AN: Hello~! Nice to see you guys! Last chapter had only great reviews, I'm so happy :D! I have been a very lazy bad girl, but I have an excuse! I just found out about 'Sly Cooper : Thieves in Time' and probably spent 3 or 4 days just looking at the gameplay AND also reading a very adictive good fanfiction about Sly Cooper. Ehrm... Now back to this story. I wasn't gonna leave Akyo alone. What kind of writer to do you take me for? Zed is a little out of the picture right now, but he will return shortly! Until then, I was going to get Akyo some new friends, these three special people you have probably heard of already. I had the intention to start with Akali, but two reviews demanded the same thing : more Shen. Well, what don't I do for you guys? Here you have it!

Disclaimer : Useless rambling, let's move onwards.

The Shadows of her memories chapter 8

The elders used to say that : 'Only time can cure a broken heart.' . Akyo soon discovered that it was all a lie. Weeks had passed, months even, she did not knew. But the ache in her soul was just as powerful as it had been that night. Nothing had changed, nothing. The loneliness of her quarters, and the fact she hadn't been smiling ever since, only deepened the gash in her heart.

This time, it wasn't Youken who was sending her onto missions all the time. The next day after the incident, she had already picked an assignment, only to take her mind off of everything. She took mission after mission, just to keep her mind busy. She didn't wanted to start thinking about it. To start asking herself again why they had done it. To not let the despair hugging her heart get the better of her. She knew that this kind of experiences modeled an individ, but this was ridiculous.

She knew she had changed, the way other fellow ninjas looked at her told her so. She knew her back was more rigid, and her head slightly bowed in front, her cold eyes boring deep into the distance. She changed her cape too, and added a hood to cover both of her head and cast a shadow over her eyes. She could remember what the master said the first time he saw her that way.

'You look just like your mother in her young days!' the old man told her.

Funny how she had never imagined someone say that to her. She hadn't even imagined herself a shadow born, let alone to look just like her mother. But that question annoyed her in a way it shouldn't. Even if Youken had probably reffered at her attire, she started asking herself : 'What do I have in common with mother?' . The physical appearances were completely different. While Akyo had ebony hair, and almost white irises, her mother had the darkest shades of black, and a pair of obsidian orbs to match. She knew that similarities between a child and it's parent were far beyond physical traits, but it bothered her to no end. Zayenn had beautiful black hair, that matched her mother's one. Why didn't she had anything in common with the woman she held closest to her heart? The answer she gave the old man, made him blink.

She gave a small chuckle, and a sad smile passed her lips, she didn't watched the old man in the eye. She didn't want to see her weak.

'I do not believe that it's true master. Only if mother had somehow changed the color of both her eyes and hair through the years.' she said still looking down.

'What a parent has in common with his child is far beyond the realm of physical appearance child.' Youken said, as he saw another sad smile pass her lips.

'I know...'she said, letting the sentence trail off into silence.

'Then...?' he inquired the small ninja.

'Then what do I have in common with mother?' she asked, finally raising her eyes.

'The kindness you posses was what characterised your mother the best. The seriousness you adopt when it comes to your responsabilities, the amazing stubborness of protecting the ones you believe to be your family, the iron will in your heart. What your mother had gone trough is far worst than other ninjas go here trough childhood. She, just like you, had been marked by the death of her parents. She had vowed to never again let something happen to her family. She had kept her promise, until her last breath.'Youken said, his tone having a slight tinge of sadness.

'I...' she couldn't help but trail off. The master wasn't a very emotional person himself. Yet when it came to her family, it was like he took off his mask, and let that little emotion visible.

'I know it's hard for you, to lose your parent at a such young age. That is why I am here, to tutor you Akyo. I had made a promise to Keyan. I promised that whatever happens to her, I shall lead her follower on the right path, serving the balance of the world, making her proud.' he said, taking a break before continuing. 'But there is no need for me to make sure of the latter, for she had always been proud of you. You, no mather wheter you won the trial or not, were still her precious daughter.'

She was at a loss of words, her eyes slowly drifting to the floor. Were...Were they so alike in that? They had the same mentality, yet they looked completely different? She had never saw her mother that way, since it was probably when she and Zayenn were born that her mother had to turn into a rather tough sensei, to make sure they both understood completely what lay ahead of them. Her eyes gleamed, a little spark shinning soflty in them, and the aching in her heart stopped, for just a second. The break she had from all this emotional mess she had gone trough was something she desperately needed. Her face was somehow serene for the first time in months, and she felt somehow lighter.

'Thank you, sensei.' she said to the master. He was slightly taken aback by her calling him 'sensei'.

'Sensei...?' he asked slight confusion in his voice.

She rised her eyes again, and the small gleam that shone within them, turned Youken's face into one of consideration. She gave a small smile and then spoke, while closing her eyes and smiling completely.

'You have a promise to keep, sensei.'

The old man's face slightly iluminated, a smile appearing behind his white beard, inwardly chuckling. 'This girl...' he tought.

As she was walking towards Youken's office, to report another succesful mission, Akyo's focus was far away from the present, the memory playing like a movie in her head. Her eyes where looking at the floor unfocused. When her shoulder collided with another, she was brought back from dreamland.

Fortunately she had kept her balance. The last thing she needed was to fall on her face like a fool. Altho a pink-ish hue of embarassment was visible on her cheeks, she turned to her left, an excuse flying form her mouth before she saw with whom she collided with.

''I'm extremely so...'' her sentence was left hanging in the air,as her eyes landed upon the face of the one she had accidentaly bumped into. Snow white hair, and deep crimson eyes, stared at her indiferently. Her eyes widened slightly, as her mouth opened out of reflex before she could think of what she should say.

''Eye of Twilight.'' she said, her eyes still widened. There was a thing Lady Keyan had rather harshly taught her girls. To offer the highest of respect to the triumvirate of the order. It wasn't long before she heard these titles : 'The Eye of Twilight, The Fist of Shadow and The Heart of the Tempest' , but she had never met all of them face to face. At that time, the trial for the title of 'The Fist of Shadow' was ongoing, yet she had never met The Fist of Shadow, neither The Heart of the Tempest.

However, the one she had met was master's son, Shen, who happened to be The Eye of Twilight. They were mere glances and nods of heads, but she had never saw him this close. His face was unmasked, unlike hers, revealing his features. Altho she had just bumped into him, and started at him like a fool, he looked amused by this situation. Widened eyes and pink cheeks were a rather amusing combination, even for him. She looked just like she had seen a ghost of some sorts.

''Shadow Born.'' he said adressing to her by her title, as she did to him, his voice waking her up from some sort of a dream-like state, her face finally turning into a more normal one. It was the first time she got to speak with Shen. But the way she got into this situation didn't pleased her at all. She had intentionaly avoided any kind of contact, other than the one she had with Youken. She didn't knew what to say, and as her mind fumbled for a good enough excuse, it was out before she gave it a second thought.

''I..uh...I-I have to reach Master's office.'' and with that she took off. He watched her leave, and just as she turned the corner, he slowly shook his head, and returned his attention to where he had to go.

He hoped he would get the chance to thank her apropiately for getting between him and Zed some time ago. She had a good heart, that was for sure. Being able to change Zed in such a way amazed him. It was not oblivious for him, the reason that Zed had suddenly turned to his old self. There was a reason the Box of Shadows was kept hidden in the darkest corners of the order. They clouded the mind and the judgement, of whom they came in contact with. Without a prepared mind to hold them under control,the shadows took over the mind of the user, darkening it.

Such a thing, however, it never happened to none of the shadow borns, their natural power to resist the shadows let them think clearly even under their influence. That was the reason every full shadow born was sealed two times in it's life.

As his steps rang in the empty hallways, his mind found another subject to think about. The newly proclaimed shadow born and the two traitors of the order. He had always viewed Zayenn as a smart and calculated girl. She had always shown respect and a rare kindness and patience to everybody around the order. The trial, however, showed another side of the usual calm, strong girl, nobody knew about. Almost nobody, he was sure of that.

The very first time he had seen the two sisters, together with their mother, was long before his trial. For the first time, Lady Keyan was walking down the corridors, with her two daughters by her sides. The one on her right was slightly smaller than the other, her brown hair, slightly passing her shoulders, framing a soft face. A pair of unique icy blue eyes, shone with innocence and slight fear. The other one had dark black hair barely passing her chin, the dark color emphazising her emerald green eyes. Even if no emotion could be read on all of their faces, the fear in the smaller girls eyes, slowly became visible on her posture, her eyes sometimes averting down, avoiding all the curious pair of eyes. The other one was looking straight forward, not hesitating in the slightest, daring anyone to challenge her, even at a such young age.

He saw the blue eyed girl moving her eyes to look at her sister from time to time. Everytime she watched her sister out of the corner of her eyes, her posture returned to one of slight confidence, hesitation gone. There was a bond between the two, a bond that was visible to anyone with a pair of eyes. The older one was protective of her younger sibling, her eyes also moving from time to time to watch her sister, a small smile appearing and then quickly vanishing, watching the young little girl walk with her head up.

But that didn't last long. The next time Lady Keyan was guiding both of her daughters through the order, the situation was entirely different. The little one he had learnt her name was Akyo, had her head slighly bowed, her eyes never leaving the floor. Her face was emotionless, and her moves mechanical. The other one, Zayenn, was walking with the same confidence, but her eyes were definately colder. Her back right, with squared shoulders, she looked directly in front of her, not stealing the slightest glance to her sister.

Intrigued by the sudden change in both of their attitudes, Shen had once had the luck to see the two of them train. All became crystal clear to him. Zayenn definately had the upper hand in the battle, and her taunting didn't helped Akyo at all. Even after the younger girl dropped to her knees, Zayenn grabbed her harshly by her chin making Akyo look directly into her own eyes. The tears were flowing slowly down Akyo's face, as she couldn't watch the cold gaze of her sister. Zayenn said something that never reached Shen's ears, but made Akyo cringe, as her shoulders slumped, defeated. After than, Zayenn let a sweet smile grace her lips, before she let go of her sister's head and left. The poor girl looked relieved and humiliated at the same time. It was beyond Shen's knowledge what made Zayenn so aggresive towards her sister, but it was not his concern.

It did surprised him in a rather pleasant way, when he had saw her talking to Zed like she had no care in the world. A small smile graced her lips, her eyes not looking so dejected and defeated. It was genuine happiness. Zed himself didn't looked bothered by her presence at all, in fact, he looked rather pleased with her company. It was the first time he had saw all the anger and darkness into Zed's eyes dissipate. He believed that she could change him into a better person, help him find his true balance. As days passed, the hope he had in that mather started turning into certainity, but it wasn't long before what he had thought it would happen earlier took place : Zed betrayed the order.

~(o-o)~

Meanwhile...

Akyo fast on her steps, reached Youken's office door faster than she expected. The traces of her earlier embarassment weren't fully gone, as she opened the door, and closed it fast behind her. The old man rised his eyes as soon as he heard the door open, and saw Akyo close it, her eyes glued to the floor. She reached the front of his desk and stopped. Rising her eyes, she looked at the master trying to remember what she was going to say about the mission.

''Well? Have you finished it?'' the old man asked.

''Y-Yes. The mission was completed without any kind of troubles along the way.'' she gave the best response she could get out. The old man looked pleased, and then Akyo expected another assignment.

''W-Well?'' she asked in a rather shy tone. The old man furrowed his brows.

''Well what, child?'' he asked her.

''There is no other mission for me at all?'' she asked, slight desperation in her voice. Youken sighed, shaking his head slowly.

''No Akyo. There is nothing I can send you on right now. And as a matter of fact, you have been going on a lot of mission lately. How about you get some rest?'' he asked, looking at her. She was tensed, her eyes slightly widened, and about to protest. But going with her better judgement, she closed her mouth, and lowered her eyes in defeat.

''Okay...'' she said. Exhaustion was now catching up to her, and Master's suggestion was becoming more and more likable. With a bow from her waist, she turned around and exited Youken's office, heading directly to her quarters. A goodnight sleep was everything she needed, and tomorow Master will probably find her something to do. Opening the door to her quarters and closing it behind her. Akyo streched her arms above her head, and arched her back, hearing a few pops. After, she felt a little better, with all the tension gone from her muscles. First stop was bathroom. A good shower would calm the rest of her muscles, and will lul her easily to sleep.

After the shower, putting her old clothes into a basket,she changed into something more comfortable. A simple blue shirt, with a pair of white pants and white socks made her sleep attire. Her hair was lowered, having it also washed and dried, few stripes of her hair still wet. Opening the door to her room, she saw the wooden staff laid on her bed, the red runes giving a soft glow.

There had been a lot of sharp weapons coming in contact with it : swords, blades, knives, shurikens, everything, and yet the staff had no dent in it whatsoever. More to it, to his owner's will it could cut his leght or grow longer. She always had it short, and kept it in a holster on her lower back. She moved it off her bed, and onto the table next to it, as she raised the white blanket on her bed. Getting on the bed and putting the blanked over her body, she slowly closed her eyes. Moving trough darkness was something she knew to do as a child. She could just plainly see trough the darkness and the shadows. Nothing could hide in the dark from her. Ever so slowly, sleep finally carried her away, and thanked to the exhaustion no dreams took place that night.

When she woke up, the sun was shining brightly, sending warm rays trough her window. As she streched her arms above her head, just to shake the sleep out of her, she removed the warm blanked from her body, setting her feet on the floor. Doing her morning ritual, washing her teeth, brushing her hair and so on, in a mere 20 minutes she was dressed and ready to roll . But as her stomach growled, reminding her that he needed some attention too, she opened the door to her quarters and went straight to the cafeteria.

After a small breakfast, her first stop was Master's office. She just had to do something, anything. And strangely, after days of complete exhaustion, one goodnight sleep could do wonders. She slowly opened the door, and saw Youken sitting in his usual place. His eyes rised to meet hers as she closed the door behind her.

''Such a morning person, are we?'' the old man asked, and felt little relief when he saw her smile, her face unmasked.

''I'm feeling a lot better, sensei. Is there anything else I can do?'' she asked. He looked trough his papers and scrolls on his desk, but after a five minutes search he just shook his head.

''I'm afraid not.''

''Oh...'' she said a little sadened.

Youken sighed and spoke.''Akyo, I know that you're going trough a rather sensitive period, but working yourself to exhaustion wont help. Why don't you find something else to help you clear you mind?'' to this her eyes slightly gleamed, an idea forming behind the blue irises. She let a small smile pass her lips before she spoke to the Master.

''I will, sensei.'' she said as she turned for the door. After closing it behind her, she knew exactly what to do to help her pass her time.

Opening the doors of the large order, she stepped outside, and went for the training grounds. Since it was still morning, it was empty but her destination was beyond the training grounds, into the woods. Upon reaching the clearing, she cringed a little. She hadn't been here since the 'incident'. But she was no longer going to be a coward, fight her stupid fears, and let her mind rest in meditation into this serene place.

Her favorite meditation spot was at the shadow of a big oak tree. She didn't knew why but it gave off an aura of comfort, and she really needed that. After she sat on the ground, her back to the tree, she closed her eyes and took slow inhales, and let out even slower exhales. She was slowly dissconecting herself from the world, bringing the silence and the peace her mind and soul really needed at this point. But a presence right in front of her, stopped her form doing so, at the brink of dissconecting.

Opening her eyes and looking up, she was met with a pair of crimson eyes and snow white hair. Just like the other time she met him, Akyo's eyes widened slightly, beeing taken by surprise and then shot up to her feet.

''E-Eye of Twilight!'' she smacked herself over the face inwardly. Why in the name of the heavens was she stammering like a five year old caught red handed? She saw him let out what it sounded like a small chuckle and he shook his head. Then he turned his atention to her and spoke.

''I have a name, you know?'' he said, slightly amused by her. She frowned a little, before her features enlightened. She took a deep breath and steadied her voice.

''Shen.'' she said plainly. ''With what can I help you?'' she asked, rather pleased with the way it went out. Atleast she wasn't stammering anymore.

''I wondered if I could join you in meditation. I had found this place not long ago, and it is a rather nice place for such a thing.'' he said his tone not giving off any kind of emotion.

''S-Sure.'' she said unsure of herself.

He then went to her right and sat down on the grass, taking the same position she had before. Following his example, she too sat down, and crossed her legs, letting herself be surrounded by the complete darkness of her mind. She couldn't however, and she had no idea why. Peeking at Shen form the corner of her eyes, she saw him unmoving, face blank.

She gave up, and completely opened her eyes, looking at the scene in front of her. So many memories this simple clearing hold. She looked saddened at the place, remembering everything, since the very day she met him, until the night she had almost choked on her own tears. Her heart never felt any lighter since that night. She could take her mind off everything just fine, but her heart never will. Suddenly she was woken up from her memories by a voice on her right.

''Something bothers you.'' she turned her eyes and looked at Shen. Looking down on the ground, hesitating to speak, Shen saw it, and spoke again. ''Keeping it to yourself will only make it worst.'' at this she rised her eyes to look at him, and even if her face was indiferent, her eyes showed great sadness.

''I...'' she tried to get words out of her mouth, but simply failed. She just didn't had the courage to open her heart, scared that it will start bleeding again. She tought hard, and shouted at herself inside her mind to spill it already, but no words came. Lost in her thoughts she didn't realised her mouth opened and her heart spoke instead of her brain.

''I feel guilty.'' as soon as she said that, one hand jerked up to cover her mouth.

Shen rised one eyebrow.

''Guilty?'' he looked at her, while her hand still covered her mouth. She thought about what she had said, and her confusion towards the reason her heart felt so hard cleared. She answered his question, letting her hand fall in her lap.

''Yes.'' she looked at him and saw he made no movement whatsoever to question her futherly. So, she started explaining herself.

''I feel guilty that both my sister and Zed had been banished from the order.'' she took a small breath and then continued. ''I don't know why my sister had broke the promise, and revealed the box, but I feel it has something to do with me...'' she said letting her eyes drop on the ground.

''And...I feel guilty than I wasn't able to keep Zed away from it.'' she almost whispered the last part, taking in a deep breath. Shen saw that she was going to speak to further, and decided to ask her again.

''Why do you feel it's your fault that both of them had betrayed the order? In truth, the reasons behind Zayenn's betrayal are unknown, but Zed's ones are clear, and it doesn't seem to have any conection towards you.'' Shen said looing at her, waiting for a response.

She looked in the distance before opening her mouth again. ''I thought I could change him, I thought I could show him that his search for power was irrational, and that there was no reason to do it. I thought...'' she said searching for the perfect words.'' I thought I could help him find his true balance.''

''You were his balance.'' Shen simply said, watching her turn her eyes to look at him surprised. He then continued. ''You did managed to change him, offering your friendship. But when you were gone, doing your official bussines, he let himself be swallowed by the dark emotions he had and gave in the temptation to search the box.'' he paused looking at her. She looked slightly confused, but she was touched by these words. 'I was his balance...?!' she thought.

Shen continued. ''You are not, in anybody's eyes guilty of the events that had happened. On the contrary, I admire you for changing Zed, even if it didn't last long. You managed to accomplish what me and my father could not.''

Akyo was yet again at a loss of words. Her heart was feeling lighter suddenly. As she let her eyes wonder across thesoft grass, her mind slowly processed and understood the words Shen told her. After a long rather comforting silence, she raised her eyes and looked at Shen. A small smile graced her features before she spoke.

''Thank you, Shen.'' she said looking into his eyes, smilling brightly than never.

He chuckled and shook his head. '' No need to.'' he said, before he closed his eyes and returned to his meditation pose.

Soon to follow, Akyo too closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and letting out a long sigh. With a lighter heart, it was easier for her to finally meditate.

AN : Reviewing is always appreciated, my apologies again, and I love you guys :3! Until next time, if I still get to open my laptop~