Chapter Fifteen

Tradition

Morning birds were up long before the sun had risen. And before that, Bacchus had already left. At first, she thought he was only getting up to relieve himself and only briefly thought he would be vile enough to crawl into bed with her thinking she was still sleeping. But when she heard him dressing and the door opening and closing quietly, she became curious. Is he going to go see Mei? She wondered as she sat up and rubbed at her face.

Part of her wanted to follow him, to see what he could be up to. Yet she also feared she was right and that she would catch them in the garden in the middle of… Her face felt hot as she shook her head of the thoughts. They wouldn't. Not in the garden at least. She wanted to believe herself despite the doubts but couldn't think of another reason why he would leave so early. This must be what it's like in Juvia's head. Too curious not to go, she rose and fixed the robe she had slept in, hoping it covered her enough.

As she stepped out, she noticed somehow though it was still humid, unlike yesterday the sky was gray and clouded. Is it going to rain? Cana frowned as she walked through the hall. She hesitantly walked past the garden, hoping she wouldn't hear anything other than birds. When all was quiet, she stood a moment, trying to think of where he could have gone. Aimlessly, she went on, walking up to the second level and wandering past the large stone arena where the students had been training. She nearly left when a slight movement caught her eye.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was two men standing on opposite sides facing forward, both dressed in the black pants and tunics the students had worn and their hair was similarly bound in red and black bonnets.

"So this is where you went." She recognized them easily as they started moving in-sync with one another. Relief washed over her as she casually leaned onto the rail to watch. Their movements were fluid and tranquil, each muscle being used so deliberately. The first time she had witnessed Bacchus perform this, she was awed. Watching him and Shan together was simply mesmerizing with the way their bodies swayed and turned. It was like a dance of grace and power, and just as the first time she had seen it, she knew the deadly force that could be packed behind their movements should either ever choose to use it for battle.

"They are really something." Mei's soft voice startled her, causing her hands to grip tightly to the rail and freeze. When she turned around, the woman had a tired smile and seemed to also have just risen from bed. "I did not mean to scare you."

"You didn't." Cana released her grip from the rail and watched the woman joining beside her. She was wearing a similarly made robe, though hers fit much better, with her hair half pinned back to keep it out of her face while the rest of it tumbled down to her tiny waist. Though she was plainly dressed and her hair undone, Cana couldn't help but notice the radiating beauty Mei gave off. Inside of her, something twitched. No wonder Bacchus wanted to come back here. She tucked away the thought and returned her attention below, with the two of them watching on as the men continued with their routine.

"When we were children, Jian, Shan and Master would be out here every morning like this. It was always their favorite time together."

Cana felt the nostalgia coming from the very walls around her and if only for a moment, saw them as children, following the movements of a man in front of them. She thought of her own guild when they were bratty kids and the warmth from everyone. Before, when things were simple. When she turned to glance at Mei again, she noticed the woman's eyes had become glazed with tears and a soulful smile on her face.

Just then, the two below slowed to a stop, standing facing forward and pausing. After a moment, they moved again, speaking in Yikani. From the shrug he gave, Bacchus had likely answered a question Shan asked. Either of them smiled as they spoke more, then Bacchus began to chuckle and shake his head. He asked a question now, getting a nod from his friend and a giggle from Mei. Confused, she asked what had happened.

"Shan wants to fight." She said. "It is a tradition of theirs."

Though seemingly harmless, again something inside her twitched as she felt the spar wasn't as lighthearted as Mei might have assumed. She watched tensely as they turned to face each other, bowing to acknowledge the fight. As with their warm up, they copied each other's movements simultaneously, sliding a leg out in front of their body and leaning heavily on to it while their arms extended to their sides with palms facing outward. The last time Cana had seen this pose was during Bacchus' battle against Elfman and if she recalled correctly, it wasn't a light attack.

The air became still and even the sun, which had started to peak into the arena, seemed to stop. An eerie stillness occupied the entire building until, in a split second, the two men lunged forth colliding in a flash of fists and kicks and dodges, kicking off from another and landing in the same low to the ground position. Shan was first to lunge again, his foot rising swiftly and connecting with Bacchus' forearm. Undeterred he tried again with his other foot, spinning in the air and missed as Bacchus bent backwards in time for it to fly over his chest. It looked as if he'd easily fall over the way he stood, but somehow he remained steady. Shan was back again with a flurry of strikes and rolls and it became clear he was the faster man. Then it happened.

Shan's fist upper cut through one of Bacchus' dodge attempts and connected with his jaw, throwing him onto his back. He barely moved out of the way in time to roll away from leg drop.

Cana and Mei weren't so far as that they couldn't see the blood coming from his mouth where his lip had split or the droplets dotting the floor. Shan had backed off enough for Bacchus to dab the cut with his hand, grin like a fool and wipe the wound with his sleeve. They exchanged words in Yikani, probably checking to see if he wanted to continue. When Bacchus nodded and crouched low, once again they were locked in battle. It wasn't long before Bacchus landed his first counter hit, an elbow to Shan's nose. They grinned at each other, blood dripping from their faces and fought on. The strikes soon became faster and fiercer as time progressed. Students had started to gather and spectate from the sidelines, though they stayed silent.

A loud crack came from the scuffle in which she turned to look at Mei. Shan had struck down hard on Bacchus' shoulder, leaving him kneeling on the cracked ground beneath him. Mei's face paled and her eyes remained unblinking as the spar intensified before her.

"They are serious now." She said unmoving. Another crack came from below, making them both flinch. It was Bacchus now standing over Shan who was on his back. The stone floor had cracks like a spider's web strewn all around him, but they continued. Strike after strike came, with neither man dominating over another for long.

"We need to stop them." Cana whispered when she saw the children's on looking faces. She turned to Mei and they nodded in agreement, running for the stairs and down them to the side of the arena.

When they had reached the sidelines, Bacchus was landing one hit after another while Shan tried to block. He was winning. Bacchus. Cana's eyes widened as she watched him pummel Shan, pushing him further and further back. Suddenly, Shan's arm sprang forth, straight into Bacchus' chest. The bigger man was knocked back, blood spraying from his mouth as he fell back. The air stilled again as Bacchus remained unmoving.

"Bacchus." Cana whispered. As she was about to sprint forward, Mei's voice rang through the silence.

"JIAN!" She cried, sprinting into the arena and going directly to Bacchus. He had come out of his daze when she knelt down and placed his head and shoulders in her lap. Shan calmly stood from his crouched position and made his way over to his wife and beaten friend. Cana approached slowly, maintaining a cool expression. The three of them were speaking in Yikani, she was clearly upset while Shan had little reaction and spoke evenly to Bacchus. From the look of the blood dripping from his nose and mouth and various scrapes, it had been a more intense spar than they had seen from above. Mei looked up from where she was kneeling and straightened up, letting Bacchus prop himself up on an elbow. She knew he was going to be fine, but couldn't help the rising emotions in her throat.

"You've gotten stronger." Bacchus coughed, spitting a wad of blood out and with Cana's aid, stood up.

"So have you, Jian." Shan's solemn face had broken and beneath, he grinned. Bacchus laughed hoarsely in return and pulled himself from Cana's grip. The two men looked at the other a moment before Bacchus slowly bowed. Shan followed with one of his own and they shook hands afterward, smiling and chuckling.

Men. Cana shook her head. Bacchus nearly stumbled over as she grabbed hold of him again, letting him rest an arm around her shoulders. They hobbled back to their room together after Mei apologized for her husband and invited them to breakfast. More like she invited Jian. Cana had noticed early that most of the time she was around Bacchus, she would only address and speak directly to him.

Once in the confines of their room, he stood up straight and rolled his shoulders back, moving freely and walked on his own. Stunned at how much mobility he suddenly had Cana merely stared at him as he stripped off his top and went to the water basin to rinse his face.

"You ass." She cursed, throwing the first thing she could find at him. As usual, he allowed her slipper to hit him rather than blocking it. He did however turn around after blotting his face with a cloth to look at her with a sly grin.

"Something wrong, honey?" He pulled the bonnet from his head, letting his hair fall around his face.

"Why." It was more a demand than a question.

"Because his students were there. And I am not going to be the one to destroy their admiration of their master." He shrugged as he went to sit on the bed, still blotting at his cuts with the dampened towel.

"Must be a pretty weak guy if you're able to walk away like this." Her arms crossed as she put her weight onto one hip. The grin on Bacchus' face dimmed as he looked off at nothing.

"No." He rubbed at his neck. "He's a lot stronger than what you saw just now. To be honest, that last hit did catch me by surprise, though it wasn't as powerful as it could have been." His lips twitched as he absently touched the already darkening spot on his chest where Shan's palm had connected. "But as I sacrificed the match for his students, he showed restraint against me for their sake as well."

"How kind of him." Cana rolled her eyes at the sentiment. Her stomach rumbled reminding her of her hunger. After he had finished cleaning up and she dressed, they left to rejoin Shan and Mei.

A/N: EARLY UPLOAD WHOOO! The show I'm working on is opening tomorrow night so I won't have a chance to post this then, so a a little treat for you guys, here is the next chapter.

I know it's a bit short, so bear with me here. The next one will be longer.

Thanks again for your views, adds and support. I can never express how much it means to me.

So as always, until next week, Betty B.