Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown. Never did, never will. Would love, very, very much, to own Raimundo. Still don't. :sigh:
Title: Fanning the Flames
Summary: The Bracelet of Aikou (love) has just revealed itself. Unfortunately, during battle, Kimiko accidentally activates it, turning Raimundo into a love struck fool. This wasn't quite what Master Fung had in mind when he said fan the flames...
Author: Silverflare07
Dedication: To Chibi! For her birthday! I know it took me FOREVER and two years to post this but I finally did! Aren't you proud of me!
Author's Notes: The title and some inspiration (plus a line in the second chapter) came from the Danny Phantom episode Fanning the Flames (my absolute favorite episode, or one of them). I don't own Danny Phantom either but, once I again, I would love, very, very much, to own Danny. But I don't. :sigh:
Stuff You Need to Know:
"Speech"
ThoughtsKimiko looked down at the cellular device in her hand. Every so often it would beep, meaning one thing. Kimiko had a message. She flipped open her phone and the text message stared up at her.
Wats goin on? Y haven't you called lately? Somethin's up call me.
It was from Keiko. She really should call her friend. She tried to give her updates at least a few times a week. Unfortunately with everything that had been going on she'd completely forgotten to call. Quickly she snapped the cell phone shut, exiting out of the text message. She opened it again and dialed Keiko's number. It rang for a few seconds before she finally picked up.
"Moshi, moshi!"
"Hey Keiko!"
"Kimiko! Hi! Why haven't you called me? It's not another ten thousand years of darkness thing is it?"
Kimiko laughed. "No nothing like that."
"Then what's up?"
"It's Raimundo."
"The hot one?"
Kimiko flushed and let out a slight laugh. "Yeah the hot one."
"What's up? He pantsing Omi again?"
Kimiko laughed again. "No, he's in love with me."
"WHAT?"
Kimiko moved the phone away from her ear and cringed as her friend shrieked. She'd almost forgotten how high-pitched Keiko could get. "Chill out, he's not really in love with me. He just thinks he is."
"Spill. Now."
Kimiko sighed. "See there's this Shen-Gong-Wu that makes a person of the opposite sex fall in love with you. I, uh, accidentally used it on Rai."
"Uh-uh." Keiko's voice was clearly unbelieving. "Accidentally...so you say."
"KEIKO!" Now it was Kimiko's turn to shriek.
From the other line Keiko laughed. "I'm just kidding. It was a total accident."
Kimiko could tell Keiko still didn't believe her but she didn't push it. "Yeah, so know he's madly in love with me and no one knows when it'll wear off."
"It can't be that bad." Kimiko could almost hear the shrug in Keiko's voice.
She plopped down onto her futon. "Keiko you don't understand...he was serenading me."
Keiko burst into laughter and Kimiko frowned. That hadn't quite been the reaction she'd been expecting. Where was Keiko's sympathy for her plight? Wasn't that what best friends were for? "You know it's not that funny."
Slowly Keiko's laughter subsided and she could hear her gasp and try to recover her breath. "You're right. Gomen. What did he sing to you?"
"Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse." Kimiko answered without thinking.
Keiko's laughter sounded again and Kimiko smacked her forehead. "Keiko! Can you at least try to be sympathetic here?" She was all but begging now.
"Yes because it must be so hard to have a very hot guy sing you a love song. And give you flowers too."
"Actually..." Kimiko frowned. "He hasn't given me flowers yet. Which is weird because it's the first thing you'd expect a romantic guy, which he has defiantly become, to do for the girl he's in lo-"
Right on cue a large bouquet of lilies was shoved under her nose. "Here beautiful, for you."
Kimiko was vaguely aware that she had dropped her phone and that Keiko's laughter could once again be heard, no doubt brought on by Raimundo's 'beautiful'. She gently took the flowers from him and gaped at them. They were lovely, a rich pink in the center and the edges white. Her breath caught in her throat. Lily's were her favorite flowers.
"Thank you Rai, they're beautiful."
She turned to see a grin spread over Raimundo's face. "I know lilies are your favorite so I went and got some."
"But...but lilies don't grow around here."
He shrugged. "That's why I used the Golden Tiger Claws."
Kimiko gasped. "The Golden Tiger Claws! Rai, you could get in trouble for using the Shen-Gong-Wu without a good reason."
"But you are a good reason Kimiko!"
Kimiko was torn between blushing and rolling her eyes. It was sweet of him to think that but there was a certain level of corniness to his statement. Finally she settled for shaking her head while her pale cheeks took on a rosy hue.
"Wait a second...how did you know lilies were my favorite?"
Keiko, who had been laughing this whole time, suddenly fell silent. Kimiko glared at her phone before snatching it up. "Keiko?" She asked, her voice threatening, while she shooed Raimundo out of her room with her hands and threw him another quick smile of thanks.
"What?" Keiko asked back, feigning ignorance.
"How did Raimundo know lilies are my favorite flower?"
"He heh..." Kimiko laughed nervously. "Lucky guess?"
Kimiko made the noise of the incorrect buzzer on many game shows. "Wrong! You want to know what I think?"
"Okay! Okay! He e-mailed me a few days ago and asked. I thought it was sweet so I told him."
Kimiko's eyes widened! "You knew?"
Keiko laughed. "About the Wu spell, no. But the flowers? Of course! You think it's a coincidence I decided to text you when I did?"
Kimiko flopped onto her back, the bouquet of lilies still clutched in one hand. "The next time I'm in Tokyo you're dead."
Keiko laughed louder. "Got it!"
"No I'm serious."
"Sure you are. Now tell me...what has Raimundo done to get your attention? Besides singing to you of course. Is he any good?"
Kimiko sighed shaking her head. Keiko tended to have a one track mind sometimes. "Surprisingly, yes, he's actually pretty good. But other then him serenading me nothing all that extreme. I get called beautiful a lot and he hugs me at least twice a day. But other then the fact that he said I love you nothing really big happened."
"Wait! He said he loved you?"
"Uh, duh! Love Shen-Gong-Wu here. I'm pretty sure those three words go along with the goofy smiles and 'beautiful's. That kind of stuff is usually a packaged deal."
Keiko giggled. "Wow. What'd you say to him?"
Kimiko had to stop and think back that particular morning. What had she said to him? "I think I just sort of said 'right...' and sat down."
There was total silence on the other end of the line. A sure sign of Keiko's disapproval.
"I didn't know what else to do! I mean it was the second day of him being under the spell. I just kind of panicked. I mean 'I love you' is one of the last things I expected to hear from Rai."
"Well...now that you have...how do you feel about it?"
Kimiko sighed. "What are you my psychiatrist?"
"No I'm your best friend. But, if you ever needed one I'd be more then happy to do it!"
Kimiko shook her head. "Then start acting like my best friend and help me take my mind off of this!"
Raimundo's been on my mind enough as it is lately. I don't need any help with that.
"Alright, alright." Keiko sighed then quickly perked up. "Did I tell you about the club I went to last weekend?"
Kimiko smiled, glad for the change in subject. "No you didn't. Now tell me all about!"
Kimiko stretched as she looked around the temple grounds. Her talk with Keiko yesterday had been really refreshing. She'd put the flowers in some water and placed them beside her bed as well. The smelt wonderful and looked lovely. Now she was wondering what she was going to do. Clay was training with Master Fung (it was his day to work specifically on his element) so the other three dragons had the day off. Omi had decided to use the day for some well deserved rest (sleeping in late had become the most normal teenagerish hobby the monk had picked up) and she hadn't seen Raimundo at all.
That disappointed her.
She wasn't sure if it was because she'd become so accustomed to the Dragon of the Wind being around her whenever possible or not. She really did enjoy Raimundo's company, even without the love spell. She looked at her wrist and wondered when the spell was going to wear off. Dojo had said it might last about a week and a week was up today. Maybe that's why she hadn't seen him. The Wu had finally worn off and he was just too embarrassed to talk to her.
But...then why hadn't the Bracelet fallen off yet?
She shook her head. Obviously the spell hadn't worn off yet. Otherwise the Bracelet would have fallen off as well. Wherever Raimundo was he was obviously not there because he was too embarrassed to talk to her. That made her a little nervous too. The last time he'd disappeared with no explanation he'd shown up again, hours later, serenading her. She really hoped he wouldn't do that again.
"Guess what beautiful." A voice whispered in her ear.
Kimiko jumped in surprise her eyes narrowing. "RAI!" She snapped at the Dragon of the Wind. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Shhh." Raimundo ordered. "You'll wake up the baby."
Kimiko froze. "The what?" She turned around slowly.
"The baby." Raimundo repeated holding out a sleeping Omi who was clad in light green footie pajamas, a matching baby bonnet, and a white bib that said 'I'm a big boy!'
"Rai..." Kimiko pointed to Omi like he was a foreign object, one that she should be very scared of. "What did you do to Omi?"
"What?" Raimundo blinked innocently. "I think he looks cute."
Kimiko raised an eyebrow at the Brazilian boy. "And why did you dress him up like a baby?"
"I thought girls liked to play house."
"Yeah...right. Okay let's try a different approach. How did you mange to dress him up?"
Raimundo shrugged. "Believe it or not, he's actually a pretty heavy sleeper."
Kimiko shook her head. "And you decided that we should play house because...?"
Raimundo grinned. "Practice."
Kimiko knew she wasn't going to like the answer but she asked the question anyway. "Practice for what?"
"For our baby!"
That had been exactly what Kimiko had been expecting but hearing him say it out loud was still a shock. "WHAT!"
Her yell caused Omi to stir and his eyes slid open. He looked at Kimiko then down to his wardrobe. Finally he looked up at Raimundo. "I am most confused..." He placed a hand against Raimundo's face and pushed the Brazilian boy as far away as he could get. "And most uncomfortable. Please let me down."
Raimundo did as instructed and set Omi on the ground. The monk shook his head and looked over at Kimiko. "Why am I wearing this ridiculous outfit?"
Kimiko stifled a giggle. "Rai wanted to...to play house! And he decided you were going to be the baby." She burst into laughter.
"I believe I will go change now. I do not like this bib." He lifted the bib between two fingers.
"Okay Omi." Kimiko managed from between giggles.
Omi walked off and Raimundo turned to Kimiko. "I guess house is out of the question."
He looked so devastated by the news that it was actually rather funny. To see the usually sarcastic boy reduced to a pout because Omi refused to play house was about as amusing as it got around the temple. Kimiko continued to laugh until there were tears in her eyes. It felt good to laugh that hard; it had been awhile since she'd done so. Raimundo watched her with interest.
"Did I say something funny?"
This only caused Kimiko to laugh harder. Finally she stopped laughing and turned to face Raimundo. "Thanks for that Rai, I needed to laugh."
Raimundo brightened instantly. "Glad to help."
Kimiko giggled and, in an act of randomness, bumped her hip against his. "What no beautiful?"
Raimundo grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze. "Glad to help, beautiful."
Kimiko wriggled out of his grip and rolled her eyes at him. "I'm going to go play Goo Zombies 4, you in?"
Raimundo shook his head, a boyish grin spreading across his face. "Can't. I've got to get ready for something."
Again Kimiko raised an eyebrow, giving him a suspicious look. "Get ready for what?"
Raimundo winked. "It's a surprise." With that he ran off.
Kimiko watched him run off, still wearing a suspicious look. What is he up to? Kimiko shrugged. Oh well, he'll tell me eventually.
Night had fallen over the Xiaolin Temple and Kimiko was beginning to wonder if Raimundo's surprise hadn't been for her. She hadn't seen him since he'd disappeared almost 3 hours ago. She was just about to go and look for him when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, one holding a thermos.
"It's ready."
Kimiko wiggled out of his embrace again and turned to face him. "What's ready?"
Raimundo grinned. "The surprise."
Kimiko eyed him wearily, she knew he wouldn't trick her but still, surprises from Raimundo usually weren't a good thing. The last thing she needed was to be sung to again. "What surprise?"
"I can't tell you that. It would ruin the surprise."
Kimiko pointed to his hand that was wearing the Golden Tiger Claws. "You've got the Golden Tiger Claws, which means we're leaving the temple grounds." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on."
Raimundo held up the thermos. "I've got hot chocolate!" He told her in a sing-songy voice.
Kimiko uncrossed her arms and looked at the thermos. True hot chocolate was her favorite drink but that didn't mean she was going to cave just because he'd brought some. "Tell me where we're going or I won't go."
Raimundo sighed. "Alright, you win. We're going to Brazil. A little cliff that over looks Río de Janeiro. We'll only be there for a little while I promise." Kimiko still looked uncertain. "Please! I promise it'll be worth it!"
Kimiko sighed, finally caving. "Fine. I'll go."
"YES!" He grinned at her. "Trust me, you're gonna love it!" He held out the thermos. "Hold this please?" Kimiko took it from him. "Thanks." He smiled and wrapped his now free arm around her waist, pulling her close to him and holding her tightly. He raised his other hand into the air.
"GOLDEN TIGER CLAWS!" He slashed at the air and a rip opened up before.
"Now close you're eyes." He instructed.
She did as she was told and felt herself being lifted off the ground and thrown forward. She felt the gentle pulling sensation that came with using the Tiger Claws for a few seconds and then she was safely back on the ground.
"Okay," She felt him remove his arm from her waist and take the thermos full of hot chocolate back. "You can open your eyes now."
Kimiko slowly opened her eyes and looked in front of her. She gasped in surprise. They were standing on a small cliff that overlooked a busy city by the sea. The view was amazing. The tiny town seemed to have shut itself down for the night because there were very few lights scattered throughout it. She smiled.
"Wow...this is beautiful. What a view!"
Beside her Raimundo grinned. "I know, and that's not even the best part!"
Kimiko turned to face him, a hand on her hip. "What could be nicer then that view?" She asked, pointing to the peaceful town.
"The one above it." He pointed up to the night sky.
Kimiko followed his finger and looked up at the sky. Again she gasped. The stars were shinning brightly down at them, twinkling in the sky. Their distance from the city and the city's few lights allowed them to see the stars perfectly. "Oh wow, that's awesome! You can never see the stars this clearly in Tokyo. There are too many lights."
Raimundo nodded and sat down on the grass, patting the space next to him. "We could have seen them just as clearly at the temple but I wanted it to be just the two of us."
Kimiko smiled warmly at the Dragon of the Wind. He opened the thermos and poured some hot chocolate into the lid before passing it to Kimiko. She took a sip and sighed gratefully. "Thanks Rai."
"Your welcome beautiful." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him.
"What's Río like?" She asked taking another sip of the warm liquid.
"During the day it's pretty much just another sea port town. But at night the city really comes to life." He grinned. "Especially when we have fiestas! The city may look like it's asleep but don't be fooled. We just don't go for the bright neon lights like other places."
"Tell me about them, please."
He nodded. "Sure."
Almost two hours later Raimundo was still telling her about life in good old Río de Janeiro. It was amazing how content she was to just sit there and listen to him tell her stories about his home. They didn't talk about their pasts a lot, any of them, and so it was nice to hear what he'd used to be like. He'd always had this aloof manner that made her think that his past had been hard or troubled but it wasn't. In fact he'd been a perfectly happy kid, watching his parents run the circus and wanting to do that someday.
She felt her eyes drupe. She wasn't sure exactly what time it was but she knew it was getting late. Still she wanted to keep listening to Raimundo. She fought sleep off for as long as she could but, eventually, it won. Her head lolled onto Raimundo's shoulder and her breathing evened out. The last thing she remembered was Raimundo's voice and warmth before sleep over took her completely.
Raimundo looked down as he felt Kimiko's head fall gently onto his shoulder. He smiled down at the sleeping girl. Just looking at her was enough to make him smile and forget everything around him. He glanced at his watch, almost 11:00. They'd been out later then he'd intended. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he scooped the sleeping girl into his arms. Using his element he carefully lifted the thermos and placed it on her sleeping form.
He quickly called up another gentle breeze to hold Kimiko up while he slid one of his arms from underneath her. He held up the Tiger Claws and smiled softly at the sleeping girl in his arms.
"Golden Tiger Claws." He whispered before slipping his arm back underneath the bend of her knees and jumping swiftly into the rip.
Kimiko woke up the next morning to a clicking noise. She frowned and pulled the covers over her head, mentally willing the noise to go away. The clicking noise didn't go away, however, and Kimiko groaned internally, realizing she was up for the rest of the day. It took her tired brain a few minutes to realize that the infernal clicking noise was actually someone typing something on a computer.
Her eyes snapped open. She had the only laptop in the temple, which meant that someone was in her room. Without her permission. And using her stuff. Without her permission. She sat up and glared at the culprit.
Raimundo looked up from her laptop and smiled. "Morning beautiful. Sleep well?"
Kimiko began to move her head but stop mid-nod. "Rai? What are you doing with my laptop?"
Raimundo looked up from the glowing screen and smiled again. "I'm e-mailing your dad."
If there had been any sleep still in her body it was driven away by that statement. "You're what?"
"E-mailing your dad."
"Why?" She asked him; sure she'd heard him wrong. Why in the world could possibly need to e-mail her dad for?
"Well I thought I should get his permission to date you. Isn't that how it's done in Japan?"
He was what? Kimiko jumped out of bed and ran over to him. She lunged at the laptop and snapped it shut, barely avoiding Raimundo's fingers. "Oh...he won't mind..." Kimiko smiled nervously. Her father, in fact, would mind so the less he knew about the whole Bracelet of Aikou incident, the better.
Raimundo raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
Kimiko nodded furiously. "Positive! He told me so himself, he said he like all the Dragons. You especially."
Raimundo beamed. "So then it's okay if I ask you to go to town with me this afternoon?" He asked, referring to the small town that was only a few hours away from the temple (a quick 10 minute flight on Dojo).
Kimiko nodded. "Yeah sure."
"Great!" Raimundo smiled even wider. "It's a date!" He kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the room.
Kimiko sat with her legs folded underneath her and watched him go, an unidentifiable emotion in her eyes.
"Yeah Rai...it's a date."
TaDa! There's chapter 5! Chapter 6 is going to be there big 'date'. I hope you guys liked this chapter. A few things I wanted to make note on:
I have no idea if lilies grow in China, they might but for the purpose of this story let's just say they don't grow around the temple. And I'm sure there's a time difference between China and Brazil (if it's night in China it's probably day in Brazil) but I'm too pressed for time (I have not even 5 more minutes on the computer today) to look it up and make the necessary changes so, please, forgive me for that.
Also I want to say thank you to everyone for reviewing! I'm not ever going to ask you for something like 20 reviews a chapter but when I go from 22 to reviews for one chapter to about 12 that says something's up. If it's me just tell me and I'll be glad to try and make it better, that's why I want you to review and tell me. Anyways I just wanted to say that... so thanks for listening to me ramble, I'm sure it must have been getting annoying.
And yes, the bad grammer/spelling/punctuation in Keiko's text message was done on purpose.
R&R!
Come on, send me a smile!