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Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown. Simple as that, so don't sue.

Thanks to those who reviewed, here's chapter two.

Chapter 2

"Raimundo?"

The young man looked into the striking azure eyes of the woman beneath him. They were full of fiery anger and complete shock at the same time. He felt exactly the same. He thought his former team mate and friend was dead and gone. He had come to terms with the fact years ago. Yet here she was, beneath him, looking as if he might loose something important if he didn't get off her soon. He stood and held out a hand to help her up. Kimiko rose on her own and brushed herself off before looking at her long lost friend. Raimundo watched as a myriad of emotions flashed in her eyes. Surprise, anger, concern, affection and then they settled into a cold indifference that scared him. In his memory, Kimiko was every thing but cam and indifferent. If anything, one could accuse her of becoming too personally involved.

His eyes roved over her, taking in the changes that had taken place in his absence. She was a woman in a woman's body, that was for sure. The confident stance and fiery passion was still present to be sure. The scar across her face caught his attention and concern instantly, as well as the prominent bruises on her neck and shoulders. Dark and ugly.

On an impulse he jumped forward and pulled her into a crushing embrace.

Reluctantly, her arms came up around him as well. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in her familiar scent.

"I thought you were dead." He whispered.

Kimiko tensed as she heard the quiet words. She gently extracted herself from his embrace and stepped back.

"I thought you were dead too, Raimundo. Where were you?" She turned and retrieved her knife from across the street as she spoke.

He shrugged and leant against a wall. "I went home. Wanted to check on my family."

She turned to face him, wiping the vicious blade on her shirt. He eyed it warily. It was a curved knife with a serrated edge.

"Back home? For four and a half years, and not even a post card?"

"I thought you were dead. It took me a while to get to Brazil and back with out being caught."

Her eyes flashed angrily. "I looked for you. For months. I didn't just give up after we got separated."

"I didn't just give up, I just..."

"You just left."

Raimundo threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine. I left. I'm sorry. But I'm here now and we can go back to how it was."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

"Kim..."

"No. You're right. You're here now." She picked up the bag of food he'd stolen and started walking. "Now, come on. Time to go home."

"There's a home now?"

"I've found my way since you disappeared."

Raimundo gave her his trade mark smile and winked. "Knew you would."

Kimiko didn't even react but kept walking.

They couldn't walk in the open until well outside of the city limits. The pair walked along side each other in silence until Raimundo requested a quick stop at the river. Kimiko just rolled her eyes and nodded. He bent down a splashed his face with water and grinned up at her.

"I only got back yesterday so I'm a little grubby."

She only nodded and stared into the distance. He sighed and took a gulp of water before standing and looking at her again. His eye was constantly drawn to the scar and her bruises.

"So," She glanced over at him. "what happened with the...?" He drew a line over his eye to illustrate what he meant.

She turned to him, studying him quietly, as if trying to figure out his motives for asking the question.

"Shortly after you di...left, I had a little run in with Jack."

Raimundo raised his eyebrow in scepticism. "Jack Spicer?"

"Yeah. I was looking for you and we ran into each other. I was unarmed. He wasn't. But in the end..." She took out her blade and flipped it over in her hand. "...I got the upper hand and he didn't get a chance to do any more damage."

"Did you kill him?"

The look in Kimiko's eyes scared Raimundo. He had never before thought her capable of killing another human being, but right now, he knew she was capable, and that worried him. How could one person change so much in so little time.

She laughed at his question. "I wish. He's still alive and kicking."

He nodded, accepting her answer. His eyes were then drawn to the bruises on her neck.

"And the bruises?"

She sighed. "You know, we should really get moving."

"Kim, what happened?"

"Ran into some bad guys yesterday. The usual."

"Bad guys working for Wuya strangle now?"

"There are more bad guys around these parts, these days. Come on."

Raimundo sighed again and followed her, seemingly walking a path only she knew as they jumped over rocks and clambered through bushes and trees, mostly dead, to get to an unknown destination. Soon, he found himself climbing after up an all to familiar mountain. He looked around the dragon's lair in awe as the stone door slid shut behind them.

"Hey, never thought I'd see this place again. Chase must've split after awhile, yeah?"

Kimiko just looked at him for a moment. "Stay here."

He watched as she walked up the steps and disappeared through a door. He sat on the steps and contemplated his friend. She had changed so much; she was almost a stranger to him. There was none of her fond teasing or unconditional affection anymore. She wasn't a spoilt brat anymore either, but as far as he was concerned, this was an improvement. He remembered that night, when he'd lost her. He thought, for good. It had been a big fight between Wuya's lackeys and them. Kimiko had called on her element of fire to drive them back but there had been barrels of oil behind them. The explosion was massive. He'd woken up later alone, and covered in blood that wasn't his. Kimiko wasn't anywhere to be found. As far as he could tell she was either dead or captured, which meant she was as good as dead. He had high tailed it out of China, and grieved the whole way. Now here she was, alive, and barely recognisable.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned only to jump back.

"Raimundo, you remember Chase, don't you?"

"Yeah, I remember him. I also remember that he's one of the greatest evil powers of all time. Do you mean to tell me you've been working with him?"

"We're both working against Wuya, what's the problem?"

"He's evil, that's the problem."

Kimiko looked away from the irate Raimundo.

"Listen, I figured out, sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire. If that means fighting darkness with darkness, then that's what I'm willing to do."

"Use dark to bring back the light?" Raimundo's tone was scornful.

Chase stepped down in front of him. "One cannot exist without the other. Myself and Kimiko have struck up a mutually beneficial relationship. A safe haven for the

resistance," he gestured around his cave, "for an able bodied fighting force to aid in my fight against Wuya. Trust me, neither myself nor Kimiko predict being 'friends' once this is over."

Raimundo's shoulders slumped. "I guess that makes sense." He mumbled.

Kimiko stood in front of him. "Good. Come on. I'll find you a room."

He followed her sulkily. "Don't expect me to like it though."

She glanced back at him. "Never crossed my mind."


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Raimundo sighed as he looked around the large cavern. It had been a month since he had found Kimiko and been taken back to the hide out of the resistance. He had been on a few reconnaissance missions with some of the other resistance members, but since that first night, he hadn't seen even a glimpse of Kimiko. It was starting to worry him. He knew she was here. The others had had contact with her, but she seemed to be avoiding him like the plague. His days and nights had been taken up with training and from what he had heard, so had Kimiko's. He desperately wanted to know what was going on with her. He was sure she would have been happy to have him back. He made his way towards the entrance chamber but paused by the door. He could hear raised voices. They were arguing.

"This is my problem Chase, not yours. I will handle this the way I choose."

"What you are doing is foolish. You are going to get yourself killed, then you will be of no use to anyone."

"What would you have me do? Let us all starve to death while Wuya's power continues to grow? Why don't we just lie down in the middle of the city and wait for her to pick us up and execute us."

Raimundo smiled. That was the Kimiko he knew and loved. Unbridled anger. It was part of her charm.

"Don't be a fool."

"I'm doing what I have to do. You know this. You taught me this."

Raimundo heard footsteps coming towards him but before he had a chance to move the door was flung open and he was faced with a very angry Kimiko. He looked her up and down. She was once again covered in bruises, fresh and nasty.

"Kim, what the hell happened?"

"None of your business."

The cold, almost hateful tone of her voice made him shudder inwardly. He put a hand on her arm to stop her going anywhere.

"Kim..."

She wrenched her arm away from his grip and pushed him back roughly.

"Don't touch me Raimundo. You don't have the right."

He looked at her, hurt. "I thought we were friends. What's going on? Why have you been avoiding me?"

She said nothing but pun around on her heel and jumped down the steps, past Chase, who hadn't moved and out the entrance, disappearing into the night.

Raimundo scratched his head and looked angrily at Chase as he descended the steps himself.

"What the hell? What did you do to her?"

Chase shook his head as he looked at the door through which Kimiko had left.

"I did nothing."

"That's not Kimiko."

"True. That is not the young woman you left four and a half years ago."

"I didn't leave her. I though she was dead."

"That's not how she sees it."

"Huh?"

"I really think you should talk to her."

"Well, yeah. That'd be a really great idea, if I could get anywhere near her. What about those bruises? What happened there?"

"Again, that is something you should discuss with Kimiko."

"And again, easier said than done."

"Well, then. Maybe you should go and talk to her. She's out there somewhere right now."

Raimundo nodded and shot an angry glare at Chase before heading out the door, in search of Kimiko.

End Chap.

Well, like I said, not as long as the first but we're getting on. Now the question: Do you want more? Please, leave your vote in the little box below.

Slán