Chapter Title: Burning Hope

Word Count: 1,959

Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown.

Note: I know you've all been waiting for the update and I've appreciated the reviews so I apologize for the writers block that kept this chapter from you all. I have a loose idea for a conclusion and have been toying with a couple of ideas for either an epilogue or a follow up story (I'm leaning towards a follow up story set in this universe, but may not start it until this story and Taking Control are done). I will try to make my updates more regularly now.

- XS -

Without thinking Raimundo rushed towards Kimiko and grabbed her around the waist to keep her from venturing into the jungle. Rai whispered two soft words in her ear as he held her in place.

"Stay. Please."

Kimiko whipped around to face him, reinstating distance between them, the tension as palpable as the thick Rio humidity. She lunged at him, embarrassment and anger still driving her reactions, but he grabbed her midair, stopping her from knocking him over and keeping them both upright.

Kimiko scowled at the brunette and tried to dislodge herself from his unyielding grip. He pushed her back up against a nearby capirona tree and proceeded to kiss her.

Stunned, Kimiko's resolve to escape his grasp wavered and she found herself losing focus and giving in to his passion, but as quickly as he started things, he abruptly ended them.

Kimiko mentally noted that he was always the first to let go, and it was starting to irritate her. She glared in Rai's direction but made no move to escape his grasp. He was playing with her heart and she was beyond tired of it.

"We need to get back to the house." Raimundo mumbled sheepishly.

"Don't think we're not going to talk about this later," Kimiko grumbled irritably.

Raimundo merely nodded and took her limp hand as he led her back to the house.

- XS -

Ana served as a flower girl but took a sharp deviation straight into Kimiko's lap during her walk down the aisle which was unpredictable to any of Raimundo's family. Rai could only chuckle as he stood lined up with the rest of the groomsmen; of course Ana adored Kimiko. She graciously dislodged the young child from her lap and tried to coax her to resume her trip down the aisle. Ana wailed and pleaded with Kimiko to walk with her, and Kimiko unfortunately felt the need to comply much to her embarrassment as the young child proved herself to be as stubborn as Raimundo. Kimiko tried to sneak back to her seat before the firm hands of Raimundo's mother planted her in a front row seat next to the family. Kimiko internally sighed; she may as well be Raimundo's fiance to everyone in his family but Raimundo.

Kimiko picked Ana up as Maria walked down the aisle to enable the young child to see better. Maria threw a tiny wink at the petite Japanese girl as she passed them appreciative of the young monk's help. Kimiko felt a fondness for Maria that she was having trouble placing. 'Big sister' were the words that came to mind, but it had a melancholy bitter to it because of the affiliation to Raimundo. It was a different sort of friendship than the one Kimiko shared with Keiko. There was a fondness that Maria held for the fire monk that predated meeting her which lent the feeling more towards family. It was something Kimiko both wanted and at the same time resented as she felt Raimundo push-pulling the whole way through their relationship/friendship/whatever it was.

The ceremony was beautiful, all in Portuguese which Kimiko knew none of aside from future daughter-in-law, but weddings were universal. There were vows, there was a kiss, and there was joy and hope for new beginnings.

It interested Kimiko when elements were introduced into the ceremony, a Brazilian tradition Raimundo had failed to mention. Water was poured over the couple's held hands landing in a glass tube. A lid was sealed on the top with a wax ring melted by the fire of candles given to Maria by the officiant. She made a mental note to ask Raimundo about that part of the ceremony later, if she could find time with him.

- XS -

Despite how cute Ana could be, Kimiko wasn't loving the role of full time babysitter. The young Brazilian child promptly seated herself in Kimiko's lap during the dinner, and though Kimiko had to admit it did a little to take the pressure off her for being seated at the family table while Raimundo was at the head table with the bridal party, she still felt like she looked more like the help than a part of the family. Not that she was even sure she wanted to be part of the family with Raimundo running hot and cold all weekend.

As the meal was finally done, with Ana picking bits of food of Kimiko's plate as well as the kid's meal, Raimundo stealthily sidled up to the table.

"You could have warned me that you were part of the wedding." Kimiko grumbled.

"I figured that was obvious with it being my sister and all." Raimundo cheekily teased.

"A heads up still would have been nice."

Kimiko rolled her eyes at Raimundo's taunting laugh.

"Mu." Ana grinned catching his attention. She was sitting next to Kimiko now in her original seat.

"Ana banana," Raimundo laughed breezily.

"No one calls me that." Ana pouted.

So he was in the mood to tease more than just her, Kimiko thought with a smirk.

"I still get to. I'm your big brother." Raimundo stuck his tongue out in response.

"Well I want to dance." Ana indignantly replied.

Raimundo picked the tiny child up in his arms and headed out to the dance floor without hesitation.

Kimiko melted a bit as she watched the guy who insisted he was no good with kids be a sucker for a tiny brown-eyed monster. She failed to fight a small smile as she watched Raimundo spinning the tiny human in circles on the dance floor.

Finally worn down from dancing, Raimundo dropped the small child off in Ma's arms and grabbed Kimiko's hand.

"Care to dance?"

As much as she felt like giving him hell, this wasn't the place to cause a scene. If he wanted to present them as some sort of happy couple, she'd just have to go along with it.

"Only if you step on my toes half as much as you stepped on hers." Kimiko needled with a mocking laugh.

"No promises," Raimundo winked.

At least it was a chance to get some time away from his family. She was starting to wear from the rowdiness of being included in a large family, there had been perks to being an only child.

His arms snaked confidently around her waist and she delicately placed her hands on his shoulders as they swayed to the slow Portuguese ballad.

"So what was with the water and fire earlier?" Kimiko asked curiously.

"Ah...Yeah elements are sometimes included in Brazilian weddings." Raimundo sheepishly replied.

"And the elements are…?"

"Ours...wind, fire, water, and earth."

"So what do they mean?"

"Well water is purification. A fresh start for the couple. Maria and Paulo haven't always had the best history, but they've worked through it."

"Okay so that's water…" Kimiko nudged him to continue.

"Earth would be germination or fruitfulness or different paths."

"And fire?"

"Flame of love and life."

Raimundo pulled her into him so she was pressed against him and couldn't see his reddening face.

"And wind?"

"It's technically air for the ceremony, kind of hard to get wind unless your unlucky enough to have a tropical cyclone hit during your event. It's lightness and communication. My parents were thrilled when they heard I'd be the dragon of wind...Said it made sense for me."

"Communication is something you've been struggling with lately." Kimiko mumbled irritably.

"I know. But we'll talk later. For now, meu amor, we dance."

"Rai, you know I don't understand you when you speak Portuguese…"

"I know, but I'll tell you later. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that."

"I don't doubt that." Raimundo sighed. It was still a conversation he wasn't sure he was ready to have, but he could only put it off for so long.

It was then the DJ called out for all the single ladies to line up for a bouquet toss clearing the dance floor of all the men.

Kimiko lined up with the rest of the single girls for an American style bouquet toss as a slight indignant response to Raimundo's hot and cold act from the weekend. Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' played in the background as Maria stepped to up to the edge of the dance floor and faced her back to the ladies.

"One...two….three!" Maria called out as she released the bouquet into the air. It arced up and three sets of hands stretched out grasping at stems. Kimiko was nowhere close to catching it as it was going to land on the opposite side of the lineup, but a single flower escaped the bouquet and fell into her hand, almost as if it was knocked out by a slight gust of wind.

It was a small promise, but it meant the world to Kimiko whose blue eyes met Raimundo's under dim light across the room. For the first time that day she gave a genuine, easy smile and Raimundo grinned in response.

- XS -

"It's later." Kimiko whispered as they walked back into Raimundo's childhood bedroom.

"We'll talk tomorrow." Raimundo sighed shutting the door.

"You can't keep putting this off forever. I haven't changed my mind so you know exactly where I'm at." Kimiko griped.

Raimundo inhaled before launching into speech.

"I want this. I want all of this. I want to bring you home to my family and call you my girlfriend and mean it. I want Ma to think and I'm going to marry you someday and Ria to dote on you and Ana to continue to cling to you. I want my Dad to quietly approve of you and get comfortable enough to talk to you. And I don't want to have to hide us while we're at the temple, and that's honestly what I've been struggling with the most. I don't know what the right thing to do is. I know what I want, but I don't know how to not ruin everything." Raimundo exasperated in a strained voice.

"Okay...So that's a lot…" Kimiko murmured, "Not that I'm changing my mind or scared off or anything, but maybe we can figure out the details of resuming life at the temple tomorrow before we return."

Kimiko yawned and laid down on the bed, scooting over to give enough room for Raimundo to join her should he choose. Exhausted and touch-starved Raimundo joined Kimiko on the bed pulling her into a tight embrace as he did.

It took a while to get to this point, but for the first time during this entire weekend Kimiko felt as though she could comfortably relax. Together they fell into a pleasant sleep.

- XS -

Next chapter will be the final one for this story; It might be a bit of a longer chapter and as such may take a week or two to write, but I will try to have it done within a two week timeframe to finally conclude this long-standing story. No preview for the next chapter Burning Rules because if I took the time to write a preview for that chapter, I wouldn't be able to post this tonight.

-FWFT