It seems to me that Arlen and I became closer over the last couple of days. It wasn't that I had a crush on him or anything - we just became closer friends. I think it was mostly because we could relate to each other. It started when we met each other that Saturday in the mall. I was buying presents for a couple of people and we ran into each other and talked while we shopped. Ever since that day, we've hung around each other a lot. Taran and Zahur often joined us, but we mostly hung around each other. Taran's excuse for the black and blue swell in his cheek entertained Suraiya and me. He would tell others that he fell when he rode his bike or that he was hit in the face when playing soccer. Soccer...yeah. Suraiya and I knew the truth and stole a laugh everytime someone asked him about it. It had been eight days since it happened, but it seemed to be getting better. Zahur suggested that the three of them attend our Volleyball game this Wednesday. It was in the middle of the season and we had a record of 8-2, which wasn't as good as our rival school John Bowne, and their record of 10-0. Many people would be attending that game, so I can't afford the episodes that happened that Saturday during practice. I hope a Sakura Spirit wouldn't appear at the game, but then again, I have no control over that.

Suraiya jumped on one of the benches in the girl's locker room and gazed out to the street. Her head moved from left to right as she studied all the cars that parked outside. Medea took off her gym shirt and threw it into her square locker. "Are they here yet?"

"Don't see 'em." Suraiya jumped off the bench and began to put on her sneakers. "Did you bring Kero?"

Medea threw her jersey over her head. "No, he's at home. He's enjoying playing Yoshimitsu in Soul Calibur 2. Once you get him started, he just won't stop."

Michelle passed through the small row of lockers, "Big game! Big game! You guys ready?"

"To lose?" Suraiya replied, "Sure, why not?"

Michelle began twisting the knob on her lock. "We could at least try to win."

Medea tied the laces on her sneakers, "Yeah and in the process we will either get snuffed in the stomach by a ball or get snuffed in the face like Taran." Medea and Suraiya laughed and Michelle looked at them clueless. "They play madd hard," Medea added, "someone always gets seriously injured after playing with them."

"We never do," Michelle pointed out. "We've played against them this year and we didn't get hurt."

Suraiya couldn't resist reminding Michelle, "We lost that game 25-4. Nobody really tried! Everyone was too busy looking out for themselves."

Medea agreed as she closed the lock on her locker, "Yeah! It was more like a game of dodgeball than volleyball!"

"Well then," Michelle said, raising her bottle of water for a toast, "To good health. May we be able to walk and not limp out of John Bowne's gym today." Medea and Suraiya raised their bottles and drank from them. "Good luck anyway."

There was an eerie sense of pain in John Bowne's gym when Suraiya and Medea walked in. Medea shivered slightly and crossed her arms. Taran, Zahur and Arlen walked behind them. They all gazed around at the cold and foreboding walls.

"Medea," Suraiya breathed in a low and fearful voice. Medea looked at Suraiya and studied her paling face as she said "I'm scared."

"So, you guys are gonna win today right?" Taran asked placing his arms on Medea's shoulders rubbing them slightly. Medea blushed slightly as her muscles warmed to his touch. Suraiya just laughed mockingly with doubt.

"Come on," Zahur replied, "They can't be that good." Suraiya repeated the same laugh she gave Taran.

Arlen smiled warmly and encouraged them, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"You know," Zahur included, "If they beat you, I'm going to have to stop being friends with you."

Medea looked at him skeptically, "I'm sorry. When were you our friend?"

Zahur shot a disgusted look at Medea who returned it to him. Taran, Zahur and Arlen took their seats in the stands as the volleyball game started. Medea and Suraiya took their places in the middle row and exchanged nervous sighs as John Bowne took their places. Medea felt a cold tingle in her stomach that jolted up her spine. Her eyes met Suraiya's and Medea's lips mouthed "Sakura Spirit".

"Where?" Suraiya whispered back.

"I don't know," Medea replied. "It's seems to be coming from all directions."

The volleyball was served by Michelle and the game commenced. The ball was flying everywhere at rapid speeds. Medea hit the ball most of the times scoring her team five points. As the game progressed, the scores stayed within range of each other. Suraiya took her place behind the line to serve the ball and the scored was 14-12, with Bowne in the lead. As Suraiya steadied the ball within her hand, Medea noticed a pastel pink glow around it. Slightly opaque wings emerged from the ball the exact moment Suraiya hit it up. Once it reached its maximum height from the ground, it stopped moving.

"Everything stopped moving," Medea pointed out. She looked around, the crowds were completely still. The other players stayed in the same position. It seemed like a perfect photograph, preserving the moment. However, for some reason, Medea and Suraiya were able to move.

"What's going on?" Suraiya asked walking up to Medea.

At that moment, the ball seemed to break free. Medea noticed the ball was headed directly toward them at a dangerous speed. "Look out!" Medea cried, pushing Suraiya onto the floor. The ball hit the ground hard and bounced up high into the air. It settled itself directly above the two girls and plunged down. Suraiya and Medea rolled in opposite directions.

"What the hell is that?" Suraiya asked, getting up from the floor.

"A Sakura Spirit!" Medea called back.

The ball bounced down, then soared up into the sky and aimed for Medea. Medea turned and began to run. The ball bounced up and down as it pursued her. She ducked under the net to the other side and cried out as the ball broke through the net leaving a big hole.

"MEDEA!" Kero called out as he flew in through the window. "It's THE JUMP!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Medea yelled as she turned, causing the ball to slam into a wall.

"Try using another one of the cards," Kero instructed, "Just call upon its power!"

"Which one though?" Suraiya asked, standing at the side of Kero.

"That is up to Medea."

The ball continued to pursue Medea and turned around once again. She held out her arms and allowed the ball to fly into her. The ball threw her into a wall and escaped from her grasp.

"Medea!" Suraiya and Kero called out simultaneously.

Medea stumbled a bit in pain as she got up from the floor. She pulled out the star key and chanted the words to transform it into the wand. She twirled the star wand and held it firmly in front of her. "Spirit of THE SWORD, I summon your powers from within me. Emerge now and obey my command! RELEASE!" Blue ribbons emerged from Medea's body and surrounded the star wand, changing it into a sword. The ball bounced back towards her and began to attack again. With one final jump into the air, the ball bounced up and charged toward Medea. Medea swung the sword once, causing the ball to splithalf. The two halves fell to the floor and a swirl of light turned into a pink ball of fuzz, with two beady eyes and a tail.

"Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true fo-" Before Medea was able to finish sealing The Jump, it hopped away. It jumped up high and landed back on the ground where Suraiya threw herself onto it, grabbing it and pinning it to the floor.

"Now Medea!" Suraiya demanded, "Hurry!"

Medea raised the wand above her head "Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! JUMP!" The spirit burst into pink ribbons that escaped into Medea's body. Medea sighed as she fell to the floor, still in pain from slamming into a wall.

"What happened to the people?" Kero asked, looking around. "This isn't the work of a Sakura Spirit."

Suraiya and Medea exchanged worried looks. "Then what is it?" Medea asked.

Kero shrugged and Medea and Suraiya both looked at each other. Off in the shadows, the same visitor took two steps in deeper after saying to himself, "A power beyond yours. Until you are ready..." Then, he waved his hand and the scene unfroze. He then disappeared into the shadows. A confused crowd looked around as they saw a hole in the net and a ball split into two.

Everyone stared at Suraiya who replied, "Hey, you ain't the only ones that can play hard!"

Soon after, the game commenced. The game was well played on both sides, with John Bowne still in the lead by one point. The score was now 25-24 and Serena was up to serve the ball. He hit it over the net, and another member hit it back. Michelle bumped it up and as one of the opposing team's members spiked it back, Taran yelled from the stands "Punch it like you punched me Medea!". Medea balled up her fist and punched it, so that it barely went over the net and touched the ground before any player could reach it. With the score tied, Serena served the ball again. This time it went high into the air and a player on the other team knocked it over. Medea knocked it back, and it came back to her again. She hit it straight up into the air and Suraiya knocked it over. The ball was hit back over and one of the players on Medea's team spiked it down, scoring the winning point.

As my team rejoiced in their win, I realized that Taran played a big role in our victory. It seemed that he ignited some spark in me that pushed me to play my very best. That's when it hit me, when another teammate hugged me, I was still in pain from sealing THE JUMP. I had played through my pain and now it was a hundred times worse. I couldn't do anything about it though, because the audience had not seen me get hit with the ball, much less witness something that would hurt this much. They had been frozen by who knows what. I have a feeling it was the same person that had been watching me that day. Kero had said that it takes a lot of power to freeze time, so this person must be very powerful. Maybe whoever is involved just froze the room and not time itself. Even so, Suraiya was not affected by the magic and as far as I am aware, she has not one ounce of magic within her. She helped out a great deal today though, as she has on other days. I am very grateful to have her as a friend. I don't think I would be able to do this without her and I can't even imagine where I would be without her. As she helped me limp out of the gymnasium, I realized that I had to be the one to break Michelle's toast as well as almost everything else in my body.