He was not cute.
She had to keep telling herself.
He's the enemy. He's evil. He is definitely not cute.
These were not normal thoughts for Kimiko to have. And as far as anyone else was concerned, she wasn't having them.
"Kimiko, you look like your mind is right here!"
"Omi, it looks like her mind is a hundred miles away." Rai corrected, "But the little guy's got a point, what's up?"
She lifted her head from her knees and replied, "It's nothing."
"C'mon Kimiko, you can tell us anythin'." Clay said sounding open.
"Really guys, it's nothing. I appreciate the concern but I'm just thinking, it's not a big deal."
"What could there be to think about? We should be partying, we just won another Wu thanks to you!" Rai stood up and started dancing on top of the flying dragon.
Dojo called up, "Hey! How many times do I have to tell you kids to keep your hands and feet inside the Dragon at all times?"
They all laughed together as Rai sat back down. "Oh lighten up you big lizard. I'm just having some fun."
"I'll lighten up when we get back on the ground, I am not dealing with telling Master Fung I let one of you fall off my back and become a Dragon Warrior pancake Mister."
Raimundo shook his head and rolled his eyes.
Thankfully the distraction got them off her back and the boys made a game of annoying Dojo in various ways he could do nothing about while flying. Kimiko lay back on Dojo's tail and stared at the stars as she thought back to what happened only half an hour ago.
Kimiko hunched in a tree, she hoped Jack and Wuya would leave soon. Luckily, she'd noticed she lost her PDA in the showdown before they left. Unluckily, Wuya and Jack were still at the site of the showdown. She didn't really want to deal with them. Enemies, especially these two, were unpredictable after defeat. Sure, it was just Jack, and she could totally take him out if he tried anything, but it would still be annoying. She'd just wait for them to leave and then she could pick up her PDA, which she'd already spotted by a rock near Jack's foot.
"You useless boy! You lost again!" Wuya began her tirade as Jack was picking up a few robot parts.
"Hey I haven't been losing quite as often anymore!" He retorted.
"You shouldn't ever lose. Losing less often is no great accomplishment."
Jack's eyes widened at the harsh words but he held his ground. "Well let's see you do any better Casper!" Kimiko smiled a little at the movie reference.
"I do not understand your insult silly boy." Wuya had a superior tone to her voice. "I've had enough of your antics this night. Maybe you wouldn't lose so much if you'd train more than play with your toys!" She pointed a ghostly tendril at the scrap metal in his hands. And with that she flew off.
With an angry expression Jack stood for a moment staring at the robot head before throwing it in her general direction. He yelled, "Whatever you stupid bitch!" He stomped off toward a nearby tree and sat down hard.
He calmed down with a large breath and a sigh, then he reached up to his face and pulled the goggles off his head. As he did, a couple stands of red hair fell in his face. Jack stared up at the sky as the stars began to come out.
Kimiko still sat quietly, waiting for him to leave, but she was no longer anxious to see him go. His behavior was somewhat peculiar to her. She found herself curious about what he'd do next.
He searched the expanse for a moment before admitting aloud. "Maybe she's right. Maybe I wouldn't lose so much if I practiced. But I wouldn't be much of an evil genius if I didn't work on my robots." He reached across the ground and picked up a gear. He held it an arm's length from his face and peered through the hole in the middle toward the sky.
That seemed to give him an idea and Kimiko watched a smile form across his face. He reached into his backpack and pulled a Wu out. It was the Smokey Illusion.
The girl was perplexed and smirked in disbelief. What could that useless Wu do for him?
True to it's name, when Jack used it he formed colored rings of smoke which hung in the air.
He put the Wu away and with a determined smile he put his goggles over his eyes. Jack's helicopter pack's blades emerged and he took off into the sky.
He approached the first smoke ring, it was a wispy blue, nothing special upon first glance but as he flew through it a wave of colored light shot outward and lit up the sky around him.
Kimiko was amazed at the brilliance. She watched in awe as he flew through another and another, each ring a different, brighter color.
He may not have been a great fighter but he was an acrobat in the air. He glided through the rings, practicing his skills in his own way.
She'd never really thought about it before. Jack was only a year or so older than them, even still a kid. He probably enjoyed things like watching movies, having hobbies, and gazing at the sky.
He deftly soared through the clouds and a final set of rings were stacked horizontally on top of each other. Jack flew through them headfirst and a rainbow stretched across the earth.
The Goth teenager flew to the ground. After catching his balance he leaped into the air with a whoop and he punched upward.
Kimiko caught herself smiling at his victory.
Jack continued celebrating his training exercise for a few moments. He calmed down after a little while and with a final gaze to the sky he flew in the direction Wuya had departed.
It took a moment, but Kimiko gathered herself. She walked to her PDA and plucked it from the ground. Remembering the lightshow she'd just witnessed Jack come up with and execute she allowed herself a soft smile.
As quickly as the smile had appeared, though, it was wiped away. It had dawned on her that she'd just found Jack Spicer cute.
Author's note: I thought I'd put this at the end because I didn't want to disrupt my beginning. So, I'm not sure if this is going to just be a cute one-shot or if I'm going to run with a few other ideas I have for it. I decided to post it because it works as a one-shot, but we'll see, I may come back and write more for it. I hope you liked it.