First off, I would like to thank every single ONE of my reviewers for all of the feedback you guys give me every time I update!! D Thanks so much you guys, I LOVE reading your reviews!!
Secondly, I am so TERRIBLY sorry that I have not been updating as much lately. I've been extremely occupied in my movie making over on YouTube, and since it's almost the end of my summer, I've been VERY active and busy with my friends and stuff. So, I'm sorry guys, please forgive me. :D

Now then, the next few chapters will be the last (D:), and I will not update for a while, because I will be working on the next few chapters, which I hope you will find epic by the way. :D

Anyway, PLEASE enjoy the chapter! I swear, this will probably be the last short chapter I write in this story. Well, maybe the next chapter, but then it's all LONG. :D Hooray...

Anyway, enjoy pleases!! D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THIS STORY, BESIDES THE IDEA!! XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN BELONGS TO CHRISTY HUE, CARTOON NETWORK, AND WB!! THIS FIC IS PURELY FAN MADE AND NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGENMENT IS INTENDED!!

13

Rai POV

When the sun was high in the sky, I was still walking.

I don't know how far I'd walked, but I knew that I'd come far enough from the temple for the others to be safe enough, if Long didn't attack them anyway.

I knew that Kimiko and the others would have found the scrolls by now. I wondered how Kimiko would have reacted, but then cringed away from it. Kimiko would probably want to kill me. Oh well, let her feel that way. This was for everyone's good.

I stopped when I reached a clearing with a small pond in it. I knelt by it, washing off my face, letting the cool water drip down my neck.

I walked away, to the base of a weeping willow. The lagging green stems made a shelter. The base was cool, and I couldn't resist shutting my eyes for just a few minutes...

"Rai."

My eyes flew open, and I sat straight up. The moon was high in the sky, casting silver light around the clearing. And, standing next to the water, illuminated in the moonlight, was Kim.

Her hair had fallen out of its normal pig tails, and now hung all over her face. Her eyes had deep shadows under them, like she'd been walking all day and night. But to me, she still looked pretty, even though her blue eyes were sparkling with an intense anger.

At first, I thought I was hallucinating. But then I thought, it was like Kimiko, to come after me like this.

I stood up, leaving my bag where it was. I wanted to run to her and hug her, just to be sure that she was real. But Kim didn't show any sign that she wanted this. All she did was stare at me, the anger in her eyes growing more intense.

Suddenly, the anger vanished, and replacing it, was relief. She ran to me, and threw her arms around me, crying "I never thought I'd see you again!" As suddenly as it had happened, she pulled away, backing away from me a few inches and placing her hands on her hips. The anger was back.

"Raimundo Pedroso!" she screamed. "Do you have any freaking idea how worried I've been!? The others are worried too! How could you leave us like that?! Especially when we're only five days away from a battle! I shouldn't have even hugged you! You..."

Her voice trailed off and her eyes stared at the ground, as though she were trying to think of what else to say.

"I'm sorry Kim" I mumbled, shuffling my feet and feeling like an idiot.

"You damn well be!" Kim whispered angrily, although her voice had softened. She looked back at me, her eyes soft. "I think I know how to show how I feel" she whispered, her eyes glistening with love as she looked at me.

She raised her hand.

And brought it full force across my cheek.

"Ow!" I shouted, immediately lifting my hand to my cheek as the stinging spread.

"That's for leaving!" Kim hissed. Her gaze softened again. "Now then..."

She hugged me, tightly. "I was so worried about you, I thought that you'd died!" she blabbered into my chest.

I was really at a loss for what to say. When your girlfriend yells at you, looks like she's about to kiss you, slaps you, and then hugs you, you tend to be at a loss for what to say. But I hugged her back, the empty void that had filled my chest for the past twenty four hours vanishing like dew.

"I'm glad you're safe" she whispered.

She pulled away from me, looking at me. Her face broke out into a wide, happy smile as she said "Let's go home."

"Raimundo Pedroso!" Omi yelled, marching up to me the second we walked through the gates. "Have you any idea how worried we've been!?"

I couldn't help grinning. Omi had always looked a little funny when he was mad. "Only a whole lot?" I guessed.

"Much more than that, partner" Clay said, coming up behind Omi. "We've been up all night, waiting for you."

I bit my lip, looking at the ground despairingly. "Sorry" I muttered.

"You should be" Kimiko threw in. "What were you thinking, Rai!?"

"I thought that I had been a terrible leader, and that they were only after me, not you guys."

It sounded so stupid when it came out of my mouth.

"Well, at least you were thinking of us" Kim murmured.

Omi's face grew less red.

Clay clapped his hands together. "Well now!" he exclaimed. "I'm ready for breakfast, and then I think we should start planning how we're going to defeat these varmints, don't you?"

My face worked its way into a wide grin. "I think that's an excellent idea."

Okay, so I lied. This isn't a very long chapter, and it was extremely awful. xP Jeez, I hated how this came out...

But at least I'm updating, right? The next chapters are going to be long. Yesh yesh, I know I've said that before, but I mean it this time. xD

So, um, I hope that you guys don't mind me taking so long...I want the ending to be EPIC. :)

So please review, despite how awful and short this chapter was, and thank you for reading!! .