Author's Note: Yeah. I know the last chapter was sad and poorly written. But I wanted it to really sound like a thirteen year-old girl had written it when she was depressed. Anyway, we're gearing up for the Nationals. I'm excited about introducing Zack's Angel.

One more thing before you go, I drew a profile and just a picture of Sakura. Check my profile and scroll down, there should be two links to each picture if you just want to get a better idea of what Sakura looks like. I skipped a few details though. Meh bad.

Apparently Zack had known Allie too. He was there for the funeral. Instead of the usual black everyone was dressed in white. White was the color of morning in some cultures. Her parents thought Allie would want a more, for lack of a better word 'cheerful' funeral. Black was too depressing.

I am truly sorry Allie if I disrespected you when I used the word 'cheerful'. I'll try harder to make better choices with my words next time.

"White is the color of snow. Snow comes during the winter when the plants die so it's usually the color of mourning. At least in I think Chinese culture describes it that way." Zack tried to cheer Hannah up.

The Deus had brought Lulu and Sakura to the funeral. She made special white kimonos just for the occasion. But the Angel cords made noise and didn't match so she had left them at home. Sakura's hair was now messy and fell in her face without the pair of goggles to hold her pink hair back. Lulu's hair was long now and draped over Hannah's hand.

She nodded weakly; Hannah hadn't taken this too well. Not to mention Lance was now off preparing for college. He went early so he could explore the town and make friends. There were so many emotional obstacles she had to go over. It was far too difficult being a Deus than she had expected.

The funeral proceeded, it was all very gloomy. But somehow Hannah felt better after the ceremony. She finally knew that Allie was at rest. Zack walked Hannah to her car afterwards. Right before she left her said, "See you at the Nationals." And then her parents drove off.

Did Zack make it to the Nationals too? She thought staring out her window in deep thought.

June 11, Day of the Nationals

"Ladies and gentleman welcome to the Nationals!" the announcer said pointing at the banner that hung above his head. The banner read, "Angelic Layer America, Nationals." The crowd roared with excitement. "Are you ready to rock!"

There was a loud "Yes" from the audience.

"Alrighty then! We have four Deus hear with some amazing talent! From Block A- Linda Weiss. B Block- Hannah Leonhart. C Block- Pam Crandle. And D Block- Zack Tomo!" A light fell over each Deus's chair as their names were called. Hannah was too far away from Zack to see him.

"First up we have Hannah Leonhart. A girl who was trained by the Allie Sullivan, to be a Deus. She and her Angel, Sakura, were considered long shots for the longest time. But after the defeat of Angel Kiba they are no longer underestimated! Give it up for Hannah and Sakura!" the crowd started chanting "Go Hannah Go!" at least her fans did.

There were a few people in the front row holding signs that said, "We love Sakura." Hannah turned red as she headed towards the layer. She pulled out Sakura from her backpack; this made the crowd go wild again.

"Hannah's opponent will be…" the announcer opened an envelope with a name inside, "Zack Tomo!" the crowd roared again even louder than they did for Hannah. "Zack has been playing Angelic Layer for about two weeks now. He and his Angel have just crushed everyone he comes against. Feared by Deuses and loved by fans Zack Tomo and Angel Sasuke are a favorite to win!"

"ANGEL SASUKE!" Hannah gasped, no one was able to hear her over the roar of the crowd. Indeed the other Angel was based off Uchiha Sasuke, and it was a male Angel. Hannah had never seen a boy Angel before. So it was kind of a nice surprise. But had he made that Angel sort of as a joke to go along with Sakura? Her head began to hurt now.

"Angels to the Layer!" the announcer called.

"Let the power of the stars be with you now and forever Sakura. Fall in, Sakura!"

"Sasuke, let the power of the moon guide you to victory. Sasuke, fall in!"

Sakura curled and spun in the air landing on one knee. She turned around and this time gave a thumbs up and mouthed, "We can win chief." This was starting to be a bad habit for Hannah. Sasuke just dropped in landing on both legs.

Sasuke was slightly taller than Sakura, built for speed more than likely, male Angels usually larger than female Angels so he wasn't super tiny. Her had spiky, jet-black hair and coal colored eyes to match. His battle costume was somewhat like Sakura's. Black and white with one other color, which in his case was red. He had a black T-shirt from what it looked like with bandages wrapped around his elbows down to his fingers. Black shorts which went a little lower than his knee with bandages wrapped from his knee down to a pair of black zori which were like the ones in the books. The red coloring that I had mention earlier was on Sasuke's back. A red circle that looked sort of metallic was placed on the very center of her T-shirt.

The costume seemed sort of like Sakura's but not a whole lot. Zack was so going to get chewed out by Hannah after the battle.

The layer they were battling on was a field. It was really grassy. The tall grass went up to Sakura's knees just about. In some areas the grass was shorter.

"Angel Sasuke. Angel Sakura. Angelic Fight!"

Sakura got in her battle position, but something was wrong. Sasuke wasn't there anymore. He disappeared! "Behind you Sakura." Zack said to Hannah.

The pink-haired was ready to spin around but it was too late. Sasuke was so fast! He was already landed a hit five second into the match. Sakura landed with a small amount of hit points deducted. She started getting up, about halfway to her feet when another blow was struck. This one hit her shoulder.

A gasp came from the crowd as the Angel landed near the edge of the layer. Zack grinned, as did Sasuke. "I was hoping you would put up more of a fight than this Sakura."

Sasuke walked over and grabbed Sakura by her arm, and stood her up. Hannah was sort of shocked; did Zack just want to Sasuke to get hurt? Sakura swung her leg around expecting to hit the enemy Angel right in the chest. But there was no crunch, or any sound for that matter.

He dodged! How fast was he? So fast that Hannah couldn't see Sasuke!

Sakura looked left and right, behind, to her left, or right. So where-? Above… She looked up, and coming down from above the layer was Sasuke. He spun, landing another hit on her shoulder.

"Sakura!" Hannah cried as she watched her Angel get throw around like a rag doll.

"Ooooooo- That's gotta hurt! Sakura how will you win against this speed demon?"

Angelic Layer Pay-per-View

Angel Sakura versus Angel Sasuke

Balance versus Speed

It's battle of the ninjas! But who will take home the gold? Angel Sasuke seems to have the advantage but what Sakura lacks in speed she makes up in surprises!

GO! FIGHT! WIN!

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