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Disclaimer: Refer to whatever chapter, it's all there, I've already done this too much. Blah blah blah . . .

CHAPTER 10: FORGIVENESS (unexpected)

So this is what death feels like huh? . . . boring isn't it?

Haley drifted through absolute nothingness, her body a pleasant numb feeling after that intense suffocating moment she experienced just a short while ago. Somehow she knew that she had died, almost as if she felt the life draining out of her physical body.

But what had happened to Draco? At a time like this she could use some company.

***

Kendra walked down the hall calmly, or at least as calm as she could manage. Her nerves were fired up, picking up every movement within a five-metre radius, including the air. From somewhere behind her she knew that the Hiwatari boy and the ghost were watching her, although carefully keeping to the shadows.

She breathed out nervously, directly up ahead was the lab where only ID personnel were allowed to enter. That almost made her laugh; such security measures for such a small girl.

And a dead one at that too.

Kendra was just about to reach for the handle when the door was shoved open with tremendous force. She jumped back, immediately knowing whom it was just by feeling the heated rage radiating from him.

"Where the hell have you been?!?!" shouted Boris at the woman who tried to recover as quickly as possible.

"Taking a break." Replied Kendra calmly , "Even professionals need that you know." She watched as his pale face grew red.

"Get in here right now." Said Boris between gritted teeth.

Kendra walked in, throwing an anxious look over her shoulder before the door closed with a dull thud.

***

Haley looked this way and that, trying to will up something for her to do in this vast emptiness. Her mind wondered aimlessly. Her thoughts straying from her first encounter with Draco, to Kai who had always been like a brother to her. She inwardly smiled to herself, remembering how unwilling he was to talk to her when they had first met.

In fact the first time they saw each other was at Haley's father's estate in Japan. Haley was a cheerful child when Kai was already full of bitterness, and as they both grew older together she somehow felt his pain more and more. His reluctance to open up slowly decreased, but only a little. When he ran away it was a harsh blow to her, her only source of comfort had vanished into thin air.

She was mad. Hatred consumed her, she wanted revenge that she could not get so she unleashed her fury in battles. The impact of her blade didn't only shatter other beyblades it also shattered bones. Yet she did all that harm without the least bit of remorse.

Looking back now, Haley felt sorry for all those she had hurt. It was no way to fill the empty void inside her because all her victories had only made her feel worse, perhaps she didn't realize that before but now she did.

If she could weep, she certainly would have done it.

***

Kai waited outside the door impatiently, having been staring at the wooden surface of it for the past fifteen minutes. Beside him Lil Haley was busily doing something on her own, now and then giggling as if something funny had just happened. Maybe it was a ghost thing; Kai didn't care in the least. Although he wished he could be as carefree as she seemed.

Time passed, and Kai was still stubbornly staring at the same wooden panel on the door, except now he had sunk down onto the floor out of fatigue. Lil Haley floated from one place to another, seemingly pacing back and forth behind Kai, who was now starting to get distracted and irritated.

He was just about to turn and tell her to stop in his usual cold tone when he heard the door click open and intense white lighting flooding into the hallway near where he was hidden.

He watched wide-eyed and tense as the door closed and the click of hard heels on stone started echoing as the person walked. A shadow fell on the boy and the ghost a moment later and Kai looked up to see Kendra smiling down at them. She dangled a familiar strand of green hair above his head as the Lil Haley, who had been extremely energetic all this time gave a small whoop of joy.

Kai got up with a small grunt and followed Kendra back to her quarters, where the materials are ready to be added to the revival potion.

***

Haley began to panic. There was definitely something wrong with where she existed at this moment. In stories she had heard of life after death, depending on what people believed those who died either went to another world (heaven or hell) or was reincarnated into something else. But it seemed to her that she hadn't seen any changes since . . . forever.

The same blackness almost drove her to the edge of sanity. And the worst was that whatever memory she thought about materialized in the space before her in the form of a small movie. She tried thinking of happy things, but the few that existed were from so long ago that nothing really made any sense when put together.

Haley began to think that maybe she was stuck in this limbo world because she was waiting for something. If that was the case she hoped that it would come soon. Whether good or bad, anything was better than this.

***

After the boiling water was added, all the materials were thrown into the metal pot. Then it was left to cool slightly, and poured into a flask.

Kai and Kendra crashed down into their own respective chairs while Lil Haley floated in the air between them.

"Now what?" growled Kai.

"Now we wait until Boris gets out of there." sighed Kendra, looking at the clock beside where her arm rested on the small table. "And that's about two hours later." She blew the same untamed strand of hair out of eyes before her gaze rested on the boy who suddenly appeared very distressed. "Are you alright?"

His mahogany pupils looked at her in slight alarm, but it was quickly masked by his usual emotionless look. Kendra however, still continued to gaze expectantly at him.

"You know Kai if something's bothering you, you can tell me."

Kai jerked in his chair, although no one noticed it. It struck him how motherly she sounded, something which had been absent from his life as far as he could remember. Somehow he felt compelled to answer her, eventhough she was almost a complete stranger.

"It's my fault . . . I can't believe I was so selfish!" replied Kai quietly. He was surprised at what he just said, and it sounded like he had actually meant his words. Even if this was his true thought, he'd never voice it.

Kendra was surprised as well. She'd never thought such a closed boy would answer. She looked away from him. "Is it because you left?" She heard Kai shift uneasily in his chair, eventhough she didn't see him, she knew he was nodding.

"I've watched Haley for a long time, everyone said she was insane and was going to end up being a murderer." Said Kendra thinking back, "I admit I didn't believe anyone when I first came to work here, but one look at her I knew she wasn't crazy, just in pain." She looked at Kai who was like a rock, not showing the least bit of emotion on the outside.

"I'm not saying this to make you feel bad. Haley was strong, even if she was driven by hate. By you running away she learned independence. And she coped with her anger by going into isolation after her training." She sighed, "Sometimes to do good for those you care about, you have to be bad."

Kai continued to stare at the floor, he could feel Kendra's eyes burning into him. She sounded like someone with experience, though he'd never ask.

Silence hung in the air for the duration of the wait. The two humans were absorbed in their own thoughts, too preoccupied to notice that Lil Haley's aura was starting to pulsate.

***

Haley didn't know when, but somewhere along the way she had forgiven Kai for abandoning her. Sometimes she couldn't even remember why she had been so angry in the first place. Maybe she had just been angry at the fates for not giving her a normal life that the majority of the world had the pleasure of having. Starting with the knowledge that the woman she had unwillingly called 'mother' all her life was a fake and that her real mother had died.

But that's in the past, there was no way to turn back time. But she prayed that if only she could go back for a second and say her last words to perhaps the only person who ever cared, she would rest easy for eternity.

___________________________________________________________

Okie, I SO did not prepare for that last part. Yeah I noe I'm a complete idiot for not knowing what I write *sigh*. Actually I was listening to the Evanescence CD and some of the music must've done something to my subconscious while I was typing. *shrug* who knows?

N e ways, sadly this story is coming to an end shortly, 1 or 2 more chapters I think. *sniff sniff*

*crowd cheers*

Hey! Be nice!

*crowd cheers some more just to piss off authoress*

Fine! *glares daggers* but for the rest of you nice people, try to stick around for the next chapter.

^_^ buh-bye!