My name's Emily and I'm sorry I didn't get around to finishing this sooner, stuff happens and fate has a crazy way of entering your life...we'll just say apparently I have a sister that I didn't even know about, needy animals have a strange way of finding me, and I found out that I absolutely hate my best friend.

Anyway you didn't come to hear about my problems; you want to read the story. It might be nice to read All in a Winter's Day so you know what's going on but no matter, it should be fine if you didn't read it. My cousin and I both wrote this, I mean like she started to write ita long time ago and then just kind of stopped so I stepped in and finished it.

Dedicated to Alana for being a super wonderful reviewer.

Title: Morning Meltdowns

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Word-count: 2204

Date of completion: June 23, 2006 10:40 pm

Grumpily groaning Kimiko awoke to the vibrantly loud sound of Raimundo snoring. She was well aware of the fact that he snored but she didn't remember it ever being THAT loud. Then again he was right next to her. HUH? He was right next to her!

"What in tarnation is going on in here?"

Her thoughts exactly...well almost. Wait a second; those weren't her thoughts! Blinking with caution she opened her bright blue eyes and the first thing she noticed was Raimundo's face, dangerously close to her own. Then she caught sight of a slack-jawed Clay and a befuddled Omi standing in the doorway.

"Uh..." Kimiko stammered finding herself wrapped in Raimundo's arms. All that training had made him quite strong and getting out of his secure, warm (sigh) arms was no easy task. If she found a way to will herself to leave (which seemed so close to impossible that she didn't want to even try it) then she would have to deal with his strength. Sighing she felt herself being lulled back to sleep by his rhythmic heartbeat and she mused that it would be pleasant to wake up like this every morning no matter who found them.

The Texan cowboy loudly cleared his throat again and being the shy individual he was when it came to situations like this blushed a bright crimson.

Finally Raimundo Pedrosa began to stir. He looked at the petite, Japanese girl in his arms and smiled. At the moment Clay and Omi were nothing more than a part of the wall to him. Raimundo really didn't care if they were there or not; it's not like they could punish him.

"I demand to know what is down right now!" Omi finally said. The egotistical monk had finally lost his patience.

"It's what's up, not down" Raimundo lazily muttered before looking at the pair of intruders for the very first time.

"Oh, thank you Raimundo. On the other foot you both have been most secretive lately and now what have you done?" Omi chirped, "how will Kimiko fight if she is going to be having a baby?"

"First of all it's the other hand; not foot. And second you guys don't honestly believe that she and I did-" Raimundo spoke blushing furiously.

"Well then I reckon we'll be needin' an explanation" Clay reasoned giving Raimundo a fess-up-or-else look.

"Her mat was still soaked from yesterday morning's water prank so she just asked to share my mat. It's nothing big...really...oh come on! You still don't believe me do you?" Rai whined.

"But The Ancient Guide to Females says that if a male sleeps with a female then the female will have a baby," Omi spoke in clear confusion.

"Uh Omi," Clay blushed rubbing his neck, "that's a dif'ren kinda sleepin'."

"Do you believe me or do you need to hear the exact same story from her?" Raimundo grinned. He now realized that (for once) he was totally right.

"Naw, I trust ya, but Master Fung'll have himself a fit if he finds her in here." Clay replied leading a confounded Omi out of the tiny room.

"Kimi" Raimundo whispered letting his light breath tickle the skin on her neck.

He let his fingers gently trace the outside of her face and he felt her lips twitch into that smile he knew she had desperately been fighting.

'Great,' she thought, 'now he knows that I'm awake and the moment of peace will be forced to an abrupt end.'

Too bad they hadn't gotten up when Clay warned them to because in walked Master Fung with Dojo in tow. Shaking his head slightly Master Fung gave an exasperated sigh. It those two weren't getting in trouble separately for fights and pranks then they'd be getting in trouble together for something else.

"I expect the great hall floor scrubbed by midday." Master Fung directed.

"But-" both began to protest.

"I don't want an explanation. Kimiko, you have been well aware since your arrival that you were not to be caught in any of the other's rooms."

"Yes Master Fung," Kimiko sadly sighed.

Slowly the old, bald monk left the room and the whining started.

"How in the world are we going to get the whole hall cleaned in just a few hours?" Kimiko groaned.

"I dunno, but I guess we better start..." Rai grinned mysteriously.

"What's got you so happy?" Kimiko asked cautiously watching his smug grin as she tried to roll over.

"Oh nothing." Raimundo laughed.

"It better be nothing," Kimiko playfully threatened.

Kimiko stood up and stretched with a small yawn.

"I'll meet you there in five okay?" She gave Rai a dazzling smile and walked out.

He watched her go and on the inside he was satisfied. He now got to spend at least two whole hours with her, and he knew just how to turn it into even more. The longer he could keep her away from her technology and room the better his chances were if he ever got the nerve to ask her out...he hoped that would be soon. He had liked how things were but Clay had found out that he liked Kimiko and Raimundo had never been the kind to be thought of as shy. Self pride really could be a pain in the butt.

Quickly Raimundo changed his clothes, combed his unruly hair, and brushed his teeth. As he walked out into the great hall he saw Kimiko sitting surrounded by small hand brushes and many buckets of soapy water.

"Come on Rai, we better start," Kimiko sighed picking up a brush and staring to scrub the tiled floor.

Rai, being the ever so smart person that he was (note sarcasm), strapped the brushes to his feet again and began skating around the room.

Time passed and although they were working they enjoyed the silent company.

Raimundo normally had phenomenal balance, surfboarding did the equilibrium good, but when he looked in those azure eyes his eyes went weak and his mind just shut off. That's not the sort of thing you want to have happen to you when you're riding on top of cleaning brushes. Before he could even comprehend what was happening he tripped over Kimiko's hunched over form and landed, face first, in a bucket of soapy water. Kimiko doubled over in nonstop peals of laughter at the amusing sight next to her.

"Do you think this is funny?" Raimundo asked as he yanked the bucket off his head. He had an I-am-so-going-to-get-you-look on his face. The devious smile and shimmering eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Don't you dare," Kimiko warned rising to her feet, backing up a little, and then crossing her arms in front of her.

Raimundo balanced two full buckets of foamy water for half a minute and then half a second later the water was all over Kimiko. The original task was completely forgotten as a huge water fight broke out between the dragons of fire and wind.

With unmistakable timing master Fung walked in and cleared his throat. Time seemed to freeze as the two drenched teens looked from mater Fung, to the clearly unclean floor, to one another.

"You still have a lot to learn young monks...about rules, about one another, and about yourselves. For the time being just clean up this mess and-" Master Fung was interrupted by Dojo.

"So, has it happened yet?" he asked vividly grinning, he didn't need a sixth sense to know what the answer would be.

"No, Dojo, it has not, but I can assure you it will," Master Fung replied. If the teens weren't busy drying off the floor then they would have noticed the slight hint of impatience in his voice.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted," Master Fung began shooting a glare at Dojo. "I was going to say that you should meditate silently in the other room for a while."

"For how long?" Raimundo asked yawning.

"Every good lesson takes time to learn. Since this punishment did not work then some silent thinking time may help." Master Fung directed.

"Yes master Fung," both replied in unison.

They felt some guilt for what they had done but they both knew that even knowing the outcome they would have done it again. They fought a lot but it wasn't real fighting, it was just a special sort of flirting.

Both sat quietly in the meditation room, their eyes were closed but they were well aware of the world around them.

"Kimi?" Raimundo spoke quietly.

"Hmmm?" Kimiko softly replied.

"Have you ever been in l-love?" Raimundo stuttered ever so slightly, on the inside his mind was screaming at him, telling him that he would feel rejection's true sting in a moment, but he knew that it was now, or never.

"Yes, why?" Kimiko answered, opening her eyes a bit.

"Oh, I'm just curious. Are you still?" Raimundo choked out.

"In love? Yeah I am." Kimiko was grinning now.

"What's he like?" Raimundo asked and his mind continued screaming at him. He felt his heart tear into a million different pieces at her response. He never caught on very quickly...

"He's funny, clever, and oh, very handsome. Sometimes he makes me want to punch his adorable face in but I can't find it in my heart to be that mean. We fight a lot and I enjoy teasing him but he is one of the closest friends I have and if I lost him then I myself would be lost. He's actually quite charming when he wants to be." Kimiko smiled looking at Raimundo, hoping he'd caught on.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be very happy with him..." Rai managed to whisper and the traces of heartbreak were clearly etched in his voice.

"Do ya wanna know who he is?" Kimiko grinned bouncing over to him like a seven year old on a sugar high, her gorgeous ocean blue eyes were wide and sparkling.

Raimundo just nodded numbly, almost too afraid to breath.

Kimiko gave him a short but sweet kiss on the lips and started to leave the room, she didn't care what the punishment would be, she just needed some fresh air and a place to just let out the pure joy she felt.

"Wait, Kimiko!" Raimundo called

"What is it Rai?" Kimiko grinned almost certain about what he was going to say.

"You still haven't told me who it is," Rai spoke.

"Oh my God! Raimundo Pedrosa you have to be the biggest idiot I know! I love YOU!" She shouted. The yell echoed through the temple and the loud noise made a curious Master Fung appear at the doorway. Kimiko was mad, really mad, maybe she just spilled her guts to some clueless guy who didn't even return the feelings she had, maybe- and the next thing she knew he had picked her up, spun her around, and placed his lips firmly on hers.

"I love you Kimiko" Raimundo nearly shouted in pure joy.

Master Fung poked Rai on the shoulder nearly scaring him out of his skin.

"So I take it your relationship is now official?" He asked, his face void of emotions to try and scare the dragons a bit.

"Uh-yeah" Raimundo stuttered, afraid that somehow Master Fung would try and break them up or tell them it was against the rules or something.

"Well we will go over the rules for this later, one main one I want you to remember is I do not want to find you two in the same bedroom." Master Fung spoke.

"Wait so people have dated in the temple before?" Raimundo asked with a spark of hope.

"Well, no, but after you both were brought here we decided we better come up with some rules because it was rather apparent that you two would end up together, even your elements were in agreement." Master Fung said with a small smile.

A chubby Dojo who had apparently just eaten then appeared at the door and wiggled over the plain straw floor over to Master Fung's side.

"So...?" Dojo began

"Pay up Dojo" Master Fung said outstretching his hand.

"They were betting on us?" Kimiko wondered aloud before turning to Rai, taking his hand and walking, outside.

Fin.

A big thank goes out to all the people who reviewed All in a Winter's Day and a thank you in advance to all the people who review this story. I love you all!

Now if you would be so kind as to review...lol, in other, simpler terms, please review! Lol.

Emmy