Taitou held the jeweled necklace in his hand and smiled to himself.

"Yes, I do believe she is the one." He laughed softly. "I guess Talpa had no idea or else she would allready be
on our side. Too bad he isn't around to see my success."

He grinned and looked into a circle of soft, gold light. Through the ball of energy, he could see Mia training. Her eyes were so intense and her body moved quick and gracefully. He smiled to himself.

"She's making progress. Soon she'll be ready." The light of the ball faded as he slowly and quiety left the room.

Sage landed on the ground with a loud thud. He sprang to his feet as Mia launched another attack. She swept his feet out from under him and before Sage could even land on the ground, she kicked her leg up high and caught Sage in the back, making him wince.

"Owww!" He yelled. Mia halted and let Sage regain himself.

"Dang, that hurt!" Sage rubbed his back and Mia laughed.

"I thought you said you were used to dealing with stronger opponents." She grinned and Sage used his hand to check for any out of place hairs. Ryo laughed.

"You better stop before you hurt him Mia." The others laughed too, even Anubis.

"Sorry Sage, I didn't know I kicked you that hard."

Sage shrugged.

"If I can handle a week or two in Talpa's dungeon, I can handle a little back pain." He grinned. "Allright, let's
go again." He stood in fighting postition and steadied himself. This time, he was going to fight back.

"Allright Sage. How about you stop holding back on me this time." Sage looked shocked. How could she have known that he wasn't trying at all. Mia took a fighting position and waited for Sage to get ready. He shrugged the comment off and grinned.

"Ok Mia, I hope you can handle it." He grinned and jumped towards Mia, keeping in mind not to punch too hard. He threw a fist towards her face, but Mia threw up her hand and whacked it away.

Sage, surprised at her defense, tried jump kicking her. But she grabbed his ankle and swung him around, sending him crashing into a tree and knocking it over. She smiled slightly as he watched him rubbing his head, confused as heck. Ryo laughed.

"What's the matter Sage? Did you get beaten up by a girl?" Ryo and the others laughed. Sage gave them all
a dirty look and Mia gave Sage a hand up.

Anubis was a little confused. "Mia, where did you learn to do that? I mean....you couldn't do that a few months ago."

Mia grinned. "Sage over here has been teaching be some things about fighting."

Anubis nodded. "I guess he's a good teacher." He grinned, impressed at her increased skills. Mia shrugged.

"I guess so. But he holds out on me a lot. He never fights back." Sage gave a looks as if saying, ~who? me?~

"Guys, I'm hungry!" Kento began to wail. Cye laughed.

"You're always hungry Kento!" Cye smiled widely and Rowen laughed.

"That's such a surprise!" Everyone laughed. Cye walked off towards camp, a hungry Kento following close behind. Ryo began to walk towards camp too. Sage and Rowen began arguing about something intellectual. Mia stood in the middle of the clearing and Anubis approached her. He smiled down at her as he stood right in front of her.

"It's good to see you again Mia." He put a hand to her cheek and ran his fingers through her hair. Mia smiled
as Anubis put his other arm around her waist and pulled her close. Mia put her arms around his waist and leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder. She sighed.

"I missed you a lot Anubis." she looked up at him. "I thought I'de never see you again." Anubis smiled at her,
his blue-green eyes shining brightly.

"I'll never leave you again Mia, I promise." He leaned towards her, ready to give her the biggest kiss of her life.
Mia leaned into him, sensing what was to come. As their lips neared, a large figure flew from the trees and landed a solid kick to Anubis' head, barely missing Mia. All Anubis saw before he blacked out was Mia's frightened face as the figure whom kicked him grabbed her by the arm.