Amber stared at the pretty gift he had just given her. "Do you think I could stay here too?" she asked quietly.
"Of course you can, Bright Eyes" said a voice from behind her. She turned to see Amethyst enter the greenhouse. "We wouldn't dream of separating you from Jaspy!" Amethyst crouched down so she was at eye level with Amber, not that there was that much height difference, and continued in a coaxing voice, "But that's why it's so important that we get all the pieces together. The sooner you get Tenshi's sister here, the sooner you, me, and Jaspy can all live happily ever after on this planet. Do you understand, sweetie?"
Amber nodded, much to Amethyst's delight. "Great! Now do you mind horribly if I steal your brother for awhile? I haven't seen him all day," she pouted.
Amber saw no choice but to nod again, unwilling to alienate the only Eclipse sister that was ever nice to her. As Amethyst escorted Jasper out of the greenhouse, Amber thought over what she had said. She decided that she wanted what Amethyst wanted as well. It would be much better to live on this planet with Jasper and Amethyst than to continue traveling with Carnelian and Crystal. So she had to show she was making more of an effort. She had to be like Carnelian and not let anything get in the way of them taking over the planet. It wasn't like she didn't know how to be as cruel and calculating as Carnelian was. She'd done this same job many times before with few qualms about it. It was just that she had found Puroko kind of fun to hang out with. She had this seemingly boundless energy that was somewhat infectious and a sparkle in her eye when she talked to Amber that made Amber feel so appreciated. It seemed sometimes that nobody but Jasper loved her, and she had to share him with Amethyst. But Puroko seemed to think that she was special, and that was something Amber didn't get very often.
*Hell, you're twenty-four! Why would you want to be friends with a fourth-grader anyway?* she chastised herself, trying to keep her goals in mind.
So she hardened her heart against Puroko, resolving she would do whatever it took to do what Team Eclipse wanted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Puroko sighed and laid her head down on her folded arms, staring at the picture that sat on the mantle over the fireplace. She had climbed onto the winged chair right by the mantle and leaned against its back, not really caring that the chair could theoretically topple at any moment.
She sighed again. From here she could see all the family photos that her parents were displaying. In them, she always seemed so little. Even the difference in age between her and Tenshi was a great one - ten years. She frowned at the picture of her and Tenshi posing at a costume party over three years ago. She had been a devil and Tenshi, as her name suggested, was an angel. Tenshi was always an angel� that's why everyone loved her.
Speaking of the� well, angel, she supposed, Tenshi had just come home from her date with Neko. She briefly wondered if anyone had ever asked Tenshi whether she preferred girls to boys. Tenshi had always liked girls, Puroko knew, but that didn't mean that everyone else around her knew that.
She shook her head, reminding herself that she wasn't upset about Kono's question. She was upset because he had gotten her in trouble. Just thinking about it made her almost break out in tears again.
"Hey, Kiddo, what's up?" Tenshi asked, poking her head in the living room doorway.
"Nothing," Puroko said sullenly, stepping down from the chair.
Tenshi tilted her head curiously. "No, really, Puroko. What's wrong?" she asked seriously.
After a few moments Puroko inquired quietly, "Tenshi? Do you think I'll ever grow up to be an elegant lady?"
"Silly girl," Tenshi laughed gently. She led Puroko over to the couch and sat down. She smiled sympathetically at her little sister as she pulled her into her lap. "Of course, you will. You're already on your way, didn't you know that?"
Puroko shook her head. "I'm not. I'm just 'cute little Puroko,'" she sniffed. "I know I'm hyper, and everyone thinks I'm like six, and I'm not perfect like you are, so I don't think I'll probably ever grow up to be like you. And if not�." Her lip began to quiver as she looked up pleadingly at her older sister. "If I'm not perfect� will you be disappointed in me?" she asked, throwing her arms around Tenshi's neck and sobbing.
Tenshi hugged her back. "Oh, Kiddo�. You know I'll always love you, right? There's nothing you could do to change that. And�," she forced Puroko to look up at her, "I'm not perfect. Far from it. There are so many times that I say the wrong thing, or mess up, or something like that. I just try my best to make up for it or to smooth things over with the person who now thinks I'm a complete idiot or whatever. And even Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa mess up sometimes. So don't worry if you're not perfect. No one is. And it won't make you any less elegant, okay?"
Puroko's navy eyes glimmered at her, partially from the tears she had been shedding, but partially from Tenshi's words of encouragement. "So you think I'll be okay? Even if I get in trouble sometimes?"
"Even then," Tenshi promised. She kissed Puroko on the forehead. "I doubt you could ever disappoint me, Kiddo, even if you got detention every day." Puroko looked up at her, surprised that she would bring up detention as an example. "Kono-chan caught me at school and mentioned it," Tenshi said with a big grin.
Puroko curled up tighter in Tenshi's lap. "He shouldn't have said anything," she grumbled.
"He seemed to think I'd be mad at you for getting in trouble and wanted to explain that it wasn't your fault," Tenshi defended him. She winked as she added, "You know, think about it before you see him next, Kiddo. It's actually kinda kawaii that he felt he needed to apologize."
Home
