A grim smile spread across Wuya's face.

"What are you proposing?" she asked.

"I…I'll join you again if you just leave her alone…even if it means dying…I just can't lose her like this!" said Raimundo, closing his eyes as the pain welled up inside of him.

"Interesting," said Wuya, looking down at the nails on her right hand, "But not what I want."

Raimundo took a breath and got ready to attack.

"I'm not interested in having you as a partner, slave or whatever anymore Raimundo," laughed Wuya, "Right now, I'm out for revenge on Kimiko and what could be better than killing the boy she loves? Not to mention it'll be her hands that do it!"

Wuya let out a cackling laugh.

"You won't manage that," said Raimundo, standing straight, "Because I know Kimiko will stop you before it comes to that. She always was stronger than you. You just never knew it."

"Let's test that theory!" shouted Wuya, throwing a handful of flames at Raimundo.

Raimundo dived to the side and slid down and into the vault. He landed on his feet and straightened up before frantically searching the draws.

"Raimundo, no use hiding!" laughed Wuya, sending more flames down the passage way.

Raimundo flattened against the wall, but he could smell the singed hair and the burns on his face. He grimaced and then started rummaging through the draws again. He pulled one open and smiled before pulling out the sword of the storm.

"Raimundo?" called Wuya, "Oh too bad, I wanted to kill him myself, by I suppose burning to death will have to do."

"Sword of the Storm!"

Raimundo flew out of the vault and straight at Wuya. He kicked her hard in the face. This annoyed her as this had already happened to her once today. She grabbed his foot and slammed him into the ground.

"Sword of the storm!" shouted Raimundo and her hand passed straight through him.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" shouted Wuya, disappearing.

As Raimundo became solid again, Wuya appeared behind him and wrapped her hands around his neck, digging Kimiko's manicured nails into his throat.

"Time to die Raimundo!" she cackled.

"I don't think so!" hissed a voice inside of her.

Wuya staggered back, letting go of Raimundo's neck. Her hands were clasped to her head; her fingers were coiled in the strands of black hair. Raimundo ran a hand across his neck; he could feel the blood where she had cut through the skin.

Wuya was staggering around and slamming into walls. Raimundo understood instantly; Kimiko was fighting back at last.

"Come on Kim!" he called, "You can do it!"

The girl sank to her knees, breathing deeply and tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were tightly shut and her hands were over her ears.

She suddenly stopped shuddering and put her hands down.

"Kimiko?" asked Raimundo, approaching cautiously.

She turned, her blue eyes filled with tears and she looked exhausted.

"Rai?" she asked gently.

Raimundo ran over to her and bent down, wrapping his arms around her.

"What am I doing here?" she sobbed, "I…I can't remember."

"I thought I'd lost you for good that time," said Raimundo, running his hand down her hair.

"I'll stay here so long as you're here." Said Kimiko, "Isn't that…who said that again?"

Raimundo frowned and ran his hand through her hair.

"Come on," he said, lifting her up, "You'd better get some rest."

Dojo appeared in the doorway and super-sized before picking up Clay and Omi and putting them on his back.

"We'd better get them seen too," he said.

"Thanks for your help back there," said Raimundo, glaring sideways at him.

"I was with you in spirit!" said Dojo, flying out of the vault.

Kimiko woke up in the medical room. She looked around and saw Raimundo sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Opposite her was Omi, sleeping peacefully, the bandages around his hand stained red. Clay was pressing an ice-pack to his head.

"Mornin'," he said, nodding.

"What did I do?" asked Kimiko looking around.

"It's not too bad," said Clay, "It's not the first time I've been slammed into a wall and it's not the first time Omi's had to recover from a stab wound. The broken hand however, may take some apologising. He won't be fighting for a while."

"Rai," said Kimiko softly, looking around and noticing the number of plasters stuck to his neck.

"It's not your fault you know," said Clay gently, "You didn't do this, Wuya did."

"But…it feels like I did it…" Kimiko sighed deeply and looked down at her hands, "I can still feel the blood…it's…it's going to haunt me until I die. She's never going to give up…"

"Well there's nothing we can do about that just at this moment," said Clay "And besides, you fought her off once you can do it again."

Kimiko continued to stare at her hands. She felt like a part of her had died. She knew she deserved this, after what she did to Wuya…no! She couldn't think like that. That would just let Wuya take control again.

"Kimiko, it's not your fault," said Clay, leaning forward in his chair, "I always knew that something like this would happen one day. We're dragon knights, this is what we do and sometimes things go wrong and we can't help it. So just…get the hell over it already!"

Kimiko looked up and smiled gently. Clay's way of helping: telling them to get over it. It always made her feel better. Raimundo stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He looked from Kimiko to Clay and back again.

"Kim…are you okay?" he asked softly.

"I should be asking you that," said Kimiko turning around to face him.

"This is nothing," said Raimundo, running his fingers over his neck, "not compared to what I've been through. How's Omi?"

"He'll be waking soon," said Clay, "And you'd better run for cover when he does."

Kimiko smiled and slowly stepped out of bed. She very nearly fell over again, but Raimundo caught her and helped her up straight until her head stopped spinning.

"Let's go get you some food," said Raimundo, "You've got to be starving."

Sat at the small table, Kimiko looked down at her hands for the millionth time that morning. Raimundo put his own hands in hers and grasped them tightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Raimundo.

"Until she pops up again I will be." Said Kimiko, taking in a sharp breath, "I can feel her…all the time."

"It doesn't matter," said Raimundo, "you're safe."

Kimiko smiled gently and closed her eyes.

"At least until Omi wakes up." Laughed Raimundo.

Kimiko couldn't help but smile. A sudden shout came from the medical room, making them both jump and Kimiko winced slightly.

"MY FIGHTING HAND!"

(A/N) Next chapter should be coming soon. My exams will be over on Tuesday WOO HOO. Unfortunately my best-friend's go on until Friday. She's not impressed.  Luv Becky.