Big thanks to Troublesome Aries, Nkingy, Iluvbeyblade, Sakura wo Miro, NiennaAngel, Curtis Zidane Ziraa, a happy reader, sasuke chica, kai-luver-666, lioku, Talaeka, Helltenshi, Saphira's ember and Pamper Baby dry who reviewed chapters 6 and 7.
A cracking gun shot rang out, echoing through the trees.
There was a gurgling sound, like someone was choking on something. King snapped his eyes open to see that his foster father's eyes were wide in surprised, blood flowing from his open mouth. Suddenly he fell to his knees, then landed face first in the dirt, right next to him.
King looked up, his eyes holding shock and disbelief. There, standing tall in front of him was the man that he had fallen in love with. "Tala?"
Tala lowered his own gun, his eyes hard, blood covering his clothes, slowly being washed away by the rain. He then blinked and glanced over at King. He smiled softly. "Hey," he whispered. "It's over now."
King covered his mouth with his hands, crying hard. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg, and stumbled over to Tala who held him close as they collapsed onto the ground together. King remember hearing Tala whisper words of comfort, then everything went black.
"King," Poke. "Hey, King, wake up." Another poke.
King screwed his eyes shut, then snapped them open and he sat straight up in bed. He glanced around the room, then gasped in surprise when something latched itself around his middle.
"King!" Ian said happily. "You're awake!" He let go as suddenly as he had latched on. "I better go tell everyone!" He said excitedly and then bolted out the door.
King blinked and blinked again. He looked at his surroundings and found himself in a ghastly white room and his senses was overloaded with the pungent smell of disinfectant. All of which told him he was in the hospital. He slipped his legs over the side of his bed, grateful that he was wearing normal clothes, not one of those hideous hospital gowns. He winced slightly when a small streak of pain shot up his leg.
"Who said you could get out of bed?"
King snapped his gaze to the door. "Tala!" He said, surprised, and threw himself into Tala's open arms, only to pull back abruptly when he felt him cringe slightly at the impact. "You're ok," he said. "The others?"
"We're fine," came a weak voice from outside in the corridor.
King felt relief flood through him as four bandage laden teens and two Europeans walked inside as well. "You're ok. How?"
"The bullets missed any vital organs," Kai explained. "It actually bounced off my rips."
"And the bullet only grazed my head," Spencer said, pointing to the thick white bandage on his head. "The shock of the force knocked me out."
"It would take a hell of a lot more than two bullets to get rid of me for good," Bryan said as he leaned against Spencer for support.
"We have high pain tolerance," Tala further explained. "Training."
"I can see," King sighed and grasped onto Tala's shirt. "And, what happened to…?"
"He's gone," Tala said simply. "He won't hurt anyone ever again."
"Oh, thank god," King whispered.
… … … … …
King wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Today was the day of his sister's funeral. More people turned up then he had expected. The Bladebreakers were here, offering their condolences, even the Saint Shields and Team Psychik showed up to pay their respects. It seems that news can travel quiet quickly here in the Beyblade world.
King gave a half sob when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to gaze into a pair of ice blue eyes. The hand on his shoulder pulled him close.
"Let it go," Tala whispered.
Giving another half sob, King threw himself into Tala's chest, sobs racking his slender frame. Tala held him close, protectively, glaring at anyone, other than those who had to endure this horrendous ordeal, to keep away. King needed some peace right now.
Holding his side, Kai looked at the scene, his heart breaking at the sight. It's hard to loose someone that close to you. Especially in such a tragic way. He grimaced slightly when he felt a streak of pain rip through his side. The wound in his side was still tender from when the bullet was lodged into it.
"Do you need to sit down?"
Kai looked to his right to see his blond hair boyfriend. "No, I'm all right. It's still a little tender, that's all."
Miguel nodded. He remained silent for a moment, regarding King. "Will he be all right?"
"He will be, given time and peace."
"This has been hard on him. For all of us for that matter," Miguel said. He lowered his eyes to the ground and whispered. "I thought I lost you."
Kai's eyes soften as he moved forward and leaned into Miguel's chest. "I'm sorry that you were dragged into this."
"It's not your fault," Miguel replied, carefully placing his arms around Kai so not to hurt him anymore than he is. "Even so, I'm going to stick around for a while."
Kai leaned back slightly. "Miguel? You're…?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Miguel said with a smile. "At least, not for a while."
"How long?"
"Oh, I don't know, 60, 70 years?"
Kai blinked and then smiled. He leaned forward and placed his lips on Miguel's letting him instantly deepen the kiss. They parted sooner then they would have liked, but they remembered that they are in a cemetery.
Soon, the crowd started to thin, leaving King and Tala alone in the cemetery. King knelt in front of the grave stone, his finger tips running lightly over Queen's name.
"I'm sorry, sis," He whispered.
He suddenly had this image of his sister scowling at him, her hands on her hips. "Oh, for God's sake, stop moping and go and live your life."
King blinked and then smiled. "I'll do that," He whispered and climbed to his feet. He gave one last look at the tombstone and then turned on his heel and walked towards Tala and into his arms.
"You ok?" Tala asked, leading King out of the cemetery. King nodded, looking at the small group of people he had grown to care about.
"Yeah, I think for the first time in my life, I think everything is going to be ok."
Finished! I didn't kill them all off. I don't have the guts. I hoped you like this little ficlet as I had fun writing it.
Read and review, please.