And here we have it. updates a-plenty. you guys are soooo lucky

dArkliTe-sPirit - yeah, i know, right? we all want to kill Kye... (XP)

SaphireStars- ... don't i get a plushie too? (and heck yeah, i love everyone who encouraged me to continue this story)

and a big thank you (and a big hug if you want) to ALL reviewers.

I do not own XS. so there. told yah so...

(thoughts: Where the hell is Oscar?)

Raimundo hurried to pack some stuff up, not bothering to clean his scrapes or change his clothes. He knew that Master Fung, Clay, Omi, Kimiko and Dojo were here, and he knew that they were looking for him. For some reason…, he added to himself. So he was getting ready to go somewhere else. And he had to hurry, before—

"Raimundo," said a voice from behind him.

Too late.

Raimundo turned to look at him. "Ehm… Hey, Master Fung…" His face suddenly lit up. Maybe they weren't after him. "I guess you're here to get the Golden Tiger Claws back." He tossed them to Master Fung, who caught them easily. "There you go. Nice seeing you. Bye."

"Raimundo, we came for you. You did not have to leave the temple. As much as you want to deny it, we need you there."

To do what? Chores? Raimundo asked Master Fung mentally.

"We cannot simply get another Dragon of the Wind, because you are still the Dragon of the Wind. We need all four Chosen Ones to defeat evil, and that means you must come back to the temple."

"But—!"

"You underestimate your power, Raimundo. You are more useful than you think," Master Fung said.

"Oh, great, did Kimiko tell you what she found out about me when she used the Red Robin?"

"No, she did not," Master Fung answered, and Raimundo just thought that it was a matter of time before Kimiko spills everything that she knew. "But I am assuming that you did as I said and forgave her?"

"Yeah, I said that I forgave her, except she didn't believe me. And she was right not to believe me, because I can't say that I forgive her when I just don't mean it," Raimundo replied. "So Kimiko got all pissed off at me and we got into this argument…" His sentence trailed off. "But…uh…that's not what you came here to talk about."

"Yes, indeed. You will come back with us now."

"But what if I don't want to?"

"You are coming no matter what you say," Master Fung said. "So I suggest you come with us willingly."

"Is that a threat?" Raimundo asked suspiciously.

"If you choose to take it that way." Master Fung then used the Golden Tiger Claws to open up a portal. He stuck his head through it, and then came back out. Clay, Omi, Kimiko and Dojo also came out of the portal and into Raimundo's room.

"We will stay here for the night," Master Fung said.

Raimundo was about to protest, about to tell Master Fung that they could just take the 'Tiger Claw Express' right out of there. But he held back, thinking that he would like to spend a little more time in Brazil, even though this part of Brazil was particularly scummy.

Omi looked around curiously. "This is where you lived for ten years?" he asked Raimundo.

"Who told you that?" Raimundo inquired, a little defensively.

"Master Fung, of course!" Omi replied brightly.

"Of course," Raimundo mumbled as he turned away from the others and pretended to look for something in his backpack.

Omi still paced around, looking over everything thoroughly. "Well, it was cleaner when you lived here before, right?"

"Not really," Raimundo replied. "It's not like we had a maid."

Omi hmm-ed thoughtfully before leaving the room to check out the rest of the place.

Raimundo grabbed a towel from his backpack and went to the bathroom, turning on the shower and sticking the towel in there because the sink didn't work.

Damp towel in hand, he took a seat and began to roll up his pant leg. The dirt that had gotten on his leg was beginning to irritate the cuts that were there, so Raimundo figured that he might as well clean it up now.

He hissed slightly when the towel touched the deep cut on his leg, the cut burning painfully.

"What are you doing now, my friend?" Omi asked as he walked through the open door. When he saw Raimundo's cuts, his eyes widened. "You have injuries?" He stared at the blood as if he had never seen any before.

"Yeah…sure, nothing serious," Raimundo said nonchalantly before rolling up his other pant leg.

Omi's eyes went even wider at the sight of more cuts, and his expression made him look very innocent. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it tickles," Raimundo replied sarcastically. "Of course it hurts."

"Which is it? Tickles or hurts?" Omi asked, not understanding Raimundo's sarcasm.

"Hurts."

"Oh," Omi said. "I think we brought some bandages… Do you want them?"

"Sure, why not?"

Nodding, Omi left the bathroom and came back to the room where the others were. They looked at him questioning expressions on.

"Raimundo is cleaning his injuries," Omi explained as he found the first aid kit that they had brought with them.

Kimiko came up to him. "Here, let me take those." She took the bandages from Omi and made her way to the bathroom.

She saw Raimundo using a wet towel to clean some of his cuts on his legs, and Kimiko could spot the cut that was making him limp.

She tried to remain emotionless as she handed him the bandages.

"Thanks," he muttered to her.

"How'd you get that?" she asked, indicating the deep cut.

Raimundo looked down at the cut again. "I got that today when I got thrown on the asphalt… I guess someone broke a window or something, 'cause there was glass all over the place. So when I landed, my leg and arm got cut by the glass." He bandaged the deep cut. "I swear there must still be glass in this one…"

"Who was that guy who was chasing after you?" Kimiko inquired as Raimundo kept bandaging the rest of the cuts on his legs.

"The guy's name is Kye. And he's never alone. He's always got those stupid, but incredibly strong, sidekicks of his trailing after him."

"And why was he chasing after you?"

Raimundo sighed. "It's a really long story, Kimiko. It all goes back to Kye's best friend named Armando…and…" Raimundo paused. "It's just a long story."

The name Armando clicked in Kimiko's mind, and she instantly was curious. But it was obvious that Raimundo didn't want to talk about it, so she let it go — for now. She dug into her pocket and handed him something.

"Here's this back…"

Raimundo took his medallion and fastened it back around his neck. "Thanks…"

Kimiko was thinking. So how exactly did Raimundo get all those cuts on his leg? Just from that broken glass? And he said that he got thrown on the asphalt. What exactly did that mean? And what happened with this Armando guy, and why was this 'Kye' chasing after him?

"Why'd you leave, Rai?" she asked. "Why'd you just have to leave?"

Raimundo shook his head and paused. "To grant your wish, of course."

Kimiko glared at him. "Both you and me know that there's more to it than that. 'Granting my wish' was just an excuse and you know it."

Raimundo shrugged and began to clean and bandage the cuts on his arms.

Kimiko was surprised to see even more cuts. What happened? she asked herself again, almost expecting an answer.

She tried to change the subject by saying, "I haven't felt any of your power boost wind lately…"

Raimundo gave her a half-smile. "That's because you haven't been around me lately." He shrugged again. "It hasn't happened today. Yet." He emphasized the word yet as if he dreaded the moment when his wind would start up again.

"How do you know it will happen today?"

Raimundo slapped another bandage on his arm. "Because it happens all the time."

"But what if you have control now, and that's why it hasn't happened yet?"

Raimundo shook his head. "Believe me when I say that I will know when I have control. And frankly, I hope control comes soon, because…" he let his sentence trail off.

"Because what?" Kimiko asked.

"Um, it's nothing." Raimundo stood up and looked up and down his bandaged body. "How do I look? Like a mummy?"

Kimiko laughed a little. "Not really… But you missed a spot." She pointed to his head.

Raimundo looked into the grimy mirror over the inoperative sink and saw a cut on his forehead. "Oh, forgot about that one."

After he was done bandaging it, he and Kimiko walked back to the other room.

"I feel like a mummy…," Raimundo grumbled as he limped slightly back to the room. He grabbed his backpack and fished out a new set of clothes, and then left the room again.

"Do you know what happened to Raimundo?" Master Fung asked Kimiko after Raimundo was definitely out of hearing range.

Kimiko shook her head. She could tell that the others were curious, but there was little that she could tell them. But when she looked to Master Fung, he seemed to look like he had a pretty good idea as to what happened, but she guessed that he didn't want to assume anything or worry everyone by telling them the worst scenario.

She once again looked around the room. I can't believe Raimundo lived in this dump for ten years, she thought. I wonder if he left anything behind when he left with Master Fung…

When Raimundo came back, he realized that everyone wouldn't be able to fit in his old little room for the whole night, so he suggested that the others look for another room nearby.

They took his advice, and everyone left, except for Kimiko. She gave a look to Master Fung, silently telling him that she would be along in a few minutes.

"So this is where you spent your younger years…," she started.

Raimundo looked to her and nodded. "Well, actually, I stayed here a lot when I was really young, but I just kept sneaking out after I turned nine. After that, I only really slept here."

"Why'd you sneak out?" she asked.

Raimundo raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you kidding? Who wouldn't sneak out? This place was so boring! When there are only two kids here, it gets real boring…real fast. Especially if the two kids hate each other's guts. And after that dude got adopted, I just kept sneaking out. It was so much better out there anyway. Better food, anyway."

"Then why didn't you just sneak out of here and stay out there?"

"I was thinking about it, right before I turned eleven. But once I turned eleven, that other kid got adopted, and the streets became more…ah…dangerous…for me. I couldn't just run away then. I would still sneak out of course, and I don't know how I slipped into the avoidance stance so easily…must be from years of practice…guess I'm a bit rusty… But I needed somewhere safe to sleep. And that was here," Raimundo replied.

"Who were you avoiding?" Kimiko inquired, almost sitting down a crate, but jumping back up when she saw that it was terribly dirty.

"Um… Just some people I didn't exactly want to see," Raimundo said evasively.

"How do you even know this is your old room?" Kimiko asked with yet another look around. "I mean, things must have changed…"

"I know this place like the back of my hand," Raimundo exclaimed. "I think I would know my own room. And even if I didn't…I would know how to find out."

"And how would you find out?"

Raimundo brought her over to his cot and kneeled down, eyes glittering mischievously.

Kimiko kneeled beside him curiously, and he pointed to a spot on the wall where Raimundo was carved in sloppy letters.

"I stole another kid's penknife and carved that in there when I was seven," Raimundo recalled when they got up. He then turned his head and began to cough violently.

"Sorry," he choked out when he finally stopped.

"So how exactly did you get your injuries?" Kimiko asked, trying to sound offhand, but disappointed herself when she heard the slightly worried tremor at the end of her sentence.

Raimundo didn't seem to hear it though. He shifted nervously and looked to the ground. "Uh, just getting a taste of home sweet home…"

More like getting a taste of blood, he corrected to himself when he tasted blood in his mouth.

Kimiko shook her head. "No, really, tell me. It's not like you have anything to hide."

Raimundo thought about it. Why didn't he want to tell Kimiko about a couple of guys who just happened to enjoy making him bleed?

Maybe because she'll think I'm a wimp for not being able to fight off those guys? Well, that's not my fault, they're like three times as strong as I am, and about three years older too! And I promised Master Fung that I wouldn't use my element or kung fu, so what was I supposed to do? I was pinned! Do you think I wanted those guys to kick my ass? Raimundo thought, sighing out loud and rubbing his forehead.

He had a headache. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to do anything except go to sleep. At least when you're asleep you can't feel the pain.

"So did Master Fung drag you here to find me?" Raimundo asked, trying to get Kimiko off her previous question. Maybe she would get tired and go away, so he could sleep…

"No, Rai, we came because we wanted to. As hard as it is for you to believe, we actually wanted to find you," Kimiko answered.

Raimundo didn't answer, but he shook his head in response.

Kimiko stared at him. "How can you think we don't care about you? Did you think that we would just let you run out?"

"You did last time," Raimundo replied.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I went to the Heylin side. You didn't care then. You were more than willing to let me run out. Over and over, I thought that I should come back. But why come back to no one who cared? If you guys really cared, you would have at least tried to get me back. But no, once I turned, we were complete and total enemies. The only time you actually tried was when I was your last hope and your lives were threatened!" Raimundo retorted, a hint of resent tracing his voice. "But I came back anyway. I thought 'better late than never'. But maybe I was wrong!"

Kimiko folded her arms across her chest and turned away, scowling. "You're stupid if you believe that. Why can't you just see what's right in front of you face?"

"Well. Why don't you just tell me what you think is right in front of my face?"

"You just can't see that we care about you, Rai. We're your friends, and you just can't seem to accept that. You just think that we treat you like crap, and we don't. Where the hell did you learn that kind of distrust?" Kimiko asked angrily.

Raimundo glared at her. "Maybe I learned that I can't trust people. Maybe I learned that appearances can be deceiving."

Kimiko mirrored his glare. "Haven't you ever had friends before? Because if you have, you could have fooled me. What kind of friend are you!"

Raimundo looked down, not answering either question. He didn't know what kind of friend he was… And did he ever have friends before…?

He looked up again, to Kimiko's expecting eyes. She was obviously waiting for an answer.

But all she received was an instant icy wind.

She threw up her hands once she felt the wind. "So that's your answer, is it? What's wrong, Rai? Feeling bad about stuff? Well you should, for the way you've been treating us all!"

I hate this power boost! Raimundo thought angrily. Why does it always have to just come up?

"You know what! You deserve to be punished, deserve to be hurt." Kimiko said without thinking, her anger with Raimundo consuming her. "Be ready for a nasty surprise. Because sooner or later, it's gonna happen." Her mind instantly scrambled for something she could do…

Raimundo's wind grew. Something nasty…? "What in the heck are you tal—"

"New Shen Gong Wu, people!" Dojo called as he came into the room, Omi, Clay and Master Fung trailing behind him.

Dojo tensed slightly when he saw Raimundo and Kimiko, sensing that he and the others had burst in on a…heated…argument. Okay, so heated isn't the word, Dojo thought when he felt the wind.

"You four will go with Dojo to retrieve the Shen Gong Wu, and I will go back to the temple," Master Fung said, breaking the silence.

The four nodded in agreement, and they were off.

haha! there you have it. i said i would update again, and i did not lie!

you know the drill, so i won't bother explaining it. (whispers) review if you want more, don't if you don't. (what? is that my motto now?)

(and where the heck is Oscar!)

-Kaisa