I don't own Zatch Bell. Italicsthoughts!

Nicole's POV

I stumbled around in the darkness for some time. My body was weak from the battle. Kalonni was also very tired as she strutted through the dead leaves along side me. We had to get away from the scene of the death before more mamodos and authorities tried to catch us. It began to rain when the sun had set behind the willow trees. This made the forest slippery and harsh. My weakened legs wouldn't let me continue on and I would fall to the floor in pain. Kalonni would trip over me and then help me up. Getting up to continue on was a struggle larger then my paining form. I wiped my eyes every now and then to make sure I didn't fall again. I feared that if I did, I wouldn't be able to get back up. And then I tripped over a root. "NICOLE!" Kalonni screamed.

Meanwhile…

Sherrie stared out the window of her mansion. She watched the rain fall down as she thought of nothing but ending the battle for king. (Yeah…I know it's kind of random, but it has to do with something coming up in later chapters.)

Kyo was walking out of his school and Zatch was in the duffle bag at his side. Zatch didn't want to get wet so he insisted Kyo go through the forest. Actually, he begged him until the very annoyed Kyo said yes. So they walked through the forest. They went for a while until they spotted two shadowed figures. One was curled up on the ground and one was trying desperately to get the other one up.

"Um…what's wrong?" Kyo said as he looked at the two figures. Kyo and Zatch's eyes fixed in on the darkness to find Nicole on the ground and Kalonni above her.

"Hey Kalonni. What are you doing in the woods? OH OH OH! I WANT TO PLAY!" Zatch said as he went to the ground and acted like he was passed out.

"This is not the time!" Kalonni said with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Let's get you two back with us ok?" Kyo said to the teary-eyed Kalonni. Kalonni nodded and Kyo picked Nicole up and carried her in his arms. Zatch and Kalonni just walked together.

Nicole's POV

My eyes slowly fluttered open as I looked around the room. A blurry figure rezembling a boy was hovering over me as someone was talking to Kalonni in the corner.

Who? What am I doing here? KYO? ZATCH!

I sprung up and shifted my terror filled eyes everywhere. I tried to get up and run, but fell pathetically to the ground.

"W-what…what do you want from us?" I managed to choke out through my pain.

"We just want to help you." Kyo said with a stain of worry on his face.

"I…I don't need your help!" I barked out.

"Everyone needs help once in a while." Kalonni said.

"Maybe I do need some help…just not from you! Kalonni, we need to go!" I said as I got up and called Logan on my cell phone.

"Yeah, It's me. Hey Logan, can you come and pick me up?" I said as I told him the directions.

In about 10 minutes of pure silence, we heard someone honking outside. I looked out the window to see my mother in the driver's seat with Logan and Rakachi in the back.

"Kalonni, let's go." I said as I stormed out.

"P-please, forgive Nicole. She's a little confused right now. Well…we do need some help and I hope to see you around. BYE!" Kalonni said as she walked out.

The ride home was a silent one. Even though it was a silent trip, there was an eerie, loud scream of pain coming from inside my heart. We finally got home and I ran upstairs. I locked the door to my room. Logan tried to go in, but the door was locked.

"Nicole? Can we come in? Why is the door locked?" The questions flooded out of him as he stared aimlessly at the door.

"Um…no. I…I need to be alone for a while." I said from inside the room.

After I made sure that they left, I flopped onto my bed and broke down into deep, heavy sobs of pain and terror. I hid my face in my pillow hoping to block to sound from emitting outside of my room. No avail.

"W-what's wrong with you?" I heard a small voice say from outside my door.

Silence.

Kalonni managed to open up the door and found that there was no one in the room. She looked out the open window to see a rope made of sheets. Logan knew where she was and left Rakachi and Kalonni to play for a while. He ran out into the rain and towards the park. He went into the forest and to Nicole's secret spot. She was there. Her clothes were stained with rain and mud. Her hair was messy and she was on the ground crying. Logan knew why. He went over to her and lifted her chin to meet her eyes. Now, Logan had been thinking about what he was about to do ALL summer long. He knelt down in front of her, grabbed her arms, and pulled her into a soft kiss. Yeah, that's right. He kissed her right there in the rain. Hair messed up and clothes dirty. They broke apart and Nicole was smiling. Her smile was bright, large, and warm. Seriously, if her smile got any brighter, Logan would be blind. Any larger, her face would explode. Any warmer, they'd both melt. So then they walked home hand in hand.

Well…that's all. Review!