Chapter 22: Rain, Rain, Get the Hell Away!

"I figured you didn't want any broken bones!" Bill retorted, walking on the sidewalk at a bit out of the usual rhythm. Mokuba just turned his head and casted him a look that Ann didn't see and replied.

"Floating out of the car was a smart idea except for the fact there was a truck in the on coming lane…"

"Hey! I took the hit! What are you complaining about?!"

"Your leg reformed after wards."

"Yes, but I don't really think it set right," Bill's teeth clenched as he accidentally stepped wrong, but ignored the pain and kept limping onward. "And besides, it still hurt like hell…"

            Ann was ignoring their conversation, or trying to, she still could hear them a little bit but Calendae's voice was loud in her mind.

/It will not be so easy to escape again. We must tread cautiously /

"We've already escaped about ten times!"

/ That may be…but around the eleventh time they take something precious to you. /

"Like what?"

/ Your family, for starters. /

"For starters?! What else could mean more to me?!" Calendae was silent for a long time, and for once Ann didn't know what she was thinking about. May be it had to do with what one felt for a boyfriend. That was one major difference between them, the small change that eerily reminded her of Marie, no matter how distasteful.

"What does he look like?"

/Who? /

"…Your boyfriend."

/ I can't tell you. You should know personal information is not allowed. /

"You know everything about me…"

/ Most things. I have no idea why you have a broken heart. / Ann stopped dead in her tracks. For the first time in a long time she felt a turning ill feeling in her gut at the sentence, so clear formed in her head that it had stabbed her, and in a fit of pain her anger was set free.

"Don't go there…" She growled nastily, catching both boys attention. They halted.

"No one must know of that. Ever."

/ It's causing the guilt you know. Someone must have hurt you very badly. If you told someone- /

"They would know the dark part of me." She whispered, taking a deep breath to calm herself down, and regretting she had just said that aloud, looking straight into Mokuba's face. She shut her eyes quickly to try and burn out the perplexed look that had snuggled onto his face.

"I'm never going to let that take me again. I hate my past self." She murmured, and let her eyes side open to their looks of confusion, and a brief light flickering behind Bill's eyes; worry.

"I'm fine." She told them with a placid face, borrowed from Seto Kaiba. Not as slick as she would have liked but it worked all the same as they blinked and stared a moment longer before turning and navigating their way home.

            They walked for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out which streets they had passed, but finding the names where alien and coming to realize they were very lost. This fear of being lost was one that Ann was too cowardly to face. The thought of it made her a bit frightened, not that she'd let them know that girly-girl part of her was frightened that is. No, she'd hide behind the survivor mask she liked to wear a lot.

"Maybe you should get a map." Mokuba said, talking to Bill. They didn't have any money to speak of, and he was the most experienced magician here. But Bill's goofy smile that had wound itself onto his face in these griming hours was finally ripped off at Mokuba's statement.

"Can't. I used all the juice I had on the floating trick, no power, no anything." Mokuba frowned at this and looked at the burning orange orb, slowly dying and voyaging to its earthy tomb behind some far off hills, and then sadly at his black and white worn sneakers. Bill also frowned at his expression for a moment, and then beamed a smile again.

"Don't worry! Things can't possibly get any worse."

"Don't say-!" But it was already too late. A sudden wet drip landed flat on Bill's head, and in the next moment a hundred drops followed into a down pour.

"-that, you'll jinx us." Ann gloomily finished. The three looked at the black sky sadly and decided to take refuge somewhere, and started to run.

            After about four blocks they found a newspaper stand and quickly ran under its dry roof almost drown. Bill sat on the cement with a small thud, looking sullenly up to the sky, as Mokuba rung out his hair as much as he could and then placed himself next to Bill. Ann sat, letting her hair stay wet (and tamed) and looked at her toes. All of them shivered.

"Can't find home. No place to go. It's pouring."

"We at least have a roof over our heads." Bill replied.

"There's that at least." Ann sighed, realizing for the first time that she actually wanted her boring life back. To sleep in her own bed without worrying about some power evil you form another world coming to kill you in her mind. She had felt safe in Bill's home, but out on the street with no one else she did feel afraid. And she didn't like it at all.

"Hey, is that…" Ann looked up from her toes to across the street in the direction Mokuba was pointing. She smiled.

"Sorry we're late. We've been looking for you all day." Kyle said, after running to them when he finally saw them waving from across the street. Brian there seconds after Kyle with Bakura at his heels.

"Where did you guys go?" Brian asked, grinning because their task was finally fulfilled. Bill shrugged tiredly as Kyle looked at him curiously, wanting to hear the story.

"It's a long story…do you guys know the way home?"

"You don't know the way back to your own house?!" Brian started laughing at him, and caused Bill to shoot up and confront him.

"Doesn't matter. Mister 'I know the way' is lost too." Jabbing his thumb in Brian's direction. Brian immediately struck him with a fast punch, sending him straight to the ground. Agitated, he scrambled back up again and was about to deliver his own jab when Mokuba interjected.

"What's wrong with you?!" Everyone looked at Bakura, who was very white in the face and was starting self-consciously at his shoes. Kyle was driven away from his target at Mokuba's question.

"He's alright. When he said that we could ask him anything we just asked him if he ever wanted to date a girl and…" He glanced at Ann a moment, "and…you know…"

Bakura's head shot up with a look of horror and his face beat red with embarrassment. They ignored him.

"When he started stuttering and going all sweaty and spouting gibberish we knew he was himself." Brian finished with a bored look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Ann asked them. Her companions exchanged glances (except Bakura because he was suddenly very interested with the space above Ann's head) and looked back at her with an expression Ann couldn't quite piece together. Secretive and something else.

"Nothing you don't need to know about."

"Yeah it's man's business." Ann just started at them a moment. Then she busted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Bill asked.

"The fact my sister has a boyfriend and you guys are trying to be all hush hush about this." They blinked.

"I hang around with you guys. I know about that kind of stuff…unfortunately… damn health class, and besides taking one look at Joey on the boat ride to Duelist Kingdom when he first saw Mai is enough anyway. I've heard my share of sickening stories." This seemed to set things a bit back to normal.

"O-K. Back to being lost here."

"Well, what should we do mister high and mighty?" Kyle thought a moment. Then he shrugged.

"We could always look for the others…after this rain clears up." He suggested.

No one else had any better ideas.

BookDragon: "Please review."