a/n: It took me two years, but after time and time again of falling in and out of obsession with Xiaolin Showdown, I finally came up with a plot, and then, a story! This was only supposed to be a drabble, max. of 500 words, but the writing took life and moved on its own. I swear I didn't mean 75 percent of what goes on in this fic. It just happened. Enjoy!

disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or the song 'One Year, Six Months' by the Yellowcard.

rKr

Sew this up with threads of reason and regret
So I will not forget, I will not forget
How this felt one year six months ago
I know I cannot forget, I cannot forget…

…I can tell that you don't know me anymore
It's easy to forget, sometimes we just forget
And being on this road is anything but sure
Maybe we'll forget, I hope we don't forget…

His eyes were different.

Before, those forest-green eyes would have shone with determination, sparkled with childish mischief, or even lit up a bit every time he'd see her. She loved his eyes.

But now, those same eyes that had once looked upon her affectionately were cold with indifference, loathing, even. They had merged on a darker, emerald color, still deep, but not marvelously so. They had become clearer, almost like a mirror, that they reflected her when he came near enough. More deliberate, perhaps?

But whatever the reason, they made her own eyes blur slightly, close to welling up. Just thinking of how his changed he was, not only his eyes, but his whole persona, the entire demeanor that made him, Raimundo Pedrosa, former Xiaolin Dragon of the Wind, who he was.

He even looked different, aside from the penetrating eyes. He'd grown taller, more well-built, the dark brown hair lengthening into long, shaggy spikes that seemed like they've been cut with a crude blade. The beginnings of a goatee sprouted from his chin, and the charming boyish features had turned sharper, darker, generally set in a scowl. A furious strength emanated from him, almost like an aura. It suited him, yet it didn't, like destiny was arguing with itself about the man he was supposed to be.

Three years was a long time…

"It's never too late, Rai," she began, almost pleadingly. The first time in what seemed like ages that she'd spoken to him. She herself had changed, no longer fragile-porcelain-doll-looking. She grew a few inches; her sleek black hair that reached the bottom of her butt usually left down or tied into a messy ponytail, the era no longer providing time for trivialities such as fashion. Her body allotted more curves, and some parts hardened with silent potency. She was just as tough and agile as any boy now. But still, her voice sounded weak and shrill, like the ignorant, modern girl she was. He was breaking through her façade like how one would brush away the flimsy tendrils of a spider web with a casual hand. She winced inwardly. "You don't have to do this."

She knew she was lying; he was way over his due. Even forced kindness from the temple will not liberate him enough to fully establish his glorious position again. His crimes against them, against the world, were too big for even the most benevolent to handle. Maybe that had been the trouble, from the very beginning. Maybe he was never meant to be a Xiaolin Dragon. There had always been that wicked streak in his personality, showing only in sarcastic words and harmless bullying, like the anger inside him built up and just exploded. But despite what everyone told her, a hopeful, nagging voice in her head said that maybe Rai was still in there.

The cruel flecks in his eyes danced mockingly as they gave her a full-body look, squaring her up, she supposed, as they both realized that the activated Shen Gong Wu (she hadn't paid attention to Dojo about what it was, and frankly, she didn't care anymore) was at most seven feet within either of them.

"You're not cut out to be an actress, Kimy," he said with some of the recognizable carelessnesslike a friend to another, not as an opponent"You know the minute I surrender that Fung, the old fool, would hold me captive. I'm not as stupid as you might think I am," he frowned suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest.

'I never thought you were stupid! Where the hell did you get that idea!' She felt like screaming at him to get some sense into his thick head; Wuya must have brainwashed him, so he come back to their side again.

Actually, it was all the more complicated than she made it out to be.

It started when, after that incident with the Heart of Jong when he disobeyed Master Fung, everyone just began to gang up on him- the other temple monks, Clay, Omi, and even her- and apparently, made him feel aggressive and unwanted. Then Wuya used it to her advantage, ridding herself of Jack Spicer and using Raimundo to steal a few essential Wu: the Reversing Mirror and the Serpent's tail, so that she may have her body, and along with it, her powers.

Quicker than anyone would have imagined, she immediately conquered the rest of China, and several months of tribulation later, the world. She had recruited many, mostly teens, as her Heylin army and battle assistants, but as if to deride her original adversaries, the Xiaolins, she flaunted Raimundo as her most favored novice, while he, in return, gladly and proudly accepted the attention.

The Xiaolin side, obviously outnumbered, had drafted a few other willing Dragons, training them to be as efficient as the Four Original Dragons. After the Heylin took over, as usual, there were rebellion groups, which were hunted down and vanquished. The occupants of the temple had fled, going into hiding within the heart of the mountains, spending the time practicing techniques and occasionally, letting in the few oddities that put an effort to avoid succumbing under the new vindictive ruler. Few Shen Gong Wu ever activated themselves these days; Wuya had put herself to be above them now, and most of the time no Heylin would be there to claim it, much less a showdown. The three remaining Dragons took the risk of always going solo on a mission, to better avoid capture. Omi and Clay learned in monthly intervals that Rai sometimes liked to 'pick up' Wu just for the adrenaline rush of it. He'd beaten them at all times. They reported that he still fought like a Dragon, having fully harnessed the wind's power to its full potential, only better.

Kimiko glanced at the dry, barren surroundings. It didn't look like the Earth she inhabited only 1095 days prior to now. There was little color, no beauty to be seen anywhere; instead, there was the bitter sight of patched ground and the rancid stench of smoke, blood, and death. She even know if her relatives and friends back in Tokyo were still alive, but the grief had reduced to a dull ache. No, she was mourning for someone else, for someone who was still here, for someone who'd been here all along…

It had taken millenniums to accomplish, but Wuya had finally taken over the world.

She was snapped from her reverie when something a sharp pain burst from her shoulder. Her other hand clasped onto it instinctively, and she bit her lip to distract herself from the sheer raw agony of i. She became faintly aware of the trail of smoke that went up between her fingers. Her blue eyes widened as she looked accusingly at him.

His arm was outstretched in her direction, a spiteful smirk gracing his lips, and at the end his palm was clutched over something that seemed so familiar.

The Star Hanabi. Her favorite Wu.

He didn't wait for her to talk. Still smirking, he slashed at the air with the Golden Tiger Claws and from the portal, brought out the Orb of Tornami and the Fist of Tebigong, and lastly, the Sword of the Storm.

The strange collection seemed to ridicule her. The Orb had been Omi's choice Wu, the Fist was Clay's, and how could she forget Raimundo's fondness for the Sword?

He was taunting her. Bringing up reminiscences of how they used to be, how happy they'd been… and the sad thing was, it all got to her.

The burning behind her eyes intensified, and she let out a quiet, hesitant sob, a lone tear quivering its way down her cheek. For a moment Raimundo appeared almost guilty, but that snide smirk never left his face.

rKr

"I'd tell you to say hi to my good pals Omi and Clay for me, but I'd be wasting spit 'cause I'm not letting you get out of here." Alive, he left out. Those were the orders, Mistress said. Execute them, one by one. But somehow, he couldn't bear to say it. He cursed himself for his flaw, but soon it will fade away. Like everything else inside him.

rKr

His words hurt. She knew better than to shimmy away from the truth. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the boy she once knew was gone, vanished, and in his place was this merciless bastard that only held a semblance of him. It was heartbreaking.

She took a step forward, locating the white center of the pain in her shoulder and pushing it to the back of her mind, resulting it to a throbbing at the nape of her neck, like what she was doing with Rai's memories. She would deal with them later. It was a discipline taught by hardships and suffering, and she went through the full-fledged course.

"Step down, backstabber. You know I can hurt you," she snarled, barely able to hide the sadness and damage to her emotions. 'Like you hurt me.'

His smirk became a feral, malevolent grin, but with a hint of… remorse? No, it was just a trick of light. There was definitely no regret in that immoral face.

"Ah, but can't you see, Dragon?" No more personal references. "I won't hesitate to kill you." He spat, the sentence dripping like venom from his lips.

There some kind of mutual agreement between them, and simultaneously they covered the distance from their place to the Wu that looked like some kind of visor.

At the same exact time, their hands touched the smooth, metal surface of the Wu, and each others'. Their eyes locked briefly, and she saw it.

But it was too late.

"Kimiko, I challenge you to a Shen Yi Bu Dare!" Raimundo shouted, with the slightest tinge of panic in his tone. Her own nerves tensed.

"Your Third Arm Sash and Shroud of Shadows against my Eye of Dashi and Golden Tiger Claws for the Mask of Doriangray (now she remembered; it enabled the user to become immortal in warfare, one of the greater ones). The challenge is mortal hand-to-hand combat. First one on the ground loses."

The whole ordeal seemed to put her entirely on disadvantage, but she didn't dwell on it. Like it would do any good. "I accept your challenge, Raimundo!" The name sounded unusual on her tongue. She'd identified him with 'Rai' for so long.

"Let's go!" The harmony of their voices was eerie to their ears. "Kong Yi Tan Pai!"

rKr

Wuya's Apprentice vividly remembered the images of his first kill, or, better, kills.

It was nothing bloody or graphic or anything of the sort, but it might as well have been.

He and some warriors had been scourging the small subdivision for rogue members of the uprising, Xiaolin, more specifically. Another battalion had been sent in the other direction, to the mountains. Basically they had all escape routes cornered.

A handful of the troops barged into the houses to look for sheltered mutineers; the others he'd ordered to go straight to the bigger area: the city. He chose to stay behind. He thought interrogations were rather amusing.

The house they'd overpowered was being particularly stubborn. The father, he supposed, would not utter a sound, even while his wife and children were tied up and gagged. Raimundo roared in his most powerful vibrato, so it echoed throughout the walls and roof. He'd even put a few hard punches in, for good measure, but the man was positively mulish.

Suddenly, one of his soldiers came down from the attic, dragging a figure behind him. The family's eyes bulged out in fear and panic.

"Well, what do we have here?" He remarked darkly. The soldier threw the hunched form in front of him, making him sprawl on his hands and knees. Raimundo's eyes brightened in acknowledgment, but not the good kind.

It was one of the monks from the temple, Master Lang. Lang had been one of those who persecuted him after his daring attempt to rescue them from Mala Mala Jong. An ungrateful prune, that's what he is!

"Why, if it isn't Master Lang from the Xiaolin Temple. I wonder how he ended up here…" He was contemptuous with glee.

A young, trembling voice piped up. "H-he was separated from the others w-when the temple was a-at-attacked, and D-daddy took h-him in with u-us. Please don't hurt us, Mister Commander Raimundo sir!"

He scanned the room in search of the one who'd talked. It was that little girl with the brown pigtails, no more than seven, one of the two children. For a split-second, he was reminded of his own little sister, but he shook as head as if that would shake those thoughts from his head. Wuya had promised him that his family in Rio would be spared; slaves of the kingdom, but exempted from the harsh labor and torture, and even death. She had looked into the future (he had, too) and knew that he was the only with who was capable of imprisoning her again, but instead of eliminating him from the picture, treated him with respect and even liking. She had become attached to having him by her side, while deep inside they were both aware that he can turn on her anytime; the born traitor.

He glanced back at the grimacing father. "That's a nice little girl you got there, eh? Very truthful, isn't she?" He laughed sardonically.

"You are nothing but a coward, you Heylin traitor!" The imprudent man exclaimed. Raimundo's patience wore thin that instant.

He motioned to his troops. "Take the girl, but leave the rest inside."

The girl's brother shrieked in protest as his little sister was taken from him, and her parents were just distraught. As the warriors marched out the house, Raimundo pointed at the man.

"Treachery against the empire is punishable by death. Jong Gi Wong, in the name of the almighty Empress Wuya, I therefore sentence you and your family to die by the flames," He thrust a blinking bomb in the man's mouth, jarring it in until he was sure he heard the jaw pop.

"And Master Lang," He stood by the house entrance as he closed the door. "Who's getting chastised now?"

A full minute after the door was slammed with a 'bang,' the house exploded and erupted into a raging blaze, making its neighbors catch fire too. Raimundo watched, apathetic, from a safe distance, while the man beside him held the flailing, weeping girl in stone arms.

That was his first, and he'd gone miles ahead since then. Nowadays, he killed with guns or blades, and even with his bare hands. They seemed clean on the outside, but in his mind's eye he saw them dripping with ruby blood. It wasn't as horrifying to take another life as he thought when he was sixteen, young and naïve.

He didn't know what was so complicated about simply killing her; he had a double-edged dagger in his boot, and the perfect time to use it would be when she falls, right after the showdown. It was one of Wuya's enchanted weapons, the ones that would go straight to create a fatal wound once brought into the open. The knife would be good for a nice, smooth slit in the swell of her pale, pretty neck, with her scarlet life-force rushing out like white-water. But a tiny, almost nonexistent voice chanted in his head that under the label of 'Dragon of Fire,' under that hardened, older female was Kimiko Toho, the girl who'd been his best friend at the temple.

Maybe he wasn't as changed as he thought he was.

rKr

"Judalet Flip, Fire!" She yelled for the umpteenth time that day. It seemed that no matter how many times she tried the move on him, all he did was dodge it. He'd been training gravely, even inventing moves on his own, aside from the Xiaolin 'Typhoon Boom,' whereas his body would merge with the zephyr. He didn't even need to say his element anymore; he had it so under control like a puppy on a leash.

"Hurricane Hit!" He bellowed, and after a few twists in mid-air, sends a strong gust in her direction, much like the Sword of the Storm does, but better, as it tore her skin, putting a couple more cuts and gashes in her body among the ones that already crisscrossed there. Her clothes were in tatters and her hair tangled, the opposite of him with only a light bruise on his face from a previous blow and a few scratches adorning his frame. Their Shen Gong Wu was scattered on the ground, forgotten; even the vital Mask of Doriangray was lost in the chaos. It would end anytime now, she thought ruefully…

"Cyclone Whip!" His cry rang out, and out of the blue something overpowering and rash slammed unto her and she was rendered flat on her back, too battered to move. Immediately their surroundings crashed into the desolate earth pathetically common to the eyes now. There he was now, looming over her, both of their Shen Gong Wu tucked neatly under his arm. He was getting something from his boot…

A blade. Ah, then he hadn't been dishonest, then. He was going to kill her… Oh the fickle finger of fate… Who knew she was going to die by the hand of the one she loved?

It struck her at that moment. She had loved him all this time, and he didn't even know it… she didn't even know it.

'I love you.'

rKr

He knelt down beside her and harshly grabbed her hair, entwining his fingers in the dusty ebony locks. Her limbs were useless, she didn't even try to fight back, only grunting in pain when the roots were yanked by the crown. She was looking at him with none of the animosity he expected; instead, her eyes were overflowing with an emotion he just couldn't place…

"Ready to die?" He managed to choke out. The knife shook with his wrist and he shuddered involuntarily. The sentiment in her aquamarine orbs swam in delight, and they smiled, along with the lovely curve of her pink lips.

"Ready when you are, Rai," she sighed with a trace of mirth in what seemed like surrender; not to him, but to fortune.

'Ready when you are?' What did that mean? Was she just rambling nonsense, in hallucination, maybe?

Then it dawned, none too gently. She knew; oh gods, she knew! She discovered his one weakness! Somehow, she found out that if and when he killed her…

…his spirit would die along with her.

The point of the blade was already positioned at her throat, but he knew he couldn't thrust it to fatality. But the spell cast on it was murdering, and it pulled with force until it was plunged into a critical area. It was either her or him who would die…

His mouth set in a grim line. He made up his mind.

While the sharp tip lusted for the artery in her throat, he placed his fingers on its razor edge, instantly digging into flesh and bone. It stung, but he only felt warm red liquid ooze down his fingers as he changed the bound course of the dagger from her to him.

She stared incredulously as the blade went for his heart at once when in his direction, but he mustered bravado to pull it downwards, inches from the inner pump, and then…

Vertigo.

rKr

She couldn't believe it. He just drove his own dagger to his side, just below his heart, emanating an excruciating howl. She forced herself to sit up as he collapsed on the ground, one bloodied hand still gripping the handle and the other supporting it.

"Rai…" She began, nearly devoid of breath. She reached out to aid him, but he raised his bowed head, his gaze incisive.

She gasped slightly. His eyes were transformed, yet again. They weren't the eyes that stared hatefully at her minutes ago, nor were they the lighthearted ones she looked into three years before. No; now they seemed a mixture of both, like a split personality, signs of a conflicting soul.

"Go," he rasped, losing blood fast. "They'll be here soon."

She meant to ask who the anonymous 'they' were, but she understood. The Heylin troops had sensed the peril of their commander and would arrive to be of assistance.

"B-but I can't leave you here, like this!" She objected, gesturing to loosen his grasp on the dagger so that she may take it out.

"No," he argued. "Lodged under a… a broken rib… if you remove it, the rib will puncture… something…"

In layman's terms, he meant that he would die. Duty said that she should do it anyway, to pay for all his crimes; but she would never do it, even before he saved her life. He was her life. They were connected, somehow, and if one dies, a part of the other dies with them.

"No matter what you say, I'm going to help you," she insisted, and he closed his eyes in resignation. There were no supplies for a proper medical wound cleaning, but she stripped a lengthy piece of her garment and wrapped it around his torso, knife and all, to lessen the bleeding.

When she finished, their gazes met; crystal azure and piercing jade coming into contact.

"Kim…" he murmured, maybe for comfort, maybe for nothing, she wasn't sure.

"Rai," she whispered. "I know…" Her words lodged in her throat, and she swallowed nervously. "I know that things will never be the same anymore, and I… I don't want to make you do anything against your will, but I just want to say… To say that…

"I'll always be here, you know?" Her eyes softened, begging him to understand. "And I… I can wait… no, I will wait, for you… whenever you want… to come back to us… to me, al-alright?" Her voice cracked in the middle of it, but her tears refused to fall, and they became the sobs in her tone.

He said nothing in reply, but he squeezed her hand with his slashed fingers, and she nodded. She supported him into an easier sitting position, and stood up tentatively.

She picked up the Golden Tiger Claws and hacked a vortex into the air, somewhere close to the Xiaolin's hiding place. Halfway into it, she heard a hoarse groan that slowly morphed into audibility.

"Kim… I don't know anymore…"

She hung her head at the deceit. Of course he did; he knew exactly what he must do to redeem himself, but he didn't know if he could, should do it.

"I trust you," were her forlorn parting words.

rKr

Raimundo's eyes trailed after the spot where she disappeared. Then something glinting dropped to the ground. Shockingly, he saw the Golden Tiger Claws amidst the other Shen Gong Wu. Ever-noble Kimiko.

Shame crept to him in vicious tendrils, staining his conscience. A merciless stain that would be hard to remove.

I'm falling into memories of you

And things we used to do
Follow me there
A beautiful somewhere
A place that I can share with you…

rKr

a/n: As you can see, I didn't put 'fin' at the bottom like in my other fics, and I made it quite open-ended. It means that though this is a one-shot, I have a sequel idea in mind, so if you want to see more of me, or think I suck to kingdom come, you can tell me so. How? Why, by clicking that little purple button over there and submitting a

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