AN: Wee! An update.

Sorry if I haven't updated in a while. I've been in a slump of depression because I (sniffle) checked my reviews for other fics and I have, like, flames. Yeah. My homies are gonna get them (jk). Actually, I don't really care about their opinions. I really need to stop lying to myself.

Engaged. The word was a slap to the face. "Oh." Was all he could say. "That's . . . good for her. Yeah, I'm happy for her. Listen, I got to go." He stood on shaky knees and headed for the door.

"Wally," Abby stopped him then didn't know what to say to comfort him. "It's not like she's dead or anything."

But she was dead. Dead to him. And she had been for all these years but he had lied to himself, telling himself she might have changed her mind about her feelings for him. Even after the rejection, the ten years away from her, he still felt that whole in his heart that refused to be filled with anyone other than Kuki Sanban. Maybe they were polar opposites. He didn't care. He saw everything he loved in her. She was the picture of perfection. She was the reason he woke up in the morning, the reason he never gave up.

And now, though he was closer to her now than he had been for ten years, there was a huge gap between them. And he couldn't see any way to fill it.

Kuki Sanban, engaged! If he had known, he wouldn't have wasted his time coming here. True, he wanted to see the others but the truth was he had come back to win the heart of his true love. Not only did she not return his love, but she gave it to another.

"Where does she live?" He asked suddenly. He knew it was impulsive and selfish, but he had to see her. He couldn't believe she held nothing for him. There had to be something, even the slightest spark of affection, held in her heart.

Abby replied, "I don't think you should go see her." Her voice was calm and quiet, but authoritive. She saw no reason for the blonde to have his heart broken yet again.

He stared deep into her brown eyes. "I have to. If you don't tell me, I'll find out some other way."

"Come on," She opened the front door. "I'll take you." It wasn't that she understood his intentions.

She just didn't want him to do anything impulsive that would danger his life.

Kuki Sanban flipped through the pages of the yearbook. It wasn't a school year book, but the KND training year book. After finally finishing training to become a KND operative, the new agents were given a yearbook to celebrate their accomplishments.

Leaving the KND was the hardest thing she had had to do. Except perhaps . . .

"Don't think about that!" She commanded herself. "Besides," she added, "You didn't feel the same way for him. No need to dwell on the past."

But dwell she did. She hated to admit it, but maybe she had been wrong in rejecting Wally. But she had been young then and her feeling confused her. They would confuse any girl. She wasn't sure at the time if she truly loved Wally. And maybe she hadn't felt more for him than light school girl crush.

She flipped the pages. There he was. Wallabee Joey Beatles. She remembered the day they had met like it was yesterday.

The boy leaned against the wall, tough on the outside but scared to death on the inside. Kuki smiled at him.

"Hi! I'm Kuki Sanban! What's your name?"

He seemed reluctant to give out his name, but for some reason trusted the Japanese girl. "Wallabee Beatles."

She thought for a moment. "Isn't a Wallaby an animal?"

He turned red. "So what?"

She giggled. "And a beetle is a bug. So you're like half kangaroo and half bug." This seemed even funnier to the girl, who burst out into a spasm of insane laughter.

"Well . . ." he couldn't think of anything witty to say about her name. And she was a girl, so he couldn't hit her. And oddly, he didn't want to hit her. Even though her laughter was aimed at him, he liked it. It was a warm laughter that seemed to caress him. He became lost in her laughter and actually joined in.

She smiled at the memory. For some reason, meeting him stuck more in her memory than meeting the others.

An even stronger memory consisted of their first mission.

His jade eyes were so into the moment they almost took on a glazed look. In fact, his intensity was almost frightening. As if he would think nothing of gunning someone down at the moment simply to win.

Kuki didn't understand why Wally seemed so into fighting. She didn't know she'd find out the answer in just a few minutes.

The villain was obviously weak. His name alone proved his weakness. The Toilenator. Ooh, real scary. But what was scary was the way Wally handled himself.

The Toilenator, obviously judging the kids by their sizes, lunged at Wally. His hit, though weak, grazed Wally across the side of his face. The boy felt nothing because he was so caught in the moment, so pumped with adrenaline, that no pain could break through his shell.

The boy delivered a quick left punch to the stomach, which knocked the wind out of the adult and then two more, a right and a left, also in the stomach. He fell to his knees and Wally kicked him sharply in the kidney. The Toilenator cried out in pain and fear as Wally punted him in the gut.

Just as Wally was about to kick the Toilenator in the back, which could be a fatal blow, Nigel grabbed him. "Numbuh 4!" His voice seemed to command authority, yet shook in fear. In fact, all four kids were scared after seeing how Wally had reacted. It was truly frightening.

Wally tried to pull away and for a moment, Kuki feared he would strike the leader.

"Numbuh 4, no. He's had enough." Numbuh 1 said sternly.

Wally seemed to collapse slightly. "All right," his voice came out soft and scared.

Kuki wondered why he would be afraid.

Later that evening, Kuki had knocked on Wally's door.

"It's open!" He called.

She entered cautiously. "Hi," She said softly.

He smiled weakly. "Hey."

She climbed up and sat with him on the arena. She had no idea how to begin. "Well."

"I know what you're going to say," Wally said. His voice seemed distant. "I know I went too far."

"Why?" She couldn't believe she was actually asking.

"I don't know . . . no, I do know. Its just weird." Wally searched for the right wording. "Fighting is like, I dunno, it's a relief for me, I guess. Its like, I can just let everything out. Ya know what I mean? Then it just leaves me . . . numb. Like, I don't feel anything after a fight. I'm just . . . I dunno, empty. And calm. Did that make any sense to you?"

Strangely enough, it had. "But Numbuh 4, it's just a way to run away from how you feel. You can't run forever." She was so wise for an eight year old.

"Yeah," he trailed off. Why had he just spilled his heart to this girl he barely knew? And why did she care about him?

Why did he care about her?

Kuki shut the book as a loud knocking echoed through her house. "Come in!" She called.

AN: Okay, probably not a very good chapter but hey, at least I updated. You'll find out in next chapter why they weren't decommissioned.