A/N: Wow. Hello there, fellow Xiaolin Showdown fans! It has been... a HOT minute since I've written anything to do with this fandom. A lot has happened in the last... How long has it been, ten years? Eleven? Anyway, a lot has happened! I graduated school, moved around a bunch, tried going to university, realized it wasn't for me, and now work retail! Even more exciting, I'm in the middle of writing a book! Which is why I have decided to post another fanfiction. It helps to get the creative juices flowing. But I'll be honest, I was NOT expecting to make another fic for XS. It's been a long time since I've watched it but when I rewatched it a couple of weeks ago I thought it would be fun to give this another go! Anywizzle, I hope ya'll enjoy this one!

CHAPTER ONE

The Voice

Fire.

There was fire everywhere. From corner to corner in the vast nothingness of her subconscious the element burned hot and bright. Reds, oranges, and yellows clouded her vision. She reached out to touch the inviting flames. As soon as the flames licked her fingertips, she retracted her hand back. It burned. Fire was not supposed to burn her. For a brief moment this frightened her. Yet her stubbornness was always her downfall as she tried again to touch the dancing flames. This time it not only burned, it left a mark.

She cried out in pain.

The fire grew hotter and hotter. Bigger and brighter.

She gasped for air. Black smoke forced its way down her throat. She coughed.

She had to get out of there.

But she could not move. No matter how hard she willed herself to run away, her feet stayed planted to the spot.

The flames grew to the size of spiers.

It engulfed her in its passionate mercy.

"Kimiko…"

Kimiko launched forward in her bed, gasping for air. Her lungs desperately drank in the oxygen it had thought of being deprived of. Sweat dripped down the girl's forehead as she looked around the dark room. Reaching by her futon, she clicked on the little lamp decorated with cute animal stickers. The sight of something familiar made the poor girl sigh in relief.

"Just a bad dream." She mused to herself.

Then why did it feel so real?

Shaking her head of these thoughts, Kimiko checked her PDA.

"Three o'clock in the morning." She groaned, "That's the third time this week."

The third time she had a terrible nightmare regarding her element as well. The first time it was a dream that she had tried using the Star Hanabi on Wuya but instead of fire going towards the witch, it had backfired on her own hand instead. The second time involved her fire power targeting her friends instead of the enemy. Both times were horrible to look back on but Kimiko simply chalked it up to stress induced nightmares.

This was the first night that she could actually feel the flames burn her skin.

"Nope." The Xiaolin Dragon of Fire (in training) removed the blanket from her body and stood up, "I'm not going to think about it. Not at all." She whispered. Instead, she settled on getting ready for the day despite the ungodly hour.

Never hurts to put in a little training. She thought as she dressed herself in her monk attire.

Once finished, Kimiko quietly peaked her head out of her cubicle. The only thing she could hear was Clay's snoring which practically rocked the rafters off the temple roof.

Coast is clear. She thought and with stealth precision quietly made her way out of the halls and into the training yard.

Blue eyes scanned the dark area. Torches mixed with moonlight illuminated the yard which made it perfect for the young Dragon to see what she was doing. Though, she supposed with her flames it would have been easy to see either way.

Kimiko sighed once again, "Alright, time for a little exercise." Stretching her arms, the petite girl chose her target- the dummy hanging in the middle of the obstacle course. Pretending the dummy was one of the monks' many enemies, she began her furious attacks.

Dodging, kicking, Arrow Sparrow, Judolette Flip- all attacks she knew by heart she repeated with furious tenacity. Punch, kick, fire, repeat. Punch, kick, flip, fire, repeat. Over and over again until the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon.

"Kimiko…"

"Huh?" Mid-air, Kimiko lost her concentration. Flailing about, she ungracefully landed on her face just inches from the hanging dummy that was charred to a crisp. "Blagh!" Kimiko spit out the mouthful of dirt she got and rubbed her head.

"What the heck was that?" The warrior wondered out loud. Thinking she had been hearing things, she stood up to continue her workout.

"Kimiko…"

Okay, I definitely heard that! She spun around, ready for a fight with whoever was calling her name.

"Kimiko?"

Standing there in the pale light of day in the courtyard, her fearless leader gave her a quizzical look.

"Rai?" How did I not hear him coming? The girl thought as she lowered her hands.

Raimundo stepped towards her taking in all the disturbed equipment and crispy dummy. He let a boyish grin adorn his face as his green eyes landed on her, "Ai, girl! If you wanted to get in some extra training hours you should've woken me up!" He gestured behind her to the dummy, "Poor Frank didn't even get a chance to defend himself." He joked.

A warm feeling spread throughout the girl and the thoughts of the voice and nightmare all disappeared. Hands on her hips and smile just as smug she said, "I would have, oh fearless leader but you just looked so cute with your teddy bear all snuggled up! I didn't want to disturb you!" She joked right back with a baby voice.

A warm blush spread across Raimundo's face, "I told you, Ninja Fred-"

"Is a good luck charm." Kimiko laughed, "Yeah, I know."

Despite how crazy she made him, Raimundo could not stay mad at her for long and gestured to the kitchens, "Want to take a break and grab some grub?" He asked.

The Dragon of Fire nodded, "Sure, just one sec." With one last flip towards Frank the Dummy, she let him have a taste of her fury by sending a fireball soaring towards it. Instantly incinerating it.

Raimundo let out a low whistle, "Kimi, remind me never to get on your bad side."

She snorted, "Too late, you've done that plenty of times over the years." The girl gently nudged the boy with her elbow as they continued walking. A smile glistened on her face.

For Raimundo, his mouth turned dry, "Haha, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, "It's been one heck of a ride these last three years, hasn't it?"

Kimiko nodded, "It sure has!"

The leader sucked in a breath, Man, how'd it get so hot in here? He cleared his throat, "You know, Kim," He stopped in the hallway to face the expectant woman.

"What's up?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Beads of sweat cascaded down Raimundo's neck as he worked up the courage to say what he wanted, "I-it-" He cleared his throat once again to rid of the squeak in his voice- smooth.

"Well, what I mean to say is- we're pretty close, right?" He tried again.

Kimiko nodded.

Raimundo smiled, "And sometimes pretty close people can get closer, right?"

This caught the girls' attention. Eyebrows raised, she responded, "Yeah. I think so." Her own heart hammering in her chest, she waited for the point he was trying to make.

"Kimiko…"

The disembodied voice stole her attention once again. Her head snapping to the courtyard as a gasp escaped her lips. Eyes wide in wonder. Nothing. No one there but the two Dragons in training.

"Uh, Kim?"

"Did you hear that?" She asked Rai without looking back at him. Blue eyes scanning the charred grounds.

"Um.. Hear what?"

The terrifying thought no one else could hear it stopped her from pressing the matter further. Kimiko shook her head, an apologetic look adorned her face as she brought her attention back to her best friend.

"Sorry, Rai. Guess I'm just hearing things. What were you saying?" She asked, trying to play off the building panic in her heart.

Green eyes reflected concern, "You okay, Kimi? What have you been hearing?"

The girl waved her hand nonchalantly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Just tired." Reaching out, she took the boy's hands in hers giving him her undivided attention, "What were you saying?"

If she saw the redness in his cheeks as his eyes darted towards their clasped hands, Kim did not mention it. Instead she waited patiently for Rai to say what he wanted.

He cleared his throat, "Well… I was just wondering- maybe we could… I-if you wanted to-"

"HEY!" Dojo's shout from behind them startled the two, "If you two are done doing whatever this is, we gotta go! A new Shen Gong Wu has revealed itself!"

Raimundo groaned, "Stupid dragon."

"What was that?" Dojo yelled back, claws on his hips.

"Nothing! We're coming!" Raimundo shouted back. He turned his focus back to Kim, "Uh- we'll talk later, yeah?"

Disappointment bubbled in the monk but she nodded, forcing a smile on her face, "Sure! Later it will be." She jerked her thumb behind her, "Guess I better get changed real fast." Raimundo nodded with a faint smile and she took off.

As soon as the girl disappeared around the corner, the leader frowned, "Way to go, Rai. A Shoku Warrior and you can't even ask out your best friend."

"Don't let Omi hear you say that. He still thinks he's your favorite."

The Southern drawl made Raimundo spin around, "Clay!" He placed a hand over his heart, "Man, don't sneak up on me like that!"

The cowboy grinned, "Sorry, Rai. Couldn't resist." He cocked his head to the side, "Any reason our fearless leader is talkin' to himself in the middle of the hallway?"

Rai's face reddened, "No reason." He insisted, taking his leave down the hall towards the main hall. He heard Clay's footsteps behind him.

"It wouldn't have anythin' to do with you tryin' to ask out Kimiko would it?" The playful tone in his voice was evident.

Raimundo shook his head, refusing to meet Clay's eye, "I don't know what you're talking about, cowboy."

"Right. As if I don't hear you rehearsing' what you're gonna say in the mirror."

Raimundo threw a glare at Clay. The smirk he wore was encouraging his friend to fess up, something the teen did not want to do. Yet, he was not in the mood to argue. Instead, the Shoku sighed, "Didn't think it would be this hard to ask her out. How do you even ask out the girl you've been crushing on for so long?!" He groaned in frustration.

Clay placed a firm hand on Rai's shoulder, "You know where I come from we have a saying; you don't need fancy lure to catch a fish. You just need the right stuff."

"Yeah, you just made that up."

Clay shrugged, "My point is, Kimiko doesn't need no fancy parlor dreams or some extravagant way to ask her out." He stopped Rai in his tracks by holding onto his shoulders. He made the leader face him, "She just needs you, partner." Giving another reassuring smile, Clay patted his friend's shoulder before leaving him to his thoughts.

Watching his friend walk away, Raimundo puckered his lips in thought. Maybe Clay was right. Maybe he just needed to be himself. He sighed. Now all he needed was an actual opportunity to talk to Kimiko.

"Maybe after this mission." He muttered, heading off into the same direction Clay had gone.

A/N: Alright! Not too long for this first chapter but I hope ya'll enjoyed it. I don't know how the scheduling of updates will work out but I will try to do my best! See ya on the flipside!

~K-Zittles