Chapter 14- Going Home

They awoke slowly to the callings of their comrades, their minds not wanting to give themselves up to the gentle persuasions of day. Tyson moaned, shifting against the hard ground, but he was unable to move in the direction he was trying to go due to a bulk that lay before him. His eyes opened groggily, and he found himself staring into the, now awakening, face of his love. He blushed madly, and pulled away from her, getting himself into an upright position. He heard a giggle, and noticed, again, his friends and what had become of them.

Xyana had a mermaid-like tail with scales that shimmered dark blue in the sun, with fangs three inches long, and claws that looked like they could cut anything with ease. Kai was similar, as was who he assumed to be Aryana in the corner opposite himself, except that she had jade-toned scales, and Kai's were a bright gold like the mark that was bared upon his chest. His glance, when it landed on Xyana's mark, though, was scared, worried… maybe even a little anxious. It was a horrific thing, the skin tainted green and trailing off in jade tendrils, the sapphire and blood-red tones of the jewels themselves sparkling darkly in the morning sun… it was just plain freaky. He noticed the look on Hilary's face, and it told him that she was thinking the same things.

"Hey, Tyson, chill, ok? It's not like we're completely out-of-control feral or anything," Kai joked, receiving a strange look from the boy. Since when did Kai joke? When it was actually supposed to be funny instead of just being sarcasm? "Don't worry, I haven't completely lost my mind; just a few dozen of my worries."

"EEEIIIYYI!!!"

The sudden exclamation made everyone jump as they realized that dear Maxie had finally woken up, and the poor thing had gotten the shock of his life; after all, waking up in a girl's lap was freakish enough, but this girl just happened to be a fully transformed siren. Such a thing would scare anybody witless! Aryana rubbed her temples.

"Oh, sure, that's the thanks I get for keeping you from freezing to death last night!" she grumbled. It need not be told that the emerald-scaled siren-child was not a morning person. Xyana and Kai let loose a couple of raucous laughs at her reaction.

"Ummm… guys? Where's Grandpa?" Tyson asked suddenly, his worried glance roaming over the camp. They too began searching for the man. Kai pulled himself away from the stone wall and lifted his wings, and with a single swift movement he was airborne, Aryana and Xyana behind him. It was only a few minutes later that the youngest of the three found the old man's footprints pressed deep into the snow.

"It looks like he's heading for the city!" she called back to her compadres. "He's trying to get us a way home!"

"Well, there's only one problem with that," Kai said, his eyes dancing merrily, much to their surprise. "We can't hide our blood at the moment, and water doesn't thaw very fast when the temperatures are below freezing!"

The entire group had to laugh. He was being funny and the voice of reason all at the same time, and that had never happened before! Kai was so different now… he was more at ease with them than ever before. It was a wonderful sight.

"So what do you propose we do?" Tyson asked of him, cocking a playful brow. The siren prince shrugged.

"Dunno. Maybe you should walk to town, find Grandpa and catch the next flight headed for Tokyo. We could keep up, couldn't we Xyana?" he queried, turning to the girl. She nodded.

"Sure. We can fly up to the speed of light. It'll be a walk in the park to just follow a jetliner across the continent." She suddenly noticed that the entire group, including Kai, was gaping at her.

"The… speed of LIGHT?" Rei shrieked. Her sensitive ears rung with the sound of shock in his voice, and she tried to sooth them. Her annoyed glance did nothing to falter his own of wonderment.

"Yes, the speed of light. And please don't screech like that; I can hear you just fine when your voice is at the norm," she replied irritably. His wonderment left him, and he smiled sheepishly. Kai's own ears caught something, though.

"Xyana! Aryana! Let's jet!" he called to them. It took only a moment for his words to register and they took the shortest route to cover: straight up about seven hundred feet. Though with their heightened senses, they could still hear and observe what was happening below.

"Hey there, my peeps!" Grandpa Kinomiya called cheerfully as he leapt from the door of the airport bus. "Let's get move on before we miss our flight! Whaddaya say?"

He cast a glance around for the other three that he thought would be with his grandson, but when he didn't see them he turned back into the bus, which they had boarded during his scan of the area. Xyana motioned to Kai and her sister, and they perched themselves on the top of the bus, wrapping their crystallized wings about themselves to become undetectable to anything or anyone.

Xyana had been right. Following the intercontinental jet was a walk in the park. Or, in their case, a flight in the park. Aryana whooped loudly as she did loop-d-loops around the plane's body, careful to stay away from the view of the cockpit. Her sister sighed and rolled her eyes as the girl darted in and out of the clouds, soaring up and then taking a plunge for a couple hundred feet before catching herself and gliding for a short distance, then jetting up and doing it all over again. Kai was getting tired just watching her.

"C'mon, Aryana, stop wasting your energy!" her elder sister called to her. Kai looked at her and rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing telling her to stop wasting her energy for? Why don't you tell her to stop wasting mine!" he laughed, and she joined him, understanding his implication as the third of their group started flying alongside them, a pout firmly in place.

"You're no fun!" she complained, which only succeeded in making the two laugh harder. Kai wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Sorry. It's not my fault!" he replied, relaxing and allowing himself to be surrounded by the wind's currents. His wings had thawed somewhat, but not enough for him to hide his sirenic features. The same could be said for Aryana and Xyana. The winds wrapped around him gently, and the clouds flowed past his shoulders. He was going home.

Kikile… kumonitue. Ku ni moni tue eterita. Kau… ite kiys sai.

Home… it would never be home as long as she was gone. But… somehow… he knew she would return.

~Owari~

(Trs: Kikile... I love you. I will love you forever. Please... wait for me.)

AN: OKAY! At any rate, this is the end of The Siren! Thanks so much to those of you who offered your support (again) for this story (repost)! ^~; As nutsy as it is, this story was originally intentioned to have a sequel, which is probably not ever going to get done, though we won't guarantee anything. If I find subs of Beyblade or scans of the manga... you may get lucky. If you can get me fangirling again, a sequel will be quite probable. At any rate, thanks for your support! My current fandoms are mostly shojo series like Harukanaru Toki no Nakade and Inuyasha, but I also write for Naruto, so please, read my other (better/more recent) stuff too!

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