Err... hello everyone! I know it has been an insanely long time (seven months) since I have updated, and for that, I apologise! I am sorry! I honestly didn't mean for it to take so long! But I had lots of problems delaying me, including writers block, Gundam Wing, hospitals, and Harry Potter and the HBP.

Would you believe that most of this chapter was written by pen and paper? Oo my hand! But I found it was the only way I could write! To many distractions on the computer... But here it is! The third chapter of Awake and Dreaming! I don't know how many people are still reading this story, but for the ones that are, I hope you enjoy! And for the people who reviewed! This chapter is for you! There will be replies and thanks and stuff at the bottom! Cause I know you all want to read the chapter now!

Oh, and by the way, this chapter is un-beta'd, so any mistakes I made I had to catch myself. And the ones I didn't catch... well, it's hard to spot them all!

Kisses!

Chapter 3
Mind Games

Kai knelt on his knees in the bathroom, hands gripping the sides of the toilet as he bent over it, body wracking with dry heaves. Rei crouched beside him, murmuring comforting words to him as he rubbed the smaller boys back. "It's ok, Kai. You will feel better in a bit."

Kai glared up at him. "This is all your fault, you know."

To his surprise, Rei laughed. "All my fault? You were the one who insisted on drinking the whole bottle! I told you it wasn't a good idea, so don't try to pin this on me!"

Kai stood up and pushed Rei's hand away, leaning on the bathroom sink for support. "That's not what I mean," he snapped. "I mean that stupid comment about me being your boyfriend. Why do you think I was suddenly sick? As if I would ever go out with you." He closed his eyes briefly. "I am already confused enough as it is without you making things worse."

Hurt flashed across Rei's face, but it was gone a second later, replaced by a laugh. "Kai! What are you talking about? Of course you're my boyfriend!"

Kai rolled his eyes. "How the hell can I be your boyfriend if I'm not even gay?"

At this, Rei flinched. "K-Kai?"

Kai continued. "You must be even more screwed up than me for that idea to even have entered your head."

Rei reached out a hand and placed it on Kai's shoulder. "Kai, we have been going out for over a year now. Why… why are you suddenly acting like nothing has happened between us? You haven't been this cold to me since the Russian tournament. What is wrong?"

Kai looked up into Rei's eyes. He could see hurt and confusion flitting through the amber depths, and disappointment. He shivered, and for some reason felt extremely guilty. "I'm sorry, Rei," he whispered. "I don't know what is wrong with me. I am not myself this morning. I feel really confused, like I don't know where I am." Well, the last part was true enough.

Rei's eyes softened. "Oh Kai, I knew I shouldn't have let you drink that much! I know alcohol sometimes has a strange effect on you, but I let you anyways. It's just… you were so playful last night, I couldn't help myself…"

Kai blushed. "U-Um… okay. Whatever."

Rei handed him a glass of water. "It's fine. Here. Rinse your mouth out, and then go get dressed. Tyson and Mao are out in the living room waiting for us."

Kai had just taken a sip of the water, but he spat it out quickly. "What? What are they doing here? And why are they here together?"

Rei rolled his eyes. "I know you weren't very excited about them coming over, but you didn't have to forget it entirely…" he mumbled, and turned, walking back into the bedroom. Frowning, Kai followed.

'What the hell is going on?'

Rei walked over to the bed and began straightening out the rumpled covers, fluffing up the pillows and smoothing the whole bed down. When he finished he looked up and frowned, seeing Kai still standing in the doorway. "Well don't just stand there! Get dressed!"

Kai looked pointedly at Rei. "Some privacy?"

To his dismay, Rei sat down on the bed, smiling. "Why?" he purred. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before…"

Kai blushed again. "That's right. You haven't."

Rei ignored him and reached under his pillow, pulling out a small red book. Opening it to somewhere in the middle, he began to write in it. Quickly, while Rei was distracted, Kai pulled open the drawer of the dresser and took out some pants and a shirt, flinging off his pyjamas and pulling them on quickly. Then he walked over to Rei, who was still writing. When he didn't look up, Kai cleared his throat. "Rei?"

Rei glanced up, and, seeing that Kai was dressed, grinned and stuck the book back under the pillow. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Kai didn't answer, sitting down next to Rei on the bed. "Rei I really need you to help me."

Rei nodded. "Sure! What's up?"

Kai looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly in his lap. "That's the problem. I don't know. I have no clue what is going on here."

The other boy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Everything is just so confusing. I have no clue what's going on, and I have no idea where I am."

Rei moved a bit closer to him. "You know you can talk to me, Kai."

Kai drew a shaky breath. "I… I don't know where to start."

Rei placed one of his hands over Kai's own. "Just start at the beginning." He said gently.

Relieved that Rei was actually listening to him, Kai took a deep breath and began. "That day that I wanted to go train alone, and you wanted to come with me, that's when it all started. Remember, I didn't want you to come with me, and you got really upset. I'm sorry, I left angry that day, and we never got a chance to work things out. I don't know what you guys thought when I never returned. Boris found me, and I was captured. He brought me back to the abbey." Kai paused. He could feel his fingernails digging into his palms, and he realized with horror that he was trying to hold back tears.

"Boris wanted me to agree to join Biovolt again, and when I refused he got angry. I was taken to a room, where I was beaten over and over. Tala… Tala was there. When Boris was done, he came back for me. He… he helped me clean off the blood, and put bandages on my wounds. But he was hurt too. It was Boris… it was his fault…" Kai closed his eyes and went on. "The next day, he was displeased with my beyblading results, and when he punished me, I fought back. I must have passed out, because when I woke again, I was alone in a dark room. Then… then… you, you were there. I don't know how, but you came. We were escaping when Boris caught us, and I was so scared that h-he would hurt you… I don't know what happened then, but suddenly I was waking up, and you were there. And Boris was nowhere in sight." Rei's hand left his leg and reached up to brush away the tears that were running down his cheek. "I'm so confused," he whispered. "I have no idea how I got here."

"Why are you crying?"

The sudden question startled Kai, and he looked quickly up at Rei. "W-what?"

Rei's eyes were bright with concern. "Kai, I am really worried about you. You aren't yourself. What's wrong?"

Kai's eyes widened. "What's wrong?" he repeated. "Haven't you been listening to what I just told you?"

Rei shook his head. "You haven't said anything Kai. You sat there in silence, and then began to cry." He sighed, and when he spoke again it was in a sad tone. "I wish you would open up to me. You know you can tell me anything, but you don't. You still keep your feelings locked away, even after all these years."

Kai stared at him. "But…"

He was interrupted as the door burst open, and a blue eyed boy with messy black hair poked his head in. "Hey you guys!" he called loudly. "What's taking you so long? Hurry up or we will eat all your food!"

Kai's eyes snapped to the boy. "Tyson?" he whispered.

Tyson grinned. "The one and only man! Now hurry your ass out here!" he spun around and left, leaving the door open.

Kai groaned and rested his head in his hands. "If there's one thing I can always count on, it's Tyson being there to annoy me," he mumbled.

Rei smiled slightly, and rubbed Kai's back. "Will you be ok for a while?" Kai nodded. Standing up, Rei handed Kai a tissue. "You can come out when you are ready," he told him, and walked to the door. When he got there, he paused and looked back. "We will talk about this later, Kai." Then he turned and left.

Kai continued to sit there, staring at the tissue in his hand. 'This makes no sense,' he thought. 'Why did Rei act like I didn't say anything just now? He must have heard me. There's no way he couldn't have. Unless he just pretended not to hear me, but why would he do that?' Kai rubbed his eyes tiredly. 'This has SO got to be a dream.'

A few minutes later, after he had gone to the bathroom adjoined to the room to splash water on his face, Kai entered the living room. Rei was sitting on the couch talking to Mao, and Tyson was slouched next to him, eating a sandwich and flipping through channels on the TV. As soon as Kai entered, however, the pink haired girl jumped up and hurried to his side.

"Oh Kai! How are you feeling? Rei told us you were sick!" Kai stood frozen as she pressed a hand to his forehead. "Well you don't have a fever, but maybe you should take something anyways. Do you want me to get you an aspirin?

"What? I… no! I… I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? You look a little pale… maybe we shouldn't go out today after all."

At this Tyson sat up, abandoning his channel surfing, a panicked look appearing on his face. "H-hey! Wait a minute! Kai's feeling fine, aren't you buddy?" Receiving a blank look from Kai, he continued. "He probably only has a headache from drinking! He will be fine once we get there, right?" he looked hopefully at the other boy.

Kai frowned and pushed Mao's hand away. "I said I was ok. But where are we-" he was cut off as Tyson jumped to his feet.

"Yes! We are still going! I knew you'd pull through for us!"

Rei also stood up, shooting a worried look at Kai. "Are you sure? We don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I'm fine!" Kai snapped. "God, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not made out of glass, you know!"

Mao laughed. "Well with that attitude, I guess you really are all right! Now you boys go get your stuff together and meet us out in the car. We have to get there early if we want a full day!"

Rei nodded and gripped Kai's arm, steering him out of the room. "Wait," Kai called. "Where the hell are we going?"

No one answered.

Half an hour later, Kai climbed out of the car and stared in horror at the building they were standing before. "A water park?" he whispered. "We… we're going to a water park?"

Tyson was bouncing beside him carrying a bag with his towel in it. "Can you believe we are actually here?" he babbled, clinging to Kai's arm and shaking him so hard Kai felt his head spin. "I mean, I have wanted to come here ever since you and Rei came! It was so hard listening to you guys talk about how wonderful it was! Man, I have wanted to come here, for, like, forever!"

Kai pushed Tyson away. "Get off me." Tyson just continued to talk, latching onto Mao and dragging her on ahead. Kai stopped for a minute, waiting for his head to stop spinning. He jumped when an arm was laid across his shoulders.

Rei, also carrying a bag with towels and swimsuits, pulled Kai close to him and kissed his cheek, not noticing the smaller boy had froze at the touch. "Look at Tyson!" Rei laughed. "He always manages to make a scene!" he glanced at Kai. "Oh, don't worry. All we have to do is pretend we don't know him and we will be fine."

Kai shook his head and started to walk again, shrugging off Rei's arm. "No, it's not that," he said quietly.

Rei fell into step beside him. "Well what is it then? I know you don't have that look on your face for nothing."

Kai sighed. "You won't give me any answers. It's really frustrating."

Rei frowned, confused. "Answers? What kind of answers?"

Kai waved his hand around. "To everything! To this! How the hell did we get here! How did we escape from the abbey?"

Rei didn't answer. Instead he put his arm around Kai again and began to walk faster. "Come on!" he said. "We should catch up to Tyson before he hurts himself."

Kai started to panic as Rei pushed open the glass doors and walked into the building, following the others. "Wait Rei!" he said, as they walked up to the front desk. "We… we aren't actually going to do this, are we?"

Rei gave him a funny look. "What do you think? We didn't drive all the way out here for nothing." He noticed Kai's face had become rather pale. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I… I can't swim," Kai whispered.

Rei smiled, but it looked a bit forced. "What are you talking about, Kai? Of course you can swim. You have been swimming since you were five."

Kai lowered his eyes to the floor. "I have never been able to swim. I grew up in an abbey where every day they trained us to be the perfect bladers, no matter what the methods. They beat us, starved us, ripped us apart, and in all that time, not once did I learn how to swim!" Kai was dimly aware he was shouting. But as Rei grabbed him and pulled him down the hall, Kai looked around the room and realized that not one person in the lobby showed any sign that they had heard him.

Rei dragged him into a change room and slammed the door shut. "Get changed," he said shortly, reaching into the bag and handing Kai a plain black swimsuit.

Kai took them, his hands shaking slightly, and turned his back to Rei. He could hear Rei changing behind him, but he didn't say anything. His mind was stuck on one thing as he took of his clothes and pulled on the shorts. 'No one could hear me back there.' Slowly he looked over his shoulder and saw Rei too was done, and was looking at him. Kai didn't like the look on his face. It may have been a different Rei than he was used to, but even he could tell when Rei was angry.

Quickly he shoved his clothes into the bag, and started to walk to the door when suddenly Rei was on him. He pushed Kai against the opposite wall. Kai winced and tried to move forward but then Rei's body was right up against him, and the others hands were pining his own against the wall, trapping him.

He flinched. "Rei?"

The look in Rei's eyes was unreadable as he leaned forwards. "What is wrong with you, Kai? You know I don't believe this whole memory loss shit. You were fine yesterday. A person doesn't just suddenly change his whole personality over night. First you acted like you aren't gay, and we aren't together. Then you 'forget' Tyson and Mao are a couple. Then you say you don't know how to swim. I am getting really sick of this, Kai. I don't know what you are trying to do, but you are ruining the day for the rest of us. I was really looking forward to coming here again, and I thought you were too. Why the sudden change in attitude?" He suddenly looked hurt. "If you really didn't want to come here you should have just said so. You didn't have to lie to me."

Kai shook his head in frustration. "I didn't mean – it's not that I – it's not my fault, alright?"

"And to make matters worse, you won't even explain to me what's going on," Rei said, reaching up to stroke Kai's cheek. "I know you Kai, and this isn't like you at all. I need you to be able to talk to me."

Kai sighed in irritation. "You know how many times I have tried to tell you that I don't know what is going on?" He raised his voice. "But every time I think you are listening to me, you end up ignoring me, and then you don't hear a single damn word I say!"

Rei pushed himself away from Kai. "See that is exactly what I am talking about! You haven't explained anything to me all day! Every time you say you are going to, you don't! You just sit there silently for a while and then expect me to understand you! I am not a mind reader Kai. I need some sort of clue."

"I'm trying!" Kai yelled. "But you don't listen to me!"

"Well maybe I would listen if there was something to hear!" Rei yelled back.

"Yeah? Well maybe you're hearing needs checking!" Kai stomped over to the door and pulled it open. But just as he was about to walk out, Rei grabbed his arm and spun him around, pressing his lips firmly to Kai's. Kai froze in shock as Rei pulled him closer and thrust his tongue into his mouth. But the kiss was rough and harsh, and Kai whimpered in pain, pushing Rei away from him.

"What the fuck was that?" he cried, wiping his mouth. "You yell at me one minute, and then kiss me the next! Not to mention it hurt like hell! What is wrong with you?"

Rei reached out to touch him, but the other boy flinched. Rei frowned. "Kai…"

"Don't touch me," Kai said angrily. He pulled his arm out of Rei's grasp and left the room, walking down the hall with the sign that pointed to the pool. He could hear Rei behind him locking the change room and sped up. He had no desire to be anywhere near his boyfriend at the moment.

He followed the hall for only a short while, before he came to double glass doors, beyond which he could see the pool. He pushed them open, and immediately winced as a roar of noise assaulted his ears. Looking around, he saw that there were three big pools, and a smaller one, presumably for littler kids. A large hot tub was across the room from him, glass windows all along the wall showing a view of the city. Kai walked forwards towards the smallest pool, hearing a loud horn blow as he did so. He paused only for a moment at the waters edge, before walking in.

'Who knows?' he thought, as the water rose past his waist. 'I might actually be a natural swimmer.'

He stopped when the water lapped at his shoulders, however, and looked back behind him. Rei was standing by the doors talking to Mao and Tyson. They were wet, so Kai assumed they had already been in the pool. Rei was looking around, and Kai quickly turned his back to him. The small pool was fairly crowded, and Kai let the noise of all the people wash over him, confident Rei couldn't see him.

All of a sudden, a huge wave washed over him, pushing him under the water. Kai gasped, and water rushed into his lungs, choking him. Coughing and gasping, Kai broke through the surface and tried to touch the bottom. His feet met only more water as he thrashed around. With a horrible jolt he realized that the wave must have pushed him out farther, over his head. And then he was dragged under again. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see. He could feel the water churning around him, before he was at the surface once more. He gasped for breath, coughing up water, and them swallowing more as another wave crashed down upon him. He could feel himself slowly loosing consciousness, even as strong arms wrapped around him, hauling him out of the water.

Kai kept his eyes closed as he felt himself being laid down on the cold wet tile floor. He could feel someone leaning over him, their fingers lightly touched his cheek, before pinching his nose. Then warm lips covered his own and his eyes flew open. He shoved the person off him and rolled over, coughing violently. "Shit!" he gasped. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but yet he couldn't stop coughing. A hand was rubbing his back in a soothing manner, but he still felt the urge to swat it away.

"Kai!"

He jerked his head up sharply, and suddenly Rei was kneeling before him, helping him into a sitting position. "Rei?" he croaked. His throat felt dry.

"Oh my god, Kai, what happened? Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?" Rei pushed some wet hair out of Kai's eyes and then trailed his fingers down his cheek, before running his hands over Kai's arms.

Then another man knelt beside him. He was young, wearing a lifeguard's shirt. "Your friend almost drowned here," he said to Rei, replacing his hand on Kai's back. "He's lucky I spotted him."

Rei narrowed his eyes. "You have my thanks," he said coolly. "Is my boyfriend going to be okay now?"

Kai felt heat flare on his face. "Rei!" he hissed.

The lifeguard just stared at him. "Yes, he should be fine."

Rei nodded. "Then thank you for your help." The lifeguard shrugged and stood up. With one last look at Kai, he disappeared into the crowd. Immediately Rei turned back to Kai. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked in a soft voice.

Kai ignored him. "What the hell was that?" he asked, his voice still rough. "Why did you have to tell him we are… that we're… boyfriends…"

Rei glanced down. "I didn't like the way he was looking at you," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Kai said loudly.

The other boy looked up glaring. "You kissed him!" he exclaimed. Kai burst out laughing. "What now?" Rei snapped.

Kai shook his head. "I almost drown, and then you accuse me of cheating on you with the man who saved my life! You have some serious problems Rei."

"Shut up," Rei mumbled, but there was a smile tugging at his lips. And then he was hugging Kai, pulling the other boy tight against his body. Without thinking, Kai wrapped his arms around Rei as well, so that they were cheek to cheek. Warm breath tickled his ear. "I'm sorry," Rei whispered.

Kai pulled back so he was looking the other in the face. "It's okay. I'm sorry too."

"No I really mean it, Kai. I shouldn't have yelled at you back there. I just lost my temper. I couldn't understand what you were keeping from me, and it frustrated me to no end. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Kai kissed Rei gently. "It's okay," he repeated. "I was angry as well. It wasn't only your fault."

"But if you had drowned just now, our last words would have been angry ones." Rei closed his eyes briefly. "You could have died, Kai!"

"But I didn't, so it's okay! Stop worrying about it!"

"But…"

Kai kissed Rei again. "Stop it. It is in the past already."

Rei nodded and stood up, helping Kai to his feet. "What are you going to do now?" he asked. "I suppose you don't feel like swimming much."

Kai smiled humourlessly. "No I don't suppose. I think I will just go sit in the hot tub for a while. Calm down."

Rei nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

Kai shook his head. "No, sorry. I think I want to be alone for a while."

Rei frowned. "Are you sure? I don't think you should be alone after what just happened."

"Please Rei? I'm not mad at you; I just want some time to think. You go swim, or something."

Rei sighed but nodded. "I'll come check up on you later," he promised, and kissed Kai once more before leaving.

Kai watched him leave, and then turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

Kai sighed and sunk lower into the hot tub as the hot foamy water swirled around him. 'This is okay,' he thought. 'As long as I don't have to go back into the big pool I will be fine.' He turned over onto his stomach, arms resting on the cool tiles, so he could scan the pool for Rei. He spotted him playing some sort of game with Tyson and Mao in the shallow end of one of the big pools closest to the hot tub. Tyson was in the middle, and Mao and Rei were passing a ball over his head. Every time they threw it, Tyson would jump up in the air and try to catch it.

Kai rolled his eyes and laid his head on his arms, watching Rei dive to get the ball before Tyson. His long black hair fell down his back in a wet braid, and his bangs sent drops of water flying into his face. Kai smiled softly. The Rei he knew had always hated getting his hair wet, blaming it on the cat in him, but Kai suspected that it was because it took so long to dry.

He yawned. 'Maybe I will offer to brush it for him later,' he thought, as Tyson grabbed the ball before Mao got to it. With a look of triumph on his face, they switched places, so now the pink haired girl was in the middle. Kai snorted. "Stupid Tyson," he mumbled. But even Tyson had changed in this world. He had slimmed down a lot, and the muscles in his chest and arms were more defined. His hair was cut differently, so that it fell into his eyes, which were a darker blue than he remembered. In all this Tyson looked older, more mature.

Kai shuddered. 'Shit. I can't believe I actually considered Tyson to be attractive. I really must have done something to my head.' He shifted his gaze back to Rei. 'Tyson is nothing compared to him though. I think I could actually start to like Rei, like that. Then maybe we could…' he stopped as he suddenly remembered that they were, in fact, supposed to be boyfriends in this place.

"This is so screwed up," he said to himself. 'It's like I have fallen into whole other world or something, just, with all the same people. Sometimes it even feels like I belong here.'

Kai groaned, remembering something. 'I can't believe I kissed Rei back there. Twice! What was I thinking?' he paused. 'Or maybe that's just it. I wasn't thinking. I was just caught up in the moment and didn't realize what I was doing.' He bit his lip. 'What is going to happen to me? Will I stay in this place? What brought me here anyways? And what is happening back at the abbey? Time doesn't just stop. Has Boris found out that I'm missing yet?' a sudden chill gripped him. 'I hope he doesn't punish Tala for it.'

Still worrying over that thought, Kai frowned. 'Something weird is going on here. Every time I mention anything from my other life, it's like no one can hear me, even when I yell. I don't think it is just a coincidence. Maybe… maybe they don't hear me, because it never happened. All that stuff, all my past, it never happened here. It still doesn't really make sense, but it is the best I can come up with right now. I mean, who ever heard of someone falling into an alternate universe. For that to happen, it would have to be… magic…'

Kai snorted. "Who am I kidding? There is no such thing as magic."

Kai jumped as hands suddenly covered his eyes. "Guess who?" came Rei's low voice from behind him.

A small smile on his face, Kai turned around and let Rei's arms wrap around his waist. "Hey," he said. "What's up?"

"We were thinking of heading out," Rei replied. "We have been here for a few hours now, and even Tyson seems ready to go." He eyed the other boy carefully. "Kai, you haven't been in the hot tub this whole time, have you? You are only supposed to be in there a maximum of twenty minutes!"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Of course I haven't. When it got to hot for me I just sat on the edge or went to the steam room." He waved his hand in the direction of the door on the other side of the tub.

Rei nodded. "That's good. I don't want you getting overheated."

"You worry too much."

Rei pouted as they climbed out of the pool. "How can I not? Look what almost happened to you. Trouble just seems to follow you around." Then suddenly his arm went around Kai again.

Kai looked up at him in surprise. "What is it?"

Rei scowled. "That lifeguard is looking at you again."

Kai laughed. "No he isn't."

"Yes he is!" Rei insisted. "Him, along with half the pool!"

Kai rolled his eyes. "You're being paranoid."

"And you're being oblivious," Rei retorted.

They walked in silence across the room to the doors where Mao and Tyson were waiting for them. As soon and they reached them, the two started talking.

"Oh Kai," Mao cried, her amber eyes full of worry. "Are you ok? Rei told us about your accident! I wanted to come immediately to make sure you were okay, but Rei told me to leave you alone. You look a little pale, are you feeling alright? You didn't swallow too much water did you? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Tyson had swung his towel over his shoulders, and he looked at Kai with a big grin on his face. "Hey Kai, buddy! To bad about the whole almost drowning thing. The pool is awesome, isn't it! It sucks you didn't go back in the water after. It was so nice and wet. Well, it would be since its water haha. The water slide rules! I must have gone on it at least twenty times! Kai? Kai? Are you listening to me?"

"No," replied Kai truthfully.

Tyson sputtered. "Kai!"

Rei moved close to Kai's side, and murmured in his ear. "Come on. Let's go home."

Home.

It was evening and they were back at the apartment. Mao and Tyson had left, after Tyson had had his third helping of desert, and then Rei had insisted they leave all the dishes till the morning, and had shooed Kai off to the bathroom. Now Kai lay on his back in bed, eyes closed. His hair was damp from his shower, and he wore only a pair of loose pyjama bottoms. Rei was now taking his turn in the bathroom, humming under his breath as he brushed his teeth. Kai smiled as he listened to him. That was one thing the two Rei's shared. His Rei had also liked to hum, as well as sing in the shower, even though everyone had complained about his voice.

Suddenly Kai felt a flash of resentment. This world seemed so perfect compared to his real life. Everything fell together so nicely. Why hadn't his life been like this all along? What had gone wrong?

A cool hand smoothed the hair away from his face and the bed sunk in a bit as someone settled beside him. "Why the frown?" asked Rei playfully, sliding his arm around Kai's shoulders.

Kai shrugged. "Hey… Rei…"

"Yeah?"

Kai took a deep breath. "Remember how I was trained in an abbey when I was young? Where the teachers there did what ever it took to create the perfect bladers, even if it meant abuse?"

Rei didn't answer.

Kai glanced at him, and saw his eyes were closed. "Rei? Are you still awake?" he asked quietly.

Rei nodded. "Uh huh," he mumbled. "What did you want?"

"Nothing."

'He still can't hear me. I guess it is back to the magic theory again.' Kai looked over at Rei again, who was dozing lightly beside him. 'Home. If I stay here, this would be my home.' The thought sent a warm feeling through his chest, and he ran his fingers through some of Rei's loose hair. The other boy cracked his eyes open and smiled softly at him, bringing his own hand up to clasp Kai's gently. Then he brought it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on it. The warm feeling grew.

He rolled over onto his stomach and wrapped an arm around Rei's waist. 'I could wake up tomorrow, and find out it was all a dream. But if it really was magic that brought me here, I want it to last as long as possible.'

Tbc…

Wow. That was the longest chapter I have ever written! Now one last sort of important thing. This will be the last chapter I write for a while, because this monday I am going into the hospital to have my tonsils taken out (yay, go me). It will take me about a week to recover, and then we are leaving on vacation for the rest of august. I will try to write a lot while I am sick, and maybe post a chapter of something before I go, but no promises. Sorry!

There, now that's taken care of... did you like it? Did you? Did you? I worked REALLY hard on this chapter, so it would be cool to get some feedback on it. You guys have been so great so far! I am amazed at the response!
And thanks go to...

UlTiMaTe KaI LuVa, MasterFranny, Rejiita, Kiko cat, SoulSister, WhiteTigress666, Karmen, Game-kid17, Rimnerel Ayasugi, Wild Stallion, artemis347, blueblueclouds, UPDATE UPDATE, Kibasgirl24, sweet tooth, Witty Angel, Lyrikkal, one-T, ray-is-sexy, katten, Kai-lovr, Cherrii, eyriess, grace, frosticdranzergal, Eclipsed Light, Kiina, and starfiredevil.

And now I PROMISE that the next chapter won't take nearly so long.

And if you're still reading after all this... please feed the hungry author and review!