Hi guys! I'm sad to say I only have one more chapter to write on this and then its concluded. I'm going to be kinda sad, I think. I really loved writing this. It was one of my favourites. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and that its not too disappointing for all those wanting a happy ending.

I have a suggestion to make when you're almost midway through this chapter that if possible you liste nto Roxette 'It Must Have Been Love'. I don't know, but that song was sort of playing through my head as I wrote this so it might fit the scenes to come.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Visitor

It is always strange what night could do to a person. It is almost as if they change as soon as the moon rises; like some sort of mental werewolf. For some people, their up most fears crawl out from the depths of the shadows to haunt them, or their deepest worries ride to the surface until its all they can think about. Sometimes, people can get their greatest – and worst – ideas under the influence of the moon. Sometimes it can give people the kick start they need to change their lives. For Tala Valkov, all of these things applied. He stared at the luminous orb in the sky, debating wither or not to wish upon one of the many stars in hopes of getting the extra courage he felt he was lacking.

It was funny, really. In two days he was to be inflicted with capital punishment and he wasn't afraid of it. But right now, he was debating wither or not to take his life himself and it scared the hell out of him. Being killed by another was one thing but killing yourself…? The demons in his head had been working overtime for this one. Will he or won't he? Should he or shouldn't he?

Outside of his barred window a glorious shooting star whizzed by the moon. It was an omen and a favourable one, at that. Even if it wasn't a sign, surely the big guy upstairs would understand his confusion? So many things were happening right now it was easy to get lost in your own mind. That was what Tala was. Lost. Lost with no hope of finding the pathway out. Well…there was one route he knew but taking it was suicide in the most literal sense of the word that was possible. But did he really have a choice? Not if he wanted to keep control his own fate. There was no other way about it really, was there? If he remained as he was the bastards would inject him with whatever the hell it is they inject guys with him with and it would be in front of a hateful audience; a gathering of people who'd only met to watch him die. That was something he definitely did not want.

No. He wasn't going to let the bastards kill him. They weren't going to take his life from him. It was his life, not theirs. He would steal the pleasure from them. He would have the last laugh.

Looking around the cell, he didn't have much to work with. His shoelaces had been removed from his trainers: not that they would have done much good, anyway. The only thing was a flimsy bedcover. He lifted it up and examined it carefully. It was light enough to make a noose with and he was pretty sure it was durable enough to hold his weight. There was only one problem. Did he have the guts to do it? Could he kill himself? Well, why not. He'd already killed some one else. Why couldn't he take his own life? Besides, the world loves a trier. He'd have to work quick. The guards monitored death row constantly so check for any attempts on the prisoners' lives. It was quite ironic. They were going to kill them anyway, yet they worried about the prisoners killing themselves. If he wasn't shaking so badly Tala might have laughed out loud at this.

His fingers trembled as he tried to make a knot around the noose that was just big enough to go around his neck and tighten with the weight of his body. To add to his difficulty, the light being supplied by his good buddy the moon was pretty bad, barely enough for him to see his fingers before his face. Still, he managed. He made a noose that was pretty sturdy considering it was made by an amateur in the dark. The other problem remaining now was wither or not the bars on the window were high enough up for him to dangle from. He stood with his back against the wall and put his hand above his head against it to mark his place. He studied were his hand was position and saw there was not much between than and the window. Maybe not enough. But, the world loves a trier, to use repetition.

He was aware of a sudden feeling of coldness. It completely took over his body as his tied his makeshift roped around the solid bars of the window. It was as if his body was trying to make one last defence against the madness in his mind that had grown until it completely controlled him. But that was okay. It was fine. If he wasn't at least a little bit insane he probably would be in bed trying to sleep for the night instead of being awake trying to sleep forever.

One sharp tug tested the sheet's endurance and Tala was pretty confident that it was suffice. He got onto his bed and put the noose around his neck. He had to stretch it a little, but that was a good sign. This was probably going to work. Now that he was ready, did he do a countdown or did he just fall? It didn't matter anyway since his body – intentional or not, he wasn't sure – slipped forward and he fell of his bed. For on horrifying moment he thought his feet were going to touch the ground but then he realised no. He was fine. There was barely a centimetre leeway between his big toe and the cold concrete floor but it was all he needed. He could feel the life seeping out of him as he struggled for air. The noose was getting tighter and tighter around his throat and it felt magnificent. It felt like what he imagined freedom did. In his head, he could hear his heartbeat slow down until it seemed as if an eternity had passed before the last thudump.

The door at the far end of the corridor opened and Tala felt like laughing again. The guard had come to check on his watches but he was going to be too late. Tala had won. Tala had beaten them all. There was no way the bastards were going to decided his fate. No way.

As the last of his life seeped out of him, he knew this was the proof. In dying, he was going to be free.

Kai woke up in a cold sweat, panting hard. He looked at the aluminous clock that hung on the wall outside his cell and saw it was half past one in the morning. He had been woken up from a nightmare, except it felt so real he wasn't sue if it actually was. He hadn't seen anything, no really. But he had felt it. It was as a rope had been tied around his throat and the more he tried to free himself the tighter it became until he could barely breathe at all. The only thing he was aware of seeing with the moon and he remembered thinking how he was free now that he'd drawn his terminal breath.

It was at that point he'd woken up and a soon as he did he'd felt an indescribable feeling of loss wash over him and he was almost certain he knew what it was. The one thing he was sure of was that he was now on his own.

With that thought still on his mind he went back to a patchy sleep.

It didn't feel like long before he was woken up again only this time it wasn't the harsh bell that awoke him from his slumber but the gentle hand of Stephen who looked like he was carrying the wait of the world on his shoulder. Slowly, he let his eyes adjust to the bright light of the sun which shone directly into his cell and then looked at him, still tired from his restless night before.

"I've got some bad news," Stephen began and bit his lip. "It's about Tala. Last night he-"

"Hung himself in his cell." Stephen looked surprised but Kai just smiled sadly. "Yeah I got a wake up call around one thirty and I assumed that's what it was. Kind of had that feeling where I'm all alone now. But whatever. I mean tomorrow I'm going to be dead, right? What does it matter wither I die alone or not?"

Stephen felt a strange sensation of paternal love for Kai but rid himself of it as soon as he could. It wouldn't do to develop a fatherly relationship with a prisoner on death row. "Actually, you might not be as alone as you think. You have a visitor waiting on you. A girl, if that's any help. She says she knows you well. She also asked me to ask you how Alex and Paul are doing, whatever the hell that means."

Kai felt his mood lighten considerably, and that was the understatement of the century. Now it didn't matter if he died tomorrow. So long as he got to see Hilary again and know that she didn't wish him dead too, he could die happily. Well, as happily as some one could whose life was being cruelly ripped from them before they'd even had a chance to live. But to see her face again, that happy, smiling face and those ruby eyes that seemed to sparkle when she smiled or laughed. He could barely contain his excitement. It was like being a kid at Christmas on the inside.

With Stephen waiting outside to escort him, Kai quickly pulled on his overalls – bright orange ones that he supposed would deter any escapees seeing as how they would be spotted a mile away – and felt glad he'd been allowed to take a shower the night before. God knew the smell of unclean men in here would put anyone off committing a crime.

"Come on Romeo," Stephen said fondly. "Your damsel's waiting for you. And if I do say so myself, she's quite the looker."

Hilary was already sitting in the visitor's room behind the glass screen with the phone already held between her ear and her shoulder, biting her nails nervously. Kai noticed as he sat down they'd been bitten down to the quick. They were red and sore looking but she didn't seem to feel the pain. She just looked at him with a strange emotion in her eyes. It was almost love but not quite. Kai imagined he was probably looking at her in the same way.

He picked up the phone. "Hi…"

"Hi…" She said back and Kai could see there were now tears in her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and smiled. "God, I don't know why I came here. I…was at the trial thingy and I thought you'd get a prison sentence or something and I thought, well, I'll wait for you to come out or see you in prison and I don't know. Maybe we could have had something…?" She shrugged and looked so vulnerable that Kai just wanted to hold her and kiss her tears away. Her tear filled eyes rose up and met his. "I don't know. So I thought that maybe I shouldn't come and see you in case it made you regret tomorrow or something. Or maybe it won't and you're laughing in my face for being so naive."

Kai shook his head softly. "I'm not laughing."

"Well anyway, I decided I had to come and see you. I had to let you know I'm not mad at you. I understand and I believe you. But no one else seems to…"

"I'm so glad you're here," Kai said and put a hand on top of the glass window. Hilary did the same. "Tala hung himself last night. I was all alone before you came. It's good to know I don't have to do this by myself."

"No, I'll be here. I promise." The tears were streaming down her face now. It was so tender in its innocent beauty. "And you'll be glad to know I finally took your advice. I went back home. I never knew how much my parents really did miss me. There were a lot of tears when I returned and I lot of regrets. Mostly on their part. But its made them realise now to let me do what I want to do with my life. They know now that I'm not just a silly girl with dreams. I know what I want to do with my future. Its sort or sad how there's a part of what I want that I know I can never have…" She looked back at Kai and smiled. "I wish we'd had more time."

Kai felt his heart become heavier as he felt the urge to kiss her and knew he never could. Even to hold her hand would be enough but he couldn't. This was a worse punishment than death. He wondered how long she would remember him for with nothing but memories to go by.

"I wish we did too and it's great that you're getting your life back on track. If me and Tala have done you wrong, at least we helped you to sort out your future, even if we were only the catalysts."

"You were more than the catalyst. You always will be." Now the emotion in her eyes was clear. It was the pure, raw love that only someone young could possess. It was the most powerful of all as it was the least understood. "What will I be to you?"

"My biggest regret. I regret we couldn't have had something more. Things got in the way."

"It was almost love, wasn't it?" Hilary asked, smiling sadly. She had regret too. She felt like she wanted to live the rest of her life with this man, but there was no way that could happen. That was a bitter truth she'd have to carry with her always. When she got married and started a family, she'll have to live with the fact her husband was always going to be her second choice.

"I think it was almost," Kai smiled back at her. "But no matter what happens, I'm always going to be with you. I swear to God I will. You're going to live on without me and I want you to do it with a smile on your face. Your life shouldn't be over just because mine is. I mean, we barely know each other."

"But it was enough."

"It was…"

They looked at each other and Kai saw how better groomed Hilary seemed to be now she was living with her parents. The black trousers she was wearing and the open necked shirt were of the expensive kind but Kai imagined that was more her mother's input than her own. Her hair had been cut but not a lot. Her chocolate brown bangs were still long enough to frame her face but they were noticeably tidier. She was also wearing make up – a small amount, albeit. A flush of rouge on her cheeks, a flick of mascara on her eyelashes and a red lipstick on her lips. In the air there was the aroma of expensive perfume which Kai labelled as a Chanel. These things weren't really Hilary but they were a part of her life now, just as he would always be.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, that shyness returning.

"Just at how beautiful you look."

She burst out laughing and some of the wardens looked at them suspiciously. "And there's me thinking I'd found someone who doesn't believe in corny stuff. I have to say Alex, I'm disappointed. I mean Kai. God, that's so confusing."

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true," Kai said, joining in her laughter.

Stephen put a hand on Kai's shoulder apologetically and squeezed it lightly. "Sorry, son, but time's almost up. You'd better finish."

Tears were beginning to form in Hilary's eyes again and Kai felt his heart break. Those tears were for him. She was crying for his sake. To him it felt both touching and remorseful.

"I'll be there tomorrow," she said, nodding as the streams trickled down her cheeks. "I'll be with you tomorrow so you're not alone. You don't have to die alone. Not anymore."

"Hilary…"

"I think I might love you, Kai." A small smile twanged at her lips but didn't quite make the journey. "I might, but we'll never truly know, will we?"

"I guess we won't."

She took her hand away from the window and curled her fingers against her chest. "I'm not going to say goodbye. I won't ever say goodbye."

With a final sweep of tears across her cheeks, Hilary stood up to leave. She was halfway across the room when Kai shouted on her: "I know I love you." He wasn't sure if she would be able to hear him but he had to try anyway. God knew he had to try. She turned around to face him with a sad smile on her face and then carried on.

Kai wasn't sure if she'd heard him or not but there was something in her eyes that told him even if she hadn't heard him, she'd certainly felt it. For Kai, that meant everything. Nothing else matter. Not Garnet, not Tala, not death. Only that Hilary knew what he felt for her was as close to love as he could possibly ever hope to know.

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