"Mommymommymmmymommymommy!"

The young apron-clad woman in the spacious kitchen, hearing her son's request, turned around to face him with a smile. People always said that this boy looked a lot like his mother, and with his wild black hair and round face, Sakura Kasugano had to admit that this was true.

"What is it, Ryu, dear?" she addressed the child as he skidded to a stop in front of her, panting breathlessly.

"I found this in the attic. What is it?" little Ryu asked, handing her a picture.

"Oh? Let me see..."

A second later, Sakura wished she hadn't. The picture was of her as a teenager, in her old school uniform (how long had it been since she'd worn *that* thing, huh?) posing happily on top of a first-place pedestal.

Those had been the days.

"Well, Mommy? What is it?"

Sakura blinked. "Oh, just a little something from your mother's past life..."

The full-grown Sakura sighed wistfully. Things had changed so much since then, and yet, they hadn't. Like the years of her youth, she was still cooped up in her house, though now as a simple housewife, nothing more. Cook, clean, tend to the kid, that's all she did while her husband--who *was* her husband, anyway? Never mind--worked all day, then came home, and, being ever exhausted, never paid any attention to her.

But at least her life was secure, right? No worries, as long as she simply went about her life as normal and didn't try to do anything that wasn't expected of her...

At that moment, the local news related the events of the current Olympics, in which martial arts bouts had finally been accepted by the public and the organization. As always, Japan, China, and the United States' competitors were close in the standings.

{...yup. Like join the circuit. No chance of ever doing that again.}

And also no point in obsessing over it. What was done was done. "Honey, will you do Mommy a favor?"

"What is it?" little Ryu asked.

"Put that picture in the garbage. It's old and it'll just keep getting dirty. In fact, I'm going to clean out that attic first thing tomorrow and give away whatever I can..."

Sakura Yugure, shaking her head, drifted along just outside of her sister's dream. {Twin Sis...} she thought despairingly. {That's just not *you.* Though it might *be* you if we can't figure out what to do about our stupid parents! Damn it...}

A metaphorical tear rolled down Yugure's mental cheek. {You should have... have a husband who *loves* you and lets you *use* your talent for the Art... and who can spare time for you and your son...} Another 'tear.' {You should have what I can't, dammit. Nobody and nothing should be allowed to kill your dreams that way...} She paused. {Huh? Hang on... I think Twin Sis is having another dream...} Shaking off her sadness, Sakura Yugure brought her attention back to the dream unfolding in the mind that had created her.

Sakura Kasugano hated Ryu right now.

Really, REALLY hated him.

Oh, sure. It's *easy* to keep on droning, "the fight is all, the fight is all" when you're the one who keeps winning the first place prize money! What did he do with all of it to keep on staying to incredibly poor? And why was she so sure that right now, he was in the lap of luxury compared to her at this very moment?

She'd done it. She'd defied her parents, defied the odds, and defied society, and took on the life of an ever- wandering, ever-training warrior. The true path. The "right" path. The path she wanted.

Wasn't it?

Of course it was.

Though if she'd known it would mean nights like this, in the frozen snow in the middle of god-knows-where, during a blizzard, equipped with only the thinnest of coverings, she might have not been as gung-ho as she'd been about it only two years ago. She'd made modest winnings in the tournaments she'd competed in, sure. However, her unemployment due to her martial arts "career" that had never quite prepared her for the working world combined with the glass ceiling that was Ryu's superior fighting skill ensured that the quality of her life wasn't going to improve anytime soon.

Damn it. So cold... she could barely think. If she didn't find a place to rest soon, she was going to end up as frozen as the ice cream cakes that she and Hinata used to eat--

Hinata. Sakura missed her... and Kei... and all her friends back home, and even though she didn't want to admit it, her family as well. She wondered how they were all faring. {Well, one thing's for sure--they're all in nice soft warm beds about now.}

As she trudged on, she saw something in the distance. It was a speck from where she was, but there was no mistaking it. It was a godsend, it was the answer to her prayers, it was... a log cabin with its lights on.

Running purely on adrenaline, Sakura made her way to the cabin through the drifts of snow, ignoring how close she was coming to hypothermia with each passing second.

Yugure, meanwhile, shook her head at her creator's undying pessimism. {Gosh darn it, Kasugano, when is it going to get through your head that you're damned good? Back in Thailand, you beat Ryu and Bison *in succession!* You're not going to find any 'glass ceiling' and no warrior is invincible!} Sighing, she turned her attention back to the dream. {I'd better get ready to step in, though,} she thought, calling to mind Akuma's and Morrigan's sketchy lessons about acting on a dreamscape. {If that cabin isn't warm, she's in serious trouble - and dreams taken far enough can harm the dreamer at least in mind if not really in body.}

Oh, this was SO much better.

The cabin had been unlocked, and it didn't seem as if the owner was home. But the heater was on and she couldn't resist.

So now Sakura was sitting under a blanket on the nice comfy sofa, watching some TV--after liberating a soda from the fridge, natch. Okay, maybe it was bad manners, but she was sure that anyone who listened to her story would forgive the intrusion.

Ooh, yeah. Justification is ALWAYS fun!

Not to mention, something she'd have to repeat, because she could hear the key turning in the lock right now. Whoever the owner was, he or she was going to be in for a surprise.

The door opened.

*He* was certianly surprised.

He also looked... pretty darn good. Nice chiseled face, rough, slightly calloused hands (was he a warrior too?) and neatly-presed attire. Hmm. Sharing a house with a fairly hunky guy for the entire night... Sakura could think of worse ways to pass the time. Okay, now to get the whole pity thing down. That's right. huddle yourself to the blanket, don't try to look like you're too comfortable, great.

Now... big round puppy-dog eyes... ACTIVATE!

"Um... excuse me, sir. I'm sorry, really, for just coming into your house uninvited. I just needed a place to stay for the night. It's awfully cold out there."

"Indeed, I understand fully," the man said, walking closer to Sakura. "You are... more than welcome to stay the night."

"Really? That's great! Thanks a whole bunch, Mister, um..."

Wait, something was slightly wrong here. That guy was still walking closer. Okay, personal space is a *good* thing, Mister Host. Kindly back away.

"There is, however, the smallest of tolls to be paid for doing so..."

"W-what's that?"

No, see, okay, this is how ninety percent of slasher flicks start. And *end*. Get out of that sofa and--oh, hell. He's leaning right over me. He's trying to... kiss me?

{He's getting a Hadoken in the face!}

Sakura HATED perverts. With a passion. Thus, she felt absolutely no remorse when she let the super version of her (sort of) trademark chi attack fly at point blank range.

She did, however, feel much less happy when the smoke cleared and this mystery man appeared *completely unharmed* by the blast. Not to mention by the punches and kicks she dealt while trying to get away from him. In a matter of seconds, her hands were caught, and pinned, and he was right in her face. It was her worst nightmare come to life--all of her training, all of her skill, couldn't protect the person she cared about most of all: herself.

"Sorry, Kasugano. Nothing that *you* can do will work."

"How... how do you know my name?"

Something familiar about that face, that voice, so familiar, but she didn't get time to muse on it, because he'd finally shut up, and his face had now moved so close that she couldn't look at it without getting crosseyed.

And then...

And then...!

Yugure was both angry - at what she was seeing - and frightened, for her sister/creator. {That man!! Akuma's skin, Bison's DAMNED smile, and the face and body... a mishmash of those three ANIMALS who attacked her and KEI!!}

Thought became effort, and Yugure passed through the boundary between minds and dreams. Even as she appeared, her foot shot up and landed squarely between the legs of the Man - or rather, the Predator, Sakura's primal image of a man powerful enough to beat her, evil enough to hurt her, and visceral enough to... rape her. Indeed, nothing Kasugano *could* do would work on him, he was her worst fear in a very literal sense.

But Yugure wasn't Kasugano, and hadn't been for some time. For all its horror, that old fear had been left behind to be replaced by others. Predator convulsed... unfortunately, and unregistered by Yugure, the reaction bent him over onto Kasugano, who flailed, terrified, as Predator tried to rise.

"Not unless she gets mad instead of scared, you damned thing," Yugure growled at it, gripping it by both shoulders and pulling it off of one Sakura to face another. Calling up the darkness in her, she prepared to unleash the Shun Goku Satsu, her rage making her forget she wasn't in the real world...

...and as the move began, the dream shredded and was gone, catapulting both girls back into the waking world, Yugure sitting up fast as she realized what had happened, Kasugano freezing for a moment from the terror of the dream before reacting - violently.

Bolting upright in a cold sweat, Sakura screeched, "Yaaaii! GET AWAY FROM MEEE!!", lashing out desperately at a terror that wasn't there.

"SAKURA! Calm down! It's okay, you were having a nightmare!! You're here in Venice with me! It's okay!" Yugure called out to her, wrapping her arms around her original twin before she could hurt herself, trying to stop her thrashing and give her a calming hug, both at once.

Not knowing who or what had hold of her, Sakura thrashed, struggling against Yugure's grip until she cost them their balance and rolled them over each other to stop on Yugure's side of the penthouse suite's monumental bed. As the moonlight spilled across them, Sakura saw that the person pinning her arms was her twin and not her nightmare, and calmed down. "Oh, it's you..." she panted, still breathing heavily. "Yu-chan, I-I... (sniff) it really *was* a nightmare, you have no idea..." she moaned, shivering, then hugged back, burrowing into her doppleganger's embrace like a safe haven.

Yugure sighed and shifted her arms, relinquishing her pin on Sakura's arms but maintaining a comforting embrace. "Yes I do, Sa-chan... Don't forget, we're very very close to the same.. I saw. I saw it, I saw it all." Pausing to settle their heads on each other's shoulders, she whispered into Sakura's ear, "Shh. *Please* calm down... it's okay, it's really okay."

Yugure's position had an unanticipated drawback, though. {She used Oneechan's rose soap, I can smell it on her skin... no! Bad! Not the time, not *now* of all times!!} she admonished herself sternly. Pulling back a bit (and getting out of the scent, which was both too enticing and too evocative of memories) she murmured to Sakura, "He isn't real, Sa-chan. He was a composite image of Bison, Akuma, and those three goons. It's okay..."

Sakura closed her eyes and shivered at the memory. Her breathing began to get more regular as she recovered some calm, but she was still disturbed. "That was so sick. This.. this isn't fair. Why can't I just go back to the way things were? What's wrong with me? Why is it nobody's happy no matter what I do..." she choked. "...including me..."

A wave of pity and sympathy swept over the Dark doppleganger, pushing aside her concerns for herself as she tried to comfort her creator. "Sa-chan... shh. That was the two *worst* outcomes. You could be happily in love with a husband who's dear to you instead of the first dream, and, well... you're more than a match for some of the best fighters on the planet right now, and for gosh sakes, you don't have to win *every* event to make a living! I mean, look at Ken! He's a champion, he's got a wife and family, he's rich, and he's happy!" Pausing for a moment, Yugure went on, her voice becoming rough with emotion. "And... and *I'm* happy. We're not fighting, and my twin sis has accepted me... which I *never* thought would happen... thank you..." she murmured, leaning back in to give her sister/ original/creator a peck on the forehead to show her gratitude.

Sakura finally registered the pet name Yugure had been using for her over the last day or so. "Hey, 'Twin Sis!' That works! We can call each other that, and not bother with the stupid last names!" Unaware of Yugure's motion downwards, Kasugano shifted up to try and slip out of the hug, looking up as she did so. "And hey, it's no pro--mmm!" she cut off as Yugure's lips met hers, then their eyes met above the unintended liplock, their cheeks reddening in unison.

Breaking off the kiss after a moment, both girls smiled tremulously, the normal Sakura letting out a nervous giggle while the Satsu one thought of what Morrigan would most likely have done after a kiss like that and went beet red.

"That was unexpected," they both chorused, and laughed, this time less nervously.

When they recovered, Kasugano laid back down on the bed, gently pulling Yugure down beside her into a pose she'd shared with innumerable friends during sleepovers and slumber parties. "C'mon, let's get back to sleep. Somehow I don't think I'm gonna have nightmares again."

Lying on her side facing her 'Twin Sis' at half an arm's length, Yugure was warmed by the friendship and trust implied. "Just be glad I'm *not* a real succubus, or sleep isn't something we'd get to for a while after that..." she giggled sleepily.

Lying in mirror-image poses, their arms draped over each others' shoulders as their bent knees just touched through their nightclothes, the twin Sakuras drifted off.

The next morning dawned bright and cheery, hardly a cloud in the sky as the sun rose high enough to send a few questing shafts of light into Morrigan's penthouse window. With a quiet grumble, Sakura Yugure, who happened to be nearer the window, rolled over, trying to escape the wakefulness the light brought with it, then gave up, yawned, and stretched, being careful not to bump her still-sleeping sister. "Mmmm..." she mumbled as something in her neck went *pop.* "Ah! That's better." Softly, she asked, "Sis? You awake...?"

"hmmmm..." was the only reply from Sakura Kasugano, who remained firmly asleep, shielded by a fold of the covers from the dawn's light.

"Oi! Training time!" Yugure grinned down at the sleeping Sakura, lightly prodding her shoulder. "'Course, I can't blame you, this *is* the best bed I've ever slept in..." she noted, rolling her eyes. "Oneechan's got expensive tastes."

Finally awake, after a fashion, the original Sakura mumbled back, "'fter all I... went through... last night, you can't give me...mm.. five minutes...?"

A whole set of recollections from the time when she and Kasugano were still one being flashed through Yugure's mind, and the Satsu Sakura giggled and sighed both at once as she remembered all the times when she/they had been like this in the morning, and all the trouble their family had had waking them up. "OK, OK, get up when you can," she conceded, then grinned widely as an evil idea occurred to her. Morphing her outfit from a nightgown into her usual sailor fuku, she headed for the small kitchen on the lower level of the penthouse and after a brief search, found Morrigan's recipie book. A few minutes later, an absolutely *delectable* omelet smell came drifting up around the bed.

Sakura sniffed the air, rolled over, smiled, and murmured, "...mmrmmrm... that had better be for me..."

A minute after that, Yugure yelled up to the bedroom. "Sakuraaaa!" Stopping, she muttered to herself, "That's *wierd,* calling my own name.." before yelling up to her twin again. "Breakfaaaast! And you'd better hurry, 'cause I might eat it all, you know how our appetite is!"

Suddenly wide awake at the thought of smelling good food but not getting any, Kasugano bolted upright in the bed and yelled back down, "Oh, come on! That's not faaaaaaaaaair... oh, all right..."

One slow, sleepy trip from bed to kitchen later, the original Sakura appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, staggering towards the stove where her Satsu sister was cooking, looking around through drooping eyelids. Finally locating the nearly-done omelet, she managed to say, "Hey.. pretty good..."

"Yup, isn't it?" Yugure chirped back. "Morri's recipie. Hers is better than this, but using magic is cheating in my opinion." Shurgging, she set the frying pan down and turned the oven burner off. "And *you* need to wake up. Tickle! Tickle! Tickle!" she cried, suiting action to word.

"Aaaaaaack! Hehehehe..." Kasugano laughed, jolting violently at the 'attack,' then stirred herself into fully-awake action and grabbed her dark twin's arms, breathing heavily from the sudden laughter. "Never, *ever*..." she gasped out, "do that to me in the morning...."

Yugure rolled her eyes. "Hey, I know, remember? Worst - but most effective - way Tsukushi ever found of waking us up. At least you know I'll *stop* instead of plowing you under like certain deranged video-game obessive brothers we know would and continuing to tickle." Moving back to the cooling pan and dishing the omelet out onto a pair of plates, she said, "Itadakimasu!" ("Let's eat!")

"Oh, definitely!" Kasugano replied, taking her plate into the living room and turning on the TV. "Nyaah."

Yugure just smirked at her. "You do realize most of the programs are gonna be in Italian, right?"

Sakura stared blankly for a moment, then wailed, "....aaaaaaaaaargh I forgot where we are!"

"I had that problem too in the mornings," the Satsu twin giggled. "You'll get used to it, at least you will if you start travelling a lot."

For a while, the only sound was the two girls digging into their eggs, as forks clinked and lips were smacked around good-tasting food.

Finally, scraping some yolk off of her plate with a bit of bread, Yugure asked, "Sis? You've been home a lot more than I have. Do you have any idea *why* Mom and Dad started with this 'no training' all of a sudden? I mean, there has to be some reason behind it, or they wouldn't take the trouble to make you quit..."

Kasugano swallowed a bite of egg-and-toast, then sighed. "I'm not sure, really. I think they just got their fill of one-too-many 'substandard' progress reports... fighting *does* cut into my schoolwork, you know..."

Her Dark sister shook her head. "I don't think that's enough, or they'd have stopped us back when we started this whole train-like-crazy thing. I think there's something new. First thing I can think of is job stuff. I mean, Dad used to laugh and encourage us, right? Called us his 'little Tokyo Terror.' So to get him to side with Mom... well, there had to be *something.*"

"Yeah, he did used to call us that..." the original Sakura giggled as she reminisced. "...But I think he always thought I would just grow out of it, which is why he'd leave me alone about it. Mom, though... I could tell she never really liked what I did, she supported it sure, but that was more out of just being nice than any sort of agreement with it..."

"Mmm hmm," Yugure nodded. "But Dad... He never seemed to be really worried about us or our schoolwork. I wonder... say, after we train a bit, let's get back to Tokyo. I wanna get to the main library and the news archives they have..."

"Sure thing," Kasugano replied, then shot her Satsu sister a look. "What are you thinking, anyway?"

The twin in question scowled. "I'm wondering if there's something that's come up so Dad doesn't think he can afford to 'lose face' anymore, or if Mom can't, since she works too..."

Sakura joined her twin in the frown. "Hmm. I do remember pop talking about 'changes at his company' a few months ago, but never heard much of it."

"Hrmph," Yugure sighed. "What do you wanna bet there's something big up? Could be a merger, could be expansion, could be *downsizing* if he's really unlucky... but whatever it is, I bet he has to look good for the Board..." Stopping, she shook her head. "Dammit, problems are so much simpler when you can just beat them up!"

"Tell me about it...." Kasugano replied, then started to tremble. "Oh, wow, I really hope I'm not causing Father problems at his job somehow..."

"That's why I want to get to the news records," her Satsu sister answered her. "*Somewhere* in all those finance sections is the info we need." Pausing, she swallowed the last bite of omelet and let out a quiet burp. "Ah, done. You too? We'll train for an hour or so, then get back to Tokyo and do our research stuff...."

"Okay, let's do that. I'm really curious to see what's up now..." the original schoolgirl agreed, gobbling down the rest of her breakfast in a hurry. "Okay then! Lemme get dressed, unlike *some* people, I can't just phase my clothes in," she finished with a glare.

Yugure laughed. "Biiidah!" she blurted out, giving her creator the redeye.

An hour of training later (after both Sakuras were assured that the original's technique was beginning to recover from her six-week hiatus), Yugure Ashura Warped them back to Tokyo, where they headed for the main district library. Once they had arrived, it took them a while to find the newspaper filing section, and even longer after that to find the papers from the appropriate dates and start sorting through them, page by page of each and every financial section. Hauling the mass of papers over to a large desk, they began looking diligently through each one, taking the ones they'd finished with back to the newspaper racks to avoid duplicating effort.

{Geez, here I am studying like crazy,} the normal Sakura thought with an ironic grin. {Wish Mom and Dad could see this, they'd freak out!} She sneaked a look over at her dark-skinned twin, who was intently reading through one more in the seemingly endless number of financial pages from their target weeks. {Double freak-out, literally,} she mused, stifling a giggle.

Suddenly, Yugure quit reading and let out a cry - though softly, out of respect for the fact that they were in a library. "Hey! Check this out!" she said, holding up a paper that was dated from almost two months ago. Reading aloud, she intoned,

"Due to adverse fan reaction to the liberties it has allowed to be taken during the foreign translation of their sentai features, Saban of Japan is undertaking a downsizing of both lower and upper echelons."

There was a long pause. Finally, Yugure asked in a quiet, worried tone, "...Dad still works as an exec in Saban's PR department, doesn't he...? I mean, he hasn't changed jobs or anything while I've been gone?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, he still works there. Downsizing, hmm? If he'd gotten fired, we would have known. Guess he was able to slip by that. That's good, at least..."

Her Satsu twin shook her head in denial. "Twin sis... they didn't say 'have finished.' They said 'are undertaking.' That usually means employee evaluations and stuff, but it can mean a lot of backstabbing at higher levels. Dad might be fighting to keep his job right now, or at least to avoid demotion...." she explained, worried.

"Even after a month and a half?" the original exclaimed, then paused for thought that turned to worry. "Dad *has* seemed more stressed out than usual these days, but... oh, wow. Maybe all that has just put him in a really bad mood? I almost feel sorry for him. He's usually all smiles and so easygoing."

Yugure shook her head again, recalling some stories about the court in Nocturne, Morrigan's realm, and knowing that human politics could be depressingly similar at times. "D'you really think high-level downsizing gets done *fast?* No... right now, I'd say Dad is fighting two different PR battles. One to pull the company out of its dive in image, and another to avoid getting demoted or fired... and thus he had to make sure we weren't giving his opponents ammunition." Pausing, she sighed in exasperation. "Damn Japanese stoicism! If he'd just *told* you, you'd have had a lot easier a time, knowing what was really going on, but noooo, he won't 'burden' us. I wonder if Mom even *knows* why Dad agreed with her all of a sudden?" Propping her elbows on the desk, she dropped her chin into her hands.

Sakura took a second to sort through what her twin had just said, then got *quite* indignant. "Wait... *me*? Hey! How would *I* give my pop's enemies 'ammunitition'? Okay, I know my grades aren't super top notch, but surely that doesn't mean much. What... what do they care about a mediocre schoolkid, huh?"

Head still propped in hands, Yugure sighed again. "Now I *know* I'm getting too cynical. Twin Sis, this is Japan, and Dad's a *P.R.* executive. That means he can't lose face, or it reflects badly on the company. Non-traditional things can cause a loss of face... and I have to admit, both our, um, hobby, and Dad's support of it, were pretty far from traditional." Pausing, the Satsu Sakura raised her head to give her twin an earnest look. "Sis, we're famous! We've gone up against Ken, Chun Li, Sagat, hell, Ryu himself, and we've done pretty damn well! Problem is, it's a shady kind of fame... and that doesn't reflect well on Dad, and anyone who either wants his job or is putting Dad in front of them in the firing line would use that." Finally running out of steam, she muttered, "Dammit! We've done a lot more than fight, we've helped people, saved lives... If only we could... I don't know, let that get out somehow..."

Sakura sat back in her seat, shocked. "But ....you mean that this whole mess is *our* fault? And on top of it, *I'm* a danger to pop's job? If he loses it, it'll be because of me, and... and if we start losing money and can't pay the bills, it'll be all my fault." Feeling worse than ever, she berated herself, "And here I am, hating him because he only did what he had to do. God, I'm so *selfish*...!" she moaned, dropping her face into her hands.

Yugure sprang out of her seat, coming around the desk to give her sister/creator a comforting hug. "Twin Sis, sssh! Calm down... it's *not* your fault. It's the fault of whichever *Jealous Bastard* is after Dad's job or is trying to use Dad to save his own hide. If it came to money..." She giggled, tittering out the sentence, "Hey, I bet I could help there. What's the use of having a queen for an adopted sister if you can't get some gold from her now and then?" Stopping and taking a deep breath to calm down, she went on, "What we need right now is some way for the *good* side of our story to come out, but we can't just say it ourselves, or it'll sound like we're bragging or lying. Hmmmm...." she mused, still absently hugging her sister.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like we can get any of the X-Men to speak for us, is it?" she snickered, then let out a melancholy sigh. "God, I really need to apologize..."

Not paying attention to the last sentence, Yugure thought out loud, "Yeah, not the X-Men, they're as shady-famous as us..." before trailing off. She went on silently for a moment, then let out a cheer that drew a glare from the librarian. "HOLD IT!" she cried, her eyes so bright that Kasugano actually wondered if she could see a lightbulb over her Satsu sister's head. "Aha!! Idea! And it just might be a good one!"

"What? *What*?" the normal twin implored. Yugure was quick to reply.

"Well, you *were* involved in one other major fracas before Egypt, you know. During which we *did* help save lives and (we thought at the time) stop a major crimelord. And don't you remember talking with Charlie and Chun Li after Ryu left??" Yugure paused to grin *very* widely. "I wonder what Dad's detractors would say about that medal of valor Charlie mentioned?"

"Hmmm... yeah," Kasugano replied, then laughed nervously. "Of course, I didn't exactly tell my parents the whole story about Bison, but if it'll help my family out... wait. Would Charlie still even remember me? And how would we contact him? And--"

Her grin still in place, Yugure cut off her sister's list of worries. "Heh. Contacting him's easy - he's always in that Texas air base with that pilot partner of his... what was his name? Guile? And you know these military types, medals are for 'deeds performed above and beyond the call' generally in defense of others, and *never* specified." Another thought occurred to her, and she giggled. "And even if he doesn't remember us, Chun Li does, and she's in the Hong Kong Interpol office." Another giggle. "What was it she said after our match with her...? 'I've never met anyone who'll be as much woman as me before, you'll be scary when you grow up'?"

At this point, Yugure's short laughs became a full- fledged giggle attack, and she doubled over, trying to stifle the laughter before it got loud enough to disturb the rest of the library, and her creator giggled back. "Hee! True. Okay, just one more thing. Um... don't you think it'd be a bit, well, presumptuous to just *ask* him for the award...?"

Yugure struggled, then subdued her rampant laughter momentarily. "Hey, I'm supposed to be presumptuous, I'm adopted royalty!" she chirped out before her giggles overcame her again, this time getting her sister as well. After a few minutes, both girls calmed down, and Yugure went on. "hee hee... More seriously, I think both he and Chun Li are in touch with the Art enough that if we explain why we were asking, they'd probably agree. Neither of them would be happy seeing a warrior - and you *are* a Warrior, not a hobbyist - of your caliber go to pot because of bad PR."

That sobering statement got Kasugano to stop laughing and think for a minute. Finally, she sighed, "..well, I'll do anything at this point. Okay, so it's ... wait. America? Hong Kong? How are we supposed to get--oh, right. Not that again..."

The Satsu Sakura shook her head at the thought of just Ashura Warping intercontinentally when they weren't even sure if the people they were looking for were there, but then a thought occurred to her. Holding up one hand, she jogged over to the library counter, and with some of the last of her money purchased a high- denomination phone card. "You know, we *could* try the phone. Just to make sure they're in, and stuff, and we might get lucky and reach them. Who first? Charlie, or Chun?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "......great. *Now* she gets practical."

"Hey, I knew the suite and the field would *be* there!" the Satsu twin replied indignantly. "And even if the suite was occupied, Oneesan would have welcomed you." *That* statement made Yugure pause, think about what that would have meant, and finally sweatdrop. "Um, maybe too much. I'll call first next time!" she blurted, shaking her head. "Um! Anyway, who first?"

"Chun Li, then," Sakura replied. "We might identify better, if you know what I mean..."

Pointing to a booth just outside the library, Yugure noted, "There's a payphone." She smiled as they walked out of the library and over to the booth. "God I love phone cards. You can call long distance from *anywhere!*"

There was a pause as she dialed, sticking to Japanese as her Chinese was poor at best. "Hello? ...Yes, is this the Interpol Hong Kong branch? ...Yes, thank you. I'd like to talk to Detective Inspector Chun Li, is she there? ...Oh. Well, thank you anyway, have a good day," she finished, hanging up and turning to her sister. "Rats. She's off on assignment. For all we know, she might be right around the corner, or in Siberia tracking Zangief. I guess I should try Charlie, huh?"

Sakura shrugged. "Well, he isn't exactly my first choice, but go for it. Can't be picky..."

Yugure giggled as she dialed. "Oh, come on. *You* remember how he took us out for dinner the night after Thailand, he and Chun were so glad to hear about Bison...." Pausing as the call connected, she spoke in English. "[Yes? ...Yes, I'd like to ask if Major Nash is on the base? ..Oh? He is? Excellent. Do you know whether he'll be free in the next while? ...Ah, in the hangar tuning his plane? ...Of course, I understand. Thanks.]" Hanging up again, she turned to Kasugano. "He's apparently in the same hangar we fought him in waaay back when. Taking care of that plane he blew up Bison's Thailand base with," she finished with a giggle and extended her hand. "Shall we?"

"This is going to give me *so* much jet lag, isn't it?" Sakura complained as she joined hands with her Satsu twin.

Said twin didn't reply, except by Ashura Warping them into a corner of Charlie's hangar.

His attention gotten by the *ffszwhhaw* of the teleport, Charlie looked up from the open panel of his jet fighter and peered into the shadowed corner. "[Hmm? Who's there?]" he called in English.

"[A couple of crazy schoolgirls!]" Yugure replied.

"[Wha - Oh,]" Charlie began, then switched to excellent Japanese. "Kasugano? And from 'A couple' I take it you brought that Kanzuki girl with you? Security's getting lax to let you in here."

"Um, yes and no, and, er... no," the Satsu schoolgirl replied.

"What?" Charlie replied quizzically, stepping away from his plane for a clearer view of the corner. As he did, Yugure and Kasugano stepped out into the light.

"Remember that time in Egypt? She's Kasugano," Yugure said, pointing a thumb at her creator, "and I'm the darker half she made." Grinning, she joked, "But she's sorta crazy so I came out sane."

The 'sorta crazy' schoolgirl in question rolled her eyes and bapped her twin in the back of the head. "Riiiight."

"Ow! Well, it's true!" her Satsu twin giggled back.

"Whatever," Sakura answered. "Anyway, Mr. Nash, we... we kind of need your help. I--well, heck, we should start at the beginning, shouldn't we, sis?"

Yugure shrugged, spreading her arms in reply to her creator's question. "This is your show, Twin Sis, I'm just the rapid transit..."

Reluctantly nodding, Sakura began to explain. From her parents' first orders that she had to stop training, through her frustrations trying to find an out-of-home training venue to keep her edge, to her fight with Karin and her explosion of temper, and finally the arrival of her Satsu twin (this part explained with Yugure's help) and their discovery of the reason for the parental crackdown.

"So you see..." Sakura concluded hesitantly, "I know it's kind of, well, out of my place to ask, but we need *something* to convince my parents--and their workplaces--that there are *benefits* to my practicing martial arts. Like.. I dunno... bringing down crime lords?" she finished with a smile.

Charlie nodded, finally understanding what this had to do with *him.* "Ah, you're here about that medal! Well, that would have been from the U.S. army, but I think I can go you one better. Thanks to that case, you see, quite a lot of Shadoloo's operations went into turmoil. Interpol has an award waiting for 'the unidentified man and woman who prevented the escape of the criminal.' Chun and I declined to identify you, since you just wanted time, training - and Ryu," he finished with a chuckle.

In a rare moment of synchrony, both Sakuras blushed and blurted out an embarrassed, "Charlie-san!!!" simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise, blushed worse (still in stereo) and looked away.

"I know, I'm teasing you," Charlie reassured them. "So... you'll have to come with me - um, only *one* of you, I'm not trying to explain that - and I'll corroborate your identity. Interpol should send someone to your home in a week or so. Oh, and there's a reward involved too." Moving over to a shelf with a number of books and manuals on it, he found one with the Interpol logo and leafed through it. Finding a page, he set it down and pointed to a line. "There, I think."

Curious, the Satsu Sakura walked up behind Charlie and peered around him at the indicated line - and her eyes bulged. "YOW! Sis, you're rich!! Or at least well looked after!" she exclaimed, rocking back a step.

Also looking, the normal Sakura got equally wide-eyed. "Ohhhh my. That's... that's a lot of zeroes. Well, more than *I've* ever seen..."

"Yow," Yugure agreed, nodding. "Who knew saving world- champion martial artists was so lucrative?" Suddenly, she paused, as if strruck by a thought. "L-lucrative..." she choked out around a giggle. "Moneymaking!!" she then blurted before lapsing into a giggle fit.

"What? What's the matter??" Charlie and Sakura asked, wondering what was going on.

Yugure had to force out her answer past laughter. "(ha ha) T-twin Sis... remember.. (hee hee hee) what you told me your folks (hahahaha) *said?* About fighting not (snicker) making you any, or enough, money? (snrrrrk) Boy were *they* wrong!" she managed, then tried to take deep breaths in order to calm down.

Her eyes lighting up, Kasugano laughed too. "Yeah. Wait'll they get a load of this!" For a minute or two, the girls just laughed, and Charlie waited patiently until the original spoke again. "But seriously, thanks a lot, Mr. Nash. This is just so.... perfect. Heck, a little *too* perfect..."

"Don't thank me. You earned this yourself," Charlie shrugged.

"Yeah, I... guess I did... wow, this is the best thing that's happened to me in a *long* time," Sakura said thoughtfully, turning to her twin. "And again, I have you to thank."

Yugure grinned mock-indignantly at her. "Oi, you created me! You're quite literally the author of your own good fortune, Twin Sis."

"You consider each other sisters?" Charlie asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm sure as hell not calling her 'mom'!" Yugure retorted, breaking up all three fighters into laughter. Finally, as they all calmed down, she went on, "hee hee heeee.... Ahem. Sis, go with him, okay? I'll wait here, then get us back to Tokyo. You're the one he has to identify... and I'm laughing too hard anyway... Oh boy..." she managed, still chortling.

Sakura snickered. "Oh, and whose fault is that, Laughing Girl?" she shot back, then turned to Charlie. "Okay, then..."

It took quite some time to go through all the paperwork, but it was finally completed after an hour or so, and it was with much relief that Charlie and Sakura headed back for his aircraft hangar.

As they walked in the hangar door, Charlie spoke. "...I look forward to seeing you again someday. I don't think I've ever been so surprised as when you turned up here running the Circuit - I mean, to get such a good match out of a *schoolgirl!* You're going to be incredible if you reach your full potential." As they came into view of Yugure, who was doing some kata to relieve her boredom, Charlie went on, "I *am* curious, though. How did you two get by security?"

The Satsu Sakura broke out of her kata and grinned impudently at the Air Force officer. "You'll see in a sec. Sis, have you said your goodbyes?" she asked.

"Well, mostly," Sakura replied. "Charlie-san... thanks again. Reward aside, this *really* means a lot to me - maybe more than anything else that anyone's ever done for me, with one or two exceptions," she finished, glancing at her Satsu sister, who smiled and tried not to blush.

"On my sister/creator's behalf, I thank you too. Sayonara!" Yugure said with a short bow, then she wrapped her arms around her creator and Ashura Warped.

The twin schoolgirls *just* had time to catch the look of surprise on Charlie's face before, to their eyes, the hangar blurred and vanished, being replaced with the back yard of the Oishii Snack Shop.

Sakura blinked. "Whoa. Hey, we're back where we started," she said, looking around. "*Really* where we started..."

"Yeah, full circle and all that," Yugure grinned. "Actually, it was the first place near home that came to mind." Pausing, the Satsu schoolgirl let out a sigh - deep, but content. "So... you think you can manage for now, Twin Sis? I didn't think I'd be helping *this* much, but no *way* was I leaving you like you were."

Sakura smiled back. "Believe me, I'm fine. Especially now. We'll see what happens in a week or so, but I think I'll be okay." The smile faded a bit as she went on. "But are you? I mean... where are you going from here? I don't want to have to worry about you. God, I wish you could stay, you know. It's going to be incredibly dull again..."

"Heh," Yugure chuckled, grinning evilly. "Oh, I'll drop by every now and again. If I'm feeling especially mischeivous, I'll introduce you to Morri-oneesama. As for where I'm going to go?" She sighed. "I'm still figuring that out. I'm On Quest, I guess you'd say... for..." Yugure paused for a minute as she strtuggled to find the right wording. "I guess I'm looking for a place Darkstalkers," she emphasized the term by quickly shifting in and out of Aensland form, "can coexist with humans. Right now, though, I'm gonna get something to eat. I blew *way* too much energy on those teleports..." she complained, then reddened as her stomach rumbled audibly.

Sakura might have teased her twin about that, but another voice called around from the front of the store. "Sakura? Is that you? Your folks said you'd gone to a sleepover, but..."

Yugure jerked violently. "Ack! *Hinata!!* If she sees both of us...!"

Sakura gave her twin a quick, understanding nod. "Right. Look, just... don't be a stranger. That's all I'm saying." With a quick hug and a giggle, she added, "Don't get *killed* or anything either. Also... let's never forget each other. All right?"

"Count on it, Twin Sis. I don't think I'll *ever* forget how understanding you've been," Yugure answered with a tear in her eye.

Then, just before Hinata came around the corner of the store, Yugure slipped out of the hug, gave Sakura one last smile, and vaulted the Oishii yard's fence.

Hinata, arriving in the back yard just too late to see the double-jeopardy, let out a glad cry at the sight of her friend, charging in to give her a hug. "*Sakuraaa!* I heard about that fight at school - I don't think your folks have, yet, really - and then your mom said you were at a sleepover, but Kei and Shiori both said you weren't there and you weren't at *my* place and I even called the Rindous but you weren't there either and I was scared I'd never see you again!! Are you okay??"

Laughing a bit at the torrent of words, Sakura hugged Hinata back. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay! I just... well, went to a hotel for a night to sort things out. And you know what? It worked!" she giggled. "I'm feeling a *lot* better about things now. C'mon, let's get some food, I just got back here and I'm *starving!*" As Hinata let go of her embrace and turned, pulling on Sakura's arm to draw her into Oishii, Sakura looked back at the fence her twin had vanished over. {Good luck, Twin Sis. The *best* of luck.}

Some time later, after Yugure had gone to a favorite Okonomiyaki shop in Nerima district to get some food and keep out of sight of Kasugano's aquaintances, she Ashura Warped to her 'private' ledge on Mount Fuji and stood there, looking out at the wide vista below her, appreciation for the beauty of it in her mind and an unaccustomed hope in her heart.

For quite some time she stood there, thinking - then decided, on a whim, to sum it up in speech. {Like an oath,} she thought, then spoke.

"Morrigan made me her sister and gave me a gift - the gift of understanding, of information. But Sakura... wonderful, caring, noble Sakura... she, who of all people had the most right to fear me, to hate me, to cast me away... she made me her sister too... and she gave me something even more precious than Morrigan did. She gave me *acceptance.*"

She paused, her stare out at the horizon going from the unfocused eyes of a person reliving memories to the firey gaze of a person intent on a new and worthwhile goal. "And if there's one person in Ningenkai who can accept me for what I am, then it's only reasonable that there'll be others! Somewhere out there - in Tokyo, or out in the world - there's a place for me, a place to call home... and I'm gonna find it!"