The title should be clear in the next chapter, but whether I continue this or not with be decided by the readers. This is in Omi's point of view, so I'm sorry if it's more than a little out of character. Enjoy.

"You don't belong on the Heylin side!"

I listened for any sort of response from Raimundo, but even if he did reply, the rumbling stomps of the rock creatures drowned out any sound other than our pleads for help directed to the person who now quite literally held the fate of the world in his hands. My head and hands dropped from the bars enclosing the belly of the creature that held me captive and hung limply down. Even if he did hear us, would our words manage to reach his soul and cause the kind, good part of him to stir up from the depths of darkness? Would they awaken the voice in the back of his mind that told him he wasn't standing where he was meant to be? Or did they simply fall to the ground when turned away by his temporarily deaf ears as did Master Fung's requests for completed chores? Did he truly believe the lies of how he was never adequate to be a xiaolin warrior? Was he too blinded by greed and anger to see everything he had loved destroyed before him?

Suddenly light began spilling across the floor and I jerked my head up. From somewhere behind us, light seemed to be rushing in and filling the room like water, banishing the darkness like the liquid would air. The rock creatures halted so abruptly, the unexpected lack of movement threw both Jack Spicer and me against the bars. A dreadful screech pierced the air, raising the hairs on the back of my neck and rousing a quiet shriek from Jack Spicer.

"What are you doing?"

I recognized the voice as Wuya's and wondered what she was doing so close to the source of all this light and why she sounded so horrified. I was then struck with the realization that Raimundo must have somehow opened the box. My body filled with tremendous delight. No matter what the outcome, I now knew, if not the world, Raimundo truly did care for us. I hopped about the rock monster's stomach to see if I could at least get a glimpse of what was happening behind us at a different angle, but to no avail.

Wuya screeched again, but this time her voice sound much raspier and full of hatred, very similar to what she sounded like in her ghost form. "Dashi!"

Then a joyous lighthearted voice rang throughout the room, a voice that I recognized immediately and had never expected to hear again after my fifteen hundred year trip from the past. "Whoa, Wuya! The years have not been kind."

The light abruptly increased to such a blinding level that I was suddenly grateful for the rock wall shielding our eyes, for although it helped greatly, the light was still incredibly harsh. It still seemed that way in spite of my eyelids being tightly shut against it.

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As the unknown event behind us took place, Wuya let out one final scream so horrible and piercing, that even with my hands clamped over my ears, I felt my eardrums would shatter. At last she stopped and I was certain that she was imprisoned within the puzzle box. I let my arms drop and waited for the light to fade away before I opened my eyes. Unexpectedly the light seemed to lurch downward and once again my hands clapped over my ears to block out Wuya's second final scream, somehow more hideous than the last. When it finally ended I held my hands to my ears just a few seconds more just to be sure it was over. Then the light died away so quickly that my eyes snapped open and my arms came down in surprise. This turned out to be unfortunate for my eyes, because just then the rock creature cracked and disintegrated to dust.

When I had rubbed the filth from my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of Kimiko, Clay, and Dojo standing in the piles of powder and rubble which used to be their cages. They were somewhat shaken and coated in rock dust, but seemingly unharmed. Then I turned and looked up the stairs before us to see Raimundo, still holding the now closed puzzle box, which I assumed was Wuya's new containment. His eyes were wide and surprised, but his smile was cheerful and genuine, holding no malice at all. He looked relieved to see us unhurt and gave us all a hand gesture I remembered to be called a 'thumbs up'. I recalled it meant: good, great, everything was fine. I nodded at him eagerly in agreement and returned the gesture. My smile was so wide I could almost feel the corners of my mouth touching my ears. I did not think my heart could contain my happiness of seeing Raimundo back to his former friendly self.

I would always remember that moment because although I didn't know it at the then, it would be the last time in a long while that I would ever see my mischievous friend again.

Without warning the palace began shaking violently. I managed to keep my balance, but Raimundo was knocked onto his backside. Large nuggets of stone tumbled from the ceiling. Like the rock monsters, without Wuya's magic the palace had no structure.

"Let's get a move-on, gang!" Clay shouted.

We did not need to be told twice. We all took off faster than a- well, I'm sure Clay had an appropriate simile although he did not voice it. All of a sudden the ground crumbled and gave way beneath us and we were falling down a fiery red abyss. Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes as wind rushed pass and my skin became hot as we neared the bottom of the void. Just I felt as though the temperature would melt my flesh clean off my bones, our fall was ended when our bodies met with something large, soft, slick with moisture, and scaly. Almost as soon as we were on, Dojo soared up out of the fissure, dodging boulders as he went, the air becoming considerably cooler as he did so. As we went up the deep hole, it caught my eye that Jack Spicer had turned on his heli-pack and was hovering near the top. Dojo was going too fast for him to get on, but as we passed him, I looked back and saw that Jack Spicer had grabbed onto Dojo's tail and was holding on tightly for dear life.

"Hold on here!" Dojo yelled abruptly. "That's only three oofs and a tailgater! Who's missing?"

My eyes fell to Kimiko, who was in her usual spot. Then we looked behind her and were startled to meet Clay's lake blue eyes instead of the pair of dark forest green we were used to seeing first. My muscles tensed with dread. Clay paled and Kimiko screamed as we looked upon the empty spot where most of the cleverly-spoken complaints had originated. "Raimundo!"

But Dojo could no longer wait. The downfall of rock was much faster now. He dashed as quickly as he could in what I hoped was the direction of the nearest opening.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kimiko screamed. "We can't leave without Rai!"

My head snapped down to Wuya's throne area, where I recalled seeing Raimundo last. I only had enough time to catch a glimpse, but it was long enough to see that the places that were not already smashed with boulders were bare.

My mind raced with a thousand possibilities. Did he run to seek shelter? Perhaps frozen in terror, was he unable to rise after his fall and was trapped by a falling stone? In attempt to follow us out on foot, did he too plummet down the abyss and miss Dojo's back? Was it likely that he managed to escape? Did he have the Golden Tiger Claws somewhere nearby?

A most large blasting sound startled me from my thoughts. Everything was momentarily lost in a massive explosion of black and bright green. My grip on Dojo's scales strengthened considerably and I held myself as closely to his undulating body as I could. I choked as my lungs filled with mineral powder and what I could only guess were after-magic gases.

Finally we emerged from the ghastly cloud and into the cool fresh night air. Sight had returned to me, so I looked back and was thankful to see Kimiko, Jack, and Clay had managed to keep their hold on Dojo. I also saw that we were not the only thing that emerged from the cloud, which had now cleared. A neon-green ring of light rippled from the wreckage of the palace and as it grew over the land, everything in its path was restored back to the way it was before the Rein of Wuya. Light returned to the sky. The ring of green light got so large it traveled out of our sight, but we knew it wouldn't stop until it covered the rest of the earth. Soon it would be as if Wuya have never ruled the world.

Then Dojo made, what Kimiko would call, a C-turn and dove for the palace ruins. We were all very quiet on the way back, the unspoken fear hanging overhead like a strong paralyzing odor. I leaned over to the side as far as I could without falling off Dojo and scanned the remaining burnt clearing for some movement of a slender brown-haired boy. We were almost four feet away from landing when Kimiko leapt from Dojo, hit the ground like a cat, and bolted in no particular direction, calling out Raimundo's name. Once we had landed, Clay slid down and was about to go after her, but I grabbed his arm. "Let us begin to look where the stairs used to be. That was where we saw him last."

After Dojo shrunk and perched himself on Clay's shoulder, we raced to the location of the no longer existing staircase and hastily started shuffling aside the rocks, looking for any trace at all of our former enemy. Kimiko noticed what we were doing and sprinted toward us to assist in the search method. As I scrambled trying to remove the rock, my head jerked back to where we had landed and I froze when I saw Jack had gotten to his feet, deactivated his heli-bot, and was now watching us in our frantic investigation. I caught his eye and our gazes locked. I'm not sure what emotion my face was displaying at that time as many seemed to be coursing through my veins, but after a moment's hesitation he ran over and joined us in the search. His frail build could only feebly roll aside the smaller boulders, but still, he was helping and as small as it was, it brought a spark of hope to me as I turned back to the rock.

It seemed as though in exchange for the world being spared Wuya's ten thousand years of darkness we were cursed with ten thousand years of fear and worry for our friend's well-being, even though in reality we may have only looked for an hour or two. I am aware that this was terribly unwarriorlike of me, but through the time searching through the rubble, given a choice I would have gladly picked the darkness.

Then behind me I heard a "Oh, whoa." in a voice so soft that I probably never would have heard it had the speaker not have been standing just a little ways behind me. When I turned around to ask what the matter was, I was caught completely off guard to see the back of a tall thin dark figure standing in front of a small gap between two of the boulders. The voice belonged to Jack Spicer. His recent tone of voice was both slightly startled and somewhat sympathetic, the latter I could not imagine he was capable of showing. What could have possibly triggered such an emotion from such a black-hearted villain?

"Did you find something?" I did not mean for my voice to be so loud, but it was raised enough for both Kimiko and Clay to hear. They immediately stopped what they were doing and ran over to us. Jack Spicer started at my voice and whirled around, eyes darting between me and my friends, panic and discomfort written on his face as clearly as on a scroll. When he answered, his voice was piercing and high. "Um, no! No, nothing, not a thing! What would make you thing I had found something? Um I mean, not that I did! I – I mean, that is, nothing at all to do with what we're actually look-"

Kimiko, her face distorted with rage, snarled. This prompted an end to Jack's babbling, which did so with a short yelp. She stomped over to him and roughly shoved him away from the opening. "Quit whining, you stupid-"

Her voice abruptly ceased when she turned to the gap and her entire body went most still. Clay stepped behind her and looking over her. I could not see his face and he said nothing. Dojo however gasped and murmured the same words Jack Spicer had, then buried his head into Clay's shoulder. I was unable to see the space with my friends in the way and could not see around them.

Suddenly Kimiko screamed. "RAIMUNDO!" Then she tore past Clay and into the rubble, screaming for Raimundo to come out, using numerous words I could only assume were slang terms I hadn't heard of yet. I do not think I had ever heard her so upset. I did not need my tiger instincts to tell me that something was terribly wrong, but I did not know what. I looked up at the back of Clay's head. "Clay, what is it?"

He didn't reply, but very slowly he brought a hand up to his head, gripped the brim of his hat, pulled it off his head, and held it to his chest. Then he stepped back and whispered something I couldn't hear. "Clay?"

I was aware that I was moving toward him, but my legs seemed to be moving on their own accord as my mind did not seem to be in proper working order. When I stopped beside him, I saw tears running down his face. Even then, I could not think of a reason for my usually steady, sensible companion to be crying. Despite all the obvious signs it never occurred to me to think that the worst had happened. I finally looked down at the gap. I was looking right at it, and I still did not comprehend what it meant. Bright dark red shimmering spikes poked out from beneath a few small rocks, but there was something unusual about their sheen that I could not place my thumb upon. I got down on my knees to get a better look. The shapes of the spikes were most familiar. I reached out to touch them.

But when I made contact with the spikes, my fingers slipped on the smooth, moist, sticky, and oddly warm object. My hand came away from it covered in the same color as the object. So the sheen was there by wetness. I felt the new substance on my skin between my fingers. It was not unlike water, but it seemed thicker somehow. It also had a sickly sweet smell. It was most curious, but I did not see what this had to do with Raimundo. Then I noticed that the areas on the object where I had touched it were a lighter color. A color that was almost . . . . I used the heel of my hand, which was still unsoiled by the first touch, to wipe away the red coating the surface of the object. And sure enough, gold was revealed. I remembered where I had seen these spikes before. It took a moment for me to piece everything together and to grasp full understanding of the event; the compassion in Jack Spicer's voice, Kimiko's loss of control, Clay's solemn tears, and finally the finding and condition of the Golden Tiger Claws; the only shen-gong-wu that could have provided Raimundo with salvation in the disaster that took place just earlier today. I had never seen blood before, but I had heard a description of it that quite accurately matched what was on my hand and I knew it was one of the most crucial essentials of the body.

I needed a little time for the complete impact of the situation to sink in. I could never describe the feeling that overtook my body if I lived fifteen-hundred years. Then my body became overwhelmed with the sensation seemingly without warning and I felt I would burst. I threw my hands over my face and let the wrenching sobs come. Yes, I would have picked ten-thousand years of darkness without hesitation.

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There can be no funeral if there is no body. We could not summon the strength nor the courage to continue looking and the elder monks could find nothing. But we agreed that no matter where or what the outcome of the remains, and regardless of the mistakes he had made, Raimundo deserved a proper farewell. Kimiko suggested that we make his room into a memorial and say our good-byes there. We asked Master Fung if it was alright and he simply replied that if we must, he saw no harm in it but it must not interfere with our duties and training. He was rather stiff about the concern of Raimundo. Kimiko and Clay probably thought that he was being most insensitive, but Dojo and I knew that he just had no proper reaction to give. We knew Master Fung was most sorrowful for losing Raimundo, but he was also still most angry at him for betraying the temple for riches and glory. Yes, Raimundo had fixed his error and paid for it with his life, but that did not change the fact that he made the error in the first place. I think you had to be there to see him at the end in order to see that he was a good person through and through.

Kimiko asked Master Fung what we would tell Raimundo's family. At this Master Fung froze. He did not answer at first, and then told us that we had no means of contacting any of Raimundo's relatives and left it at that. We searched his belongings, but Raimundo had no cell phone, no letters, and no trace of an address or even a hometown. He had mentioned several times his adoration of the city Rio de Janeiro, but that did not necessarily mean that he lived there. The only ties to home we found that he had brought to the temple with him were photos, which there seemed to be no end of, of children, teens, and young adults who we assumed were his family and friends. It surprised and saddened us that in all the time we had known each other, none of us had once bothered to ask Raimundo about his life before the temple. Kimiko always spoke fondly of her home, family, and friends, and we had all visited Clay's home, and Kimiko, Raimundo, and Clay had lived in mine. But the only thing we were sure of about Raimundo's home was that it was located somewhere in the continent of Brazil. We did not even have a last name and now we may never learn anything of Raimundo's past. It pained me to think that perhaps if we did ask him about it, it would have helped us to understand him better and then none of this would have happened.

I felt uneasy about disturbing the original state of Raimundo's room, but Kimiko and Clay assured me that looking through a person's things was the customary thing to do after a death. When we had finished, we tried to restore it to the way it was before. I never liked it in its somewhat messy state, but now it didn't seem right for it to be otherwise. We set up some of his possessions and pictures of him with the unknown individuals on his mat, along with a miniature carving Clay made of the sword of the storm, some pictures of him and us, and his monk robes. Dojo found two candles for us to place on each side of the mat. Once he lit them, he slithered out of the room to us, and waited. Now was the time to say something in memory of Raimundo. But no one moved. There was a lengthily silence as we each waited for one another to draw up the courage to speak of this tender matter. Finally Dojo cleared his throat and said to us "You know guys, it's been a long and hard couple of days. We're all still a bit . . . . well you know. Anyway, there's no hurry in this. We don't have to do this today."

Clay gave a relieved smiled and nodded in agreement. Kimiko visibly relaxed. "I think that's a great idea."

But I felt that there had to be something now. "May we at least have a moment of silence in honoring memory of him?"

Everyone nodded, and then lowered their heads. The hush allowed memories of the dragon as wild and carefree as his element to spin through my mind, making the quiet almost torturous, yet also pleasant in an odd way, like being tickled to the brink of death.

We all jumped as the silence was broken by a puny cough from behind us and turned to see a most sheepish looking Jack Spicer. Kimiko clenched her fists and started towards him. He appeared most frightened as any sane person would when they were the current target for Kimiko's wrath, but strangely he did not scream or try to escape. When Kimiko was in front of him, she yelled right into his face "You've got some nerve trying to steal our wu at a time like this!" and then grabbed the front of his coat.

He flinched at her touch, but opened his mouth. "Actually, I was wondering if . . . . if maybe I could say something?"

"No excuse is gonna change what's coming to you." Kimiko growled as she raised her fist.

"No, I mean-" Then he shyly pointed to the memorial. "Could I say something?"

I do not believe anyone was expecting that. Kimiko was so stunned she let go of him and dropped her fist. Jack Spicer looked most uncomfortable under our stares, but we could not help it. No one said anything for the longest while. When it was clear no one else was going to make a move, I stepped forward, took Jack by the hand, and led him to the memorial. "Please do." I told him.

"Omi," Kimiko said in an unsure tone.

"This is the time and place to say good-bye," I reminded her. "And Jack Spicer was acquainted with Raimundo, no matter what their relationship was."

"But he's-"

"I'll be quick, I promise." Jack Spicer said. "And the second I'm done, I'll be outta here in a flash, totally wu-less."

Kimiko looked at Clay in question, who shrugged. "I don't see any harm in it, Kimiko."

I stepped away from Jack and motioned for him to speak. He turned to the memorial, glanced over the things laid out of the mat, then stared at his feet. He was silent for a couple moments, then shuffled his feet and spoke. "I know we weren't really friends, but . . . . well, you know, you were evil for a little while and I guess I thought . . . well first of all, lemme just say you had a killer evil laugh going there."

Kimiko moved towards him as if to throw him out for bringing up these painful reminders, but Clay put a hand on her shoulder and motioned for her to wait a little while longer. Unfortunately that appeared to be all Spicer had to say after we waited for him to continue. But when Kimiko moved for him again, he whispered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear "You were lucky."

We all froze. I was most confused. Lucky? How could Raimundo be considered lucky of all things? Jack Spicer gave a humorless chuckle. "I guess I just thought I'd tell you that. I mean, of course you knew, why else would you have opened that puzzle box at last second?"

Then I thought I understood. Jack Spicer was referring to Raimundo's good fortune at realizing he had friends who cared for him before it was too late. This thought ignited another memory; one over fifteen-hundred years old.

The box will open when the person who needs to most open it opens it.

I smiled sadly at the memory. I was glad that Dashi had added that little complication. He had given Raimundo a chance to redeem himself. A chance to show the world what was truly resided in his heart. Yes, more than anyone, Raimundo needed to be the one to open the box.

Jack Spicer shuffled his feet again. He seemed to have forgotten that we were there. "Yeah," he said in a rather husky whisper. "You were really lucky."

Then another thought struck me. Jack had no friends unless you included those Jack-bots of his. Could he have actually meant Raimundo was fortunate to just have us? Or perhaps I had missed Jack's point entirely.

Then Jack turned and started out. I patted his arm as he passed, thanking him. Kimiko followed him out, possibly to make sure that he kept his word. Simply because he had been kind enough to pay respects did not mean he was willing to change his ways. I was grateful to him all the same.

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Master Fung allowed us the remainder of the day to get some rest, but I could not sleep. I kept seeing the astounded green eyes, the tan fist with the thumb sticking out upward, and the first true smile I had seen him wear in a long time and the last I ever saw. It was all I could think of. If I had not taken my eyes off him, if I had maneuvered through the falling boulders and up the staircase to help him back up to his feet, might things had turned out differently? If only Wuya had not destroyed Jack Spicer's time machine, then we might find out for sure.

I found it strange. The first decade or so of my life, I had gotten along find without my friends, but after they arrived, I could not imagine life being any different. I couldn't see myself constantly training anymore. Certainly, training still gave me pleasure, but when my friends and I bonded, I only then realized how lonely I had been all that time in my short existence. Each companion was most special to me, each loved in a different way. I could not imagine being without Kimiko's protective helping hand, Clay's unwavering streak of patience, or Raimundo's playful sense of humor. Tears once again sprang to my eyes as I remembered I would have to learn to live without the last one. This thought made me frightened as well as sad. It made me much more aware that no one is invulnerable from dying, and it can happen anytime in a lifetime whether we want it to or not. What would I do if Kimiko or Clay or even both was next?

Then another spray of thoughts crossed my mind and I got angry. It wasn't fair. Raimundo was still only a child; it was much too early for death to claim him. And why did Raimundo have to betray us? If he didn't than this certainly never would have happened. How could the death of a traitor of everything we worked for and believed in cause this much pain? Hadn't he already hurt us enough? How could he leave us like this? How could he? For one horrible instant, I hated him so much.

Then the last moment I saw him formed in my head once more and anger and hate was washed away with sorrow and regret. What was I thinking? He did not leave us on purpose. And his final moments were spent repairing his mistake. Besides, didn't he inspire as much joy during the time he was here as he did grief?

I felt most guilty and fearful of these dreadful fleeting thoughts. I sat upright as I remembered the memorial. I could no longer speak to Raimundo's face, but perhaps talking to the memorial would ease my emotions a little. Even if it didn't, it would keep me from thinking things I dare not.

When I stepped from my area and headed to Raimundo's, I stopped halfway in surprise when I looked up. I did not expect that there would already be a light in Raimundo's room. I silently poked my head around the separation wall to see if we had forgotten to put out the candles or if there was already someone there. I saw Kimiko was kneeling in front of the mat, clutching something to her chest, rocking back and forth, head bent. Then she sniffed and I realized she was quietly crying. I did not know if I should leave her to her grieving and come back to do mine another time or allow her to cry upon my torso. Before I could make my decision, Kimiko must have sensed my presence for she looked back at me. Her normally milky complexion was red and wet from tears. She gave me a sad shaky little smile. I went to her and stood by her side. She brought her hands from her chest and showed me a small brown tattered doll I knew was called a 'teddy bear'. She did not need to tell me who it belonged to.

"I found it when we were looking through his stuff." she said softly. "I don't know why I didn't show it to you guys when I did, I guess I just-"

She paused a moment to force her arriving tears back temporarily and did not complete the sentence when she felt right to continue. "I don't know if it's an old baby toy or if it was a memento from a younger brother or sister or if he has- had it to remind him of home or if he slept with it or-"

The tears would no longer wait and her words triggered sobbing. I began to cry as well and threw my arms around her. She did the same and we held each other for a long time, crying over the loss of our friend. We were not surprised when we were joined later by Clay and Dojo. We cried and grieved and exchanged memories of the fallen warrior until slumber claimed us.

In the morning when I awoke, I did not understand at first why I felt so downhearted. Then I saw the memorial and a few tears escaped me. I wiped them away and prayed that some vigorous training would ease the weight in my chest for a little while. I was about to step over Kimiko's sleeping form to leave when I noticed something. The candles were extinguished, not by their own puddles of liquid wax, but snuffed out. But how? I was sure we had all fallen asleep before we remembered to put them out. Perhaps someone woke up, saw the candles were still lit, put them out, and went back to sleep. But then I saw a strip of parchment on the mat that was decorated with dignifiedly written Chinese symbols and I knew who had done it. The symbols read: Raimundo, Xiaolin Dragon of the Wind. A determined warrior and a true friend.

So, what do you think? Should I continue? Sorry this dragged on a bit, I have a tendency to do that.