Of all of the things that I have done wrong in my life, I was having a difficult time understanding what was so terrible that I was deserving of this.

Three straight days of meditation after training and I was trying to find any excuse I could not to be sat down in that room and told to waste my time closing my eyes and trying to find some inner state of peace or whatever that I wasn't going to find. It was ridiculous to try and make me do something so tedious and boring, something that I had already failed at with flying colors twice in a row.

"But I have questions about the readings from last night." I grasped at straws, desperate for a way out of this.

"And you'll have time to ask them when we sit down for the review before your test tomorrow." Genkai folded her arms behind her back, giving me a glare. "Now quit whining and sit down."

"But-"

"Gavriella."

I let out a whine, frustrated, and crashed onto the deck, assuming the position. This was so dumb. If she wanted me to 'waste time', I could just dance. She was wasting my time AND hers by making me meditate. She would at most be wasting only her time if I was dancing instead. I hadn't had a real chance to just go at it since I'd gotten here ten days ago, which was my record time for not dancing (apart from the broken ankle when I was twelve), and I was going stir-crazy with want. But I closed my eyes and listened to her walk away, out the door and down the hall again. I could hear her taking out a pen and paper, starting to scribble something down. I had figured out yesterday that when I concentrated I could hear and feel things that I had thought were impossible, like hearing someone writing on a sheet of paper forty feet away from me between two closed doors. I didn't know if it had anything to do with my color thing or if it was just something I had to be bored enough to figure out that I could do, but it would prove very nifty when I went home.

The sun was still hours from setting, but it was lower in the sky, and the day was clear, so I was blessed with a warm drying session instead of the cold rainy weather that had been the bane of my existence the last two days. I closed my eyes, feeling my skin soaking up the rays and listening to the wildlife that was free to roam around again without the threat of rain. It was a jungle out there, each animal communicating in it's own language, hunting prey, foresting... I could hear all of it if I concentrated hard enough. It almost... sounded like music...

I opened my eyes, staring at the forest surrounding me. It was gorgeous, and the day was peaceful. Everything was in balance, and my body had begun acclimating to the intense workout that was existing in Genkai's compound. Genkai herself was still shut in that room, writing away.

I glanced about the room, double checking with my eyes to see if this was some sort of trick, and hopped of the deck as quietly as I could, stretching in preparation. The routine was basic, rudimentary really, but it was better than nothing at this point.

Closing my eyes again, I started a walkthrough of the routine, imagining each of the girls around me, and imagining that they were competent in their dancing abilities. Ling had been placed next to me for most of the exercises and routines we would be doing according to the lineups and graphs Mrs. Tanaka had constructed for me, and I couldn't help but feel that she was hoping I would force the girl to be a better dancer. She was by far the clumsiest, and never memorized what we were supposed to be doing. It was annoying more than anything. But Ling was on my left and Nana was on my right, graceful but arrogant. She had a lot of promise if she could just accept the constructive criticism Mrs. Tanaka gave each of us instead of thinking that she was perfect.

Two walk-throughs and I found myself dipping into freestyle dancing. I spun, leapt, did rolls and flips until I couldn't breath, letting the music in my head take over. It was loud, pounding behind my closed eyes and threatening to drown me in it unless I kept moving. The ache in my legs and my abdomen were forgotten, the headache from my restless nights a distant memory. I could see the gymnasium, feel the floor underneath my feet, so I utilized it all. I watched the girls from my old dance studio dance in time to me, appearing one by one in a line and matching my pace, my tempo. I flipped backwards, one hand touching the ground, and landed on my feet to do a roll, letting Liselle take my hand and pull me up to our line of girls. She was at ease, as always, and did a lovely flourish as I stood up, completely different from my rough standing, and grinned at me teasingly. We did the simple leg twirl, going higher and higher, and everyone was directly on par with one another, like always. We were like one unit, moving together even when we were just messing around. I couldn't help but smile. We were just dancing together, laughing. It was fun, out of any kind of order and completely imperfect; it was amazing. The girls were laughing when we finally stopped, and they started talking to me in a rush, including me in their conversations. It was a rush.

I opened my eyes, staring off into the trees and letting my heart rate fall to normal. I missed the girls at Lera May's. It always felt like one singular unit there, like a family. I made a note to write them a letter before I went to bed tonight; it had been three weeks since I'd last sent one to them.

I flinched, veering straight out of my train of thought as I recognized the still presence behind me. How had I missed her for so long?

I turned around slowly, trying to buy time for getting my thoughts in order and figure out how I was going to deal with whatever she put me through. She was just sitting on the deck, her arms folded across her chest, watching me. It was exactly how she looked when she was observing my training and I wasn't doing terrible. I didn't know how to react to her stance, her air... it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I didn't trust it at all.

"My my, aren't you a spry one? If you wanted more physical training you could have just asked." Her voice was almost light. I would have mistaken it for teasing if I wasn't so suspicious.

"You... aren't mad at me?"

"You directly disobeyed my instructions." I swallowed, almost choking when she gave me a smirk instead of a lecture. "But you did achieve the result I intended. The end result is what was important; if dancing is what gives you peace, then this is something that we can work with."

I stared at her, not comprehending the situation. I had directly done exactly the opposite of what she had told me to do and that was... okay with her? Since when was that ever okay with her?

"...Okay..." I finally answered, wincing at how lame it sounded. But really; what else was I supposed to say? I felt it was dangerous to say too much when she was in a generous mood. Instead, I walked over to where she was seated, regretting my decision to start moving as the ache set back into my muscles and groaning. "I forgot I hurt."

"You know kiddo? That doesn't surprise me." She stood up, smirking again and shaking her head, walking toward the door. I followed her, as the drill demanded, and scuttled behind her. Being closer in height meant that I could follow more slowly instead of jogging to keep up, which was nice for my body at the moment.

I sat down at the table set up in the main room, my books already set out for me. Today was reviewing for my Biology test, which was a subject that I happened to be decent at. What I was struggling with currently was heredity, specifically the idea of a Punnett Square, which was really because I kept overcomplicating the matter in my head. Apparently this was a common problem when it came to me and school. It was a long hour between now and when we could eat dinner and retire to our rooms. I couldn't wait to just lay down, write my letter, and go to bed.