I don't own Beyblade, or any of its characters, please do not sue me.

Fate

Chapter 14

""Talking

''Thoughts

Flashback

It has been a week since she last saw Kai, he hasn't come to see her since then, and he hasn't even called or e-mailed her or anything. The relationship... really is over. Celestia sighed and turned to look outside of the windows into the empty school yard. It's the last period of the day; the teacher gave them a silent study period. She couldn't concentrate on anything; Kai's face appeared before her no matter what she did.

Is… it really over?

She felt as if she was still floating in the middle of no where, she felt as if she had to do something else. She rested her cheek on her palm; and just starred into space, and thought about what she should do from now on.

The class ended, everyone was gone, she didn't even know how she managed to get out of class in one piece, bumping into people here and there was quite normal for her.

"Celestia."

A familiar voice, Celestia's heart skipped a beat, she looked up with a surprised smile, only to find Ray looking at her with a smile as well.

It's... not him.

Celestia's smile deepened and she walked towards him, she hadn't seen him for a long time either. Aeris had kept in touch with him every day ever since that incident. "Ray, I haven't seen you in such a long time, how are you doing lately?"

"I'm fine, just... worried about you." Ray's expression matched his words, a concerned look crossed his face as he took her bag from her.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me, I'll survive." Barely. She looked down, but didn't say anything else. The wound was still fresh. She then looked up at Ray as they walked towards his car. "Why are you here? I thought you were busy all week long."

"Yeah... I am." Ray echoed her phrase, but kept his head high.

Celestia looked at him strangely, if he was busy then why was he still here? She looked at his profile and waited for his answer. Soon enough, Ray sighed and stopped to look at her directly. Celestia looked at him as well, a bunch of books still in her arms.

"Celestia... Kai, I heard that he's not going to come to school anymore." Ray said gently, looking at the girl in front of him carefully.

"What... do you mean?"

"Celestia, Kai dropped out of school this morning."

The wind blew over; a bunch of books fell onto the ground between Ray and Celestia.

Garden

Sitting in the garden of Malarin's house, Kenny could only stare into space in front of him. Malarin looked up at the younger boy before her, sighing; she put down her tea cup gracefully and titled her head. "Kenny, I heard what happened between Kai and Celestia."

Kenny looked up at her and blinked. "How did you know?"

"Jamice and Aeris both called me about it, and told me not to mention Kai in front of Celestia."

Kenny nodded then looked down again, thinking of plans to contact Kai, or at least find out how he's doing right now. Malarin stirred her tea quietly and then frowned slightly at her cup. "Kai's planning something."

"What?"

"Kai's not the type to sit around and wait for fate to hand him something. I think he has something up his sleeves." Malarin stated calmly. From experience, Kai was already taking his action... just quietly.

"What... do you think he's doing?" Kenny asked, suddenly interested in what Malarin has to say about this.

"I don't know for sure, but I think Kai is already out of Voltaire's control. I think Kai is in this city somewhere, just somewhere that he doesn't want to be seen by us yet." She then stopped stirring and looked up at Kenny seriously. "Kenny, does Kai work?"

"No... No. I don't think he does, the money from his family is enough for him." Kenny answered, his mind still not sure where Malarin's taking this.

"Then... does he have any other resident place other than the Hiwatari Mansion right now?"

"I don't think so."

Malarin then nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. After a second, she smiled and picked up her tea cup to sip at her tea again. Kenny looked at her and leaned forward, there's so much about this woman that he didn't know.

"Malarin, what are you thinking?"

Malarin put down her tea cup and looked at Kenny in front of her; she smiled and leaned back into her chair. "Don't worry Kenny; everything will be alright soon."

Somehow, her words seemed to contain magic in them. That sentence had been repeated countless number of times throughout this week, however... no one said it so reassuringly, no one but her. When she said it a moment ago, it sounded as if it was going to come true any second now. It sounded so... confident, so sure of itself. Still, he couldn't help by ask. "Why?"

Malarin smiled again, this time her eyes sparkled with another kind of gleam in them.

"Because I think... Kai is fighting back in his own way."

End of Flashback

"Thank you all for coming to the press conference today." Kai started and cameras flashed immediately. "Miss Aeris Turner and I are here today to announce our engagement and our plans of marriage in the near future."

Loud gasps ran through the crowd, even the press was surprised at this turn of events. Aeris looked around and smiled. She knew what they were thinking. She knew that they couldn't believe Kai would give up someone like Celle and go to her.

"Miss Turner, is the ring you're wearing your engagement ring?"

Aeris blinked and looked down at her ring. She received it this morning, and saw this gorgeous ring standing in a velvet box. She couldn't believe her eyes and the weight of the thing. Even though there was no one around her, she still put it on with a smile. Thinking about that, she turned to look at Kai and found that he was looking at her as well. She smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, it is."

Another round of murmur rose in the crowd, as cameramen closed up and examined her diamond ring. It even looked heavy with all those diamond and the thick band. "Mr. Hiwatari, how did you propose to Miss Turner?"

"I don't want to discuss that." Kai said coldly and pinned his famous death glare on everyone in the room.

"Mr. Hiwatari, did you pick out the ring yourself? Or did you go with Miss Turner?"

"Myself."

"Then how did you know if Miss Turner was going to like the ring or not?"

"I know her very well." Kai said with a bored expression and tapped the table with his finger tips.

The crowd sounded as if they've just heard some kind of dirty confession, the juicy details were already leaking out of their pens.

"So, Mr. Hiwatari, you two must be very compatible with each other and know each other to the molecules, huh?" That question was meant as a joke, and everyone got a good laugh out of it. Even Aeris cracked a smile and chuckled lightly. Kai just raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

SMACK.

The TV turned off with a pillow that slammed into it hard. The room was silent.

Celle sat on the sofa and starred at the blank screen in rage. Her eyes were on fire and her breathings were coming in pants. She couldn't believe this! They've only broken up for a week, and he was already marrying someone else. And it was not just anybody, it was Aeris Turner! Celestia's best friend, the girl that was supposed to be in love with Ray.

Ray glanced at Celle but decided to remain silent. He knew that it was best to keep quiet when she's pissed. He turned and glanced at the TV screen as well. He couldn't believe what he had just heard either. Aeris and Kai, who would have thought that they would marry each other some day? He looked down and frowned, why does he feel as if the oxygen around him had just been cut off?

"Ray."

Ray looked up when hearing his name and saw Celle's determined face. He silently prayed the Gods and put on a smile. "Yeah?"

"Let's get married." She said calmly. There was no joy of any kind in her voice.

Ray looked at her and blinked, he knew that this was because of the shock that Kai's engagement had given her. He smiled a small smile and nodded his head. "Anything you want."

Ray watched as Celle gave him an ugly smile and stood up from the sofa. "Where are you going?"

"I have rehearsal tonight. I'll be late, don't wait up."

"Actually, I might have to stay at the restaurant a bit late tonight as well." Ray said immediately, and stood up from his seat.

Celle paused at the foyer and nodded at him. Then, without a second glance, she opened the front door and it slammed shut behind her. Only Ray was left behind to stare at the closed door deep in thought.

Tyson's House

"Can you believe that?" Tyson exclaimed.

Lianna put on her shoes calmly and looked up at him. Even with her high heels, he's still a bit taller than her. "I guess there's no other way out for them."

"Still! Aeris and Kai? My God! What is going to happen tomorrow? You and Max?" Tyson shuddered at that image.

Lianna rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. "Would you stop with the images? I'm going to go."

"Why are you taking the bus? They're saying that there's a storm coming up, and you'd have to wait thirty minutes for the next bus. And besides, it's already nine o'clock, it'll be midnight soon. I don't feel good knowing that you're taking the bus by yourself." Tyson objected and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Tyson, you worry too much. I'll be fine. I've taken the bus for my entire life; I don't see the harm in taking it now."

"But I could drive you."

"There's no need. You get some rest, and I'll call you tomorrow."

Tyson looked at her for a moment longer before he nodded reluctantly, and swept her into his arms. "Please be careful." He whispered into her hair and felt her nod against his chest. He tightened his hold for a second and then dropped his arms to let her go.

Lianna smiled at him and turned to walk out. From the windows of the hall way in his apartment, Lianna could see the black clouds crowding over. She really needed to hurry up if she didn't want to wait an hour for another bus.

Office

Jamice flinched again as the light flickered off for a longer period of time and then on again. She starred up at the light and looked around the office. She chose a horrible day to stay behind. With the light still on, she reached into her drawer and fished out a flash light. Another round of thunder came, the sound drummed in her ears. She parted her curtains and looked outside at the unusually dark city. With this storm, many lights have been knocked out, and soon, this office will be deprived of its lighting sources as well.

Just as she thought of that, the light turned off and everything turned pitch black. Jamice closed her eyes and counted to ten. She had to calm herself down. Then, she opened her eyes again and was still greeted by a sea of blackness. Then, she bent her elbow at ninety degrees and turned on the flashlight.

"Jamice?"

"Aaaahhhh!" Jamice screamed and waved her arms around, thinking that it was some kind of monster.

"Jamice! Woh! Relax, it's me! Max!" Jamice felt her arms being caught, and then she was in the arms of another.

She blinked against the rough material and relaxed when she took in Max's familiar scent. "Max?"

"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping that I'd get here before the light goes out so that I can pick you up. However, it seems the speed of light truly is faster than I am." Max said jokingly and patted her back reassuringly.

"You idiot." Jamice chided softly and her arms encircled his neck. It felt good to be in his arms again. She could still recall the last time when they held each other like this. That was before everything went wrong. "So Max, what are we going to do now? The entire building is dark and the elevators are shut down, so the only solution is for us to walk down the stairs."

"Are you willing to? This is the 18th floor." Max teased playfully. He then moved back to look at her with the help of her flashlight.

"Oh please!" Jamice hit his arm playfully and rolled her eyes.

"And that's why I brought refreshments!" Max smiled and held up his right arm. In his hand, he held two plastic bags.

"Ohhh, what are they?" Jamice's eyes brightened immediately.

"Let's sit first."

"Just sit on the ground." Jamice dragged him down onto the floor.

"Aren't we a little impatient?" Max teased and then stretched out his legs and leaned back onto a desk. "I bought sushi and some drinks. So, after we've eaten, we can challenge those stairs."

"Good thinking."

"And you can turn off your flashlight, I've got candles. We can use your flashlight for emergencies." Max said and lit a candle carefully. He placed it in front of them, so that they'll be careful not to knock it over unknowingly.

They sat beside each other under the soft glow of the candle and chewed on their sushi quietly. No one said anything; they haven't been alone like this for quite a long time.

"Jamice."

"Yeah?"

"I missed you."

"What are you talking about? I'm sitting right beside you."

"No." Max paused and when he spoke again, his tone changed. "I meant I missed hanging out with you, just the two of us. I missed having you with me all the time and everywhere. I missed holding you and kissing you. I missed having you as my girlfriend." He confessed with a low voice.

Jamice found herself unable to breath. Her ears rang with his confession, her heart beating wild.

"Jamice, let's start over. Give us a second chance."

Jamice just focused on breathing for the moment and Max didn't force her into anything either. After a while, Max felt Jamice's head on his shoulder. He felt her arms clinging onto his left arm and she just stayed there. "Jamice?"

"If we get out of here alive, then we'll start over."

Max blinked and laughed good naturedly. "Then I guess I'll have to survive no matter what."

Jamice laughed as well and took another bite out of her sushi. Going out with him again... maybe this time wouldn't end up like last time. Maybe. Just maybe.

Apartment

"I guess I won't be leaving for quite a while tonight." Malarin commented as she looked outside at the pouring rain and the blackened city.

Kenny glanced outside before setting two tea cups down and sat across from her. Malarin smiled and took a sip from her cup. "Um... jasmine tea. I never knew you liked them."

Kenny looked at her while holding his cup half way to his lips. "You used to wear a jasmine scented perfume." He then quickly covered his face by drinking from his tea cup.

Malarin looked at him with surprise in her eyes. She has had many perfumes over the years; in fact, she's had so many that she didn't even keep track of which scents she had before. However, it seemed like he could keep track of her perfume easily. She gave herself a small smile and looked down. This kid. This little boy. He managed to surprise her in so many ways.

"Malarin..."

"Kenny, do you think Celle is with Kai right now?" Malarin cut him off. She knew where the conversation was going to be headed if she had let him continued on with his sentence.

And expectedly, Kenny frowned and leaned back. "I don't know. Why would she be with Kai? She's going out with Ray now, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but she has a late rehearsal tonight. And I heard from Max that Kai is still working in the office. You never know, maybe they'd be able to catch each other again." Malarin said with a shrug.

"You really want them to be together, don't you?" Kenny asked and looked at the woman in front of him.

Malarin smiled and flipped some of her hair back elegantly. "Not really. I still like Celestia better, but it's just that I cannot let go of a good mystery."

"You still believe that Celle has some connections with Celestia." Kenny stated and picked up his tea cup again.

"Of course. You know I don't believe in the whole destiny thing." She paused, then snorted out a short laugh and played with her tea cup. "If everything was destined, then why can't I be with the man destined for me?"

Kenny frowned and gazed at her seriously. He appeared to be in deep in thought, perhaps he was thinking about what Malarin had just said. Malarin then smiled and looked up at Kenny with almost a mother like gaze. "Kenny, when you look for a wife in the future. You've got to understand that everyone has secrets; you can't expect someone to be totally honest and truthful. So, the only step you can is to find a girl that's willing to share her secrets with you. Find a girl that's willing to talk to you about anything, and share every secret with you. Then, you've actually found a girl that holds you as true and values the relationship as well."

Kenny didn't say anything for quite a while and Malarin didn't force him either. They just sat in front of the windows and drank their tea quietly. Malarin turned her head towards the window so she could watch how the rain cleansed the earth of its dirt. The world would be clean and honest once the rain is gone. However, let her enjoy the sacred moment of cleansing the earth of its impurities.

"Then what about you? Do you have any secrets? Are you willing to share them with me?" Kenny asked at length.

Malarin smiled thinly but she didn't even turn her head from the windows. "I have tons of secrets, Kenny. And it is not wise to want to share secrets with someone like me. For, some of my secrets will no doubt hurt you the greatest."

Restaurant

"Isn't this romantic? A candle-lit dinner."

Aeris looked up at Ray with boredom and annoyance in her eyes. He was sitting across from her with the table that separated the both of them.

"It would be if I was not sitting here soaked; and we weren't eating fast food." She stated nonchalantly and poked her fork through another bunch of noodles.

"Oh, come on, lighten up. We've always complained that we don't see each other enough. This is the perfect chance for us to catch up on each other's lives." Ray said. He was trying to sound cheerful.

They were stuck in his restaurant after he had closed the place seeing how horrible the weather was. Then, Aeris drove by and said something about him making her something to eat, since she was too lazy to cook tonight. And just as she stepped in, the power went off, and the outside world turned dark. The two of them wagered their choices and decided to stay at Ray's restaurant and just eat something. Unfortunately, the only thing they could find was fast food and instant noodles.

Aeris looked down at her bow upon hearing that sentence. The ring on her right hand seemed to be blinding her eyes. And maybe it was just her imagination, she felt as if the ring was getting heavier day by day.

"However, I don't think you need to tell me much about your life lately. Seeing as your life has been publicized by the media." Ray added on.

That's right. She was Kai Hiwatari's fiancée, one of the titles that many women in the world would die for, and she didn't even have to work for it. However, just how much meaning laid behind that title? Not much. In fact, nothing at all. Aeris didn't even know how she was going to face Kai if they did get married.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." She answered quietly, still starring at her noodles. Suddenly, she just lost her appetite.

"Aeris... I never thought that you'd marry Kai." Ray started slowly.

Aeris smiled thinly and looked at him. "Ray, remember what you said? You said you'd give your friends blessings no matter what."

Ray frowned and pushed at his spoon. "I know, but it's just that... I don't think you'd find happiness with Kai." He paused, and then added on. "He only loves Celestia."

Again, Aeris smiled and this time she didn't look away. "Then, tell me, Ray. Who can give me happiness?"

Ray looked up at her and an answer formed quickly. "Someone that'd love you for who you are."

"And what? You want me to wait another 5 years for that person to realize my feelings for him?"

Ray seemed to have winced at her not so subtle sentence and remained silent. Aeris looked at him and then sighed. She thought she'd be okay with talking about this with him. She thought she had prepared herself enough for this conversation, because she knew it'd come sooner or later. It wasn't going to be only with him, but with the others as well.

"Ray, I understand what you're trying to say. However." This time, it was her that paused. "However, I don't think I have much faith in love anymore. I think... if this... situation with Kai didn't happen. I would have allowed my family to set me up on dates with men, and just got married to one that I'd be able to spend the rest of my life with."

Ray looked at her with wide eyes. He was clearly shocked. Aeris smiled mockingly inward. She figured that he never knew that she felt this way about her future. "Aeris, you don't have to be like this."

"That's why I'm not just marrying some random dude off the street. I'm marrying Kai. Besides, we're friends to begin with, so the marriage won't turn out horribly wrong." Aeris prayed silently then shrugged her shoulders. "And besides, I even got the approval from Voltaire. Now, that has to count for something." She heard that it was actually Voltaire's idea for Kai to marry her.

"Voltaire?"

"Yeah."

Ray blinked and looked down. "So... you're definitely going to marry Kai then?"

"Yeah." She took in a deep breath and nodded. "I guess so."

Ray looked at the top of her head as she had it bowed. His eyes betrayed unwanted emotions. And for some weird reason, his heart rate increased, it increased so much that it was hurting every time it was beating.

Casino

"Celle, I need to talk to you."

Celle's figure paused for a second before the mirror as she heard his familiar voice. She looked into the mirror and saw him standing by the doorway with a clipboard in his hand. She looked at him for a moment longer before she lowered her lipstick and turned around.

"About what?"

"The new schedule." Kai said calmly.

Celle's heart dropped down, and as soon as that happened, she chided herself for thinking stupid thoughts. She was going out with Ray now, so she should not be feeling these emotions towards Kai anymore.

"Talk to my manager, he takes care of these things." Celle said coldly. She forced herself to turn her head away from him and look into the mirror again. "I've got to go; I have some thing planned with Ray already." She said purposely and studied his face for any emotions.

However, Kai had been trained well enough to remain a stoic face and barely raised an eyebrow. "Your manager is already gone, and I need this confirmed right now."

Celle sighed and put down her lipstick that she had just uncapped. She turned around again and looked up at Kai with a bored expression. "Seriously, can't this..."

The lights flashed and interrupted her. She and Kai glanced up towards the light simultaneously and held their breaths. The warning about black outs and other incidents have been all over the news, and thus the casino had closed down early today. Then another flash came by, and Celle's eyes widened. And just like that, the light source in the room went out, and the room was pitch black.

Neither of them said anything, perhaps both were recovering from the shock.

"Celle."

"Kai." Celle started. Then, she immediately felt around for the table and drawers underneath the table. "Wait, I have candles in this room." She knocked over something in the process and finally managed to open the drawer.

A little hope of light beamed out from where Kai was standing, and Celle realized that he had his lighter with him and frowned immediately. "Kai, you shouldn't smoke, it's bad for your health!"

In the midst of this darkness, some sort of an emotion ran through Kai's eyes as he weighed his words carefully. "I thought you liked guys that smoked."

Celle opened her mouth but realized that she had nothing to reply with. Instead, she just cleared her throat awkwardly and pulled out a candle. Kai looked at her, then walked over and implanted the fire on the wick of the candle and a slow glow covered the room. Kai stopped his lighter from working and put it on the table beside Celle's lipstick.

Again, the room was covered by silence.

"Kai congratulations on your engagement." Celle said quietly.

Kai glanced at her and nodded his head. "Thanks." She just gave a quick smile and played with her hair. He looked at her profile and noted how awkward the situation was right now. When they were... going out, she used every chance possible to cling onto him. And after getting used to that, the freedom he now had seemed very strange and almost unwanted.

"Celle, the schedule."

Celle snapped her head around and looked down at his hands, then she slowly nodded her head and sat down again. "Yeah, we have nothing else to do anyways."

With the glow of the candle in between them, the former couple saved as much talking as possible when looking over the work plan. Celle glanced at Kai's profile numerous times throughout the entire process. She noted that he didn't look any different from before. Unlike her, she had lost weight, and according to Ray, she was no longer as cheerful as before.

Well, whose fault is that?

Celle automatically glanced at Kai, but knew deep down in her heart that she was to blame for this. She was the one that imposed herself on Kai, and most of all, she was the one to blame for not taking away his heart from Celestia.

She raised a mocking smile under the dim light. Thank goodness Kai couldn't see. However, it was even more mocking that she had to compete with someone that's not even here. Someone that could very well be dead already.

With another glance at Kai, she returned her attention to the schedule. She should be thankful that she could still see Kai. And if she does marry Ray in the future, she was sure that she'll have lots more chances to see him throughout her entire life.

Apartment

Tyson's eyebrows furrowed even more as the news reporter talked about how the roads were blocked and the numerous accidents that had happened in the past hour or so.

"And latest news states that the number 7 bus going towards the east end of the city had just crushed and flipped over in the middle of a high traffic area. The bus then spread a slow fire that is increasing as we speak. The fire department is on its way, but with the hectic city right now, no one is sure when they'd arrive. The number 7 left about 30 minutes ago from the bus terminal, viewers are advised to contact anyone they know could be taking that bus."

Tyson looked up at his clock immediately. Thirty minutes ago... that's about when Lianna left. A cold chill ran through Tyson's blood as his mind ran through the possibilities. He grabbed his car key and raced out of the door.

Inside the room, the TV was still buzzing with the latest news. The lights flickered on and off, eventually, the electricity died out, and the TV returned to its normal state. Quiet and blank...

TBC...

Thanks for reading, please R&R.