I felt a hand on my back. "Hey, you okay?" It was Ryu.

I was brought suddenly out of my thoughts. Slapping a huge grin across my face, I replied "Yeah. Sure I am. I will be"

"I was waiting by the door to your changing room. The others left ages ago." He said.

I looked around and the stands were empty. How long have I been out of it? "Oh, sorry, I lost track of the time, where's Eva?" I asked

"Well, she told me I should come get you, as you were ignoring her, and then she just left. Are you sure you're okay?"

He stood in front of me, consuming my vision. I just smiled gently and said, "Sure, I may have been slaughtered out there, but at least I get discount at all Patch stores!"

"Are you su—" He started, but I interrupted.

"I'm fine! Now let's go find Thalim, I really fancy a cuppa!"

I grabbed my discarded dupatta on the way out of the stadium – it must have come lose during the fight – and wrapped it around my shoulders. I was determined not to cry. What did I expect from a team like mine? I know nothing more than their names, and I have no idea where they disappeared off to.

I tightened my dupatta. I can't let Ryu see me cry again.

Nyorai's power was just so awesome though. How is anyone going to be able to stand up to them? It was laughable that I thought I stood a chance.

I don't know if I can hold it in any longer. I pull my dupatta over my head, like a hood, to shield my face from him.

Now my dreams have been crushed. No, not crushed. To be crushed they would have to have even mattered to the opposition. But they didn't care. They ignored our dreams, just like they ignored our attacks.

"You were really strong out there today." Ryu said, breaking the silence around us.

I looked up at Ryu, searching his face for any note of sarcasm or laughter. He cannot be serious. "But I couldn't even land one hit on them."

"But you didn't give up. You kept at it, and gave it all you could."

Tears were steadily falling down my cheeks now, and it took all my strength to not completely breakdown. I had already been shown to be physically weak in front of Ryu, no matter what he said, I refuse to be mentally weak in front of him too.

"Why don't we get our tea to go? We can drink it somewhere quieter." He suggested

"Okay."

The walk to the café was quiet; few words were spoken between us. As we drew close to it, I saw a sea of orange. I wanted to turn on my heel and get as far away as possible. I'm not ready to face them yet, if ever. But there was no other way to the café, so I walked a little closer to Ryu. He must have sensed my need for comfort, because he gently put his hand on my shoulder. In desperation of not looking at that now awful colour, my eyes focused on the one figure not wearing orange. They were on their knees in front of the woman I fought today. I heard a French lilt and stopped in my tracks. It was Pierre. How dare he betray us so soon after our fight? "Please, Lady Sati."

Great! And it sounded like he was begging to them. What could he possibly want from them? Sati looked to the old man who we also fought. He gave her a stern look, and she turned back to Pierre and said, "How do you know you won't abuse it?"

"Please, I just want to be able to fight without hurting people. I have to be able to protect my family, but after what happened on my journey here, I don't think I could ever harm anyone ever again. I just want to know a way where I can win without people getting hurt."

My heart froze. I've thought of him a being lazy or a coward, but never did I think there was a reason to him not wanting to fight. I wonder what happened to him on his way here. "Come with me," Sati said, "we can talk in private."

My eyes followed them as they walked away. My attention was drawn away by Ryu saying, "Seems everyone has a backstory"

I turned to him and he was smiling at me, I smiled back at him. "Yeah, it's just hard to remember that when people are rude to you"

"He was a brat, wasn't he?" Ryu agreed.

I smirked in agreement as we went off to buy our tea.

Ryu had that amazing ability which caused me to feel happy no matter the situation I was in. I had managed to go over two hours on the beach without me thinking about how my life goal had been dashed from me. But now it was back, and I had no idea what I was going to do, or how I was going to tell my mum. She had been training me all my life for this. She didn't even mind when I only managed to scrape 3 GCSE's, as grades don't matter when you have the Great Spirit on your side. I just feel so lost.

I leant my head on Ryu's shoulder. "You know, it is okay to feel sad." He said, putting his arm around me.

"I know, but you have been making it hard these past few hours."

He chuckled and squeezed my shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Well, have you ever had any dreams, apart from the Shaman Fight?" I asked.

"Of course I have, I only found out about my shamanic powers within the past year."

I pulled away from him and stared him in the face. "'within the past year'?" I repeated.

"Yeah, they were awakened when Tokageroh possessed me, and tried to kill Master Yoh. We managed to work it out though. Tokageroh is even my spirit ally"

I just couldn't stop staring at him. "You made it this far within a year, imagine how strong you could have been if you had been training your whole life."

Ryu blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, you're amazing!" It was then my turn to blush. "So, erm… what was it you wanted to do before becoming a shaman?"

Ryu looked off to the horizon before answering. "Well I told you about searching for my Best Place with my gang, but more recently I had my heart set on going to America to become a sushi chef - I even went so far as to getting to the airport."

He looked so full of hope, the opposite to which I was feeling right now. "Lucky, all my life my only goal had been the Shaman Fight. Now that is over – I just don't know."

"Well, if you find yourself in Japan, you could always join my gang."

"I'll think about it." I said, and to be honest, right now it didn't seem like too bad an idea.

It was when we had been silent for about ten minutes I turned and thanked Ryu. His eyebrows shot up for a moment, but they quickly relaxed and a smile formed on his face. "Don't menti-."

"Please don't brush this off. I seriously don't know what I would have done without your support. I mean Eva would have done her best, but as much as I love her, she isn't a great at distracting me. So, thank you. And thank you for helping me find a team, and for giving me someone to turn to" I then lent forward and hugged him. "Thank you." I whispered one more time.

His arms came round and held me close. I felt myself tearing up again. It was only when I was sure I wasn't going to cry that I pulled away and looked at him. Ryu's eyes were gentle and full of concern, causing my heart to flutter. I just couldn't stop myself

Woah! What? Where did that come from? "Erm, sorry Ryu, I couldn't help myself" I faked a huge yawn. "Welp, better be getting off to bed, that fight took a lot out of me. Thank you for the tea and talk. Good luck with your match tomorrow, I'll be cheering you on!"

With that I spun on my heel and tried to escape as quickly as possible. I cannot believe I just kissed Ryu! What was I thinking? Well I wasn't thinking. My face feels so warm, I am definitely blushing. Why did I do that!?

Before I could get too far though a hand grabbed my wrist and spun me back. I felt his lips on mine again – warm and slightly chapped. We pulled apart and with a wink he said: "That kiss is all the luck I'll need"

I laughed. "That was actually quite smooth!"

"Hey! I'll have you know, I'm a very smooth guy." He insisted.

"Uh huh, sure you are." I laughed, but then my face turned serious. "But seriously, good luck for tomorrow, I have every faith that you'll win."

"Thank you, Grace. But how about one last kiss, for good luck?"

"I thought the last kiss was all the luck you need?" I asked innocently.

"Well, it wa-"

I cut him off with another kiss. Which turned into another and another. We eventually pulled apart and just gazed into each other's eyes with stupid grins on our faces. "Go on, Romeo. Spend the rest of your night with your team. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Grace."

"Good night, Ryu."

That night I cried. My body was full of opposing feelings, I couldn't hold it all in. Today left me feeling wonderful, yet distraught. I felt like I could run a marathon, but I had fallen into my bed, I was unable to move a muscle. My life's goal has slipped through my fingers. But, I'm sure with Ryu there to help me, I'll be able to move on and make a life for myself.

Well that's the last of it. I hope you have enjoyed it, I know I have. I'd like to use this space to thank Tsukasa Li-JMS-02 for being there for me to cry at when I was stuck, and for translating that little bit of Spanish from the previous chapter. Also to the two 'Guests' who left reviews, you are both amazing.

Finally I would like to say that this story is un-beta'd, so if you would like to beta this for me, just send me a PM and we can go on from there :)

Have a nice day!