Then he noticed somthing small, orange and bushy poking out from behind a small pillar. It was my fox tail. I had obviously transformed to hide myself. He knelt down and looked at me with sympathy. I had my paws over my eyes. It was hard not to see that I was embarrassed beyond belief. I didn't look at Hikki, but I could sense him kneeling beside me. 

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that." I whispered timidly, while keeping my paws on my eyes.

Hikki smiled at me. "Come on, there's nothing to feel bad about." He spoke gently. He reached out his hand and started to stroke the fur on my head. 

"I would wreck stuff almost everyday during my early training days and even though I hate to admit it,  I've screwed up and hurt myself countless times." He admitted to me.

"It's normal for us to have to have mishaps. Besides, what we deal with on the field is way more chaotic than what we deal with here." I uncovered my eyes and looked up at him. His hand moved to stroke the fur on my back. The way his fingers brushed through my orange fur was very caressing and soothing. I loved how even though he was brash, he knew how to be gentle. 

"We've all had trouble controlling our abilities at the start, even Raiden. Of course we were all a lot younger when we started training. Trust me, there's no need to feel embarrassed about messing up a little, It's all part of learning. Raiden taught me that."

"But what if I accidentally hurt someone with my powers?" I worried. "You saw what just happened back there didn't you?!"

"There's no way that would happen." Hikki assured. "We wouldn't be the Celestial Guardians if we couldn't handle stuff like this. Likewise, we also train in order to control our powers." I looked down in thought. I suppose he was right.

"Come on. Let's go back, the guys would've cleaned up by now." Hikki encouraged with a sweet grin.

I knew I couldn't say no to that face, so I poofed back to a human. "Alright then." I followed Hikki back to the guardians where they had finished clearing up the mess I made.  They had also managed to change their clothes too.

Enyo wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Phew....Alright! That was the last of the flames." He confirmed.

"I didn't know the little fox had all that in her, you can say she's really....got fire eh?" Souta joked, only to be elbowed by Misa.

"Not the time Souta." She droned.

"Hey come on, I was just trying to lighten things up." He replied supportively.

"We're back!" Hikki called out as we both walked in, though I was hiding shyly behind him.

"Hey guys. I'm sorry about the mess." I apologised as I slowly poked out.

"You don't need to be sorry. This is normal for us." Kira said in a comforting way. "You'd be surprised with how crazy things get here."

"Yeah. We've seen a lot worse, trust me." Chiyu added with a smirk.

"Yeah you got nothing to worry about. It's all good." Matsuo reassured.

Raiden approached me. "Sakura, I think I know why your fire magic got out of hand. You're letting your exasperation take hold of you. That's what's making your power spiral out of control."

I looked down, I didn't want to admit it. But he could see from the on my face that's was the case.

"Powers are like emotions. They can be strong and unpredictable. But they can also be controlled, if handled in the right way. Everyone's allowed to feel frustrated and angry, but what's important is to not let ourselves get carried away with it." He advised. "Fire is related to anger and frustration, but can also be associated with love and compassion. The best way we can deal with negative feelings, is to think about the positive things we have in our lives. You can find one positive thing can't you?" He gave me an encouraging smile.

He's right, I did have something positive in my life. My loving mother who comforted and supported me my whole life. But also my newfound friends who welcomed me for who I was without any hesitation. They made me realise what an amazing gift I had been given.

"So, you ready to try again?" He asked as if the answer was obvious.

I nodded and got myself into position. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

'Come on Sakura. You can do this.' I thought determinedly. I focused on my emotions. The others watched me hopefully, especially Hikki. I pictured the ball of energy in my mind. I combined all my thoughts and feelings. Angry, sad and happy ones, all drawn into one huge entity.

I felt the love in my heart, from both my family and friends. It set my heart aflame. Next, I pictured the ball of energy igniting. I then focused it forming into my hands. 

I could feel heat from my palms. I opened my eyes and witnessed a ball of fire burning between my hands. I gasped from surprise but I kept it steady. I couldn't loose focus this time. I stared at the target in front of me. I furrowed my eyebrows, aimed the fireball. I swear I felt my irises light up as I did. Then....... I unleashed it with everything I had!

The fireball hit the target directly and it exploded into a hundred sparkling embers. They slowly disintegrated into thin air. It was like I fired a cannon from my own two hands!

"Wow you did it!" Kira clapped and applauded. Everyone else did the same.

"Alright! Way to go!" Hikki cheered. "I knew you could do it!"

I panted a few times, before looking down at my hands. I did it. I actually did it! The embarrassment from before had now washed away. The feeling I had now...was satisfaction!

Raiden patted me on the back. "Congratulations, you completed the first step." He stated proudly. "Keep it up and you'll improve greatly." Passion and determination burned in my eyes. 

"I will!" I responded with assurance.

After that, I started feeling even more confident and determined. As the days turned into weeks, I managed to gain more control over it. I found I could also use small bits of fire at will, just like my fox transformation. When I showed my Mom, her eyes nearly popped out of her skull. She was proud that I had learned proper magic, but she forbade me to use it in the house. She was happy to see the positive change in me, I was feeling it too.

At first I was nervous about the whole thing. I felt like I would be burden to the guardians. I was worried that I would keep and distract them from their jobs. But with how much they believed in me and how well they seemed to handle things, those worries seem to melt away. Though I was starting to feel more tired from both schoolwork and training. But I didn't let it get me down, because I knew it was all worth it.

I woke up feeling both excited and happy for the days ahead. That was something I hardly ever used to do. The other kids didn't get on my nerves as much now. My time and training with the guardians had boosted my confidence greatly. But I couldn't exactly celebrate yet, I had yet to become a proper Celestial Guardian. The problem was, I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to do it. 

Although my training had improved and I was getting more skilled at my magic, I still wasn't sure how I was gonna awaken my inner guardian. Raiden said that in order to do it, I had to find my 'core'. But I couldn't quite figure out what it was yet.

Nevertheless, I continued to train and hang out with the guardians. I intended to grow stronger and more worthy of becoming one of them. Plus, It wasn't just my magic they were improving, but my knowledge too.

They told me that I would be studying all the different techniques they used, about the different constellations, and beings of the universe. It was all so fascinating and compelling. It felt like learning at school, only much more exciting.

"You'll also learn about the monsters and how to defeat them. Fighting each other isn't the only way we train, we also study ways of improving and learning about the different enemies we face. You see, there are different types of monsters in the realm of darkness. That's were they all originate from. They come in all forms some are more intelligent than others and some are actual beings just like us." Enyo explained to me.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I mean, they have motives and identities the same as humans do. And some are just savage, mindless beasts. But they are all equally dangerous. That's why we need to know as much about them as we can, so we can learn how to take them down thoroughly." He described.

They told me about some of monsters they fought constantly and some they still didn't know much about. Then they told me again about the evil Akuzuran, along with other frightening beings of darkness and creatures of nightmares. Just hearing about them made me shudder in fear. To think that they and the past Celestial Guardians have been battling these formidable foes for centuries, and for years to come. Would this just continue to happen for all of eternity? I wondered. 

That was when they told me, that light and darkness have always existed since the beginning of time. There was no getting rid of one or the other. All they could do was maintain the balance, so that the darkness would be kept under control and that harmony would restored. 

It suddenly dawned on me how much the guardians had resting on their shoulders, would I be able to live up to their responsibility aswell? The thought frightened me, would be able to handle it like they would? But I had to reassure myself that everything would be alright. I knew the guardians were already doing everything they can to protect the world and they seemed to already be doing a solid job at it. Besides I didn't have time to worry about it. I had to concentrate on training so I could do a good enough job too and that's exactly what I aim to achieve!