Title: Innocence

Author: PandaPjays

Chapter Title: The Awakening

Rating: T

Warnings: See First Chapter

Disclaimer: See First Chapter

Author Note: GAH! Just finished typing this. Once again I've beaten my record for number of words /pants/. I've been trying to update fast lately but sadly I have to go back to school- my winter holidays are over /cries/ so it's back to once a week if you're really lucky.

I am in shock at the number of reviews I got. All I can say is THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Max sighed as he leaned back into his seat. He had long ago decided that planes were torture devices disguised as mass transportation. This trip had only proved his theory.

He was sitting between Tyson and Kenny, having won the game of paper scissors rock that they had used to decide on seating arrangements. This meant that he had first choice of seats. He had picked the middle, leaving Tyson to sit next to an old man who was very flatulent according to the expression on Tyson's face and Kenny to sit next to a screaming four-year-old.

Tyson shot Max a pleading look. 'Save Me' he mouthed before taking a quick gulp of air. He looked utterly miserable.

Max suppressed the laugh that was begging to be released. This entire trip was turning out to be a nightmare for Tyson. Not only did he have to sit next to Sir Smell but also the aeroplane food was worse than normal. Instead of being the standard cardboard taste the chef had obviously been feeling a bit experimental. This meant that the food tasted of cardboard that had been left in a patch of dirt on a rainy night.

It was like a custom-built Tyson-hell. There was food but you couldn't eat it unless you wanted a bad case of food poisoning.

Kenny was faring better. In his years of being Tyson's friend he had gained the ability to completely ignore what was happening around him while he worked on his computer. As far as Max could see, Kenny was planning the fastest route to the White Tiger's village.

Max sighed. This plane trip was one of the most boring he had ever been on. Neither of the two he was sitting next to looked like they were in the mood for talking. Kenny was off in a world of his own and Tyson was slowly but surely turning blue.

He tried to concentrate on the in-flight movie but as far as he could gather it was about a bunch of kids trying to find out where a mysterious pirate map that they found in the attic leads. Not exactly stimulating.

"This is your Captain speaking. We are about to run into a bit of turbulence so I'm going to switch on the seatbelt sign. So buckle up and we should be flying into clearer conditions in a few minutes."

The seatbelt sign came on with a ding. Max looked down to check that his belt was on tightly. He closed his eyes and prepared for a few minutes of shaking.

A low rumbling sound filled the cabin. Max kept his eyes closed and tried to think calm thoughts. He was startled out of his reverie when he felt someone clutch his sleeve. He looked over to see Tyson with a panicked expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked. He been on plenty of flights with Tyson but he'd never seen him this scared. But then again the plane hadn't been shaking in those flights.

"We're going to crash! That's what's wrong!" Tyson whispered to him. "I don't know about you but I could think of much better places to die than in this metal tube of death!" His hand gripped the armrest tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Max started to sigh then thought better of it. Tyson was genuinely frightened and it wouldn't do for him to see Max dismissing his fears. He started to pry Tyson's fingers off the armrest. "You're going to damage the seat if you hold it like that. And we are not going to die. Soon we're going to be flying smoothly again, we just have to get through this rough patch, ok?"

Tyson let Max pull his hand off the armrest and gripped his hand painfully tight instead. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the sensation of the shaking plane but quickly opened them again when he realised that closing his eyes only made him focus on how scared he was.

Max winced at the vice-like grip that Tyson had on his hand. He hoped that the turbulence would stop before his hand dropped off because of lack of circulation.

The planes shaking eventually subsided and the seatbelt sign turned off. Max sighed in relief before realising that he was still holding Tyson's hand. Blushing furiously, he let go of it like it was a red-hot poker. He looked away from Tyson at Kenny to try and hide the redness of his cheeks. It looked like the brunette hadn't even paused in his typing throughout their entire ordeal.

Tyson sat back in his seat, relieved. That was close.

When Max had regained control he turned back to Tyson with a grin. "See? Told you we wouldn't die. I read somewhere that this airline has never had a crash."

"We could have been the first", Tyson retorted, feeling embarrassed about his fear.

"But we weren't, were we?" Max teased him with a smile.

"Hmpf", Tyson sunk lower into his chair and began to sulk.

He's cute when he sulks, kind of like a puppy. Why am I noticing these things? It's not like I like Tyson. At least not more than a friend should like his friends. Then why don't I think the same things about any of my other friends? Max sighed and closed his eyes sinking deep into thought.

------

"I am so glad to be off that plane!" Tyson said as he stretched his arms above his head. "So, Chief, where do we go from here?"

"That would be to the baggage terminal."

"Oh, right. I don't see why you had to pack all that stuff anyway, it's not like we're going to be here that long anyway. All we have to do is go to Rei's village, find him and jump right back on a plane."

"That's assuming that Rei's here."

"Well, where else would he be? The White Tigers are the only people we haven't been able to get in contact with so Rei has to be there."

"Tyson, I envy you sometimes." Kenny said with a sigh before he walked off, trying to find the place where he could collect his bags.

Tyson blinked before running after the brunette. "Whaddya mean by that?"

Max sighed and started to walk after them. He sometimes envied Tyson's simplistic view of the world as well. It led to a lot less headaches when you saw things like that.

He still hadn't sorted out his feelings in regard to Tyson. He knew that he liked the other boy but he couldn't like him in that way. I'm not gay, he insisted to himself.

He had reached the other two boys by then and Kenny was busy scanning all of the bags to find his own. "There!" He said excitedly, pointing to a large black bag.

Tyson bent down to pick up the bag and almost overbalanced when he tried to straighten. "WAH! Chief, what's in this thing? Bricks?"

"Very funny, Tyson. I just packed the things I thought we'd need. Better safe than sorry you know."

"I hardly see me dislocating my shoulder by trying to lug this bag around as safe."

Kenny turned to Max, ignoring any further complaints from Tyson. "So are we good to go?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I think so. How are we going to get to the village anyway?"

"Well, Dizzi and I were working it out and we figured that the easiest way to get there is to catch a bus of some sort and then get off at the nearest stop and walk the rest of the way. I'm going to go and ask around to see if we can find a bus."

"How far would we have to walk?"

"Amount 20km, I think."

"WHAT?" Tyson rejoined the conversation. "I barely walk that far in a week"

"Then I guess it's time for some much needed exercise, Tubby" Max told him cheerfully as Kenny walked away in search of transport.

Tyson did a double take. "I could have sworn the Sourpuss himself just took over your body and made you say that. Be careful or you'll turn out like him."

"I think that'd be impossible, Tyson. I don't have the scarf." Max told him, chuckling, before he turned around and began to walk away, looking for the exit.

Tyson stuck his tongue out at the blonde blader's back before picking up the bag and following him.

------

"We're in luck! I found a man that's taking some deliveries to Rei's village! He says that he'll give us a lift!" Kenny told them animatedly.

While Kenny had been busy trying to find them a way to get to Rei's village Max and Tyson had found a seat at the front of the airport. They had been sitting there listening to the growing noise of Tyson's stomach for about ten minutes.

"Does that mean that we don't have to walk?" Tyson asked the brunette.

"Well, that would be the point of a lift. How did you find him? Last I checked you weren't fluent in Chinese." Max asked Kenny.

"He might not be but I am. Or at least I have instant access to online dictionaries." Kenny's bitbeast, Dizzi, told him from the laptop.

"Well, anyway, since I'm the only one who can talk to the guy who's taking us-"

"With my help."

"Yes, Dizzi, with your help. I'm sitting in the front ok? You two have to sit in the back."

"Sounds fine, Chief, anything is better than walking." Tyson told him, relieved that he wouldn't have to exert himself.

------

"I hate Kenny." Tyson complained as he struggled not to fall off the so-called 'transport' the brunette had found for them. "No wonder he bagsed the front seat."

Max grinned at Tyson's complaints before fending off a rabid chicken with his arm. It had turned out, much to Tyson and Max's dismay, that the things that were being delivered to Rei's village were actually about two dozen chickens.

Max fended off another chicken before making his way to a corner. The vehicle that they were on was a Ute with an enclosed cage-like thing on its tray. Kenny had jumped into the front seat before either Max or Tyson had been able to argue, leaving them to climb into the cagey-thing with the chickens.

Tyson was trying, unsuccessfully, to fend off chickens with one hand and hold on to the side of the enclosure to keep his balance with the other.

"Why don't you just sit down? We're going to be here for a while, anyway."

"Because the longer I don't sit down the longer I can remain Lord of the chickens! GAH!" The so-called lord of the chickens lost his footing and was sent sprawling across the floor of the tray.

"Well, I think your reign just ended, chicken-lord." Max told him, holding tightly on to the wall so he wouldn't suffer the same fate.

Tyson scowled at him as he struggled to his knees. "He I mentioned how much I hate Kenny? 'Cause if I haven't I'm going to. Is this his idea of a joke? 'Cause if it is I'm not laughing."

Max tried to keep a straight face and failed. "If it is- I'm laughing."

"With me or at me?"

"Well you just said that you weren't laughing so I guess that only leaves one option doesn't it?"

Tyson glared at the blonde before struggling to his feet again. "And the Lord of the Chickens regains his throne!"

"All hail the Chicken Lord." Max intoned to the chickens milling about his feet. They ignored him and tried to attack their new lord.

"Uh- Maxie? I don't think that they're listening to you. Either that or you just told them to kill their leader in Chicken."

"Last I checked didn't speak Chicken." Max told him while eyeing the small army of poultry gathering near Tyson's feet.

"Welcome to the world of bilingualism… Is that even a word?" Tyson asked as he tried to find something to fight off the feathered beasts.

"Um… I don't know. Why don't you just sit down? I'm sitting down and they aren't bothering me."

"Yes, but that'd be giving up my crown and I just can't do tha-ARGH!" The Ute turned a sharp corner, causing Tyson to go flying. He landed with his face squarely in Max's lap.

Max turned a deep scarlet. Ok, Tyson's in my lap- Dream come true! Clean thoughts clean thoughts- GAH! What am I saying? Tyson's in my lap! Angels be praised! Have all the dirty thoughts you want- it's not going to happen again so may as well make the best of it!

Tyson's eyes widened as he wondered why his world had suddenly gone so dark. What happened? Are we in a tunnel of some sort? But we were on a country road- I didn't see any tunnels… Hey, wait up- Am I lying down? Maybe I should sit up.

Tyson pushed himself off the floor and came face to face with a bright red Max. He looked down and realised where he'd been resting his head before turning a matching shade of red.

"Uh… Sorry, Maxie… I uh… fell over."

"I… saw." Max managed to say through the feelings of joy prancing about in his head.

They lapsed into uncomfortable silence.

Oh hell, may as well tell him- anything's better than this silence- even him yelling at me about what a sick gay freak I am. Max thought to himself before swallowing, his throat suddenly going dry.

"Uh… Tyson? Can I ask your advice about something?"

"Sure" Tyson said once he was safely seated. He had given up on being the chicken lord- too much competition.

"What would you do if you if you just found out that you really like someone, I mean like-like not friend like, but they've been your friend for ages and you don't know how to tell them because you don't want to ruin your friendship when they say that they don't feel the same way?"

"You seem awfully certain that she doesn't feel the same way."

"Well… It's kind of complicated."

"Then make it simple. Even if you told her and she said no she wouldn't want to ruin your friendship with you- especially if you've known each other for a while. Just tell her!"

Max swallowed. How could he tell him? It would just be so… awkward.

But if I don't tell him now- I never will. Hopefully he follows his own advice.

"Tyson… It's not a she I was talking about."

"Huh?"

"I-" "C'mon, I can do this "I like you Tyson."

Tyson's face broke into a grin. "I like you too, Max, you're an awesome friend."

Max felt all of his resolve crumble. Tyson only liked him as a friend. Just a friend. That was all he's ever be to him. He shut his eyes and tried to keep tears from falling.

"Maxie? What's wrong?" Tyson asked, concerned. He scooted across the floor to get closer to the blonde.

Max opened his eyes and gave the other boy a wet smile. "Nothing's wrong. I should be happy. I was right, after all. Isn't being right something that is meant to make you happy?"

The midnight-blue haired blader reached out to grab Max's shoulder. "What were you right about? I don't understand."

"That you didn't want- couldn't want-" Max leaned forward and caught Tyson's lips in a gentle kiss. "That." He sat back and looked away from the other boy, avoiding his gaze.

Tyson stared at the blonde's profile, shell-shocked. Max felt that way about him? He'd never really thought about whether he was gay or straight. He hadn't ever had to think about it. He touched he lips gently, as if trying to see if what had just happened was real. His lips were still there, and Max was still avoiding his gaze. It had to have been real. But what now?

Making a snap decision, Tyson reached out and put his hand under Max's chin, forcing the blonde to look at him. Tears ran freely down his cheeks. Tyson wiped then away with his thumb before leaning forward and giving the other boy a soft kiss before quickly pulling away. It didn't feel wrong to kiss Max. Did that mean it was right? Tyson didn't have an answer to these questions but was relived to see that Max had stopped crying.

"Wha-?" the blonde trailed off in confusion. Did this mean that Tyson felt the same way? Or was it a cruel joke? He hoped that it was the former but he doubted it- he wasn't that lucky.

Tyson smiled and pulled the other boy into a hug. "Was I the one you were talking about?"

Max nodded mutely. He didn't understand what was happening, where was the yelling? Where was Tyson telling him that he didn't feel the same way? He had been so prepared for it. Where was it?

Tyson held Max closer to him. It did feel right like this. He had always felt a connection to Max. He didn't know if it was love or if it was something else but he knew that he wanted to make Max happy and if the bond was love then it did make him happy. He knew that it felt good to have Max this close and that was enough for him.

Relief washed over Max as he snuggled into the warmth that was Tyson. Even if Tyson rejected him later he had him now. He relaxed, he hadn't realised how tense he had been, and waves of exhaustion washed over him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

Tyson grinned as he looked down at the sleeping blonde boy. This definitely felt right. He relaxed against the wall he was leaning against and joined Max in sleep.

------

"Hey! Wake up! We're here!" Kenny's voice broke through Max's sleep. He opened his eyes and blinked, trying to remember where he was. He tried to sit up but was restrained by an arm. His eyes widened as he sluggish mind tried to figure out why the arm was there.

What the? Whose arm is…oh. The memory of what had happened before he fell asleep hit him. Max looked up to see Tyson's peaceful still-asleep face and smiled before gently removing the other boy's arm from his chest.

"Why haven't you guys come out yet?" Kenny opened up the door of the cage-like thing, releasing the chickens. "I thought that as soon as the car stopped you'd be begging to get out." The brunette peered into the enclosure and saw Tyson fast asleep and Max blinking sleep out of his eyes. "Unless, of course, if you fell asleep. I'm going to go and see if I can find one of the White Tigers. Can you try and bring Tyson to the land of the living, Maxie?"

Max nodded his assent and watched the bespectacled boy wander off in the direction of one of the villagers. He smiled and rubbed his eyes again, trying to get the last of the sleep out of them before leaning over and prodding Tyson in the stomach.

The dark haired boy groaned and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Not just yet Gramps the pony' s about to let me ride'. Max sighed and stood up. He leant down and grabbed Tyson underneath the armpits and hauled him to his feet. "C'mon. Now would be the time to move."

Tyson opened his eyes at the sudden change in altitude. "Wha-?" His feet scrambled to get purchase on the ground. When he seemed to be able to stand on his own Max let him go. "You awake now?"

Tyson turned to face the blond and looked at him quizzically. "Yeah… why do I have to be awake?"

"So I can do this, of course." Max told him matter-of-factly before kissing him softly on the lips. He pulled away and hummed contentedly. "C'mon, I think Chief will be getting worried about us."

"Uh…huh…"

"C'mon!" Max grabbed Tyson hand and dragged him out of the truck. "I wonder where he got to?"

------

"He's not here." Mariah glowered at the three boys.

"But he has to be here! If he's not here then he really is missing!" Tyson told her, desperately searching her eyes as if they'd hold the errant neko-jin's location.

"Well then he's really missing isn't he?" The pink haired neko-jin sniffed in disdain.

"Why are you so indifferent about it?" Max asked her while trying to stop his love rugby-tackling Mariah to the ground. "I thought you of all people would at least be a little bit concerned."

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Why would I care about him? I hope that he ends up in a ditch somewhere!" She turned around and started to storm off.

"Mariah! Wait!" Kenny caught her arm and made her turn around. "Why are you so angry at him?"

"I'm not angry! I'm furious! Two completely different emotions!" She yelled at him, her pupils narrowing to slits at the thought of Rei. She turned around again and tried to walk off, forgetting that Kenny was still holding her arm. "Let go of me!"

"Not until you tell us why you're upset."

"I believe 'furious' was the word, Chief." Tyson interjected helpfully.

"Because he should be here! But he's not! He was supposed to come back straight after the Worlds and marry me! But instead he just wrote and I got this crappy letter telling me 'oh sorry, I'm going to break the arrangement our parents made and have decided not to marry you.' How do you think you'd feel?"

"Oh… um…" Kenny trailed off. He hadn't known that Rei was engaged to the pink haired girl. He could see why though. He used to think that Rei and Mariah would make a great couple until he had actually looked at them when they were together. Mariah was always throwing herself at Rei and Rei… well Rei had always managed to smile and laugh it off before removing himself from the female neko-jin's talons.

Mariah smiled bitterly. "He didn't tell you, did he? Just like him, bastard." She glared at the three boys. "If you ever see him again, tell him that he better not ever show his face again around here again, ok?"

Max glared at her. "Will you at least tell the rest of your team to look out for him? You might not care about what happens to him but they might."

She sniffed, "Fine. Just leave." She turned around and walked a few steps before shouting over her shoulder. "And if you see Rei again tell him he can go rot in hell!"

"Fine!" Tyson yelled at her before turning back to Max. "She's really different from how she was at the Worlds."

"A broken heart can do that to you" Kenny told them sagely before walking past them towards the Ute they had come in.

Tyson glared after the pink neko-jin before turning his gaze to Max. "Promise you'll never do that to me?"

Max smiled and nuzzled his loves neck. "Promise."

And done! Who doesn't love a bit of Tyson/Max goodness? I hope that you like this chapter- I know it's a bit of a nothing to do with anything but I had to get them to rule out the village and I couldn't resist sticking in some TyMa!

Please tell me what you think.