A/N: I can't begin to say how thankful I am to receive such lovely reviews from you guys! You guys really make my day! I'd like to thank khooxp for giving me an idea for this chapter ;) Sorry again if it's not well-written like the previous chapters; I had trouble relaying my words.

This chapter is slightly longer than I had anticipated soooo… ^^;

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Summary: Tala is adopted into a loving home, starting a new life but he had to his friends behind. It's not quite often blessings come in disguises but in this case, it's more than a blessing; it's a gift.

Chapter 4: My Friends

I can't believe I'm doing this, I thought bitterly after staring at my laptop screen for at least half an hour. I sighed aloud, pinching the area between my eyes having the sense of 'I'm about to regret this' moment. My finger moved the cursor involuntarily to the 'Send' button. It was done. I couldn't believe mom asked me to invite my buddies to a formal dinner. It almost seemed like a joke; invite them to a black tie party? Them? The Blitzkrieg Boys? Really? Just thinking about it made my head throb. Those guys weren't particularly accustomed to high class etiquette. Those guys? Let me correct myself: Bryan wasn't accustomed to high class etiquette but then again, Ian wasn't either. I could always count on Spencer; during our tours last year Spencer and I attended many black tie parties, dealing with sponsorships and fans.

I can't believe mom told me to do this… My eyes travelled to the intricately carved ceiling with my fingers involuntarily tapping the arm rest demonstrating my agitation.

My eyes snapped to large window to my right. I have the urge to jump through the glass to my ultimate doom. I sighed aloud.

I walked downstairs with hands stuffed in my pockets, heading into the dining room. When I pushed the door open, my eyes had to adjust to the insane amount of Christmas decorations the room offered; Christmas lights were attached to mostly everything, intertwined with silver garlands, golden bells and red silk bows. On the walls were snowflake cutouts made by Calina, dazzled in silver and blue glitter. There was a large silver banner hung at the end of the hall spelling out: MERRY CHRISTMAS in bold, capitalized red letters. Wow. Inessa turned around giving me a warm smile as she climbed down the ladder, approaching me.

"Good morning sweetheart,"

I shuddered.

Inessa laughed, "I take it you don't like being called 'sweetheart'."

"No."

I nodded. I hated that term! So mushy… so… lovable.

Inessa chuckled. "Alright, I won't call you that again, I promise."

Somehow, I didn't believe her. Feeling a blush creeping up on my cheeks I quickly shook my head, immediately changing the subject.

"Anything you want me to help with?"

"I'm glad you asked," Inessa signaled one of the maids named Irene to approach me. "I want you and Irene to go up to the attic and fetch some decorations. Think you two can handle that?"

We nodded. Irene walked around me heading to the door, guiding me down the emerald green marble floors, candlelit hallways and up the carpet covered stairs. Reaching the top floor, Irene instructed me to stand aside as she pulled a chair from the hallway. I took several steps back watching her climb onto the chair with fingers trying to pry open the lock carefully. I heard her grunt, cursing quietly in French. With a distinct 'click', she slowly lowered the latch until—

"LOOK OUT!"

She lost her footing; the ladder from above exploded out of the latch, crashed down with such force knocking Irene off the chair. I did what any Good Samaritan would do; become a cushion. Groans echoed from below. I couldn't move at the moment with Irene on my back. I felt her heel dug into the back of my hand. Ow.

"Master Ivanov!" She shrieked. She quickly got up pulling me to my feet. Irene quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket dusting my clothes. "I'm sorry!"

I immediately ceased her hand. Irene tensed. There we were eye to eye. Without my knowledge I employed my death glare, the same look I use on my opponents. I didn't realize I was scaring her until she quickly turned away. She immediately withdrew her hand.

"My apologies."

An hour later we made our way back down from the attic with Christmas ornament boxes.

"Irene," I spoke up as I carefully walked down the stairs. "I'm sorry for before,"

She continued walking, increasing her strides. "I-It's nothing, Master Ivanov." I watched her quickly run down the stairs heading toward the dining room.

I sighed. I really should work on my death glare or better yet, not use it at all.

Later that evening, I was up in my room adjusting my tux, observing myself in the mirror. I look nothing short of a ridiculous penguin. Now that I'm alone, I couldn't help but to think about today's guests. How would they behave? I remembered Gregori informing me of the rules. I sighed aloud, rubbing my temples. I could just feel it now; somebody would swear. Glancing over myself one last time, I was ready. My eyes moved to my golden watch on my left hand; it was just quarter to six. I breathed slowly.

"Let's get this over with."

I was downstairs with my father talking with red wine in hand. I swirled the red liquid in its glass enclosure, round and round hoping it could tell me the future. I knew this was nonsense so I stopped. At the corner of my eye, I saw a small smile from Gregori.

"What?" I snapped but I didn't like it when people suddenly smile at me for no good reason.

"Worried about your teammates?"

I nodded, taking in a large sip and replied, "I'm beyond worried, Gregori…"

My fears soon proved true when a butler approached Gregori informing of the guest's arrival. I quickly looked around for another glass of wine. There, my eyes landed on several filled glasses of wine at the far end of the hall, enticing me to drink. I was about to make my way until Gregori dragged me by the arm to greet my best buddies in the whole wide world!

I stood at the door with dad by my side. Any minute now, Bryan's voice would explode from the other side going on about how big the house was and how lucky I was. After that, I would hear Spencer's voice calming down Bryan to keep his mouth shut just in case some colorful vocabulary slipped out. What would I give to crawl into a hole right now. Hell, I don't even know why I'm freaking out like this!

Without realizing, I began to twiddle my thumbs. It was a habit I caught from Ian; whenever he was nervous he began twiddling his thumbs to somehow, speed up time. I did the same. It was a contagious habit which could not be properly cured. Feeling eyes on me, I nervously stuffed my hands into my pockets.

"Yo, check out this door! It has golden door knobs on it!"

I believe that was Bryan. I wanted to face-palm or smack my head against the wall multiple times.

"Bryan, where are your manners? It was nice Tala to invite all of us so…"

That was Spencer. I failed to decipher the last couple of words from Spencer but one could assume they were warnings. The door creaked open. I watched—no, glared at my teammates entering this humble abode. To my surprise, my friends remained silent. I half-expected them to release 'Ooos' and 'Ahhhs' due to the interior's fine infrastructure. With butlers removing their coats, they approached Gregori shaking his hand. Then all eyes fell on me. I coughed, clearing my throat.

"Dad, these are my teammates: the Blitzkrieg Boys," I turned around for a slight moment glaring at them to be on their utmost best behavior, "This is Spencer,"

Spencer shook Gregori's hand. "Nice to meet you. It is a pleasure to be here, sir."

"This is Bryan,"

"Hiya!"

I cringed. At the corner of my eye, Gregori didn't seem to mind.

"And this is Ian."

I watched the small teen raise up his hand to shake Gregori's massive digits, nodding in submission. "Hello."

Gregori took a step back and looked at all four of us. He was reminded we were once Russia's National Champions and I could proudly say he was glad to have one of them in his home. Of course I wasn't sure if he thought that but just thinking about it made me proud.

"Wonderful!" Gregori clapped his hands signaling the butlers to come, serving us drinks, "So these are the famous Blitzkrieg Boys! I'm so proud to have one of my sons to be a part of the team!"

Okay, now I could gloat. We talked for thirty minutes until Gregori dismissed me to give my friends a tour of the house. Placing wine glasses on the table, I motioned them to follow. It was then the sound of 'Ooos' and 'Ahhhs' echoed as we walked through hallways aligned with priceless marble statues and drapes imprinted with the Murin's family crest. Ian could not stop gazing at the paintings aligning the walls; to him, they almost seemed too life-like, ready to explode out of the frame. His fingers reached touching the edge of the golden frame.

"This is real gold, isn't it?"

I nodded. They better get used to the fact everything in his house was real. I could see where Ian came from; all our lives we were tricked into things which never existed. It was a habit to believe everything in front of us was illusions. Reaching the music room, I opened its large golden doors guiding them inside. Strange; I watched Spencer walking directly to a violin as his fingers grazed its wooden glossy finish. He turned around to me.

"May I?"

I nodded. None of us expected this; Spencer picked up the violin bracing it on his shoulder. We sat down on the couch observing his movements. I never expected this, so did Bryan and Ian. Spencer tested out the violin stringing a couple of tunes. We watched him breathe in sync with his hand movements, moving along the strings. A tune abruptly erupted into fast musical vibes sending us into a world of notes and dreams. The notes took us to a far, far away place following the path laid out by the notes demanding more and more—

Spencer stopped. All of us were at the edge of our seats waiting for the next note; it never came. How long were we entranced by the music? Glancing over at the grandfather clock in the corner, Spencer enchanted us for fifteen minutes! My legs moved without my authority; I stood up, clapping as loud as I could. That was brilliant! Never before had I heard a musical piece played to perfection.

"Spencer," my mouth spoke before my brain could process what was going on. I was literally speechless by his musical talent, "I had no idea you played the violin. Hell, I didn't know you played any instruments!"

Spencer cleared his throat, adjusting his cuffs nervously. He placed the violin back to its original position, stepping away from it. We knew whenever Spencer received a compliment; he'd try not to blush. Sudden phantom claps caught our attention; we followed the sounds to the door. Inessa leaned by the wall with Irene hidden around the corner of the oak doorframe.

"Amazing," Inessa approached my teammates shaking hands with each of them. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Inessa Murin, Tala's mother."

I saw Bryan's mouth open at the corner of my eye. I believe I could assume Bryan was taken by Inessa's expensive threads or Irene.

"Well boys, dinner will be served in fifteen minutes. See you there,"

The moment the door closed, Bryan turned his head to me placing both hands on my shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

"Who. Was. That?"

Bryan questioned me, shaking me until I felt my brain did flops in my skull.

"My mom." I replied narrowing my eyes.

"No, the other girl."

Ow, that hurt you incompetent moron! Keep your voice down!

"Irene, our maid." I replied again.

There was a glint in his eye. Ugh.

"Is she taken?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Do I look like a mind reader to you?"

I dusted off his hands adjusting my suit, ironing out creases made by him. For ten minutes, the hallway echoed with Bryan's obsessive questioning about Irene. I tried my best to answer him to only to have my replies interrupted with more questions. I give up. We entered the hall with Gregori motioning us to our seats. We sat in a group followed by the Murins and Irene, who sat between Bryan and Inessa. She never took notice Bryan's gazed was locked on her.

Gregori stood up with a wine filled crystal goblet, "Today, we welcome Russia's own Blitzkrieg Boys! I couldn't be more honored to host such talented guests and our son's friends,"

Claps echoed. I quickly turned my head away hiding my blush.

"A friend of our son is a friend of ours," Gregori turned his attention to us. In response we smiled back lifting up our glasses acknowledging his kind words. "Let is make a toast to our son and his friends!"

Dinner could be described as the feast for the gods; platter after platter food was brought and laid in rows in front of us. I couldn't even begin to describe what types of delicacies lay before me. Reaching out my fork and knife, I sliced a good chuck of turkey moving it onto my plate. No matter how many times I stare at the food, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. My mind took me back to my days at the abbey where food was not served on a silver platter with polished utensils, adorned with sauces or even a simple candle to see in the darkness. Nothing. We were treated worse than dogs. We weren't even treated as humans. We were machines.

I never noticed I clutched my knife so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Tala, something the matter?" I snapped out of my gaze meeting eye to eye with Inessa.

I shook my head. "Nothing, mom."

I glanced over to my friends for a moment and as I suspected; they probably thought the same thing too. Well, the past was the past; nothing was going to haunt us now.

Placing down my fork after a good twenty minutes of fine dining, I wiped my mouth turning my attention Calina. The young girl dressed in green and red apparently was staring at me for the longest time without my knowledge.

"Yes, Calina?"

"Who's that sitting there?" I turned my head to the side. "Which one?"

"That guy!" she pointed. I followed her finger that landed on Ian. I couldn't help but smirk; this was going to be interesting.

"This is Ian, one of my teammates."

Calina squealed, hopped off her chair. I saw her little hazelnut colored pony tail bob up and down as she skipped around the table reaching me. She dug her face into my sleeve and whispered, "Can you ask your friend if I can dance with him?"

Oh? My little sister wants to dance with Ian? That could be arranged. Without warning, I grabbed Ian's arm, yanking him off the chair. Everybody watched the short teen drop his fork in protest to my actions. I dragged them both to an open area in the dining room. Ian, before he could speak was in the arms of Calina who giggled, holding his hands dancing to music in her head. I took a couple of steps back watching Ian's face turn a shade redder.

I glanced over to my parents who couldn't help but laugh. Gregori placed down his wine glass turning to Inessa, "Would you like to dance with me m'lady?"

Everything was looking great, I admit watching my family have fun and my teammates who I barely see smile. Leaning by the wall, I took another shot of vodka tapping my foot against the rhythm. Every so often someone would ask me to join but I politely declined; dancing wasn't one of my strong points. I watched Bryan and Irene dance together gracefully. Gracefully was one of the terms I never used with Bryan but I must admit, he knew how to dance. As the music got louder, I excused myself, placing the shot glass on the table, walking down the hallway away as the tunes faded with the darkness. I headed toward a large window panel pressing my fingers against it with eyes peeled to the sky. Any moment now, I thought, watching, waiting.

It was as if the snow gods heard my call; snow fell from the sky one by one with the wind gently nudging them left and right.

"You always liked watching the snow fall,"

I turned and locked gazes with my teammates.

Pushing myself from the window I asked, "You guys done dancing?"

"Yep," Ian replied. "I can't believe you did that to me!"

"Hey, I couldn't say no to Calina," I smirked. "Besides, she really had fun."

Spencer spoke, "Hey Tala, your mom said she wants us to see a picture you took yesterday? Can we see it?"

I guided my friends down the hallway turning a corner before we headed upstairs to the hall of portraits. Once again I stood face to face with the family picture we took yesterday.

The boy who smiled from his heart, I thought. I never thought I'd see the day.

"You look happy." I turned my attention to Bryan. He reached his fingers out touching the picture and smiled at me. "You've found yourself a good family, Tala, you really did."

"I know," I turned my attention back to the picture seeing the smiles from my family.

"I wonder if we're gonna be as lucky as you…" Bryan trailed off.

"What?" I turned my head to him again but this time I caught nervous looks from both Ian and Spencer. "What's—"

Spencer stepped forward placing a hand on my shoulder, "Mr. Dickenson informed us one of us will be going next,"

I didn't mean for my heart to plummet to the soles of my feet. I should be happy, hell, I should be ecstatic for them! Finally, they could receive a loving family they craved for all their lives. For a chance to be normal, they'd do anything.

I shook my head, "Are you sure you guys want this?" I had to ask, I had to be sure.

"Yeah," Bryan replied placing his hands behind his head. "We thought it through. Spencer and Ian did, I'm staying on my own."

I turned my attention to Spencer. "This is what you want?"

He nodded.

I turned to Ian. "You too?"

He nodded. I just remembered we were always together as a team… as friends. It was hard for me to admit they were more than just teammates but they were my best friends. I felt things weren't going to be the same; everybody would be scattered to different parts of the country or perhaps, different parts of the world. I lowered my head…

"Hey," it was Spencer's voice. I couldn't look him directly in the eye. "Let's not think about that okay? Why don't we have a good beybattle for old times' sake?"

The long arm of the clock struck midnight. The front doors were open. Outside, a good foot of snow was shoved to the sides revealing cobblestone steps snaking their way through to the waiting ivory limousine. There we stood, all four of us. With conversations fading one by one, I said goodbyes to my friends. Each one stepped out into the snow soon to be covered by white. I never realized after several steps they took, they were farther and farther from me; I couldn't reach them anymore! My legs instinctively moved own their own with my arm outstretched. I saw each of their faces turning around to me, almost one last time. I saw their lips move, they said something to me. What were they saying? A strong gush of wind knocked me back inside the house. I shielded my face from the cruel cold breeze scraping my skin, leaving cold sores as a reminder.

When the winds settled, I removed my arms. I reached out my arm again hoping to catch a glimpse of them. They slipped through my fingers… They were gone.