One Story Ends, Another Begins

Master Fung was almost completely healed, but he was starting to feel like he was back to his old self. He congratulated his students for their victory. "Remember when I told you there would be a time when one of you would rise to Wu Dai warrior? That time is now." He congratulated Omi.

All of his friends cheered, but Omi was confused. He didn't feel like he was deserving of advancing to the next level after what happened. But Master Fung wasn't finished. He congratulated all of his students and presented them with light blue sashes. "I said one of you would rise," Master Fung told his students, "but not until you worked together as one."

Now everyone understood. They all cheered for one another. The girls used the powers of the Stars, but the also needed to rely on the help of their friends and it was their combined power that saved the world.

Raimundo saw the Cobalt Star shards hanging from Max's neck and stopped smiling.

Max saw this and asked, "Rai, what's wrong?"

He sighs and explains sadly, "You have the Cobalt Star shard from Chase. You and Emily can go home now."

Emily had almost forgotten. Her smile brightened up. "We can go home," she whispered.

The rest of their friends remembered too and became sad about it. Even Dojo started crying.

"After becoming a Wu Dai warrior," Omi asked.

Master Fung agreed. "Max and Emily have fulfilled their tasks here. Now they must return to their world. Great things and new adventures are waiting for them in the other worlds too and they must defend those worlds as they helped us to defend ours."

Max wasn't too sad about it. "Remember what Chase Young said. There will come a time when this world will need the Xiaolin Dragons of light and darkness again. When that time comes, Emily and I will be back."

Emily agrees and adds, "And maybe someday, we can make you feel welcome in our world as you've made us in yours."

Kimiko smiled sadly. "We're really going to miss you girls."

Omi held their hands in his. "Remember, you girls have a home here in the Xiaolin Temple. You can come back anytime and we will always be here."

Raimundo agreed. "No matter what anyone says, you'll always be Dragons of light and darkness."

Emily smiles and says, "And we're honored to consider you fellow warriors too."

The girls went to their chambers to gather their belongings. Emily took out her camera. "Is it okay if I take everyone's picture?" she asked. Her friends nodded. She started with Omi. He smiled eagerly for her and she took his picture. The photo printed from the camera and his image developed perfectly.

"What are you doing?"

"Whenever I make a new friend, I take their picture to remember them," she answered. She takes a pen and writes Omi's name on the photo and tapes it on one of the pages in her photo album. She did the same thing when she took pictures of Kimiko, Raimundo, Clay, and even Dojo. "Now when I look at everyone's pictures, I can think of you guys and the fun we had together."

Max pats Raimundo on his shoulder. "Try your best to stay out of trouble, Rai. Don't do anything reckless."

Raimundo promised he wouldn't. "I'll be committed to my training and I'll think of you girls every minute."

Kimiko chuckles and says, "It'll feel a little different being the only girl in the temple. I'll try not to be too lonely without you girls."

Max smiles and says, "I'm sure we can find a way to keep in touch between worlds."

Clay dries his eyes and says, "Now don't you girls get lost in another world again as you try to find your way home." He holds out his hand. "Y'all take care of each other now."

"You too, Clay," Emily says as she reaches for his hand.

"Come here," he says as he pulls her in for a hug.

Emily chuckles and says, "I'm gonna miss everything about you." After hugging Clay, she gets down and hugs Omi. "You're one of the best friends I ever had in this world."

"I promised I would help you," he says as he hugs her. "Instead it was you who saved me."

"We still helped each other," she told him. She gently kisses his forehead, making him sigh and blush. "You have a good heart, Omi."

Dojo didn't want to feel left out. He coiled himself around Emily and hugged her. He did the same thing to Max. "The Xiaolin Temple will feel so small without you girls. I wish you didn't have to go. I love you," he sobbed.

Max smiled and sighed. "You are one insecure dragon."

"I love you too, Dojo," Emily says as she hugs him. She faces the others and adds, "All of you. And we'll never really be gone. That's why we're going to come back."

Omi approaches Emily and asks, "Before you go, could I have one more hug and kiss goodbye?"

Emily giggled. "All right. One more." And she got down and hugged him and kissed him again.

"Just curious," Clay was wondering. "How are ya gonna get back?"

"Now that we won Chase's Cobalt Star shard, the doorway to the Secret Garden will open again," Emily answered. "Once we pass through, we'll find the doorway back home to our world."

"I wish we could go with you," said Omi. "I've always wanted to see Millennia's Secret Garden." The others agreed.

"You will someday," Emily promised. "For now, you guys take this time to rest. You deserve it after a rough battle."

"And we do too," said Max. "We'll need time to recuperate and relax. Going home will be like a vacation." She was right. Once the girls would get home, they would be taking a long well-deserved break until their next adventure.

After saying their goodbyes, the girls left the Xiaolin Temple. The problem was, this was the countryside and they didn't know how they were going to get to the Secret Garden in an open field. There's more than one doorway to a destination as well as more than one path. Listening to Millennia's directions in her head, Emily led Max to a lake. They secured their belongings in plastic bags so they wouldn't get wet. After that, they dived into the water and swam to the bottom. A radiant light shined from the surface and the girls swam towards it. When they came to the surface, they found themselves in the middle of the pond in the Secret Garden.

"It worked," Emily says as she get out of the water. "We're back."

"Only we're not home yet," Max said as she followed her. "We may face the same situation we did when we first started."

Emily knew what she meant. The doors to the other worlds looked exactly the same. Emily approached one door and inspected it. She noticed the image of a Pokéball on it. She called Max over. "Hey, Max, was this image printed on this door before?"

Max inspected it too. "No, I don't remember seeing it." She looked closely. "A Pokéball? I guess it's safe to assume that this is the door to the world of Pokémon."

"I'm not going to argue," said Emily. She approaches another door. "This one has nine dots printed on it. These look like the nine dots that shine on Omi's forehead. That means that this must be the door to the Xiaolin world." There was one door left and that door had golden eye that resembled the symbol on the Millennium Items. The excitement was building up inside of Emily. "This has to be the doorway home," she assumed.

Max smiles and says, "Let's hope so. Only one way to find out." Together, she and Emily open the door and pass through.

Max and Emily succeeded in saving the Xiaolin world are ready to return home to their world. How much has changed in their absence? Tune in to the next adventure.