A million thank yous to everyone who regularly reviews this story, especially to those who have added me to their favourite authors list and author alert! You all make me very happy, and I really appreciate it. I'm sorry that it took me a while to update.
For those that are interested, I have done a couple of Albina pictures that can be found in my deviantart gallery:
Stop by and comment if you have time!
This chapter, thank yous go to:
Tama: I can't remember the episode much either, that's why I didn't want to include too much about the battle. And sorry if it seemed rushed, I just wanted to skip past the boring stuff! I'm glad you liked it anyway.
Sea-tiger170: Yay! Does the new reviewer dance I'm so glad you like the story, and my layout. Enjoy the remainder of the story!
Midnight Insanity: 'thank you' always catches me out, hee hee! And are you starting to warm to Boris, I wonder? ;) As always, thanks so much for your support! Hugs
x-hikari: Thanks for reviewing, sorry for leaving you with an evil cliffhanger!
Ariotlatio: A review cliffhanger sounds like fun, you should leave one! :D Thanks so much for reviewing!
X ShadowWolf X2: lol, sorry about the cliffhanger, but I think they are exciting! Thank you so much for continuing to review!
TALA!!!!/Clara: I'm really glad you love the story, thanks for reviewing!
I apologise for the fluff of this chapter- it's not really my style but it had to be done! So this chapter isn't one of my favourites, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway! It contains references to chapter two, so you may need to backtrack if you don't remember.
Chapter 12 - Memories
Albina, Bryan and Spencer looked down at the trembling heap, suddenly united in their fear. Before they could do anything else, Albina felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She flicked her hair round as she turned to see who it was.
"Kai?" She answered quietly, confused. But before he had chance to answer, her expression turned to one of hate and rage as she stood up quickly, thrusting him away from her. "Come to rub it in have you!" She screamed, punching him hard below his eye. "I bet you had this planned all along, didn't you? That's why you didn't tell me what was happening to him! This is all YOUR FAULT!" Kai, completely taken aback by this outburst, looked into her reddened, contorted face, her angry pupils burning into his.
"Wait, I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Her face didn't pale or soften- she continued to glare at him, teeth bared like an animal. Kai discovered that Albina was the only person he'd ever met who could frighten him.
"Of course you did! Your stupid little team won, leaving your worst rival defeated and broken! DON'T LIE TO ME!"
"Hey, that's us you're calling stupid!" Rei's voice piped up from behind Kai. To Albina's disgust, the whole team was in fact cowering behind Kai.
"Albina! Let him talk, I order you!" This time it was Boris, trying desperately to calm her. For if they didn't leave soon, Voltaire might just come to see them here- and he wanted to delay that meeting as long as possible. At the sound of Boris's voice she softened a little, her fists unclenching, but her pupils still fixed onto Kai's shocked face.
"Fine, then explain. How did you come to see me, and why didn't you tell me straight away what they were doing to Tala?"
"Okay." Kai began, gulping down his shock whilst trying to rearrange his face into its normal frown. "Firstly, I came in through a secret passageway I discovered when I was still living at the Abbey. I didn't tell you about Tala because I thought there'd be nothing you could do, and I didn't want you to go in running and screaming for no point." Albina's shoulders slumped and she stepped back, the redness draining from her face until it returned to its normal colour.
"I did do that." She admitted, looking back at Tala again. His convulsions had become less extreme, but he still hadn't lifted his head from the wood.
"Uh, Kai, what are you talking about?" Tyson questioned, puzzled.
"She's my sister." Tyson and Max's jaws dropped, but Rei just smiled at her in understanding.
"I knew there was something I liked about you! This explains a lot." Tyson still looked confused.
"But how...?"
"Look, this isn't important now. I didn't come over for introductions or arguments." Everyone silenced and looked at Kai. "I don't know what Voltaire will do with you now. But if it turns nasty at the Abbey, you'll always have me. Here's a map to our hotel, in case you need to find me." Albina brightened a little as he handed her the folded paper, but the worry didn't leave her face.
"Thanks. But what about Tala?"
"I think I better take all of you back to the Abbey." Boris interrupted. "You'll be able to recuperate there. We'll decide what to do next once we've recovered." Albina turned to Boris to nod in agreement; but she was shocked to see that he looked terrified. She couldn't speak. "Come on, lets... let's lift Tala and help him out." In silence, the team bent down to lift him, now only shivering gently, as the Blade Breakers looked on helplessly with looks of mixed fear and bewilderment.
"Is there anything we can do?" Rei asked, apprehensively.
"No. This is our problem." Albina replied, heaving Tala's arm around her shoulder. They'd pulled him up until he was standing, but he seemed unable to keep his balance. "But thanks." With Bryan supporting the other side of Tala, they began to walk out of the stadium.
"I hope we'll see you again soon!" Max called after them, trying to lighten the mood; no reply came, and he swivelled back to Kai. "Kai?" The captain's usually calm features were slightly twisted as he watched the other team walk further away, their silhouetted shapes shrinking.
"What's wrong?" Rei asked, full of concern. After a moment of what seemed to be deciding whether to be honest or not, Kai replied:
"I'm worried."
After lifting Tala up the steps of the bus in silence, the dejected team walked to their usual places- Albina guided Tala's limp body onto a seat, before sitting herself down next to him and gazing at his anguished face- his eyelashes brushing his cheeks, his lips slightly open. He'd stopped shaking, but the stillness that held him now was almost more worrying- it was as if his mind had abandoned his body, and was somewhere else. As the engine began to rumble into life, however, she saw his eyelids flicker, and suddenly his eyes were open and looking into hers. Suddenly, his lips moved and his voice sounded:
"Albina? You're awake?" Dumbfounded and too surprised to say anything, she just kept gazing into his eyes, relieved that he was speaking again. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Huh?" Was all she could muster. Why was he acting as if she was the one who'd just collapsed into convulsions then woken up? And then she realized... "Don't you remember what just happened?" Tala glanced around the bus and jumped in shock.
"What? How did we get here? I thought... no, wait..." She couldn't think of where he'd expected them to be.
"Tala, you've just lost the final battle of the tournament, against Tyson." Widened eyes, accompanied by a look of confusion and horror.
"What? I lost? I... I haven't battled in the tournament yet...that's tomorrow." Albina felt her heart leap in excitement- if he couldn't remember, then maybe it was as if he'd never changed! But first she had to tell him what had happened. She thought about telling the others that he was awake, but decided against it- the walls that used to lay between them had all crumbled to the ground, and finally, this was their moment.
She began to explain about what she thought had happened- now that his implants and modifications had failed, his brain had reverted back to how it was before it was tampered with, meaning he couldn't remember anything happening since yesterday night; the horrific memory came back to her, and it seemed like it happened years ago, not one day ago. She then went on to tell him about her waking up to see Kai, telling her that Tala had told him that she was his sister. At the first mention of Kai, Tala scowled and looked ready to interrupt indignantly- but then he sank back into his chair and muttered, "He did believe me...". She then moved onto her attempt of rescue, deciding to skip the part about her and Kai's conversation and laughter- in case it enraged him again. She'd never spoken so much in her whole life. When she'd finished, she lifted her leg onto the bus seat so that it was between them, and carefully brought the silver zip down, the flawless black folding back to reveal the startling white, absolutely covered in bloody scars.
"You did that... for me?" Tala asked, staring at the scars in amazement.
"Yes, but it means I'm the reason you lost. But I didn't want you to be a cyborg forever- I hope that you're not angry with me." Albina replied, anxiously smiling at him. Finally, he managed to smile back, and when Albina didn't put her foot back on the floor, he tentatively lifted his hand and ran a daring finger across the scars. Returning his gaze to her face, relief swept over him when she didn't yell, and they both smiled as they remembered the last time he did that, together with the promise they made.
"Thanks, I think I'm glad I'm not a cyborg anymore." He said, with a beatific smile spreading across his icy features.
"And thanks for trying to save me- I'm sorry I didn't listen." Albina replied, putting her foot back on the floor and looking down. "But I'll never break the promise again." She blushed as she said it, and almost cringed at saying such soppy words- but with Tala, her pride seemed unimportant and her attitude non-existant.
"Neither will I." He replied, looking into her large, misty eyes and gently placing his slender hand on hers. "Whatever happens now, we're in it together."
"Agreed!" As she wrapped her thin fingers around his hand, she almost couldn't believe it was real. Despite the threat of Voltaire hanging over her head like a guillotine, she felt happier than she'd ever felt in her life as she snuggled up to him closer, so that their body heats mingled and combined to keep them warm as they drove through the snow. Night descended over them, shrouding the bus in darkness and they fell silent as they gazed out of the black window, sharing thoughts of apprehension towards what tomorrow would bring.
When the bus grinded to a halt in front of the towering prison, Albina and Tala leapt away from each other as they heard Bryan and Spencer stomping towards them from the back of the bus. They both knew better than to reveal they liked each other in front of anyone. Boris smiled to himself- he'd seen and heard the whole thing, and he was actually glad that Tala had recovered, if only for Albina's sake. If it meant she was happy, then... what was he thinking? He hurriedly blocked that train of thought, as he followed the teenagers out and through the snow to the Abbey's heavy doors. Before parting to go to their separate cells, Albina and Tala smiled at each other and whispered their goodbyes, each thinking as they turned away how happy they were to finally be friends again. She couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow... if tomorrow ever came.
I hope the long-awaited re-union was sweet enough for you! Though it may seem like the story is nearing a close, there are still a few chapters to come so please keep reading. And as always, please review! I'm curious to know how good I am at writing fluff, lol!
I promise to update when I reach 75 reviews. :D
