Slowly but surely, morning took over night. The early summer sun gently warmed An-Chuan and it's surrounding woodland. Mei and the others had been awake for quite some time now, woken hours earlier by the gentle chirruping of a joyous dawn chorus, performed by hundreds of unseen birds. They sauntered down the hill back into the village, bright-eyed after a peaceful night's sleep, except for Layla, who still seemed disturbed by her intense but now forgotten dream. Tegryn walked alongside Musa and Mei, happily chatting and joking, when all of a sudden they were interrupted by a happy cry.

"Tegryn!"

They looked over to see a stunningly beautiful teenage girl wearing a red silk traditional Chinese-style dress and a matching red carnation in her long silky hair running towards them as fast as her legs could carry her. When she reached them, she gazed lovingly at Tegryn.

"So it IS true!" she said, joyfully hugging him for all she was worth. "You've returned! You finally came back to me!"

She took the flower from her hair and gave it to Tegryn, and then, without warning, gave him a big kiss on the lips. Shocked, Tegryn gently pushed her away before it could go too far.

"Whoa! Pui Yin, wait a minute!"

Pui Yin looked confused at Tegryn, before bursting into giggles. "Ooh, I see! You're shy about kissing me in front of your friends! That's fine - we have the rest of our lives for that!"

"Oh, so this is Pui Yin!" said Musa, glaring jealously at this girl who had dared to kiss her Teggy - and right in front of her too.

Pui Yin looked at Musa. "I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me." she said, smiling sweetly. "I should introduced myself to my fiancé's friends before kissing him!"

"Look, Pui Yin... there's something I have to tell you, something really important." Tegryn said nervously as he took her to one side.

"Ohh, something important!" Pui Yin cooed excitedly. "But Tegryn darling, why are you taking me away from your friends? Aren't you going to introduce me? Are you embarrassed? Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them!"

"No, believe me, I'd rather..."

"I insist!"

Tegryn bowed his head and sighed. "Very well. Pui Yin... I can't date you any more."

"I don't understand. Why not?"

"The thing is, well... we've been apart for many years now. I know you've held on for me and that's really very sweet of you, but... I've moved on."

"Moved on? But... I love you. Don't you love me?"

"I do love you, but only as a very dear friend. That's all we can be now. You see... I've met someone else, someone who I love very much, even more than you."

"You... you love someone else? You have another girlfriend?" she said, trying desperately to fight back the tears as her world started to crash in all around her. "Who is she?"

Tegryn looked at Musa and took her hand. "Pui Yin, I'm so sorry."

Pui Yin looked at them in disbelief, tears slowly streaming down her face. "I... I see." Unable to hold her emotions back any more, she started to run away sobbing, when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks and composed herself.

"Tegryn... I challenge you!"

"Challenge me? To what?"

She pointed at the tournament pole. "I challenge you to a fight. If I fall first, I will give up on you and allow you to marry this... girl. But if I win, you will give her up and become my husband!"

A huge gasp rose up from the group.
"WHAT!" Musa gasped, her eyes wide in astonishment.

"No way!" gasped Bloom.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Stella added.

"Tegryn, you can't accept that challenge!" said Anyuna, her voice tinged with desperation as she grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to pull him away. "Just walk away now, ignore her. Please? I can't lose you... we can't lose you. You can't marry her, you just can't!"

Tegryn looked down at the ground angrily. "Damn it!" was all he could say.

"What's up?" said Musa, before a look of horror edged its way onto her face as she realised exactly what he meant. "No! Don't tell me you're actually going to go through with this?"

"I don't have a choice. The laws of this village state that any challenges issued during the tournament have to be met." he said, clenching his fist in frustration. "If not, me and my entire family will be dishonoured, and they'll be forced to leave here for ever! That's probably why she challenged me and not you - she knew I'd be forced to accept it. Musie, I've only just found my family, and I can't make them homeless. I'm sorry, but I can't allow that to happen!"

Musa looked up at him sadly. "I understand why you have to do this... but what if you lose?"

"I won't lose," he whispered in her ear. "I promise. Remember that poem I wrote in your card? Nothing on earth will ever split us in two."

Pui Yin interrupted them. "The match will be at midday. You'd better make the most of what little time you have together with your girlfriend, because in a few hours time I'll be taking her place!"