Camilla woke to the sound of the phone ringing. Groggily, she rolled over in her bed to answer it.
"…Hello?"
"Yes, Mrs. White?"
"It's Ms. White."
"Oh excuse me, Ms. White. This is Mrs. Casteel, the headmistress at Cammy's school." Camilla sat up in bed.
"Oh no. Did something happen to Cammy? Is she okay?"
"Well actually Ms. White, that is the very reason I called you. I was afraid Cammy had fallen ill. She hasn't been to class for nearly two weeks."
"What? Cammy has left for school every morning in her uniform. How could she not be there? You must be mistaken."
"I am not Ms. White. It appears as if your daughter has pulled the wool over your eyes. Cammy has had discipline problems before this. This institution certainly cannot tolerate truancy. I am afraid that Cammy will have to be expelled."
"But Mrs. Casteel, Cammy has been having some personal problems as of late. If we could just have a meeting and discuss things I'm sure that we could come to…"
"No I am afraid we can't. I apologize for waking you. I would suggest you go find your daughter. Goodbye."
Camilla hung up the phone. She was furious. She had worked so hard to be able to afford to send Cammy to that school. Even with Charlie's help it had been tough. Now Cammy has thrown it all away. Camilla knew that Cammy was in pain, but, just like her father, Cammy hid it, and ran away from it. Camilla took a deep breath. She too missed Charlie. Though they hadn't ever had another relationship since Cammy was conceived, she still depended on him for certain things. She wasn't good at this kind of stuff like he was, so Camilla did the only other thing she could think to do at the time. Called Guile.
Ken was up bright and early. Training Cammy had proven to be a rewarding experience so far. She was defiantly a fast learner and had a natural talent. But still, she was distant. She was always hiding something just under the surface. Ken wanted to find out what that was. He looked at the clock, 6:45. He was actually ahead of schedule. So he sat down and did something he rarely did. Watched television. As he was flipping through the channels, he came upon a news story on a team of U.S. soldiers that had been missing for nearly a month. It was believed that the terrorist organization, Shadowlaw, was responsible for their disappearance. Their leader was named Nash. Ken thought that surely they must be dead by now. He snorted and spoke out loud.
"They were probably goners the first day they came..."
Cammy interrupted him.
"Hey! You ready to go?"
When had she come in? Ken stood and turned the television off.
"Sure. Why don't we go outside today? You are far enough along that we could probably just spar."
She turned and walked out of the door without speaking. What was wrong with her? She was acting especially strange. As Ken exited the door, a fist flew at his face. He was able to duck and avoid being hit. He moved forward to tackle his assailant, Cammy. As he fell on top of her she placed her feet on his abdomen and used his momentum to flip his body off of hers. Ken raised himself to his feet and turned to smile at Cammy. He was not met with the usual smile in return. Instead, she yelled at him.
"Come on! Let's fight!"
Ken didn't argue and rushed her with a series of kicks she managed to block. His superior training allowed him to avoid leaving himself open to any counter attacks from Cammy. Ken paused and then moved quickly and swept Cammy's feet out form under her. She fell to the ground but tucked her body into a roll and stood facing Ken again. He looked into her green eyes. They were blazing, totally incensed with rage. Before he could stop her to ask what was wrong, she charged him with a series of punches and kicks, which Ken narrowly missed. Ken didn't want to use his full ability and hurt her but pretty soon Cammy was going to land a hit. Pretty soon was now, Ken thought as Cammy's foot hit him square in the chest. He started to stagger backwards and didn't have time to right himself before Cammy pounced on him and slammed his body into the ground. She was on top of him breathing heavily.
"Oh, kinky."
I shouldn't have said that, Ken thought to himself as Cammy backhanded him.
"Okay, I was just joking. I went too far. But you seriously need to calm down right now before…"
She hit him again, this time with a closed fist. Ken felt blood run down his chin from his lip.
"That's enough, Cammy!"
Ken pushed Cammy to the side and pinned her arms across her chest.
"Dammit! Stop Ken!"
"No! I'm going to hold you here until you calm down and tell me what's wrong with you."
"Let go of me!"
She began to struggle against Ken. He then noticed that something, a charm of some sorts, had fallen out of her shirt. It wasn't a charm; it was a set of dog tags. Dog tags? Ken was confused until he read the name on them.
"Nash, Charles"
He watched as Cammy's face changed from rage to a saddened fear as she heard him say those words. Then Ken realized what had been wrong with Cammy all this time.
"The solider, he's your father."
"Let me go!"
Ken did. He was astonished. All this time, she was holding the pain in. What he said a while ago, she must have heard him. That's what set her off. He watched as Cammy stood, only to fall to her knees again, sobbing into her hands.
Cammy let it all out. All the pain and fears she had been holding in. Her entire body was burning and it was as if the smoke from that fire exited as tears. She then felt a hand touch her shoulder. It was Ken. She looked up at him. He had dried blood on his lip and was looking at her with much compassion. He kneeled beside her in the grass.
"You want to tell me what's going on? You need someone to share your pain with. When my sensi was killed I was able to confide in my friend Ryu. It really helped me."
Cammy spoke sullenly.
"My father is not dead. He can't be, he promised me that he would come back. He has never broken a promise to me."
She began to sob again, her body shaking violently. She could hear herself speaking yet from the look on Ken's face, she knew he could not understand her. Soon Ken wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to his chest until her tears were only dry sobs. It felt so good. He stroked her hair and spoke softly to her.
"It will be okay Cammy. Just rest awhile. I can help you get through this. I care about you. I will help you."
She looked into Ken's brown eyes and saw that they were trustworthy. Cammy then smiled and relaxed her body against his. His arms enfolded her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face to his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, fast and strong. She held him listening to the beat of his heart, breathing his warmth. For just an instant she felt safe. It was the way she felt before her father left. That childish belief that nothing could hurt you while Daddy holds you tight. That utter faith that he can make everything right. In Ken's arms, for brief moments, Cammy had that again. She knew it was a lie. Hell, it had been a lie the first time. But she didn't care because this is what she wanted to believe. Cammy felt Ken's breath against her cheek. She turned her face and met his lips. Their kiss was chaste, the faintest brush of their lips against one another. She opened her eyes to meet Ken's. He spoke,
"I…I…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. This isn't the right time for me to…"
Cammy reached up and placed her hand on Ken's cheek. She felt so safe with him.
"Shut up."
She then kissed him again. This time it was more intense. Ken didn't argue with her and met her with the same intensity. Ken laid Cammy completely on the ground and was above her. They parted their lips and explored each other's mouths. She gripped Ken's hair in her fists and greedily held his face to hers. This was perfect. Cammy opened her eyes as Ken was ripped from her arms. She sat up and saw his body failing in the air. A man was stooping above her.
"Guile!"
Please review!!!! I need encouragement. This is getting tougher. =(