Alrighty then, I wrote this a while back when I first saw Time after Time1&2, which really left me unimpressed, I couldn't stand the idea of both Kimiko and Clay being bad leaders, but alas, my story revolves around Kimiko's leadership during that time. Slight spoilers if you haven't seen the third season finale of the show, Clay/Kimiko if you want to squint reaal hard.

Enjoy!

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Omi was gone.

As if he had deserted them.

But that was impossible, Kimiko had proclaimed crying, Omi would never leave his friends behind intentionally.

But Omi was gone, so assuming the position he had left behind, and that Omi had in fact been defeated and maybe even killed by the heylin side, Kimiko led the Xiaolin Warriors.

Proud, defiant, hot-headed and too quick to jump into the fray. It was obvious why they were captured so quickly

She burned high and bright, engulfed everything and burned until she exhausted herself, just to get the much needed resolution Omi both earned and deserved. Of course Clay and Rai went along with her blind quest, Rai more so than Clay for Rai had always been a man of action, and because the cowboy just couldn't tell his leader she was obviously wrong in her quick, and harsh, judgement.

But he just didn't have the heart to tell her to be more rational after their friend's possible death. That Omi might've just been captured, even though it appeared otherwise. That revenge for their fallen comrade was a terrible battle tactic for the crucial time they were in. That, at that moment, their lives were slightly more important than Omi's.

So how was he supposed to tell her to forget their dear friend, and concentrate on saving their own lives How was he supposed to tell her "Don't make us do this. It's not right.", a sign of hesitation and over-analysis on his part, and doubt towards her, her wavering mind, but most of all her position?

He couldn't. He was a coward and he admitted it, but he just couldn't tell her she was wrong.

So her strategies were cemented into their minds, to be followed, not to be questioned.

She was, after all, leader and her words were the rules.

And both he and Rai, as they faced Jack, had known the terrible mistake they'd made. But even in the heat of battle, as they were beaten to the ground, Clay did not dare tell her she was wrong, what would happen to her resolution? Her spirit? What would happen to her, already weak, mind? Instead, he ignored the laughing face of failure and defeat, and wondered just where Omi had disappeared to, hoping that he would appear at the nick of time like he had always done, and maybe even save them from their obvious error.

After all, Omi was the one to come up with the plans, to help them stick together, the one destined to become leader of the Wudai warriors, the one to lead them to victory.

They were, in all matters of the word, lost without the eager little monk. Kimiko had known she was undeserving of a title tainted by Omi's disappearance and eagerness, and hope, but most of all, his loyalty to them.

But Omi was gone.

So Kimiko took the leadership that Omi so clearly wanted, and Clay wondered, as he again placed his bowl of food into Kimiko's trembling, feeble, defeated and lax hand, ("Please, just please eat something Kimiko...") if it was Omi missing in action, or Kimiko's vow to kill their enemy that drove them to the hands of failure and Jack Spicer all those years back.

Or maybe it had been his fault all along, for being a coward, for not stopping her, and for holding on to that little hope in the back of his mind that believed Omi would really appear at the nick of time to save them.

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Reviews are welcomed and very much appreciated!