Sorry for the lack of update... One thing led to many others... But to let you know, I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be up soon!

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Kimiko sighed as she looked at her Texan companion, his head in his hands and obviously dwelling on the act he just committed. She walked over to him and sat down.

"Clay, are you going to be all right?" Clay sighed but did not look at her.

"I haven't been all right for the past couple of weeks. I've tried playin' my past thoughts over and over again, but I just can't seem to remember why I had such a dislikin' of Anna. I can't really remember anythin' from those past couple of weeks, just an unquenchable anger that burned up all my sense of reason." Kimiko gave Clay a slight hug.

"It's going to be okay Clay. Rai, Omi, and Dojo all went to go and look for her. We'll figure out why you were acting this way. Master Fung said that he was going to look in some of those scrolls to see if you were suffering from any kind of curse." She sighed. "I know to some extent as to how you feel Clay. I felt horrible for treating her so bad for no reason. I think whatever it was, it affected both of us, just it had a stronger hold on you." Clay shook his head.

"I really don't think I'm the one under a curse. I think it's Anna. Don' ask me why I think so. I just do."

"Don't worry Clay. Everyone else is looking for her." Kimiko tried to comfort her friend with any means necessary, but it wasn't working.

"Yeah, but I have a feelin' that it's not gonna be enough…"

XXX

The moonlight pushed through the leaves of the forested area where the frightened and downtrodden Anna sat, her arms wrapped around one of her knees. The forest was quiet at this time of night, late enough for the day animals to be asleep but early enough for most of the nocturnal animals to be asleep as well. Only the sound of a few crickets chirping was heard in this neck of the forest. Even though she had been to this clearing before, she now found it odd and frightening, and it made her clutch her knee closer to her chest.

XXX

"Were you able to locate her Raimundo?" asked a concerned Omi as he saw his companion walking towards him, obviously heading back for the temple. Raimundo sighed in dismay.

"Not one trace. I guess you had no better luck?" Omi shook his head and sighed, but said nothing for the time being. Raimundo looked to the now star encrusted sky and thought of that night he and Anna had just a week before, wishing he had told her then and there that there was something about her that made him feel like he was flying, even when his feet were planted solidly on the ground. Even Raimundo didn't know why he felt that way, but he knew that if he told her, maybe she could fill in the blanks. After all, he was never all that good with feelings. The two turned as they heard the familiar sound of Dojo.

"Guys need a lift?" he asked with a fake cheery tone. Omi and Rai hopped on.

"You couldn't find her either huh Dojo…" stated the wind dragon with a solemn tone. Dojo sighed.

"Nope. She didn't take any Wu with her, so she couldn't have gotten that far, and only an idiot would go into the forest at night."

"And an idiot is something that Anna is not," concluded Omi, and the others nodded. Anna would never go into the woods alone at night.

XXX

The redhead shivered with cold. The night was pressing on, and the warmth of the day had slowly been slipping away. It also didn't help that she was wearing her old clothes with rips and tears. Feeling lonely, she started to hum. Not a particular song, just the notes that came naturally to her at the time being. Soon, she began to open her mouth and sing softly in random vowels. Singing has always made her feel better, even when she wasn't singing a certain song.

XXX

Clay pressed himself hard on the shadowed side of a large rock as he heard Dojo pass above him. He waited a few moments, until the dragon was out of sight before he got up and started off again. He needed to do this on his own. He had the Tongue of Si-Ping tucked away in one of his pockets, and had a length of rope held tightly in his hand.

"Master Fung said that Anna had a special place she liked to go in the forest, but why would anyone with half a sense of reason go in there at night?" he asked himself as he drew closer to the beginning of his destination. "Well, I guess fear can scare the sense outta anybody," he concluded as he stopped in front of the line of trees that stood before him. "I gotta make things right, or I'll be deeper than a groundhog in quicksand with guilt," and with that he entered the forest.

XXX

"He's WHAT!" screamed a now angry Raimundo. Master Fung just stood there, eyes closed.

"Clay has gone off to find Anna on his own," he repeated. Raimundo began stuttering different syllables due to his rage.

"But Master Fung, what if Clay looses control again?" asked Omi.

"I have a feeling that that won't happen again," was the reply.

"How do you know that?" asked Raimundo with a snap.

"The same way I knew you could never stay on the dark side, the same way I knew Anna was a good person, the same way I knew that I could place the safety of the world in the hands of all of you young ones. It is a very strong feeling, and it has never failed me yet." Kimiko watched and listened from a distance.

"And for both Anna and Clay's sake, let's hope it doesn't fail now…"

XXX

There we go!