Grandpa quietly hums to himself since the silence starts to haunt him with images of his kitchen helper, Hiromi Tachibana.

'I managed to finish everything.' He happily thinks to himself as he stands back to marvel at the work in front of him.

Yet the happiness was all but too brief when the sight of his grandson entered within the kitchen area coupled with an unreadable expression on his face.

His first instinct was to ask what was wrong with him that is if he was unaware of what was going on with him, however he deliberately steers clear away from the question.

Grandpa closely watches as Takao unexpectedly ignores the table full of food in front of him and ventures toward the refrigerator.

"I just finished up with dinner so you can fix whatever it is that you want." He speaks up as his voice cuts through the tense quietness between the two Kinomiyas.

Takao reaches inside of the refrigerator, withdraws a bottle, closes the door behind him, and replies, "Not hungry."

His response was typical for a heartbroken teen age boy, except his grandson was no average normal boy.

Takao accomplished so much in the world of Beyblading before the tender age of eighteen years old. He won three consecutive World Championships, was a member of the famous Bladebreakers, BBA Revolution and succeeded in being nominated leader of the G-Revolution. He was even proclaimed as the "#1 Blader in the World" by the BBA.

"What else was there left in the world for this young man to accomplish?" He recalls a reporter innocently poses to the world.

The other news anchor supplies an answer fill with encouragement, "His skills has shown us that the sky isn't his limit for he has soared above and beyond the clouds and is among the stars."

Takao's harsh response to the departure of a dear friend will probably hamper his interpersonal relations with others.

However, the reporter's question continuously cycles through his thoughts when he realizes that there was absolutely nothing left for him to win in the world of Beyblading.

'What else was there in the world for this young man to accomplish?'

He closely watches his grandson exits from the kitchen as it causes his heart to drop from a sense of sadness.

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Audrey and Hiromi closely trail behind Meifeng as she guides them through the crowd of foreigners. It appears as if the crowd instinctively parts down the middle as they advance forward with each step.

Hiromi casually observes the woman in front of her as she seems to exude a hidden sense of confidence and honesty.

A brief breeze passed over them once they drew near a side building that appeared to be closed off to those visitors other than themselves.

"Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain." Meifeng recites after she places her hand against the double wooden doors.

The wooden doors were instantly drawn inward once she concludes the quote before she leads the two inside of the building.

"So Meifeng…" Audrey speaks up from the pair as she captures the silver haired woman's attention, "…where exactly are we going?"

"That's a good question Audrey. In order to begin your journey, you must have a start position correct?" She poses to the blonde girl.

Her green eyes glance over at Hiromi before she returns her sights on to the woman in front of them and replies, "Good point."

A pregnant silence overcomes the trio as the two young ladies scope out their surroundings and notices the ancient décor.

"My Lady Matsumoto…I have acquired the two guests you requested of me." Meifeng voices after she bows at the waist as a sign of respect for the woman in front of her.

Hiromi and Audrey eventually behold a woman with orange hair with a bang that covers her forehead and spiral curls that cascades down past her shoulders. Her brown eyes radiate leadership and an iron will yet hold a sense of sensitive that can only be found in a maternal figure.

"Excellent job as always, Meifeng." The woman, name Matsumoto, congratulates the woman, who bears a small smile as a sign of her appreciation for the compliment.

"Ni hao (hello) Audrey Steele and Hiromi Tachibana," She politely greets them with a stretch of her lips as she adds, "Huanying (welcome) to China and to the Forbidden City."

"My name is Matsumoto Inoue, and I am considered the start of your journey to find whatever it is that you seek." Th older woman politely introduces herself as Inoue Matsumoto to the girls.

"Along the way, you will encounter trials and tribulations that will not only test you physically, mentally, but spiritually. However, I assure you that the end result will be worth your while and time." Inoue speaks in a stern yet gentle tone.

"Hiromi…Meifeng will accompany you on your expedition to find your purpose in life." She informs the brunette as she glances over at the silver haired woman.

"Ah you're so lucky…you already have yours." Audrey jokingly mutters to her companion, which causes a small smirk to stretch across her face.

Inoue casually peers over her right shoulder and shouts the name "Lanying…"

A woman with wavy shoulder length purple hair style in a side part bob with a streak of silver as a bang that frames her round face and charcoal grey eyes emerge from the shadows.

She was clad in a grey sashiko no donza with purple pinwheel embroidery that exposes a violet purple strapless bathing suit top along with white knee length capris. A pair of sturdy wooden zoris adorns her feet as she advances forward.

"Audrey…Lanying will serve as your guide as you start on your quest in life." Inoue explains the presence of the woman in front of her.

"Let me forewarn you that there are times where one individual will not be able to complete a task." She warns them with a smile on her face.

"I think that clears up all of the introductions and instructions." Inoue quietly says under her breath as a means to mentally check off her to do list.

'Am I doing the right thing here?' Hiromi silently considers to herself after she processes the content of the conversation.

"It's good to clear any air of confusion." Meifeng promptly voices before her eyes lock in on Inoue. "A clouded mind blinds the individual from a wise judgment."

Hiromi then casts her sights away from Inoue and on to Audrey to see that she was unaware of Meifeng's advice, which means it was just for her.

"You were selected to accomplish what you desperately wanted to have, which is a purpose in life. Now is the time to make the decision that will forever change your life."

It was as if she spoke some words of wisdom that sent a wave of relief through her body. 'Maybe she's right about this…'

Her ruby red eyes peer up at the older woman once again and declares, "I accept this journey."

A smile stretches across her face at her acceptance to what one would call it as fate or destiny.

Inoue's voice breaks them out of their conversation when she suggests that the two should begin as soon as possible.

'I'm sorry Takao…but this time I have to think of me.'

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Audrey was closely trailing behind Lanying before noticing that they were now outside trekking through the lush green grass toward a small river.

"Uhm…Lanying right?" Audrey inquires in her American accent, which strongly emerges as she speaks to her instructor.

Lanying eventually leads them to the banks of the river, halts to answer her question, glances over her shoulder and supplies an answer with a "Yes".

"What is it that I'm supposed to do?" She curiously asks until she watches her direct her index finger toward the water.

"You're going to first swim from this end to the other end and back." She answers, which causes Audrey to express shock as she returns her arm to her side.

"Now what is that going to do?"

"Clear your head…oh and you will need this too." Lanying mentions as she searches around the area until her hand wraps around a rope, drags it towards Audrey and ties it around her waist.

"You might want to hurry before a tide or a rip current comes through." She advises with a straight face and a small smile across her face.

Audrey silently groaned once she realized that she had no bathing suit on and that her clothes would be completely soaked once she completed the task.

Lanying senses her hesitate and assures her "Don't worry about your clothes. I have a spare set when you're done."

The dirty blonde slowly drops her book bag, shrugs out of her jacket, slides her shades off of her face, unzips the large portion, stuffs it inside and zips it back.

She exhales a deep breath as a means to concentrate and starts to jog when she suddenly feels a heavy weight pulls around her waist.

'What the world?' Audrey thinks as she glances over her shoulder to see a tire at the end of the rope.

"You expect me to swim with this thing on my back?" The teen instantly challenges as she witnesses Lanying merely nods her head as a signal of yes.

Audrey repeatedly faces the tire then the river until she ultimately decides to break out in to a mad dash to the edge of the water.

Lanying observes Audrey, no longer hesitant, sprints and dives in the water along with the tire at her back.

She then gathers up the teen's personal belongings, ventures toward the small wooden shack that sits a little ways up stream, locates her telescope, searches for Audrey, and watches her progression.

8888

"Dinner is ready." Grandpa announces as he pokes his head inside of the living room to see the other three members of the famous Bladebreakers in a trance with a segment about the opponents in the upcoming world tournament.

It was not until the sound of his voice did it snap their intense concentration on the color tube about the BBA.

Max was the first to response to the mention of food, "Ah my stomach has been filling empty ever since that run this morning,"

"Did Takao ever come out of his room?" A concern Rei inquires toward Grandpa about his knowledge on Takao's present location.

Grandpa pauses to himself before he replies, "Yeah, the little dude had doom and gloom written all over his face, shawty."

Kai maintains his usual stoic expression when he feels his teammates eyes turn toward him after they hear the news from Grandpa about Takao.

"At least he's up and about." Rei claims after he rises to his feet since he stomach quietly growls at him for not feeding it.

Max hops to his feet, dusts off his butt, stretch his arms until he hears a pop noise, and says, "That's good…we don't have to worry too much about him."

Grandpa observes the interaction between the two light hearts of the group while Kai continues to hang back from the two.

Kai silently stands to his feet as he watches his comrades, except for Grandpa, travels toward the kitchen.

"Kai…" Grandpa calls out to the slate haired male, who was previously the leader of the group before Takao finally accept the position of leadership.

The young man stops in the middle of his stride at the sound of his name being called by the older Kinomiya.

He rotates his head in his direction where he was met with a question about of course Takao's focus on beyblading.

"I'm sure he will make a speedy recovery in time for the tournament." Kai expresses with a hidden sense of insecurity in his tone.

'There's still something not right though…'

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Author's Note:

04.27.17 Major editing revisions