Alexandra snuck off, taking a trip to the Japanese gardens close to her home. It was early morning, time for her meditations, she remembered back to a time when she was younger, when she would meet her sensei here for training. Not many knew that she was a high level black belt and had won many competitions. She wanted to keep that part of her life a secret. She used the meditation, keeping her mind clear, usually helped to keep her calm. She stood over the koi pond looking down at the fish in the water. The sun began to dance across the water and she brought her eyes back up to the sky. After everything that had happened to her, she needed to meditate on her thoughts.

“He wants to make me out to be some monster. He tries to discredit anything that isn’t his way of thinking. He is much like…those that persecuted the witches in Salem. And just like them, he will fall.”

Backing up a few steps, Alexandra began her moves, slowly, methodically. This moment of solitude, no friends, no family, only her. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind moving across her hands, as she sliced them through the air. Her movements, her kicks, all as graceful as any samurai warrior. Then a voice cut through the silence she had slipped into, shaking her from her thoughts.

“Sakura.”

She turned to see who had spoken her warrior name. No one in XWF knew of that name.

“Master.”

She bowed keeping her eyes on him. He noticed she was at war with herself on the inside. There was a fire behind her eyes that he had not seen since their time in Japan.

“A great battle rages inside of you. Sakura, does Oni, speak out more now than before?”

Her master walked to stand in front of her. She looked at him and he could see it.

“Yes Master.”

Alexandra’s eyes went to her feet. He cracked her across the back with his cane.

“Never look down.”

He cracked again until her eyes came back up to meet his, and he could see the fire.

“A warrior never looks to the floor. A warrior stands tall and faces the many battles going on inside of them. A warrior is not weak, they are strong, and they face their battles, head on. They do not run into gardens like little girls, and hide from the world.”

She bowed before him.

“Yes Master.”

Alexandra stood tall looking at him, nodding softly. His words struck a cord with her. She hadn’t been the warrior she had been trained to be. Hell to be honest, she hadn’t been herself. When in the ring, she had been faltering. She needed to be power, grace, and strength. She needed to unleash what she kept inside. But to be honest, could they handle it.

“Be who you were born to be.”

With that, her sensei was gone and she was left alone with her thoughts.

“Eli… life is about to get harder for you. Way harder. Should I fall in this match, I can promise you, it will not be the last that you see my face.”

With that Alexandra disappears on the other side of the gate, and from view.