Seventeen Years Later

It had been almost seventeen years since Kyra had been stolen from us. Since the

day it happened I had been going through every option possible on how to find her. We had searched through my connections to my grandfather's old business contacts, our connections through the BBA, even hired private investigators to look through Japan and Russia for any trace of Voltaire or Boris. Yet we found nothing. It was almost as if my grandfather and his organization had pulled themselves off the grid entirely.

The entire ordeal had been hard on me, but even harder on Ray. For the first year all he could do was cry. It was rare he left our bed and was a struggle to get him to do basic things like eat or shower. After the first year he had suddenly thrown himself into helping me track Voltaire down, but soon got burnt out as we continued to come up with nothing. After four years it had gotten to a point where Ray could barely look at me without thinking of Voltaire, without thinking of our daughter that was somewhere out there being used or god knows what else. I wasn't sure why he wasn't talking to me till one night, as I gave him updates, he just exploded.

"This is all your fault!" He screamed.

"How is our daughter being stolen my fault?" I growled.

"Your grandfather stole her. You said he was gone! You said he wouldn't be bothering us anymore! You said we were safe! But we weren't, and now Kyra is suffering because of it! How do we even know she's alive Kai? How do we know that she ended up not being what he wanted and he didn't keep her? We keep searching and not coming up with anything!" He cried, his piercing stare causing a hurt in me only he could cause.

"Because I know my grandfather and she is my daughter. Only a Hiwatari can control the power that is Black Dranzer. He can't do it due to his age and how much energy it would take from him. Black Dranzer would kill him. And if I refuse, the only living Hiwatari left is her. She is his only hope. He would be foolish not to keep her alive. She's only four currently. She's not going to be able to wield that power for another few years." It sounded harsh but I was right. Ray didn't understand the twisted mind that was my grandfather.

I wrapped my arms around my sobbing love, letting him fall apart in my embrace. "I know this is hard Koi. I know it feels like I've failed you. But I promise, I will spend every day until I die looking for our daughter. I'm going to bring her back to you, even if it kills me."

This was a promise I continued to keep. Day after day, year after year I continued to look. But after almost seventeen years of searching, I could feel myself starting to lose hope and I knew Ray was too.

At thirty three the two of us had obviously retired our careers as professional Beybladers. I had taken on the role of CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises after Voltaire had fled the company and Ray had taken a job through the BBA, training new bladers and being a mentor to teams that went on to the Championships. Although I knew he wasn't fully happy, training kids had given Ray a sense of purpose that he had longed for and helped to take his mind off of the still present grief of our lost daughter.

Our morning had started off like any Monday morning, the two of us having work but still making sure to have a meal together before we left our Japan mansion. Losing Kyra had caused a rift in our relationship for the first five years but we knew to find her we had to stay strong and stay connected. We tried to make sure that even though things were hard and we were busy that we made the time for one another and connected on some level outside of our search.

As I read the paper and had my morning coffee, Ray made eggs and toast and hummed as he went along. It made me happy that Ray was finally finding joy in things that he had loved so much before Kyra. He had loved cooking before and during his pregnancy but after Kyra had gone missing, he couldn't stand to do anything he enjoyed without feeling a pang of guilt.

I looked up at the sudden ring of Ray's phone. "Who's that?"

Ray picked up his phone, furrowing his brow. "It's Mr. Dickenson. I wonder what he's calling so early for that he couldn't have told me at work?" He answered, sounding just as confused as he had been towards me. "Mr. Dickenson? What's going on?"

I watched Ray as he was on the phone, his face going from concerned to confused to ecstatic.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! We will be there in twenty minutes!" Ray said, hanging up the phone.

"What's going on? Good news?" I asked.

"Very good news. Mr. Dickenson has received a lead on Kyra! He thinks we can find her Kai!" Ray looked so happy, tears were even starting to form in his eyes.

"W-what? But how?" I was confused. How had we not found anything for seventeen years? What was this lead and how was it just coming up now?

"I don't know but we need to go! Kai we can finally find her! We're going to have our baby back!"

As I drove over I couldn't help but continue to ponder this mysterious lead and what it meant. Was this a trap? Was it a prank? Or did Voltaire's hiding place finally get exposed? I wanted to believe that we were truly finding our daughter but after so long, my hope had almost been diminished. I knew Ray was excited and I didn't want to dampen his spirits, but this all felt too good to be true.