"Before All This."

Disclaimer: Oh, you already know I don't own it...why are you still reading this part?

Umm...nothing to say but read on! Lots of N/K in this chapter!

______________________________________________________________________________

"That was never true...I just said that to make you feel better!"

"Really. That's interesting, Nita! The funny thing is, is that it's true. I was taller than you in grade nine. And I was supposed to be in grade eight."

"Well, that's natural, isn't it?"

"I always got made fun of for being shorter than you. And we weren't even dating back then."

She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat, and Kit grinned, backing up from his position and turning away. Nita thought desperately, racking her brain for more memories that could possibly bring Kit back to her. He was leaving again, putting physical and mental space between them. She couldn't stand it. This was Kit. The scrawny, hispanic looking kid who wasn't so scrawny anymore. This was the kid whose high pitched spanish voice had suddenly turned deep, making her heart thump every time she heard it. This was HER Kit. She had seen him through puberty, she had seen him at his worst times. Who had comforted him after his heart was broken by so much? Who was there, on his front porch, as soon as he got home, blood and bruises on his face? She was. And she'd be damned if she let him down this time.

'Oh, Kit. I love you.'

"Kit," She shouted at his back, "Wait!"

He sighed, turning back around and watching her impatiently.

"What? More useless things to tell me?"

"I...I do need to tell you something..." She blurted.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She hated the way he was talking. He was speaking in the same evened out voice as the Lone Power. But then, she realized, perhaps he was being spoke through.She didn't really have anything to tell him. What was she supposed to do? Tell him she loved him? He already knew that...something this...this darkness..something Kit himself didn't even know...and then it hit her.

"Do you remember that first day we met, you were trying to do a spell to give yourself an 'aura' to prevent yourself from being beat up?"

"Yes..."

"You said your manual told you, you were missing an element. It was me, right?"

"Yes..."

"So..so that means...If you're gone...then I'm missing an element.."

"What are you trying to say?"

"You can't do spells without me. I can't do spells without you."

"That's dramatic."

"Don't you understand?"

"Not really."

She took his hand and placed it over her heart.

"You're half of my heart, Kit. A person can't live with only half a heart."

"Don't," He growled. "Don't say it."

"I need you!

There was complete silence, apart from Dairine's breathing, which was currently coming from Ronan's chest. Nita pulled her gaze away from Kit to look at Ronan, who was holding Dairine in his arms. Ro, she noticed, didn't look too pleased about this. The two look-alikes wore identical frowns, and were glaring at each other, in a hate she had only ever seen Kit give the Lone Power. She almost laughed. Who would have thought that two boys would be fighting over her sister? She turned her attention back to Kit, who was staring at her. And even though it was only for a second, she saw his eyes warm.

The Lone One must have caught it too, because his voice was louder and more desperate than usual.

"That's...that's just a bunch of corny bull."

But Kit was still staring at Nita, until he opened his mouth and spoke softly in spanish to her. She smiled. He remembered that atleast. It had been a little while before they started dating. (Or as Dairine liked to call it, 'The Big Fight'). When she remembered it now, she smiled. There were so many things, so many clues that proved they were attracted to eachother. More than just best friends. Why hadn't they seen it sooner? She guessed it was because neither of them had, had a best friend before, and maybe they thought that's what bestfriends were. In any case, it was one of her fondest memories.

*Flashback*

The rain pounded Kit's bedroom window, and lightning flashed. Nita squealed, digging herself furthur under Kit's blankets, trying to find safety in the warmth and his smell. Kit, sitting at his bedroom desk, holding a flashlight, turned it towards her face and smiled gently at her.

"It'll be over soon, Neets."

"I don't care!"



"Don't get snappy with me missy. It's not MY fault it's raining."

"Yes it is!" She laughed. "Everything is!"

He swore loudly in spanish, and Nita laughed when she heard his mom pounding on the door. His mother scolded him , and Nita caught about every sixth word. She knew pretty much what his mother had said, noting Kit's grimace as he shouted back at his mom. Then she was hit with an idea.

"What was she yelling about?"

"Oh, how she heard me," He rose his voice to the shrill tone of his mother, impersonating her perfectly. " and that I shouldn't be swearing in your presence, that I shouldn't be swearing at all. And about how both of us being in my bedroom with the door shut didn't seem appropriate."

Nita laughed. Both sets of parents would probably never be perfectly convinced their relasionship wasn't physical.

"And what did YOU say?"

" I told her she must have heard me wrong. And I said you were frightened of storms.."

"Kit!"

"I promised not to tell. But she's my mother, honestly Nita. Anyways, and I said if we were doing anything, it wouldn't be her buisness anyway and..."

"Kitty..."

"Don't call me, KITTY!" He jumped at her, pinning her down to the bed, and kissing her cheek, his anger melting away. He nuzzled her neck affectionately. "You know I hate it..."

"Could you teach me spanish?"

He pulled back from her face and blinked at her.

"You want to learn spanish?"

"Well, duh. Or I wouldn't have asked.."

He rolled his eyes, before moving beside her.

"Alright.."

She already knew the basics, having been with his family for so long and picking up things every now and then, but it still took a while for her to improve. The language would normally have taken a person years. But with the help of the speech, and the bond they shared, Nita was speaking it after a day. It was worth the hours, though. To see Kit so flustered and frustrated, an emotion he didn't normally let on and to hear him speak in his native language. It wasn't as fluent as the speech, nothing ever was, but speaking it made him seem so much more natural. Evetually, she could speak it just well enough (although not as good as Kit, and she probably would never be) that Kit could actually understand her, which made him grin after tries and tries of not being able to.

***

She watched him as he spoke, knowing full well that the Lone Power and Ro would be able to understand spanish as well. But Kit didn't seem to care, he seemed to be out, maybe temporarily of the trance It had put him in.

"Go home, Nita..."

"No. I'm not just going to leave you here."

"There's nothing you can do. It's too late."

"I'd bet the Lone Power would like me to think that."

"No...It's going to get dangerous. I know what It's up to..." He took a step toward her, leaning his face close to hers.

"Bull...I'm not leaving here without you.." She said against his lips, hanging on as long as she could...

"CRUCIO!"

And then, Kit's eyes had hardened again, and he was straightening now talking in the same harsh speech again. He was gone.

"Stop trying to mess with my head, Nita!"

"I'm not! All I told you was truth!"

"I never loved you! Never!"

It was then, Nita and Kit realized upon thinking about it some years later, that the Lone Power made It's biggest mistake. Nita was smart enough to know that Kit's words weren't his own. And they had been together, as wizards, long enough to know that you never used absolutes such as "never" when talking in the speech...unless you were sure..but in this case he couldn't be because it wasn't him talking...but the Lone Power...still..she didn't know what to do...didn't have a clue...

'Never!'

'Never...'

'Never?'

'Never.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***Flashback***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kit?"

"Mhmm?"

"What would I do without you?"

She felt him smile against her neck. "You'll never have to worry about that."

"Never?"

"Never."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You lied to me!" She cried suddenly, throwing herself at Kit and pounding furiously at his chest.

"When did I lie to you?" He asked, completely bewildered, and letting himself be hit.

"You told me I'd never have to worry about living without you!"

"I..well...I wasn't...you could...For God's sake stop hitting me! STOP HITTING ME, NEETS!"

'Neets!'

'Neets...'

'Neets?'

'Neets.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~********************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Neets?"

"Hmm?"

"You awake?"

....................

"Neets?"

"WHAT, Kit?"

"Umm..can you like...get up, maybe?"

"I'm having a beauty sleep, Kit. It's you who benefits from this."

"If you got anymore pretty, Nita, I'd probably have a heart attack. Besides, the last thing I need is MORE guys chasing after you..."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"You're gorgeous, you know it, so get up before I go out and..."

"Okay! Okay, I'm up!"

"Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~******************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ouch!" Kit hissed, holding his head in his hands and glaring at her. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?" And she looked so innocently confused and concerned, he had to believe she really didn't know what was going on. He turned to the Lone Power and glared.

"Ouch!" He cried again, memories flooding and pinging him in the head. "Make it stop!"

"I..I don't...CRUCIO!"

But Kit was already feeling lightheaded, his heart-wait, he had a heart?- was beating triple time, and it seemed it hadn't been beating at all, as impossible as that was. Flashes of events crossed his mind..he was so confused...so confused...

"CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"

But nothing was happening. He sunk to his knees, his head pounding with his heart, when he was suddenly overcome by calm and safety..Nita was holding him in her arms, and for some strange reason, he didn't feel like resisting...

"I promised you something not too long ago, Kit."

He lifted his fevered gaze to her, finally wrapping his arms around her, shivering as if he were a sick child.

"P..promised..me?"

She smiled, stroking his hair softly until he was loose enough, his head on her shoulder and his eyes closed, that he wouldn't question or argue her words.

"I told you I loved you. Only you, noone else, and there never will be anyone else."

"Love...me.."

"Yes, Kit. Always..."

"Always..."

'Always!'

'Always...'

'Always?'

'Always.'

She took his hand, speaking in the speech for the first time that day.

(Kit, I take your faults. Your fear, anger, your regret. I take your responsibility, your devotion..I take your darkness.)

Kit coughed, and he felt as if something was leaving him. Something invisible, was rising from him and settling...settling on..Nita.

"Nita!" He rasped, still coughing, "Nita, No!"

"Yes!" The Lone Power hissed. "Yes, yes!"

Bang!

Wind...darkness...everything melded into one and shot towards Nita, sending her flying until she hit something solid. She was out cold.

"You see?" It hissed at Kit and Ronan. "You see where love got you? They're both gone now!"

"I...I don't think so." A weak, yet stubborn voice echoed through the darkness, and it was joined by another one, almost exactly like it.

"You ARE the misfit, always making mistakes."

And then, two transparent figures stepped out of the darkness. The Calahan sisters were back. And they were ready for payback.

Kit and Ronan looked at eachother, and then down at the limp bodies in thier arms.

"Are you-." Ronan couldn't finish.

"No..No were not dead." Dairine whispered, touching a hand to his cheek.

"We're close, though. So very close. We need you guys to help us." Nita continued.

"How?"

The sisters looked at eachother, and stuck out their hands.

"Think." They whispered. "Just think about all we've been through."

Kit took Nita's hand, Ronan took Dairine's and all four of them turned their eyes to the Lone Power.

______________________________________________________________________________

Dun dun dun! Yay! Long chapter and lots of N/K...as you can probably guess, this fic is almost over..I think maybe three or four more chapters left. Anyways, Summer is upon us! So I'll be writting more now. Please Review!