Author's Note: Well I did a little rewriting, not enough that everything has changed, just a few details. I hope to get more chapters out soon! Please read and review!

Ayeka sat in her room with her head in her hands. That boy…he'd been hit for sure, but what of the sword? She couldn't help but feel like the boy was important to her, but in what way? Was he a brother? A friend? A lover? So many question with even fewer answers than she'd started with. First there had been her name, now she had to know where she was from, who was her family, what was her duty? Above all she had this nagging feeling that she was ignoring an important responsibility. Now she just had to find out what.

Manrui was about to walk into Ayeka's room to ask who the visitor had been because the only person she'd seen leave the room after Ayeka was Wufei. She stopped when she heard muffled sobs and peeked in. Ayeka sat in a heap on the floor, her legs folded underneath her and her head down with her hands over her face to keep the sound down. Manrui felt her temper flare and turned on her heel to find Wufei. Predictably, he was outside practicing sword work.

Manrui marched up to him and took advantage of the way he dismissed all women by getting real close before she slapped him. He stopped and glared at her. "What was that for?"

"She's crying," Manrui said.

Wufei shrugged. "It doesn't concern me."

Manrui's hand clenched into a fist. "How can you be so insensitive?" She thought Wufei had been the cause for Ayeka's tears, and was using it as an excuse to pick a fight with him. She admired him, his grace and speed were enviable, but his manners! He had no respect for anyone who hadn't proven themselves his equal, let alone was willing to admit anyone was his superior. Of course, while she complained to her new friend about the men's single-mindedness, she had to admit she was almost as obsessed with becoming a stronger fighter.

She looked at the edge of the circle Wufei had made with sand and grabbed the sword there. Wufei looked almost amused. "She has no clue who she really is, just bits and pieces, and you can't even give her the respect she deserves as our guest." He took up a position opposite her and waited. Manrui didn't hesitate, and attacked.

The fight was over quickly. Manrui pressed a hand to her arm and glared at Wufei. She was dirty from rolling and falling, her hair was messed, her sleeves were torn, and Wufei didn't have a scratch. He stood back and waited. Manrui straightened and snarled as she threw the sword into the ground at his feet as she walked away.

This time, it was Ayeka who came upon her friend Manrui. Manrui was cleaning her arm, but the cut was awkward, along the back of her upper arm. Ayeka came in and said, "Why don't you let me help you with that?"

Manrui smiled and said, "Thank-you." Ayeka knelt and started cleaning and binding the cut. It was shallow, but Wufei was very good and that was why it was no deeper.

"Where did you get this?" Ayeka asked quietly.

Manrui scowled. "Wufei, I was stupid enough to challenge him with swords. He wasn't this good during the war, but he's been paying particular attention to his sword skills lately. Now he's unstoppable, except you actually held your ground against him." She turned and looked at Ayeka with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes. "How good are you with a sword?"

Ayeka blinked. "Well, I have a sword, it arrived with me for some reason. It's name is Tenchi, Tsunami told me when she visited."

Manrui went still. "Tsunami?"

Ayeka stood up and went to the window. "Yes, she's a relative of mine. She told me my name is Ayeka, and that I should stay here until my memory comes back."

"Ayeka, hmm, interesting name," Manrui said. She got to her feet and winced. "Well, at least he cut my left. I can still fight with my right, so why don't we go to a practice room and try out some sword work?" Manrui found a spare blade for Ayeka to use and secured a room for an hour.

She opened the windows to let in some natural light, (As natural as colony light can get) and smiled at her friend. "Shall we?" Ayeka nodded and held up the sword. It was smaller and lighter than the swords Wufei and the others used, even the sword Manrui owned, but it would serve its purpose. Manrui attacked slowly.

Ayeka blocked and aimed for an opening. Manrui hadn't expected the quick response and was only saved by Ayeka's reflexes when they both realized Manrui wouldn't avoid it in time. Manrui took a few paces back and said, "Perhaps I underestimated your training. Let's see what you remember."

For over an hour, they sparred. Manrui got caught several times with moves in a style she couldn't recognize. It made the challenge of fighting Ayeka even more thrilling, and soon Ayeka was remembering things she'd learned during other types of lessons. She could remember being a little girl and having someone tell her to act like a princess. There had been many lessons on politics and manners, and a lifetime of self-defense. It seemed all sorts of interesting things had been included in her education.

That day started a routine of training. Ayeka did most of the teaching, but Manrui helped her in every way she could. Time flew by, and Master Long decided to pay his guest a visit to see how she was doing. Luck would have it that Ayeka was showing Manrui an exercise she'd remembered in a dream. Manrui had made sounds like it was impossible, but Ayeka didn't think so. The person doing the exercise had been the same boy using Tenchi.

She put the last peg in the ground and looked up. "That's about right," she said. Then Manrui sighed and held out the stick they'd chosen for the exercise. Ayeka took it and put her right foot on the first little wood block. She took a deep breath, let it out, and started. Master Long came upon the two of them at this moment, and paused. He waited and watched Ayeka jump from peg to peg as she hit a dangling target suspended from a tree branch above her.

Finally, Manrui said, "Okay, you convinced me. I guess it is possible."

Master Long took another step forward and the two young women looked at him in surprise. "Very interesting, Miss Ayeka. Perhaps you'd be willing to share this interesting exercise with the others staying here?" She blushed a bit and looked down.

"Um, I believe it could take some work to learn, but I don't see any problem in it." The following afternoon, Master Long had his students assemble at the small area where Ayeka had set up her grid of pegs. They eyed it wearily, wondering if it was some kind of torture test. When they saw Ayeka stretching off to the side, they relaxed.

Wufei was also there. He had to admit he was curious as to what Ayeka was planning to do with this strange set up. Master Long pointed to the block of wood hanging from a branch. "That is your target. Miss Ayeka, please go ahead." She held up her new weapon, a wooden practice sword, and stepped up to the edge. Slowly, she jumped from peg to peg in a dance-like pattern. Wufei watched, unimpressed.

Master Long nodded. "Now, I expect you all to be able to do that, but it is not the wooden blocks down below that are your target. By the time Miss Ayeka leaves, I hope at least one or two of you will be able to have as much mastery of this exercise as she has." He nodded to Ayeka again.

She was nervous. This kind of attention was nerve-wracking and stressful. She could picture herself screwing up. Still, she stepped onto the first block and waited. Up in the tree, Manrui was sitting with one leg on the branch the target was on. She gently started to bob it up and down at random. Ayeka leapt.

Wufei watched in surprise as the purple-hared woman completed her dance without having missed her target once. She was shivering with tension, but other than that seemed calm. Master Long bowed slightly to her. "Very good, now…let's see how much you've gathered. Wufei!"

Everyone watched with anticipation as Wufei took the wooden sword and stepped on the first peg. Ayeka felt like choking as he flawlessly completed the first half of the exercise. He abruptly stopped half way through and eyed the next peg. Ayeka looked down and saw it had fallen on its side. Still, she felt furious that he had learned something in seconds that had taken her weeks. Master Long didn't seem surprised. "Very good, Wufei. Next!" Ayeka winced as the rest tried to carry off the same grace as Wufei, resulting in painful falls. Manrui climbed down from the tree eventually to try it herself. Ayeka had gone over it with her before, but Manrui still missed the pegs several times.

Manrui was so sore that Ayeka went to the kitchen to bring their dinners up. On her way out, she almost knocked into Wufei. She juggled the two trays a moment, spilling some tea on Wufei's shirt. "I'm sorry!" It was out of her mouth on reflex. If it had gone through her head first, she wouldn't have wasted her breath. He just smirked at her and continued into the kitchen. Her eyes narrowed and she scowled at his back until the door swung shut.

She was just down the first hall when a student ran into her. There was no saving the food this time, and everything crashed to the floor. He stared at her, breathing hard, eyes wide, and muscles tensed for fight or flight. She might've gotten angry with Wufei, but she could find it in her heart to forgive this poor soul. "If you'd please help pick up-"

He grabbed her arm and jabbed something into it. "Sorry," he said as Ayeka felt herself fall into deep sleep.