Hey guys, It's me, the author. Sorry about the... Uhh. Long delay in chapters. I was busy with school, finals, ACT, colleges and stuff like that. So, uh, anyways, please read and review, and I don't own any of the characters or the series. Those belong to Tui T. Sutherland.

Reason #10: Betrayals

Starflight had spent the night crying himself to sleep. He had never felt so bad, in his entire life. And She had caused him to reject the person he loved. After he had slept through the sadness, only anger remained. After showering quickly, he dressed, as though he were a degenerate.

"Bellator. If anyone who isn't Riptide tries to enter, treat them like a thief." He growled out.

"Of course, Sir." Bellator answered as Starflight jumped out his window. There wasn't any more rain, but Starflight couldn't have cared less. He sprinted to the same park he and Riptide had met at. It had been a foggy day…

"Mommy? Why can't I see?" A young Starflight had asked his surrogate mother. She laughed a little.

"Oh, honey. You can see, but there are clouds on the ground." Little Starflight was surprised.

"Do they want to play?" He asked. Clouds belonged in the sky. Maybe they were lonely. His mother laughed again.

"Why don't you go see?" She asked, giving him a genlte push.

"Okay!" Young Starflight ran towards the playground. The fog wasn't that thick, but Starflight's child mind was really good at exaggerating. "Clouds? Do you want to play?"

"The clouds want to play?" A voice answered. Starflight hadn't seen the other little boy. He was sitting on the swings, looking directly at him. Starflight jumped, and ran back to his mother.

"Mommy, there's someone there!" He cried. The other little boy had hopped off the swings and was walking towards them. Starflight's mother smiled.

"Go on. He could become your friend." She encouraged.

"But mommy, I don't want more firends! I have my stuffies at home!" He referred to his gigantic collection of stuffed animals that he slept with every night.

"Are you okay?" The other little boy asked. Starflight hid behind his mother's leg. "Do you want to play with me?" The little boy asked. "What's your name?'

"S-Starflight." Starflight answered timidly. The other little boy smiled.

"I'm Riptide. Want to see if the clouds want to play?" He asked. Starflight nodded sheepishly. His mother moved aside.

"Go play. I'll be right over there." She gestured to the benches just a little ways away. Starflight nodded and followed Riptide to the swing set.

Starflight now sat on the bench his mother had been in all those years ago, watching three and four-year olds play around the smae playground he had used as a kid. He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone whispered behind him.

"Want to see if the clouds want to play?" Riptide was sitting on the other side of the picnic table. Starflight turned around, and hugged him over the table. He could barely keep the tears in his eyes from spilling.

"God I missed you." He said. He let go of Riptide only to wipe his nose on his hoodie. Riptide stood up and then sat down next to Starflight. "You know, you were right."

"About what?"

"Women suck." Starflight and Riptide each barked out a short laugh. They watched the children play. "You remember when we saved her?" He asked.

"Trip down memory lane?" Riptide didn't need to look to know that Starflight was nodding. "Yeah, I do. That was some throw, by the way. Where did you learn that?"

"When you shut yourself away from people, you have much more time to practice useless skills." Starflight answered.

"Remember when we pranked the principal?" Starflight chuckled.

"Which one?" The two of them laughed for a little. "My favorite was the time we blared Sexting over the school loudspeaker."

"Oh boy, did we get in trouble for that one." Riptide chuckled. "No, my favorite was when you hacked his computer to display porn whenever it fell asleep." Starflight laughed.

"Yeah. Good times." Silence filled the space between them. Starflight turned his head to look at Riptide. "Hey, Tide."

"Yeah?" Starflight pondered what to say. In the end, he decided to act. He stood, and placed a quick kiss on Riptide's lips.

"You better hurry." He said, walking away.

Tsunami woke up, the crick in her neck a painful reminder not to sleep on the couch. However, the smell of coffee and pancakes permeated the air, drawing her almost unconsciously to the kitchen. She showed up, and Sunny was there, a bowl of pancake batter, once full, in the sink, the coffee pot happily gurgling away, with four pancakes.

"Morning, Nami." She said, expertly flipping one of the pancakes. Tsunami could only watch, fascinated by the way her body move around the kitchen. She moved with a dangerous grace, like a wild tiger in it's home. She was mesmerized, watching, dazed, as Sunny finished the pancakes, put the sausages on the stove, and poured two mugs of coffee. It wasn't untill the sharp tang of coffee was right under her nose that she reacted.

"You're gorgeous in the kitchen, you know that?" She said, placing a kiss on her lips and taking the mug from her. Sunny blushed.

"Shut up. Go sit. Breakfast is almost ready." She said, turning away sharply. Tsunami laughed, but she obeyed.

"What's the plan today?" she called. Sunny audibly sighed.

"There isn't one." Tsunami sat forward in her seat.

"What?" Sunny appeared out of the kitchen.

"I figured you liked to live your life without making plans. So I didn't. I can if you want me to." She said.

"No no no no. it just shocked me. I figured you liked to have everything planned." She said. Sunny nodded.

"I do. But I figured that I could try things your way one day." Sh said, walking out of the kitchen again, this time, burdened with two plates. The stacks of pancakes were tantalizing, and the smell was making Tsunami drool. A newspaper hit her on the head. "Watch the drool. You're cleaning if you get it messy.

"Oh, I plan to get a lot of things messy." Tsunami growled. Sunny blushed and walked back to her side of the table.

"Eat your breakfast, and then we can figure out what we want to do. We have all day." She said. Tsunami obediently picked up her fork and dug in. For twenty minutes they ate in silence.

"Damn. Those were some good pancakes. What's your secret?" Tsunami held her stomach. Sunny smirked from across the table, similarly full. "Fine. Keep your secrets. I'm taking you hostage, and you're making all of my meals." She peeked at the clock. "Oops." She said.

"What?" Sunny asked, but Tsunami just shrugged her shoulders.

"I had swim practice, but it starts in five minutes. I won't make it." Sunny stood up suddenly.

"Grab your stuff. I'm driving." Tsunami began to complain, but Sunny cut her off. "Nope. You make it to state, and maybe I'll let you make a mess of me, deal?" She smirked confidently. Tsunami grumbled. "What was that?"

"I said fine." Tsunami stood up and went to grab her swim bag. Sunny just smirked at the empty air where Tsunami had been a moment earlier.

Glory was laying on a bed. Whose, she didn't care. All that mattered was the person laying next to her, placing gentle butterfly kisses down her neck. A passionate night deserved a whole day of rest.

"Hey, Glo?" Deathbringer asked. Glory turned over to face him, slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you love me?" Glory just looked at him, stunned.

"What isn't there to love? You're strong, smart," she let her eyelids droop a bit, "and damn good in bed." Deathbringer laughed.

"No, but really, why? There are so many other guys out there, that I just don't understand why you'd want me." Glory sighed and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Remember when we met?" Deathbringer laughed.

"Yeah. You caught me kissing that one cheerleader under the bleachers during a game." She nodded.

"All I remember thinking, in that moment, was: When did God send his angels to earth."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Glory sighed. "Anyways, then, it was an infatuation. I was always trying to get up the courage to talk to you, to go and look for you, but I never could. Then…" Glory blushed just thinking about it.

"You had to get my drunk as into a new set of clothes and drive me home." He just chuckled. "I'd probably appreciate it more if I hadn't been pass-out drunk at the time." Glory laughed.

"Still, you're missing my point. At first, I just wanted the sex. Don't get me wrong, I thought that you had to be a nice guy, but I didn't know you. So, when I picked you up off the side of the street, and you began babbling about personal issues, my view of you changed. I saw the honest, vulnerable guy that you can be. And that's who I fell in love with." Deathbringer was looking over at her.

"So you fell in love with me because I was drunk? Wow. That's something I never expected." He planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Still, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate other aspects of you." She said huskily. Deathbringer smiled and planted his lips at the pulse in her throat. He let out a low growl, and Glory moaned.

"Then let's enjoy the day, shall we, love?"

"Of course." Was Glory's only response.

Hey, guys! Anyways, I'll try to get on a regular update schedule for the last pair of chapters. Yeah, I know this was originally going to be 24, but one of the reasons I had trouble coming back to this was because it seemed super daunting, and I was almost out of ideas. As it is, I have no idea what I'm gonna do for the last two. if you have any suggestions, please PM me. Anyways, yeah. If you liked it, please follow, favorite, or review, any one of those would mean a lot to this budding Author. Shameless self-promotion: Check out the other stories I have, though I'm particularly proud of "Thief in the Night" Anyways, see you guys in the next chapter!