YAY! THE NEXT FIC! I'm glad to know that you people like my writing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Case Closed... or Detective Conan...

And personally, I hate Cartoon Network for not buying new episodes and making us, the viewers in the U.S.A. have to go buy them on DVD just to see the new episodes.

Pair: JimmyRachel or ShinichiRan

I will be using the U.S. dub names.

Dance with Destiny

Jimmy Kudo walked toward the police station alone on a hot summer day. Inspector McGuire had called him in after hearing about his return, and asked him to come and pay a visit. Jimmy could only expect that they wanted to give him a welcome home, and probably tell him the specs about a new case.

Reaching the department door, he swiftly opened it and walked to the receptionist.

"Hey there, Jeanne! Long time no see!"

Chapter 1

"Kudo! Is that really you?" the blonde-haired blue-eyed receptionist asked. "Well I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"

"As well as I can be, coming from vacation in the States with my parents, back here where I actually have to work,"

"Well I should expect a certain brown-haired detective's daughter is one of the many perks of being back home, right?"

Jimmy sweatdropped, turning a reddish color. "What does that have anything to do with it?"

"Ha," she laughed, "Kudo! You should see your face! Takagi and Satou aren't the only ones who've been keeping bets on your relationship. The whole department's now into it. Personally, I bet that you would come back and whisk Moore off into the sunset, but that's just me,"

Jimmy turned redder.

"Well Kudo, while you cool off, I'll announce you," she turned to the small box at the desk. Picking up the telephone reciever, she pressed three digits and then waited. A loud beep resounded from the sound system. A sudden voice boomed around the complex, "Inspector McGuire, Jimmy Kudo at the front desk for you,"

Jeanne smiled mischievously at Jimmy.

"I thought you weren't supposed to do that," he hissed.

"I know, but you're a special case,"

Inspector McGuire and a few officers on the force entered from the door in back of the desk.

"Jimmy!" Inspector McGuire greeted. "Welcome home! I expect you found some rest on your vacation and that it wasn't all detective work,"

Jimmy smiled. "It had its moments,"

"Good, good. Well since you're here, maybe we could talk privately in my office?"

"Of course, Inspector," Jimmy smiled.

Jimmy reached under the counter, pulling it upwards. A portion close to the receptionist lifted on hinges at Jimmy's pull, allowing him to pass under and follow the Inspector through the door behind said counter.

As soon as Jimmy was through the door, the onslaught of whispers bombarded him. He heard things like, "That's Jimmy Kudo!" and "See, Takagi, I told you he'd come back," This continued all the way down the hall as they walked to the Inspector's office.

Once arrived, McGuire ushered him inside and closed the door, locking it.

"Well, Kudo," he started, "I suspect that you know why I called you here,"

"You have a case that you'd like me to take?" Jimmy "guessed".

"Right," McGuire confirmed. "In a month, a dance competition is going to be held in Osaka. We have been called in and asked for a special agent to bo there for certain reasons. You and a chosen someone as your partner will be going undercover in the competition, dancing and whatnot. The thing is televised, so be careful what you say,"

"You" he pointed at McGuire, "Want me- to dance for live television?"

"It's not live. An episode is taped one day and the next day is shown on TV. Except for the last episode, that one is live,"

"Inspector! I don't even know if I can dance!"

"That's why the police have recruited the best dance teacher in all of the region to be your coach!"

"But-"

"No 'But's' Jimmy. The case is yours. Pick a partner and meet your new teacher at twelve noon tomorrow at 24 Lovejoy Ave. She'll be waiting,"

"I thought you said you chose the partner?"

"Well technically, the department placed bets on who you would ask, and an astounding number chose-"

"-Don't even say it!" Jimmy said, putting on an I-can-choose-from-any-number-of-girls look. Then, seeming to give up, he asked, "Did you already brief her, or do I have to?"

"That's your pleasure," McGuire said. "Now go find your damsel and get to this case already,"

"What case? All you know is that you have an anonymous tip-off! You don't even know if anything'll happen! And you're going to put me and Rachel on TV for it!"

"So it's Rachel then?"

Jimmy turned red.

"Good, she's capable of handling herself, what with the whole karate thing and all,"

Jimmy stalked out of the office not at all happy with his current position. 'Now, how to ask her. In person? No, she'd kill me if I told her that I went to see the boys at quarters before I came to see her. Letter? No, takes too long. Telephone? I really don't want to, she's heard enough of me on the phone, but if it comes down to it...'

Jimmy decided to pull out his cell phone and make his way to her house.

Ring...

Ring...

"Hello, Moore detective-"

"Rachel?"

Rachel paused for a minute, "...Jimmy?"

"Good to hear you, Rach. Uh, listen I need to talk to you. It's about a case. Can you meet me... uh, at my house?"

"Sure, Jimmy! When do you want me there?"

"Any minute now is fine with me,"

"So you're home!"

"For now,"

"I'll be right over!" Rachel hung up the phone quickly.

Jimmy smiled. Rachel was probably trying to decide right now what she would wear. From his experience as Conan, he had learned how much a call from him could change her day. And now telling her he was home, she'd probably be exstatic. Jimmy changed his direction so that he was travelling more toward his own house, rather than hers.

When he got there, he was surprised to see Rachel standing there already.

"Rachel? When did you get here?"

"Oh, just a minute ago," she smiled sweetly.

"I brought snacks," he said, brandishing a bag of cookies he had bought on the way. He knew they were Rachel's favorite. "Let's go inside," He opened the gate and turned off the security system his mother had installed. Then he went up to the door, opened it, and turned off the second system. There was a third system in a vault below their feet for his father's top secret novels.

"You know my mother," he said, joking about the security measures, "Nothing's gonna get her kid,"

Rachel giggled, then turned serious "...So Jimmy, how have you been?"

"Fine, Rach,"

"And how was America?"

"Great as always," he sat down on the couch in the room behind the front hall, which was filled with books.

"...Meet any girls?" she asked slyly, leaning over the back of the couch so she could see him.

"G-g-girls?" he asked, nervously.

She got annoyed at his reaction, thinking he felt guilty. Getting up, she made her way around the couch to sit on the other end. "Yes, Jimmy. Girls. You know the female humans who have the babies, thereby creating the whole of mankind,"

"Well, I met some, sure," he said, trying to keep his facade up. Rachel looked dismayed. "But no one special, like back here,"

"There's someone special to you here?"

"Well, sure, Rach. I think you're special. I've been friends with you since childhood! you always know what to say to make me feel better, especially when I'm away and missing home so much,"

Rachel seemed to brighten, "Really?"

"Really,"

They sat looking at each other for a moment, lost in the other's eyes.

"Uh, you said you needed help on a case?" Rachel broke the silence, causing Jimmy to jump back.

"Uh, right," he snuck a look up at her. "The Inspector called and asked me to come see him about a case. There's this dance competition in a month that's going to be televised. The police have recieved a tip-off that there's going to be trouble, and they were asked to have someone on the site. They asked me to do it. I'm going under cover as one of the dancers and I was kindasortahopingyou'dbemypartner?"

Rachel paused. "What was that last thing?"

He repeated. "I was hoping- you'd be my dancing partner,"

Rachel's face contorted in a matter of moments through confusion, disbelief, and then utter delight. "Of course, Jimmy!" she said, leaning over to hug him fiercely.

"Good," he said after a moment. "Meet me here tomorrow at 10:30. We'll grab lunch and then go see our new dance instructor,"

"Okay," she said, letting go of him.

They sat there for a minute.

"Uh, I should probably go home," Rachel suggested, trying to dilute the awkwardness.

"Well, you could,... unless you wanted to go to Tropical Land with me,"

"Tropical Land!" Rachel asked, once again excited.

"Hey, I promised you. Plus the last time we went, I don't think I saw you for months,"

"I'm sticking to you like glue this time Mr. Kudo. I'm not letting you run off again so I stay up worrying about you for three days before you finally call and tell me you haven't been kidnapped," Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Did you just say you stayed up three nights worrying about me before I finally called?" he teased, knowing in fact that she did just that, having watched her through the eyes of a little kid.

"As if!" she shouted, trying to cover up her mistake "Why in the world would I worry about you!"

"Right," he said, "And you weren't crying the first time I called either,"

"I wasn't!"

"You shouldn't try to fool a detective, Rachel,"

"I'm not!"

"Whatever! I'm heading to Tropical Land. You coming?" he asked, standing up.

"...Fine!" she shouted, knowing he saw through her guise.

"Well then, let's go!" he took her hand and pulled her out of the house.

Rachel found it odd that Jimmy hadn't let go of her hand still. They were at the gate to Tropical Land and they were about to be checked for anything they may have on them. He hadn't looked at her much, nor talked to her on the way there.

After passing through the gates, Jimmy took her hand again and sped off, shouting, "Hey, Rach! Let's go on the Mystery Coaster!"

She had no choice but to follow him.

When they arrived at the coaster, Rachel was surprised to see that there wasn't a long line, just like the last time she had come here with Jimmy. She glanced sideways at him. He hadn't brought up Holmes the entire time they were here, unlike last time when he shook that gymnast's hand and she turned out to be a murderer. Rachel reddened when she remembered that Jimmy knew she was a gymnast because the wind blew up her skirt and showed him some bruises.

"Rach? Are you okay? Your face is red,"

"I'm fine, Jimmy," she lied.

"Okay, then you wanna get into the car?"

Rachel hadn't noticed that they had gone through the line and were holding up the rest of the people.

"Right," she said, embarassed.

She got into the car after him, bringing with her a sudden overwhelming sense of deja vu. They were sitting in the second car, Jimmy on the right, herself on the left. 'Just like last time,' She quickly checked to see if the girl sitting in front of Jimmy had any necklaces or other sharp things, then checked the man behind Jimmy, for what, she didn't know.

"Rach? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I just... well last time..."

"Oh right," Jimmy said.

"Just making sure," she said, indicating the people who she had just scoped out.

"Good thinking, but I'm pretty sure nothing like that will happen again today,"

"Hey look, Mitch! It's Rachel!" a feminine voice called out.

Rachel turned to see Amy riding with Mitch in the back row of the car. Jimmy turned around too, spotting the two kids.

"Well it looks like there's two of the Junior Detective League, where's the other one?" Jimmy asked Rachel.

The ride started and Jimmy and Rachel turned around, both thinking they would talk to the second graders after the ride.

The coaster was surprisingly uneventful comparing it to the last ride they had on it. Rachel ended up holding onto Jimmy for dear life just like last time, which had made Jimmy blush. After geting off, Jimmy and Rachel turned to Mitch and Amy.

"So where's the big one?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, you mean George! He's-" Amy said, then paused. "Hey, wait. How did you know about George?"

"Conan didn't keep me in the dark about everything you know!" Jimmy said, smiling.

"Wait! You're Jimmy Kudo, aren't you!" Mitch asked.

"The one and only," Rachel answered for him.

"Oh! Wow!" Amy said. "George will be so mad he missed this! He had to go to his grandmother's today, so it's just Mitch and me... and Conan if he were here,"

"...Hey, kid. I'm sorry that Conan had to go home, but his mother's having a tough time right now. I met her, and she's a really nice lady. It's a shame what happened,"

"Something happened to his mother!" Amy and Mitch asked simultaneously, both in shock.

"He didn't tell you!"

"He didn't tell me either," Rachel said, a little suspicious, and slightly hurt.

"He probably didn't want you guys to worry. Mrs. Edogawa is-... well, she's in a coma,"

"A coma!" Amy repeated. "Why didn't he tell us!" Amy asked, hurt. Jimmy knew that she had had a crush on his child self, and wanted to comfort her.

"He said he'd miss you guys. He's never had such good friends, or so many adventures! My dad said he may write a book on The adventures of Conan Edogawa, and you guys would be in it too. Although maybe Amy would get her happy ending after all," he said, winking at her.

Amy blushed, but said nothing.

Mitch looked from Jimmy to Amy, getting suspicious. Rachel did the same.

"Uh,... Did Conan leave a telephone number?" Amy tried to change the conversation.

"Nope, he said that his mother may be changing hospitals and that they'd have to move with her, so he won't have a permanent residence for a long time. Until then, you'll just have to wait for him to call you,"

"But he doesn't have my telephone number!" she said, distressed.

"Well then, give it to me, and the next time he calls, I'll give it to him and tell him his girlfriend's worried about him,"

Amy turned beet red now, and Mitch looked like he was about to blow a gasket. Rachel rounded on Jimmy.

"You shouldn't tease her like that, Jimmy. It's not nice," she said. "And this sounds like the story a certain detective gave me when he was in the States, hmm?"

"Rachel! I was on cases! You can't blame me!"

"Oh yes I can!" she turned away from him, sticking her nose up and ignoring his pleas of apology.

"What were some of your cases, Mr. Kudo?"

"Just Jimmy, please, Amy. And, we'd better get out of here," he started for the door. Rachel, since she was ignoring him, didn't notice.

Not hearing any more pleas for forgiveness, she turned to see nobody there.

"Jimmy! Amy! Mitch!"

"Come on, Rachel! Over here!" Mitch called to her from the door of the exit.

Rachel, in a rage, quickly followed.

"Jimmy Kudo-!" she started shouting, but stopped once she was greeted with an unexpected sight.

Jimmy had Amy in his lap and seemed to be telling her a story. Mitch was leaniing against him, hanging on every word. Rachel smiled, leaning on a lamp post.

"And so, that's when I came in and said that Harley was wrong. It was actually the mother. The son from her second marriage's new fiancee was actually the daughter from her first marriage. Her first husband was murdered by her second so that they could be together, and she never forgave her new husband because she loved her old one,"

"That's so sad!" Amy cried out.

"And then he burst into a fit of coughs and seemingly disappeared from the place altogether," Rachel cut in.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said, a hand behind his neck.

"Mitch and I better go, Jimmy. Our mothers told us we had to be back at the car by 5:00, and it's quarter of. But I want another story next time I see you!"

"I promise, Amy,"

"Bye, Jimmy!" Mitch and Amy called, running away.

"I didn't know you were so good with kids," Rachel said absently, sitting next to him.

'There are a few things one learns when one is a kid...' Jimmy thought, feeling the irony in his thought.

"Let's go on a few more rides, Jimmy!" she said, taking his hand and pulling him up, "After all, my dad'll be wanting dinner soon and so I should kinda get home,"

"Oh, right," Jimmy said, clearly disappointed.

She turned away from him, "Unless a certain person offered to take me out to dinner, an offer that comes so rarely I just couldn't refuse. And then he'd whisk me off to some restaurant where we'd have fun and order something to bring home for my dad,"

"Well, fat chance of that," he said, joking. She elbowed him. "Hey!" he said.

"Come on, dork," she said, pulling him into line for the ferris wheel.

The view from the top of the wheel was amazing, letting Jimmy and Rachel see the whole park. Rachel was captivated by the scenery, whilst Jimmy was captivated with her. He blushed at the thought of asking her out to dinner as she had hinted before the ride.

"Hey, um, Rach?"

"Yes, Jimmy?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Would you- uh, would you like to go to dinner with me?" he gulped.

"Sure," she said simply.

In the back of his mind, JImmy was left wondering just who in the police department would be getting paid for his bet.

"Thanks for dinner, Jimmy, it was... nice," Rachel said, walking down the sidewalk to her house after their "date".

"No problem, Rach," he said back.

She left his side to go up the stairs. "Oh! Jimmy?" she asked, turning back. "When do you want to meet tomorrow, again?"

"Ten thirty, my house. We'll grab a bite then head to our new 'dance teacher's' studio,"

"Right..."

They stood looking at each other for a few miinutes.

"...I guess I'll go home now," Jimmy said, narrating his next course of action.

"Uh, and thanks for the amusement park!" she quickly added.

She ran and kissed him on the cheek, then ran as if in a marathon back up the stairs to her room.

Jimmy was left staring at her retreating form down on the sidewalk. He turned suddenly and put a hand to his cheek. Then he turned even more and started heading back down the street, whistling a song.

TBC

And the start to another CC fic. YAY! Thanks to all who've reviewed all my other fics. I think this one will be a good one.

Next chapter: Jimmy and Rachel meet the dance instructor and begin a lesson in partner dancing!

animebookworm