Author's Notes:
I do not own Xiaolin Showdown, but I do love both of the series. I do own Gloria, who is Jack's daughter in fanfiction; she will be a recurring character throughout the story and I hope you will all like her.
As far as I know, neither Xiaolin Showdown or Xiaolin Chronicles tells the viewers exactly how old the monks are, hence why I took some liberties with how old they all are.
So I'll be honest, out of all the monks Raimundo was always my least favorite. I never liked how cocky and full of himself that he was. That being said, I also used to ship him Kimiko. Whether this later fact means that he'll redeem himself and end up with her is still up for debate. For now, I hope I don't make too many people mad that he's a jerk; though if I do then oh well I guess.
There will be yaoi (male x male romance and intimate scenes) at some point in this fanfiction. Thus, if you do not like that sort of thing or are just uncomfortable by it then I would suggest that you do not read this fanfiction.
Chapter Seven:
There was a somewhat awkward silence between Jack and Kimiko as he followed behind her in the temple hallway, finally the two came to a stop in front of a screen door.
"Wait out here okay, I'll be back with a pen and a piece of paper." Kimiko said suddenly, breaking the silence as she touched the door.
"Right, I'll be out here." Jack said with an obedient nod as he leaned against his wall.
Seeming pleased by his response, Kimiko quickly entered her room and closed the door behind her, leaving Jack to stand there and listen as she clearly rummaged around.
"There we go, finally found what I need." Kimiko said as she came back out with a pen and paper and handed it both to Jack.
"Thanks." Jack said in a grateful way, carefully writing down his personal phone number and handing it, the paper, and the pen back to Kimiko.
"And Kimiko, I was serious… if you need anything I want you to call me." Jack said in a serious tone as he put the Golden Tiger Claws on one of his hands.
"Thank you Jack, that means a lot." Kimiko said, standing on her tiptoes for a minute and still only reaching Jack's torso as she hugged him.
"When did you get so damn tall?" Kimiko grumbled as Jack chuckled and lifted her up for a better hug.
"It's not my fault that puberty was generous to me height wise and not you." Jack said in a teasing tone as he set the much shorter young woman down.
"I'll have you know that I'm average height for a Japanese woman." Kimiko said, crossing her hands over her chest and pouting.
" Aw, how nice for you. Still sucks that you're so short." Jack said with a teasing smirk.
"You jerk! You're lucky that I want you to get your daughter back or I'd kick your butt!" Kimiko said, trying to hide a smile and playfully kicking Jack in the leg.
"That's probably the only part of me you could reach without standing on your…" Jack started to say teasingly, though was cut off as Kimiko leapt on him.
"Ha! See, I may be short but I have spirit!" Kimiko said proudly as Jack toppled to the floor and she landed on top of him.
"Well you are the Elemental Dragon of Fire, so I would be somewhat concerned if you didn't have spirit." Jack said with a chuckle as he laid on the temple floor.
"Now come on, get off of me before Raimundo randomly shows up and gets the wrong idea." Jack added in a slightly sarcastic tone, though noticing that Kimiko's face fell at these words.
"Hey, what's wrong? You okay?" Jack asked in a legitimately concerned tone as Kimiko carefully slipped off of him but sat on the floor next to him.
"It's nothing Jack, you have more important things to worry about." Kimiko said with a sigh as she curled her knees to her chest.
"I'm not moving from this floor until you talk to me, Kimiko." Jack said stubbornly, even going as far to cross his hands over his chest as he laid on the floor.
"What about your daughter?" Kimiko asks in a somewhat surprised tone.
"Oh I'll get her back alright, but right now I want to hear what's going on with you." Jack said in a determined but also kind tone.
"Oh alright fine, but you better promise not to laugh at me." Kimiko said with a heavy sigh.
"Cross my heart, I won't laugh." Jack said in a serious tone, sitting upright to prove that he was serious.
"Not sure if you realize this, but my eighteenth birthday wasn't that long ago and Master Fung pulled me aside to talk to me. He told me that he was going to give me up to three years to decide what I wanted to do in the future and then gave me options." Kimiko started to explain with a sigh, though she didn't immediately continue and looked sad.
"Kimiko, what are your options?" Jack asked gently, not wanting to upset Kimiko too much but also feeling curious.
"My options are that once I turn twenty one that I can either continue to stay here at the temple and abide by Master Fung's rules or I can choose to leave and Master Fung will help me in the future if I decide to set up my own temple with its own rules in the future." Kimiko explained with a sigh.
"I respect Master Fung so much, but he's made it very clear that there are to be no intimate relations in this temple. I want kids, Jack! I want a family, and I thought that Rai…" Kimiko started to add in explanation, though stopping mid-sentence and wiping her eyes with her sleeves.
"Wait, are you saying that Raimundo would rather stay here than be with you?!" Jack asked in shock, unable to believe what Kimiko was implying.
"When I asked him about it, he said that since Master Fung chose him as the Shoku Warrior and our leader that it's his duty to stay. I've tried to talk him out of it, but he's twenty now and that means he only has a year left before Master Fung asks for his final decision." Kimiko said with a heavy sigh.
"That jerk, I can't believe him. What about Clay, he's twenty one now, right? What does he think about all of this?" Jack said, shaking his end in disbelief at first but then looking at Kimiko in a serious way.
"Clay doesn't officially turn twenty one until July, so Master Fung hasn't asked him what his decision is yet. Still, Clay has made it clear that while he respects Master Fung very much; he wants to settle down in Texas and make a temple out of his family's farm in a few years." Kimiko explained to Jack, before continuing.
"He and Raimundo actually got in a big fight about it, Raimundo went as far to call Clay a traitor for not wanting to stay here at the temple. It was only thanks to Master Fung stepping in and saying that he would honor Clay's choice when the time finally came that stopped the whole thing from coming to blows.
"Wow, what a jerk. I'm sorry Kimiko, I can't imagine it's been easy to deal with him while he's been acting like that." Jack said with an annoyed sigh, though gently pulling Kimiko closer to him.
"The worst part is, ever since I talked to Raimundo about what he wants to do he's been trying to pressure me to stay because I'll be with him still. But when I reminded him that we wouldn't be able to stay a couple he made this offhand comment about just having to wait until Master Fung was out of the picture." Kimiko explained, shivering at this last part.
"Did you tell Master Fung that Raimundo said this?" Jack asked in a shocked tone, unable to believe that Raimundo had said this and gently hugging Kimiko.
"Not yet, no. I guess a part of me… well I guess I'm just hoping that Raimundo was joking. But the way he said it Jack, it was serious; I know it was." Kimiko admitted with a shiver against Jack.
"Kimiko, I know I'm supposed to be an evil genius. But even I don't think what Raimundo said is appropriate. If you think he was serious about what he said then you need to talk to Master Fung." Jack said in a serious way.
"But what if he was just joking? I'll get Raimundo in trouble and then he'll be even worse to be around." Kimiko said, looking up at Jack with a concerned expression.
"I think you should risk it Kimiko, if it was a joke then it was made in very poor taste. Raimundo deserves to get in trouble for it." Jack said in a still serious tone.
"Besides, if you feel like it's absolutely necessary then you can call me and I'll be here in minutes. You can call anytime and I will show up, I swear to you on my deceased wife Alona's name." Jack added, earning a wide eyed stare from Kimiko.
"I…I'll think about talking to Master Fung. And Jack, thank you… You'r wife was a lucky lady." Kimiko said in a still surprised tone as she carefully removed Jack's arm from around her and stood up.
"Nah, I was the lucky one. She was my goddess, and I'm going to make the bastard who took her from me pay." Jack said with a fond but serious smile as he also stood up.
"I know I shouldn't say this. But when the time comes I hope you give him hell, Jack." Kimiko said with a kind smile.
"Oh, I plan too." Jack said with a smirk and a nod.
"Golden Tiger Claws!" Jack added, finally using the claws to open a portal that only knew the destination of.
"Jack, wait. There's one more thing I want to say." Kimiko said as Jack started to step through.
"I'm listening." Jack said patiently, though a small part of him hoped that the portal wouldn't close on the foot he had already put through.
"I know you said you're going to come up with a plan before you go, but I want you to promise that you'll be careful when you go to Chase's lair." Kimiko said in a concerned tone.
"I will be, I promise." Jack said with a serious nod.
"Good, now go on. Go before I do something crazy." Kimiko said in a pleased sounding tone, though then shooing Jack away.
"Hey, nothing wrong with crazy; I would know." Jack said with a playful wink before finally stepping through the portal he had opened.