Disclaimer: If I owned it, JPC and me would be out on an expedition to the White Tiger village … correction, we would own the White Tigers. And Lee would probably live in my basement and JPC would have lost Kevin. And Gary and Mariah would be hiding, and for some vague reason I wouldn't blame them.
Authoress Notes: This story is a self-indulgent ramble. This is just a 'short' one-off about Lee, and it is also going to be a scene in another of my fics. If you are against self-insertion, I suggest, as in all my other fics, for you to take your leave. This is a PG-13 cause of the word 'fuck' and that's about it.
NOTE: Yes, I actually did some research on Hong Kong, and to be honest, it is about a million to one on how Ray bumped into everyone. No, actually, about a trillion to one. Do you actually know how big the place is? All the places they could've been?! I also want to say that (obvious to all peeps who live in Hong Kong or anywhere NEAR) that Causeway Bay, Kowloon Park, St John's Church and all other places actually exist. If you would like to point anything out about this, like typos or mistakes, please do. I would also like to thank the DiscoverHongKong pages for their info and maps that helped me with this fic. So considering that this is a one shot, I put effort into it.
Guardian Angel
The sun was high in the sky above one of China's most well known city, and the markets were in full bloom in the streets, making them seem more busy than usual. People went along their way through the maze-like streets, some hauling squalling children behind them, couples walking hand in hand, groups of friends cackling happily as they stared at everything around them, their money practically burning a hole in their pockets. This was the everyday hustle of the city. However, in the alleyways and back streets, Kowloon Park and the Western Market, it was a different story, because there was a new story.
There was mutterings of two beyblading teams heading for the China Tower among the young rookies that were playing in the streets, and they were all muttering that the planes had been delayed, so they were walking in the city like everyone else. There was the newly formed Japanese team who had won the tournament last month, the BladeBreakers, and then there was the Chinese team who no one knew about, the White Tigers. A few people had taken to attempting finding them, but no one had found a trace of them, mainly because they didn't know who or what to look for. Little did they know, if they had looked in a place called the Mandarin Orient hotel in the central district of Hong Kong –
"This looks expensive."
To put it lightly, the White Tigers were dazzled by what was in front of them. When they had arrived at the hotel, being told that the plane that they were taking to get to the Asian Tournament, Mariah had gasped and nearly fainted at the elegance and extravagant hotel lobby they had entered, the car that Mr Dickinson had arranged for them bringing them there from the airport. When they had gotten the cards from the front desk, being given a good number of funny looks from the other patrons of the luxurious hotel, Kevin, Bruce, Gary and Mariah, the latter being half carried by Gary, had headed upstairs while Lee went to use a phone to contact Mr Dickinson. Kevin had delighted in the elevator, pressing nearly every button except, thankfully enough, the emergency stop button, while the other three were silent in their awe of everything around them, all of it so different from their homes that they had left behind for the first time.
The flight had been bad enough, and their parents had seen them all off from the airport. But this world, so … unlike everything they had ever seen, and the fact that they seemed to be alone made it all the more unnerving, not to mention the odd looks that they attracted from the people in the hotel. Not that they blamed them; they did suppose they did look very out of place, being neko-jin, and Mr Dickinson had probably not thought of that when he had booked this hotel for them.
Mariah stared around one of the double rooms, this one with three single beds, the next with two, her mouth hanging open a little as Gary watched Kevin running around the room in a hyper desire to touch and nearly break everything.
"Really really REALLY expensive." She continued after a moment or two, "How are we supposed to pay for this?"
"The simple answer to that, Mariah, is that we're not paying for it," Kevin laughed evilly, seizing the binoculars at the balcony and looking out towards Victoria Harbour, "The BBA's covering for us."
Mariah's lips pressed together into a thin line, her brow knitting together; she hated the fact that the BBA had to pay for everything. She shook her head as if giving up, and looked over to Gary, "How many more matches has Bruce got to do until he's a qualified member of the team?"
The tallest White Tiger frowned over at the girl, obviously thinking very hard, an apple in his hand from the fruit bowl on the desk. The new recruit to the team was watching them warily out of the corner of his eye as he examined the computer sat against the wall, trying to figure out how to use it without it exploding, which he was doing admirably … except for the virus warning that was flashing on the monitor.
"One." Gary answered after a few moments of silence.
"That's right."
Bruce jumped as the team captain entered the room, taking the bag he was carrying over one shoulder and throwing it on his bed, the 'apprentice' successfully falling off the computer chair and crashing to the floor. Lee raised an eyebrow as the teenager removed his face from the carpet to stand back up, muttering 'sorry' under his breath.
"You need to beat one more person in the beydish and then we'll move you into the White Tiger list," Lee continued, sitting down on the bed and pulling a metal box out of his bag.
"So I can blade in the tournament?" Bruce asked excitedly.
Then was silence for a moment or two, until Mariah hissed like an angry cat, turning her head slightly towards Lee.
"You didn't tell him!" she rounded on him, Kevin snickering behind her back and pulling faces at Lee without letting the angry wildcat see him.
"Didn't tell me what?" Bruce asked, his eyes narrowing slightly at the team captain. Lee wasn't intimidated easily, but the sight of Mariah glowering at him with Bruce looking ready to kill was enough to make him shift nervously. He soon regained his composure and glared back at them.
"There's only three people who can blade in the tournament, so they should be the best three. And in power, you and Kevin are the weakest links." That part of the conversation attracted Kevin's attention, who unceremoniously dropped the binoculars onto the balcony floor, the glass shattering.
"What the hell do you mean we're the weakest links?!" the youngest member demanded, storming through the glass doors to glare up at the captain.
"Because," Lee began, frowning as he had to say it again, "Gary is our third strongest blader, and Galzzy can knock out any blade in about five seconds flat and Mariah hasn't lost a single battle yet." He smirked at Kevin's expression of utmost loathing, then frowned again, "And me," he added as an afterthought.
"So even if I win, I won't get to battle in the tournament?" Bruce asked, his face turning red from suppressed anger. Kevin took it as an opportunity to let off some steam about being called the weakest link.
"Brucey, you shouldn't bottle your rage like that," he grinned as Bruce turned burgundy, violet eyes glittering with malice, "You need to learn how to let it all out, just look at Lee – "
"What?" Lee exclaimed dangerously, fixing the boy with a particularly nasty glare.
"Well, Lion, it's not like you keep your emotions under wraps, is it?" Kevin replied, smiling innocently. "Whenever I just mention certain subjects, you just completely lose it … like Madison, or even – " Kevin smirked broadly, " – Ray, for instance."
He had said the forbidden name, and everybody froze for a moment or two, Mariah, Gary and Bruce fully aware of what was coming.
"Kevin, shut up," Lee snapped, pushing the box to one side, sending beyblade pieces across the duvet, some rolling on to the floor, and getting to his feet.
"See, I told you!" Kevin cried triumphantly, dancing a little out of Lee's reach, "We can't even say Ray anymore without our dear team captain losing it!"
"Shut up Kevin!" Lee roared.
"Make me!"
Their argument soon reached the point where they were both yelling at the top of their lungs, faces an inch away from each other (though Lee had to bend down a little) Mariah's shrieks joining the cacophony, Bruce's voice joining soon after, until they heard people yelling at them from the other rooms. That was enough to silence Mariah's banshee screams, looking mortally embarrassed as the other patrons of the hotel kept on yelling, and Bruce's face slowly turned to a patchy tan – red colour as he stopped as well, frowning at Lee and Kevin as they carried on screaming regardless of what was happening around them. Only when there was someone banging on the door telling them to shut up or they'd get thrown out did anyone take any action to silence their screams; Gary picked Kevin up and clapped his free hand over his mouth, and Bruce kicked Lee on the shin, forcing them to make the much more quiet sounds of Kevin's muffled yells and Lee's cursing.
"Finished?" Mariah asked them both, eyes narrowed dangerously with the telltale cat-like slitted pupils to show her anger. They both nodded in silence, "Good."
==========
"Right," Lee began later in the crowded Chater Road of central Hong Kong, surrounded by four other teenagers, all wearing the same anxious look of wanting to spirit away into the bustle of stalls, shops and people, "You can do whatever you like, within reason," he emphasised, fixing his glare on the smallest one there, who snorted sarcastically, "Mariah, here's the card for the other room, when you get back, just let yourself in," he said out of the corner of his mouth to his cousin, pushing the card quickly into her hand, "But I want you back at the hotel around 6pm, okay? We're leaving tomorrow morning for the tournament."
"Whatever," Kevin rolled his violet eyes at the elder boy, fidgeting on the low stonewall he was sat on, still sore about the argument they had had earlier, "Anything else, oh grand beyblading master of the universe?"
"Yeah, actually," Lee rolled his eyes as well, grinning in a way that Kevin knew usually meant his plans for the day were wrecked, "Bruce is going to watch you, and Gary," he looked up at the tallest teenager, "You look out for Mariah."
"What?!" Kevin shouted, falling silent as he caught the warning glint in Lee's eye. He began more quietly, "Why does Bruce have to 'watch' me? I can look after myself! I have the right to have some privacy!"
"I am well aware of that Kevin," Lee answered, still smirking, "But we need somebody to see if Bruce has beaten his final opponent, and since Gary has to be Mariah's bodyguard in case she gets attacked –" Mariah let out a short laugh at that, " – and I have other business to take care of, you need to be Bruce's little helper."
Kevin scowled fiercely, realising that there was no way out of the trap that the fifteen year old had laid, not a single hole to wriggle through. He turned around defiantly and walked off down the street with Bruce without a backward glance, and the captain chuckled, shaking his head.
"Where are you going to go?" Lee asked his cousin. Mariah shrugged absently and muttered something about the Causeway Bay before disappearing into the crowd, Gary following quicker than most people seemed to think he could move, from the surprised glances that a group of girls gave him as he ploughed right through them. Lee shook his head in exasperation at all of them, then became a part of the crowd as well, moving up the street.
Hong Kong really was a huge place … Lee suddenly regretted his choice to walk on his own. All the metallic gleaming buildings that were so tall he had to crane his neck back to even attempt seeing the top were a very foreign thing to him, something he had never known in the village that he and everyone had grown up in, and the surging crowds were a hard thing to deal with as he was forced down Chater Road and onto Murray Street before he realised what was happening.
I have to find somewhere to think … But he knew without even thinking about it that trying to find silence in Hong Kong would be like when he had tried to find silence on the plane that they had used to get here; practically impossible. He had found somewhere for some quiet, true, but after a few minutes of sitting in the confined space of the on-board toilet, he had been kicked out by an angry mother whose son had just threw up down his jumpsuit.
Probably because of the crappy flight food, Lee thought as he quickly crossed over a tramline and walked onto Garden Road. He cringed as he remembered that happy little incident; Mariah had immediately shoved it away, nearly pushing onto the floor, Kevin pressed his hand to his mouth in disgust, and Bruce had tentatively poked the chicken before pushing it away as well. Gary … well, Gary had proven on several occasions that he could eat anything and had polished off his entire meal without complaint. After eating Kevin and Bruce's meals as well, Lee and Mariah had passed their food forward to their row of seats, Lee, unfortunately, violently ill with airsickness.
Lee looked around all the buildings on the busy street, casting the bad memories of airsickness from his mind as he made his way down the long road, particularly a large white one close to the tram station. It reminded him slightly of the temple that was in the village, though he couldn't think why; it looked absolutely nothing like it in any shape or form. But, for some reason, he had a feeling that he should go inside, and his grandfather had always been telling him to trust his feelings, no matter how odd and bizarre they were. Shrugging a little, he quickened his pace and after a moment or two, found himself in the huge interior of the St. John's Cathedral.
Everything seemed to give off a golden glow, and Lee had to wait a moment or two to be able to focus on the décor of the hall around him. There weren't that many people in the building that he could see, but there were rows and rows of long wooden seats that shone red-brown, a mahogany colour, in the yellow light. In one of these seats, there was a man, sat with his hands pressed together in front of him. Lee regarded him curiously, but the man did not seem to notice, and Lee realised why; the man's eyes were closed, and he was muttering feverishly under his breath. Lee wondered for a moment if he should have come in here, when a hand touched his shoulder.
Lee nearly leapt a foot in the air, and he nearly crashed into one of the pews in front of him. Twisting around slightly to avoid it, Lee spun around once in a way that would have put a ballet dancer to shame and landed on the floor. His face slightly red from embarrassment, Lee looked up to the man stood in front of him, dressed in black with a white collar at his throat. The man didn't laugh, unlike a few people tittering at the back of the hall, and a figure sat in one of the pews. Well he couldn't tell if they were laughing or not, but the person's shoulders were shaking.
"Are you all right, my son?" the man stood in front of him asked, his tone gentle. He sounded like one who was talking to a spooked animal, "I apologise if I startled you."
Muttering not to mention it, Lee felt his face cool and the laughing die down. The man extended a hand to him, and Lee took it, after a moment or so of hesitation, letting him haul him back to his feet. The fifteen-year-old brushed himself down, the man regarding him cautiously before speaking again.
"Are you all right, my son?" he asked again.
"My son?" Lee repeated blankly, confused slightly. The man smiled.
"Everyone who passes through this church are my sons and daughters, for they come here for guidance."
"Church?"
"You are not familiar with Catholic churches and their practices?"
"No." This man was beginning to make Lee's head hurt; he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It reminded him of talking to the elders in his village.
The man bowed slightly.
"I am sorry, perhaps I should explain a little. If you have the time?" he asked in his unimposing way. Lee nodded; he had time until he had to head back to the hotel.
They began to walk down the lane that ran between the pews, walking to the altar at the end.
"This cathedral is a place to worship the Lord, and His son who died for us."
"I thought you said this was a church," Lee remarked.
The man chuckled.
"There are many names for the places we worship God, my son."
"God?"
"The being who existed before all others, and He created the Earth we walk on and He created the first men and women in his likeness. Do you follow?"
Lee nodded; it did make sense, in a way. He had heard a story like this before, when he was younger.
"The only world they knew was called the Garden of Eden, the garden where the first man and woman needed for nothing. The only thing that was denied them was the fruit from one tree in the Garden, and God made them swear to never eat that fruit. However, one day, when the first woman, Eve, came past the tree, a snake in its branches spoke to her and tempted her to eat the fruit, to which she succumbed. She gave some of the fruit to her husband, Adam, and when He discovered the sin they had committed, He sent Adam and Eve from the Garden, never to return."
"Does this make sense so far?" the man asked Lee, both of them halting in front of the altar.
Lee shrugged.
"A little."
The man smiled a little, "We are all descended from Adam and Eve, and so we are all God's children, though some don't believe it is so."
"I suppose…" Lee mused then he pointed to a figure formed on the stained glass window past the altar, "Who's that?"
"The son of our Lord, Jesus Christ," the man replied, touching his own forehead, chest and both shoulders. Upon seeing Lee giving him a quizzical look, he laughed, "It is the Sign of the Cross, my son. Catholics do this to show their respect to the Lord."
"Should I do it?" Lee asked uncertainly.
"No," the man laughed again, "It is not your way, and I do not wish for you to do something you do not believe in. You may if you wish, of course."
Lee shook his head, and the man continued.
"Christ was born to a woman over two thousands years ago, many years after the world had been created. Before his birth, however, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before the woman, Mary, and said that she was to have a child, a son, and she would name him Jesus. Mary shook her head and said to the angel that she couldn't have a child, for she was still a virgin, but she was told that the Holy Spirit had came upon her and that she had been blessed with God's child."
"Did Mary have a husband at the time?" Lee asked suddenly.
"Yes," the man replied curiously, "A man called Joseph. Why?"
"Did he believe that it was God's baby and that she wasn't lying?"
A mother and child who had been looking at the altar and listening to the conversation started when Lee asked that question, and the mother hurried the seven year old girl away, looking scandalised. The priest laughed louder than Lee had heard yet, and wiped a tear from his eye.
"Nothing in the bible can tell us that, my son," he choked out, "It is a sensible enough question, I suppose though, but we must assume that Mary was telling the truth." Calming down, the man spoke again, "When Jesus was older, being brought up by Mary and Joseph as a son, he began to preach the word's of his father, and he travelled far to preach with stories. However, the men who had taken over the country thought that Jesus would stir the people into rebellion, and they took him from the apostles he had gathered, and they crucified him."
"Cruci – what?"
"They nailed him to a cross and left him to die," the priest explained, pointing to a statue nearby. Lee flinched a little; the man wore a crown of thorns on his head, and there were nails driven through his hands and feet. There was a wound in his side as well, and as Lee thought of how painful it must have been to feel the iron of the nails forcing right through your hands, he shuddered and turned away.
"So he died for his faith?" Lee asked, trying to drive the thoughts of blood and pain from his mind.
"He died for his faith and so the sins of God's children would be forgiven," the man nodded. "But he rose from death, and he told his disciples to preach the word of God, and he gave them the power to heal and carry on his work before carrying on to his father's land of Heaven."
After a moment of silence, Lee looked up to the man.
"Is that all?" Realising with a jerk that that sounded impolite, Lee hastily added, "Is that all that's in the Bible?"
"My son, if I tried to tell you all of the stories of the bible, we would be here for a good many days, and while though I have the time, I do not believe that you do," the priest answered with a smile, "I have told you the two more important stories of the bible, and I have told you of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. If you do decide to follow Christianity, it would be a blessing though."
"I thought a person who believed in God was a Catholic," Lee frowned.
"I am getting bad at explaining things then," the priest chuckled, "Catholics are merely one part of the peoples who believe in God. Christianity describes them all." Lee did not answer, and the priest did a double take and looked at the expression on Lee's face, "You look troubled, my son."
"I am," Lee sighed, the reason he had come into the building to think leaking back into his mind.
"Would you like to take Confession?"
"What?"
"Confession is a private conversation between your priest, you, and God alone. It is where you can talk about anything and it is completely confidential. All priests take a vow of confidentiality, which cannot be broken. We Catholics believe that if something is kept inside too long it festers and harms the keeper. Confession is a way to bring all the harmful things out without fear of judgment."
"No!" Lee cried out, his voice echoing around the hall. Upon seeing the startled look flicker through the man's eyes, he felt guilty, "No …" he repeated more quietly. "Thanks, but no."
"It is not good to keep anger locked inside, my son. If something has happened to you, you should speak out."
"It's not something that was done to me," Lee shook his head, "It's something I did … to someone I was close to." Shaking his head again, he bowed slightly to the priest, "I'm sorry. I need some time to do some thinking."
"Take as long as you need," the priest nodded, gesturing to the pew nearest the altar. "It was good to meet a young man who was interested in the Lord and the bible for once."
When the man left, Lee stood at the altar for a moment more, and he stared at the statue of Christ on the cross. He shook his head a little, not really understanding any of it, and sat at one of the pews, folding his bandaged arms across his chest while sitting back. His head was throbbing painfully, and his eyes itched with tiredness from the flight. But he knew he couldn't go to sleep, because he had to get back to the hotel at six … it was probably only three in the afternoon, but he didn't want to have Kevin mocking him all night.
He closed his eyes for a moment. He wouldn't go to sleep … he'd open his eyes in a second or two. He'd open his eyes …
A teenage girl sat a few pews back looked up as Lee fell onto his side on the pew and didn't get up.
==========
Fire. Fire, everywhere. Gunshots. People screaming.
There was a boy at his side, fifteen years old. He felt that as long as that boy was safe, everything was alright. There was a woman to his left, terrified. The neko-jin village was burning, and there was nothing he could do …
Where was Ray, Mariah? Where was their daughter? The boy at his side kept running, far ahead, trying to get into the house that was burning, drag them out. The woman was screaming.
Surrounded. Guns pointed at them all. One shot, the woman was down. The men with guns were laughing, laughing at the neko-jin, more animal than man. They grabbed a girl, fourteen years old, pink hair, dark amber eyes, and he saw the man known as the white tiger run forward in his anger, then fall at another deafening shot. They grabbed the mountain cat, dragged her away with her daughter, screaming until her lungs were bloody, then they took the teenage boy that stood ready to fight, because of his red eyes, red eyes in a village full of amber and violet.
Then Lee ran forward – then he felt the bullet tear through his chest and he fell.
The neko-jin were being caged … the village was burning … and it was all his fault.
Lee's eyes flew open as he felt someone poking him. He couldn't see … his vision was blurred from sleep and the glow around him.
Glow?
"You okay?"
Lee sat up on the pew and saw a shadowed face looking down at him. For a moment he panicked, remembering the story he had heard once of a hooded shadow that appeared when it was time for you to die … then he realised that the Grim Reaper was tall and didn't have spots.
"You really shouldn't pass out on pews. Murder on the back, you know?"
Lee's arm had gone numb. He rubbed it for a moment and looked up at the hooded person.
"Thanks for waking me up," he relied awkwardly, then panic flashed through his mind, "What time is it anyway?"
The mouth that wasn't cloaked in shadow stretched into a grin.
"Don't worry, it's only three o'clock. You weren't asleep that long. Half an hour at the most." It was definitely a girl's voice. Teenager, probably, though definitely a year or two younger than him.
Sighing in relief, Lee passed a glance over the black hood that the girl was wearing. She must have noticed, because she laughed.
"Yeah, I know. This hood kinda makes me look like a member of a cult or something." She reached a hand up and swept it back, revealing long messy brown hair tied back from a round face, blue eyes edged with black. Lee felt as if he had seen her before, but as he definitely hadn't seen her before in Hong Kong, and not many teenage girls came to the village, he pushed it from his mind. "I can't remember why I actually got it."
She took a seat next to Lee, and pulled the band out that held her hair in a ponytail, then carefully began tying it back again.
"I should get it cut, but I don't really have the time nowadays," she scowled, "You guys are lucky, you don't need to bother with things like long hair."
Lee chuckled a little at that. When the girl gave him a questioning glance, he reached around over his shoulder and pulled his own hair forward so she could see. Her jaw dropped, and she swore loudly as the band in her fingers twanged and hit her knuckles, making a middle-aged couple walking nearby tut loudly.
"How long did it take you to grow your hair like that?" she asked him, rubbing her fingers tenderly.
"About ten years," Lee answered, flicking it back again and sitting back, "It doesn't grow much anymore."
"I guess you do have to deal with long hair, then," she nodded, smiling. She tied her hair back again, and she sat back against the pew, "Your first time in Hong Kong then?"
"Yeah."
"Same here," she nodded, "I came to look for someone, you know? I think I found him though, so I can relax a little now."
"Why are you looking for them?" Lee asked, folding his arms. The girl grinned a little.
"He's a friend. I heard that he was coming to Hong Kong last month, so I came here to see if I could annoy him for a while."
"You're on your own?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
Lee narrowed his eyes; this girl didn't look much more than twelve, and she was travelling?
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"England." She frowned at the confused look on his face, "You don't know where England is?"
"No."
"Well … where are you from?" she asked.
Lee didn't really know how to answer that; his village had been nameless for as long as he could remember, and he doubted he could explain to the girl the history of how there had been originally been five villages, all of different tribes, then when they had been nearly all wiped out in the last century, having to gather at the old White Tiger village for their own safety. She was still looking at him curiously though, and she obviously expected an answer, and he remembered something Mr Dickinson had told him before they had been signed up as a BBA team.
"The Shandong province."
"Hmmm … now that's somewhere I don't know," the girl laughed, "What are you doing in Hong Kong then?"
"Going to beyblade in the Asian Beyblading Tournament."
"Wow… are you good?"
Lee shrugged, not wanting to brag or let on he was the captain of the Chinese team.
"I have friends who beyblade … I don't beyblade myself though," she scowled, showing that she wanted to beyblade very much, "It's not a popular thing in the UK really. You get the odd person who is really dedicated to it, but on the whole, you don't get kids beyblading in the streets without getting a lot of funny looks." She smiled, "Is it a popular sport where you come from?"
"Well, there's not really much for kids to do around my town, so a lot of us beyblade to pass the time," Lee chuckled a little, leaning back and staring at the ceiling on the church, "It's good. Me and my friends practice a lot, and because we've got bit beasts, not very many people can beat us." He glanced sideways at the girl, "It gets boring really, cause we don't get challenged in matches against the rookies, and we know each other's moves so well, it's pointless to battle each other."
"So, you're going to the tournament to be challenged?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Ray's face flashed through Lee's mind and the captain frowned fiercely, "And I'm looking for someone as well. I've been getting letters saying that he's joined a new team and he's heading to the Asian Tournament."
"You sound angry."
Lee sat up quickly, but the girl didn't look frightened. She looked a little … concerned actually.
"Are you angry at this guy?" she asked.
"He abandoned us." Lee said shortly. "And he hurt someone I know."
"Girl?"
"Yeah."
The girl nodded slightly, as though she understood.
"Do you … like this girl as well?"
Lee's head snapped towards her as though the comment had hurt him.
"I'm sorry if I offended you," she said quickly, "But … when you told me about her … your eyes looked so sad …" She trailed off, wringing her hands.
Lee stared at her for a moment, and then he shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look angry."
"S'okay." She smiled, "I'm used to it. One of my friends is a little … quick-tempered." The girl glanced at the sports watch on her wrist and stood up quickly, "It was nice talking to you … ah …?"
"Lee," he filled in.
"Lee," she nodded, "But I gotta go do stuff. Help my friend find something, you know."
"It was good talking to you too," Lee nodded back, wondering how they had got from her poking him from his sleep to hair to beyblading and Ray and Mariah.
"I'll try getting a ticket for the Asian Tournament. Maybe I'll see you there," she smiled as she began to walk away down the isle between the pews, "I'll cheer for you Lee."
Lee laughed, and watched her walk a little longer before turning around again to the altar. Nice girl, though slightly weird to him. Different from the girls in his village. Most of them were quiet, submissive, didn't dare to ask questions, or act different. She hadn't treated him like something to be held at arms' length, and she had treated him like a long lost friend or something.
Lee looked over to the statue of Christ again; true, that had been slightly alarming, but it was … comforting, in a bizarre way, to be able to talk to a stranger who wasn't able to judge him. There had been that nagging feeling that he knew her though, all the way through their conversation –
He froze, icy realisation flooding his veins. He DID know her, but he hadn't seen her since he was about eleven years old.
==========
Jin didn't seem to have noticed this though. The only thing she noticed was the fact her beyblade had shot straight out of the dish nearly as quickly as it had entered, and proceeded to throw a wailing fit before disappearing back into the crowd like a drop of water melting once again into a puddle on the ground. I simply accepted the cheers and the thumps on the back as if I had won the World Championships, and grinned around at Shing, vaguely looking around the crowd as I did.
Then I spotted her.
She stuck out like a sore thumb just from the clothes she wore; I didn't know what half of the clothes were, let alone what they were made of. She held herself oddly, obviously trying to stand up straight and proud, yet her eyes were fixed on the floor. Her hair was an unusual colour as well, a reddish-brown colour that hung around a pale face, and by the way it styled coupled with the fact she was staring at the floor meant I couldn't see her eyes. She wasn't particularly pretty, and even though she looked so odd, the people around her didn't seem to even glance her way.
Then she looked straight up at me and, though she looked shocked, she grinned.
The first thing I noticed was her eyes. Weird eyes, cold blue flecked with white and grey. Icy blue eyes, an absolute impossibility in a village filled with people whose eyes were light or dark amber or a dark violet. She moved forward a little through the crowd, the people simply parting as if to let her pass, but not realising it.
She was close enough for me to reach out and touch, close enough for me to see the dark circles under her eyes and the unnervingly pale quality of her skin compared to those around her. She grinned again, more broadly this time, and she seemed to say something, though I couldn't hear anything she said.
I blinked. She had gone.
==========
It was that girl.
Lee leapt to his feet and turned around just in time to see the girl reach the end of the isle.
"Wait!" he called after her.
She spun around, seeing him start walking up the isle towards her. She smiled a little at him.
"I've seen you before," Lee said as he caught up. "You came to the village, you were in the crowd when I was beyblading."
The girl's smile flickered and she took a step back. For one moment, Lee thought he might have made a mistake, but the look on her face betrayed her. There were a few people staring at them, including the priest who had spoken to him, but he didn't care. The letters, the shadows, they all made sense.
"Why are you following me?" Lee demanded, stopping a foot or two away from her, "Why are you sending me these letters about Ray? Why are you watching me, dammit!"
The smile faded away slowly, and the girl took another step back. Then, without warning, she turned and sprinted out of the church as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Get back here!" Lee roared, chasing after her out of the doors, ignoring all the outraged looks that he was getting as he followed her. When he got back on Garden Road, for one terrifying moment, he thought he had lost her, then he caught sight of the mahogany hair among the black, darting through the people faster than he thought possible. He trailed her down the innumerable streets, nearly getting knocked down by cars and trams, until they got to a network of alleyways and back street markets; it was easier to follow her then, though he could of sworn she was laughing at him as they shot past bewildered beybladers.
"STOP!" Lee yelled as he felt his legs were about to give way under him, "JUST STOP!"
She laughed again, and as she ran, pulled out a handful of light blue powder from a drawstring bag at her waist. She threw it into the air around her, and it made an alarming crackling noise as it sparked, then made a jump that would have made Kevin proud, onto a flat roof, nearly falling as she staggered, regaining her balance after a moment or two. Lee skidded to a halt, feeling his anger build as she stood out of reach; he could jump, all neko-jin could, but that was way too high, and he couldn't see any way to get to her.
"Sorry Lee, but I can't stop," she said as she panted from the run, safe on her rooftop from the wrath of the lion.
"Then just answer my questions! Why the hell are you following me? How do you know about Ray? How do you know me?!" Lee shouted up to her (thankfully enough for them, the alleyway was mercifully empty.)
"Lee, I can't tell you." The girl answered, her face contorted as though it was painful to say it, "Not yet anyway."
"Why can't you tell me?!" Lee shouted, clenching his fists and trying to calculate if he could hit her with Galeon from where he was stood in his anger, "Just who the fuck are you?!"
The girl straightened a little, "You could call me your guardian angel, I suppose."
"Guardian angel?" Lee repeated sceptically. "Is that the best thing you can come up with?"
"That's right," the girl answered.
"If you're my guardian angel, which I really do doubt," Lee began, "Then why does all this crap happen to me? You're not exactly doing a good job, are you?"
The girl shrugged, "There's a lot of things I can't stop happening. Like when you fell off the path when Mariah fell, when you tried to save her. And when Madison had a crush on you. They were meant to happen, and if they hadn't happened, the story would change."
Lee's insides gave a painful jerk at the mention of those memories, and he wondered how the hell she knew about them.
"And you're supposed to be my guardian angel?" Lee asked after a moment or two. "And what's this about a story?"
"That's the only way I can describe it," she replied, "I'm an authoress too, you see, but that's just a job."
"Authoress?" Lee repeated again, much more sceptically than the last sentence, "Do you think I'm stupid, kid?"
"Sometimes you are."
That stopped Lee cold, "Excuse me?!"
"Sometimes you react before you think," she replied, "Sometimes you get angry because that's the only way you know how to react, because that's how your father dealt with it. You're angry with Ray because he left with the bit that you had always thought would be yours, because he hurt Mariah and you think it's wrong. You're angry with Ray cause Mariah loves him, and you love Mariah, and he hurt her. You're angry with yourself because you hurt Mariah, and she's distancing herself from you. So you hurt yourself for your self-named repentance."
Lee's body seemed to seize up, and though he kept opening his mouth, no sound came out. After she had spoken about Madison and when he and Mariah had nearly died, he had thought this girl was just a wannabe stalker or something, but she was standing there, spouting secrets that he had never told anyone, never voiced out loud, never spoken it anywhere except in his head. How could she know so much?
"Who are you?" He asked, much more quietly and calmly.
She smiled softly, "I can't tell you that until this has ended Lee. But in the meantime, maybe you should follow Mariah and Gary." She pointed down the alleyway and toward the market.
Lee turned his head to see Mariah disappear down a side street off the market. He turned to look back at the authoress, or rather, where the authoress had been.
She wasn't there.
He looked around wildly; he had only turned around for a second. She couldn't have vanished that quickly.
But … Lee remembered that day when he had first seen her … it wasn't the first time she had.
At a loss of what he could do, Lee made his way quickly down the street towards where Mariah had vanished. He could hear Bruce talking as he turned the corner. He was sprawled on the floor, Lee noticed from what he could see beyond Gary's huge frame and Mariah's considerably more petit form.
"Okay … it all started when we found Ray."
"You saw Ray?" Mariah exclaimed with her back to Lee, still unaware that he had arrived.
"Finally." Lee heard himself say, making Mariah and Gary spin around.
The authoress had been right.
And when the four teenagers made their way down the alleyways to find Ray after all the time he had been gone, a small figure by the name of SC peeked around the corner after them, and smiled.
Authoress notes: As I said, a self-indulging ramble that was fun to write. I pampered the White Tigers a little with the Mandarin Hotel, believe me, as it's just under $1000 for two double rooms for just one night. I am allowed to pamper my favourite team after all; the BladeBreakers can sleep in a ditch for all I care. Well, maybe Kai and Ray can stay in the hotel. And Max. And Kenny. … ahem.
Anyway, the blue powder that SC threw into the air is something from an old story of mine on my old account (a Big Brother story that had the Elle girl who bugged the Beyblade fandom a while back was the villain, muahaha) known as 'author/ess magic.' Basically it makes whatever the author/ess wants happen, though there are very bad side affects if it is used in the wrong way (like to make a character do something that they wouldn't do, like Kai running around the room and hugging everyone and screaming 'I LUV YOU ALL!!') Hence why SC nearly fell, as she is a very unfit girl and making her leap higher than Kevin is something very wrong. Forgive me for my self-indulgence bows
Read and review at your own pleasure. Thank you for reading 'Guardian Angel' though there is no denying that it is a truly crap fic. And it has religion in it (I am an atheist myself, though I go to a catholic school.) And it's just crap, 'nuff said.
-SC- -Number of days until Lee drops the restraining order on me: 1821 days.-