-1''That's her!'' Dojo pointed with his nose at a girl a little younger than Rai, with sun-yellow hair and a dress to match. She was picking flowers in a meadow. ''Oh brother. Yeah, if that wasn't the Light Dragon, then I don't know who would be.'' Said Jack. ''Wow! It's Jack as a girl!'' Rai said, earning himself a smack over the head. They landed next to her. She screamed and ran away. ''Hey, wait!'' Called Dojo. ''Ugh! She's worse than the Serpent's Tail!'' He said, referring to the constantly moving Sheng Gong Wu. The girl peeked out from behind a nearby tree. Once she was sure they weren't going to hurt her, she came over, and introduced herself as Mary-Marie. They explained who they were and what they wanted with her. She led them back to her house, and after an hour of talking with her parents, everyone agreed that Mary should join them. Once everyone got back to the temple, Mary latched herself to Jack. ''Please show me around! Otherwise I'll get lost and...'' After a while, Jack began to tune her out. ''Sure!'' He interjected. Then he mumbled to himself, ''Anything to shut you up''. Rai heard him, and tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle his laughter with the back of his hand. Luckily, Mary didn't hear either Rai or Jack. She sniffed indignantly, ''Oh,'' She said, speaking to Rai, ''Are you coming to?'' She was trying to sound dignified and contempt at the same time, but she only managed to sound like a bird taking off with its feathers snagged. ''Yes,'' Rai said simply. By the time the tour was over, it was clear why she had not wanted Rai to come with them. ''Oh, you're so wonderful Jackie!'' Jack's eye twitched visibly. Just then, Master Feng called for the Dragon of Light. ''I must take my leave now, Jackie! Until next time, my sweet, sweet love!'' Rai turned green with envy. Jack turned green with nausea. After she left, Jack got over his nausea, and began cracking up. ''Now,she's the over-dramatic one!'' He said between giggles. After a while, Rai joined him in his laughter. After they had calmed down, Rai asked if they should tell her that they were together. ''Nah, she might kill you Rai. But if she does find out, it won't be the end of the world. It would be kind of funny actually, to see the look on her face. It would make your death worth it.'' Rai hit him upside the head.
The next morning, Rai woke up to a pair of blue eyes staring at him. ''AHHHRRRG!'' Mary started at his yell. ''Oh, it's you. Don't do that! Where's Jackie?'' Rai said, looking around for his boyfriend. ''I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me.'' She paused, ''Why did you go to sleep in your clothes?''
''Huh? Oh, me and Jackie were too busy talking last night to bother changing into our nightclothes.'' She narrowed her eyes. ''Oh, are you two good friends?'' She asked, clearly jealous. She didn't like it that 'her' Jackie had a friend that wasn't her. ''The best.'' Rai said, grinning. ''He's probably eating breakfast.'' He said, more to himself than to Mary. Rai turned out to be right. He slid into a seat next to Jack and Mary sat on Jack's other side. Jack and Rai both deadpanned. Rai slung an arm over Jack's shoulders in order to get more comfortable. Mary, for the second time that day, narrowed her eyes at Rai. ''Morning Rai,'' said Jack, turning to the Brazilian boy. ''To continue our conversation from last night, rabbits cannot possibly -''
''Ahem,'' Mary cleared her throat. ''- be good swimmers because-''
''Ahem!''
''I'm sorry Mary, do you need a glass of water? A lozenge?'' Jack asked 'sweetly'. ''Aren't you going to say good morning to me, Jackie?'' She said, tugging on Jack's trench. ''Well, actually, I wasn't going to. But, I'm always up for something new. Good morning, Mary.'' Everybody sniggered. ''What are we going to do today, Jackie?'' She asked, ''Well, I'm taking a walk in the forest with Rai, and then on to apprentice training, however, I am a genius, not a physic, so, as to what you are doing, I do not know.''
''Can I take a walk with you?'' Mary fluttered her eyelashes. There was more sniggering. ''Don't you have training?''
''Master Feng wants to wait a little while.''
''Well,'' Jack said, becoming a little uncomfortable, ''I was kind of hoping to just go with Rai,'' They both blushed. Mary sighed, exasperated. ''What are you two, like, going out?''
''Uhm, yes?''
''Well keeping that from her didn't last very long.'' Rai said. Mary paled, ''Huh? What? Huh?''
''Oh yes! I was confused at first too, but as my good friend, Kimiko, explained to me -''
''Omi, don't you have somewhere to be?'' Said Kimiko. ''Oh no! I am missing rigorous training!'' Omi ran out, and Mary followed. Rai and Jack looked at each other as Mary left. ''Maybe we should talk to her?'' Suggested Rai. ''Agreed.'' Said Jack. ''Maybe I can help; I know how a girl's mind works.'' Said Kimiko. ''Sure.'' They found Mary talking to Clay. Innocent enough, it seemed, however, when they were in earshot, they heard the true nature of the conversation, ''I don't know what you see in Jack, he's a two-faced dirty fink.''
''Don't insult Jackie! It's Raimundo who's -'' Clay and Mary walked out of earshot, towards the forest. ''Maybe we should talk to her later.'' Said Jack and Rai nodded in agreement. ''No, we should talk to her now, before Clay poisons her mind.''
''Her mind is already poisoned, my young apprentices, all Light Dragons are like that.'' Master Feng had joined them. ''Unlike what you have been told by fairytales and the like, the Light element's soul is corrupt. If nothing happens that releases it in them for one month, Light will stay innocent and pleasant. But if released, the Light Dragon will become tainted with evil. I am afraid the, errmm, loss of Jack has brought out her 'poison'. Nothing will bring her back now. I will keep her at the temple to keep her from getting into trouble, but I cannot train her.'' Master Feng turned towards Jack and Rai. ''Jack?''
''Yeah?''
''This may be a lot to ask of you, and Raimundo, considering your relationship with Jack, this may inconvenience you as well, but you do not have to do this if you do not wish to. If you could please keep an eye on Mary.''
''Master Feng, Mary doesn't like Rai,'' Jack said hesitantly. ''Yes, I am aware of that, Jack. However, I am sure Mary will be willing to stomach him in order to spend time with you.''
''So, I won't have to spend less time with Rai to keep watch over Mary?'' Master Feng shook his head. ''Of course not.''
''Okay Master Feng, we'll watch her.''
''Should I help, Master Feng?'' Kimiko asked. ''Yes, if Rai and Jack need a break, you can take over for them. Just as long as Mary isn't left alone with Clay, he might put bad ideas into her head. Oh and don't let Omi find out about Mary. You know how he is.'' They all grinned. Omi was very bad at hiding things. ''You should probably start now.'' Feng left. They reluctantly walked up to Clay and Mary. Clay glared at them but said nothing. ''Mary?''
''Yes Jackie?'' There were stars in her eyes. Clay sighed. ''Do you want to talk about maybe me, spending more time with you?'' Jack had to fight the urge to puke at the over-joyed look on her face. It was almost to the point of overkill. Mary looked at Kimiko,'' Why's she here?'' She asked, curious. ''Mediation.'' She nodded and followed them away from Clay. ''So, you want to spend more time with me?'' Jack nodded. ''Like, as my boyfriend?'' She asked hopefully. Jack felt frustration building and struggled to keep calm. ''No, as a friend.''
''But I'm sure it can work Jackie. I mean you can't really be, uh, can't really like guys and-'' Jack lost the fight to control his anger. ''Okay, first of all, cut that 'Jackie' shit. Rai and only Rai can call me that. Second, I am gay, I have always been gay. And lastly, I love Rai, not you. I never will love you. If you can't deal with that, you can forget spending any time with me at all and go piss the fuck off.'' Everyone gaped at him. Jack sighed, and calmed himself. He leaned towards Kimiko. ''Can we get this 'mediating' thing over with before I find myself strangling her?'' Jack asked quietly, so Mary couldn't hear. She nodded. ''If I may suggest something...'' And in an hour, they had reached a compromise. Mary wasn't completely happy with the arrangements, because she felt she didn't get to spend enough time with Jack and no time alone with him (there was no way in the seven hells Raimundo was going to let that happen) And Jack and Rai weren't happy at all, because they had to spend time with Mary period. But none voiced their complaints.
After training, Jack and Rai decided to go on the walk in the woods they had planned on doing the day before. Mary suddenly popped up from nowhere as they were making their way towards the woods. They pushed past her. ''We're going on this walk alone, Mary.'' She sniffed and walked away. They walked the forest path until they came to the tree where they had shared their first kiss. They sat down underneath it and began to talk about random things. Rai suddenly broke off in the middle of the conversation. ''Now?'' He asked. Jack nodded, ''Yes, now would be nice.''
''Yo, Mary, Clay, you can come on out now! You do know that you both stalk like lopsided badgers, don't you?'' They both stepped out of the bushes. ''Now what part of alone don't you understand?'' Clay looked away, angry that they had been found out. Mary looked ashamed and shuffled her feet. ''I'm sorry Jack. I - I just wanted to be with you, whether you knew it or not.''
''That's really... creepy.'' Jack said. Rai nodded in agreement, a little freaked out. ''And you?'' Jack asked Clay. ''Just making sure you weren't filling Raimundo's mind with your filthy ideas and evil morals.''
''Ah.'' He said, resisting the powerful urge to beat the both of them senseless. ''Why don't you both buzz off for a while, hmmm?''
''But... but Jack! I thought you wanted to spend more time with me?''
''I do... later. If you don't recall, I did say that we wanted to be alone.''
''But...but-'' Jack clenched his teeth angrily. ''Please go away. When we're finished with our walk, I'll come see you, okay?'' Mary sighed, clearly disappointed. ''Oh, okay. C'mon Clay.'' They left without another word. Rai watched them leave, then turned back towards Jack. He saw that Jack was struggling to calm himself down. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder. ''It's okay Jack, just take deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale.'' Jack snorted. ''I think I need to kill something.'' Jack looked around for a bug. ''How about this instead.'' Rai said and pulled him in for a kiss. When they broke apart, Jack grinned, ''That'll do.'' He leaned in to kiss Rai again but he didn't get far, because Kimiko appeared around the bend. She was running and looked a little distressed. She came to a halt, gasping for breath, in front of them. ''Guys, I'm sorry! I know I was supposed be watching them, but I pulled an all-nighter last night, trying to beat Goo Zombies 3 and I fell asleep and when I woke up they we're gone!''
''It's okay Kimiko, it's no big deal. We caught them spying on us and sent them back to the temple, they're probably there now.''
''They were spying on you? Ugh!''
''I know. Now, I hate to blow you off, but if we could maybe be alone...''
''Oh! Right, sorry.'' She ran off, embarrassed. ''Okay, now that that's all over, then perhaps we can actually enjoy some time together.'' They both grinned and kissed each other again.
When they arrived back at the temple, they were greeted with a flying, yellow blur. ''Hellooo, my friends! How was your walk? Do you know why the grass is green? Why is it sometimes yellow? Is it trying to mimic me? I can see why! I am sooo great! Can I have a boy hug? Kimiko won't give me a girl hug. Why are you so tall? Oh! And are peanuts part of the pea family, or the nut family?'' Omi ended his string of questions and looked up at them expectantly. ''Well, in succession Omi: Our walk was great, excluding a few interruptions. The grass is green because of chlorophyll. It is yellow when it dies because the chlorophyll left the plant. No, it is not trying to mimic you, don't have such a large ego. I don't see why not, after all I cheated you out of the last one,'' At this point, Jack picked up Omi and hugged him. Omi squealed and waved his arms happily. Jack set him down after a few moments. ''We are not tall, you are simply short,'' Omi frowned, unhappy at the news. ''And they belong to the pea family. Now I have a question for you, did you get into the sugar or something?''
''No, why?'' Jack laughed, ''You're kind of cute in a weird sort of way,'' Rai grinned, ''Yeah, in an 'annoying, hyper bullet' sort of way,''
''Where are you going? Can I come with you?''
''Sure!'' They both said. They were headed for 'Mary duty', as they had secretly dubbed it, and believed in strength in numbers. On their way to Mary's room, they ran into Kimiko. ''Have you guys seen Mary and Clay? I can't seem to find them anywhere!''
''Did you check the Sheng Gong Wu storage room?'' As if on cue, they heard a racket coming from inside the vault. ''No.'' Kimiko said sheepishly. ''It sounds as if someone is opening the vault!'' Omi said. Jack bit back his sarcastic comment and followed the others to the Wu's safe hold. When they got there, they saw Clay and Mary coming out of the vault, holding the Serpent's Tail and the Reversing Mirror. ''What are you doing with those Sheng Gong Wu, my good friends?'' Omi asked. Clay smirked. ''You know, this all seems oddly... deja vu-ish.'' Kimiko said. Rai and Omi nodded. '' Yes, this is very familiar.''
''You don't remember? Well, let me refresh your memory. Remember a few years ago, when we were all made apprentices, except for Raimundo?'' The memories came flooding back to them. Rai had become angry and betrayed them all. Something Master Feng had said rang in Omi and Kimiko's ears, ''The Serpent's Tail is harmless by itself, it makes a solid person ghostly, but combined with the Reversing Mirror, it will make a ghostly person solid.'' Realization hit them. ''They're stealing the Sheng Gong Wu to return Wuya to her solid form again! Clay, Mary, why would you want to do something like that?!''
''Because that dirty snake came here and you all believed his lies!'' Mary turned towards Jack as well. ''Why did you have to love him! Why not me? I mean, he's a guy!''
''Damn it! Guys, you can't!'' Jack said, desperate to say anything, anything at all to convince them that this was a bad idea. ''What's the matter, fink? Afraid of some competition in taking over the world?'' Clay wrapped an arm around Mary's waist, activated the Serpent's Tail, and flew right through them and away from temple. ''No! You don't understand!'' Jack called after them. But it was too late, they were already gone. Jack looked devastated, ''We can't let them succeed.'' He sounded desperate. ''What's wrong?'' Asked Rai, ''I mean, we defeated Wuya before, we can do it again.'' Jack sighed and lowered his eyes, ''Before you came for me, Wuya told me that, in retaliation for all the times I left her, she would... would k-kill everyone I had ever come in direct contact with, if she ever got back her solid body. That means my parents, Mary, Clay, Kimiko,'' Jack began to choke up, ''Omi, R-Raimundo.'' They stared at him, horrified. Then Rai returned to reality ,''Well,'' He said, ''What are we waiting for?''