Beetho: And something I want to kill myself over. . .in chap. 1 I said Justin was 2/3 of Chase. . .no. That would make him 4 ft. He’s like 5 and a half. . . a half a foot smaller than Chase. So, just wanted to correct myself on that.

Chapter Four: Unwelcomed

Chase stared at the brightly colored witch in front of him. She was smiling and holding two large shopping bags behind her. Chase glared at her, hand still on the lever, ready to close the door on her.

“Where’s Justin?”Olivia inquired, walking right past Chase. He whirled around and started to walk after her.

“And who said you could just come waltzing in?” he growled. The blue-eyed witch set the bags down on a cushioned seat carved into the walls. “Well?”

“I’m his mother . . . either way, you have to let me in to see him. So where is he?” she repeated, turning to face Chase. The Heylin Prince waved his hand behind him, causing the lever to drop and the door to close.

“Out. I sent him somewhere,” he replied. “He was supposed to call me about now. Why?”

Before Olivia could answer, the large wooden door was hauled up and a snow leopard trotted in, followed by Justin. He was looking down at his iPod and walking mindlessly toward the large stair case, back up to the Recreation room.

“Justin . . . aren’t you going to say hello to your mother?”Chase called to him, reluctantly. His son couldn’t hear him. “Justin?” He stopped and turned to his dad. His mouth dropped open for a quick second and his mp3 fell to the ground.

“Mom??” Olivia smiled and quickly rushed over to the uneasy teenager. She threw her arms around him.

“Oh, honey I missed you so much. . .! I wish you would just come back to live with your sister and me!” Olivia was squeezing Justin by the neck, meaning to give him a hug. He pushed at her elbows and gasped for air.

“Mom!” He coughed. “Can’t. . .breath!” Chase rolled his eyes at his ex’s unnecessary greeting.

“Give the boy some room, Olivia. . .”

Justin pushed again, and his mother finally let go. “How can you miss me that much?? You saw me last July!” Her forehead creased and she pouted.

“That was five months ago! How can I not miss you? You never call or anything. . .!” she protested. Justin sighed.

“There’s a reason for that,” he replied coldly. “Why can’t you be like Amanda and pretend I never existed - that way you wouldn’t have to miss me!” His mom frowned.

“Justin, you know your sister loves you. . .”

“She hates me! And I hate her! Zoe makes a better sister than that -”

“Justin. . .” Chase hissed in a warning tone. “As much as it may kill you, at least make an attempt to be kind to your mother and sister.” His son sighed and snatched his iPod up from the floor. Olivia frowned and glanced at Chase.

“Speaking of Zoe. . . where is she?” she inquired. Chase sighed and walked toward the kitchen.

“She and your sister are out shopping.” He avoided saying Wuya’s name when he wasn’t addressing her to her face.

Just at that moment, the large wooden door slowly began ti rise again. The door was barely off the ground, and Zoe came crawling under it, in between the spikes that locked into place when the door closed. She held a giant gingerbread cookie in one hand and three dollars and fifty cents in the other, laughing and smiling.

“Daddy, daddy, daddy!” she squealed. “Lookie what mommy got me!” Zoe jumped up and down at Chase’s feet until he picked her up. “Mama let me buy a big cookie. She also let me keep the change!” He gave her a small smile and turned to Wuya, who was walking in empty handed.

“I thought you said you were going shopping.” Chase tried to sound interested in why she didn’t have any shopping bags with her. But he was never really convinced she was going shopping in the first place.

Wuya was digging through her purse and didn’t bother to look up to answer. “Couldn’t find anything. I thought I’d try again some other time.” Chase cleared his throat to get her attention, but the witch never looked up. Zoe wriggled around so her dad would let her go. She ran over to her aunt and tugged on the bottom of her dress.

“Auntie Olivia . . . what are in the bags over there?” she asked, smiling at a hunch. Olivia returned the grin. Zoe was the only one who didn’t know enough to hate her. Wuya stopped at the foot of the stairs and a small growl escaped her lips. She turned her head ever so slightly to peek a glance at her little sister.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Olivia replied, laughing. “Wuya! Hi! Long time no see!” Wuya grinded her teeth.

“Not long enough. . .”she muttered under her breath. Turning around, she tried to smile sincerely as she waved. “Olivia! Little sis!” She hissed the word. “Merry Christmas! Aw, if I’d known you were stopping by I would have picked up something at the mall for you and Amanda!”

“Oh, I understand. I stopped by on such short notice.”

“Try no notice,” Chase and Wuya muttered in unison, thinking nothing of it. Olivia caught the unwanted and jealous vibe from her sister and tried not to smirk. She turned back to Chase and grabbed his arm and leaned playfully into him every time she rocked forward on her toes. Justin rolled his eyes and began to walk away, passing his growling aunt.

“I got you four something for the Holidays,” she informed. Chase raised an eyebrow at her then to the bags she had set down. He pulled Zoe away with his other hand as she reached over to peek into the bags. She scowled up at him and then to her aunt, who was batting her eyes at her father.

“I can see that. . .”

“I just couldn’t wait so I brought them over early. Think you can keep them away from the kids?” Chase gave her an offended growl.

“Is it really necessary to ask that? Are you honestly unaware of what I am capable of doing?” he said through clenched teeth, shaking her hand of his arm. Olivia looked at him wide-eyed and frowned, leaning onto him again.

“I know what you’re capable of. . .” she said, faking a smile. “Oh, you know what I meant! Can you please keep them away from the kiddies- that’s what I was trying to say.” She nodded her head toward her sister rather than Zoe when mentioning kids. Wuya tried not to make a sound. The Heylin master shook his head in disgust and looked away.

“Wuya, I’m putting you in charge of presents. There, if you have any complaints or concerns, talk to your sister,” he said.

Olivia pouted and folded her arms across her chest. She shot her sister an icy glare and Wuya returned the daggers. Chase stared from his ‘house keeper’ to his former unofficial partner. As much as their sibling rivalry amused him, he found it quite annoying - especially when the rivalry was secretly about him. There had been no rivalry over him since the existence of Justin and his daughter Amanda, so it mostly amused him. But he did find the things they argued and fought about stupid and pointless, which made the whole rivalry thing annoying.

“Is that all, Olivia?” he asked impatiently. The witch returned her attention to the Heylin and shrugged.

“Well that’s all I intended to do when I planned on coming. Unless you all aren’t doing anything . . . can I stay a bit?” she asked, hopeful. Chase’s lips curled back and another growl escaped Wuya’s rosy red lips. Her master turned his attention to the noise she made and almost laughed at the furious expression on her face. He couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light or just him, but he thought a saw a hint of jealousy in her emerald eyes. The red head mouthed ‘No!’ ten times fast, which made Chase laugh inside. Sibling rivalry - amusing indeed.

“What would you do here if I let you stay?” Chase inquired, turning his head slightly back to his ex. She shrugged. “I, personally, see no point in you staying. As much as I am against Justin’s disrespectfulness toward you, surely he wouldn’t want to be with you right now - nonetheless have you here. I’m not sorry to say I’m not found of your presence; and I’m sure Wuya would be happy to object to you staying any longer than necessary.” Olivia stared at him, appalled, and stumbled back from him. Hugging her stomach, she frowned, causing her forehead to crease. She knew the truth . . . but it still hurt her to hear it.

Burn . . . Wuya thought with a smug grin. That satisfied grin vanished when she saw her six year old daughter walk up to her aunt’s dress and tugged on it again. She said, “Auntie Olivia . . . I wouldn’t minded if you stayed.” Wuya was about to protest angrily, and so was Chase, but Olivia picked up her niece and replied.

“Aw. . .thank you Z-”

“As long as you stop flirting with my daddy!!” Zoe shouted, folding her arms across her chest. Olivia almost dropped Zoe and stared at Chase in shock, playing innocent.

“What??” She looked at the six year old reassuringly. “Zoe, Honey, I was not flirting with your father . . .! I would never do that,” the witch lied.

“Mm-hm . .” Wuya glared at her sister and Chase rolled his eyes.

“I-. . .I’m just gonna go. . .”Olivia muttered, glaring into space. She handed Zoe back to Chase and turned to walk off.

“Uh yeah, you should.” Olivia stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. She growled - almost hissed - and stomped the rest of the way out. Chase chuckled and patted his daughter’s head proudly.

“Merry Christmas!” Wuya called after her, actual joy in her voice, seeing her sister leave. Olivia didn’t reply directly. She exited the room, muttering insults in Chinese. Chase and Wuya stood there smiling in satisfaction once Olivia left.

If there was one thing they had in common other than their dislike for Xiaolin, it was they hated Olivia. Zoe kept her frown on her face and started to wriggle. “Daddy, I want down! Put me down! I wanna go upstairs now.” Chase smiled and kissed her cheek.

“Alright,” he replied. They watched as their daughter ran up the stairs to the playroom. Chase then turned to Wuya, his eyes suddenly hard and suspicious. She felt his gaze on her and turned her back to him, shifting her eyes around at the holiday decor. Her master came up behind her and cleared his throat.

“So . . . you didn’t find anything?” Again, he tried to sound like he cared to hide his suspicions. Wuya’s forehead creased. She could hear the uneasy edge in his voice and it didn’t make any sense. Why would he care? Chase waited for her response, standing still as stone. He could stand there all day with the patients he had gathered throughout his years of intense training. His house maid turned face him and shrugged.

“Why does it matter to you? You were expecting something?” she inquired. Chase kept his poker face and shrugged casually.

“No. Just . . . curious,” he replied. Wuya rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Watch it tiger,” she said in a low voice, bumping into him on the way to the stairs. “Curiosity killed the cat.” Chase laughed without humor. Wuya made her way up the steps, her high heels making an annoying clicking sound. She paused, feeling eyes, heavy on her back. As she turned, there was the sound of the basement door opening and closing. Frowning, she continued up the steps, making her way to her room to change into something more normal for her.

Chase sat on top of a box in the dark basement. He concentrated on the never ending water drop dripping in the corner of the dark room. After a good amount of time, it would drive any normal person crazy. The Heylin Prince sat, trying to focus on things other than the events earlier that day. Finding the canine tooth necklace, all the mistletoe, holding Wuya so close to him, angry, “Watch it Tiger”. . . it was all triggering something. He gripped his head, trying to pinpoint the once dormant emotions that were flooding his thoughts. The more Chase lingered on the problem that’s answer was so simple . . . so obvious, the more he looked at it as a complicated math problem that’s answer had no solution, yet he continued to look like a blind sheep.

Beetho: Hope you liked! Um, I’m going. Updating will be slow now, cause this is all I had finish from before. So, yeah. R&R please.