Disclaimer: I still don't own Beyblades so none of the characters belong to be.

Last time-

"Where are you going to go? I might come and visit on the weekends and give you a progress report."

"I was thinking the Chalet in France. It will be spring over there and Jess loves it there at this time of year." Kai was a little shocked, France was quite a way away but it was a good idea.

A silence filled the room as they both thought about what was going to happen in the next passing days. The more Tala thought about it the more he liked the idea of taking Jess away from everything for awhile. Their relationship though still close wasn't what it used to be. There was still the love, respect and protectiveness but they didn't spend very much time together anymore, not like they used to anyway.

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I dedicate this chapter to Gokusgry-saiyuki. A faithful reader.

Chapter 21

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Kai enjoyed the day he had with Jess. She hadn't risen until close to one but when she did emerge into the kitchen he took her out to lunch at her favourite café for lunch. She still didn't know Tala was going to take her away for a while, they had decided it would be a good idea for Tala to tell her and not mention any part of what Mai had done. After lunch they went for a walk in the park across for the café. Ever since Kai had decided he wanted to propose to Jessica he had carried the ring around in his pocket and now, as they walked hand in hand around the park the ring weighted heavy in his pocket. He wanted so badly to ask her that sometimes he hands itched with the expectation. He had no doubt she would say yes but he wanted her to be in her right frame of mind when he asked her. And he would feel bad if later she felt pressured.

All day Jess had been quite and strangely distant and it worried Kai. The past weeks were taking their toll on her and she had finally cracked but not in the usual way. She hadn't screamed and gone crazy. She had wept and now a quite depression seemed to settle on her.

Kai would do anything. He had to do something; he needed to see her smile. The smile that made his day that made every day he was with her worth living. To hear her laugh the music to his ears.

"Jessica." Kai stoped walking and brought Jess to a holt beside her though she didn't respond to what he had said. He looked into her eyes that seemed so disillusioned with the world and he felt his heart sink.

"Jess" he tried again. He had to get through to her in some way before she left. Going on impulse Kai pulled Jess to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. Jess let out a whimper, Kai pulled away instantly as soon as he heard her whimper. He looked down at Jess there were tears welling in her beautiful blue eyes. She pulled her hand out of Kai's hand and began to walk away.

"Jess wait!" Kai called after her as she walked away from him. When she heard his voice she turned.

"Don't Kai." Jess shock her head before turning and continuing on her way.

Kai stood in the middle of the path staring after Jess feeling shocked and hurt. He had been rejected.

Jess walked along the path that lead to the edge of the park letting the tears that had welled up in her eyes fall. Her mascara ran down her cheeks and within five minutes she looked a total mess.

Jess's POV

it's hard to see, I never really thought about crying and the effects it has on people but now that I have to walk while I'm crying I'm noticing other things. All the colours seem to intensify or maybe it was only because so few colours seemed to come through my tears. I don't know and at the moment I really don't care. Not now at least.

I want to go home. That thought played over and over in my mind. No doubt by now Kai had called Tala and told him what had happened. So really all she had to do was call Tala and he would come and get her no questions asked.

Lets see, cell phone, cell phone. Okay it isn't in that pocket or that one or that one. Alright no more pockets so that leaves the bag. I stopped walking so I could have a better look. And still no cell phone. I don't know where I left it but it isn't here now. So that leaves a pay phone but where is a pay phone? I've never used a pay phone before so that will be a new experience.

End of Jess's POV

Jess wondered up and down streets looking for a pay phone. If she had bothered to think she would have realised that there was a pay phone across from the café at the edge of the park but now she was miles away from the park and that pay phone but there had to be another one around her somewhere. They were on every corner weren't they? Well not every corner but most right?

Finally she found a pay phone and fumbling with some left over change in the bottom of her purse then stuffed them into the coin slot in the phone and once she had put all her change into the phone with shaking fingers she pushed the numbers that corresponded with Tala's cell phone number.

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Tala looked down at the display on his phone that now held an unfamiliar number and Jess dancing around in the background. She was a funny girl and once she worked out how to use the video on his phone where ever she could she made the screen show pictures of her. Jess had told him he could change them if he wanted but he liked seeing she dancing around or singing at the top of her lungs.

"Hello?" Tala asked into the phone once he pushed the answer button. In the background on the other end he could hear traffic and quite a bit of noise.

"Tala?" Jess's voice came over the phone. Though sounding scared and upset Tala was relieved to hear her voice.

"Where are you?" Tala asked quickly.

"I- I don't know where I am. Tala come and get me please!" he could here the panic welling up in her voice and it gave him a rush of protective adrenalin.

"Okay Jess, calm down, just tell me what you can see and I'll find you. When you get off the phone stay where you are okay?"

"I can see a big building. There are a lot of children, all running around and playing and, and there is this noise it's like a grinding noise but I don't know where it is coming from." Jess was looking around from where she stood in the phone booth.

"Okay is there a sign or something like that or the name of a shop or something?" Tala wanted to know, it would make finding her easier if he knew where she was.

"Umm, where all the children are playing. They are behind a fence like a centre or something. There is a sign but I can't read it from here. Hang on and I'll go and take a look." Jess put the phone down on the bench beside the phone.

Just before Tala heard the phone hit the bench he began to yell into the phone. "Jess DON'T LEAVE THE PHONE! I THINK I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE JUST STAY HERE AND TALK TO ME!" but it was no good jess was already gone.

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Jess put the phone down on the bench before she swung open the door to the phone booth and headed down the path towards the sign so she could tell Tala where she was. Now that she had spoken to him and she knew he was on his way she felt better. Her tears had stopped flowing and she nearly felt like smiling but not quite.

South side youth centre. That was what the sign said. She had walked all the way across town.

Jess was on her way back to the pay phone to tell Tala where she was so she could go home. Home that her feel better just thinking about. All those familiar sounds and smells. Comfort.

"Oi, look at this little one. What a set of legs." Jess ignored the cat calls from the two men across from her.

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"SHIT!" Tala yelled into the interior of the car. He wished Jess hadn't put down the phone. He had a pretty good idea where she was and as long as he had good luck with the lights he could be there in five minutes. He threw his phone down on the passenger seat after putting it on speaker so he could hear when Jess came back on the like.

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The two men began to cross the street and headed towards Jess.

Once they crossed the street the two men began to circle Jess leering and making obscene and disgusting suggestions.

"Look at her walking around wiggling that arse."

"Yeah, look at it. The little slut is gaggin for it!"

It finally occurred to Jess that she might be in real trouble.

One of the men rubbed up against Jess in a disgusting manner that made her want to be sick. This was not going to happen to her again. Not ever again. Thoughts of what Tala and Kai had tuart her ran through her head but she was to scared to move. No all she could hope for was that Tala would show up before these men dragged her away.

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Tala strummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his car trying to make the lights change quicker. He had guessed where Jess was and was hoping like hell that he was right. Even though Jess was eighteen he still worried about her when she was on her own. It was probably just brotherly concern but he had a bad feeling about where Jess was. But then I could also be that sixth sense he had when it came to her.

The light finally changed and Tala pushed the accelerator to the floor and sped across the intersection and towards where he thought Jess would be.

As he rounded the corner he caught sight of her standing with two men. It took him a moment but once he saw the way they were leering at her and when one of them grabbed her Tala sped up before he screeched to a holt beside them.

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Jess looked up when she heard the brakes screech beside her. Intense relief flooded through her at the sight of Tala as she pulled her arm free of one of her harassers.

"Let her go!" Tala didn't yell, if the men had any sense they would have realised that a quite calm man was a lot more dangerous than a man who was ranting and raving.

"What's she to you? Get in line and wait your turn."

"Look, just let her go. We can all walk away from this." Whilst Tala had been talking to the men Jess had tried to pull herself free from the men but their grip held tight even though their attention was on Tala.

Tala had crossed to where they stood and had positioned himself between Jess and one of the men. "I don't know what I'll be waiting in line for because neither of you are going to be doing anything to her." Tala squared off his shoulders. It had become apparent that they weren't going to let her go without a fight.

"Look at this mate, he wants a fight. Who does he think he was? Mike Tyson?"

"Nah mate he aint got a chance against us."

Neither man had a chance to react. Before they knew what had hit them Tala had punched the first man in front of him in the jaw before turning to the one holding Jess. He saw her wince as he tightened his grip on her wrist and it made her anger spike.

SMACK there was the sound of a nose breaking and as the man fell back onto the ground he dragged Jess with him. She fell a peculiar way on her elbow and she let out a scream as pain shot through her arm.

Tala rushed to where she had landed and pulled her to her feet. "Go to the car, I'll be there in a minute." Once he saw Jess was safely in the car she turned to the two men laying on the ground. They were beginning to stir but Tala didn't care. He administered two hard kicks to both men before he returned to the car and Jess. His little sister Jess.

"Lets go home."

When they arrived back at their house Kai's car was sitting in the driveway waiting for them but there was no Kai.

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Kai sat in the kitchen like always, waiting for them to come home. And when they walked into the kitchen Kai was surprised at the way jess looked. To put it bluntly she looked like shit!

"Jess go and have a bath, I'll bring you up a hot chocolate in a minute. I need to talk to Kai."

Jess nodded but before she left she gave Kai a small smile before she headed off to her bathroom.

Both boys watched her go and once she was out of site they turned to one another.

"Kai, I think you should come with us to France. Jess is going to need both of us to help her to get through this."

Kai looked at Tala for a moment before she voiced his question. "What made you change your mind? I thought you wanted some family time with her."

"When found her today there were two men with her." Tala put the jug on to boil for Jess's hot chocolate. "If I didn't get there when I did they would have raped her." He took the hot chocolate sachet from the box and tipped it into the mug.

Kai looked away from Tala's back. He felt incredibly guilty. If anything had happened to her it would have been he fault. He knew he shouldn't have let her go off on her own but she had told her not to follow her so what could he do? He had to respect her wishes.

"She doesn't seem to want anything to do with me. It's as of she just doesn't want me around." Kai sighed as he felt his heart hurt.

"She just smiled at you didn't she? She doesn't ignore you or anything like that she just needs space. She needs her faith restored with the male race, hell the entire human race to come to it. I can do most of it but she needs the kind of love that I can't give her as well. Stuff Mai she can rot in hell for all I care. Don't tell her you are going just meet us here in the morning. I want to go about eight." Tala stirred the boiling water into the powder before adding some milk. "I'll be back in a minute, I'll just take this up to her and tell her to pack her things."

Kai nodded as Tala left the room carrying the cup carefully in his left hand.

Another one done. I hope you all enjoyed it. I just realised I have written 21 chapters TWENTY ONE! For me that is a huge thing for me. So I give me a pat on the back. Last time I checked I had 76 reviews so my next big mile stone is getting 100 reviews. So please review.

I know also finally have my MSN working (Clap clap) if any of you want to talk to be about anything my user name is Mai the Maiden of Meyhem.

Thanks for reading.

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The Perfect Oasis.