Author's Note: Someone asked why was Sakura mentioned as short-lived? We'll Sakura flowers, or cherry blossoms live for a very short period of time. Only about a month or a month and a half. The announcer was describing the flower really, not much about Angel Sakura. Sorry if that confused some of you, my apologies.

Disclaimer I don't own Angelic Layer, Naruto, or FFX

Sakura back flipped landing in a crouching position. She glanced up at hr opponent with a deadly glare. Both Angels stared at each other long and hard. They were down to the last thirty seconds. Sakura and Naru both equally damaged. Twenty seconds now.

They charged, this blow would decide who wins. "Sakura!" Hannah called and both Angels kicked with all the strength they had. There was a small explosion it seemed like. The Angels both flew off the layer.

"It's a draw! Both Sakura and Naru have been thrown off the layer! This calls for Sudden Death! Angels back to the layer!" Their hit point gauges were refilled, but the screen read 'Sudden Death', "The first one to land a hit on the other wins the match. Now… Naru, Sakura. Angelic Fight!"

It was over in a second. Maybe, even less than a second. Sakura didn't even attack. Naru came charging at full speed, Sakura leapt to the side and the other Angel couldn't stop in time. "Layer out? I thought this was Sudden Death!" the announcer said into the microphone, "Sakura wins!"

The crowd cheered, some sat in silence as they watched Angel Naru fall. Sakura put a hand on her hip and smiled. She shut down as Hannah turned off the headset and picked up the fallen Angel. Naru's Deus ran over, "Naru!"

"She's fine. There doesn't seem to be a permanent damage." Hannah handed the Angel back to her Deus. Sam, Naru's Deus, smiled weakly then hopped off the stage and disappeared down the road.

Hannah had entered as many public tournaments as she could. Her Angel card was supposed to arrive today and the Regional tournament started in two days. She had learned a lot about Sakura and about battling. Sakura was stronger against speed Angels and had to go on the defensive against power Angels. Deuses usually watched Sakura instead of their own Angels if she did some curious spins and then struck a hard blow while their guard was down. It was a good move but it only made the Deuses' more careful against Sakura.

"It's time to go home now Sakura. Lance will kill me if were not home soon." She put Sakura in her backpack and ran towards her house. Despite having won all of her battles Hannah was still considered a long shot to almost everyone. It was strange, she and Sakura seemed to be really strong maybe unstoppable. Why do people underestimate us?

Her thoughts were interrupted as the mailman pulled up to her house. Impeccable timing, Hannah had just arrived too. She waited patiently as he placed only a few letters in their box and drove away. Hannah went ripping through the mail, "Report card, bills, junk, junk, bills, …" she paused as a pink letter stuck out from the other white ones.

To: Leonhart, Hannah and Angel Sakura

She squealed picking up the mail and darting into her house. She ignored her brother as she ran up the stairs.

"So how badly did you lose," Hannah was already closing the door to her room before he had even gotten to the second word of his insult, "Squirt?"

"Sakura our Angel Card is here!" She jumped onto her blue and white bed immediately tearing the letter open. Out popped a letter, some papers, and a laminated card. Hannah examined the letter,

Dear Miss Leonhart,

All of us at Angelic Layer hope you are having much fun and are very successful with your new angel. Included in this letter is you ranking out of all the Deuses in America with cards, the amount of points you have so far, the prizes you can spend your points on, and your Angel Card. You are now eligible to enter tournaments of any kind. Have fun!

Sincerely,

Chief Mihara

First she read her ranking, Hannah Leonhart, 901 out of 1,025. That wasn't very encouraging. Her point balance was four hundred, that isn't really a lot. The prize list was the best of all. The best prize cost about 300,000 points. It was a pair of wings that were probably just for decoration. Still, they were beautiful. The card had her name and Sakura's name on it, she tucked it into a special small bag she bought just for Sakura.

"We've already registered for the tournament in two days Sakura. Do you think we're ready?" Hannah pulled the angel out of the bag. She had to pretend that Sakura replied, "I think so too."

Two days went by in a flash; Allie was very quiet during school. Whenever Hannah waved she waved back then turned and pretended to be busy. Has she been avoiding me? I wonder why. Hannah had to shrug this off; she couldn't be worried at all. All her focus had to be on Sakura and the tournament after-school.

Allie left during fourth period, which was History. The whole day she had been coughing, her face was pale, and she seemed very weak. It was very strange, more so than her not talking to Hannah. There were lots of rumors going around that Allie suddenly became sick with something and had spent almost a week in the hospital.

That can't be true. Allie will miss the tournament then! I think she was okay at the public tournament two days ago. Hannah thought walking toward the bus stop. The Regional tournament started in an hour and a half. Lance refused to drive her so she had to take a bus. The bus trip would take roughly forty-five minutes so that left her just enough time to check in once she got there.

Hannah hopped on the bus, one little girl pointed at her and whispered to her mother about something. The mother nodded and told her daughter to stop pointing.

About two other Deuses were on the bus to her surprise. They wore different uniforms than each other, and a different one from her own. The first Deus was a pretty Asian looking girl with her hair tied in a bun. She was gently brushing her Angel's hair with a tiny doll comb. The angel had mossy colored hair tied in a bun like her Deus's, which looked very cute. The second Deus and bobbed blonde hair, and brown eyes that stared down at her own Angel. Her angel had short black hair as well, they sort of matched too. I look nothing like Sakura; maybe I should have made her look a little like me. Hannah thought taking a seat next to a boy who was reading a guidebook to a video game.

Immediately after sitting down Hannah pulled Sakura from her backpack and started making sure she was in proper working order. A few people turned to take a look at the Angel, some seemed interested but other just turned around and stared out of the window. The boy next to her took one look at Sakura and said, "Hey! An Angel!"

Almost everyone turned to stare at Hannah, who began turning red. She looked up at him shyly, "You like Angelic Layer?" she asked trying not to catch any more attention than she already had.

"Heck Yeah! It's so awesome!" The boy had black spiky/messy hair and brown eyes. His clothes were pretty baggy and sort of clashed.

"Can I see your angel?" Hannah asked, at least she thought he would have an Angel.

"Sorry. I don't play." He sighed, "I wish I did. But it's too complicated. I only watch from the audience."

"Are you going to the Regional tournament then?" she paused, "By the way I'm Hannah, this is Sakura. What's your name?"

"Yes, Are you going to enter? I'm Zack."

"Of course." She smiled, Sakura now sat seiza in her lap s she talked up a storm with Zack.

The two were fast friends, Zack told her everything he knew about Angelic Layer and gave her helpful tips. Hannah told Zack everything she knew about the game and how easy it was to make an Angel. The two were sad to see the ride end, the two Deuses up front were off first followed by Hannah and Zack and others that came to see the tournament.

The building was huge, I mean utterly massive. A sign written in bright letters that said "Deus check in" was taped to a pillar. "I've gotta go. Wish us luck?" Hannah said.

"'Course. I'll cheer for ya!" Zack waved as she darted off to check in. He made his way towards the building but took a strange route into the Video Room.

"So did you learn anything from our little friend?"

"Yep."

"Alright Layer fans! You've been waiting for this tournament and now were givin' it to you! To start off the festivities we have two rookie Deuses! Give it up for Christina Tice and Angel Rooooooose!" The crowd screamed as Christina appeared in the arena with the flower like Angel on her hand.

"Now! This little lady and her Angel haven't lost a battle yet! Deus Hannah Leonhart and Angel Sakura!" the crowd roared again, not as loud as they did for Rose but pretty loud. Sakura rested on Hannah's shoulder as the two sepped into the arena. "It's battle of the flowers! Who will win? The beautiful Rose, or the lovely Sakura? Angels to the Layer!"

The Deuses put on the headsets and sent the Angels to the large layer. Rose landed ever so gracefully. She was very tall, built with a maximum emphasis on power. She wore a pinkish dress with lots of ruffles, and long boots with high heels. Her hair was a green color and her eyes emerald like Sakura's.

"Now… Angelic Fight!" the announcer and the crowd roared.

Sakura was the first to make a move. Rose crossed her arms almost daring the pink-haired Angel to attack. Attack Now! Hannah commanded. Sakura swung her leg up to land a sharp blow to Rose's side.

The crowd gasped, Rose had blocked! She held Sakura by her leg, smirking. The speed angel was flung across the layer. "Sakura hang on!" Hannah cried. Her Angel barely managed to stay on the layer. Hit points were deducted and the screen for the audience showed the damage delivered to Sakura. It was obvious there was some damage in her leg now.

She struggled to her feet, barely there before another blow was delivered. Rose had come up behind her while the Angel was down. Easily she could have knocked the enemy Angel out of the layer, but she was toying with Sakura. "Poor Sakura! She's being thrown about like a rag doll! Hannah what will you do?"

Sakura's hit points were going down dramatically. What can I do? If Sakura gets up Rose will attack her again. I have to stop Rose's momentum. Hannah stood Sakura up. She put her guard down, the crowd gasped again. "Sakura what are you doing!" The announcer's voice blared from the speakers.

"That was pretty stupid of you. If you were just going to let me end it now then you have not been a worthy opponent."

"Your sure?" Hannah said cheerfully.

Rose charged, she wasn't very fast though. It gave Hannah sometime to gain some concentration. A sickening crunch was heard and Rose dealt another blow to the suffering Angel. Another sickening crunch was heard as Sakura held onto her leg and twisted it. Rose's leg would probably be permanently damaged. Sakura let go of her leg and tried her old grab-the-shoulders move. Rose dropped as her damaged leg gave out on her. The pink-haired angel grabbed Rose's shoulder; flipped taking the power angel with her. Rose was slammed on her neck and back, her hit points hit zero and the crowd roared. Some of the crowd booed as well.

"What a come back! Angel Sakura did it! Victory goes to Hannah Leonhart!"

Christina could only stare. Her angel was damaged badly. Sakura walked over to where Rose lay, picked up the Angel as best as she could (since Rose was tall it was kind of hard) and slowly walked her over to Christina. She set the power angel down and ran back toward Hannah's end of the layer.

"Christina! I'm so sorry!" Hannah ran over to the other Deus.

"It's alright. Rose will be okay." She turned around, but she was crying, "Sakura proved her worth in the layer. You built her well. It's not only just building a strong Angel but it's also in the Deus's will to win. I just hope you win." With that she turned and ran away, leaving Hannah to her thoughts.

Hannah glanced down at Sakura. "Thank you very much. For trying so hard."