Ana: Muy fantastico! I finally updated! I have two very special announcements. First off, a super-special thank you to everyone for being so patient and sending me ideas for Raimundo's outfit. Muchas gracias, amigas! Although my brother's outfit ended up being the final product, all of your ideas looked really good when I drew them out, so thank you for you suggestions. :) Onto the next announcement, meet my editor and bestest friend, Ayu-chan. (applause)

Ayu: Thanks, Ana. Hola! I'm Ayu, her editor and bestest friend!

Chase: She just said that. You have just as short an attention span as her.

Ana: (on the phone) Hi, Chii-Chii! Uh-huh. Actually, I'm supposed to be doing something right now... Chase, what was it again?

Ayu: That your cousin? Let me talk to her!

Chase: I'm surrounded by idiots...

Disclaimer: I own no aspects of Xiaolin Showdown or American Dragon, but Ahn-Li and all aspects surrounding her story belong to me.

Chapter 8: Magic in Manhattan

Raimundo was on his way to Trixie's house, a white rose for Ahn-Li in hand. He was wearing a black suit jacket over an un-tucked button-up dress shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He was pretty nervous, considering he had not only had the guts to ask Ahn-Li out, but she had said yes. Plus, what her cousin said before he left the house left him dancing on a razor's edge.

At Jake's house earlier in the evening, Raimundo was heading out the door to go to Trixie's house."Well, I'm gone."

"Good luck, Rai." Clay encouraged him.

"Your date is a-socking to go well." Omi said.

"Dude, I believe it's pronounced a-shooin'." Spud corrected him, then put a finger to his chin thinking, "Though, a-socking is very creative."

"Byebye, Raimundo. I hope your date with Ahn-Li goes well." Haley said with a smile. Actually, it was closer to a smirk. "If not, hee hee, boo for you."

Raimundo stopped in the doorway. "… Why?" he asked cautiously, slowly turning back to look at her.

"Oh, no reason." She started rocking back and forth on her heels, looking innocent. "It's just that she comes from a family of dragons, all of which are very over-protective of her, who will take turns burning you to a crisp if anything goes wrong." She took a breath, and then smiled from ear to ear, not quite reaching her eyes. "But no pressure."

He stood there wide-eyed and Jake came into the room and shooed Haley away, slinging an arm over Raimundo's shoulder. "She was just kidding, right, Jake?" The Brazilian boy asked hopefully.

"Hahah, kids these days. Rai, let's chat." He pulled Raimundo outside and shut the door behind him. Jake's face then became serious and he folded his arms, "Donotscrew this up." He warned him, none of his usual playfulness in his voice. When it came to his cousin, there was no time for jokes.

"Li-Li's had it rough since kindergarten. When she's hurt it takes a while to bounce back and it sometimes leads to depression. If she isn't smiling tomorrow morning…" He raised a hand and held it front of Raimundo's face, suddenly morphing it into his dragon claws. "… I'm gonna be having shrimp-friedRaifor breakfast, ya dig?"

Raimundo couldn't say anything to that. He merely gulped, slowly nodding, and then set off for Trixie's.

Raimundo was now standing on Trixie's doorstep, about five minutes before he really needed to be there. He reached for the doorbell, hesitating as he thought about what Jake had said then took a deep breath. I've come too far to go back now. Just gotta hope for the best… He thought to himself.

Although he may have been nervous, he wasn't as nervous as a certain Dragon of Light we all know and love.

Up in Trixie's room, Ahn-Li was having something of a nervous breakdown. "I can't do this!" Ahn-Li screamed, wringing her hands like Lady Macbeth as she paced the floor.

"Of course you can." Kimiko disagreed, her eyes tracing back and forth to follow Ahn-Li's path of motion. "What happened to the 'strut your stuff' Ahn-Li from a few minutes ago?"

"Okay, first off, you made me sound like an Asian Barbie doll. And second, I can't 'strut my stuff' knowing Raimundo's going to be here any minute…"

Suddenly, she stopped cold, her eyes going wide. Rose ran over to Ahn-Li and grabbed her hands before they could make their way into her hair as a realization hit her. "Aiya! He's going to be here any minute!" She put a hand over her heart, "… I can't breathe."

"You'll be fine." Rose assured her, setting her hands by her side. "Just relax."

"Okay, okay. You're right." Ahn-Li closed her eyes and clasped her palms together, walking over to the bed and sitting upon it in the lotus position. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Fàngsōng nǐ de tóunǎo. Fàngsōng nǐ de jīngshén." She opened her eyes. "Okay, I—"

The doorbell rang, sending her flying out of her meditative pose. "Cannot do this!" She screamed, running around the room in circles while ranting in Chinese. Then she suddenly stopped at the window, trying to force it open. "It's not seven yet. I can still get out of this!"

"Oh for cryin' out loud!"

Trixie quickly walked over to Ahn-Li and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around to smack her straight across the face. Kimiko and Rose were wide-eyed, surprised that Trixie would hit a black belt. Ahn-Li was just surprised. "Damn, Trixie…" she whined, rubbing her cheek, "That hurt..."

"Sorry, Li, but that was for your own good. You need to keep it together, girl!" Trixie told her. "Now, me and Rose'll go answer the door and you put those shoes on. Get it?"

Ahn-Li got out of her daze and nodded. "Got it."

"Good."

Trixie and Rose went downstairs and opened the door for Raimundo. "Hi, Raimundo." Rose greeted him.

"Hey, Rose."

Ahn-Li heard Raimundo's voice downstairs and put her shoes on as quickly as she could. "He's downstairs." Kimiko said.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Ahn-Li responded, trying to imaging the strings on her shoes were like ballet shoes to ease the process.

"Where's Ahn-Li?" they heard him ask.

"Hurry up." Kimiko coaxed her with a quick wave of her hand.

"Relax, I'm done." Ahn-Li said.

"Okay then, let's go."

As they got into the hallway, a swarm of butterflies was released in Ahn-Li's stomach and she stopped, holding her stomach. "Kimi." Kimiko turned around, "I feel sick..."

The Dragon of Fire giggled, walking over to grab her hand. "It's only first date jitters." She said with a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine."

"No! I can't do this!" Ahn-Li grabbed onto the door frame. Kimiko, in turn, grabbed her and attempted, to pull her away from it, somehow putting her horizontal. "LEMME GO, DAMMIT!"

"Get. Your. Skinny. Butt. Down! THOSE! STAIRS!" Kimiko shouted between each pull.

"NO!"

"DO IT!"

"NO!" Kimiko pulled extra hard one final time and Ahn-Li lost her grip and fell onto the floor. "Fine…" Ahn-Li sighed in defeat, brushing herself off.

Kimiko was smiling again as she smoothed out Ahn-Li's bangs. "Come on. You've got a Shoku Warrior to wow."

Back downstairs, Rose and Trixie were keeping Raimundo occupied while they waited for Ahn-Li to come downstairs. "She'll be down in a minute." Trixie told Raimundo, nudging him in the ribs. "You wouldn't believe how bad that girl was freakin' out."

I can't say I blame her... Raimundo thought.

Just then, Kimiko hopped down the steps, fixing her ruffled hair. She stopped in front of the steps. "Ladies... and Raimundo, introducing the finally ready Ahn-Li."

The other three looked up. Ahn-Li was walking down the steps, trying not to fall from in the shoes she was in. She was wearing a midnight blue spaghetti-strapped dress with a ruffled, layered skirt trimmed an inch above her knees. On her feet were dark blue, high-heeled sandals strapped upwards in a bow just below her calves. Her hair was pinned up in a messy bun, two silver chopsticks nestled in it. Around her shoulders was a sparkling blue see-through scarf and her usual studs were replaced with small silver hoops. "Um, hey, Raimundo." she smiled weakly.

"Whoa…" he breathed, then straightened up. "Hey. You look… different."

Her cheeks took on a light pink and she wrung her hands again. That seemed to be a nervous habit of hers. "B-bad different?"

"No." He shook his head, smiling at her. "Nice different."

"Only because they made me take off the hat. And managed to get me in this girly outfit." She and Raimundo laughed lightly and he handed her the rose. Her smile widened when she saw it. "Well, well, well. A white rose, huh? Somebody's been talking to Jake."

"Well, don't just stand here. Get going." Rose said.

"Yup. The night is young and so are you." Kimiko giggled, pushing them out the door, "Have fun."

The door closed behind them. As they began walking down the street, Trixie suddenly opened the window, "Li!" she called, tossing a black handbag out the window. Ahn-Li caught it on reflex. "You might need that. And Raimundo." She caught Raimundo's attention. The boy flinched a little as Trixie glared at him. "You better have that girl back before eleven sharp or you're gonna get it."

"Bye, Trixie." Ahn-Li said, continuing down the street with Raimundo as the other girls pulled Trixie back inside.

Raimundo scratched his head. "Man, everyone's been on my case tonight…" He looked over at the oriole-haired girl. "What is she, your mother?"

"Hmm... I dunno." Ahn-Li pulled her scarf over her shoulders. "Maybe that's why she calls herself 'Momma Trixie' all the time."

Raimundo laughed as he and Ahn-Li walked into the bright and lively city. The streets danced with color. "New York looks pretty cool at night." Raimundo commented, "Almost as lively as Rio."

"Yeah, it's really pretty. But I'm with Jake half the time, so I don't really get to enjoy it." Ahn-Li replied.

"Well, tonight, you will." Raimundo said with a smile, nudging her a little bit with his elbow.

She smiled and giggled. She looked around the area they were walking through. "Hey, where we going anyway?"

"I'm not telling." he told her.

"C'mon, why not?" she asked, pouting.

"Because," Raimundo's smile widened. "It's a surprise."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is this a surprise I'm going to like?"

"I have the feeling you will."

The two walked a little ways into the city until they hit 17th street. Venturing a little further up the street, Raimundo stopped in front of a building. "Ahn-Li, welcome to Basta Pasta." he said, pointing at the sign above them.

Ahn-Li's face changed entirely when she saw the sign, her jaw dropping. "Basta Pasta?"

"Yup." he answered.

"TheBasta Pasta?"

"Yup."

"One of the nicest places in New York that mixes Japanese and Italian cuisine?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement and she nearly took a leap into the air. "Dude, I've always wanted to go here, I just never had the time!"

He grinned, knowing he made the right choice and silently thanking Spud. "Then it's a good thing you're with me then, huh?" He pulled the door open and held the open for her. "After you, señorita."

Ahn-Li smiled and walked inside. "Why, thank you."

They went inside the restaurant. It had a lovely interior of Japanese style art work and candles on the table. They walked up to the front desk to the clerk. "May I help you?" he asked.

"Reservation for two. It should be under Pedrosa." Raimundo replied, crossing his fingers behind his back in hopes that it actually was.

The man scanned the list for Raimundo's name then tapped his finger on a certain spot. "Ah, here we are." He grabbed two menus from behind the desk. "Right this way, Mr. Pedrosa."

He led Raimundo and Ahn-Li to a table next to a table in the center of the room. A small lavender candle sat in a bowl of water as the centerpiece. Raimundo walked around to one of the chairs, pulling it out and motioning for Ahn-Li to sit. She smiled at him, nodding to him in thanks and setting the rose down on the table as she sat. The host handed the two their menus then left. Ahn-Li picked up her menu as she looked around, taking in the atmosphere. "This place is really nice." she commented.

Raimundo picked up his menu as well. "You like it, huh?" He smiled, letting out a little chuckle. "Me, too."

"The question is…" She lowered the menu, revealing a sly grin on her face. "How did you get a spot at a fancy scene like this, Mr. Pedrosa?"

His smile widened as he scanned over the menu. "You know me. I just pulled a couple of strings."

"Uh-huh." She looked up as though she were thinking. "I'll go out on a limb and say… Spuddy helped you."

He flinched, laying the menu flat on the table to let her see his shocked expression. "How did you—" he began.

"I've known him since I was seven so I know how he operates." she replied, giggling lightly at Raimundo's face. "Besides he hacks and things for the American Dragon business all the time."

"You're with them all the time, huh?"

"Yeah, I love being with Jake." She made a fist. "I get to fight and use magic and see some pretty cool things, so I'm not complaining."

A waitress came to the table a wide smile on her face. "Welcome to Basta Pasta. I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"I'll have a coke." He turned to Ahn-Li, "How about you?"

Ahn-Li turned to the waitress. "Iced tea, please." She requested.

The waitress scribbled it down on her note pad and nodded. "All right then. Take a look at the menu and I'll be back to take your order in a minute."

She left Raimundo and Ahn-Li alone again. She smiled and placed her menu on the table, looking across the table at Raimundo. "So, what was your life before the whole Xiaolin monk thing?" she asked curiously.

Raimundo shrugged, somewhat surprised that she was so interested in that. The other monks hadn't really asked him much about it and he did not find it too interesting, either. "It wasn't much. I was born in Tubarão, in the middle eight brothers and sisters. We were in a family circus that toured in Rio de Janeiro. Papi home-schooled us whenever we were on the road, though."

"Circus, huh?" Ahn-Li's smile grew into an impish smirk. "What were you? A clown?" She teased him, making a silly face.

He shook his head, laughing. "Noooo. I was an acrobat, thank you very much." He informed her, holding his head up high with an air of arrogance about him.

A spark arose in her lilac eyes. "Now thatsounds like fun." She said and leaned forward, clearly interested, "What do you remember most?"

He shrugged, "Nothing really."

"Come on, there has to be something."

He tapped his chin as he thought, chuckling when he got his answer. "Well, there was this one time… It was our last performance before we were gonna go on break, right?"

"Mm-hmm, and?"

"Well, one of our signature tricks was for my brothers to form a pyramid and for me to dive from the high trapeze, bounce off a trampoline and land on top of our pyramid." He moved his hands to model everything as he explained it.

She nodded eagerly as if to tell him to go on, leaning her chin on the palms of her hands. He rubbed the back of his head, not but an awkward smile on his face as the waitress set their drinks in front of them. "Are you two ready to order—" she asked.

"Yes." Raimundo responded quickly, seeing that as his escape. "What do you want to eat, Ahn-Li?"

Ahn-Li stared at him for a moment, curious as to how quickly he hopped off of that subject. She came back into mental consciousness a moment later, holding her menu so that Raimundo could see it. "Actually, I found something we can share. Look." She pointed to a spot on the menu, Raimundo leaning in to look at it. "Roasted Maine lobster. It comes with shrimp, fava beans, a salad. It's a full meal."

He read the description as she said it and nodded his head, then turned back to the waitress. "I guess we'll be having the roasted Maine lobster, then."

"Uh-huh..." The waitress scribbled it onto her pad, and then scooped up their menus. "Alrighty then. Your order will be ready in a moment." She turned back as she walked away, flashing a smile at them. "You guys are so cute!" she squealed as she left.

With that, she walked back into the kitchen. Ahn-Li stirred the ice in her drink with her straw for a moment, a smirk rivaling that of the Cheshire Cat playing across her face. "It didn't end well, huh?" she asked.

Raimundo turned away from her as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "Hm?"

Her large eyes were now upon him. "You left me hanging on the story." Her chin was resting in the palm of her hand. "You didn't land on the pyramid, did you, Rai?"

She saw one corner of his mouth turn up, forming a little half smile. "Nope." A chuckle escaped his lips, and he continued. "We had to use another trampoline because the other one was a little…" He paused as he tried to find the right word. "Dysfunctional. It was a last-minute change so we didn't have time to test it before the show."

She shook her head. "Oh, no."

"Oh yeah. I straight flew over the pyramid and head first into the piranha tank." He finished his tale with a laugh.

Ahn-Li sat there, trying to keep a stone face as she imagined this. Hardly a moment later, she put a hand over her mouth, trying to reign in a horrible fit of giggles. "Oh, wow." She managed to get out between laughs.

A pale red spread across Raimundo's cheeks. He had not expected her to actually laugh. "It's not funny." He muttered as Ahn-Li's laughter gradually came to a stop. After the girl took a sip of her iced tea and repeatedly fanned herself to calm herself down, Raimundo spoke again. "So, you're from Georgia?"

"Yup." She set her glass back on the table, forming an A with her index and middle fingers. "The big ATL, as they call it."

He raised a curios eyebrow at her. "What was yourlife like before Master Fung recruited you?"

"You already know my life story." She made a fist with her right hand, doing a quick punch. "Martial arts."

He nodded as he recalled the story she told him a month or so ago, and then leaned his chin on the back of his hand. "C'mon, there's gotta be more to it than that."

"Well… I was also a dancer." She began, tapping her chin. "Mama thought that I needed a more 'positive' outlet to balance out the martial arts training, so when I wasn't doing that, I was in ballet classes. I thought I would hate it, but after that first lesson it was just like… Wow." Her eyes shone and a soft smile made its way to her face. "Dance, to me, is like poetry in motion. A way to express yourself and talk to people without really talking." She squirmed a little bit in her seat, squealing. "Look at me; I'm getting all jumpy just talking about it!"

Seeing her smile, Raimundo found that he couldn't help but smile himself. "What'd you do for regular school?"

"Went through Hell." Came her quick response, surprising Raimundo a bit. "Kids kept picking on me me for the way I looked." She ran her fingers lightly over her pale face. "But I didn't get that when I came to visit Jake in New York. So, Mr. Ronaldo and Miss Darsetto, Jakey's old principal, made a system for me. I'd do a semester at home and the other semester here and I'd stay with Auntie Susan or Yeh-Yeh. It worked really well, too. I met Trixie and Spuddy and Rosie and I got to fight alongside the American Dragon." She grinned a little, shuffling in her seat, "Truth be told, I love it here… and I'll really miss not being able to come back as often as before."

Raimundo stared at her. Under the hard mask she had always worn, Ahn-Li was just like any other girl. And that smile... He could not bring himself to stop staring at it, for that type of smile wasn't seen very often. A smile of pure joy. "One more question."

She blinked. "Yeah?"

"How did you know all of the monk stuff before Master Fung came to you?" That was something he was really curious about. It had taken the other monks a couple of years to get used to the Xiaolin Dragon lifestyle. Ahn-Li, however, had taken to it like a fish to water.

"Oh, that... Well, when I was little and we lived in China, Nai-Nai, my grandma, used to tell me the stories from her village as bedtime stories. A lot of them were about the brave Xiaolin Dragons and Master Dashi." She giggled. "Never thought I'd actually be one, you know?"

Raimundo rested his chin on the back of his wrist, staring at her once again. The corners of his mouth turned upwards in a smile. "You know, Ahn-Li, you actually have a really cute laugh."

The compliment caught her off guard and she fell silent. Her cheeks instantly went bright red and she looked down in order to hide it, but a small smile was pushing its way onto her face. The waitress came back at that moments with their food and set it on the table. "Please enjoy it." She said as she walked away.

Ahn-Li eyed the food in front of her, eyes sparkling. Raimundo looked up at her and picked up his fork. "Dig in."

Ahn-Li's fork went into the lobster first. When the small piece hit her tongue, her eyes widened. "This is... delicious!" she squealed.

Raimundo chuckled and took a bite of it himself. His face bore the same expression now. "It is good!" he noted.

The remainder of the meal was relatively quiet, with the exception of when Ahn-Li decided to be immature for a moment. She put a fava bean on her fork and pulled the tongs back, flicking the bean at Raimundo's forehead. He, however, saw it just before it made contact and whipped his head around to catch it in his mouth, grinning impishly. "Nice try."

She made a mock-sad face, her lip poking out in a pout. "Kill-joy." she said as she set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. "Jeez… I am full…"

Raimundo did a slight double-take and looked at her with disbelief. "What was that?"

"I'm full." she repeated, laying a hand over her stomach.

He eyed her oddly, his face suddenly turning serious. "Where's Ahn-Li and what have you done with her?"

Ahn-Li shook her head, giggling. "Oh, shut up. Even I get full sometimes."

The waitress came back with the bill. Raimundo opened the small folder and looked it over, blinking in surprise. "That's actually not that bad." He said to himself.

"Need help paying?" Ahn-Li offered.

He shook his head. "Nope, I got it." He stuck a twenty and a ten into the folder, handing it back to the waitress. "The extra cash is tip."

"Thank you." She smiled at the two Dragons as they stood up, waving to them. "Have a nice evening, you guys."

Raimundo grabbed the rose and handed it to Ahn-Li when she almost left. "You, too."

The two of them walked further out of the city, towards the bridge. Ahn-Li tightened the scarf over her shoulders, seeing as the temperature had dropped a bit since they were last outside. As they continued to walk down the sidewalk, Ahn-Li caught sight of the Statue of Liberty, stopping dead in her tracks.

Raimundo noticed that she was no longer beside him and turned around, seeing that she had stopped. "Something wrong, Ahn-Li?" he asked her as he made his way over to her.

She shook her head, not tearing her eyes from the statue. He followed her gaze all the way back to the statue. "It's so pretty." she sighed, "I've always wondered what it looks like from the top…"

He looked over at her, then at Lady Liberty, and back at Ahn-Li. "Do you wanna find out?"

She looked at him, her hands in their usual sassy position upon her hips. "How? The ferry—"

He chuckled, opening his arms to gesture towards himself. "Who said anything about the ferry?"

She stared at him, confused, then her eyes popped wide open with shock. "No."

"Aww, c'mon." He nudged her with his elbow, "It'll be fun."

"No, no, no, no, and no!" She shook her head, "We are not flying over there!"

"You said you wanted to see it." he reminded her.

"You know I don't like heights, Rai!" She shuddered just thinking about it.

Raimundo put a hand on her shoulder. "But this might be your last chance to see it." He pointed out. "Xiaolin Dragons don't get many vacations from saving the world, you know."

Ahn-Li was quiet for a moment, her eyes tracing back over to the Statue of Liberty. She really did want to see it up close. More than anything. She then heaved a heavy sigh and irritably muttered something in Chinese. She turned to Raimundo, her eyes closed. "Fine, you win."

He pumped his fist at the small victory, mouthing a yes to himself. He reached over and wrapped an arm around her waist, looking up at the sky. "Wudai Star: Wind."

An air current surrounded Raimundo's feet and then pushed him off of the ground. Ahn-Li's hands were instantly clinging to him as they went up into the sky, not daring to open her eyes.

Raimundo glided over the bay. By air travel, the statue did not seem even half as far as it had in the city. He took hold of one of Ahn-Li's hands and pulled it from his shirt. He descended slowly, dipping her hand into the cool water. She relaxed at the feeling of the water around her fingers, a smile pushing itself onto her face.

Raimundo pulled up abruptly, causing her free hand to tighten on him. She then heard the clinking of metal beneath her feet. He looked past her and out to the starry horizon, his eyes showing that he was clearly impressed with what he saw. He had absolutely no doubts that she would love it as well. He led her to the edge, gently letting go of her and letting her stand on her own. "You can open your eyes now."

Slowly, she opened one eye. The other popped open out of awe. All of the lights and noises of the city had been left behind. All the remained was the cool quiet of night and the sound of water gently crashing against the base of the statue. The moon and the stars reflected beautifully on the water. When the sky met with the flat horizon of the water, looked as though they were just one beautiful canvas and not the separate entities she knew they were. "Whoa! So pretty!" she shouted, taking in every breath taking detail of the moment, "No way, I take it back. It's beautiful!"

Raimundo looked down at her, smiling. Ahn-Li was looking up at the sky, mystified by the stars myriad number of stars. The light of the full moon over them added a blue glow to her pale skin. The stars reflected in her eyes, making the lilac orbs sparkle like jewels. Yup, beautiful sounds just right. He thought to himself.

He then saw her pull the scarf even tighter over her arms. "You cold?"

"A little bit." She replied, nodding.

She felt weight falling upon her shoulders and she noticed Raimundo was without his jacket. She gave him a glance of appreciation as she slipped her arms through the sleeves and he smiled as if to say it was not a problem. Raimundo raised an eyebrow, smiling. "You're a dancer, huh?" he asked.

Ahn-Li looked at him with a questioning face to see him holding his hand out to her. Her eyes went wide for a brief moment and she shook her head, taking a step back from him. "O-oh, no. I've never done ballroom before." she admitted, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Or even danced with a partner."

"Then, I'll teach you." He offered with a shrug of his shoulders. He took a step over to her and took one of her hands, lifting it up to his shoulder and placing it there. He held her other hand in his. His free hand went to her hip. "The man is supposed to lead anyway."

She felt a blush coming on at the moment and was trying to do everything in her power to stop it from coming out. She turned away from him in an attempt to hide the light pink in her cheeks. "There's no music, though…"

He chuckled, grinning down at her as he pulled her firmly into him. "We don't need it. Just follow my lead."

And with that, he began to lead her in a simple box step. She was a bit surprised by this. Raimundo had not struck her as the type of guy that would waltz, or do any kind of ballroom dancing. Yet, here he was, gently guiding her through the waltz. It was one of the most simple dances, and yet one of the most romantic dances in the dancing world.

He decided to get a little fancier with the steps. He let go of one of her hands, lifting the other one over her head and signaling her to turn. When she had gone back to her original position, he led her in another box step before he took a step out from her, opening his body. She easily mimicked the action. Then he twirled her into him and, with his arms wrapped around her, he gently dipped her to the ground, locking eyes with her for a moment. Ahn-Li's face flushed bright red at this. If what she said was true and dancing really was speaking without words, Raimundo was saying a lot to her right now. "Wow…" was all she could say in return.

A little bit later, the two of them were sitting in between one of the breaks in Lady Liberty's crown. Raimundo had broken the stem off of the rose and given it to Ahn-Li to place in her hair. "So, I know what you lik… What are you afraid of?"

"Well, heights for one thing. Let's see…" Ahn-Li put a pale finger to her lip as she thought. As it came to her, she shuddered, and not because of the cold air. "Bamboo." She said, swallowing with difficulty, "More like Nai-Nai with bamboo. Scariest crap on Earth…"

He stared at her for a moment, as if processing what he just heard. His shoulders began to shake, and then his silent chuckles grew into a heckling laugh. "That's it? You're afraid of your grandmother with bamboo?" His laughter increased as he tried to picture an old woman waving around a stalk of bamboo. "It can't be that bad."

She gave him a sharp look that questioned his sanity. "Not that bad? Nai-Nai threw it at me or she'd hit me with it!" He was still laughing hysterically. Her eyebrow twitched and her lips tightened into a thin line. "Oh yeah? What are you afraid of, tough guy?"

His laughter came to a startling halt. Ahn-Li smirked seeing his reaction to the question. He looked back out at the river. "Jellyfish…" He shook his head. "One bad day of surfing will do that to you."

She stared at him and folded her lips back, trying to hold back her laughter before speaking. "So, you were laughing at my fear…" She grinned, "When yours is of a little jellyfish?"

Raimundo nodded. "Yup. Guess we're both pretty weird."

Ahn-Li swerved her neck, her usual demeanor setting in again. "Speak for yourself." They both laughed, cutting it off with a long sigh. She smiled at him, looking out to the horizon again. "I could stay up here forever…"

Raimundo nodded his head in agreement, his eyes going to the sky. "Yeah, me too..." His watch beeped, signalling the start of another hour. He looked at it, then double-took when he saw it, his face pallid. "Oh, crap…"

She tilted her head. "What's up?"

"It's already one." He said frantically as he stood up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up as well. "Jake will totally have my ass for this…" Ahn-Li rolled her eyes at that. "You don't mind the shortcut, right?"

She grabbed onto him, letting her eyes fall shut again. "Do what you do."

Raimundo leaped from the statue, he and Ahn-Li falling towards the water. A strong wind surrounded his feet and he pulled up, flying quickly towards the city. As soon as they reentered the city, the noise and bright lights returned. He wove between numerous skyscrapers and above the busy streets. She felt her feet hit the ground and opened her eyes again, seeing that the two of them were standing on Trixie's doorstep. Raimundo looked down at Ahn-Li. Even with the heels, she was still just a little bit shorter than him. She stooped down and reached under the doormat, fishing out the spare door key from beneath it. She smiled up at him. "Thanks for tonight, Rai." She stood upright again and took off Raimundo's jacket, handing it back to him. "It was a lot fun."

The Dragon of the Wind smiled at her and took a step closer to her so that he was standing in front of her, placing a hand over her eyes. She let out a nervous giggle. "Hey, what're you doing?"

"I've got one more little surprise for you." He replied.

Ahn-Li could feel Raimundo's breath on her face, which made her heart pound a hundred miles a minute.

He leaned down towards her and then gently pressed his lips to hers. Ahn-Li's face turned crimson and she was at a loss for what to do, seeing as she had never been kissed before. She decided to not think about it and just let nature take its course, slowly kissing him back. His hand moved from her eyes to cup her cheek, her arms sliding to his shoulders.

Suddenly the perfect moment was ruined as quick gust of air flew over her and Raimundo's hand was gone. She opened her eyes, searching for the cause, and then nearly screamed at what she saw. Jake and Raimundo were rolling on the ground, Jake's eyes set into a glare. Jake managed to get on top of Raimundo, who was trying to block the hands going for his neck. "You're dead! You're dead! You are so dead!" he shouted.

Raimundo put his feet into Jake's stomach and pushed him up and over his head, going into his stance. "What the hell did I do?"

The American Dragon flipped into a crouch, his dragon claws coming forth as he growled. Fortunately for Raimundo, the expression "If looks could kill" was not in effect. Otherwise, he surely would be plummeting into the deepest depths of Hades. "You're late!"

Ahn-Li smacked herself in the forehead, muttering to herself. "Báichī…" She looked down at the boys quarreling on the ground, clicking her tongue with disappointment. Being a martial artist, seeing this pointless fighting was a disgrace. She leaned over and perched her elbows on the porch railing. "Jake, I love you, but why do you always have to be like this?" she asked through a frustrated sigh.

"'Cause I'm your cousin!" He turned to her with an angry set of eyes, making her flinch with a light squeak. "And I do not want to hear it from the girl that had me searching all over New York for her." He grabbed Raimundo by his collar and started to drag him down the street. "Later, Li-Li."

All that Raimundo could do was stare back at Ahn-Li and pray that her overprotective cousin would let him live. She shrugged with an apologetic half smile and turned around to unlock the door. She stepped inside, giggling like the girls she had seen in those "Old American flicks" as her grandmother called them. Once she closed the door behind her, she turned around to see Trixie, Kimiko and Rose sitting on the couch, their faces filled with anticipation, with the exception of Trixie, who looked like a worried mother. "Li, you're late." Trixie said, folding her arms across her chest, "Do you knowhow hard Jakey was lookin' for you?"

Ahn-Li simply sighed and leaned against the door, reaching up to touch the rose embedded in her hair. Kimiko smirked. "I take it it went well?" She inquired.

"There's only one word to describe it, Kimi." She pulled the rose from her hair and placed it over her heart. "Wow."

The girls looked at her and she looked at them. Then they suddenly ran to each other, squealing excitably.

Ana: Once again, I AM SOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN ABOUT A YEAR! SOOOOOOORRY!

Chase: Oy...

Ayu: Bye bye :)

-By the way,Baichi is idiot in Chinese and Ahn-Li's meditating mantra is "Relax your mind. Relax your spirit."