Disclaimers: All characters belong to rightful owners.
Story concieved by Lee.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Note to self..." Lucia murmured softly, burying her face as far into the folds of Sam's shirt as she could get it. "Kill that woman at a later date... in some horrible fashion..."

She sighed deeply, letting Sam's gentle touch soothe her anger away. In moments like these, she was incredibly thankful to have him around. He brought out her best qualities, whereas it seemed that nowadays, Nathan could only bring out her worst.

"I think that'd be nice, Sam. Food or coffee or something... thank you, darling."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll aid you in that, gladly," Sam muttered absently into Lucia's hair without really meaning to nor knowing why he was doing so. Still, it didn't seem to matter in the slightest as he continued to soothe Lucia as best as he could.

"Hey, there's no need to thank me!" He exclaimed brightly. Dipping a bit, he traced soft kisses on Lucia's wet cheeks then smiled widely. It was easy, really, to put aside what amounted to an extreme amount of insanity for happier thoughts. "What sort of gentleman would I be if I let the lovliest woman alive starve?"

"Any specific place you want to go?" He asked as he petted a hand lightly over her back. Though he didn't think he could manage to eat for the sickness settling into his stomach, he'd be happy to treat the woman to whatever she may like. "The city's yours, babe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The private party was the same as all the other such affairs that Ausar sent him out to: loud, crowded, and somewhat tedious. To one of his quiet nature, the incessant noise, the endless succession of hands pawing at him, bodies brushing up against him was grating, and Tesu was hard put to maintain his professional mask. Somehow he managed to make it through the ordeal without any slipups, however, and finally the endless party... ended, and he was free again.

After the short limo ride back to his apartment over the club, his restless spirit once again rebelled against going back into his normal routine. He'd already put in a full day, surely he deserved a little time to himself? Ausar probably wouldn't see it that way, but at the moment, the dancer couldn't care less. No doubt, he'd pay for his 'disobedience' later-- he always did-- but right now, that didn't really matter either. The few stolen moments he could snatch for himself would be more than worth anything his employer could dish out.

After quickly ducking into his apartment to change into something less conspicuous than his work attire, the young dancer grabbed his oversized sunglasses, slipping them on to hide both his trademark tattoo and the fading bruises around his eyes before slipping back outside. He wasn't sure what he intended to do with his illicit evening of freedom... perhaps go to a movie, or just stroll around the park, or maybe wander along the streets looking at the Christmas decorations in the shop windows... It mattered not, the time was his own to do as he pleased, and no matter what happened on the morrow, nothing could take that away from him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hehehe... did it start playing 'La Bamba' nonstop again?" Kisoku didn't bother to supress a snicker at the thought of Sam's last prank. Sure, Lukas had thrown a fit, but it was well worth the month of back and forth pranking to see the Cajun's feathers ruffled.

"So yeah, I'll meet you guys there. Really sorry about this, Lukas. I'm just kinda bummed out, and it'd be nice to just be with a friend. So yeah. I'll see you soon." He clicked off the phone and started his way towards the McParadise nearest to his former high school. As he walked, he started to think about what he was actually doing. It probably wasn't fair to Lukas to spew about all of this, especially since he had the impression still held the Sam thing against him. Still if Lukas wanted to have at him, Kisoku wouldn't deny it. In fact, a large part of him hoped for the red-head to simply tell him off. Then he'd know that he wasn't the only one who thought he was a fuck up.

Pulling a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and keeping his eyes on the floor, he walked into the somewhat crowded McP's and found himself a spot at a fair sized table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Worse'n that..." Lukas snorted, "This time I was treated to the dulcet tones of Burl Ives..." Any other time, he'd have laughed the prank off-- although he wouldn't have failed to exact some token revenge-- but this time, it just didn't seem so amusing. "S'okay Kiso... we'll see you in a few minutes then," he replied, ringing off as well.

Turning to his companions, he offered another apologetic smile to the trio, "Uh... sounds like Kiso needs a shoulder to cry on, so I invited him to join us... I hope that's okay with you three. I'll try to bear most of the brunt of the whinin' myself, so he don't depress ever'one to the point of suicide." From the way Arvel looked at the moment, the Cajun seriously doubted that even Kiso at his whiniest could depress the other redhead, but still, the depressed blonde was his friend... and therefore his problem.

"Well..." he said, smiling again at the trio, "Shall we?" Turning, he continued on his way to McP's with the others. Once inside, he quickly spotted Kisoku and after pointing him out to the others, headed over to the booth where his friend was sitting. "Hey, Kiso..." he said by way of greeting, "What's the trouble, budreau?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arvel waved excitedly at Kisoku the moment he spotted the older boy. "Kiiiisookuuuu!! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He squealed, "What uuuuuuuuuuuuuup?? Me'n Lukas are going to the dance together, isn't that cool, isn't it, isn't it, isn't it!!!!!!!!!"

Estelle and Jeremy gave Kiso more subdued greetings and scooted into the booth.

Arvel contented himself with hanging onto Lukas like a leech. "Mwah!!! Yay!!! It's so cool to see you again!!!!!!!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WAH LUKAAAAAAAAS!" Kisoku whined, sending his lips into new levels of pout. "See the thing is that I met this guy and he didn't recognize me so I was totally cool with talking to him and he was really fun and he gave me a light so that I wouldn't have to go back upstairs where that brown-nosing asshole was and-- oh yes, hi Arvel and company. Nice to see you again. That's very cool. Very-- it was nice y'know to have someone to talk to and he was cute and smart and funny in that sarcastic bitchy way-- kinda like you but not so _you_-- and I was totally thinking I could at least get a date out of it and then I asked him for coffee and HE TURNS OUT TO BE A WHORE! He likes me and all but he's a WHORE! Christ..."

He finally stopped for air, burying his face in his hands. "Tell me, Lukas... is this my curse? To have each and every potential relationship blow up in my face in increasingly absurd ways just because I am a jerk... ugh."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small groan came from the little girl's throat as she finally awakened from the sleep she had been placed under. However, as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights around her, she soon found herself in familar surroundings. It had been routine for Thalia and Nathan to go to the coffeehouse on the weekends; Charlene had virtually memorized the different ways of getting there. Wiping her eyes, the small child slowly emerged from her resting spot on Nathan's neck, only to find that it wasn't mommy that was with them this time. It was the lady from the Church, but at the same time it wasn't. Charlene stared intently on the dark haired woman with them as if she were a stranger. Yes, it looked like Ms. Eva, but at the same time, there was something just off about her. Something different, like she wasn't the same person.

The grown-ups continued talking as they neared the designated coffeehouse, mostly about college and politics, nothing of interest to Charlene. The two had a lot in common. They had both attended the same University, even had a few classes together. The quote she had sent him was one that he in fact brought up in class during a heated debate on the differences and similarities between the Old Testament God and the New Testament God. For some reason it had always stuck with Eva, which was why she sent it to him. The angel was another little joke, Nathan was known in the Theology department for ripping on the ideas of Angels. The famous incident took place during one of the theology courses in which Nathan brought a girl to tears during another debate. The girl was a firm believer in angels, and had this sort of childish idea of guardian angels and cherubs floating around helping people.

"Oh my God, I've never seen someone run out of a classroom that fast in my life," Eva laughed as they entered the coffee place.

"I felt so bad after that, I actually bought her cherub-themed stationary as a peace-offering. It was really degrading, and she followed me around for about a year afterwards," Nathan replied. He looked over at Charlene who had finally awoken. 'I'm so sorry I had to do that,' he apologized as he brushed her sweat-soaked bangs from her face. "You okay, Len-len?" he asked softly as she eyed the other woman. "What's wrong?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Typical Kiso... without so much as a kiss my ass or have an apple, without even pausing for breath, the blonde immediately launched into his litany of trials and tribulations... and could he *possibly* have been any ruder to Arvel? Just last week, he'd practically been groping the boy in public, and now he couldn't even greet him with the bare minimum of courtesy? And just when had he been designated as the resident Wailing Wall, anyway? Right now, he had enough problems of his own to deal with, but did anyone care enough to even ask? Hell no, nobody gave a damn about *his* problems-- to his so-called 'friends' he was nothing more than an ear to bend, a shoulder to cry on when they needed him, forgotten when they didn't.

Even though he wasn't the one who'd snubbed the boy, the Cajun gave Arvel's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze before sliding into the booth next to Kisoku, as if to serve as a sort of break-water, protecting the other three from the waves of whininess emanating from the guitarist. And of all the dumb-ass problems... once again, that was typical Kiso... While it wasn't in him to deliberately hurt anyone-- especially a friend-- still, enough was too damn much, and a little tough love was definitely in order.

"Trouble wit' you..." Lukas began when Kisoku finally paused for breath, "...is you expect too much to quick, n'est-ce pas? You just meet this guy, eh? He give you a light an' right away you start buildin' ever'thin up into some sorta relationship, t'inkin there be some sorta happy endin' a little ways down the road. Well... I tell you one t'ing, budreau," he continued, his voice unconsciously taking on a slightly bitter edge, "This 'true love' business... it be a crock. Even if you find the man o' your dreams... there no guarantees they feel the same way 'bout you... An' it ain't you... an' it ain't a curse... that simply the way it is... for ever'one." Shrugging a bit, he levelled his cobalt gaze on the blonde, "A relationship takes time to develop, they take a lotta work... an' they rarely happen overnight..." Sighing slightly, he continued, "An'... even then there be no promises that it be exactly what you expected, eh...?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arvel frowned at Lukas' speech. He leaned over the other redhead to reassure Kisoku.

"Don't listen to that!! There is such a thing as True Love!! It-- it might not be easy to find them, and you might make mistakes and get hurt along the way, but that's what makes it so nice when you find them! The good'll be lots better because you went through bad!!"

Estelle prodded Arvel with her foot, "Yeah, and since when did you find your 'True Love'? You've never even been on a date, not counting the upcoming dance, which hasn't happened yet."

Arvel ignored her. "Don't worry, Kisoku!! You're really nice!! You'll find someone!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexei shook his head quickly, "You do not have to repay us." He smiled at Addie, "We just do not like to see Good persecuted. You are very Good. Conversely, if you need help, we will find a way to help you." He paused, thoughtful, then handed Erik to the younger boy. "Please allow Erik to keep you company. If you are ever in trouble, Erik will let us know," He winked and tapped the side of his head, "We know what the other is feeling."

He then noticed someone skulking about, someone wearing very large sunglasses in spite of the overcast sky. He didn't get any feelings of Wrongness, but the boy did seem familiar.

"Chachacha... do you need help?" He asked, trotting over to Tesu, Addie in tow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-I," Addie could only look surprised as the small pink cactus was handed over to him. The cactus, this Erik, was so important to Alexei... and he was giving it to Addie as a gift? Why? Why would he do something like that? It... didn't make sense!

"I don't know if I can keep him!" He objected, once he refound his voice. Treating Erik as if he were glass instead of plant matter, he held it out toward Alexei with a touch of reluctance. It was a lovely cactus and he never had a pink one before. It would look nice with the other few plants in his room, but fact remained that it wasn't his to keep. "He's you're friend and I'd hate to take something precious from you..."

Still, as he was led over to the strange man in oversized sunglasses, Addie held Erik in tight against himself, as if he hoped the cactus would protect him from any evil the unknown would offer. Not that he had any reason to believe that the stranger had any such intent, but it often proved best to be cautious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lemuel sighed and his reflection did much the same. He had just finished with one client and he had a few good hours until he had another appointment, yet these thoughts were a bit far from his mind as he touched a light fingertip to his softly bleeding lip. Hopefully, it would look better by the time he had to meet with his next client; not that it usually mattered so much, but it would disappoint Master Barano if the client were upset.

Shaking these thoughts away, Lem slipped into some comfortable street clothes and, padding out into the rest of his apartment, he took up an art pad before exiting out into the hall. Pausing at an intersection, he tried to decide what he should do with the time given him. Naturally, his first instinct was to go find Master Barano to see if there was anything the man wanted, but he also didn't want to disturb the usually busy man.

Sighing softly at this thought, he made his way down to the lobby of the apartment building, then out to the street itself. It was a nice enough afternoon, so maybe he could just find somewhere quiet and isolated where he could work on some of his sketchings for a while. That could be a nice way to pass the afternoon, right?

Determined that this would be the best course of action, Lem started to walk along, but he paused as he came to one of his favorite sweet shops. His expression much as a child in a candy store, he peered almost lustfully through the window at the various lovely cakes and treats arranged just inside. Really, he should be careful of what he ate, but those sticky buns looked so good! Oh, and that bit of carrot cake with the sweet icing! Ah! caramel brownies! He loved those! Lost in the indecision of whether he should just treat himself or whether it'd be best to abstain, Lemuel stood before the window with a look of mixed longing and confusion at his features.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nevan sat in a corner of the overbusy fast food restaurant and, though he was picking at a bit of dry salad, his body seemed to be feeding itself without his mind being aware of what was going on. His cheek in hand, Nevan stared into the far distance as his mouth chewed idly at the bit of food.

Taking Sophia's advice, he had stopped to speak with Father Douglas on his way home from the school and, as always, the conversation had been very helpful. The priest had told him that everyone had trials and tribulations in their lives and that these were God's way of testing and strengthening us. We all must carry crosses, even as God's only Son had carried his cross, and we all must suffer to purify and to strengthen our souls. God would never put more upon us than he knew we could take; He was too kind and too good to do such things. The losses Nevan had suffered were mere trials and, beyond that, Oriel, Marvelle, and Vaughan were all in a much better place now. They were resting in His eternal Paradise where Nevan would meet them again when his own time came.

A soft sigh left him at these thoughts and, closing his eyes, he shook his head. He knew that Father's words were only the truth, but sometimes it seemed so hard to believe that all this trouble was only for his own good. Even if he had to be tested, why did the others have to suffer for it? Couldn't it have been done a different way? Couldn't it have been him, instead?

Nevan winced to these thoughts and, pushing the barely touched salad away from himself, he shook his head. That wasn't the way to think. All things had their purpose and one cannot strive to know the mind of God. There had to have been a reason for what had happened.

There _had_ to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Content to just wander along the streets of New Eden, idly gazing into shop windows or just observing the passersby, it took Tesu a few moments to realize that Alexei was addressing him. A bit surprised, the dancer turned, looking inquiringly at the blonde youth... who seemed rather familiar to him. One glance at his companion-- who was clutching a pink cactus as if it were a shield-- and he remembered... the kid from the pizza parlor; they'd played tic tac toe together... and the cactus-- Erik-- was supposed to play the winner... Odd... he could remember the cactus' name, but not the boy's... And why was the other boy holding the cactus? Last week, he'd gotten the impression that the blonde and Erik were more or less joined at the hip...

"Oh... hello again..." Tesu replied, "Um... no.. I'm fine... Just sorta... um... hanging out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kisoku was about to open his mouth and agree with Lukas, when Arvel jumped into the conversation with all his youthful enthusiasm. The older man couldn't help but grin that the boy's optimism. He recalled a time when true love was possible. Hell, he had found true love twice, and even though he was hard-pressed at admit that he still loved the second, he was still very much in love with the first.

"You're completely right, Arvel. True love is out there, and I just need to find it again..." The statement was more to buoy the boy's confidence because it sent his own self-esteem to the shredder.

His thoughts quickly turned to Kein and what a mess that had become. To have the person that you thought would be your true love be so involved in all the most terrible moments in your life... the relationship was doomed from the get-go. He didn't even have a chance to prove himself because Kein hated him for a reason beyond messing up and beyond being maybe too self-absorbed or arrogant. Kein hated him for being alive.

And then what about Sam, who seemed to be drifting farther and farther away from him with each passing day? There was a case where he could completely blame himself for all the troubles of the relationship. Sam had been so willing to accept all his stupid hang- ups, and he still loved the younger blonde. However, after all that had happened, Kisoku didn't know if he could ever simply walk right up to Sam and say "I made a mistake and ruined the best thing in my life".

And as was customary for anytime he thought about what he had done to Sam, it suddenly became obvious with suprising harsh clarity, how Kein had every right to hate who Kisoku was. He felt like a disease that had infected the lives of everyone around him, and now that Sam was starting to behave strangely, he couldn't help but blame himself for that too. He didn't know what he had done, but he felt like a part of him was to blame for Sam's violent outburst. Maybe he would find true love again, but he sure as hell didn't deserve it. And Lukas was right, he would never have a sure thing like Sam again.

He sunk back into his chair, happy to let someone-- anyone-- take control of the conversation. He had no motivation to say anything at the moment, as he could already feel a lump in his throat and the churning pangs of guilt in his stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't know... I don't care. Let's just find a diner or something..." Truth be told, she just wanted to get out of the streets and away from as much of the human retchedness as possible. She was too vulnerable at the moment, and she really didn't feel like dealing with it.

"Sam, I'm really sorry that you're involved in this whole mess. I think it would've been better for you to just have remained clueless and at peace with your mortal life... you deserve it. So don't try to think too much about the past, and don't worry yourself to death if things don't fit together. It seems like everything will come to you inevitably and..." she bit her lip. She felt terrible about all of the suffering that her friend was going through. "...and I don't want you to be hurt. So just... live your happy life while it's still yours. The road ahead isn't going to be sunshine for me, and I don't want to ruin your happiness so quickly.

"I mean, you so rarely smiled when I last knew you, and, well, smiles really do suit you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yea, why don't we just walk a bit and you can stop me when you see something you'd like?" Sammy suggested as he reached for Lucia's hand. Though he wasn't really hungry, he felt that he wanted to put as much distance between himself and this place, as if the place, itself, were responsible for whatever in the world had happened here. That was silly, of course. Nothing had happened. A stranger had knocked him down, he hit his head and, when he came back around, Lucia was defending him. That was all.

Except that wasn't true at all and he _knew_ it.

"Luc, I... I don't really know what's going on or... or the why of it," Sam spoke slowly, hesitantly, as he shook his head. It was true that he couldn't begin to piece things together, but he had faith that it would get better, that this couldn't last forever. It was momentary dementia, all, and, when it passed, life would be as it was. It was the only way he could deal with everything. "but I don't hold you responsible, at all. You make it sound like this had to happen, so how's it your fault? Don't worry about it, love. I'm not."

"Anyway, I'll be happy to smile for you forever and ever!" He enthused as he turned an absolutely brilliant example on the girl. It was a wide, true, and happy smile and, for once, it wasn't forced in the slightest. "Especially if it makes you happy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lukas, likewise, smiled a bit guiltily at Arvel's optimism... even if he didn't agree with it, he certainly didn't want to rain on the kid's parade. Had he ever been so naive... so hopeful... so... young? Probably, although if he had it had been so far in the past that he'd forgotten what it felt like. Lately, he felt closer to 80 than the 18 year old he actually was.

"Sorry Arvel..." he replied, offering the younger boy an apologetic smile, "I guess I'm not really the best authority on the subject, at that..." Turning to Kisoku, he offered his friend a small smile as well, "Which is why Kiso here's a damn fool for comin' to me for advice on his love life..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, you looked lost," Alexei shrugged, "How is your dog? We hope we did not hurt him very badly," he inquired politely, having just then remembered where he recognized the boy from. "We are escorting Addie," he gestured towards the other, "home. Would you care to join us?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<-----||----->