Things Change & People Change

Raimundo's POV

I watched as Kimiko got up from the ground and began to quickly walk away back into the Temple, but stopped when she saw Master Fung and Dojo. Master Fung placed a hand on her shoulder, but she quickly brushed it off her and was about to go inside, until I spoke up.

"What exactly happened back there Kimiko?" I asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about Raimundo, now if you'll excuse me I'd like to get cleaned up now." She said.

"No we're not finished talking yet Kim," I replied and she turned to face me and then looked at our friends.

"Kimiko . . . what happened back there?" Omi questioned.

"Why didn't you fight back against the monster with your powers? He could have killed you had Raimundo not saved you." Clay asked.

"I . . . I was just in a panic that's all. I was overwhelmed since I haven't had to fight anyone in the past three years." She explained and was about to walk away, until I got in her way.

"That's not true or else your fighting skills wouldn't have been good. Now answer the question . . . Why didn't you just use your powers to stop the monster, or even burn Marcel's hand when he touched you!?" I exclaimed and she looked angry and confused.

"Because . . .!" She sighed.

"Because what!?"

"Because I can't!" She shouted.

Suddenly there was silence in the air now as no one said a word and waited to see if Kimiko would talk again. She looked up at me with those blue eyes of her and then turned away and sighed deeply out of frustration.

"Why can't you use them Kim? What happened?" I asked her softly and nicely now as she then turned to me and looked into my eyes.

"I can't use them because of what happened to me about two years ago . . ." She sighed hugging herself and shaking a little.

"Two years ago?" Omi questioned.

"What happened two years ago little lady?" Clay asked as they started to gather around her.

"Something that has haunted me for the past two years that I wish it had never happened and that I could forget . . ." She spoke and I saw her eyes become watery and soon Master Fung came to her side to comfort her.

"Let us not speak out here . . . Let us go inside and talk . . ." Master Fung said and we all went inside.

We all now gathered in the dining room table and sat down as Dojo serves us our tea. I sat next to Kimiko, but not pushing any more questions on her as she looked so stressed, scared, and upset. For a while we all sat in silence. I couldn't help, but wonder what had happened to Kimiko these past three years that made her this way . . . to make her lose her powers . . . She looked so scared and even broken inside like she had lost something inside of her that once made her herself. She was still shaking even now . . . this was hard for her to talk about . . .

"Kimiko . . ." I spoke and she flinched a little by the sound of my voice.

"Look all I was going to say is . . . Despite how much I want to know what happened to you two years ago . . . You don't have to tell us, if you don't want to." I spoke and all eyes went to me, including Kimiko's as she stared at me in surprise.

"If Kimiko doesn't want to tell us, then she doesn't have to . . . It's her business what happened and if it's causing her this much trouble then as her friends we should just support her and not question her on what happened. All we need to know is that her powers are gone and that we will do what we can to get it back for her. . ." I explained.

"Raimundo's right . . . you don't have to tell us anything Kimiko." Clay spoke.

"We are you're friends and therefore we trust you . . ." Omi replied.

She looked at all of us as we gave her warm smiles, but she in return did not smile. She suddenly stood up and looked at us with those blue sad eyes of hers.

"I'm sorry," She suddenly said and began to walk away, until I followed her.

She was heading toward her room and when I called out for her, she wouldn't stop and her pace became faster. When I got closer to her I grabbed her hand, but she quickly snatched her hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed and I noticed fear in her eyes.

She quickly turned away from me, but she still stood there not moving anymore. I could hear her give a deep sigh before turning back to me.

"I'm sorry . . . I just need some space." She apologized.

"You need a friend, who you can talk to Kim." I replied and she looked up at me.

"Come on Kim, you and I used to be so close you said yourself! Now look at us . . . Speaking less to each other and being more distant toward each other . . . Why can't we be like that again?" I asked her and I saw her give a small smile, but a single tear slipped from her face as she spoke.

"Because you and I have changed . . . We can no longer be the same people we once were." She spoke softly trying not to choke up on her words.

I moved a little closer to her and slowly placed my hand on her cheek. She didn't move though as she only looked into my eyes. I slowly wiped the tear off her cheek and gave a small smile to her.

"You still look the same to me . . . If memory serves you looked exactly like this the last time I saw you when we said good-bye." I spoke and more tears fell from her eyes.

"Kimiko you're right . . . I do have secrets that I'm still keeping from all of you. However, I'm willing to tell you if you really want to know . . . You are my friend and I trust you." I spoke.

She looked at me for a while with my hand still on her cheek, but slowly nodded. I smiled and decided to take her to the one place where I knew she'd feel more relaxed. As we left the Temple grounds we headed toward the cherry blossom tree on the hill. Realizing where we were going, I could tell by Kimiko's reaction that she was surprised. As we sat down by the tree together, I could still tell she was in deep thought with herself and what had just happened. It pained me to see her this way, but maybe after hearing my story she might feel better with herself.

"After my mother's death . . . I changed a lot." I spoke and she started to listen to me now as she looked at me.

Kimiko's POV

"After she died, I had totally lost it. I was angry, upset, and frustrated with myself. I was never there for her to take care of my brothers and sisters. After my father died she was always providing for us. So losing her, I felt like I lost a part of me inside. That night I went to a club with my brother Carlos where we went to clear our minds. That night I drank for the first time and got totally wasted with my brother . . . Then we met Marcel that same night . . ." He explained and my eyes widen a little.

"Marcel showed us how to just relax and have fun. At the time he was my friend who I could count on for anything. He always had my back whether we got into gang fights, or even got caught stealing from people . . . Marcel was the strongest out of all of us and I don't even think I could beat him." He went on.

"However, after everything I had done I was never truly satisfied with myself. I mean for a while we had everything we could have possibly wanted, I mean with my wind powers we were at the time unstoppable. But it never felt right to me after everything I had done. In fact I began to turn into someone I wasn't. Soon Marcel became too obsessed over power that he would do anything to get it. He became ruthless and he was becoming a darker person. That's when Carlos and I got out and left to go back to our family and take care of them. Marcel never forgave us as we betrayed him and left ending our friendship with him. Then after that I started to become a real man and took care of my family. Carlos and I never looked back at that past and never will return to it." He explained more.

Hearing all this was a big shock to me as Raimundo wasn't the same person I once knew. In truth I actually could believe that all happened to Raimundo. He once fell to the Heylin side before, but thankfully he came to his senses and came back to us . . . to me . . .

"So that's my story . . . I've done things I've not proud of back in Rio, but being back here at the Xiaolin Temple's made me realize I have to live with my mistakes and make up for it in the future." Rai said.

"Wow," I replied.

"I think Master Fung's monk wisdom started to rub off on me." Rai joked and I gave a small laugh to which he smiled.

"The question is how did Marcel meet Chase and how does he play a part now in Chase's plan." Rai questioned.

"I'm not sure . . . It seems to me though your friend got some new powers. Will have to be extra careful now." I answered.

"Yeah . . . I guess a lot had changed as much as I hate to admit it. I never wanted things to change, especially not between us . . ." He spoke surprising me and making me blush a little.

I saw him staring at me as I looked into his green eyes which I had always admired. I quickly looked away feeling a little awkward and a little uncomfortable.

Raimundo's POV

As she turned away from me, I could tell she felt uncomfortable being here with me. Maybe I pushed it a little too much. I didn't want to cause her anymore trouble then she already has with herself, but . . . what had been bugging me more was not just her secret, but what that kiss meant after we said our good-byes to each other. I learned over the past three years that Kimiko was always on my mind no matter how many times I tried to block her away after who I had become at the time. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't forget her or that kiss.

"Kimiko, there's another thing I want to talk about . . . that deals between us." I spoke and she slowly turned toward me.

"What is it?" She asked fully looking at me.

I felt really nervous now all of sudden and couldn't bring myself at first to mention it to her. I watched as she waited for me to answer her, but every time I tried to talk nothing came out.

"Rai is everything alright?" She asked and then I built up the courage to ask her finally.

"You remember the day we parted right?" I asked her and she looked at me confused, but nodded.

"Yes why?" She asked.

"What did it mean to you?"

"Mean what to me?"

"That . . . kiss . . ." I spoke.

Suddenly her eyes went wide and she turned away from me and I could tell she was being a little shy now, but honestly so did I.

"Rai . . . It was just me saying good-bye to you, that's all." She explained, but I didn't believe it.

"Then why only to me? Why did you kiss me and not Clay or Omi?" I questioned and she sighed getting up, but not walking away but only pacing around the tree.

"Rai I don't want to talk about this either."

"You don't ever want to talk about anything! Just tell me what it meant to you!?" I exclaimed standing up too now.

"Why does it matter!?"

"It just does!"

"Well what did it mean for you!?" She questioned.

"Everything!" I shouted and she looked at me even more surprised now.

"It meant everything . . . When you kissed me, is felt different from when other girls have kissed me before. It actually left an impression on me . . . like a spark. The truth is back then I did really like you, but I didn't tell you because I thought you only saw me as a friend. However, after you kiss me, it gave me hope that you might actually like me too. Now tell me you didn't feel it too." I spoke.

She only sighed and looked away from me. I walked over to her, but she took a few steps back to me and I stopped. She sighed deeply and began to speak.

"Rai . . . You have been my best friend and we've been through everything together. I don't want to ruin the friendship we have." She replied, but she didn't answer my question.

"You still didn't answer my question." I replied.

"Does even really need an answer?"

"Yes, it really does . . . If you can tell me you didn't feel anything then I'll walk away and forget this conversation ever happened, but if you can't . . . Well then I'll know it meant something."

For a while she didn't answer and I was getting more nervous with each passing second. She would glance at me a few times, but then stare out into the distance. Soon though she gave in and spoke.

"I can't answer you at all." She finally spoke as I walked over to her and took her soft hand in mine.

"Because you did feel something and you're scared to admit it." I replied.

"So what if I am!? Rai . . . I've changed and I'm not the person I once was anymore. You wouldn't want a girl like me after what had been done to me . . . what I had gone through . . ." She answered and pulled her hand away, until I grabbed it back and held it tightly.

"It's killing you . . . that secret. You want to tell me, but you're too afraid of my reaction to it, but please Kimiko just tell me so you don't have to keep suffering alone anymore! Just tell me!" I exclaimed and I watched as she closed her eyes tightly and then began to shake again and then spoke.

"Two years ago . . . I was walking down the streets of Tokyo heading back to the company. I began to notice someone following me and I tried to lose him, but I couldn't . . . Eventually I turned into an ally and ended at a dead end . . . Soon enough the man had pinned me down and took me out. I tried to use my powers to stop him, but I was too afraid of him I guess and I couldn't use them. Before I knew it . . . Oh god . . ." She cried and I held her close to me now as I warped my arms around her.

"What happened?" I whispered to her and through her soft cries she spoke.

"He ended up raping me . . .!" She cried.

My eyes widen and anger built up in my and I began to hold her tightly as she cried through the pain. I was seriously pissed right now and wanted to kill the son of a bitch who did this to her. I cursed under my breath, but then looking at Kimiko and the state she was in only made me want to comfort her. I stroked her hair softly and held her close as she let all the tears come out. She was in a lot of pain and stress before and now I see why. What she had been through was worse then what I had went through and now I understood why it was hard for her to admit all of this to me. I was just being a jack ass and kept questioning her.

"It's going to be alright Kimiko . . . I promise I will never let anything like that ever happen to you again . . . Not as long as I'm here . . ." I vowed to her.