Jaheira1000: Here you go peeps. Sorry it took so long to get it up…I lost internet access. Gomen! Anyway…I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish…

Dedication: This Chapter is dedicated to KaiLover2006, Lioku and Demoness-MarlstonWells69ner. Thanx 4 getting me off my behind guys!!!

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CHAPTER TEN: Forgive and Revenge

Mariah's resolve was severely tested on the walk to Kia's room. She felt quite a few impulses to destroy the tape she held, but she quickly squashed them.

She couldn't back out now, or she would never be able to look her friends in the face ever again.

She came to a slow stop in front of Kia's room, but furrowed her brow when she heard sounds from the other side of the door. It sounded like…someone crying. Her eyes widened with the realization.

Kia was crying.

Mariah felt very low as she raised her hand to knock. She waited for a few moments as she heard the sound of somebody sniffling, as if trying to contain their emotions. After a few more moments the door opened slowly and Kia poked her head out.

"Hey Mariah. What's up?" Mariah took note of Kia's eyes which seemed to be slightly redder than they usually were before answering.

"Oh, um…well you see…can we talk inside?" Kia nodded silently before opening the door for Mariah to enter. They walked over to the bed and plonked down on the bed.

"Better?" Mariah looked into the other girls eyes before quickly looking down again.

"Yeah, thanks." There was a while of silence before Kia decided to start the conversation.

She wasn't really in the mood for conversation. All she really wanted was for Mariah to say whatever was on her mind, so that she could go back to crying and feeling sorry for herself. It sounded petty, even to herself, but she realized that a good cry made her feel a bit better, though not by much.

Every little bit helps right?

"What did you want to talk about?" Silence was her only answer so she prodded Mariah with a finger.

"Mariah?"

Nothing.

"Mariah?"

Nope.

"Mariah?!?"

Nada.

"Mariah!"

Kia's frustrated shout finally shook Mariah out of her silence, and she hesitantly tried to explain herself.

'Oh…sorry Kia. I just…I…well…" Kia was starting to get very freaked out by know. Mariah never stuttered like this. She also never wore this look of self-loathing and apology.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Mariah…what happened?" The pink-haired girl raised tear-filled eyes to her friend.

"Well, you know that letter…the one you got from Tala?" Kia's head shot up and her eyes narrowed.

"Yes…but how do you know about that?" Mariah was suddenly finding a piece of lint on the carpet very fascinating.

"Well, you see…Tala…didn't write that letter. Emily did." Kia was shocked. What exactly was going on? She voiced her confusion openly.

"But why would Emily do that to me? What did I ever do to her?"

"Well, Emily was jealous because you were dating Tala. She's liked him ever since the first time she saw him, so she saw you as an obstacle. She wanted you to break up with Tala so that she could date him." Kia's brow suddenly furrowed.

"Wait a minute. If Emily wrote it, then how do you know all this?"

"…" Mariah couldn't bring herself to answer. She just stood there and brought her hands to the front before handing Kia the tape recording.

"Listen to this. Everything should be much clearer after that." With these last words, Mariah ran from the room which contained a shocked and concerned Kia.

Kia slowly fingered the tape she was holding before firming her resolve. There were just too many questions floating around unanswered, but she shrugged it off.

Maybe this tape would provide some answers to the million and one questions running through her head. She inserted the tape into the player and pressed 'play'. As she sat listening to the tape, her emotions varied from surprise to shock to anger and resentment.

After reaching the end of the tape, there was a click as the player stopped. Kia didn't even notice as she was too busy sorting out the priorities in her head.

Deciding that her first priority was set Mariah's mind at ease she strode out of her room purposefully. She had a few things to do.

First she would have to reassure Mariah, since the pink-haired girl was blaming herself even though she didn't really do anything wrong.

The second thing she would be doing was having a serious discussion with Tala about what had happened as well as to congratulate him on his fantastic idea about getting evidence. She would also probably enlist his help to find something really nasty to do to Emily. The two of them had always been the best of pranksters.

Lastly and most importantly, she would be having a VERY long discussion with Ray. She blushed as she thought about the last one. Maybe the two of them just might…

She shook her head forcefully. She couldn't think about things like that just yet. With her goals now firmly set in her mind, she set out in search of Mariah. She found the other girl in the baths, and promptly decided to join her. She could use a good bath.

As she entered the baths she could see silent tears running down the other girls face. She sat down behind Mariah and looped her arms around her from behind in a loose hug. Mariah's head jerked up and her eyes widened as she saw who it was. The first thought running through her head, strangely enough, was that Kia was finally taking a bath with other women present.

This strange thought however, was chased away by the realization that Kia was most likely forgiving her. She knew it, felt it, and demanded verbal confirmation.

"So…does this mean you forgive me?" Kia smiled at her lightly.

"No. You didn't do anything that needs to be forgiven. All you did was try to help everybody, but I think you should be a little more careful about who you trust. If this had all happened to somebody else the results could have been much worse, and Emily could have pinned it all on you if it wasn't for Tala." Mariah's face brightened.

"Yeah. Thanks Kia!"

"No prob! Now pleeeeaaase help me wash my back. It's itching like you wouldn't believe!" Mariah laughed as she turned to help Kia. The sounds of laughter could be heard constantly from their side of the baths...

Ray was walking silently down the hallway towards his room. Ever since that incident in the conference room he had been wondering if Kia would even be willing to speak to him.

He really hoped she wasn't in a bad mood. Deciding that it would be counter-productive for him to sit in room and brood, he decided to go for a bath.

On his way there he walked past the women's bath and was surprised to see both Kia and Mariah emerge from inside, both obviously having just finished bathing. His first thought was the same one that originally went through Mariah's head. Kia was finally bathing with other women.

After that however, his mind snapped into focus as he saw the two girls turning away from him, obviously trying to head away before he decided to speak to them.

The though that Kia might for some reason be upset with him crossed his mind. But why was she being so friendly with Mariah? The two girls had looped their arms together as they were walking as if they were best friends. Shaking his head, Ray continued on towards the men's bath…

Kia slowly let out her breath. She was so relieved that Ray hadn't stopped to talk. She wasn't quite ready to face him yet. She still had to talk to Tala first about the letter and 'Operation Humiliate Emily', but that too could wait a while.

She and Mariah had decided to go shopping for a while as a way to seal their new friendship. Surprisingly, Kia had found that she actually enjoyed shopping now that she understood the finer points of it. So it was that the girls left arm-in-arm, happily planning a stress free day…

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Jaheira1000: There you go my peeps. I can feel this story coming to a close. I think it'll only be another chapter or two long so remember to R&R! More reviews means faster updates!