This Chapter is dedicated to SuperSaiyan and Jacob as the two of you have been giving me some really thoughtful reviews as of late.

Chapter 30

Little lies and the Truth

Thursday, June 19 

7:45 pm

Roshi closed his Journal and shoved it into the desk. 

'What was I thinking?'  He asked himself one last time as his Vidphone suddenly started to ring.  'I don't want to talk to anyone right now.'  Roshi thought as he walked over to his computer to answer it.  His personal phone was on a private line with almost unhackable lock outs.  Which meant only the people Roshi wanted to be calling could call him on his personal number. 

'A million zeni says that this is either Slip or Kit.'  Roshi bet himself as he sat down at his desk. "Answer."  He told the computer.

"Roshi, we need to talk."  Kit replied as she appeared on the screen.

"Kit this really isn't a good time I..."

Kit cut him off, "No! No No No! you are not going to ignore me.  We need to talk NOW.  Since this nifty little thing Slip gave me tells me that my phone line is no-longer secure I suggest you come pick me up.  Or I can just start talking now.  Take your pick."  Kit said stubbornly.

"Someone tapped your phone?"  Roshi said alarmed.  'The encryption on this line is good enough that whoever it is probably is getting nothing but static from this conversation, but I'm not going to take the chance.'

"That's what this little box attached to the back of my computer says."  Kit replied sullenly.

"Shoot, I'll have Slip look into it, but anyway, are you sure this can't wait?  I really would rather..."

"Would rather what?  Ignore me like you have been doing the past few day?  Or better, not even really acknowledge me, like you did with Mariah today?  Roshi, avoiding me isn't going to make me go away, so get off your rear end and come get me so we can talk."  Kit said glaring at him.

Roshi looked down for a moment.  'I knew I would have to face her and Mariah sooner or later, I was hoping for later though.'  Looking back up, he frowned, "Ok, I'll be there to pick you up in about half an hour."

A smallish smile formed on the edges of Kit's mouth.  "Good, I'll see you then."

* * *

Although Roshi had said he would be there in half an hour, he was taking his time to fly to Kit's house on the Kintoun.  He needed that time to think.

'This might be a good thing.  Yes, this is a good thing.  I cannot look at this like it is a bad thing.  Kit knows I am a Saiyan.  I can tell her all about Ichigo and then Kit can calm Mariah down so that I don't have to tell Mariah about myself before I am ready.  Yep, that is how things are going to go.'

Roshi half laugh half scoffed at himself.  'Who am I kidding?  Kit wanted me to tell Mariah everything already.  If I tell her about Ichigo, she is going to learn the truth about Monday night, and then she will see even MORE reason for me to tell Mariah everything.'

Roshi sat on his cloud and thought about his predicament.  'Ok, time to think rationally here, is telling Mariah the truth bad?'  Roshi questioned himself.

"Yes," he replied after just a short time.  'Ok, why?'

'Because the truth in this instance is a lot more then I think she can accept.  It is one thing to accept that the person she thinks of as a good friend and possible boyfriend...'  Roshi paused,  'Am I her boyfriend?  I...'  Roshi rolled his eyes, 'To me, one date does not make us a couple, she is just a good friend, who I think I want to be more, but that will come with time.  For her on the other hand, I bet she does think of me as her boyfriend.'

"Why didn't I think of this sooner?"  Roshi asked the air.  "This complicates things even more."

Thinking about it, Roshi realized that if it were not for the enormous amount of information he had hidden about himself, now complicated by Ichigo's presence, he would have been happy to realize that Mariah probably thought of him as her boyfriend.  Now, however, it filled him with dread.

He remembered what Kit had said not all that long ago about telling Mariah the truth. "Well don't wait to long. Eventually fate will force your hand. My people have a saying that goes: When fate forces a hand it often bites the hand it forces. Beware Fate's bite, as it has very large teeth and very sharp teeth. When it bites it bites hard and never lets go for anyone or anything.  Don't let fate bite you Roshi. I've always thought the best time for the truth is the present. Wait to long and it will bite you."

"Why does Kit have to be right so often?"  Roshi asked himself.  "Because she is a girl, and she is Mariah's best friend, and your best friend.  She knows you better then almost anyone else on the planet.  That is why she has to be right so often."

'Ok, I need to get a hold of myself.  If I let my mind wander I will start seeing things that are not there.  I can't read Mariah's mind, so I can guess what she thinks, but I don't know for sure.  I have to clear things up with her as soon as possible though.  Kit was right, fate has bit and if I don't come clean soon Mariah won't wait for the truth.'

'Which gets back to the original line of thought that went, it may be one thing to accept that I, who she has thought of as a geeky klutz, is actually a master of martial arts.  She might even be able to accept the fact that I am a partial alien.  I mean, she accepted Kit almost before I did.  But, it is a Totally different thing to accept that Ichigo blew up the moon, and that I can fly and that I could probably pick up small mountains and move them around at my leisure.'

'That and how much does Mariah actually need to know?  It is not that I don't trust her, but for some reason telling her the truth doesn't seem right.  And I have a lot to tell her about.  How will she take learning about Mr. Satan and how almost everything he did was actually done by someone else?  Or how the Earth has actually been destroyed twice without most people ever knowing about it?'

A chill crept into Roshi's spine.  "How will she take the fact that I am not only capable of killing people, but that I have killed?  She is so innocent and sweet and loving and kind and...  and I have blood on my hands.  How will she take learning that I was really the one who ordered the evacuation of the Moon.  Or that I ordered that evacuation knowing that I might have to blow the moon up.  Knowing, in fact, that most of the people would not survive?'

'I think, I love her, but can she love me?'  Roshi thought about that for a good long while.  'I have hidden too much for too long.  Kit was right, I need to let Mariah see some of who I am, or she will never be able to accept the truth.'

"Now the only question is how much do I tell Kit?"

* * *

Roshi arrived at Kit's house to find her sitting on the large porch swing they owned looking perturbed.

"It's about time you got here."  Kit said as she walked up and looked at Roshi.  "Well have you forgotten everything about being a gentleman?  Help me on the Kintoun so we can go someplace private to talk."  Kit said as Roshi started to jump of the Kintoun.

Roshi landed on the ground and looked at Kit.  "You know, you didn't seem to have any problem climbing on it when you Niko and Mariah took it for a joy ride a few weeks ago."

Kit smiled and winked at him.  "I know, but you were on the cloud, so you could have just given me a hand and we could have been off."  She said as she jumped on the Kintoun."

'Kit is toying with me.  I don't like it when she does stuff like that.  She's mad at me for something, yet having fun making me wonder and suffer.  This really sucks.'  Roshi thought as he jumped on in front of her and then turned to look back.  "Ok, where do you want to go?"

"I don't really care, just someplace where those guys in that camera van right there can't follow us."  She said pointing to a white van that was parked down the street.

Roshi gawked at the van for a moment.  'Ok, the media harassing me and Slip is one thing, but if they've been bothering my friends that is a totally different story.' 

Directing the Kintoun to float up into the air in a lazy circle, Roshi turned to look at Kit.  "How long has that van been parked there?"

Kit scowled.  "Since you made that scene this afternoon in the mall.  A bunch of reporters found Mariah and I on Tuesday and asked a bunch of questions about you.  Then a picture of you whispering in Mariah's ear at the movie last Friday appeared in like three tabloids yesterday and a bunch of photographers started stalking her and she freaked out and you know I am almost starting to wonder if being your friend is worth it."

"What!?!  What do you mean you are wondering if being my friend is worth it.  I'm sorry that the stupid media people are stalking you guys, but other then putting that bitch in her place today at the mall I haven't done anything!"

Kit glared at him.  "Exactly!  You have not done anything!  You have not returned our calls, you have not told us what is going on.  You practically ignored Mariah at the Mall today!  Do you honestly think Rock was the only one who noticed that girl you were with?  Do you have any idea how much seeing you with that girl and then NOT having you even say hi to her hurt Mariah?"

"I... I didn't mean to hurt anyone.  How is Mariah?  Do you think she would talk to me now?"

"You tell me,"  Kit said as she fished a large crumpled paper out of her backpack.  She then handed the tabloid over to Roshi.

In big glaring letters the front page read:

Son Boy Cheating on Long Time Girlfriend!!!

Innocent girl crushed by his treachery!!!

It then showed several pictures of Roshi and Ichigo at the Mall, and then a picture of Mariah running away from a crowd of people.

Roshi felt like the worlds largest ass.  'Why did they have to do this to Mariah?  The tabloids are every bit as bad as Rock.  All she ever did was be my friend and now... this.  Damn I am an idiot.  Why didn't I see this coming?'

"Why did they have to go after Mariah?  She didn't do anything wrong."  Roshi looked back at Kit to see what her expression was.  "Um, since when was I Mariah's long time Boyfriend?"

Kit shook her head slowly.  "In the world where Mariah lives?  Probably since you turned ten.  In the real world, I wouldn't know.  You haven't been talking to her much since that date you two had last Friday and she probably thinks you are trying to dump her."

"Dump her!  We only had one date!  We are just good friends!"  Roshi said back in self defense.  'wait!  Just good friends?  Are we just good friends?  Am I lying to myself, or are we just good friends?  I don't know, but now is not the time to worry about that.'

"Men."  Kit said under her breath.  "Roshi, are you totally clueless?  I mean how can you NOT see how much Mariah likes you?"

Roshi didn't reply.

"Well?  I'm waiting."

"Kit, I don't have an answer for you.  I just don't know.  I guess I've always just thought of Mariah as a good friend.  Sure, I think I want her to be more, but I really don't know and right now is not the best time for this."

Kit just shook her head.  "Roshi, you don't get it do you?  There is no such thing as a best time for anything.  If something means enough to you, you make time.  I realize that I have somewhat pushed both of you a bit, but you have to see how much she likes you?  What are you waiting for?"

"I don't know.  It's just... well Kit, you and Mariah are for all practical purposes my only two good friends.  There is safety in just being friends.  Moving beyond friends means taking risks and to be honest, there are some types of risks that I don't know if I want to rush into."

"Ok then, what's the story with this girl you showed up at the mall with then?  You two seemed a bit closer then just two training partners would be."

"Ichigo?  Well she's... Ichigo."  Roshi said as the Kintoun came to a stop and he hopped off.

Kit looked around.  "Videl's lookout?  I thought Son men only took romantic interests here.  I'm not Mariah."

Roshi blushed.  "Ah, yeah that does tend to be the way of things, but you said you wanted to go someplace private and I really couldn't think of a better spot.  We could have gone back to my place, but then Ichigo probably would have found us and she isn't in the best of moods after what happened in the mall today."

"She's staying at your house?  I thought your father had a private island where he trained his students.  Speaking of which your father isn't even on the Earth right now.  Why isn't she home in that forgotten village you said she came from?"

"Ah... well because..."

"Because she isn't from a forgotten village is she?"  Kit said.  As she spoke her eyes suddenly cleared a bit and her tone changed.  "So who is she and what really is her story?"

'Lie or not?  Lie or not?  Gah, truth, Kit can smell lies from ten km away.'

"Um, well, you are right, Ichigo isn't from a forgotten village.  She's..."

Kit's ears flattened back onto her head, a clear indication that she wasn't buying it.  She glared at him.  "She isn't one of your cousins?"

"What?!? No!  Why?"  Roshi stammered before he even thought about what she was asking.

"Roshi, I got close enough to the two of you today to smell it.  She smells like your cousin Slip when Slip isn't bathing in that nasty vanilla perfume she always wears."

Roshi blinked a few times and looked at Kit.  All he could think about was a day a few years back.  A day that had almost ruined their friendship forever.

* * *

It was a beautiful spring day.  It was nearing the end of their 7th grade year.  Roshi was 13 at the time. 

They were in phy-ed and they teacher had decided to take advantage of the spring day by having the kids play dodge ball out on one of the football (soccer) fields.

Roshi had always been a natural athlete.  Like all Saiyan children he was solidly built.  In fact, he almost looked chunky.  The truth was, despite how he looked, he was an able runner, and extremely fit, but he had never really tried to show off. 

During the first round, he had survived to be one of the last ten people in the game.  Then Kit had hit him in the back as he tried to tag one of the other guys out.

After a few more minutes the remaining people in realized that Kit was the only one who really posed a threat and all of them started gunning for her.

She squealed with laughter as she zipped around the field ducking and dodging, twisting and turning.  Kit could easily run circles around the rest of the kids and a few of the people she had tagged out started to complain to the teacher about how it wasn't fair.

After Kit won the first round, several of the other kids started complaining about it.  Roshi had always been a peace maker, so he tried to talk calm people down by talking to Kit.

"You know, you could be a bit easier on us.  We can't all run forever like you can."  He had teased while giving her shoulder a playful punch.

Kit looked up at him and rolled her eyes.  "It's not my fault you guys are only Human."  She teased back.

"You hear that!  Flea face is making fun of Roshi!"  Rock called out to the rest of the class.  "Man, too bad Roshi isn't more like Mr. Satan was.  He could have run her right out of town!"

Roshi had laughed with the rest of his classmates, but not for the same reason.  'Well guess what Kit.  I'm not only human.  As long as you think I am though, I think I'll have some fun.'

"Well, lets just see what one of us mere humans can do then."  He replied to Kit.  "She's mine."  He informed everyone else.

"Oh you think you can catch me?"  Kit teased back.  "You don't have a chance Tubby!"

"Is that a challenge?"  Roshi replied mockingly.  "I think that was a challenge."

"You had better believe it."

The teacher got the class under control and started the next game.

'Heh heh heh.  Time to go play fox and hound.'  Roshi thought as he scooped up a dodge ball and started looking for Kit.

"Oh, Kit, here I come!"  he yelled as he broke into a run chasing after her.

Kit saw him coming and started running around through groups of people and around things in an effort to ditch him.

It didn't work.  Before long he was following no more then a meter behind her and sticking to her heals like glue.

Kit wouldn't hit her growth spurt for another several months and she was only about 127cm tall (4'2") to Roshi's 160 (5'3").  Even with her tiny size, she was an able runner, and she was extremely deft at quick turns, dodges, and jerky movements.  Had Roshi not been able to use his ki to help him turn and stay with her there would have been no way he could have been able to follow her even if he could normally run faster.

After a bit, Roshi decided he was going to have fun with her for making fun of the rest of the kid for only being human.  He decided to just follow her until she started to majorly slow down and it wasn't a challenge anymore.

After several minutes passed, Kit was no-longer laughing in delight as she lead him around the field.  Now she was glancing back over her shoulder and running in fear. She tried harder and harder to lose him, but he stayed with her on every step.

After about five minutes of constant sprinting she finally fell over panting and trying to catch her breath.

Roshi casually walked up and dropped the dodge ball on her stomach.  She didn't even try to catch it.  "Got you."  He said as five dodge balls suddenly came from different directions to tag him out.  Anyone who could keep up with Kit for five minutes was too dangerous to leave in the game.

Roshi grabbed Kit's arm and helped her to the side of the field where they both collapsed to catch their breath.

After a few moments Roshi was fine, but Kit was still practically hyperventilating.  "You gave me a run for my money out there Kit"  Roshi said realizing that he may have gone a little overboard.

"Hey look, Her tongue is hanging out of her mouth like a dog's.  We always knew you were a mutt Kit!"  Clay said as he walked by.  As he walked past he acted like he slipped and stomped on Kit's tail.  Kit yelped in pain and then tried to pull her tail up next to her so other people couldn't do the same thing.

"Ya! She even sounds like a stupid dog."  Kari Snide said as she walked over.  "Why don't you go away and leave us HUMANS alone you ugly little tramp!"

"Yeah!  Not our fault your only a stupid dog you know."  Rock added in.

"I don't see why Roshi wastes his time with you anyway.  Your nothing but a good for nothing little bitch.  He sure showed you today.  Amy Priss added.

"Yeah, way to go.  You really showed her what's what."  Someone else said as they patted Roshi on the back.

"Hey guys, leave her alone.  She doesn't deserve this!"  Roshi said as he jumped up to try to get them to leave Kit alone.

"Yeah, you're right.  She deserves a good flea dip and a chew bone!  Think she can make fun of us does she?"  Kari shot back.

Kit suddenly jumped up and tried to leave the area.  Amy pushed her down before she could get all the way up.  "Oh no you don't.  Roshi may have worn you out some, but we're not letting you just run away now you little bitch."

"HEY LEAVE HER ALONE!"  Roshi yelled as he stepped in to try to help Kit up.  Kit looked at him and yanked her hand back. 

"Go away.  Just go away!  I don't need your help!" She cried.

"What's going on here?"  Mr. Ase asked as he suddenly showed up to break up the crowd.

"Nothing sir." Almost everyone answered.

Mr. Ase looked around and shook his head at the sight of Kit.  "Just don't do it again."  He spoke to the whole group as he turned around to call for everyone to head for the showers.

* * *

Kit wasn't in algebra, which was the last class of the day.  Roshi felt terrible.  Never before had he done something that had caused one of his friends to get hurt.

After school he had run to Kit's house to apologize and see how she was. 

"Go away I never want to see you again!"  Kit had yelled back from behind her door after he had knocked on it.

"But, Kit, I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause everyone to start making fun of you.  I was just having fun.  I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"Go away!  I don't care.  Just go away or I'll call the Police!"

Roshi went home feeling like the biggest traitor on the planet.

* * *

Later that night he was working on his homework when his father called him down.  "Roshi, you have a phone call."

Roshi's parents wouldn't let him use his private phone line for several more years, but he could still take calls in his room.  "I'll take it up here if that is ok"  he told his father before opening up the Vidphone page on his computer.

'Who would be calling me?'  Roshi thought before Kit appeared on the screen.  "Kit!  Um, hi.  How are you?"  He asked.  It was easy to see that she had been crying.  Her large eyes which were normally a brilliant goldish green were bloodshot and swollen.

"Why didn't you tell me?"  Kit asked through sobs.  "I thought you were my friend."

"Tell you what?  I am your friend."  Roshi replied baffled.

Kit rubbed her eyes to wipe some tears away.  "A real friend would have told me the truth."

"Told you what?  What do you mean?  I've never lied to you?"  Roshi replied even more confused.

Kit looked up at him and slowly looked him in the eyes.  "Yes you have.  You lied today."

"No I didn't!  What did I lie about?"

Kit started crying again.  "You... you... You're not human."

Roshi almost fell backwards in his chair as little pin pricks of fear stabbed at him.

"How do you know?  Who told you?"  He asked in shock.

"I... I... just know."  She replied.

"Kit stay there.  We need to talk in person.  I will be right over."  Roshi didn't even end the call as he ran out of his room down the stairs and out the front door of his house.

He had already called the Kintoun and was jumping on it when his father flew up in front of him blocking his way.  "And where might we be going?"  Goshu asked.

"Dad!  I have to go talk to Kit.  Some stuff happened in school today and people started making fun of her and it was all my fault and now she's crying and hurt and..."

"And she knows what you are."  Goshu stated matter-o-factly.

"DADDD you listened to our conversation?!?!?!"  Roshi yelled indignantly.

"When a young lady calls you bawling her head off I think I is my responsibility to find out why."  Goshu said not apologizing for the intrusion into Roshi's privacy.

"What do I do Dad?  What do I tell her?"  Roshi asked realizing that maybe his father would be able to help him out of this mess.

"The truth."  Goshu answered.  "She is your friend she deserves to know the truth.  Besides, she is a Vulpine, she would have found out sooner or later anyway."

"She what?"

Goshu shook his head.  "Roshi, the reason the Vulpines asked your great great great grandfather for help all those years ago was because they knew who and what we really were.  She would have found out eventually when she was old enough to know what it meant.  Now all you can do is tell her the truth and hope that your friendship is strong enough to recover.  But know this.  The Vulpine people value honesty very highly.  She will never again trust you as much as she once did."

"I know."

"Good, then go see if you can't fix some of the hurt you caused today."  Roshi's father said as he lowered himself to the ground and walked into the house.

Roshi had a lot to think about on his way to Kit's house that night. 

When he got to her house he flew up to her second story window and rapped on the glass.

Kit had been sitting curled up in her bed and she nearly hit the ceiling when she heard Roshi knocking on the window.

She ran over and opened the window.  "Roshi!  Don't you know your not supposed to go looking through girl's windows?"  Kit asked him scoldingly.

"What do you mean?  Don't do stuff like that.  I'd never go look in on a girl's room."

Kit leaned on her window pane and gave him that look.

"Well... you're not really a girl."  Roshi said bewildered.

"SON ROSHI I'M really mad at you right now and your stupid sense of humor isn't helping!"

"Sorry.  Can I come in?"

"Yes."  Kit said as she slammed the window shut.

Roshi knocked on the window.

Kit turned around and glared at him.  "The front door is over there!"  She said pointing.

"Oh, yeah..."  Roshi said feeling like an idiot.

* * *

A few minutes later, Roshi was sitting cross-legged on the floor in Kit's bedroom.

"I'm sorry about not telling you sooner.  I just...  This is really hard to explain."  Roshi said.

"Why?  What is there to explain?  You aren't human you admit that now?"  Kit asked, her voice coming in a whisper.

"Yes, I admit it, but I want to know something.  How did you know?  I mean, how did you know I wasn't human.  Which I actually mostly am by the way."

Kit looked up at him and her ears flushed red.  "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Why would I laugh at you?  Please, just tell me how you knew I wasn't totally human."

"You smell different.  I mean, your sweat smells different.  It has... I don't know a really bitter smell to it.  Normal people have a more sweet smell to their sweat."

Roshi absent mindedly smelled his shirt.  Kit started laughing.

"I don't smell anything."  Roshi said defensively.

"Neither do I right now, you're not sweating as much as you were this afternoon."

"Gee, thanks."

"So, what kind of Alien are you?"  Kit asked softly, "and why didn't you tell me sooner that I wasn't the only alien in Satan City?"

"I...  Well, let me tell you a story.  I think that will be easiest."

* * *

Roshi had spend several hours telling Kit about his family and about himself.  She had slowly forgiven him, and she had actually smiled and told him that his apology was accepted.

From that day on, Roshi never left the house without wearing at least some form of cologne and having put on plenty of antiperspirant.

Roshi soon learned that Kit's nose was at least several times better then his own.  There was many a time when various scents were too much for him to bear.  In those times, like when he was in Mrs. Rose's class and she wore this horridly strong perfume that stunk like rotting flowers, he would always look over and feel sorry for Kit.  How she managed to live though that class was beyond him.

Having Kit around also came in handy at other times.  She found a gas leak in a chemistry lab long before anyone else realized that they were in danger.

She also knew some embarrassingly personal things.  For instance, while human's supposedly didn't have pheromones, Saiyans did.  They were not overly strong, but they were strong enough, and while they didn't affect Kit any, she claimed that she could predict when various girls' heads would turn as Roshi walked past by timing how long it would take the air carrying his scent to reach them.

All and all Kit was Kit.  As the years passed, Kit became a better and closer friend.  She had promised to never tell his secrets to anyone, and he had promised to never allow who and what he was to hurt any of his friend ever again.

As Kit's voice once again drug him back into reality, he realized that in that, he had failed miserably.

* * *

"What did you just say?"  Roshi asked.

"I asked you if those things that destroyed Homlet were Ouzarus."  Kit said.

"Oh, um... yes they were."

"Where did a Saiyan girl and a bunch of other Saiyans come from?  I thought you said that your ancestors were the last full blooded Saiyans left."

"They came from Saiya.  The home planet of the Saiyan race.  We didn't know about it and therefore we thought that Goku and Vegeta were the last Saiyans."

Kit looked at him like she didn't really believe him.  "And you were going to tell me about Ichigo when?"

"Um...  Originally, ah, never."

"SON ROSHI!  You promised to never lie about your people ever again!"

"I know, I know, it is just that Ichigo is going home.  I didn't expect the idiots that showed up to kill her on Monday and I thought she wouldn't be here very long."

"I thought you trusted me."

"I do.  Kit you are making this really hard."  Roshi replied knowing that he deserved every bit of what Kit was doing.

"So she is going home?  She doesn't mean anything to you?  You aren't going to just dump Mariah?"

"Yes, I think I would like to call her a friend or at least an ally, and No I am not going to dumb Mariah cause I honestly never thought that we were really an item yet.  And before you ask, I think I do want us to become an item but please don't push us."

"Ok, I will accept that.  Now, what are you going to tell Mariah?"

"I don't know.  I really don't know.  I can't tell her everything, but she deserves to know."

"Yes she does.  Remember this Roshi.  You may think that there is safety just being her friend.  But, she doesn't think of you as just a friend anymore.  If you don't open up and tell her the truth soon, you won't ever become that item you spoke of, and you might just lose her as a friend as well."

"I know Kit, I know."

Kit smiled.  "So, tell me about this Ichigo and why she is here."

Roshi explained everything to her to the best of his ability.  He left out the fact that a changeling was coming to Earth as he didn't think she needed know that.  As he saw it, there was not reason to add to her worries.

After several hours of talking, Roshi took Kit home.  As she walked into her house she turned around and smiled.  "Thank you for coming and talking to me.  I'm sorry about all the stuff you have had happen the past week.  I will try to reassure Mariah tomorrow."

"Yeah, thanks.  I never meant for any of this to happen to her, or you."

"I know.  So, where are you taking Mariah on your date tomorrow?"

'My date tomorrow?  Oh crap!  Dad's coming home tomorrow and the press conference and then we are going to be in training and...  I forgot all about my date with Mariah'

* * *

Thank you for reading Please review.

The Smooster

p.s.  Arthain... I seem to think that this IS a new chapter... wouldn't you agree?