Rather Live Another Rainy Day
Chapter Fourteen: Three is better than one
April sat at her kitchen table, sipping tea and looking at the phone. Staring at the phone really, wondering if it would ever ring and if Kai's voice would ever come over it.
Shanna had been missing for three days, April knew that. With the rain storm last night though, April had hoped that Shanna would have headed home. Kai hated having her outside during a storm. April had never found out why but she was sure it was something to do with his parents.
April held the tea cup with only her right hand, bringing it up to her mouth routinely but it just wasn't the same. She may have been excused from the hospital but her left arm was almost useless. It hurt too much to do a lot of stuff. The doctor said that it was all just phantom pain, that she was just making it up. But she wasn't, the pain was definitely still there.
"I'm back." Tala said, coming in and shaking off the umbrella he had taken with him. "It's raining cats and dogs out there."
April smiled softly. "I think you mean to say that it's raining cougars and wolves." She took another sip of her tea. "So, what did Rei want to tell you?"
"Nothing that you need to be concerned about right now." Tala assured April. "Well there was one thing that he wanted me to tell you but Lolli told me to let her tell you so I'm not going to tell you. She's going to phone in a little white she said." Tala walked over to the kettle, put it on and then sat down at the table next to April, kissing her on the forehead as he did so. "How's the shoulder?"
April sighed. "I don't know. I just wish I could talk to Shanna. I need to know what she was doing that night." April's voice turned to just a whisper. "I'm starting to have nightmares about it."
Tala said nothing.
"I can't stop seeing her standing there with the gun in her hand, pointed straight at me. I can't stop seeing the look in her eyes that proved to me that she knew it was me. I can't stop feeling the pain in my shoulder and the sensation of falling down. I can't stop hearing the gunshot after I fall on the ground. And lastly I can't stop seeing the look in her eyes afterwards, as it all went black." April stared into her tea. "I know you don't believe me when I say that she did it knowing it was me but it's true."
"I believe you." Tala said simply and got up to go and make his coffee as the kettle was boiling.
"No you don't." April sighed and went over to the phone and dialed Kai's number.
After four rings someone answered it. April bet that Kai was checking to see who was phoning before he answered it. Stupid reporters were still hounding him probably.
"Hello?" Kai's voice said finally. "This is Kai."
"Hi Kai. It's April. Listen, has Shanna come back yet? I really need to talk to her and I know that you don't want me to but I really do need to." April said quickly.
"She's not here." Kai said, a little quickly for April's liking and April rolled her eyes.
"She's there Kai, I can tell. So either you go and get her on the phone or I'll come over there." April felt tears forming in her eyes. "Really Kai. I need to talk to her."
"No you don't." Kai said sternly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and deal with some paper work I have."
"Kai-" April didn't have a chance to say anything else because Kai hung up. "What a stupid son of a-" The phone rang and April snatched it up. "Hello?"
"Hi April, it's Lolli. I just wanted to tell you that-"
"Hey Lolli. Why don't you tell me in person. Meet me at Kai's house. Then you can tell Shanna too." April put the phone down and turned to Tala. "Come on, lets go to Kai's house."
Tala looked at April. "Are you kidding? It would be murder to try and drive in that weather. It's coming down way too fast. We'd probably run into a ditch and die."
April shrugged. "Fine if you won't drive, I will and then I'll probably end up in a ditch for sure."
Tala groaned and snatched up his keys. "If I didn't think that you would actually do that-" He warned.
"Yah well you love me." April smirked and kissed him quickly and then grabbed him and dragged him out the door, trying not to wince at the pain in her left arm.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Kai slammed the phone down and turned to Shanna, who was currently sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee, her eyes drawn down so that she didn't have to look at Kai.
Shanna hadn't been awake to hear Kai tell her that he still loved her and all of the other things he had whispered into the dark. Shanna, as far as Kai could tell, just thought that Kai had stayed in bed with her as a token of what they had had.
Kai sighed and stared loosely at Shanna, not really looking at anything in particular. Shanna seemed to hate it when he did that now. Before she had been proud that she could get Kai to stare at her. She would make a pose, make his eyes go up to her face so that she could wink or something. Now, she shuddered in his gaze, afraid of what emotions he was feeling while he was looking at her.
But how to tell her that he still loved her? He couldn't just say it out loud now. If he did that, well then she would ask him why, want to know why he was saying this. After all, she had shot his sister, on purpose. She wouldn't just let him be and think that everything was all right now. Oh no, not Shanna. She could never make it that simple for someone.
"April's coming over." Kai said finally, unwilling to let this silence go on any longer. It was strange. If it was anyone but Shanna, Kai would have been happy to have the silence go on and on, lasting as long as they wanted it to. With Shanna however, Kai hated the silence and found himself breaking it most of them.
"Oh." Shanna said simply, staring down at her cup, as if she had found the answers to all of her questions in that cup. Kai wished that he had a cup that could answer all of his questions right now.
"She will probably want to talk to you about what happened that night. I talked to Tala the other day and Tala said that it's the only thing she ever wants to talk about at night. She is afraid of what she saw, Shanna." Kai sighed and leaned against the wall, in his official pose. "What are you going to tell her?"
"The truth." Shanna said simply.
Kai sighed again. "It's not going to be that easy Shanna, you can't just tell her that you meant to shoot her. Especially not with Tala right there. He'd kill you. It was bad enough that he thought it was an accident but to know that you meant to do that-" Kai looked away. "You just can't do that."
"Why not?" Shanna asked. "Maybe it would be better that they just knew and that they were mad at me about it. It seems that they would be eventually anyway so why not just make it happen sooner?"
Kai snapped and went down in front of Shanna and captured her face in his hands and brought her so that she could look straight at him. "Don't say that. We don't all hate you. We never have and most likely never will. I was just warning you to stay off of Tala's bad side. He's brutal when he's mad." Kai stared into Shanna's eyes, and felt a magnetic force that he hadn't felt before for so long. Not since he had first met her. "Shanna, I still-" Kai's eyes slid shut and his face moved forward, lips searching for Shanna's.
"KAI! We're here! Let us in or I'll find my key!" April shouted from outside of the house, pounding on the door."
Kai pulled away from Shanna with lightening speed, and without looking at her again, headed for the door. What was he doing??? She had shot his sister. She was right, he should hate her. But he couldn't help but still love her. Even if she had been an idiot. What was wrong with him???
He opened the door and, using his body to block it from opening all the way looked at Tala and April who were staring at him. "What do you want? Shanna's not here."
April growled. "Kai Hiwatari, I am your sister. I was shot. I know where the spare key is. If you don't let me in this house right now I will break one of your precious windows. Do you understand me?" April was huddled into Tala's side as the rain beat down on them. "If you don't let me down right now Kai, I will sue you and your girlfriend. Shanna for shooting me and you for making me catch pneumonia."
Kai sighed and opened the door, letting April and Tala walk in. "She's in the living room." Kai said as he watched April strip off her outer layers and look in the kitchen. "Tala, why don't you and me go and make April some coffee."
Tala looked at Kai curiously, realizing right away that something wasn't right. Tala looked Kai up and down, as if he was looking for something to give away what was wrong with this picture. Finally, he realized that he wasn't going to be able to find anything and he nodded, walking into the kitchen, with Kai at his heels. April on the other hand, headed straight for the living room.
"What's going on Kai?" Tala hissed as he put the kettle on after lifting it to make sure that there was enough water in it for April and him to both get a cup of coffee. Tala turned and looked at Kai, sizing him up. "What is April going to find out that you don't want me to know?"
Kai looked away from Tala's gaze. "Nothing, she's not going to find out anything that you won't find out too. I just don't want you to hear it when April does. It's going to be tough enough for her to comprehend it without having a boyfriend behind her ready to beat Shanna."
Tala glared harder for a second and then rushed for the doorway, Kai only just catching him in time. Tala turned back to Kai, his gaze hard. "She shot April on purpose. Didn't she?" Tala went limp in Kai's arms. "I thought that April was just having a bad dream but she wasn't. She was remembering, wasn't she?" All of a sudden Tala was fighting Kai's arms again. "I'll kill her!"
Kai shook his head and tried to hold Tala still. "No. Just let the girls talk. It won't kill her. Nothing's going to happen to either of them. There's a explanation for it all, trust me."
Tala turned and looked straight at Kai. "No there's not."
Suddenly there was a gunshot.
{A/N: Okay. Evil Cliff hanger here...especially since I haven't updated this forever. But eh, it's not my fault..what'cha think of the chapter though?? Took me two weeks to come up with lol}
Chapter Fourteen: Three is better than one
April sat at her kitchen table, sipping tea and looking at the phone. Staring at the phone really, wondering if it would ever ring and if Kai's voice would ever come over it.
Shanna had been missing for three days, April knew that. With the rain storm last night though, April had hoped that Shanna would have headed home. Kai hated having her outside during a storm. April had never found out why but she was sure it was something to do with his parents.
April held the tea cup with only her right hand, bringing it up to her mouth routinely but it just wasn't the same. She may have been excused from the hospital but her left arm was almost useless. It hurt too much to do a lot of stuff. The doctor said that it was all just phantom pain, that she was just making it up. But she wasn't, the pain was definitely still there.
"I'm back." Tala said, coming in and shaking off the umbrella he had taken with him. "It's raining cats and dogs out there."
April smiled softly. "I think you mean to say that it's raining cougars and wolves." She took another sip of her tea. "So, what did Rei want to tell you?"
"Nothing that you need to be concerned about right now." Tala assured April. "Well there was one thing that he wanted me to tell you but Lolli told me to let her tell you so I'm not going to tell you. She's going to phone in a little white she said." Tala walked over to the kettle, put it on and then sat down at the table next to April, kissing her on the forehead as he did so. "How's the shoulder?"
April sighed. "I don't know. I just wish I could talk to Shanna. I need to know what she was doing that night." April's voice turned to just a whisper. "I'm starting to have nightmares about it."
Tala said nothing.
"I can't stop seeing her standing there with the gun in her hand, pointed straight at me. I can't stop seeing the look in her eyes that proved to me that she knew it was me. I can't stop feeling the pain in my shoulder and the sensation of falling down. I can't stop hearing the gunshot after I fall on the ground. And lastly I can't stop seeing the look in her eyes afterwards, as it all went black." April stared into her tea. "I know you don't believe me when I say that she did it knowing it was me but it's true."
"I believe you." Tala said simply and got up to go and make his coffee as the kettle was boiling.
"No you don't." April sighed and went over to the phone and dialed Kai's number.
After four rings someone answered it. April bet that Kai was checking to see who was phoning before he answered it. Stupid reporters were still hounding him probably.
"Hello?" Kai's voice said finally. "This is Kai."
"Hi Kai. It's April. Listen, has Shanna come back yet? I really need to talk to her and I know that you don't want me to but I really do need to." April said quickly.
"She's not here." Kai said, a little quickly for April's liking and April rolled her eyes.
"She's there Kai, I can tell. So either you go and get her on the phone or I'll come over there." April felt tears forming in her eyes. "Really Kai. I need to talk to her."
"No you don't." Kai said sternly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and deal with some paper work I have."
"Kai-" April didn't have a chance to say anything else because Kai hung up. "What a stupid son of a-" The phone rang and April snatched it up. "Hello?"
"Hi April, it's Lolli. I just wanted to tell you that-"
"Hey Lolli. Why don't you tell me in person. Meet me at Kai's house. Then you can tell Shanna too." April put the phone down and turned to Tala. "Come on, lets go to Kai's house."
Tala looked at April. "Are you kidding? It would be murder to try and drive in that weather. It's coming down way too fast. We'd probably run into a ditch and die."
April shrugged. "Fine if you won't drive, I will and then I'll probably end up in a ditch for sure."
Tala groaned and snatched up his keys. "If I didn't think that you would actually do that-" He warned.
"Yah well you love me." April smirked and kissed him quickly and then grabbed him and dragged him out the door, trying not to wince at the pain in her left arm.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Kai slammed the phone down and turned to Shanna, who was currently sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee, her eyes drawn down so that she didn't have to look at Kai.
Shanna hadn't been awake to hear Kai tell her that he still loved her and all of the other things he had whispered into the dark. Shanna, as far as Kai could tell, just thought that Kai had stayed in bed with her as a token of what they had had.
Kai sighed and stared loosely at Shanna, not really looking at anything in particular. Shanna seemed to hate it when he did that now. Before she had been proud that she could get Kai to stare at her. She would make a pose, make his eyes go up to her face so that she could wink or something. Now, she shuddered in his gaze, afraid of what emotions he was feeling while he was looking at her.
But how to tell her that he still loved her? He couldn't just say it out loud now. If he did that, well then she would ask him why, want to know why he was saying this. After all, she had shot his sister, on purpose. She wouldn't just let him be and think that everything was all right now. Oh no, not Shanna. She could never make it that simple for someone.
"April's coming over." Kai said finally, unwilling to let this silence go on any longer. It was strange. If it was anyone but Shanna, Kai would have been happy to have the silence go on and on, lasting as long as they wanted it to. With Shanna however, Kai hated the silence and found himself breaking it most of them.
"Oh." Shanna said simply, staring down at her cup, as if she had found the answers to all of her questions in that cup. Kai wished that he had a cup that could answer all of his questions right now.
"She will probably want to talk to you about what happened that night. I talked to Tala the other day and Tala said that it's the only thing she ever wants to talk about at night. She is afraid of what she saw, Shanna." Kai sighed and leaned against the wall, in his official pose. "What are you going to tell her?"
"The truth." Shanna said simply.
Kai sighed again. "It's not going to be that easy Shanna, you can't just tell her that you meant to shoot her. Especially not with Tala right there. He'd kill you. It was bad enough that he thought it was an accident but to know that you meant to do that-" Kai looked away. "You just can't do that."
"Why not?" Shanna asked. "Maybe it would be better that they just knew and that they were mad at me about it. It seems that they would be eventually anyway so why not just make it happen sooner?"
Kai snapped and went down in front of Shanna and captured her face in his hands and brought her so that she could look straight at him. "Don't say that. We don't all hate you. We never have and most likely never will. I was just warning you to stay off of Tala's bad side. He's brutal when he's mad." Kai stared into Shanna's eyes, and felt a magnetic force that he hadn't felt before for so long. Not since he had first met her. "Shanna, I still-" Kai's eyes slid shut and his face moved forward, lips searching for Shanna's.
"KAI! We're here! Let us in or I'll find my key!" April shouted from outside of the house, pounding on the door."
Kai pulled away from Shanna with lightening speed, and without looking at her again, headed for the door. What was he doing??? She had shot his sister. She was right, he should hate her. But he couldn't help but still love her. Even if she had been an idiot. What was wrong with him???
He opened the door and, using his body to block it from opening all the way looked at Tala and April who were staring at him. "What do you want? Shanna's not here."
April growled. "Kai Hiwatari, I am your sister. I was shot. I know where the spare key is. If you don't let me in this house right now I will break one of your precious windows. Do you understand me?" April was huddled into Tala's side as the rain beat down on them. "If you don't let me down right now Kai, I will sue you and your girlfriend. Shanna for shooting me and you for making me catch pneumonia."
Kai sighed and opened the door, letting April and Tala walk in. "She's in the living room." Kai said as he watched April strip off her outer layers and look in the kitchen. "Tala, why don't you and me go and make April some coffee."
Tala looked at Kai curiously, realizing right away that something wasn't right. Tala looked Kai up and down, as if he was looking for something to give away what was wrong with this picture. Finally, he realized that he wasn't going to be able to find anything and he nodded, walking into the kitchen, with Kai at his heels. April on the other hand, headed straight for the living room.
"What's going on Kai?" Tala hissed as he put the kettle on after lifting it to make sure that there was enough water in it for April and him to both get a cup of coffee. Tala turned and looked at Kai, sizing him up. "What is April going to find out that you don't want me to know?"
Kai looked away from Tala's gaze. "Nothing, she's not going to find out anything that you won't find out too. I just don't want you to hear it when April does. It's going to be tough enough for her to comprehend it without having a boyfriend behind her ready to beat Shanna."
Tala glared harder for a second and then rushed for the doorway, Kai only just catching him in time. Tala turned back to Kai, his gaze hard. "She shot April on purpose. Didn't she?" Tala went limp in Kai's arms. "I thought that April was just having a bad dream but she wasn't. She was remembering, wasn't she?" All of a sudden Tala was fighting Kai's arms again. "I'll kill her!"
Kai shook his head and tried to hold Tala still. "No. Just let the girls talk. It won't kill her. Nothing's going to happen to either of them. There's a explanation for it all, trust me."
Tala turned and looked straight at Kai. "No there's not."
Suddenly there was a gunshot.
{A/N: Okay. Evil Cliff hanger here...especially since I haven't updated this forever. But eh, it's not my fault..what'cha think of the chapter though?? Took me two weeks to come up with lol}