Disclaimer: These are not my characters, and I will not be making any money off of them.

So, been having an idea for a fic kicking around in the back of my head, so I decided to write my first piece of fanfiction. Any C+C is appreciated.

I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. One fateful day that had the power to alter my life and everyone around me. A day that started like many of our days on that trip. We had finally reached the spot that Genma had most recently decided upon as a superior training ground.

As we approached a thick fog seemed to seep out of the ground obscuring our vision as we moved closer to the large group of pools in front of us. Clearly a training ground for balance, each pool had one or two slender bamboo poles jutting out.

Moments before we actually began our practice an old man rushed out of the single hut that marred the simple beauty of the area, "Sirs, please do not go near pools."

Ignoring the protests pops quickly loosed his back and leaped onto one of the near poles, and turned towards me with an expression of scorn. Clearly he had felt the same reticence I had at the mans words.

"Quit acting like a weak little girl, boy. Afraid of a getting a little wet in the sake of training?"

Yet even as I felt my legs tense in preparation of my jump I realized how silent the area was. This much water should have been a haven for animals yet there were none, none at all. Of course, even as that thought was concluding I had already launched myself to a pole. The precarious balance of a dew slick pole swaying with the force of my landing was enough to drive all ponderings away.

No sooner had I landed fully before pops had leapt to strike me, and once more we were joined in battle. The poles clearly wouldn't support the force of a block upon them, as if the Saotome school of Anything Goes was designed for this sort of place. The only option was to go on your own offensive leaping at your enemy in brutal midair combat.

After several volleys of blazing attacks pops made his first mistake, he simply hadn't noticed the next pole he was headed to was set at an odd angle. The few moments he used to find his balance before he could again attack were enough to give me an advantage this time round. Following an initial feint with an overhand slam propelled him straight into the water, and provided more than enough leverage to get to another pole. After a few moments he still hadn't surfaced it occured to me, maybe the pools were actually connected. A simple enough tactic to try and surprise me from an unexpected front. As I turned my head I saw something burst out of the water in the corner of my eye, and reacted with forms drilled into me ever since I could walk. As I brought my arm up to block and shifted my gaze back around my mind was paralyzed by an anomaly: a panda was hurtling towards me. Panic set in as he collided with me, flinging me from my perch to the waters below. Grabbing at another stick of bamboo in passing I attempted to swing around and go for another pole. Gripping tighly I could feel the pole begin to sway as I spun around it. Before I could finish the maneuver its hold in the ground gave way and I swiftly smashed into the water.

A fog descended upon my mind as the pool enveloped me. Something terribly wrong had happened. Gazing out of the pool things looked odd. Suddenly feeling the burning of my lungs seeking fresh air I swam up and to the edge of the pool. Reaching forward to pull myself out I was greeted by unfamiliar hands that seemed to swim in a gi many sizes to large.

Finally a voice penetrated my haze, the old man who had warned us earlier, "Young sir fall in spring of drowned young girl. Tragic story of young girl who drown here thousand year ago. Now you take shape of young girl."

His last phrase ignited the dread that had been accumulatin the entire stay at these pools. I hastily leaped from the pool to dry ground, yet as i landed Clothes that no longer seemed to fit correctly nearly took me down for another bath. Falling to my knees and looking in the nearest pool I caught a reflection. An unfamiliar face gazed back at me.

A little girl.

My whirling mind tried to process this last morsel as my senses fled my body and I was embraced with the soothing calm of unconsciousness