Disclaimer: Since this is a songfic, I have to say that I don't own the song. It is called 'You Can Still Be Free,' by Savage Garden. However, Masako, and everything associated with her, belongs to me.

AN: This is a very general look at Masako's young life. There's a whole lot more to her story, since her character has been in development for about a year. However, I needfeedback on this fic. If you like it, hate it, are confused, etc, tell me, and I'll know how to work the rest of her story.

To Take To Flight

Masako opened her eyes, twisting the sword in an elegant arc around her body. Her breathing was steady, and she twirled the sword across her wrist, watching light reflecting off the blade, dancing across the blood colored leaves.

Cool breeze and autumn leaves,

Slow motion daylight...

For a moment a memory rose from the depths of her mind...

A kind hand. Her father's. He held her own small fingers in his own, cupping them. He dipped his hand in cool water and held it over her palm, allowing the cool water to drip onto her skin.

"Masako," he said gently. "You must understand..."

A lone pair of watchful eyes

Oversee the living...

Her eyes snapped open, and their soft jade hue frozen by anger. She rushed forward at nothing, striking the air with her katana. She didn't shout when the blade came down, as was the style of all swordsman; Starblade would be furious if he caught her practicing again. The traditional cries were replaced by angry breaths. The sounds, she had once mused, sounded like an animal, chasing down its prey.

How ironic.

Feel the presence all around--

A tortured soul,

A wound unhealing...

The blade came down again and again, slicing the air perfectly, until an angry hiss echoed through the air. She looked up. A tree stood before her, a long gash across its trunk. Masako smiled savagely, and struck again, this time twisting her blade. Again and again she sliced at the tree, relishing every cut on the once smooth bark. Every blow brought her one step closer to justice. One step closer to revenge. She raised her sword over her head, in the style of the Killing Blow she had learned not long before.

No regrets or promises!

The past is gone,

But you can still be free,

If time will set you free...

A sudden clang shattered the quiet of the forest. Masako jerked and looked up. Her sword had come to a halt against a dagger.

The dagger was held by Starblade. There was concern in his eyes.

"Would you mind explaining your grudge against this tree?" he asked. Masako forced herself to grin stupidly at the joke.

"It's nothing, really. I just saw this really neat technique, and I thought I'd try it out," she said. It wasn't a lie. Starblade would have been able to see right through any lie that she could tell. And besides, he would have recognized the technique. That much was evident by the disguised pain in his eyes.

"Oh," he said softly. "You saw that...?" Masako regretted her carelessness. The attack she had just attempted, the Heaven's Death, was his own signature: invented by Starblade, and used by him only when he killed people. He hated it when she sneaked out to watch him work. And she wouldn't tell him why she needed to study his techniques. It would hurt him too much. Masako nodded meekly.

"You shouldn't..." he began, though she knew he wouldn't be able to finish the request. He had tried before. How could he end it: you shouldn't practice killing people? You shouldn't imitate what I do every day? You shouldn't play with swords, no matter what use they may provide in saving you? He had tried. He had failed. Just as he had failed in driving her ambitions from her mind. Finding no other alternative, she used an old excuse.

"But what if a bandit comes, like last time? I need to make sure I can defend myself." Starblade flinched, and Masako fought the urge to do the same. Her foster father was the mightiest assassin in the known world. No man could hurt him. And yet, he could feel so much pain, simply by watching her use a sword. Masako regretted not using a different reason for her disobedience. The last time bandits had attacked her, Starblade had been away on a job, and she had fought off her attackers until he arrived. She had seen it in his eyes then. He wanted to rebuke her for killing them. But he himself had slaughtered the remaining four, and how could he chastise her for his own actions? Or for defending herself?

He lowered his dagger. "You need to head back to camp," he said at last.

Time now to spread your wings,

To take to flight,

The life endeavor...

Masako pretended to be asleep until her guardian finally retreated to slumber. At last she sat up, her eyes trained on the last dying embers of the campfire. In one of the villages they had passed through, she had heard a teenage girl complain that her parents 'just didn't understand' her. At the time, Masako had been torn between the desires to throw something at the girl and to laugh. She had no such luck: Starsword knew almost everything about her, save for some of her practice sessions, which she had taken care to keep secret from him. But he did know her intentions for years of gathered knowledge. This led to the problem: he knew her motive, understood her desire, and would die to stop them from coming to life.

Telling Starblade had been a mistake.

Everything he did, all of his concerns and worries, were on her behalf, for no purpose but her safety.

And all of his pain came from the knowledge that he could never bring her happiness.

Only one man could bring her joy, peace of mind. She would enjoy watching his blood soak into the ground. She checked herself before she cried out in angry justice. Just the thought of that man infuriated her! She glanced back down at Starblade. If that monster had never been born, Starblade would never feel the pain he felt now! But her foster father was right. Her adversary was among the most dangerous men in the land. She would need to be far stronger before she challenged him. Her eyes focused once more on the embers, drowning out thought of all else.

Aim for the burning sun!

You're trapped inside,

But you can still be free!

If time will set you free...

But it's a long long way to go...

She saw something in the fire. A shadow at first. A figure was running, a staff gripped tightly in its hand. Faster it ran, shouting like a demon, its voice drawn into a wordless declaration of victory. Bodies were at the figures feet. Countless bodies, all of them dead, all of them at the figure's hand. Swords hung from its hips, trailing behind, scattering drops of crimson blood onto the stained ground. It sprinted toward another figure, this one's swords already drawn and in his hand. The second figure dove at its adversary, and he struck, only to have his blades blocked by the staff.

Keep moving way up high,

You see the light:

It shines forever...

The figure now threw him off and drew her own swords (the image was now clear enough to distinguish the first figure as feminine), rushing again at her enemy. She seemed to glow as her weapons twisted around her. Relentless attacks became a dance, as captivating as it was deadly, though her adversary paid no heed to the display.

Sail through the crimson skies!

The purest light,

The light that sets you free,

If time will set you free...

The battle seemed to last centuries. The woman finally caught her opponent on the wrong end of a back swing, and added a cut to his abdomen, opening it mercilessly. For a moment he hesitated, caught by the agony of his injury, then drove his own sword forward, through her ribs. But not in time: the woman had already finished her attack, using the last blow to pierce his heart. He fell with a blood curdling cry.

The woman laughed victoriously, before the last of her strength gave out and she sank to the ground, lifeless.

Sail through the wind and rain tonight:

You're free to fly tonight!

And you can still be free,

If time will set you free...

Masako smiled as the last of the embers died, leaving her in darkness. She had enjoyed the premonition.

And she knew it was true. One day, she would be strong enough to slay her parent's killer, and all of his minions. And when all was avenged and made right, she would die. Her only regret was the grief that Starblade would feel when he buried her. But he expected it. That much was obvious. It was the reason he didn't want her to watch him kill other men, the reason he didn't want her to practice fighting. He knew that a fight against Death himself could only end one way.

But Masako couldn't shake the image of her spirit soaring over mountains and seas, rising to meet her parents at long last.

And going higher than the mountain tops!

And go high like the wind don't stop!

And go high:

Free to fly tonight,

Free to fly tonight...

Her father dripped water into her palm, though his eyes were on his five year old daughter.

"Masako, you must understand. This water, the earth you stand on, the fires that sustain you, the air you breathe...I give them all to you. They are yours to cherish, yours to protect. And they will always keep you safe, Masako. Because you are within them. As am I. In every drop of water. In every mountain and stone, every flame and gust of wind, I am there. And I will watch over you, Masako. I will always watch over you. I promise."