Here's the next chapter. I'm really, really, really sorry it took so long. School has been pretty hectic lately, AND I had a huge writer's block. Iorek has really been trying his best to help me make it through. Eventually, we finally got the time, energy, and inspiration to keep writing.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. So, did you?"

Raimundo looked at me funny. "Did I what?"

"Feel we were leaving you behind,"

Raimundo turned his head to the wall. We were silent for a moment. I knew he didn't feel comfortable enough with me to answer questions like that yet. I guessed we should work from the bottom up.

"Maybe we should come back to that later,"

He turned back to face me and shrugged.

"Okay. So, what else did you want to talk about?"

"Did you really barbecue your dad?"

Raimundo expression turned mischievous.

"You better believe it. And from what you saw, you know he deserved it and a whole lot more,"

I grinned back the same way and nodded. "He definitely did. I can't believe anyone would do something like that,"

His expression turned sad.

"The sad thing is, I'm not the first kid whose parents do things like that. Some of them had gone through much more than I did. I found a website where you can talk about your story and pain with other kids. It helped a little,"

He gave me a sweet, sad look. "You're lucky to have parents who love each other,"

I did my best to hold back tears and nodded again.

"I'm amazed you didn't attempt suicide or even fall into deep depression,"

Raimundo shrugged. "It's not my style. And as Fabio once told me, 'Crap happens. Wipe your butt and move on.' Besides, Tay needed help with learning how to make friends,"

"Do you still have the braid Tay gave you?"

He nodded, reached into his pillowcase, pulled it out, and held it out to me. It really was beautiful. I slowly took it from him and ran my fingers down the locks. It was so soft and thick.

"She must have either been desperate for to remember her, or completely insane. I would never cut off my hair, and most people would kill to have their's this long and beautiful,"

"If she wanted it back, she would just have to wait a couple months. Her hair grows like crazy. But she likes it a lot better short,"

"You're in touch?"

"I told her I would write,"

"Yeah, I remember now. How are they doing?"

"Pretty well. The circus has gone back to normal since the creeps attacked, Fabio's practically the star of the juggling show, but Tay's gone back into her shell. Remember how shy she was when I first met her?"

"Yeah,"

"Well now she back to being like that. Fabio says she only shows her true colors around him, her parents, and a few other people at the circus. I think she feels more withdrawn since . . . well, you know,"

I nodded.

"If I did what she had done, I'd felt a little scared too. She was really brave,"

"Yeah,"

After thinking about the memory in silence for a moment, I asked, "Did the police ever catch those white-masked creeps?"

Raimundo sighed, pull his legs up to his chest, and hugged them.

"I wish I could say they had. It's like they just disappeared off the face of the earth. It scares me to think that they're still out there somewhere just waiting to strike,"

I shivered. "I don't think I could ever sleep soundly again after going through something like that,"

Raimundo shrugged again. We sat for a moment in silence. Neither of us knew what to do or say next. I knew what I wanted to ask, but I liked talking to Raimundo without any pressure and I didn't want him to clam up again. In the end, Raimundo decided for me.

"Okay, so maybe I felt a little left out when you became apprentices,"

"Raimundo, we're your friends. We would never do anything to abandon you. Not after all we've been through together,"

He smiled sadly at me. "I guess part of me knew that. But another part felt like you were trying to get rid of me, like I was holding you back or something. Kinda like how I knew my family was trying to protect me, but it felt like they were trying to ditch me,"

Then I remembered something else from that day and my muscles tensed. "Rai, exactly how long were you planning on staying at the temple?"

"At first I wanted to get out as soon as possible. Then some of the things here got fun and I decided I should probably stay a bit longer," He sighed. "But so far, the police still aren't sure about me dad's disappearance,"

I relaxed, but I tensed again as soon as I thought of my next question. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hear the answer. I took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"So, Raimundo, do you still want to side with Wuya?"

Raimundo hesitated for what seemed like forever. Then he rubbed the back of his neck, sighed, and said in a voice so low I could hardly heard him "That depends on whether or not you guys can forgive me for helping Wuya,"

I couldn't help it. I burst into tears and threw my arms around him.

I have a pretty good idea for the next chapter, but how soon it comes will depend on how school is going. Again, I'm really sorry!