Love, War, and Choices

Chapter 10...Truth

Kimiko if you don't reply, I'm just going to hang up.

Kieko...Dump him. It's not the real him.

What... Are you crazy Kim? It's really him.

No Kieko, it ain't him... For your own sake, that I don't wanna freak you out from... Dump him. Take advice from your best friend.

Kim-

Please.

No.

Trust me.

No, I am not dumping him because of you! You are probably just jelous of me and him cause you've had a major crush on him for like ever! And ya know what Kimiko, why can't you just trust MY judgement when I pick guys!?

Kieko, it's too hard to explain to you right now. I just need to... This time more than ever, to trust me and dump him. No I'm not jelous I'M GOING OUT WITH A GUY I'VE HAD A FRICKEN CRUSH ON FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS!!!

See? That's a sign! IF I WAS REALLY YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOU WOULDN'T FREAK OUT ON ME!!

IF YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND YOU WOULDN'T EITHER!! AND ONTOP OF THAT, YOU'D TRUST ME!!

IF YOU WERE TRULY MY BEST FRIEND YOU'D TRUST ME AND MY JUDGEMENT!!

If you were really my friend you'd trust mine...

Kimiko hung up after her last line, not wanting to cry on the phone on an arguement with her best friend... Because Jack Spicer.

She got up roughly and stomped out of her cubicle, heading to the Shen-Gong-Wu vault. On her way she almost ran into Clay.

"Get outa my way..." Kimiko mumbled, but Clay luckily didn't hear it.

"Heya Kimiko." Clay smiled at her.

"DON'T TALK TO ME!" Kimiko screamed in his face, and then stomping even louder off.

Suddenly Raimundo came swinging around the corner on newly found crutches with a confused expression. "What's up Clay?"

"You're girlfrien' is ac'in' kinda funny Rai."

"Why?"

"I sai' 'hi' to her, an' she screame'... As you migh' have hear'."

"So you saying you want me to talk to a flaming female who, no matter who it was, could shoot fire out of her hands and third degree burn anyone who even came in a range of twenty feet of her besides Omi?"

"Well, when you pu' i' tha' way..."

"I'll go talk to her..." Raimundo smirked at Clay who simply rolled his eyes and kept walking on his way.

As Raimundo walked, he felt a sudden lift of strength, and began to feel a little unstable, less confident, and more to himself than usual. He knew that feeling... Someone was using the Sun Chi lantern. He kept going to see Kimiko starting grass on fire rapidly with one hand, spinning around, getting a good thirty feet radius around her in a circle (because she was spinning). Then, water would pour gracefully out of her hands to put out the fire, then wind would sweep the water away peacefully, then in a soothing movement, new grass would grow back. Then the process was repeated, the fire sounding with blood curdling and raging screams, the water with some deep breaths, the wind with over dramatic sighs, and the earth with a smile, which soon turned into the same raging screams again.

"Kimiko." Raimundo said softly.

Kimiko spun around, fire widely coming out of her hands in the process. Her eyes looked troubled, but when they saw his concerned face, the fire went out as soon as it started, and her eyes went back to the peacefully orbs of sapphire blue. "Rai..." she breathed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"N... Nothing."

"Don't lie Kim. Only someone with something on their mind would use the Sun Chi lantern to go through processes of tragic grass life."

She laughed at the way he put it. He smiled when she laughed... He loved when he made her laugh...

"Raimundo... I can tell you something without you telling anyone else, right?"

"Yeah, course Kim."

"Jack's trying to mess with me... Or, at least was. He said he cared about me... Loved me even... And... He was going out with Kieko!" she cried out, running to him, and sobbing into his chest. "He...He told me...when the ones...I...loved...came back I...abandon the ones who helped me th...through the time!" she cried harder, and he dropped his crutches to cling around her as tight as he could without injuring her ribs and his own injuries.

"Shh... Kim, it's alright..."

"No! No Raimundo... It's not... Jack is turning my best friend against me!"

"Kimiko, I'm sure it's just a harmless fight. She'll get over it. I promise you that..." He tried to sooth. She pushed away and looked into his eyes.

"I appreciate your effort, but I'm going to need to knock some sense into Jack!" she stomped off, knowing she could be much faster than her limping boyfriend. By the time she'd gotton to the Shen Gong Wu vault, the Sun Chi lantern had deactivated. But she didn't have to worry... She knew in the end Raimundo would let her go.

Pulling out the Golden Tiger Claws, she slipped them on just as Raimundo came into the doorway of the now closed vault.

"Kimiko, please don't go..." He warned.

"Or what? Wait until my friend just breaks up with Jack? No way. I'm sorry Raimundo, but I have to go!" she slashed through the air, making a gash, not wanting to hear his reaction, she jumped through.


She crashed onto something soft... Then she smelt the scent of machinery on what her head was resting on. She realized it to be Jack's hair... which meant...

Kimiko jumped up.

He scowled at her.

She glared at him.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly, turning over to face her. She held her petite body off of him as she glared into his eyes.

There was no reply, but rather a trance between the two pairs of eyes, but suddenly, she pulled away. Hauling herself up, she decided to speak. "I want answers."

"Answers to what? Did your boyfriend turn on you, and now you're crawling back to me?"

"No!" she spat, slapping him across the cheek. Tears whelled her already puffy eyes as she slapped him again. Finally, when she moved her hand to slap him again, he grabbed her wrist.

"Right now it's Kimiko - - 2 and Jack - - 0, but that could even our real soon if you don't chill and speak!"

"You're going to hurt her... If you do I swear it I'll-"

"You'll what Kimiko? Kill me? I know you wouldn't be able to do that... I KNOW you wouldn't be able to do that... I know it."

"DON'T AVOID WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY!" She screamed, a fire ball letting loose and hitting a few Jackbots.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about!"

"Yes you do!!!" another one let loose, this time hitting a light, making the glass break.

"Well then call me stupid!" He screamed back.

"YOU BREAK KIEKO'S HEART, YOU DIE REAL FAST, AND REAL SOON! YOU HURT HER IN ANYWAY! YOU'RE DEAD REAL FAST REAL SOON!" she lowered her voice. "You only go out with her for a sake of hurting me, and mine and her's friendship... You die real fast... Real soon. And I honestly mean it Spicer... I honestly do."

"It's my own free will I can do what I wish with it." he said simply, beginning to turn, but a scream errupted from what he thought Kimiko's mouth... But it was his.

Kimiko had thrown a fireball at his arm, and another getting him in the leg, another in the waist, and one on his cheek. She had then pushed him against a wall, not caring what he hit.

"You are now the enimee (sp) Spicer. And I will go full out if you push me to it. You mess with my life, I mess with you're health. That's the way things are going to go. Now, I'm going back to the temple. Texting Kieko a picture of you, asking her if you're the guy she's going out with... And saying it's Jack Spicer. That's the way it's going to go, and if she breaks up with you... You blame yourself. If she doesn't, you better hurry your ass up to break up with her! Or there'll be more burns... Bigger, and harder." the fire raged down in her eyes as she let go of his shirt. She turned around and grabbed the Golden Tiger Claws.

"Be ready for anything Spicer." is all she said, a hint of evil (to Jack) in her voice. Kimiko gashed the air and jumped through into the purple- gray oblivian.

"I intend to be Kimiko..." Jack said, coming out from behind a corner, looking at his selfbot's horrible burns. Even to the metal... He flinched at the thought of HIM actually getting those burns. "And I'm going to fight even you if I have to... Because now I know how to make you mad..."


Kimiko landed in the courtyard where Raimundo was sitting in the grass by the pond. He didn't hear her land, and was simply sitting there, looking at the water.

She walked quietly over to him and sat down, kissing him on the cheek.

When he didn't speak, or even turn, she cocked her head and spoke. "Rai?"

"Yeah Kim?" his lips moved slowly, as if pained.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I was afraid..."

"Of what?" she asked, staring into the water.

There was no answer. She took this time to pick a lily blossom, as she did a few days ago and let it go into the water. Kimiko's sapphire eyes followed the lily, and she knew that Raimundo's were too.

The lily hit something, but only Raimundo looked up to see what it hit.

It was a white swan.

"Kim, look." As soon as Raimundo spoke, it flew away, blending just well enough that Kimiko couldn't see anything.

"What?"

"It was a swan."

"I'm sorry Raimundo..."

"For what?"

"Leaving... After you told me not to..."

"It's okay Kim. But I hope you knocked some sense into him."

"Heh, some first degree burns, a few slaps, and him getting pinned to a wall with some harsh death warnings to him, I think I did enough."

"Knowing Jack, I bet you did."

"I don't know..."

"What?" Raimundo now turned to her, confused.

"He's changed... He's not that same Jack we knew... It's like he's more evil... But now, when I was there, he seemed back to that whimp. It's like a split personality."

"Weird..."

"That's why I don't think it was him."

"What?"

"It wasn't him, It was his Selfbot. I knew it the minute I slapped him. He was there though. As the Selfbot, and I looked at the light that had shattered, I followed, and I saw him hiding... Watching what I was saying. I knew it wasn't him... That's why I just warned."

"No way..." He whispered.

"Yes way..." she smiled and kissed him. They stayed like that, in each other's arms for a while, and then Kimiko suddenly pulled back.

"I have to text Kieko..." she got up in a hurry and ran into one of the many temple buildings.

Raimundo simply sigh, and looked back to the pond to see the swan sitting there again. He chuckled at it, and got up himself.


Kimiko, in the comfort of her own mat, got out her cell phone and pulled up her camera. She hoped sometime with Chase Young, it had taken an auto picture, as her phone did sometimes. Perfect. Luck was on her side. She found a pretty good picture, showing at least his waist up, which was good. She put it on a text and wrote:

Kieko,

Is this the guy you're going out with?

Picture

It's Jack Spicer.

She pressed send to speed #1, and watched it go.

Kimiko waited, and as if on que, a couple minutes later she got a call.

She picked it up. (Italic - Kimiko, Bold Italic - Kieko)

Hello?

Kimiko, I'm so sorry!

It's okay Kieko.

No, no it's not...

Yes, because... I warned Jack... And, this might be good...

How can I help?

Don't break up with him just yet... I'll give you more later, but right now, I have to go...

Kim-

Bye Kieko!

See ya Kim...

Kimiko sigh and hung up. Suddenly Omi came in.

"Kimiko!" he said, so cheerful, it almost scared her.

"Hey Omi..." she smiled.

"What is down?"

"Up?"

"That too!" he put up a finger, and that's when Kimiko noticed he wasn't on crutches. "No crutches anymore?"

"I believe not... Master Fung told me I was mooost welcome to not have crutches for a while, or forever if my leg stopped hurting."

Kimiko laughed. "Forever?"

"Yes! Mooost indeed!"

"Well, what's up Omi?"

"Master Fung wishes of all of us to come see him."

"Okay, I'm coming, you go ahead." She smiled as he ran off with a slight limp.

Kimiko frowned. "Damn you Chase." She got up and walked out of her cubicle.


After everyone settled down infront of Master Fung in the meditation hall, he spoke to them.

"My young monks, do you know what today is?"

"Umm... Febuary 17th?" Raimundo scratched his head.

"Anyone else?"

"20?" Omi asked. Kimiko giggled.

"Anyone else?"

Everyone thought for a moment, but Kimiko answered, "March?"

"You are close Kimiko... Clay?"

His eyes widened. "March for'eenth?"

Master Fung nodded sorrowfully.

"No way!" Kimiko and Raimundo said at once.

"Yes... Kimiko had been gone with Chase longer than anyone knew, Raimundo had lost his memory for longer... Everyone was wounded for longer that it should have taken to heal..." He stopped there, not wanting to shock them anymore.

"So It's been a month?" Kimiko asked.

Master Fung again nodded.

"I will allow you sometime to think this over, on what you have missed, but I expect to see you for training in a half an hour... We must be ready. This war is not over."

As he left, everyone just stared at the door. And after his footsteps faded, they all whipped their heads to look at each other.

"That would mean..." Kimiko started.

"You and Raimundo..." Clay kept going.

"We've been going out for a good three weeks."

"It doesn't make any sense..." Kimiko thought outloud.

"Do you think it is Spicer's and Chase Young's ways of trade of the tricks?" Omi asked.

"That was a very confusing sentence." Kimiko laughed.

"Don't you mean Tricks of the trade?"

"That would make no sense Raimundo!"

Raimundo simply put his hand over his face.

Kimiko went to comfort him, but then her memory began to kick in... It was her dream... A month... after the fight... It was pretty much their month aniversery... It was the day they came to this temple...

Kimiko's dream...It could come true...


Ooo, there is your chapter! Hope you enjoyed it, and so sorry it was very uneventful... And it was craptastic, but that is okay I guess... Because it was leading into the interesting and sorta predictable chapter next... Which, I know I'm excited to write!!! But, not excited to read it over... I mean, you guys read the chapters before, you should all know what's coming... Anywho, hope you liked the chapter, and please review... I know it was crap, but still please review & keep reading. Thanks a million!