MaliksGal4 Eva: OKAY! ^_^

blue-phoenix5: I support Ray/Mariah too, but my fic is mostly OCs so…yeah. You like Tala and Hru? They seem to draw a lot of attention to themselves…^_^

whisper*2*imaginary: Ray can be paired up with someone else, I'd love to read a Ray/Salima fic, they're cute together too. Ray seems to be the type that gets along well with girls, don't you think? School's tough on me too. -_-

*Unicolyon ¤ Gurl*: Yup, I know what you mean! ^_^ Everyone seems to like the rivalry between those two. ^_^U Oops, I forgot about Robert, ack, he's so easy to forget about. Oh, and Michael and Carly have been friends for a loooong time so he doesn't complain cuz he knows what type of person she is, just like Enrique.

Kai Hiwatari: Awww…thanx for the compliment! I ain't that great at basketball myself, you'll get another cliffie. ^_^

Beyblader-grl: I had to read twice to understand those lines of 'wisdom,' lol! Both of them are so cool, in fact, I hope you don't mind if I use one in this chappie.

~kai~: Thanx! Yeah, Holly doesn't, how did you guess? ^_^U, ~*~P.G.*~* doesn't like her either as I recall. You don't either, neither does Willow, that's like everyone! It's gonna be hard for Tala to dedicate a song for her if they're not together at the time of the dance, which they're not, there's a little twist in between there. You'll see, maybe if he dedicated a song with a different title cuz he can't break her heart if they're not 'together' yet. O_o

Reicu: O_o Aaaaah, someone passed out! O_o I hope she wakes in time to read this! ^_^

dreamer_gurl: Thanks, I think I like this chappie better though.

~*~Prodigious girl*~*: They're getting ready to go back to the Dream Realm, Courtney's not going there, so she'll show up when they come back.

The Great Kuro Neko: That's okay, it's funny! ^_^ You gave me a good laugh when I needed one. Oh yeah, school keeps us all busy. -_-

Xanthia: It's a loooooooooong way from being finished. Whaddya mean 'call you'?

Just-some-girl1: You think so? Great! Read on!

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* ~ ¤ ~ Quøte ~ ¤ ~ *

"It's not just a physical attraction, I love him for every single thing he is. Every word he says, every step he takes. This is something that will never die. I have tried to stay reasonable with this, but I just can't anymore. I just can't."

~ Unknown

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Chapter 18: Black Rose

Willow huddled underneath her blankets, trying to sleep, but unable to. She couldn't stop thinking about Ray and it caused her a few tears of frustration and anger. For the first time in a long time, she felt utterly alone and miserable. When she finally forced herself to sleep, she began to dream...

~*~Willow's Dream~*~

Willow looked around, she was at home, surrounded by all her best friends, Holly, Kailee, Cassie, they were all there. They all seemed happy and they were chatting animatedly, but Willow felt that someone was missing. But everything seemed normal, her other friends were fooling around in the background.

"Happy birthday Willow!" Holly said, handing her a beautifully wrapped present, "I hope you like my present."

"Open mine too!" Kailee chirped, "Open it!"

Willow was still confused, "It's my birthday???"

"Of course silly," Cassandra said, wolfing down some cake, "Why do you think we're all here?"

It made sense as Willow looked around, her living room was decorated with streamers and party supplies. There were piles of presents on the floor, waiting to be opened. Balloons hung everywhere and out of the corner of her eye, Willow saw Carly pop one right above Johnny's head, making him yell in surprise. But still something felt missing, she was missing someone, someone really important.

"Willow," Ray said, pushing through the crowd, "Hey." He smiled at her, his usual warm, sweet smile that made her melt inside, "Nice party."

Willow's face lit up, "Oh hi Ray! I thought someone was missing!"

Ray shifted nervously on one foot, holding her gaze, "I...um...have something for you." He shyly handed her a single pink rose and a small wrapped present. "The present's for your birthday of course and the rose-"

Willow blushed, "Oh Ray, you didn't have to." She touched the rose petals, feeling like she was going to burst in happiness. The rose was a beautiful pink color and the petals were soft and silky. It was in a perfect bloom and fresh dewdrops shimmered on the petals, making it seem even more dazzling. "It's so pretty. I love flowers."

"I wanted to," Ray said awkwardly, blushing as well, "Listen...um...you're really special and the rose is…um…well, it represents that-" But before Ray could finish, someone yanked him away.

A familiar voice chirped in, "Oh hi Willow, sorry to crash in on you like this."

Willow looked angry, "Go away Mariah, this is my party and you're ruining it! Get out of my house! Get out!"

"Sorry to rain on your parade," Mariah sneered, "But Ray and I have a date this afternoon."

Willow felt like someone punched her in the stomach - hard. Mariah pulled Ray away firmly, jeering at her. "Ray!" Willow cried, trying to follow, but they seemed to get further and further away, disappearing into the darkness.

Suddenly the party room flared up in dark flames and everyone disappeared into the black darkness. Willow gasped as everything burned up, eaten by black flames, "W-what's going on? Holly? Kailee?? Where are you guys??? Cassie???"

A dark, eerie voice spoke, {They all left you...they're not your friends...you have no friends...}

Willow whirled around, gasping in shock. She tried to pinpoint where the voice came from, but she failed, it seemed to echo from all sides. "Who are you??? Show yourself!!! What do you want with me????"

The voice spoke again, the icy dark tone made Willow shiver, {In this world, you can only count on yourself to survive, you can't depend on anyone. In the end, they'll just spit in your face. It is you who suffer in the end...}
Willow clenched her fists angrily, "You're wrong, my friends aren't like that at all!"

{Oh really?? What about Ray?? The traitor's having a good time with his new girlfriend and he doesn't seem to miss you at all, does he?}

Willow gasped as a blurry image of Ray and Mariah slowly came into focus. They were laughing and talking. Willow watched as Ray pull Mariah close to him and whispered something into her ear. She giggled, then he slowly leaned down and kissed her. Mariah's arms wrapped around Ray's neck and his around her waist, they kept kissing, drowning in their own world…Willow's eyes stung with hot tears, her heart shattered into a million pieces. "No...no...not Ray...he wouldn't..."

{But he did, he's not the friend you think he is, is he? He only led you on so he could break your heart in the end. He's happy with Mariah now while you're trapped in eternal loneliness and he doesn't seem the least bit sorry!} The evil voice started to laugh, it's horrible laughter echoed in Willow's mind.

Willow's eyes welled with more tears as Ray disappeared from the darkness, "No...Ray!!! Don't leave me here by myself!!!! Ray!!!!!!!!!!" Willow realized she was still holding the single rose he gave her in her hand, when Ray completely vanished, the rose turned completely black then it was swallowed up by black flames. The ashes sprinkled down all over the ground. Willow gasped, now everything was really gone...and she was drowning in eternal blackness. Heartbroken and defeated, she let the darkness engulf her completely...

~*~End Willow's Dream~*~

Willow gasped and shot up, she realized that it was all just an evil dream. She looked around her room, her heart pounding, //It felt so real though...it was so scary...Ray...I'm scared...I wish you were here with me...// She looked at the vase beside her bed, it used to be full of wild roses that Ray picked for her earlier when Ray took her to a Japanese garden last weekend. A flashback tugged at her mind, it seemed like it just happened…

----Flashback----

"Willow, over here!" Ray called, beckoning her over to a patch of wild roses, "Look, isn't it beautiful?"

"Wow!" Willow exclaimed, her face shining in excitement as she look across the field of wild roses, all different colors, yellow, pink, red, and white. They were in the process of blooming and looked like colored gems.

"They're really pretty," Ray said, "You love flowers, don't you?"

Willow nodded, breathless with delight, "I can't describe how beautiful it is. Oh Ray, thanks for taking me here this weekend, you didn't have to."

Ray turned around to face her, his warm eyes gazing into hers, "I wanted to. We haven't spent much time together lately. Which color is your favorite?"

"Well, red roses represents love," Willow blushed at her words, "And dark red stands for beauty, light pink stands for happiness, deep pink says thank you, yellow for joy, white for purity, lavender for love at first sight, and much more. I like all of them. What about you?" She felt surprisingly at ease when she was talking to Ray, she would never talk to any other guy about roses because they would probably just look bored (like Kai or Tala) or laugh in her face (like Johnny).

Ray considered for a minute, "I'm not sure, they're all great. You know what, I agree with you, I like them all." He reached out and squeezed her hand.

Willow shivered at his touch, "Except for black roses."

"Black roses?" Ray asked in confusion, "I've never heard of a black rose before. That's an awful color for a flower."

"I know," Willow shuddered, "It means farewell forever or death."

"Death?" Ray looked pensive, "Ugh, a black rose? Weird."

"I heard that it's really bad luck if you see a black rose," Willow whispered, "It's a curse of dying love."

Ray looked even more upset, "Aw Willow, I don't wanna hear anymore. You'll never see a black rose. I promise." He gave her a quick hug, "Black rose, blah, whatever about that! I didn't bring you here so we can discuss dying love. Come on Willow, let's get some roses for you to take back."

Willow brightened, "Okay!"

----End of Flashback----

Willow looked at the vase, which used to be filled with multi-colored roses and looked forever cheerful in her room. As she set her gaze upon the roses, black flames engulfed them completely and the blackness began to spread around the flower petals. Willow gasped, slowly, but steadily, the roses all turned dead black until they blended in with the night and slowly started to droop, "No…this can't be happening…it's just a dream…" She was shaking all over, feeling completely helpless as she watched Ray's gift to her wither and die right in front of her, black petals floating downwards on the table. Willow felt like she was torn apart inside out, feeling utterly exhausted and defeated, she burst into tears.

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"Hi ya Willow!" Kailee chirped happily when Willow arrived at her house, "Come on in! You're a bit early, but that's okay, we have time to chat before going to the park."

"Hi Kailee," Willow said sullenly, dragging herself in the Hiwatari residence.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Kailee beamed, "Maxie's here already."

"Good morning Willow," Max said, grinning, "Hey Kailee, look, Cassie's here!"

"Morning!!!!" Cassandra bellowed, looking extremely cheerful, "Say, have you got anything to eat? I'm really hungry! Oh wow!!!! CAKE!!!!"

"Oh, I made that this morning," Kailee said, "I got up early, go ahead."

"Sweet!" Cassandra dug in.

"Hey, leave some for us!" Max protested loudly.

"QUIET!!!!!!!" Kai yelled from upstairs, "HOW CAN I SLEEP WHEN YOU GUYS ARE RAMBLING LIKE A FLOCK OF GEESE???? EITHER TONE IT DOWN OR SHUT UP!!!!!!!!"

Cassandra, Willow, and Max sweatdropped.

"Oh don't worry about Kai," Kailee said brightly, "He's always this grumpy in the mornings. Kai, it's time to get up anyways."

"Are you nuts sis?" Kai complained, "It's only 6:30!!!"
"We have to be at the park at 7," Kailee reminded him happily, "Now get up, breakfast is on the table, you don't want to go on an empty stomach."

"Arrgghh," Kai grumbled, "What the hell was Carly thinking?? I'm going to kill that girl!!!"

"Willow, are you okay?" Kailee asked, "You're awfully quiet."

Willow forced a smile, "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep so well last night. Let's go listen to the new CD that you brought."

"Yay!" Kailee agreed, "Let's! Come on Maxie, Cassie."

Kai came out, rubbing his eyes in annoyance as everyone walked past him, "Now what are you up to Kailee?"

"I'm showing them my new CD," Kailee replied, "Aw Kai, don't be so grumpy."

"Well, not everyone's so happy chirpy all the time," Kai grumbled as the doorbell rang, "Kailee! Get the stupid door, did you invite the whole school to our house???"

"Of course not," Kailee said, "Can't you get it? I'm busy." She leaned down to look for her CD.
Kai groaned and threw the front door open, "What the hell do you want????!!!"

Holly blinked up at him, "Well, good morning Kai."

Kai quickly swallowed back his words, "Oh sorry Holly. I didn't know it was you." He stepped aside, looking a bit embarrassed.

Holly gave Kai a strange look, "Are you still asleep??"

"Well, technically, yes," Kai admitted, running his hand through his messy hair, "I'm half-awake." He rolled his eyes when he heard Kailee giggling behind him.

"Hi Holly!" Kailee said, "You're just in time. Come on, we only have a few minutes before we have to head for the park."

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"Hi Johnny!" Hru called as Skye tugged on the leash excitedly, "Over here."

"Wow, you're up early," Johnny remarked, jogging over. He was soaked in sweat, "I was just running a few blocks."

"Right," Hru looked at him skeptically, "A few blocks, huh? Was a tiger chasing you?"

"Oh, I go for a jog every morning," Johnny said with a light shrug. He knelt down and ruffled Skye's head, "Hey, how are you doing?"

Skye barked and leaped around some more, looking excited.

"I don't know what's wrong with you!" Hru said, giving her dog a little shake, "She's in a real hurry to get home. I think she smells something familiar."

"I'll come with you," Johnny said, "We're heading for the park anyways."

When the both of them got to Hru's place, they saw two familiar figures standing on the driveway. Skye went crazy with barking and almost leaped out of the leash.

"Oh no you don't!" Hru shrieked, holding on tight.

"Johnny!" Carly beamed at him, "Hey pal, nice timing, Tala and I were just going to head for the park."

Tala was eyeing Skye carefully, looking as if he was ready to smack the dog if it leaped on top of him again.

"No Skye! Down, down, Skye!" Hru ordered firmly, the dog finally settled down and sat obediently, panting and wagging its tail frantically, "Good, sit girl."

"Phew!" Johnny wiped his forehead, "I'm exhausted!"

"Let me guess, you ran a few blocks," Carly said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Johnny, you're in excellent shape. Perfection is not possible."

"What's he doing here?" Hru muttered to Carly, glaring at Tala from the corner of her eye.

"Oh, I met up with Tala halfway and I thought it'd be a good idea to swing by and see if you were around," Carly said brightly, not noticing that Hru was giving Tala her best death glare.

Skye barked again and whined at Tala.

"What do you want?" Tala demanded, looking pointedly at the animal sitting by his feet, "If you jump on me again, let's just say that I warned you."

Skye stared back at Tala and continued to wag its tail.

Tala rolled his eyes and looked at Hru who gave him a haughty glare, "What's wrong with you? You look as if you ate a porcupine."

"Whatever," Hru said with a perfect imitation of Tala, "Skye, in." Skye trotted obediently into the doghouse and stretched. Hru knelt down and stroked the husky's head, "I'll be back soon, don't wander, girl." Skye licked Hru's face.

"Let's go," Carly said impatiently, "I told them to be there at 7, and I'M not going to be late." She and Johnny started off down the road with Hru behind them.

Hru was still fuming about Tala, //Who does he think he is?? Huh?? Does he expect me to worship him or something?? Jerk! Oh whatever Hru, whatever. That's all he ever says, whatever. Well, I'll WHATEVER him!!! Gosh, I wish I never met him, I would've been much more healthier!// Hru realized that Tala wasn't following them and she made a quick glance back. Tala was kneeling in front of Skye and letting the husky lick his hand.

"Good girl," Tala whispered, ruffling the dog's soft head. Skye whined when Tala stood up. "I've gotta go now. Good girl. No more leaping on me, okay? Later." He gave the dog one last pat and stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked on. He met Hru's eyes intensely, his sea-blue eyes neutral and emotionless.

Hru quickly turned away before his eyes could mesmerize her, //Gosh, I don't get him! So why am I so uncomfortable around him? It makes no sense, now I'm so confused and I HATE being confused!//

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"Good morning," Ray said to the group that walked out of Kai's mansion, "Wow, Kai, did you have a party without inviting me?"

Kai stared hard at Ray, "You're kidding right?? You had better be kidding, I couldn't sleep with all that racket going on this morning."

Ray chuckled and smiled at Willow, "Hi Willow."

"Hi," Willow whispered, cringing at the sight of his cute smile and warm eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ray looked puzzled, "You look troubled. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Willow turned away and looked down, "I'm fine, don't worry, just didn't sleep well." She wondered why she kept telling everyone that she was fine when she never been more NOT fine.

"Well…" Ray started.

"Can we go now?" Kai said abruptly, "I didn't wake up this early so we can be late."

"Yeah sure," Ray yawned, rubbing his eyes, "I know what you mean, Mariah was at my house over midnight, gosh, I'm exhausted."

Holly stole a quick glance at Willow who seemed to look even more depressed now, "Uh-oh…"

"We went downtown and hung around and stuff," Ray continued, "I really missed hanging around with her, I've been really busy with basketball and stuff that I haven't had time to really talk to her. Gosh, she must have made up for lost time yesterday, she wouldn't stop talking. My ears were sore after the night." He laughed good-naturally.

Out of the corner of her blurry vision, Willow saw Kailee and Cassandra shoot her sympathetic looks. Willow felt her heart clench painfully and she felt like bursting into floods of tears. She swallowed hard and tried to keep everything inside before it exploded out of her.

"Let's go," Ray said, "Otherwise we'll be late. Oh look Willow, those roses over there look just like ones we saw last weekend." He gestured a rose patch with pink roses blooming beautifully.

"Yeah, sure," Willow whispered, fighting back tears.

"Who cares?" Kai demanded, "We're gonna be late, come on."

Kailee laughed, "Oh Kai, you're so un-romantic."

"So? Who cares?" Kai said again, wrinkling his nose, "I don't want to be romantic. Roses aren't even pretty, they're weird-looking."

Ray and Kailee both laughed at that and they kept walking.

Willow stole a quick glance at the rose patch beside her and gasped. Everything flashed black for a quick moment and the roses stained black and died.

The wind whispered a cold message, *A lie that draws a smile, or the truth that draws a tear.* (A/N: Thanks to Beyblader-grl for this quote, you've gotta read it twice to understand it, lol!)

"OH!" Willow cried out loud, nearly scared out of her wits.

Everyone looked back, looking at her as if she had gone crazy. Ray looked concerned and he put his hand on her shoulder, "Willow? Is something wrong?"

Willow trembled at his touch and tore away, "N-nothing, never mind me, I'm just feeling a bit tired, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Holly asked, looking confused, "You look pretty pale to me."

"I'm fine," Willow insisted.

"Good," Kai said, rolling his eyes, "Let's keep going, we have like 5 minutes to reach the park."

Willow glanced back at the rose patch, feeling a dreadful feeling creep over her, the roses were back to their normal pink color now. Except one single pink rose which tumbled down right in front of her, it's deadly thorns even more visible than ever, streaking with a poisonous black stain.

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I don't know where that inspiration for the roses came in, but I thought it worked pretty well, if that ever happened to me, I'd freak out, lol! I normally don't write flashbacks, because I find that stories with too much going back and forth makes me confused, so don't expect much flashbacks from me, I just thought that this time was appropriate. From now on, I thought it'd be fun if I put in a little quote that sorta represents each chapter, it's fun to read and it means something too, so read it or ignore it, I think it's really meaningful.  Read and review please! ^_^

Anyways, I made you guys a dictionary! ^_^ Kidding, well, sorta, I made this reference chart thing for the fic with everyone's names and stuff cuz I was bored in school. Gosh, I must been REALLY bored to do it. It has a map of roughly how the Kingdoms are aligned in the Elemental Galaxy. So yeah, check it out, it's in my user profile, I tried to paste the link here but it wouldn't show up and it did weird things with my text. O_o Yeah, I was bored, it might be helpful in the future when things get confusing. @ e @ www.geocities.com/ice_archergirl/. Thanx!