Jack didn't need to dread the dinner quite so much. His mom, perhaps expecting the terrible situation that would have been on her hands no matter who won, had invited her own sister and her family to join them. So it was a boisterous crowd that sat down at the Brewer household. His maternal aunt Mellie inherited all the love for food and the talent for cooking from his grandma, so he was looking forward to her contribution to the dinner. His Portman cousins were exuberant and energetic and always managed to get him to laugh and engage in odd, but fun games when they were younger. Nowadays, they were more inclined to discuss current events than play games. It was all good as far as Jack was concerned. Neither his father nor his Uncle could actually parry verbally as they usually did. Of course, the tournament and the victor were mentioned, but the Portmans cared little about Karate and his mom was actually smiling.

Kai did not show. At first, Jack was relieved that he did not have to face him so soon, but then his uncle told them that Kai was spending Thanksgiving at his sensei house and Jack's heart fell into his stomach.

Kim was friends with Ty's niece, he realized. And she was at his house.

And Kai was there with Kim.

She is not yours to worry about, he reminded himself harshly. And she does not want anything to do with you.

Aunt Mellie was dominating conversation talking about the new recipes and newest fad in 'healthy eating,' which apparently now included lettuce.

"And I tell you Zoe, you only need to mix water and lettuce* and ten minutes later, done, you are asleep." Aunt Mellie declared and his mom was biting her lips.

"Lettuce? You sure? What happened to warm milk?"

"Milk?! Zoe, that is absolutely the last thing you need in your diet. Children, maybe. Teens and adults - not. Cows have been domesticated much later than other animals, so our guts are ill equipped to deal with lactose. I mean, 75% of Asian are lactose intolerant! And my Alex too."

"I didn't know we had Asian blood." His cousin Alex said politely, but with a hint of smile.

"You never know, cous. Gran's family was from Russian Empire. Maybe there were some that travelled the Silk Road." Jack added and Alex smiled at him.

"Oh, I heard that there are Chinese Jews." Alex said, eyes alight with laughter.

"Ha ha ha. Laugh all you want Alex, but I am right about milk. You are better off drinking coffee and tea."

"Oh, Jack must have heard the same thing, Mellie. He's been frequenting this one coffee shop lately." His Uncle Thomas said in a teasing tone.

"Although it may be because the barista is young and pretty."

Jack nearly bent the spoon he was clenching it so hard. Damn it all to hell! There was a chorus of ohhs around the table and Alex had that look on his face that promised that the subject would not be dropped any time soon.

"Is it that Lindsay girl? I thought she would rather die than take off her cheerleader uniform. How did she agree to put on an apron?" Alex had heard Jack rant about Lindsay one time and apparently remembered it all.

"No, Jack! A cheerleader? Way to be a cliché. A school athlete and the cheerleader." His other cousin Carolyn exclaimed with disgust. She was more intellectually and literature inclined, so anything that smacked of popular girl variety was anathema to her.

"Does she talk about anything other than cheer squad and fashion? Is she all whisper-y, like, Jack, do you think our team will win?" Carolyn said with an exaggerated breathy tone.

"Caro, be nice. Lindsay is a good student and can talk about many subjects, like... her music preferences." Jack felt like being fair to Lindsay. It's not her fault he didn't like her.

"Let me guess, current top 40 list? Radio friendly? She maybe a good student, but I bet she is uncurious and just wants to be like everyone else."

"That in and of itself is not a bad thing..." Jack trailed off.

"But it's not for you." Alex said.

"Yes. Not for me." Jack answered with finality.

"Then why all the coffeehouse visits?" Uncle Thomas wasn't willing to drop it yet.

"It's a convenient meeting place for our team and my school project partner." Jack was pleased. This was a truthful answer, even if it was evasive and not responsive.

"And the barista?"

"There are a few of them. I am not sure which one you mean."

"Young, blonde, feisty." His Uncle listed Kim's descriptions and Jack marveled at the length he and Kai went.

"Mike is young and blond. I am not sure if he is feisty..."

"Tommy, darling, do I have to worry about it?" Aunt Lucy added with a smile and Jack was grateful the attention moved from him.


Kim and Julie were rushing to finish the dinner. The crowd was supposed to come in soon and they still had some things in the oven. Kim also was trying to prepare mentally for seeing Kai. She was carefully dressed in some of her best clothes. It's not that she tried to impress anyone. But she felt pretty good about this holiday and wanted her clothes to reflect that. She wore a yellow dress with exposed zipper in the back. One of the few purchases in the recent years. She put her hair up, mostly to keep it out of the food. But ultimately decided to keep it that way because it looked good.

When guests started coming in it was a big to-do to make sure everybody had a place to sit and drink in the hands and cutlery by their plates. Her father had a surprisingly deep conversation with Ty. It would seem that the two men bonded over reason teenage girls by themselves. Milton was following Julie around offering his help.

Of all the Black Dragon students only Kai and Frank came in. Frank came with his mother and if Kim thought it was strange, her unasked questions were answered when Ty approached her and kissed her cheek.

Frank was chatty and had acted very comfortable in Ty's house. Julie was decidedly less so. It became clear why when Frank turned to Julie.

"So, Julz, thank you for the invite. I can't wait to taste your cooking. Now that we are practically a family, I'll get to do it all the time." He finished with a wink. Julie's jaw dropped a little and Milton, in a very uncharacteristic move, out his arm around her shoulders. His expression was steady and a little bit challenging and Kim suddenly saw what Julie talked about. Milton stood tall in face of a physically superior opponent and did not flinch. And it was manly.

Jerry, sensing the tension, threw his own arm around Kim's shoulders and said with a smile, "well, I can wait to try Kim's peach cobbler. Apple pie is good and all, but a well prepared cobbler... and collared greens... and the stuffing... Now I am hungry. Hey, do you girls have any more of those cheese breads?"

As intended, Jerry's ramble broke the standoff and Kim went to the kitchen to check the progress of things. She was there for a couple of minutes when Kai entered the room. She turned to him weary of having to talk to him.

When he arrived, she saw that his hand was bandaged. Oh, the fight must have been intense, she thought. Unbidden, came the thought of what Jack might have broken or bruised.

Kai was quiet at first and did not bother talking to anyone but Ty. Eventually he got his bearings and ventured into the conversation with Frank. Now, he just stopped, looking at her a little surprised.

"I am just here to refill the water jug." He said was waiving the empty container in his hand. "I hope you won't douse me." He offered jokingly motioning and the kitchen hose that was in her hand.

Only now she realized that she actually was holding it because she was washing a dirty pan. "No," she said. "Unless you plan to fight someone?" She added with a hint of a smirk.

"No, no, I'm good. I had enough fights for now. Gotta give my hand a rest."

"It must have been quite a fight," she said. "Is this one of those where I have to see the other guy to know how bad it was?"

The moment you said it she realized it was a mistake. His face closed off and his mouth twisted in an unpleasant grimace.

"Why? Worried about the pretty boy? I got a few good ones on him, but he got a lucky shot." He bit out with a snarl. "Normally, Jack wouldn't hit quite so hard. It would be dishonorable to fight in a sparring match as if it is a real thing..." he spat out the word 'dishonorable' as if it was a poison.

"And you would, I take it." Kim replied coldly.

"Sure thing, sweetheart. No point in fighting if not to win. By any means necessary. And Jack finally got the message. Of course, it was only after I brought you up." He said and studied her like she was an interesting bug.

"First, don't call me sweetheart. It's Kim. And I don't know why bringing me up would make a difference. There is nothing between us." She let out.

"Oh, I know. Buy it does not change the fact that he wants for something to be between you two. What is it about you? You seem like such a painfully average girl. Not even that pretty..." He inclined his head to the side, as if trying to see if she looked better at an angle.

Oh, wow, the Brewer boys were quite alike. Charming to a fault, weren't they?

"I highly doubt that he does. And at any rate, I don't want to be used as some sort of leverage in this weird feud you two have going on."

"You can doubt it, but it is true. I know Jack very well. And if I can needle him by using you, then I will." He said, unapologetic.

"I really am curious now, why you hate him so much?" There had to be a reason for this animosity, beyond the childhood sibling competition.

"I told you, I know him. And familiarity breeds contempt."

Or, maybe it's just you, she thought uncharitably.

"I thought families are supposed to love each other, warts and all."

"Well, all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in their own way." He said quietly and pensively, and she was honestly surprised and impressed.

"Its not everyday that someone throws a Tolstoy quote at me. Especially someone like you." She said to him, unconsciously angling her head like he did earlier.

Kai raised his eyebrows at her, "Someone so charming?" He smiled widely at her with a bit of teasing challenge and Kim's rolled her eyes.

"That's not the word I'd use." She muttered.

"Ouch. Well, to answer you unasked question, Anna Karenina was an enjoyable read. It seems Russia is a place with nothing but social strife. Of course, leave it to Russians to spend pages and pages on philosophy in the simple story about an affair. They seem to live in this endless search for illusory meaning and reason! Levin's turn for 'salvation' was laughable."**

"Simple story about affair... OK, I am honestly surprised. Why are you reading Russian pre-revolution literature?" Kim asked before she could stop herself.

"My grandmother was from that part of the world. Spoke some Russian too. I suppose it got my interest. And you, did you read anything else by Tolstoy?"

"Yes, War and Peace." Kim said almost automatically, still reeling from the fact that she now talked about this unknown grandmother of the two cousins with both of them.

"Also enjoyable but for the long-winded battlefield strategizing, landscape descriptions, and the opining on the 'sorrows' of war. Peace is an illusion, of course. And the happy ending was nauseating."

"War and Peace is a monumental and influential work of Russian literature, history, philosophy, and explains the rise of so many revolutionary changes in the Russian society. But I do agree that the epilogue was quite jarring and Tolstoy's treatment of Natasha in the end was kind of a letdown." Kim finished her thought and then stopped shocked that she is talking to this guy about literature of all things.

"Ah. I guess that you did not like the Harry Potter epilogue too?"

"Yes. It felt awfully rushed and too much like a fan-service. Plus, Albus Severus is a terrible name..." was all that Kim was able to say.

He laughed then and just like his grouchy cousin's, the honest and true smile transformed Kai's face and made him look a lot less like a creep. His laughter died, but his smile remained.

"I suppose I can see what he sees in you. You can be interesting on occasion." He said as if surprised. Kim immediately bristled.

"And before?" she asked challengingly.

"Well, before you were boring and unimportant and average." Kai offered and she was immediately reminded that he was a creep with a chip on his shoulder regarding his own cousin and that she really did not want to get involved.

"I can see why you'd think you are charming." She said sarcastically.

"It's not just me. I have been told that I am by others."

"They lied." She deadpanned.

Thankfully a timer went off and Kim turned away happy for a distraction. She busied herself with pulling out the heavy pan out of the oven and called for Julie to come and help her. By the time she turned around, Kai has already left and Julie was in with Milton in tow.