Author's Note: Yeah, I know I'm in trouble. It's almost been two months without updates, and I'm sincerely sorry. So, how about a bunch of updates to make everyone happy? =3

le me fan: I haven't heard from you in soooo long. -huggles- It's good to have you back! =D
Elf10444: Forgive me for not replying to everything in your last review; it was more of a summary of the chapters and I really don't know what to say. XD I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters I put up for your birthday, darling. I'm sorry I was late getting them out, but as long as you were delighted to read them I'm happy. I hope you enjoy these just as much and I'm sorry for the wait. -huggles-

Chapter Thirty-Six:
Aylin versus Tiffany

"Today's match is the final of the tournament!" The stadium erupted into a deafening roar of cheers. "Our final match is between Tiffany Martin and Aylin Castille. If Tiffany wins, both her and her Doubles partner Paige Aikens moves on to the World's Junior Champion Tennis Team! If she loses though, Aylin Castille moves on to the team, along with Ryoga Echizen, whom lost to Tiffany just three days ago."

Tiffany, decked in her Harrix uniform, had taken her stance on the court across from Aylin. It was strange seeing two teammates in a position where they would have to face off against one another, one that actually mattered and was not a scrimmage just for the fun of it. I just did not know who would win and that scared me more than anything.

Our entire group of friends had made it to the stadium last night, putting 'reserved' signs on the seats when we realized how crowded the place would be when two iconic youth tennis players faced-off, those from the same team. Surprisingly enough, no official had removed them, meaning we had seats right next to the barrier. We had a flawless view of what could very well be the destruction of one of our teammates, mentally.

"Serving first: Aylin Castille. Ready, begin!"

And as the match began, I could see the will to win in their eyes.

:{On the Line}:

"Tiffany looks pretty wiped," Aidan quietly said.

"She looks like she's about to pass out! Nya!" Kikumaru was cheering the loudest out of everyone in our group, though the crowd had been giving him odd looks when his cheering went from one sweating girl to the next without missing a beat.

"Come on Tiff!" Savannah hollered. "...Uh, go Aylin!"

"I don't know who to route for!" Aidan ground out again.

"Whichever hits your brain first," Harmony stood and screamed, "GO TIFFLIN!"

"Did you just combine their names?"

"Yosh! But Ayffany just doesn't sound as good as Tifflin!"

A sweat-drop appeared over the majority of our heads. "What's she doing?" Patrik questioned, drawing us from our reverie of what could only be Harmony's logic.

"Shh!" Paige growled.

Tiffany was focusing herself, concentrating on the ball with everything she was. A calmed, happy expression was on her slick face as she yelled, "Rejuvenation State One: Energy!" The words burst from her lips and she straightened, looking far better than she did before.

"When did she learn that?" Trinity gawked.

I furrowed my brow and said, "She's nuts for doing that! She knows that doesn't last long."

"About how long?" Vance's question was barely heard over cacophony the cheering.

"Approximately six and a half minutes if she's trained it hard enough." I watched in anticipation, setting the stop watch on my phone. I checked it every few seconds, wondering if this would be the day she made it longer… or if she would fall sooner than ever.

Aylin, who had the upper hand and was winning mere moments ago, suddenly began losing to the acrobatics player. Tiffany fought hard against the smaller and younger girl, scoring against her twice before Aylin really seemed frazzled.

"Serve: Aylin Castille!" The score was called after that. Tiffany was tied with my little sister.

Tiffany's posture was lacking again, and she seemed more exhausted. I flicked my thumb against the 'stop' button on my cell, staring at the time. The prying eyes of my friends snooped over my shoulder, just as curious to see Tiffany's progress as I had been.

"Too soon, arn?" asked Atobe from the side.

"Six minutes and one second exactly," I sighed, then felt a reassuring hand on mine. I blushed slightly, staring at Syusuke, whose smile seemed to be only for me. No one noticed the exchange as I grinned back and he removed his digits before another could notice.

"If you want to be like that, Tiffany, I won't show any mercy." Aylin began her serve with a cruel grin on her lips. "Da Vinci's Destruction!"

Tiffany was not strong enough to return the serve. Though she angled her racket right, rolling it perfectly off in the way she was supposed to, but her strength was lacking after using it to try and deflect. She failed, but it was not as miserably as most who faced the younger Castille.

Aylin smirked, taking her next serve with a newfound pride. The same thing happened, even though Tiffany used a full force swing to hit it. "No matter how hard you hit it, you're not strong enough."

"I did not just hear that," Tiffany ground her teeth together, going into focus-mode once again. "Rejuvenation State Two: Strength!" My finger clicked the 'start' button on my watch, though I worried my lip between my teeth.

Her arms convulsed and the serve Aylin reflected back at her was immediately returned without a problem. My sister gaped, watching it hit and roll out of her reach just milliseconds before the girl could throw her racket out to meet it.

"Impossible!" she snarled.

Tiffany sneered, "Bring it, Sapphire."

Things were really heating up if a Viper used one of the nicknames in such a derogative way.

"It's brought, Mamba!" she grunted back, hitting another full force ball in her rough serve. Tiffany did not miss again.

"How much time left?" Kirihara, sitting to my left, watched the time click by anxiously.

Tiffany won this little game between the two just as the six minutes and one second ticked passed. I slammed my finger on the button, noticing it was exactly the same again when she lost her rejuvenation state.

"Serve: Tiffany Martin!"

Tiffany began the serving, getting into position and pelting it as best she could at Aylin. The younger girl launched it back and the duel began anew, twice as angry and volatile as before.

"She's getting tired," Tezuka blandly stated.

"Again!" Both sets of twins' high-fived, as they usually do when they all speak at once.

"Aylin's really bringing it," Savannah gaped. "I've never seen her so serious."

"It's because she's against a friend. I just wish Serenity were here," I sighed. "Serenity's one of few people she looks up to. I'm one too, as is Syusuke."

"I am?" Syusuke tilted his head.

"She just believes you have a great soul and an amazing game." I put my attention back on the match, ignoring the way my cheeks burned when I recited my sister's familiar words from long ago. Aylin had won that game, I realized when I looked up, tying the score once again. The winner of the next match would be the one on the team to travel the world...

"Come on Tiff..." Paige was on the edge of her seat. I would be too if my spot on the team depended on my friend defeating one of my other friends.

"Serve: Aylin Castille!"

Aylin grabbed the ball, bouncing it a few times to get a good feel on it. A broad jeer pulled across her face, aimed solely at Tiffany, "This is when you lose, Martin."

"In your dreams, Castille." She took her stance.

"This is a new move no one knows of yet, one I've worked hard to create. I doubt you have a counter to this." She took a heavy breath. "Rembrandt's Stroke!"

As the ball made contact with the strings of the racket, it whizzed to the next court. Eyes could not trace it, purely hearing as it struck the line and bounced out-of-bounds. Everyone's jaws had dropped at the sight- or rather, lack thereof.

"That was remarkable!" Vance clutched the top of the seat in front of him, causing Paige to move even further up. It was her seat he was attacking, after all.

"She's really good," Marcus even spoke up for once, "Too good."

"Amen," Savannah leaned back and it was obvious she found a newer appreciation in the sport she loved. "Things just got interesting again."

"Very much so," Bunta cheered from the back.

A few more hits and Aylin was a few love away from winning her slot on the team. Tiffany was near fainting level, but she would not dare let that stop her, not now and not with how hard her head was.

"That's it, I have to do it!" She focused, allowing another ball to whiz past her. Thirty love away now, Aylin was given the ball while Tiffany was in her own little world.

"Get ready!" Aylin tossed the ball into the air.

CRASH! The ball struck the racket. WHIZ! The ball flew towards Tiff's side. BAM! ... PLOP! Plop! Plop. The ball bounced… passed Aylin?

"What?!" Aylin gasped.

"Rejuvenation State Three: Speed!" Tiffany was faster, though the toll the three states had taken on her body were beginning to become apparent. "Yeah, I'm ready by the way."

"Damn it!" Aylin swore loudly, composing herself again when she noticed the slip. She knew it was not wise to lose your cool in a match- especially not towards the end. "Fine, let's see you do that again!" Her serve was faster than before, straining Aylin's arm violently. I could see the pain, feel it almost, just by watching her with my eyes taking in every twitch of her taut muscles and the veins that danced just beneath the skin.

The next few hits, Tiffany scored. Aylin was able to score one more on her, tying the two. The next actual score would supply the victor and fill not one, but two slots on the world team.

Would it be Ryoma and Aylin, or Tiffany and Paige?

"Rembrandt's Stroke!" Aylin mixed things up again, making the ball just as fast but sending it to the opposite side of the court and closer to the net than before.

"I'll finish this! Acrobatic Split-Step!" Her steps were even faster than before, her six minutes and one second about two seconds from being completed. My nerves were alight and I was worried on who I would have to console after this match finally ended. Only two seconds…

Two.

"Mamba Fusillade!" A tweaked, improved version of the Viper Barrage made contact with the racket.

One.

"Did it work?!" Most of the group had their hands over their eyes, trying not to see the devastation that would be wrought. Of course, they were all peeking.

PLOP! Plop! Plop.

Silence.

The match was decided.

"Winner: ...Tiffany Martin!"

"I won?" Tiffany grew wide-eyed and fell to the ground. "I won!"

"I... lost." Aylin did the same, though her head was bowed in shame.

"Our World's Junior Championship Tennis Team is finally complete!" The ref clapped his hand as the announcer from all the meetings scurried into the court with a microphone in hand.

"Make sure you're at the sport's banquet! It's Saturday night!" he reminded, then vacated the arena.

"Tiffany! Aylin!" The majority of our friends leap over the barrier, landing on the lower level ground. As most run to Tiffany, I jogged to Aylin.

"'Lin, you alright?" I squatted next to the grieving girl.

"No, I lost," she sniffled. "I won't be on the team, Kimmy. Without this chance, I won't be able to further my life in tennis."

I whopped her across the back of the head, "Shut up. You made it this far. Trust me, you'll have scholarships thrown at you when you graduate."

"I suppose." She wiped away her tears. "Everyone goes to congratulate her, not see how I am." She clenches her fist. "Ow!"

"You know you have bad wrists." I gently picked them up, seeing both were sprained and turning an ugly purple from the strain they had gone through. "How did you sprain your right?"

"I don't even know. No one ca-" As she started to finish her sentence, she was picked up and thrown on Aidan's slender shoulders.

"You did amazing!" he shouted just as everyone crowded around them. Patrik had his girlfriend, Tiffany, on his shoulders.

The two faced one another, despite the cheering, and smiled. It was obvious Aylin's was more forced, but whether it was shame or pain that caused it was unknown.

"Thank you, Aylin. I won't ever forget that game." Tiff reached out to shake her hand.

Aylin cringed. "I'd shake, but my wrists hurt really bad. Hug?" They pulled each other forward, causing Aidan and Patrik to get closer.

"How about we celebrate?" Vance grinned childishly. "Ice cream on me!"

"Oh, sounds great to me!"

"Let us down first!" yelled Aylin and Tiff, though their protests fell on deaf ears.

At least things would not be awkward around everyone, as I expected. No matter my sister lost, meaning I would be gone from her the entire summer, at least the day was better than everyone thought. All around, it had been an experience.

I could not keep the smile from my face.