Three matches and many bruises later, I finally made it to the semi-finals! I saw my name on the match board and my heart swelled with happiness. I turned to Grace and she gave me a big, genuine smile.

"See, girl? I told you that you'd make it! Oh look! They're putting up the other semi-finalist in your division," she said, turning back to the board.

I looked at the logo and was shocked to say the least. They had the same dojo logo as mine up there, except Kai Shapley was printed under it, in small neat letters. I would be fighting Kai in the semi-finals.

"Oh looky here, it looks like I'm fighting the princess in the semis. This'll be easier than I thought," I heard a smug voice behind me say. Without thinking, I brought my elbow back into Kai's stomach, hard.

I heard the sharp exhale of breath behind me, signaling that I had found my mark. I turned around and said, "We'll see 'bout that, Kai."

I turned on my heel and started toward the bus stop, pulling Grace along with me. As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, I realized that I hadn't even checked to see the other division's semi-finalists. Jack was in the other division, so I told Grace to wait for me at the bus stop.

She looked at me for a second, and then shrugged before going to the bus stop.

I turned around and entered the sparring room. Kai was still in there, checking out the match board. I was just about to push past him, but he moved before I got there. I looked in the direction he was heading and saw Jack.

Call me quirky, but I wanted to see how Jack would take meeting Kai again, so I hid behind the match board and peeked out from behind it.

"Saw your fights, Jack. I'm surprised to see you here," Kai sauntered over, his ever-present smirk still plastered on his face.

Jack looked shocked for a second, and I saw fear flash through his eyes for a brief moment. But it was quickly replaced by his characteristic confidence. "I thought I'd swing by and pick up a trophy or two."

Kai breathed out a small laugh, "That's funny, I thought I'd beat the karate outta you two years ago," he said forcefully.

Jack didn't seem fazed at all. "I'm a lot better fighter than I was two years ago," he stepped closer to intimidate Kai, but then recoiled, "And your breath is worse," he said.

Kai glared at him before spitting out, "Listen loser, this time when I take you down, you're not getting back up. And guess what? I'm fighting the blonde in the semi-finals tomorrow, and what I do to her will be nothing close to what I'm going to do to you!" Kai walked away, probably thinking that he'd scared the poop out of Jack. I knew that wasn't true though, I prayed to God that it wasn't true.

Jack sat down on the bench; his shoulders slumped as if all the fight left him. I recognized the despaired look on his face, it was the same look he had after the match that changed his life, forever.

I just couldn't stand to see him like that, so I chose that moment to reveal my location.

"Come on, Jack. Don't let Kai get to you," I said, stepping out of my hiding place.

He jumped up, his eyes wide. Jack's hand flew up to his heart. "Geez Kim! How long have you been there?"

I smirked at his expression, it was priceless. Oh, if only I had a camera to document it.

"I pretty much heard everything," I said, leaning against the match board and crossing my arms.

"Seriously Kim, you gave me a heart attack! And I mean literally, my heart just about stopped," he gasped.

"I know, I seem to have that effect on boys. Since I'm so drop-dead gorgeous and all," I laughed.

Jack laughed along with me for a couple of seconds, before immediately sobering up again. The smile slipped off my face as I realized that he was seriously afraid of fighting Kai again. I rested my hand on his shoulder, and hoped it gave him a little comfort.

"You'll do just fine, Jack. Don't let Kai take you away. Not again," I whispered softly, my voice breaking at the end. I cleared my throat and backed away, I was such a baby.

"It's not just me, Kim. If you were here and you heard it everything he said, then you heard what he was going to do to you. It's all my fault, just because he hates me so much, he's going to take it out on you," Jack said, sitting down and dropping his head into his hands.

I was shocked speechless for a moment. All of the things that he should worry about, but he worries about me. My heart did this weird fluttery thing in my chest. I probably wasn't over the jet lag.

Truth be told, I totally forget how he indirectly threatened me. Not that I gave it much thought in the first place. I was absolutely not scared of Kai. Spiders, yes. But not Kai.

I went up next to him and kneeled down. I rested my hand on his knee and kept it there. I took a deep breath before I looked up at his face. I was actually pretty close to slapping some sense into him and telling him that life sucks, but I tried the more diplomatic approach.

"I can take care of myself, Jack. I don't need anyone looking out for me, and Kai is just a glorified hyena. I can take him," I said, gently.

Jack lifted his head and looked at me incredulously, as if I had just dropped from the moon.

"I know perfectly well that you can hold your own in a fight. But, do you seriously expect Kai to fight fair? After all of those years, do you really expect him to fight fair?" Jack questioned, getting up in the process.

Now, that was one thought that had not occurred to me. But, I shrugged anyway, acting completely unconcerned. I got to my feet. "Okay, enough of this depressing stuff. You do what you have to do, but I will seriously track you down and kick your butt if you repeat last time, you got me mister?" I said, stepping forward and prodding his chest with my finger.

Jack cracked a smile at that and nodded.

"Good," I said, satisfied, "Now, you still have to tell me about your life the past two years. Let's go back to the hotel; Grace's still waiting for me at the bus stop."

Helloo! This chapter was actually really fun to write, although the feelings that I wanted to portray were kinda hard. I hope I did okay! Leave me a review to let me know!

-Courtney(: