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Japan 450AD

Temperance threw her latest opponent to the floor, she heard the thud as his body connected with the hard ground and felt disappointed. As his limp unconscious body was removed from the arena another man stepped up to the challenge and she thought, no hoped maybe this time.

Booth watched in the crowd and couldn't believe that he had come to become a body guard for Hodgins, a wealthy investor, Booth's services were needed because Hodgins trusted few people and made many enemies with his accusative nature. So far Booth found that he was very relaxed and seemed ambivalent to his wealth, Booth had expected to find a rich snob like the ones he had protected before, but underneath his façade Booth could see that Hodgins cared about the people, and wanted to do all in his power to help them.

Gordon Gordon Wyatt watched the crowd, as his eyes scanned the crowd he saw the usual men cheering on their friends that were stupid enough to fight Temperance. He continued to watch them and then he zoned in on a handsome man that was unlike the others who wore excitement and anticipation on their faces he donned a concerned expression, he was looking at Temperance and Gordon Wyatt knew that he wondered why such a beautiful woman was condemned to such a fate.

Gordon Wyatt snaked through the crowd until he reached the man; he was glad that he was stood away from the shouts of the other men so he would be able to talk to him.

"So what do you think of Temperance?"

Booth looked to his side to see a man that was older than himself, he looked back to the woman before him. "She's an incredible fighter"

"But you want to know more than that, don't you?"

Booth looked slightly astonished, being a bodyguard he had learnt to become unreadable so this man must be some sort of mind reader "How did you know?"

"I've been in this place long enough to see someone who cares" he looked at Temperance for a moment and drew in a breath "She grew up in this town as a child; she was so bright and full of joy" Booth saw the happiness he held in that memory, but then his expression hardened as he continued.

"Her family were poor and were unable to make their payments for a number of months so Squires sent some of his men; her family managed to hide Temperance but that night her mother, father and brother were murdered, she was 17 years old."

"She disappeared for years, there were tales of a magnificent female warrior little did I know it would be Temperance. She had travelled to every corner of Japan and had mastered every martial art she came across; no one knows how many she is mastered in. I think that makes her the most dangerous woman in Japan, she remains unbeaten to this day."

Booth nodded and started to turn back to watch the amazing woman when Gordon Wyatt grasped his arm.

"But that is not the end of the story; after Squires heard of Temperance's return he wanted the debt her family owed him. He had heard about her skills so he knew that he couldn't send his men, so he poisoned her. Now she is blind, some would say she is lucky to be alive, but for her it is a curse because it has enhanced her skills and they are all she has. She still had no money to her name so she is imprisoned in this arena like a toy, and she knows that the day she loses will be the day Squires will chuck her out, and her debt repaid."

"Couldn't she just lose a fight?"

"The one thing she has taught herself is defence; it is the only thing that has kept her going all these lonely years. This" he motioned with his arms to the surrounding area "is all she has, no friends, no family. Just this and she will fight to keep hold of that, even if it makes her miserable. She is strong willed and would never give up, but in my opinion what makes her unbeatable is that she has no reason to live so every time she faces her opponent she fight for survival, like it is her last fight"

Booth looked back and saw that she had threw yet another man to the floor and began to make her way through an arch. His eyes followed her gracious movements, he looked beside him and the man had gone he scanned the area and could not see him. He didn't realise that his feet were already carrying him to the arch Temperance had just disappeared through moments ago.

The arch led to a large balcony, he couldn't see her and then he turned and saw her sitting on the ledge her back against the wall, gazing at the sunset. He gazed at her for a moment, and looked at her beautiful features lit by the evening sun, she looked at peace here.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she stood up and walked so that she was directly in front of him her hands planted on her hips.

"I'm Booth; I came here to see you"

"Why?" she asked sounding slightly confused and intrigued at the same time.

"I wondered why such a beautiful woman would up living a life like this"

"I don't want to talk about it" he saw her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

Temperance expected Booth to leave, but he remained. She wondered what had compelled him to come to find her and tried to remember the last time she had someone that wanted to talk to her.

"It's beautiful out here"

"It used to be my favourite place" she smiled at the thought "but now I can only imagine its beauty"

"Come here" he grasped her hand and took her in his arms. He noticed how she tensed but then relaxed into his embrace "The sun is golden and is slowly travelling down the sky it is now in between the hills, around the sun the sky is a deep yellow orange, the as you go out it is yellow, a slight green turquoise and then a ocean blue. The shadows on the hill are long and are bathed in a yellow light and the lake is glistening with the colours in the sky."

She squeezed his hand slightly and turned into him, resting her head on his shoulder and whispered "Thank you" into his ear. He wrapped his arms around her and assured her that he was going nowhere. He thought he felt her shudder so he pulled back to look at her, and saw that some of the tears that had threatened to fall earlier stained her beautiful face. He gently cupped her face and wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb.

She looked up at him, placed her hand on his cheek and then began to trail her fingers memorizing every detail and picturing him in her mind. She continued her exploration and noticed that as she cupped his cheek he sighed in contentment. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a connection with someone like she did now; it occurred to her that she hadn't since her family's massacre. She didn't realise how much she craved this connection and she found it peculiar that she had only known this man less than a day but it felt like a lifetime. Emotions that had been repressed started to flow through every fibre of her being, and she felt loved.

She snaked her arms around his neck and their lips met in a tender kiss, she pulled him closer not wanting to be removed from his strong loving embrace, and she felt him reciprocate by pulling her closer to him. They both deepened the kiss and time seemed to slow, the very sun itself seemed to stop in the sky just to give them longer to dwell in the emotions flooding through every fibre of their bodies. Eventually they broke apart but couldn't bare the distance between them so they stood entangled with their foreheads leaning on one another.

Then it dawned on her that if Squires discovered Booth he would take him away like everyone else she has ever loved. She pulled herself out of his grasp.

Booth wondered why she was pulling away from him and saw the evident fear etched into her delicate features. He moved towards her again and grasped her hand, glad to see that she wasn't retreating. "What's wrong?"

"If Squires finds you he'll take you away from me"

He cupped her chin "I would never let that happen Temperance"

"As long as I am here you're not safe with me"

"Then leave"

"I can't, I have to lose a fight and then I have no where to go, I'm stuck here"

"You can come with me, I'm sure Hodgins would love to be protected by one of the most feared people in Japan" she smiled slightly.

"Who's Hodgins?"

"I am his bodyguard, he owns a large company"

"So that means you can fight?"

"Yes"

"So, you could go against me"

He chuckled slightly at the thought "But you'd defeat me; I've seen you fight your amazing"

"I could lose against you, and then I would be free"

They spent the rest of the night discussing their tactics for the following morning, by now the sun had disappeared over the horizon and the midnight sky hung above them. They parted under reluctance, but were both eager to fight for their future together, Booth just hoped that Hodgins would comply.

The next morning Temperance took her place, and awaited Booth's arrival, she kicked her opponent to the side and knew that he was unconscious. She returned to her stance and heard the familiar footfalls of Booth approaching the arena. It took all her control not to go and bury herself in his arms; and she battled to keep her face neutral at the thought of him.

She heard the gong, game on.

Their fight was like a dance, perfectly choreographed and fluent. She noticed the care he was taking not to hurt her, they had been fighting for a significant amount of time and the crowd were becoming rowdy. She gave the signal and he performed the sequence of moves she had taught him last night. She had learnt them long ago but had learnt of their danger so she had never used them, but she knew that she wasn't threatened because he wouldn't he applying the correct amount of force in the blows. She fell to the floor and closed her eyes; the arena was silent and then she heard the cheers for Booth.

She woke about ten minutes later to find herself on the floor in Squires' quarters.

"It's nice to see you Temperance" she didn't need to see to know that his eyes were leering at her.

Having nothing to say too him she awaited his next words.

"Like we agreed the day you fall, you are of no use to me so you may go. Your debt has been repaid"

Temperance gathered herself up and collected the few belongings she possessed. She had arranged to meet Booth beside the lake they had been gazing at the night before. She knew the route as if it were second nature, she approached the lake and she could hear Booth's approach. When he reached her he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her passionately, and they knew that everything would be fine from that moment on.

It turned out that Hodgins was delighted to have Temperance to become another body guard, not only because of her reputation but his wife Angela was becoming tired of her male body guards. To the point that she began to see how long it would be until they resigned after her driving them to insanity, she had been through fifteen in the last three months. Angela was ecstatic to have a woman body guard and another person to talk to; she found that talking to her bodyguard was the equivalent to talking to a wall.

The years progressed and Booth, Temperance, Angela and Hodgins became somewhat of a family. For Temperance it was all she had ever wanted the void in her heart was being filled with the love that had been absent from her for so many years, she finally had a purpose, a will to live.

I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, please review or PM me what you think and as usual any suggestions are welcome.

Infinite Possibilities : )