It became apparent to Tao Jun that Asakura Yoh was a special person the moment she crossed swords and eventually lost against him.

He was so young back then, so optimistic despite his fighting style being unpolished and his furyoku laughable. He faced her prized possession with his amateur techniques and almost always failed to counter whatever PaiLong threw his way. His determination was there, but it helped very little to his situation. He didn't even possess his own weapon, the idiot, and he spent most of his fight with Jun's little soldier running around like a headless chicken.

Or so she thought.

It took her a moment to understand, but little by little, the young Asakura was actually looking for a way to reach out to her undead warrior. She thought it foolish when she found out, even called him a fool for doing so. Who in their right mind would want to speak to a hollowed corpse, after all. They were all just weapons meant to destroy those that opposed their masters. That was what she was told when she was a child, after all. That was what she lived as her truth all these years.

That was all she knew, until she saw the tears.

PaiLong's tears.

It was jarring. It almost threw her out of the loop, but she kept on pushing the lifeless thing to attack. How dare it even try to disobey her. How dare it show emotions when it shouldn't. How dare it defy its fate when even she, someone who possessed life, could not. How dare it!

But then came Yoh's attack, slicing off the talisman on PaiLong's forehead and bringing him back to the present.

From there, her weapon hesitated and PaiLong was once again PaiLong, the lost martial artist turned movie star. From there, he was beginning to take back his senses, and he stopped for good.

No matter how much she barked her orders, no matter how hard she tried to snare him back to her clutches with her talismans, her zombie remained stubborn. Was he even hers anymore? Was he ever hers to begin with? Should it matter now when PaiLong transferred all of his pent up anger from Yoh to her, the woman whose family took so much from him at a whim? Did anything matter anymore, now that she was without her tool?

She wanted to fight back but at the same time… What for?

It was true that the Tao took everything from him because they wanted him. It was true that the Tao ended his career and his life because they were all selfish and cruel. It was true that the Tao taught her to be as heartless as her undead army, because true strength was attainable only in control.

Emotions were never part of the Tao family's teachings, but in the end, it was compassion that brought her to her knees. And if she had to be honest with herself, she deserved this. His ire, his hate, his decision to kill her… This was all well-deserved.

Jun even prepared for her demise, and the last thought that flitted her mind while she awaited for PaiLong's attack was how her father would react to her death.

Killed by her own weapon. What a joke she turned out to be. He ought to be devastated. Or would he even care at all? Mother surely would, only because PaiLong might end up damaging her daughter's beautiful face forever. Her mother always was an incredibly vain woman. What about grandfather? And Ren? Her heart ached most for her brother.

She closed her eyes, felt warm tears slide against her cheek. In the end, what was she fighting for? Her father's approval still?

It shouldn't be. But it was. At least for her.

Such was the curse being in an old clan as the Tao. Every decision of the leader was the law, every teaching the only course of action. Members were taught at a young age to follow without question because every move by a member caused a ripple in their history. And she was going to be immortalized in their archives as the idiot who fell at the hands of her own slave.

A tragedy she almost laughed at. It would be a spit to her father's legacy then, that his eldest child turned out to be a failure. Unfavored she may be in his eyes, due to her gender, but if she could stain his image just a wee bit then she accepted her death with open arms. If she couldn't have his approval, she would make peace with the fact that at least she made an impact on his well-preserved pride. She was ready for death now.

But PaiLong never got to her. Yoh did.

And his turn of action was to protect her, despite her attacking him and his friends first. It was a kindness Jun never knew existed until it reached her, made itself known through a boy with rubbish shamanic abilities but the resilience to keep his head afloat while lifting others up too.

His soul was a beacon for the lost and for the damned.

It was no wonder that Ren gravitated to his offer for friendship without hesitation. It was no wonder, as well, that this boy would reach out to everyone he met and ultimately surround himself with those whose shamanic abilities were commendable albeit questionable.

The members of his team were once humans, as far as Jun knew, but turned to the world of spiritual abilities due to their unfortunate circumstances. The doctor lost his beloved wife, which led him to the path of insanity. The chef was a man who knew not where to go, where his own place on Earth ought to be, until he was possessed by a criminal of a thousand years ago. Even Yoh's guardian, although of notable skills, was only a man who had too many regrets in his lifetime.

They were all lost souls, until Yoh came their way and gave them a home.

It was touching, in a way, but not at all surprising.

There was Yoh's best friend too. A human, of all things, but whose eyes saw more than the physical world. Oyamada Manta wasn't someone of notable importance, yet his loyalty was insurmountable. He was with Yoh when PaiLong attacked and even turned the outcome to Yoh's favor by getting him a sword fit for a samurai. He was with Yoh when they went to the Tao Manor and saved Ren. And he was still with Yoh through the shaman fight, cheering him and all their friends to the best of his abilities.

Truly a bizarre thing, Asakura Yoh could be, as a shaman and as a friend.

But what mesmerized Jun about this boy and his choice of companions was this young girl in front of her, whose hair was the color of sunlight but her skin so pale she almost fit the descriptions of a snow spirit.

Kyoyama Anna was the one chosen to be Yoh's bride. And how lucky the Asakura were, to have found a gem such as her.

She held on to her furyoku with a calmness that was soothing, but Jun could have sworn she felt it spark during Yoh's fight with Lee PaiLong. Yet, Anna never lent him a hand, no matter how strong her grip was on her arm while she watched Yoh get beaten to the inch of his life. She only did her part when Yoh finally had a plan that involved saving Lee, and did she do it so well. One moment she was calling forth a spirit; the next, Lee was on the ground and being berated by his old teacher.

It was over in a moment. Jun hardly had time to blink.

That was the first and perhaps the only time she ever came in contact with Anna. Until now, of course.

In a strange turn of events, the Asakura and the Tao had decided to join hands in order to bring one Asakura Hao down. Jun wondered if it even mattered, this little alliance of theirs was, because Hao was a madman and he had the furyoku to back him up. It was a scary thought, going against a being like him.

The adults were desperate though, now more than ever. If defeating Hao meant reaching out to every shaman that walked on this Earth, so be it. They ought to start their plans immediately.

That said, it wasn't a surprise to find Anna outside of the meeting room, away from the arguing and the scheming. The girl was as serene as the gentle waves of the ocean, her posture ramrod despite the far-way look in her eyes. Her presence was intimidating, but her mind was definitely elsewhere.

Jun understood completely.

"Are you worried about Yoh?"

The older woman watched as the itako blinked her daze away, amber eyes slowly drawing to Jun. The younger girl shook her head with a sigh.

"Not really." Anna said with utmost confidence, despite the contraries. "It's just that..."

Anna trailed off. Jun smiled as she nodded.

"Well, that's okay too."

They were silent then, Anna to her own musings and Jun silently assessing the younger girl.

While she did say that she wasn't worried about Yoh, Jun could see the telltale signs of her stress shining through her almost-impenetrable poker face. There were bags around her eyes, a paleness to her cheeks that was almost ghostly, and a slight quiver in her knees. Her breathing was slightly labored and, as Jun stepped closer to check on her, her heart rate was erratic. The Tao placed a palm on Anna's forehead, almost by instinct. Anna raised a brow in turn but did not bite back to Jun's trespassing of her space.

"You're not burning up." Jun was whispering to herself. "But you're looking a little out of it."

It was surprising how Anna let Jun examine her. She didn't even speak nor lash out as she was mostly famous for within Yoh's circle when Jun's palm moved from her forehead to her neck, feeling her temperature there as well. When she didn't find anything to note, Jun took one of Anna's hands and pressed her fingers on the girl's pulse.

The older woman frowned.

"As I thought. Your heart beat's speeding up."

Anna remained silent. Jun hummed to herself, emerald eyes sharply narrowing.

"Have you been eating well, Anna?"

"Yes."

And yet she was so thin. So white in the lips too, like she was dehydrated. And her eyes... Was she anemic then? Jun had to ask and was shocked when Anna merely shook her head. What was it then? She needed to probe more.

"Strange." She tried again, a hand on Anna's as she ushered her to the porch. "Can you sit please? I want to see what's wrong with you."

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Maybe. Nothing wrong with checking though, don't you think?"

"Jun."

But the Tao wouldn't hear any of it. Instead, she began her assessment all over again, starting from the girl's head and down to her toes.

"Do you need to rest? I could make something for you, I'm good at cooking!" She had a light-bulb moment then. "Is it that time of the month?"

The slight widening of Anna's eyes would have been missed if Jun wasn't paying close attention to her, but she was. More importantly, she noted the way the young girl's palm was unconsciously drawn to her abdomen, patting it once, before Anna slowly placed it back to her side. If Jun was shocked, she chose not to show it. Instead, her lips curved a bit as she sat next to Anna. The itako followed her every move with her eyes.

"This is out of my expertise then." She admitted sheepishly. "But I can still cook for you, if you want."

"It's fine." A pause as they both took in the information, before Anna spoke again. "You are quite knowledgeable about the human body. That's impressive."

It was kind of silly to be preening at the praise, but she hardly ever received one from her family in her younger years. Plus, this one was from a shaman she highly respected, despite Anna's age. Jun couldn't help it. She blushed, winking at Anna to save face.

"I have to be! I'm basing my shamanic ability on making corpses move, you know!"

She laughed. Anna hummed.

Then. "It should be easy for you to learn how to revive the dead."

Had they been normal people, Jun would have passed it as a joke. But they were shamans - bridges between life and death - and this was Anna. She hardly made jokes. But could she really… ? The look Anna gave made her speechless. She swallowed hard and felt the cold sweat on her back. She noticed her hand was trembling when she tucked her hair behind an ear, hoping Anna would break the sudden silence with a shrug or whatever. She didn't.

The girl was serious. Jun gulped once again.

"I... Are you certain...?"

"Yes."

The sureness in Anna's voice had her whole body tremble now. She didn't notice that she had her jaw slightly hanging, her eyes wide as saucers. She remained as frozen as a statue, and Anna gave her the moment to soak all of it in.

Body and soul revival was a legendary skill, not known to many. There were mentions of it in the old tomes and scrolls of the Tao library but as far as Jun knew, it was an art lost in the passage of time. Did Anna really have a way to do that? Where did she learn it from? Who even taught her this old technique? And would Anna even pass on this knowledge to her?

"I can teach you."

"I..."

"In turn, I will need your help."

She could ask for the moon and Jun would hunt it down for her. The Tao didn't even realize that she was kneeling in front of Anna, the girl's dainty hands on her own. She held it tight and was surprised that Anna returned the pressure firmly. Jun was sure there were stars in her eyes now.

"Anna, I... Yes! I would love to learn from you." This girl before her, Jun couldn't help but wonder. Who was she exactly? "I'll do my best!"

Anna's smile was radiant. Jun couldn't help but smile back, her heart racing at the thought that she could finally help in whatever way she can.

"Good." The girl stood up, prompting Jun to be on her feet as well. "Thank you, airplane-head neesan."

Jun blinked, before a snort escaped her. So the girl could make a joke. How cute.

"You're welcome, Anna-chan!" She grabbed the itako by the hand and was pulling her along. "And we should totally start buying things for your little bean!"

"No, we will not."

"But it's going to be fun!"

"I'd rather sleep."

"And I'll pay for them!"

"...Fine."

It was silly how much she laughed in such a short amount of time, but she couldn't help it. Jun laughed again, talking a mile away about how Ren wouldn't part from his favorite stuffed tiger until he was seven while pulling Anna in the first store that came within their sights.