Thank you so much for the reviews. It seems people do actually read and like my story. This means more updates. Thanks. But let's cut to the chase...

Chapter 8: Old friends

It was cold outside and Anya was freezing a little. She had been walking a long way. She arrived 10.30 pm to the train station. She bought a ticket to the train leaving from platform 9 at 10.35. She jumped into the train as a man was checking, that the doors were closed properly. Anya found herself a seat at the last car, which was empty. The train took of in a few moments. Anya was relieved. She had been afraid, that she woke up Kai and he would somehow catch her at the station or in the train at the last moment.

She knew that a part of her hoped that it would happen, but she knew that Kai would be in great danger if his grandfather or Boris knew she cared for him. They would hurt him to convince her to join them. She was afraid that she didn't know what to do. She felt the conflict inside her growing, as her desire was teared into two. The one side of her wanting Kai desperately next to her, to hold her and say that it would be alright. The other side was in control for now and thought that the best solution was to leave Kai, until it was safe.

She fell asleep with these thoughts. While asleep, nightmares from her subconscious floated to the surface and filled her dreams. First she was running away from a laughing Boris, saying she couldn't escape and that it was her destiny to use Dremix for evil. Next she noticed that she was in an empty room, which had only one door. She walked towards it and suddenly it opened. Kai stepped in. "Kai, you have to help me, Boris is after us," she pleaded. "Why don't you just join him," he asked calmly. "Are you crazy? Or just lost it?" she replied in shock. "No," he said, taking something from his pocket. It was a blade, it's color as dark as the night, Black Dranzer. "Join me and together we can be invincible," he offered. "No, Kai. Please don't do this," she begged, her face covered with tears. "Fine then. Have it your way. If you aren't with me, then you are against me and I can't let you live," he said, as he launched his blade at her. "NO!" Anya screamed and woke up.

She was all sweaty and shaking. It felt so real. She could still see Kai's evil smile and hear the words he said. Calm down Anya. It's just a nightmare, she told herself and looked at her watch. It was 4.30 am. She would normally wake up an hour later. She tried to sleep, but since she couldn't she got up and started staring out the window. It was dark and she couldn't see much. She turned on the light and took her blade out of the bag. She could hear her bitbeast crying silently. "We will see him again, I know it. But when? That is a different question," she whispered. "We'll just have to stay strong."

At some point the sun came up and shone brightly through the window. It warmed Anya's heart. She looked at her watch and noticed, that she had fallen asleep and that it was already past 7.00 am. She picked up her belongings and headed for the restaurant car. Before she had gotten on the train, she had withdrawn a large sum of money from her bank account, so that she couldn't be traced by her credit card. She bought an apple pie and a coffee. She sat down to eat and noticed a sign saying, that they would arrive in Paris at noon. That was where she was headed.

A friend of hers was also hiding there and she had decided to meet with her, since they were both on the run. Anya was one of the rare persons that knew, where she lived. Anya fell into her thoughts, trying to remember, when she had seen her last. Three years ago? She couldn't remember. It was much too long anyway. She slowly drank her coffee and ate her apple pie. Time passed as she wandered through the train. She was anxiously waiting to get off.

5.30 am at Anya's house, in Kai's room:

Kai had woke up and noticed a piece of paper and a small box on his desk, that weren't there last night, when he went to sleep. He walked to the desk, picked up the letter and opened it. He read it, his face like stone, only his eyes moving. He stood silently, holding the letter, unable to believe his eyes. He took the little box and opened it. Just like the letter said, it contained a photograph of Anya, along with a tape. Suddenly the truth hit him and it hit him hard. Anya was gone. She had left, trying to protect them, but had also made a mistake.

I have to find her, he thought and started packing. Finally, when he was done with the packing, he went to Anya's room. He looked desperately around for a hint, where she might go. Then he suddenly saw a small picture of a girl. His eyes widened, he knew her and apparently, so did Anya. She would go to her, it was obvious. They were both on the run, running for the same reason. Kai went back to his room and grabbed the letter, heading for Rei's room. He put the letter on his nightstand and set the alarm clock to wake him up in 30 minutes. That would give him enough time to leave. Rei would figure it out.

He called a cab to take him to the airport. He booked a place from a flight to America by his name as a decoy. After that he headed to the place, where private planes were kept. His grandfather would realize, if he took one of the family planes, but there were a few he didn't know that existed. He went into the smallest one and told the captain to take of ASAP.

"Where are are we going?" the captain asked.

"To Paris," responded Kai shortly.

At Anya's house at the same time:

"Max, wake up," said Rei, as he was shaking Max to wake him up.

"Wha...what do you want Rei?" asked Max, yawning.

"Anya and Kai are gone," Rei stated.

"Okay let's make breakfast and..." said Max. Then he realized. "GONE! What do you mean gone?"

Rei gave him the letter.

"Kai has obviously gone after her," he said seriously.

"Well what are we waiting for? We have to find them," Max said, getting out of his bed. "You know how to wake up Tyson. I'll go wake up Hilary."

It took them 30 minutes, before they were ready to leave, but they didn't have a clue of where to go.

"Let's think. How did Kai know where to go?" said Rei.

"What if he didn't?" stated Tyson.

"That wouldn't be the least bit like Kai," replied Rei.

Pretty soon they decided to do the same thing as Kai did, look into Anya's room. Max noticed the picture on the bed, where Kai had left it in a hurry.

"Hey guys, look," he said, pointing at the picture and picking it up.

"Someone must have left it there in a hurry," said Hilary.

"She looks a lot like Kai," stated Hilary.

"Look at the back," said Rei.

Max took the picture out of the frame and flipped the picture over, so they could see if there was something written on it. There was and they almost dropped their eyes, as they read the two words.

Kira Hiwatari.

They flipped the picture over again and took a closer look at the girl. Her hair was the same two shades of blue as Kai's. Two light blue stripes on the front on both sides of her face. The rest of her hair a dark blue color, although it wasn't spiky like Kai's, since it was quite long, reaching her knees. In the picture she was wearing the same type of clothes Kai had. Dark blue, almost black, cargo pants, a tight, light blue top, which provided a generous view at her breasts and a pair of ordinary tennis shoes, which didn't suit the rest of her clothing. Tyson, Max and Rei were drooling at the sight.

"Hey, stop that! We have two Hiwataris and Anya to find!" snapped Hilary.

"You're right," stated Rei. "But how are we going to find them?"

"Rei's got a good point. We don't have slightest idea of where she lives," said Tyson.

Hilary's eyes got caught up at something. There was something sticking out from a really tiny drawer. She walked to it and pulled it out. It was a piece of paper reading:

Kira Hiwatari

Paris, Rue De Courcelles

"Let's go," stated Hilary.

Anya arrives at Paris.

Just like last time, she thought, although last time I wasn't chased by Boris. She started walking to Champs Elysees, a famous street, both sides covered with shops and coffee houses, crawling with people. It was a perfect meeting place with Kira. She took a cab. The driver stepped on it and the cab drove of. She was a little stunned, before she remembered, that it was typical for the French to drive like this, a little recklessly. The cab stopped and Anya paid for the trip. She got out and started walking, looking around to find her friend. It wasn't long, before she noticed a blue-haired girl sitting at a cafe. This time she was wearing army pants, a dark green T-shirt, saying "Mess with me and...!" and the same tennis shoes. She spotted her friend and walked to her.

"Bonjour Anya," she greeted.

"Bonjour to yourself Kira. Those words don't suit you," Anya replied, smiling.

"Yeah, you're probably right," stated Kira, also smiling. "You got here in one piece obviously."

"Luckily, I didn't run into any old 'friends'," said Anya.

"Like that would have been a problem with your skills and bitbeast," Kira said

"Only that it would have been quite a show," Anya reminded.

"Still the same old Anya. You haven't changed one bit," Kira said.

"Neither have you. Still the same big mouth and ego," responded Anya.

"Don't forget you have the same ego too," said Kira.

"I guess I do, but why don't we go to your place now?" Anya said. "It's a little too crowded here for my taste."

"Sure. Let's go," accepted Kira.

Rei, Max, Hilary and Tyson are at the airport and are lucky to find vacant seats in a plane to Paris. They board the plane, without noticing that soon after them a group of suspicious people boarded also.

Kira's home:

"I know it isn't very big and all, but..." said Kira, for once very modest.

"It's gorgeous!" Anya exclaimed. "It's so cozy."

Kira's home was a small house, with a kitchen, a rather large bedroom, a bathroom and a balcony. You could clearly see, that she was a friend of colors. Every room had a certain main color and variations from it. The kitchen was yellow, looking very sunny, the bathroom of course blue, her bedroom green and peaceful and the balcony all white, from the chairs and table to the plant with white flowers. Although the leaves of the plant were green.

"You have really put an effort to this all, haven't you?" asked Anya, gazing at the whole place.

"Yeah, but it was worth it," Kira replied. "Why don't we sit down in the kitchen and have something to drink?"

"Okay," answered Anya, still not able to get her eyes of the house.

"If I remember correctly, you like strong lemon tea. Correct?" Kira stated.

"Right you are my friend. And you liked ginger ale," Anya assumed.

"That's right!" exclaimed Kira.

Soon they sat down with their drinks and started talking.

"So, what's exactly been going on in your life?" Kira asked.

"Well, not much, although I have managed to fall in love," Anya stated, smiling very widely.

"What! I can't believe this! Anya, the tough girl, has fallen in love!" Kira exclaimed. "Who is the lucky guy?"

"His a blader, a rather good one," said Anya, blushing.

"Don't tell me you kicked his ass with you-know-what," stated Kira.

"Well, I had to. He would have beaten me," Anya defended herself.

"It's not a bad thing. I'm glad to see you still have the guts to do it," Kira said.

"I had to teach a lesson to this little brat too, he lost it completely," stated Anya.

"Okay, back to the guy. What does he look like?" Kira asked.

"Actually he looks very much like you, of course without your breasts," Anya replied, grinning furiously, as she blushed terribly. "His name is Kai."

Kira's eyes widened, as she heard the name.

"Kai? Are you sure?" she responded.

"Yeah. Why?" asked Anya, confused.

Kira was just about to say something, when they heard a knock on the door. They both went quiet and Anya took her blade out, ready to launch, as Kira went to the door. Everything was quiet. Kira peeked out from the window.

"It's alright," she said and Anya put her blade away.

Kira opened the door and pulled the person inside.

"What are you doing here Kai?" both Kira and Anya said and looked at each other.

"I came here to find Anya," Kai stated shortly.

"How did you know I would be here?" said Anya, even more confused.

"You obviously knew my sister Kira," Kai said, pointing to the person holding him. "So, since I knew she was hiding from Boris too, it didn't take much thinking to realize, that you would come here."

"Kira is your sister?" repeated Anya.

"Yeah," Kai answered.

"Okay you two," Kira cut in. "This is obviously going to take some time, so let's go to the kitchen."

"Fine," Kai and Anya replied in unison.

In the kitchen:

"So, my brother is your boyfriend," Kira stated.

"Apparently," said Anya, amazed by the fact herself.

"How did you figure I knew Kira?" Anya asked, looking deep into Kai's eyes.

"You had her picture in your room," Kai stated calmly.

"Damn. I forgot that," Anya cursed. "You shouldn't have followed me."

"There is a point to this situation, that I think you haven't noticed," he replied.

"What?" she asked.

"Your plan would work if Boris doesn't know that we know each other," he responded.

"You think he does? How could he?" wondered Anya.

"We can't be sure he doesn't," Kai said.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Anya, suddenly.

"What?" Kai and Kira asked in unison.

"Where did you leave the picture of Kira?" Anya asked.

"On the bed," Kai stated, realizing, what it could mean.

"If Boris is there and found the picture, he might start looking for something to find us..." Anya said. "...or Rei, Max, Hilary and Tyson could have gotten a lead."

"If Boris finds one of you, he might do just about anything to get the rest of us," Kira stated, saying the words they all feared.

"How would your friends know, how to find us?" asked Kira.

"I have a little piece of paper, hidden in my room, with your address and everything on it," Anya said.

"Didn't I tell you, not to write those things on a paper," Kira frowned.

"Yeah..." Anya replied, putting her head down in shame.

"We have to find them. Boris could be after them," Kai stated.

"Let's go and find a public phone," Kira said and they left.

The three bladers walked the streets of Paris until they found a public phone.

"Which one of you calls?" Kira asked.

"Kai can do it," Anya stated.

"Yeah, go ahead. Let me do the explaining," Kai frowned.

"Just do it," snapped Kira.

Kai dialed the number to Rei's cellphone. He got a quick reply.

"Rei Kon. Who am I speaking to?" Rei answered.

"Why don't you take a guess," Kai replied.

"Kai!" Rei freaked out and in a matter of seconds he lost the phone.

"What the hell is wrong with you man!" Tyson shouted.

Kai took the phone of his ear, trying not get deaf.

"Take a round with Tyson," he said, passing the phone to Anya.

"Hello! Anyone there?" Anya asked.

She could hear a fight take place at the other end. Tyson was obviously trying to get to the phone to shout his head off. Suddenly she heard something that creped even her. Hilary had opened her mouth and let Tyson have it. A few moments of silence and then Hilary got the phone.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"It's me, Anya," Anya replied.

"I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Hilary.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry," Anya said. "Where are you?"

"We're at the airport in Paris, where you are too, I guess," Hilary answered.

"Okay. Go to the main entrance. We'll meet you there," Anya said and hung up.

"They're here. We have to get to the airport," Anya stated.

"Right. Taxi!" Kira yelled and a taxi pulled over and they got in.

"To the airport," Kira said to the driver, as they shoved in.

At the airport:

"Where are they?" Anya asked, looking extremely worried.

"Look!" Kai exclaimed, pointing to something. "There they are."

"Thank goodness," Anya responded.

"Oh Anya! I was so worried. Don't ever do anything like this again," Hilary lectured as they hugged.

"Okay, this is neither the time or place to do that," Kai stated.

"Voltaire and Boris are after me and Anya, so that puts you in danger too," Kira said. "Oh and my name is Kira."

"Yeah, that we figured out," Max replied, as he, along with Tyson and Rei, were drooling at the sight.

"You guys, I think we have some problems," Anya said.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked.

"Look around you," Kai replied.

You could now clearly see that small groups from different directions were heading towards them.

"We have to move now," Kira exclaimed. "Since we are now found, we can take one of the Hiwatari jets."

They started running through the airport, chased by Boris' men. Kira was leading them, while Kai and Hilary were the last ones. Suddenly Hilary tripped and dragged Kai down with her. Amazingly the others didn't notice this. The chasers reached Hilary and Kai.

"Don't move," ordered one of the chasers.

What have I done? Hilary thought, blaming herself.

This is it for now. At least until the next update. See you around. R&R.

Yours Truly: Moonlight Kitten