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

Fate

Chapter 15

""Talking

''Thoughts

Flashback

"Bye Celestia!" A girl and her friend waved and turned the corner.

Celestia nodded at her friends and turned the other way, heading down the stairs. Walking down slowly, she looked on as the parents picked up their children. Coming to a stop, she sighed and looked up at the night sky.

A month.

It has been a month ever since the last time they saw each other, guess it's really over. There has been nothing from him, not even a phone call. Does he dislike her this much? Looking down, she held the art supplies in her arms closer to her chest.

It just takes time to forget about him. A long time.

Walking down the rest of the stairs she slowly turned right. Looking ahead of her, she sees a long dark road. Hugging herself, she realized that she has never liked walking down this road alone. Ever since Kai asked her out, he had walked down this road with her, for always, she's used to having him beside her.

Stepping onto this road, a cool wind picked up, she suddenly wished that she had a jacket. Sighing, she looked down at the ground; something under the street light caught her eyes. It was a person, leaning against the pole of the street light.

Her heart sped up, her breaths suddenly irregular, her body tensed up. Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, she picked up her head and continued on walking like before. Passing by that street light, she glanced at that person fearfully.

Picking up her pace, she quickly crossed the street light, her head facing forward, her eyes still glancing at the figure. Suddenly, the person pushed away from the post and walked towards her. Her eyes widened, her mind still not being able to work properly. Before she could register what's going on. A hand tightened around her wrist, she let out a loud gasp as the hand turned her around, her art supplies dropping on the ground as she was pulled into a strong embrace.

A... familiar scent.

"I've missed you, Celestia." A soft murmur brushed against her neck, arms around her tightly, holding her close.

It's...

"Kai." She whispered, her hands slowly encircling his waist, is this a dream? "Kai!" Closing her eyes, she buried her face to his shoulder blade and just let herself relax in this long awaited warmth.

Apartment

Walking in, she looked around the place. It's small, very small. It's only fit for a T.V., a tiny kitchen, a small bathroom and a double sized bed. Clicking the door shut, he turned and looked at her curious glances around the room.

"What's wrong? Never seen such a small apartment before?" He asked funnily.

Celestia turned around and smiled at him, shaking her head softly she took off his jacket gently. "No... I just never imagined you living in such a place, that's all." She said with a timid smile.

Then, no one said anything; Kai just looked at her, not even blinking. Celestia shifted her gaze around, her face burning; she wondered what he was looking at. Finally, Kai walked towards her and touched her scarlet cheek, just softly. Celestia smiled and looked up at Kai, whom just dropped his hand and walked past her heading straight for the kitchen, "I only have water and juice, which one do you want?"

"Water is fine." Celestia said and sat down on his bed, still wondering about this apartment. Looking up, she saw Kai standing before her with a glass of water. "Thanks."

He nodded as he handed her the water, then pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. Neither of them said anything, they just sat there. "Why are you living in an apartment like this?" She asked quietly.

"I'm sorry... for the way Voltaire acted the other day."

Celestia looked up quickly, her eyes showing fear. "Kai... did he kick you out because of me?" He didn't say anything but to look at her. Reaching forward, she grabbed his arm, totally forgetting about the glass of water in her hands. "Kai, I'll go and see Voltaire to explain the situation to him. Kai, you can't get kicked out of your own house because of me."

Kai looked at her anxious face then looked at the broken glass on the ground. Why is she so quick to her emotions? That's one more thing he has to clean up. Sighing, he reached forward and pulled her into his embrace. "Idiot, I didn't get kicked out of my house, I left without anyone knowing."

"Then... where have you been for the past month?"

"Everywhere. I had to find a job, and then I rented this place." Playing with her hair, he rested his chin on top of her head. "Sorry I couldn't come to see you for a whole month, I was really busy."

Celestia shook her head slowly and just laid her head on his shoulder. "Kai... I still don't understand why you need to leave your family."

"That way, when we get married, you won't have to face Voltaire."

Celestia pulled back from him surprised, looking at his expressionless face, she sees the emotions in his eyes. Now, she understands... he did this all for her.

"We'll get married, when you graduate, we'll get married." Kai ran a hand through his hair and leaned back onto the chair. "I've already quitted school because I have a full time job, and a part time job. I probably won't be able to see you unless it's the weekend, will you be okay by yourself?"

Celestia searched his face for a moment longer before smiling and dropping her gaze. "Kai... will it be okay if I lived with you here?" Picking up her head, she met Kai's surprised gaze with her own smiling ones.

End of Flashback

Tyson drove out of the public parking lot and was faced with an on going traffic jam the length of the Great Wall of China. He banged his fists on the steering wheel and waited. His eyes searched around him, and hoped to find her familiar figure. Just then, his cell phone rang, and he grabbed it immediately.

"Lianna!"

There was a long pause, before a soft voice spoke up.

"No. It's Malarin."

Tyson's eyes widened in surprise, then he blinked and heaved a breath out. "Malarin, is something wrong?"

"No. I couldn't get through to anyone else, so I need to tell you so you can tell the others. Tomorrow, let's go climb a mountain."

"A what?" Tyson asked incredulously as his car inched forwards a millimetre. "You don't strike me as the type of person to go mountain climbing."

She chuckled softly and spoke with the same manner. "No, but we all need to get away from this environment for a while."

"Tomorrow is not the weekend."

"Tyson, with this situation at hand, who's going to go to work tomorrow,"

Tyson nodded his head, it made sense. The city would probably be down for repairs tomorrow, so no one would be around anywhere. "Good idea, I'll tell the others."

"Thanks." She paused, and then added on. "Tyson, I'm sure Lianna's fine. Don't worry too much about it. I'll see you tomorrow." With a soft click, she had already ended the call.

Tyson slowly shut his cell phone and looked in front of him. This was not going to work; he'd never get there on time. With that thought in mind, he pulled the key out of the ignition, grabbed his cell phone and got out of his car. He looked around at the sea of cars and jogged towards the side walk. To hell with the car, walking was much faster.

So, on he walked and searched around for Lianna. He hoped that she was safe and had been rescued by the fire department already. He jogged past numerous intersections; until finally, his legs were so sore that he couldn't even feel them anymore. He slowed his pace down a notch but still kept an eye out for her.

He looked down at his cell phone in his hand. It had not even ringed once after he hung up with Malarin. He stopped and flipped it open. He's got signals, and the battery was not dead, why wasn't it ringing? He was sure that Lianna was probably trying to call him right now. He cursed under his breath about the cell phone, and shoved it into his pocket and prepared himself for another round of jogging.

Suddenly, he halted and just starred in front of him. Coming towards him was someone with their head bowed and was walking slowly. She was wearing the same jacket as Lianna, and was holding the same bag as Lianna. She was Lianna. Relief washed over him, suddenly, his knees felt like jell-o. "Lianna!" He shouted.

Lianna stopped and looked up slowly. Her face showed surprise and she just starred at him.

"What are you doing walking this way?" Tyson yelled.

Lianna blinked and looked around before returning her gaze upon him again. "I left my script at your house, I was just about to go back and get it."

Tyson looked at her and reality slowly sank in. She was not on that bus. She was not on that bus that crushed and flipped. Taking a huge step forward, Tyson quickly shortened their distance until he was standing right in front of her. Before she could have the chance to ask him a question, he grabbed her face and imprinted his lips on top of hers.

He just stood there and kissed her thoroughly. The cars honked beside them, people stopped and looked at them. However, they were in a world of their own. After a while, Tyson pulled back and broke their contact. Instead, he crushed her to him and held her tightly.

"Tyson?"

Tyson just ran his hand through her hair and rested his face against her head. "Thank God you were not on that bus, thank God." He murmured over and over again. He murmured it until the news sank in and steadied itself in Tyson's heart.

Lianna smiled softly and closed her eyes against his embrace. They were the sight to see in this chaotic city at that moment.

Next Day

"Well, this is something else, Malarin in casual wear." Jamice commented as she stepped out of the car and joined the group last.

Malarin merely smiled but said nothing else. She had her long hair tied up into a pony tail using some sort of a scarf, thus the two ends of it draped down her shoulders. She's wearing a long sleeved shirt that covered everything at the top and knee-length, tight shorts. It was quite rare to see her in a sight like so.

Jamice quickly glanced around and found that everyone was here. And she meant everyone. Kai and Aeris were off toward one side talking to Kenny and Lianna. While Ray, Celle were talking to Tyson and Max on the opposite side. Jamice mentally frowned at the groupings and stepped closer to Malarin to speak in a low voice. "So, how's everything going?"

Malarin shook her head regretfully. "You can visibly see the crack between them even when they talk to each other."

Jamice's eyes widened and she blinked rapidly. "So, you're saying that they did speak to each other."

"Yes. They greeted each other very normally, just like old friends. However, you could easily sense the tension and awkwardness radiating from all of them. Especially the four of them."

"Oh great, this is just wonderful." Jamice rolled her eyes. Then she groaned and stretched out her arms over her head. She took the chance and looked up at the clear blue sky. "It's so different from Tokyo. Back in Tokyo, everyone was still uptight about the accidents and power surges last night."

Malarin smiled again and looked at her sincerely. "I heard that you and Max are going out again."

Jamice pulled back her arms slowly and she looked back down at Malarin from the sky. "Yeah."

"I'm glad. I always thought that all of you were meant for each other."

"What about Kenny? Don't you think he has someone meant for him as well?" Jamice hinted and glanced at Kenny.

Malarin followed her glance and looked at Kenny as well. As if he felt her gaze, Kenny turned his head and smiled at Malarin; she in turn, smiled back as well. Then she turned to face Jamice again. "I definitely believe that there's someone out there that's perfect for him."

"I think you two would make a cute couple." Jamice said with a suggestive smile.

Malarin just smiled but said nothing else. Jamice shrugged but didn't force her either. Instead, she took a couple of steps back so that when she raised her voice, she wouldn't deafen Malarin. "People, don't you think we should get going? After all, we are planning on climbing over this mountain and back!"

And eventually, they began walking in groups. The girls in one and the guys in one, they walked beside each other. They were silent at the beginning, as if they were strangers walking on the same pathway. The silence continued on awkwardly before Kai pulled out a cigarette and lit it. That gained a couple of people's attention.

"Kai, don't smoke out here!" Aeris and Celle said together.

They stopped immediately afterwards and glanced at each other. Aeris took the initiative and gave her a small smile. Celle returned the smile but went back to looking at the road in front of her again. Ray glanced at both girls but decided not to say anything. Kai didn't know what to do or say either.

Malarin looked at the girls then looked back at Kai and then smiled. She reached up and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth gently then pinched it to death. "I agree. This natural resource should not be polluted by the likes of cigarettes."

Kai shrugged and shoved his hands into his jeans' pockets and continued on walking. After a moment, Celle glanced towards him quickly and withdrew her gaze. She didn't know why she even bothered coming with them. She knew that something was up the moment that Malarin called Ray. She shouldn't have listened to Ray's reasoning and came along with them. The atmosphere was awkward and she knew that it was because of what happened between the four of them. She knew that she took a major part in it.

"Kai, when is that annual party thing again?" Tyson broke the silence.

Kai glanced at him then turned his head back onto the trail again. "You're coming?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm there every single year!" Tyson shook a fist at Kai and glared at him.

"We're there every single year." Max corrected him.

Kai glanced towards them again and sighed. "It's two days from now." He then looked around at everyone's expectantly look and sighed again. "And yes, you're all invited."

Everyone gave a toothy grin and the tension was broken. Kai turned to Ray and looked at him seriously. "Ray." Ray turned to look at him, he was surprised at Kai's serious face.

"What is it?" He asked carefully.

"Please don't stand in the middle of my banquet hall and complain about the chefs' cooking again."

Ray gaped at him for a moment longer before breaking out into a short round of laughter. Afterwards, he looked back at Kai again. "I can't promise you anything." He then gave Kai a light punch on the shoulder and the two of them smiled at each other.

"At last they're talking again." Lianna said to Jamice quietly.

Even Tyson and Max heaved a sigh of relief separately as the atmosphere lightened dramatically.

"I know what you mean. Kai and Ray had always been best friends, it'd be strange if they don't talk to each other." Jamice commented back.

Celle looked at them and then looked back at Kai and Ray again. They were telling each other something before Ray hit Kai again and shook his head with an unbelievable look on his face. Celle looked down and gripped onto the belt of her jeans. They were right. Ray and Kai should be talking to each other and should not be fighting because of her.

"Kai, Ray, let's go shopping together!" Jamice announced happily as she skipped towards them with Lianna behind her.

"What? Why?" Ray questioned.

"Because!"

"Because?" Kai asked back.

"Just because!" Jamice pouted playfully and latched onto the two of them fondly.

Celle looked at them and suddenly felt as if she was looking at them through a layer of glass. This wasn't the first time that she had experienced this feeling, but this time was stronger than the previous times. She saw them standing in a circle laughing and joking around with each other. Even Lianna and Kai would laugh and talk openly with the rest of the group. That was something that neither of them have been able to do around her. She saw the past connections surrounding them. Whenever they'd bring up something from the past, all of them would be able to remember it and comment on it. Whereas she could only listen to their tales, laughter and pain, but could never experience those feelings that they experienced at that time.

"Celle, what's wrong?"

Celle looked up sharply and saw Aeris looking back at her. For a moment, Celle didn't know what to say. Finally, Aeris took a couple of steps toward her and tilted her head. "Is something the matter? Are you not feeling well?"

Celle shook her head slowly and gave her a smile. "No. No, I'm fine, really. I was just admiring the beautiful sceneries up at the top of the mountain."

Aeris smiled as well and looked around herself. "I know what you mean; this is one of the best scenes I've seen in a long time."

"Celle, Aeris, what are you two doing?"

Both girls turned and saw Ray looking at them strangely. "Come on, we're climbing down the mountain to the other side. Malarin just said that she wants us to come back here at sunset. She said that she had something planned for us." He then held out his hands toward them. "Take my hand; it's quite steep over there."

Celle smiled immediately and grabbed onto his right hand. Ray smiled back at her and turned to Aeris. He waved his left hand, waiting for her to take it. Aeris looked at Celle and looked at that hand, she took a step forward hesitantly.

"Aeris."

Kai's figure appeared beside Ray's and he bent down his legs to extend his hands. "Here."

Ray watched as Aeris smiled and took his hands willingly and let him pull her up to where they were and helped her to her feet. He gingerly pulled Celle up to her feet as well, but his gaze kept on returning to the backs of Kai and Aeris together. Unknown to him, Celle's eyes could not be diverted away from them either. Neither of them said anything.

By sunset, they returned to where they started, but this time they stood in front of a long stream instead of the parking lot. The golden light streamed down through the trees and fancied up the little stream that rocked gently towards the east. All 10 of them just looked at the water, no one said anything.

"Malarin, you said you had something for us."

Malarin smiled and opened up the bag that she had been holding. From inside the bag, she took out a bunch of oil boats and held them in her hands. "I'm not sure if any one of you realizes this... but today is the 4th anniversary of the incident."

The incident? Celle looked at her curiously. However, she was the only one that was confused. Upon the mentioning of the incident, everyone's face grew serious and almost gravely. Kai turned his body away from her and directed his gaze on the stream in front of him and just starred at it intently. Malarin turned her body away from everyone else as well and put the oil boats down onto the ground. She then knelt down on the ground and fingered the stream gently.

"This stream was rumoured to go on forever until it reaches the great seas. So, this stream is like a small road that'd allow us to go anywhere around the world." She then bowed her head and closed her eyes. "So, I thought... maybe this stream will be able to send our messages to Celestia as well. No matter where she is right now."

Celle's face showed realization. So that's the incident that they're all talking about. She dug her hands into her pockets and looked down at the ground. She knew she shouldn't have come today.

Malarin then opened her eyes and lit one of the oil boats. The little flicker of hope shone brightly in her hands. She brought it to the edge of the water and smiled at it. "Celestia, if you can hear us, please come back. Please come back to us." She then put the boat onto the flowing water and watched as it slowly drifted away from the group by the shore.

Immediately, Ray picked up an oil boat and lit it as well. "Celestia, remember to come back soon and teach me more about the paintings that are on display in the museum." He dropped the boat in the water and watched it float off.

"Celestia, we need you back here to maintain our sanity."

"Celestia, no matter where you are, I hope you're having the time of your life."

"Celestia, you need to do a better portrait of me. I'll be waiting."

"Celestia, when you come back, I'll finally be able to teach you how to use the high-tech equipments that you were never able to use before."

"Celestia, I'll be waiting for your tales to create yet another story."

"Celestia..." Aeris paused and her eyes dimmed, she just couldn't think of anything. "I miss you."

Celle looked towards Aeris, whom was kneeling on the shore line and looking at her oil boat that was just sent off. Celle never knew that so much emotion could be built up behind just 3 words. Then she noticed that Kai had knelt down and placed a boat in the stream as well. His mouth moved in silent words and he let go of the boat and watched it go.

I love you.

She knew he had said that. She sighed and looked at all 9 of them rolling down the stream; each carried a hope of their own. She then looked up at the darkening sky again; she would never be able to walk into their world.

Later, as they walked back to the parking lot, Malarin noticed the remaining oil boat. She looked up at her friends' back views and realized that Celle never joined them. She looked down at the oil boat and then glanced at her back again, her pace slowed down unconsciously until she came to a stop. Eventually, she saw all their cars pull out of the parking lot and leaving the resort. It was only she and Kenny left.

"Malarin."

Malarin looked at him and smiled lightly. "Don't you think the coupling right now is a bit crazy?" Kenny raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue. "Kai is with Aeris, Ray is with Celle. Everything is so messed up."

"They chose their road for themselves."

"But they're all hiding secrets from each other."

"Malarin, it was you that told me everyone have secrets." Malarin averted her gaze towards the ground and nodded her head in agreement. "So, you can't blame them." He paused then studied her seriously. "Though, my question is: what is your secret?"

Malarin looked up at him sharply and held her breath. Is he asking for a confession? Kenny looked at her for a moment longer before he sighed in a defeated tone and pulled her into his embrace. "Forget it. It's your secret anyways."

Malarin looked behind his shoulder at the direction of the stream and turned her head away from it quickly. He's right, she had secrets. She had many secrets... and maybe one day, she'd be able to tell him those secrets...

TBC...

Thanks for reading, please R&R.