A/N So I've decided to compromise with a fluffy-ish chapter story. This is an almost disappointingly short chapter, but it's really the prologue so don't go thinking that this will be how all of the chapters are. Also don't think you can get away with skipping this chapter; it's very important. Trust me.

Disclaimer: Xiaolin Showdown and the characters are all mine. Wait, no, scratch that. They're not.

New Moon
Prologue

Rio...wow.

Sunset over the water. It was the most beautiful thing she could ever imagine. The sun shimmered lightly over the ocean, creating sparks of light on the crest of every ripple and every wave. Hues of pink and orange hovered above the water, dancing along the horizon. The sight was unforgettable.

She thought about pulling out her camera, but decided against it. A camera could never capture this beauty in the way it deserved. Besides, she used enough technology on a daily basis; she just wanted to bask in the glow of the fading sunlight.

Kimiko was alone on the beach; most of the travellers came to the beach only to tan. Unlike the rest of those tourists, Kimiko had always preferred the night. Don't misunderstand her; she loved the warmth of the sun and the brightness of its flames, but the night was just so entrancingly beautiful. It had that sort of grace about it which the day just never seemed to be able to match; the way the sun rose and set, the way the moon lingered in the air, the way the stars clung to the sky. Yes, the night was just so more intriguing, more mysterious.

The sun did not take long to disappear completely below the horizon, leaving a trace of violet in the clouds. Kimiko smiled, her clear blue eyes reflecting the scene around her. The stars were all out tonight; she had spent so much time stargazing as a little girl that she now knew all of the constellations by heart. For some reason, the stars seemed to call to her, saying to watch as they flew across the sky. They left lingering relflections in the ocean, causing the waves to twinkle with light from the stars fixed in the heavens.

Serenity. That's what she was feeling; she finally had a word to put to the emotion now. This is how she always felt while gazing at the night sky, but somehow, being in Rio, watching the sun fall beneath the ocean waves...it was entrancing, hypnotic even.

She fell asleep beneath the starry skies, the water lapping as her feet in a soothing, rhythmic motion. The only thing missing was the moon.

- - - - - - -

Oh, yeah. The ocean was definitely calling to him.

He rose with the sun. It was his way. If he could, he;d never sleep. He'd be out there riding the waves day in, day out. Unfortunately, he was human and humans, for the most part, needed to sleep. Besides, it's not like he would have seen what he was doing in the dark, anyway. So it made sense.

Nothing could keep him away from the water, not if he could help it. He was always so restless and it gave him a way to chill. It always had, It was his stimulant and his depressant, his addiction and his anti-drug.

Rai was just grabbbing his board, trying to get to the beach before any of the, ugh, tourists showed up. Those people made going surfing a much less enjoyable experience than it should have been, what with them all tanning and wading and shit. So he always headed out early before any of them showed up to ruin the trip. Always worked.

God, just standing in the early rays of the sunlight got his blood running. He could actually feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins. Yeah, gross, but true. The sun just always had this frantic energizing power to it, like a battery recharger. Yeah. A battery recharger.

He felt like running. He didn't really know why, but he wasn't one to just ignore these urges, so he ran. All the way to the beach. It's not like it was far, it was only a few minutes away. Aah, that sky was just breaking, the gold and pinks pouring from it like fruit juice. Fruit juice? Wait, no, that's not what he meant. More like paints spilling from a canvas. Yeah, that's more like it.

Alive. That's how he felt whenever he set foot on this beach. Heh, he has a word for it now. This rush of energy, of feelings, filled his body and made him sprint the last few yards to the water's edge.

He groaned as the water touched his feet and he dove in headfirst, energy seeping throughout him as he swam further out into the endless blue. The day had begun.