I've finally been able to finish and post this chapter. I am sorry it has taken so long, but it's here now. Just as a warning, there are only going to be two more chapters to the story and then the epilogue (including this one). I'm sorry if it seems I've cut it short, but I'm not that good at endings; my stories tend to fizzle out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kai's mother, but I have made up her name (if that isn't too confusing). Isabel and her pet belong to me.

The Lone Wolf

A small crack woke Kai from his sleep and he sat up, quickly being reminded of his wrist. Noticing his bag where he had been laying his head he scanned the area for Tala, whom he saw leaning against a tree in front of the fire that was almost out.

Kai let out a small chuckle and shook his head; "He could have just woken me if he was tired. And people say I'm stubborn."

Another crack similar to the one that had awoken him came from behind him. Twisting his body so he could see he saw a dark figure step out of the foliage. Kai gasped in shock.

Voltaire rubbed his temples. He had never been very patient and the kidnap of his grandson was putting a lot more pressure on him than he would ever had guessed. If someone had come up to him after BIOVOLT's defeat and said to him that his grandson was going to be taken away he would have been happy to say the least.

One of the many people he thought he would be happy to get rid of himself was causing him to only get a few hours of sleep filled with nightmares. He took another sip of his coffee before looking back at the paperwork for the company. It seemed that his investment in BIOVOLT was not only a waste of money, but it was still costing him.

There was a knock at the door; "May I come in?"

Voltaire recognised the voice immediately; "I was wondering if you were going to be arriving soon. I actually thought you would get here sooner, Lillian, since this does concern your son."

"What? I was not told that in my message." The woman's brown eyes had widened and filled with worry, "Where is he? Listen Voltaire, I know that he disobeyed you, but he is not Susumu. He is a good kid at heart."

"That's enough!" He watched as she flinched back. "I was going to punish Kai, but he did come back a few weeks after the World Championships and I have to admit I was and still am impressed with his bravery."

"Where is he then?" Lillian Hiwarati was about average height withvery short silvery-blue hair that stopped at the back of her neck. Worry was evident in her face.

"I made a deal with Boris and it concerned Kai." By this time Voltaire had stood up and walked over to the window so that he had his back to Lillian.

"You sold my only son?" Tears were in her eyes, and Voltaire could hear it in her voice.

"I did not intend to. Boris found a loophole in my deal with him."

"That's no excuse!" The woman had become hysterical and it was not what Voltaire needed.

"Who was the one who looked after the boy after his father abandoned him? Who paid for all of his expenses? Who was the one who even gave a damn about him?"

"I was a fool." Voltaire turned just to see her kneel on the ground and cry into her lap. "I should have paid him more attention after Susumu left."

She looked up when his wrinkled hand touched her face, comforting her. "We were both foolish, Lillian. I promise, though, we will get him back."

Kai was frozen. In front of him stood a wolf with white fur. Neither he nor the wolf moved, whether it was for fear of the other it was not completely certain.

The wolf was the first to move, slowly padding up to Kai; eyes on the boy, who did not move or flinch as it put its paws onto the boy's lap. Both eyes turned to see a figure move.

Tala stirred in his sleep, slowly sitting up to look around him. His eyes widened as he saw a wolf practically on top of Kai.

"So you finally woke up." There was no sense of urgency in Kai's voice, which in some ways just made Tala annoyed.

"How can you act so clam when that wolf could kill you at any second?" Needless to say Tala was not happy.

"Well, since you were asleep, I thought it would be best not to wake you." Kai's eyes narrowed, "In fact I don't think there have been many decisions I have made where you haven't argued with me."

"Why do you think..?" Tala was cut off when the wolf started growling.

Kai smirked, "Your bit-beast is a wolf yet they don't seem to like you that much." Kai smiled slightly when it licked his hand.

"Lupus!" Both boys turned as the wolf ran over yipping at the newcomer. "Ah, so you found us some guests huh?"

The two boys looked over to see an old woman standing next to the wolf. Her silvery hair was tied back into a bun, which also seemed to flatten her wrinkles, if only slightly. She was quite small, only twice the height of the wolf on all fours.

"You boys must be starving. How long have you been out here?"

Silence seemed to blanket everything before Tala spoke, "We've only been out here for one night."

"I'm surprised you kids are still alive. Let's get you inside and you can have something to warm you up." The woman smiled and turned from the two boys, her wolf following behind.

The two glanced at each other before following as well.

"How about some warm hot chocolate? I'm sure you two are freezing. Here come and sit by the fire."

Tala watched in mild amusement as the small woman busied herself trying to make the two comfortable. Kai was his usual quietness, which was hard to get used to again because he had been talking a lot more when it had just been the two of them.

The woman brought three large mugs of hot chocolate on a tray, which she set down on a table between the two boys and the fire. She took one of the mugs and sat in a chair that was next to Tala, but angled so that she could see both of them.

"So tell me, what you were doing out there and what are your names?" Her smile was the friendliest Tala had ever seen. It reminded him how alone he felt.

Brushing the negative feelings away he answered, "My name is Tala Ivanov." He took a sip of his hot chocolate waiting for Kai to say something.

He turned to look at the kid, who was just staring into the mug he had picked up. Tala sighed, "And he is Kai Hiwatari."

Tala almost missed the look of surprise on the woman's face when he said Kai's name, but it was very quickly replaced with her smile. It made Tala feel uncomfortable, especially if there was a chance she worked for Boris.

"My name is Isabel," she drew attention to her feet, where the wolf was laying, "and this is my companion Lupus. I know it's not a very original name, but he seems to like it. He was abandoned by his pack when he was young. But enough about that, you have yet to answer my other question."

Tala was more reluctant to answer this question, firstly because he did not really know and secondly because he was starting not to trust her. "Why do you need to know?"

"We were kidnapped by a man named Boris Balkov." Tala and Isabel turned to look at Kai, who had not taken his eyes off of his hot chocolate.

"Boris huh? I have not heard that name in quite a while." The woman turned to look at the fire, seemingly lost in thought.

"Have you heard of him?" Tala looked at her hoping to get some answers of his own.

"My story is not important and your friend looks like he's about to fall asleep in his chair. We'll talk tomorrow morning." The woman smiled as she jumped off her chair. "Please follow me and I'll show you to your rooms."

The two boys were in identical beds that night. Tala was sitting up and looking out of his window while Kai had already lain down. Isabel was still up and she said she would check on them before she went to sleep.

There was still a question going through Tala's mind, "Kai?"

Tala looked over to see the lump in the bed had stirred and Kai had turned around to face him, even though he was still lying down.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit out of it, so to speak."

There was only a candle illuminating the room and it seemed to make Kai's eyes glow with some of the fire they used to have, even through the grey. "I've just been thinking."

"It must be pretty important to distract you so much."

Kai briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. "Have you ever thought that you had everything ahead of you and knew exactly what you wanted and had an idea of how to get it? Have you ever wanted it so much that you would be willing to sacrifice everything to get it, but one day you look back and you realise that the thing you wanted so much has passed you by in another form? I had what I wanted, yet I was so close-minded that I could not see it for what it was."

"It sounds like you have lost something very important to you, son." Tala had to stop himself from jumping at Isabel's voice.

Kai snorted, "As you probably heard, not only did I loose something important, but I also didn't even realise when I had what I wanted again."

The old woman sat on the edge of his bed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure you'll have another chance."

Tala had never really noticed or even thought about how much being alone would have got to Kai. Kai was thought to be the lone wolf, the one who only let people be around him as long as he could stand them. It seemed he did not know Kai very well at all.

"I don't think I'll let myself have another chance. I would just do it again. I can't think of the last time I thought of someone other than myself."

"Do you think anyone else is different?" Both sets of eyes turned to Tala. "I can't think of a single person who does something that is not selfish."

Isabel smiled at Tala, turning to look at Kai again, "Your friend's right. Everyone is selfish in the end no matter how much you try to justify it. I let you two boys in to get you out of the cold because I would have felt guilty, not to mention I've been going for a long time without any real human contact. Even the kindest of acts are done selfishly if you look hard enough."

Isabel smiled and stood up, taking her hand off Kai's shoulder, "Now don't stay up too late boys." And with that she walked out of the room.

After she had shut the door Tala spoke up, "Does your wrist still hurt?"

"No, it's a lot better now. It must have only been a sprain."

Kai turned over, "Good night Tala."

"Night Kai." Tala said before blowing out the candle and plunging the room into darkness.

I should have the next chapter up sooner. I wanted to have an idea of what was going to happen next before posting this. Please review!