I know I haven't updated this in a long time. I haven't updated any of my stories at all recently, except today. But since this is the one I haven't updated for the longest, I have to do something about it, obviously. I'm a big sucker, I know. But I've been busy and gone on vacation in the last week, with schoolwork and other stuff. So I'm really sorry about that. I did warn you, didn't I? I used to have loads of free time in the summer and that's why I got to update so much. Now I have to do all this stuff for school. Grrr.

Now that you finally get to read the next chapter, I'd better get on with it, huh? Enjoy 'The Birthday Reunion', which continues with Keiko's birthday.

And yeah, Kimiko's dad gives her 15 dollars. It's just a birthday, so you don't really expect that much from it.

--

Kimiko was as nervous as it was possible to be nervous, because it had been so long since she had attended a birthday party that she didn't remember how to act at a birthday at all. Her palms were sweating profusely, and Kimiko felt disgusted at herself for sweating so heavily. She needed to take a shower, but unfortunately for her she was already on the way to Keiko's house, in her father's car. She hoped that she could trust herself to not act like a total idiot in front of everyone, and also resolved that she wouldn't mention anything about being a Xiaolin Warrior. It was embarrassing, frankly, and she wanted to still be friends with Keiko.

She gulped as her father stopped at a large house. It wasn't as big as hers, but it would be impressive to any other Japanese person who stopped by. She walked out, her hands shaking with anxiousness, and walked slowly. She waved to her father, who winked at her, and zoomed away in the bright blue car. Kimiko wiped off the sweat on the door, and rang the doorbell carefully. She was a little early, but she was sure Keiko wouldn't mind. After all, they had been best friends

Keiko came running out. "Kim!" She cried excitedly, giving Kimiko a big hug. Kimiko felt a little awkward, having someone she hadn't seen in four years hug her, but she was glad that Keiko still liked her. It was nice of Keiko to welcome her like that.

"I got you your present," Kimiko said.

"Oh, thanks!" Keiko took the present and set it on a chair.

"Hey, Keiko." Kimiko kept cool. "Sorry I'm a little bit early, but my dad had to do something off at work. He's practically always at work, really."

"Oh well. It's basically the same here. We're not as rich as your dad, but we do fairly well compared to regular people. Anyways, anything new happen to you?" Keiko asked her, looking interested.

"Well, like you know, I've been gone for the last four years to learn stuff about fighting." Kimiko thought of Raimundo almost as immediately as she did of the Xiaolin temple, and she blushed a little. Keiko noticed it, and she grabbed Kimiko's shoulder. "Oh. My. God. Kimiko, who is this guy?"

"What guy?" Kimiko asked, aware that she was blushing even harder.

"You like some guy from wherever you were. I just know it." Keiko tugged on her sleeve. "Kim, you've got to tell me. What's he like? Is he hot?"

"Okay, okay. I admit. His name's Raimundo Pedrosa, but I call him Rai. And yeah, he is hot. Hotter than any Japanese guy, anyways. Um…um… what's he like? Well, he has spiked up brown hair and these gorgeous green eyes… and he's really sweet but acts tough and cool…" Kimiko suddenly realized that she was gushing all over Rai. She gave Keiko an embarrassed look, but saw that Keiko was smiling happily.

"Kim, that's great! I mean, you finally get a guy, and he turns out to be major hot! I have to meet him sometime. But I'm not interested in him, because I've got my own boyfriend now," Keiko said, twirling her black hair absently.

Now it was Kimiko's turn to be surprised, but get over it and be happy for her friend. She spoke all out at once. "Seriously? Who is it? You've got to tell me! I told you about Rai!"

"Um. He's not a Japanese guy, like everyone else's boyfriends. He's actually an American exchange kid, but he told me he'd be staying since he likes it here a lot. His name is Jon Greenburg, and he's got blonde hair and blue eyes. Yeah." Keiko smiled warmly. "He's really nice, too."

"That's just great!" Kimiko said happily. "I'm happy for you. Really."

"Thanks," Keiko said. Her light brown eyes seemed to illuminate as she said it. "If you want to, I can take you to meet him after the party."

"Absolutely," Kimiko said, nodding. At that moment the doorbell rang loudly and clearly through their conversation, and Kimiko ran to answer it. There was a girl with long blonde hair and light blue eyes looking at her. Kimiko stared at her for a while. She definitely wasn't a Japanese girl.

"Hi. Where's Keiko?" She asked.

"Oh, Keiko's in the living room. Hi. I'm Kimiko, by the way. I'm one of her best friends around here. Follow me, I guess," Kimiko said, with a friendly tone.

"Thanks," the girl said. "My name's Sara."

With that, she followed Kimiko into the elaborate living room where Keiko sat waiting. Keiko smiled warmly at Sara. She gestured for Kimiko and Sara to sit down.

"So, Sara, what's up?" Keiko asked. Kimiko sat back and waited for Sara to respond. She was just going to watch, since she wasn't a part of this conversation.

"Oh, well, not much," Sara said. "Same old stuff. But I talked to Jon this morning, and you know what? He's going to get you a present, even though you didn't invite him. He said he didn't blame you for not asking him to come, since it's an all-girl party and he didn't want to be the only guy anyways. I thought that was pretty nice of him, don't you think? Even though he half annoys me to death."

Kimiko listened with interest. So Sara knew him, too? But if he was so wonderful, then why would Sara dislike him? Unless… Sara had said she ran into him that morning, hadn't she? So then…

"I don't get why you don't like him. Even if he is your brother, he's still so sweet," Keiko said dreamily. Kimiko gasped. So she was right! They definitely would look alike if she saw them together, she knew. After all, Keiko had described him with blonde hair and blue eyes. That was Sara, too.

Kimiko, Sara, and Keiko talked for a while until the doorbell rang again.

--

It was fifteen minutes later, and the party was a full house. Kimiko was having a lot of fun, and the food was great. Everyone looked like they were having a great time, as far as Kimiko could see, and she was glad.

They had a hard time deciding what to do for the next 3 hours that they were supposed to stay at Keiko's house. Keiko gave everyone a snack consisting of chips, fruit punch, cookies, and some fruit. Kimiko ate it quickly. She was hungry.

After that, they played some normal teenage girl games such as Truth or Dare. One girl, Margaret, who also came from America, came up with the best dares. They did outrageous things, like stuffing as much paper as possible in their mouths, or tickling people for ten minutes straight. It was fun, and lasted them for about an hour. When they were done, Keiko's mom announced that it was time to eat the cake. To Kimiko, it was extremely delicious, as was the ice cream that Keiko gave everyone afterwards. After that, several people got bored, and they decided to watch a movie. Keiko made sure it was long enough, but not too long so that by the time it was over people had to leave. When the movie was over, they had half an hour left. They just came up with whatever ideas they had, and everyone was in great spirits by the time they had to leave. Keiko waved good-bye to everyone, and soon she was left alone with Kimiko and Sara once again.

"Hey, Sara, can we go to your house?" Keiko asked. "I want to introduce Jon to Kim."

"Sure, I guess. But I'm sure she wouldn't like that idiot," Sara said dismissively. She glanced at Kimiko, who gave her a shrug. Sara went out the door, and Keiko and Kimiko followed after her. Keiko was smiling radiantly, and Kimiko was excited to see what Jon was like.

Sara, too, had a large house. But this time as she walked up to the front door, Kimiko wasn't nervous. She was glad that Keiko was still her friend. And maybe she'd make friends with Sara now, too.

An extremely handsome 17-year-old boy stepped out to greet them. He had tinkling, light blue eyes and an atmosphere of welcoming. Kimiko gaped at him. This boy was almost as hot as Raimundo.

Keiko ran into his arms. "Jon," she said with glee in her voice. "It's been days since I last saw you. But there's not a day I stop thinking about you."

"Me too," he said softly, his voice smooth. "Hey, who's your friend there?"

"That's my best friend, Kimiko Tohomiko. She's Japanese, too, and she's really cool. I'm sure you'd like her if you got to know her."

"Probably." Jon shrugged and examined Kimiko. Kimiko could feel her face burn as he looked at her with intensity. She couldn't bear it.

"Could you not look at me like that? It's making me feel like you're trying to inspect me for something," Kimiko blurted. She put her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.

She expected Jon to look disappointed, but instead he looked amused. "Right," he said. "I'm an inspector now, huh?"

"Sorry," Kimiko said. "But I just don't like being looked at too much. Except by my boyfriend Rai and my good friends Omi, Clay, and Keiko."

"Oh," Jon said. "Well, nice meeting you."

Jon ran up to his room and carried something down. It was a blue package, wrapped neatly and carefully. He handed it to Keiko. "Your birthday present," he explained.

Keiko squeezed it. "Can I open it now?"

"Sure," Jon said, smiling. Keiko opened the package carefully

--

Kimiko was home again. She had spent the whole day with her friend Keiko, her boyfriend, and Sara in the mall. It was fun but also exhausting.

She remembered the conversation Keiko had had with Jon the first time she had met Jon. Keiko had said that she was sad because she hadn't seen Jon in a few days, and that she missed him. This made Kimiko cry onto her pillow, sobbing quietly. It was horrible, the way fate had to go. Keiko could be sad that she hadn't seen Jon in a few days, but she didn't have to really be all that upset. But as for Kimiko… Kimiko hadn't seen Raimundo in weeks. And very possibly, she would never see him again. The terrible thing was that. Keiko could see her boyfriend daily and be happy, while Kimiko never saw Raimundo at all and still tried to force a smile on her lips. Kimiko cried at the thought of never seeing Raimundo again. She knew he would always be the only one for her. But could she really go through the rest of her life wanting something and never getting it? This realization was too horrible to comprehend. Kimiko cried even harder.

After a while, Kimiko felt better and went downstairs to get a glass of water. Then she wrote Raimundo a note, sealed it, and sent him a cake Keiko had given her after the party.

--

Wow. Really long. It took me an hour to finish, but I'm pretty proud of myself. I hope you guys like it. :)