"No one bites back as hard on their anger, all my pain and woe can't show through" -The Who, Behind Blue Eyes

This thing is stretching out WAY longer than I intended. Sorry for the late updates, there was school, then I was on a OrochiKabu fetish, and my account was BROKEN! not to mention I just got back into JTHM. But it isn't like you were dying to see this, right?

Raimundo is going to kill me for this.

Sleep is a blessing and a curse. It whiles away the empty hours and gives you new strength, provides relief even. But upon awakening, all that you have experienced is left in confusion, and reality is hard to separate from dreams.

BAM!

Rocks and rubble went flying from all directions, and I was jerked out of my nap. I didn't even have enough time to feel guilty about sleeping on the job. More rocks came tumbling down, and I scooted away from the entrance so I wouldn't get crushed, it would be way too ironic to die just as I was about to be saved.

"KIMI!!!" came from just behind the blockage. We were saved! I lit up a fire, because it was still rather dark.

"Raimundo!" I called back. This was great! We really were saved! A whole weight of worry I didn't even realize was there suddenly dissipated. I had to wake up Jack-

Jack

Oh. No. Now I was really confused. I remembered... well, I remembered being forward, embarrassingly so, now that it was over.

But I couldn't be sure. It had been such a relief to sort everything out! What if it was only a dream? I didn't think that I could say the same things as I had then, swept away in the moment. If it was only a dream and I woke him... I'd be back to square one. I didn't think I could deal with that.

"Jack... I have to know," I said softly, as rocks continued to fall from the pile behind me.

I tiptoed over to where he was sleeping, snoring a bit, but actually pretty cute, and I tapped his shoulder.

"Hey! Jack! Wake up!" I whispered urgently.

"Nooooo..." he moaned "I don't wanna wake up..." and then I shook him as hard as I could.

He sat up groggily, eyes still closed "D'ya mind? I was having the coolest dream about Kimi-" He opened his eyes and looked at me "...ko... crap."

"Hi Jack" I forced a smile "They're breaking us out"

"Um... I don't really know how to ask you this..." he said hesitantly.

A surge of hope shot through me "A dream?" I asked, silently begging for a yes.

"Yeah!" his eyes lit up. "About you! You asked me... asked me..."

"To come back with me?" I finished. Oh, thank God, or Buddha or whoever was in charge of these things.

"S... so it was real?" he asked, a bit dazed.

"Yes!" I very nearly shouted, "It was real! Everything is fixed! We have our plans figured out, The guys are currently about to rescue us and..." Oops, I thought, there's that dark cloud again.

"What?" he asked, confused now.

"The guys... it's a good idea, and I think they'll be okay with it- Omi especially, I know he likes you- but what about... y'know... us?"

"Oh" he snapped out of the happy mood "I dunno what they'll think of that... and Rai, he sorta likes you... right?"

"Uh," was about all I could say. We'd never really confronted that issue. I know he liked me at least a little, but that didn't stop him from flirting with every pretty girl we saw, and I ... well, it's not that I didn't like him, it was just that he'd never said anything. And I never led him on.

"...Um... it's not like we're going out. If he has a problem, that's not my fault" And that was about all I could say.

"So how do you want to break it to them?" He asked me.

Well, I wasn't about to let him do it, I was imagining some bragging and a couple dozen "Check it and weep baby!" 's, which were probably not the best plan.

"I'll do it," I offered hurriedly "I'll just play it by ear... plans aren't my strong point."

And then the blockage fell apart. The bits and pieces went rolling at us, and I shoved Jack out of the way. The momentum sent us rolling and I ended up under him, but out of the way at least. That's a plus.

But, of course, Raimundo just had to come in at that moment, before we could disentangle. Why don't things ever work out?

"HEY!" He shouted, "You get off Kim, NOW!"

Jack jumped off like he was shot, and I sort of laughed nervously. "Um, no, that's not... It's not what you think..." I looked at him hopelessly.

"Oh yeah? How's that?" He cocked a brow at me and crossed his arms.

"Well, it's simple... I, uh, I asked him out" I smiled a little, and Rai nearly fell over- Clay had to catch him.

"Kim, you sure you know what you're sayin'?" the cowboy asked as he stood Rai back up. "I mean, he's a pretty slippery little varment, are'ya sure you aren't just suff'ren from oxygen deprivation?"

Well, at least he wasn't fainting. "Pretty sure..."

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Rai shouted, wobbling a bit, "This jerk brainwashed Kimi- or something. Sure, I'm willing to make allowances 'cause I've seen the crap he's been through, but c'mon! This is Jack! J-A-C-K! Have you lost your minds?"

I stood there while he huffed, processing the last few sentences. "Rewind," I said, "What do you mean 'I've seen'? What are you talking about?" I crossed my arms and waited.

"Eheh... um, while we were waiting for Dojo," Dojo gave a little wave "We... uh... watched Jacks life in the book of Exedon" He looked down like a preschooler caught stealing stickers.

Jack jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at my friend "You mean you losers invaded my personal history and ... looked at it?!?" He sounded pretty mad, but as expected, this was not the most eloquent accusation. I shook my head and walked over to the guys.

"Raimundo, Clay, Omi," I laid my hand on the Texan's shoulder "Seriously, guys, just listen for a minute. I have a plan and if you'd just listen for a minute..."

Does it suck? I can't tell... Any preferences on the type of ending? One chapter ONLY. Posibly with an epilogue- but don't count on it.

"There is a girl who walks on wires at midnight, I always ask her, but she can't see through the light... I carry, she can't see through the light" -Split The Girl, by Jupiter

What'd you think of that quote?