Hello!

0bss3ssi0n: Why do you always say 'ahahaha'?? I'm just curious. Kai is going to like ice cream later in the story. As to the cause of it, my lips are sealed about it.

Kit-Kat Angel Wolf: What did you mean it made your heart hurt? What made it hurt? I'm really confused because there were no sad parts in the last chapter or any of the chapters so far.

Clio: It was the sunrise, not sunset. I'm glad you get to see G-Revolution in England, but I live in Canada, so I'll have to wait still.

Nise-angel: Looks like you have something in common with Zarine. She LOVES cookie dough ice cream. So do I! Ice-cream....(dreamy expression)

YamikaiemiBlackAngelMaritamai: I personally like this plot better than the last one, but I've only written three chapters, well, counting this one, four, as oppose to the first one which had forty...get my point?
Chapter Three – White Tiger

In the middle of the night, Ray was woken up by a scream. He bolted up, and hurried out of bed to go to Zarine's room. He was sure it was her who had been screaming, "NO!"

He saw her in a sitting position with her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking. Walking to the bed to sit beside her, he put his arms around her.

"Did I wake you?" she asked, raising her head to look at him. He could see tears on her face.

"Yeah, I heard you screaming," he answered.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"It's okay," he assured her. "So what's wrong?"

"It's just a dream," she replied. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, but I'm staying here with you tonight," he said firmly, wiping the tears off her face.

Zarine nodded, and lay back down. Ray got into bed beside her, and kissed her on the forehead. "Go to sleep now."

She cuddled against him for comfort. She tried to, but she couldn't sleep. She could see her parents dying every time she closed her eyes.

"Someone put them in a cage and burned them," she said suddenly.

"What was that?" Ray asked, confused.

"My parents. Someone put them in a cage to burn them. They made me watch them die," she said, a sob escaping. "They were screaming how much they hated me because it was my fault that they were dying."

"It was just a dream," Ray said firmly. "It was nothing more than a dream." He drew her closer to him to console her.

"I'm glad I got you now," she said, and gave him a light kiss.

"Why do you never give me more than a peck on the lips?" he asked, a little disappointed.

"One, I'm too short. Two, we're always with the Bladebreakers and I'm not about to make out with you in front of them. I would've just now, except we're in a bed, and it wouldn't be right," she explained.

"Oh," he said, and yawned. "Good night. Have a good sleep."

Zarine nodded and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them, it was morning, and the rays of sunshine shone through the window. Ray was still asleep, and had an arm around her. She carefully moved his arm and got out of bed. She went down to the kitchen and began to cook breakfast.

When Ray woke up and found Zarine gone, he swore. What was she thinking? He had told her not to go anywhere without him. He hoped she didn't get lost. He went to the kitchen, and found her cooking. He couldn't help but felt relieved, and a little irritated.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Ray's voice came from behind her, sounding annoyed. "I told you not to go anywhere in this house without me."

"Well, I know my way here, so what's the point? Besides you were still sleeping," she replied, not bothering to turn around to look at him.

"Look at me when I talk to you," Ray said.

She said calmly, "In case you haven't noticed, I am cooking. I don't get why you're so worked up about it anyways."

"Maybe because I was worried about you," he snapped.

She sighed, "I don't know how many times I have to say this to people, but I can take care of myself. It's not like I'm a baby, so stop treating me like I'm a three year old."

"Why the hell are you cooking? There are chefs here," Kai said, coming in.

"I like to cook," the small girl replied nonchalantly.

"Well, then, what am I paying them for?" he demanded.

Zarine shrugged. "How should I know? You're the one who's paying for them. How many eggs would you like?"

"I'm not going to eat," he snapped before walking out again.

She muttered curses under her breath as she finished cooking breakfast. What was up with Ray and Kai today? She and Ray both ate in silence. Ray was glaring daggers at the stove, still put out with his girlfriend. When she finished her food, she began to walk out.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Ray demanded.

"Talk a walk or something. No point in just staying here," she replied.

"Not without me," he told her. "You're going to get lost."

Sighing, she sat back down across from him, and waited for him to finish.

"You're not still mad, are you?" she asked. "Anyways, I don't get why you even should get mad in the first place."

"Like I said before, I was worried," he answered.

"The worst that could have happened was that I got lost, and you and Kai will have to look for me. I came here on my own, without making one wrong turn," she said.

"Just tell me where you're going next time," he said. "Now where do you want to go?"

"I don't know. You said you were going to show me around outside yesterday, but you never did," said Zarine, in an accusing tone.

Ray said guiltily, "Sorry, I forgot. I'll show you around now."

They walked outside. There was a big fountain in front of the house. Ray led Zarine around the corner. Little cluster of trees dotted over the fields, creating shade from the hot sun. Around the back, a huge swimming pool was sparkling invitingly in the sun.

"You never told me that Kai had a swimming pool!" Zarine exclaimed. "I want to jump into it now."

"Then why don't you?" Ray asked, and pushed her into the water.

"RAY!!!" she yelled when her head broke the surface. "WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" She pushed herself out of the water and began to chase him.

Ray looked back over his shoulder and was surprise to see her not far behind him. She was fast, but not fast enough to catch him. He hid behind a bush. The fuming girl stalked around silently, trying to look for her boyfriend. She smiled grimly, thinking of what she'd do when she got his hands on him.

Ray frowned when he didn't hear any noise of Zarine ripping through leaves to look for him. He decided to make a break for it back into the house. He looked behind his shoulders as he ran, and bumped into his girlfriend, and fell down on top of her.

"You okay?" he asked, getting up.

"Yes, I'm okay, but you won't be!" she replied, grabbing one of his hands to pull him back down. "What did you do that for?'

"You really can't talk a joke, can you?" he asked, sighing. He didn't mean to make her all upset with him. It was all in good fun.

Zarine was taken aback. Was she really so paranoid about jokes and pranks now? She remembered playing a whole bunch of practical jokes on people, and being the victim of them. She had lots of fun. Did she really change that much since her parents died? No, they didn't just die, they were murdered. And it was all because of her...

"Hello? You alright?" Ray asked, waving a hand in front of her.

Zarine snapped out of her reverie. "Sorry, I just zoned out there, I guess. Let's go back in now." She pulled Ray up along with her.

Studying her face, Ray frowned. Something was not quite right with Zarine. Maybe he shouldn't have said that she couldn't take a joke. He couldn't think of anything else that could have made her mood go down in the dumps.

"I'm going to go change," she mumbled to him, before letting go of his hand.

Ray sighed. Even though he loved her, he couldn't help but wish she wasn't such a mood swing.

Zarine sighed continuously as she got changed. Why couldn't she ever do something right? Or make someone happy? All she did was either worry them, or make them annoyed with her. She had changed so much from that cheerful girl to this totally different person that she didn't even know. How could she not have noticed?

She looked at the portrait. [I don't know anything anymore! I don't know even know myself!] she thought miserably. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She thought that once she and Ray were together, everything will be perfect. She laughed silently at herself for thinking up such an absurd notion.

When ten minutes have passed, Ray knocked on her door.

"Leave me alone!" her voice said.

Ray ignored it, and went in anyways.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize it was you," she said, smiling at him.

He felt suspicious. She was faking it, she couldn't have recovered that fast from whatever it was that made her sad only moments before.

"Why didn't you come to my room? I was getting lonely," he said.

"I know, the rooms are so big in this house. I get lonely too at night," she said. "I used to live in a small room, my brother's and my parents' were on either side of mine."

She felt a lump in her throat at the mention of her former life. This wasn't supposed to happen! She was over it! It was in the past! She felt angry at herself, and suppressed the emotions rising up inside of her. Those feelings were useless and will only get into the way. They will only make her weak, and seem like a burden on her friends.

"Let's go and have ice cream," Ray suggested, knowing that ice cream will cheer her up.

"Yeah!" Zarine said, throwing her arms around him. "That would be so cool!"

"Don't get so excited there," he laughed.

"What else am I suppose to do? Cry because you offered me ice cream?" she asked.
At the ice cream parlor...

The salesperson handed Ray two medium sized cups of ice cream, one was cookie dough and the other was chocolate. Ray walked over to Zarine and put the chocolate ice cream in front of her.

"Ray, I wanted cookie dough, remember?" she said.

"Yeah, I know," he answered. He scooped up some cookie dough ice cream and held the spoon out to her. "Open up," he said, smiling.

His girlfriend gladly accepted it. "How are you going to eat yours if you insist on feeing me?"

"I was hoping that someone will return the favor before it melts," he replied.

"All right," she giggled. This was even better than licking an ice cream cone!

Ray smirked when he saw all the envious looks on other guys' faces. He returned to feeding Zarine. She was smiling and giggling happily. "We should do this every time!" she said.

Ray smiled. "Sure, if you want to."

They walked around town after their ice cream. When they passed by a toy store with lots of stuffed animals, Zarine dragged Ray into there. Zarine would occasionally hug various toys while they walked up and down the aisles.

"This is so cute!" she said, hugging a koala bear. "I used to have so many stuffed animals on my bed, keeping me company at night."

"Oh my gosh! Doesn't this look like Driger??" she asked, pointing to a section of a shelf with many white tigers.

"Not really," Ray answered.

"Can you get it for me?" she asked. "Height issues, you know."

He stood up on his tip toes and brought one down for her.

"It does look like Driger, except it's white!" she insisted.

He said doubtfully, "A little, but the real thing is better."

"Well, of course the real thing is better, but this is cute! It's so squishy and soft."

Ray could tell that she really liked the tiger from the way she hugged it and kissed its forehead. "Come on, let's go," he said, tugging on her hand.

"Aren't you going to put it back for me?" she asked.

"It's not going back up there, it's coming with us," he told her. "It can keep you company at night. You said that you get lonely, didn't you?"

"SWEET!" she cheered. "Thanks so much!"

"Aren't you going to give me a hug? I mean you hugged so many toys..." he said, but was cut off when she hugged him so tight he could hardly breathe.

"There, I gave you the best hug I could," she said when she let go.

"Yeah, but you nearly killed me there," he said, rubbing his sides.

"Want another one to make you feel better?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Uh, no thanks," he replied. He didn't want to have his sides even more bruised.