Author's Note: Okie dokie, I've actually had this chapter written in my notebook for awhile and half of it was typed up but I never really got around to html-izing it and everything because I've sort of lost my creative drive, or juices, as some like to put it, for this story. You see, this story was started before we formed the Five Otaku and began our own website but this is where Kara came from. However, I didn't like her background and some other things so that's why this Kara is different than otaku-Kara. This is what we like to call a parallel dimension character and therefore, an AU (alternate universe) story. However, since I discarded this character and chose a similar yet slightly different version of Kara to be Otaku #4, I have also sort of discarded this story. Here's this paragraph probably summed up in about one sentence: Don't expect to hear much more from this story, except, perhaps, in a span of about five years. One more little point that is actually about the story: In this chapter, Kara continually talks to her "little voice inside her head." I would like to point out that neither this Kara nor I, am a psychopath. Everyone has two halves inside themselves conflicting over each issue. This chapter just makes this more clear than in real life, where one side is surpressed without them having a battle most of the time. Well, then....I think I have talked way too long--
Random person admiring our website: YES, YOU HAVE!
--and I'm sorry for that. I'm also probably going to repeat this on the updates. Anyhoo, on with the story!
Random person again: It's about time.

Stupid dream, she thought, Ryo would never kiss me. All I�ve ever been since I got here is a big pain.

But you want him to kiss you, a small voice came from inside her head.

Shut up, you stupid conscience, she replied.

All right, but you can�t deny the truth.

"I thought I told you to shut up!" Kara exclaimed out loud.

For some reason, a point on her forehead tingled. She rubbed it and then got out of bed to put some clothes on. Kara went downstairs to find Sai cooking and Kento, who was sitting at the table, drooling. He picked up his knife and fork and began banging them on the table.

"Food...food...I want food..." Kento said each time, banging his fork and knife on the table in sync with his chants.

"Kento," Sai gave him a warning look and pointed at him with his spatula.

Kento immediately dropped his knife and fork, folded his hands in his lap, and smiled angelically at Sai. Sai�s warning look turned to a smile as he saw his best friend attempting to look innocent.

"Hey Sai, what�s for breakfast?" Kara asked.

"Omelets," he answered.

Rowin looked up from his book and sniffed the air.

"Do you smell that?" he asked.

"Smell what?" asked the others, sniffing the air.

"Smells like something�s burning," Rowin commented.

Sai�s eyes widened.

"Oh no, the omelets!" he yelled and ran to the kitchen, with Kento following to make sure that they hadn�t been burnt.

"Hey guys! Wait a sec...do I smell something burning?" Ryo asked as he came downstairs.

"No, it�s all under control," Sai flashed a quick grin before racing back into the kitchen, fire extinguisher in hand.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Take this you stupid fire! And take that! And this!"

"Sai you ruined a perfectly good omelet!"

"Well, what was I suppose to do, Kento? Let the house burn down?"

"No,"

There was a pause.

"But you could�ve saved the omelet."

"How, Kento? It was the cause of the fire!"

"Nice moves there, Sai. You looked like a real fireman. Maybe you and Ryo should switch armors," Sage joked.

Sai calmly squirted Sage with the fire extinguisher. Foam landed all over Sage, including his beloved hair.

" OH MY GOD! YOU GOT FOAM ON MY HAIR!" Sage yelled in horror.

"It�s a good look on you Sage," Mia giggled.

Sage glared at her and ran his hands through his foamy hair.

"Ha,ha,ha. I�d say your hair is a little poofier than usual, Sage," Kara laughed.

" Poofier? Hey my hair isn�t poofy all the time!" Sage protested.

"Whatever Sage, you just keep thinking that," she replied.

Sage grumbled something under his breath and then went upstairs to take a shower. Kara turned to the rest of the Ronins.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?"

"What do you mean?" Rowin asked.

"Well, I�m bored and I wanted to do something. You know maybe go to the beach or the mountains or something," Kara answered.

"Um, well, aren�t you a little tired from the fight yesterday? Maybe we should just stay here and relax a bit," Sai said, remembering the plan that the Ronin had made last night.

"Nope. I feel fine. In fact, I�m kinda hyper. I wanna go out and do something!" Kara exclaimed," I don�t wanna stay here all day!"

"Well, I guess we could---" Mia began but Sai clamped a hand over her mouth and guided her to the kitchen.

" Mia, can I have a private conference with you?" he asked as he herded her into the kitchen.

Kara narrowed her eyes.

" All right, what�s going on around here?" she demanded.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Ryo replied.

Rowin stuck his head down into his book and began reading again. Kento began downing a Coke can. Sai and Mia returned from the kitchen and Mia said, " Sorry Kara. I just remembered that I�ve got stuff to do. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

Kara tapped her foot impatiently.

"You guys are keeping something from me? What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Ryo repeated.

Read his mind, a little voice came from inside Kara�s head.

No, go away! she replied.

"What are you guys hiding from me?" Kara asked.

"We have nothing to hide so why would we be hiding anything?" Rowin asked.

"Fine I guess you�re not going to tell me," Kara said.

"Tell you what?" Kento asked.

"ARG!" Kara shouted.

She threw her hands up in exasperation and stomped up the stairs. Kento turned to the others, a puzzled look on his face.

"Was it something I said?" he asked.

Ryo watched Kara�s retreating back go up the stairs and he felt a pain in his heart. He didn�t like keeping things from her. Sai caught his friend�s pained look and gave his friend a questioning look. Ryo shook his head, indicating that he didn�t want to talk about it. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Mia got up to answer it. It was Uli.

"Hey guys!" he greeted them.

"Hi, Uli, how�s it going?" Kento asked.

"Fine. Hey, where�s Sage and Kara?" he asked looking around.

"Did someone call me?" Sage asked as he came down the stairs, his hair still wet from his shower.

"Kara�s in her room," Sai told Uli.

"Actually, I disagree with that. Knowing her, she�s probably trying to escape through the window," Rowin said.

" You�re right,� Ryo agreed, "Kento?"

"Already on it," he answered as he stepped out the front door.

Kara swung her leg over the windowsill. If I jump from here, the guys will probably hear me. She scuttled down the drainpipe instead of jumping. Kara safely reached the ground and dusted herself off.

"Easy as pie," she whispered.

Then she was tackled from the side by an orange blur.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" she screamed," Kento, get the hell off of me!"

Instead of listening to her, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Kara screamed in protest, pounding on his back with her fists and kicking her legs. Kento paid no heed and carried her back into the front room, where he deposited her onto the couch. She immediately jumped up and glared at the Ronins.

"I�ll get you back for this," she hissed and stomped back to her room. Uli followed her.

"Why are they keeping you in the house, Kara?" he asked.

"I wish I knew Uli," she replied.

She glanced around the room for some idea of what to do because she was completely bored. Kara saw the teacup set that just happened to be in her room. She looked back and forth between it and Uli, a mischevious glint in her eyes. Uli saw the look and wisely began backing up towards the door. Kara cut him off and asked," Uli, do you like tea?"

~

Ryo sighed. He had been trying to concentrate on his book for the past half-hour but hadn�t been able to. Sage and Rowin were playing cards and of course, Rowin was kicking Sage�s butt. Kento and Sai were playing a video game while Mia was working on her laptop.

I wonder what Uli and Kara are doing. I better go check that she hasn�t tried to escape again, Ryo thought.

He carefully set his place in his book with a bookmark and set it up the table. Ryo walked up the stairs and knocked on Kara�s door. He opened the door to find Kara sipping imaginary tea out of a teacup and Uli doing the same.

"Why hello Ryo. Care to join us for a spot of tea?" Kara asked him in a British accent.

Uli looked at Ryo and mouthed the words �help me.�

"Kara, I think you�ve had enough, uh, tea," Ryo said, taking the teacup from her.

"Fine, then, I�ll just go take a shower," she said and grabbed some clothes to change into. She pushed past Ryo and slammed the bathroom door.

Now, Kara felt like an idiot. She stared dumbly at the shower not exactly sure what to do. She had never bathed in a regular shower before. Near the cave, there was a waterfall that she always bathed in.

Oh well, no turning back now, she thought.

She took off her clothes and stepped into the shower. After studying the shower knobs for a minute, she turned the one marked �H�. Hot water shot out of the faucet and she jumped back in surprise. The water in the waterfall was icy cold but this water was steaming hot.

Just like Ryo, a little voice said. Kara remembered how warm his hand had been when he had taken the teacup away from her. She shook her head to clear it of these thoughts. Then, she quickly finished her shower and dried herself with her towel before putting her clothes on.

~

Ryo threw his soccer ball up in the air and caught it. He was lying on his back on his bed with White Blaze curled up at the foot of it. From his room, he could hear the sounds of Uli and Kento playing a video game, Sage cursing because Rowin beat him at cards (again), and Mia tapping away at her keyboard on her computer.

"Ryo, we need to talk," Ryo was interrupted from his thoughts by Sai, who suddenly appeared at the doorway.

"Um, sure, come on in," Ryo said as he sat up.

Sai came in and shut the door behind him. He sat next to Ryo on the bed.

"Ryo, something�s bothering you. Now, what is it?" Sai asked.

"Nothing�s bothering me. I don�t know what you�re talking about," Ryo replied, refusing to meet his friend�s eyes.

"Ryo, it�s me, Sai. You can talk to me," he said and then asked quietly, "It�s about Kara, isn�t it?"

Ryo jerked up his head in surprise but then realized he shouldn�t have been. Sai had this ability of figuring people out, seeing what drove them, and what was bothering them. It was something he was born with.

And it can be downright annoying sometimes too, Ryo thought. "You like her, don�t you?" Sai asked.

"No, I don�t like her and that�s the truth," Ryo said.

A look of confusion passed across Sai�s face but then a look of understanding replaced it.

"Oh I see. You don�t like her. You love her," Sai said and Ryo nodded.

"I love her as much as you love Mia," Ryo confessed.

Sai visibly blushed.

"Then I know exactly how hard it is to tell her how you feel," he said.

Suddenly, they heard a thump come from the hallway. A few moments passed and then there was another thump. And another. They both peeked out of Ryo�s room and saw Kara hopping down the hallway like a kangaroo. Each hop was followed by an "I�m bored." She reached the stairs, slid down the banister, jumped off, and began hopping again. Uli made the mistake of trying to cross her path.

"Look Uli, I�m a kangaroooo!" Kara exclaimed with an insane twinkle in her eyes.

"Rrrright, I�ll just be going now," Uli smiled and began to quietly back away but Kara leaned down so that they were eye-to-eye.

" Do you want to be a kangarooo, tooo, Uli?" Kara asked.

"No, that�s o�" he began but was cut off by Kara.

"Too bad," she said as she threw him into the air.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH! KENTO, HELP ME!" Uli cried as he began to descend.

Luckily for him, Kento caught him as the floor rushed up to meet him.

"Did you know that all things fall at 9.8 meters per second squared?" Kara asked Kento, who in return just stared at her.

"Okay then , I�ll just go get something to eat," she said as she skipped gaily into the kitchen.

Kara opened and shut cabinet drawers, trying to find something edible to eat. She pulled out a big red can and looked at the label.

"Hmmm, coffee grounds," she mused.

Upstairs, Ryo shook his head at Kara�s antics and said to Sai," I think keeping her locked up is even more dangerous than letting her go where she wants."

"I think you may be right," Sai agreed.

" Wepa! Wepa! Andele! Andele! Arriba! Arriba! Ole! Ole!" Kara cried a la Speedy Gonzalez as she flipped over Rowin and Sage�s card game, surprising them so much, an Ace fell out of Sage�s sleeve.

"Sage! You were cheating!" Rowin yelled angrily.

Sage grinned sheepishly. "Well, I couldn�t let you win again."

Kara was literally bouncing off the walls from her caffeine high, yelling, "Javajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajava!" She stopped right in front of Kento�s face and yelled at the top of hr lungs," JAVA!" Then she turned to Mia and asked," What are coffee grounds?"

"Coffee grounds? Why do you ask?" she replied.

"Well, it�s just that I was hungry so I went into the kitchen and found this big red can that said coffee grounds and I ate it all and now I feel energized and-and-" Kara said in one breath.

"Whoa, wait a sec, you ate the whole can?" Mia asked.

Kara nodded vigorously.

"It�s kinda like getting an electric charge or something. I would tell you to try it, Mia, but I ate all of them. Are you mad at me, because I am really, really, really, sorry," Kara said, still talking in a fast paced voice.

"No, I�m not mad," Mia replied.

"Oh good, because if you were mad than I would feel bad and really sad because you were mad," Kara said then excitably exclaimed," Wow! I rhymed! I�m a poet and I didn�t even know it! Wow! I rhymed again! Oh, look at the time! Gotta go!" Kara finished her ten second speech and then dashed back upstairs.

"Maybe we should get her a sedative," Mia said.

"Hey guys, look what I can do!" Kara exclaimed as she did a headstand in front of Sai and Ryo.

"That�s um, great, Kara," Sai stuttered.

"Darn, I�m still bored! Wait, I know!" Kara yelled as she ran out of the room.

Ryo put his face into his hands and mumbled," I�m in love with a psychopath."

Kento plopped down on the couch, satisfied with the can of peanuts he had snagged from the kitchen after Kara�s raid.

At least she didn�t get this can, he thought.

"Ooohh, Kentooo," a voice called his name.

Kento groaned. What now? "Oh Kento," Kara suddenly appeared at the doorway, "Do you want to play a game?"

"No," he answered and went back to eating.

"But it involves candy," at the last word, Kento perked up.

"Candy?" he asked.

"Yep," Kara said and whipped out a Snickers bar from behind her back, "Chocolate to be exact."

Kento�s mouth began to accumulate pints of drool.

"Cho-co-late," Kento pronounced each syllable slowly and began moving towards the candy bar as if he were in a trance. Kara quickly pulled it out of his reach. "You want it?" Kara said teasingly and waved the candy bar in front of his face.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Kento nodded vigorously.

"Then you�re going to have to come and get it!" Kara said and began running.

"Kara, get back here!" Kento yelled and began chasing her.

They ran throughout the house, disturbing Sage and Rowin�s card game, causing a long string of curses to come from Sage�s mouth, who was already losing and also disturbing White Blaze from his nap. Kento finally trapped Kara in a corner and was about to grab the candy bar when Kara saw Sai.

"Sai, think fast!" she yelled and tossed it to him.

"Huh?" Sai asked as he caught the candy bar. He suddenly wished he hadn�t as Kento began to charge him.

"AAAHHH!!!" he yelled as he turned and ran for his life, "Here, you can have it!" he yelled as he threw the Snickers bar over his shoulder. Kento caught it and began to devour the morsel.

While this was going on , Kara began to move towards the front door. She was turning the doorknob when Ryo leaned against the door, not allowing her to open the door.

"And just where do you think you�re going?" Ryo asked.

Fry him! Fry him! the little voice chanted, Fry him!

No! I am not going to fry my friend.

"Now go away!" she yelled. Her hands flew to her mouth when she realized that she had spoken out loud.

"Okay, but as long as you promise not to try and escape anymore," Ryo said.

"I promise," Kara replied.

"Good," he said and walked away.

Kara watched his retreating form and sighed, knowing that she had hurt his feelings. She wanted to go over and comfort him....Kara cleared her head of these thoughts. Why was she thinking like this? She couldn�t be thinking those kinds of thoughts, especially what happened before with....

No! You will NOT think about what happened! Don�t relive those painful memories. Don�t let it happen again.

"Kara?" Mia�s hand touched her shoulder, jarring her from her thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I�m fine," she replied.

"Okay, dinner�s ready," Mia informed her.

"Thanks, I�ll be there in a second," she answered.

I still think you should�ve fried him. Shut the hell up. Kara followed Mia into the dining room and Mia sat down at one of the head chairs. Ryo sat on one side of her and Sai sat on the other side. Uli sat next to Kento who sat next to Sai and Kara sat between Ryo and Sage and Rowin sat next to Sage. Kento, of course, was the first one to dig into his food. The others just sadly shook their heads at him and ate quietly.

"Oops," Ryo said as he dropped his fork. Both he and Mia bent to pick it up and ended up bumping heads.

"Ow, Ryo," Mia said, rubbing her head and poked him teasingly.

"Gomen nasai, Mia," Ryo said sheepishly and then got up to get a new fork.

Kara glanced at Sai and saw silent jealousy burn in his eyes. She caught his eye and he glanced downward, avoiding her gaze. Kara was surprised when she felt a little flame of jealousy, the same that she had seen in Sai�s eyes, spark inside her.

YOU DON�T LIKE RYO! WHEN WILL YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD?!,she yelled at herself.

Yes, you do, the little voice said.

No, I don�t, she answered.

Yes, you do.

No, I don�t.

Yes, you do.

"NO, I DON�T!" Kara yelled out loud.

All movement at the table stopped. Even Kento�s fork froze in halfway to his mouth. (Glory be!) Seven heads snapped towards Kara.

"Heh...heh...um, I kinda lost my appetite. May I be excused?" without waiting for an answer, Kara fled to her room.

For awhile, no one spoke.

"Maybe keeping Kara locked up wasn�t such a good idea," Mia finally said.

"I agree wholeheartedly," Uli stated.

"I think she deserves to go out," Sai said, "Somewhere we can keep an eye on her."

Everyone began to think of places where they could spend a night on the town, so to speak.

"How about the movies?" Sage suggested.

"Nah, too dark," Sai countered, " She could slip out."

"Laser tag?" Author�s note: Do they even have laser tag in Japan? ::shrugs:: came from Kento.

"Still too dark," was Rowen�s contradiction.

"How about ice skating?" Mia suggested.

The guys stared at her and all shook their heads as a definite "no." Actually, it was more of a "when there�s 50 feet of snow in hell" kind of "no," but it was still a "no."

"What about bowling?" Ryo connoted.

" I think we could do that," Kento agreed. The rest of the congregation�s heads bobbed in compliance as Ryo rose from the table and went up the stairs to acquire Kara. He reached her door and knocked quietly.

"Kara? We were just wondering if you wanted to go

bowling."

The door opened in less than a split second. "Do you really mean it?" Kara asked, her voice full of excitement and eagerness.

"Ye�" Ryo began but was interrupted by an ear-splitting "WAHOO!"

She sped past the bewildered Ronin Warrior of Wildfire, and slid onto the banister in one fluid motion. As the end of the banister approached her, she used her momentum to perform a flip off of the wooden railing and landed gracefully on the floor. The excited girl grabbed Mia by the wrists and began to spin her around and around and around and around�well, you get the idea.

"We�re going bowling!" she shouted and then stopped swinging a by now, very dizzy Mia," Mia, what the hell is bowling?"

~

"I thought that you said you�d never heard of this game before?" Sai asked Kara.

"I haven�t, not �til now that is," she replied.

"Well, you seem to be doing just fine," Sage said and pointed at the scoreboard.

Kara had rolled a strike every time.

"Beginner�s luck," she said.

Since there had been eight of them in all and only six were allowed in each lane, the group had split into two teams of four. On the left lane, there was Kara, Sage, Rowen, and Ryo. The right lane consisted of Sai, Mia, Uli, and Kento. So far, Kara was doing the best out of both groups; she had four strikes in a row, scoring one on each of her turns. Rowen was next with two strikes in a row and then the rest were spares due to his careful planning of where the ball would hit the pins.

"Kara, are you sure you haven�t played before?" Mia inquired, looking over at Kara�s group�s score sheet.

"Yeah, I would remember," she replied," Besides, you don�t get out much when you live in the mountains."

"Yeah, but we�ve played two games already and you got a strike on each of your turns, ending up with a perfect score. And you�re doing it again," Ryo pointed out.

"I guess I�m just having a lucky streak," she said, shrugging.

"Well, superstar, it�s your turn again," Sage said.

"Oh," Kara acknowledged and picked up her bowling ball from the holding rack. She positioned herself and was about to let the ball fly when a face appeared in one of the pins. Kara gasped as the bowling ball slipped from her fingers and fell with a dull thud onto the floor. The face smiled as the ball slowly rolled into the gutter.

"Looks like the superstar is spent," Kento said before continuing to bowl his turn in the opposite lane.

"Yeah, I guess your luck just ran out, Kara," Uli commented.

"You have no idea," Kara muttered under her breath.

"YAY! WAHOO! I rule! Who�s da man?" Kento yelled as he made a strike. He began doing an insane, victory dance that made the whole group break out into laughter.

Soon, the game was over and the gang was ready to go home. Rowen won in his group because Kara kept getting a gutterball every time after the first one. Surprisingly, it was Mia who won the game in her group.

"Man, I did that victory dance for nothing," Kento said glumly as they returned their bowling shoes.

Mia noticed that Kara was unusually quiet.

"Hey, Kara, is something wrong?" she asked the younger girl.

"Nah, nothing�s wrong," she forced a smile," I think I finally spent all my energy, that�s all."

"Glory Hallelujah!" Uli gave praise.

Kara gave him a look.

"Just for that, I�m going to do this," she said and the grabbed Uli by the head while giving him a noogie.

"AAH! Kara, stop!" when Uli finally wrenched himself free from her grasp, his hair looked like some kind of wild animal sleeping on his head.

The gang snickered at Uli before climbing into the Jeep.

~

"Man, am I pooped," Kento said with a big yawn as they entered Mia�s mansion.

"Me too," Sai agreed.

"I�m going to bed," Rowen said.

"I second that," Sage stated.

"and I definitely third it," Mia said, while rubbing her eye sleepily and walking to her room, "Oyasumi."

"Oyasumi," they replied as they went to their respective rooms, save for Ryo and Kara, who was tying her shoe.

When she looked up, she found that Ryo was staring at her.

"What are you looking at?" Kara snapped.

"You," was Ryo�s unnerving reply.

"Whatever, I�m turning in; how about you?" she asked.

"I�m just going to watch some TV," he said and gracefully leapt onto the couch. "Just keep the volume down, okay? Oyasumi," Kara said as she went up the stairs.

"Okay, oyasumi," he called after her.

Kara had her hand on the doorknob to her room when Mia placed her hand over it.

"Before you say anything, Kara, I want you to promise me something," she said.

"What�s that?" Kara asked.

"To stop lying. I know you were when you said nothing was wrong," Mia replied.

"I wasn�t lying. I did spend all my energy," Kara replied defensively.

"Yes, but I could tell something was wrong," Mia argued.

Her only response from Kara was a cold glare.

"You know, Kara," Mia said in a much softer tone, "It�s not healthy to keep secrets. One day, you�re just going to blurt them out. And you don�t have to push everyone away. We just want to be your friends. You don�t have to tell me what�s wrong but if you need to talk, I�m always here."

With that, Mia turned and walked back to her room. Kara�s gaze followed her until she shut the door.

I don�t deserve your kindness. I don�t deserve any of you guys� trust, much less your friendship. She�s right. I�m a big, fat liar and a keeper of secrets. Too many secrets.

With a sigh, Kara opened the door to her room and got ready for bed. She climbed in under the covers and plopped her head against the pillow.

But sleep wouldn�t come.

She tossed and turned but her eyelids just wouldn�t close. Kara finally realized the problem. Even though she had told Ryo to keep it down, the sound of the TV was sifting its way to her room and into her eardrums so that it seemed like it was the loudest thing in the world. The sound buzzed in her ear like an annoying gnat that you couldn�t see so you couldn�t smash it into oblivion. And who could sleep with that? She wondered why no one else seemed to be awake and yelling at Ryo to turn it down. After waiting for a few moments to discern if she could shut it out with the use of a pillow over her ears, and failing, she angrily kicked off the covers.

Damn TV, she thought, stupid Ryo, I�ll kill him.

She nearly stomped down the stairs but lightened her steps in courtesy for her fellow sleepers and was about to give Ryo a piece of her mind when she found that he was asleep on the couch. Kara walked over to the set and was about to click the OFF button when she watched the figures on the screen.

The Powerpuff Girls?! She thought in amazement.

Quietly chuckling to herself, she pushed the button and turned around to wake Ryo up so he could sleep properly in his bed when she got a good look of Ryo. He was sleeping on his back with one hand resting on his chest while his other hand was hanging off the couch, palm up. His mouth was slightly open and through those lips came the soft sighs of contentment that indicated the sleeper was in deep sleep.

Kara gave him another scrutinizing look and decided that he looked pretty damn cute in that position, with his stocking feet draped over the armrest of the couch and his face in serene repose. Here eyes traveled up his blue jeans and stopped at the hand on his chest because that hand began to clutch at the red and white striped t-shirt he was wearing. His lips let out a groan and his handsome facial features became distorted as he turned onto his side, semi-pulling his legs to his chest and sort of curling into a ball. Kara walked over and put a gentle hand on his forehead. She closed her eyes for a second and furrowed her brow as she searched. Suddenly, her eyes snapped back open and she drew her hand away.

"Man, that is a bad dream," she whispered to his torment-filled face.

She closed her eyes again and replaced her hand onto his forehead. Kara muttered something in an unintelligible language and there was faint glow around her fingertips placed on Ryo�s forehead. Ryo�s face became relaxed once more and his breathing became slow and regular. His body slowly uncurled until he was lying comfortably on his side. Kara opened her eyes and withdrew her hand, the light still resident on her fingertips for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air. She took a few gulps of air and made her fluttering heart settle down. Silently, she cursed herself and made sure to make a note not to use that much power.

After recovering, Kara debated whether or not she should wake up Ryo and drag him into a proper bed. She decided that she didn�t have the heart to wake him up when he was so peacefully snoring away and instead, she crept over to a closet and opened it. She grabbed a blanket and dragged it back to the couch. Kara threw it up into the air while tightly holding onto the corners so that it floated down to rest snugly on Ryo. She tucked in the corners so no warmth would escape from the holes. Carefully, she reached out and tenderly tucked the hair that had fallen in his face when he turned on his side back behind his ear.

"You have feelings for this one," said a voice that definitely did not come from inside her head.

Kara whirled around to find herself facing a young man who was quite handsome with his olive green eyes and slightly ruffled looking mahogany hair. He was wearing long, dark robes that scarcely touched the ground when he walked. Kara snarled and spat, "What the hell do you want, Jedin?"

"Oh, just checking up on you and your new," he paused, gesturing towards Ryo," interests."

"Stay the hell away from my friends," Kara growled, protectively stepping in front of Ryo.

"All right, no need to get so pissed," Jedin laughed, "We�re still friends, right?"

" Maybe," Kara�s voice nearly dripped with sarcasm," maybe when there�s fifty feet of snow in hell we will be."

Jedin tried to appear hurt.

"Oh, ouch, Kara, that really stung. I mean, we use to be so close and all�"

"Trusting you was the worst mistake of my life," Kara interjected.

"Oo, another spear through my heart, babe. Or, wait, do I have that the other way around?" Jedin asked, relishing the look of pain and betrayal in Kara�s eyes, "Anyway, I�ll stay away from your friends as long as they stay away from me. You, however, I can promise nothing."

"So, you�re going to continue being Gavin�s lapdog, coming at his every beck and call and spy on me for him? You always did hide in his shadow," Kara shot back.

"Wrong. I turned you on my own, didn�t I?" another look of pain and regret passed through Kara�s liquid brown eyes, "By the way, did you like the way I spontaneously popped up into one of those bowling pins? I knew you couldn�t strike me down. You can�t hurt me because you still have feelings for me."

"Bullshit," Kara hissed, "You can rot in hell for all I care. And I hope you do."

"Well, I believe that�s the final blow that I can take, for tonight anyway. But don�t forget, I will see you again, sweetest," Jedin grinned evilly and yet, even that evil grin couldn�t erase the handsomeness of his young face. He shimmered out and was gone as quickly as he had appeared.

Kara took a couple of shuddering breaths to calm herself down. She wouldn�t cry, not anymore. The young girl clenched and unclenched her fists in rhythm with her breaths until they were tranquil. She cast one more glance over at Ryo and quietly swore," You�re not going to hurt my friends, Jedin, not like you hurt me."

She suddenly had the urge to wake Ryo up and have him hold her until she fell asleep so that the qualms of fear that were turning her stomach into knots and the lump of in her throat would disappear�.what the hell? She didn�t want any guy to come close to her, much less hold her. Kara shook her head viciously and was mad at her own self-doubt. She had survived her parent�s brutal murder, her grandfather�s sudden death, betrayal, and torture by herself. She needed no one. She wanted no one. She was a paragon of power, and a pillar of stone. She could plunder on alone. All alone.

Subconsciously, her hand strayed back to Ryo�s cheek and gently caressed it. She caught her hands and drew them back as if they had been caught doing something wrong. Alone.

Kara walked back up the stairs and crawled into bed. She soon fell fast asleep, cradling her hand to her cheek in attempt to catch some of the residual warmth to warm her own frigid soul.

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