So, after the response from my question last chapter, I've decided not to even ask for reviews. I know I can't get any feedback except maybe for a new follower or a new favorite, which I appreciate enormously. But anyway, have fun reading.

As the final match of the day ended, Sun Wukong had beaten Athena Polias. Crystal found it interesting since Athena's strategies were rarely defeated. Everyone was getting up to go when Mrs. Sapphire made an announcement. "The tournament will be paused for tomorrow and Sunday. We'll start back up again on Monday, but until then, have a good weekend everybody."

So the tournament was postponed for until Monday. She couldn't understand why people always took the entire weekend off. During her training, she only had a reduced training schedule on Sunday, and that was it. In fact, she had learned to live with it. What was she going to do during the weekend?

As she was leaving, Jasper came up to her. "Crystal, or Lady Taryn—whichever you prefer…" he started to say.

"Lady Taryn is for Mistral, but Crystal is for my friends," she explained. "I'd like if you were a friend."

"Well, Crystal, do you want to go with me to the dance tomorrow night?"

Crystal wasn't sure how to respond. Only once had she been to a dance like this, and that was in Vale, with Storm who she had known for some time at that point, while Jasper was practically a stranger. Then again, this could be an opportunity to learn more about him, which she wanted to do. She liked Jasper—she didn't know exactly why, but she did—so she told him, "Yes, I would."

"Great," Jasper replied. He increased his pace and noted, "I've got to go do some stuff. It's going to take a while, so you might not see me until the dance. But don't worry, I'll be there."

"Alright."

"Great. See you then." And Jasper was off. She wondered what he was doing, though it was probably related to schoolwork or something like that.

Suddenly, a blur of pink and green came up next to Crystal. The next moment, she could tell it was Sakura completing a front flip. "Hey, Chris," Sakura said.
Crystal sighed. "Please, don't call me 'Chris'," Crystal replied. Chris was a boy's name, and while she had no doubt that girls could have it too, she really didn't like the sound of her being called that.

"Oh, sorry." Without even a pause, Sakura said, "I wanted to tell you that everyone on my team is taking a liking to you."

Crystal smiled. "Oh, thank you."

"Well, except Peri."

Her smile faded a little. "Oh, okay."

"And Rowan."

"Isn't that half of your team though?" she asked.

"Well at least I like you. And Jasper does too."

Suddenly, a boy tripped in front of them and fell to the floor. Crystal barely stopped, while Sakura jumped over him easily. How did she do that?

She would ask her. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Sakura replied as they kept walking out of the sparring room.

"You're very agile, but there's no way you're that good on your own."

Sakura shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just that good. Of course, I was real clumsy when I was little."

"Then you discovered your semblance?"

She shook her head and laughed. "No, that's not my semblance. But believe me; if it was, I would be even better, and I would probably be a gymnast instead."

There was still a question she had. "So how did you go from clumsy to coordinated?"

"It's simple. One day, I was tired of being clumsy, so I stopped being that way, picked up gym class, and started getting better." That didn't seem possible to Crystal. "It's like my parents always say: if you want something, the only person in your way is yourself. Of course, sometimes it's good to get in your own way, but not when you're clumsy." The both of them laughed.

After Crystal stopped, she asked, "So what is your semblance?"

"Oh, you're not getting that out of me so easily," Sakura said, wagging a finger at her.

From behind them, someone shoved past them. From behind they looked like Peri. Why would she shove past them like that? "Peri," Sakura said, "what's wrong?"

Peri turned around, her turquoise eyes flickering from Sakura to Crystal. She thought that she saw pain or something in her eyes. She was also grasping her right arm. It must have been hurt or something. "I'm fine. I'm just going to our room, and I'd prefer it if you didn't come in for a while."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Don't ask. Just let me be." She turned around and left very quickly.

Crystal looked to Sakura. "What was that about?" she asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I have no idea."

Storm was just throwing around ideas in his head for a new weapon when there was a knock at the door. The rhythm and tone of the knocks—three rapid, hard knocks—were different than anyone else's that he'd heard at Haven. He found it interesting that he'd memorized what everyone's knocks sounded like. He answered the door, and he found it even more interesting that it was Jasper Ironwill, who he recognized from the tournament.

"Are you Storm Sapphire?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," he replied, confused. How did he know his name, and what did he want with him? Both questions he figured would be answered eventually.

"I'm Jasper Ironwill."

"I know who you are," Storm stated. "The question is, how do you know who I am?"

"There was the team forming ceremony," of course, "and Crystal told me about you."

"Crystal?"

"Yeah. The point is I want to ask you a few questions about her." This was interesting. "Do you mind?"

"Okay…" He wasn't sure about Jasper.

"Did you and Crystal date?"

He wasn't sure about the answer to that. "We went to one dance together, we didn't kiss, and I'm not even sure we danced."

"Why?"

"I don't usually dance."

"No, why didn't you kiss her? Was it you or her?"

"It just never came up."

"Well, can you tell me what she's like other than that?"

Storm thought for a moment. "Well, she's nice, considerate, and… forceful."

"Forceful?"

"She wants things to be a certain way. It doesn't usually come up, but if you do something she doesn't want you to, it might get ugly. She also hides her feelings really well. If I couldn't sense emotions, she would be a complete mystery."

Jasper nodded. "Anything I should know about her parents? Would they approve of me?"

"I don't know much about them, so I can't tell you that. I know that her father's Lord Taryn, and her mother's dead."

Jasper seemed surprised or shocked. "I didn't know that about her mother."

"Well, she died a while ago—when she was very little—so I doubt either of us would have remembered it." He felt uncomfortable talking about this. "Is that all?"

"Not quite." Suddenly, a sound came from Jasper's pocket. It sounded like his Scroll's ringtone. Sure enough, Jasper took out his Scroll, and answered a call.

After a brief conversation that Storm tried to ignore as best he could, though he did hear a few phrases. From what he could tell, someone named "Peri" was acting strangely, and that Jasper was going to go to his dorm room soon. He was glad that Jasper was leaving, since their conversation was getting uncomfortable. Finally, Jasper's call ended, he put his Scroll away, and said, "I've gotta be going."

"Okay," Storm replied. "Go then."

"I might be back, but I might not."

"I can live with that."

"Bye." With that Jasper ran rather urgently away. Where was he going? It probably didn't matter. It might have been a personal matter. In any case, Jasper was gone, so Storm didn't need to talk to him anymore—which was all he could ask for.