Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

A/N: Hi guys,

I'm so so sorry for the long wait. I swear I'll hurry along with the next chapter ;)

Thanks so much to Macibacsi and Crystal-Heavenly for the support. Means a lot to me, guys! :)

Now, enjoy!

A Promise is A Promise

Chapter 6

Little by Little

Weeks passed and the summer turned to fall. Heavy rains and typhoons replaced the heat and humidity of the late summer, only to make way for the cool and dry days that were so typical for Japanese fall. While the picture outside the window slowly changed, inside everything seemed to stay the same. Kai was still lying in his bed, unresponsive with assisted breathing and pale as a ghost. However, hidden to the eye his condition had been steadily improving. The bone fractures had all healed by now and more importantly, the swelling of the brain had gone down considerably.
Tyson still went to the hospital every day. Tala, too, came by the hospital almost every day. And the two of them weren't the only visitors - on the contrary, Kai was quite the popular guy: Kenny, Hilary and Mr. Dickinson visited almost every weekend and every so often Gramps would show up (mostly to drag Tyson's butt home tough). A couple weeks ago Max had visited his Dad, but spent a decent amount of time in the hospital telling Kai about everything he'd done and learned in America. Literally everything! If Kai could hear them he was now familiar with everything the new Burger place close to Max's house in America had on the menu and many more highly useful information. The Blitzkrieg Boys had visited a couple times - sometimes Tyson stayed, sometimes he left, depending on the overall atmosphere. It had turned out Spencer was really a nice guy. If he was there, it was usually safe to stay. Just last week Brooklyn had crept through the door. He had looked awful and had constantly apologized to Kai, blaming himself for his accident. After half an hour of apologies Tala had finally snapped and threatened to punch Brooklyn if he didn't shut up immediately. They had assured him it wasn't his fault, that yes, Kai had been injured after their fight, but it wasn't Brooklyn's fault that he'd had an accident on the way to the hospital. After this Brooklyn stopped apologizing, but Tyson had a feeling that was more to avoid taking a punch from Tala! Nobody wanted to take a punch from Tala.
Even though the never-ceasing stream of visitors kept Tyson distracted on most days, he was starting to feel restless. It had been weeks since the Doc had told them that Kai was going to survive; weeks of waiting for Kai to wake up; weeks with no visible changes.
At first Tyson had been over the moon that Kai was going to live. For an entire week he had been practically floating above the ground, the big smile never leaving his face. He was still grateful for Kai's slow but steady recovery and he had no words to describe how happy he was about it... But nevertheless he was getting restless. Waiting patiently got harder by the day – and Tyson had never been a very patient person to start with.
So when he walked into Kai's hospital room today his mood was rather foul. Unfortunately not even Tala was there to cheer him up. Ever since Kai's condition had been steadily improving Tala had picked up his Beyblading practice again. He usually stopped by the hospital after practice and sometimes for a little while before he got started. Tyson had followed his example and started to practice with his new Dragoon (he had bugged Kenny until he'd gotten a new and improved attack ring, just like the one Kenny had made for Kai's new Dranzer). Sometimes on the weekends he and Tala would even practice together. Tyson loved these training sessions - there were many things he could learn from Tala and he was an excellent opponent. Most weekends Hilary and Kenny would come by the Dojo as well. They had long since accepted Tala into their group. All in all things had slowly gone back to normal. Tyson even managed to pay attention in class again... Well, as much as he'd managed before Kai's accident anyways. To his surprise and Gramps' delight Tyson's grades – despite everything that had been going on – had improved. It must have been all the long afternoons at the hospital where the only way to take his mind off of worrying about Kai had been his homework. A lot of times Tala had helped him, probably in desperate need of distraction as well.

Tyson sat up in his chair and looked at Kai. He felt his heart jump and the pace of its beats speed up the way they always did when he looked at his former team captain. Heck, just thinking about him was enough to make his heart start to pound quickly.

Tyson sighed. He reached out and stroked trough Kai's bangs, then carefully brushed his fingers across Kai's cheek. He remembered how shortly after he'd realized his feelings for Kai he'd been terrified at the thought that Kai might hear everything he'd said, might feel every light touch… In all honesty, that thought still made his stomach twist, but he figured it was way too late to worry about this anyways. After all, he'd already kissed Kai's hand! Boy, the day when Kai would finally wake up would sure be interesting…

He leaned back in his seat again and closed his eyes. Instantly his mind started to wander. In front of his inner eye he saw Kai look and him, the crimson eyes bright and full of life, and flash him a smile. He saw himself throw his arms around Kai's neck, saw Kai wrap his arms around him and pull him closer. He looked happy. They both did.

Again, Tyson sighed. Who knew? Who knew if this was ever going to happen? First, Kai had to wake up and then there was still a good chance he wouldn't like him back... Tyson glanced back at Kai. He frowned at the machines and tubes. Oh yes he was desperately waiting for Kai to wake up. Seeing him like this hurt more every day. First it had gotten better, easier knowing Kai would live. But as weeks passed... Tyson couldn't help but get anxious again. Maybe it was the fact that there was no visible proof of Kai's improving condition. Maybe that made it hard to believe there was any change at all, that Kai was really going to wake up. Absentmindedly Tyson took off his cap, ran his fingers through and placed the cap back on his head. Maybe. Since there was no way to see actual proof (for no doctor would let him have a look at Kai's medical file) all he could to was to believe in Kai's full recovery and never give up hope.

…If only a traumatic brain injury healed faster!

"What's up with you, moping around like that?"

Tyson's head shot up. Without him noticing it Tala had walked in. Tyson watched him stroll over to his usual chair, where he sat down and made himself comfortable by putting his feet on Kai's mattress like he had countless times before.

"Hey Tala," Tyson said, giving the other the biggest smile he could muster.

Tala raised a brow.

"Pitiful," he commented. "C'mon, spill!"

Tyson frowned. Over the past weeks he'd gotten to know Tala better, had learned to read between the lines, to look behind Tala's façade a bit. Needless to say that these things usually worked both ways! It turned out Tala was very observant – sometimes it creeped Tyson out how easy he was for Tala to read.

"It's nothing big…" he began. "It's just… it's been weeks and…"

"I get it. It's been week and Snow White's still sleeping," Tala said.

Tyson managed a cricked smile.

"Maybe you should re-think that nickname."

"Like 'Sleeping Beauty'? Nah, look at him, Kai's not that beautiful," Tala grinned.

And just like that he'd managed to cheer Tyson up, like he had so many times before. Tyson couldn't help but chuckle, even though to him there was no person alive who looked better than Kai!

"Hey yo, Kai," Tala said and lightly poked Kai's arm. "Don't you dare pull the asleep-for-a-hundred-years-number on us, are we clear? I mean, I'd still be around, looking dashing, but Tyson over there is getting really restless. He wouldn't last a decade, let alone the century."

Tyson stuck his tongue out at Tala.

"You're an idiot."

"Wow, Granger, was that an insult out of your innocent mouth?"

"I guess you must be rubbing off."

Tala chuckled.

"Hear that Kai? I'm being a good influence on Tyson."

Tyson playfully rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right!"

A short rap on the door caught both their attention. Moments later the door swung open and the Doc walked in.

"Hey Doc," Tyson greeted and smiled.

Tala just nodded a hello.

The Doc returned the smile.

"Well, what a surprise to see the two of you here," he said.

Tala cleared his throat.

"Say, Doc, has there been any progress?"

Tyson quickly glanced over at Tala. The easiness that had surrounded him moments before was gone. Instead he seemed tense, a little anxious even. A little smile crept onto Tyson's face. Of course, Tala was getting restless, too. He was just way better a hiding it than he was. Again, Tyson was incredibly grateful to have a friend like Tala by his side to walk this path with him.

He focused his eyes back on the Doc.

"As a matter of fact, there is!"

Tyson's eyes grew wide. There was progress? Seriously? Oh please, please, let it be in a good way, Tyson prayed. But, wasn't progress always something positive? He slightly shook his head – now was really not the time to think about the connotation of this word.

"C'mon Doc, tell us," he begged.

The Doc smiled.

"The swelling of the brain is completely gone," the Doc announced. "We will now reduce Mr. Hiwatari's medication, hence beginning the wake-up-process."

Tyson's heart made a jump. Excitedly he clapped his hands and beamed at Kai's leading physician.

"Oh my god, that is such good news, Doc! Right, Tala?"

Tala nodded. He could have looked happier though.

"How long until he will be awake?" Tala asked.

"That is hard to say. Depending on how fast the body degrades the narcotics it can be days or weeks. In Mr. Hiwatari's case the coma was long and the medication heavy. It could very well be a couple weeks until he opens his eyes."

Tyson had been about to squeal with excitement when he heard the Doc speak of days, but the squeal froze in his throat when he heard him say it was more likely going to be a matter of weeks. Weeks. No. Tyson shook his head as if to shake off the negative thoughts. This was nothing he should be sad about. In fact, this was amazing news! It was the news he'd been waiting for: Kai was going to wake up soon. He was going to wake up!

Tyson cleared his throat and, a little nervous, asked, "Please, Doc, when he wakes up, will he be alright?"

The Doc looked at him, his expression suddenly serious.

"We'll have to do a series of tests before we can determine if there will be any permanent damage to the brain. In case of a severe traumatic brain injury the patient may wake up from the artificial coma having to learn basics like eating or drinking by themselves again. Of course, there is also the aspect of physical fitness – muscles will have to be re-built after the long bedrest. Finally, I cannot suppress the fact that there is always the risk of a vegetative coma."

Tyson hurt Tala sharply suck in air.

Alarmed he looked back and forth between Tala and the doctor.

"Vegetative coma? I don't understand. What does it mean? He won't wake?"

"It means the patient is able to open his eyes and take in his surroundings," the doctor said. "However, he or she is not able to react in any way."

Tyson felt all the blood drain from his face. His vision started to swim.

Kai, this free spirit, trapped in his own body? This couldn't be!

A sharp pain in his arm snapped him out of his thoughts. Tala had just pinched him. Damn, that hurt!

"Snap out of it Tyson! Kai is one tough motherfucker, a little coma isn't gonna bring him down! He'll wake and then you'll better be ready, because he'll be bossing you around again in no time!" Tala said.

The Doc cleared his throat.

"Although I wouldn't phrase it quite like this, I do agree from a medical point of view. Mr. Hiwatari is young and in excellent physical condition. Moreover, he seems to have a great fighting spirit."

"You can say that again!" Tyson and Tala mumbled in unison.

They exchanged glances and smiled nodded assuring at each other. Kai would pull through. Only a little longer, until he would open his eyes!

A/N: If that isn't good news! :) Hope you liked this!

Take care guys :)