Well, here's chapter three. Again, I'm sorry for spelling mistakes and typos I haven't noticed. I'd also like to thank -toon for pointing out that in chapter two I should have put "continent" for Africa instead of "country", so thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3

A Hollow Christmas

Another six months passed and snow began to fall around the Xiaolin Temple but the Christmas spirit had yet to make an appearence. The battle in Britain had ended in September when the Xiaolin forces and the British army drove Wuya and The drak Queen out of the country. Britain was still a free country. For now anyway.

Kimiko sat on a wicker chair on the Temple's small porch and looked out into the white distance. She was all ready to go to bed, dressed in her pajamas, her silky black hair loose around her shoulder. To the North-East of where she was sitting was the city of Zhengzhou and that city was nothing but wasteland now. How long had it been now? she thought to herself. Too long.

It was Christmas eve. She had received her Christmas presents off her father three days ago so she knew he was alright. The presents were in her tinny room, still wrapped. She had opened the card.

My darling Kimiko it read.

I hope this card finds you well and I hope you are working hard. Merry Christmas and happy new year. I wish I could say that in person but we can't have everything can we? I hope you like your presents and you get what you wanted.

All my love,

Daddy

xxx

P.S. I'm sorry about your friend. I still haven't heard anything about him

Since Toshiro Tohomiko had a lot of connections, Kimiko had asked him to keep an eye out for even the slightest hint as to what happened to Raimundo. He had heard nothing. Not even a whisper.

The sky was just as white as the Earth and it began to sprinkle delicate snowflakes onto the already blanketed ground. Kimiko shivered. She pet her feet on the chair and wrapped her arms her knees. It would be getting dark soon and she would go to bed and rise early on a Christmas morning that would feel the same as every other morning of the past three years; cold, empty and far too quiet. She would have to walk past Raimundo's empty cubicle and see how it was gathering dust and feel that familiar erge to pull the curtain shut but knowing that is she did it would be like confirming that he really was gone. She couldn't bring herself to do that. Then she would enter the kitchen and take her place at the table for breakfast and look at the empty chair that Raimundo should be sat in, probably poking fun at Omi or Clay. He had been so annoying but he was always good at cheering people up because he himself was never upset about anything. He always seemed to be in high spirits and he spread that feeling around the Temple and where ever else he went. Now he was gone, the Temple seemed gloomy.

"Kimiko," a calm voice said from the doorway. Kimiko turned her head to face the sound of that voice and saw Master Fung. "You should come inside. It's cold."

"I will in a minute Master Fung," Kimiko said respectfully. Master Fung bowed his head slightly then retreated back into the Temple. Kimiko rested her forehead on her knees and closed her eyes. Her loose hair brushed against her thighs.

"This is all Spicer's fault," she thought bitterly. "He should kave known he couldn't trust Wuya enough to give her a body."

"Ah, yes, but isn't Spicer already paying for his mistake?" another voice in her head replied. And it was true. The last time she had seen Jack he had looked ill. He looked, if possible, even paler than ever and he had definitely lost a lot of weight. His clothes were shabby and he seemed less eager to gloat after his very few victories. He still did gloat if only to make it look like he was fine, but Kimiko knew better. She had seen the way Wuya treated him. So, was it fair to blame Jack?

"He still gave Wuya a body, so yes, it is his fault," Kimiko whispered to her frozen knees. She raised her head and opened her eyes and was stunned to see that it had gotten much darker. She must have been sat with her head on her knees for a lot longer then she realised. She placed her slippered feet onto the porch and got gracefully to her feet. She took one last lookl at the darkening winter evening then stepped into the Temple where the temperature was warm but the atmosphere was cold.

.:.:.:.

Omi awoke on Christmas morning in the same way he awoke every morning; he overbalanced and crashed to the floor. It took him several seconds to remember where he was and what had happed over the past few years before he caught sight of a small pile of parcels piled up in the corner of his little bedroom and forgot about the war all over again. He squealed with delight and scurried over to his presents. They all had tags on then so he knew who they were off. There was one off Master Fung, one off Dojo, one off Clay, two off Kimiko and one sent from Kimiko's father who had obviously taken a liking to his daughters new friends. He ripped the paper off the present off Dojo and discovered a box of chocolates, still with the cellophane wrapped still on them which meant Dojo hadn't eaten them this time.

After all of his present were opened, the smell of bacon and eggs reached Omi's nostrils and he made his way to the kitchen. Kimiko was cooking the breakfast by herself today. She looked tired, as if she hadn't slept much last night and not even the Christmas spirits were lifting her mood.

"Good Christmas, Kimiko," Omi said cheerfully as he got plates out of the cupboard.

"Merry Christmas, Omi," Kimiko said. She smiled but didn't bother to correct him. That should have been Raimundo's job.

"Omi, you've gotta be doing that on purpose," Raimundo's voice said in her head and it was clear as day. Kimiko smiled. She knew she could never forget him.

"How many eggs do you want, Omi?" Kimiko asked, still smiling. Omi beamed when he saw the expression on her face.

Fifteen minutes later, all three warriors were sat around the kitchen table eating their breakfast after wishing each other a merry Christmas and thanking each other for the presents. The thoughts, "Two whole years since all of Africa fell to the Dark Queen," kept reoccuring in all of their minds but they pushed it away.

"Merry Christmas, young monks," Master Fung said as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas Master Fung," all three of them replied arounf mouthfulls of bacon and eggs.

"Training in one hour," Master Fung informed them and left the kitchen.

"Remember when he used to give us the day off on Christmas?" Clay sighed.

"Yes, but under the current circumstances, we cannot afford days off," Omi said. He placed his fork down on his clear plate and sat back in his chair.

Despite her slightly improved mood, Kimiko hadn't managed to eat much and she put her fork down too. Clay looked at her remaining egg and three strips of bacon slyly and Kimiko pushed the plate towards him. He smiled gratefully and shovelled it down in four mouthfulls. Kimiko looked away, feeling sick.

After breakfast, the three warriors went back to their bedrooms to get changed, ready for training.

.:.:.:.

Snow or no snow, the training took place in the Temple grounds.

"When we have to fight real battles, we will have to do it regardless of weather," Omi had said wisely when Kimiko complained she was too cold. Master Fung returned from the Temple vault. The warriors themselves weren't allowed in it anymore in case something happened, or in case they were imposters, like the Chameleonbot. He gave Omi the Golden Tiger Claws, Clay the Eye of Dashi and Kimiko the Tangle Web Comb. He had remembered this time that only three Shen Gong Wu were needed. The last few times they had practised with complimentory Shen Gong Wu, he had brought out the Sword of the Storm and then remembered there was no one there to use it. The only person that ever used the Sword of the Storm was Raimundo and so it and the Blade of the Nebula were gathering dust just like his bedroom and his chair at the kitchen table.

Master Fung set Clay against Kimiko.

"Tangle Web Comb!" Kimiko called clearly. She focused her mind completely on the Comb and it's teeth extended and became thick, haairy ropes. they detatched themselves from the Comb and sped towards Clay. Clay stood his ground and watched them approach. At the last second he raised his arm and held out his own Shen Gong Wu.

"Eye of Dashi!" Clay said. Lightning burt from the Shen Gong Wu and hit the ropes . They spun around in the air upin impact and headed back for Kimiko. She lat out a tiny gasp and then focused her mind again.

"Wudai Mars, fire!" Kimiko called. She spun around in a circle, arms outstretched and fire exploded from the plams of her hands. It formed a sphere, with her in the middle and the hairy bonds ejected from the Comb went through the fire and fell to the ground, burning. Kimiko stopped spinning and fire vanished. the ropes that had been on fire simpley whizzed back into the Tangle Web Comb without harming anyone.

"Well done, Kimiko," Master Fung said pleased. "Very quick thinking and very effective. Clay, you go against Omi now."

Kimiko stepped out of the way and Omi took her place. This time, Clay went first.

"Eye of Dashi!" Clay said.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Omi called. He slashed open a vortex in mid air and jumped through. It closed up behind lightning struck the ground where Omi had been moments before and melted the snow in that area. Omi ripped open a second hole in thin air behind Clay and jumped out of it.

"Wudai Neptune, ice!" Omi called. Instead of water, all the snow around Omi rose up in balls and hurled themselves at Clay. Several of them hit him in the chest and one hit him in the leg, nearly knocking him over.

"Wudai Crater, earth!" Clay growled. The ground shook and a boulder dislodged itself from the frozen ground beneath the snow and rose into the air in front of Clay. The remaining snowballs hit off the boulder and fell to the ground, useless. when they were all gone, the boulder dropped back to Earth and refilled the hole it had come out of. MAster Fung said nothing but he bowed his head to Clay and Omi to show his approval. Dojo, who was curled around Master Fung's shoulders, gave them each a thumbs up.

"Now Kimiko and Omi," Master Fung ordered. Kimiko took up a stance in front of Omi.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Omi said. He ripped open a hole in the air and inside he could see the swirling grey vortex.

"Tangle Web Comb!" Kimiko screamed. The hairy bonds wrapped themselves tightly around Omi's ankle and pulled him back before he jumped through the vortex. It closed up in front of him and he yelled as he fell to the frozen, snow covered ground.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Omi said. He slashed open a slightly smaller hole and stuck his hand threw. It opened up just behind Kimiko's knees and he tripped her up. She gave out a startled yell and fell. Her concentration broke and the Tangle Web Comb released Omi and instead wrapped intself firmly around Kimiko. She was so used to being in that situation that she didn't struggle at all. She closeed her eyes and lay perfectly still and tried to tihkn of nothing. The pressure on her ribs loosened as the ropes unravelled and went back into the Comb. She sat up, dripping went with melted snow.

"Nice one Omi," Kimiko said, smiling slightly.

"Thank you Kimiko," Omi said politely and thought, "I learned that from Raimundo." But he didn't dare say it outloud.

"Rai did that in the Showdown with Spicer for the Reversing Mirror. Just before he went Heylin," Kimiko thought, but she didn't dare say it outloud.

.:.:.:.

After two hours of training, Master Fung let the monks rest. Kimiko sat down in the wicker chair on the porch. Clay plopped down in the chair next to her and Omi sat on the floor, ignoring the thin layer of ice on it.

"Anyone in the mood to cook Christmas dinner?" Kimiko asked. Neither or the boys replied. "Me either," Kimiko sighed. "There's a Christmas pudding if anyone wants it later though."

"Well, there's still plenty of time to think about it," Clay said. Kimiko nodded. The Sun had only just fully risen in the snowy white sky.

"Sure is quite without Rai," Clay said after several minutes of silence. Omi and Kimiko looked at him, slightly startled at the mention of Raimundo. Clay looked back at them sadly and then a small smile flitted across his lips.

"Remember when he hat you fill my hat with milk to see if it would hold ten gallons?" Clay asked.

"Oh yes!" Omi said. "Did you ever get that free hat."

"Raimundo lied to you Omi, he was winding you up. He just wanted to see if you would actually put milk in my hat," Clay replied.

"Oh, I am most sorry," Omi said sadly.

"It's a couple of years late but it's fine Omi," Clay smiled.

"I remember when he put a virus on my PDA to annoy me but it actually helped me," Kimiko said. "It helped me escape from Jack's basement that time he replaced me with his stupid robot." There was more silence for a few minutes.

"Raimundo deserved to be made Shoku warrior," Omi said. Kimiko and Clay looked at Omi, stunned.

"He messed up a lot and he did not take training seriously but in actual Showdowns, in times when it really important, he worked the hardest. Like When he lost the Sword of the Storm to Tubbymura and he studied so hard to make up for it and learned about the Shen Yi Bu Dares and won back the Sword of the Storm, the Two Ton Tunic, the Fist of Tebigong, the Eye of Dashi and the Shroud of Shadows," Omi said.

"Yeah, and he combined the Eyes of Dashi with the Sword of the Storm," Clay said admirably. Omi nodded.

"He was the one who knew not to trust Spicer and rescued us when we all got caught by Pandabubba," Kimiko said. "And that four-way tag-team Showdown he challenged Hannibal Bean to, where we had to rescue Dojo; the damsel in distress." Kimiko giggled. "He got really hurt in the Showodwn but he still fought harder than any of us."

"Man, Rai sure did a lot for us now I come to think about it," Clay said. He swept his hat from his head and ran his fingers through his short blonde hair.

"I don't think any of us would have lasted a second on one of those battlefields," Kimiko said. "Raimundo managed six battles."

"I sort of feel a little guilty for treating Raimundo like he was useless, although he was the one who turned to the dark side and nearly killed us all," Omi said.

"But he realised what he was doing and saved us all too," Kimiko said. She looked down at her feet and said quietly, "We need him back." In her head, she though, "I need him back." She rested her feet on the chair in front of her and wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked out into the white sky as she had done the night before, and shivered. Clay placed his hat back on his head. Omi fidgeted silently with the black cuffs of his tunic. They sat in silence, each remembering different things about Raimundo and how badly the missed him, until Master Fung returned and they began training once again.

I hope you liked it. Please remember to review and I'll update as soon as possible