Nika felt Kai start to get up and quickly reached out to grab his hand. "Please… Don't go…" she said in a small, almost desperate voice.

Kai's breath caught in his chest when he heard her and he froze as her hand clasped his wrist. He turned his head a little and looked at her. Her eyes were wide and wet with unshed tears and she stared at him pleadingly. Kai took a deep breath and sat back down. He moved up the bed and shoved some of the pillows aside so that he could sit with his back on the headboard. "Ok. I wont." he said as he pulled the comforter over his legs. "I'm not going anywhere tonight… I promise."

Nika watched him get settled and immediately felt much more relaxed. As soon as he sat quietly, she moved to his side and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." she said.

Kai lightly draped his arm around the girl. "No problem. I know what it's like to not want to be alone."

"That's kinda funny because you usually give off the vibe that you do want to be alone." Nika said.

"Yeah, well it wasn't always that way. It's something that I learned over the years. It's easier to be alone when that's what you want. When you're forced to be alone but it's the last thing you want, it'll drive you insane over time."

Nika pulled her head off Kai's shoulder and looked at him. His eyes were staring across the room, unfocused like he was remembering something from a long time ago. "Hey, you still with me?" she asked him lightly.

He blinked. "Hm? Oh, yeah sorry."

Nika let her head rest on him again as they both became lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Kai broke the silence. "So what were you so upset about anyway? I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but sometimes it helps to let it out."

Nika shifted uncomfortably. "I… uhh… it was nothing. Just a bad dream, that's all."

"I kinda figured that with you crying in your sleep and everything. What was the dream about?"

Nika remained silent for a while. When she did finally speak, her voice was so soft and quite that Kai had a hard time hearing her. "My parents. I was dreaming about the day they died."

Kai shifted a little. "I'm sorry. When did they die?"

"About a year ago."

"How?"

"Plane crash." she answered shortly.

Kai sensed her discomfort and decided that he probably shouldn't pry. "I'm sorry." he said again.

Nika shrugged a little. "It's ok. It's not like it's your fault." She paused then muttered something under her breath.

Kai picked up on what she said and looked at her. "Did you just say it's your fault?"

"Yeah…"

"Why would you say that?"

"Because its true! If it wasn't for me, they wouldn't have been on that plane and - " she choked back a sob. "They weren't supposed to leave that day but they changed their plans because of me."

Kai tilted his head a little. "What do you mean?"

Nika let out a shaky sigh. "I got into an argument with them over some vacation plans they had made. I didn't want to go with them and we got into this huge fight. They decided to leave early on their private jet to get away from my bitching at them. Can't say that I blamed them… I was being a real snot about it. Anyway, something happened with the navigation system in the plane and it went down. There were no survivors."

Kai sat silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I just cant help but think that if we went when they originally planned, they would still be here with me. Its my fault that they left when they did. Its my fault they died…" she trailed off.

Kai tightened his arm around her. "Hey, don't think like that. It's not all your fault. They decided to do something, and there was nothing you could have done to change that. Sure, your actions may have helped push them into making the decision that they did, but it was still theirs to make. Don't blame yourself… it's not healthy."

Nika pulled away from him slightly so she could look at him. "You know you're the first person to say that to me."

"Hm?"

"Most people tell me none of it was my fault. And that only makes it worse. I know that what happened was partly my fault, having people tell me it wasn't just makes me even more depressed. You actually understand what I'm feeling and you're not afraid to tell me what's on your mind."

Kai smiled a little. "Like I said before, I'm not nice enough to tell you lies to make you happy."

"Well, thank you...for being honest."

"No problem. Do you feel any better?"

"Yes, much." she paused. "Ya know, you should show this side of you more often. It's definitely more appealing than that "Ice King" façade you walk around with all the time. Why do you act that way anyway?"

Kai frowned. "It's… easier I guess."

"Easier? What do you mean by that?"

Kai shook his head. "I don't know. It sounds stupid but I guess it's almost like…" he paused, searching for the right words. "It's like a mask… something that you can hide behind. Plus it's the way I was raised. When I showed too much emotion, it was considered a weakness and that was unacceptable. But regardless of that, sometimes it's easier to hide who you really are than to let everyone in… it hurts too much when things don't work out."

"You should never have to hide who you are Kai." Nika said softly. She tilted her chin up so she could look him in the eye. "I mean it." As Kai turned to look at her, she felt her breath catch in her chest. He was the only person she had ever know who could do that to her. There was just something about him…he really was one of a kind.

When Kai looked at her he could feel his pulse quicken. Once again, his hormones were taking over, and before his rational side could kick in he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the girls lips.

Somewhere in the back of him mind, Kai was aware that he probably shouldn't be doing this, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. He was sick and tired of playing this game of denying his true feeling. For once, he was just going to do what he wanted. Besides, it was probably the last time he was even going to be able do this. After the tournament, it was all over…

He could tell that Nika hadn't expected the kiss… she hesitated a little before she started kissing him back, but soon they were both lost in the bliss of it all. Kai stated to let his hands roam over her body and she moaned softly whenever he touched a particularly sensitive spot on her skin. Pretty soon she started to explore his body as well. She lifted one hand up and ran it through his two-toned hair as her other hand slid under his shirt.

Kai's breath hitched a little when Nika's hand glided down his torso and settled on the waistband of his pants. He pulled away from the kiss and tugged Nika's shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor before his lips came crashing back to hers. Nika matched the force of his lips with hers as she pulled on his hair again, deepening the kiss even more.

Kai felt Nika start to pull on his shirt and broke the kiss again so he could take it off. He then pushed her back and rolled over so he was leaning over her. He paused slightly though as he looked down at her. His rational side was trying to kick in again and it was actually starting to override his hormones. Nika noticed his hesitation.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently as she played with his hair.

He shook his head. "Nothi-" He was abruptly cut off in the middle because Nika had pulled him down into another kiss. He groaned as one of her hands started to toy with the waistband of his pants, inching them lower on his hips. She had also bent one of her legs and was rubbing it gently on his inner thigh. She pulled away from the kiss and looked up at him.

"Ok, good. Do you want to stop?" she asked.

Kai smirked. "Hell no!" He quickly slid her pants down before he could change his mind.

Kai woke up around 8:00AM tangled in the bed sheets. Glancing to the right, he saw that Nika was still sleeping soundly, a content smile on her lips. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Sure, last night had been fun, but he was already starting to regret sleeping with the her. He had seriously messed up his whole plan for breaking off everything with the girl and the team.

"Damnit…" he muttered as he untangled himself from the sheets and got out of the bed. He found his pants on the floor under Nika's red satin bra. He picked both items up and pulled his pants on, placing the bra on the bed. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a small bottle of Vodka he had been able to smuggle in. He twisted the cap off and took a gulp, then almost choked on it in surprise when there was a soft knock on his door. Looking out, he saw Tala standing there, a slightly worried expression on his face.

Totally forgetting about how he looked, Kai quickly opened the door. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Where have you - whoa!" Tala was looking past Kai into the room. Kai turned to see what he was staring at and flushed bright red. Nika was still sleeping, but she had rolled over, giving the boys a great view of her naked ass.

Tala looked at Kai and arched an eyebrow at his disheveled appearance. "Uhhh…. Well that explains why I couldn't find you training this morning."

"Shut up Ivanov." Kai grumbled as took another swig of Vodka. He turned back into the room and grabbed the key card and his shirt off the floor. He pulled the shirt over his head as he walked out of the room. He wanted to talk to Tala without the red-head gawking at the girl in his bed.

Tala caught Kai's hand before it was able to pull the shirt all the way down. "She's a little rough huh?" he asked, pointing to the long, red, nail marks in his back and chest.

Kai jerked his hand away and finished pulling the shirt down. "None of your fucking business." he said.

Tala chuckled and shook his head. "You are so fucked up Hiwatari. Seriously though, did you have fun?" he asked annoyingly.

Kai growled under his breath. "Don't push me Tala."

"Fine fine! Sorry!" Tala held his hand up in front of him in mock surrender.

"Hn. Whatever. Did you need me for something?"

"Not really. Just got kinda concerned when I didn't see you around this morning. Thought you might have gone all emo or something after what happened yesterday. Plus Rei was looking for you. I think he was a little worried too."

"Well, now that you found me you can leave. And you can tell Rei that I'm fine and that he better have Tyson up and ready to go by 10:30." Kai turned back towards his room and swiped the card in the door. He opened it and walked back in the room.

"Hey! I'm not your errand boy!" Tala said indignantly. "You wanna tell Rei something, do it yourse-"

Kai shut the door in his face mid-sentence.

Tala just stood there for a few moments, then he shook his head. "Real nice Kai…" he muttered as he walked off to find Rei. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

Well, this was something new for me… my first 'kinda' love scene. Please lemme know how I did? I've never tried to write a love scene before so I'm sure it could have been better. Reviews? Thanks!