Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. (Well, I may own the original ones, but not the main ones.) Also, I get nothing from this but practice writing. That means I can be sued, but they can only claim tutoring in writing as compensation (I think.)

I'd like to give a shout out to my word processors spellchecker. You work so hard, and get nothing in return.

:}

Jade sat there, unable to accept Beck's revelation. 'It can't be right.' She thought, as hard earned cynicism screamed at her not to believe the pretty words her ex was saying. Jade was lost for a moment in conflicted seas of hope and frustration. To accept what Beck was saying was to drop her guard, and Jade didn't drop her guard unless she knew she was safe. Jade would never allow herself to be hurt like that again.

Beck continued. "Your father may be a jerk about it, but he does love you."

"Riiight." Jade's sardonic tone tore the air.

"It's true. I know it's hard to believe, but..." he was cut off by the fighter.

"Look, Beck, you don't know my family..." The goth only got part way before her ex returned the favor and cut her off.

"But I do." he replied. "I've studied them intently, from back when we started dating. I know your father has trouble showing it, but he loves you." Jade's eyes started to water. That was the problem with Beck. Once they stopped dating and became friends, her ex became safe, someone she trusted enough to let down her guard. She trusted him to tell her the truth, even when it might hurt. And on top of her feeling safe with the handsome Canadian, as safe as she could feel with anyone, she knew he cared. Well, she knew now. "I know you've spent a lot of time with Adan, and Wyatt, and it amazed me that you never once saw it. You never figured out that all that time, the time they spent teaching you, you know, one on one, was their way of showing they cared. It was their way of spending time with you."

"Beck!" Her voice was sharp, and he knew this was dangerous territory, but he wasn't going to stop. The actor hoped there was enough time left in study hall to finish this discussion, and that Jade would let him. He'd waited so long to have it with her.

"I'm a guy, I know how guys can be." He tried. "Sometimes, when they have trouble showing their emotions, they do things, fix things, to show they care. A lot of girls get their stereo's set up that way." He smiled, hoping the half joke would help keep her walls down. That's when he saw that hint of wavering in her eyes. He had her. "Your brother, your step grandfather, both of them wanted to spend time with you, and teaching you gave them an excuse. Also, you can defend yourself, that's something they both wanted." He took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his hair. Time for the big reveal. "What they didn't want was for you to get hurt. That's why they were so distant for a while. They were wondering if they were responsible for your almost dying."

"So it's all my fault?" Jade said. Beck felt the chill run down his spine. She said it without any of the usual spite, which was a whole new type of scary coming from the girl. He'd broken through her walls, and felt dirty for doing it. Now he had to protect her as he helped her see the truth.

"Well" he smirked. "Not really. Just some of it. We as a species don't communicate well, not across gender. But even your father cares. He tries, by making sure your provided for, but sometimes he doesn't know what to do. He never understood that sometimes, a hug is more valuable than a car. Just give him a chance, and be patient, and he'll maybe be able to let you know how much he cares."

"So I have to do the work to get him to tell me he cares about me?" Jade asked. Beck inwardly groaned. She was looking for a fight, and he wasn't going to give it to her.

"No, just be patient. And Jade... what you're feeling right now, the uncertainty, the discomfort, this is what you need to share with Tori. I'm your friend, I'll be there for you, but once you get it through your head that they all love you, I mean really get it, you need to share this vulnerability with Tori." He smiled that million watt smile. "Only, wait a little longer. We don't want Tori thrown into the deep end to quickly."

Jade gave a humorless chuckle. "No, we don't want that." She started gathering her stuff, and he could see she was shaken. "Thanks for the pep talk." Her voice was steady, she was rebuilding the walls.

"No problem." He said. "And Jade, when your ready, you should talk to your dad."

"That's going to happen." Jade said without the normal bile that usually flowed from her voice. Her walls were returning, but weaker, and she'd let someone care about her without expecting anything in return. He knew she'd need time to process that. She headed off to her next class, and the Canadian felt a strange sense of pride. "Four years, and I finally got through." He said, to no one in particular.

"If I knew she needed that, I'd have told her years ago." A voice startled him. He juggled his bag, and as he regained his composure, he turned to where Cat had materialized.

"Did..." Beck swallowed, forcing the lump from his through. "Did Jade teach you that?"

"Nope." Cat said, popping her P. "My brother did. He said people who were highly emotional weren't always the most perceptive." She smiled. "Also, apparently, they don't notice stuff too well either."

"Yea." He said. "Wait, did you know her family loved her?" Suddenly he really wanted to know.

"My brother could be dangerous, even to me, and yet he loves me." She said. "I figure her family is a lot more sane, and certainly they care, since they never got rid of her. So yea, I think I did know."

"Did you know she wasn't ready to hear it?" Beck asked.

"No, I didn't." Cat said, frowning for a second. "I have to go now, so by." she turned and walked away. Beck shook his head and headed to class. He didn't have time to try and understand cat right now. There was too much to process on his end as well.

"Robbie, did you get all of that?' Cat asked her bag.

"Yea, I got it." Robbie's voice replied in her ear. "So, Jade's father loves her. I wish..."

"NO!" cat's voice almost never held this kind of authority. "You dad's a jerk too, but he loves you. Now get over it or see Lane. I don't have time for this. And Robbie?"

"Yea?" He asked, and she could tell her outburst had taken him off guard.

"These things are great. Ask Sinjin what other toys he can get for us to play with." She smiled as she made her way to her next class. "I like playing spy."

That evening, Jade and Trina were doing the last minute record updates for their class. "So I was thinking, if we continue to break the class up, then by the time Stan gets back, we could have several students belted." Trina was saying.

"I want you to work with Andy, or help me do it." Jade said, almost out of no where.

"I know. Private lessons once a week around the Saturday class. A reward for his help." Trina said.

"No, it's more than that. I want him belted, higher belts, as soon as possible." Jade looked up from the desk she was working at. "He's part of the teaching staff now, and I want him at least two advancements above the others. Talk to him about a second private lesson each week."

"And where will we find the time?" Trina asked. "We both have fairly full schedules."

"Sunday mornings, while you're in church. I'll just cancel my brother." Jade said.

"I don't think that's a good idea." The brown belt said. "Why don't you have him drop in on your lessons. Stan'll be there, and the four of you can work on chiz and maybe Andy will learn stuff."

"That's not fair to either Stan or Adam." The goth protested.

"And you cutting out on him is?" Trina asked. "Look, I think Adam wants to spend time with you. Let him. It'll give Stan something to do, and maybe Andy can learn from watching you two. Or at least he'll feel more involved. Besides, Adam's like THE trainer. Andy will get so much better with three black Belts correcting his every mistake."

"I don't know?" Jade waffled.

"I'll just call Mike, see what he thinks." Trina said.

"You can't go over my head." Jade protested. "This is family chiz."

Trina laughed "The whole Dojo is your family's chiz. Come on, we have a class to get to." she said as she got up to head to out.

Jade started class with some basic warmups. Once that was done, she called the class to order. "Today were going to be doing things just a bit differently. While we will have time for individual lessons and even some basic sparring, mostly today we're going to work on conditioning. What that means is if I'm not working with you on something, you'll be running calisthenics with Trina. And any new people, work near Andy here, he'll make sure you know your chiz and that you can keep up. However, when I pull him, let me work with him. Okay, everyone got that? Good. Trina, lets make them sweat."

Jade was a hard teacher, but Trina was a workout junkie. The Latina was in great shape, and worked the class hard. Jade marveled at how Trina seemed to push them to their limits, but never pushed any student too hard. Andy was sweating in minutes, but the kids following him weren't being exhausted. 'I wish I had the time to just go with this. I like the intensity.'

Jade finally had to force herself to stop following the class so she could start pulling groups. She had Andy take a break so his group could work on the basics while she worked with each group. Jade was truly enjoying the workouts. Finally, she was working with Andy one on one, helping him with some new stuff while correcting his form on everything. "Talk to me after class." Jade told him. "But for now, do a cool down with the group, and send Trina over. I want to show her something."

Andy didn't answer, mostly because he didn't have breath enough for it. 'Kids muscular, but no one worked on endurance with that boy.' Jade thought as Trina was sent over. Andy found some strength, and started going through stretching exercises to help the class. "Trina, spar with me."

The two high belts spared through the whole cool down time, Jade working with Trina's timing as well as her ability to read her opponents moves. Jade was enjoying this, and was considering doing one class per week like this. She'd have to have Trina work with Andy on what to do for cool down. The boy did his best, but lacked most of the practice Jade and Trina had. "It's a good idea." Trina said. "At least until they get their endurance up."

"That won't be too long for most of them." Jade said. "As for you, have you considered getting licensed as a trainer? Run an aerobics class?"

"Maybe." Trina replied. "I could make some money, I suppose. But the real question is, will it help my career?"

"Exercise video's." Jade replied.

The break was the usual, with both Jade and Trina answering questions. The whole class was amazed at how much Trina seemed to know. The respect for the brown belt was rising, something Jade had wanted but hadn't realized this would help. Jade did have Trina talk to Andy about his cool down, giving him advice and agreeing to let him know what they were doing if he was going to help run any part of the main class.

The second half of the class was the sparring, and both Jade and Trina spent the whole time correcting the class. None of them were really ready to go all out, so it was counted down and choreographed. Both Jade and Trina took turns working directly with students, who were starting to improve. Finally they dismissed the class, and Jade watched as Andy oversaw the tear down. Andy then walked over to see what Jade wanted. "Or are you going to tell me that Trina is ready for a real man?"|

"I'm going to tell you that I want to work with you more, get you up to speed so that you can continue to help the other students. To do that, I want to know if you can make it to Venice Sunday morning?" Jade said.

"I though you were into chicks?" The Gangsa said.

"I'm training with my brother on Sunday mornings, and was wondering if you wanted to work out with us?" Jade said.

"This is were you say yes." Trina said. Andy jumped from the unexpected voice practically next to him.

"Better, but you're still to easy to notice." Jade told Trina.

:}

Giving those around Jade some love. Beck's not clueless, and Trina's got mad exercise skills. Don't ask whats going on in Cat's head.. Stelth as a running gag, not sure it works. Still...

Reviews are always appreciated.