Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown. Never did, never will. Would love, very, very much, to own Raimundo. Still don't. :sigh: I also don't own Miss Congeniality either.
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 walked over to her trunk of clothes and pulled it open. She reached in and shuffled through the many clothes inside, debating on an outfit to wear to town. She wanted to look nice for her date with Raimundo. Okay...so it wasn't a real date, or well maybe it was but...well it was complicated. The whole Shen-Gong-Wu thing had been making things sort of complicated lately. She held a shirt up to her chest and looked in the mirror, before frowning and tossing it to the side. Why was she so worried about this date? It wasn't like it really meant anything to either of them.
...Right?
Sighing and throwing another shirt into the rejected pile she began to dig through her trunk again. She'd have to think this over later. Right now she had an outfit emergency to tend to. She began tossing clothes behind her in her haste to find the perfect outfit. A sudden 'oof' brought her out of her frenzy and she looked behind her to see Dojo with a pair of her shorts over his head.
"Dojo! Oh I'm so sorry!" She hurried over and removed the offending article of clothing. "Are you okay?"
The dragon nodded. "Yeah." He looked around her room. "What are you looking for?"
Kimiko sighed. "An outfit."
"What's wrong with the one you're already wearing?" He asked, eyeing her usual tunic.
"Nothing for here at the temple. I'm looking for an outfit to wear on my 'date'" She held up her fingers in the quote symbol. "with Raimundo."
Dojo shrugged. "Why? He's so in love with you he's not gonna care what you look like."
"Yeah I know. But I care! And it's driving me crazy!" Kimiko yanked at her pigtails in frustration.
"Why would you c- oh!" Dojo's eyes widened in understanding.
"What!" The girl grabbed the dragon. "You know why I'm freaking out over this don't you! Tell me! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" She shook the dragon vigorously as she spoke.
Dojo squirmed out of her grip and placed a hand on his head, which was still spinning. "Okay, but you're not gonna like it."
Kimiko sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. "What is it?"
"Remember when you asked me to look into the bracelet because it got really warm?" Kimiko nodded. "Well... that happened because you were realizing your feelings for Raimundo. It does it with everyone. Hot if you like them back and cold if you don't."
"But I...I don't. That is...I just..."
Dojo smiled sympathetically at the young Japanese girl. She'd been reduced to babbling. "Listen," Maybe, in order for her to function properly he would have to stretch the truth...just a little. "You're probably just liking the nice, sweet Raimundo." He batted his eyelashes at her jokingly. "I'm sure you'll both be fine once the Wu wears off." It wasn't a complete lie...
It seemed to calm Kimiko down though. "Thanks Dojo." She smiled. "Now..." She held up two different shirts. "Could please help me pick out an outfit?"
Dojo rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure you want advice from a 15 hundred year old dragon."
"I'm desperate!" Kimiko pouted and clasped her hands together. "Please Dojo?"
Dojo caved. "Alright."
Kimiko grinned. "Yes! Now," She held up the two tops once again. "Which one do you like better?"
Kimiko grinned excitedly at the busy town in front of her. It always made her feel better to be back in the city, or at least the closet thing to it near the temple. Beside her Raimundo was looking at the different stores and places to hang out.
"So...?" He asked her, smiling down at the petite girl. "What do you want to do first?"
"Anything's fine with me. Did you have something special planned?"
Raimundo grinned. "Maybe."
"Rai!" Kimiko pouted again, knowing it was a useful technique to get what she wanted. "Come on, tell me, please?"
Raimundo smiled. "Nah, nothing really planned out. I just thought we could wing it and do whatever we wanted."
Kimiko grinned. "Can we go shopping?"
Raimundo smiled again. "Whatever you want to do."
"YES!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the nearest store.
They left that store relatively emptied handed and headed for the next store. A shoe store. Kimiko grinned; she'd been needing a new pair of flip-flops. She dragged him off into the store and Raimundo followed her wordlessly. Dojo (who had flown them there) watched from where he was resting above them. He would be ready to get them when they were done, he would know when they were ready. For now he just wanted to watch them while they were still in sight.
He smiled and wondered if Kimiko realized she had yet to let go of Raimundo's hand. Or that he had silently intertwined their fingers.
"So where to next?" Kimiko asked as they walked out of their 5th store, still hand in hand.
Raimundo's stomach growled and he looked down sheepishly. I'm a little hungry. How 'bout we go get something to eat."
"Okay!"
They continued walking down the street and Raimundo turned to face her. "So, what do you feel like having?"
Kimiko thought about it for a moment. "Italian sounds really good right now. How about some spaghetti or pizza?"
"Sounds cool."
They walked for a few more minutes before finding a nice, small Italian restaurant. Raimundo held the door open for her before following her in. It was cool and quiet inside the restaurant and the lights were dimmed to give the place a more relaxed atmosphere. A waiter greeted them and led them to a nice booth in the back.
"Here you are. Someone will be with you shortly to take your order." He handed them both menus before walking away.
Kimiko scanned the menu trying to decide what she wanted. It was rare they got to eat anything other then what was provided at the temple so she wanted to pick something good.
"You wanna share a plate of spaghetti?"
Kimiko eyed Raimundo over her menu. Spaghetti sounded good but...she was suddenly given the mental of image of her and Raimundo pulling a Lady and the Tramp move with the spaghetti. She bit back her laughter as the two of them kissed comically in her head, by total accident of course. However comical the situation might be in her head she was pretty sure it wouldn't be quite so amusing if that happened in real life so she shook her head.
"Nah. I think I just want some pizza."
"Okay." He scanned the menu quickly once more. "You know what? Pizza sounds good, I think I'll have that too."
No sooner had the words left his mouth when a waitress flounced over to them. She flipped her long dark hair and smiled flirtatiously at Raimundo. "Hey," She purred. "What can I get you?"
"Yeah, uh, can I get a medium cheese pizza and a coke?" He looked over at Kimiko who nodded in agreement. "Make that two cokes."
"Sure thing." She smiled flirtatiously again before walking into the back.
Kimiko glared at the girl's retreating figure and stuck out her tongue childishly. The waitress walked back over and placed two cokes in front of them. She grinned at Raimundo and gazed indifferently at Kimiko before turning and heading back to the kitchen.
Kimiko grit her teeth. The nerve of that girl! Being so rude and openly flirting with her date! ...Not to say that Raimundo was her date, not really. But still, a guy and girl walk into a nice romantic restaurant and are given a booth in the back. It does give a certain image. Even if they boy only thought he liked the girl and the girl still couldn't figure quite what she felt because of it.
She spent the next while fuming to herself while Raimundo looked at her worriedly. She took at sip of her coke and nearly crushed the glass in her hand as the waitress giggled overly loudly to one of her friends in the back. Finally, just when she thought she was going to explode in anger, the waitress came out carrying their pizza. She set it down of the table and smiled at Raimundo.
"Enjoy." She gave a girly giggle and winked at him before walking away again, swaying her hips seductively.
Kimiko growled under her breath and watched the girl walk away, her grip on her knife tightening to the point where her knuckles were turning white. "Floozy." She muttered under her breath.
Raimundo looked up from the slice of pizza he was removing from the pie. "Did you say something?"
Kimiko flushed red at being heard. "No, no nothing! You must be hearing things Rai."
Raimundo grinned. "You just called that girl a floozy didn't you?"
"N-no..." Kimiko lied unconvincingly.
"Are you jealous?" He asked her, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Kimiko flushed even more. "No..."
Raimundo grinned. "You are, aren't you?"
Kimiko sighed but didn't bother to deny it. She braced herself for Raimundo's ego to kick in. He was going to tell her that 'of course she was jealous. After all he was adorable and funny and who could ever have a sun kissed complexion like his...'
"You know I'm all yours right?"
Kimiko looked up from her plate in surprise. "What?"
Raimundo smiled gently. "I'm all yours. I only care about you. So you don't have to be jealous."
Kimiko flushed again and was surprised to find that she didn't find that statement as corny as she thought she would. "Thanks Rai. That, uh, means a lot to me."
He grinned and took a bite of his pizza. "Anytime beautiful, anytime."
Kimiko grinned back and took a slice of the pizza. The rest of the meal passed in a comfortable silence and before long they were calling the waitress over to get the check. They paid and, as they were walking out the door, Raimundo slipped his arm around Kimiko's waist. She turned her head to see the waitress that had served them watching them with a pout. Kimiko grinned at her and couldn't resist sticking her tongue out in a silent celebration of victory.
"So..." Raimundo put his hand up to shield his eyes, as he looked skyward. "No sign of Dojo. You wanna catch a movie."
Kimiko nodded. "Okay."
They walked down to the movie theater and looked up at their choices. "Well which one do you want to go see?"
Kimiko was silent as she reread the movie titles before finally picking one. "Miss Congeniality!"
Raimundo nodded and bought their tickets before ushering her inside the dimly lit theater.
Two and a half hours later they both walked out, Kimiko with a soda in hand, laughing furiously. They scanned the skies once again for Dojo but he was still nowhere to be found. Shrugging they grinned before bursting into laughter again. Raimundo's laughter subsided before Kimiko's and he looked around, grinning at the sight of a shop.
"Come on Kimi," He gently tugged on her arm. "There's somewhere we need to go."
Kimiko, still laughing, nodded and followed him. "Where are we going?" She asked just as he stopped in front of a large store. Kimiko looked up at the sign. "A jewelry store? Why are we stopping here?"
"You'll see." Raimundo grinned before pulling her inside. He led her over to a large display case of rings. Very pretty rings. "Pick which one you want beautiful."
Kimiko gasped. "But Rai there so...so..."
Raimundo shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Just pick which one you like."
Kimiko nodded, still in a slight daze, and choose a small ring gold ring with a tiny pearl set in the middle. "That one, if it's okay. That one's my favorite."
Raimundo nodded and he paid for it and they stepped outside into the bright light. Dojo slithered up to them and smiled.
"Ready to go?"
Raimundo nodded. "Yeah, just one second." He turned back to face Kimiko and he held up the small box that had her ring in it.
He opened the box and took out the ring, sliding it onto her finger. "Here. It's to remind you that I'll always be there for you and that I'm always gonna love you. No matter what."
Kimiko looked down to the side, her eyes welling up with tears. It was so sweet of Raimundo to give her that ring for those reasons but the problem was he wouldn't feel that way after the Wu wore off. And that knowledge hurt, a lot.
Suddenly two fingers found their way under her chin and forced her to look up at Raimundo. "I promise." He told her smiling gently and slowly bringing his mouth down to hers.
His lips were on hers for a full 20 seconds before she could fully comprehend what was going on. The sensation of his kiss had completely dulled her senses for a few seconds but she was back in control and very aware that Raimundo was kissing her.
And that's not what she wanted, not like this.
"No..." She pushed him back and Raimundo immediately let go of her. "No I can't...you just...I don't..." Kimiko hung her head; unable to find the words she was looking for. "I just...can't."
Raimundo looked at her, his emerald eyes filled with pain. "But why not, I thought..."
"No." Kimiko said, her voice a little firmer then before but no less sad. "I don't..." She couldn't finish her thought. Instead she turned to the little dragon at their feet. "Come on Dojo. Let's go home."
Dojo hung his head but changed into his large size anyways. Sadly, Kimiko and Raimundo made their way to the dragon and climbed on, sitting much farther away from each other then they had on the way there. Dojo's looked back at the two dragons, one heartbroken and one confused and a little heartbroken as well, with a sad glance as he took off. Things hadn't been this bad when Dashi had used the bracelet on Wuya.
But then again...Dashi hadn't already been in love with Wuya.
And things would probably be worse once the Wu wore off. Nothing at all like the simple and pain free normalcy that had returned to Dashi and Wuya.
But then again...Wuya hadn't already been in love with Dashi either.
"Keiko you have to help me!" Kimiko cried desperately into the phone. "I don't know what to do!"
"Well, for starters you could tell me what happened."
Kimiko sighed. "Rai and I went on a date today."
"A date?"
"Well," Kimiko bit her lip. "I don't really know if it was a date. He thought it was, obviously, and I guess I sort of treated it like one..."
"Then it was a date." Keiko clarified. "Now that doesn't sound too horrible."
"But then he bought me a ring and...and he kissed me."
There was silence on the other line before, "Still not seeing the horrible-ness you were talking about earlier."
"I-I pushed him away."
"Oh," Keiko let out a whoosh of air. "That could be pretty horrible. Why'd you do it?"
"I don't know..."
"Did you want to kiss him?"
"I guess, sort of..." Kimiko sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I did."
"Then why'd you push him away?"
"Because of the Wu!"
"Oh."
Kimiko continued ranting. "That stupid Wu has messed everything up! Rai and I were fine before it showed up! Now I just don't know what to do! I want him to kiss me, I really do, just...not while he's under the Wu's spell. Not because he's under the Wu's spell. I want him to kiss me because he really wants to, because he really likes me."
Keiko was silent so Kimiko continued speaking. "And now the Wu's going to wear off and he's going to go back as seeing me as a little sister and I'll-"
"Hold up!" Keiko interrupted her. "Who said he saw you like that in the first place. You never know, he might like you. I mean he is a teenage boy and you are the only girl for miles around."
Kimiko frowned. "Yeah, but that doesn't make me feel much better."
"No...I guess it wouldn't."
Both girls were silent while the other one tried to think of something to say. Finally Kimiko settled on the truth. "Keiko...I...I think I like him."
Keiko was silent for a minute before, "Yeah, you do Kimiko."
She bit her lip again. "And now I'm afraid of what's going to happen when he stops liking me back."
Kimiko walked through the halls of the Xiaolin Temple trying to find Raimundo. For someone who had been practically attached at her hip for the past 8 days he had been avoiding her quite well. Although it wasn't exactly like she'd been trying to find him the whole time either. Sighing, she was about to give up when she heard a noise. It was the sound of clothes rustling and, deciding to see who it was, Kimiko continued forward.
She peeked through the door leading outside and saw Raimundo punching and kicking at the air. Obviously he was practicing, something the old Raimundo would have done when he was feeling hurt or angry. Slowly Kimiko approached him, stopping a few feet away.
Raimundo snapped his leg into the air and brought it back to his side one last time before turning and facing her. He had obviously felt her presence the moment she'd started watching him. He watched her in silence, his eyes still betraying the pain he felt from her rejection.
"Hey Rai." She whispered, taking a step closer to him.
"Hey." His voice was flat and he sounded defeated. He hung his head so his dark auburn bangs covered his eyes.
"Rai, listen. About this afternoon." Raimundo lifted his head to look at her and Kimiko bit her lip once again.
I don't want to hurt him but I don't want to just tell him it's okay either... I have to apologize, even if I did have my reasons it was pretty rude to just diss him then blow him off like that.
"I'm sorry about freaking out on you like that."
Raimundo looked up, hopeful. He looked so hopeful that Kimiko just couldn't bring herself to crush him again, in any way. "It's not that I didn't want to kiss you it's just..." You can do this Kimiko! "I wasn't ready, that's all. Please don't be upset."
Raimundo's face brightened and he walked over to her. "Do you...do you think you're ready now?"
Kimiko weighed the options. She either said she was and just let him kiss her or she said she wasn't and tried to think of another good reason why without breaking his heart. She bit her lip again, she was running out of excuses! She looked up at his face. He looked so adorably shy and hopeful that Kimiko found her ability to say no seemed to have been shut off.
"Yes Rai, I'm ready now." Raimundo's smile widened and he walked even closer to her.
I'm sure it's just for a few more days anyways.
She closed her eyes as Raimundo's placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. She felt his lips descend onto hers and wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss.
Until then I'll pretend he's kissing me because he wants to...not because of some stupid Shen-Gong-Wu.
Alrighty, there's chapter 6! I hope you guys enjoyed it and it wasn't overly sappy or anything. And yes, there is a reason they go see Miss Congeniality instead of some more popular movie. You'll just have to wait until the next chapter to see why.
If you guys can help me break 100 reviews I'll post chapter 7 on Friday instead of on Monday like I was planning on doing. Deal? Well either way you'll get it. Either on Friday or Monday, your choice.
So R&R!
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