It'd been five days from Hilary's leaving. Kai was absently aware of the fact that the girl would be back the next day, Christmas Eve, as he stood in front the window of his room, holding a mug of hot coffee in his hands, oblivious to the fact that it was burning his fingers. He was simply too confused to notice.

After the painful memory he received of Tyson telling him he longer loved him, he hadn't spent almost a second with the bluenette. He couldn't, it was almost unbearable to even look at the young Dragon. Kai hated the feeling of weakness that kept hunting him. He'd always been strong, he knew that even tough he couldn't remember much. But all the emotions in him that just wouldn't leave… God how he wished that he could just forget about Tyson, be happy with Hilary! The girl obviously loved him, and he returned the feeling with all his heart, but…

He let out a desperate sigh and stared at the snowflakes, slowly falling towards the white ground. As much as Kai hated to admit it, he almost wished that he could be alone in Christmas. Since the day he woke up in the hospital six months ago, he hadn't gotten a single moment of peace. And with all the painful memories returning to him, he desperately wanted a moment to think, to collect himself before he'd fall apart.

Shaking his head to wake up from his thoughts, Kai's finger unconsciously brushed something close to his furiously beating heart, finding cold metal. Lowering his gaze, he noticed a small hump on his shirt, which he identified to be a beautiful ring made of gold and silver. A sing of promise

given by Tyson for over a year ago.

Tears made their way to Kai's confused eyes as he held his hand on the ring.

" Why?" he whispered. " Why did you hurt me?".

Downstairs, the mood was far above tense as Mr. Dickinson, to whom Max and Kenny had called when they ran out of ideas of how to keep Tyson and Ray away from each other's throats, looked sternly at the four boys in front of him.

" Look you two, I understand that you care about Kai deeply, and so do I! But this isn't helping him!" the man told calmly but determinedly. " How do you think it makes him feel to see the team fall apart because of him!". He sighed. " Look boys, you have to get yourself together. Kai's been… wounded, badly. I don't wish to see you, his friends, hurt him even further".

Tyson and Ray both fell into deep silence, remembering perfectly the night almost seven months ago. The night that changed everything…

/ Rain and thunder masked the loud shouts, heard from the Russian hotel-room. Inside, the rest of the Bladebrakers watched in deep worry as Tyson and Kai had another one of their 'collisions'.

" Granger, I couldn't care less if you broke your damn blade, but if you keep going on like that, we can say goodbye to World-championships! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Kai roared, looking at furious Tyson, who held his smoking blade in his hand.

" For your information, 'captain', this is called practising", Tyson hissed. " What kind of a captain are you anyways! All you do is yell and scream at us! A REAL captain would encourage us instead of crushing us!". At this point, Tyson knew perfectly well that he was crossing the line, but he couldn't stop himself. " You know what? Go to hell! We'd do MUCH better without you!".

" Tyson!" Max gasped, eyes widened with disbelief.

Kai's eyes squinted and he squeezed his hands into tight fists. Anyone could tell how hard he was trying to keep his cool. Amazingly, not even for a second did his cold mask slip. But Kai's eyes… They told clearly how much Tyson's words had hurt him, and Tyson mentally cursed himself, loudly, wishing harder than ever that he could take his words back. But it was too late.

" Says a guy who disappeared for eight months", Kai retorted, looking at Tyson with stone-cold eyes. With that, Kai turned around and headed towards the door. " Well, see how much better you'll do without me, 'cause I'm no longer a part of the team. Bye".

And before anyone could do or say anything, the door slammed shut. As Tyson looked at the door, eyes filled with tears, the rest of the team looked at him with stern eyes.

" Tyson, you insensitive, selfish IDIOT!" Hilary yelled, only Max and Ray's strong arms keeping her from jumping at the bluenette.

" I can't believe you just said that", Ray commented, eyes filled with disappointment and disbelief.

Tyson blinked, trying his best to keep his already running tears from escaping.

" I… I'm sorry… I just… He…". He sniffed. " I'm so sorry!".

" Why are you saying it to us!" Hilary screamed. " Do you have any idea of how badly you hurt Kai, huh? Do you!".

Tyson couldn't answer for the tears that seemed to choke him. It was silent for a long time.

" Guys… Should we go after Kai or something? I mean, he was really upset", Max finally asked, letting go of Hilary as it seemed that her worse rage had passed.

" Knowing Kai, I don't think we should". Kenny sighed heavily. " He needs a moment alone. Besides, he would kill us if we'd ever find him".

Reluctantly, they all agreed, without any idea of how bad mistake it'd be…

As everyone else went to bed, Tyson stayed awake, unable to sleep with Kai missing. It was almost three in the morning as he got up from the couch he'd occupied, and sighed heavily as he walked up to the window. He frowned at what he saw. It was pouring rain.

Kai, where the heck are you, he thought, sick of worry. Please, come home… Please… I'm sorry!

He sighed as he looked down the street, receiving no trace of the familiar silvery bangs. Suddenly

he literally jumped of frighten as the phone rang, and sprinted to answer. Maybe it was Kai!

" Hello?" he replied, voice filled with hope.

" Is this the Bladebrakers?" a confused female-voice with a thick Russian accent asked.

He sighed once more, all hope leaving him.

" Yeah, this is Tyson. Who am I speaking to?".

" I'm Dr. Irina Volkova. A boy we recognised as a member of the Bladebrakers was brought in the hospital two hours ago".

Tyson gasped, eyes widened with panic. At this point, his team-mates had also awoken and started gathering around him, eyes filled with worry and question. Tyson didn't even notice them.

" Oh my God… Kai…", he whispered.

Fifteen minutes later the entire team rushed forward on the hallways of the hospital, making their way towards the ICU Dr. Volkova had advised them to go to. As they got there, they found a woman in her thirties, her long, almost white hair in a ponytail. She quickly turned around when hearing their steps and looked them with her piercing, ice-blue eyes.

" Are you the Bladebrakers?" she asked.

" Yeah", Tyson replied, panting for the run. " Where's Kai? How is he?".

Dr. Volkova sighed and motioned them to follow her aside, out of the other people's way. The look in her eyes gave them a loud warning of what was to come.

" Your friend has serious injuries. He's in a surgery right know, the doctors are doing all they can to stop the internal bleeding. He also has a broken arm and a severe head-injury".

For a longest time none of the shocked teens could utter a word.

" That's… That's a bad thing… Right?" Max finally whispered, almost in tears.

Dr. Volkova nodded, sad look upon her face.

" Yes. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news". She motioned towards the chairs. " If you want to, you can sit there to wait. The surgery should be over soon enough. I'll keep you posted".

" Thanks", Ray muttered.

And so they sat and waited, helpless to do anything to help Kai. Hours passed by, to them they felt like days. Finally, in the hours of the bright morning, Dr. Volkova walked up to them, looking tired. They all stood up, preparing themselves for what was to come.

" How is he?" Hilary asked, anxiousness sharpening her tone.

" Kai lost a lot of blood, and unfortunately fell into a coma". She sighed, looking at them. " I think you should sit down, I afraid there's something I haven't told you".

They obeyed, fearing the worst. What could be more horrible than hearing that Kai was in a coma!

" Your friend was attacked, viciously. As his injuries probably told you, he was severely beaten up. According to his bruises, he did everything he could to defend himself, but there were too many of them attacking on him". She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. " But that isn't the worst part". She gulped. " Once he wakes up, if he does, he won't be the same person you've learned to know".

They all looked at her, stunned by shock and disbelief. They'd prepared themselves for a lot, but this… This was too much. This was a nightmare.

" Oh my God…", Hilary finally whispered, burying her face into her hands. They could all see her shoulders shaking.

For a longest time, nothing more was said.

" When should he wake up?" Ray finally asked in a choked voice, obviously holding back tears.

" I'm sorry, but… We don't know. Only time will tell", Dr. Volkova replied sadly.

Tyson blinked, eyes stinging with tears he wouldn't let fall.

" Can we see him?" he asked, looking at the doctor pleadingly. " Please?".

" I'm sorry, but I afraid I can't let you in before Kai's stabilised". She smiled sadly, looking at the exhausted teens before her. " You should all go home and try to get some rest. I know that this has been a hard day for you, but staying here won't help your friend. I'll call you if anything happens".

Reluctantly they did as ordered. /

Silence filled the hotel-room as everyone remembered that night.

Even tough Kai had eventually woken up, nothing was the same. Due the head-injury, Kai had lost his memory. For a small part it was fortunate, since he couldn't remember the events of the horrible night, but it seemed that along with his memory, Kai had also lost himself. No amount of therapy-sessions seemed to help the Russian, and day by day they could see Kai fade away.

" What should we do?" Ray finally spoke out, looking at Mr. Dickinson with confused eyes. " I want to help him, I really do. But how?".

Mr. Dickinson sighed.
" I honesty don't know", he admitted. " When I brought Kai here, I thought being with his friends would make him remember, bring him back. But… I'm sorry to say, but it seems that being here only makes his state grow worse".

The gang was shocked. Did this mean…?

" Are… Are you taking him away… from us?" Tyson asked in a wheezing voice, eyes wide.

Mr. Dickinson nodded, looking more sad than they'd ever seen anyone look before.

" I'm sorry boys, but if things continue the way they have so far, I afraid I'm out of options", he told them, voice filled with gloom. " I can promise you a week, but then… I afraid he'll have to be relocated into somewhere more suitable".

His sadness, however, did not deserve much appreciation from Tyson. The Dragon shot up from the couch, scaring everyone, face red with pure rage. He pointed at the elder man.
" I know that you're supposed to be some kind of a big-shot, but I'm not going to watch you taking Kai away! I'm not going to loose him!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, shaking all over.

" Tyson…", Max begun, but was soon cut off.

" I'm not going to apologise, I have no reason to!" he hissed, looking at Max, and then turned his cross gaze back to shocked Mr. Dickinson. " I hate you! If you take him away from me, I will never talk to you or blade for you again!".

With that, Tyson stormed off to upstairs, and soon enough the loudest bang of a door they'd ever witnessed was heard. The people left in the room looked at each other with shocked and puzzled looks plastered on their faces.

What would happen next? How could they carry on?

The same night, after letting out the worst of his fumes and making sure that Mr. Dickinson had actually left, Tyson surprised himself by ending up to the door of Kai's room. After hesitating for a longest time, he quietly knocked.

" Kai?" he whispered, placing his hand on the door-handle. " You gonna throw me with something if I come in?".

No reply came, and, still hesitant, he inched the door. He saw Kai standing by the window, having his back on the Dragon, arms crossed over his chest. Quietly Tyson sneaked in and closed the door behind him.

" I'm not sure if I should show you off or kiss you".

Tyson was startled by the words, by the fact that Kai actually spoke to him. Despite the words, he felt strangely honoured by the fact that Kai had chosen to speak to him.

" I think we have a lot to talk about", he muttered, hoping that Kai would keep on talking.

He felt his heart ache as Kai turned around. His auburn eyes were so filled with pain and confusion that it hurt Tyson like hell.

" Kai…".

" Why did you hurt me?". The question was more pain-filled than angry. " I don't remember much, but I do remember that you tore me apart". Anger seemed to take over Kai, his eyes turned slightly more red and seemed to be flaming. " How could you do that to me! Didn't you love me?".

Tyson felt a tear slide down his cheek, but ignored it. Slowly, not willing to upset Kai any further, he took a step forward and took Kai's hand in his. The Phoenix tried free himself from the grip, but Tyson refused to give in. He wasn't going to let go of Kai, not ever again.

" I did love you", he whispered, looking deep into the ginger depths. " I still do".

Kai looked at him, eyes filled with shock, and Tyson felt the Russian's hand quiver in his.

" Then… Why?" Kai asked in a choked voice, eyes almost in tears. " Why the hell did you put me through that if you loved me!".

" Because I was an idiot", Tyson replied bluntly, crying heavily. " I ran away from the thing I cared about the most. And I have regretted it ever since".

For a long time it seemed that time was no longer working in the small room as the two of them looked at each other, holding hands. Finally Tyson wrapped his arms carefully but firmly around Kai, holding the Phoenix close. He felt Kai quiver uncontrollably as the boy returned the hug. They were both crying.

" I'm so sorry, Kai, I'm so sorry…", he whispered into Kai's ear. " But I promise that I'll never hurt you again. You'll never have to suffer because of me again".

" I hope you'll keep that promise", Kai murmured. " Because if you won't, I'll never forgive you".

Slowly and hesitantly, they broke apart slightly to take a look at each other. Eventually, like in a slowed-motion, they leaned in and their lips met in a soft, tender kiss. They could both taste the tears as the kiss deepened, revealing the deep longing they'd both felt for so long.

TBC.


A/N: Don't blow your tops, people, that ending DOES NOT mean that this is becoming a TyKa fic... yet, at least.Btw, before you plan on killing Kai or anything, remember that he's an amnesiac and he's not with Hilary at the moment (for understandable reasons).

Anyways, the next episode reveals what happens when Hilary comes back.. evil grin

Well, hope you liked it. Keep voting!