Hey guys, I've had about a two year absence, and I'm sorry about that. Hopefully with the gap, new reviewers, as well as the old ones (love you guys!), will flourish. I've definitely grown up in the past years, and my writing skills have improved greatly.
Well, here you are, the kick-off to my new stories. Enjoy!
During the middle of a white, cold, and quiet day, though the blanket of snow covering the land was peaceful and beautiful, Kimiko Tohomiko, a small Japanese girl, the age of sixteen, sat crossed-legged by the fire staring into a wholesome of nothingness, tapping her dark red mug lightly with her fingernails. Her eyes were dancing along with the fire in a harmonic fashion, and she suppressed a grin, blinking her eyes fast, her black lashes fluttering as she came out of the hypnotic-like trace that she was in.
She sighed as she unfolded her legs and stood up, letting out a calm sigh, and stretching her arms up into the air. Nothing calmed her more than the elegance of a flame. She was always drawn to fire, and coming to the Xiaolin Temple was the big answer for her as to why. She was the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire, and she couldn't have been more pleased to find that out.
"Hey Kim, C'mere for a sec." called the very smooth voice of Raimundo Pedrosa, a tan, but not too tan, Brazilian boy, the age of seventeen from the threshold. He had a bad-boy smile, the kind that makes girls melt like puddles after it poured. Definitely cocky, but he's a sweetheart inside.
"Uhm," Kimiko blinked. "Yeah sure, just hold one a minute." she yawned, and looked out the window. In the distance she saw a young doe running across the valley and into the woods. Smiling, she straightened out her Xiaolin robes, and headed off to find out what Raimundo wanted.
"Hey Rai, what's up?" she called as she entered the room, brushing her fingers through her long, midnight-black hair.
Raimundo motioned her over to where he was standing. "I need your help with something." When she reached his side he flicked on the gas stove. "The gas turns on, but if you see, the flame doesn't ignite, and I've pressed the ignite button, but it's not working." he turned to stove back off. "And Master Fung doesn't have any matches or lighters around."
"Oh, a big strong man needs a women's help to fix an appliance?" Kimiko snickered.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were a woman. My mistake." he grinned at her, and she punched him in the upper arm. "Ouch! I was kidding, Kim!" he groaned and rubbed his arm. "Can you just ignite it?"
"Would that be safe?" she said it out loud, but was talking to herself. She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing her bangs back only for them to fall back into place naturally. "I guess I could, turn on the gas, just be ready if something happens." she warned, and he nodded as he turned on the gas. She snapped her fingers, and instantly a flame evoked on her index finger. She stepped back a little bit, standing in a running stance, extended her arm, and lit up the gas. As soon as the flame caught the gas, the stove turned on, and she blew the flame on her finger out, watching the stove for a moment afterwards, then smiled and turned to him. "There you go, it worked."
"Thanks, Kim!" he gave her a side hug, making Kimiko's cheeks flush pink, and started walking around the kitchen, pulling things out of the cabinets.
"What're you cooking?"
"Well it's Clay's birthday today. I figured he likes food in any shape and form so I'd cook him a little something special, especially with the weather like this, I couldn't go out and get him a gift or anything." he smiled guiltily at her.
"In other words, you waited until the last minute?" she giggled. "Want some help?
"Can you even cook, Kim?" he took one glance at her and started to stammer. "Oh no, I didn't mean it that way! I just meant I've never seen you cook, and, you do kind of have a temper..." he put his hands up in front of him. "A bad one."
Kimiko took a deep breath and gave him a small glare. "I can cook perfectly fine."
"Alright then, just don't tell Omi, I love the little guy but he's got a huge mouth to go with that chrome-dome head!" he let out a sort of sighed-laugh and threw her an apron.
"I'm not wearing this." she looked at the apron with disgust. "What the hell, is there teddy bears printed on this?!"
"Don't ask me, it's Master Fung's." he laughed. "Just wear it, I have to too, and I won't make fun of you if you won't make fun of me." he offered as he tied on a blue lacy apron and smirked.
Kimiko pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, but just barely managed to get out an "Ok." tied on her apron, and pulled her hair back into a low pony tail.
They spent all day together, preparing a dinner that would suit any cowboy. Raimundo taught Kimiko how to season and cook steaks, and together they made some prime rib for the birthday dinner. Kimiko put together a very fresh salad, enough to serve each of them a bowl, cut potatoes up and put them in the pot on the stove, and Raimundo cooked the prime rib. Kimiko taught Raimundo how to make a sushi roll, and they made a few of those, and even made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and a big vanilla cake with chocolate frosting for desert.
"You're a mess." Kimiko giggled as she noticed that Raimundo had some marinate juices, and flour all over his apron.
"That's what the aprons for." he laughed. "Okay it's just about six, the cake should be done in about twelve minutes, and the meat is just about ready. Can you start mashing the potatoes while I get those all ready?"
"Aye Aye, Sir!" Kimiko laughed as she drained the potatoes, plugged in the electric whisk, and started mashing the potatoes, adding butter and milk.
"Okay, there's parsley in the fridge, we're going to make this look nice, not just smell nice." he smirked. "The potatoes are good, you can stop. Help me decorate the plates."
Kimiko grabbed the parsley from the fridge and arranged it on Clay's plate in a fancy fashion, making it look elegant and professional. Raimundo drizzled some of the meat juices on top of the steak, just enough to give more of a kick to the flavor. They set the table with the mashed potatoes, corn, carrots, beans, sushi, and salad. Looked at their work and smiled.
"It smells excellent." Kimiko gushed.
"Well, thank you." Raimundo chuckled. "Lets quickly wash up, and get Clay and Omi." he said as he untied the apron, and washed his hands. Kimiko took her apron off, washed her hands, got the cake out of the oven, and put it on a rack to cool, hidden behind flour and sugar pots, then washed her hands again.
"Clay! Omi!" they called together. Not so much longer did they both come running down.
"What're y'all hollerin' about?" Clay, a big blonde guy, seventeen--well, now eighteen, with blonde hair and a good-boy look about him asked and then looked at the table. "Woo-eee. That looks mighty tastey!"
"Happy Birthday!" Raimundo and Kimiko chorused.
"Aww, y'all did that for me. Ya shouldn't have." he gave them a bear hug.
"Mmm, what smells so tastey?" Omi, a very short boy with a big head who looked about fourteen, asked. "Ohh, did Kimiko cook? It must be, because a girls place is in the kitchen! And laundry room!"
"Kim and I both cooked." Raimundo said. "Omi, you really need to get a clue."
"Yeah," Kimiko growled. "He does." she calmed herself down and smiled at Clay. "Happy Birthday, Clay! Let's sit and eat." She smiled.
They all sat and ate the food, Clay grumbling in happiness as he took three servings of everything on the table, mumbling thanks again and again through bites of his food. Omi showed his appreciation through "Mm"'s, and Kimiko and Raimundo smiled at each other whenever their eyes met.
Soon only scraps were left, and Raimundo lead Clay out of the room with Omi so Kimiko could decorate the cake. Kimiko's mom was a professional baker, so she knew a thing or two about decorating a cake. She quickly washed her hands and took out all the different colored frosting from the cabinet. Biting her lips, she began her masterpiece.
"Clay, my man." Raimundo patted him on his shoulder. "Eighteen, eh?"
"Yeah Rai, I sure am." smiled at him. "Thanks for the supper, y'all didn't have to go to so much trouble."
"Its your big eighteen! What're you talking about, Clay? And my buds worth the trouble." Raimundo smiled. "Its hard to think that we've been here for about two and a half years..." he shuffled his foot in front of him.
"I get 'cha. I can't believe it either. We were all so young, an' we still are." he sighed. "But I've never wished I didn't come. I woulda never me you guys." Clay smiled and looked out the window to the snowy landscape. "Y'all some of the best friends anyone coulda asked for."
Raimundo smiled. "Thanks, Clay. I know what you mean. And Kimiko..." he trailed off. "I still don't know where things are headed, man." he sighed.
"I hear ya." Clay sighed. "But in all the years at this temple, all y'all have done is gotten closer." he smiled at his friend. "'sides, its fun watchin' you two. It's more funny than watchin' a big ol' raccoon scarin' the bajeebers out of a grown man." Clay started snickering.
"Yeah, so funny, I can't breathe I'm laughing so hard." Raimundo said sarcastically, with a smile. "But how's it feel. You're technically an adult now."
"Age is just a factor, Rai. I don't feel much different than I did yesterday. Heck, I don't feel much difference other than my belly's full from that delicious dinner you and Kim made."
Raimundo laughed and gave Clay a brotherly hug. They sat in arm chairs and talked for a good twenty minutes longer. Then Kimiko called them all back into the kitchen.
The cake was miraculous. It was a marble cake with chocolate frosting, blue frosting that looked like a raindrop laced the edges. "Happy 18th Birthday Clay!" was written across the cake in neat, curly handwriting with green icing. A fence like pattern was made across the sides of the cake with vanilla frosting, and a big red bow made out of frosting was hugging the cake where the two layers met. Around the frosting-ribbon, in black frosting, it said "Love, Kimiko, Raimundo, and Omi." in the same neat curly handwriting.
"Do you like it?" Kimiko asked as she presented the cake to them.
"How'd you do that in..." Raimundo checked the clock. "thirty five minutes?" he stared at the cake wide-eyed and added: "It looks fantastic."
"Yeah, lil' missy, how did you make such a wonderful lookin' cake in such a short amount of time?" Clay asked as Kimiko set the cake on the table and started cutting slices.
"My mom used to be a professional baker and she used to teach me when I was little." She shrugged. "We cooked the cake before dinner, I just frosted it. I hope you like it." She smiled at him.
"This looks most delicious!" Omi said as he got his slice and started stuffing it into his face. "It is most delicious!" Raimundo and Clay started eating there slices with loud moans of agreement.
"You should make cakes more often." Raimundo said, as he shoved a piece of cake with the letter "H" on it into his mouth.
"It's delicious, Kimiko, absolutly delicious." said Clay as he wiped some frosting off of his mouth.
"Its okay, a little too much frosting." Kimiko laughed. "But thank you for the compliments. And once again, Happy Birthday Clay!"
The following day was just as cold and snowy. Kimiko threw her hair back into a messy bun, slipped on her slippers, put on her bathrobe, and started walking around the cold Temple. She took out her cell phone and quickly dialed her friends number.
"Hi--!" said a voice from the other line.
"Hey, Sea! It's Kim, I--"
"You've reached Sea, I obviously didn't answer my phone, so leave a message, and I'll get back to you!"
Kimiko groaned and hung up the phone. Her friend Sea attends the Xiaolin Temple as well, she's just been on vacation with her family for two weeks in Hawaii because they wanted to have a family get-away. The temple was so empty without her best friend there to talk to. Especially when all she was thinking about lately was a certain boy...
Raimundo was all she could think about for the past three days. She tried not to be around him so much lately so maybe she would stop, but she couldn't. Ever since she started attending the temple with Raimundo, Omi, Clay, and Sea, she's had a thing for him. But she never thought of him as much as she has been lately. For the past three days she could be talking about a lampshade, and Raimundo would pop into her head, or she could be thinking about a tile on the floor, and he would somehow manage to crawl out of her subconscious and into her cerebrum, and he'd stick like gorilla glue. Kimiko couldn't deny liking him, heck by now she should say she loves him.
But there's no way that someone like him would like her more than a friend. There's always girls trying to flirt with him and get his number when they go to get Shen Gong Wu. Not just girls, beautiful girls. The kind that any guy would love to have drooling over him. Kimiko just couldn't compete with that.
So she kept her feelings between her and Sea. Nothing escaped that bond between them. It's like when you're a kid, and you think a pinky-swear is the biggest swear in secret-keeping there is. Well, that's how it is. Sea insists that Raimundo likes Kimiko back, but Kimiko just doesn't believe it. Who would? The cocky smile, bad-boy attitude, the girls that think he's gorgeous and can't stop drooling over him...
Like she was now, only not literal drooling. She couldn't help herself, he was everything she's wanted for the past two and a half years, she can't just stop liking--loving him. It was mission impossible for Kimiko, an absolute mind-disaster trying not to think about him.
of course, he just had to walk into the room. Her heart raced as she looked his way, but she forced herself to look away just as he looked at her, smiled and came over to her. She had to remind herself to breathe, it was never this hard to be around him, why is it so hard right now?
"Hey Kim." he said as he shook his hand through his hair, which was still a mess from sleeping. He yawned. "Why're you up so early?"
She bit her lip, then, quietly, took a deep breath so she could talk. "I don't know, just sort of woke up then couldn't get back to sleep. You?"
"Yeah, well, no." he admitted. "I woke up to go to the bathroom, and noticed you weren't in your cubical. I just wanted to make sure you were alright." he scratched the back of his neck, like he always does when he feels awkward. He wanted to tell her how much he cared about her but his gut was so tied up into a knot that he just needed to keep his cool.
"Oh, yeah, well I'm fine, just tried to call Sea." Kimiko said, trying to act calm. He was worried? Why would he be so worried about her? Probably because I'm a friend and friends care about each other. Yeah, that's it. Friends.
"Oh, well it's 6am here so she's probably out doing some activity with her family because it's about twelve in the afternoon there." Raimundo told her. "Did you leave a message?"
"No, I didn't bother." Kimiko shrugged.
"What are messages for then?" Raimundo laughed trying to ease the nervousness in his stomach from being around Kimiko.
Kimiko loved that laugh, from the moment she heard it two and a half years ago, until this very moment. He had the most easy, but 'I'm-cool-and-you-know-it' laughs that come naturally in any situation. "Oh well," she let a little giggle out. "She'll call me back eventually." she sighed. "Its not the same without her."
"Are you kidding me? That girl thinks I'm a punching bag. I'm good without her for two weeks, friend or not." Raimundo laughed until he caught Kimiko's death glare. "But yes, she's your friend, missing her is natural, uhm, aww...?" he said in a sort of automated voice that made her laugh.
Just then her phone rang, and they both jumped. Kimiko quickly answered it, yelling "Sea!" with the most beautiful smile that Raimundo had ever seen. As he watched her walk off with the phone glued to her ear, he couldn't help thinking about how much he liked her.
But she was so genuine, and all the guys on trips stare at her. What chance would he have?
The pity of love and how ironic it can be...