Kimiko was finally returning to the Temple. After a year and a half away, due to the sudden demise of her father, she was finally returning to her beloved friends. She wondered if they were still at the Temple or maybe they had all left, there wasn't much evil around and she was the lynchpin of the group after all. She thought of Rai, tall dark, strong Rai. She remembered their last day together.

Rai had been the Shoku Warrior for about a month but there was no evil on the horizon. They were all just hanging around where ever they felt like it; she had gone to the garden, knowing Rai would be there. He often sat there when he had time to think. He was probably thinking about some girl back in Rio. She used to be able to hear him tell Clay about girls through the walls of their rooms. Kimiko was the only one with her own room since she was a girl and it was indecent to change around the guys, especially when she hit puberty. She saw Rai in the garden, going to tell him the news about leaving the Temple to sort things out at home.

"Kimi." He said, turning round after sensing her presence. He was a lot more in tune with the world now he was a Shoku Warrior.

"Rai, we need to talk…" She looked at the ground, blinking the tears from her eyes.

"Sounds pretty serious." He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Rai, I-" she was cut off by Clay bounding into the garden.

"Kimiko, Omi and I" Omi suddenly appeared holding something bright in his hand. "We wanted to make you something as you were leaving, to remind you of us." Kimiko snapped her head up.

"Yes, Kimiko, Clay said it would make you feel well again."

"You're leaving?" Rai looked at Kimiko. She looked away. She couldn't bear to cry in front of him.

"My dad, he d-" she choked on her words, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Raimundo caught on to what had happened and looked at Clay, clueless of what to do. Clay motioned for him to hug her.

She felt one of his strong arms wrap around her waist. She immediately relaxed into him her hands rested on his chest. His other hand stroked her hair, as he kissed the top of her head.

"Kim, you should have told me. I'll come back to Tokyo if you want."

She just cried harder.

"Shh, Kimi, it's okay."

"H-he was the only family I h-had l-l-left." She choked it out into Raimundos chest.

He let his grip on her waist loosen and the hand he had in her hair lifted her chin so she was facing him.

He wiped her tears away. "It's okay, you have us and we're your family. You have me." She stared into his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly. She kissed back but he pulled away when he heard her chopper from the sky. She pulled out of his grip and ran to her room. In a flash, she had her bags and was in the chopper. The boys watched their girl fly away.

She whispered to herself, "I love you, Rai, and someday, I'll have the guts to tell you, someday, you'll love me back."

She wondered if he thought about her as much as she thought about him. He wouldn't though, he's got a whole fan club in Rio; he used to gloat to Clay and Omi all the time. The chopper arrived and she hopped in straight away. She was all jittery, jumpier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs as Clay would say. The helicopter left Japan and she waved goodbye to her beloved Tokyo. It was a shame she had lost contact with all her friends, even the ones in her hometown. She returned to her normal life with a jolt, a year and a half beforehand. Her friends had all grown up and she had too but when they tried to rekindle the friendships they once had. It was different now; all she could see was her old life, shining through them, her old life, with her father. The few hours in her father's old helicopter passed quickly as she thought of her life at the temple and when she was young with her parents. She smiled as she remembered how her parents looked at each other, the love in their eyes. She wondered if Rai would ever look at her that way. But then she remembered how her father was when her mother died, she could see his heartbreak every time he got up in the morning only to realise she was not there. She decided she will never let that happen to anyone she loved again. That's when she saw the hills and mountains she so fondly dreamt of. She missed the beautiful blossom trees she saw every night in her head. The chopper landed and no one appeared. Did they not know she was coming?

"Hello?" She called out; her now sleek voice was hardly recognisable to what it was before.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you looking for someone?" A tall, sturdy man asked her. His blond hair was tumbling over his blue eyes as he took his cowboy hat off as a sign of respect. His accent was evidently Texan.

A wide smile spread across Kimiko's face as she pushed her raven hair out of her eyes. "CLAY!" She squealed, hugging him tightly.

"Kimi? Is that you? Well I'll be darned! We didn't know you were going to be coming back!" He smiled and returned her hug. "RAI, GET OUT HERE, YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHO WE GOT HERE!"

"Clay, I hope you didn't call me out here for no good reason." He saw a short girl with raven black hair that hung in curls over her shoulders, piercing blue eyes that bore into his soul and the most luggage he had ever seen in his life. He stared at this girl, no this woman, who stirred a flame he thought had died over a year ago. He didn't move, he could only gaze at the forbidden beauty standing beside Clay.

All of a sudden Omi tumbled out of the Temple, followed closely by Dojo.

"Is there evil that we must battle?" Omi said, completely ruining the sweetness of the moment that Kimiko and Raimundo were still sharing. Omi then noticed Kimiko. "Have you returned Kimiko? I am so glad; your return could mean that we can defeat evil as a team again. It has been a very long time since we have had a proper leader."

Omi's last comment snapped Rai out of the loving eye contact with his lost love. "I am a proper leader!"

"Without offence buddy, you haven't been on your best form for around a year and a half."

"Anyway, Kimiko, are you really here? Are you really staying?" Rai locked eyes with her again and they walked towards each other, meeting half way.

"Depends if you'll have me, I suppose." She looked directly in his eyes as she spoke.

"What about Tokyo? What about your life there? Your friends aren't going to be okay with you picking up and leaving without a word for a second time."

"Tokyo is amazing but I only tied up loose ends there. I realised home is wherever my family is and I have no family left there but I have my best friends here." She looked up into his emerald eyes that shined back at her.

He wrapped his arms round her slim waist, pulling her into a tight hug; she wrapped his arms round his neck. He secured his grip around her waist, lifted her off the ground and spun her around, her legs flailing in the wind. She giggled softly in his ear. Her hair smelt like fresh cherry-blossom, as it always did when they were growing up. They relaxed into each other.

'God, I missed him, I missed this. How could I ever leave this?' Kimiko thought.

'How could I let her leave? Why didn't I follow her to Tokyo? She needed me. I needed her, god I need her.' Rai thought to himself, a small smirk appeared on his face.

He finally released her and she loosened her grip around his neck. "Well, I better show you to your room." He grabbed the luggage cart and pushed it into the Temple.

"Have I got a different room now?" She looked up at Raimundo, the adoration pouring out of every fibre of her being.

"No, you haven't but my room is now the room next to yours since I swapped with Clay." He avoided eye contact with her. If she found out the real reason he wanted the room next to hers, she might freak.

"Oh, what was wrong with your old room?"

"I preferred the room that was closer to the bathroom." 'Lie,' he thought, 'I wanted to be close to where you used to lie.'

"I remember your morning routine far too well, an hour just showering." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"You weren't much better! You spent an hour on your hair at least!" He teased.

It was almost as if she hadn't left. Finally, the Temple felt like home again. With Kimiko by his side, Raimundo was out of his 18 month flop and begin to get his team back on track. Kimiko left for a long time and there are no hard feelings, so there seems. But is there something Kimiko hasn't told them? She hadn't given a reason of return but is there something a little odd about her?