CHAPTER TWENTYFIVE: THE END
"Hey! Oi! Kimiko! Don't think I'm letting you laze around all the time. You have to wake up sometime." The voice came in cloudy and hazy at first, but after a few seconds, it became clearer.
Without warning, Kimiko threw herself sideways, rolling onto her side, and vomiting over the side of the bed she was laying on.
"It's the anaesthetic. You've been out for a really long time. When you haven't been asleep, you've been under. Gotta say, I did a pretty good job of patching you up." Wuya said proudly as Kimiko heaved again. Every inch of her seemed to be in pain. What the hell had Wuya done? Where even was she? Why did everything hurt so much?
She could smell salt on the air – as if she were near the sea. Come to think of it, was that the sea she could hear?
As soon as she was able to sit back upright again knowing she would not puke, Kimiko opened her eyes to look around properly.
It was dark, very dark.
"Where the hell am I?" She garbled, her throat stinging. How long had it been since water passed her lips?
"We are in the lovely residence of a small cave on the coastline of China." Wuya's voice came merrily from somewhere behind her.
Looking around, Kimiko could see that Wuya was right. The mouth of the cave was the only source of light aside from a small fire at the back of the cave, providing warmth. The sun was shining strongly, and the sea lapped back and forth, as if no wrong had ever come to the world at all.
"Why?"
Wuya's eyes met hers and she paused. "There's nowhere else to go."
Wuya was a mess.
Straggled, bruised and still wearing the same dress she had been wearing back at Chase's Palace, she looked thin and sickly, her skin barely covering her cheeks.
Chase.
The mere thought of his name was painful, like a knife in her gut.
Taking another look around, Kimiko saw that Wuya had been sleeping on a mat on the floor next to the fire. There were a few cooking utensils, but not much. Kimiko had been sleeping on what looked like a hospital bed. It even had wheels. The bed had obviously been taken from a hospital especially for Kimiko to sleep on, but the sheets were caked in dried blood. The small table beside the bed was covered with bloodied surgical tools that looked as if they had been sat there for a few days.
And then Kimiko remembered her wound. The white sheets, stained red, were thrown back, and Kimiko let out a yelp of pain at the movement.
Looking down at what had been a gaping wound not too long ago, she winced painfully, at the smell and the shoddy attempt at stitching her back together. The stitches were huge, dirty and brittle with blood. She felt her stomach do another flip, and she thought for a moment that she might vomit again.
She said nothing, but glanced to the surgical utensils, and back to Wuya. Had Wuya attempted to save her life?
"I had to get you patched up fast. I took you to a hospital in England. They had no idea who you were at first. Heck, the news hadn't even spread there yet that Chase was dead. They were all still taking orders. Of course, the doctors patched you up inside. You had some internal damage. So, they fixed that up. But one of them realised who you were when you started calling Chase's name, and things got a little ugly. I barely had time to get you outta there. Let's just say, I had to do some emergency work on you. You haven't really woken up since. I've been giving you medicine to make you sleep, I hoped it would help you heal faster, but it seems not..."
Glancing back down at the wound, Kimiko felt what little food must have been in her stomach churn once more. She hastily covered up the mangled wound.
"Why am I here?"
Wuya pretended she hadn't heard her while carrying a small clay pot in her hands and dumping it on the small table beside Kimiko's bed. It had some sort of soup in it, but Kimiko wasn't hungry. She had too many questions for that.
Kimiko waited patiently, not saying a word, feeling too weak. Her stomach felt uneasy, and still hazy from the anaesthetic, she almost felt sea-sick.
She lay for a while. Wuya pottered around, offering her water, food, to move the bed, medicine for the pain, but Kimiko declined them all. Her head offered a thousand questions, and while she drifted in and out of pain-filled sleep for what felt like weeks, she always woke herself with the sound of her own cries.
She stayed there for what could have been months, for all she knew. Too weak to leave Wuya; in too much pain to move, Kimiko was at Wuya's mercy, and that suited her just fine for now.
I have nowhere else to go.
Each sleep seemed too brief, yet too long. Wuya would leave on occasion, teleporting and bringing more food, but she always appeared looking panicked, as if she had almost been discovered. Wuya would be the next on the rebel's hit list by now. If she was discovered, it would have deadly consequences.
The days seemed to pass like years, and during her silence, Kimiko had a long time to think over her actions. Everything she had done, she had done in Chase's name, under his command. She could not forgive herself for anything she had done; and nor did she expect anyone else to. She had broken her word as a Xiaolin Dragon in murdering Chase, and that stung almost as hard as the damage she had caused.
Yet Kimiko's heart burned brightly as her body faded through each passing day. She grew weaker and weaker, her wound growing more painful and each movement more strenuous. Her body was dying from the wound she suffered, yet her spirit was burning more intensely than ever before.
The world would need much reconstructive work. Kimiko told herself that she could help to repair the damage she had caused. She knew her father had always kept some money in a bank in Japan for her; a small percentage of each month's profit transferred across for her to tap into whenever she needed to.
Japan had been flattened; she knew somehow that her father was gone already, yet the money he had left her from his video gaming empire would still be there. She resolved that it could be put to use to restore the earth.
Her head swelled with thoughts of Omi, Clay and Raimundo. Raimundo had suffered wounds too. She didn't even know if they were all still alive. Heck, she didn't know anything anymore.
Apart from one thing:
I need to leave this cave. It's time for me to go home.
XXX
Kimiko had somehow fallen asleep but awoke with a start to see Wuya tapping a syringe filled with liquid, squirting it out a little. The syringe had been used before, she could see from its colour.
"No." Kimiko told her sternly, covering the vein on her arm.
Wuya scowled. "The wound is infected. It's not healing. You're getting sicker. I need to clean it and restitch it. This will put you to sleep."
"No." Kimiko told her firmly.
Wuya scowled and moved to jab the needle into her arm. Kimiko threw her arm up, slapping the needle across the cave and sending it shattering against the stone walls.
Wuya swore loudly. "That was my only needle. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get medical supplies? I am trying to keep you alive!"
"Why?" Kimiko asked, throwing Wuya off guard. "Why bother? What benefit is it to you if I live or die?"
"Kimiko, do you not see what you are?"
Glancing down at the wound in her stomach, Kimiko felt it twinge painfully.
I am dying, that's for sure.
"You are Chase's heir. You killed him. You could easily reclaim his throne. Chase had supporters all over the world, as well as enemies. They'll be expecting you to take over."
"I don't want to take the throne; I am not that person... Chase is dead."
"Yes, a fact known the world over now. I amthe one who took you from the temple. You were going to die, but I wanted to get to you before the Xiaolin brats did."
"They're my friends!" Kimiko snarled, her baser instincts taking hold of her.
"Well, if your previous friendship with Chase is anything to go by, I don't think I'll be making a friend of you." Wuya said, smirking as she flicked her hair over her shoulders.
The hole in her stomach was beginning to grow ever more painful.
Wuya crouched forwards on the bed, crossing her legs, and folding her arms. "We could be great, you and I. We could run this place."
"I killed Chase to save the world, not take his place..."
"Wait, hear me out! Give me a chance!"
Kimiko said nothing, feeling tired, and closed her eyes.
Wuya blurted angrily. "You think they're just gonna take you back, Kimiko? You think the Xiaolin Dragons are gonna forget all the bad stuff you ever did? No, they won't ever forgive you."
"What I did... all of it, I did for them." Kimiko responded feebly.
"Do you think they'll see it that way? Do you think, when Raimundo see's the scars he'll carry for the rest of his life, that he'll appreciate your sacrifice? No, he'll see you as the cause. You were never supposed to go with Chase, and you did. Chase would never have gotten to power without you. YOU are the reason that all of this happened."
"I did it to save them..."
"Oh, good job! You only wrecked an entire planet, slaughtered and tortured millions of people, destroyed the world just to try and save them. They nearly died anyway! And how many died in their place? They almost died because you chose to side with Chase. You belonged at their side, and then you sided with Chase. He wanted them dead. He tortured and beat them, and you loved him all the same. That is the worst kind of betrayal."
Feeling her eyes sting, Kimiko said nothing. She's right.
"I know you never wanted to hurt them, but they will never forgive you. Even if they wanted you back, which I doubt, they'd never trust you again. They'd always despise you secretly for what you did." Wuya continued quietly, making Kimiko's lip quiver.
"No... I am one of them..."
Laughing, Wuya shook her head. "Kimiko, you were their enemy. Do you think you've won them back by killing Chase? You and Chase destroyed the entire world together. Do you think they will have forgotten what you're capable of? What you did because you were told to? They'll never take you back. Your behaviour has broken every rule of being a Xiaolin monk."
Raimundo said I belonged with him.
I belong with the Xiaolin Dragons.
"You've been with me a while, Kimiko. Weeks. They aren't even looking for you anymore. They stopped after the first day. They think you're dead. No one cares if you're alive or not, except for me." Wuya promised. "I'm the one who's here, looking after you. Where are your precious Xiaolin Dragons now?"
No... This is Wuya. You can't trust her. She's evil.
But you know she's right...
Kimiko's head was aching from the sheer confusion.
"Stay with me, Kimiko..." Wuya reached out, her hair straggly and unkempt, her dirty long nails clawing at Kimiko's hand. The way she smiled made Kimiko recoil instantly; she had the eyes of someone insane; wide with desire and hunger, madness taking hold.
"I can take care of you. I can look after you. Stay here, with me. This won't be forever, I can promise you. We'll be living the high-life soon enough." She promised. "I'm the only one who's caring for you now."
Kimiko closed her eyes.
"You're right, Wuya." She said quietly, before opening her eyes to glare at her. "But I'd rather die out there, alone and afraid, than stay for another second with you."
Wuya's eyes widened for a moment, as if she were surprised.
"I'd like to leave now." Kimiko whispered, her decision clear in her mind. She forced the covers off her legs, moving gingerly to climb down off the bed.
Her long claw-like fingers, wrapped around Kimiko's wrist, gripping painfully tight.
"You're not leaving. You can't leave!" Wuya growled in her face. "After all my work to keep you alive, I'm not letting you leave."
Kimiko stared at her. "Let go of me." She said in a deadly voice, though she felt as weak as a kitten.
The tone worked, and Wuya released her sheepishly. "Look, come on, you can trust me. I can help you, really! The Xiaolin Dragons won't help you! Not at all! They'd sooner see you dead."
Kimiko ignored her. She dangled her legs over the side of the bed. Every breath was an agony.
"Kimiko – please! Think about what you're giving up? I'm not asking you to take over the world with me – I'm just asking you to consider us working together. Come on, I swear, I can take care of you! Think about it! Please? Look, can't you see that we'd work really well together? I mean, come on! I know you've got your memories back and all, but what the hell are you gonna do now? Huh?"
Ignoring her pleading words, Kimiko placed one bare foot on the ground. Then the other.
And pushed herself forwards.
The pain shot through her like lightning.
Yet somehow, she remained standing. It seemed to defy every muscle in her body to remain upright, but she did it.
Wuya was rabbiting on in the background, juddering here and there. Something had snapped in her. She twitched violently. Whatever the hell was happening to Wuya, Kimiko didn't care to find out. She just wanted to go home, wherever that was.
Kimiko's arm flew out to the damp cave wall, steadying her as she placed one foot in front of the other. It was slow, incredibly painful, and each step was a triumph, though short-lived.
"Wait, Kimiko! Please! Please!"
Sharp nails dug into Kimiko's palm as her free hand was wrenched towards the ground. Wuya was on her knees, begging, pleading, almost dragging Kimiko to the floor.
She is desperate.
And then Kimiko realised why Wuya was so desperate; Wuya has nowhere to go either.
Before Chase, Wuya had always had Jack to rely on. She had worked with just about everyone, always having someone to go to when all her options failed. But now, with Chase gone, and Spicer perhaps dead, there was nowhere for her to go, nowhere for her to run to.
"I GAVE you the Shen Gong Wu. I helped you defeat Chase! I am your friend! Don't you see that?"
Casting her hand from Wuya's grip once more, Kimiko plodded onwards, her eyes focused on the edge of the mouth of the cave. What she was going to do when she got there was another matter, but until then, she had to focus on getting there.
Her wound was screaming. The stitches were pulling at her. Her whole torso felt infected and diseased. Maybe it was.
"Kimiko... I can't... I won't let you leave!" Wuya said, standing finally as Kimiko looked back once more.
She marched forwards, blocking Kimiko's path.
"Wuya, I will make you move if you don't get out of my way." Kimiko grumbled, raising her arm. Her element did not surface; exhaustion was hitting her strongly, preventing the fire from coming.
Wuya's eyes were distant, looking at something behind Kimiko. Kimiko turned to see what she was looking at; there was nothing there, just the darkness of the cave. Turning back around, Wuya was still staring, so Kimiko took another step forward.
What's up with her?
Kimiko decided she didn't care either way. She would make her move.
"Well..." Wuya mumbled quietly, stepping aside. "If that's what you want."
Kimiko nodded, but Wuya still wasn't looking at her. It was like she wasn't even looking at her anymore. Once her path was clear, Kimiko approached the edge, and her breath caught in her throat.
She watched the waves below her crashing against the rocks. It was unlikely that she would survive the fall unscathed, yet even more unlikely that she would ever make it ashore. They were miles away.
But Kimiko wasn't afraid anymore. She had nothing left to fear. Not now.
And with that final thought, she let herself fall, as Wuya watched wordlessly.
After a while, Wuya turned back to the cave. "Well, it's just us left then." Wuya said to the emptiness. Only the cry of the gulls could be heard now, and the gentle lapping of the waves against the rocks below.
"We'll be okay... won't we?"
"Yes, we will." The response came from the depths of the cave.
XXX
A year since the death of Chase, the world seemed to have come on in leaps and bounds. Little to no damage caused by Chase lingered in the world.
Donations had flooded in from all over the world to the Xiaolin Dragons, who had dedicated much of their time over the months to helping rebuild and restore. The money in total had been far too much to count. Some had donated a little, some a lot, with the largest sum being over $300 million, donated by an anonymous source, and it had all gone to helping the world become a better place.
Strangely enough, Jack Spicer had been invaluable to the effort. As a master of the engineering art, he oversaw many new buildings, designing better community facilities and structures. Raimundo, Clay and Omi had gotten used to spending weeks, even months of time apart from each other, travelling to places around the world as they guided and aided.
With no evil around to defeat anymore, the monks had become somewhat useless in the new world. They dedicated their time to helping around the world, but in truth, they knew little about architecture or communal needs, yet their advice was appreciated and they were very well respected, wherever they went.
It was always a relief however, to return back to the temple. No matter where they travelled, the temple had, and always would be, their home. When they fell against those sleeping mats that they had hated so much when they had first joined the temple, they cherished them, and knew that they were truly where they were meant to be.
The other rebels visited them occasionally. Jessie came often, looking more different each time. Up until a few months ago, while her hair had grown back, the carving of the word 'TRAITOR' had remained indented into her forehead. Jack Spicer had given her the name of a surgeon, who had combined skin grafts with plastic surgery to reconstruct the skin on her forehead. She looked like her old self once more, and had never been happier.
Zoe and her friend, Rupert, had moved in together somewhere in France and were engaged to be married. They visited every once in a while, yet emailed almost every day with news and stories to tell them. Their latest email had included a picture of a baby scan. The monks had sent their congratulations, with the promise that they'd visit soon.
Hope had gone with Master Monk Guan and Grand Master Dashi to train the new recruits who wanted to be monks. They wouldn't all become Xiaolin Dragons in training, but some would hold the potential to be great warriors.
Raimundo, Clay, and Omi, had at last, found some happiness, for the first time in many years. When they weren't travelling, they were at the Temple, and while they still had training and chores to do, the Shen Gong Wu had started revealing themselves again. With no one else to challenge them for them, it was an easy fetch, but still fun to experiment with the new ones, all the same.
It seemed that a form of balance had been restored, and yet they still felt like a part was missing.
Because it was.
None of them spoke her name. No one acknowledged the hole in their lives, but it was there, nonetheless. They ignored her empty bedroom each time they went to sleep. They ignored the empty place at their table, the missing voice that used to fill the Temple and the absent laughter that had once joined theirs. But they all felt her absence.
It just isn't the same without Kimiko.
Every meal felt uncomfortable. Every laughter felt hollow. Even training felt soulless.
Omi and Clay had dealt with the loss better than Raimundo, who had spent the first year struggling to cope. He had battled for some time with his demons. His own scars and wounds still haunted him, but Kimiko's absence had bothered him more noticeably. Sometimes he would cast his eyes off to the distance, become lost in thought, and stay that way for hours. He kept her cell phone with him at all times, and would sometimes be caught staring at it with a pained expression on his face. He went on long walks, sometimes that lasted all night, returning in the morning with a dead expression on his face.
As time went by, he looked at the cell phone less. He didn't stare and think for quite so long. And he walked shortly distances and less frequently. But his sadness was still there.
What bothered him the most was not knowing what had happened. Had she truly died? Had she been rescued? Where had she gone to? And if she truly was alive, why had she not come back? Where had she been? Where was she now?
Every possibility seemed to pain him no matter which way he looked at it. So he stopped trying to think about it, but even so, sometimes the smallest thing would remind him.
He heard Omi and Clay mumbling in quiet voices about him sometimes; they were worried. He had heard them talking together one night when they thought he was asleep.
"He spends all day looking at that stupid phone. It's not good for him." Clay had muttered, while Omi had murmured in agreement.
"He is grieving, old friend. We must allow him the time he needs." Omi said patiently.
"I'm not so sure we should give him anymore time. He has had almost a full year, buddy."
"He fought to kill Chase and win Kimiko back, both of those things were denied him."
"But, in the end, we still won, didn't we?" Clay had said, confused.
"Chase might have been defeated, but Raimundo didn't get the result he wanted. WE didn't do anything, Clay." Omi had said back calmly. "It was Kimiko who killed Chase, if you remember."
Silence for a moment. "More time, then?"
"Yes, brother," Omi had answered gently, "more time."
The more he thought about it, the more Raimundo wasn't sure whether an answer to what had happened to Kimiko, either way, would make him feel any better.
Perhaps it was better to not know.
XXX
Kimiko stood, silently, where she had once stood. She watched them, day by day, night by night, waiting, trying to build up her courage, but none would come.
The mountain where she had once stood with Chase Young, where she had once tried to kill herself, where she had created a fireball big enough to burn the temple down, seemed like an entirely different place to her now. Everything had changed so much, and yet stayed the same, but she still felt like a stranger here.
The Temple felt so close, and yet so far. She had been travelling for weeks to get here, and now she was here, she wasn't so sure she wanted to go in at all.
Night had fallen a few hours ago, but she could still see the lantern light in Clay's bedroom, a light in one of the quiet rooms near the back of the temple, that would be Master Fung, for certain, but other than that, darkness.
Omi would be asleep by now, but Raimundo was another guess.
She had barely seen him at all, and that caused more worry than anything else.
I have wronged him the most. She told herself. If nothing else, he deserves an apology.
I owe him that much.
Her journey here had not been an easy one.
She remembered it vividly.
"Hey look, another body!"
"Don't touch it! It's all gross!"
"Hey, should I poke it?" Someone giggled.
"NO! Don't! It might not be dead!"
"It is dead. It's not moving."
"It's a girl, you idiot."
"Alright then, she's not moving."
"What do we do with her?"
"Do we just leave her there?"
"We should go get someone to move her."
"Are you sure she's dead? It looks like she's breathing?"
"Poke her!"
"No – wait! She's moving! Definitely!"
Her fingers gripped at the wet sand beneath her. She could feel the tide flowing in and out beneath her, the water wetting her back each time.
The wound was already making her want to vomit. Her eyelids heavy, Kimiko forced them open, to see a clear blue sky above her, and a sun.
She moved to sit upright, but her wound would not allow it. Instead, she rolled over, finding she could just about manage to force herself onto her hands and knees. The pain alone was enough to cause her to pass out, but she was determined not to die here.
Not now.
Forcing herself onto her knees, Kimiko found herself staring at five young boys, who were gaping at her in astonishment. Squinting at the sun, she could barely make out their faces. They were young, playing on the beach, and had stumbled across her, washed up by the sea.
"Hi..." One of them said gingerly.
"The Xiaolin Temple." She had said to one of them. They had only shrugged, and Kimiko had mumbled that he was useless, before planting one of her feet in the sand, and forcing herself upright. Her knees screamed out painfully and her stomach threatened to split. It was almost as if she could feel her insides threatening to burst through the shoddy stitching. Pressing her hand against the stitches, she could feel the skin parting underneath her fingers, the turgid flesh feeling cold and emitting a stench.
I smell of death.
Staggering forwards out of the shoreline, Kimiko put one foot in front of the other, heading up the embankment. The boys, astonished, followed her.
I just need to find a car. Or a horse, anything.
She made her way up the beach, slowly, seeming to sink further and further down towards the sands with each step, as if hands clasped around her ankles and pulled her towards the ground.
"Hey... you're bleeding!" One of the boys cried out, pointing to her stomach. Glancing down, Kimiko could see the boy was right. The wound had torn open again, and was bleeding freely.
She winced.
"Hey! Are you okay?" She heard one of them call.
Ignoring them, she staggered towards a payphone. It was only a few yards away, yet the walk felt like she was marching towards death. The boys were scattering around her, unknowing what to do to help. Barely conscious, she gripped the phone from the hanger, relieved to hear it beeping in response.
Who the hell am I going to call?
Someone, anyone.
"Money...?" She breathed, looking to the child on her left.
I am going to die soon.
The child fumbled in his pocket, producing a few small coins, enough for what she needed. Handing them out to her, she moved to grab the coins, but watched as her fingers stopped responding to her commands. She ended up flinging her hand clumsily at his.
"Sorry... sorry..." She breathed.
The coins clattered noisily to the floor, and the boy hastily picked them up, shoving the coins into the machine for her.
She punched in the first number that came into her head.
She didn't even know whose number it was. It was just the only number she could remember.
It rang just twice before there came an answer at the other end.
"... Hello...?"
Kimiko felt her heart explode with emotion, and she slammed the phone back down quickly, regretting her decision to ever pick it up.
Raimundo...
Long choking sobs hit her stronger than the sea ever could. Her bottom lip trembled violently as everything fell down around her. Everything that she had been holding onto crumbled. There was no need to be strong anymore as her world shattered at the sound of his voice.
They're all I've ever needed.
"Oh! Lady, are you okay?"
She turned to look at the boy and winced painfully. She thought she heard her mother calling her name.
"Mom?" She turned, seeing a woman in the distance.
"Mom...!" Kimiko called, moving towards her. She stretched her hand out, and fell.
One of the boys moved forwards to grab her as she fell. "Oh-help!" Two more of the boys rushed to grab her to break her fall, but Kimiko almost unconscious. Seeing the darkness begin to creep up on her once more, she decided to let it swallow her.
"She's dying, isn't she?" One of them cried out in panic, feeling the blood stain his palm.
"Go get your mother, you idiot!" The eldest boy snapped at another, who scrambled away quickly, towards a house a few hundred metres away.
The boy returned with his mother, marching along angrily beside him.
"Now, Billy, if this is some sort of joke, I swear to God, I will tell your father all about what a naug-. Oh! My goodness! Billy – what have you done? Who is this girl?"
"We found her."
"This girl is very sick. We have to get her to the house immediately. Billy, call an ambulance right now."
She hadn't felt the hands lift her, nor the violent fits that had apparently shaken her during her unconsciousness, but the paramedics had assured her afterwards that she had come very close to dying. When she first woke, she had been afraid. Afraid that she had said something in her fits that might have betrayed her identity, but if the nurses and doctors knew, they didn't say anything. They treated her just the same as any other patient, but it did feel like they whispered about her behind her back.
She was sure, for a long time, that they knew who she was. None of them said a word. They asked no questions about the false name she gave them, they didn't even question where she got the wound.
When she left, she decided that they might have known after all. It felt a little too easy.
She had spent two months at a hospital after that. Her wound had grown badly infected, and the doctors insisted on keeping her in for observation and a course of strong antibiotics. She had sent flowers, candy, a remote-control car, some money and a thank you card to the woman and son the house after she had been released, although she didn't sign her name. She just signed it as "the girl you found on the beach." She didn't know what to write either, so she just wrote "thank you for helping me. Enjoy the gifts."
Part of her feared that if people knew who she was, they would hate her. They couldn't possibly hate her more than she hated herself for what she had done, and how much she hated Chase.
She hated him, for what he had done. He had ruined her life, hurt so many people, but there was a part of her that missed him too; his soft voice, those eyes, that sly smile. She pushed those feelings aside as much as she could; Chase was gone now, there was no point missing him. That was idiotic.
With Omi, Clay and Raimundo on her mind constantly, Kimiko's resolve had only strengthened.
After that, she had been travelling, only by night so that no one would recognise her. Just to be sure, she had roughly shorn her hair to a short style that didn't suit her one bit. She wore a simple coat and jeans that wouldn't attract any attention at all. To anyone on the street, she was just a down-on-her-luck teenager, and the cities were full of those.
She avoided the cities, preferring to travel by foot, where possible. She had been used to being pampered like a princess at Chase's Palace, and she never wanted to feel like that again. Instead, she wandered, feeling driven and lost at the same time. Her feet carried her to the Xiaolin Temple, but she didn't know why. It wasn't a home to her anymore.
There was no home for her.
Her thoughts swam all day with the Dragons, the Temple, Chase. Everything at all once. The walking never ended.
And it was out there, in the wilderness, that she had discovered a very harsh reality that she couldn't ignore.
Now, here stood on the mountaintop, she had been watching the Dragons for several days. She didn't know what she was so afraid of.
It's Raimundo, Omi and Clay, your friends.
But Wuya's taunting voice of how they would reject her had turned into nightmares that haunted her dreams. She dreamt that she travelled back to the Temple, to find Omi, Clay and Raimundo laughing as she stepped into the doorway, turning her away cruelly.
No matter how many times she told herself it was just a dream, still, the thought crept back into her mind.
It took several more hours before she plucked up the courage to wander down the mountain path, to get nearer to the Temple. She walked through the nearby forest for what felt like hours, until she was just a few minutes away. Putting her hood up, she hummed quietly to herself, to stop the forest noises seeming quite so intimidating in the darkness.
Kimiko was convinced she finally had the courage to walk into the Temple, until she reached it. Her feet ground to a halt outside the Temple archway, and staring into the courtyard she had once called home, she suddenly found that it felt completely alien to her now.
She had practised in her head what she would do when she got here a million times. But it all seemed quite different to her imagination now.
The fountain's water splashed playfully, the rosebushes were blooming beautifully, and Kimiko stood, perfectly still, for several minutes, admiring the beauty of this place.
I have stood here too long. She found herself thinking, her stomach churning.
"I can do this." She told herself under her breath, before losing her nerve and turning away to ascend back up the mountain.
It was then that she saw Raimundo.
Wheeling around, she froze to see Raimundo strolling out of the forest, back from one of his night time walks. There was nowhere nearby to run to, no receiver to slam down cowardly, and his eyes were already upon her, suspiciously.
Shit. Why hadn't she noticed him leaving? Why hadn't she considered this?
You idiot, Kimiko.
"Who are you?" Raimundo said, narrowing his eyes. "Why are you coming to the Temple in the middle of the night?"
Frozen in horror, Kimiko didn't know what to do. Her eyes glanced nervously to either side, accessing her options. With her hood still up, she realised that Raimundo wouldn't be able to tell it was her, or anyone he might recognise, but the prospect of taking it down to reveal who she was, was still too terrifying.
Feeling all sense of strength or bravery disappear in a blink, Kimiko did the only thing she thought she could do: run.
She bolted like a frightened rabbit, around the side of the Temple, and headed straight out for the forest. Her legs had never felt so strong; so perfect at running, but they seemed to turn to jelly instantly when she heard footsteps coming up fast behind her.
"Wait! Come back here!" Raimundo demanded, following her with incredible speed and agility.
Damn him, she thought bitterly.
With her heart thudding in her ears, her breath sounding loudly in the forest, her footsteps loud crunches in the fallen leaves; somehow, she knew he was going to catch her. She could hear him panting behind her, calling out for her to stop, his footsteps growing ever closer.
I can't run away anymore. I have to do this. It's Raimundo. He is your friend.
She let the voice in her head tell her to strengthen her resolve, and giving no warning sign at all, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Raimundo almost bowled straight into her, managing to grind himself to a halt, though almost losing balance.
"What the hell is your problem, man?!" He snapped angrily, grabbing ahold of the hood on the coat and yanking it down to what he thought was a scrawny little boy. "What the hell do you think you're doing, sneaking around at this time of night? I could have really hurt you! Don't you know what this place is?! What do you want? You want money? You here for training? What?"
When the boy didn't turn, Raimundo gripped his shoulder roughly and spun him around to face him.
Kimiko kept her eyes low, and raised them slowly.
She would have smiled, if she weren't so afraid, to see Raimundo wearing the same baggy pants and scruffy sneakers he had worn back in the old days. The same oversized white sweatshirt. The same warm, green eyes that she adored.
Her eyes meeting his, she said nothing, and the anger on Raimundo's face slipped instantly. He looked ill, with papery skin and dark eyes, like he hadn't slept, and so skinny. Raimundo had been so muscular once, but now, he looked weak and tired, like an old man who had lived too long.
"Kim." He breathed her name, staggering backwards a few steps in disbelief.
Kimiko's heart jumped into her throat. He is going to leave me.
Raimundo turned away, dropping his head to the ground. He turned back to look at her, as if he expected her to be gone. There was hurt in his eyes, betrayal, pain.
Kimiko wondered if coming back had been the right thing to do. She opened her mouth to speak, but words wouldn't come.
After a few moments of silence, Raimundo turned back to face her again. His face looked strained, as if he was trying to hold himself together. Kimiko felt more terrible than ever, to have left Raimundo to become this way.
"Raimundo..." She whispered his name gently, taking a step towards him with her arm out.
He jerked backwards, holding his hand up, as if she were going to hurt him. He turned his face away, as if even looking at her was painful.
Standing there, Kimiko wanted to burst into a million pieces, to drop to the floor and beg his forgiveness, for him to scream at her, for him to be angry and hateful and say everything he felt, to beat her to a pulp because then she would be getting what she deserved, but he didn't.
She had never felt more alone, or more foolish.
"Raimundo... I'm... sorry." She said, feeling stupid. This had been a bad idea. She should never have come back. She hung her head, and turned to leave, but his head suddenly jerked upwards as she took a step.
He stared at her for a moment, and she looked back, their eyes meeting once more.
And then whatever pain Raimundo was feeling disappeared, and everything faded away.
As the relief hit his face, he looked a thousand years younger. He beamed, running to her as fast as he could. His arms swallowed her up, and he laughed breathlessly as he spun her on the spot. He couldn't help but notice that she didn't hug him quite so tightly back. She allowed herself a laugh in response, but it felt hollow and empty.
"Kimiko!" He said her name as if it were the most precious name in the entire world. In the warmth of his arms, feeling his joy, Kimiko found the most comfort she had felt since she had left the temple all those years ago. Not even Chase had made her feel so comfortable, because this was where she really belonged.
"You're here." He breathed into her ear, pulling back slightly to look at her. "They said you were dead. What happened to you? Where have you been? We've been so worried about you..." His eyes fell down to her stomach. "Are you okay? Your injury...?"
Her hand fell to her stomach and a look of confused pain fell onto her face. "I..." She faltered, seeming not to know what to say. Her mind flashed with the memories of her time in that horrid and dank place, helplessly weak. She had screamed. The smell of blood filled her nostrils and for a second, she saw only blood and darkness.
Kimiko shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it. Not yet.
"It doesn't matter. I'm here now." She answered meekly.
Raimundo nodded with understanding, seeming to know that she would talk when she was ready. "Yes, you're here." He said happily. Then, he hugged her tightly once more. "I knew you weren't dead. Somehow, I just knew it."
I'm sorry.
"Tiger instincts." She whispered back, finding herself smiling in spite of herself.
"Are you coming inside?" Raimundo asked excitedly, taking her hands in his and turning back towards the Temple. "Everyone will be so happy to see you! Everyone thinks you're dead." He jittered, practically dancing on the spot.
Kimiko gently pulled her hands away from his, leaving Raimundo looking crestfallen.
"What's wrong?" He asked tenderly. He looked at her like he thought she was afraid.
I am not afraid.
She reached up, trailing her fingers softly over his face, along his cheek, stroking his face softly, wanting to say so much and yet explain so little.
"I can't come back, Raimundo." She whispered gently.
"What do you mean?"
"I just needed to see you." Her voice trembled, but she forced herself to remain strong. "You, who I have wronged most of all. He... made me do such terrible things to you... Some of the scars you bear were caused by my hands." She looked up at him gently. "I know you loved me, Raimundo, and I know I've also hurt you more times than I could ever ask you, or expect you, to forgive. I just had to come back here to let you know how sorry I am. I would do whatever I could to make it up to you, but I know I can never repair the damage I've caused. I have hurt you the most, out of everyone."
She expected him to nod in agreement, but instead, he chuckled softly, taking her hands once more. "Kimiko, you don't understand." His eyes met hers, and she could have melted in them. "I never cared that you hurt me. I've never needed an apology. I know it wasn't you. This is you. You're here now."
"Raimundo." His name brought tears to her eyes as she pressed her hand against his cheek. "You have the sweetest and kindest heart, but we both know it isn't that easy."
"Kimiko." He breathed her name so softly that it sent a shiver down her spine. "We've never needed any apology from you... Never... It wasn't you. You were a victim too. We know that. We know the real you would never have done those things. The real you fought back against Chase Young, and the real you won."
She said nothing, but her eyes betrayed the tears she wanted to cry.
His fingertips curled in her short stubby hair, then cupped her cheek tenderly. "We always wanted you back with us. We've all always known you belonged here. Always."
She wanted to burst into tears, to beat at his chest and reveal her inner torment, to scream and fight and battle.
But instead, she forced a small smile.
"I can't come back."
"Why not? Your place is here with us. Where would you go?"
"No, Raimundo. I don't belong here. Not anymore. I've... done too much..."
She could see his face growing more and more desperate; looking more and more upset at each passing moment.
He doesn't understand.
"Give me your hand, Raimundo." She opened her palm to him, and he took it without question. She enclosed her fingertips with him, and waited.
"Do you feel that?" She asked him.
"Feel what?" He replied, confused.
He can't feel it either.
Then Kimiko drove her point home.
She spoke in a tiny voice. "My element doesn't come to me anymore." The words pained her, but she spoke them anyway: "I'm no longer a Xiaolin Dragon, Raimundo."
Raimundo scowled at her, as if he didn't believe it.
"Kim... you've been through a lot... Did you ever think that maybe you can't summon your element because you threw yourself onto a giant sword?"
Kimiko chuckled at that. Raimundo, always tactful.
"You've been away from us for too long, that's all." Raimundo tried to comfort her, but Kimiko had already tried, desperately, out in the wilderness, trying as hard as she could to feel her fire, to feel something, but nothing would come anymore. It was all gone. Nothing left.
Kimiko only shook her head.
"Well, come back with me at least. Even if you won't stay... you have to let Omi and Clay know you're okay... Please?" He took her hand gently. "If I turn up saying you're alive, they'll think I've finally gone crazy. They're already questioning my sanity."
She took a deep breath to steady her thudding heart, gripping Raimundo's hand tightly. He beamed at her, and began to walk with her. "You can tell me where you've been for the past year on the way."
Kimiko seemed even more reluctant to tell him this, but she gave a short nod anyway. He deserves to know.
"And by the way," Raimundo began, "what the hell have you done to your hair? You look like a homeless guy."
Kimiko laughed, wondering how she had ever questioned Raimundo's strength, and whether he would welcome her back. Of course he would, he had the kindest and most forgiving heart known to mankind. He was a good man, and deep down, Kimiko felt ashamed for ever believing he would turn her away.
They walked through the forest, hand in hand, and one thought crossed Kimiko's mind. This was the first time in a long time that she could remember smiling.
XXX
Kimiko told Raimundo everything that had happened over the past 12 months. From Wuya's cave, to the shore, to the hospital, to the travelling, everything. Raimundo was quiet for all of it, except when she revealed that she had been watching the Temple for a few days, too ashamed to face her former friends.
"Kimiko, don't you understand what you did?" He stopped dead in his tracks, making her face him.
"Yes," She said, seriously. "I did terrible things. I have to make amends. I need to do something."
She expected him to nod in agreement, and say something comforting. But instead, he actually laughed. Flushing with anger, Kimiko frowned.
"Raimundo, I helped destroy the planet. I killed thousands, millions."
His laughter stopped then, and he looked at her. "Now, you stop that right now. I know you better than you think. I know you'll have been beating yourself up about this for the past year. Isn't it time you stopped punishing yourself? Yes, you did some bad things, but that wasn't your fault, and by breaking Chase's hold on you, you fought back. Yes, you hurt people, but think of how many you saved. Chase made you do those bad things. If you had let him carry on, he would have killed even more."
That made her pause.
"You saved me." He reminded her with an innocent smile that made her want to melt into him.
"You haven't changed a bit." She said with a small smile. Raimundo had always been the kind one. He dealt with his own pain, bore his own burdens, while helping everyone else with theirs.
He smiled in response, but carried on walking. They were close to the Temple now.
Once they were outside it again, Raimundo went to lead her in through the courtyard, but Kimiko halted in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" Raimundo asked. He was eager to get her inside. Once she was inside, and she saw how much they needed her, he felt sure that she would stay. Omi and Clay had been missing her just as much as he had. Once she saw that, she couldn't leave. She wouldn't be able to.
I know her too well. Raimundo reminded himself. Once she realises how much we love her, she'll realise that she needs to stay.
Kimiko looked at the doorway gingerly. "Don't be scared." He coaxed her gently. "It'll be fine."
It was only when he moved back to her side, and held her hand tightly that he realised how afraid she was. She was shaking all over, and he knew that this must be hard for her. "Don't worry." He said comfortingly. "We'll take it one step at a time. Together."
Together they went. Slow, small steps. One at a time.
Until they reached the doorway.
Then, further in they went. The steps got smaller and smaller.
"It's okay." He whispered to her, walking slowly through the temple. It was almost exactly as she remembered it. She almost forgot to be afraid, taking in the new decorations, the new design, but seeing so much of the old temple too. It felt good to see it properly once again.
"Will you wait here, while I wake them?" Raimundo asked, looking a little nervous.
Kimiko nodded wordlessly, although she didn't look too sure.
Raimundo pulled a face. "Promise you won't run?"
Reluctantly, Kimiko gave another word, and whispered "I promise."
He smiled then, and bounded off to wake the others, while Kimiko waited, alone, in the dark.
She could feel her knees shaking.
Why am I here?
Stay, you promised Raimundo.
She couldn't help but wander towards the open doorway, looking out at the courtyard, watching the fountain's water trickle down.
"Kimiko."
She expected Raimundo's voice.
But it wasn't.
It wasn't even Omi or Clay.
Master Fung stood, in his nightgown, a cup of tea in his hand and a scroll in the other, with a knowing smile on his face and Dojo on his shoulder. He laid down the cup and the scroll gently on the nearby table, and with a sigh of relief, he swallowed her in his arms as Dojo sobbed loudly.
"I'm pleased you're back." He said gently, and Kimiko smiled up at the old man with an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry I ever left." She said back quietly to her former master.
She heard heavy footsteps then, followed by little, fast-paced ones, and another pair, somewhere in the middle.
Clay, half asleep, staggered down the corridor, yawning and rubbing his eyes, while Omi scampered along after him, wide-eyed and curious, with a tired-looking Raimundo striding along after them.
Clay's jaw hit the floor, and Omi practically launched himself at her.
She bowled over, not expecting the sudden collision of Omi's weight, and tumbled straight back out of the door, Omi landing on top of her, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Kimiko!" He cried out, pleased, as he clung to her tightly.
She laughed, even though it pained her, and cuddled him back. "Hello Omi."
By the time Omi clambered off her, Clay had woken up and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Sure is good to have you back, lil lady."
Kimiko smiled at that. Seeing all their smiling faces, welcoming her back, she wondered what she had ever been afraid of.
"How did you survive?" Omi blurted suddenly, making Kimiko jump. Raimundo chuckled and Clay patted Omi on the head.
"Good job, kid." Clay rolled his eyes. Way to be tactful, Omi... He thought.
Kimiko let another smile onto her face. "We should sit, and I'll tell you."
They led her to their dining room, presented her with a cup of tea, and Kimiko talked until sunrise of everything that had happened.
Not just about where she had been for the past few months, but everything, for as long as she could remember. She told them everything; from Jimmy's first hint to plunging her dagger into Chase's chest, from her stay with Wuya, to her standing by the cliffside.
They listened silently, even Raimundo, who had heard some of it all a short while ago.
When she was finished, Clay sat back in his chair. He hadn't touched a single drop of his tea, which had gone stone cold without him realising.
"We... didn't know most of this stuff." Clay admitted gently. "All the stuff you went through."
"It was strange." Kimiko said, not looking directly at any of them, but instead, staring blankly at the table. "Sometimes, I felt so sure that it was where I was meant to be. I felt so safe with him, like I belonged there."
"You belong here. You always have." Omi interjected quickly.
"I have done some terrible things. I can't stay here." She said, not for the first time this night, but the response from her friends continued to be disapproving frowns.
"You must stay here, Kimiko. You cannot leave, not now." Omi said, and Master Fung murmured his agreement from beside him.
"Where else will you go?" Raimundo asked.
Kimiko gave a short shrug. "I don't know." She answered honestly.
"You gotta stay here." Clay said sternly. "We ain't lettin' you leave. You can't go again. We only just got you back."
"You're one of four." Raimundo told her. "You killed Chase because deep down, you knew that, and that's why you're back. Because even though you're telling yourself otherwise, you know that your home is here."
"What would I even do here? I can't... go back into public..."
"Kimiko, it wasn't your fault." Omi piped up again.
"People don't know that."
"Actually, yes they do." Raimundo smiled. "We've been on TV, radios, in papers and magazines. The whole world knows it wasn't your fault. Sure, there'll always be people that blame you, but there'll be people out there that blame us for not trying to stop him sooner. The important thing is that you stopped him. You're the good guy here."
Kimiko forced a small smile.
Master Fung had stayed quiet up until now, only murmuring or giving the occasional nod, but now he stepped forwards and took a seat at the table opposite Kimiko.
"If you would permit me, I would like to talk to Kimiko alone. You should get some sleep."
At first, they went to protest, but Kimiko nodded gently. "He's right."
"But..." Raimundo stared at her. "Will you still be here when we wake up?"
Giving a sigh, Kimiko nodded slowly. "Yes, Raimundo, I promise I will still be here when you wake up."
There are still some answers that I need to give him.
After that, the Dragons were quite pleased to be able to trudge back to bed, and each gave Kimiko another hug goodbye, before returning to their sleeping mats. Raimundo left last, holding her tightly and for a long time, as if he still couldn't believe she was really there. When he finally left, it was just the two of them alone.
"They will not allow you to leave. You realise this?" Master Fung said pleasantly as he got to his feet and poured her another cup of green tea.
"Yes." Kimiko grumbled uncertainly. "Perhaps I shouldn't have come back."
"You could always break your promise and leave in the night." He suggested, which made Kimiko raise her eyebrows.
"That wouldn't be fair to them." Kimiko said quietly.
"Neither would leaving them at all. They fought for many years to save you, Kimiko." Master Fung placed the cup in front of her. "They are right in one thing; you do belong here, Kimiko."
"But my element doesn't come to me anymore." Kimiko said, frustrated. "I am not a Xiaolin Dragon anymore... I can't be..."
Master Fung sighed gently, reached out and took her hand. "Kimiko, my dear, you cannot simply stop being a Xiaolin Dragon. Once you've been chosen and you make the commitment to being a Dragon, you cannot simply stop. If your element doesn't come to you anymore, it may be because you don't want it to."
She couldn't help but feel annoyed at his words. Did he not realise how long she had tried to call her element to her? She felt nothing. No chi, no sense of Xiaolin magic, nothing.
"Master Fung, I have tried really hard to call my element. I can't feel it anymore. It's not there."
"It is there, Kimiko."
"Then why can't I summon it?" She asked, sipping her tea. She felt determined that she was right.
"Kimiko, you have been through a terrible ordeal. Your soul was practically destroyed and sewn back together again and you very nearly died. Your mind will be scarred from such a thing. Your inability to summon your fire element may be subconscious."
Kimiko only nodded. Perhaps he was right about that.
"Do you think I can ever get it back?" She asked quietly after a while.
Master Fung smiled. "Of course. As I've said, once you're a Dragon, you're it for life. Although I do admit your case is perhaps the most... unusual." He smiled again.
"So... I do belong here then..." Kimiko said. The thought didn't make her happy. It didn't make her feel anything.
"Yes, Kimiko. That's what we've been trying to tell you." Master Fung smiled warmly.
She found herself smiling back, but her eyes quickly dropped again.
"Master Fung... do you think I can ever make up for what I've done?" She asked, nervously.
"You rid the world of Chase Young. To most people, that was more than enough. But knowing you as well as I do, I know it will never feel like enough to you."
Kimiko only nodded.
Master Fung reached forward and took her hand gently once more. "Which is all the more reason to stay here and help your fellow dragons with their good work."
Kimiko laughed at that. "You're a very clever man, Master Fung." He's been manoeuvring me into staying.
Master Fung smiled knowingly.
The laughter faded and Kimiko felt her eyes beginning to sting. It had been a long night. When she thought of going to sleep, she thought of her mat back in her room, and then realised how easy it was to think of it as her mat and her room.
"You should get some rest, Kimiko. You are exhausted, very thin and weak. It's not befitting a Xiaolin Dragon. You must rest and get your strength back, and when you are healthy again, we'll start work on bringing your element back." He told her confidently, as if he was her master once more.
"You assume I'm staying, then?" She said, a small smile on her lips.
"I know you're staying. You knew you wouldn't be able to leave from the moment you stepped into that doorway." Master Fung smiled in his knowing way once more, and Kimiko could only smile lightly again.
He knows me better than I know myself.
"Master Fung? Can I ask you one more question?" Kimiko said quietly, looking up from the teacup in her hands.
"One last question." He took a sip of his own tea slowly.
"Before I... killed Chase... something within me changed. I could feel myself getting stronger. It wasn't all just in my head. It was real. I could feel it." Her eyes glazed as she remembered the feeling. "When I stepped into that arena, I felt the Xiaolin Showdown try and stop me, but I was stronger than it, and I knew it. I could've blown the whole arena to smithereens with how strong I felt."
She closed her eyes, squeezing her palms into fists, and opening them slowly. She could feel the ghost of her element burning in her palms, the remembrance of power drifting in and out of her mind. It was still there, somehow.
"I could've murdered everyone there with a lazy wave of my hand and not batted an eyelid. I could have torn the world apart." She told him, feeling ashamed and afraid.
"The Xiaolin magic in the world was fading fast, Kimiko. Your magic, the Dragon magic was disappearing from the world, leaving only Heylin. Your soul was wrestling with the Heylin side and losing, so your Heylin power, the need and want for death was getting stronger and stronger as every second passed. If the Dragons had been executed, there would be no Xiaolin magic in the world left and you would feel no internal conflict. For all intents and purposes, you were on the verge of becoming Chase Young himself."
Kimiko nodded. That made sense, but there was still one thing that didn't.
"And after I'd... done what I did, something strange happened. I remember thinking that I wanted to go home, and then I was back at the temple..."
"The magic was back, and so was your soul. With your soul reunited, the elements were finally back in balance. For a few moments, you had control of all four which is why you experienced such a strange reunion before you were able to teleport. As for the teleportation itself, you were very close to dying and Chase's soul was desperately trying to keep you alive. It is likely that you were able to use this power. This is why you were able to teleport without realising it."
Kimiko raised her eyebrows and Master Fung gave her a small smile.
The two sat in silence for a while.
"Now, if there are no more questions, you should get yourself to bed."
"Yes, I will. Thank you, Master Fung." She said, yawning.
"Goodnight, Kimiko."
"Goodnight, Master Fung."
Too tired to even think about making any more conversation, her sleepy feet found their way to her old sleeping mat. She didn't even have a chance to consider sleeping anywhere else before her head hit the pillow. She was asleep seconds afterwards.
When Kimiko woke up the following morning, back on her sleeping mat in her room, she breathed the air lovingly, remembering the smell of the place with fondness. It had all her gadgetry and makeup, neatly stacked up in pretty much where they had been before. She guessed someone had tidied it up for her while she had been gone – there was no way she had ever been this neat.
It was strange how easy it was to fit back in. She found herself in the shower without even realising that she had done it, and once she was dressed, she found herself sat at the breakfast table as she used to do when she was a monk.
Awake before her fellow dragons, she ate and cleaned up the dishes and spent the rest of the quiet time to wander around the temple and remember it fully.
She explored everywhere, remembering every nook and cranny, every cracked floor tile and every chipped piece of furniture. Almost everything was how it had once been.
It's perfect.
When the others eventually surfaced, Kimiko felt uncomfortable to be around them at first, but she soon forgot all her worries with her friends.
Omi had her laughing so hard at his impression of Clay that she had tears in her eyes, and Clay responded by slapping him hard across the back of the head. Grumbling, Omi turned to attack him, but Clay placed his hand in the middle of Omi's forehead and held him still, smiling and examining his nails casually, as Omi tried desperately to kick him.
When Raimundo approached Kimiko, he looked tired, but better.
"Good morning." He said pleasantly, and Kimiko responded with a polite "good morning" in response.
"I have something for you." He told her, reaching inside his robes to a small pocket. He pulled out her cellphone and held it out for her to take.
Surprised, Kimiko reached out to take it. There was a strange expression on Raimundo's face: embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" She asked, confused.
"Nothing." Raimundo said quickly. Knowing him well enough to know that he was lying, Kimiko sensed that Raimundo didn't want to talk about it, and turned away. "Well, thanks." She said unsurely.
Raimundo nodded wordlessly and wandered off again.
She opened up the phone, remembering the keyboard, the screen, the colour, the feel of it in her hand. It felt like a little piece of home. She sat in the training courtyard for a long time, flicking through old messages, looking at old pictures, cringing with embarrassment at her stupid expressions and silly faces.
"He finally gave it you back then?" Clay said, making her jump. She hadn't heard him approach at all.
"Finally?" Kimiko asked absently, smirking as she found a silly picture of Raimundo on there.
Idiot, she thought, fondly.
"He's been starin' at that thing ever since we got back." Clay said quietly, so that Omi, who was practicing his karate moves on a sack dummy, wouldn't hear.
Kimiko couldn't find the words to reply to him, but she stared back at the phone screen. The tiny pixels congregating to form Raimundo's face.
I have missed him.
"That's another thing I've been meanin' to ask you..." Clay smiled dryly. "That giant donation we received from an anonymous source – it was you, wasn't it?"
Kimiko only smiled in response.
"It was my penance."
"You didn't need to pay a penance. Where did you even get the money from?"
"My father left me some..." She answered quietly.
"Kimiko, that was your father's legacy. Don't you want to rebuild the games industry?" Clay told her, unsure.
"My father..." Kimiko paused, "He would have understood. I know he would. He never really cared about money that way. He would've wanted me to spend it in a way that made me happy."
"You shouldn't have done it." Clay told her sternly. "You owe us nothing. You owe the world nothing."
"I did bad things. I tried to kill all of you at least once." Kimiko reminded him placidly.
"And failed." Clay added.
"But still, tried!" Kimiko came back.
Shaking his head, Clay smiled.
"Give it up, Kim. We're just glad to have you back."
He left her with her thoughts then, alone with her cell phone and all the memories it contained.
Throughout the day, she found herself surprised at how easy it had been slotting back in to Temple life. Omi and Clay were training in the garden for most of the day, while Raimundo seemed to spend much of his time indoors with Master Fung, talking with him quietly.
Kimiko did not know what they were talking about, but she would have guessed it was her return, and what it meant for the world.
It wasn't until later that evening when she saw him eating dinner alone that she dared to wander towards him. He was sat on the raised stones around the training area, tucked into a bowl of noodles and paying little attention to anyone else.
"Hello." She said pleasantly, although she felt nervous talking to him still.
"Kim." He smiled at her, a noodle draping out of his mouth. He sucked it up noisily and then grinned. "What's up?"
She took a seat beside him, hugging her knees close to her chest.
"How are you?" She asked him, gently.
"Fine." Raimundo said, although he seemed a little weary. "You?"
"Fine." Kimiko replied in unconvincing way. "It's strange to be back."
"It's kinda strange having you back." Raimundo admitted. "Good strange though." He added quickly, with a little smile.
Kimiko returned the smile, and held up the cell phone he had given her earlier. "Clay said you kept it with you."
Raimundo flushed. "I found it in your room... I turned it on and it still worked. I was... Nevermind."
"Tell me, please?" Kimiko asked, unable to stop herself smiling at his sweetness.
He sighed resignedly, before flipping the top open, and showing her the screensaver.
"It was the only thing left that had you there... I thought you might never be coming back, I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget what you looked like. Stupid, I know."
"That's not stupid, Raimundo..." She told him gently. "That's really sweet."
He smiled at her gently.
Without hesitation, she wrapped her hand around his tightly.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"You're welcome." He replied gently.
She rested her head against his shoulder. "I have missed you, Raimundo."
XXX
"You're mine."
The voice always whispered the same thing. She could feel it every time, resonating off her bones. It was almost like he was right behind her when he said it, whispering it into her very ear. His fingertips would brush her hair lightly, she would smell his scent and feel the warmth of his breath against her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She could almost feel his body against hers.
His fingers would trail across the back of her neck, along her shoulder, along her arm, trail along her arm until his fingertips came to her hand.
"You're mine." He'd whisper again, her body so close to hers now that she could almost feel it.
But she longed to turn, to reach out and touch him. To grab his hand and hold onto it because she knew it wasn't real.
"Kimiko." He would say her name softly, and she would turn her head slowly, only to find that he was gone. That made her want to cry out.
She knew she shouldn't want him to really be there, but she did.
"Kimiko..." He'd breathe her name again, making her ache. He had to be around here somewhere.
"Where are you?" She'd ask, only to find that she was stumbling around in the darkness to find him.
Fingertips would graze her back, yet when she turned there was nothing there.
She'd feel his breath against her skin, but he was never there.
She'd look frantically around, calling his name, desperate.
The louder she'd call, the further away he seemed to get.
Pleading, she'd beg the darkness to give him to her, because how could she live without him?
"Please, Chase, please! Come back!"
Wildly, she'd look around, panting. Where was he?
"Please!" She'd scream, looking around desperately.
But when she turned back around, she'd find orange reptilian slits glaring straight into her eyes.
That's when she woke, every single time. Jerking upright, covered in a cold sweat and panting breathlessly.
"Just a dream." Just muttered calmingly to herself, as she did every time the dream woke her. She didn't have the dream every night, but it was at least three times a week. It never changed, but it still terrified her all the same.
"Kimiko...are you okay?" Omi asked sleepily, holding up a small lantern as he rubbed his eyes from her doorway, apparently fresh from sleep. "You were yelling."
"Sorry, Omi, I'm fine. You should get some sleep." She told him gently, trying to steady her breath. She could feel her arms trembling.
She lay back down, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to regulate her breathing. But normality would not come. After what felt like hours, she finally gave up. Clay was snoring too loudly for her to get any sleep anyway.
Instead, she walked the Temple grounds, before travelling up the mountainside she now knew so well to watch the silent Temple, and the sun rise. By the time she returned from her walk, the other monks were awake and she joined them at breakfast.
"Kimiko, where have you been? We were worried when we couldn't find you this mornin'." Clay said through a mouthful of cereal.
"Couldn't sleep." She said, not really feeling like she wanted to go into the details of her nightmares. They all knew she had them. Night terrors, Clay had called them once.
Chase Young is going to haunt me forever.
"Well, we're gonna be trainin' soon anyway." Clay said, taking another giant spoonful of cereal into his mouth and chewing noisily.
Training was difficult. Kimiko had been building her strength up every day, trying desperately to summon her element back to her. But every time she tried, she felt nothing.
Until recently, she hadn't even been able to sense her fire there at all. It was only within the past few weeks that she had even managed to feel the tingle in her fingers, the warmth beneath her skin. Master Fung had assured her that this was natural progression to regaining the power she had lost, but it was difficult to stay patient with herself.
"My element is supposed to be natural to me. Why can't I summon it?" She question Master Fung, who wasn't able to give her any solid answers. "How can you be so sure I am a Xiaolin Dragon still if I have no element?"
"It will come in time, Kimiko." Was all he ever said, but that wasn't much comfort on days like today, where she tried desperately for hours under the instruction of her fellow monks to try and bring her element back to the surface.
She had done combat training and strength exercises, but it was just her element she had yet to remaster. The past few days had heralded a stronger sensation of the element burning within her, yet it hadn't managed to come to the surface yet.
I don't belong here.
Facing the sack dummy across the yard from her for the hundredth time today, she stared at it, determined. She could feel her element so close to her surface, but it would not burst from her fingertips. Frustrated, she let her arm drop and growled.
"It's too hard. I can't do it."
"Sure you can. You just need to focus." Omi called from behind her.
"I am focussed." She promised, trying to keep the frustration out of her tone. "I just know I can't control it anymore, it's just going to burst out of me and hurt you. It's too dangerous."
"I believe in you, Kimiko." Raimundo encouraged, though she couldn't help but notice he took a step back away from her as she prepared herself.
She could feel the fire beneath her skin. Tingling, so close to reaching the surface.
She narrowed her eyes, looked at the sack dummy, clenched her fist and took a deep breath. Focussing every fibre of her being into her element, she whispered the word "Fire."
Her palm exploded into flames, swallowing along her arm. Startled, she flung her arm away, instinctively, casting the flames across the yard and hitting the sack dummy squarely in the chest. The burlap dummy became a vortex of flames in a few seconds, curling and disintegrating before their eyes.
Shocked, Kimiko held onto her arm as if it had fired a grenade at the dummy and was likely to do so again.
The three other Dragons were stunned to see such a display, and once the flames had died away, they approached Kimiko cautiously, to cheer her achievement.
"Well done, Kimiko!" Clay patted her on the back which almost knocked her over.
"You did it!" Omi flew at her, embracing her tightly.
Raimundo wrapped his arms around her, squashing Omi's head between Raimundo's crotch and Kimiko's stomach in the process, and whispered "I knew you could do it."
Wriggling and protesting, Omi shoved the two apart and scowled at the violation.
"Now, try again." Raimundo said, and Kimiko turned to the next sack dummy, feeling the fire tingling at her fingers already.
The sack went up in flames within a second. Soon, the yard was a blaze of flames. Every target they had set out for her was burning as she danced through the air with deadly precision.
Her fellow monks could only watch wordlessly as the targets shrivelled into dust at her whim. As soon as she was done, she folded her arms, pleased with herself and smiling.
"Well, you certainly regained control of your element, Kimiko." Master Fung said from behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders proudly. "Welcome back."
Beaming with pride, Raimundo hugged her once more, and Kimiko laughed joyously. Overwhelmed, she took Raimundo's hands in hers.
"I'm where I belong." She said quietly, gazing up into Raimundo's eyes, and finding warmth and comfort there. He grinned at her, his most cheeky grin and she melted in his arms.
At that moment, somehow, Kimiko knew, despite everything that had happened, that from now on, it was all going to be okay.
I'm home.
XXX
She walked alongside the statue, pushing the wheelchair along in front of her, wearing a headscarf and big, mirrored sunglasses so no one would recognise her. She had always wanted to see it, ever since it had been commissioned. It was lightly snowing at this time of year, but bitterly cold.
The statue showed a golden woman, shrouded in flame, with three men cheering behind her, and flames bursting up from the floor around a heap. It was obvious what it represented; Chase Young's death. The statue had been commissioned by the Mayor of the town and installed a few months ago.
It was rumoured that the Xiaolin Dragons would turn up to unveil it, but none of them did. It had been widely reported across world media that they would not be making any public appearances for a while, not while there were new recruits to train.
That's a shame, she thought.
It had been widely reported that in the past few months, people had been turning up at the temple asking to be trained in the ways of being a Xiaolin warrior. If you believed the TV, the numbers were reported as being thousands, some newspapers claimed it was hundreds, but she suspected it was no more than 50.
The figure wrapped in blankets in her wheelchair was a shrivelled old man. All liver spots and wrinkles, crusty blind eyes and a shining bald head, wrapped in more blankets than she would have ever thought humanly possible. Yet he still shivered.
My grandpa, she thought. She liked that idea. It made her smile.
"What's up, gramps? You can't possibly still be cold." She asked, smiling, showing her fangs.
"You know the cold stays in my bones." He bit back at her, though weakly. "It's painful. I would have thought you might be sympathetic."
"Here I am wheeling you around all day, and all you want to do is attack me." She feigned pain in her tone.
Sensing his unhappiness and pain in the crisp, winter air, she wheeled the little old man towards the nearest cafe. It was warm inside, full of Christmas shoppers who had paused for a quick drink to warm them up, clad in their warmest woollen sweaters, huddled together talking about the upcoming festivities.
She had forgotten it would be Christmas soon. Time seemed strange now. But it felt good to be out in public again.
Finding a small empty table, she wheeled "Gramps" up beside her and took a seat, leaving him alone while she ordered two teas for each of them. She didn't even really like tea, but it was cheap and warm, just what they needed.
Placing the cup back down beside the old man, he reached out a withered hand to grasp the cup, his fingertips shaking as they brushed on the porcelain. He sipped his tea gingerly, cringing as the liquid touched his lips and struggling to hold the cup steady.
"How the mighty have fallen." He mumbled, as though it was something profound.
She snorted. "We didn't turn out so badly, really. I mean, I know you look like a sack of potatoes right now, but we're building your strength up slowly."
"Not quickly enough." The old man gasped gently.
"I'm sorry, but there's an imbalance of power in the world now, as you well know. There's none of our magic to sustain us anymore. We have to rebuild your strength the natural way."
"It's too slow." He grumbled as she calmly sipped her tea.
"There's nothing else I can do. You're too weak to do anything else." She said simply.
"I was meant to take control of a body..." He whispered sadly, his rheumy eyes meeting hers.
"Well, once Kimiko was finished with you, you were too weak to take control of my body. You still are, you need to be patient."
The old man scowled. "Don't tell me to be patient. Do something."
"I'd speak a little kinder to me if I were you," the woman said calmly. "You forget that if it wasn't for me tethering my soul to yours, you would be dead right now. It was ME that saved you. You and I tied our souls together to save your life. And it worked."
"Yes, you are so fond of reminding me, Wuya." The old man grumbled, giving a long sigh.
"Well, I'm sorry, but it's true." She said unsympathetically. "Your body and your soul is weakened. It needs time to strengthen again before you can take control of a host. Once you're strong enough, we'll find you a body to take over. I'm sick of seeing your wrinkly little body. You look like a melting baby right now."
The old man grumbled. It had been a difficult decision to make, tethering his body to hers. He remembered it clearly:
"You're worried that you'll lose the fight?"She asked him gently. It was the only serious conversation he could ever remember having with her.
"No." He responded honestly. "I worry she'll betray me."
She said nothing, so he continued.
"I do not wish to ask this of you. By doing this, you will be submitting your body entirely to me. It is a precaution, should anything happen while I am executing Raimundo. It means that if I am killed, I will be able to draw life from you. I will survive, in some shape or form, and regain my strength. It will mean you need to care for me until I return to this form."
She nodded, so he asked her formally.
"Wuya, will you do this for me?"
Wuya nodded. "Yes." She whispered.
He closed his eyes while Wuya watched wordlessly. The sudden burst of pain took her by surprise, and she crumpled to the floor, screaming and in agony. When it was over, she smiled at him sweetly. "We're stuck together for life now, Chase." She said.
And now I am stuck here, he thought miserably.
"Being stuck in my aged body is hardly fun for me either." He growled, draining his cup. Wuya sipped all of hers too. "I want to leave that cave permanently soon. The cold is unbearable. I'll never get strong while we live there."
Getting to her feet, Wuya wheeled her "gramps" out of the cafe and back out onto the street to see the statue once more, where they stared at it.
The old man in the wheelchair narrowed his eyes, which flashed with orange when he saw the statue again. "I will be powerful again."
Wuya chuckled. "Cheer up, Chase. It's Christmas. We'll have you back on your feet in no time."
Chase Young scowled.
I will be powerful again...
XXX
THE END
(Thank you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed reading the story and I hope you liked the ending. I'd love to hear what you thought so please leave reviews or inbox me. I will be starting to write other stories, so feel free to check them out. Thank you all so much for your support and seeing this through to the end. You're amazing. Thank you.)