And I'm trying to make up for the accidental deletion of mt other stories, so I'll put up another today.

Disclaimer: Standard

Onto the fic!

Oh! And I forgot to put the title on the last one, which was Contemplations 3-- but you already knew that, didn't you?


Anna sat in her bed, crying.

Yes, she was crying-- again!

The necklace had been broken. She would never be able to talk to Yoh again.

'Unless he wins,' she reminded herself.

'But even if he did win...

...he'd never want me back,

he's heard what Hao's done to me now, I can't soften the blow,

or-- at least I think he's heard. But I really don't know that now, do I? The connection may have been totally smashed and he couldn't hear anything,

then again, I dn't even know if he was lestening at all.

I thought I heard his voice, saying my name, calling to me, trying to help,

but it could have been my imagination,

the imagination I didn't even know I had until I fantasized I could have you,

News

Yoh's friends kept quiet for the rest of the day, as much as they wanted to converse about Anna's predicament.

Yoh sometimes heard snioppets of conversations. About Anna. About him.

These conversations ceased when hea walked into the room.

They were no doubt bewildered. They had actually heard the ice queen melt! But they felt Yoh wouldn't want to talk about it, and they respected his privacy.

But they didn't understand.

Yoh wanted to talk, have someone who would listen, have someone who would make him explain how he felt. He needed to talk, get the thoughts out of his head, aske people how they felt, what they thought.

But the only person who ever made him explain anything was her.

The exact person he wanted to talk about.

The person he desperately wanted to talk to.

The person whose clone he needed right now so he could vent and clear his mind about her.

But she wasn't here, and she didn't have a clone, so he had to settle for someone else.

Perhaps two people, a boy and a girl, one who would see it his way, and the other who would see it from Anna's.

It was only after he was sitting in a room with Tamora and Trey that he felt awkward.


Anna attempted to stay away from Hao, but the task was proving difficult.

She was, after all, in his house.

He had all the keys,

knew all the hiding places,

and seemed to want to walk around a lot.

In the end, Anna decided to take a nap on the balcony outside her window, after seeing Hao walk by her door for the umpteenth time.

Perhaps a nap would let her become the actual Anna again, and not this emotional wreck who thought her fiancee hated her, and who thought her fiancee's brother was lusting after her.


"Well, Yoh?" Tamora asked politely.

"I needed to talk to somebody... y'know about this morning,"

Trey and Tamora suddenly looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in their seats, and finding the floor and cieling very interesting.

"I just need to clear my head," he pleaded, "I'll try not to vent," he said, a forced smile coming to his face.

Trey and Tamora simultaneously let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, and smiled back at him.

"Anna's obviously going through a lot," he started.

"No kidding!" Trey replied. "What do you think Hao was doing to her back there?"

"Probably the same thing all evil guys do to the women they capture," Tamora said, nonchalantly.

"Oh?" Trey asked, suspiciously, "And what is that?"

Her face darkened. "Use her and abuse her," Tamora said, sounding uncannilly calm talking about this subject, of all things. The shy little Tamora had found her voice.

Trey and Yoh gasped. They sort of knew where she was headed, but they didn't think she would put it so blatantly.

"Are you okay, Tammy?" Trey asked the pink-haired girl.

Tamora's face lit and she once again turned to the girl they knew, "Of course,"

"You kinda went all weird on us there," Yoh said.

"I'm sorry," Tamora said, "But Kino told me about this, and I was only a kid. And it chills me to think that such a strong woman like Anna would let someone do that to her,"

"Well I don't think she had a choice," a female said, coming in from the hall.

"Pilica!" Trey shouted, "You were listening!" he asked sounding alarmed. Yoh couldn't decipher what Trey was more angry about-- that she was listening, or that she was listening to what subject they were talking about.

"Pilica? Where are you?"

"Over here, master!" she almost giggled. Trey's fists clenched even tighter.

Len walked in.

"Anyway," Pilica continued. "He probably pressured her into it, or she was trying to get on his good side by playing the evil seductress,"

"Evil seductress?" Yoh gulped.

"Real old trick," Pilica explained. "A woman simply goes along with her captor's plans, gaining his trust and waiting for the best time to strike. Otherwise, it would be suicide,"

"I bet that's what Anna's doing," Trey emphasized, forgetting momentarily about Pilica and Len.

"But then, she's letting him do that to her," Yoh said, sounding as if he liked pressure better.

"Only so she can come back to us," Tamora tried to soften his outlook.

"But..."

"Yoh, you'd like her anyway, even if she wasn't a... ahem, anymore," Trey said, earning sharp glares form everyone. "What? He would!"

"Yes but, I think he'd still prefer it if she was," Len said.

Everyone nodded uncomfortably.

Yoh's blood boiled, "If I get my hands on Hao, I'll-"

A bell rang.

"Looks like you got your chance, man," Trey said, looking at Yoh's Oracle Bell.

Team Star
Tomorrow, Shaman Colosseum, Noon.

"So, tomorrow will make it or break it,"


Not so far away, Anna awoke from her nap.

It had done nothing to ease her thoughts.

Near her, on the balcony, she spotted Hao, sitting outside his window.

A bell rang.

Hao looked at his arm.

A huge smile spread across his face,

And Anna knew.

TBC!


Thank you all for reviewing!

animebookworm