Kimiko let out an irritated sigh as she once again turned over. After leaving Raimundo she had returned to the temple and went straight for her room. She needed to be alone and get as far away from Raimundo as possible. It didn't help that his room was right next to hers and all that separated them was a curtain. She seriously had to talk to Master Fung about either getting her own room or at least setting up real walls between the rooms. But even with the room problem she chose to ignore him when they returned, it would only make things worse if she confronted him again so soon. Clay had brought her dinner, saying he hoped she felt better and told her not to worry so much. She had a sneaking suspicion he knew what was going on but she didn't dwell on it for long. Instead she ate her dinner, went online and did a few updates with her cell phone and other electronic devices. Soon it came time for bed and she gladly accepted nightfall, her head hitting the pillow and ready for sleep to come.
It never did.
She held back a growl as she once again turned over in hopes to get herself comfortable enough to fall asleep. She laid there for a few minutes but she could not get her mind to calm down enough to let her sleep. Her brain was too busy thinking, wandering, and contemplating one thing. Raimundo. He had not gone to bed yet. He hadn't returned to their sleeping quarters or even gone near it once since he returned. Was he avoiding her or giving her space? She didn't know and it was driving her crazy. With a muffled groan she sat up and pulled back the curtain to the Dragon of Wind's room. There was the empty mat with only his blanket, pillow, and teddy bear but no brown-haired green eyed boy.
Her eyes immediately looked at the bear, its fur was worn from the years but it still held a cute look to it. With a gentle grip she picked up the old bear and held it to her chest. Its fur may be old and worn out but it was still soft and cuddly. It carried Raimundo's scent, a smell that was hard to describe but always reminded her of the wind. She could remember the first time she caught Raimundo sleeping with the teddy bear, he had tried to keep her from seeing it but in the end she had caught him and she told him about the bear and their story.
Kimiko hummed softly to herself as she headed for the sleeping quarters that she and the others share. She and the others were all awake and ready to start training but Raimundo was still sleeping and throw a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors it became her job to wake him up. She knew this wasn't going to be an easy task, the boy could sleep like the dead, and she was contemplating if she should go to the vault and get some Shen Gong Wu to assist her. Sadly that would just up more time and she knew Master Fung would not be pleased if they were late.
She reached the room that held the sleeping boy, she could hear soft snores coming from behind the curtain and with ease she walked inside. Sleeping on his side was a snoring Raimundo with a pile of drool running down the side of his face. Rolling her eyes at the drool she sat down next to him and began to shake him. "Come on, sleeping beauty. It's time to wake up." She shook him as hard as she could but he didn't wake up. All he did was roll onto his back, his drool down running down the back of his neck. Only Kimiko didn't pay attention to that, her eyes immediately zoomed in on the teddy bear that became visible once he rolled over. Covering her mouth with her hands she held back her laugh, she never imagined someone like Raimundo to still sleep with a teddy bear.
By the looks of it the bear seemed pretty old but she had to admit it was kind of cute. With a sly grin she ran into her room and grabbed her camera. It was time to get some payback for all the pranks and jokes he pulled at her expense. Reaching out her hand she moved the teddy bear to get a better angle of it and Raimundo but just by moving it ever so slightly woke up the sleeping boy instantly. He jolted awake, his hand holding tight to the bear and nearly sent her flying.
The two stared at each other in stunned silence. Raimundo more for the fact he wasn't expecting to wake up to Kimiko like this and Kimiko was just shocked that she was nearly in Raimundo's lap. Clearing her throat she moved back and pointed to the bear. "Nice bear." She snickered when she saw his eyes widen and his cheeks tint with a pink blush.
Quickly shoving the bear behind his back he tired to appear cool but it was hard to do when being caught red-handed sleeping with a teddy bear. "It's just a good luck charm." He scoffed, trying to play it off as nothing else and hoped that she wouldn't be bringing this topic up in the future.
Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she reached around to grab the bear but he kept it out of her reach. "By the way you're holding onto it tells me it's way more than that."
Once again his cheeks went bright pink at her words but he refused to break his resolve or ruin his image. "I just don't want you rubbing your bad luck on it."
She felt her eyes twitch in annoyance. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly that," he grinned, he found an opening and he was going to take it. "You're such a klutz doing chores and in Showdowns I don't want your bad luck rubbing off on me and ruining my awesomeness." He smirked. It was easy enough to distract her, just get her mad enough and she'll drop the subject to yell at you.
Kimiko felt her anger building and was ready to scream and yell at him until the sun went down but she caught the look in his eyes. The glint that was shinning in them and knew of his plan. "Well maybe if you let me hold your little friend some of your good luck will rub off on me." No way was she going to let him get away without some more information on his bear.
Raimundo paled. His plan to get her angry and forget about his bear had failed. That never happened. Whenever he wants to get her to forget something all he has to do is make her angry and it works. Only not this time. "Um...I think it's time we leave and join the others. We don't want Master Fung giving us more chores to do."
"What's wrong, afraid your barry-bear won't bring you luck." She spoke in a baby voice, batting her eyes and cooing at him.
Raimundo felt his own eye twitch. "No," he huffed, crossing his arms and frowned. "And his name is Ninja Fred." He mumbled, under his breath but she still heard him.
The moment his name was uttered Kimiko had to stop herself from bursting with laughter. "You're kidding right?" she had been expecting the bear to be named something like "Rex" or "Blade" but not Ninja Fred.
"No, I'm not and so what?" he huffed, standing up and started walking out of his room. "My mother made him for me when I was younger and its brought me luck ever since." He grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and headed off to meet their friends and Master.
But before he could leave the room a small hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed," she did feel a little guilty for laughing at him but in all honesty it was too funny not too. "I also think it's really sweet that you've kept it for so long."
Raimundo looked at her, shocked that she would say such a thing, a smile graced his face and he sat back down. "Yeah, well it just kind of became natural too have it with me." He held the small brown bear in his hands and looked at it. He could still remember the day his mother gave it to him. "I grew up in a big family so I shared a room with my three brothers before our house got renovated and I got my own room. The night I was supposed to sleep in my own room a big storm had come and my mom made him for me to help me sleep through the night. At first I didn't really care and accepted the bear so not to hurt her feelings but that same night he became my good luck charm. My room was the only room in the house whose windows weren't broken from the storm and didn't take on water damage. Since then I've had him with him to bring me good luck." He smiled, remembering how the next morning he kept boosting that it was because of his new good luck charm that kept his room from getting damaged.
Kimiko watched him as he told her his story, she saw the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of his mother and his bear. "That's a really sweet story," It truly was and it made her wish she had more stories like that. Her family was wealthy so if one room in the house was damaged because of a storm all she had to do was go into another one of the rooms in her house. While her parents were loving and did all they could to show that they cared about her she didn't have to many family stories to share like Raimundo did. "Your mothers sounds really nice." To make a teddy bear to help your little boy to sleep at night was something she found really kind and it was the type of mother she wanted to be whenever she had kids. "Come on, let's go join the others." She stood up and motioned for him to follow her.
Raimundo nodded but didn't follow right away. First he had to put away Ninja Fred so nothing happened to him and so the others didn't see him. He didn't mind so much that Kimiko knew but if Clay or Omi found out then he was sure they would drive him mad.
"Rai," she stuck her head back in with a wide smile on her face. "Don't worry. I'm sure some girls will find it cute that you still sleep with a bearsy-wearsy." She did the baby voice and cooed at him once again before running out of the room laughing with a growling Raimundo chasing after her.
Kimiko sighed at the memory. Things seemed so much simpler back then. With a weary body she left their sleeping quarters and headed outside to jump on the roof of the temple. She needed to just get away and think. Staying in her room was only going to make her go crazy. Even if he wasn't there his stuff was still there and it was a constant reminder of him and his rejection. She couldn't believe the fight they had today. She knew she was probably overreacting, it was obvious he didn't know she was talking about him, but just hearing how he talked about her liking somebody hurt. Just hearing how he spoke of love and relationships and getting over someone so easily scared her. If he did like her what would happen? Would he stay with her until he found someone else and then immediately dump her. All he talked about all day was her finding a new love fast and that bother her. She didn't want to fall in love fast and easy, she wanted things to be slow and simple so she could enjoy the time she spent with that person.
But it seems he didn't feel the same way. For him it was more find love and then find a new one once you're done with the old one. If things were like before she wouldn't be so upset with his policy on love. She'd probably be annoyed and call him a pig for thinking that way but she wouldn't be in pain because of it. If only things were like before she realized her stupid feelings for the boy and messed everything up. Back then she didn't care if he flirted with every girl he saw. Well maybe she cared a little but only because she found his flirting while searching for the Shen Gong Wu annoying. Back then she didn't care so much about his opinion of her or about relationships. Back then her heart didn't hurt so much just because she learned he didn't feel the same. "I'm so stupid." She curled up in a ball and hide her face in her knees, wishing for all of this to be a dream.
"Didn't I tell you it's not good to talk to yourself like that."
Her body went ridged at his voice. She heard his footsteps approach and felt him sit down next to her but she didn't bother lifting her head or do anything to acknowledge him. She was done with him and this love. She promised herself she would get over him. Even if her heart was saying the total opposite she would do everything she could to stop loving him and move on. She didn't want to keep hurting every time she saw him. Even if he had hurt her Raimundo was still a good friend and she didn't want to lose him completely. So the only way she wouldn't totally lose him was to stop loving him and forget this whole thing even happened.
"I take it you're still mad?" he watched her, his eyes looking over her curled up form and sighed. Silence filled the night air around them and he hated the way things were between them. "Kimiko, we need to talk." Once again he was met with silence and he didn't like it. When they were together it was never quiet. Things were usually light and happy as they laughed and joked with each other. This silence was not for them and he would fix things. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like I did last night. When you told me you fell in love I didn't know it was with me, I thought for sure it was someone else," he kept his eyes one her, looking for some sign of hope that things between them weren't ruined. "If I had known if was me that you liked I wouldn't have told you to give up," he scooted closer, one hand gently brushing against one of her pigtails. "I would have told you that I felt the same way. That I have for a long time and was just too scared to tell you. I was scared of being rejected," He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and prayed that he could get her to understand. "I would have told you that I love you too."
His confession was only a whisper in the wind but she still heard him. She heard every word he said since he got up here but she didn't want to believe it. After everything that's happened it seemed to good to be real. "You do?" she finally lifted her head to look at him, tears glistening in her light blue eyes. It may seem too good to be true but she couldn't stop the hope from blooming in her chest.
He gave her a gentle smile and pulled her in even closer, her head resting on his chest as his arms wrapped around her small body. "I do."
Kimiko chocked down a sob and had a smile of her own on her face. Her arms wrapped around his back as she breathed in his scent. "I can't believe how stupid we acted."
"Well no one ever said relationships were easy." he chuckled, one hand running through her long black locks. He was in heaven. He finally hard her in his arms, his hand running through her hair like how he's always to do, and the two of them were finally together.
With a soft laugh she lifted her head to look up at him. "I don't get it if you liked me so much then why do you constantly flirt with other girls?" a slight pout formed on her face at the question. If he really did like her then why did he feel the need to show off and flirt with other women?
He gave an uncomfortably chuckle, resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck. "Well you see...I was just..." he tried to come up with a good excuse but by the look on her face and the lack of ideas in his head he figured he'd better just tell the truth and take his beating like a man. "I was trying to make you jealous." He mumbled, looking away as his cheeks burned. Saying it out loud only reminded him of how stupid his whole jealously plan was. "A lot of good that stupid plan did me." His plan only made her get a bad image of him and made her think that he didn't care about her.
Kimiko stared up at him, wondering for a moment if he was really telling the truth. When she determined that he was she smiled and rested her forehead against his. "You're an idiot," her arms came up to wrap around him neck as she rested on her knees between his legs. "But then again so am I. I tried indirectly telling you how I felt and all it did was make you yell at me."
Raimundo only chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. Honesty I only did that because I was mad at the thought of you liking somebody else when I was sure you were starting to like me."
She returned his chuckle with one of her own. "Well you're right there. I do like you, a lot." She smiled, her heart no longer feeling heavy with pain. Now it was light with love and she couldn't be happier.
"I love you." He whispered, closing his eyes as the wind blew past them and allowed him to take her in. Her cheery blossom and pinewood scent filled his nose and he shuddered in pleasure at the smell.
"I love you too." Her own eyes closed, the warmth of his skim made her body feel like it was burning. A beautiful fire was burning inside her and it was all because of him and the love they shared.
Not wasting anymore time the two leaned in and kissed. Their lips connecting and a spark seemed to ignite in both their bodies, making them feel energized from the feeling. The longing in their chests were finally gone and replaced with a new sensation, acceptance. Their love was returned and they couldn't be happier about it as they kissed under the light of the full moon.
