A/N- hello and – wait, that sounds so 'talk-show-host'. Oh well. Just to let you know, I only have around two chapters planned next. So this fic is nearing an end. Now I know that has this weird 'reply-to-reviews' thing, and I intend to use it, but when I receive a review that contains a question (mainly for this fic) that I think many people will ask, I will answer it in the main fic for people to see, so their question can be answered. Oh well, only one review to answer then on with the fic.

The Great Hippo Thief- Hello again! – Yes, this is quite a hard fic to compliment, especially since it is technically my half-life story (though some bits are tweaked slightly, though only a few). Mah parents are a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, especially now that I have stopped eating many meats; I only eat bacon, ham, sausages and chicken now (no turkey for crimbo!). They're worried about me not eating enough, but I am, I tell ya. I have all my meals and snacks planned out for me by my personal trainer (no, I am not rich. It's part of the NHS (National Health Service. British thing, if ya not British)). And that's quite annoying… I don't know how I got through this either, but all I know is I did. Well, I do remember, but some parts of my memories are a bit of a blur. I guess friendship, determination and quite possibly love got me through this.
'For too long I've been struggling, I couldn't go on
But now I've found I'm feeling strong and moving on' Singin my song, Christina Aguilera

If Hilary was someone else, she would have been scared out of her wits by the voice; but Hilary was Hilary, whether she liked it or not. She hugged herself tighter, trying to hide her arm in the process, and looked away from the intruder.

"Leave." She said as bitterly as she could muster. She heard no movement. "Please. Leave now." No sound. "Fine. Stay there then. Like I care."

"But if you don't care, why did you ask me to leave?"

Hilary's grip on her forearms tightened. She knew what he was doing. He was messing with her mind. But what was he doing here? Shouldn't he be with his friends?

"I know what you're thinking…"

"What am I thinking of then, Psychic-boy?" Hilary snapped back, irritably.

"You're wondering why I am here. Why I'm not with my teammates." She could feel him smirking. "And you're thinking that I'm messing around with your mind."

She grit her teeth. 'So what,' she thought bitterly, 'he's figured it out. Big deal. Let's throw a frickin' party for the Russian smarty-pants.'

"Well done," She replied, still not looking up. "Now, you can leave."

"I think not." She heard him sitting down. "I find this place quite a tranquil place."

"Yeah, it's my tranquil place. A friend and mine's. So leave." She could feel the tears welling up, but she refused to cry in front of him.

"What did I tell you about crying?" A gloved hand came into her line of vision and a finger wiped away a stray tear that had fallen down her cheek. "It's ok."

"What would you know about it?" She snapped back.

"I know enough to know that holding it in only makes the pain worse." He replied, taking back his hand.

She subconsciously took in a deep breath, taking in his aroma that had drifted over on the wind's breath; winter. That's what he smelt of. She wondered what Kai smelt of…

"Please, I want to be alone. Please Tala."

Tala looked over at her, his ice blue eyes boring into her dull, maroon ones. She looked away; his stare too intense.

"Yet you long for Kai to be with you." He whispered, surprising her.

"H-How do you know?" She asked, looking back at him.

"Your body language."

"You've been spying on me?"

Tala chuckled. "No," He said, smirking, "during the last tournament. The way you cheered him on when he was competing against your other friends; when he lost against Tyson, you were worried about where he had gone; during his second fight with Brooklyn-"

"But you were in a freakin' coma when that happened!"

"I do have friends of my own, you know." He pointed out, raising an eyebrow. He smirked and looked away, watching the rainfall around the great willow; miraculously, no drop fell down into the shelter area of the weeping tree. "Bryan told me…" He said. "And I saw you when Tyson beat Brooklyn. You ran up and hugged Kai." He truly smiled, whereas Hilary blushed for once in many months. "I admit that both he and I were surprised, but if I can remember correctly, he hugged you back. And let me tell you something, Hilary," She looked at him again, watching him look out at nothing in particular, his eyes glazed over, "he's never truly hugged someone before like that. Never."

Nothing was said after that; the only sounds coming from the rain outside the great crying tree. Everything in the world was crying… the sky, the tree, the girl… and her friends…

"Max, we'll find her. We will." Tyson tried to reassure his upset friend. He hugged him close and buried his face in his friend's mess of blonde hair.

"I say we go look for her. We have to get out of here, anyway, because we broke in and she's not here," Ray said, "and that looks like pretty heavy rainfall. Come on guys, crying won't solve anything." But he himself was blinking away his tears.

"Ray," Kenny said quietly, "should I contact Mr Dickenson?"

Ray shook his head, ebony hair moving, his ponytail swinging. "He'll only get worried. And no offence, Chief, but he won't be able to do better than us. Chances are, if Hilary saw a group of men looking for her that were assigned by Mr D, she's run again. With us, there's more chance of her staying where she is."

"I suppose you're right Ray…" Kenny turned to Tyson and Max. "Guys, come on, let's go find her."

"What happened to you, Hilary?"

Hilary did not reply. Not out of ignorance or loss of words… but fear and shame. Tala carefully took Hilary hand in his own, taking it off the ground and holding it; and this hand happened to be her cut arm. She winced slightly and looked away, truly ashamed.

"Hilary, if you don't face the truth and tell someone, this," he gestured to her arm, "will get worse. You might even do something you'll regret." No reply. "As the years progress, more scars will be on your body and you'll feel uglier and uglier."

"And how do you know all this?" She asked, ripping her hand out of his grasp, ignoring the flash of pain that coursed through her veins. "How could you possibly-"

She stopped, staring at the arm in front of her; his arm. Randomly placed white scars were on his arm. Some, she was horrified to see, were so near to the underside of his wrist that she knew they must've caused harm… harm to him…

"You…?"

"In the Abbey." He replied, tugging his jumpsuit sleeve back down. He looked back at her; she couldn't place names on the emotions flowing in his eyes. "My reason may not be the same as yours. It may not even be as bad. But I did it. Now, I have to live with these. Everyday I look at them and wish I never did it. I wish I had never even set eyes on that tool knife. But I did. And this happened." He sighed. "Kai's looking for you. So are your friends. I'm guessing you don't want to face them." She shook her head numbly. He stood and held out his hand. "Come with me."

She hesitantly held out her hand, and curled her fingers slowly round the Russian's own. He helped her up but her legs couldn't support her. She almost fell to the ground, but Tala caught her.

"N-No good." She felt like crying. "Too weak…"

He merely grunted in reply and slid his arms round her back and under her legs, picking her up like a groom does a bride. She made a small noise, barely noticeable, and her hands tightened their grip on the front of his jumpsuit. She buried her face into the orange and white material… and fell asleep.

"Look after her, Kai." Hilary heard a voice say, but in her groggy state, she couldn't determine who it was. "She needs help and you're the only one who can help her."

She gave up in her fight to stay conscious just as the door to the small bedroom opened and the two-toned Russian walked in. He sat on the windowsill, the moon's rays flowing into the room, illuminating everything in a silvery glow. He looked at her sleeping form, her thing frame hidden slightly by the duvet covers.

'Everything will be fine…'

A/N- I apologise if Tala was OOC… bet he surprised u. (grins)U were all expecting Kai, weren't u? (nudges) But you got a friendly Tala instead. And before you ask: No, Tala does not fancy Hilary, he just wants to help her because he's kinda gone through the same thing. And I tweaked things with the past and stuff (E.g.- Hilary hugging Kai at the end of Grev and Tala doing self-harm) hope that doesn't seem too OOC either…

Anywho, review! (as you can tell, I'm feeling better)

Yes, this is quite a hard fic to compliment, especially since it is technically my half-life story (though some bits are tweaked slightly, though only a few). Mah parents are a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, especially now that I have stopped eating many meats; I only eat bacon, ham, sausages and chicken now (no turkey for crimbo!). They're worried about me not eating enough, but I am, I tell ya. I have all my meals and snacks planned out for me by my personal trainer (no, I am not rich. It's part of the NHS (National Health Service. British thing, if ya not British)). And that's quite annoying… I don't know how I got through this either, but all I know is I did. Well, I do remember, but some parts of my memories are a bit of a blur. I guess friendship, determination and quite possibly love got me through this.