A/U: Well, I'm finally back with the long overdue chapter three.

Kai: I don't know whether to beat you or thank you…

Miroku: You'll see why later on this chapter.

Lil Washu: Shhh!!

Trunks: She thanks you again for the reviews, please keep them up.

Takuya: Enjoy…

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Ray watched as Maire stirred some sort of reddish liquid that he vaguely remembered. He looked; curiously, from the seat he was in and suddenly realized what she was making. His mouth began to water in envy.

"A-are you making what I think you're making?" he asked as if breathing the name of the meal would cause it to change to something else, something not as good.

"Depends on what you think I'm making, love…" the girl said as she moved strips of breaded chicken in a frying pan.

"Well, can I help in any way?" he asked, looking around for something to do.

Maire nodded, pointing to some vegetable that needed diced. "I need those little buggers into pieces for the fried rice, please," she said without looking up.

Ray nodded and took a knife and began to dice them as if he were a chief and had been doing it all his life. He looked up and noticed that Maire had stopped in mid stir of the reddish liquid to watch, almost mesmerized. "Maire?"

Her eyes shot back up, catching his, and for the first time, Ray noticed how much hurt was behind those emerald eyes. There was fear mixing in them as well. As if the fear and hurt was raging a war internally and she was trying to cover the destruction left behind.

Maire turned away, hanging her head she began to stir something else on the stove. A voice in her head was screaming at her, because she had let someone view her inner self. The one she kept behind the sheet so not to worry anyone about her. She didn't want to cause any more problems for anyone, especially not Wyatt.

She felt a hand gripping her shoulder. She let out a whimper and spun around. "Ray, what are you doing?" she squeaked.

He looked at her, examining her eyes mostly and nodded before letting go. "I'm sorry…it's just that I noticed that you held so much pain. I wanted to make sure that I saw correctly."

Maire nodded before pulling away from his hand and back to the stove. "Where are your serving platters?"

Ray shook his head. He couldn't believe at how fast she changed the subject. It being rivaled Kai's changing the subject when being questioned about his family. "In the counter on the left side of the sink," he muttered before dumping the vegetables in the wok with the fried rice.

Maire muttered some form of thank you before retrieving a saucer and a large plate. She carefully poured the reddish liquid into the saucer before arranging the chicken around the saucer in the center of the plate. She took down another plate and placed the fried rice on it. "Could you grab something? Please?" she asked, grabbing the fried rice and the spoon she had been stirring with.

Ray nodded and grabbed the other serving plate and a fork and spoon. He jumped in front of her and opened the door to the dinning room. The eager faces of Kai, Maxi, Wyatt, Kenny, Tyson, and Tyson's grandfather was enough to make Maire and Ray giggle.

The two teens placed the two dishes before Ray sat down and Maire walked back into the kitchen. She came back after a minute or so with plates and silverware for everyone.

"Maire, you've out done yourself," Wyatt said, admiring all the food.

Maire felt her face redden as she sat beside Ray. The other males agreed; patting her on the back, cheering, and the old fashioned nod of approval. "Well, thank you, but it wasn't anything special. These were easy to make…"

"Stop being so modest," the blond, Max, said smiling brightly. He was a sweetheart. The kind your mother would love you to date and to bring home for supper.

"It smells enchanting!" the youngest with glasses exclaimed, sniffing the air again.

Tyson watched eagerly as Maire started handing the food to the boys around the table. He was always hungry, always going for anything edible. "It sure looks good," he said as he was handed a plate for himself. "And there's enough for seconds!"

Maire smiled as she scooped herself a small amount of rice and chicken. At the precise moment that she stuck a bite in her mouth, the room erupted in cheers. She blinked unsure, looking at each male in turn.

"Totally awesome, dudette!" Tyson's grandpa said as he shoved another bite in his mouth.

"I concur. The taste is just exquisite," Kenny said smiling.

"Yeah!" Max and Tyson exclaimed in unison before shoveling more and more in their mouth.

"It's perfect," Wyatt said smiling. He knew his sister could cook; she had been since she was like six years old.

"Great," Ray told her smiling.

Kai nodded in agreement. He wasn't big on talking. In fact, other than the first day she was there, Maire hadn't really heard Kai talk and certainly not address her. "Good job, Kid."

Maire blushed and took another bite quickly. "Thank you, all," she smiled. She didn't know how to take complements; she had never received any as a child. Hers and Wyatt's family never cared to express anything other than disapproval.

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Ray helped wash the dishes, feeling bad that he hadn't made dinner. "She offered," he continued to tell himself. It was, after all, the truth. She had offered to perches, then proceed to make the food that she had bought.

"Here's the last of them…" Marie muttered as she placed another stack in the sink, sending bubbles towards Ray. "Sorry!" she exclaimed quickly.

Ray moved for the towel he had been using to dry and saw that she had flinched when he had done so. He tried to make the connection between the pain he saw in her eyes and her flinching when he moved for the hand towel to wipe him self off with. "Marie, are you all right?"

Marie seemed to shrink somehow. Her happy demeanor seemed to drop, and a cloud of depression hung overhead. Her bottom lip began to quiver and tears began to water. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes before nodding. "I-I'm fine. Really."

"No, you're not," Ray said sternly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged him off and left the room to avoid crying in front of someone other than Wyatt. She walked to her room and shut the door before crying in the corner of the dark room. The memories of her home and her father flashed through her brain, displaying everything he did to her.

Ray stood, not quite sure what happened with Marie. He had asked her a question and she broke down crying. He couldn't fathom what would have caused such a reaction from the simple question he asked. There was only one person who would know anything about her other than Wyatt.

Ray set out to find his Russian companion. He figured that Wyatt might have mentioned something about Marie and why she put on that happy façade. He found himself standing at the door faster than he remembered from his past travels. He lightly knocked on the door.

After a moment, Kai slipped out of the room with his shirt off. "What?"

Ray bit his lip. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Kai shook his head. "Wyatt's sleeping. Now, what?"

"Do you know anything as to why Marie seems so depressed?" Ray asked nervously.

"Yeah, actually I do," Kai sighed, leaning against the door.

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Can you tell me?"

Kai sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not supposed to. Wyatt noticed how sad Marie was and told me. It's because when she was smaller, her father used to beat and rape her." Ray growled slightly. "I bet the only reason she survived was Wyatt. He told me that that's why he was sent to a school in Japan, because he continued to stop his dad from doing anything to her."

Ray growled again. He couldn't believe that anyone would be as sick as to do something like that, but apparently it happens to the least deserving people. "Is that why she's here in Japan?"

Kai nodded, closing his eyes.

"What did her mother say about him doing that?" Ray asked.

"She dead…"

"But she said that she had gotten money for a hotel from her," Ray protested.

Kai chuckled. "I believe what she meant was that she stole that money from her father and fled."

Ray nodded before turning and walking towards the guest rooms. Kai shook his head before sliding back into his room with the sleeping Wyatt.

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Marie heard a light tapping on the door and panicked. "Just a second!" she called as she roughly wiped her face dry. As long as whoever it was didn't turn on the light, then there was no way they could tell that she had been crying. "Come in!"

Ray entered the room frowning slightly.

"Listen, Ray, about earlier, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to walk off," she muttered, looking at the floor.

"Marie, if you need to talk, then do. I'm here to listen," Ray paused as if testing to see if the ice was thick enough to hold him. "What your father did was wrong…"

"Wyatt told you! He said he would keep in between us!" she cried as a new wave of tears flowed down her face. Her brother was apparently going around and telling her business.

"Well, he told Kai, and I found out from him. Wyatt only told because he was worried about you, and I only knew because I was worried about you," Ray said, stepping closer.

"He still told someone! It isn't any of your business, Ray," she sobbed.

Ray shook his head and quickly wrapped her in his strong arms. "It is, you're my friend and you didn't deserve that treatment. He had no right to lay his hands on you."

Marie didn't try and push away. She didn't know if she had the strength to, plus, she liked the feel of his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and continued to cry. Ray carefully moved them to the floor so that she could lie down and try and sleep. Eventually, sleep washed over her exhausted form after much crying from her and much comforting from the Chinese teen.

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A/U: End of chapter three.

Xander: blinky That was quick.

Lil Washu: Hush!

Goku: Please review!