Sorry about the wait. On Friday night I had a birthday sleepover, and Saturday and Sunday there were hour and a half long basketball practices that left me totally exhausted. We won our game and I got a big trophy, but my dad set me up in another clinic. Monday the 27th was my birthday! Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, just Aeris and my basic plot. (Sorry again about Kai's OOC-ness. There might be more in this chapter.)

Chapter 4

The next morning was the same as usual. Wake up, eat breakfast, train. Aeris decided to stay and watch today. She had to admit, beyblading did look pretty cool.

She watched as Ray's Driger swerved expertly around some cans and Dragoon and Draciel battled.

A while later, they all took a break for lunch.

"So Aeris, do you beyblade?" Tyson asked.

Aeris shook her head. "No, but it looks like a lot of fun," she replied.

"It is," Max agreed.

"So why don't you try it?" Ray asked curiously.

Aeris hesitated. "I…don't have enough time."

"What do you mean? How can you not have enough time for beyblading?" Tyson inquired.

'Yes, what do you mean?' Kai wondered silently, staring at the girl.

Aeris looked down at the ground. "I just don't," she finished lamely.

Tyson was about to ask something else, but he was cut off by a loud battle cry. They all turned to see a pole coming down toward them. Aeris acted quickly. She ran over and stopped the staff's progress, holding it between both her hands. This surprised the boys standing behind her and Tyson opened one eye from his cringing position. The person holding the other end of the pole seemed equally surprised.

"Well, hi there little dudette," (I don't know if he'd really say that. Lol) said the old man. "Don't remember ever seein' you around here before."

"Uh, Grandpa," Tyson introduced, stepping over. "This is Aeris. She's been staying here for the past few nights. Aeris, this is my Grandpa."

Aeris released the pole and bowed. "Sorry about that, sir," she apologized. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same here. That was some pretty radical stuff you pulled there. Think you could take me on?" Grandpa winked.

"Grandpa…" Tyson began. "I don't think-"

"I accept your challenge," Aeris said.

"Now don't think you can beat me just because I'm older than you," Grandpa warned playfully.

"He's right," Tyson agreed. "He's much better than you think."

Aeris raised an eyebrow. "Don't think I'm not as good just because I'm a girl," she said.

Grandpa laughed. "You got a point."

-Short Intermission with the elevator music that we all know and love-

-Okay, Intermission's over-

A few minutes later, they were all inside the dojo. The four boys were on the side to watch and Aeris and Grandpa each had a staff in their hands. The two opponents faced each other and the fight began. (A/N: I don't know how Grandpa fights, so I'm just gonna make it up. Sorry if it's not too good.)

They stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, Grandpa charged. Aeris took a step back and held up her staff to block as wood crashed with wood. As they pushed against each other, Aeris angled her pole to the side and spun, swinging her weapon to hit the old man in the back of the knee. He quickly blocked and jabbed back at her. She blocked and jumped back to make some space in between the two.

Grandpa charged again, but this time, he leapt into the air. Aeris positioned herself under him and aimed a hit at his chest. His eyes widened and he barely had time to block. He landed on the ground in a squat. Aeris charged this time and Grandpa prepared himself to block her attack. Moments away from contact, Aeris swerved at the last second and made a successful hit on the back of the old man's leg, causing him to fall to one knee.

Grandpa looked up as Aeris came speeding toward him. He blocked her attack with his pole and they pushed against each other again, both panting. Then, Grandpa ducked and, as Aeris' staff swung over his head, he knocked her legs out from under her.

She landed hard on her side, but was unfazed. She saw an opening and quickly raised her pole up to Grandpa's throat. She smirked triumphantly, then blinked. She glanced down and saw Grandpa's pole right up against her throat as well. She looked up at Grandpa. He smiled and removed his pole. Aeris did the same.

He stood up and offered her a hand, which she took, and pulled her up as well.

"Great match! No one's been able to tie with me for quite some time," Grandpa said.

"You're very good yourself, sir," Aeris complimented. The boys came running up to them.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Max exclaimed.

"You're really good, Aeris," Ray said.

Aeris grinned. "Thanks."

"Yeah, where did you learn that?" Tyson asked.

"From a very small, very old, very strange man that lived on top of a mountain," Aeris answered calmly. They all sweat dropped. "It's true!" she insisted.

They decided not to talk about Aeris' sensei anymore and went to eat dinner and go to sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Aeris was racing through the woods. They were after her again. She dodged trees and leapt over fallen logs, letting nothing stand in her way.

Suddenly, a man bounded down from the treetops right in front of her. She skidded to a stop. It was one of them. She growled at him and he looked at her warily.

"Either come quietly or I'll shoot," he said, lifting up a tranquilizer gun and pointing it at her.

'Why do they always say that?' Aeris thought. 'Do they actually think that I'd go with them, begging for mercy? If so, they're even dumber than I thought.'

She just narrowed her eyes and snarled louder. "Get the hell away from me!" she shouted.

The guy was spooked now. He didn't know what she was capable of. Actually, she didn't either, but nobody else had to know that. He fireed at her. He actually fired!

The dart went whizzing past her head and was embedded in a tree. Now Aeris was angry. Really anger! Her eyes flashed dangerously.

The man lifted his gun to shoot again…but the shot never came. The gun crashed to the ground as he started shaking uncontrollably. He stared at her with wide eyes and she stared back, just as surprised and scared.

A chill wind blew past and the man's shivering stopped. His eyes still stared straight ahead, but he saw nothing. Then, cracks zigzagged up the frozen statue and a finger began to break off.

Aeris carefully edged around the unfortunate man and began sprinting away. She ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. Then she fell, exhausted, to her knees. The frosty breeze whistled past, carrying the man's silent screams with it, as darkness took her.

Dun Dun Dun

Aeris' eyes flew open. She was breathing hard and a cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She wiped it off with her arm and looked around. Four other futons were laid out in the room with four still bodies sleeping peacefully on top of them.

She swallowed and took a deep breath. The look in that man's eyes would always be in the back of her mind, haunting her. Aeris held her head in her hands. "Why me?" she wondered aloud.

Then, deciding she needed some fresh air, Aeris stood and stepped out into the cool night.

M&M's are gooooooooood

Kai lay awake, just thinking about the events of the past few days. Then he heard a shuffling noise to his right and turned to look.

Aeris appeared to be having a nightmare. She was twisting and turning in her sleep. Her breathing was quicker than normal and she was sweating.

Kai wondered if he should wake her, but then her eyes flew open and she sat up. Kai pretended to be asleep as she looked around, stood up, and exited the dojo.

He waited a moment, then decided to follow the girl.

(Sings) I saw Santa and Frosty doing it. Underneath the mistletoe last night. (Gets clobbered with the giant hammer of doom.)

There was a full moon out that night, along with plenty of stars. The blossoming cherry trees held an unearthly glow. And underneath one of those trees was Aeris.

She sat with her knees tucked up to her chest and her head resting on them. Loose flower petals fluttered down to land in her ocean of blue hair. She sighed and lifted her head slightly to gaze at the sky above.

Kai just stood in the doorway, staring at the girl for a minute. He hadn't thought about it before, but Aeris had grown since he last saw her. She had grown in both mind and looks. She was beautiful now…Kai mentally shook himself. What was he thinking? She was his best friend, or at least used to be.

He sighed and closed the door behind him as he stepped outside and walked toward Aeris. When he was only a few paces from her, she looked up and he paused. Her once-innocent eyes held so much sadness and grief.

She looked at him a moment then said, "So are you going to sit down or what?"

Kai sat down next to her and leaned back against the tree trunk.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Nightmare?"

Aeris turned to look at him. This was just like when they were little. Aeris would have a bad dream and Kai would be there to comfort her. She missed those days. Kai seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he smiled slightly.

"Bad memories, actually," Aeris finally replied.

Kai nodded. "Want to talk about it?"

Aeris looked down as tears started to well up in her eyes. "I remember the night that she died," she said quietly. (She's talking about her mother.)

Salty rivers were now streaming down her cheeks. She was crying for all the pain and sadness she had been through the past seven years.

Then Aeris felt strong arms come around her and hold her in a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around Kai's neck and wept into his shirt.

They stayed like that for a while, until Aeris stopped crying. They pulled back and stared at each other. Aeris' eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained. Kai smiled and wiped away the salty drops. Aeris just continued to stare at him.

"Kai?"

"Hm?"

"I-I'm sorry that I left. If I didn't, you would have gotten hurt."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Really? By who?"

"By the ones who killed my mother."

Kai nodded. "I'm not going to ask why, but you'll tell me when you're ready?"

Aeris looked at him nervously. "We'll still be friends, right? Even if I was a giant six-eyed monster?"

"Are you?"

"No."

"Yes, of course we'll still be friends."

Aeris smiled. "I'm glad."

Then they stood up and headed back inside to get a few hours rest before the sun rose.

End of Chapter 4

--While writing this chapter, I realized why Kai is OOC so much. In this story, I'm creating a childhood Kai who was kind and sweet and just an all-around nice kid. When his friend who he shared those emotions with – Aeris – came back, some of those characteristics came back a little.

I hope that that's okay with you guys. It's just how I've written this chapter. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. Thanks! Please review!