Interlude?! After all that crap, waffling about, prelims taking up two ruddy chapters, she writes an interlude?!

I know, I know! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…I'm really slowly getting back into it. Like really slowly. Hell slow. It annoys me too!

I'm sort of writing without 'rhyme or reason', but that's what crazy story writers do, right?

It'll make sense where it matters (ie at the end). XD

It's a little bit short, this chapter, but the next one's longer. And please bear in mind that I uploaded everything I typed straight from scratch, which means that I haven't done any editing; I hate that, but like I said, I'm One Of Those Impatient Ones. )

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Interlude

Liliana woke suddenly the next morning, her eyes flying open and seeing the soft snow-light creeping in from a gap in her curtains. She sat up and swung her legs out of bed. As she stood, several things struck her: one, that she had taken the first step towards the fulfilment of a dream; two, that her whole body hurt as though she had been tossed around in a tumble-dryer; and three – that it was eight-thirty.

There was a knock on her door. "Liliana," a familiar voice called, though she couldn't place it; her mind was slightly fuzzy from sleep, "we're waiting for you downstairs. School today!"

With a gasp she flew about, getting ready with the speed and efficiency that only the most incredible of girls can achieve; and in ten minutes flat she arrived, out of breath and lightly flushed, at the foot of the curving stairs that led to the large stone lobby where the boys were waiting – and, to her surprise, Chris and Kai. They all looked at her blankly. She blushed a little more.

What? She shrugged.

"I knocked on your door about…" Chris consulted her watch, "…ten minutes ago. Eleven, tops. How on earth did you get down here so quickly?"

It was Liliana's turn to look blank, and she mimed getting dressed, her eyebrows raised so high that they almost disappeared behind her bangs. To the girls' surprise, the boys gave a sudden united snort of laughter. Under Chris's ferocious glare, however, they subsided and forced their faces back into their usual expressions.

"Liliana," said Tala, obviously grappling with the steadiness of his voice. "You've got to remember that Chris isn't like other girls when it comes to being quick, polite, waking up, cooking, dressing… in fact, anything that's remotely girlish…" he glanced at the girl in question with a teasing glint in his eye; Kai looked perilously close to laughing; even Bryan was smirking mildly. She narrowed her eyes, tilted her chin in the air and tapped Liliana's arm.

"Come, Liliana," she said in a mock haughty voice, "let's go."

Liliana had to work hard to suppress a smile; she could see Chris's eyes were dancing as they opened the doors and headed out into the cold air, scarves wrapped securely around their throats.

"Well done for yesterday," she said, smiling and nodding. "You and Bryan really were excellent."

So were you.

"But me and Kai have been working together for…what, two years now?" Chris countered. "You only just started working in a tag-team. It's great, isn't it?"

Nodding, Liliana twined her fingers together. We're brother and sister.

"Yeah, I suppose that counts for some," laughed her companion as they turned in at the school gates.

That day was a strange one for Liliana. Instead of being an object of curiosity and moderate levels of tolerance owing to her being the sister of the taciturn school celebrity, she was suddenly the centre of attention. Girls and boys from the younger years weren't afraid to cluster around her asking questions and begging autographs, photos, handshakes; even the year above looked interested as she passed them by, and not a few older boys were giving her sidelong glances – though the presence of a certain tall, good-looking redhead who always seemed to be near her dispelled any notions of making any move.

Liliana got to her seat for her Chemistry class before lunch, looking rather flustered and not a little annoyed. Chris, her lab-partner, grinned. "Experiencing the celebrity status? How do you find it?"

Liliana rummaged until she found paper and pen.

Terrible. Was it like this for you?

"Yup, just as bad," said Chris cheerily, dumping her pencil case on the table. "Kai was being a Tala for me."

What do you mean?

Chris shrugged. "He was just…there. Around. He didn't let me out of his sight." Her face darkened into seriousness for a slight second. "It's not so bad in the preliminaries, but he's been here longer than I have, and now I know why. Things get a bit tough in this school when it's involved in tournaments, particularly as there're so many good bladers. Anything could happen."

Anything? Liliana's eyes were sharp. Explain.

Chris looked at her shrewdly, then opened her mouth, just as the teacher rapped on the desk for silence and the class began. "Later," Chris mouthed, and settled down to her work.

After school Chris wasn't to be found anywhere, so Liliana decided to ask her again the next day, and walked home as usual through the snow with Tala, Bryan and Kai. Just as they passed the school gates, a group of teenagers turned their heads and two or three yelled various sneering comments.

"You too scared to blade in the tournament, Valkov?"

"Where's your voice, mute?"

"And where's your girlfriend Kai?"

Kai walked past, completely unperturbed, though Tala's blue eyes were glinting dangerously, and he made a move as if to turn around. Liliana thought about the sting the remark must have had for him; Tala was the last one to be scared about joining a tournament.

"Keep walking Valkov," said Kai almost lazily, as Bryan prodded the redhead in the back so they were walking ahead. Liliana's sensitive ears caught part of Tala's words as he protested.

"What? They were insulting her, there's no way…" his voice faded out of her hearing range, but she read agitation and anger in his body language as he strode down the pavement, his long legs seeming to want to get rid of excess energy. She flushed and ignored the strange little wondering feeling that struck her then, and turned to Kai to avert her mind. She raised her eyebrows and held open her hands. Kai blinked, grey eyes confused. Sighing, Liliana made cat-ears with her fingers and wiggled them on top of her head. No boy she'd ever met had the intuition that Chris seemed to have for reading her body language; she was incredibly sharp at it, and it made her wonder. No boy, that is, apart from Bryan of course and…well… yes, and Tala. She momentarily thought about the times she had to re-explain herself to him, and realised that she never had. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kai.

"Oh, where's Chris you mean?"

She nodded. A slight smile turned the corners of his mouth.

"She's working."

Liliana raised her eyebrows a little higher. Where?

"At home," replied Kai a little vaguely. "Not homework. I mean what she does to earn money."

Liliana wanted to ask what it was Chris did, but after several fruitless tries at trying to make her companion understand, she gave up, rolling her eyes. Bryan was too far ahead to call back, and besides, she was low on energy due to constant running away that day from all her new-found fans. For a singularly intelligent guy, Kai seemed to be quite slow at it. She resolved to tell Chris when she next saw her; this was, she knew, perfect blackmail material for her lively friend, who was constantly endeavouring to make Kai embarrassed or annoyed. Five out of ten times she succeeded.

They neared the gates of Valkov Abbey, and Liliana made a decision. She wanted to know what Chris was talking about earlier in Chemistry, and she was curious about her friend's profession; so she tugged Bryan's sleeve and communicated what she wanted to do.

"Kai," said Bryan, slightly surprised, "she wants to go home with you to see Chris."

Tala stopped on the top step and glanced discreetly at the girl at the words 'Kai' and 'home'. Her face was unreadable, as always.

"Fine by me," said Kai, shrugging. "It's not far away. I'll drop her back when she's done."

"I'll pick her up," said Tala suddenly. They all turned and stared at him. He blinked and rapidly back-tracked. "I…um…wanted to talk to you about something, Kai, I might as well…"

"You could come with us now," Kai offered, his tone casual, but his grey eyes suddenly lightening into something that entered the realms of sly teasing.

"No, I've got work to do," returned Tala abruptly, then turned on his heel and disappeared into the Abbey.

"See you later," said Bryan, looking at his sister, realising that until now, he hadn't been this far away from her since she arrived. And before that…well. They had been miles apart. She nodded, and gave him a reassuring glance, before setting off down the road with Kai. Bryan watched until they turned the corner, then went indoors to find Tala, who was indeed at his desk seemingly working heart and soul at an essay. The redhead glanced up.

"You look worried, Bryan."

"I'm not worried," he shrugged, then wondered why he was there. He turned to go, but before the door had completely closed behind him, he said, "Tala. That was really strange of her."

"Why?" Tala paused in his writing and looked at him.

"Because…" Bryan frowned. "She's never asked to go to visit a friend before. I think…" Tala gazed at him closely, and realised that the worried expression was actually honest, almost happy puzzlement. "I think she's settling down. She's happy here. I would never have believed that she could still feel like she does now, not with the way I messed things up years back…"

"Bryan," said Tala, smirking, "I can't believe you're actually sounding emotional here."

Bryan snorted and said, "Not likely." Then he slammed the door and returned to his own room, a smile on his face.

Interlude II is written, will be uploaded asap!

Aw Tala, bless his heart.