Author's Note:Oh my goodness, my first fanfiction!!! I can hardly type I'm so excited! Ahem... errr, was that all out loud? Anyway, greetings, reader! Please enjoy infiniteirony's first ever fanfiction. The following is a oneshot, based off an idea I had when I was cruising the site baby names dot com. I kind of look up the meanings of names as a quasi-hobby... I changed the name of the site in the story for professional purposes, but know that all the name meanings actually come from that site. Yes, I'm that obsessed apparently; I search for meaning in the names of my cartoon characters. Just know that I don't own the site or the show. If it turns out the changed name is also an actual site, no infringement was intended. Now on with the story!!
What's in a Name?
Nestled in a lush valley amongst the mountains of China, the Xiaolin Temple stood stoically against the multicolor backdrop of yet another sunset. Underneath one of the porch-like buildings, a young girl stretched comfortably on her side upon the stone tiled floor. Slightly exhausted from a hard day's worth of training, she focused most of her attentions on the small laptop in front of her. It was of course, Kimiko, the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire and sole female on the entire grounds. She twirled one of her long black pigtails idly around her finger as she curiously perused the web. However, she was jilted abruptly from her reverie by the sudden appearance of a tall chestnut-haired boy leaning over her right shoulder.
"So whatcha doing?" Raimundo said cheerfully, his face splitting into a playful grin as Kimiko started from the sound of the unexpected voice. The Japanese girl smiled sheepishly while she stood to acknowledge his presence, as well as the other two boys now filing casually into the room to join him. "Well I―" she began.
"Whoa! Hold the phone!" Raimundo interrupted, gazing down at the computer screen. "w w w dot Name Your Baby .com?" he incredulously read out loud. "Something you need to tell us Kimiko?" he added, his green eyes twinkling at his own joke. Clay and Omi, unable to see the roguish smirk on the Brazilian's lips, stopped dead in their tracks from befuddled shock.
Kimiko, meanwhile, was in a shock of her own from her friend's perverted statement. She merely stared at him, her ruby red lips forming a perfect O. The tableau remained this way for several heartbeats; save for the eyes of Omi and Clay, which flitted nervously to Kimiko, to Raimundo, and back to Kimiko. At last, the fuse to her dynamite temper reached its end.
The twinkle in Raimundo's eyes disappeared as he saw, just a moment to late, a fiery fist flying towards him. It connected with his face with an awful WHUMPH.
"WHAT!!??" Kimiko screeched down at the boy's crumpled frame upon the floor; her voice hitting a high octave even the bravest of opera stars did not attempt. The cowboy and round-headed monk patted her back supportively as she took several cleansing breaths with her eyes closed. Eventually, the burning scarlet color of her angry face faded to its normal porcelain white. "If you plan on even implying that again…" Kimiko said forcefully, fixing the dazed Raimundo in a sapphire stare hard with rage. "You should know that it's hard to solve a murder when all that's left of the body are ashes spread across the continent."
"Just kidding." Raimundo whined hoarsely from the stone floor some five feet away. "But why even give me the opportunity by pulling up that stuff in the first place?" he said accusingly as he stood, amidst much grimacing, and dusted off his arms.
"Looking at a website that causes YOU to jump to conclusions is NOT giving you "the opportunity" to make stupid jokes!" Kimiko contested hotly.
"I was going to look up some very interesting facts that I had been planning on sharing with the three of you," continued the Fire Dragon. "But I guess you'll just have to live without them now." she concluded haughtily, slamming her laptop shut.
"Ah c'mon Kimiko," coaxed Clay in his Southern drawl. "Rai's the only one who made fun o' ya. You could still show Omi and me." Rai glared at his burly friend.
"Yes, Clay and I have acted moooost sympathetically to you in this obvious misunderstanding. May we pleeeeaaaase be privileged in hearing the wonderful knowledge you have uncovered?!" appealed Omi. Green eyes looked down upon him with ill-concealed annoyance.
The black pigtails whipped behind her as Kimiko turned her back sharply on the earnest figures. "Fine." she said flatly while briskly flipping open her laptop and sitting cross legged on the spot. Clay and Omi rushed eagerly to each of her shoulders, peering curiously at the bright screen. "You might as well join us Rai, you don't have to sulk in that corner forever." The petite girl called to him lightly without halting her tapping on the keyboard. Sensing the slight forgiveness in her tone, the Wind Dragon crossed quickly to join the huddle around Kimiko's laptop.
"The whole reason I clicked on this site was because it allows you to look up the meanings of names. I thought it might be kinda cool to see if any of our names had any special significance." She paused to look at the boys clustered on either side of her. "So who wants to go first?" she asked with a smile. The enthusiastic response on one side of her was of course, immediate.
"Oh me, please search mine first! I am sure my name is especially appropriate for an awesome warrior such as myself!" Omi cried while flapping his hand fervently in the air.
"No way, cue ball!" came the adamant reply of Raimundo. "Your name's barely three letters! I should get to go first!" The two continued their squabbling on Kimiko's right, as she winced and turned her attention to Clay on the left. "Clay? Don't you want to see what your name means?" she commented gently to the now indifferent looking boy in the 10-gallon hat.
"Oh, the way I figure," started the blonde and burly Texan in his low, steady twang. "Clay is about as literal as it gets. No need to do much searching there, I'm named fer a kinda dirt." He ended with a slight blush.
"You might be surprised." encouraged Kimiko. "And even if that's true, I still think you have a wonderful name. We'll look it up right now." This considerate statement caused Clay's blush to deepen. "Alrigh' then." He consented with a small smile. Kimiko beamed as she clicked the keys rapidly on the laptop. Omi and Raimundo hastily returned their attention to the monitor, dropping their dispute the moment they saw the choice had been made without them. A short binging noise from the computer's speakers announced the completion of the search.
"Clay." Kimiko read matter-of-factly from the site's page. "Origin: English. Meaning: Mortal."
"Gosh they sure didn't go into much detail for that one did they?" chuckled Clay. "It's nice and all, but I think I'll jus' keep saying I'm named for the earth of Texas." he finished with a smile.
"Yes, Clay, that is veeeerrry fascinating. Now may we please look up mine? I bet it means Master of the Water, or, or Legendary Hero!" Omi's face radiated pure, fanciful excitement. Clay took the chance to whisper behind his hand at the nearby Raimundo. "How does he figure that, I wonder?"
"Dunno, don't care!" said the long-bodied youth as he leaned purposely over Kimiko's slender form and typed his own name into the search engine.
"Hey!" cried Kimiko and Omi simultaneously. The girl, not standing for what she considered an intrusion on her personal space, gave Raimundo a large shove. He fell back, once again, upon the floor just behind her. Omi, pouted down at him, mumbling something that sounded like "should've been my turn". Further comments of discontent were halted however, by the cheery BING emitted from the electronic device. Raimundo sat up in a flash to read the results, which Kimiko voiced out loud to the others.
"Raymundo. Alternate spellings: Raimundo. Origin: Spanish. Meaning: Counsel Protection."
"Sweet, I sound like some kind of bodyguard man!" the brown haired lad pumped his arms in apparent glee. "Ummm, does anyone know what it means by counsel?" he asked the other three quizzically.
Clay and Kimiko shrugged.
"IS IT MY TURN YET!?"
"Hold your horses Omi! Can't I search mine? Seeing as it was my idea in the first place?"
"I DO NOT HAVE ANY HORSES! Even if I did, they would be much too heavy to carry!"
Three teenagers slapped their foreheads concurrently at the Water Dragon's naïveté.
Omi used the distraction to make a mad dash for the humming laptop on the floor. Clay halted the young boy's progress with a casual grip on his Xiaolin robes. "Hol' on there partner, I think it's about time someone let the lil' lady go first." stated the Dragon of Earth. Said "lady" silently swallowed a piece of her pride and let the "little" remark go unchallenged. She was sure the American meant it only as a figure of speech.
"Why thank you Clay," Kimiko said sincerely. She glanced at the other two boys. "It's about time SOMEONE was a gentleman around here." Clay blushed. Omi and Rai glowered.
The website turned up its results in seconds. "Kimiko." read Clay from over a dark haired head. "Origin: Japanese. Meaning: She Who Is Without Equal."
"Really?" Kimiko gushed, looking both embarrassed and pleased.
"Yep, says so right here." Clay remarked happily as he pointed at the screen.
"W-w-wow…" stuttered the girl. "Daddy always said he picked my name out especially. I never asked what he meant by it…" she said with a blush. "How very appropriate." added the blonde.
"Well duh!" someone tutted with a roll of their hunter green eyes. Clay and Kimiko both scowled at the Brazilian boy, though the latter seemed to do so with particular intensity.
"I-I mean…" backpedaled Raimundo, realizing the unintentional insensitivity of his words. His ambition of getting back on Kimiko's good side was going quite badly indeed. "It fits you Kimiko…You-you…You kick butt!" he felt himself finish lamely, despite his rather zealous opinions on the subject.
Oooookaaaayyyy… well thanks that's, um, really flattering guys…" Kimiko said awkwardly with a self conscious roll of her shoulders. She turned to face the screen once again.
"You're welcome!" Rai and Clay blurted out at the same time. The two boys eyed each other suspiciously behind the oblivious back of their female companion.
With a trilling battle cry, Omi launched himself from the ceiling above; he had apparently climbed there in hopes of a sneak attack. The other Elemental Dragons sidestepped out from under the falling figure, Kimiko pulling the small laptop along with her. The supposed "Master of the Water" turned out to not be the master of defying gravity at this particular moment.
Omi lifted his face up tenderly from his belly-flopped position on the stones. "May I please go now?" he pleaded in a weak voice.
His friends tried to stifle their giggles as Kimiko laid the portable computer in front of him. Omi punched the three simple letters on the keyboard and pressed enter. The machine whirled for longer than it had previously; then punctuated its result with a buzzer-like sound. Kimiko read the text.
"Name Your Baby dot com was unable to find a match for the name "Omi"."
"WHAT?!" screamed the bald boy as he leapt up from the tile, all former pains forgotten. "But, but…" he stammered in a tone tinged in slight sorrow and denial. "It is my name. It is supposed to say something about who I am." His bottom lip began to protrude.
"Oh, I wouldn't say it doesn't…" began Raimundo. "You might just have to think a little more… creatively." All turned toward the South American. The lighthearted gleam was back in those emerald eyes.
In a flash, he found himself a pencil and paper on which he showily scrawled his friend's name.
"See?" Raimundo said jabbing his finger underneath the writing. His voice seemed saturated with personal amusement.
"No." His teammates replied bluntly.
Raimundo continued.
"I just couldn't help but notice that Omi's name is REALLY short…" Rai snickered furiously as he swept his hand down in a motion that showcased the monk's rather diminutive stature. Omi stared at him blankly. Kimiko and Clay rolled their eyes.
"You also get a great mental image from that big round O at the beginning…"
At this remark, comprehension seemed to dawn in Omi's eyes. It was quickly followed by anger. "Are you saying my name describes me as SHORT?"
"And someone with a large, oddly round head." Raimundo responded shamelessly. He dropped his chin to his chest in laughter. Omi tackled him. The Wind Dragon didn't stand a chance.
Kimiko and Clay watched them roll around the room in a flurry of dust and punches for a moment. After briefly parting to evade the tumbling boys, Clay turned to the girl in pigtails.
"Wanna grab some ice cream Kimiko?" he inquired.
"I'd be delighted."
The two turned, leaving the carnage of the fight to continue.
THE END
A/N:Hee Hee poor Raimundo; I beat that kid up a lot in this fic... Sorry Rai. When I wrote this, I was surprised at how many ClayKim moments there were if you read into them. Being a crazy RaiKim fan, I like to think that all of Clay's interests are supportive and brotherly, or just being the Texas gentleman he was raised to be. *smile* I think I snuck some RaiKim in there, although I primarily wanted this to be a humor fic, not romance. Still, I love how it came out, and I won't tell you how to read. See what you want to see.*smile* Now, I shall officially become a author here by officially asking you, my reader, for a review!! XD
I'll try not to beg, 'kay? *clears throat*
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE!!!