The two teams felt very lucky and relieved that they did not have to fight against the boys, but there was always the small nagging knowledge that their luck was never meant to be. In the end, they were going to fight one another. That was the moment that all of them dreaded. To gain something that they strove for all their lives, but would have to give something up they loved in the process, was a kind of terrible torture that they wouldn't wish on their own enemies. This was already hard enough for them as it was, but the girls now had something else to face besides the choice between their freedom and a doomed love. Surprisingly enough, this new concept that Relena and Dorothy had presented seemed to chew at them. Hilde cursed over and over again as in to why this thing about support of other slaves was so damned important to her teammates. It must have been something more than what she saw, but still, she couldn't help but think that it was all a fluke. Maybe she would understand later, at least, that's what she hoped. Natria seemed suddenly more accepting to this than Hilde.

The final championships were about to take place and all of them could practically feel their owners breathing down their necks. They were elated, yet hesitant to finish this long agony of slavery. Cathy had no clue though what was happening to them all or any of the changes.

Trowa was forced to leave Cathy's bedside during the time that she was recovering. Hiroshi was just short of putting a gun against his temple when he would strain against the arms that were trying to make him leave the room. Cathy seemed to remain unchanged in her conditions, but the doctor that Hiroshi had hand chosen came by every day to inspect her skull and found that it was perfectly healed.

"It's as if she doesn't wish to return to us," confided the doctor one day to Hiroshi. Duo had been standing outside of the door, overhearing the conversation and had returned to his friends, waiting outside. Trowa had found this out and had played that day half-heartedly.

By the end of their interval of the games, Cathy was forced to recover by other treatment that the doctor prescribed. Within another day she was awake and playing again on the courts. Trowa kept a close eye on her and almost never left her alone. Cathy of course was rather miffed by this kind of close contact treatment and tried to avoid Trowa at times.

"He treats me like a porcelain doll," she complained to Natria on the courts one day. Natria only smiled a little and turned away, showing no sympathy. Cathy remained annoyed until the games returned for the final championships.