Chapter 7: More Complications?
"Okay, so…that Dehera dude is after Xian-Li's 'secret'?" Raimundo paused to air-quote secret. "Am I right?" Everyone nodded. "Okay…And now we're going to fight Dehera to protect Xian-Li. But the dude is worse than Chase. Did I miss anything? Because I'm still not catching on."
Clay, Raimundo, Omi, Kimiko, Xian-Li, and Master Fung (accompanied by Dojo) were all sitting at a table that they had all daubed "the conference table."
"You do not understand. You are not protecting me, but the secret inside me," Xian-Li explained softly. "I cannot protect it much longer. I heard about the Xiaolin Dragons and came to you for assistance."
Raimundo sighed, and then said, "So, if you die, your secret will be revealed and it'll be the end of the world. Is that what I'm getting?"
"Yes." Xian-Li looked at him in surprise.
"Pretty good reason to get rid of that guy," Raimundo muttered softly.
"And because she needs out help, so we should help her anyway," Kimiko pointed out, smiling smugly at her fiancé.
"Yeah, that too." Raimundo grinned as everyone looked at him in shock. "Kidding. I know."
"So, partner, any ideas on how we should handle this?" Clay asked, regaining his composure.
Raimundo looked at the table somberly for a few minutes. The silence hung in the cool, crisp air. "I'm on empty right now," He said finally.
Master Fung stood up. "Maybe we should all sleep on this and then think things through tomorrow."
"Yes, Master Fung," The Xiaolin Warriors chorused. As everyone stood and walked out, Omi turned and caught Raimundo's sleeve.
"Raimundo?" He asked quietly.
"Huh?" Raimundo looked down at him curiously.
Omi sighed and then smiled - almost sadly. "Never mind. Good night."
Raimundo stood there for a minute as Omi sauntered off. What's up with chrome-dome?
"Matt?" Rebecca called, walking out into the night air toward her boyfriend.
"What?" Matt snapped.
"Aren't you going to sleep at all tonight?" Rebecca asked softly.
"Not right now," Matt said. Rebecca was quiet for a minute and then Matt asked, "Rebecca? Do you like me less because of how…serious I am?"
"No. I'd prefer you more if you weren't so uptight though," Rebecca said calmly.
"Isn't that what I just asked you?" Matt chuckled and turned to face Rebecca. "I'm sorry. Trying to beat Chase and Wuya; having to work with Jack; the new threat; my band; you…I can't concentrate on just one of them, but I have to concentrate on them all. Do you get how hard it is to juggle them? I have the Xiaolin Warriors to worry about while I'm tying to kill Chase and I have to kill him so I don't have to worry about him…So I can worry about you instead. So that's important. But then I feel like I'm not caring enough for you." Matt walked over to Rebecca and wrapped her in a hug. "And I feel bad about it."
"Do you realize that's the most I've ever heard you say to me?" Rebecca asked into his chest, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. "And I forgive you."
"Thanks." Matt kissed the top of Rebecca's head gently.
Raimundo felt like he was running in circles. He kept seeing the same white, glowing figure; staring at him with disappointment in her eyes, in the distance. But she never helped. The trees were a confusing maze and he kept hearing voices calling to him for assistance – Kimiko…Omi…Clay…
Raimundo finally stopped running and walked cautiously to the white figure. With a startling ripple of shock, he realized it was his mother.
"Calm," She whispered gently, brushing her fingers against Raimundo's cheek. As Raimundo lifted his hand to touch his cheek, he felt the calmness wash over him.
As his mother disappeared, the surroundings slowly started to morph and fade as well.
Raimundo slowly opened his eyes. He was confused, and, yet, relatively calm. He rolled over and stared at Kimiko. The calmness receded; panic and pain suffocated him instead. Everyone needed him - even in his dreams he knew that, felt that. And with that knowledge, he felt like he couldn't do enough…couldn't reach them in time. How did he know that if his teammates were in trouble, that he could save them?
He rolled onto his back, breathing deeply and evenly to try and calm his nerves. And in his dream…his mom…She had been there. Raimundo ignored what his mom had told him, ignored the meaning behind it – He had seen his mom.
There was no way he was sleeping anymore that night. His mother's sick and ghastly figure still haunted him and any light that touched the room made his heart jumpstart. Raimundo suddenly didn't feel all that strong anymore. And he felt overwhelmed by everyone's need for him. He stood up and walked to his window. Watching the leaves rustle in the slight breeze, he found himself silently crying.
Where is that girl?!
Dehera crouched in a tree outside the Xiaolin Temple, staring through window after window. No sign of Xian-Li. The little ninja brats had hidden her well.
Interestingly enough, the window he was staring into now, had the strong kid he'd seen earlier. Though the boy was staring out at Dehera, he didn't seem to see him. Dehera was strongly considering taking this kid and killing him now, but this idea was overwhelmed by the thought of a good fight. Every inch of his body tingled with excitement. Touching his masked face, he decided to make the battle with the kid long and as torturous as possible. Always keeping in mind the power that Xian-Li possessed. Chuckling softly at how she called the power a secret, Dehera jumped off the branch and melted into the night.
Chase stared into the dark; waiting…listening…
"Ch-Chase?" A timid voice whispered. Chase didn't' answer, he continued to look. Finally, a little boy with brown hair and crystal blue eyes walked into the dim patch of moonlight. "Where…Where's Rai?" The young boy asked quietly.
"Patience," Chase hissed, raising one hand and watching in pleasure as the boy cowered in fear. "You'll see him soon enough. But first…Promise me something, Ryan."
"Yes. Okay. I just want to see my brother!" Ryan cried desperately.
Chase smiled wickedly. "All you have to do is distract him. Lead him to me. Can you do that for me?"
The little 7 year old boy was quiet and Chase raised an eyebrow in surprise. "He won't…die…will he?" Ryan finally asked timidly, wincing as he whispered the word die.
"No."Not soon anyway.
"Okay. Can I go see him now?" Ryan looked up at Chase expectantly, his iced eyes wide.
"Wait until dawn. He's still sleeping." Chase turned on his heels and left. He slammed the door behind him. Ryan flinched at the sound of the metal door hitting stone and then at the sound of the door being locked. Then came the soft sobs of desperation and loneliness. Ryan stared into the dark where Chase had stood a moment ago, his ocean blue eyes sparkled brightly in the dim light; tears dripped down his cheeks as he stared up at the moon through the slit in the wall that Chase had said was a window.
He wondered if wishing on it would be like wishing on a star.
Sleepiness overtook the young boy and he collapsed onto his knees. Sighing, he sank to the dirt floor and slowly drifted into a restless sleep.
Ryan dreamed of Raimundo's death.
Sorry it took forever and a year to update this. I couldn't get on for awhile, and then I had writers block and then I forgot what I was doing with the plot. Well, I finally got it all sorted and this so didn't turn out as long as I wanted it to. Sorry. I was going to reward those of you who are still reading with a long chapter, but, as you can see, no avail. So sorry. (enough of the apologies!)
To my reviewers:
XiaolinFireGirl:sorry that was so confusing. Bet this one was just about as confusing as the last one, huh?
And okay…???
saiyukifan526:so you read the first one too. Good for you! Thank you, thank you! XD
Heylin-Shadow:ummmm… wow. For what I could read, I understand you were complimenting me. And I got another really awesome score. Thank you so much. I don't think you have any idea how happy it makes me to read your reviews and see that each time all you have to say is positive things. It keeps me going and makes me want to improve even more and make this story worth-while. I hope this one didn't disappoint you. Sorry I took forever and a year to update. –points to reasoning above-
2hyper4life:stupid soap operas. Lol. Well, anyway, thank you for loving the story! Hope I didn't disappoint you! –apologetic smile-
I hope I didn't loose too many of you. Well, I'll update as soon as more ideas swarm and invade my head. Please review!! Thanks if you're still reading this story.