Ch. 2

Most of the time, Max and Tyson would disappear into the city by themselves and Kenny spent most of his time on the computer. Rei found himself frequently sitting in the quiet company of the red-haired Russian, either looking through a Russian novel or fingering through the American newspapers on the coffee table.

He felt a little out of place, as he had gotten used to hanging out with Mariah and Lee and the others while at home. It had really been three years since he had been around Tyson and Max and Kenny… so it was not just Kai's life he had missed out on.

As he sat, yet again with Tala in a nearby chair, he realized just how much he had missed the Blade Breakers. He was thinking this over when the phone rang. Tala jumped out of the chair to answer it.

Rei paid no attention, and had just started to reach for the remote to the tv, when he heard the phone set down and Tala returned, dropping into the chair he had previously occupied. Rei looked up, hand still paused in mid-air over the remote.

Tala stared blankly ahead for a moment, his elbows on his knees and his hands together in front of his mouth, but not actually touching his face.

"That was Bryan." Tala said slowly, blue eyes still staring straight ahead. Rei waited patiently. "He's seen activity on Kai's accounts…" He trailed off and his eyes flicked to meet Rei's eyes. "He's bought a plane ticket to New York."

No expression crossed either face for a long time.

Rei brought his arm back, to rest it lightly in his lap. He spoke with a measured voice. "Are you sure?"

Tala did not reply at first, then said softly, "Unless someone has gotten a hold of his accounts…" He blinked kind of slowly. "Yeah… I'm sure…"

-o-o-o-o-

Mr. Dickenson stood waiting outside for the boys- now adults- who had once made up his team. He had failed at contacting Kai, and he knew from Ellie that she had been less than successful as well. He could only currently hope that someone had been able to contact him.

A chill wind blew, so he pulled his coat tighter around himself as the next car pulled up. He put a smile on his face and waited as the driver got out and opened the back door.

"Ah, Kenny, Max." His smile grew true as he saw the boys- men. "Tyson, Rei. Tala." He nodded, pleased as they all had come from the car. "How are you all? Well I hope." He looked at each one, knowing they should get inside before the temperature dropped any lower. It was mid September and it had shown to be a very cold night, though it was only 8 pm, which meant only that it would continue to get colder. Though perhaps the best night for it had been chosen.

"We are well, Mr. Dickenson." Kenny said, smiling, polite as always.

"We should go inside." Mr. Dickenson replied with another broad grin, leading the way toward the door without a look back. He was relieved, once he had gotten inside, for it was warm inside, though not hot. "Please feel free to sit at the table, dinner will begin in a few minutes. Though also, you may leave your coats here." He gestured lightly at the butler-type people standing beside the door.

"Dinner?" Tyson asked, his eyes growing pleased with the thought, though he pulled at his tie as if uncomfortable.

"Yes," the elderly gentleman replied with a knowing smile, "though I should say, your company is requested at the landing at the top of the stairs at exactly 9 pm. You may return to the table after that if you are still not satisfied."

Tyson took off at this, followed more slowly by a laughing Max.

"Same old Tyson." Rei said with a grin, following Chief as he walked towards the table. Tala kept pace with Rei, never saying a word.

Mr. Dickenson smiled to himself momentarily, then allowed his smile to fade. He was concerned about Kai, though he would not admit it to the others. He watched them sit down, but found he could not join them at the moment, not that he would not have liked to.

He walked towards the stairs, taking them now instead of an hour from now. He would join the old team later, and he would eat much later, if he needed to. For now, he watched the gathered guests, most of them beybladers from various places in the United States. He had a few other new bladers around, but mostly, this was the cover. It was necessary for what was going on.

He made his way carefully to the top of the steps, where a younger man waited, standing in the shadows.

"Sorin…" Mr. Dickenson greeted, not as kindly spoken as he had been with his once-team. "All is well?"

"Yes. As well as can be expected." The younger man, Sorin, was not so young, but 21 now, since a few weeks ago. His violet eyes watched the people on the floor beneath, all eating at a long table, about 50 people in the banquet hall in total. He wore a long shirt, white and tied close at the waist, over a pair of white jeans. Both were meticulously clean. His brown hair was wild on the other hand, bangs sticking this way and that, though it was not totally unkempt in appearance.

He gave a small smile as he leaned against the railing, watching the interactions beneath them. His canine teeth were elongated, but they expressed no threat. "I think that within the hour, all shall be as well as it can be." His gaze flicked up quietly, his expression now somber. He looked out the window, where the dark sky showed no signs of anything in particular- just of night.

He gave a small sigh and looked at a room to his left, away from Mr. Dickenson.

"Is she asleep now?" The elder gentleman asked quietly, following Sorin's gaze.

"She is too concerned to sleep, though, I wish she would." He replied almost too quietly, his gaze never leaving the dark doorway. "It would do her more good than this is right now."

-o-o-o-

An hour later, and Tyson still had to be dragged away from the table. Max did most of the dragging, but Tyson did relent and take the stairs.

Tyson was the most uncomfortable in his suit, as he had set about trying to untie his tie, but the others felt uncomfortable as well. They were just better able to hide it.

As they neared the top landing of the stairs, Mr. Dickenson sent Sorin away, towards the still darkened room.

"Alright… we're here." Tyson said, a bit annoyed at having been forced from the table.

Mr. Dickenson just smiled quietly for a moment. "I can see that, and I've only asked you to meet up here because she requested it."

Surprisingly, Tala was the first to speak, "Who exactly is she?" He said it quietly, and to Mr. Dickenson, though his attention was on the door that was opening to their right.

A girl in a long black dress stepped out, her brown hair had two small braids, one on either side of her head that held the rest of her hair back as they joined together to run down over top the rest of her hair, which lay flat and straight. Her head was tilted downward, but as she neared them, she raised it quietly.

Every one of them kept their eyes on her. She seemed to find this slightly uncomfortable, and fidgeted a little as she came to stand beside Mr. Dickenson, facing Rei, Tyson, Max, Kenny, and Tala.

"It… has been a while…" Ellie said quietly, offering a small smile that quickly faded.

"Ellie…" Tala mumbled quietly, his right hand fluttering up for just a moment, and then falling down to his side.

"I am sorry… Tala… it was not fair on you." Her eyes remained on him for a long time, her gaze changing as she read each emotion flicking through his own eyes.

Sorin stepped out to join Ellie, a broad smile on his face. He spoke quietly to her in Romanian, and her head turned slightly to listen to him. Her hands were shaking. She did not respond to him.

"I hope you all have been…" Her violet gaze flicked to Sorin.

"Well?" He suggested, a small smile touched his face, though his own violet eyes showed worry.

"Yes… well…" Her gaze flicked back to the group.

No one said anything for a long moment, and Ellie seemed to be getting more nervous.

"You have not seen… Kai?" She asked, a touch of hope in her quiet voice.

Her hands where shaking pretty badly, and before anyone could respond, Sorin was laying his hand on her arms.

"Ellie… maybe you should go..." He began, but Ellie interrupted with a hard glance that made him flinch.

"I am fine, Sorin." Her voice was just as hard as her gaze, and her face showed her annoyance plainly.

"We… have not seen Kai, no." Rei said lightly, trying to break the suddenly harsh mood.

Ellie nodded quietly, and the conversation seemed to end. Her gaze fell to the floor, and she gently pushed Sorin's hand away. Then she looked back up at them, a small smile on her lips.

"I had hoped…" She trailed off, her gaze flicking to the stair case. She seemed to be frozen in thought.

Sorin watched her, not looking at the stairs at all. Everyone looked at Sorin.

"She's fine." He said blankly, a smile on his face. He knew her too well at this point.

She stepped forward, then she faltered.

"Ellie…" Two voices said at once. One from behind the old team and Tala, and the other was Sorin.

Sorin's gaze flicked up, a harsh look crossing his features, "Who are you?" He asked as the others turned around to look at the man standing there.

"Kai…" Ellie said softly. She lifted her foot as if to walk forward, but then she just put it back down in the same place.

Both of them were working through a lot of things in their minds, and much of these thoughts were moving rapidly across their features, though neither spoke.

Sorin looked back and forth between them, then finally said, "Ah, so you are Kai." He smiled broadly. "I am Sorin. I have come with Ellie to celebrate this momentous occasion."

"Where have you been?" Kai asked, looking past the friends he had once kept company with, and ignoring Sorin.

"I… have been taking care of the other wolves. I had no choice." Her voice came out strongly, though her features showed she was less than certain. "You… I am sorry… I tried to find you…" This time her voice held pain, and her gaze kept flicking between Kai and the floor.

"This is no time for this." Sorin said, still smiling, "This is a time to celebrate!"

"You tried to find me, Ellie? Well, obviously your tracking skills are less than superb." Kai muttered lightly, his eyes never leaving Ellie.

"Kai… I tried… there was so much to do! So much to take care of! How was I to leave them there? I had to do something!" Ellie's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away.

"And it's a good thing she did, because now she gets a reward." Sorin threw in. Everyone was mostly ignoring him, and just focusing on the show caused by Ellie and Kai.

"Kai… I love you… I needed to find you. I-tried-to-come-back-to-you-and-I-couldn't-find-you-and-I-didn't-know-how-to-find-you." Her words were running together, her speech almost too fast. Her hands shook.

Neither spoke for a long moment and no one else could bring themselves to interrupt the silence.

Kai spoke first. "I'm here now."

Ellie's eyes closed, she took a large breath. Then her eyes opened. She nodded quietly.

"Ellie… we need to celebrate." Sorin said with a broad smile, and threw an arm across her shoulders. "I mean it's not often we get to celebrate someone becoming a Beta in the clan."

Ellie flinched visibly, her head turned sharply to face the wolf beside her. Her lip twitched up, revealing her fang. "Sorin!"

"You're going back there?" Kai asked, anger flashing through his face and voice.

"I…" She looked back to Kai.

"I can't believe this." Kai clinched his fists. Anger remained on his face now. "What's the point in looking for me if you're just going to leave again?" He ground his teeth together.

"I'm…! Sorin!" Ellie turned away from Kai, away from everyone. Her body shook. "You don't understand, Kai." Ellie said softly, unable to face them.

"It's a great honor." Sorin said, grinning at Kai.

"Forget it." Kai said, his body visibly relaxing. "Just forget it." He turned to go.

Ellie turned around swiftly. "Kai!"

"No."

Her jaw shook, then clinched shut. She turned away from them and toward a staircase that went up higher into the building. She ran up them, her body shaking.

"Now look what you've done!" Sorin growled out at Kai.

"At what I've done?" Kai turned back around, glaring at the wolf. "I'm not the one saying she's going back to the wolves. I'm not the one that has let everyone wonder if she is dead for three years!"

Everyone, including Tala was surprised at the emotions reflecting in Kai.

"Well maybe you had it rough! But you have no idea what she's been through! She could not leave, what with the war! And all you're worried about is yourself, about how she wasn't right there beside you! Do you know how much she missed you? And you- a human!" Sorin glared at Kai, violet eyes meeting red. His speech was punctuated by his left hand pointing at where Ellie had disappeared. "She wanted to leave every damn day, every one of us could see it in her face, in her eyes, but she put her wants aside for the good of the clan! So that we would not die out!" He had walked forward and was now standing eye to eye with Kai, as they were the same height.

"Why should I care about the clan?" Kai shot back. "Why should I…"

"Why should you care? Because that is her family! Because we helped you when the others, the rebels, would have killed you! Costel helped you out and what did it get him? Killed! And that left a child in charge!" His entire body shook with rage and his bared teeth clenched shut momentarily. "She had to do everything! Had to grow up as fast as possible so that she would not get killed and could save as many of us as possible! Do you have any idea what you left her there with?!" Sorin's glare was hard, and if Kai had been anyone else, he would have shrank away. "Why should you care about the clan? Because that girl, who cares about you more than herself, more than anything else, has given three years of her life, three long years of her life, watching us die! She had to be stronger than anyone her age should have to be, even in the clan. She had to watch the people she grew up with die. She had to watch the rebels die." He growled, but he backed up slightly, his body no longer shaking with rage, but was rigid. "That is why you should care." Sorin pushed past Kai, walking down the stairs and away from the group that was gawking at him, each quiet in their own way, each unable to say a word.

He walked silently out into the night, the door shutting quietly behind him.

Kai did not watch Sorin leave, he just kept looking straight ahead, past his one-time friends, his one-time teammates. His hand, which was resting on the handrail, fell to his side as he stood there. He was still glaring, but there was nothing for him to focus on.

He found himself looking at the people standing there. He found Max without a smile, Tyson standing still, Kenny not looking at him, and Mr. Dickenson looking troubled.

Rei stared at him in disbelief, and even Tala was looking at him like he should be doing something else. Tala's gaze was harsh, and not understanding in the least.

Kai stared at each of them in turn, his gaze unrelenting. Then, he looked away, heading quietly toward the staircase that Ellie had taken. He ignored the fact that he was annoyed at the tie around his neck, that he had dressed up in a suit and that he was too warm.

He took the stairs and did not look back at the others. Truthfully, he could not bring himself to look back at the people that he had left behind so long ago.

He found himself at the top of the stairs and unsure of which way to turn. He stood still for a moment. He listened for any sounds, but all he could hear was the sounds of music and talking from below.

A quiet voice came from his left, he followed it to a door which was slightly ajar.

"Angel… are you sure you're alright… your language is…" A girl said softly, concern in her light accent.

"Fine, Rica." Ellie replied.

Kai moved toward the door, placing a hand gently on it and pushing it slightly open. He saw two females in silhouette at the window.

One, the one standing beside the window, turned her head as the door opened. Kai could not see who it was, since the only light in the room was the light coming through the window, and that was pointing at her back. She turned briefly towards the one sitting in the window, motioned toward him with one hand, and then walked toward him.

She passed him in the doorway, turned her head toward him. He remembered her briefly as one of their guards.

Rica gave him a small nod, and kept walking past.

Kai looked back to Ellie, who remained quietly sitting in the window sill. He felt strange, going into the solemn room, and shutting the door as quietly as he could. He felt like he was intruding on some kind of private vigil held by the girl- the woman, he corrected himself mentally.

He approached her quietly, watching her the whole time. He realized that she was shivering, though the room was warm and the window was closed. He also realized that she did not seem to be aware of him, her head never turned and she never said anything to him.

When he stood beside her, he stopped, waiting to see if she would say anything.

Five minutes went by without a word. He studied her face, as light came through the window over her features. Her eyes were closed, her mouth clinched tight. Lines shimmered on her face.

He realized she had been crying before he came up here.

"Ellie?" He asked softly, partially hoping she would not come out of her silence.

Her eyes opened, but she did not look at him. She remained silent for a little while, but Kai did not speak either.

"I tried." Ellie said finally. "I try… to find you… Tala… he did not know… no one…" She pulled in a deep breath. "I did not know…" A violent shiver over took her body. He looked her over, and realized she looked too thin in her black dress. "I am sorry… I left you… made you leave." She gulped in air for a moment. Her body shook violently again.

Kai realized this person was not the same one he had left in the wolf lands. Her voice was deeply accented, sometimes it was like she had trouble with the words.

It was like she was starting over; as if those years with him, all of the languages she had learned, had never taken place.

"I'm…" Her eyes shut and she let out a small sigh. "Sorry, Kai…" Her eyes opened again, but she focused on what was outside of the window. She watched the rain falling down, and for awhile, the only sound in the room was the sound of rain hitting the window.

"Ellie… What happened to you?" Kai asked quietly, sitting down on the edge of the window sill and watching her.

She turned her head toward him, though she remained looking out of the window for a moment. Then she brought her violet gaze to him.

"I'm sorry, Kai." Was all she said.