Chapter 17

Karina slowly pulled out of the hug and smiled sweetly as tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared up at Bryan. "So you remember me?" Bryan asked rather confusedly.

"Yeah, I do now." Karina replied as she wiped away her tears from her damp cheeks.

Bryan let a light smile appear on his features and walked back to the sofa to hide the smile from Karina, "That's good." he replied, sitting on the sofa and holding his head in his hands.

"Did you come in here for something?" Karina asked, walking up behind him.

"Oh, just a glass of water." Bryan replied as he got up to get his drink.

"Oh, I'll get it for you." Karina replied, running to the kitchen quickly. She walked back to him with a glass of icy water and handed it to him as he took it and drank a little, "How are you feeling now?" she asked, watching him place the glass onto the coffee table.

"Suddenly, much better." Bryan replied with a smirk.

Karina smiled sweetly, "That's good to know." she said.

"Serenity and Tala will be happy to hear you got your memory back but…how did you lose it in the first place. I mean, what did Boris do to you? Why were you under the abbey? Where were you when Boris took you away?" Bryan asked, voicing all his unanswered questions of the past few days.

"I don't know too much, Boris was never one to answer questions, especially mine. Boris had taken me to a deserted area of the abbey and kept me in a large room, I never left the room since it had everything, a training room, bed, food, everything including the usual torture stuff he used to use on us," Karina started explaining, "I stayed there for most of the time and time went by slowly and painfully. One day Boris beat me up and I tried to fight him but he was far too strong and I passed out. I had been there for ages and couldn't move cause it hurt too much and I felt I couldn't wake up. Later I heard footsteps and someone walk into the room and run back out, apparently calling paramedics and then I was moved from the abbey and then I found myself here." She continued explaining, her eyes falling to the ground.

"That 'someone' was probably Mike and he called for paramedics." Bryan said.

"I should remember to thank him sometime." Karina replied, turning to look at him again. "While I was in my coma, I felt someone with me, was that someone you?" she asked, staring down at her hand, the same hand Bryan had held while Karina was in a coma.

"Yeah, it was me." Bryan replied, turning his head away from her so she wouldn't see the blush creeping to his face.

Karina smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms tightly around him from behind him, "I missed you so much. I was so scared when they took me away, you know that?" she whispered.

"I wasn't sure," Bryan whispered back, holding her hands in his, "I was certain that Boris would bring you back sooner or later. Everyday seemed like forever." He whispered.

"It was so hard to take in all the beatings after I left you behind." Karina continued.

"Same with me. The experimenting was probably the hardest part of it all." Bryan continued whispering, moving her arms from around him.

"Did they do it a lot more?" Karina asked worriedly, turning his head so he could look straight into her light blue eyes.

"It never stopped; it just went on and never stopped." Bryan replied, pulling away from her gaze and walked to the window and stared outside. "What about you?" he asked, turning to look at her again.

"They slowed down after a while but I was still experimented on from time to time." Karina replied, getting off the sofa and walking over to him again, her arms crossed with a serious but gentle look on her face.

"Glad things turned out better for you." Bryan said, walking to his room and shutting the door behind him.

Karina stared on disappointedly at the bedroom door. It was like that every single time she spoke to him, her feelings would grow stronger and pull her into the direction of telling him how she feels sometimes. But it always hurt her to be around him and to touch him and hold him close to her, he always saw her as a little sister when she looked up to him as an older loving brother but now, now her feelings grew much more and she saw him as more then a brother. She didn't know how she could tell him, she didn't even know if she should tell him.

He had always been scared. Scared of getting hurt. She was probably the only person that had ever seen him cry. She was probably the only person that wanted to be there when he cried. No one else had been there. No one else wanted to be there. He had always been so afraid of trusting. Trusting was always hard for him. All he knew was that he could only trust Karina and when she was gone, then all his trust went with her.

---The Day---

That day a doctor had come back to check on Karina. They had said she was going to be ok apart from some wounds that still needed a long time to heal properly. Later that day Mike had arrived and given them all money, driving them to the mall so they could get some more clothes since they only had the little they had came with.

By the end of their trip Tala and Bryan had two bags each though Serenity and Karina went on a full out shopping spree and came back with about seven bags each. While together, Tala and Bryan had been talking, the conversation switching to Bryan's lack of love. Tala had explained a little what he could about love and what it actually felt like but tended to blush more then speak. More then anything else, Bryan wasn't sure how to react to certain things. It was just too hard for him to do something when something rather unexpected happens to him, which seemed to happen a lot in his life.

At 8:30 they arrived at the apartment again and each of them went to their rooms to unpack their new stuff. The night was rather entertaining, they all sat on the sofas together, with the exception of Mike who stayed at the hotel, talking and laughing till dinner arrived. They ate some take out food before each retiring to their rooms for a good nights rest.

---With Karina---

Karina tossed violently in her bed, gasping for air and in pain. She pulled the covers securely around her thin body, the soft silk from her new nightgown rubbing against her soft cold skin, goose bumps rising.

---Dream Sequence---

Karina stood at the top of a high building, wearing a long red silky dress and her long pale blue hair placed into an elegant bun. A man walked up behind her, surprising the young teenager. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest and kissed her neck. Karina gasped and tried to pull out of the strong man's hold but found it futile. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" Karina yelled, pulling painfully out of the hold.

"You never know, anything can happen in your dreams." The man whispered, he grabbed her wrists, spinning her around to look him and holding tightly onto her wrists, his fingers turning her skin red and numb. "Did you know…that if you die in your dreams…you die in real life?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Karina gasped again, suddenly feeling a cold wind wash through her, drawing back her hair from the bangs shadowing her pale face. Suddenly looking behind her she saw that she was being held against the edge of the building and could be thrown off the edge at any second. "What are you doing?" she asked frantically.

"Like I said, if you die in your dreams you'll die in real life." The man repeated with a smirk.

'Karina whatever the hell it is he's saying, don't listen to him.' A voice ran through her mind, she pulled her arms back but remembered that if she moved then she'll fall back. Fear finally clutched at her heart and she was about to burst into tears as sobs already racked her slender frame. 'You're stronger then this!' the voice continued.

The man smirked more at the sight of her fear and her body shaking in his hands. He leaned forward slightly to be closer to her ear and whispered, "Shall I say goodnight?" he asked as he laughed.

Karina's eyes widened slightly, "No, let me." She said through gritted teeth. She jerked at her hands that grabbed his wrists and she spun him round so she could be in his place, thus his in hers. She smirked herself at his sudden look of fear in his dark eyes and she finally pushed him off the edge of the building. Standing at the where he was, she looked down to watch him fall painfully to his death. She sighed glaringly, stepping away from the border and crouched onto the ground finally letting the tears slip off her face now that no one was around to stop her or yell at her if she did.

---End Dream Sequence---

Karina woke up with a start in her bed only to be pulled back into a warm embrace. Fear struck her again and she suddenly pushed the person away from her, taking in the features of her savior. Bryan sat on her bed next to her, slowly moving his hands off her arms, "Sorry." He whispered, backing off and quickly getting off the bed.

Karina smiled and tears streamed faster from her eyes, "Sorry? Why on earth are you sorry?" she asked, lunging forward and pulling her arms tightly around his waist, resting her head against his chest still with a smile on her face.

Bryan smiled, placing a hand on her neck, touching her soft hair but felt the light drips of sweat from the nightmare she had just encountered. He looked down at her, taking in her sweet, gentle features as a beautiful light smile tugged at her lips, 'Maybe for once I've done something right.' He thought to himself. "Are you ok?" he whispered.

Karina moved away a little and looked up at him with a light smile as she wiped away more tears, "Yeah, I'm fine now. It was just a bad dream that's all." She replied softly.

"That's good." Bryan whispered with a sigh of relief.

"How did you know when to come?" Karina asked curiously, noting that neither Serenity nor Tala were in the room.

"Nahuatl called me and told me you needed help." Bryan replied simply, taking a step back from Karina's bed.

"Why would she do something like that?" Karina asked, a deep blush creeping onto her face.

Bryan raised an eyebrow at her but just brushed it off, "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"No thanks. I'm fine now." Karina replied, a sweet smile still on her face.

"Ok then. I'm going back to sleep…come wake me if you need anything." Bryan said as he walked to the door to leave again.

"Thanks but I'll be fine now." Karina said, lying down under the silk covers again.

"Sure. Goodnight." Bryan said, closing the door behind him.

---Next Morning---

All four teenagers slept in and neither one of them bothered to leave their bedrooms before 10:30. They all met in the kitchen for lunch and sat on the couch talking when Mike came by to visit and make sure Karina was okay again. He tended to question Karina a lot on abbey life since Tala and Serenity were always rather secretive about it. Mike took some kind of liking toward Karina as they often fell into conversations by themselves as Bryan sat silently and Serenity snuggled up to Tala and just rested quietly there and occasionally asked Tala questions but only got short answers.

Serenity tugged at Tala's jump suite sleeve to get his attention, "Come on." She whispered. She stood up and pulled at his hand, "Will you excuse us for a while, I need to have a word with Tala." She told the others, gaining nods and both walking off to their room. She pulled Tala into the room and shut the door, "Are you feeling okay sweetie?" she whispered.

"Yeah I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Tala asked, in a hushed and whispered voice.

"You've been really quiet lately and it's worrying me." Serenity whispered back, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Tala whispered.

"I hope so. Do you want to go for another walk later?" Serenity asked, her hands moving to his shoulders and looking up at him with a smile.

"Sure." Tala whispered back, his voice barely being heard.

"Ok. Are you sure you're okay?" Serenity asked.

Tala smirked, his hands finally sneaking down to her waist, giving her a light and simple kiss, "I promise that I'm fine." He whispered.

"Good." Serenity replied simply, moving forward she pressed her lips against his into a fierce passionate kiss. She parted slightly, her hands lacing through his red hair, "Come sit down." She whispered, pulling him to sit on the bed. He sat down on the bed and Serenity sat behind him, her hands moving to his shoulders as she gave him a light massage. Tala moved his hand onto hers and she moved closer to him, her arms tightening more around his chest as she rested her chin on his tense shoulder. Serenity gave him a light kiss on his cheek, "Want to go out now?" she whispered.

"Why not?" Tala asked as he stood up and pulled Serenity to her feet.

They both walked out into the living room again, seeing Karina sitting on the couch with a magazine in her hand. "Hey, where's Mike and Bryan?" Serenity asked curiously.

"Mike left, he said something about avoiding his work too long and that he needed to get back to his hotel." Karina replied, looking up from the magazine Mike had given her, seeing as the only magazines that were in Serenity's apartment were all in Japanese.

"And Bryan?" Tala asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"He went to his room when Mike left." Karina replied again, hurt suddenly evident in her eyes at the mentioning of Bryan.

"Ok. We're going for a walk, we'll be back soon." Serenity said, walking over to the door, Tala following behind her with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Karina watched the two older bladers leave the apartment, sighing she lay down on the couch. Now she felt frustrated, all she could think about was Bryan and when he was next to her after her nightmare it just made her want to do more then give him a hug but she couldn't. She couldn't allow herself to do more then hug him, she knew he wouldn't like him. She wanted to tell him how she felt, she wanted to tell him so much but she didn't want to upset him. She could never tell him how she felt. No! Now she was going to tell him.

Karina sat up quickly and smiled, 'I'm going to tell him!' she thought triumphantly. 'How the hell am I going to do that?' she asked herself, suddenly disappointed. Before the young Russian could think of anything to say, Bryan walked out of his room and into the kitchen. Karina nervously walked over to the window and stood staring outside, twiddling her thumbs nervously. She took a deep breath and looked over to where Bryan was; heading back to his room after leaving the kitchen, " Bryan?" she asked quickly.

"Yeah?" Bryan asked, stopping for a second to look at her.

"Can I talk to you for a second please?" Karina asked quietly and nervously.

"Sure." Bryan replied, hand placed deep in his pockets as he walked over to the younger blader.

"I need to tell you something…You aren't going to like it but please listen." Karina whispered.

"Ok fine. Tell me, what is it?" Bryan asked, looking out the window.

"Over the years, I know you've only seen me as a little girl and never saw me as anything more then a sister or a pain in the neck but I realized that I like you more then that now. You've always been there for me when I needed you the most. I tried to ignore it but today when you were in my room while I had the nightmare it just stirred the emotions and I couldn't ignore them longer." Karina explained, her voice quick and shaking from time to time. "In short, I really like you and not just as a friend anymore." She whispered, blushing furiously.

Bryan stood staring on in shock, his heart beating quickly. His heart swirling with two emotions, happiness since he knew he felt the same way and fear for her hurting him. "Don't mess with me Karina." He whispered fearfully as he backed up into a wall.

Karina smiled and moved closer to him, "I'm not playing, I never would." She whispered, giving him a simple and light kiss on the lips before pulling away quickly. "I knew you wouldn't be happy about what I had to said but I had to tell you whether we liked it or not." She whispered finally, turning round to walk away.

Bryan's senses were screaming round about this line 'don't let her go dummy.' Doing as his senses asked, he suddenly grabbed Karina's wrist before she walked off to her room. He pulled her closer to him, gently loosening his hold on her wrist, "I know it may not look like it but I'm thrilled about it." He whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips slightly on hers and moving away fairly quickly.

"So you…?"Karina whispered confusedly.

"Always." Bryan whispered back. Karina moved closer to him, her arms wrapping around him tightly with her head tucked under his chin as he held her close to him.

"I bet I sounded so weird talking earlier huh?" Karina asked, her voice muffled with her face buried in his chest.

Bryan shrugged and whispered back, "Not really. I'm glad you spoke though cause I would have sounded far worse." His words creating a light laugh from Karina.

---Two Hours Later---

Serenity and Tala walked back into the apartment, both their eyes widening when they saw the scene. Bryan say slouched on the sofa, Karina resting her head against his chest with one hand on his stomach and the other on his knee with his hand on hers, both sleeping peacefully. The two older bladers smiled at each other at the cute scene. They shook their heads and walked into their bedroom for a short rest of their own.

'So Bryan finally found love. Now they all had love. Well except Mike of course, someone seriously needs to find him a girlfriend before he gets old. It's hard to think that he's the only one that hasn't had love within years. It's amazing, us as ex-abbey kids managed to trust enough to fall in love but Mike's more afraid then we are. Well that's a problem for another time, right now I just want to lie here and enjoy Tala for a little while longer' Serenity thought, snuggling up to Tala on the bed, his arm around her as she buried her head into his shoulder and wrapped an arm over his stomach.

'I don't know what others think but…things seem so…perfect right now. Everyone around here is in love or at least has someone that really cares about them so it just seems perfect. Going for walks have come to be my favorite thing to do with Serenity for some strange reason. I guess it might be because no one would be around and I could just talk to her more then I feel I can talk here. Here, I don't speak, I'd rather I didn't. But right now things are just too good that I can't be bothered to think about all the bad stuff like not being able to speak. I'd rather sit here and enjoy the silence and enjoy Sere's warmth and comfort.' Tala thought, tightening his hold on Serenity and shutting his eyes to rest for a while.

So as Tala put so clearly things were in fact perfect. Nothing could have stopped this, no one or nothing could've made things bad for them so suddenly. Each of them were in love, in love with someone that loved and cared for them dearly. It couldn't have been better. They each got their rewards for all the pain they had gone through in their lives. To them, things couldn't get better, could they? Well if they could, then that would be later on in life but not now. Now things were perfect.

Too Perfect!

A/N: So how was it? I know it was short but since it's mothers day tomorrow I wont have time to write so I posted what I have now. I hope this was any good but please tell me if I did something wrong or if I should fix something in it. Please review. Bye for now!