Mai swiftly turned on her heel and found herself staring into her father's face. It was different for the third time, and this one was definitely more mature than the men in Mai's dreams. He was clean-shaven now, but he still had the warm, calming eyes from her first dream. As she smiled at him, then turned toward the door, he also took a step toward it, placing his hand on it and firmly holding the wood in place.
"Honey, where are you going?" he asked a second time.
"Dad, I was just going out to meditate before school starts."
"No." he quietly objected. "You aren't going to school today. We are going to complete your education here."
"...Father?" she questioned, but he silenced her with a small hand gesture. Walking toward the wall, he carefully lifted the golden broadswords from their mount on the wall. The warrior swiftly unsheathed them and swu ng them in a circle masterfully, not touching a single piece of the house or his body.
"I am going to train you to use...these," he said, sheathing the blades and handed them to his daughter. Surprisingly, they were not heavy, but felt right in her hands. She slid the weapons out of the sheath and saw that they were silver-plated. She saw a flash of the red liquid squirting from her body, but blinked and turned away quickly.
"Mai, what's wrong?" her father asked.
"Nothing, father. Can you teach me now?" Mai asked, with a hint a feigned eagerness in her voice.
Her father smiled. "Of course. Come outside with me."

By twilight, her father was astounded. Mai had mastered the basics and was working on advanced spins and strikes. Her footwork was incredible and he had never seen such raw talent. She was working on a spin to jab when her father began to stare toward a nightshade bush against the red light of the dying sun. There was another speck of white, hidden beneath the many branches and blooms of the bush. He gasped, turned around, and saw Mai just finish a perfect uppercut. She looked up at him and smiled. He attempted to feign a smile back, then ushered her inside quickly.
During the night, Mai was tossing and turning again. She suddenly sat up in bed, sweating and breathing hard. She tried to remember her dream but all she could recall was a giant blur of black and white, almost like a Yin-Yang. Suddenly, she remembered walking toward it and the white striking her hard in the chest while the black pulled her in. After standing up to get a drink from her oak table, she thought she heard a window slam. Convincing herself that it was a dream, she laid down to bed again and went back to sleep.