Beyblade: Heart Dilemmas

By: ChocolateEclar

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of 'Beyblade,' which includes all teams and their bitbeasts, etc.

Claimer: I only own Natasha McClane, her fiancé (Byakko Mao), Palara, Mr. and Mrs. McClane.

To aZn*pRyD: Your review was a little hard to understand, but I got the basic gist of it. ^_- Thanks for reviewing! By the way, we won't be seeing Felicity Carmichael for awhile. ^____^

A/N: This is the PG-13 version of the sequel. I like it better this way because I can capture the new, more adult emotions and language with the higher rating. If I have to though, I'll replace this with a PG version, but that's highly unlikely.

A/N 2: Here's the sequel to "Beyblade: Triple Heart!" ^____^

Chapter 1: Reoccurring Emotions

'Who we are never changes. Who we think we are does.'-

                                       Mary S. Almanac

Natasha Ambrose McClane, soon to be Natasha Ambrose Mao, stared distastefully at the pallid gowns on the clothing racks before her. "Darla, my dear maid-of-honor, all of these dresses are atrocious!" Tasha shouted at her former college roommate.

Darla raised one thin eyebrow, her hands on her hips. "My wedding dress looked like these," she noted, her wedding band, which was resting on her finger, daintily sparkling in the light.

Tasha took a deep breath and said, "I know, Dar, but these dresses clash with my hair."

"A lot of whites clash with your hair, Tasha," Darla pointed out.

Tasha's hair, which was still a white mop, was styled differently now. Instead of a jagged edge, her hair was all-around smooth and one long strip of hair brushed her forehead serving as bangs and then went down the side of her face, mingling with her other locks. She looked older at the age of twenty-two, a young woman in her prime, youthful and vivacious.

Her cerulean eyes glistened with newfound bliss and her usual attire now consisted of either an azure business suit with a knee-length skirt or a blouse with a black body and black and white sleeves, a dark beanie, and white jeans. Whatever she wore, she always had on her heart-shaped locket; inside it was a picture of the Bladebreakers as they were as young fifteen year olds.

Tasha was wearing the latter outfit at the moment, the striped sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the beanie thrown aside. "Urgh!" she yelled. "Why is this so hard for me? I mean, a lot of these dresses are gorgeous but I just can't seem to get into a good mood!"

Darla shook her head and said, her arms folded in front of her chest, "You've been acting this way since you saw Mr. Hiwatari."

Tasha's eyes dilated at that and she snapped, "I have not!" but she knew it was lie.

Palara, who was sitting on a nearby chair in the bridal shop they were in, said, 'You are so pathetic.'

'What did you say, dear pain-in-the-ass?' Tasha inquired silently.

'Nothing. I was merely making an observation,' the snow leopardess replied.

She flicked her tail meaningfully causing Tasha to say, "Let's come back tomorrow! I can't take this!"

They walked out of the store and strolled a few blocks to Ueno Park. Summer was in full bloom, the lotus blossoms sparkling in their pinkish splendor while the trio passed. As beautiful as the park was though, Tasha couldn't shake the feeling of being torn from her mind.

"Do you wanna go to one of the art galleries? I hear they're magnificent," Darla said trying to lighten Tasha's mood.

Tasha nodded. "That's fine. I've been to one of them before and they really are great," Tasha replied impartially. The enthusiasm she had shown at the start of their outing seemed completely lost now and Darla sighed.

'Everything was going fine and then she sees Kai again and starts acting wacky,' Darla thought as they walked through the popular park to one of the many art galleries that were included in it.

'I can't stop thinking about a guy I had a crush on for five years and I'm engaged! Will things ever be normal, Pal?' Tasha thought.

Palara nodded. 'Dunno. You seem to get into these kind of predicaments all the time, no?'

Tasha smirked bitterly. 'Yep. All the time.'

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Kai couldn't get the look Tasha had given him out of his train of thought. They had bumped into each other while she was roaming Tokyo with her fiancé the day before. Tyson had already informed him of Tasha's betrothal so the sight of a golden engagement ring on her finger hadn't surprised him. 'It was that look,' he thought ruefully. 'She looked-I don't know-upset and pleased to see me at the same time, I suppose.' He ran his fingers through his hair, which was more of a bluish gray now then anything else. He had had fun during his four-year relationship with Felicity Carmichael, but now he found himself contemplating many times. Contemplating their lost relationship and what had gone amiss.

'She had wanted so much crap from me, that's what went amiss,' he thought lightly. He was sitting in his office in an astrophysics lab in downtown Tokyo. His desk was littered with papers that seemed far away at the moment.

'That look.' His thoughts returned to Tasha like a magnet.

Tasha. Triple Heart. Tipsy. Natasha McClane. The future Mrs. Mao.

The last version of the woman's name left him with a slight stinging feeling in his chest. 'The future Mrs. Mao?' he thought baffledly. Somehow before then he had always thought of her as another one of his Bladebreaker friends and nothing more. Now he felt, well, different, strange, when it came to her.

Kai sighed and turned back to his paperwork. It was time to get back to work.

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Tasha surveyed the wedding chapel a few weeks later with mixed emotions. 'When I was thirteen, I dreamed of being here with Kai,' she thought. 'Now here I am without him and feeling like I'm going to be ill.'

Palara moaned. 'The wedding isn't for another week you know.'

'I know. Its just I-I feel like this isn't-' Tasha's thoughts were interrupted by her fiancé himself, who came strolling happily towards her.

"You don't look very well, Tash," he pointed out brushing a hand through his own auburn hair. He put his hands on Tasha's shoulders and shook her slightly. "You're not getting cold feet are you?" he questioned leaning in for a kiss on Tasha's lips.

Tasha melted into the kiss, but it no longer felt perfect. There was something wrong. Something had changed between them and only Tasha knew what it was.

"What's wrong, Tasha?" Byakko inquired after their lips had parted.

Tasha shook her head. "N-Nothing, honey, I'm just not feeling very good, that's all."

Byakko eyed her cautiously causing Tasha to squirm. "Alright, just tell me if something's bothering you," he eventually said. He then turned around and walked out of cathedral.

Tasha watched him go, her heart sinking. 'What am I going to do?' she asked herself. She was torn between the man she thought she now loved and the one she had broken her heart over years before.

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The Bladebreakers decided to meet up at Mr. Dickenson's mansion. It was a place they all knew after all and they hadn't seen each other in so long. Tournaments had seemed trivial compared to college and because of this they had rarely contacted each other over the past four years.

Tasha recognized Tyson instantly. "Tyson!" she yelled running off the doorstep and down the paved driveway. He looked rougher to her; facial hair was creeping onto his chin and as for his navy tresses, they were shorter so that the ponytail was gone. The familiar baseball cap had vanished but his clothes were still in the same color scheme of red, white, blue, and yellow.

He grinned at Tasha and said, "Its sure been awhile, Triple Heart."

"Sure has," remarked another young man walking towards them. His hair was as long and black as ever but now his garments were more like a confident black belt warrior than anything else.

"Hey, Rei!" Tasha and Tyson shouted joyfully to their Chinese teammate.

"You haven't forgotten me, have you?" inquired a rather hyper young man with cropped flaxen-colored locks, a green T-shirt, and a pair of black pants.

"We could never forget you, ol' sugar-high Max!" Tyson shouted.

Max laughed while another figure began walking towards them. He had thick-rim glasses and a shining baldhead. A laptop was clasped beneath his arm and he adorned a silver business suit.

"Kenny?" Tasha, Rei, and Max inquired.

"Chief?" asked Tyson.

"That would be me," answered Kenny smirking at them.

"You're bald?" Tasha blurted out causing everyone to laugh.

"Way to state the obvious, Tasha," Kenny said.

"You look cool!" Max exclaimed. Everyone laughed again but Tasha stopped abruptly at the sight of the team captain.

"K-Kai," she stammered causing the others to turn around.

"You're right it is the sourpuss," Tyson shouted merrily.

Kai smirked and retorted, "I see you're the same moron you always were, Tyson." He was wearing a pair of black jeans, a dark shirt, and a crimson jacket, his usual colors.

"I missed you too, jerk," Tyson said grinning.

Palara purred laughingly causing Max to ask Tasha, "What did she say?"

Tasha blinked repeatedly to clear her thoughts before replying, "She said, 'You guys are pitiful.' "

"Pitiful are we?" Tyson questioned. "Well that's easy for her to say."

Palara purred defiantly, her coffee-colored eyes sparkling good-humoredly, and Tasha laughed. "She said, 'Of course its easy considering I'm a higher being,' " Tasha translated.

Tyson only chuckled in response to that. "So when are we going to meet the guy?" he asked.

Tasha jumped slightly at the question and Palara muttered, 'You've already met him. He's standing right there.'

Tasha scowled at her bitbeast and snapped silently, 'Shut it, Pal.' To Tyson she answered, "I don't know. He's at work right now, but he wanted to pick me up to go to dinner tonight so I guess then you guys could meet him."

'You seem rather jumpy all of a sudden. I wonder why…' Palara mumbled evocatively.

'Palara, shut up!' Tasha yelled noiselessly.

Meanwhile, Tyson was nodding and saying, "Let's go inside and ketch up on some stuff." Tasha followed them inside, staying as far away from Kai as possible.

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"Cool! A Mustang!" Max yelled as Byakko's vehicle approached the manor hours later.

Tasha smiled as her auburn haired fiancé stepped out of the car. "Byakko!" she shouted running over to him. Byakko enfolded her in his arms and kissed her warmly on her mouth.

"Byakko, this is the rest of the Bladebreakers," Tasha explained nodded towards her friends.

"I see," said Byakko. "I'm Byakko Mao."

"Hey, I'm Tyson."

"My name's Rei."

 "I'm called Kenny."

"The name's Kai."

Byakko nodded. "Well its nice to meet all of you but we must be going." He turned to Tasha and continued, "I've made reservations at that little restaurant by our apartment."

Tasha nodded and turned forlornly to the other Bladebreakers. "We won't wait another four years before we get together again, right, guys?" she inquired.

"We'll be at the wedding," Max reminded Tasha.

Tasha smiled. "Thanks, guys. See you soon then." And with that said they did their good-byes and Tasha and Byakko left in the Mustang.

In the car Byakko asked, "You invited them to our wedding?"

"Yea, why?"

"They look like a bunch of delinquents to me."

Tasha's mouth gaped. "What are you talking about? Those guys are great!" she protested.

"If you say so, dear, its just, they seemed kind of bizarre. Come to think of it, that guy Kai seemed the most bizarre," Byakko explained.

Even if he had been trying he couldn't have said anything more insulting to Tasha at that moment in time. She shrieked, "Stop the car! I'm walking home!"

"Tasha-"

"Don't 'Tasha' me! You insult my friends, you insult me!" Tasha hollered climbing out of the car. Even through Byakko's objections, Tasha and Palara still began to walk down the forest road, fuming at his impudence.

Byakko watched them go, his mouth and eyes wide. "What did I say?" he asked himself after awhile.

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A/N: So here's chapter 1 of the sequel! ^_^

Tasha: *fuming at Byakko*

Choccy: -__-;;; *sweatdrop*

A/N 2: Review or face my fury!

Tasha *mumbling* Stupid Byakko. Doesn't know what he's talking about! Urgh!

Choccy: Who's deranged now? O:)

Tasha: What did you say?!

Choccy: *shudders* You're actually scaring me!

Tasha: *growls*

Choccy: Eek!

Tasha: *grumble…grumble*

Choccy: *laughing nervously* Bye, everyone!