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Outside the Sank mansion, a dark figure stood in the shrubbery, looking up at the lighted window.

"Relena."

The softly spoken word was carried by the light wind through the trees. The motionless figure in his green tank top stood almost invisible against the shadowed green of the trees. He stood looking up with a bag slung over one shoulder, remembering.

///// "Thank you all for coming back for this reunion party. You are all welcome to return to Sank anytime you like," said Relena. "We�d be glad to have you with us."

"Thank you, Relena," said Quatre, speaking for all five of the pilots standing on the lawn in front of the rebuilt Sank nation. "Good luck with your school."

"Yeah, good luck!" Duo stood with his arms behind his head. "That�s really ambitious, to reopen your school for Mariemeia and everyone, especially after what happened with the war and everything."

Relena smiled. "It�s just a way to continue to promote peace. Besides, the war is over."

"Yes, but we Preventors are still putting out fires here and there," said Wufei quietly, his arms crossed as he leaned against a tree. "Just watch what you teach about government in the past."

"Don�t worry, we will," Relena reassured.

"Thank you, and good luck," said Trowa, a man of few words.

"So, Relena," Heero said from the shade. "I will come back to kill you, someday. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Heero." Relena smiled as the five boys turned to walk away. Duo would return to Colony L2 and Hilde, Trowa to Colony L3, the circus, and Catherine, Quatre to Colony L4 and his family, and Wufei to the Preventors and Sally. But where would Heero go? He had no one to return to./////

The wind rustled through the space in the bushes where, a moment before, a figure had stood.

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Relena was awakened from where she had fallen asleep over her trig notes by a loud mewing noise.

"Urmm... what is it?" She lifted her head and yawned. "I must have fallen asleep while I was studying- oh!" Relena opened her blue eyes and found herself staring into a pair of bright green eyes.

"Nyao?" A three-colored tortishell cat was sitting primly on the corner of the desk in a beam of moonlight, its head cocked to one side as it regarded Relena.

"Now how did you get in?" asked Relena, standing up. As if answering the question, the cat jumped off the desk and walked toward the balcony doors. Relena could see that one of the doors stood open. She moved to shut it and then saw the large maple growing right next to the building. "Oh, what a smart kitty! You climbed up that tree and jumped onto the balcony, didn�t you?" Relena knelt and scratched the cat behind its ears. It began to purr, and then rolled over on its back. "And look, three colors! That means you�re lucky, did you know that? But you really shouldn�t be in here."

"Nyao?" The cat stood up and looked at Relena, then ran and jumped on the bed. "Nyao!" Relena smiled. "You�re right, I should go to bed. But I still have to study for my trigonometry test." She smiled and then returned to her notes. After a few minutes, she was surprised to feel something rubbing against her ankles. Startled, she looked down to see the cat. "You won�t give up, will you? But I really do need to study." The cat looked at her again, then jumped up on her lap. "Alright, you can stay. But don�t bother me, okay?"

The girl sat at her desk with the cat in her lap, finally tumbling into bed at half past midnight.

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The next morning Relena was awakened at 7:00 by her alarm clock. She reached out to turn it off, and then swung herself out of bed.

"Nyaaaaoooo!!!"

"Oh!" cried Relena.

A disgruntled kitty shook itself from where it had been knocked onto the floor, then began mewing piteously.

"Oh, I�m so sorry, I forgot all about you," Relena said, reaching down to pick up the cat. "I�m sorry, but none of the students are allowed pets, so you�ll have to leave. I�ll take you down to the kitchen and I�m sure someone will take care of you."

Relena went to her wardrobe and dressed in the school uniform, laughing as the cat pounced at the hem of her dress. "You silly thing, don�t do that! You know that Miss Relena must never have a messy outfit!" The she walked to the door and opened it. "Will you follow me, please?" she asked, bowing.

"Nyao!" cried the cat, and dashed out, prancing behind Relena as she shut the door and began walking down the hall.

When she swung open the kitchen door, Relena was greeted by a chorus of "Good morning, Miss Relena!" by the friendly staff.

"Good morning, everyone," she replied, pleased by the greeting.

Wiping her hands on a towel, the head cook approached Relena. "Is there something we can do for you, Miss Relena?" he asked.

"Well, there is. This cat climbed into my bedroom last night, and I was wondering if you might be able to keep it somewhere," Relena replied, gesturing to the feline that had followed her into the busy kitchen.

"Oh, a three colored cat, huh?" The cook bent down and picked the cat up to examine it. "Well, seeing as you�re lucky and all, we could always use another cat around the stores. Living in an old house like this, even now we can have some problems with mice and what not. The colonies don�t have any animal problems, but here on Earth, everything is a little less planned." She smiled up at Relena. "Sure, we can take her. Would you like to name her?"

"What?" Relena asked, puzzled.

"Would you like to name her?" repeated the cook. "She ought to have a name, if she�ll be hanging around for awhile."

"Oh," said Relena, "I guess so. What about 'Tsuki (1)?'"

"Lucky," chuckled the cook. "Yes, that�ll do fine."

"Thank you for taking her," said Relena bowing. "I�ll see you later."

"Goodbye," replied the cook. What a girl, she thought. Busy as she is with school and the politics of the World Nation, she still has time to care for a little lost kitten. Smiling, she returned to her duties.

(1) Tsuki means lucky in Japanese

[Prologue | Chapter Two]

Back to the Library (1) Tsuki means lucky in Japanese