The impact stunned her, driving the wind out of her lungs. She knew her only option was to run. Fate had stopped toying with her and was going to kill her. "Setsuna, run. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine until you come back. Don't die here." Konoka yelled from where she was tied up. Fate smiled and said, "You should listen to your lover. Oh, and when you see Inugami tell him I have his girlfriend. I'm keeping a hold of her. I'll even throw you a bone. I'll call off Tsukuyomi next time we meet. In fact, let's meet in four days. That should be enough time for you to train. Do we have a deal?"

Setsuna had a hard time suppressing the anger in her voice. "I have no choice. I can't win here. Let me tell you something Fate. When Kotaro finds out about this he will not hesitate to want to kill you where you stand. Four days. Four days and I get Konoka back. I hope you'll be waiting." Tears were starting to roll down her face as she knew she had lost again. The sense of loss was all she felt besides her hate for Fate.

Fate smiled and nodded his agreement. Setsuna sadly looked at Konoka as she walked away. Her anger at her loss was about to be directed full force on someone else. She walked down to where she had left the others and saw them still holding their own against Tsukuyomi. Setsuna immediately stepped into the brawl. Tears of anger and sorrow rolled down her face as she relentlessly assaulted Tsukuyomi. Setsuna went at it with everything, losing herself in the dance of swords. Kotaro and Kaede simply stood there and watched in amazement. Tsukuyomi couldn't hold off Setsuna's attacks. Her sword shattered as Setsuna sliced right through it. Tsukuyomi immediately disappeared without a word.

Setsuna finally let everything out and broke down crying. Kaede and Kotaro couldn't do anything to console her. It was if they had seen what had happened when Setsuna had first lost Konoka to Fate. Kotaro was the first to speak. "Where's Chizuru? Did something happen?" Setsuna had regained enough of her composure to speak haltingly. "I'm sorry Kotaro. Fate has Chizuru. She was captured before the plan could even get off the ground."

Kotaro just stared. His mind simply thought, 'This isn't real. This isn't happening.'

He yelled aloud, slamming his fist through a wall. "Fate, you are so fucking dead when I get my hands on you. Do you hear that you bastard?! I'm going to kill you!" Blood poured down his fist and tears worked their way down his face. Now he knew how Setsuna felt. That sense of loss was not something you could guess at. It was something you had to feel for yourself.

Kaede felt horrible for the both of them. Such loss was something she had never truly felt before. Sure, she had felt like that before, that sense of hopelessness. She just had no idea how to help anyone currently feeling like that. She would just let them cry it out. Letting go of such feelings was the only real way to deal with them. Kotaro's explosive anger had not surprised her. She had expected something like this would happen. She knew now though that the resolve of everyone else would be more than enough to deal with Fate. Her attention was grabbed by Setsuna who spoke, "Fate wants us to meet him in four days. We have until then to train. Let's get going back to the hotel. We can deal with things there."

They walked back in silence. Everyone was thinking about their own different problems and the one mutual problem that was Fate. Rain slowly began to fall, making the mood that much darker. By the time they reached the hotel it was raining steadily. Walking into the hotel, they slowly walked up to their room. The usually cheerful hotel desk girl didn't speak as she watched them go by; she could sense they were in no mood to be talked to. Setsuna flopped herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. She knew that, had she stayed there she would have died but it seemed to her hat it hurt far more to have left Konoka there. Fate taking Chizuru only made things harder. Kotaro wouldn't even speak to either of them. His entire focus was on killing Fate. Setsuna knew that he was letting his anger consume him. She also knew that she would have to wait to tell him anything that could help. Right now, he simply wouldn't listen.

Setsuna had set about planning how she would train. All she needed was a little help. "Kaede,
Setsuna asked quietly, "Would you be willing to help me train? I need someone who can hold their own against me. Kotaro, you can help too. That way we all train at the same time. I say we start tomorrow, first thing in the morning. We'll train down at the beach. For now though I think we all need to get some sleep and think things through."

Kotaro flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Sleep finally found him after a few hours. Kaede had drifted off a while before, sprawled out on the other bed. Setsuna was still awake and looking at the stars out on the balcony. Her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. Thoughts of what might have been kept going through her mind. She wondered aloud to herself, "What would really have happened had I stayed there and fought. I would have certainly died, I think. Fate had that fight entirely under his grasp and had room to spare. He could afford to not try and still come out on top. How on earth can I be so weak?" She pounded her hand against the rail as her thoughts continued aloud, tears racing down her face. "Is what Evangeline said back then true? Does my happiness make me weak? It should have made me stronger and yet I can't do anything to save Konoka. Nothing I try works and it seems like all I can do is fail to save her. Why do I feel so lost and powerless?" Tears blurred her vision as she cried.

"You're not powerless Setsuna. You just simply lost the only part of you that you had to find to feel complete." Came Kotaro's voice from behind her. "I feel the same way now. There's not a damn thing i can do to get Chizuru back but I know I have to try. I'm going to train harder than I ever have before in my life. I'm doing it not so that I can beat Fate; I know I can't accomplish that. I'm going to train for Chizuru's sake. I'm going to fight for what I love. I hope you do the same. Get some sleep Setsuna. Tomorrow is going to be a rough day." He patted her on the shoulder and then walked back to his bed.

Setsuna smiled slightly at Kotaro's words of encouragement, she certainly needed it. She had taken the presence of her friends for granted in her hunt for Fate. She had thought no one could help her and her ignorance had cost her. She had forgotten to rely on her friends to give her advice. She remembered what Kaede had said to her before. She had only been half listening back then and now she could look at it from a different point of view. She knew that with the help her friends could provide that she had a chance of getting Konoka back. The risk was well worth it and she knew that someone might not walk away from this unharmed and no one would walk away from this unchanged.

Setsuna finally walked back into the room and curled up in the bed Kaede was sprawled in. Sleep for her was fitful at first but sleep soon found her. Her dreams that night were unreal. So lifelike she was certain that it was actually happening.

She was standing in the courtyard of the Shinmei school. Her sword was in her hand and she noticed the sakura petals falling and the breeze ruffle her wings. She didn't recall letting them out but they were out nevertheless. Standing across the courtyard from her was Tsukuyomi. Setsuna was wearing the traditional outfit befitting a Shinmei warrior, while Tsukuyomi was in her usual Lolita style garb. The two were facing off, the tension in the air the only thing letting Setsuna know that at that moment. The scene felt so surreal. She knew it couldn't be real and yet she found herself doubting.

Without her usual banter Tsukuyomi charged, using a from only the masters of Shinmei knew. He long blade swept low as her short blade swung high. Setsuna jumped and rolled sideways in the air. Her movements felt like she was underwater and the whole fight seemed to be in slow motion. Setsuna return attack connected with Tsukuyomi's longer blade. Tsukuyomi smiled and then dissolved into a sword wielding Fate. "You lack the drive and power to kill me. You are worthless and you will never save what you love. Now die!" Fate said as he swung the blade with inhuman speed.

Setsuna awoke instantly in a sweat. She had swore the blade had connected. She was relieved though to find it all a simple dream. Dreams for her were rarely anything more than recalled memory and yet this one was different. It felt as though she had actually lost to Fate again, like her mind was showing her what would have happened had she stayed there and fought him instead of taking his offer. Sweat soaked her clothes straight through. Setsuna felt like a shower was a great idea at that point.

She made sure that everyone was still sound asleep and quietly undressed as she walked into the bathroom where the shower was. She ran the water for a nice cool shower to relax her mind. The cool water ran down her body and it made her think of the shower she and Konoka had shared. Her tears mixed with the water as she cried softly. While it was helping her relax it was also digging up emotional turmoil she had yet to deal with. It was something she knew she would have to deal with one simple step at a time.

She finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself. Kaede was awake as she watched Setsuna grab her clothes. "Enjoy your shower Setsuna-dono?" Setsuna nodded and Kaede continued, " You got up after tossing around in your sleep for a while. I figured you were having a nightmare and got up to relax in the shower. I sat here thinking about everything. There's a chance we can win but only long enough to get back what we've lost here. Training can only get us so far. We all need to realize just what it is we are truly fighting for here and that knowledge will give us the strength to keep fighting."

"I know Kaede," Setsuna said. "I just need to find out what it really is I'm fighting for here. For now though, let's get some sleep. Kotaro said tomorrow is going to be rough. I think he knows what his reason is but we can worry about that tomorrow. Four days and we can get back what we've lost. Fate has underestimated our resolve." Setsuna smiled and then walked into the bathroom to change before going to bed. She fell asleep with small smile, waiting to see how training tomorrow was going to go.

(Author's note: I had to think this chapter through so it took forever to write. Making the decision to have Setsuna walk away from the fight was so hard to do. Hopefully you will all enjoy how this story is progressing. Read and enjoy.)

Shinobi of the Onyx Sands