The bus stopped and they got out at the beyblade stadium. They looked around to see if any other teams where here that they recognized. The White Tigers were here, and so were the Majestics, Robert, Johnny, Enrique and Oliver. Kai just smirked at Johnny. They had never gotten over their little altercation in that castle. And to everyone's surprise, the All Stars where here too. Kai realized he had to be in his right mind to beat them all, but there was this niggling little splinter called Charlie in the back of his mind. He walked with his team into the stadium. Ray took their schedule and they made their way to their locker room. Kai sat down on the slatted bench and looked at the schedule. The opening ceremony was today and the actual tournament only started tomorrow. They were blading at two 'o' clock, that left him plenty of time to practice before hand. A man came on the intercom and asked that all the bladers gather in the main arena for the opening ceremony. They all made their way to the arena. Tyson heard Oliver tell Robert that he had heard a rumor that Princess Charlotte would be cutting the opening ribbon. She was so beautiful, even by French standards, he said.
"Hey, guys, you hear that, a Princess is here." Tyson said, looking at his team.
"Great." Kai said. A Princess opening a beyblading tournament, what did they expect? She was probably an old lady in new clothes, nothing special. She probably knew nothing of blading. Publicity stunt, probably, Kai thought to himself.
They reached the arena and the floor was crowded with all the bladers. They merged into the crowd, standing altogether near the front.
Mister Dickinson made some speech that Kai wasn't really listening to. All he heard was the date, 28th of June, 2010. He had to get his head in the game, but the question was, which game, he thought. Then Mister Dickinson called the mayor of Paris to make a speech.
"More speeches, get to it already." Kai thought. He had to get to that park by one. Today was the day. He would see her again, today.
"Now, we would like to greet Princess Charlotte of France to the podium." The mayor said. There was silence as they heard the high heels clattering on the floor as she walked up the stairs to where the mayor and Mister Dickinson were standing. She stepped into the light and everyone gasped. Kai looked at her for just second and looked away. His heart stopped, jumped up into his throat and then he looked at her again. She was wearing a gold strapless floor length dress, with an emerald, silver and diamond crown atop her head. She was really stunningly beautiful.
"Thank you Mister Dickinson, Mayor Delanoë. Welcome to Paris, bladers." She said. She looked around and touched the railing of the podium.
"Well, this is as close as I'll ever get to the winners circle, for beyblading anyway." She joked. The arena erupted in laughter.
"Hey Kai, isn't that…" Tyson asked, looking at her. Kai was speechless. His brain was still scrambled right? He was seeing things. The thing he was seeing now wasn't real, right?
"No, can't be…" Ray said. They all stared up at her in awe. They were sure it was her.
"It is, it's Charlie." Kai said, not taking his eyes off her. A Princess, the girl he had feelings for was as inaccessible as a gold bar in Fort Knox.
"I would like to tell you how honored I am to be opening this tournament. But, I think I just did." She joked. The crowed laughed again. This time, Kai chuckled a little. She was a little funny.
"But on a more serious note. I was fortunate enough the other day to meet a blader in Martial Field, a funny, strangely captivating man who just happened to be a blader. He taught me something. Even as adults, we can enjoy a game so profound that draws nations together. Beyblading has no religious, race or gender boundaries. Beyblading is truly a unifying sport. And you all being here today, is proof of that. I pray that this kind of unity will spread to other world sports and nations. I hope that we can overcome these horrible problems caused by intolerance, unto warded hate and general disrespect to people by people. I wish you all good luck. This tournament will be the start of good things to come. Let Paris be the beginning of a new world revolution pertaining to peace and understanding. Join me in my wish, bladers. Fight honorably, respectfully and with understanding that not everyone can be a winner of this tournament, but we are all winners in our own game. The game of life." She said. The crowd was in awe of her. She knew so much of Beyblading that it blew everyone away.
"Princess Charlotte!" some people in the crowd shouted and the stadium erupted in applause and whistles. She took a golden scissors from the mayor and cut the gold ribbon, officially opening the tournament. She handed the scissors back to the mayor and panned her eyes across the group of bladers cheering at her feet. Only one wasn't cheering… Kai. He was staring at her with a slightly gaping mouth. The cat was out of the bag now. She smiled at him, turned around and walked back down the stairs. His heart stopped. He wasn't going to lose her again.
"I have to speak to her," he said suddenly, running off through the crowd.
"Kai, wait, she's probably got guards!" Tyson shouted and ran after him. The others looked at each other and ran after them.
"Stupid Bladebreakers. Don't they know who she is?" Johnny said loudly for all his team mates to hear. They ran after Kai and found him grappling with two guards, with another two standing behind the Princess.
"CHARLIE!" He shouted down the hall and she turned to see that he was being wrestled to the ground.
"It's okay. He's my friend." She said and guards let go of him, but they eyed him threateningly. He walked up to her and she turned to face him after saying to the other guards to go get her car ready. The rest of the Bladebreakers tried to get past, but the two guards who had stopped Kai, stopped them too.
"What are you doing here? The big party has started. You should be having fun." She smiled at him. Kai looked her up and down. She was stunning. The golden dress hugged her every curve better than that sundress ever could.
"A Princess." He said, stunned. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, feeling hurt. By a woman. This was a first, he thought.
"You asked me my name, not my title." She smiled and took hold of his hand. He pulled away from her.
"But Charlie isn't your name either, is it? It's Charlotte. Princess Charlotte." He said, stepping back.
"Yes, but to everyone who matters, it's Charlie. My friends, family." She said, stepping back from him. He was very angry with her. She had to be ready to move if he got too aggressive, after all, she didn't really know him.
"That's her; it's the girl who scrambled his brain." Tyson whispered to his team.
"Why is this the first time I'm seeing this girl?" Kenny asked.
"When we went to go look for Kai a few days ago, she was with him, they were blading in the park." Ray said.
"But now she looks different." Max said.
"She is different. Kai met a girl in the park, a normal girl who likes ice-cream and beyblading. This woman is a royal." Hilary said, in awe of Charlotte.
"Well, why were you let out of your house, I mean no guards or anything?" Kai asked her. She saw a glint of regret in his eyes. Was he regretting that he had met her, perhaps.
"I'm free to go where ever I like, as long as a government official can get hold me." She said, turning away from him. Maybe she should have stayed at home that day. It would have caused him no pain if he had never met her.
"Now, if you will excuse me…" she began to walk away.
"Can I see you again?" Kai asked before he could stop himself. She smiled to herself and turned to look at him.
"Tonight I'm having dinner at a restaurant called Le' Paris, at seven. You can meet me there. Just tell the head waiter that you want to see Charlie. He'll understand." She said, turning around and walking off, followed by her two guards. Kai turned around and looked at his surprised team.
"So… what do you wear to a date with a Princess?" he asked. Hilary smiled. This was her time to shine.
"Don't worry, I'll help you." She smiled at him as he walked past them into the arena.
"He has a date, with a Princess no less. Wow Kai, way to pull a rabbit out of the hat." Ray joked.
"I'm just glad he has a date." Tyson said.
"Here, here." Max, Kenny and Hilary said together.