Sorry for such a late update!

I've been really busy over my winter break and to tell you the truth, I actually lost inspiration and my own mojo for this story, but I'm slowly getting it back. Not sure how long it will last though. But I'm glad that I managed to get this chapter out before my break would come to an end. So here's the new chapter for IWY. Hope you like it!

And as always, please review at the end!

Jlkjlkj = dream

'hkhiuwerywiueyriwu'= thoughts

Chapter 13: Game, Set, and Match

Losing….it's something that we never like doing.

Let's face it, none of us like to lose because that also comes with the feelings of guilt that continue to engulf us.

And what's worse than that feeling is when you give it your all, but you end up losing anyways.

Then that feeling turns into regret and shame because you feel like you're not good enough.

People always tell you that it's all right to lose, that it's okay to fail at things as long as you give it your all. But what happens when you're in a life or death situation? What then?

I don't think people fully prepare you for situations like this; at least, I wasn't prepared for it.

At that moment you can't afford to lose. Because to lose means you accept defeat and give your life away. And no one can afford to do that.

We all value our own lives more than anything else and when we get to the point where you might die, you realize you want to cling onto that life you have. (Even if it's just a little, fragile piece of life)

And at that moment, I think that's where our inner strength comes in. You're able to rise above the limits that you set for yourself and you realize that even in the darkest of times, you can find strength.

And I think it's in those moments where we figure out how far we can go. And that it's up to you to stand up and fight or give up and lose.

And in the end, we only have one choice because we never like to lose now, do we?

Everything that happened at the moment was all a blur; I wasn't even sure of what happened myself and I was actually one of the three people there.

I was expecting such a sharp feeling of pain to hit me that I had closed my eyes waiting for it, but I didn't know what was taking so long.

At the speed Sasori's tail was moving at, I was surprised that it hadn't reached me yet. I was beyond confused and as I let a few more seconds tick on by, nothing occurred.

Deciding to be a bit brave, I used the last of my strength left to open my eyes.

I wasn't prepared for the sight before me as my green orbs met up with nothing but some sort of defense made of wood.

At that moment, my orbs widened in shock and they continued to stare at the barrier standing before me.

Turning my gaze downwards, I realized that this shield had come about from the ground. It had roots and several twists to it that it had to have originated from the plant life in this forest.

To think that a defense that was made from something so simple could be so strong was fascinating.

I didn't know how something like this could be this strong to withstand a strike from Sasori's tail, but I wasn't about to question that at the moment.

All I could think about was who had created it. And in my head, the idea of a hero coming to my rescue was playing over and over again.

It couldn't have been Makoto; I was sure of that. He's never shown me anything like this before and I was pretty sure his chakra nature was only water, just like mine.

So who could've done it?

My own curiosity provided enough strength for me to get my eyes to scan the area looking for my savior, but it was all in vain. The wooden defense before me was too large and blocked my view, so if there was a savior out there facing those two men, I wished him or her the best of luck.

Before I knew it, I could feel myself slowly start to fade in and out. I didn't know if I was becoming unconscious due to the loss of blood or because of the amount of injury and exhaustion I had put my body through. Or maybe even both? But the feeling of slipping away from reality didn't seem too bad at the moment.

Because before I knew it, my eyes began feeling heavy and before I was totally gone, I felt myself being lifted up and managed to take one last look before I slipped away.

And in that last moment, I think I saw my hero: someone with blonde hair and blue eyes.

And with that, my eyes slowly closed, sending me off into unconsciousness.

I didn't know where I was anymore. I had already lost track of the places I've been to already and this place was strange.

It was deserted; it seemed as though no other living thing was within a 50 mile radius of this area.

Looking around, I was utterly confused as I began walking around my new surroundings, taking everything in.

It was strange but all too familiar at the same time.

I really couldn't put my finger on what was so familiar about this place, but as I allowed my feet to guide myself further down the road, I abruptly stopped in my own steps once I saw what was towering over me.

It was as if it was undisturbed and never destroyed in the fire. It looked brand new as it gleamed in the sunlight and it was almost too beautiful that it almost took my breath away.

The same house I grew in was now standing before me and as I chose to explore this new environment further, I was surprised to see the same pond and cherry blossom tree I had cherished in the backyard.

This was all too nostalgic to me and as I scanned the area once more, I was surprised to see my brother sitting upon the exact bench I always sat on when I wanted to clear my mind.

I slowly approached him, being hesitant at first, but speeding up once I saw him patting the seat next to him which meant he was signaling to me to come over.

As I approached him and now stood before him, I tilted my head slightly in confusion as I wondered why he chose to show up at this moment.

I watched him carefully as he now had his elbows propped up on his legs, as though they were acting as a support for his head. And at the moment, his eyes were closed tightly, as if in deep thought and as I softly coughed to get his attention, he was quick to turn his purple gaze towards me.

"Sit down, Hikari. There are a lot of things I need to talk to you about and I don't have that much time left." He had said as he propped himself up and sat up straight.

"Hai, Akio. What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in a world that I created; I figured it would be best to have a world that's familiar to you, so I decided to make it as a replica as our old home. It's safe enough to talk to you here because no one will be listening in on us."

"What would be so important to talk about that you would need to make sure no one would listen in on it?"

"To start off, you're still in trouble, Hikari; you're not safe. At the moment, you've been captured by those two Akatsuki members."

"How could I have been captured? I saw him! I saw the person who saved me! Who else could've created that wooden defense? And Akatsuki? What is that?"

Sighing aloud, I watched Akio scratch his head; I suppose he was trying his best to explain this in the most simplest terms as possible.

"Hikari, no one was there to save you—"

"But then who created that wooden barrier?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that you must have been lucky. I can't really explain how that happened."

"And what is this Akatsuki? I mean-"

"Hikari, if you let me just talk, I'll explain everything."

Slowly nodding my head and deciding to just sit down and listen, I signaled for him to continue.

"It's an S-class criminal organization made up of probably some of the strongest shinobi in the world. And as of right now, these two that are with you, Deidara and Sasori, are working for Ronin and are planning to hand you over to him as soon as possible. If that happens, you'll probably be interrogated again."

Just thinking about being tortured again was enough to make my heart beat a little faster and I didn't know if I could take it anymore. Not again at least.

"But Akio, I don't have any answers! It's not fair! I don't know anything about the Hero's Water."

With that statement, I was quick to look away from his gaze and decided to look at my own feet as they created circles within the dirt.

"You're right; you don't know anything about it and it's sad to see that you're stuck in this type of situation. I only wish we could've switched places because I have that information."

My ears perked up at his statement and as I turned my attention back to him, I waited for him to go on further.

"If anything happens, Hikari, just don't give up. Keep fighting and at any cost, don't let them ever take away that necklace I gave you. I gave it to you for a reason and you need to protect it because that's the key to the Hero's Water."

"What do you mean by that exactly?"

"I can't explain much at the moment, but if the water's power was ever to get into the wrong hands, the user can receive at least a ten-fold increase in their chakra. With that amount of power, you could only imagine the amount of destruction that could occur."

"I'm aware of that, Akio, I am. That's probably the only thing I know about it; other than that, I don't know much."

Sighing aloud, as if my brother needed to get something else off his chest, I wasn't surprised when he began talking again.

"Then I suppose you should hear it all from the beginning… You may not know it, Kari, but our family has always been responsible for protecting the Hero's Water since the very beginning. I guess it started long ago with our great great grandfather, Tsutano Hiroshi. He was a selfless man who was willing to do what was best for everyone. So it was him who volunteered himself and his own family to take on the responsibility to protect the Hero's Water from the wrong hands. And with that agreement established, he and his family traveled to the outskirts of the Land of Fire to start their own village known as Shimizu.

And for awhile, everything seemed fine; the village was prosperous and peaceful and everything seemed to be going in the right direction that is until someone betrayed him. His best friend, Harada Osamu became jealous and was a power-hungry man that took Hiroshi's loyalty for granted. He began spreading rumors about the Hero's Water about how much stronger it could make its user, without telling them about the consequences. With that, the village began being bombarded by several enemies and rogue nin that stole several cases of the Hero's Water and used it for their own selfish reasons. With that, Osamu began gathering everyone together and forming an army of people that had ingested the water; he was planning on taking over the village and eventually the world. He created so much destruction and even as our own people fought back, it wasn't enough; many of the people died and there were only a few left.

He was almost successful in his plans, but he himself didn't know the full consequences of using the Hero's Water. In the last battle, he fought against our great great grandfather, who also drank the Hero's Water. In the end, Osamu lost. And with that defeat, things started returning back to normal, but Hiroshi was in a weakened state as a result of the effects from drinking the water. And as a result, there was a power struggle.

Several of the rogue nin fought for power to control the village and the Hero's Water supply within it, but with the remaining people left in the village, they stood by Hiroshi's side and eventually, he came out on top and returned things back to normal.

On his death bed, he entrusted his son, Haru, with the responsibility to hide the last reminants of the Hero's Water and to protect its whereabouts. With that, his son took the Hero's Water and decided to move the village of Shimizu somewhere else in order to protect the people and to hide the Hero's Water. The village was moved to the outskirts of the Hidden Waterfall Village and that's how Kuroshio was created. With a village that could provide its own natural defenses and make sure that the Hero's Water would be hidden from the world, he was hopeful that people would forget about the water and move on."

"But that didn't happen did it? These people are after it."

Nodding his head at my statement, I finally understood the severity of the situation.

"They are. They want to use it for their own selfish reasons and that type of power was hidden and locked away for a reason, Hikari. With that kind of power, it shortens your life span depending on how much of a dose you take. But even with these side effects, these men are still determined to find it and I'm positive they will do anything to find it. You're the only one standing in their way, but you also have the power to stop them."

"How can I stop them, Akio? You know what they're capable of!"

Ruffling my white hair like old times, Akio took some time before responding back.

"As long as they don't have that necklace, everything will be fine. There isn't a person in this world that knows where the Hero's Water is besides myself. So keep you and the necklace safe."

"I understand…but why did you entrust this responsibility to me?"

"You still don't believe in yourself, Hikari? I thought if we got this far that you'd end up with some more confidence in your abilities. I entrusted this task to you because I know you're the only one who can do it. Like I said before, you're strong and you've got what it takes. You just have to do two things for me."

"What is it, Akio?"

"Escape, but make sure you wake up first; that's important after all."

And with that last statement, I began seeing everything slowly fade away. I watched my brother slowly disappear in front of my eyes and as I stood by watching the scene, the last thing I saw before he was totally gone was the same smirk and look of faith in his eyes he always held for me.

Sighing at my new predicament, I guess Akio just enjoyed giving me more things to worry about. So much for being a guardian angel when all he does is give me information and doesn't even bother to tell me how to go about this.

But I suppose if I was entrusted with this responsibility, there was no turning back. I had to live up to my family's name. So I really didn't have a choice.

It wasn't long before I opened my eyes and woke up in a foreign room.

At first, my eyes had a hard time adjusting to the bright lighting within the room and the fact that my head was immensely throbbing wasn't helping much either.

It took me awhile longer to get the pain to stop.

For the longest time, all I could do was clutch onto my head, hoping and praying that the throbbing would stop.

It wasn't until the most massive wave of pain passed that I was able to pull myself together.

I tried my best to sit myself up, but even that was painful. I had almost completely forgotten that I had gotten injured and it was in that moment that I almost cried from the amount of pain I was feeling from moving too much at once.

Opening my eyes once more, it was at that moment when my eyes adjusted to the lighting and I finally realized that the top of my head was wrapped in gauze.

I didn't even pay that much attention to my surroundings at the moment because I was too wrapped up in remembering what had happened and how I had come to receive medical assistance.

Within an instant, everything came back to me at full force.

And let me say that that didn't stop the oncoming headache that now occurred.

I could remember everything to the point where I had passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. Everything seemed so clear now that I had the time to think through my thoughts and at the moment I was still trying to process how I was now bandaged up.

If I was captured like Akio had told me, then the only thing that was realistic and made sense was that one of them gave me the medical assistance I needed to keep me alive.

I suppose that made sense; after all, they did want to keep me alive for Ronin and earlier on, Sasori was complaining about how the blonde almost killed me with his bombs.

I guess for now I was an asset to them that they needed to keep safe for Ronin.

This whole thinking thing about what happened was starting to hurt my head again and I just decided to stop pondering over my situation too much right then and there. I needed to rest and relax while I still had time to enjoy the last few moments of my life.

But unfortunately for me, my head was still hurting, but I was trying my best to ignore the pain. I suppose I not only hurt my ribs in that incident with Sasori and Deidara, but I also managed to receive quite the injury to my head.

Who knew how much brain damage and body damage I had sustained from this whole situation. I wasn't too sure of it myself, but if I was functioning normally as of right now, I had to be in the right state of mind.

Although I was still thinking about how I even received that head injury. Who knows how I had received that. I wasn't going to think about that too much right now since one more injury to add to my list wasn't going to cause too much harm to my already great well-being.

Who was I kidding? I was probably in the worst shape in my life with gauze wrapped around my head and bandages wrapped around my torso, as if they would help the pain coming from just breathing in and out.

To add on my list even further, my clothes were in terrible shape as well.

My kimono was definitely beyond repair as it was covered in dirt and a lot of my own blood. I could clearly see the several red stains of my own blood on the fabric and it wasn't a pretty sight.

It was quite gruesome to think that I lost that much blood to the point where the kimono wasn't even white anymore; it was now completely crimson red. That thought made me cringe a little, but at least that whole incident was over now.

Along with that, I wasn't appealing in the smelling department either. In fact, I'll just be blunt about it and say I reeked. I'm surprised those two criminals didn't faint or vomit from how awful I smelled.

I almost threw up myself when I smelled myself. I suppose the mixture of vomit, blood, dirt, and sweat was not a good combination at all. Especially for someone who hasn't bathed for a couple days.

I didn't even realize how dirty I was up until this point. I suppose the idea of survival and fear was more important than thinking about a bath. But now, I felt terribly awful; not only from my own stench and dirtiness, but also from the fact that I was now being held captive.

I didn't do all that running and fighting back to be captured and returned back to the very man I escaped from. I couldn't afford to go back there. In fact, that very thought caused fear to encase my body as I shivered from thinking about being tortured again.

I felt myself quickly jumping into panic mode and as I began to hyperventilate from the mere thought of being dragged back to that horrid man, I couldn't help myself anymore.

Everything just seemed to hit me head on and the current situation I was now in didn't help me feel any better either.

It just seemed too much for me to handle or even comprehend at the moment. I didn't know what to do anymore.

And as I clutched my head, trying to make myself stop panicking, the pain from my wounds was the only thing that managed to bring me back to reality.

And soon enough, I managed to break from my panic attack and slowly calm down.

I couldn't say that I felt any better since I now had to deal with the pain that I inflicted upon my body through my hyperventilating, but at least I was in a much better state of mind than I was before.

I never knew that this whole situation would take this much of a toll on me, but I realized that I needed to stop these bad thoughts. I had to keep thinking positively because I could not afford to let my negative thoughts cloud my judgment.

Breathing in and out slowly, I was able to bring myself to a calming peace of mind. My heart beat was now back to normal and I was now able to think more clearly.

For starters, I needed to find a way to escape once more. But how would I be able to do it?

From what I know, there are only two other people in this building who are my enemies. They are both in Akatsuki meaning that they are some strong shinobi; one uses bombs and the other has a large metal tail that could pierce me. Both techniques are used for long-ranged battles meaning that trying to attack or defeat them head on would be pointless unless I'm able to catch them by surprise. But I doubt that would be possible; they wouldn't be stupid enough to let their guard down around me again. So attacking them head on would be stupid. I'll cross that off.

My only best shot at getting out of here would be to escape without getting caught or meeting up with any of those two. Because if I had to face them one on one, I would surely lose.

To add onto my list even further, I didn't even really know my environment or the whole layout to this building. So that would be another disadvantage. Even further, I didn't even know what village I was in so even if I did manage to escape, I wouldn't know where to hide or where to go. But I'd have to worry about that later on. Worst come to worse, I would just have to play that part by ear.

At least I knew I was alive for now and now that I had stopped myself from jumping into panic mode again by thinking things through, I suppose it was now time to check my new environment.

Turning my attention to the room, my eyes scanned the area and I quickly realized that the room was just an ordinary room at most.

Nothing really special about it.

The walls were a mixture of a calming crème and tan color with some detailed molding lining the walls. There were only two paintings on the wall; one of an ocean view on the wall to my left and the other of a colorful sunset on the wall to the right.

Other than that, there wasn't that much decoration in this room.

It seemed to have the essentials. A bed, which I was now laying on, a nice wooden dresser across from where I sat, a small circular window with red satin curtains, and a sitting area with a small wooden table and two wooden chairs with coffee colored cushions.

This room wouldn't be the ideal color scheme I would choose for a room. I'd prefer something more bright with more personality, but who was I to complain about this? I had much bigger things to worry about.

If I was going to start this plan of escape, I should probably start now. The faster I get out of here, the faster I can run away and distance myself. Maybe if luck was on my side, they'd both be asleep or on break; then I'd be able to escape with no problem. But I highly doubted that that would happen.

Well here I go.

I had a bit trouble getting myself to sit up, but taking it slowly made it a lot easier on my injuries than before. I didn't mean that it didn't hurt anymore; heck, it hurt still, but not as immensely before when I hastily tried to sit up. I had to bite my bottom lip though to not let out a whimper or any noise that may give me away and signal that I was now awake.

It took me awhile to get into a sitting position at the pace I was going at. I was almost out of breath by the time I was in a sitting position. And in my mind, I was just thinking how much more pain I'd have to go through when I'd have to run for my life.

I suppose life was really being unfair at the moment, but I'd have to make myself fight through the pain to get through this. Akio didn't say that this would be easy.

Oh why did life have to keep testing me? I thought I was done with tests once I was done with school. I never thought I'd have to keep pushing myself this hard in my life.

But I guess that's life for you. There's always new obstacles waiting for you ahead.

And boy did I sometimes wish life wasn't like that, especially at this moment.

Once mentally preparing myself for the pain that was going to come from just me getting up onto my own two feet, I was ready to move again.

Closing my eyes and praying that it wouldn't hurt too badly, I made myself lift my body up and at that moment, I didn't know whether I should have cried from the amount of pain I was feeling or just try to ignore it and keep going.

The amount of pain I was feeling was indescribable; it felt as though a large boulder was putting all its weight on me and I could barely take it. The suffering my ribs were putting up with to hold my upper body up was completely ridiculous.

But I needed to push through this because as Akio's voice broke through my thoughts, he reminded me that I had to keep pushing myself no matter what. Even in the darkest of times, I needed to believe in myself and push past those limits I've set for myself.

So with that, I took small baby steps towards the door.

With each step, the only motivation that kept my mind off the pain was the idea that each step was leading me closer to freedom and away from here.

And before I knew it, I arrived before the door.

Taking a short break to catch my breath, I soon returned to my task at hand and slowly reached for the door knob and attempted at turning it.

Surprisingly, it wasn't locked and at that moment, it gave me a sense of hope that at least I could get out of this room without any trouble.

Slowly opening the door, I was thankful that it did not make a creaking noise and I quickly let out a breath that I wasn't aware I was holding in.

Taking a peek from left to right, I noticed that the room I was currently in was one of many rooms in this building. It seemed as if there were other rooms that were all connected together. And not only that, but from the far right corner of my eye, there was a staircase leading downstairs.

So from the information that I gathered, there could possibly be more than just those two men here and that I was not on the ground floor. In turn, both assumptions would make my escape harder.

Looking around again, I didn't hear anyone nor did I see anyone walking around the hallway.

Which meant that that was my signal to start moving.

I wasn't sure how fast I could go without hurting myself, but I decided to test it out.

Starting out a bit faster than I could handle, I quickly slowed down to a slow limped walk as I tried to make my way to the staircase.

I was using the wall to help me move faster and the staircase was now only a few more feet away. With that, I tried my best to concentrate on my goal at hand rather than the amount of pain I was feeling, and I'd have to say that I was pretty successful.

Now that I was only about five small steps away from the actual stairs, I needed to take a small semi-second break before I could start up again.

Breathing in and out as slowly as possible without hurting my ribs too much, I was sure that I spent more than just a semi-second on my break. But at least I was almost there.

Deciding to start up again, I was careful to move my foot forward slowly.

'Four more steps to go.'

Bringing my right foot forward, I was even closer to my goal.

'Three.'

'Two.'

With each step I got closer and closer and as my anticipation built up, I was just one step away from the staircase before I completely messed up on my balance and footing.

Feeling my body fall, I knew that the moment I would hit the floor, it would hurt like hell.

I had fallen onto my side and as the force of the fall caused so much discomfort and pain to my ribs along with my entire body, I couldn't help but cry out and curse aloud.

Clutching onto my side, I tried my best to breathe in and out slowly as I tried to get rid of the pain.

At the moment, I was still making a lot of noise, but I quickly realized that that was my biggest mistake.

I only wished I could've kept my mouth shut and as I quickly covered my own mouth, hoping and praying that no one heard me as I was clutching onto my necklace, I let out a sigh of relief as I realized that no one was coming out to check on the amount of noise I had made.

With that, I guess luck was on my side today. I couldn't believe that no one heard me.

Thanking Kami for everything, it wasn't long until I managed to sit myself up and sit criss-crossed on the ground as I was leaning on the wall for support.

Closing my eyes and letting out another sigh as I made sure that my heart beat was back to normal, it took me a few more moments to get myself back together and make sure that I didn't add more injuries onto my list.

Opening my eyes once more, I realized that something else was blocking my view of the other wall.

My green orbs carefully scanned what was lying before me and as they began to outline the formation of a cloak, I knew I was in trouble now. I quickly caught on to the black color and red clouds on the fabric and the recognizable pattern clicked in my head.

'Akatsuki...Oh…shit!'

I wasn't sure if I wanted to look up and see who it was. At the moment, I was trying my best to ignore the person in front of me by turning my gaze towards the ground, which I deemed interesting at the moment. But I knew that wasn't working since I could feel his or her gaze on me.

At that moment, I knew I had to do something because I certainly wasn't going to sit there and let him or her capture me again.

So with that, I didn't know how I managed to get myself back up onto my two feet and start running down the stairs without causing any pain to myself. Or rather, pain that I refused to feel at the moment.

I refused to look back as I was running down the stairs. I felt as if I was floating through the air as I moved faster than I ever had in my life. It felt like nothing could stop me at the moment and I intended to keep it that way.

And just when I was about to reach the bottom, I checked to see if my captor was following me from behind.

And apparently, he or she was not.

I was beyond confused and as I raised my eyebrow in question, wondering where he or she went, I didn't realize that I collided into something hard until my body crashed into it.

With that crash, I managed to fall directly into the arms of my enemy, and as I looked back at the bright blue eye of my blonde captor, I tried my best to push myself away from him.

He was holding onto my wrists tightly and I could see from his facial expression that he was slightly annoyed with me struggling against his grip along with trying to run away. His one visible blue eye reflected his annoyance and as his slight frown signaled that he wasn't happy with what I had attempted doing, I knew that I probably dug an even deeper hole for myself.

But if I was already in trouble from the start, I suppose I didn't have anything else to lose.

So with that, I didn't know how I did, but it was some sort of miracle, as I managed to push myself away from him. I suppose my "miracle" could be credited with my many kicks and poorly thrown punches.

I was at least grateful that I was able to get out of his grasp and just as I was about to move away from him, I managed to slip on my dirty kimono.

In turn, I felt myself lose my footing and my balance once more.

It was as if everything was happening in slow motion and I knew that this time around, when I'd hit the ground, things would turn out much worse for me.

Before I knew it, I had hit the ground much harder and this time, I was right as the pain was unbearable.

I could feel the pain surging through my body and as I reached up to touch the gauze on my head, I realized that I was heavily bleeding as my hand returned and presented the sticky red liquid on my fingers.

I could feel the blood slowly falling out from my head wound along with the reopening of my other wounds.

I did whatever ordinary person would do, I screamed.

Loud.

So loud that I probably woke up anyone who was in the building.

There was so much pain; so much that I couldn't help but let a few tears fall as I tried my best to pray that the pain would stop.

I could feel myself losing so much blood that I didn't even know if I would live to see another day.

I was slipping in and out of reality.

Everything began to seem hazy to me and fatigue was finally hitting me.

My eyes slowly began to close and I found that I could no longer fight back.

I couldn't fight back as I felt my captive approach me and slowly lift my body up.

And I could no longer fight back as I felt myself being lifted up and carried back to the very prison I was trying to escape from.

And then, I was completely gone.

In the end, you only really have one choice.

And that doesn't mean that that choice is easier.

Things don't get easier as you get older.

You start to realize that you need to start doing things on your own and become independent. And sometimes, you end up missing those times as a child where you had no worries in the world.

But then, you get those moments where you get those brilliant ideas and wonder why you didn't think about that before.

I think I received one of those moments.

I realized that it's not about winning or losing that matters. But what matters is that you should never accept defeat. You should try and never give up. Keep persevering no matter what.

Because it will pay off in the end.

The problem was that, when would it pay off for me?

Because sometimes in those dark moments, even when you give it your all, you're never completely positive about the outcome you're going to get.

But those doubts shouldn't cause you to stop fighting. In fact, those doubts should become your motivation to keep fighting back harder.

I hope this chapter lived up to your standards. I tried my best to work with a filler chapter and just explain what would be going through her mind in her current situation. So I hope you guys liked it.

Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and a happy start to the new year!

Well I hope to hear from you guys! So please please review!

Arigato!

-katara