The usual - I don't own Tekken, its characters, or the CIA, but I own Kiley and Cheryl owns Cheryl. FEAR THE SPORK!

Many thanks to those who reviewed! (All four of you!) A special thanks to Anni23 for reviewing TWICE! Please continue to do so! New input is much appreciated. -.-

I'm sorry it took so long…classes and whatnot. I have no idea how regular the updating of this story will be, but please continue to read. I appreciate feedback.

I must say that information releases for Tekken 5 have played merry hell with my plot. I'm going to stick with the original plan, though. Bloody Namco, postponing release until March… (edit: Needless to say, this chapter was begun a loooong time ago)

Uh-no synopsis for this chapter; it's just me continuing to be stingy and delaying the beginning of the tournament for the purpose of character development (and my own twisted sense of humor).
Hooray for crappy chapter titles!
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By the time Cheryl had arrived at her and Kiley's cabin that night, her friend was already asleep. Cheryl had wanted to ask her so much; what happened after she had left the dinner table, how she had met up with Kazuya, what Kazuya was like, what they had talked about, and, darn it, was he a good dancer? Perhaps most importantly, she wanted to know what had upset her shortly before she had left. Then again, she seemed to have gotten over it quickly, or Kazuya had somehow weaseled his way out of a few busted teeth. Cheryl understood what the others were saying about Kazuya being some kind of demonic powerhouse. Cheryl didn't know Kazuya. What she did know better than anyone was Kiley. She knew that when she was angry, Kiley could be pretty vicious.

She snorted when she saw that Kiley hadn't even bothered to change out of her evening gown before throwing herself haphazardly onto the mattress; she wasn't even really on the pillows. As soon as she changed into her shorts, Cheryl picked up one of her own pillows and threw it at Kiley's head. The other woman groaned, but otherwise showed no sign of stirring. Cheryl got comfortable under the covers, but realized she only had one pillow. Muttering to herself, she quickly got back up, took her pillow back, and crawled back under the warm blankets, fixing her pillows perfectly under her head.

Once again, she looked over at Kiley. Again pillowless, and now with a sorry looking scuff in her perfect hairdo, Kiley looked pitiable. She was too careless sometimes, but in combat conditions could usually find her way out of any situation on her own. However, also knowing her well through field experience, Jack always assigned Cheryl, the more rational of the two friends, to go with her and keep her from getting herself killed. Cheryl wasn't sure how that would work out this time. The people they were up against now could kill with their fists, or any other assortment of appendages they used for their respective martial arts. It was nothing at all like the raids back home where their targets relied on firearms or teargas. Whether at a distance or within close combat range, they were always in danger. But Kiley would be in the middle again, while all Cheryl could do was watch. She grew concerned again.

With a slight grunt, Cheryl stretched one of her arms over the expanse of the nightstand between their beds. Grasping one of Kiley's pillows by the corner, she pulled it more firmly into her fist and brought it to her. Then, with a heave, she chucked it back at Kiley, who grunted again, and twitched a little this time. "This is all your fault," Cheryl grumbled. Kiley said nothing.

Cheryl sighed, and turned away from her. Deciding to think happy thoughts instead, she remembered her evening with Violet. A good looking man, despite the fact that he never removed his sunglasses, had asked Cheryl to dance that night, and he had actually been interesting. Unlike the usual prospects, Violet had an uncanny sense of humor for a rich playboy type. Of course, Cheryl knew nothing about him, so she wouldn't think about that. She would just remember dancing. But while the night had been running through her head, she also remembered Kazuya.

She sighed, realizing it was hopeless, and decided to merely think about Violet's face as she tried to sleep again. Impishly, she turned over again to look at Kiley, who was of course still asleep.

"I can't wait to tell you about him in the morning," she grinned, "it looks like I'm going to outdo you for once."

VVVVVVVVVVVVV

The next morning, Kiley was still asleep by the time Cheryl opened her eyes. It was only 5:30, but the sun was already coming up over the expanse of sea out their window. Cheryl stood, stretching and yawning, then walked behind where Kiley had been sleeping. The pillow was still there on top of her head, and Cheryl was alarmed for a moment that she may have suffocated. She removed the cushion. Kiley was still breathing. With a relieved sigh, Cheryl held the pillow for a moment, watching her friend sleep. Apparently, she had at least removed her make up before she had gone to bed. That was good. At least then, it wouldn't get all over the pillow when Cheryl beat her with it a second later.

"Wake up!" she yelled, "it's time to wake up and go meet all our friends by the pool! Come on, I promised we'd be there!"

"What? What time is it?" Kiley looked around warily, warding off the next few hits with one arm, actually sitting up.

"It's five thirty, sleepy-head," Cheryl sat next to her and hugged her tightly, smiling happily, "we want to get an early start so we can get in the water before we arrive at the island." Still not quite awake, Kiley patted Cheryl's back and looked around. Then she looked down.

"Crikey!" she exclaimed, "How could I have fallen asleep this way?"

"I dunno, I just kind of figured you were too worn out to change. You had quite an evening, dear," Cheryl said with guile, "geez, all those men want to take you away and marry you and you don't even know it!"

"Wait, who?" came the drowsy reply.

"No one, dear," Cheryl sighed, "come on, get up; there's a lot I want to talk about."

"Why don't you go ahead? I need to get out of this dress…" Kiley stood shakily, moving off to the bathroom where they both had stashed their bathing suits. Before she closed the door, she threw Cheryl's out toward her bed. As Cheryl moved to pick it up, she heard a booming yawn. She chuckled, knowing it was Paul and the others, moving past their room, but knowing better than to knock on the ladies' door this early in the morning.

Cheryl smiled suddenly, thinking about how happy Paul would be when he realized Kiley wasn't angry anymore. It dawned on Cheryl that at the moment, Kiley probably didn't even remember why she had been angry in the first place, but it would soon come back to her as she became more conscious.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, being dressed like this!" Cheryl raised her voice to be heard through the door, receiving a heavy sigh in response. She finished adjusting her swimsuit, wondering if they would be out long enough to do some tanning, and watched the window while she reached for her suitcase, pulling out various items until she reached the one she wanted. Like their evening gowns, the two women had chosen similar swimming attire for the trip. Although different in color, Cheryl's being red and Kiley's being blue, they were the same pattern, sort of a tie-dye-ish swirl of different shades of the color of the fabric.

Tying tightly the fashionable sarong that had come with her bikini, she decided to search in Kiley's suitcase for the other, thus saving them some time. She didn't find it, indicating that somehow Kiley had slipped past her with the wrap, but it didn't matter. She pinned her hair into a bun, using some chopsticks she had stolen from the sushi bar in the ballroom the previous night.

"Umm…how about this…? They're probably waiting, so why don't you go ahead and meet them? I'm having…complications with my appearance," Kiley called from the bathroom, followed by a yelp of pain and a loud thump.

"Are you okay?" Cheryl screeched, trying to open the door, but it was locked.

"…yeah… I dropped my brush." Inside the bathroom, Kiley was trying to figure out what could have happened to her hair, being in such disarray. She knew she had woken up in the same position she had fallen asleep in, so she couldn't have done it herself by tossing around. Then she remembered being bludgeoned with a pillow when she woke up. She groaned, but picked up the brush and continued to straighten her hair.

"Okay. Can I at least come in and brush my teeth and stuff?" Kiley confirmed, and unlocked the door. Her hair was a mess, and her zipper was stuck halfway down her back. Cheryl laughed. She pulled the zipper down all the way then continued toward the large, black marble sink. While Kiley continued to battle with her tangled locks, Cheryl brushed her teeth, put her suntan lotion on, fixed her bikini straps, twice so that they would fit better, and painted her fingernails the same color as her outfit. Kiley glared at her dangerously after just barely managing to pull her hair into a high ponytail.

"Right," said Cheryl, slowly backing away, "I'll just go on ahead now. Bye!" Cheryl left her to complete the same steps she just had, and picked up her handbag. She left the key behind so that Kiley could lock up when she left, and went out the door. She was almost ten minutes late, but she was on her way.

Up the stairs she went, to the main deck where most of the lounging was done, and where the pool, the outdoor dining tables, and the shuffleboard lanes were. Heihachi's ship wasn't too different from a cruise liner, if a bit smaller. Cheryl realized that she and Kiley hadn't even had the chance to see more than half the ship because of the numerous activities Heihachi had lined up for his guests. Like this pool outing.

Around eleven o'clock the previous night, when Heihachi ended the ball, he had announced that he wanted everyone to join him that day at the pool, even as early as before sunrise. Heihachi would be there all day, until they arrived at the Zaibatsu headquarters that evening. Cheryl had agreed to meet Marshall and the others around this time. They had even invited Violet, Steve, and Hwoarang, but no one was really counting on the younger two to wake up that early. To her surprise, when she reached the pool, she saw that, somehow, Violet had gotten them up and outside. They were all in poolside clothes, some in swimming trunks, but most had T-shirts on as well, not really planning on actually getting in the water anyway.

They were the first group out of their rooms to join Heihachi, who was also with them, talking and laughing. All of the men at the table were, with the exception of Lei and Marshall, whose backs were turned to her for the moment.

Noticing Cheryl walking toward them finally, Marshall's expression lit up. He waved and smiled warmly, beckoning her to sit with them. His expression faltered slightly, but Cheryl didn't take offense. She knew why he seemed a bit disappointed. When the two had made the arrangements for their morning get-together, it was understood that Marshall would bring Paul along, and Cheryl would bring Kiley. Cheryl saw that he had held up his end of the bargain, for Paul was sitting next to him, speaking with Heihachi. He looked up and smiled at her, but turned back to Heihachi quickly. She chuckled; she could see that he was still a bit hurt.

Turning back to Marshall, she winked, letting him know that she hadn't forgotten. Marshall looked relieved, glanced at Paul briefly, and moved his chair to the side for her to pull another in for herself. Cheryl gratefully did so. Lei, who was on the other side of the space she had just taken, leaned into her ear.

"Where is she? You didn't tell her we were bringing Paul, did you?" he whispered. Waiting for an answer, he looked at her nervously.

"Didn't you hear me scheming with Marshall last night?" she whispered back, "I told you that Kiley shouldn't be angry any more, and if she is, she's getting over it. That's just the way she is, she's not one to dwell on little things like that. Incidentally, no, I didn't even tell her which of you was going to be here or not. Even if I had told her, she wouldn't have cared. Besides, she's on her way. Chin up, Lei; everything's going to be all right." She smiled at him comfortingly, which calmed him a bit. Like Marshall, he began to relax at last.

"What's this? We can't be having any secrets among friends, can we?" Heihachi smiled over at the newly arrived guest, reaching over to shake her hand once again. Lei was about to make the comment that the man was no friend of anyone there, but Cheryl swiftly intervened.

"It's no big secret, Heihachi, we just didn't want to interrupt your talk with the others," she said tactfully, nodding toward Violet, Paul, and the two younger boys, who actually seemed to be engrossed by the eldest Mishima. Since she had arrived, from Hwoarang she heard nothing but questions about Heihachi's grandson, and Steve knew nothing of the Mishimas or their worldwide corporation. Both seemed terribly interested, and barely gave either Violet or Paul a word in edgewise. The two older men considered themselves defeated, and gladly gave way to youthful inquisitiveness.

After a few moments passed, others began arriving on the deck. Cheryl began to wonder where Kiley could be, and considered going back after her. Before she could move, Heihachi rose.

"Well, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure," he smiled at her again, "Miss Cheryl, I'm glad to have gotten to see you again this morning. I'm afraid I must go see to it that all of my guests are properly greeted upon their arrival. I'll speak with you all again later in the day." Heihachi nodded to the group and went on his way. Cheryl watched him go, and saw that there were more guests than she realized. There were a few she had not seen before, whether at dinner, or while she was dancing, and they didn't look like martial artists either. She figured they must be guests of other contestants, like herself, and decided it didn't really matter. As Heihachi greeted the newest group warmly, she turned back to her friends.

"Hello, Cheryl," Violet smiled at her, finally able to greet her without talking through Heihachi, "did you sleep well?" Cheryl blushed slightly, still not quite able to get over how handsome he was. The sunglasses added a bit of mystery to his face; she still did not know what color his eyes were, and likewise knew almost nothing about him. He was wearing the same outfit he'd had on the previous day when she'd met him. She decided she definitely liked that outfit.

"Yes, I did, actually. I got to sleep almost right after I climbed into bed. What about you? How is everyone?" In response, she received a few tired grunts, and an "all right, I guess" from one of the younger men. She laughed sympathetically. In truth, she still felt a bit sleepy herself, but everyone was already gathered, so there was no point in dispersing to get more sleep and come back later.

"Where's your friend, Cheryl? I thought she might be with you…" the Briton Steve looked around the deck, to get booted under the table by Violet, who also knew of Cheryl and Marshall's plans. Steve yelped, and Cheryl laughed nervously. She looked over at Paul, who was also discreetly scanning the deck for any sign of her.

"Unfortunately, Kiley didn't have as much luck as the rest of us in getting up and ready this early. Suffice it to say, she is not a morning person," she laughed again, remembering Kiley's appearance earlier that morning, and smiled at the blonde boxer, but said as much to Paul as anyone else, "don't worry; she's on her way."

"So," Violet stretched out his arms and folded his hands in front of him, leaning forward for a more private conversation among friends, "I think we all need to talk about last night. A lot was happening in that room, maybe some of which I didn't even catch. Marshall, Lei, what's up? Cheryl, did you get to talk to Kiley about whatever happened with her and Kazuya?" Violet liked to take charge of a situation, and given the importance of the events unraveling around them, it was a much-needed push for the others, who seemed almost unwilling to bring any of it up.

"What happened last night?" Paul bolted upright suddenly, having been slouched in his seat the whole time, somewhat depressed. He hadn't been so bad before Cheryl had arrived, but noticing Kiley wasn't with her, possibly because he was there, made him upset again. Marshall patted him on the back, shaking his head at his friend's predictability given the circumstances. Despite any effort he may have given to hide the fact, they all knew Paul was referring to Kazuya. He was especially angry because one of the last things he saw at the dance that night was Kazuya playing escort to Kiley.

"Hey, that's right, you missed some pretty juicy stuff back there, Paul," Cheryl raised an eyebrow, looking at him wryly. His face turned to her instantly, the two loose tresses hanging from his ponytail whipping about his face. His mouth hung open slightly, questioning what she might mean. His eyes still looked wounded, but were quickly building up a fair amount of anger that made Cheryl think it would be wise to just tell him what happened before he got too curious. He was a large man, and she wasn't willing to find out how many bones he could break in her body all at once if he wanted the information badly enough. However, it was too tempting to tease him about it more. Marshall seemed to think so as well.

"She's right, Paul. The two dancing, conversing like old friends, laughing with each other… and that was just Cheryl and Violet, here!" he gestured to the man sitting at the other end of the table, who nodded, smiling at Marshall's little taunt. Violet remembered well what had happened afterward then, and his expression froze. He now realized what part of the previous night Paul was about to find out about, none too pleasantly. He watched Paul's already grim expression grow more severe as Marshall continued to build the suspense.

"Marshall…" Once again, Lei decided his friend was going too far. His interruption went unheeded. Violet caught Lei's eye for a moment, and the two held their breath through the next hit.

"And then, there were Kiley and Kazuya! Now, that was something right out of a fairy tale; Kazuya in his less-than-conventional, yet dashing purple tuxedo; Kiley, absolutely radiant! I was waiting for the Disney chorus to start singing 'Cinderella' tunes! I never thought of Kazuya as a dancer, you know? But he's actually really good at it. What do you think, Cheryl?"

Cheryl couldn't respond. She merely watched, horrified, as the muscles in Paul's jaw and neck slowly tightened the entire time Marshall had been speaking. Lei slowly began pulling her away from Marshall by the arm of her chair, knowing what was sure to come next.

Marshall heard the chair next to him subtly scooting in the opposite direction. He simply smiled, watching Paul's expression twist dangerously, knowing that the other man probably wanted to kill him at that moment, and everyone at the table knew it too. However, Marshall seemed to be the only one to know that wouldn't happen. The others were simply too terrified to notice the woman coming to stand right behind Paul, whom they had all been watching so tentatively.

"Good morning, everyone!" came a merry voice from above them. With the exception of Marshall, they all jumped at the sudden sound, hearts pounding. Stumbling to get up, Paul whirled to face the owner of that voice, who smiled up at him warmly and waved. "Good morning, Paul," said Kiley, lifting her sunglasses to rest above her forehead.

Paul tried desperately to respond, but the hammering in his chest wouldn't subside. Instead, he merely stood there, sweating; despite the fact that the sun was only just now rising, and it was only fifty degrees on the open ocean, he was incredibly warm. Finally, after staring at her for a moment, he strangled out, "uh, hi." Not Mr. Phoenix's brightest moment. Cheryl nudged Lei and winked.

"What took you so long?" Cheryl inquired, moving aside for Kiley to sit, but her friend continued to stand in a vacant space between Marshall and Paul.

"I decided to wash my hair again. It looked awful after you assaulted me with that pillow this morning," she received several odd stares, "but not too many brain cells were damaged. How is everyone?"

"Erm…" Violet hesitated, taken aback not only by her sudden appearance, but also by her previous statement, and the delicate subject matter that they had been discussing, "actually, we were just talking about you. Among other things. I am now aware of your business here in the tournament. Cheryl let my esteemed, albeit younger, colleagues and myself in on it at the party last night after you left. We were also talking about…some of the occurrences we witnessed beforehand."

Kiley looked at Cheryl.

"We need all the help we can get," Cheryl shrugged, sheepishly. Kiley didn't pay it any more mind.

"That reminds me," she said before Violet could continue, crossing her arms in front of her, "I saw Lei and Marshall talking to Heihachi. What was that all about? You seemed a tad miffed."

"It was nothing," Marshall looked at Lei, who was about to reply, "merely Heihachi being an arrogant git, as usual. We made a wager," he lied. With another look from Marshall, Lei decided not to ask what that wager was. He nodded, reluctant to keep something so dire from his friends, but it was Marshall's business. He remained silent.

"And there was something else we all wanted to ask you," Violet decided not to dwell on the blatant lie, "I'm sure you won't hold anything back from us." Violet looked over at Marshall, who merely shrugged non-chalantly through crossed arms. No one else seemed to want to press Marshall, and so they focused on Violet's question.

Kiley stared down at them all for a moment. Cheryl and Paul were especially anxious. Cheryl stared back up at her while Paul leaned back in his chair, watching her as well. He wanted to speak to her desperately, but he waited because he had known Violet would bring this up almost immediately.

"Did Kazuya threaten you?" Violet went on, "We all know he's prone to do so. The entire dinner party saw the…uh…conversation he had with Paul."

Kiley shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"He didn't threaten me," she finally responded in a dry tone, "he was being crass."

Cheryl could have died, wondering if her best friend could be any less specific. Being the only one who hadn't been there to see, Paul felt similarly frustrated. He leaned forward to look her in the eye, but Lei managed to speak first.

"Crass…how?" Lei was really asking what the word "crass" itself meant. His grasp of English was fluent, but he didn't know everything about it. He didn't have to let the others know that.

"Several implications can come with that word," one of Violet's eyebrows twitched impatiently.

"He was being pig-headed." She glared at them, not really wanting to explain, but at the same time, not seeing a way around it. She lowered her head and mumbled, "He was flirting with me."

Several jaws dropped, Cheryl went pale, and Paul became furious once he overcame the initial shock. Before he could speak, however, Marshall intervened.

"Well, these are our last hours aboard our gracious host's cruise liner. Let's not waste them, hmm? Kiley, have a seat." He reached to the table behind them and pulled a chair between himself and Paul. Kiley took it, and sat herself down, smiling first at Marshall, then at Paul. Paul grinned back impishly, knowing that an opportunity to talk with less of an audience would come soon enough. Finally satisfied, Paul relaxed with that grin plastered onto his face for several minutes. Pushing Kazuya to the back of his mind, he became more attentive.

Violet, however, leaned back, frustrated. He received little information from the answers he had gotten, and everyone else seemed content to leave it at that. He looked to Cheryl who shrugged in return, but seemed to be happy that the scheme she and Marshall had concocted worked. He didn't expect her to know anything about the events that took place the night before. She had seemed more receptive to his anxieties than anyone else present though, and that was a start.

Violet knew that Kazuya Mishima's resurrection could only be an evil omen. Kazuya had to be up to something, other than his usual murderous disposition toward his father. Still more troubling in Violet's mind was, how in the world did Kazuya survive the volcano twenty years earlier?

Lost in his thoughts, Violet hardly realized that the others were laughing mirthfully. Kiley had disappeared during his reflections, and now Paul and Marshall were teasing Cheryl.

"Kiley's wearing a bathing suit too, why don't you tell her to take a swim?" she cowered away from them, leaning into Lei, who was the only one to come to her defense.

"Leave her alone," his thick accent posed, as if he were speaking to children, "she does not want to swim. You two go."

"What's this?" Violet chuckled at the scene before him, "I lose myself for two minutes at most, and the lot of you are already up to something. In all seriousness, quit ganging up on her, other people might get weird ideas." Steve and Hwoarang continued to laugh at this, but Lei was forcing an arm between Cheryl and the other two men, continuing to try to dissuade them.

Violet looked around briefly, noting that most of the martial artists, along with their guests, were now on deck, either in the pool or talking at the various tables around the pool. He noticed a drink stand, and saw Kiley there. She had a tray with several glasses balanced on her shoulder and was making her way back. As she rounded the last corner, Paul and Marshall finally got hold of Cheryl, who began to shriek.

Wondering what they might be up to, Kiley slowed down, and steadied the tray in both hands. Watching as she came closer, she laughed a little bit at how crazy everyone else must think they are. Then she watched Paul lift Cheryl up over his head, Lei grab desperately for her, Violet suddenly stand, and Marshall dive into the water ahead of her as Paul tossed her in, ignoring her screams.

Violet heard glass break. Kiley had dropped the glasses, breaking into a full run, although she had bits of broken glass in her sandals. He rolled his eyes at the situation and hurried to the poolside. Paul looked up to see them both storming after him.

"What's wrong, it's just a little water!" he shrugged.

"How could you do that, she can't swim!" Kiley screamed at him. Paul stopped smiling, and he looked into the water. Kiley was about to dive in, but her arm was caught by Violet, who went in headlong instead, fully dressed, and with sunglasses. Kiley looked up at Paul, who smiled sheepishly. He had been about to jump in as well, but Violet flying past him nearly made him fall flat on his face. Marshall, who had been underwater, wasn't sure what was going on, but he laughed when he saw Violet in his wet clothes. He sobered considerably when he saw Cheryl choking.

Kiley knelt next to Cheryl, wrapping a towel around her. Cheryl nodded to her friend, shivering. Violet sat at her other side, wringing out his shirt. Marshall scrambled to get up to see if she was all right, and Paul was kneeling in front of her, laughing nervously while apologizing frantically.

"It's okay, Paul, you didn't know," Cheryl said between coughs, laughing herself.

Marshall felt a bit guilty as well, and so he apologized. Cheryl stood, telling them over and over that she forgave them.

"We'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said, turning toward the cabins, "I'm going to go get changed. Don't worry, I'll be back." She laughed a bit louder now that her breathing came easier once again.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kiley asked, already heading toward the cabins with her.

"No, you stay here and make sure they don't plot anything for when I get back. I want them six feet from me from now until we're no longer anywhere near a pool or any sort of body of water."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Marshall chuckled, but stopped when Kiley glared at him.

Cheryl stepped delicately around the broken glass on the deck and went on her way. Seeing the colored shards reminded Kiley that her feet were stinging. She looked down to see some of her toes bleeding, and one sandal was seeping blood from the sole of her foot. That foot had gone completely numb, and she would have fallen over sideways, had Violet not been there to hold her up.

"A right mess the two of us are, eh?" he laughed, slinging his shirt over one shoulder and leading Kiley, who hopped on one foot, back to their table. Heihachi met them and asked several questions after the well being of all involved. "Is everyone all right? Do either of you need medical attention?" and so forth.

"We'll be fine, Cheryl just needs to get dried off and warm, and I need to bandage up my foot," Kiley winced when she removed her sandals, looking at the cuts.

"First, we need to get that glass out," Marshall inspected one foot gingerly, then deftly plucked one tiny shard out of her little toe. She made a noise in protest, but gritted her teeth and allowed him to help. Heihachi ordered some of the waiters to clean up the glass, although Kiley wanted to help. Heihachi wouldn't allow it. Instead, he told her to stay put and called for a first aid kit.

The madness now over, the other passengers went back to their own business. A game of water volleyball resumed, and the bustle of conversation began anew. The first aid kit came and Kiley received a pair of tweezers. She and Marshall continued to remove the glass from her skin, the others hovering over them.

"There's another one there," Steve tried to help, with Hwoarang beside him. Kiley thanked them, but minded her work.

Paul was sitting in the seat next to her with his head in his hands, laughing to himself.

"I'm so sorry," he said, but couldn't keep from smiling, "I screwed up big time."

"It's okay, Paul," Kiley assured him once more, "you couldn't have known Cheryl can't swim. Otherwise, I'm sure she would have been having a blast." Finished with the bandages, she anchored herself by resting her elbow on Paul's shoulder while she slipped her sandals on over them, cringing the whole time.

"Good as new," she said, standing without remembering her numb foot. She fell onto Marshall, who helped her up again.

"I should change too. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, jumping into a pool in leather pants. But Cheryl's safe. It was worth it." Violet waved to the group, moving slowly away. Hwoarang saw Violet's clothes clinging to him, and he laughed again.

"Serves him right," said the Korean, "he's full of himself."

"That's mean, Hwoarang," Kiley said, leaning on Marshall, "Violet is very easy going. That doesn't mean he's a snob. And he just saved my best friend's life. What were you doing when he dove into the pool?" Hwoarang seemed to be ignoring her at this point. "I thought so." The hot-blooded redhead's face took an indignant expression, and Kiley laughed at him sympathetically, tousling his hair. Steve realized that he had likewise done nothing, but Kiley told them both that they had nothing to worry about.