"Tammy!" Shouted Raimundo as they ran around the corner.
"Well hey there Raimundo," Said Tammy smiling, "How's you?"
"Tammy, can you make a link between us and Igirisu?" Asked Raimundo.
"Well, sure, but what's the rush?" Asked Tammy.
"Please Tam, this is an emergency!" Said Clay.
"Right you are Amerika." Said Tammy, tapping on the keys and flipping switches too fast for Raimundo to follow with her alternate black and purple nails.
She finally picked up a mouthpiece and slipped it on.
"Hello? This is Chikatetsu Machi communications speaking." Tammy glanced up at them as no reply came through, "Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Tammy the communication's controller speaking from Chikatetsu Machi. Is anyone there?"
No reply came. Raimundo and Clay held their breath as she tried again.
"This is the communication's controller from Chikatetsu Machispeaking. If anyone can hear me please answer immediately. This is an emergency."
There was silence. Then a voice crackled through the speaker.
"This is Igirisu speaking. I apologise for the late response."
Raimundo and Clay breathed out in relief and Tammy gave a great sigh.
"We have Amerika here to speak with you on an urgent matter." Said Tammy, before taking off the headpiece and handing it to Clay.
Tammy started to continue with her work as Clay spoke into the headpiece.
"Hey Master Fung," He said.
"Good day, Clay. I trust this is a matter of great importance?"
"It certainly is." Said Clay, "We've got Jack out of Chase Young's prison, but it seems that Katnappe is still there and …"
"She knows the location of our base." Replied Master Fung, finishing Clay's sentence the way he always used to.
"Exactly, Nihon asked Raimundo and myself to warn you to move your base quickly!" Said Clay.
"Ah, yes. Raimundo, I'm glad to hear that you've finally caught up with us."
"Nice to hear your voice again Master Fung!" Laughed Raimundo.
Master Fung obviously heard this.
"As it is to hear yours. However, we have more urgent matters at hand. We have already heard of Katnappe's capture and we have already began moving to another base. By the time Chase Young gets to our previous base, we will be long gone."
Clay and Raimundo both breathed out in relief again.
"What about Katnappe? Isn't there anything we can do for her?" asked Raimundo.
"I'm afraid that is not possible at the current date. If we were to break in to find her, we could end up leading them straight back to our new base and I doubt Chikatetsu Machi can provide food and shelter for all three of our groups."
"I guess, I just feel so damn bad for her." Said Clay.
"Don't worry," Said Raimundo, "I'm sure Ki … Nihon will think of a way to get her out of there without endangering all of these people."
"In the mean time, I must continue moving the people to a safer location." Said Master Fung, "Igirisu out."
The line went dead and Clay handed the headpiece back to Tammy.
"Well, at least we know they're safe." Said Clay, "I'll go tell Nihon."
Clay left and Raimundo hung back for a while before turning to Tammy.
"So, did you have fun last night?" He asked.
"Apart from the splitting headache this morning?" Said Tammy, "Sure I did."
"In all fairness, you did drink a hell of a lot." Said Raimundo.
"So did you and Yuuji, but neither of you seem to be feeling the after effects." Said Tammy, not looking up from her screen as she continued to type.
"Well, Yuuji hasn't woken up yet," Said Raimundo, "And I can hold my drink better than you two."
"Or you weren't drinking anything alcoholic!" Said Tammy.
"I was drinking the same as you!" Said Raimundo defensively.
"Sure you were," Laughed Tammy, smiling at her screen.
Raimundo laughed at her and then sighed.
"How about I make it up to you by taking you out to dinner tonight?" Said Raimundo.
Tammy stopped typing and looked up at him.
"That's inappropriate talk for the work place." She said.
"I don't work here." Said Raimundo.
"In which case …" She smiled up at him, " … I'd love to."
"I'll see you then." Said Raimundo, before turning around and walking away.
"What the hell am I gonna wear?" Asked Raimundo desperately, looking into the mirror.
Kimiko, Dojo and Clay were sat on the bed watching him throw random items of clothing out of his wardrobe.
"Why so nervous?" Asked Dojo.
"Because this is the first date I've been on in god knows how long," Said Raimundo, sorting through his sock draw, "And that's including before the time skip! Plus this is the only girl since Kim that I've been even slightly interested in!"
Kimiko looked up from the floor where she had been staring absent-minded at a t-shirt Raimundo had thrown there some ten minutes ago.
"Not that's not very sweet," she said, "But you've got to pull yourself together. Besides, you've never come off as the nervous type around girls."
"I'm not around girls." Said Raimundo, "But I am before hand."
"You were never nervous around me." Said Kimiko.
"I didn't like you when I first met you," Said Raimundo, not considering what was coming out of his mouth.
Kimiko stood up and walked out of the room.
"Kim!" Shouted Raimundo after her, "That's not what I meant!"
However, Kimiko didn't come back and they heard the slam of the front door. Raimundo rolled his eyes and looked down at his jeans.
"Glad to see that girls haven't changed much." He said.
"They never do," Said Clay, "but you really should be more considerate towards Nihon."
"Why?" Said Raimundo, "she's not towards me."
"She's trying to forget." Said Dojo.
"About what?" Asked Raimundo.
"About you," said Clay, "She's been trying to forget about you for the past eight years. You just suddenly coming back has really messed with her head."
"Could've fooled me!" said Raimundo, "Now, seriously guys. Kimiko doesn't feel anything for me anymore. She made that perfectly clear."
Kimiko looked up from where she was standing on the step to see Tammy approaching.
"Hi Miss Nihon," Said Tammy, smiling.
Kimiko put on a fake grin.
"Just call me Nihon, Tammy." Said Kimiko.
"Is Raimundo ready yet?" Asked Tammy.
"No, he's trying to decide what socks to wear." Said Kimiko.
Tammy laughed. Her red hair fell over her eyes. Kimiko looked at her. She was wearing a black skirt, a white three-quarter length sleeved shirt and combat boots. Her jacket was black leather and Kimiko seemed to remember having an outfit like that a while ago. She used to have a lot of outfits though.
"So, you and Raimundo have been friends for, like, ever?" asked Tammy.
"Not exactly," Said Kimiko, "We met when we were about … we must have been thirteen or nearly anyway. We stayed friends until we were fourteen and then …"
"Raimundo disappeared for eight years." Said Tammy.
"More or less." Said Kimiko, shrugging and leaning on the wall.
Tammy leant beside her.
"So you've known him for a pretty long time, you just haven't seen him." Said Tammy.
"Yeah." Said Kimiko, "I'm glad he's back though. I get the feeling that we're going to need all the help we can get."
"But Raimundo's just one guy," Said Tammy, "He can't make that much of a difference."
"You don't know Raimundo," Laughed Kimiko, before stopping and smiling sadly, "It was because he disappeared that we ended up losing the temple that we're currently based under. If he had been there we probably could've managed."
"Is he really that powerful?" Asked Tammy, surprised.
"He could be, if he got off his butt to train once in a while," Said Kimiko, "He's already more powerful than most of our soldiers."
"Wow," Said Tammy, "So he really is important."
"Let's just say that if he hadn't disappeared, things would be a hell of a lot different." Said Kimiko, "I probably wouldn't be with Yuuji if he'd been here."
Tammy raised her slender eyebrows. Kimiko suddenly realised what that must have sounded like.
"Oh … no, no, no!" Said Kimiko, shaking her hands, "We never actually went out!"
"Oh," Said Tammy.
"We kind of liked each other and we almost got together, but then he disappeared and I met Yuuji and now I love him," explained Kimiko, "So nothing is ever going to happen there and I've made that one hundred percent clear, not that I think Raimundo would even be interested now he's met you."
"You think?" Said Tammy, smiling widely.
"Yeah," Said Kimiko, smiling softly, "I think he really likes you. I can tell from how damn nervous he was, but don't let him know I told you that!"
"Told her what?" Asked a voice from the top of the steps.
Tammy and Kimiko looked around. Raimundo was walking towards them, finally dressed in white trousers and a black shirt. He was smiling. Kimiko glanced at Tammy who was smiling back, slightly pink in the cheeks.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked.
"Ready when you are." Said Tammy.
As they left, Kimiko hung back and watched them. They were laughing and smiling. It was unusual in these situations, but both Raimundo and herself had managed to find someone. How they had done it was still a mystery, but they had done it. She suddenly felt the urge to go and find Yuuji. So she picked herself up and started walking towards the headquarters.
Clay and Dojo came down the steps and caught up with her.
"You okay?" Asked Clay.
"I'm fine," Said Kimiko, "How about you?"
"I all right, I was just wondering because Raimundo seemed to put his foot in it for about the millionth time," Said Clay.
"He just doesn't consider what comes out of his mouth when he speaks," Said Kimiko, "He always did and I think … I think it's because he's still a teenager inside."
"I think he's more grown up than he's letting you believe," Said Dojo.
"Huh?" Asked Clay.
"Well he always did like to seem more stupid than he really was," Explained Dojo, "It meant more glory when he did something right, but when he took something seriously, boy did he take it seriously!"
Kimiko recalled the way Raimundo had acted when Chase first took Omi. Raimundo was prepared to blow his top if they didn't get him back soon. He calmed down, but every time Raimundo went up against Chase, he gave it his all and very nearly won on a couple of occasions. Maybe it was because he had been there himself and he didn't want Omi to go through it.
"Well, Tammy seems to like immature guys," Said Kimiko, shaking her black hair out of her face.
"Yeah well Tammy's not exactly mature herself, is she?" Said Clay, straightening his hat.
"She can be," Said Kimiko, "She's useful in an emergency. She's good a keeping her cool."
"Unlike you, you used to blow your top at the slightest thing." Said Dojo.
"Excuse me?" asked Kimiko.
"Oh come on," Said Clay, "you were a total hot head!"
"Was not!" Said Kimiko.
For a while they laughed like they were back too normal. Like they had fallen eight years backwards and were making fun of each other like they used to.
"I think Raimundo's been kind of helpful in reminding us that we are actually friends and we're not just here because it's a job," Said Kimiko.
"But it is a job," Said Dojo, "It always was your job to save the world."
"But it never used to seem like a job," Said Clay, "Chasing after Jack Spicer, defeating Wuya, fighting Katnappe and Tubbimura … it was fun. We used to enjoy it. Now it's like …"
"We don't have a choice." Said Kimiko, "And I know we never did, but it seemed like we did. Raimundo still has that free spirit and that's why it's good to have his back. He reminds us why we're doing this."
Kimiko, Clay and Dojo walked in silence for a while. Then they stopped. For a while they looked like the kids they had once been, then they stopped and walked into headquarters and everything fell back into place. This was their calling, their job. It was no longer fun for them to have, to grow and learn without realising it. This was their responsibility. They had always been responsible for the world, but now the world was on their doorstep and they had no choice but to open the door and let it flow in.
(A/N) Not a lot has happened in this chapter. It was mainly building up on Tammy's character and how the relationship between the dragons has changed over the eight years Raimundo has been away. I'm hoping to get more about Omi in the next chapter.
Anyway, tell me what you think. Someone put in their review about what they think is going to happen and I can tell you, everyone of those ideas went through my head, but I decided against them for the plain reason that people would be able to guess them.
I hope you're enjoying. Lots of luv, Becky.