First, I want to apologize for taking so long to update this story. Normally I try to get a chapter up every week, but my personal life suddenly became a train-wreck. I know, sounds dramatic, right? But it's actually the truth, everything just kind of went to hell. I didn't have time to write, and even if I had, I wouldn't have been in the mood. Anyway, I've been working hard to get things straightened out in my life, and hopefully things will be back to normal soon. It may still take me a bit between this chapter and the next, but after that I should be able to update every week. Like I said, I'm really sorry about the wait.

And I know, this chapter is short, but it didn't feel right to combine it with the following chapter. I promise I will do my best to upload chapter three as quickly as I possibly can! Of course, I'm also scrambling to post new chapters for my other stories (which I've also neglected), so it may take longer than I'd like. But I really will do my best.

I have to say, wow! I can't believe the amount of people who were interested in this story! You guys seriously made my day! Thanks to Artemis Crock, Kittyprydex1, ThePuppetMasterKati, Renting, Hezpeller, BleakRememberance, Fallenarchangel, xxxtrickstergirlxxx, .LoveForever, and khaos theory alice for favoriting the story. Thanks also to Clair-Rae, itoldyouso2718, killerkaiser, Fallen Hikari, Wheatieluv, avatarlover95, shadowinthedark13, Black Licorice Addict, Red Tigress, and SakuraJade for subscribing to story alert. Of course, kudos to those who reviewed: NinjaSheik, Ninja in Training, shadowinthedark13, Hezpeller, Black Licorice Addict, BleakRememberance, Red Tigress, and SakuraJade.

Again, wow! That the most support I've ever gotten! Thanks so much to you all. I'm totally whelmed.

Alas, none of these characters are mine. More's the pity.

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Chapter Two: Undone

Come undone, surrender is stronger,
I don't need to be the hero tonight.
We all want love, we all want honor.
Nobody wants to pay the asking price.
- Undone, by FFH

"Dad!"

The high-pitched cry echoed through the still air, the word blurred by barely-muffled sobs. "Daddy!" The only response was a sudden gust of wind, lifting the loose powder off of the treetops and sending snow flying.

She shivered and hugged her arms around her middle, too exhausted to do anything else. Of course she knew the drill: find some shelter, build a fire. It was routine. But she was hungry, and cold, and so, so tired.

Her dad had told her what happened to people who went to sleep in cold weather. Her young mind did not fully grasp the concept of death; she didn't understand how someone could possibly be here one moment, then gone the next. But what she did understand was that death was irreversible. Once life left a body, it would never return.

She didn't want that to happen to her. If it did, her mother would be all alone, stuck in her shiny new wheelchair with no clue how to function on her own. She could not do that; no, she would not do that. She would not let her mother down.

Guilt was a strong motivator. Her father knew that. He'd made sure that she knew it was her fault. She could have spared her mother months of agony, and an appallingly dim future. But she hadn't been strong enough. She had failed, and failure was not acceptable. Failure was to be punished, always.

Somehow, she managed to stand from where she had fallen, her legs shaking with exhaustion. Her entire frame jerked violently, consumed by painful shivers. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and she could barely see, but she turned her face toward the dim sunlight and pushed forward, her feet dragging through the snow.

She had begged, had pleaded and sobbed until her voice left her. Don't hurt Mom, not Mom, not her. But her father had been unstoppable in his rage. Lessons had to be learned. She didn't seem to feel the effect of her own bruises, so she would instead be taught by the pain of someone she cared for more than herself.

A loud snap broke through her stupor, and she threw herself to the side, her movements sluggish. A tree branch laden with snow had no longer been able to hold the weight resting atop it, and had snapped, falling to the snow-covered ground below. But with her senses dulled and her thoughts scattered, she had moved too late. The branch landed on her arm, and a new snap echoed through the air.

Her cry was choked, harsh and broken from the sudden burning pain. There was a fire in her arm and her wrist and her hand, and it was beginning to spread up her shoulder. Desperate for relief, she reached her other arm across and shoved at the branch, fumbling efforts that were weak and ineffective. She was pinned, alone, injured and helpless.

She struggled for a long time against the frozen piece of wood. It was unyielding, reminding her horribly of her father, and her fear fueled her futile attempts to free herself. But as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into an indefinite amount of time, she felt herself slipping into submission. It was easier to just give in, to lay back and allow the cold to seep through her clothing, stealing the last vestiges of her strength. She didn't know how, but somehow she found herself curled up beside the branch, her eyes drifting shut as snow slowly began to cover her.

Maybe dying wouldn't be all that bad. She hoped not. At least then she would be free of the man that she had spent her whole life struggling with. All she wanted was his approval, some gesture that showed that he at least thought she was valuable. She wanted to be like the children she watched on the television, happy and laughing and loved as they snuggled up to their fathers for a bedtime story.

But she would never have that life. She knew that. Hoping wouldn't make it better. Wishing wouldn't make things right.

She could feel the tears forming, clinging to her eyelashes and freezing on her cheeks. Her shallow breathing began to slow, and she closed her eyes, unable to fight anymore. It was too hard. She just couldn't do it.

A sharp kick to her ribs caused her eyes to fly open, and a rasping cry escaped from her lips. He loomed over her, thunderous in his rage. She desperately wanted to shrink away from him, to hide and beg for mercy, but she knew better. To do so would only enrage him further.

He picked up the branch and threw it to the side with a loud grunt. She tried to move her arm, but pain ripped through her numb limb and she cried out once more.

"Get up," he spat, temper seething in his voice. She tried, she really did, but she couldn't get her feet under her, and collapsed into the snow.

"I said, GET UP!" His scream sent a jolt of fear through her, but she couldn't move. He reached down and picked her up by the back of her shirt, dragging her over to a tree and throwing her against the frozen trunk. "You. Are. WEAK!" He hissed, punctuating each word with a yank of her broken arm. She moaned, against her will, and that aggravated him further. "What have I taught you?"

She took a deep breath, fighting the blackness that was clouding the edges of her vision. "Weakness is the worst flaw," she managed to pant, gripping the tree behind her in an effort to steady herself.

He nodded, a single jerk of his head, his eyes leering at her from behind his mask. "And what is to be done with flaws?"

She rallied the last remaining strength that her eight-year-old body possessed and responded: "Flaws must be eliminated."

And then she was falling into the blackness, and not even her father's screams of absolute fury could stop her descent.