CHAPTER THIRTEEN: POKER FACE

"You're here…" Raimundo couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him, dressed in black robes, was the very person whom he thought he would never get to speak to again - Kimiko.

"That's right." She said smoothly, keeping an expressionless face.

Without fully realising his emotions, Raimundo ran to her small body and engulfed it in his warm arms, hugging her tightly. He let out a sigh of relief; he had missed everything about her at the temple. The monks had heard nothing of Chase or Kimiko in the past few weeks, so Raimundo was immensely grateful to know she was still alive, even if she couldn't stay. She didn't respond to his hug at all. She had just stayed stiff and unresponsive. With a short intake of breath, Raimundo let her go.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking confused, "Aren't you happy to be back?"

"No." She lied, "As I said, I only came to say goodbye."

At the sight of Raimundo's hurt expression, a small part of Kimiko died inside her. Every shred of internal strength she had went into restraining herself from hugging him. Keeping her face blank, she tried to act as Chase did. She folded her arms and looked at the floor, as Chase often did when he spoke to her.

"It's been a long time." She said softly, "I can't stay for long."

"Wait. So, Chase is letting you come here?" Raimundo had raised one eyebrow, and from the look of confusion etched upon his face, he did not understand at all.

"Chase is not my Master, Dragon of the Wind, he is merely my teacher and I am the student. He has taught me what it means to have power, and I intend to use it wisely." Kimiko's voice was barely more than a whisper, but Raimundo caught every word. Even he couldn't miss the meaning in her voice.

"You've changed." Raimundo said, "I thought you'd still be Kimiko… at least, I hoped you would. He's changed you." His brain seemed to click and he had a sudden realisation. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly.

"It's a trance or something!" He gasped at his own false epiphany and yelled into her ear. "KIMIKO! ARE YOU IN THERE!"

"Stop it!" Kimiko shouted at him, holding her ear and shaking him off. Her eardrum throbbed. Raimundo turned around and flopped into the chair, holding his head with one of his hands. He was quiet for a moment.

"Kimiko. Please, I'm begging you. Come back. Omi and Clay will be back soon, they want you to stay too! It's not the same without you. Who else is going to annoy the hell out of me by beating my high score on Goo Zombies 7?" With a small smile, Raimundo looked up at Kimiko.

Kimiko's heart was slowly sinking and she could feel the tears rushing to her eyes. She hadn't wanted this. She had only wanted to say goodbye, not get upset or try and stay.

"I can't come back, Rai." Her voice cracked, and for a moment she thought she was going to burst into tears. She cleared her throat and Raimundo looked at her suspiciously, as if he knew it was all an act. Kimiko panicked and continued to throw him off track.

"I'm loyal to Chase now, and there's nothing that can be done to change that. I have more power now and I have to use it for what it needs to be used for." Kimiko was trying to stick to her plan, feeling like she was about to crumble into a sobbing wreck at any time.

Just then, the pair heard the voices of Omi and Clay coming from outside the Temple. With Raimundo ran to the door to inform them of Kimiko's presence, she checked her cell phone, only fifteen minutes had gone. As much as she was pleased to see them all again, she was finding it difficult to stick to the plan. If she hadn't been trying to act like she was evil, she would have been pleased at how slowly time seemed to be going.

"Kimiko is here?" She heard Omi ask. There was the noise of running and the small monk appeared in the doorway. His face lit up and he ran and hugged her tightly, barely reaching her chest. Omi was beaming, whilst Clay hung back in the doorway. His blonde fringe covered his eyebrows, but Kimiko could tell they were raised in surprise.

"Fancy seeing you back here again, lil' lady. I'm mighty pleased to know you're safe." Clay tipped his hat to her, smiling. Kimiko held onto her Poker Face, to stop herself smiling back; it was almost impossible to do so.

"Kim's not coming back." Raimundo said quietly, "She's staying with Chase permanently."

Clay and Omi looked at Raimundo, then at Kimiko expectantly.

"It's true." She said softly, imitating Chase's voice and folding her arms. "The Heylin side is where I truly belong. I always felt different from you three, and now I know why; it's because I'm not like any of you. My element, my anger, can't you all see? It's because I'm meant to be on the Heylin side. You know I can't control my anger, and when I release my element, I do so much damage. Everything all adds up to this." Kimiko concluded. She'd just made the whole thing up on the spot, but some how she had almost managed to convince herself it was true.

There was a long silence before Omi finally spoke,

"I do not think you belong on the Heylin side, Kimiko. I may have made jokes in the past about your abilities as a Xiaolin Dragon, but I do not doubt them now." He said quietly.

"Forget it, Omi." Kimiko said rather harshly. Omi was taken aback and looked quite offended.

"None of you understand. Chase does. He knows what it's like to not be able to control himself. That's why I choose to stay with him. None of you understand that I can't help being the way I am, so its' time you all finally understood things. Chase has given me more power than I ever thought I could have, and now I intend to use it wisely." Kimiko was getting so good at telling lies. It frightened her now. She was surprised that she managed to sound so angry whilst staying expressionless.

I suppose I have been spending a lot of time with Chase, I'm probably just picking up his speech patterns, that's all. That's all it is.

But Kimiko wasn't so sure now.

"You really have changed, Kimiko." Master Fung's voice loomed from the darkness of the corner behind her. She had no idea how long he had been standing there.

Omi, Raimundo and Clay didn't look at all surprised to see Master Fung; rather, they looked like they were shell-shocked from what Kimiko had said.

"Of course I've changed." She snapped purposely. The ruder and more different she appeared to be, the faster the monks would take action against Chase, and, essentially, her.

Omi, Raimundo and Clay looked shocked, and none of them really seemed able to speak.

"Well, I came here to say goodbye. So I bid you all farewell, and I hope that when we meet in battle you will consider joining me rather than being defeated by myself." Kimiko said in her murmur.

With that, Kimiko walked straight past the saddened faces and out into the Temple's courtyard. She turned around and saw the three monks watching her leave. They bowed their heads. They truly believed it was too late to save Kimiko. All hope for her return left as she walked into the forest, not even looking back at them.

They didn't see the tears pouring down her face or her hands shaking as she was forced to make her way to the mountainside, where Chase was still standing, waiting for her.

Kimiko hadn't needed the full hour to see her friends. In fact, she'd barely used up forty-minutes of her time. Wuya was nowhere to be seen.

Kimiko sniffed and wiped her eyes as she jogged up the mountain pass. It would take her a while to get to Chase this way, but at least she was willing to try. There was the familiar poof as someone teleported behind her. She stopped jogging, turned around in time to see the green smoke clearing. Chase Young looked furious.

"Why did you do it?" He snarled at her. "You are supposed to be loyal to me now, or does your word no longer count for anything? Do you want to be a slave, Kimiko? Would you prefer to be treated this way? It can be arranged! I am so furious with you! I thought you were making progress!" Chase growled at her. "You deliberately disobeyed my orders, and I shall not make the mistake of being so lenient with the level of freedom you have within my home again!"

Chase gritted his teeth and walked towards her. He stuck out his arm and struck her sharply across the face. Kimiko gasped and grabbed her stinging cheek. Chase moved his fingers into her hair and knotted them tightly in it. He got a firm grip on her hair and dragged her along the mountainside pass by her hair. She attempted to prise his fingers away, holding her hair just beneath where he was to lessen the pain. She groaned as Chase tugged harder. Kimiko stopped attempting to fight back and ignored the pain. Kimiko had been expecting punishment. Seeing her friends for one last time would make every punishment Chase could give to Kimiko seem worthwhile.

With a frustrated growl, Chase snapped his fingers and they both disappeared into the familiar cloud of green smoke.

Wuya looked around the corner to where Chase and Kimiko had both been stood moments ago. She smiled to herself and moved away from the rocks. That's exactly what you get for trusting somebody, Kimiko, She thought. With a smirk, she disappeared into the smoke.