but if you look into his eyes long enough, you could tell. Then the guy sighed. "Have your fun. Just let me know when you're done so I can . . . !" The man stopped talking. He heard footsteps and it alerted his senses. First he looked out in front of him, then to his left, then to the right, then-

"Yukishiro and Lin," said a voice behind him. It belonged to a tall Chinese man. He was dressed like all the others but something about those amethyst eyes had a glow to them. They weren't mourning nor grieving. It was something else, like he was looking for somebody in particular.

Yukishiro glared at the man over his shoulder. "Well, isn't it Chao."

"What's going on?" Chao asked, his eyes on the girl and Lin. He knew that the two men were part of the mafia. He had run into them several times, none of them pleasant. Since Yukishiro was at a funeral that he didn't belong to made it clear to him that he was responsible for Miyagi's death. No doubt he was here to clean up whatever mess he left behind or better yet, what he didn't finish.

Yukishiro grinned suddenly, but his eyes were cold. "Nothing much. We were about to leave anyway." Casting a glare at Lin, he could see the man was shocked by the order. But nonetheless, the cold glare Yukishiro was giving him made Lin get up and go to his side.

Mika got up and hid behind the man who was called Chao. He appeared to have some authority over the two. Or maybe it was something unexplainable because none of them were scared of the other. Whatever it was, she was glad that the dangerous men were leaving. Her dark blue eyes watched their backs disappear into the forest.

"Have you met that Japanese man before?" Chao asked her after Lin and Yukishiro had left. He looked down at Mika and saw she looked confused But finally she shook her head no. It was time for the second question. "And tell me- was the deceased your parents?"

She nodded. "Who is he?" She suddenly asked him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Chao frowned when she shook her head no. He sighed. "He's Yukishiro Enishi, a mafia boss. He's the one that killed your dad."

Mika was almost speechless. "What . . . do you mean . . . that he killed my father?"

Chao looked around to see if they were still around or if there were more of their organization. Yukishiro was not the type to give in so easily. He was not known for his hesitation or kindness. "The point is that he came here to make sure the job he had left no traces. Seeing how much you resemble your mother, he must have-"

"Does he know what he did? He took three lives with only one swing of his sword! He killed my father, my mother died because of that, and now what do I have to go back to?"

Chao sighed again before an idea clicked into his head. "Have you ever held a sword in your hand before?"

Mika folded her arms and gave a small rock a kick. What did that have to do with the death of her parents? They were at the funeral. But she felt the question must have some relevance because Chao didn't look stupid. "Only my father's," she finally answered, "but I never used it. I never knew how to."

"If you want, I can train you to be an assassin. Maybe then you can get revenge." Chao started to walk away from Mika. But he continued to talk to her. "Think about the offer. Only when you're sure that you can handle the blood you will see on your hands, come look for me. If you're smart, you'll remember the name Lok Chao. Don't be an idiot and forget."

-END FLASHBACK-

Mika blinked coming back to the fight. How long had it taken to remember that random memory and replay it in her head? A good bit of time for Lei had several wounds on his body but not as much as Yukishiro. Yukishiro's blood was bleeding freely and his breathing was heavier than she remembered. It worried her but a part of her felt slightly satisfied as well.

"Mika," Yan Yan said from behind and saw the look in those dark blue eyes. There weren't tears forming at all- more like contradicting decisions. "I need to talk to you outside for a moment." The two of them then walked out of the room and into the hallway where they were sure nobody would be.

Mika heard a cheer through the double doors and wanted to see who it was for. But she needed to get this conversation done with. "What is it?"

"Please tell me that you will protect Enishi." Yan Yan looked at the girl pleadingly and was frustrated when Mika turned away from her stare. Yan Yan then folded her arms and stared at Mika incredulously. "Yuan told me about what Enishi did to you in the past. It must have been painful to continue for five years without your parents but-"

"Yan Yan, don't worry about it. He had this coming." Mika wondered where did that statement came from. Only this morning she had admitted that she loved him and said she would marry him. But this whole thing was contradicting- everything seemed wrong no matter which way she looked at it when they were supposed to be right.

Yan Yan raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "I can't believe you're saying this. You told Enishi that you were going to spend your whole life with him but now . . . " She began to shake her head slowly, the skepticism etched onto her face.

Mika looked Yan Yan straight in the eye and said, "Enishi shouldn't matter to me." Yep that was what the vengeful part of her had wanted to say all along.

At first Yan Yan looked stunned. But then she lost her temper and slapped Mika across the face. "Listen to yourself. Already talking crap. Let me tell you something you don't seem to know. The past should mean nothing but it never does! But all you will ever have is the moment in front of you. Either you take it or you don't. And once you decide, you can't change it. So make sure you choose what you really want in the end." With that, Yan Yan opened one of the doors and went back inside.

Mika stood there thinking, resting against the wall for support. That what she needed the most at that moment- support.

Lei was grinning. He could easily smell money and death simultaneously as he delivered another blow to the shoulder. "Don't you want to give up, Yukishiro?" Seeing Yukishiro losing so much blood made him feel satisfied. But he wasn't going to let him live. He waited to long for this.

Enishi clung to his side with his free hand while the other held his Tachi tightly. He realized death was only a few moments away and that Mika wouldn't be happy about the results. If he wanted anything then, it was Mika's happiness. And he had a feeling it wouldn't be marrying Lei. If he couldn't survive the fight, he knew he had to kill the man in front of him.

Lei saw Yukishiro trying to rush him. But his movements were slower and easy to perceive. At perfect timing, Lei moved out of the way, causing Yukishiro to run passed him. Then he used the butt end of the sword to pound him in the back, causing him to fall onto the ground and coughing up some blood. His grin got even bigger as he walked to the front of Enishi's body and took a good look at his face. Using his foot, he lifted Enishi's head by the chin.

"You know what I'll do?" He said mockingly, seeing all the anger in those green eyes. "I'll cut your head off and mount it on a plaque in my room. Maybe there you could watch me fuck that whore of yours." He raised the sword and brought it crashing down.

CLANG! Metal hit metal when the jian collided with another sword that had just been thrown. It stood there in the wall and vibrated from the impact. Lei's eyes lit up with anger as he looked up to see who had threw it. His eyes caught the look in Mika's eyes. Lei figured that she must have taken it from somebody. He walked over there rather quickly and dragged Mika out into the arena.

"You've always been in the way, you ungrateful bitch," he muttered, grabbing her by the hair. He looked into her defiant eyes and it angered him more. "I'll kill you now. I'll make Yukishiro's last minutes of life a living hell."

Her eyes turned dead and all life disappeared from all the pain and confusion she had been feeling. A small laugh came out of her mouth. "Kill me. I don't care about living anymore."

Somehow, Lei turned animalistic for a second. He bared his teeth and let out an enraged growl. Still Mika didn't bother showing fear and he then changed his tactic. "How about I kill your beloved?" He didn't get a response that time and it became complete deja vu. He thought about the situation before throwing Mika in Enishi's direction. Then he threw his sword at her. "Don't kill yourself with it," he told her. "Go kill Enishi like the assassin you are. Tell him why you really came to his island, tell him what your true intentions were."

Mika's mouth opened slightly from the initiative shock. How long had he known that? Was he even serious about that? She looked back at Enishi and started to approach him, the sword dragging on the marble floor. She thought that secret could be kept from him but now it was different and she had been put on the spot.

Mika stopped several feet away from him and saw the look in his eyes. Lei was no doubt trying to break the man before he killed him. He wanted to take Enishi's whole reason for living away. Suddenly she found herself hating to be a woman. Women seemed so naive and foolish when it came to love. And she couldn't stand it. Because that how she felt- foolish and naive . . .

And in love.

Mika swallowed and forced herself to speak. "Do you remember a man you killed over five years ago? When the mafia needed money? You had decided to go to the richest home you knew in Shanghai. And had turned out it belonged to a government official."

Enishi's eyes were contemplating what she said until they widened from the realization of that day. It had been him, Lin, Heishin, and Lei who had went to the house. They had been expecting more people to be inside but there was only that one man. It had turned out that he could fight quite well and had wounded Heishin quite badly. He remembered himself saying he would kill the man and telling Lin and Lei to find any valuables. He was in good shape but he couldn't avoid his swiftness. Then there had been the funeral and the teenage girl . . .

Mika looked away from him. "I trained to learn how to be an assassin because Chao had told me if I could learn how to use any weapon properly, well, then I could avenge my parents. After four years of training, I found out your whereabouts and went to your island. The funny thing was that I was actually unconscious. Fate had it that I would get to your island only by the waves of a storm. Since the moment I woke up in that room and first laid eyes on you, I dedicated my life to killing you.

"But that changed, hasn't it? Because up till now, I couldn't kill you. All because I . . . " She looked into his eyes to avoid the words that had been troubling her. Mika could see the shock, the pain, the confusion in those green seas.

Enishi forced himself to stand up and leaned back on the wall to prevent himself from falling. "You're not joking, are you?" Lei couldn't have found a more perfect way to end someone's life. Sending the beloved to tell the opponent that they shouldn't have given them their trust or affection.

The tears started to swell in her eyes. "I still love you, though."

That moment, he looked into her eyes and saw everything that had happened. It brought back all his emotions from when he first laid eyes on her to when they had talked for real. Then to when they were under the moonlight in the forest to when they were on the balcony. It all ended with the night before when they had made love.

Then the world around him changed into a forest filled with snow and he saw Tomoe in Mika's place and It was like fifteen years ago when his sister had died. The snow had fallen slowly and all he had in his mind was to be with his sister again. Then across the distance he saw a figure approaching Tomoe from behind. He instantly recognized the person as Hitokiri Battosai. And like before, he could only watch history repeat itself. With his sword, Himura took one slash at her turned back and blood stained the fresh snow. Enishi saw the agony in her dark blue eyes as she fell to the ground.

His green eyes opened wide when he realized he wasn't in the forest but still in the fight. What had been Tomoe was then Mika and what had been the Hitokiri became Lei. Everything seemed to move in slow motion when she fell to the floor, a pained expression on her face. "Mi . . . ka?" Enishi said quietly. Somewhere in the crowd, Yan Yan let out a scream of shock and dismay.

Lin started to run over. He hadn't expected this turn of events. "There still may be sometime to save her!" He stopped when Lei pointed his new acquired weapon (a dao) at his throat.

"Let her die here," Lei ordered, "Or you will die before she does."

Have I let you down too? Enishi asked himself as walked over to the body, limping almost every step of the way. Don't die on me. Don't you even think about it. hang in there a bit longer and let me finish this fight. And I'll join you soon, I promise. The whole entire time, death seemed to linger in his mind.

A/N: I was listening to Sadness and Sorrow from Naruto while writing the last scene and I ended up crying! I know that was stupid of me but I couldn't help it! It just seemed so sad with that song in the background. To be honest though, I thought I lost all the feeling for this story and wasn't sure if I could finish it. But then I got into this again.

I have a feeling that some people may hate Lei after this chapter. Though I am an Enishi fan, I have to say I like Lei's character. No matter how many things he's responsible for, no matter how many people has suffered at his hands, no matter how manipulating he is, I still like this guy. He's one of my best developed characters.

Thanks to Deadly Diva for reviewing. I'm glad you think that Chapter 9 is the best so far. It makes me happy to know I'm improving. Also thanks to Kishofwings. I'm glad you're rooting for Enishi. I want him to win. Just don't kill me if something happens you don't want to happen. For the rest of you readers, review! It's almost the end here. Till later, anywayz.