Kai woke suddenly in the middle of the night. He sat up in the bed, his eyes searching what had made him wake. There was nothing that he could see; the others were fast asleep in their beds. The painful sound of Tyson's snoring broke the silence. But there was no reason that he could see for himself waking up. He was still tired.

He swung his legs quietly over the side of the bed; he felt a growing need to get up. He shook his head at the strange sensation and scooped Dranzer off of the bedside table. Maybe it was Dranzer causing him to do this, he didn't know and she was remaining silent.

Kai still wore his clothes from the day before. Although he didn't have his scarf on and his feet were bare. He made almost no sound as he made his way carefully to the door. He stepped out into the lounge area, closing the door silently behind him.

'What now?' he thought to himself as he looked about the moonlit room.

"Just wait" came a sweet sounding voice. It appeared to come from no particular place, and yet the voice seemed so familiar. He knew who that voice belonged to, he brought his blade up so he could see the bit piece in the light from the moon.

"Dranzer?" he whispered curiously, he waited for a long time but there was no answer.

'Guess I wait then' he figured, sliding his back down the wall next to the door. He brought his knees to his chest as if cold, he crossed his arms on top of them. Then rested his head comfortably in his arms. He didn't know how long it was before he heard the footsteps.

He raised his head expectantly to see a very sleepy Rage staring down at him. She was dressed in blue loose pyjama trousers and a baggy light blue t-shirt. She seemed so childlike as she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes in a fashion suggesting that she was tired.

"Hi" she said settling down beside him, "I guess our bit beasts want us to talk."

"I guess," he said, although he thought that Dranzer could have chosen a better time. He was still exhausted from his long time without sleep. Just at the time when he could finally close his eyes without seeing a bloody past, and their bit beasts wanted them to have a heart to heart.

"I know you think that I'm doing wrong Kai, but you were at the abbey. You know how it goes; you do what you're told. Or you end up getting punished, I'm really sorry but I don't have a choice."

"That's just it Rage, you do have a choice. I chose, I left, and now I have friends and I'm never going back to that place." Kai's burning eyes met with Rage's aqua ones, she looked away.

"Please can we not fight about this Kai? I know that we weren't allowed friends at the abbey, but I think that you were my closest thing to that title. Which just shows how lonely it got in there. I don't have much more time to spend here, and I don't want to spend that time fighting. Please?" Rage said, her blue green eyes fixed on the floor.

"Besides" she added snuggling closer to Kai's side. "I'm really tired."

Kai eyed the dark haired girl with surprise as she closed her heavy eyes, leaning on his shoulder. Usually if someone had done that he would have just pushed them off, but this felt kind of nice. Kind of familiar and warm, he was struck with a feeling of deja vu. Where had this happened before?

Flashback

He was dying.

Only seven years old, and already he was dying. He stared at the stubborn whiteness of the sky, even though he didn't really see it. The parts of him that he could still feel were freezing, and he couldn't move. He'd tried, he really had. But after over two years of torture that had left him bleeding and helpless, he was finally dying.

It had been his first survival training out in the woods that were a part of the abbey grounds. It was the middle of winter in the freezing Russia, and he had been supposed to last for three days out here. Looks like he wouldn't make it.

He'd survived the first day fine, and then late on the second day he'd slipped while walking by the lake. He figured that it would be fine, that the ice would be thick enough. It turned out that he was wrong.

It had felt like a hundred of Bathos's torture knives were stabbing him all over as he had slipped through the ice into the water. He didn't remember how he got out of the water, only that it was cold. Dranzer had egged him on to keep on moving, to try and make it to the cave where he had firewood stored.

He'd finally run out of energy about half way there. He'd fell down into the soft blanket of snow, and despite Dranzer's attempts to get him moving. He hadn't been able to summon enough energy to get up again.

He still lay there, even though he was barely aware of the light of the third day shining on the glittering snow. No one would come looking for him until this day was over; he was scheduled to report back at the abbey at dawn tomorrow. There was no way that he would be able to last that long.

Dranzer was using all of her energy just to keep him alive. And as much as she tried to reassure him, he knew that she was almost out of energy. So his grandfather wouldn't have his tool anymore, he'd be disappointed. Not that Kai cared much about that; he'd never wanted to be the perfect solider in the first place. He'd just never been given any choice in the matter.

What a pity. What a waste.

Kai slowly began to close his dull crimson eyes. That was when he'd heard it. A crunching sound through the snow, like footsteps.

"What are you doing down there?" Came a voice, sounding like it was coming from very, very far away.

He weakly opened his eyes again. Directly above him he saw a face, the details were blurred. He couldn't see who it was; the lines and colours faded and wavered. He parted his blue lips slightly, as if attempting to form an answer. Not a sound escaped his throat.

"I'll help you" came the voice again, it echoed in his mind. The wavering figure loomed closer, covering his view. He felt something being placed on his chest, it was warm. He closed his eyes as the comforting warmth spread throughout his body. Until he could breath easily and feel even his previously numb fingers and toes before.

He looked up at the figure again, and saw that it wasn't blurred anymore. It was a girl with long black hair and smiling aqua eyes. She looked to be around six years old. She was wrapped up in a huge extremely warm looking coat that dragged across the snow as she moved. She stepped back, removing her hand from his chest.

"Come on silly" she said, offering a hand to help him to his feet. "You don't want to stay on the ground all day."

More than a little bit awed, he took the offered hand.

"How did you do that?" he stuttered shakily, he was still getting used to being able to talk again.

"Easy" she said with a huge smile. "I just used energy from my bit beast Tasmine to make you be warm again. It won't last long though, so we should really go find shelter." She held out her blade proudly for him to see. In the bit piece there was a picture of a red wolf surrounded with flames.

In his pocket Dranzer glowed and he took her out curiously.

"I think they like each other" The girl smiled.

He nodded and after pocketing Dranzer again began to head for the cave. He didn't much want to be frozen again. The cold air was already causing him to shiver.

"What's your name?" The girl asked as they walked along.

"Kai" Kai answered quickly.

"Cool, mines Rage. Well, that's what I call myself anyway. My mama used to call me something different, but she's gone now so that doesn't really matter."

Rage shivered, "It's kind of cold and creepy out here. But my papa said that I had to sleep out here tonight cause he's says that I'm a pain in the neck. But he's not my real papa; he's my step papa. So I don't think that it should matter what he says."

On the way to the cave Rage kept up her constant chatter. Kai found it more comforting than annoying he was surprised to realise. Out here she could talk as much as she wanted without getting told off, so he let her talk.

When they reached the cave he even joined in talking a little when she changed the subject to the different parts used in beyblading. That was something he knew a lot about, and he enjoyed discussing different weight disc combinations while they piled up the firewood.

Kai took out his blade and shot it at the pile of wood to get a blaze going. He settled down against the cave wall relaxing in the heat given off by the fire. Rage settled down beside him, for the moment her expression was serious.

"Kai, do ever wonder about what having a friend is like?"

The small boy looked at her curiously, "Friends aren't allowed at the abbey" he said simply.

"I know, but don't you ever wish that there was someone that could be there for you. No matter what?"

"I guess" Kai answered slowly.

"Lets pretend Kai, lets pretend that we're friends. That we're allowed to be friends, just for today. Please?"

The small girl smiled sadly at the almost fearful look on the boy's face.

"Don't worry Kai, Boris won't find out."

After thinking for a minute, Kai gave a small nod. "How do you be a friend?" he asked softly.

"By being nice" Rage answered, "by just being there and helping when you can."

Kai shivered again, the fire was burning low. There was no more firewood dry enough to use, and the cold was beginning to creep into his bones again.

"Here" the girl offered with a smile. She unbuttoned her huge coat and wrapped in around them both. Kai was comforted by the warmth as she rebuttoned the fur coat around them. The friendliness of the action was unfamiliar to the tortured boy. And he involuntarily froze as she snuggled into his side.

Finally however he relaxed, for the first time in a long time he felt safe. It wouldn't last forever, but for now it was all he wanted. He fell asleep with his head rested on top of her's.

End Flashback

He awoke in the same position he had been in the memory. He hadn't even noticed falling asleep. His movement as he sat up straighter woke up Rage.

"You saved my life in the snow," he whispered to the still dark room.

"Did you really only just remember that?" She asked, her tone showing disbelief.

"Yes"

"I never really fully believed that you had forgotten the abbey. I mean, it's so difficult to think that it's even possible to forget something like that."

Kai remained silent, his eyes fixed on the window as soft tones of light indicated that down was on its way. He hugged his knees loosely to his chest, his thoughts still lost in the memory.

"I wonder how long it will take," he said softly, "before all of my memories return."

Rage stared at him with a new look. One filled with dread, sorrow and a kind of a hope that she seemed sure would not happen.

"I hope it doesn't take long," she whispered under her breath as she watched the sun rise.

They sat in silence like that, until the sun had finally fully signalled the start of the next day. Whether they were friends or foes stayed unspoken as the memory of when they had first met replayed in both their minds.

'We could have been friends' Kai thought, a painful feeling of sorrow rising in his chest. He didn't even suspect that right at that moment Rage was thinking the same thing.

What is your opinion of this chapter, i'd really like to know. just click on the review button and tell me. I read every single review and LOVE getting them.

This is all heading somewhere by the way. I'll update soon, sooner if you review and remind me.