Kougra[Blowing kisses to reviewers]: Thank you! Thank you! They really like me!

Angel[Slides over to computer]: It's gone to her head again but at least she's feeding us now.

Shadow[holding a mallet]: Just tell me when! Oh yeah, thanks to Kira, HBB, Remnerel Ayasugi, and Acey1 for the reviews. Just remember that the authoress loves flames 'cause she draws her ideas from them more than anything.

Tala: So she likes flames, huh? [flicks on his lighter] Anyone want me to set her on fire?

Kougra: OK. This is just crule and unusal punishment.

Disclaimer: [Scoffs]Yeah...right. Like I could ever own Beyblade. `^`

Father Where Art Thou

Kenny spent the night in Tala's arms after getting the best gift the red-head could give. Tala hugged the lithe form closer to him and sighed. He deserved this. All of it; Kenny's love, the whole gangs friendship and trust, the freedom of actually letting go of his emotions allowing himself to love another human being after so long. This he could get use to. Everything he had been denied as a child and young teen he had now. Kai was right all along. Pateince and the right guidance really did pay off. The only thing Tala lacked growing up in the Abbey was guidance though, but having his new-found friends around helped alot.
Tyson had somehow managed to replace Ian with his consistant nagging and seemingly unnatural liking for food and a lot of it. Ray, with a quiet demeanor and sometimes frightening ability to show up just about anywhere without making a sound, almost replaced Spencer. Kai reminded him of Brain with his train-or-I'll-hurt-you ways toward Tyson. Max, happy-go-lucky and his kind-to-the-core ways were visible in his everyday activities. Hillary acted as though she was the mother of all beybladers most of the time and the rest of the time she was too busy drooling and pawing over Max to talk to Tala. Airlana was definetly not the type Tala enjoyed talking to because she was always asking about where he was from, who he liked, and etc. More than once Tyson dragged her off to another room and for that Tala was glad. His thoughts came to rest on the brunette sleeping softly in his arms. Kenny had been there when he needed him to be and was there even when Tala didn't need him. A true friend. A trustworthy lover. He ran a free hand through his crimson locks and sighed as it came to rest at the back of his head. The lithe form in the bed beside him moved slightly as he woke; sapphire eyes stared lovingly into Tala's own blue seemingly lost in the essence of his lovers tight embrace. Tala drew him close and kissed him gently on the forehead. Kenny gave him an evil smile.
"You missed." This shocked the red-head slightly as he hauled Kenny even closer, eyes questioning what he did wrong. "You missed." Kenny repeated softly.
"How'd I miss, koi?" Kenny blushed slightly at the word love. No one had called him that before so it was a totally new sensation for him.
"You kissed me on the head, Silly. You missed completely." Tala gave the brunette a knowing yet playful smirk.
"Then show me where I was supposed to kiss you." That said, Kenny took the bull by the horns as he pounced onto Tala's stomach causing their lips to meet in a heated kiss. Their kiss ended when there came a loud knock on the bedroom door. "Kai." They said in usion.
****

Kai smiled to himself as he made his way down the hall toward Tala's room. He and Ray had heard almost everything last night and he wanted to know if the boys were done or just getting started. Kenny's room was empty except for the sleeping Dizzy who Kai thoughtfully turned off and they were not in the kicthen. The only other place for them to be was in Tala's room. He heaved a sigh as he banged on the door; almost laughing as he heard the commotion on the other side. Tala answered the door in his boxers with a grin the size of Timbuktwo on his face and a light blush under his half-closed eyes.
"Good morning!" The red-head said cheerfully to the captain of the BladeBreakers. "Sleep well, Kai?" Kai remained skeptical as he stood in the half-open doorway.
"Are you two finished?" Tala nodded. "Yes? Good. 'Cause Ray and I would have slept well if you two had been a little more quiet." This caused Tala's blush to run deeper and gained a muffled cry of surprise from inside the room where Kenny was desperately trying to get dressed. "And Tyson just called they'll be home in about-oh, say-ten minutes."
"With or without the women?"
"Without. So ya better get cleaned up fast or they'll want to know everything." Knowing that Kai was not joking the two boys rushed to get dressed. Five minutes later they could hear Tyson's big mouth calling out to Tala to come see what they bought him for his birthday.....which happened to be today. Tala was not overly excited about his birthday but the other's definately made a big deal out of it. Ray baked him a three layer German chocolate cake with red icing, Kenny gave his love and realigned his beyblade, Tyson and Max went all out to buy him a whole new wardrobe (half of which he knew he would never wear), and Kai actually helped decorate the house downstairs. The party was a small one with just the team. From eleven am till seven pm they beybattled, ate cake, chips, chocolate, drank pop, played various games (most of which were Max and Tyson's ideas) like the "I Never" game- which Kai ended up winning. At seven Ray declaired the rest of the night 'movie mania madness'.
At about ten to eight halfway through Silent Night (A/N:anybody ever see it? Awsome horror movie about a killer Santa Clause.) the doorbell rang. They knew it couldn't be the girls because they would have let themselves in with enough noise to wake the dead, so for a minute they argued over who would answer the door. A vote was taken and Ray lost. As he made his way to the door, Ray noticed the person on the other side was tall with red spikey hair like Tala's own. He opened the solid oak door, "May I help you, Sir?" Ray asked. The man smiled warmly at the neko-jin who's eyes now held angry silts because his movie and make- out session with Kai had been interrupted.
"I'm was looking for Tala Ivanov(A/N:Thank you Rem.) in town and I was told he lived here, is that right?"
"Hai," Ray said suspiciously eyeing the stranger with his golden cat-like eyes, not believing the stranger one bit about 'just looking' for Tala. "And who should I say is asking for him?"
"Well...uh...you see...I'm his...uh...father." The man stammered in fear after getting a good look at Ray's eyes. Still holding to his suspicions, Ray let the man in and went to get Tala from the living room.
"Hey, Tala? There's some guy at the door claiming to be your father." Ray said as he sighed heavily and leaned against the door casing. "I'm not sure if it's true or not, but he..um..he kinda looks just like you." Tala blinked then blinked again in disbeleif. His father? The kind- hearted man who he thought to be dead was standing out by the door? Impossible! Unless...Yes! Maybe Biovolt had lied to him and his father had been alive the whole time. He pushed that thought away and- after giving Kenny a light kiss on the forehead- moved to get up and walked to the door. Tyson ruffled Kenny's hair.
"You little dog, you! I knew something was up between the two of you." The blue haired blader said giving Max his 'I-told-you-so' smirk.
"Be ready for anything guys. We still don't know who we can trust and he could be from Biovolt." The red-head warned in a serious tone of voice. Kai gave the other Russian a curt nod.
"You guys think that he'll be alright?" Tyson asked thoughtfully. After all, he and Tala were best friends.
****
Demitri Ivanov stared at his now fully grown son, tears shone in the dull light as he thought back to when Tala had been rempt from his arms. Biovolt. The name was poison to his very mind until he heard that Tala had broken free of Biovolt's control and was living in with friends of another nature. A better nature.
****

[Tala's POV]

"You guys think that he'll be alright?" I overheard Tyson ask as I stepped into the hall that faced the main door; a line from my gorgeous koi's latest poem resurfaced in the back of my mind: 'A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth.' Was this my mirror that was meant to be shattered? Was my shattered truth about my childhood yet to come? I could feel Ray's eyes on me; boring into my back like two golden edged spears, iris' no longer wide but narrow slits like a cat's own. They trust me, I realized. But they didn't trust him. And they won't. Not until I recognize him for who he really is. Surprisingly, I do recognize the man and, almost as though someone struck a match I the dark recesses of my mind, I can feel the tears begin to build. Forming and threateningto spill from behind my blue eyes.
I stepped into the dimly lit porch and lean against the door casing so that I can face both Ray's back and my mirror image. My head feels heavy as I try to recall anything I can about my past and end up conjuring up a forgotten image of the man in front of me. I let my guard slip away and threw myself at him, he caught me in a fatherly embrace and hugged me close. I didn't try to stop the tears that threatened to fall. "Father." My voice was barely above a whisper but I knew that Ray's over- sensitive ears would catch every word. Out of the corner of my eye I see him disappear back into the living room. "Where have you been, Papa?" My father puts me at arms length to get a better look at me. I see the pride?- Yes, it is pride. That and resurance- shining in his eyes behind the tears. Both his and mine. Togther we cried under the dull lighting of the porch.
"Tala. I've missed you so much. We missed a lot of time together and I'm more than willing to make it up to you andn then some." He began. "You see," he said softly. "Every time I would try to get you back from Biovolt," he shuddered and so do I at the name. "Those bastards, Voltair Hitwari and Boris Kiendasi{1}, would threaten to kill me like he did your mother." Now I understood why he never came for me. My life really was full of shattered truths; that being the most recent of all. I heard Kai in the hall and turned to meet his understanding eyes. I nod and he and Ray drag Max and Tyson up the stairs to their respective rooms. Out of ear reach and out of my way. Only Kenny was left to hear what was going on.
"Uh... come on in, Dad." I say. My voice sounds strained because if the tears. "The house belongs to the BladeBreakers, but they gave me an offer they wouldn't let me refuse after I left Biovolt."
"The BladeBreakers? Isn't their team captain Voltair's grandson?" I heard the hatred in his words as he spoke the name like a snake spits poison. Slowly, I nodded.
"He was the one that wouldn't let me refuse the offer. He's nothing like his grandfather, Dad. Nothing. He's a good friend of mine, really. They all are." His scowle faded and he quickly replaced with a kind smile. Kenny walked into the kicthen just after us and put on the kettle(A/N: not literatly you fools!). He gave me a small smile and I put my arms around him. My father looked at us and smiled:
"As long as you're happy, son. As long as you're happy so am I."
"It's that obvious, is it?" Kenny asked him as he tilted his head to one side.
"Believe it or not he probably gets it from me. I've a liking for men myself." Wow! This I didn't know. My father? Gay? Another shattered truth added to the list. "Listen, Tala. I can't stay long, but here's where you can find me. The Red Star Manor downtown. Appartment number 123, on the fourth level. Alright?"
"Sure."
"Tala. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but....hey! Why don't you and your boyfriend meet me at the Sunluck Resteraunt on 5th Avenue?" Kenny looked up at me, sapphire eyes silently pleaded with me to say yes.
"When?" I asked and Kenny's eyes shone with sheer delight.
"Uh...How's tomorrow for you boys? It's my only day off of work this week. If it's no good..."
"Tomorrow's fine!" Kenny and I chorused. No. I didn't think either of us wanted to be here for training day when Tyson and Kai go at each others throats like a couple of hungry, ravenous dogs.
"Tomorrow's great, Dad." I saw my father to the door and returned to Kenny who was fixing a cup of tea. "Now you little minx." I said suductively with a low growl. "Now you're in for it." Kenny squeeled playfully as I chase him upstairs to our bedroom.

Kougra: WELL!?!?!{Looks around} Where have my muses gotten to now? Anywho! R,R&R. (Relax, Read, and Review)

{1} = Had to make one up. Does he even have a last name in the anime?