"When did you go out?" asked Tyson when Suki walked in through the front door.

She didn't reply. Instead, she went to her room and locked herself up. "Why?" she asked herself.

"What happened?" asked Odeon.

"Odeon, please stay out of this." Thought Suki with misery.

The phoenix looked at her and then disappeared after saying she would be there in case she wanted to talk.

"Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut? It was clear he wanted to drop the subject after I asked about his parents and social status with the rest of his team…" she started crying uncontrollably, and she had to bury her face in her pillow to choke any possible sound of the misery.

When she finally calmed down, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." she said.

Tessa and Yumi peeked their heads inside and looked at her. "Hey." They said, opening the door wider and stepping in.

"Where's Kai?" said Tessa.

"I don't know." Said Suki, pushing back the tears that longed to come out. It was true that the 3 of them were best friends, but what had happened couldn't be told to them. Not even to Odeon.

Tessa understood the message that Suki wanted to drop the subject, so she changed it to what the 4 girls were talking about that morning.

"You seriously think Max is cute?" asked Suki to Yumiko.

"Yeah, he has dreamy green eyes…" sighted Yumiko.

"What about Ray? I love his long hair and his cat like yellow eyes…" said Teletha.

"You guys are crazy." Said Suki.

Then they changed the subject to how life would be like if none of the negative things existed in the world and talked about it until 8:30 pm.

"I'm hungry." Complained Teletha.

"Again?" asked Yumiko.

"What do you mean 'Again'? We ate like about 7 hours ago!" said Tessa. "Hey, what's that smell?"

"Which one?" the 3 sniffed the air.

"It smells like cookies." Said Tessa.

"What kind?" asked Yumi.

"Chocolate chip." Reported Suki.

They looked at each other and then jumped on the door. They struggled to open it and when they managed it, they ran down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Kenny was mixing something on a bowl; Ray was putting a new batch in the oven as Max squished chocolate drips into another batch while Tyson fixed some more on a huge plate. Kazumi was talking to Maya and Ishuzo and Kugamoro was watching over the boys to see they didn't accidentally put themselves in danger.

"What's up?" asked Tyson.

Yumiko and Teletha looked hungrily at the cookies. "Go on girls, get some." Said Kugamoro. Yumi and Tessa didn't have to hear it twice; they parked themselves on chairs and each took a cookie making sound that indicated they were delicious. Everyone laughed at this, but Suki only limited herself to smile. Unfortunately, this facial expression only made her sadness show clearly; however, nobody noticed. Nobody, except Ray who took quick action and dragged her out saying he had a song he wanted her to hear.

"What are you doing? What are you talking about?" she asked confused.

"Look, I only said that to avoid curiosity. Now tell me, what happened? Where's Kai?" he asked.

Suki stared at him and said, "I don't know where he is."

"What happened?" he asked taking hold of her shoulders and bowing his head so their eyes could meet directly.

She stared into those beautiful catlike yellow eyes. "I'm sorry." She said breaking the eye contact.

"You can't tell me, that's clear. Now answer me this, is it serious?"

"Maybe because he ran away." She replied.

Ray welcomed her into his arms and kept quiet as a few more tears rolled down her face.

"Do you want me to go looking for him?" he asked.

"No." she said after some thought. "But thanks anyway." They waited in the hallway for her eyes to go back to normal (the tears had made them red), and then they walked back into the kitchen.

She sat in between Tessa and Yumi who were devouring the cookies like vacuums and managed to get a cookie for herself. When she bit in it, the sweet taste made her forget temporarily the sadness she was facing.

She went for a walk later on. She kept a good distance from her house and cried. After crying all she wanted, Suki walked back home. When she entered, she heard a groan.

"My stomach hurts." Whined Tyson. He seemed to be in the living room. She headed towards it, and entered when she saw the rest there. What really caught her attention though, was Tyson laying on the floor face up, balancing a cup of water on his forehead and a lemon on his lips.

"What the…" she started.

"He feels bad." Said Kenny.

"Cookie overdose." Specified Max.

"How many did you eat, Tyson?" asked Ray. "50,000?"

Tyson growled at him and the rest laughed.

"What's with the cup of water and the lemon?" Suki asked.

"Home made cure." Said Tessa. "When you balance a cup of water on your forehead, you sort of forger about the stomach ache you have because you concentrate more on balancing it than on the pain."

"Is the lemon there to intensify the pressure?" asked Suki.

"No." said Yumi. "That's there for our entertainment."

When Tyson finally got his stomachache under control, Yumiko and Teletha said they had to leave. "It's been a pleasure being with you guys." Said Maya.

About 5 minutes later, Tyson and Kenny had to leave as well. "Grandpa's gonna send the whole police department to search for me if I don't show up today." Said Tyson. "But maybe you'd like to come and visit, and have a sleep over. Here's the address."

Max left 30 minutes later; his mom had come and picked him up. That left Ray and Suki alone.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Kai is a good guy. You just have to give him time."

Suki stared at him. Even though she had not told him what had happened, he seemed to know every detail of the incident. Maybe she had given him clues without her knowledge..?..

"That's what I didn't do. I rushed things…" she didn't finish.

"You didn't mean to. You made a mistake. But so what? Everyone makes them."

He saw more tears run down her face, and he made her sit down. He kneeled in front of her and stared right into her eyes.

"He'll be fine. I know he will."

Suki nodded but didn't say anything.

"Calm down." He said and laid her down. He stroked her hair gently, hoping she would stop crying.

"She doesn't deserve to cry. Not like this." He thought, looking at her. "I have to do something. I have to find Kai and make him come and apologize… Even if I have to drag him... although she told me not to come looking for him… but then again, she thought about it before answering." When he was sure she was asleep, he stood up, farewelled her parents and left in search for Kai.

Ray found Kai after walking for an hour around the city. When he came across a bridge, he thought that maybe Kai wasn't there after all, but coming closer to it, he realized that the person walking back and forth was indeed Kai. "He's sorry." Thought Ray walking over to him.

Kai leaned over the bridge rail and stared down at the city. "Why couldn't I tell her? What's keeping me from telling her the truth?" he though.

"I knew you'd be here." Said a voice behind him. He turned and there he saw Ray, standing straight up, arms crossed and looking straight into Kai's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kai.

"What do you think?" asked Ray moving towards the rail. "What happened?"

"Do you have to know?" asked Kai.

"Was it that serious that you just had to run away leaving Suki all torn up?"

"How is she?" Asked Kai.

"Isn't it too late to care?" asked Ray. "She told me not to come looking for you." He added after a while.

"Does anyone know about the incident?" Kai asked suddenly.

Ray looked at him and then answered. "I'm not sure, I think…"

"Does Suki know you're here?" Kai interrupted.

"No, I don't…"

"What about the rest?"

"What…"

"Did she tell you anything!"

"Stop that! If you don't want any answers, don't ask questions!" yelled Ray. He was loosing his temper with the other boy's actions. "For once, somebody wants you to spill the beans and the first thing you do is hold on to the bean bag!"

Kai looked at him surprised. "What…"

It was Ray's turn to interrupt. "She tried to be friendly. There's a reason why she wanted to know about you. You cant always run away from the people that want to know."

"I can try." Replied Kai, coldly. He was looking straight into Ray's eyes with fury.

"Then what!" exploded Ray. "What do you gain at the end!"

"I'll probably get what I want." Kai replied, crossing his arms.

"What's that? To be alone the rest of your miserable life?" Ray was already trembling because the other boy was so stubborn, he was beginning to loose his patience. "Ok, go ahead and do so." He smiled at Kai sarcastically as made an arch in mid air with his arm motioning to the whole world. "Run away from all those who want to be your friends because you're scared. But you know what?" he added getting so close to him, Kai could feel his breath on his face. " At least Suki's concern shows how much she cares about others, unlike someone I know."

He started to walk away and then stopped and turned. "Be glad that without you knowing, you gained a friend that really cares about you. Think about it." He left Kai there, thinking.

Everything was so confusing. Then he remembered things that had really touched his heart that day. " 'I want you to trust in someone!' 'You cant always run away.'" Then he remembered what really confused him. " 'Then what?' 'Ill probably get what I want.' 'To be alone the rest of your miserable life?' 'You gained a friend that really cares about you.'"

He closed his eyes. It hurt to remember. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Suki." He thought. "But will you accept my apology?" he sighted. What had he done? It wasn't fair for her to suffer because of his past. "Ill go over to her house and explain. She deserves to know." He turned and walked slowly in the direction opposite from where Ray had gone, straight to Suki's house. A figure in the shadows blinked. Ray smiled into the darkness at the thought of accomplishing his work.