Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to Bayley's Universe! Last time, things got a bit dicey between Sasha and Shayna. Dicey, and ...a bit strange. ...Oh well, no need to linger on that. There are more importantly matters to attend to. And just what matters are those, you may be asking? Read on to find out and I hope you all enjoy this chapter, my dolls. =)

(The bold text is meant to be an indicator of Sasha speaking Korean, as was the case with Mia in an earlier chapter.)

"OK, Sasha. One more time. Just to make sure you have the pronouncing right," Mia said.

Nodding, Sasha said "Hello. My name is Sasha Ambrose. Nice to meet you."

"Nice, nice. Nicely done," the blue-haired teen said as she applauded Sasha. "Again, sorry if it seems like I was stuck on this one phrase. It was all just my way of making sure that you could pronounce some words right before I move on to some harder words."

"It's no problem," Sasha waved this off. "I'm just glad that I got those words right. And here I was thinking the alphabet was hard."

Laughing a bit, Mia said "Yeah. The Korean alphabet can be a tricky one. Especially when it can come to sounding parts of it out. But, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time."

"You think so?" Sasha asked. Seeing her blue-haired friend nod, she said "Wow. Thanks, Mia."

"No problem, Sasha," Mia smiled. "Now, since today's our last day of school before the weekend, I'm not sure if we'll see each other any over the weekend. So, I have a bit of a homework assignment for you."

"Homework assignment. OK. And just what is your assignment?"

"Well, you know how one of the things we've talked about that can be a learning tool for some people learning Korean is listening to music?"

"Yes, I do. What of it?"

"My assignment for you is to listen to three songs from one of my favorite groups. Their name is Dreamcatcher, and I have a feeling you might like them."

"Dreamcatcher," Sasha slowly said the name while she couldn't help but think about just what the word meant-'Is their music primarily going to be about catching bad dreams? I guess I'll find this out when I can give their music a listen.'

Laughing a bit at how Sasha said the group's name, Mia sat and talked with the magenta-haired teen a bit longer until the final bell rang to end the school day.

"Well, I guess this is where we split off. See you back here at school Monday?" Mia asked.

"Sure. And, who knows? Maybe we'll see each other over the weekend," Sasha said.

This last bit surprised Mia. Possible weekend plans? With a new friend? Managing to keep a clamp on her excitement at this possibility, all she did was nod before making her way around to the front of the school building.

Watching as Mia walked away, Sasha couldn't help the smile that she could feel start to tug at the corners of her mouth. 'This weekend's actually looking to be a fun one. …I mean, yes, I have my book report to work on. Hopefully, I'll be able to balance that with what Mia has assigned for me. …But, first thing's first. How exactly will I be able to listen to the music of Dreamcatcher?'

…

Kneading the mound of dough she mixed together into a ball after school, Lana began to think of possible add-ins before she got to the next stage of her baking process.

'Would strawberries be good in this? Or maybe apples would be better? …Hmm. What are good fruits for the spring season? Or would maybe chocolate be a better choice?'

"Lana? Lana, you okay over there?" a voice could be heard from behind the blonde.

Blinking as she snapped out of her mental storm, Lana turned around and said "Sorry, Tamina, I was thinking about something. Did you say something?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering if everything was okay. You've just been rolling your dough ball there around for a good while now," the woman, a brunette named Tamina, said as she turned away from the cutting board on the kitchen counter.

Looking down at her dough, Lana saw that everything looked perfectly okay with it. …It was just what the older woman told her that drew an almost tired-sounding sigh from her.

Something didn't seem right here. "You know, Lana. Remember what I told you when I first let you and the others live here with me all those years ago?" Tamina said. "What's on your mind? Want to talk about it?"

As she looked away from her dough, Lana turned to the older woman and saw that she was being truthful; after all, it was that honesty that made her a great helper to her, Nia, and Shayna the whole time they had been living with her. Another sigh escaping her, Lana said "Well, just to start, it's a bit of a Shayna issue."

…

"OK, Nia. One more time. And this time, don't hold back," Shayna panted as she looked ahead to the other brunette.

"Shayna, are you sure you can take another? We've been at this for almost an hour," Nia slowly panted, leaning against a nearby tree.

"Of course I can! Just one more time. Then we can head back home."

A near scoff escaping her, Nia said "Whatever you say." Once again, doing as she had done many times before, Nia took a few breaths in before letting them out as she felt a familiar surge of energy start to flow through her. Holding her hands out in front of her, she watched as, with a glow, a large hammer materialized in front of her. Grabbing hold of the handle, the hammer's glow faded away, revealing a large hammer-almost like a mallet-with a long dark gray handle, small gems amber in color going up the length with a larger gem of the same color adorning the end of the handle. Gripping the handle in both hands, Nia said "Ready, Shayna?"

Feeling a slight smirk tug at the corners of her mouth, Shayna held her hands out to her sides as she began to feel the same surge of energy she had felt earlier during school. Her gaze in front of her, she could see in her periphery a glow that enveloped and spread halfway up both of her arms. Bringing her arms around in front of her, the brunette then watched as the glow dissipated and revealed a set of gauntlets covering her arms, the coverings a near black color with smaller gems a pale red color wrapping around the ends and a larger gem of the same color nestled in the back of each gauntlet. Assuming the same stance she had taken a number of times before, she said "Ready!" That was the signal as, the next thing she knew, a number of rocks came flying her way. And just like with those previous times, Shayna struck out with a yell as she punched and destroyed the incoming rocks with ease, dodging when needed as she didn't want to run the risk of getting hit by a stray chunk of rock. As she destroyed rock after rock, Shayna felt her frustration over what happened at school ebb away. 'Sasha. That twerp! She'd better be glad she'll never see my real strength. Then she'd think twice before she questions me,' she thought as she punched away at all of the rocks.

Watching as Shayna destroyed rock after rock as quickly as she could summon and shape them, Nia couldn't help but shake her head at this. She knew this was all just Shayna's way of blowing off steam and calming herself down, but …honestly, she just wanted to know what was behind all of this. 'What's Shayna's deal? I don't think I've ever seen her mad like this before. Just what happened at school today? …No matter. I'll try to figure this mess out when we're done here.'

Well, it looks like Sasha's Korean lessons are going well (which is a good thing, as learning the language is a bit tricky with some parts). She even has a bit of homework from Mia to help with her language learning (listening to music can be a handy tool when learning a new language). Now, ...hopefully, Sasha'll be able to figure out a way to listen to Dreamcatcher's music over the weekend. We then get a peek with Lana talking with Tamina about what happened with Shayna (which is quite helpful in situations like this...especially if it's cutting in to her baking zone). Moving to Shayna, ...holy frijoles does she have a rather unique method of stress relief. One that, I gotta say, feels quite familiar. Just what the Haxorus is going on there with her and Nia?! After that, all I can say is ...Whoa. Hopefully, Sasha'll (or anyone else, for that matter) never have to deal with this side of Shayna. Whoa boy. Monday at school's gonna be interesting, that's for sure. Until next time, don't forget to RR please. =)

(Stay safe, cool, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and positive vibes out to you all*)