Okay, last chapter. Please review, pleasepleaseplease! Reviews mean so much, you don't even know!
IMPORTANT: Okay, so here's some bad news: We're moving. I WILL NOT be able to update anything for the next week or so, and then there is only a small chance I will be able to for the week following that one. I don't know how long it will take for us to set out computer up and get settled in to our new house, but there's more bad news. The computer and my moms, that had all my stories on it, got this nasty virus. And we had to clear the harddrive. So I lost everything. Which means I need to start over on a few things. So I'm sorry about all of this, I know it's all happening at once, and believe me it sucks more for me than it does for you. But hang in there.
I'll update Hostage next, I think. Read and Review, last chapter!
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Kevin's POV, ten years prior.
"Once upon a time," my mother began slowly, her warm voice filling me with happiness, "there was a young monkey named Kiki."
I smiled broadly, cuddling into her arms, listening intently.
"This little monkey was very sweet and very friendly, but all the other monkeys made fun of him and wouldn't let him play with them because he was so much smaller than they were. They called him names and pushed him around sometimes, but he didn't let it get to him. He kept his head up every day and smiled even when he had no one to play with. Then one day, he was climbing among the trees of the forest and came across the group of monkeys who had always been mean to him.
They were all upset; their favorite toy had gotten caught in the highest, smallest hollow in the tallest tree in all of the forest. Distraught, they moaned and whined and blamed each other for getting it caught up there. But Kiki wasn't afraid to go up and ask what was wrong.
First, they told him to go away. Kiki did, because they looked mean. He went home and made tea and went to bed. But the next morning, the other monkeys were still trying to get their ball down. Kiki, knowing now what they were doing, offered to help. They shooed him away again, saying that he was too small to do anything. So he went back home after a day of climbing and read his favorite book, and fell asleep.
On the third day, however, the other monkeys were tired and desperate. When Kiki offered to help, they said simple, "Fine, go about it then," and up Kiki climbed, quickly and swiftly, toward the top of the tree.
The other monkeys were astonished. None of them could climb that gracefully, or that quickly. They were all too big to get to the top of the tree without the branches snapping, either. But Kiki was just the perfect size. He climbed higher and higher, and finally, he reached the knot in the tree where the toy had gotten stuck. It was wedged into the tree deeply, too; Kiki tried thrice to reach in and grab it, but finally, he realized that he would have to climb in there himself and get it out.
And he did. Headfirst, he squirmed into the little hole," My mother said, pretending to push her head into an obviously cramped spot. I giggled and rocked on her lap, trying to make the motion myself. She laughed and continued.
"And reached forward and snagged hold of the toy. When he pulled back out and climbed all the way back down to the ground, the other monkeys cheered. They saw now that being small wasn't a bad thing; it was a gift. They all said they were sorry for being mean, but Kiki had already forgiven them. Happily, they all became friends and every day after that, Kiki had lots of people to play with, and he was even happier then he had been. The end."
"Yay!" I cheer, still giggling. I clap my hands together awkwardly and smile broadly. My mother chuckles and scoops me up, standing from the rocking chair.
"I wuv you, mama."
My mother laughed warmly. "I love you too, my little Kiki-bear."
-x-x-x-
Bryan's POV, current time.
"Vhat ish he cooing lykch bahby about?"
I hold my breath. He's mumbling something about 'mommy' and 'wuv'. Tala looks a little disgusted, but it's so cute I'm about to squeal. I don't know what 'wuv' is, but if it's going through Kevin's mind right now, I'm cool with it. I jump, suddenly feeling a smack on my shoulder.
"Vhell?" Madame asks harshly, irritated with me for not answering. I blow out the breath I was holding and flinch under her glare.
"I think he's dreaming about his mother."
"Joo tink? Vhell dat von't hkelp us, vill eet?"
"No, Madame."
"Sho rvude, joo ahre. And vhy ish he sho teensy?" He continued, looking back and Kevin with a bit of a frown. "Joo both ate my shoup vhen you vere young, and you both strong like bear. But heem? Keetten. Leetle cuddly keeten."
"Kitten."
"Oh!" She flares, turning back to face me suddenly. Damnit, why did I just correct her? "Oh, joo insolent leetle- Joo are lucky to look like man, to be like bear. He," She jesters ertible at Kevin, "Vill never be man, alvays keeten. And don't joo correct me, Mr. Kuznetsov, I shay keeten however I vant too."
Ff. Ornery old hag. I nod either way, but secretly curse her out. I like Kevin as a little cuddly kitten, thank you very much. Tala is either snickering at me other choking on something, but I don't look up at him either way. Asshole.
"Vroll heem onto hish back." She instructs, motioning for Tala to adjust Kevin's position for the umpteenth time. He's won't stop rolling over and curling into a ball. Time passes, and eventually, Mrs. Barshai stands and proclaims what she plans on doing with the evening.
"I shall go and breeng shoup for ja baby. Joo shtay and keep heem on hish back, ei?"
"Ei." We both murmur. For those of you who don't know a lick of Russian, that's not a word. It's just a noise. But whatever, it's always safest to reply with what this woman says unless we want to get smacked upside the head and labeled as rude. She leaves in a matter of moments, and again, Tala and I are alone.
Silence. And then, after fifteen minutes,
"Ya skhazshu po tebe s uma."
I blink and look over at Tala. You drive me crazy.
"Ti takaya milaya." I say sarcastically. You're so sweet.
"Rrastite, ya ne savsem ponyal, chto vy skazali." He shoots back, evenly, rudely. His eyebrows are narrowed and I know why he's looking at me like that. I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said.
"Da. Y vy." Yes. You did.
He turns and looks at me threateningly. He opens his mouth irritably, ready to lash out in a chain of insults and swear words, but as he takes that fateful breath, Kevin rolls onto his side and curls up. Snorting, Tala flicks me off and leans in slowly, carefully rolling Kevin back so that he doesn't wake him. When he sits back, he speaks in English.
"You shouldn't be here, Bryan. You shouldn't be doing this to him."
I remain silent, arms crossed over my chest. I stare straight ahead.
"It's not fair to anyone. Do what other people do when you get horny and watch a porno or something, don't kidnap a kid just because you want to fuck him."
I move to say something and stop.
"And then you go and tell him that you love him… you're just confusing him, Bryan, he's too young and innocent to hear that from you."
"Moya lyubov ne znayet granits." I say evenly. There's no borders for my love. Tala laughs.
"Da. Moya s." Yes, there is.
And he goes on. Yes, there is a limit to how much I can love, because I don't even know what love is. He explains to me that I don't love Kevin, and that I'm just horny. I flinch. Kevin told me that the first time I kidnapped him during the tournament; I remember everything Kevin says. Without trying. Isn't that a sign of love or something?
Kevin rolls over again and Tala rolls him back. He moans and persists to roll to the side again, and as Tala groans and reaches in to push him back, Kevin manages to grab hold of Tala's wrist and roll around anyway, tugging Tala onto the bed. My ex-captain landed on top of my ex-slave and both made an odd noise, but it didn't register with me as something to pay attention too until Kevin kept making the noise.
In a flash, I lean in and wrap my large hands around the back of Tala's jacket. I tug up, literally lifting him off of Kevin and swinging him around to the floor before me. He gags, startled, but Kevin stops whimpering and curls into a ball under the blankets. Okay. He's okay. I let go of Tala, not taking my eyes off of Kevin.
"What the fuck?!" Tala spat, blowing the hair out of his face and sitting up. Drama queen.
"Tala, you up there?" A call. Before I can defend myself, before Tala can yell at me, Lee Yin's voice echoes up through the floorboards of the loft. We both freeze before Tala leaps up and spins around, bolting toward the hatch. He pulls it open and jumps through, and I hear him land evenly on the first floor. Murmuring voices. Questioning. I flinch, waiting for it.
Three… Two…
"WHAT?!"
One. I stand and move to the other side of the room. Lee bursts in just as I put a decent amount of distance between Kevin and I, but it doesn't stop the older neko-jin from freaking out. I open my mouth to say something, thinking that I can explain myself. It's the last clear thought I have for quite a while.
Lee has just lunged at me.
-x-x-x-
Bryan's POV, quite a while later.
Nnghhaa… hcklebry. Finn? No. Ow.
Head. Hurting. Eyes. Dry. Life. Sucking. At the moment. I groan and carefully open my eyes. Ian, in all his big-nosed glory, is leaning over me. Boy, I haven't seen him in a while. How ya doin', little buddy?
"He's awake, Tala."
Ian turns away and looks across the room at someone else. If my head wasn't full of cement, I would turn to look and see who was over there. Kevin? Where are you, baby?
"Well la-dee-fucking-da for him. Kick him for me, will ya?"
Yep. Tala. Go figure, he's been ruining everything today. I flinch as I sit up stiffly, trying desperately to understand just what happened. My head pounds. Once sitting up, I gaze around and survey my surroundings.
Ian is the closest. He's standing a few feet away with his hands on his hips, looking back and forth between Tala and I. We're still in the loft. Lee is on the other side of the room, with a still-sleeping Kevin cuddling in his arms. Goddamnit, that sure as hell brought down the mood. It's Tala who surprises me, though. He's holding an ice pack to his head and glaring daggers at me. I blink, surprised that he too has been assaulted, and then my brain starts working.
Lee comes back from shopping with Ian. Tala tells Lee that I'm here. Lee flips out. Lee comes up, see's Kevin out cold, attacks me, knocks me out. Tala then explains that it was he who 'accidentally' knocked Kevin out. Lee slugs him. Tala balls over his injury and messed-up hair, goes to get ice pack. Comes back to glare at me as I wake up.
Sounds reasonable. But I shall confirm.
"Did he-"
"Yes." Ian says, watching as I point back and forth from Lee to Tala confusedly.
"And he-"
"Yes."
"Cool."
Tala chucks something at me; a roll or paper towels. Probably the ones we used to clean Kevin up after Tala slugged him. I duck to the side and roll my eyes, looking back to Lee. His back is at an angle to me, so I can't see his face, but I can make out his profile and see Kevin. He – Lee, I mean – is gazing down at Kevin, and I suddenly wonder what expression he's wearing.
"He says he stopped you from killing yourself." Lee said, suddenly. He didn't move from his position, or look back at me. He just looked down at Kevin's half-unconscious-half-sleeping face. I don't know what to say for a moment, and when it becomes obvious that neither Ian nor Tala are going to respond, I sigh and rub my forehead.
"Yeah, he did."
"Why?"
He still doesn't move. I blow the hair out of my face and look up the ceiling, replying passively. "I have no fucking idea, Lee. We both know I have it coming, but when I told him, he looked worried for me."
Lee sighs. He sounds utterly fatigued. I feel sorry for him, suddenly. I'm not just hurting Kevin, I'm hurting everyone around him. I knew this, but now it's completely apparent to me. Crap.
"I want you dead, Bryan. I want you to pay for what you did to him."
I remain silent. He doesn't look like he's going to attack me again, but I wasn't expecting him attack the first time, so…
"But it's him you hurt. If he doesn't want you to die…"
My breath catches in my throat. What? What's he getting at?
"… Then I'll honor that."
Silence. Kevin mews a little, cuddling into Lee's chest. The older neko-jin hugged him a little and sighed slowly and thoughtfully. I blink, suddenly realizing something.
"Wait… He was awake?"
"Jesus, Bryan." Tala groans, closing his eyes irritably. Yes, I know, Lee was being very profound and saying something important and meaningful, but I don't care. I just want to know if he'll be okay. Lee shifted and glanced at me. No anger in his eyes this time, just a bit of annoyance.
"Yes. This isn't the first time he's taken a fist to the gut, he can handle it."
What was that? Who hit him? I'll kill 'em, I swear. Bastards, beating up a small kid like that... Wait… Okay, maybe that was hypocritical. I lie back down, head reeling. I want to sleep again, but I can't. Not with this situation going on around me. I hear Ian walk away from me, in the direction of Lee. No one talks. I lift my head slightly and crack an eye open just as Ivan sits down beside Lee and sighs softly, glancing at Kevin. Tala pushes the icepack harder against his head and groans.
Time passes. No one says anything. Minutes, hours, who knew. Long enough for the sun to fall beyond the horizon somewhere to the west of the loft. With the streets dark, it would be my best chance at leaving, but something told me I wouldn't be doing that so long as Tala and Lee were here.
And then, despite all the happenings of the day, I'm surprised yet again by Kevin Ki.
"Are you guys ever going to talk?"
I sit up. Apparently, we're all a little shocked that he spoke. He's still cuddled in Lee's arms, but it looks like he's been awake quite a while.
"Kev, you-" Lee began, wide eyed, but Kevin cut him off.
"I'm awake. Yeah, I have been for a while. My stomach hurts."
Lee shifts and lays Kevin down carefully on the bed. Ian stands and steps aside as Tala stands and steps forward. I remain on the floor.
"I just wanna know how long you're all going to sit around here, that's all."
Still silent. Kevin sighs irritably.
"Well fine, be that way." He mumbles, rolling his eyes. Stiffly, he shifts and buries himself beneath the blankets on the bed. I can hear him sigh dejectedly, with a trace of pain. I blink.
"What just…"
"I don't know." Lee murmured, peeling his gaze off of Kevin and looking toward the hatch. "But we need to talk downstairs. Now."
I blink. Okay, okay, sheesh. I was expecting this, but it still worries me about what's going to happen. Ian crosses the room and ushers me toward the hatch, and I stumble over, looking like a drunk. Damn, my head hurts. Tala goes first, then me, then Ian, and after a cautious, tired look at Kevin, Lee comes too, closing the hatch behind him.
Here it comes.
-x-x-x-
Kevin's POV.
"Give me one reason why we shouldn't just report you here and now, Bryan."
Tala. Downstairs, I can here they're muffled voices. I press my face into the soft smooth pillow and close my eyes tightly. Why won't sleep come?
"Because you can't."
Bryan.
"Why not?"
I frown, eyes still closed. I've been wondering the same thing myself; why hasn't Lee just taken me home already? Or to the hospital?
"Because you would have been long gone by now if you could have. You came over here without telling anyone, huh?"
I crack my eyes open. He's not talking to Tala, I can tell by the tone in his voice. I don't even need to hear the reply, because I know what's going on. Lee left China without officially doing so, and he could get in trouble if he returned publically.
"That's not a reason to not urn you in."
Yep. Lee's voice. Hearing it proves my theory. I swear softly and after a few seconds of considering the new light that's been shed on this situation, I feel like crying. Am I ever going to get home?
"Yes it is."
Bryan seems to hesitate now, and I can hear the uncertain wavering in his voice as he continues.
"Because if you find a way to turn me in without Lee getting involved, I'll still tell them you're here."
Blackmail? In his position? Wow, he's got balls. I sigh and bury myself deeper under the blankets. My legs feel like Jell-O, suddenly. I'm scared; how am I going to get home? Will I get in trouble too if we get caught? Friggen' corrupt Chinese Government.
This is a good time to explain something to you. In China, as you probably know, the government is not like that of America, Great Britain, Japan, ect. It's more like… Communism, but not quite. Anyway. Only a little while ago, the world didn't know that China's economy was doing much better then everyone thought. I don't know why it was such a secret, probably because there wasn't much friendly chat between China and the US, which would mean the world. Anyway. While there was that confusion and secrecy about economic welfare, there were two types of currency in China. Which is appropriate for the country who invented paper money, I suppose.
The first time of money was the people's money, RMB. That could only be spent inside of China. The second was FEC, or Foreign Exchange Currency. You could only exchange FEC for foreign currency, as the name suggests; RMB was unchangeable. This was a way to keep the citizens of China in China; you can't exchange RMB for FEC.
Which is my point. This system still exists, in a nutshell. They don't want people leaving the country and moving elsewhere. This makes it a pain in the ass to leave the country on vacation, and crossing the border without officially getting 'checked out' is a no-no.
"Well what do you propose we do, Bryan?" Lee's voice, even and stern. "Put yourself in our shoes."
I stop thinking about China's messed up economic structure. I don't like where this is going, but no one replies for a long time. Bryan doesn't know any more than they do, I can tell. I sigh and roll onto my back, pulling the blankets away from my face and gazing up at the ceiling. I'm hungry.
"Well… I…"
"We have to do something." Ian said, speaking for the first time.
"Great input, Ian."
"Well it's more then you've done, spit-wad!"
"You wanna say that again, you little parasite?"
"Yeah, maybe I do!"
"Shut up!" Lee yells. Silence takes over again. I flinch, trying to grasp the magnitude of what's going on. It's hard, and I'm close to giving up when an idea comes to me. Below, they continue to argue about what to do while I sit up carefully and slowly get to my feet. I toddle to the hatch, using whatever I can to support myself. That's when I hear it; crackling. Not popcorn, not firecrackers, but an actual fire, eating away at wood. They haven't heard it, but the next thing I know, I can smell the smoke.
I stumble and fall back onto the floor. I cough. They're still yelling, but I don't think they're arguing anymore. I can see the smoke now, slowly fogging the loft. I can feel the heat of the fire approaching from some unknown location. I choke and look toward the wall above the hatch frantically. What I see causes me to freeze up.
The paint, old and white, is curling and melting off of the walls. Slowly, flames begin to lick up the sides. I watch, stunned, and suddenly it dawns on me. I need to get out of here.
"Kevin!" Lee's yelling my name from below. The fire is spreading quickly – how in God's name did this start?! – I panic and push farther away from the hatch, escaping the source of the heat and flames. My stomach hurts.
"Kevin, get out of there!"
I cough again, stumbling backward. I can't lift myself up off the floor; each time I try, I fall back and hurt myself. The room reels around me. Heat, smoke, then suddenly, orange and red flames. They're taking over the room, one floorboard at a time, and I see now that the hatch is lost in a sea of fire. After all I've been through, I'm going to die this way? I keep coughing. The smoke brings tears to my eyes, and I squint pathetically into the gray air. Yellow, orange, red, all burning hot, all growing closer. Help me, someone please help!
A crashing noise. I can no longer hear yelling, the roar of the flames is too loud. A ceiling beam falls on the far side of the loft, and I cry out, startled. It crashes straight through the floor and vanishes out of sight, but the fire is growing worse. I'm sweating like I never have before, and I'm crying now. Not just because of the smoke, but I'm actually crying. There's no way out; I'm going to die.
"Kevin!"
It's distant. I don't notice it at first, and I keep sobbing, looking for any chance of escape.
"Kevin, come here!"
Now I hear it. I whip my head around and through the flames, make out a built form; Bryan. He's pushing towards me. With no other options, I try to push myself to my feet, successfully stumbling and falling suddenly into his outstretched arms. He pulls me towards him, and something strange happens. I don't want him to let me go. Of course, I would die if he suddenly dropped me and ran off, but… after all that he's done to me, I'm clinging to him and trying to hide in his jacket, despite the hot temperature. He lifts me up and I bite back the pain I feel in my stomach; it's nauseating, this feeling. As if he knew what I was thinking, he bundles me carefully in his jacket and forces his way back through the flames, towards the hatch. It takes a long time; assuming that there would be a straight path to the exit was just ignorant.
"Hold on, Kevin, please." He's saying hurriedly. I'm gasping for breath; too much smoke, not enough oxygen. It's painful.
Suddenly, he puts me down. I feel completely limp, but manage to stay on my feet as he tugs at the hatch; it must have fallen closed again. With Lee's help on the other side, it shoves open, and Bryan stands, turning to face me.
The world slows. Sparks drift between us, as my eyes look up at his with something like sadness and innocence in them. He looks back and me with the same look, almost; he can't quite get the innocent part. But I can't look away. He's saved my life, for now. A tear falls down my face. Though he's moving at an average speed, everything around us is still slowly shifting around. He leans in and cups my face with one hand, and then for the second time today, he presses his lips against mine. I blink, startled, before my eyes fall closed. One more tear escapes, but this doesn't feel like rape; it doesn't feel like he's hurting me at all. After too long, he pulls back and looks me in the eye with a half-hearted smile.
"I love you, Kevin."
And then, he shoves me through the hatch and slams it shut behind me.
I yell, startled, but Lee catches me. In a hurry, without realizing that Bryan wasn't coming behind him, he turns and takes off through the burning house, toward an exit outside. I'm yelling for him to stop, no, wait, Bryan, what about Bryan? He doesn't hear me; he keeps running, and suddenly, he bursts out into the world. Cold air stings my skin, but it's refreshing compared to what it was like in the loft. Lee keeps running until he reaches Tala and Ian, who are standing at a safe distance. It's not until now that Lee turns and realizes that Bryan isn't coming. Ian is asking me desperately what happened, and Lee tries a few times, but I don't say anything. I stare at the house, in all its flaming glory, and another tear trails down my cheeks. Tala stares towards it too, also silent. Lee and Ian catch on and fall still before stiffly turning to look at the flaming building.
And then, as I watch the fire engulf the last bits of the structure, the whole thing collapses.
-x-x-x-
Kevin's POV, two months later.
The fire, apparently, had started when Mrs. Barshai returned to her home to make soup for me. Because I'm like 'keeten'. She got distracted with one thing or another and the next thing she knew, things were blazing. Since all the buildings in that area were old and made of wood, (because they were constructed in the time of Stalin, and as the Communist way tends to go, it was cheap and quick rather than well-thought-out and safe,) and they were all next two each other, dovetailing one another, it spread its way along until it got to the loft. Damn you, Stalin, damn you. I feel a weight on my shoulder, suddenly.
I jerk upright, inhaling quickly. Blinking sleepily, I turn awkwardly and look up at the person who woke me.
"Oh, hi Rei."
"Hey Kev. Asleep at the computer again?"
I yawn and rub my eyes. I guess I was. What was I doing again? Rei slumps into the chair beside me and smiles, glancing at the computer screen.
"What were you doing?"
"Um…" I blink, looking back at the screen. After a pause, I collect myself and remember.
"Oh, just drawing."
"Art tablet?"
"Yeah." I smiled sheepishly at him and looked down at my art tablet, picking up the special pen for it and fingering it. Silence stretches out like warm toffee between us, and for a minute, I feel my eyelids growing heavy again. Then, Rei speaks.
" So how you holding up?"
A.k.a., still thinking about Bryan? Yes, as a matter of fact. I translate that.
"I'm alright. Tired, obviously."
He smiles. "Yeah…"
I glance back at the screen. I've always been good at drawing, and I know Rei is studying my work. It's a little embarrassing, but I don't do anything about it. It's a picture of a small girl holding hands with her mother, they're backs turned away from the view. All around them are the hollowed out shells of buildings, with a reddened sky. The sun sets beyond the destroyed city. In the girl's free hand is a teddy bear, torn and broken, but still obviously loved.
I sigh. I'm sitting cross legged at my computer chair, and I slump a little. God, I've been awake too long.
"You know, Kev," Rei starts slowly, eyes still on the screen, "I…"
I look up at him. My face is blank, if not confused. He sighs and closes his eyes. "I don't know what to say to you, actually. But I need to say something. About Bryan. Is that okay?"
I blink, hesitate, and then nod. Rei adjusts his position and sighs. He came home after we got back to China, and he hasn't left since.
"Lee… seems to think that you've… forgiven him. And I think that's good, if you have, but… He says you've… Oh, Kev, I don't know what I'm saying. Lee just doesn't understand why you forgave him so easily, and I just want to make sure you're okay. I mean, he said you were acting weird before summer started, and then he found out that Bryan had been stalking you like that, and… I mean he's dead, but…"
"Rei, take a breath." I say before he can blather any more. He looks at me sadly, but manages a small smile. I take a deep breath.
"I'm fine, Rei. Really. I just…"
I pause. Rei leans forward a little, unconsciously. I sigh.
"I'm pregnant."
He stares at me a moment, blankly, before his eyes widen. "W-what?!"
I sigh. "I'm shitting you, Rei."
Dumbass.
-x-x-x-
Bryan's POV, unknown location.
Small town. Small population. Comfortable, rural, unknown. New face, new look, new personality. I pace down the dirt road; the main road in the town, I guess. No cars. Only men are sitting in rocking chairs on porches. Children chase each other around. One man is sweeping a wide store-front porch. A woman walks by carrying a few books under her bosom. I walk alone down the street, taking everything in. This place will do. I'll be happy here; I'll find happiness somehow. I sigh and stop near an old oak trees, its roots twisting and pushing up the sidewalk, old and cracked as it was.
I sit down. Sun splashes through the leaves above me. It's a warm day. A river flows passed the town, its sparkling blue water shimmering in the light. Pidgins clutter around an old park bench, pecking happily until a small girl and her older brother run through, and they burst into flight. Feathers flutter aimlessly through the air. I unzip my bag and remove what has become my most treasured possession, and hold it to my chest. I smile, distantly. The small teddy-bear is old and torn, ripped and forgotten, but still very loved. It's stained and grayish brown and it's missing an eye. One of its arms is only hanging on by several threads. I smiled down at it, remembering his smile, his eyes, his kiss. Though I know I have to move on – and now I am – I still feel it there; a love that will never be.
Kevin Ki.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The end.
(For realsies, this time.) Okay, so, two things.
One: Kevin goofing around like that with Rei is a sign that he's getting back to his old self, which means he has forgiven Bryan and he is moving on. Of course these things take time to get over, so you can tell there may still be some drama with Lee over it. But I'm not making a sequel, so whatever.
Two: Yes, Mrs. Barshai is still alive. She's old and Russian, basically making her a force on nature. No natural element can defeat her! She's like bear! (Heh.)