Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. Hilary would be dead if I did. ((Tyson sings: "Ding dong, the witch is dead! Which old witch? The bossy witch!"))

((sigh)) This has been such a long wait, but you must understand. My computer (which had the story FINISHED on it) was killed by a virus, and was beyond repair. I did NOT have a replace computer or a back-up, thus left computer-less. I borrowed my dad's computer but he would delete all my documents when he went on it. Then, I began to be punished by that darn writer's block. It lifted, I got ideas and then I went on holiday for two weeks ((sweatdrop)). So now, I've stolen my dad's computer and I'm speed-typing the chapter. I apologise for it's rubbishness, and I hope that you can forgive the long hiatus. This is the second to last chapter!

Bluestray: I didn't update soon, but I did update! Thanks for the review.

Dark wolf: ((shrugs)) Lots of people tell me their problems. I don't know why. I'm glad you found it funny. This chapter isn't funny. It's angsty. Thanks for the review.

Catseyes77: Poor Ray indeed. I'm really being evil. Mwa ha ha! Thanks for the review.

Aquariusfan: I am happy to do the unexpected! Uh… haven't Raven and Tala already confessed their feelings? Thanks for the review.

Humaninspirations: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't feed poor Mokko the evil greens! I'll make a sequel, but it will be a long while before it comes out! Tut tut, you shouldn't laugh when you're teacher is telling you off. Lol.

Sora Takenouchi Ishida: Yes, Kai/Mariah rocks and I'm so disappointed that there isn't many on ffdotnet. ((sigh)) But I'm fighting it! Kai/Mariah all the way! Thanks for the review.

Anonymous: WTF? "that pink headed slut pick ed Kai"? Listen, surely you must have something better to do than bash a fictional character? Geez. The pairing is Kai/Mariah. It's kind of a hint.

M: Don't fall off your seat! ((is scared of you suing her)) No humour in this chapter, only angst. Mwa ha ha! Thanks for the review. Well, there are such things as accidents ((Raven looks suspicious as she holds a bloody axe))

Destiny: Uh… well, my computer died, so I had no computer. Then I was depressed. Then I went on holiday. And now I'm back.

Last time: Uh… I forgot. Just go back and read the chapter.

Note: Last time I wrote that "Everyone – including Tala – goes back to the Carnival. Raven and Kai are forced to shake hands and agree not to hate each other as much, Mariah explains that she will always be Ray's best friend and Tala and Raven try to get some privacy. Lol. Not much chance of that happening." But I decided that I didn't like that. So I'm not going to do that. This is the second to last chapter!

Xxx

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Friends, Lovers and Strangers

Mariah sighed as she brushed her odd pink hair – the brush had been her mother's, and as a child, she had watched her maternal parent groom her straight, silky locks – and gazed in the bathroom mirror at herself. It was just over a week since her dramatic answer and her skin seemed paler (maybe it was the stress as of late), her hair was longer and her eyes were tired.

Like a lazy cat, she felt like curling up in front of a fireplace and as Raven would say, "travel to the land of Nod". She couldn't remember the last time she got more than seven hours sleep for nightmares about people's reactions for her decision. And now, the only obvious shock was from the person that she least expected it. But she by no means had performed the worst response.

Ray – of course, he had every right – had the worst reaction, for he was just deathly silent. He hadn't talked to her, even glanced at her since she said the oh so damning word to his heart. "Kai."

Examining the ends of her pink strands, Mariah concluded that her hair needed a good trim. She didn't know any salons nearby so maybe she would get someone to help. But… she didn't really trust Hilary with scissors, or Kai (even her lover could not be trusted, for he was unpredictable). Emily was absent most of the time, and Tyson, Max and Kenny… well… you didn't have to answer that (ok, ok, Tyson was stupid, Max was hyper and Kenny was blind). And she wasn't sure she liked the idea of Raven with a sharp object, especially if Kai or even Tyson was nearby. You only had to look at Tala's hairstyle and say "you're not coming anywhere near my hair"!

Which left only one person, and that made Mariah feel another ache in her injured heart. Yes, it was hurt but it couldn't have been anywhere near the emotional torment her best friend for life was going through. Ray was her best friend; at least… he used to be.

She supposed that he didn't want to be her friend anymore, not after she'd hurt him so badly. Not after she'd maimed him, and torn out his heart. She felt like dirt, and Mariah didn't think she would feel like this. She thought that – after revealing her decision – the heavy weight of guilty would be lifted, but it hadn't. It had doubled. Tripled. Quadrupled.

The guilt was now ten-fold.

And she was finding it hard to cope; she had to get rid of it. She had to make Ray understand that it wasn't his fault, that she loved him – but as family – and that she still wanted to be his friend, if he wanted to. But… did he?

Mariah thought about whether she should tie her hair back in the traditional way with the high ponytail and the light pink ribbon fashioned like cat ears. Staring at the said hair accessory in her hand, Mariah let it float to the floor and let her hair stay down. This – after all – was a time of change, a time of unpredictability or even a time of cruel irony. But it seemed irony wasn't a good way to describe the past events.

Unfortunate-Disaster-All-Because-of-Mariah sounded a little more accurate.

The White Tiger opened her bedroom door and walked down the corridor, the stairs and into the entrance hall. She grabbed her coat – pink and fluffy, but didn't have ANY fur or other animal skin at all – and walked outside into the night.

She had to see Ray, and she had to see him NOW.

His lights were on in the living room; therefore he must have been in. However, when she knocked and called his name, no one answered. She must have been knocking, calling and pleading for just over twenty minutes before she decided just to sit on the doorstep and think about what she was going to say, for she didn't have a clue.

It seemed that it was suddenly cold, and Mariah shivered as she brought her coat around her. She loved winter, but only when it was snowing and out here when it was dark and alone made her remember the last time she was like this – and that had been the start of this dreadful 'adventure'.

Around 237 seconds later (she had been counting to try and take her mind off the temperature), the door opened and light flooded onto the doorstep. Mariah immediately stood up and turned to face the silhouette in the house, and clapped her hands together in a sign of pleading. She was prepared to beg, if she needed to.

"Ray," she began, "May we please talk?"

He shrugged indifferently – his face emotionless, like Kai – then replied with a bitter and sarcastic tone, nothing like the Ray she knew. But she had changed him, and it seemed not for the better. "You've done enough talking."

"Please Ray; you're my best friend—"

The dark haired male scoffed, "I thought I was your ex-boyfriend…"

She flinched, but continued. "—And I still want us to be friends. We've been friends since forever," she added in a little whisper that he just about heard with advanced neko-jin hearing, "I don't want to lose you."

Kon frowned, but then stepped back and let the pink-haired girl in, shutting the door behind her and turning to face her. He didn't offer to move out of the hall, didn't offer her a drink, food or a seat and didn't take her coat. He stayed silent, and waited for her to talk. Mariah took a deep breath and gazed around the hall. Once there had been a picture of her and Ray together – this had been taken down and she felt a stab of sadness. But what else did she expect? She had broken his heart.

"Can't we still be friends? A lifetime of friendship can't be ruined like that."

He smiled woefully, "No… a lifetime of trust can be broken like that. Go back to your precious Kai, girl. You're not the Mariah I knew and loved. You are just a," he hesitated and turned his back to her, "stranger."

Stranger. That word hurt more than if he had slapped her in the face, elbowed her in the gut or kicked her in the crotch. It was so painful that an almost silent squeak escaped her lips at the sound of that word.

Stranger. She opened the door and walked out of the house without a word. She walked back – light rain fell on her, like the angels were spitting in disgust – with a heavy heart, and with tired feet. She did not cry, not yet, but could feel the sadness and grief rising, bubbling up inside her and threatening to consume her.

Stranger. Hiwatari Mansion loomed in the distance, and her eyes watered.

Stranger. She walked up past the gates and let herself in with the code Kai had provided her with; lucky that the tears were not completely blurring her vision so the numbers were illegible.

Stranger. Kai walked into the entrance hall just as she did, looking worried and partly frightened. She ran to him and he pulled her into a big hug, comforting her but it would not be enough.

Stranger. The first sobs escaped, as did the salty tears. Her anguished cries and wails echoed throughout the mansion.

Stranger. The word hurt so much, coming from him.

Stranger. She thought they would be together forever.

Stranger. She thought she would have had his children.

Stranger. He lost her.

Stranger. She lost him.

Stranger. He was broken.

Stranger. She was broken.

Stranger. He was gone.

She was a stranger.

Xxx

Kai put Mariah to sleep, setting her gently upon the pale rose and white covers of her bed. The room walls were a light pink and there was linoleum with the light beech effect on the floor. There was a desk in the room as well as a wardrobe (both were made of real beech) and the pink Galux lay on the desk with her ripcord and launcher. Placing Dranzer next to Galux, Kai turned back to Mariah.

He knew she had gone to see Ray, he was not stupid. Ray and Mariah had been together forever and it must really have hurt her to have lost that companionship.

Did she regret her decision?

But she still was with Kai. She still chose Kai. She still ran to Kai. Despite protests from one of his enemies, she had chosen him. Kai. He still found this surreal – maybe he was still dreaming. He did a very un-Kai-like thing… he pinched himself. You would expect someone such as Tyson to do that, and then wince from the pain. The Russian – however – did not wince.

He had nothing to do, and he was feeling too tired to train his beyblading skills. So, he sat in a seat by the door and watched his pink-haired lover sleep. Her golden eyes were shut, her mouth was open slightly, emitting incoherent murmurs and her chest rose and lowered as her diaphragm stretched – her ribs extending – so air rushed into her empty lungs.

His eyes began to slowly close, and Kai drifted off to sleep, dreaming of Mariah and for once, no nightmares.

xxx

Mariah was sitting in her bedroom again, going through her things that had been sent by Lee all the way from China. She decided that she would stay in Tokyo with Kai, knowing that the Elders had probably heard about her split with Ray and her relationship with Kai (probably because of Kevin's mouth… the little midget…) so would not be happy with her. White Tigers were not meant to marry out of the village, and if they did, it would be only to negotiate with neighbouring villages.

The door opened and a blue haired girl stood in the doorway, her arms not crossed as usual but hanging by her sides limply. Her frown was still present – but seemed hesitant – and her eyes still shined in her inner fury at the world and everyone around her but seemed to also glisten with sadness and love. Raven was now staying at Tyson's house with Hiro, Tyson, Grandpa Granger and even Tala and Mariah was staying at Kai's.

It was a shock that Raven had set foot in her adversary's mansion, and it was even more of a surprise that Kai had let her.

Raven might have sneaked past him, or maybe Kai had let her. Mariah knew that her boyfriend could tell that she was upset at the loss of her best friend. He had asked once if she regretted her decision, and she told him truthfully and firmly that she didn't. She didn't regret falling in love with Kai; she didn't regret being with Kai… she just wished that Ray had not been hurt in the process.

This decision had even affected Raven and Tala, though it seemed to turn out good. 'Seemed' being the most important word, of course.

"Mariah," she greeted and nodded her head slightly. "I… want to apologise for my outburst last week. It was wrong of me. I mean, you love Kai and I know he loves you so you should deserve love. Especially someone as good as you. You're beautiful, you speak politely, you don't have any scars, you can beyblade, you're popular and you have a kind soul."

She became babbling hysterically and waving her hands around. Mariah looked close at her face and saw that her face was paler and there were heavy bags under her brown eyes. The orbs glistened with unshed tears.

Raven was upset.

But over what? Had she and Tala had an argument? Had she suffered from a nightmare? Was she sick? Was he sick? Was Tyson being a pain? Or Hiro? Or even their grandfather? Mariah was confused, so she asked her what was wrong.

"What isn't wrong with me?" Raven replied as her hands moved more agitatedly, "I'm ALL wrong! Everything! I can't do anything right! I just fail, fail, fail! You're perfect and I'm… nothing. I'm a failure…"

Mariah was still puzzled, "What happened?"

The blue haired girl looked at her pink haired friend and then sighed as she ran a hand through her wild locks. She did a small smile as she looked at Mariah, "You would make a good mother."

And suddenly, Mariah knew what was wrong.

Xxx

Does anyone know?

Next Chapter: Finale – the last chapter.

Quote: Adult: Be careful! My sister: I will! ((trips))

Sorry for the long wait.