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Metal Fight Beyblade is the property of Takara, d-rights, and Nelvana.

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Tales Of The Hagane Family

Chapter 4: A Walk In The Woods

Madoka walked along with her young daughter Maru holding onto her hand as they trudged through the snow on a cold, dark winter morning. Maru was in her first year of kindergarten, and in addition to already feeling uneasy about being away from her parents for half the day, she could very well have to walk through the woods to avoid the deep snowbanks, lest her boots get soaked.

"Grrr…Ginga. You promised you would walk Maru to school this week, and then all of a sudden since the Legend Bladers are facing off with the DNA, you have to run off and charge headfirst into battle against the Garcias and leave us not knowing if you'll even make it back!", she growled in her thoughts. "Then again, he's doing this to help Tsubasa and the WBBA, which includes me. And he's also doing it to keep the DNA from ever reaching me or Maru. So really, I can't blame him for doing what he has to."

"Mommy, why is it so dark?", Maru asked. Madoka observed their surroundings. The sky was a very dark blue, almost completely black, even the streetlights were still on.

"It's winter, honey. The nights are longer and often run into the early morning hours.", she explained to Maru, who listened with great interest.

"Really? You think it's dark like this where daddy is?", she asked.

"No, I doubt it.", she laughed, "Your father's down in Nevada, in the southern United States. The southern US is closer to the equator, so it's practically summer all year round there, which means the days are longer. Right now, he's probably out in the sun training in sand dunes, knowing him.", Maru nodded.

At last, they came to a fork in the road which led down two paths. One was the next block, covered in deep snow while the other led through the woods, which looked quite ominous with the twisted branches of the trees. Maru began clinging to her mother's leg, a fear of the unknown seeping into her overactive imagination. Madoka began to walk forward, but one of her legs was jerked backward by a sudden pull.

"No, no, no! I can't go in there, mommy, it's too scary!", Maru sheriked, her face showing anxiety. Madoka looked down at her daughter and saw the fear in her eyes. She bent down and put a hand on Maru's shoulder.

"It's just a forest, sweetie. What's so scary about that?", she asked, giving a small laugh to try and calm the child down.

Maru frowned, "This isn't funny, mommy! Those trees look like they could come to life, lift me up with their branches and eat me! Their glowing eyes staring at me the whole time!", as she buried her face in Madoka's coat, her mother hugged her close to console her.

"I kept assuring myself that there was no problem with Maru watching Snow White when she was only three, but she ended up bawling her eyes out when it came to the haunted forest part. That's when she started wetting the bed.", she remembered, "Ginga wet himself on the couch during the movie. That was not a good night."

"Look, Maru, I know how you're feeling. I used to be scared of going through these woods when it was dark out, too.", she admitted.

"You did?", Maru asked. Madoka nodded.

"I sure did. The only way I would even agree to walk through this place is if my dad would hold my hand and guide me to the other side. That's the way it remained throughout elementary school. But then came middle school, and I knew I was too old to be holding my dad's hand to get through the woods, so I choose a longer route around, which resulted in me having to get up extremely early. But when high school rolled around, I had to start getting there early for AM gym class, and since I was helping out my friends with all their Bey repairs I ended pulling a lot of late nights.", a smile crossed her face, "Of course, that was around the time I started dating your father."

* 16 Years Ago *

"Ginga, wake up!", Madoka yelled as she ripped the covers off the basement couch. The red haired blader groaned as he rolled over on to his side.

"Five more minutes, sweetheart.", he mumbled into his pillow. Madoka scowled and hoisted Ginga by his shoulders, dragging him off the sofa, and dropping him ontp the floor. He landed with a loud 'thud' and grunted. Dragging himself to his feet, he looked over at Madoka and smiled sheepishly. "You sure know how to sweep a guy off his feet."

She sighed and smiled back. "Oh, Ginga. Come on, we better have some breakfast." Ginga then instantly bolted up the stairs and into the kitchen, somersaulting over the table and landed right in his chair. Madoka's eyes drooped, as did her smile, at the sight of his enthusiasm. "He never moves that fast when it's time to take out the garbage." Following him up the stairs, Madoka yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was still rather tired from pulling an all-nighter to fix Aguma and Tithi's beys after the two had a lengthy battle.

"It's always fun to watch beybattles happen until you realize you're the one whose cleaning up the mess.", she sighed. Ginga then snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, carefully drawing in close enough to plant a wet kiss on her neck. Madoka gave a slight gasp and Ginga began to bite her skin ever so gently. She moaned softly, a slight blush adorning her cheeks, as she turned towards Ginga and brushed her lips against his forehead, making him quiver. He released her neck and met her gaze, as well as her lips, with his own. The two of them began to feel the world around them melt away as their faces grew warmer and their hands wandered. Ginga began to run his up and down Madoka's waist, while her hands were messing his hair. The kiss then deepened as she slid her tongue into his mouth, which he accepted with gusto and returned in full force. She then glanced at the clock in her kitchen and noticed the time. She suddenly broke the kiss, leaving Ginga quite befuddled.

"Madoka? What's wrong?", he asked.

"I just realized! I only have twenty minutes left to get to my AM Gym class!", she panicked. She threw open the living room closet and tossed her boots out onto the floor while trying to find her scarf.

"Madoka, relax! So you'll be a little late, big deal!", he said.

"You don't have AM Gym, Ginga, so you wouldn't understand. My teacher doesn't tolerate anyone being late, and she locks the doors as soon as the bell rings.", she explained.

"But you haven't even had breakfast yet!", he shouted to her as she ran back to the kitchen to get her book bag.

"No time!", she yelled while shoving a piece of bread into her mouth, and then slipping on her coat. She dashed past Ginga and grabbed her mitts. Ginga then threw on his own coat and a pair of shoes and joined her at the front door.

"At least let me walk you there, it's still dark outside.", he said.

"Ginga, I appreciate the concern, but I'm not a little kid, I can handle myself. Besides, it's only a walk to school.", she assured him. But no sooner had she opened the door, then they both found themselves staring at a snow-covered wonderland that had just last night been their neighbourhood. Their mouths hung open as the pure shock of it all sank in.

"Since when has it been snowing out here?!", Ginga cried.

"Well, it is the middle of November, after all.", she playfully reminded him while twirling a piece of her hair in one hand. He looked back at her and gave his best 'I'm not amused' face. However, she only laughed at the sight of it.

"Not funny, babe.", he flatly retorted.

"Oh come on, let's just get going already.", she said as she took off jogging through the already deepening snow. Ginga was caught off guard by her sudden burst of energy and then bolted to catch up with her.

"Jeez, what was in the friggin' bread?", he wondered. He soon caught up to her and grabbed her from behind once more to get her to slow down her pace. After a few brief moments of arguing, she decided to go down to the level of a power walk. The rest of the way there they talked. The conversation migrated between what kind of new ideas she was working on in her spare time, how their classes were going, and even plans for the holidays. Ginga tried to get Madoka to let a hint or two slip about what his Christmas gift was, but she dodged his question in a very coy manner, which left him without a single answer of any sort. By the time they had gotten close to the school, they were so deep in conversation that Ginga didn't even the snowbanks were getting higher and higher. That is, until he fell into one face first, which made Madoka laugh like the dickens.

"Gee, thanks honey. Really nice to know you enjoy my misfortune.", he sarcastically yet lovingly spoke.

"Hey, it's what I'm here for." she fired back in the exact same tone. "But the snow banks have gotten way too high to get through, we might have to walk on the road."

"Or we could always take the shortcut through the woods.", he suggested, pointing to the dark, thickened mass of trees. Her face suddenly turned horrified ad she began to back away slowly, her knees shaking. Ginga saw this and immediately became worried.

"Is something the matter, Madoka?", he asked while putting his arms around her to try and comfort her. She nodded before shrieking and burying her face in his coat when a raven come flying out of the trees.

"What is it?", he asked, but she refused to answer and remained silent.

"Madoka, come on, you can tell me anything.", he assured her, but still she remained silent while her shaking worsened.

"Y-You promise not to laugh?", she softly spoke, her voice muffled by his coat, but not enough to delude the meaning.

"Never, my angel. It doesn't matter how silly you think your fear is, it's still something that I'm willingly to help you through.", she looked up and saw his eyes, which were softly flickering with concern. She decided to bite the bullet and admit her secret to him.

"Ok…ever since I was a kid, I've been deathly afraid of going through those woods when it's dark. It all started when I was out playing late one evening with a bunch of friends from school. We were playing hide-and-go seek in the woods. I hid up in a tree whose branches were so thick that I knew they wouldn't find me, and when they came looking for me, I figured I would just jump down and scare them so I would win. But it turned out I hid myself too well, and it was getting dark, so I tried calling out to them, but no one answered me back. I tried to climb down on my own, but the branches were brittle, and they snapped underneath me. I fell onto the ground and ended up scraping my knees, so much so that I started crying and begging my friends to come back and get me. Then, I heard an eerie howling noise, followed by the sound of footsteps. Then next thing I knew, a pair of glowing eyes came darting towards me, so I screamed and ran out of there as fast as I could. By the time I got home, my dad was worried sick and nearly fainted when he saw my bleeding knees. He had been so worried he had even made a makeshift search party out of our neighbours. Ever since then, I would only walk through those woods during the dark hours if my dad was with me. I needed someone to make me feel safe, so I would never had to relive that nightmare.", she finally admitted.

Ginga's eyes went wide during her entire story, and he became saddened by the fact that Madoka had felt such trauma so young. It almost reminded of losing his…well, he decided he'd rather not think about it. Instead, his eyes flared with determination as she took Madoka's hands into his.

"Madoka, we don't have much time left before your class begins. We have to go through the woods, otherwise we'll never make it.", he resolved.

"Were you listening to a single word I just said?!", she screamed at him.

"I was. That's why I'm taking you through the woods. Your father may not always be around, but as long as I am, I won't let any harm come to you. That is the promise I make to you, my love.", he boldly said, as he planted a kiss on her lips and hooked her arm into his. "Well then, m'lady, shall we?"

"Lead the way, Ginga.", she instructed. As they entered the woods, she began to feel uneasy, and looked around her for any signs of those evil glowing eyes. However, Ginga kept them going steadfast through the path, using what little light from the far off school they could see to guide them. As they forged on, her anxiety started to melt away, and they soon made it out and proceeded to sprint towards the school.

They burst through the doors, and Madoka quickly looked towards the clock, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"We made it. And with two minutes to spare.", she exhaled calmly. She then turned toward Ginga, who was currently complaining about how the snow had soaked his shoes. "Ginga, I just wanted to say that you really are a hero. But more importantly, you're my hero. Having you by my side, I could feel the fearful part of me giving way to a much bolder one that saw me through that place."

"So, you're over your fear, I take it?", he asked hopefully.

"Uh-huh.", she nodded, "I think I'm going to be a-ok." He smiled, he was glad he could help her overcome that part of her past and blaze toward the future. Or rather, their future.

"I have to go now, but I'll see you at lunch.", she said with a peck on his cheek. He didn't even bother hiding the blush on his face this time.

"Alright, but how about your hang to your gym uniform for a little yoga and a cuddle after dinner?", he whispered with a rather seductive tone.

"It's a date.", she whispered back with a wink before heading into the gymnasium. The blush on his face grew even brighter, and he then headed to find someway to dry his soaking wet shoes.

* End Flashback *

"So daddy helped you get past your fear? Wow!", Maru exclaimed.

"Yep, and I never had to be afraid of walking through the woods again after that. All because I had someone to guide me to the other side of the spectrum, the opposite of fear.", Madoka explained.

"What's that?". Maru asked with great curiosity.

"Bravery.", Madoka said. Maru then got a look of determination on her face, much like the look her father had back then.

"Mommy, will you help get me to the other side of the spectrum?", she asked. Madoka smiled warmly and took hold of her little girl's hand.

"Of course, sweetie. I'd be honoured to.", she answered. And with no more words needed to be spoken, they headed towards the woods. Madoka then glanced up at the moon, and thought back to that one November morning where she conquered the fear she held the longest.

"You truly are amazing, Ginga Even when your presence is not with us, you watch over Maru and I with your spirit. Thank you, but now it's my turn to be the protector. Good luck with your battle against the DNA, my love. We'll be back here waiting to celebrate victory with you."