Phoenix

A Beyblade fanfiction

Oi, minna-sama. Here is another chapter for you! I regret to inform you that this fic is rapidly drawing to a close, so I hope you enjoy these last chapters.

Standard disclaimers apply.

-Four Days Later-

Judy walked down the hallway to the small hospital room, grabbing Kia's chart from the bin on the door. She scanned over her vitals, shaking her head. Kia, in the ICU, was in a deep coma, and not doing well.

After the incident at the stadium, an ambulance had rushed Kia to the nearest hospital. Kai, Judy and the rest of the Bladebreakers had followed close behind in the tour bus. Kia had been wheeled down to the OR as soon as she arrived, and the doctors had worked for eight hours straight to save her life. She had been lucky; although her wounds were indeed terrible, Dragoon's claws had missed her heart and major blood vessels by mere millimeters.

Despite that blessing, she had still lost a lot of blood- too much. She had been clinically dead on the table four times, and now they feared that she had suffered permanent damage and would never wake up. Everyone's prayers were with her and Kai, for hoping and praying was all any of them could do.

And saying everyone wasn't an understatement. Flowers from the BBA, the Bladebreakers, various people from the audience who had watched the events, and all of the other teams filled her room. Stuffed animals and cards crowded the bed and wherever the vases of flowers were not. Many balloons floated around the ceiling as well. Everyone who had been touched by the event was drawn to hope for the unfortunate girl. One could only hope she would awake to see how many people were pulling for her recovery.

Judy replaced the chart, and sighed, knocking softly before entering. Kai looked up briefly, and muttered a greeting before returning his mournful gaze to the comatose girl on the bed. He hadn't left her bedside since the instant they had allowed him to see her, and didn't plan to until she woke up. He reached out and held her limp, cool hand, squeezing it tightly.

Judy was forced to hold back tears as she saw the hopeless, broken-hearted look on the face of the blader famous for his cold-shoulder, lone wolf attitude. Unable to watch her son's friend any longer, she turned her gaze to Kia.

Bandages wrapped all the way from the top of her chest to just below her ribs, showing underneath her hospital gown. She was hooked up to a myriad of different monitors; a heart monitor beeped out a slow, steady pattern, several IVs dripped liquid medication and nourishment into her arm, and a small tube under her nose provided her with extra oxygen- that was the only ray of hope they had, she was still breathing on her own. Make that one of two rays of hope- the chart had also told Judy the high fever that had burned within her had gone down in the last few hours.

She walked up to Kai, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she advised, "you should take a break." He shook his head but she continued, "Some time away from here will do you some good. I'll watch her for you. Go get some sleep, take a walk, and have some good food, okay?" When he looked like he was going to refuse again, she added, "I'm sure Kia wouldn't want you to confine yourself to this stuffy hospital."

"I..." Kai sighed, then got up from the chair where he had kept his vigil, "Alright...but, call me if anything happens." He flipped on his rarely-used cell phone, telling Judy his number, stretched, and reluctantly left the room.

Twenty minutes later found Kai walking into the hotel room the BBA had given the Bladebreakers to use. In his hand was a bag from a fast food place down the block, containing a burger and fries. After taking a short walk through a park, he had stopped and bought himself some food and returned to the hotel.

The rest of his team looked up in surprise as they heard him enter. He nodded in greeting and pulled out a chair from the suite's kitchen table, grabbing a soda from the fridge, sitting down and starting to eat. After he finished, Tyson, Max and Ray joined him at the table.

"Kai," Max asked, "How's she doing?"

"She's still in a coma," Kai sighed, "They don't think she's ever going to wake up."

"All we can do is pray she recovers," Ray said quietly, "We're all here for you no matter what happens though, Kai."

"I know," Kai smiled gratefully, "Thanks."

"Kai..." Tyson looked down, feeling guilty, "I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me..."

"No," Kai interrupted, "It was Dragoon's fault. He was always like that; always wanted to usurp the throne, so to speak." He clenched his fists, "And he's always wanted Kia, but he also knew she was the only way to get to me. He was willing to do anything to kill Branzer, even if it meant taking the life of the one he wanted most..."

"That's right," Max said, trying to distract Kai from sulking, "You're really a bitbeast right?"

"Yeah," Kai replied, leaning on the table, "Branzer." He continued, telling them everything he remembered about his life as a bitbeast before he was captured, then how it felt when he was inside the beyblade. He also told them of how he was always able to see Dranzer whenever she spoke with him; how she would float around and sometimes even lean on his head.

"That's cool," Tyson grinned, distracting him when he started to look gloomy again. "But how did you become a human?"

"I don't really know," Kai's brow clouded, "I mean, I know I grew up like any kid. I even have baby pictures. It must have been something Biovolt did, but I just don't know what."

"Maybe the people at my mom's work will have found something in Biovolt's old files," Max chimed in, "We'll have to check tomorrow." He looked out the window, "It's getting late. Why don't we head to bed?"

"Just let me check on Kia," Kai flipped open his phone and dialed the number for the phone inside Kia's room. Judy picked up and assured him everything was fine, but nothing had changed with Kia since he had left. He thanked her and told her he would return tomorrow, and told her to get some rest. He hung up and followed his team to the bedrooms, entering his own and slowly drifting off into a fitful sleep.

-Kai's Dream-

That day...it kept replaying in his dreams. Over and over he saw it.

He saw Dragoon knock Dranzer aside. He saw himself turn to see her, and, while he was distracted, saw the blue dragon head towards him with those claws... He watched as the phantom of himself turned to see death approach. Then he watched Dranzer's flight to save him. He tried to look away, but couldn't. He watched, feeling tears sting the back of his eyes, as Dragoon's claws sunk into Dranzer. He saw the flash of light, saw Kia impaled on those claws. He was powerless to look away as Dragoon tossed Kia's frail form to the ground before burning into ashes. Then, he looked on as his ghost lifted her, tears dripping down to mix with the blood from her wounds.

It flashed then, to when he first saw Kia in the hospital, wrapped in bandages and hooked up to monitors. Slowly, everything faded out except for her, and the slow beep of her heart monitor. He walked up to her, and reached for her hand. He bowed his head, feeling a tear drip down his face. Kia...

Then, the heart monitor stopped, its steady rhythm turning to the loud, constant wail. His head snapped up and saw her heart rate had flat lined.

No! KIA!!!

He reached for her hand again, begging her to stay with him. Horror filled his eyes as his hand passed right through her. He stumbled back in shock as her whole body started to fade away.

KIA!! NO!!!!

Everything went black.

-End Dream-

Kai jerked up in bed, covered in a cold sweat. He jumped out of bed and looked at the clock. 4:30...I've gotta see her...

He quickly changed out of his pajamas, dressing in street clothes and leaving a short note before running out of the building. He took off in the direction of the hospital. Kia...please be alright... He ran into the building, ignoring the stares from the various doctors, nurses and civilians as he rushed up to the fourth floor, the ICU. He ran down the hall to her room, praying she was okay.

He threw the door to her room open, and walked in. He heard the beep of the heart monitor keeping a steady rhythm. She lay just as he had left her on the bed, breathing normally. Judy slept on a cot the nurses must have brought in for her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he knelt at her side and held her hand. "Kia," he brought her hand to his lips, "I'm so happy you're safe." He kissed it tenderly, "I was so worried."

"I had a nightmare tonight," he told her, bringing her hand to his cheek. "I saw it happen again up to the point when you came out of surgery. But then, the heart monitor stopped and you started to disappear." He kissed her palm, "I had to come see you. I ran here, terrified I would come here to find that you were dead."

"You know what?" Kai asked her, "I don't think I could live without you. You've always been here, for as long as I can remember." He reached up to brush some of her hair out of her face, smiling sadly. "I don't think I've ever said it, but you know I love you right?"

Her eyelids flickered, and her heart rate picked up a little. The fingers of the hand he held flexed. Maybe if I keep talking to her...

"That's right," he said it again, "I love you, my sleeping beauty." Following the example of the story, he got up, letting go of her hand and leaning over to kiss her. After a few seconds, he felt her lips soften under his, parting gently. His lips curved against hers and he deepened the kiss, feeling almost drunk with happiness when she responded. He pulled back a few minutes later, and watched as her eyes fluttered, then opened slowly.

Kia blinked a few times to clear her vision before turning her head to look at Kai. A small smile lit her face. "Hey there, my prince," she greeted, her voice harsh from being unused for so long, "Long time no see."

"Yes," Kai responded, his hand moving to cup her cheek, "Too long." She leaned into his hand, turning her head to kiss his palm, and he said, "Welcome back, Kia."

Yay! She's alive! Everybody party! But don't forget to review! Thanks in advance!

Ja ne!!