Hi! I'm back! I'm really sorry for not updating earlier but I was suffering from a major writer block.- And couldn't do anything against it.

Thanks for waiting and thanks to those who read and/ or reviewed the last chapter!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine - only the plot and my OCs belong to me.

Family portrait

With an easy flick of her wrist and hand she tossed the object at Kai who caught it easily. "Dranzer will like it!" Gazing down at the object in his hand Kai's crimson eyes widened slightly. "They are ready?" He looked up at Rika who nodded. "Your team can have them whenever you think they are ready."

Curiously Tyson took a step towards his captain and gasped when he saw that Kai was holding a brand new beyblade. "A beyblade!" "Smart ass." Kai said sarcastically.

Rika smirked and turned around to follow her friend s to the exit.

"Blue Bird!" Rika glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend in secret, smiling that he used the nickname he gave her a long time ago. "We will see us soon." He promised quietly.

"We will." And with that she was gone.

Two days had passed since the day in the old stadium and the team had packed their belongings together for travelling. Kai had not told them were they would went but his team knew that they were going to meet Rika in the process. This was the reason why Kaiko was able to smile her small smile again, knowing that her brother and Rika were still close.

And Ray felt the heat rise into his cheeks when Kai's younger sister allowed herself a small smile when gazing at the Chinese.

The next morning Dennis and Ray along with Max packed their suitcases into the black van. Ray was quietly pondering the question where Kai and Tala had went so early in the morning and how the group would be able to fit in the van entirely.

But the solution was not far. Dennis would drive while Ray was seated in the passenger seat. Daichi, Max and Tyson were occupying the row behind them. And in the back Hilary, Emily and Kenny were taking their seats. Still standing outside was Kaiko who, so Ray assumed, would claim the last reminding seat. But the Chinese was wrong. Kaiko waved at them before walking down the lane.

"Does she want to walk?" Tyson asked mildly shocked. No, Kaiko did not intended to walk. Driving down the lane were Kai and his best friend Tala. Each on a motorcycle. Tala's was black and had two white line on the front while Kai's was plainly a dark metallic blue. The same colour as the bikes were the two helmets.

Kaiko walked up to her brother who stopped next to the passageway. Putting on a black long sleeves jacket, closing the zipper and putting on the spare helmet, Kaiko climbed on behind her brother. She closed her visor and wrapped her arms around her brother.

And then they took off. Kai and Tala driving in front of the van.

They had left the city of Tokyo good two hours ago and were now driving through the beautiful countryside. Tyson had tried to get out of Dennis where the hell they were heading but the Russian had only smiled at the younger one. The only thing they had been able to figure out that they were driving towards the coast. Somewhere.

Suddenly they left the main road and were now taking a smaller road. Another turn here and there. And then the woods ended and the coast with the cliffs came into view. The sun was shining on the crashing waves and white spray covered the breaking waves.

And there it stood proudly. After the next bent it appeared before their eyes. The sun was drawing it out. A white house beside the sea. Not far from the cliffs. A crème coloured façade and a large double winged door asking if they wanted to enter. Next to it a garage, already occupied by a dark van and several motorcycles of different colours and colour combinations.

Dennis stopped the black van in front of the building after Kai and Tala had driven past the double winged entrance doors and had parked their bikes at the side. Slowly the group filled out of the vehicle glancing around in awe.

Kaiko gazed around and her light crimson eyes were holding a long forgotten shimmer. She remembered this place. She had been here before during her childhood. She knew this place very well. The surrounding area, the house, absolutely everything.

It were good memories. Memories of joy, filled with laughter and smiles.

Kai walked up the staircase leading to the front doors and opened the door with his key. Kaiko had followed him and entered the house behind him followed by Tala and the rest of the group. For the time being their luggage stayed in the black vehicle.

The entrance hall was filtered with warm afternoon light spilling through the windows and drawing on the thick carpets.

"Wow…" Tyson whispered while his eyes wandered through the hall and over the paintings on the walls.

"Home…" Kaiko breathed and only Kai heard his sister and nodded silently.

Slowly Kai lead the group towards one of the doors next to the staircase. Without a sound he opened it and stepped inside. Tala and Dennis allowed the others to step through the door before them and then followed Kai's team inside.

The original furniture had been pushed to the side and had been partly covered with white sheets. Boxes were lined along one of the walls, some of them open and giving the view free at stacks of folders and files.

Tables were placed all over the large room. Laptops were set up and papers and a lot more files covering the desks. At the nearest table Logan looked up from his laptop smiling at the entering group and readjusting his thin framed glasses.

At the desk behind him Sky was sitting with a file in her hand looking up from it at the newcomers. Next to her stood Daphne, looking over Sky's shoulder at the papers in Sky's hands. She, too, was smiling at them.

Not far away a table was littered with metal and plastic parts and a lamp was set up. Maxie and Irina had apparently been discussing over something together with a boy, no one of the BBA Revolutions had met before. It was Alexei, Daphne's boyfriend.

"Hey, Kai!" The young man greeted and he also nodded at the team. Kai responded the friendly greeting with one nod of his own.

Their were two occupants left in the room. Alicia and Rika were at the table most far away from the door. Alicia sitting on the desk with a folder in her hands and Rika typing on her black laptop what Alicia was dictating her. Rika's typing was the last to stop in the room, which felt itself with unbroken silence.

Kaiko's light crimson eyes met Rika's grey ones over the room and slowly Rika stood up and started to walk slowly towards her boyfriend's sister. Kaiko also walked towards the other and they met in the middle of the way. Kaiko's eyes blazed with angered emotion and the younger girl started yelling at the older one, bombarding her with a bad language – mostly Kaiko used her homeland language, Russian. With each word more tears started to fall from her eyes and slowly they made their ways over both her cheeks.

Rika stayed silent and just gazed at the girl standing in front of her. She did not defend herself because she knew that she was guilty. But she stayed not that impassive as usual, Kaiko caught the small flicker in those unreadable grey eyes.

Suddenly a pair of arms were flung around her and she felt tears seeping through her thin blue shirt. Instinctively Rika wrapped her arms around the shaking form in return. Turning her gaze downwards Rika was met with the sight of slate blue hair. A small sincere smile crept to her lips as she lowered her head slightly and pressed the younger girl closer for comfort.

"Don't… ever… do that again!" Kaiko managed to say through her sobs. Rika nodded while her eyes filled themselves with a crystal clear liquid. "Promise…" Her voice was gentle and for a long while the two were standing their between the packed table just holding onto each other.

Dennis grinned widely. "Kaiko has been around Tala too often…" He commented on the younger girl's former outburst. "..that combined with the Hiwatari genes…"

Loud laughter filled the room and the tension that had been hanging in the air withdrew.

The once food filled plates and bowls were now empty – no way that Tyson would leave a bite of food behind. It was evening and the team BBA Revolution had unpacked their things. Tyson and Max were sharing one room, while Hilary and Emily had moved into the room next to them. Across the floor Kenny and Daichi had found their place.

That left Ray without a place to stay before Kai brushed passed him and ordering him to follow him. Minutes later Ray had found himself in a room at the end of another floor. There was only one bed inside it but someone helpful had put up a second bed at the other wall. The Chinese figured that this was no normal guestroom. In fact… presumably it was not even a guestroom…

But Kai had ignored Ray's questioning gaze and had simply dropped his bag before the Russian had left the room soundlessly and silent as always.

Now Ray was sitting with the others at the table after they had a delicious meal. The Chinese had to admit that the Russian girls were really good when it came to cooking and from what he saw of their skills in beyblading they were experts in that sport as well.

Opposite of Ray Kai was sitting in between Kaiko and Rika. This seating arrangement seemed absolutely normal and a thought crossed Ray's mind suddenly. They would make a good family…

"You are not joking? New blades?" Tyson's face mirrored his growing excitement. "Cool!" Kaiko smiled. Rika turned to the younger girl offering the glimpse of a small smile. "Look at my desk." She stated calmly.

Because they had already finished dinner Kaiko stood up and the rest of Kai's team followed her. They passed by the other paper packet tables in the large room next door before the reached what was supposed to be Rika's working place.

The screensaver of her silver laptop was showing the silhouette of a phoenix. Two stacks of papers and files on the right side of the laptop. Several pieces of white paper were spread over the table and a black college block with notes and sketches of nearly round objects.

On the left side of the table five different coloured beyblades were placed. Kaiko immediately spotted hers. Showing of her favourite colours green and royal blue. The others had other colour combinations. One was absolutely white, next to it lay a green one and a white-green coloured one. The last one was coloured white and yellow.

Each one of the BBA Revolutions reached for the one that was showing of their usual blade colours. Turning them around in their hand s they started to compare them with their former Heavy Metal Blades.

"They look cool!" Max exclaimed happily.

They had about the same size as the MS Blades so they were still smaller than normal blades. But there had been made some modifications and additions on each blade but still they were perfectly fitting with the style and likes of each blader.

"They are a combination of your MS blades and our Personality System. It will take some time for each of you to control these blades." Logan spoke quietly from the background.

Later on that evening Kenny walked through the living room of the house. The other members of his team – except the Russians - were still seated around the large table. The living room was only partly separated from the dining room so the Chief could still see and hear his friends. Kenny was on his way to the room where the Russians were working on something. Kenny had noticed the sketches on Rika's table and had immediately recognised them as sketches of beyblade parts. That had got the better out of him.

But Kenny did not reached the next room because he stopped in his tracks. His eyes went wide. The last light of the day was falling through the large windows of the room, colouring it softly.

"Guys! You have to see this!" The boy with the glasses called for his friends.

"What is it, Kenny?" Tyson said as the group strolled over to said boy.

Kenny just shock his head as if to get rid of something and lifted his hand to point at something. The group turned their attention from the Chief towards the thing Kenny was pointing at.

There hanging on the wall was a large photograph, illuminated by the last sun of the day. It was a family portray. Four adults and four children were treasured in it for all time. Actually it were two families, to be precise.

It was taken on a sunny day in summer or spring. On a white bench in a garden sat two women.

The left one was dressed in a knee length white skirt and a light blue blouse. Her dark brown, slightly curled hair was brought up into a slightly mess bun at the back of her head. Several strands of her hair had got loose and were curling around her face. Sharp but laughing lilac eyes and smiling lips dominated the gentle features of the woman.

The other woman was dressed in a light red summer dress with a small flower print. A chain with a silver bird shaped pendant was her only jewellery. Her dark blonde hair was falling past her shoulders. A sincere smile on her lips matched the laughter in her light blue eyes.

Two men were standing behind the bench with the women. The one standing behind the woman with the dress was holding a girl in his harms. He had slate, two-toned blue hair and sparkling crimson eyes. He was dressed quite casually with a dark jeans and a white shirt. Smiling proudly he was holding his daughter.

The six year old had inherited his hair colour and his eye colour. But her eyes were lighter then the orbs of her father and her hair was not messy like his but plain like her mothers. Her hair was brought up in two pigtails framing her laughing face. Her arms were wrapped around the neck of her father and in her right hand she was holding a small blue and green objet tightly. Dressed up in a pair of blue trousers and a light green shirt.

The other man stood next to the man with the intensive crimson eyes. A firm and loving hand was placed on the shoulder of the left woman with the dark lilac eyes. The man had grey eyes behind a pair of silver framed glasses, giving him a intelligent look. Light brown hair with some darker strands in it. Handsome features like the other man. A smile forming on his lips, secretive and at the same time open. He was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and a pair of old used jeans.

Next to him stood a girl around the age of twelve was dressed in a light lavender coloured summer dress which was just reaching her knees. Long brown hair was falling over the shoulder, slightly brought out of the face with a white tie. Sparkling lilac eyes gazed into the direction of the camera. In her right hand she was holding a lilac object, not completely hidden from view.

But the thing that was confusing and stunning the group of bladers starring up at the photograph were the two children in front of the picture. They had immediately recognised them.

There sitting on the green grass were two children around the age of seven. A boy and a girl. The boy was a younger version of Kai. Deep crimson eyes were gazing down at them intensively. His slate hair was cut short but looked extremely messy and spiky. He was sitting with one arms supporting his weight and on leg outstretched while the other leg was brought up to his chest halfway and on it's knee was resting his right arm. In this hand he was holding his royal blue beyblade. What was so shocking? Simple: Kai was smiling a genuine smile and there was no sign of the emotionless mask he was wearing nowadays. He looked as if he had fun. Kai was dressed in a pair of blue trousers and a and a dark red shirt matching his eyes perfectly.

Next to him with an arm around his shoulder and the head placed confidently on his right shoulder was the girl. Grey eyes sparkling and laughing with joy, smiling happily was Rika. In her hand she was also holding her beyblade and she was wearing a light blue dress with short sleeves.

Kai seemingly did not mind the close body contact and they all looked so happy and innocent.

It was the perfect family portrait.

"That was our last summer." A soft voice brought them back to reality. "Together." Kaiko was standing not too far behind them, looking up at the photograph. "In the following autumn Rika's and Kayo's parents died in a car crash… And a few month later our father was shot… We never had heard of Voltaire… till the day he came and took Kai and Rika away…"

Light crimson eyes flickered and they became dangerously wet. Kaiko closed her eyes for a brief moment and after that her tears had vanished.

"Lucas, Kat, Alexander and Natasha have always fought against the BioVolt Corporation. They were the greatest people I have ever met." An unfamiliar voice spoke, making the group turn towards the door.

Standing there was a woman in her late forties. Her dark hair was pinned up elegantly and gave her an earnest look. Burgundy red earrings were framing her face while she was clad in a slight strictly looking dark green suit. The skirt was reaching past her knees and she was wearing a pair of black pump shoes. In her hands she was holding a black leather briefcase.

"Their spirit lives in their children." She smiled.

"Maria!" Kaiko exclaimed surprised. "What are you doing here?" Walking up to the woman, who had been a close friend to her mother, Kai's sister hugged her.

"I need some signatures." Maria replied, returning the hug of the girl. "It's always work!" Kaiko said, not really being angry, knowing how important this work was. Releasing the woman from the hug, Kaiko turned and introduced the arrived. "That's Maria. She is a close family friend. And that's Kai's team…" She gestured at each of them, recalling their respective names.

"Good evening!" They chorused, bowing slightly. "Evening." Maria replied, smiling.

Kai appeared in the doorframe, wanting to find out what was all the commotion about. Instantly he realised that they had seen the portray but he pointedly turned his attention towards the newly arrived woman. "Maria." He greeted her with an respectful nod in her direction. "Kai." The woman replied before walking over to the young man. "What brings you here?" Kai asked stepping aside to let the woman pass. "Business."

Kai sighed in defeat and followed her. Kaiko chuckled softly.

The next day the training for the team started. Kai personally made sure that they were keeping to the training schedule. Maria had left again after she had discussed business issues with Rika and Kai for hours. Alicia had prepared coffee for the three, which was greatly accepted. Tyson saw Kai shaking his head several times and Rika looked kind of depressed. But that one was hard to tell about someone who preferred to be unreadable.

"Granger! Wake up already!"

"Okay, okay!"

Irina jogged down the lane, listening to the music coming from her mp3-player. Houses and trees passed by while she kept her steady pace.

She felt a small pain hitting her bare arm, like a little bite. But she had no time to react. Eyes became suddenly so damn heavy. Her knees never hid the ground when she slumped forwards, nor did a groan or yell escape her rosy lips.

A black car turned left at the end of the lane.

Lonely the tiny music player was lying on the floor, next to a small pendant. And the gentle voice of the singer Lara filled the air with her sad tunes.

Done.

Review? Please? Pretty please?

Next chapter: „They have gone too far." Grey eyes glittered dangerously. "They should not have provoked the X Five…"

See you! LadyOfTheBluePhoenix