Well heres another update, i was going to wait for friday, but heck, why not post it now!
And i apologize in advance if you find it boring, theres really no dialgue this time, just descriptions. But i hope that u enjoy it anyways! And thanks for all your supportive reviews! they mean so much to me!

Shezel- i'm glad that u liked it, i was really pleased with how the dialogue turned out!

Tai of the Nine-Tailed- thanks for letting me be a gueststar! i can't wait for u to post the first chapter!

CrimsonShadows- its great to finally be doing a fic together! thanks for ur support!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You all seem genuinely concerned about Marina!

Ch. 34- Passage of Time

A week had passed since they had escaped off the island, and now the Bladebreakers sat around Tyson's living room, watching a Simpson's marathon. Mr. Granger was already regretting the TV. Even though it had been a week, each teen in the room was now thinking on various levels, about that fateful day on the helicopter.

FLASHBACK

"Max, no!" Marina yelled as the blonde boy tumbled from her grasp and fell into the waves below.

The next few minutes were havoc until Marina stood by the door and announced that she would save Max. That was before she dove out the door.

END FLASHBACK

After they had visited Max, they had headed down to the cafeteria. Tyson just went at it there, putting several people in the room off their food. The cafeteria staff had never seen anyone so satisfied with what they served. Hilary had tried once to get him to eat slower, but gave up quickly on his hopeless case.

Ray and Kai had also been hungry, having forgotten in the excitement that they hadn't eaten in many long hours. But they went about it more civilized, and ate like a normal person would. The hospital food wasn't very satisfying, and Kai found that he couldn't eat much before it began sticking in his throat, he had somehow lost his appetite. He pushed his plate away and stuck with drinking the watered-down orange juice instead.

After an hour in the cafeteria had passed they managed to drag Tyson away. People had just stared and muttered quietly as they watched the blue-haired teen grab items off several random plates as he was hauled bodily from the room by his four disgusted teammates.

They had stayed with Max until visiting hours were over and a very determined nurse shushed them from the room. While they were in the hospital Tyson's grandfather had joined them; he had taken longer to arrive because his old car hadn't started and he had been busy with a class. He acted like it was no bid deal to see his grandson again, but it was obvious that he had been worried sick for his little dude.

The next day Mr. Dickinson had organized a search party for Marina, and sent boats to scour the waters. The Bladebreakers helped to search, but Kai knew that it was unlikely that they would find her. Max had wanted to help, but on the doctors orders he had stayed behind, and wasn't happy about the arrangements at all. Nobody's hoped were really up and optimism was on low. At the end of the day everyone was tired and sunburnt, the reflective glare of the ocean hadn't exactly been kind to them. Tired and depressed, they had returned to Tyson's dojo, where their spirits were lifted a little as Max checked out of the hospital in good health.

The days after saw everyone gradually returning to their normal spirits, but they still felt bad about Marina's fate. Even though they knew it wasn't their fault, they felt responsible somehow, like because they had convinced her to stay even though she was originally adamant about leaving.

They beybladed to keep their minds focussed, except Max had no respite for his thoughts as he was forbidden from beyblading until his arm healed completely. Mr. Dickinson had even signed them up for a demonstration of their skills at the Beyblade Research Facility, where their progress would be monitored and they would probably have a match against the top beybladers at the facility. Mr. Dickinson had mentioned that it was sometime during the next week, but they didn't know the exact date.

So that left them where they were now, sitting around the TV looking for entertainment. Only one person in the room was really getting into the show. It was on mainly to keep their minds off everything that had happened. Kenny and Hilary had gotten all the details from the Bladebreakers, and understood how everyone was feeling, but didn't dwell as much on it.

Nobody had really known Marina for that long, but even still; she had seemed to be getting used to them. And they had gotten used to her cold, silent presence and her confident, somewhat sarcastic attitude.

So all that was left of her was her bag, (which they refused to go through, no matter how curious they became) and her long, black coat that she had left in the grass when they had been kidnapped. The whole past week Kai seemed even more distant and cold, yet they understood it because he had known her the best. (It was generally assumed anyway.) She was a long-lost childhood friend from Balkov Abbey and they had, essentially, grown up together. Even though they said nothing to him, they wondered if emotions were beginning to effect him more. They usually avoided him when he was brooding and he surprised them all by actually practicing with them.

Everyone was left with their own thoughts. Kenny was worried about their upcoming appearance at the research facility. As he busily typed into his laptop he was convinced that they hadn't practiced enough.

Oh, no. I just know that we haven't had near enough practice as he we should have, Kenny thought busily. If we haven't improved then it will be a total failure on my part. I can't let that happen. But when exactly are we supposed to go to the Research Facility. Mr. Dickinson wasn't exactly specific. Ah! This is just too much to take.

It was minor details like that that made him crazy. And in his spare time he was busy devising a tracking device to put in their beyblades, so there would always be way to find them. He was getting extremely paranoid that it would happen again.

Hilary stood behind the short armchair that Kenny occupied. She had her elbows propped up on the back of the chair and her head rested on her hands. Her brown eyes were continually flicking from the TV to Kenny's laptop monitor as he ran different simulations.

Gosh. I wonder what's more boring. This show, or Kenny's simulations. I swear that he's run that one already, she thought, passively.

Personally, she found that she was a little disappointed that Marina had disappeared. At first she had been jealous of the Russian girl and all the attention that the Bladebreakers had given her. She had changed her opinion though, once she realized that Marina wasn't replacing her. Why do I even miss her? We barely spoke, she was cold towards everyone, and she was always running off for one reason or another that she would never tell. She's too closed. If you want to keep your friends, you talk to them once in while. And trust them. But she missed having another female around, especially one who could put Tyson in his place and stood up for herself.

Ray sat on the couch, next to Max, and wasn't really watching TV. He was feeling rather homesick and wanted to talk to his former teammates, the White Tigers. Man, everyone in the room except Kai and me have family in Japan. Tyson has his grandfather, Kenny and Hilary each have their parents, and even Max had his dad here. Hmm…I wonder how my village is doing, he thought, as his mind accidentally strayed to Marina. He thought about all the things she'd done for them and could now faintly see why she'd refused to join their team. He sighed, I hope she's doing all right. Then his thought once again returned to his homeland, to that remote village in China.

Max sat in the middle of the couch, beside Ray and Tyson. He absently picked at the tape holding the bandage over his stitches. It was almost healed, though he would have the scar forever. And it itched so annoyingly. God is this boring or what? I wonder how Marina is doing. He still had her black headband, and even though they had washed it several times the bloodstains still remained. He realized that he was picking at the bandage and quickly folded his arms over his chest. Then he laughed half-heartedly along with Tyson as Homer Simpson repeatedly fell down a steep cliff. (A/N- you know that episode.) He was beginning to think that the weather report that was just on was more interesting than the show he now watched.

Tyson laughed at the TV hysterically. He found everything about the Simpsons to be funny. How stupid can cartoon people be, he thought. As a commercial break began advertising a brand of Japanese noodles, Tyson looked around at his fellow teammates, who were each deep in thought. It seemed that Marina's absence had affected them more than they thought. Tyson had to admit that she had done some good for the team. Aside from rescuing them and saving Max, Kenny had informed him that Dragoon's power levels had increased with her training. That thought alone was too much for Tyson, who once again gave all his attention back to the TV, even though it was now a new announcement.

"In this special news report, we've just received word of an explosion on an island off the coast," a blond TV reporter announced to the screen. "It seems that a research facility has received the most damage. The accident happened early this morning, but we have no word on how it started or on causalities…"

Kai turned looked away from the screen. He couldn't stand to be still anymore.

I don't know why I even try to watch such an idiotic and immature program, he thought, irritated.

He slipped out of the room and unobtrusively left Tyson's dojo. He looked to the sky that was streaked with pink and orange. The sun would be setting soon. He briefly considered sitting on the roof, but dismissed that idea as he really needed to release pent up energy. He decided to head towards the beach and found that he had been going there a lot lately.

A few minutes later, Ray noticed Kai's absence. He informed everyone that he was going for a walk and left them around the TV. Usually when Kai left, it meant that he wanted to be alone. (Which was most of the time.) But Ray had had enough of his teammate's behavior and vowed to give Kai a piece of his mind. They were friends after all, and Ray wanted to know what was up. He had no right to keep people at arm's length.

Ray hesitated at the dojo's entrance; Kai could be almost anywhere. Ray figured his best bets were under the bridge by the river, or the beach. He decided on the beach. That was where Kai went to practice.

Kai ran, enjoying the physically demanding task as he took the bumpier route to the beach. His white scarf trailed behind him like a pale shadow as he ran and the wind whipped in his ears. Kai felt the need to work off excess energy; he felt too wound-up to concentrate. Once he reached the soft sand and the salty expanse he stopped and stared at the dark water. Then he began a complicated attack pattern that he knew that he had learned at the abbey, but to his frustration he couldn't remember all of the complex moves.

He looked across the water to see the red sun start to sink slowly beneath the horizon. The sky was stained in shades of orange, pink, green and blue. The beauty of the view wasn't lost on Kai, but he chose to acknowledge rather than dwell on it long. The sun setting just meant that darkness would fall soon. He decided to walk along the beach for a while before going back. He traveled a little ways, then sat on the breakwater as he stared out to sea.

His eyes roved to a dark spot near the shore. Gray eyes watched as the black blob began to take on the form of a person. He thought it was probably just some whacko that liked to swim in the sea and looked away. Inexplicably his eyes were drawn back as the figure slowly rose from the surf. The person was hunched over, long hair and hanging clothes blocking his view of their face.

Kai could see that their footsteps were uncertain as they stumbled out of the water. The person looked up and appeared confused. That was when Kai began to suspect that something was wrong. They didn't move further up the beach, but instead stood there and their posture wavered. With the tide coming in, their ankles were submerged with water. The person was shaking violently and looked to the sky. Their wet hair fell back to reveal a face in profile.

With a start Kai realized who the figure was. He jumped off the breakwater just as the person tried to take one step, and instead collapsed in the sand.

"Red sky in the morning, sailors warning; red sky at night, sailors delight."