Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. Don’t sue me!

Notes: my friend, not me, wrote this story. I’m posting it because whenever she posts it on her account, no one sees it. It’s really disappointing how lazy some people can get, considering I keep a link to her profile in my ‘Favorite Authors’ section of my profile.

This shortlet takes place in WFE and has some Tala/Vega goodness. It doesn’t really reflect the plot all that way. You could say it can fit in many possible spots now that Farrell joined the group.

Well anyways… Enjoy!

Vega tipped her head farther back to look up at Tala. “Leave him alone,” she said with a frown.

She was lying on her back on the decline of a hill some distance from the clearing they had stopped in to give the horses a break. Farrell had come with her as she wandered off to keep her company and he had left with the excuse of going to help the others.

Vega decided now that it was simply because Farrell was no fool and he sensed both Tala’ animosity, which was so tangible it didn’t need to be sensed at all really, and Tala’s nearby presence.

“I told you to stay away from him, Shrew,” Tala replied, scowling at her.

“Blah, blah, blah,” she muttered back, closing her eyes and folding her arms behind her head. “Sit down and kill the motor for ten seconds.”

Tala did so, though he wasn’t sure why, and tipped his head back to stare at the sky.

“If I close my eyes,” she began quietly after a few moments of silence, “I can almost see home.”

He glanced over at her. “You miss it don’t you?”

“Which answer will you believe?”

“The truth.”

Vega rolled over onto her side, her head cushioned by her arm. “I don’t,” she murmured and then added when his eyebrows rose a little, “I mean… I miss my family, but my dad and I were never very close and my mom’s been gone for years now… it probably sounds callous, I know.”

“But you have to go home,” Tala said softly, though he wish he didn’t. He never wanted her to go home.

Vega nodded slowly and then rubbed her eyes quickly. “Let’s not talk about that anymore, though. I don’t want to think about it.”

Tala ‘hmmed’ and rose to his feet quickly. “We should get back to the others.”

She stood up and stretched her arms above her head, staring upwards at the sky. “There are some moments I wish I could stop time just to stay in a little longer. Right now is perfect. No fighting, no danger… just a cool, after a storm breeze.”

He smiled a little, having to agree with her but not outwardly. Instead he replied, “Careful, Shrew, if you feet get too far off the ground you’ll float away.”

Vega laughed and shoved him playfully but she overestimated his balance and he surprisingly fell back and she watched in a mix of amusement and shock as he rolled ungracefully down the hill, turning several, painful looking somersaults on his way.

He landed in a heap at the bottom and Vega frowned when he didn’t jump to his feet screaming at her.

“Tala?” she inquired, a thread of worry woven into her tone.

There was no response and she felt her heart flutter a little as the worst scenario immediately came to mind. Had he gotten hurt during the fall?

She clumsily followed his path, trying hard to stay upright but the sharp decline was hard to manage without practically sliding on the slick grass.

“Tala!” Vega repeated as she knelt down beside him, turning him over gently and then shaking his shoulders.

She leaned in close so her ear was close to his lips and she pressed her fingers against his neck. A pulse, as strong as ever, but he didn’t seem to be breathing. Did he get knocked out? She hadn’t seen any rocks, which would be the only thing she could think of to knock an Avian, of all creatures, out. At the end their numerous battles none of them, even after receiving sharp blows to the head, had ever been concussed.

Maybe Avians didn’t get concussions?

Vega hesitated a second as her med class raced through her mind. Someone who wasn’t breathing required mouth-to-mouth.

Mouth-to-mouth? With Tala? A dummy was one thing… but him?

She sighed as she reached her conclusion and leaned in to tip his head back when he suddenly sprang to life, knocking her onto her back roughly and pinning her shoulders.

Vega recovered from the shock a moment later and found him grinning down at her. “Gotcha,” he said softly.

“You jerk!” she shouted, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him to the side so she could pin him and pound half-heartedly on his chest.

He rolled his head back and laughed aloud and she hit him again. “It’s not funny!” she said, though she was trying hard not to giggle. “I thought you were seriously hurt or dead!”

“In your dreams; besides, it served you right!” Tala shot back through his fit. “You pushed me.”

“I didn’t think the great assassin would lose his balance!” Vega replied, leaning forward so her head was on his shoulder and his arms were draped loosely around her waist as they laid there laughing.

“What were you going to do?” he asked after they had calmed down some and Vega had rolled to his side.

“CPR,” she replied.

“What’s that?”

She blushed suddenly, not sure how to explain the process without it sounding wrong.

“It’s cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” she answered. “Basically when someone stops breathing and their heart stops beating you use it to revive them.”

“And what would that have to do with you looking like you were going to kiss me?” Tala asked.

Never the one to beat around the bush, Vega thought regretfully. “It’s called mouth-to-mouth. You tip the person’s head back to open their airway and plug their nose and then breathe into them to inflate their lungs.”

“Show me,” he said with a playful grin.

Vega rolled her eyes. “Well you’re breathing now.”

Tala drew in a breath and held it and then the grin widened a little.

She laughed and rolled onto her side and slammed her fist into his gut, forcing him to exhale sharply.

“There,” she murmured, getting up and smirking at him as she turned to sprint away, taking the grassy path that was cut between the slopes.

“You’ll pay for that, Shrew!” he shouted, racing after her.

Vega laughed as she kept a good distance ahead of him for a while and then he finally put her out of her misery and caught up to her, throwing his arms around her waist to stop her. They both tumbled to the ground and she smiled as she found herself staring up at him.

“Good thing we weren’t on another hill,” she said softly. “I’m frail and dainty you know.”

Tala chuckled quietly. “You are not, besides, I’d break your fall.”

“My very own airbag,” she murmured.

Vega’s smile widened for a moment but then disappeared as he leaned in close to her and their noses brushed.

Her eyes closed partly and they were a whisper away when a voice came, inquiringly from above them.

“Miss. Vega? Tala?”

“Fleabag,” Tala snarled as he sat up straight.

“Be nice,” Vega chided softly as she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek and then stood up quickly and took a few steps back and spotted Farrell at the top of the hill. She waved to him and he slid easily down the side of the slope.

“We’re ready to leave,” Farrell said, looking weary to see Tala. “I can take you back up the hill if you want, Miss.”

Vega heard the low rumble forming in Tala’s chest and smiled, half-tempted to take up the offer. Tala, after all, didn’t own her. But instead, to keep the peace, she shook her head and patted Farrell’s chest gently. “Thanks, but it won’t be necessary.”

Farrell nodded and began making his way back up the hill.

Tala glanced over at Vega and suddenly swept her up into his arms.

“Tala, I don’t need to be carried!” she protested with a laugh. “I’m not that frail!”

He grinned a little as he spread his wings and leap up easily into the air, just skimming the slope of the hill and then clearing the crest easily.

Jack and Jill went up the hill, to start another argument, Vega thought with a smile as she studied the face of the man who held her, Jill pushed Jack down the hill and accidentally found her Prince Charming.

“The most screwed up fairy tale ever,” she whispered softly to herself.

“What?” Tala asked, frowning a little.

Vega laughed a little. “Nothing.”