Pheobep3- hats off to you for guessing something imp. And this chapter is dedicated to you. =D

I hope you like this and that it was worth the wait.

Oh and before you go and read this you might get confused, it's from a third persons POV like someone telling the story as well as both the sides. =P

Enjoy.

Number 2.

2. Stop Asking Him out! Resist all urges to ask him out to eat or to train with you. The more time you spend with him, the harder it will be to accept the fact that you will never be together. Or...well that WOULD be true, if he ever accepted your offers. Still constantly asking him out gives him the satisfaction of having your attention AND gives him the opportunity to hurt you when he declines. So I'm sure you don't want that to happen.

When Elizabeth woke up the next day, memories of the previous night flew back to her. She groaned. Why was she so affected by his comment? He called her annoying and weak almost every kabece he got and she should have been used to it by now. But yesterday had just awoken something inside her and she couldn't help herself.

'I should probably apologize. It's not like he deserves one, but considering the fact that he is my teammate, it couldn't hurt to be civil.'

She growled just the same. She knew he wouldn't apologize. He wouldn't even care but she still didn't want awkwardness between them and the rest of the team.

After she had gotten ready she made her way to the field where her team practiced. She honestly was dreading today. She abruptly remembered her list and looked around for a bench to sit down.

'I don't even know today's step!' she mentally fretted.

Sitting down, she pulled out the slip of paper and read over the rule over and over again. As she read the line of her own scribbled writing, she swallowed loudly.

'Stop asking him out? Why did I even put that on the list? Asking him out to bloodies or to my house for dinner just became a habit. I'm just supposed to stop now?' Elizabeth furrowed her brow, deep in concentration as she reread the second step.

'Then again, he did just call me a weakling yesterday. And why? Just because I was trying to heal him of the very injuries I gave him. Bastard. Weak my ass.'

She scowled, memories of her anger returning to her.

Still. Not asking the Fitzroy out was probably going to be extremely hard considering the fact that she'd liked him since she was five and loved him since she was twelve. Not to mention, he was utterly the most gorgeous, talented and damn sexy man in Vampiria.

'Did I honestly just think that? I'm supposed to be getting over him, and yet here I am singing his praises in my own head!' Elizabeth screeched in her head. So much for being mad at him.

"I really need to stop doing that." She sighed to herself. She sat back in the bench and tilted her head backwards, facing the sky. She closed her eyes and exhaled a large breath. The stress of monitoring her every move around the man was turning into a huge weight already. Hopefully it would get better as she progressed with her list.

"Stop doing what?" A deep voice questioned. Elizabeth jumped and bolted upright. Her breathing raced as she turned to glare at the person who was insensitive enough to scare the hell out her when she was obviously thinking. Looking up she realized it was none other than the stuck up jerk she was trying to forget about. Huh, no wonder she thought the intruder was insensitive. It was Henry after all. Mr. Colder-Than-A- Block-Of-Ice himself.

"Thinking out loud, for one thing." She muttered ruefully under her breath. Henry quirked an eyebrow and stared down his nose at her. She could tell he was silently debating her dakeity in his mind.

"Don't give me that look Henry-babe. You were one who snuck up on me!" She told him forcefully before picking herself up off the bench and standing in front of him.

Elizabeth angled her head upwards so that she could look at his face. She narrowed her eyes at the way he smirked, silently mocking her short height.

"Listen." She gave in with a deep breath, "I'm sorry about losing my temper and slapping you last night. I really didn't intend to create a scene. But even if I'm sorry about the whole 'you hitting your face on my hand'," Henry scoffed at this. "It doesn't mean I forgive you for the lousy things you said." She continued.

"I'm not weak Henry. So don't you dare tell me otherwise."

Elizabeth jabbed his chest with her finger as she spoke, emphasizing her point and letting him know that she wasn't just going to back down. She debated whether or not to strengthen her finger with her raw power and break his collar bone, but she knew in the back of her mind that that probably wouldn't help their team dynamics very much.

'Too bad though.'

Henry looked away from her haughtily. If she was trying to make him feel guilty or make him apologize to her; it wasn't going to happen. He felt no remorse for what he said. Why should he feel bad for telling the truth?

Elizabeth growled, but after a few seconds of inhaling deeply, she carried on.

"So to make sure things aren't awkward, I was thinking we could-"

'Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa!" Inner Elizabeth shouted, waving her arms frantically. 'Don't you dare ask him out Santiago. Remember the steps!'

Elizabeth must have been silent for a few seconds because she finally noticed the Fitzroy's expectant look. She finally remembered what she'd been in the middle of asking him.

"I was thinking we could...just forget about it okay?" Elizabeth suggested. For once she was glad for her inner's constant presence in her head. No matter how annoying she could be, Inner Elizabeth certainly saved her from herself more times than she could count.

"Hn." Henry was silently surprised. No invitation to bloodies? No pleading to come over for a team seven meal? No annoying cries for him to train with her? How strange. He turned around and, without bothering to waiting for her, started on his way toward team seven's meeting place once again. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and followed him.

'Typical.'

"Elizabeth-kabe! You're here! I was worried you wouldn't show after what happened last night!"

Kabe in Vampiria is added in front of the name of the friend you respect.

Elizabeth smiled softly at her teammate's concern for her. Despite the fact that it was she who'd blown and gasket and slapped Henry with all the force she could muster (without permanently destroying his bone structure with her voodoo- also known as raw power), William was still worried about how she was feeling.

When she reached him, he enveloped her in a bone crushing bear hug, as was his custom. But instead of pushing him away in exasperation she just hugged him back. She couldn't describe the wonderful feeling of having a friend like him to comfort her when the other member of her team tore her down.

'Good old William.'

"Elizabeth-kabe! I hope you seriously knocked some sense into his head with that slap! Don't worry though! If you didn't, I'll take care of it during training today! Believe it!" He shouted. Believe it was his signature word.

"Dobe." Henry grumbled while glaring over the side of the railing of the bridge. If looks could kill, all the water in the river would have evaporated by now.

"No worries William. I trust you will." She replied, laughing. The look Henry threw her way only increased her giggles.

Jasper arrived, late as usual, in his signature puff of smoke and announced that their training today would also consist of sparring with each other. Just before the team was about to begin their traditional training rituals, they were interrupted by Kitty who had appeared in between them.

"Santiago-dake (someone you work with). You have been requested to head over to the hospital immediately by the Queen herself. Apparently there is an emergency and they need all the medical staff possible. I was sent to come get you."

Elizabeth's previous mirth dissipated quickly. Looks like she could count on spending the entire day at the hospital instead of training. "Okay, I'll be right there." With a curt nod the ninja disappeared.

"Well boys, it looks like you'll be training by yourselves today. Maybe I'll- "

Again her vision was filled with images for Inner Elizabeth shooting flares and waving warning signs through the air. 'Elizabeth! NO!'

The pink-haired girl shook her head. These thoughts were getting stranger and stranger.

"Maybe I'll...see you tomorrow morning for training. I have to go." She covered quickly. She contemplated what she was really going to ask them.

'Maybe I'll see you tonight at bloodies for a quick bowl of blood or something.' Even though it was just a simple and innocent invitation for dinner, it still gave Henry the option of rejecting it. She wasn't going to take it.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head and sprinted in the direction of the Queen's hospital. If it really was an emergency, she really shouldn't be wasting time for her silly, personal 'mission'.

"Elizabeth! Finally!" The Queen exclaimed. The hospital was absolute pandemonium. Nurses were running rapidly down the white hallways and into examinations rooms. Elizabeth arrived quickly and immediately changed out of her training clothes and into her scrubs and coat. She could tell that there was no time whatsoever to dawdle.

"Evelyn! What's happened? What's going on?"

The Queen Evelyn motioned for Elizabeth to follow her as she walked briskly down the hall. Elizabeth had to run every few steps just to keep up with her Teacher's pace.

"Three weeks ago I sent three separate teams of Kitty and Jonah on some missions. Lately Vampiria has heard news of some unknown organization affecting surrounding villages outside the Fire Country. To ensure Vampiria's best interests, these teams were sent in an attempt to gather information on this group and what they're plans and movement patterns were." Evelyn continued through halls of the building, checking in with nurses and other healers as she went. Elizabeth could tell that they were headed towards the operating room. She dreaded what she would be facing inside the double doors.

"The missions weren't considered to be especially dangerous and all three teams were intended to return after only two weeks. They were already a week late and I sent out another team to search the area. We received an alert last night that they had located all three teams." Evelyn exhaled and Elizabeth could tell that this must have been hard for her handle. Nevertheless, she couldn't deny that it was slightly shocking to see her teacher's reaction to the situation.

"They arrived today and all of their injuries are...Elizabeth, they are horrific. We need all the healers available due to the number of patients alone. The lives of all these Keba-Ninjas (High class) are hanging by a thread."

Elizabeth gasped as they pushed entered the operating room. She looked onto the table and tightly closed her eyes. How could this happen? She was no stranger to injuries and had seen her fair share, but knowing that there were over nine, nine patients that looked like this, she didn't know whether to gag from the sheer dreadfulness or cry.

She pulled on her gloves and entered the operating room, prepared to do anything she could to save her fellow ninjas.

Several hours later, Elizabeth exited the hospital. She had only an hour before she needed to return. Originally she hadn't wanted to leave, knowing that there was still so much to do. But with her Voodoo reserves straining and her emotional instability, Evelyn had told her to take a short break and come back fully prepared to do her job.

Elizabeth walked slowly from the doors of the hospital, almost in a daze. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. She had lost two patients. Two innocent Keba-Ninjas, whose lives were placed in her hands, had died. She held the tears back. There would be a time for mourning later, but right now she needed to focus on getting her head together so that she could go back and save the others.

As she trudged lightly through the dark, empty streets, lost in her thought she looked ahead and saw her stoic teammate approaching her. Though Henry could be rude and impossibly cruel she knew she loved him. And though she was happy every time she saw him, she thought to herself that she had never been happier to see a comforting face.

"Elizabeth." He stated in greeting, looking over her tired and sweaty form.

"Henry." She meekly replied. She fought hard to keep the tears behind her eyes. She didn't want to appear weak in front of him again.

He began to walk past her when she gently grasped his arm and looked into his eyes.

"Could you...Could you please stay with me for a...for a while? Please? Just sit with me for a little while Henry." She begged him quietly. She forgot completely about her trivial list and just asked him. She needed just a little bit of support. She had lost two patients today and all she needed was for someone to let her know it was going to work out; that it was going to be alright. Though Henry could never actually tell her those words, his presence would be more reassuring than he would ever know.

Henry searched her eyes for a moment. Elizabeth didn't know it at the moment, but he had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her, even for just a second's time. He wanted to be able to lower his walls and let her in to help her. But he was Henry. And he couldn't do it. So Elizabeth was forced to watch and break as he pulled his arm from her gentle hold and separated himself from her.

"I don't think so Elizabeth." He replied as he turned his back on her. He willed himself to put one foot in front of the other, instead of turning right around and returning to her.

Elizabeth's face crumbled and she finally let the sadness, the grief, consume her. She broke down into body shaking sobs. Henry winced as he heard her crying. He swallowed and kept walking.

Elizabeth sank to the ground where she had been standing and wrapped her arms around her legs. She rocked back and forth as she cried. Her heartache was so great, she wasn't sure if she'd have the strength to pick herself up and return to the place that had turned her life upside down.

And yet, twenty minutes later her weeping had ceased and Elizabeth Santiago got to her feet, returned to the hospital and worked all night long. She had to be strong for these ninjas that needed her to save them.

And as she walked back, she locked her jaw and tried to ignore the fact that no matter how many times she'd asked Henry to spend time with her or go out with her, he'd always rejected her. And now, when she needed a friend more than anything in the world...It had been no different. He still pushed her aside.

That's when Elizabeth knew that no matter how many times she begged him for a moment of his time, he would never consider her to be worth it. Despite how desperately she may need it.

That was the moment she decided she would never ask him out again.

Step two: Complete and successful.

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