Disclaimer: Beyblade isn't mine but Dreams is.
Title: Dreams
Chapter Title: Finale
Rating: T
Categories: Romance/Angst
Summary: blah
Feedback: I love them!
Status: 29/29

Beta: None.
Notes: New layout because the other one was annoying me.

Reviewer Responses

Tai-for-you: First one to get it right! ((blows that party-blower thing))

xXAquiliusDraconisXx: Yay for me? YAY FOR SUGAR! Thanks for the review.

Bluestray: Uh… yeah… long wait but oh well! At least I updated!

Catseyes77: You got it right too! Congratulations! The last chappie! ((sob))

Humaninspirations: Aw… poor Mokko. MEAN RAY! ((punches him)) Grr… Anyway, thanks for the review!

Dark wolf: Ah! NOT THE DICTIONARY! PLEASE! Yes, I have brought out the last chapter and torture seems a pretty appealing method… ((Parole officer raises eyebrow)) Uh… I mean… I'm a good citizen! I HELP the community! Don't cry!

Aquariusfan: I've updated again (Raven: After a bloody long wait!) Shut up, you! Thanks for the review and please review again!

Sora Takenouchi Ishida: YAY! You're right too! Congrats! ((hugs)) Please review again! XD

M: Yes, Ray was a big meanie! They're not friends yet, but maybe the sequel…

EyedMay: Ray/Mariah is an awesome pairing but I like Kai/Mariah because its… different.

Fgfdg50: Uh… yeah… I'm a big meanie. What ya gonna do about it? ((bursts out laughing))

Lil Bre: Wow! I'm so honoured that you reviewed my story! I do have some more Kai/Mariah stories and I love yours. Yep, Tala was a naughty, naughty boy. Shame on him!

DREAMS

Kai/Mariah/Ray Raven (OC)/Tala Tyson/Hilary Emily/Max
blah

Flowerperson
© 2005

Chapter Twenty-Nine
Finale

"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.

"Raven?" Mariah questioned in a hushed voice, "Are you insinuating what I think you're insinuating?"

It couldn't be possible, could it? Raven couldn't be… because if she was, that meant that she and Tala… no, she couldn't be, right? No way. Nope. Definitely not. How could she even think that?

The blue haired woman was silent and turned away from Mariah, holding herself tight with her arms. She was wearing one of Tala's coats with the extra long sleeves and looked small and vulnerable inside it. She looked… lost.

"Raven?" she repeated, eager to just hear the answer. But could it be that this silence was her answer, and it was a yes. But that couldn't be true! It couldn't! "Raven!" she called, more desperately, needing to hear this from her. Needing to hear that she wasn't what Mariah was guessing she was. Raven was only around eighteen – it couldn't be!

Silence. It tore at Mariah, making her even more anxious and desperate. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her erratic breathing. She had to be serene and peaceful.

In a level voice, Mariah asked the question. "Raven… are you… pregnant?"

Raven scoffed icily, "If the pregnancy tests in Japan are as good as every other bit of technology that they claim, then yes… I am." She paused, and took a deep, shuddering breath that was both sharp and blunt at the same time. Turning to face the pink-haired girl, Raven's brows furrowed. "I'm bloody pregnant!" she bawled as she cried – the first tears that Mariah had ever seen leaking from her chocolate brown eyes. She instantly hugged her new friend that was suffering from inner turmoil. She didn't know what to say, so she rubbed her back gently. "What should I do?" Raven hiccupped, clearly in great distress.

"Have you told Tala?" Mariah inquired as she pulled away. Tala should, after all, be here and hear this news. Then again… how would the icy Russian take it? What would be his reaction? Would he be scared? Would he be upset? Would he be angry? Would he be… happy? Or even… indifferent?

The newly pregnant girl shook her head slightly, staring at the floor. "I… can't believe this happened. It was one goddamn night! I mean… how was we supposed to know that we were going to do? They should have bloody emergency kits or something! I know England and America have high teen pregnancies but not bloody Japan! They hate babies! They eat little puppies – or was that Koreans? Why the hell am I talking about puppies? GRR! Damn it he shouldn't have done that! Now I'm all hormonal and moodier than usual!" (2)

And with that, her second outburst stopped. Moments passed, pure silence echoing around the room until Raven broke it with a sombre statement. "I have to get rid of it."

"RAVEN!" Mariah exclaimed loudly and high-pitched, "How can you get rid of an innocent creature? I can't believe you'd rush into abortion! At least Tala needs to know. It's his baby, right?"

"Of course it is," Raven confirmed snappishly. "But he doesn't need to know. No one needs to know apart from me, you and the doctor. I just… needed to tell someone before I did and it wasn't like I could tell Hiro, or Tyson, or Hilary, or Emily, or Max or Kai! (She spat his name with pure disgust of which Mariah winced).

"Do you want me to come to the clinic?" she asked. Raven shrugged with pretend nonchalance – Mariah knew that that was what the stubborn girl really wanted.

"I'm going tomorrow morning. Is nine o'clock okay?"

She nodded, and Raven wiped away her tears with fury at herself then walked out. A few seconds later, Kai walked with his face contorted in curiosity. "What was all that shouting about?" he questioned with a raised slate blue eyebrow.

Sighing, Mariah replied: "Girl stuff."

Kai hadn't really bought Mariah's excuse that she was going 'shopping' with Raven. First of all, Raven disliked shopping with a deep passion. Secondly, Mariah probably wouldn't like shopping with Raven as she would be moody and hostile – just like Kai. And last, he was still suspicious of the two girls' strange behaviour yesterday.

He had just 'hovered' outside their door innocently (yeah right – innocently was not one word to describe it) and had overhead shouting. Mariah was calling Raven's name, but the object of Kai's abhorrence did not answer her and remained silent. Mariah then whispered a few words and Kai was just able to make out one word: "Pregnant".

Huh? WHAT? "PREGNANT?" Oh no, he couldn't possibly be considering that she had said… that. His ears were playing tricks on him, surely for they had only done it once and they used all the necessary precautions!

Someone started crying; it must have been Mariah since Raven never cried. "I… can't believe this happened." Raven said, "… one goddamn night! … bloody emergency kits or something! I know England and America have high teens pregnancies but not bloody Japan! They hate babies! They eat little puppies – or was that Koreans? Why the hell am I talking about puppies? GRR! Damn it he shouldn't have done that!" Her rant was followed by an unnerving silence until she whispered: "… get rid of it."

The pink haired girl did not agree with her friend's judgement and punishment. "RAVEN! How can you get rid of an innocent creature?" The rest of the words were muffled.

Raven snapped something back. "But he doesn't need to know. No one needs to know apart from me, you and the doctor… (her voice became quieter until there was another sudden outburst) … KAI!"

Now why was he being brought into that conversation? Why did they talk about pregnancies? Why did they talk about abortions? Why did they talk about one night stands? The evidence all pointed in one direction – and it wasn't a very nice one. In fact, he dreaded the answer that he knew was the only logical response.

So when Mariah departed at quarter to nine ante-meridian saying she was meeting Raven at the Granger's place, he waited a few minutes before walking out in the same direction. He was not going to make his presence known – not yet. Sure enough, he spotted his girlfriend and his second rival leaving Tyson's house in the direction for the nearby clinic.

Some people may have felt sneaky and guilty for tailing them but this is Kai – and Kai doesn't feel much.

He hoped that they would walk past. He hoped that there was a brand new shopping mall on the way. He hoped he dreamt the conversation between them last night. He hoped that he was too damn paranoid for his own good but he had never been paranoid before. Then again, there wasn't the chance of a miniature Kai!

They walked into the clinic. Damn. The Russian stayed outside, knowing that if he walked in he would look very suspicious and either girl could spot him – the blue triangles were a dead giveaway.

Standing outside, Kai leant against the grey brick wall and waited.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Mariah questioned as she placed a hand on the slightly taller girl's shoulder. Staring ahead with concentrated determination, she shook her hand off.

"Of course I'm bloody sure. I'm not going to wuss out now. I have to deal with this now, before it gets too late." Her eyes looked like they were about to water but she furiously blinked her eyes and they returned to their usual moisture. Her hands were tightly clenched and were coloured a pale white, as was her face.

She looked ill, exhausted or maybe even both. The heavy bags from yesterday seemed twice as dark and her eyelids drooped slightly. Raven had not slept much last night, if not none. She needed to relax and Mariah reluctantly thought that a baby would cause a lot of stress therefore drive Raven over the edge. And Tala's reaction would still be uncertain. If he rejected her, Raven would most definitely do something very drastic and very tragic – she held inner angst like that. Maybe she was a pessimist and overly dramatic but that was Raven, pure and simple.

The nurse called her into the room for a consultation with the doctor, which (if she agreed to continue with the procedure) would immediately lead to the treatment. The embryo would be terminated. The fetus would be destroyed.

The baby would be killed.

"See you soon," she whispered glumly (with a defeated tone in her dreary voice).

It was quicker than she anticipated, for Raven walked up to Mariah around twenty to thirty minutes later with a sombre expression on her face – almost regret but not quite.

"Done," the blue haired female stated quietly, and said no more. Mariah asked her how she was, but she did not respond and kept staring at the grey linoleum floor. They arrived outside only to see a familiar two-toned, spiky hairstyle.

"Kai?" Mariah questioned, "What are you doing here?" Kai scratched his chin as he thought of an excuse but his brain was just screaming: PREGNANT! PREGNANT! PREGNANT! PREGNANT! PPPPPRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGNNNNNNAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNTTTTTTTT! Stupid brain, it was becoming more and more like Tyson's everyday.

Raven looked up and frowned indignantly. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked with narrowed eyes, "He followed you." Mariah looked shocked and furrowed her brows in accusation.

The male beyblader scowled, "Well then you should have told me about it."

"It?" Mariah's angry expression turned to confusion. "What are you talking about?" She took a step towards him and tilted her head to the side, pink hair sweeping over her shoulder. Kai's scowl remained in place.

"You know what! You should have asked me of what I thought before you came here and just got rid of it."

Raven's brown orbs narrowed into even narrower slits, "And why should I care about what you think? The only person who should make the decision is me."

"No, Mariah should be making the decisions on her baby. You have no idea on how to survive with children."

Her eyes flashed dangerously, "It's not Mariah's!" she protested.

"It's… not Mariah's? But… you were talking… last night… and now you're at the clinic…" Kai instantly felt very embarrassed and confused but happy. Mariah was not pregnant! He was not a father! RELIEF! RELIEF! RELIEF! (He ignored the vague feeling of disappointment…)

"I am… was pregnant, dumb-arse! It's my baby! And I chose to abort it."

"Your baby? Tala's baby?"

"It wasn't a baby – it was an embryo. And besides, even if Tala had wanted me to keep it, I would have gotten rid of it. I can't handle caring after myself, let alone another human being. I helped that baby, no matter what you think." She sighed, and returned to her staring-at-the-floor tactic. "Please… don't tell anyone. I just want to forget it."

He had just received information that could destroy one of his enemies, yet his answer came out as: "… ok."

She glanced at him with her watery brown eyes, and then sprinted away from both of them. Kai looked to Mariah and hugged her close. "Sorry," he whispered. Mariah held onto him tightly and he felt slightly content.

The Dream was over – it was a reality.

But the Nightmare was about to begin.

Dreams

I told myself time and time again
That I'm not in love with you
And then it came to me
One night in a dream
It meant more to me
Than I wanted to see
But there was nothing I could do
To stop it even though you're with somebody else

If I didn't really care,
Why were you there?
The colour of your eyes
The scent of your hair
Now I know dreams aren't reality
But you're real, so real to me

It took a dream to tell me,
That I love you, lady
I couldn't see that you were always there for me
Remembering the times we shared together
It came clear to me one night

I am in love

I tossed and turned and broke into sweat
Covered with tears, my pillow's wet
I'm drowning in the river of my hopelessness
Only you can save me now
I've got to find some way some how
To let you know how I feel inside
'Cause it's so obvious and hard to hide

If I didn't really care,
Why were you there?
The colour of your eyes,
The scent of your hair

Now I know dreams aren't reality
But you're real, so real to me
It took a dream to tell you
That I love you, lady
I couldn't see that you were always there for me
Remembering all of the times we shared together
It came clear to me one night

And it came clear to me one night
I am in love
And what can I do?
And what can I say?
To let you know that I feel the same,
So don't walk away
'Cause I know I can't be wrong
And my dreams – they can't be wrong

It took a dream to tell you
That I love you, lady
I couldn't see that you were
Always there for me
Remembering all of the times we shared together
It came clear to me one night
It came clear to me one night

It took a dream to tell you
That I love you, lady
I couldn't see that you were
Always there for me
Remembering all of the times we shared together
It came clear to me one night

I fell in love

Dreams – A Kai / Mariah romance

Authoress' Notes

((sob)) That's it! The end of 'Dreams'! An abrupt ending, I think but at least I finished it! YAY!

– I don't want to offend anyone – this is Raven's biased outlook on foreigners (a majority of British people do hate people from other countries; I am not one of these country-haters and can't wait to move out of Britain). I remember hearing stories of how some people ate puppies (when I was a child) and it really scared me!

So… since it is the last chapter… anyone want to review? PLEASE!

Flowerperson