Well, this is the final chapter! (squeals) It's very, very long (about 12 pages) and I'm incredibly proud of it, but it's quality over quantity after all, so I'll let you lot be the judge!

Please read on!

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Chattering to her best friend, Fang Yin, Rosa joined the throng of five year-olds pouring out of the large city school. Excited cries rang out around her as her classmates loudly recounted their day to their parents and older siblings. Wandering away from the noisy group, she looked around for Mummy. Or maybe it was Uncle Lee, he picked her up sometimes…

Her golden eyes widened and she blinked in surprise.

"Uncle Kai?" she tried cautiously. The tall figure a few metres away grimaced.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Rose? It makes me sound like some fat balding guy with a beer belly." Rosa burst into delighted giggles and dashed to Kai.

"Mummy says to call you Uncle Kai!" she said reproachfully.

"Your mother says more than her prayers…" Rosa screwed her face up in confusion.

"Mummy says prayers?" she inquired, puzzled, sighing happily as Kai finally bent down and hugged her properly. "That's better!" she scolded. "You never hug me properly!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! Everyone likes hugs! Even Mummy and Daddy!"

"I don't want to think about Mummy's reaction if I tried to hug her, thank you very much." The chest that Rosa was comfortably resting her head against jerked as Kai coughed a few times, laughing at his own joke, then carried on talking as if nothing had happened. "So, enthral me with the delights of your day." Rosa stared blankly at him. Violet eyes closed as Kai chuckled softly and stood up. Rosa grumbled inaudible insults at the abrupt conclusion of the hug. "How was your day?"

"I knew that!"

"Of course you did…"

"I did!"

"Do you see me arguing?"

"Oh… be quiet… stupid Kai!" Rosa exploded at last, folding her arms and pouting. Kai had that horrible, far-away expression on his face again. Mummy and Daddy didn't like it either, so it had to be bad. "You okay?" she demanded, tugging on his arm.

"Of course… Why wouldn't I be?" She scowled and pointed up at his face, scowling again as he felt his neck.

"No, stupid! Not your neck! Your face! You look all…yucky." she pronounced at last, becoming even more annoyed with her inability to find a word that described that particular expression. Kai bent down and she squealed in shock as she was lifted up.

"Stupid and yucky, am I?" Kai demanded, his pale face mere inches from hers. She nodded. "Whatever. Now then." He looked around, the far-away expression growing to one that almost looked afraid. Rosa stared as well, through the crowds of children and their parents, trying to find what was scaring him.

"You okay?" She poked him, hard. He shook his head sharply.

"Fine. Just went a bit funny there, nothing to worry about." Rosa narrowed her eyes in a conscious imitation.

"Why would I worry about you?" She dissolved into fits of hysterical giggles.

"Rose, don't listen to your mummy so much…" Kai muttered.

"…Kai stupid…" the little girl choked out.

"Rose stupider… Please tell me I didn't just say that…" Kai groaned in disgust, much to Rosa's amusement.

"Am not!

"Oh, you are."

"Am not!

"I refuse to get into this argument."

"…Am not!"

"I give up."

"I win! Ha ha, Kai's stupid!" Laughing, Rosa followed Kai as he strode out of the playground, muttering darkly to himself. "Why isn't Mummy picking me up?"

"She's working today."

Nodding at the information, Rosa glanced quickly at Kai and started sprinting, giggling happily. She squealed in shock as Kai covered the distance between them in two long strides and scooped her up.

"Don't run." he said severely. She pouted.

"Whyyyyyy?" she whined, drawing out the word for maximum effect.

"Because I say so." She poked him defiantly. "And because if you run across roads without looking, you'll probably end up as a little bloody smear on the bottom of a tyre." Rosa screwed her face up in disgust.

"Ew, blood." Kai put her down, muttering something along the lines of "You're so like your mother it hurts..."

"I know that!" Rosa sang out smugly. Skipping ahead, she turned around and poked her tongue out at Kai. "Come on, slowcoach!" Kai folded his arms, his face suddenly stern, and gave her a cool stare. Enough messing around, that look said flatly. He jerked his head to one side, and obediently, Rosa scampered up to him. With a slightly timid smile, she grabbed his hand and threaded her small fingers through his. "Slowcoach." she whispered. There was a slight pause, then she felt the hand loosely clasped around hers tighten.

"Slowcoach." Kai agreed, deadpan.

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Waving her legs backwards and forwards in the air, Lynette leafed idly through her school reading book. Stretching out on her bed, she decided to give in at last. Reading might be a good thing to do while she was waiting for Mummy or Daddy to come home, but it was so boring! And Rosie was asleep, so she had to have her beside lamp on instead of the big light, which made reading hard anyway.

Dropping the book carelessly on the floor, she yawned widely and stood up. Casting a quick glance at the clock, her lips spread in a delighted grin. 7:30. Mummy should be back any time around now. Tiptoeing gingerly out of the room that she shared with her sister, she hurried down the stair, determined to be ready to greet Mummy as she came through the door. She settled herself comfortably on the bottom step and waited patiently.

"Mummy!" Lynette hurtled up and flung herself into Mariah's arms, nuzzling into her mother's ample chest with a happy sigh. Raising her head for a kiss, she began to chatter at high speed, leaving Mariah to make interested noises and head for the coffee machine in the kitchen.

"Careful, sweetheart, I'm holding hot coffee here. You don't want to get burnt." Lynette wriggled to one side on Mariah's lap obediently. "So, how was your day? Good?" Lynette nodded.

"Uh-huh. The teacher said I was the best in my class at my three times table!" she declared proudly.

"Oh, that's brilliant! Well done, Lynnie!" Lynette squirmed bashfully as she was enveloped in a one-armed hug.

"Thanks, Mummy." she mumbled, her voice muffled. She yawned again, a long, loud jaw-cracker that made her eyes water. Her mother laughed softly.

"I think it's time that someone went to bed, isn't it?"

"No!" Lynette scowled and crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Yes. You've got school tomorrow, and you haven't been sleeping well for ages."

"In a minute…" Lynette moaned. "I want to say good night to Kai!" She giggled as her mother sighed.

"Okay, off you go." Mariah straightened her legs and Lynette slid down them, landing with a bump on the floor.

"Ouch." she said matter-of-factly, scrambling to her feet and hurrying out of the kitchen.

Jumping up onto the sofa, she prodded Kai.

"What 'cha reading?" she asked curiously.

"A book. Shouldn't you be going to bed?"

"Yup, but I wanted to ask you something first. Can I?" She looked beseechingly up at Kai as he coughed softly.

"Go ahead." Encouraged, Lynette curled up next to him. Reaching out, she touched the ruined side of his neck gently. He flinched, but didn't make ay attempt to pull away.

"Are you okay now?" she whispered. He grunted in incomprehension and turned to face her, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"What do you mean, Lyn?" She looked away, her seven year-old vocabulary struggling to cope with the vague feelings swirling around inside her.

"Well, first, you ran away, and then I found you, and you were saying all that freaky stuff about bungee-jumping and things, and then I had that nightmare and came and woke you up, and then you were really poorly and went to hospital for ages…"

"That wasn't your fault." She paused.

"Yeah… Yeah, I know that. But, you are okay now, aren't you? I mean, you're still coughing lots and taking lots and lots of pills and stuff, but… You're mostly fixed, aren't you?" He laughed and ruffled her hair gently.

"I'm mostly fixed." he agreed. "Were you scared when I was talking nonsense and in hospital, then?" Sheepishly, Lynette nodded. "Don't worry, Lyn. I won't ever scare you like that again."

"Really?" Lynette demanded sceptically. "Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Well, I hope I won't, but yeah, that's about it." She smiled happily as he solemnly drew a cross over his heart with his right index finger. "Now, bed." She wriggled face down into the cushions and shook her head furiously.

"I don't want to!" she declared.

"Tough cookies, missy." She gave a sleepy groan as Mariah lifted her up. "Oof, you're too heavy for this."

"'yam not!" she mumbled, burying her face in Mariah's neck. "Night night, Kai."

"See you tomorrow, Lyn."

"Mmph…" Closing her eyes, Lynette allowed herself to drift off, finally reassured. Kai's fixed… she thought dreamily.

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Yawning, Mariah stumbled downstairs. Turning on the kitchen light in preparation to get Ray and the girls' packed lunches ready, she clapped both hands over her mouth to stifle a scream of surprise. Violet eyes regarded her with just a hint of belligerence.

"Calm down, Mariah. I'm not that shocking, am I?" Quickly recovering her composure, Mariah glared at him furiously.

"You're not exactly what I want to see first thing in the morning!" At least he's dressed. I really would have screamed if that waist-upwards mess was what I'd seen.

"Believe me, the feeling's mutual."

"Oh… shut the hell up, why don't you?" she snapped, after floundering for a comeback. He smirked.

"Someone's PMS-ing again…"

"If that's the only insult you can think of, then I suggest you stop trying." Mariah retorted hotly.

"Oh, I'm hurt." He was enjoying this, Mariah noted with a sense of rising fury, his eyes alert and slightly mischievous, a certain relaxation about his mouth.

"You will be in a minute!" she threatened. He had the arrogance to chuckle.

"Empty threats, Mariah, empty threats." She boiled silently and stalked past him, heading for the fridge. She heard him laugh shortly. "Wouldn't Ray be disappointed in us?" he commented dryly.

Wouldn't he just? Mariah thought guiltily. Out loud, she said testily; "Well, it's not like he didn't expect it. It's not our fault he thought we could all get along like one big happy family. Speaking of which," She rounded on him, the hand that wasn't holding a slab of cheese placed firmly on her hip, "What are you doing, fully dressed at half past six in the morning?"

"Slow aren't you?" Kai muttered. She ignored him.

"Well?" He sighed and stood up, towering over her even in his slightly stooped position, caused by sitting in one position for too long.

"Mariah, you know I don't sleep well." he said reproachfully. "I'm lucky if I get four hours a night, and then what do you expect me to do for the remainder of the night? Stay cooped up in my room like a disobedient kid?"

"Sounds good to me." She ginned. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, not me." He stretched and turned to leave. Something caught Mariah's eyes and almost before she registered it, her hand had shot out and closed on Kai's wrist. "What now?" he groaned. Silently, Mariah trailed a finger up his arm, stopping on a small wound near his shoulder, the edges crusted with dried blood.

"How did that get there?" she inquired, her voice slightly hesitant. A look of puzzlement in his eyes, Kai twisted his neck round - grimacing with the effort - until he could see what she had pointed out. Watching his eyes suspiciously, Mariah saw none of the guilt that she had been expecting.

"I don't know." His tone reflected genuine bewilderment. "It's only a tiny cut, leave it be." He shrugged off her hand.

"You sure you don't know anything about it?" Mariah demanded. "Something that you might've done without noticing?" She let out a cry of shock as Kai took her by the upper arms and pinned her effortlessly to the kitchen counter. Anger smouldered deep in his eyes as he stared at her.

"I have no idea how that got there, and if you think for one second that I would relapse into self-harming again, you know less than I thought you did." His voice was icy-cold and disapproving. No real anger there on closer examination, just irritation and disappointment that she could ever think such a thing. Temper flared up inside Mariah at that steady, cold look, and she returned it with a heated glare of her own.

"You can't blame me for suspecting!" She breathed a silent sigh of relief as he let go and her and stepped back.

"I could." he said, offhandedly. Unexpectedly, he smiled at her, a quick, small smile. Mariah turned away, hiding a returning smile and started bustling around looking for sandwich ingredients.

"You're incorrigible!" she declared loudly.

"Yeah." The kitchen descended into a not-all-together comfortable silence. Unpredictably, Kai broke it. "Well, isn't this awkward?" he said casually. Mariah refrained from replying, her smile broadening at the unusual occurrence of Kai feeling uncomfortable. The silence lengthened and became decidedly uneasy. Cursing mentally, knowing that Kai was playing with her, Mariah spoke.

"It doesn't help that we don't exactly have much in common." Damn that man, she could practically feel the smugness coming off him.

"Apart from b-" He swallowed. "-beyblading." He was smirking; she could hear it in his voice. "And we've both slept with Ray." Mariah rolled her eyes.

"You, once maybe." Calmly she continued slicing tomatoes to put in Ray's sandwiches.

"Ah, good times. Good fuck, too." Her hand tightened somewhat around the knife. "No wonder we're constantly arguing. It's the equivalent of you living with an ex-girlfriend." Mariah ground her teeth together. Suddenly, the question that had been simmering inside her since the day that Kai had turned up on their doorstep burst out.

"Kai, do you still like Ray? You know…"

"As in; sexually attracted?" Mariah scowled, ducking into a cupboard to check the whereabouts of Lynette's lunchbox.

"I was thinking more love, but whatever suits you…" she muttered darkly. "So?" She turned, the knife still in her hand, to face Kai, who was leaning back on his chair and staring distantly at the ceiling. Hearing her, he settled the chair back onto all four legs and shrugged.

"Two different things, aren't they?" he commented. "Lust and love. You really want an answer, huh?" What do you think? Mariah snarled mentally. "Okay, okay." He broke off in a brief fit of coughing. "Am I sexually attracted to him still?" Mariah gritted her teeth again. Kai's habit of addressing questions to himself drove her up the proverbial wall.

"Get on with it!" she snapped. Kai smirked wickedly.

"You know what? I don't think I am." Mariah blinked, taken aback so badly that speech momentarily deserted her. Deep down, she had always thought that Kai still lusted after her husband.

"Really?" she asked uncertainly.

"Really." Kai repeated dryly. "As a matter of fact, I think I've forgotten what sexual attraction feels like." He laughed.

"Stop playing around, Kai!"

"I'm-" He coughed again, harder and longer than before. "-not." he finished at last. "I still love Ray, but it's different now. It's… oh, I can't explain it properly." He waved one hand in an exasperated fashion. "Never mind. You don't need to feel threatened, anyway."

"I don't!" Mariah denied hotly, her cheeks flushing with the lie. Kai stared at her, into her, in a way that he hadn't done for months.

"Of course not." he agreed pleasantly.

"Of course not!" Mariah repeated loudly, turning away hurriedly, her cheeks deep scarlet. "Why would I ever feel threatened by you?" Kai started laughing, stopping only to cough violently.

"No idea, Mariah." he choked out. Mariah glared at him, and then swept past, heading for the bin.

"Very funny, I'm sure. Have you noticed your cough gets worse when you laugh?"

"Are you trying to imply something here?"

"Take what you want from it, I really don't care." Mariah said airily. With a long-suffering groan, Kai stood and waked out of the kitchen. "Oh, and when was the last time you shaved? Personally, I don't think a beard suits you." Laughing softly as she heard Kai growl something darkly under his breath as he ascended the stairs, she busied herself finishing up the lunchboxes and making breakfast.

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With his mind still half in dreamland; Ray pushed open the bathroom door. Vaguely, he registered that Kai was standing in front of the sink, swearing and holding numerous bits of toilet roll to numerous bleeding bits of his face.

"Kai, by twenty-five, you're supposed to know how to shave." he mumbled, yawning. Kai glared at him.

"Shut up." he snapped. Ray raised his eyebrows.

"You're in a bad mood today." he noted.

"Oh, congratulations, give the man a medal." Kai muttered. Putting his razor down with more force than was perhaps necessary, he left the bathroom abruptly. Blinking sleepily, Ray stared after him for a few seconds, then yawned and shrugged. Kai had his days of temper. The best thing to do was just let him get over them in his own time.

Decidedly more awake, he went into the kitchen and grinned at his daughters, who both grinned back and yelled garbled versions of "Daddy!", their speech somewhat affected by the fact that they both had full mouths. Wandering over to where Mariah stood with her back turned, he put his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Morning." he whispered, kissing her neck.

"Ray, you're in my way…" she complained light-heartedly. Ray laughed softly and drew away, heading for the table and hugging Lynette and Rosa.

"Hey, Mariah?"

"Yes?" Was it his imagination, or did he just hear guilt in that answer?

"Did you have an argument with Kai this morning? You're generally the thing that sets him off on one." Mariah sighed heavily.

"Oh, he's like that again, is he? Well, for your information, we didn't have an argument, as such. Just a … heated discussion. Which I won." She smirked wickedly. Ray groaned loudly.

"Hopeless!" he exclaimed, spinning around theatrically and turning to the girls. "Hopeless, aren't they?" Lynette nodded enthusiastically, giggling, while Rosa looked up inquiringly from her cereal bowl, most of which was plastered over her face.

"Whatd'sa'?" she asked indistinctly.

"Never mind, Rosie. Eat your breakfast." Lynnie told her younger sister pompously. Ray stifled a grin and heard Mariah giggle softly to herself. Sitting down, he reached for the cereal.

"Ray, you did remember about Parent's Evening tonight, didn't you?" Utter silence. "Clearly not - watch the cereal!" Ray came back to reality just in time to prevent an avalanche of cereal all over the floor. Rosa studied the cereal-covered table with interest. Reaching out, she tentatively poked a piece, then shrugged and popped it into her mouth.

"Rosie, don't do that!" everyone in the kitchen chorused sternly. Meekly, Rosa took the piece of half-chewed cereal out of her mouth and replaced it carefully on the table, taking the opportunity, Ray saw, to kick Lynette under the table. Lynette and Mariah shuddered in unison. Ray couldn't stop a grin spreading across his face, but made an effort to stop it. His youngest needed no encouragement to behave badly.

"Put that in the bin, Rosie." he ordered.

"But Daddy…"

"Don't backchat your daddy! Bin! Now!" Mariah demanded. Sulkily, the little girl hopped down from the table and over to the bin. Faintly, at the very edge of his hearing, Ray heard Lynette snicker. Unfortunately, Rosa had heard it too, and flung herself at her sister with a plaintive wail of "Lynnie was laughing at me!"

Ray picked up his suitcase and headed for the door. Come on, he encouraged himself, almost there … A hand grasped his wrist.

"Where are you going, darling?" Mariah asked sweetly. Ray swore mentally. "Parent's Evening. Tonight. You're going."

"Why can't you go?" Ray asked, trying his best to sound reasonable. "I've got a hell of a lot to do at work today."

"Aw, poor you." his wife said flatly. "The girls aren't allowed to come, and there's no way I'm leaving them with Kai, not when he's like he is today."

"Oh come on Mariah, you know he would never do anything to the girls." Ray pleaded.

"It's not what he might do, it's what he might say." Mariah snapped. "And don't beg; you sound like the girls." Ray sighed, knowing when he was beaten.

"Fine, I'll go." Mariah beamed at him. Stretching up on tiptoes, she kissed him softly.

"I'll make it up to you." she promised. Ray raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Good." Grinning, he threw a key ring up in the air and caught it easily. "I have a car."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ray shrugged.

"It's my first car." he gloated.

"Very nice, Ray. Don't crash it." came the patient reply. Kissing Mariah swiftly, he headed out the door.

Nine hours later - and two near-crashes - Ray pulled up outside the school.

"Where am I going again?" he asked himself. Spotting a large group of adults all going the same way, he followed them inside.

Looking around and checking the slip of paper in his hand, he eventually located Lynette's teacher. Self-consciously, he straightened the creases in his suit. Walking over, he waited patiently until she was finished with the parents in front of him, then slid into the seat.

"Mr Kon?"

"Yes. My apologies, my wife couldn't make it tonight." The women's face changed. "Is that a problem?" he inquired, an uneasy feeling making itself known in his stomach.

"Well, there was something that I did wish to discuss with both of you…"

"I could phone her, if you really feel it's necessary that she should be here." Please, please… There was a long pause.

"If it wouldn't cause you or your wife any problems…" Yes! Ray crowed inwardly.

"No, it's fine. I'll be back in a second…" He stood and moved a little distance away, pulling out his mobile phone.

"Hello? Mariah Kon speaking."

"Mariah, they want both of us up at the school." Ray said casually.

"Why?" Mariah's reply was almost instant. Ray coloured rapidly as he realised that he had been so pleased about Mariah having to join him that he had forgotten to ask exactly what she needed to be there for.

"She didn't say." he said evasively.

"Which teacher?"

"Lynette's." He could hear Mariah muttering Guasiox curses under her breath.

"Will I have to do much talking?"

"Don't worry, I'll explain that you're not all that fluent in Mandarin."

"Thanks… So, I have to leave the girls with Kai?"

"Sorry." Mariah heaved a huge sigh.

"If I have to. I'll be there as soon as I can." The phone went dead. Ray sat back down.

"She shouldn't be long." he assured the teacher. "She's not from this area, and she finds it difficult to speak Mandarin at times, so could you just bear that in mind?"

"Of course, Mr Kon." Ray nodded his thanks and sat back.

Getting up, he quickly went over to where Mariah was standing in the doorway, looking decidedly lost. Her face lit up when she saw him, and they embraced tightly.

"You look nice." he murmured, casting an approving eye over her low-cut black top and long, flowing white skirt. She smiled.

"Believe it or not, Kai approved too." Ray blinked in surprise and was about to say something when he noticed that there were now two teachers where there had been one.

"What's going on?" he muttered under his breath. Mariah looked frightened for a second, and then composed herself. Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, Ray slid into his seat.

"Good evening, Mr and Mrs Kon." The newcomer pulled up a chair and sat opposite them, next to the other teacher.

"You're Rosa's teacher, aren't you?" Mariah asked suddenly. The women nodded in affirmation.

"That's me. My colleague and I will give you the reports on your daughters, and then we do have something serious that we need to discuss." Ray slid an arm around Mariah, who had gone deathly pale. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had noticed. "Please don't worry, Mrs Kon. I'm sure we can sort it out easily enough." A flicker of incomprehension crossed Mariah's face, just for a second.

"She said don't worry, it should be easy to sort out." Ray whispered.

"I knew that!" Mariah snapped, her face flooding pink.

"Whatever you say." He kept his arm around her waist while the two teachers talked at them, about how Lynette's maths was coming along brilliantly, and how Rosa was becoming steadily more sociable. However, both girls had a tendency to be rather too outspoken, were they like this at home? Mariah repeated the word that they had used for outspoken slowly, clearly unfamiliar with it.

"Tactless?" one of the teachers offered. Mariah's face cleared.

"Yes, they are sometimes like that at home, but they know it is … bad. I am … unhappy … to hear that they are like this at school." Blushing furiously, she subsided. "That's why I didn't want to come here!" she hissed at Ray, who could only shrug and tighten his grip on her comfortingly. He turned to the teachers, who appeared to be suddenly uncomfortable.

"Now," one of them began, "both of us have noticed that Lynette and Rosa are mentioning a man named Kai quite a lot as living in the house with them. We don't think he is, but is he a relation?" They were staring particularly hard at Mariah, Ray noticed, and felt cold anger spring up in his chest.

"He is an old friend of mine who is recovering from a recent illness." he stated, with the barest hint of hostility.

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-five."

"Is he employed?" Ray began to get a sense of where this was leading, and he didn't like it one bit. He forced himself to be civil.

"No. He has a long-term condition that makes it difficult for him to find a job."

"What is this condition?" Silently, Ray thanked Kenny for giving him a dictionary for his fifteenth birthday.

"It is a chronic bronchial disease that renders him permanently breathless and unable to speak for short periods of time. The disease has been exacerbated by his recent, severe bout of bacterial pneumonia." The teachers fell silent for a few seconds. Mariah shot him a look of complete and utter bewilderment. He whispered the translation to her and saw her sink her teeth into her bottom lip and fight not to laugh.

"Would you class him as seriously ill?" There was a distinct change in tone now, and Ray sighed mentally in relief.

"Not as such, but he definitely isn't altogether healthy." he said with a faint smile. Taking the plunge, he asked in an interested tone; "Why are you asking about Kai?"

"We were concerned for the girls, living in a house with a man who clearly was no relation of yours." Lynette's teacher said.

"But there appears to be no threat from him, and the girls to seem to like him a lot." Rosa's teacher smiled.

"They do." Mariah affirmed. "They just don't like that we argue quite a bit." The atmosphere tensed again. Way to go, Mariah, Ray cursed inwardly.

"Why do you argue?" Mariah smiled airily.

"He does not do what he is told! I am not used to that, yes, Ray?" Ray rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. Both teachers laughed, and the last vestiges of awkwardness cleared from the air.

"Very nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Kon. I'm happy we've got that matter cleared up! Now, if you could just work on the girls' tact a little?" Amid assurances and farewells, Ray and Mariah stood and walked out.

The second that Ray closed the car door, Mariah pounced.

"Why did you tell me to come and embarrass myself like I did when it was obvious that you could handle it yourself?" she snarled. Ray shrugged easily.

"Hey, you did well enough. Defused the tension at the end nicely!" He laughed.

"Yeah, and made myself sound like a complete retard in the process!" Mariah sulked. Ray casually slipped a hand under her skirt, then, chuckling at her shriek, started up the car.

"You did fine." he reassured her. Ignoring the resentful mutterings coming from the seat next to him, he drove them home.

"Hey, Ray. How'd it go?" Ray flung himself onto the sofa opposite Kai and pulled Mariah down onto his lap.

"Not bad. They need to learn when to say certain things and when not to, let's put it that way." Kai chuckled. "Oh, they also mentioned you, but I managed to convince them that you were a suitable living companion for the girls." Remembering what he had said, Ray started laughing uncontrollably, leaving Mariah to explain. Ten seconds later, Kai and Mariah joined him in laughing.

"I can't believe you said that…" Kai shook his head a few times, clearly taken aback.

"Well, I couldn't let them sit there and come to all sorts of horrible conclusions about my best friend, could I?" Ray said lightly. Kai looked up at the words "best friend", his expression shocked. Ray sighed; was Kai's self-esteem always going to be this low? "Yes Kai, believe it or not, you do still qualify for best friend status."

"That and if they'd discovered about your real condition, we'd have all been in a hell of a lot of trouble." Mariah put in. Ray shuddered at the thought. Looking across at Kai, he noticed the peculiar glassy look in those violet eyes that meant Kai was off in his own world.

"You okay, Kai? What's up?" he asked softly.

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Kai blinked a few times and looked back at Ray.

"Just thinking." he replied quietly.

"Call the newspapers." he heard Mariah mutter under her breath. Involuntarily, he winced.

"Or don't." he said calmly. Mariah had the grace to colour slightly. With a soft, slightly rattling exhalation, Kai stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ray asked, a little more sharply than was perhaps necessary. Feeling a rare flash of real temper against the Chinese ex-blader, Kai turned and transfixed him with a hot, blazing glare. He noted with satisfaction how Ray tried to hold it but failed humiliatingly. Good to know I've still got it. he thought with more than a hint of pride. Then he snapped back into reality again and realised that he was simply being nasty.

"Sorry." both men muttered in unison. Ray gave Kai an uncertain smile, which Kai returned after only a moment's hesitation.

"I don't like everything I do being under scrutiny, that's all." Ray ducked his head in contrite understanding.

"Are you sure you're okay, though?" he asked, his golden eyes anxious. Rolling his eyes, Kai walked over and ran a hand lightly over Ray's head.

"I'm fine." he said emphatically. "I just want to be by myself, okay?" His hand dropped to Ray's shoulder and he gave it a tight squeeze. Ray's face relaxed at last.

"Okay." He grinned suddenly and mock-punched Kai on the shoulder. "Shoo." Kai smirked.

"Just because you and Mariah want some time … together." He put particular emphasis on the ending word.

"And what's wrong with that?" Mariah demanded, her face pink. Kai raised an eyebrow and turned away.

"Nothing, Mariah. You should be glad that we all want the same thing."

"And what's that?" Mariah demanded.

"Me out the room." With that, Kai walked out.

Halfway up the stairs, his mischievous mood disappeared, replaced by an altogether more pensive one. He knew exactly why the teachers had dropped the matter instantly after hearing Ray's little speech. It was just common sense, really. Nothing ended a conversation like the mention of illness. Nothing gave the picture of vulnerability more than a description of someone who had been sick for a long time. His hand went to his necklace and stroked it almost absentmindedly.

He just wished that Ray hadn't found it necessary to play on that particular part of him. With a sigh, he headed for his room. He hated days like these. Days when he was angry at Ray, at Mariah, at himself, at the world. Days when all he could do was snarl and swear at people and lock himself in his room to stop himself saying or doing something that he knew he would regret. Like that awful time that he had tripped over one of the girls' Play Station controls…

One foot caught on the taut black cord stretched between PlayStation and sofa, and Kai went sprawling forwards, gashing the side of his head on the cupboard as he fell. Everything momentarily numb with shock, he lay motionless, listening to the girls' uncertain titters. Slowly, anger rose in him, like a monster emerging slowly from the depths.

"Kai! What happened? Are you okay?" Mariah asked, her voice shrill with worry.

"No I'm not okay, what does it look like, you stupid cunt?" Kai spat, pressing both hands to the burning gash, feeling warm blood trickle over his fingers. He heard Mariah draw a breath sharply.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that in front of the girls!" she hissed. Beside himself with pain and fury, Kai lurched to his feet, one eye squeezed shut against the slow but steady flow of blood..

"I'll talk to you however I damn well like, bitch! And I don't care about the girls right now, I care about my fucking head!"

He winced at the memory. Ray, angrier than Kai had ever see him, had made Kai apologise to him, Mariah, and the girls sincerely and without swearing before he took him to get stitched up, or even let him clean himself up. He fingered the scar just above his eyebrow. Yes; uncontrollable rage had proved a problem. He had always, ever since he could remember, had a vicious temper, but previously he had been able to save it for appropriate times, such as beybattles. Blind rage had been the only that had saved him in his match against Brooklyn. However, now, he no longer had the iron-self-control necessary to keep his anger at bay, and every so often it would spew out at anything and everything that crossed his path.

Of course, he knew what to do to stop it.

Take the lithium. He shuddered at the thought. Those idiots at the hospital had decided to start him on it while he was too weak to resist; he had stopped it the second that he came round enough to realise what he was taking. Lithium was for manic-depressives, people who were constantly high or low, with no in-between. It provided them with an in-between. But he wasn't like that, as he had explained persuasively to a sceptical Ray and Mariah. He only had the occasional day of consuming rage, generally followed by a deep depression during which he would berate himself for the things that he had said while he was angry.

Horrible though those experiences were, he had no desire to sacrifice his emotions just to stop them. Because that was what lithium did; it vaporised any kind of emotion. Happiness, sadness, anger, affection, everything disappeared into a morass of nothingness. He became robot-like, going through the motions with nothing intelligent going on inside.

Was the odd day of being locked in his room worth being a robot for the rest of his life? Not a chance.

"I've got a life, I'm not letting it slip by like that!" he muttered defiantly. A hand descended on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and unconsciously flattened his back against the wall.

"Kai? You okay?" He nodded automatically. "You look twitchy."

"Thanks." Kai muttered. Ray raised his eyebrow speculatively.

"Need anything?" he inquired. His hair was in disarray, his manner somewhat excited. Kai shrugged, curling the corner of one lip into a smirk.

"You look like you got what you needed." he commented. Ray flushed.

"Shut up." he replied amiably. "Seriously, you look really jittery. You did take your paranoia stuff, didn't you?"

"Yes. I was just giving myself a mental beating." He smiled ruefully. "Remember that time I tripped over the girls' PlayStation?" Ray winced, much as Kai himself had done earlier.

"Not your finest moment." he admitted. "I had to do some very fast talking to stop Mariah from literally trying to claw your eyes out. Which was pretty tricky, considering-"

"Considering that if it hadn't been me, you would have let her do it and probably taken pictures to show to future people who dared swear around your beloved daughters?" Kai suggested.

"More like knocked them unconscious." Ray said smoothly. Kai snorted.

"I'd like to see you try!" he challenged. Just as Ray opened his mouth to retort, Kai doubled over in a jaw-cracking yawn. Ray grinned and whacked him lightly round the head.

"I would show off my prowess in martial arts, but you're in no condition to appreciate my brilliance." Kai tried to snort mid-yawn and ended up coughing instead. Leaning the wall, he put a hand to his mouth, the ferocity of the coughing fit making him feel sick. Waving away Ray's suddenly concerned offer of help, he walked only a little unsteadily to his bedroom.

"Girls! Mariah! Kai! Family TV night tonight!"

"I count as family?"

"You know you do, Kai, so shut up, would you?"

"Now, that wouldn't be nearly as fun."

"I don't exist purely for your amusement, Kai." Ray shot back, grinning widely.

"Really? And here was me thinking that the world was mine to manipulate…"

"Boys! Stop squabbling and let's watch the video before the girls get cranky!" Mariah ordered.

"Yes, Mariah…" both men chorused meekly, sniggering under their breath.

After much fiddling around with the television, Ray slotted the unlabelled video in and sat down next to Kai.

"Who's got the remote - Rosie-don't-put-it-in-your-mouth!" Pouting, the little girl took the TV remote out of her mouth and regarded it thoughtfully. After a few seconds thought, she wiped it on her trouser leg and handed it to her father, who took it gingerly. "Sit down, everyone." Everyone sat. Ray pressed the play button.

"Who gave you this, anyway?" Mariah asked after a minute of watching trailers and privacy warnings.

"Kenny." Ray said quietly. Alarm blazed through Kai in an icy wave and he tried to scramble to his feet only to find himself firmly held down by his ex-lover. "Stay where you are, Kai." Kai shook his head wildly.

"No way, I'm not watching anything to do with that ever again, I won't and you can't make me-" he babbled. Sticky fingers prodded his leg and he looked down, momentarily distracted.

"Kai's scared?" Rosa asked inquisitively, her huge golden eyes innocent. A spark of defiance flared up inside the panic-stricken wasteland of Kai's mind, and he slowly sat back down.

"I'm not scared, Rose. Just … uneasy."

"Good!" Lynette grinned widely. "I wanna watch a video with you!" With that, she took a flying leap and landed squarely on Kai's lap. Trapped, Kai could only clench his fists and grit his teeth as the voice of A.J Topper came out of the speakers and hit him with all the force of a hammer blow.

"Just keep watching, Kai." Ray's voice was steady, the hand placed gently over his calming, but it held an undercurrent of glee that made Kai wonder. Finally, the words began to filter through his blind dread. Kai blinked once, twice, bemused. This wasn't what he expected … what he now considered the only main event of his beyblading career. He watched himself take to the dish in a kind of dazed bewilderment.

"What … why … Ray?" he stuttered. Golden eyes glittering, Ray grinned and passed his fingers affectionately through Kai's hair.

"Thank Kenny and Dizzi for this. It's every single battle that you ever won." Kai tensed.

"Even…" He trailed off, red creeping over his face. Ray nodded.

"Even that one. But you don't have to watch it if you don't want to."

Kai was no longer listening. In fact, he wasn't even really in the room. Mentally, he was fifteen years old again, cocky and arrogant and coming up to the dish with the barest hint of a swagger. Joy flooded through him at the familiar sounds of beyblades crashing against each other. Power surged in his chest; and he whispered the name along with his younger self.

"Dranzer…" The magnificent phoenix rose out of his beyblade with a wild shriek. Scarlet feathers flew everywhere in an unashamed display of power. Shoving Lynette off his lap, Kai crawled blindly towards the television screen and touched the image of his bit-beast with trembling fingers. "Dranzer…" he repeated brokenly. Tears welled in his eyes, and suddenly he was weeping, sobbing and gasping as he let out years of grief in one, intense show of emotion. The patter of feet sounded faintly in his ears - they weren't important, only what was on the screen was important now - and two small fragile bodies pressed against his, their soft cheeks touching his damp ones. He tightened his grip on them as he cried. Dranzer …

Eventually, he recovered enough to move backwards slightly and watch with some vague degree of detachment. Halfway through, Ray paused the video and ordered a ten-minute interval. Resisting the urge to whine like Lynette and Rosa, Kai stood and walked into the kitchen, scrubbing at his still-damp eyes with the back of his hand.

Leaning on the kitchen counter and breathing slowly, deeply, he only registered Ray's presence when said man put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I did the right thing, didn't I?" Ray whispered anxiously, his breath tickling Kai's ear. "You're not mad at me?" Kai shook his head wordlessly.

"Mad? How could I be mad at you?" he managed at last. Some small part of his mind was registering that he was embarrassing himself, but it was only a very, very small part. "Thank you, Ray. Thank you so, so much." He broke off, hearing an ominous crack in his voice, and simply gave the younger man a watery smile. Ray returned it, his own eyes suspiciously shiny.

"There's a reason I stopped it there." he said quietly. "It's-" Kai put a hand gently over his mouth.

"I want to watch it." he informed Ray matter-of-factly. He smiled again. "Maybe it'll show Mariah what I mean when I say that there are advantages to my temper." He pulled away from the embrace. "I'll be there in a second, okay. There's something I need to do." Ray nodded.

--------------------

"I'm serious, Kai! I want to battle you!" Tyson's yell echoed throughout the silent stadium, the whole crowd on tenterhooks as they stared at the clearly injured blader.

"Typical of him, really." Kai said suddenly, a smirk curving his lips. "I've just been completely beaten up, and he's still concerned about his next match!"

"Now, Kai, that's a bit unfair-"

"I was joking, Mariah. Do you understand that word?"

"Personally, I'm amazed that you do!"

"I understand a lot of - what the hell's this?" The screen had gone blank except for brightly coloured quotations. Kai read one out loud.

"I've never been so scared in my life! Kai, you're an idiot, but you're the best beyblader I've ever seen - Tyson, that does include you as well - why you little-" Both Kai and Ray were laughing by the end.

"Hilary, you're one of a kind." Ray chuckled.

"I certainly hope so, anyway." Kai muttered dryly. He continued scanning the screen. "Ha, listen to this; "Kai, you're a complete nutcase, and I bet I could beat you with both hands tied behind my back!" Three guesses."

"Daichi," Ray and Mariah said in unison. Kai nodded, a wide grin on his face.

"Dumb kid. Hey look, there's Tyson's!" he exclaimed. Everyone leaned forward and read the words Kai was pointing out.

"You're amazing, Kai. You really are, and I'm really proud that I had the honour of being taught by such a brill blader. Thank you so much."

"Look, there's an extra bit!" Mariah pointed.

"But I'm still gonna beat you next time we battle!"

"You can try!" Kai scoffed, laughing. The next ten minutes were spent picking out other quotations; from Max to Tala to Julia, Kenny had thought of everyone. And yet, there was one person missing.

Just the one.

Kai squeezed Ray's hand and a silent memory flew between them.

Ray had been the one who found him after that battle, broken and exhausted, and had helped him to his changing room where he had stubbornly carried on watching what was going on in the stadium. Ray hadn't trusted himself enough to speak to anyone without revealing things about Kai's condition that Kai would have killed him for. He had known that international coverage of what Kai saw as weakness was the last thing he would want. So he had made himself scarce; hence the last piece of script on the screen.

"Ray Kon was unavailable for comment."

Kai looked at Ray, and the two of them grinned at each other. Ray shifted his position.

"Just like you wanted it, hey, Kai?" he joked. Kai said nothing. Slowly, he looked around the room. Mariah was curled up on the other side of Ray, fighting back a yawn. Lynette and Rose, deprived of their usual seats on their parents, were back to using Kai's legs as useful and rather cuddly substitutes. Eight golden eyes gazed at him with sleepy affection.

He sighed and lay back, watching the credits flash past on the screen.

"Yeah. Just like I wanted it." he replied in a satisfied whisper.

Pushed down to the furthest depths of the bin lay the splintered, ruined remains of what had once been an unusually sharp toothbrush.

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You have no idea how proud of myself I am! Finished! At last!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who's reviewed this! Luv you all! (hugs times a zilllion) And to everyone who pointed out my many mistakes, haha, you missed one! Only I know of it! (laughs manically) Yes, I am hyper! It's an hour past my bedtime and I have a headache, but I'm still here!

Please, please review, and thank you again!

Goodbye!

Iluvbeyblade

xxx