Hey everyone! The Ash is back! Sorry I have'nt updated in so long. My computer crashed and it's been in repairs for the last week. Darn computer faults... Anyway, I'm just gonna wing this chapter, so it may not be as good as the others. Then again I could be wrong...
Disclaimer: Me no owney Xiaolin Showdown! Nada, nope, maybe in the future, but not now! Now go read!
I'v Been Meaning to Tell You
chapter 8: Beach Party
A brown haired Brazilian awoke and moaned while shifting his eyes around the room he seemed to have fallen asleep in. He lifted himself off the kitchen table and yawned then stretched in the chair he was in. His eyes fell upon the digital clock on the stove that read 4:15. Raimundo paused for a second, trying to think of the time that party that Kimiko told them about was supposed to be.
" Oh right, 5:30. Wonder how I ended up falling asleep here for so long though. Must have been all that cleaning after the shower." He figured to himself as he stood up. Just then Omi had walked into the kitchen and noticed his friend rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
" Raimundo, did you fall asleep? An honorable warrior would not allow such things to distract him from his duties." the small monk said all knowingly.
" I guess you could say I did." Raimundo replied while trying to hide the annoyence in his voice. " But you guys said you'd leave me some of the mess. Not like, half the kitchen." he pointed out as he folded his arms across his chest.
" Perhaps it will teach you a lesson in diligence. And to not make such messes as this anymore." Omi said then smiled.
" What! But you- I- Clay- mess... Argh!" Raimundo fumbled with the words angrily. He would have knocked some sense into the monk if Clay had'nt walked in and whistled his approval of the newly cleaned kitchen.
" Whoo-wee! This place is lookin more spic 'n span than the barn on ranch clean up day." he said as he looked around the room. Raimundo's frustration settled and he regained his normal composure again.
" Yup, I cleaned up pretty good. Pun intended." he said with a cocky smirk. " Oh are'nt we supposed to be getting ready for that party Kimiko wanted to go to?" he asked, then glanced at the clock that now read 4:23.
" Yeah I reckon we better get ready before Kim comes and sees we have'nt tryed on the clothes she got us yet." Clay said and walked around the door frame to pick a bag up off the floor. He shuffled around some things in the bag until he found what he was looking for. He handed Omi a folded red shirt and some white pants, Raimundo a dark blue folded shirt, and found a light blue shirt and some jeans for himself. Omi rushed off to his room to try on his new clothes and Raimundo and Clay followed to go to their own rooms to change.
7 MINUTES LATER...
It was now about 4:32 when the boys stepped out of their rooms and into the hall to wait for Kimiko. They waited by thecorner of the hall near the door, all dressed in their new outfits for the party. Clay was wearing a loose and comfortable light blue short sleeved shirt and the jeans, along with his cowboy boots and hat. Omi was wearing a buttoned up red summer shirt with palm trees on it and white pocketedshorts that went down a little past his knees. Raimundo stood leaning against the wall wearing a white T-shirt with a dark blue completely unbuttoned summer shirt like Omi's over it. The shirt had surf boards along the bottom, and he just wore his cargos along with it.
" I am very much unburying the new outfit Kimiko has gotten for me to wear!" Omi said cheerfully as he looked himself over again in his new clothes. Raimundo chuckled a bit and put the back of one of his feet against the wall he was leaning on.
" That's 'digging' Omi. You dig the new clothes. And yeah, Kim did'nt do half bad." Raimundo said as he poped the coller on his blue shirt.
" Where is she anyway? Does it always have to take girls forever to get ready for parties?" Clay asked as he fiddled with the rim of his cowboy hat.
" So, whatta'ya think?" They all stopped what they were doing and turned to see Kimiko walk around the corner. Raimundo's jaw slightly dropped but he quickly closed it so no one would see him gaping. Kimiko stood there in a small green tank top with floral designs on the bottom of the left side of it, and brown gaunchos flowing down her legs like a silk skirt. She had a light pink silk scarf loosely hang around her neck and fall down her back, along with her blackponytail. The hair in front hung in front of her ears to frame her face, with a flower of light and darker pinks tucked behind her right ear to match her faint pink eye shadow and lip gloss. Her pink and greenbeach sandals finished off the look.
She looked at them all smiling, butstopped for a second to especially notice the look on Raimundo's face. He was staring and smiling in a way that made her turn her face back so he would'nt see her blush.
" Okay then, now that we're all ready whatta ya'llsay we get a move on?" Clay asked breaking the silence.
" Yes let us be going to the party now!" Omi said excitedly and made his way out side. Clay followed after and Raimundo let him get ahead just enough so he could'nt hear. He turned to Kimiko as they walked outside onto the beach.
" Hey you clean up pretty good there Kimiko." He commented with a smirk.
" Not to bad yourself Rai. Considering that I'm the one who picked the clothes." she bragged and smiled playfully.
" Oh your so modest. I bet all that modesty would slow you down!" he laughed and broke out running, willing her to chase him.
" Hey! Get back here!" she called and ran after him. It was a short chase, because it ended when Raimundo made it to the enlarged Dojo and Kimiko did the same not long after. Clay and Omi had already boarded the dragon and watched as Raimundo jumped on followed by Kimiko who appeared to be chasing him. Once they were ready to go, Raimundo turned his head to Kimiko still smirking.
" Told ya." he said and laughed when Kimiko slapped him in the arm with the back of her hand. He turned back around satisfied and smiling.In the time it took for Kimiko to get ready, he had been thinking that this party would be the perfect time to tell her the truth. Nothing could possibly get in the way this time...
A FEW MINUTES LATER...
In what seemed like no time at all, the dragon decended onto the sand behind the base of a rock cliff where he would'nt be seen. His passengers could hear the music playing around the other side and quickly got off.
" So what am I going to do the whole time?" Dojo asked as he shrunk back to his normal size.
" Hm, well I hear they have a huge snack table so-" Kimiko started to say.
" Ooo snack table! You guys know where to find me!" Dojo cut her off as his mouth began to water.
" Okay, but try not to get seen." Raimundo told him as they walked around the rocks and saw the lively party seenaround them. There were tons of people, some grouped up talking and many others dancing to the music being played by the DJ. There were two snack tables next to eachother packed with food (which Dojo did'nt hesitate to quickly start his buffet from) and alot of tables scattered to either side of the dance floor. Decorations like confetti and streamerswere hanging all over the place, giving the place a fun air to it.
" Hey Raimundo! Dude, what's up?" Raimundo knew that voice and looked to see a coupleof his old freinds coming over to them. He hi-fived one of them and punched knuckles with the other as they laughed a little.
" Hey Neko and Louis! It's been a while!" Raimundo said, happy to see his otherfreinds again.
" Who are these people Raimundo?" Omi looked up and asked.
" Right, this is Neko and Louis, a couple freinds from before I came to the temple." he said gesturing to said freinds, then introducing the others to the pair. " And this is Omi, Kimiko and Clay." They all exchanged nice to meet you's and talked a bit getting to know eachother.
" Mmm, that snack table looks mighty invit'in. I think I'm gonna go take a look at what there is. Nice meet'in ya'll." Clay said and tipped his hat to Raimundo's freinds before joining Dojo.
" I believe I will try my hand at this 'dancing'." Omi stated and made his way for the dancing crowd of people.
" Hm that does look fun. I better go join Omi before he hurts himself trying to learn how to dance... I'll see you guys around." Kimiko said and went to get onto the dance floor. Neko flung his arm around Raimundo's neck and pulled him so he could whisper in his ear.
" Hey nice freind you got there Rai. Maybe I outta work a little of the old Neko charm eh?" He said as he ran a hand through his messy black hair and watched Kimiko disappear into the crowd.
" No way dude, I'm already trying to tell her how I feel about her." Raimundo replied pulling away.
" Oh okay then, no worries. I wont get in the way bud." Neko said, knowing that he could'nt go and take his freind's girl.
" Thanks bro. I'v just been having a little trouble telling her. I will during this party though, no doubt." Rai said. Just then a girl he recongized from school came over and stood next to Louis. The girl was a little shorter than him, withblonde shoulder length hair andlight blue eyes. Louis put his arm around her and smiled and she smiled back at him. Louis then turned to Rai.
" You remember Mel, right Rai? We've gotten together since you'd left." Louis said and turned his smile back to Mel.
" Yeah I remember Mel from school. Congrats guys." Rai said to them both and they thanked him.
" Hey Louis, you wanna go dance?" Mel asked, and he replied by smiling andtaking her to the dance floor.
" Ah, lovebirds. Always gotta be together." Neko said as he watched the two dance their way through the crowd.
" Aye, I wish I could be like that." Rai said and smiled weakly to himself at the thought of him with Kimiko.
" Dont worry, you'll get your chance. Oh there goes Nikki. I'v been trying to get her to notice me for a while. Maybe I'll get back to you later?" Neko asked when he spotted a girl with long brown hair walking through the crowd of people.
" Sure, and good luck dude." Raimundo said.
" You too." Neko said and walked off towards Nikki. Raimundo thought this would be the best time to find Kimiko and tell her. He went over his options and figured that asking her to dance and telling her then would be a good idea while his confidence was up. He tried making his way through the crowded dance floor, but it just got harder when more people joined in. After much shoving and struggling and " excuse me, sorry, comin through, move it!" he finally managed to spot Kimiko dancing in the sea of people. He became more determinedand worked his way harder to reach her, but each time he tried to go forward it was like the crowd was pulling him back. He was being pushed farther and farther away until Kimiko could no longer be seen through the sworm of people.
" Kimiko!" he shouted, but went unheard as he reached his hand out and got pulled back. In a matter of time he was dumped out of the crowd and back to where he started. He sighed and walked over to the snack table for some fruitpunch. He leaned against thetable as he drank the red liquid, then crumpling the plastic cup in his hand. He heard a thud against the table next to him and turned to see Neko.
" No luck eh?" Neko asked.
" Nope... could'nt get through the crowd. You?"
" She does'nt even notice me..." Neko said glumly looking down.
" It's okay man, she will. Dont give up just yet." Rai encouraged his freind. Neko looked up and smiled at Raimundo.
" Thanks dude. I'll try to get her to notice me. I'm not ready to give up just yet." Neko said confidently, then looked down at his watch. " Wow, it's already pretty late."
" I hope I'll still have time to tell Kimiko. I think we have to get back to the beach house by a certain time to get a phone callfrom our Temple Master." Raimundo said worriedly, thinking he was going to run out of time before he got his chance.
" Hey looks like your chance has arrived." Neko said, nudging Raimundo and gesturing to Kimiko who was walking out of the crowd. Raimundo quickly stood up straight off the wall and took a deep breath. He was feeling nervous again at the thought that this was it. This was the moment of truth...
" Well good luck. I'm gonna go talk to Nikki. It's now or never." Neko said before he left, leaving Raimundo standing their watching Kimiko walk to the water's edge. He took another deep breath and started to make his way over to her, but on the way ran into Dojo.
" Hey Raimundo, it's getting close to the time we have to go. I'v told Clay and Omi so we're getting ready to-"
" Hold that thought." Raimundo said and side stepped the dragon, continueing his path over to Kimiko. Right now nothing was going to get in his way. He was going to tell her now and that was that! His steps slowed when he was a few feet from her. She stood there as the ocean breeze made her gaunchos and hairmake a littleflowing motion. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the refreshing ocean air, not noticing Raimundo had come up and joined her.
" Hey, what'cha doin?" he asked once he'd walked up to her. She opened her eyes and smiled.
" Just enjoying the breeze. I realy like it here. The beach, the freedom, the sunset... it's all so nice. Your lucky to live here." she said as she inhaled another deep breath of the cool ocean air flowing towards them.
" Yeah it is realy nice here." Raimundo agreed, then caught a glimps of Neko and the girl from before walking along the beach near them, hand in hand. He saw Neko look at him and smile a warm, sincere smile his way. Raimundo smiled back and gave his freind a thumbs up as Neko and Nikki continued their walk. Rai turned back to Kimiko now and knew this was it. Now or never...
" Hey Kim... I'v got something to ask you..." He said and shifted his sneaker around in the sand nervously.
" Yeah Rai? What is it?" Kimiko asked, now fully facing him, and silently hopeing he was going to say what she thought he was going to say.
" I... I uh..."
" Hey Raimundo and Kimiko! Come on, we gotta get back to the beach house now!" Clay walked over and waited for them to start going back with him to Dojo. At that moment Raimundo felt his blood boil and felt the erge to shoot Clay through a cannon or something along those lines. He reluctantly followed his two friends back to Dojo, now pretty disappointed.
" What was it you wanted to say Rai?" Kimiko asked him as they climbed onto Dojo for the ride back to the beach house. Raimundo lowered his disappointed gaze to Dojo's back for a moment before turning back to Kimiko with a forced normal look on his face.
" I'll tell you later." he said and turned back around to face forward. Truth be told, he was starting to lose hope in ever getting a chance to tell her. Tomorrow was the last day of the vacation, and they would'nt even be therefor more than half of it. Plus it was the day to pack and getting ready to leave for the Temple again. Not like he could ever get a moments peace to tell her then either...
' Will I ever get a chance...?' he thought to himself sadly on the quiet ride home.
Okie-dokie then! There we go, chapter 8! Sorry if it's not my best quality work here, but I guarantee the next one will be better. Next chapter is the end, and it's the best part! Hope you liked! Please R&R!
-Ash-mei