I know I took a long time with this. I've been busy last week. Once exams are over, I'll update more often!

Epilogue

Will was pacing restlessly around the room. Where was Zarine? Well, he knew that she had probably run after Ray. He had found the note Ray gave to Zarine. It wasn't hard to find since his sister just left it on the floor along with a gorgeous necklace on top of a delicately carved wooden box. He wasn't all that worried about her safety. What bothered him was whether Ray would break her heart again.

"Will, stop worrying. Zarine can take care of herself," Max assured him. "Ray would take very good care her of her."

Will snorted, "Yeah, like he did the lat couple of days?"

Max was at a loss for words. "Ray doesn't make the same mistake twice," Kai said.

Will said," I'll believe it when I see it."

"Believe what?" Zarine asked, coming in with Ray. They were holding hands.

"That Ray wouldn't break your heart again," he answered.

"I don't plan on doing that," Ray said. Zarine felt his grip on her hand tightened.

Will narrowed his eyes at the sight of their clasped hands, but before he could open his mouth, Zarine said, "Come on. Let's talk."

She quickly let go of Ray's hand and grabbed Will's. Once they were out in the hall, Will asked crossly, "What did you do that for? You knew I still have things to say."

"That's why I did it. You were probably going to tell me in front of everyone that you don't want me to be with him. How is he going to feel about that?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"I don't trust him," he said simply.

"Well, I do. Even Xeora trusts him!"

"I don't see why you would still trust him after what he did," he said.

"He was always there for me," said Zarine. "You are the only one here who doesn't want me to be with him. Mariam does, the other Bladebreakers do and so does Xeora. She wouldn't have woken me up this morning and told me to go after him if she thought he was being insincere, or if he was an evil person."

"If you wish to be with him, there's nothing I can do to stop you," said Will. "You always get what you want.'

"Why don't you just give him another chance?" she suggested gently.

"Fine," he gave in reluctantly. There was really no reason why he shouldn't.

"Good," Zarine said and smiled.

"You really should look at what you're wearing right now. I'd really change if I were you. You're not exactly giving the impression that you have a great fashion sense," he told her.

"All right, but when you go back in, at least be civil to Ray," Zarine said before walking off to her room.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and winced. Will was right, her outfit was horribly mismatched. She was wearing a purple top with bright green shorts. No wonder the guard thought she was a lunatic.

She quickly got changed into something that looks better. Suddenly, she caught sight of the rose that Ray had made just for her. Will must had taken it when he saw it on the floor earlier. Zarine remembered that she had something for him too, but should she give him it now?

[No, I should give it to him at the party, when we're alone.] she decided.

Ray's irritated voice cut across her thoughts, "Are you going to zone out the whole time that you're here?"

Zarine blinked and looked up at Ray. He had an annoyed look on his face. Right, she promised to hang out with him before going to bed.

"Sorry, so what were you saying?" she asked, a little confused.

"Since you don't seem to be interested in talking..." he said before lowering his head to give her a kiss.

"Do I have your full attention yet?" asked Ray slyly.

Zarine was surprised and took a step back.. "Do you plan on using kisses as bribes or what?" she demanded.

"You can't deny that you don't like them," he said, smirking at the indignant look on her face.

"If you're going to be like that, then I might as well just leave," she said, her face turning into a shade of pink.

"Come on, stay a bit longer," he pleaded.

"No. I'm going to be with you everyday in Japan, remember?" she reminded Ray. "I want to spend some time with my brother too."

"Is there any chance that I can bribe you to stay longer?" Ray asked with a smile.

"I'd say you have zero percent," she replied. "There'll be no more kisses for you tonight."

"Oh ya?" he said. He closed the distance between them, but Zarine walked back. She bumped into the bed. "Looks like you've got nowhere to run," he said, smirking, slowly advancing toward her.

"Really?" Zarine asked, her eyes wide with feigned surprise. She quickly jumped onto the bed, ran across it and reached the door before Ray could stop her.

"Zarine! Come back here!" he ordered.

She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned impishly at him. "Guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow!"

"That little brat!" Ray muttered to himself as the door closed.
The next morning...

The rays of the sunshine shone through the window. Zarine tried to cover her eyes, but after a while she gave up on sleeping. She wasn't that tired anyways. She might as well as get breakfast ready for everyone.

Out in the hallway, she saw Ray coming out of his room. He smiled at her and said, "Good morning. Speaking of morning..."

Zarine saw his gaze linger on her lips. Then she remembered the conversation last night. She swallowed hard. Seeing the look on his face, he was probably ready to kiss her in the hall, where anyone could walk by and see.

Ray walked over to her. "I want my kiss," he said. He leaned down, but Zarine turned her face away, so he ended up kissing her cheek.

"Ray...we're in the middle of the hall. Anyone can come out any second and see us," she protested.

"Who cares?" he said.

"I do!" she muttered, looking away. She felt really awkward. Will Ray like her less if she didn't want him to kiss her in public?

Ray saw how uncomfortable she was and felt bad. He had just made his girlfriend feel uneasy around him.

"I know you're probably thinking what a queer I am," she said, still refusing to look at him.

He wrapped his arms slowly around her. "Don't be silly. I never thought of it. If you don't want me to kiss you publicly, that's fine."

"You're the best," Zarine said softly. Then she looked up at him, and added, "But you can kiss me on the cheek if you want."

Ray gazed down at her beautiful face. He bent down to kiss her on the cheek but...

A door opened and Max came out, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Oh hey!" he greeted. When he got a better look at them, he grinned. "Sorry, I hope I wasn't interrupting something."

"You didn't interrupt anything," Zarine told him. "Ray and I were just going to make breakfast."

"Yeah sure," Max said, still smiling widely.

She just rolled her eyes and sighed, "Guys!"
"Let me in now!" Will bellowed, knocking on the door.

"Go away!" Mariam yelled back through the door.

Will stood fuming, glaring at the door as if he could blast a hole through it with his eyes.

"What got you so mad?" Max asked. Ray walked over to them.

"Zarine and Mariam just kicked me out of my own room. They said that they need the room to get ready for the party," Will explained to Max, scowling. "Do you think you can convince your girlfriend to open it?"

Mariam and Zarine giggled. They had their ears pressed to the door, listening to the guys' conversation.

Max blushed. "Mariam is not my girlfriend."

"Why don't you just come to my room?" Ray offered. "They'll probably take forever to get out of there."

"Ray! I heard that!" Zarine called, her voice muffled from behind the door.

"Oh dear," he pretended to sigh. "Looks like I need to bribe her later."

"With what?" Will questioned with a laugh. "Ice cream?"

Ray knew that if he told her brother, Zarine would get seriously annoyed. He couldn't resist it. "No," he answered, deliberately raising his voice. "I'm going to..."

"Ray, if you tell him, you won't get any dances with me tonight!" Zarine threatened.

Ray stood there, dumbfound. She couldn't be serious, could she? "Maybe I better not tell you..." he said to Will.

Mariam called, "Max, you better get Will away. He's getting really annoying!"

"I guess the girls get their way this time," said Ray.

Will commented, "I'm not surprised. Girls ALWAYS get what they want, especially Zarine."

After the girls were sure that the guys were gone, Mariam began to brush Zarine's long silvery hair. "Did you get your hair cut?" she asked.

Zarine grinned. "Yep, I managed to bully Ray to take me to a hair salon."

Mariam mused, "Maybe you should get your hair straightened and leave it down..."

"Sure, I've never had my hair straight before," her friend said excitedly. "Ask someone to get us the stuff that we need. I better write it down." She got a note pad and wrote a long list.

She chewed on the end of the pen, and said thoughtfully, "Don't ask Will, he's probably still a little upset that we kicked him out. Get Max to do it. He won't mind."
"There!" Zarine said. She felt a great sense of accomplishment as she looked at Mariam's hair. It was put up into an elegant twist.

"Wow. It looks good," Mariam said.

"Are you finished in there yet?" Tyson yelled outside in the hallway.

"We'll be out soon!" Mariam called.

"Tyson! Remember, patience!" Zarine said.

Tyson grumbled. They had refused to let anyone in during their preparation.

"Aren't they out yet?" Kenny asked.

"Nope," Tyson answered.

The others began to appear and waited outside the door. Finally it opened.

"You guys took an eternity in there!" Max said. His eyes went wide after he saw Mariam. "You look really good," he managed to choke out. Mariam was wearing red dress. She had her hair up, and it was all sparkly, making it look like she had stars in her hair.

Ray had a similar expression on his face. [She is so hot!] he thought. (We all know who he's talking about!)
Ray's POV

When Zarine came out with Mariam, I couldn't stop staring. Her hair was straight and it fell in waves over her shoulder and halfway down her back. She was wearing a pretty gold dress that showed off all the graceful curves of her body. The best of all, she wore the necklace I gave her. I swear, she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

"Is there something wrong? Do I look bad or something?" she asked me, looking a bit worried.

How could she ever look bad? "No, of course not! You look great!" I answered quickly.

"You sure? You had this weird expression on your face and you were just staring at me..." she said.

"You look beautiful," I assured her.

At the huge hotel ballroom, lots of guys looked at Zarine with longing. "Ray, why are they just staring at me? You sure that I look fine?" my girlfriend asked.

I look at her incredulously. Didn't she realize that she was probably the best looking girl that they've seen?

"Don't mind them," was all I said.

After dinner, the dancing began. "I'm going to the bathroom. When I come back, I'll dance with you," I told Zarine.

"All right," she said, smiling at me.

I returned the smile. I love her so much.

When I came back, I saw her dancing with another guy. They weren't dancing close or anything, but it was enough to make me feel jealous. Unconsciously, I began to scowl. I made my way back to the table where the others were.

"Who asked who to dance?" I asked, still scowling.

"The guy asked her," Tyson answered.

When the dance ended, I saw Zarine's partner kiss the back of her hand. She smiled at him and said something. I couldn't hear what she said, I was too far away.

I marched up to her, and demanded, "Why were you dancing with him."

"He asked me. I was just trying to be nice," she defended herself.

I said nothing, but continued to glower at her.

She sighed, "Ray, you know that I love you and only you." Tugging at my hand, she asked softly, "So are you still mad?"

Her eyes met mine and I felt my heart melting. "Fine, but you're mine for the rest of the night," I said. I put my arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"What about Kai and the others?" she asked.

"You can dance with them, but you can't with people you don't know," I told her.

"You're so possessive, you know that?' she grumbled.

"Only when it comes to you," I replied.

Lots of guys shot me looks of envy when they saw how close we were. After a while, it got annoying, so I suggested, "Let's go outside."

"Why?" Zarine asked.

"It'll make a nice change. Besides, I'm tired of people giving me death glares," I said. "We can just go onto the balcony."

"All right," she said reluctantly.

It was just the two of us outside, which suited me perfectly. I felt a weight on my chest. I looked down. Zarine had just put her head there. She sighed contentedly.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"For what?" I asked.

She answered, "For everything. For being there for me, for risking your life to save me, for getting me ice cream..."

She reached into her pocket and put something into my hand. "This is for you," she said.

I looked and it and smiled as I saw the back. Z loves R.

"When did you get it?" I asked.

"The day I went shopping with Mariam," she replied. "I can put it on for you."

My girlfriend secured it around my neck. It felt pleasantly cool on my skin.

I knew she didn't like me kissing her in public, but I couldn't help it. At first, she stood still with surprise, but nevertheless responded. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light. We broke off the kiss and looked up.

Tyson was holding a camera. It was one of those that give you the picture instantly. He took the picture and looked at it.

He burst into laughter. "HAHAHAHA!!!! Wait till I give this to the newspaper!"

Zarine turned scarlet. "You will do no such thing!" she yelled.

"TYSON! Give it to me!" I demanded.

He threw the picture at me, still laughing. Before I could take a good look at it, Zarine snatched it out of my hand.

"This is one of the reasons why I don't like to kiss where people can see," she muttered before handing the picture back to me.

I looked at it. For some reason I thought it was a good picture. "I like it," I said. "I'm going to keep it." I put it into my pocket.

Tyson and Zarine both stared at me in surprise. "What?" I shrugged. "Can't I like it?"
I will probably get the Prologue up sometime between Monday and Wednesday. It's going to be called Love and Jealousy.

Summary: Now that Zarine is together with Ray, she is determined to pair each of the Bladebreakers up with a girl, even Kai. Will she succeed, and how does she plan on getting the Almighty Kai to get a girlfriend?

Ray is the new basketball star. This person used to be the star, well due to some reasons (It'll be explained in the story), is now a spare. He thinks that Ray stole his friends, his fame, and is very jealous that he got a really hot girl (namely, Zarine) for a girlfriend. Now he'll do anything to hurt Ray in any way that he can.

A/N: He is not going to like Zarine!! He's just jealous that Ray's got a hot girlfriend and he doesn't!