Epilogue
Everything's so blurry and everyone's so fake
Everybody's empty and everything is so messed up
Preoccupied without you I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you I stumble then I crawl
And you could be my someone you can be my scene
You know that I'll protect you from all of the obscene
I wonder what you're doing I wonder where you are
There's oceans in between us but that's not very far
It had only been four weeks but it felt like four years. Life was quiet without Kai pushing the Bladebreakers around. His cold and demanding nature, which was once the bane of Tyson's existence, was now something he yearned to know again. Things hadn't been normal since Kai had died.
"We have to get back into training, guys," Kenny said to break the awkward silence between all of them. Small blossoms fell all around them as they sat in the serene atmosphere of the Granger family temple. "Kai would be disgraced to see us slacking like this. He would have killed us!"
"Doesn't matter that much now Kenny," Tyson sighed. "Kai's dead now. He's gone. We can't do anything now to bring him back, and that's that."
"I hate to say this but I agree with Tyson," Ray nodded, looking up. "I mean, life just seems so…boring without someone or something to motivate us. I guess for the most part Kai was our motivation."
"The urge we all had to beat him and show him up fuelled our ambitions," Tyson continued. "But now…we have nothing."
"Kai wouldn't appreciate hearing all of you talk like that," Kenny said, closing Dizzi's lid and looking over to his downtrodden friends.
"He can't hear us Kenny," Max sighed. "Let's just face it; no one here can out-captain Kai! He was…"
"Are you all still moping?" a familiar American voice interjected. They all looked over to the temple gates to see the All Stars team, and Max's mother Judy.
"In case it slipped your mind, Michael, our team captain died four weeks ago. We're entitled to mourn," Ray growled in response. Michael's tone had angered Ray greatly. They weren't moping.
"Yeah, I know that," Michael said, trying to ease the tension between himself and Ray. "But you guys have been like this for way too long! Get your asses in gear and get back to business! You're world champion Beybladers! Don't spend your moment in the sun on you asses!"
"Michael has a point Max," Judy agreed. "You can't be sad forever. Eventually you'll have to move on with your lives and accept that Kai is gone and isn't coming back."
"But…we miss him. We never thought we would but we do," Max replied tearfully. Judy sat down beside her son and put an arm around him.
"Maxie, it's always painful to lose a friend, but you have to understand; everything that lives eventually will die. It's how life works. It was Kai's time, and destiny called him up to heaven. Just think of it like that," Judy replied soothingly.
"We understand what you guys are all getting at," Tyson said, getting to his feet. "But we all have to deal with our mourning in our own way. I'm sure we'll move on in time, but now just isn't that time. We're just not…ready to accept the hand fate has dealt us."
"I'm with Tyson," Ray concurred. Out of nowhere, a flash of light streaked through the sky, taking Tyson by surprise. He looked down at his feet to see a blue blur spinning at his feet. Was it…a Beyblade? No…no it couldn't be Dranzer…could it? Tyson looked around to see where the Beyblader was hiding but he couldn't see anyone.
"You disappoint me Tyson," a familiar voice came from somewhere nearby. "I thought you were a world champion. I guess you're nothing but a world chump!"
"Hey! Come out here and say that to my face!" Tyson growled, a once thought burnt out flame rekindling inside of his spirit.
"Why should I? You're weak! And it's about time I kicked you back into shape, Tyson!" the voice was coming from the trees. Tyson looked over towards them, and from the branches leapt down a two-tone haired teenager. He had deep garnet eyes and a stern look lay deep within them. His face was no longer pale, no longer blood stained, no longer torn with pain and memory. Tyson's eyes widened. He could barely believe who he was looking at.
"Oh my…" Judy was stunned.
"It can't be!!" Max cried out almost joyfully.
"It is!! It is!!" Kenny screamed out.
"Kai!!!" Ray and Tyson said together, running towards their captain. He wasn't dead. He was very much alive. Everyone could see that. Tears tore down the Bladebreakers' faces and they ran forward to greet their captain. Instead of scolding his team mates for their over-emotional and erratic behaviour, as he would normally, he just smiled and stood beneath the shade of the tree as the arms of his friends closed in around him. He had found his freedom. He had found his peace.
~~***~~
Another warm morning in China descended over the grassy plains and glistened off of the surface of the rivers and lakes. Mariah was sat alone on a rock looking out at the glorious morning that was spread before her. It didn't feel so glorious. She knew how terrible Ray was feeling after what had happened to Kai, and she felt terrible that she couldn't be there for him when he needed her.
"Mariah…" Kenneth came up behind her. She turned and looked at him. "Mariah are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine Kenneth," she replied, wiping her eyes.
"Are you still worried about Ray?"
"Yeah…I hope he's alright…"
"Good thing there's a telephone nearby. You can call him if you really want to."
"No…that's alright. I don't think he'd want me to bother him."
"Mariah!! Kenneth!! Gary!!" Lee's voice echoed out across the area. Gary, whom had been lying asleep in the grass, sat up and got to his feet.
"What is it Lee?" Mariah asked.
"I was just off the phone after talking to Ray!!" Lee replied, sounding out of breath and excited. "It's about Kai!!"
"Did they find his body then?" Gary asked.
"Even better!! He showed up at Tyson's house this morning! Alive!!" Lee replied, the excited nature of his being breaking out into his voice at last.
"What?!!" Mariah cried out in joy. "Kai's alive?!!"
"Yeah!! He's been alive all this time!! Ray says that Kai was in Russia for the last four weeks spending time with his family and testifying against his father!! He's alright!!"
~~***~~
The four members of the Majestics were sat around a table at Oliver's French mansion. Not one of them uttered a word.
"We should…give them a call…yeah?" Johnny said at last, his worry at not hearing from the Bladebreakers shining through in his tone.
"Maybe…I mean it's been four weeks!" Oliver said, taking a slow sip from his teacup.
"But this could still be a touchy subject for them to deal with," Robert added. "They still may be in pain."
"That's the truth," Enrique agreed. "You know how close those guys all became. They were all into teamwork and friendship and all that. Even though Kai was a bit of a jerk at the start, he warmed to the idea. We all saw him."
"Master Oliver, there's a collect call here for you from Japan," a butler came in with a white telephone on a tray. "Will you be accepting the charges?"
"Of course!! Bring it here!!" Oliver cried, snatching the phone the moment it was within reach. "Hello?!!…Ray! I haven't heard from you in such a long time! Are you alright?…he's what?!!…you can't be serious!!!…yes of course!!…it really _is_ you!!…I don't believe this!! I must go immediately!! We shall be joining you soon! Au revoir!!" and with that Oliver slammed the phone down in an ecstatic frenzy. Whatever he had heard, it had to have been good.
"What was that all about Oliver?" Johnny asked.
"It's Kai! I spoke to him! He's there! He's alive! We must go! Go to Japan! Go at once! Butler! Fetch my jet! We leave for Japan immediately!!" Oliver said quickly, running about in joy.
"Kai's alive?!! Well let's get going guys!!" Johnny smiled to his team mates and they all jumped to their feet to prepare their travelling things.
~~***~~~
"So…Hideaki is getting a life sentence with his father then?" Bryan smiled. "That must be good news for Aoi's parents."
"It is," Tala smiled in return. "Kai must be pleased with how the proceedings went."
"It was rather considerate of Kai to visit us before he left for Japan," Bryan added, crossing his legs.
"It's good to know he made the right choice," Spencer said, lifting the cup to his lips and taking a drink. The four Demolition Boys were sat around a table in an All-You-Can-Eat buffet restaurant, where they had all sat mere months before, predicting Kai's doom. Today though, they sat to celebrate the outcome of Hideaki's trial, and the joy of finding Kai to be alive and well recovered after his ordeal.
"People should never underestimate the value of life," Tala said, looking at his friends. "Kai learnt that life is not something that can be thrown away when things start to get too difficult. There is always a purpose behind every existence. It took Kai a while to discover where his purpose was, and now that he knows, I think he's going to be just fine."
~~***~~
I can be seen as one of the luckiest teenagers in the world. How many people in this day and age get a second chance to live? To undo mistakes? To fight for justice? It may all seem like a bunch of nothing to you, but over the last few months and weeks, I've come to realise that I _am_ one of the luckiest teenagers in the world. Not just because I'm alive. I'm not arrogant enough to say I learnt nothing from this entire mess, I am wise enough now to know that keeping things inside of your heart can only make life worse. If I had told the Bladebreakers earlier exactly why I felt uncomfortable about prolonging our stay in Russia, maybe this whole disaster could have been averted. I've learnt from that mistake, and I plan to make an effort to be more open with my friends. They believed in me, and they had faith in me. I'm not really used to that. What's the point of being a good Beyblader if you have no friends to Beyblade with? No friends to motivate you to strive for ultimate perfection? That's what these guys do for me. But they don't just make me want to be a better Blader, they make me want to aim to be a better person. This all sounds really dumb now that I think about it, but it's a truth I never wanted to embrace until now. I want to believe that I will never be the person my father or my grandfather wanted me to be. With my team, I always win, either way the coin spins. I realise that now.
My name is Kai Hiwatari. Life isn't over for me yet, oh no. Life is just beginning.
I'm so high I'm never low
I hold the sky and I'm never letting go
You filled my cup I'm good to go
So shake me up I'm ready to roll
So never letting go
SN: Epilogue is purely for those who wanted the Bladebreakers and the other teams to know that Kai lived. Opener from Blurry and closing paragraph from Out of my Head, both by Puddle of Mudd. Later! ^_~