Chapter 2:

(Author's Note)

Chapter two is in the house! If you haven't read chapter 1 for some reason, please go back and do so. As I'm writing this, chapter 1 has yet to be released, so I honestly don't know what the feedback to it was. Fingers crossed that it was good.

Anyway, I've read several more kick fics since writing the 1st chapter three or so weeks ago, and I've come up with a basic idea for another short-story involving our favorite karate-themed love birds. Fake dating AU in Kim's POV anyone? I think so. Lemme know if you'd be interested in that in your Review!

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Falling for you all over again

Kim hadn't gotten any sleep.

She had tossed and turned all night, but her mind had raced and thought up thousands of outcomes of what would happen with Jack, and each was worse than the last.

She got up early, deciding to not wallow in her thoughts any longer. She lingered outside Jack's door for a few minutes, just listening and hoping she'd hear him suddenly exclaim "I got my memories back!" and she'd run in there, tackle him in a hug, and tell him she-

She left his door.

After a long, steaming shower to make herself feel more alive, Kim made her way to the breakfast table where her parents already were. They both watched her with weary eyes, but said nothing as she poured herself some cereal.

Jack wandered down a few minutes later, and Kim felt her heart stop. She looked up to him with a silent, unasked question, hoping his memories had come back overnight. But he just shook his head silently, sat down next to her, and thanked her mom for the cereal. Kim pushed her untouched bowl away, suddenly no longer hungry.

As she watched him eat, Kim had to bite her lip to keep herself from exploding. She wasn't the kind of girl that cried, she told herself. Jack didn't seem to notice her staring, but her mom certainly did. Kim gave her mom a subtle shake of her head, telling her to not say anything. Her mom, thankfully, gave a slight nod in return and went back to her coffee.

"So, Jack," her mom began, putting her mug down. Jack looked up to her mid bite. "We talked last night, and we think it would be best that you stay home the next few days and not go to school. At least, until your memories come back." She said, "This way you don't get overwhelmed and have time to recover. Plus, with the broken hand, you should rest."

"Um, okay, Mrs. Crawford." Jack said. "That's fine." He looked at Kim. "Do we go to school together, Kim?" At least he had finally remembered her name, she thought.

"Yes." She told him. "I usually meet you at your house and we walk there."

"Oh, okay." He gave another one his new nods that meant he didn't know what to say. He gave her another look. "Are you going to go to school, or are you going to stay home as well-"

"I'm going to stay home with you." She said a little too quickly. She heard her dad let out a mumble under his breath, but she didn't catch it. "I mean, uh…" her mind went crazy trying to think of something to make her sound less obsessive. "I think it wouldn't be a good idea to let you stay home alone. And this way, I can keep you company."

Her dad put down his newspaper. "I don't think that's a good idea-"

"Jack, honey," her mom cut in. "If you're done, I think you should go back upstairs and get some rest. You still look really tired."

Jack, not seeming to have noticed the tension in the room, nodded. "I think you're right, Mrs. Crawford." He yawned. "This not remembering anything makes me tired."

"My phone number is on the fridge if you need anything while we're at work." Her mom said with a smile as he rose from the table. "Or you can just ask Kim." She said, giving Kim a knowing look as Jack left the room.

As soon as Jack's door closed upstairs, her dad started. "I don't think it's a good idea to let Kim and Jack stay home together, unsupervised."

"Kim has been home alone a hundred times," her mom said, sounding like she had been repeating this same thing since yesterday. "She is responsible enough-"

"But she's never been left home with a boy before." Her dad cut in, talking like Kim wasn't even there. It really made her blood boil, and she felt ready to burst.

"I'm sure we can trust Jack-"

"A boy who doesn't even remember who our daughter is-"

"You're right that Jack doesn't remember who I am!" Kim suddenly shouted, surprising herself. She had never yelled at her parents before, and she could see the shock on their faces, but she couldn't stop, she was on a roll. "I know he doesn't remember me! And it's all my fault. I could have ruined his life, dad! Do you really think I'm going to make out with him or something now?!"

Her parents were frozen, and Kim took in their shocked faces as she felt her adrenaline stop and heart rate slow down.

Her dad looked between her and her mom several times, "I'm sorry, Kim. I didn't realize that you felt that way. I- I was just being protective because I love you." It made Kim sorry she yelled at him. Despite how he acted sometimes around boys, she knew he only meant well. "I trust you to be home alone. And, if you trust Jack, I trust him, too."

"Then that's settled," her mom said, rising from the table and cleaning up her plate. "Kim will stay home and help out Jack. On top of his memory being gone, he broke his right hand, so it'll be hard for him to to a lot of things." She gave Kim a look. "Are you prepared to help him the next few days?"

Kim could have said, 'Yes, I'd do anything to help Jack', or 'Jack is my best friend and sometimes he feels like more than that, so I'd do anything for him', but all she said was, "Yes."

"Good." Her mom nodded like the matter was settled. "I'll call the school for you and Jack, with his parents out of state, I don't think they excused him from school." She patted Kim's shoulder as she walked out of the room, speaking low so her dad couldn't hear as he left the room, "I know Jack means a lot to you, but don't suffocate him, okay? He needs time."

Kim wasn't able to reply before her mom left, not that she knew what to say. Throwing out her uneaten bowl of cereal, Kim went upstairs to her room. She needed to hit something.

~Page Break~

"HIYAAA!" Kim screamed as she hit the training dummy with far more force than was necessary. She had been basically destroying everything she could get her hands on for the past hour or so. Luckily for her, she owned a lot of training equipment.

She didn't care that she was being loud enough to alert the whole neighborhood, the soreness in her throat and the ache in her knuckles made her feel better, but only just. She knew that if Rudy saw her now, he'd give her a lecture about letting her emotions get the better of her, after sitting her down to see if she was alright, of course.

But Kim pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She was normally a pretty happy girl and didn't let much get to her, but this was different, because this involved Jack, and herself, and, well, any chance of them being a them. Kim wasn't oblivious, nor was she in denial. She liked Jack, like a lot, cared for him as a best friend, sure, but also as more than that. And, somewhere in her heart, she knew he felt the same. But he was just like her; unsure and, admittingly, scared about being rejected or ruining their friendship. Or just making it weird for their friends.

So when she had given him that bracelet, she had been prepared to tell him how she felt, but she had lost courage at the last second and run away. That's how Jack had gotten hurt; because she lost her nerve and backed down. And Kim Crawford wasn't the type of girl to back down, but she had, and she had potentially taken away not only Jack's life up until this point, or taken away any chance he had of being a master or grandmaster, but also potentially ruined any chance of him remembering her and everything they had been through together, and, she thought sadly, how he felt about her as well.

Kim launched herself at the dummy with a spinning kick, but missed the strike in her anger and tumbled to the padded floor. It probably should have hurt, but she was too pissed to feel anything but frustration, and attacked the dummy with savage brutality.

She slammed into the dummy with more of a tackle than a karate strike, driving it to the floor where she straddled the dummy and began wailing on it with all her might-

"Is that karate?"

Kim spun around on the floor to find Jack in her doorway, looking to her expectantly. She could only stare at him with wide eyes, feeling like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

"Is that karate?" Jack repeated, looking a little uncomfortable about being in her doorway, like he caught her doing something he shouldn't have seen. "You… you all said we all do karate together, and that I'm really good. But honestly, I can't remember any of it." And as an afterthought, he said. "Sorry. So," he shuffled on the spot, looking so un-Jack-like. "Is that karate?"

Kim couldn't help but snort. "No, Jack, that wasn't anything near karate." She suddenly remembered she was straddling the dummy and stood up, trying her best to straighten her clothes without looking like she was doing so. "That, um, well that was just me taking out my frustration on something."

He gave her a quizzical look, giving a slight tilt of his head. "Why are you frustrated?"

Kim had to physically stop herself from yelling, 'because I hurt you!'. Instead, she said, "Because you're hurt," she gestured to his broken hand. "You lost your memory, and because you may never do karate again." She didn't say how he may never remember her again.

He nodded as if that made sense, but she could tell it didn't. "So," he said, trying to sound casual. "Karate really meant a lot to me, huh?"

She nodded like maniac, "'Course it does, Jack. Karate was-is, your life. You're a second degree black belt, you've won a dozen tournaments, you can master and move or style with ease, defeat anyone like it's a joke. Jack… karate is who you are."

He seemed to ponder this for a moment, hand to his chin in thought. Suddenly, he said, "Will you teach me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Will you teach me how to do karate?" He repeated, pointing to the medals and trophies that lined the wall. "You seem to know what you're doing, and, if karate means as much to me as you all say…, well," he hesitated. "Maybe learning karate again with help me remember who I am?" He sounded hopeful to Kim, but more than that, like he was almost on the verge of falling off a cliff. She couldn't imagine how this was for him, this entire time she had been thinking about how it all made her feel, but not once did she really think about how it was for him.

She tackled him in a hug, pressing her face into his chest to keep herself from crying again. She pulled away after only a few seconds, he didn't return the hug. "I'd love to teach you, Jack."

So Kim went about showing him the basics, feeling like a white belt again as she showed him the proper stances and forms. After a good half hour, Kim was more than a little concerned if she were honest. He was having such a hard time getting just the stances down, let alone punching. She had him strike the punching dummy for awhile, and had to not let her worry show on her face as he flailed around like a drunken chicken. His strikes had no power, no technique, and zero drive. Clearly, she thought, she couldn't just tell him to perform moves like she was used to him or Rudy doing when they instructed the boys. She would have to think back to all those years ago when she was a white belt, and reteach Jack all the fundamentals first.

"Okay," she said, stopping him from slapping the dummy like a maniac. "We're going to take a break from punching. After all, karate isn't about punching."

He gave her a confused look. "It isn't?"

"No," she said automatically. "It's about balance, mastering yourself, and being the best person you can be."

He seemed to consider this, before saying, "But it's at least a little about looking badass?"

"Just a little bit," she smiled. "Come on, I'll show you this technique for centering your chi."

Jack looked a little impressed as he followed her to the center of the mat. "Are you a master, Kim?"

She blushed despite herself. "No, I'm good, but nowhere near that good. Out of anyone at the dojo, you're the closest."

He looked surprised. "Really? I'm that good? I thought maybe you were better than me."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Jack," she said with a smile. "You're a lot better than me. Really, there's no competition when you really try."

"Really? I'm that good?"

"The best I've ever seen. We've sparred a few times, but I've always had the feeling you were still holding back, but not like the first time- well, that's a story for another time. Anyway," she smiled, before looking away and controlling her breathing and centering herself. "You actually taught me this technique, well, you started to a few days ago."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you learned it from a shaolin monk."

He looked even more doubtful. "...Are you pulling my leg here?"

Kim couldn't help but smile. "Nope. You, Jack, always get into the wildest adventures." She said, before lowering herself into stance. "Come on, follow my movements. Slow your breathing, try to match mine. We'll do the technique for a few minutes and see how you feel after that."

"Sounds good." He said, mimicking her and dropping to a low stance.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

~Page Break~

After long days at work, Kim's parents came home and, naturally, looked for their daughter and their house guest when they were nowhere to be seen. Chuck was about to burst into Kim's room when they heard Kim and Jack talking. So as quietly as she could, Marie tiptoed down the hall and snuck a peek into Kim's cracked open door. And what she saw, brought a warmth to her chest.

Kim and Jack were standing face to face on the mats, with Jack mirroring her movements in an elegant, beautiful flowing technique she had never seen before. Marie could tell Chuck wanted to say something at first when he saw Jack in Kim's room, but she watched his face soften when they saw the first genuine smile on Kim's face since before Jack lost his memory.

She could have watched the two of them for hours— the rhythmic technique was so memorizing— but Marie got the feeling like she was intruding on something special, not intimate, but clearly personal. She grabbed her husbands' arm, pulling him away before he could ruin the moment and got started on dinner.

~Page Break~

Freshly showered, in her pajamas and ready for bed, Kim went down the hall to wish Jack goodnight. She was about to knock on his open door when she saw him sitting cross legged on the bed, a lifeless look on his face as he blankly stared off at nothing.

"Jack?" She said just above a whisper. "Is something wrong?"

He startled, clearly not having heard her come in. "Oh, uh," he looked a little uncomfortable. "I'm fine."

Kim didn't believe that for one second. They didn't become best friends without her learning to read him like a book. She sat down on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on his. "Jack, what's wrong?" She asked again. "I know that you don't remember me, but out of anyone in the world, you can tell me anything. There's no secrets between us." She felt a wave of disgust wash over her. If that were true, she would have told him how she felt and he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

A slight smile crept onto his face. "Thanks, Kim. Seriously, what did I do to get a friend like you?"

She blushed from his words, but it also didn't help that she realized how close they were, not to mention she still had her hand on his. She quickly pulled it away and pretended to brush back a strand of hair. Smiling, she said, "You're my best friend, Jack, and I'm yours. And… and you…" she hesitated, unable to say what she wanted—needed— to say once again, but for another reason. "...you mean a lot to me because of that…" She trailed off, blushing like mad and looking the other way and getting up to leave. "Goodnight-" He grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Kim, um," he hesitated, clearly thinking about something she could only guess at. "You said we're best friends, right? Not just regular friends or even good friends?"

"Of course." She said quickly. "We're best friends."

"Did… I mean, did we ever hug? You know, before?"

She was totally caught off-guard by his question. "Y-yeah, we've hugged once or twice." She said, not telling him how it made her stomach burst into butterflies every time.

"C-can I have a hug?" He stuttered, so unlike himself. "I think I need one right now-"

She tackled him before he could finish, nearly crushing him in a hug. He returned the hug this time and she nearly broke into happy tears.

To be continued

(Author's Note)

So, Jack finally remembered Kim's name, and she's reteaching him Karate and it seems to be helping? At least, it's helping her. What did you think of this chapter? Loved it? Hated it? Thought it was meh? Lemme know in your Review!

Chapter 3 should be uploaded in a week(Friday/Saturday depending on your location), and it's already been written and edited by the time you're reading this. Sadly, the next chapter will be the last chapter, but have no fear, I intend to write another kick fic after this(eventually). Which brings us to…

Should I write a Fake Dating AU short-story next? I have a basic idea in mind, but haven't written anything down yet. It probably wouldn't be more than 5 chapters, and each chapter would probably be between 4-6k words. Lemme know if you'd be interested in that in your Review. (Edit since initially writing this: I have since started writing basic chapter outlines down and have more down in my head.)

Question of the Day: What is your favorite Kickin' it fanfic on FF? Lemme know.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought of it with a Review!