Jack sat in his old clothes, poking the sundae with a spoon.
"Aren't you gonna have any?" Clay asked.
"Y… Yeah, eventually."
"Well," Kimiko laughed, "You'd better get on it or it'll be all gone by the time you…"
"That's fine," he sighed, "I got it more for you guys anyway."
Kimiko gently leaned her spoon on the rim of the sundae bowl. Clay slowed his voracious eating.
"It's just," Jack's voice shook, "I…" his lip quivered, "I'm so happy just to be with you guys! It's been so long. I almost went insane, wondering what I was missing out on. You guys are probably the only constants in my entire life!"
Jack's tears formed tiny puddles on the table.
"Okay, I can't tell. Is he happy or sad?" Raimundo asked.
"Please take me with you!" he shouted, "I don't want to go back to that… witch!"
"You mean your care-taker? She did seem oddly familiar," Kimiko pondered.
"Yeah, like she tickled the back of your mind. You knew her, but you didn't," Clay mused.
"I don't know," Raimund spoke through a mouth full of ice cream, "Hse just seemed like and old hag to me."
There was a moment of silence before Raimundo laughed, "Nah."
"Anyway, sure you can come with us," Kimiko said.
"Ah, but Master Fung will be most angered by Jack's reappearance at the temple," Omi said 'wisely'.
"We'll, uh…" Kimiko looked at Jack, "It's not like we can hide you…"
"Yeah," Raimundo added, "Omi's right, Fung won't be too pleased to see that we're adopting Jack again."
"Dojo," Kimiko enquired, "What do you think?"
The dragon tore himself away from the ice cream and turned to the monks.
"What do I think? I think it's a bad idea. Jack's no good. Unless you all want to pay for his actions, I'd drop the whole idea."
"Dojo?" Kimiko cut him off, "Jack's right here."
Jack's face was on fire.
"Well, what if we can come up with a way for Jack to earn his right to stay at the temple with us," they all turned to Clay, "Like an honor system or something."
"Yeah," Kimiko Chimed, "Let's run that by Master Fung. Jack, we'll get back to you on that in a few days."
"A few days! I don't even think I can survive one more!"
"Well, try. We'll work our Wudai magic on Fung and guilt him into taking you in," Kimiko laughed.
"It will be most difficult to persuade Master Fung into allowing Jack to stay with us. Therefore, I will do the persuading," Omi announced.
Jack's eyes bulged, "I'm doomed!" he bellowed.
"No, Omi, I think that in this very unique instance, your skills of persuasion will not be required," Kimiko said.
"Okay, but I believe that you are making a big mistake in not soliciting my expertise…"
"No, I think they made the right decision," Jack said nervously.
"Then it's agreed," Kimiko began, "Clay, Rai, and I will work on Master Fung while Omi… uh… Omi…"
"Stays out of the picture?" Rai suggested.
"No, while Omi continues doing his chores so that Master Fung will remain in a good disposition," Kimiko finished.
"Ah," Omi began, "I see. You have entrusted me with the very important task of keeping Master Fung in a good mood. I will not let you down!"
Clay chuckled a bit, "We know you won't little partner."
"Now that that's out of the way, you gonna eat any of this ice cream Jack?" Kimiko turned to him.
"Yeah," Jack sighed, "I think I will."