~*~*~*~*~*~
As they got back in the car, Kat decided it was her turn to make conversation. "Did your mom teach you to drive?"
"No, actually, Papa taught me. He wanted to break me of any bad habits before Mama taught me them." Kat started to giggle. "What's so funny?!" Angel asked, startled.
"Oh, it's just really cute to hear you call your parents 'Mama' and 'Papa.'"
Angel blushed, which just made Kat giggle more. She no longer worried about their "age difference" as it was. She tried to stop, but she couldn't help it.
"Yeah, well, what do you normally call your parents, then? I mean, if not 'Mama' and 'Papa'."
"Mom and Dad, of course." She had just about calmed down, when she was hit with another round of giggles. She hoped Angel wasn't offended. A quick glance over revealed that Angel was still blushing, obviously not used to being teased by her schoolmates, but she had started to giggle too. It was strange to hear her giggle and it just made Kat giggle more. She decided that they were lucky not to have gotten in an accident. Good thing they'd had this conversation before Angel had started up the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"So, going to the dance?"
In an attempt to make conversation, Angel brought up the topic that was on everyone's mind at Infinity College. Surely, Kat would be excited to talk about it as well.
"Yeah." But Kat didn't look or sound all that happy at the topic. Angel wondered why.
"I'm going too. Not that I have a boyfriend or anything, I just thought I might go and see if anyone wanted to dance."
Her eyes cast down, Kat replied, "I don't have anyone to go with either. I was going to go with my friend Jian, but he's currently dating Mitch. So now I'm just going because the two of them are."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with going by yourself. And it's not like the boys at Infinity are blind either. I mean, a cute girl like you can probably find a boyfriend anywhere if you really tried. I'm sure someone will ask you to dance."
"You think so?" Kat asked, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.
"For sure. I mean I go to dances with friends all the time and I almost always get asked to dance by some guy. Guys don't know how to dance by themselves at this school, so they're always looking for someone to dance with."
"Yeah�." Kat timidly answered, "Too bad I'm not that good of a dancer though. I mean, I'm not horrible, but I'm not the greatest either�."
Angel was surprised. She assumed that all of the children of the Sailor Scouts, since they were royalty, would be well trained in dancing, as she had been. Her parents were both great dancers and had taught her well.
Suddenly, Kat cried out, "Oh, that's my house!" Angel quickly checked behind her for cars and hit the brake. She backed up until she was in front of the house Kat had pointed to and pulled over to get the bike out.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kat hadn't thought about who Angel would be going with to the dance. The beautiful elegant girl would obviously be going with some gorgeous hunk, she assumed, but to her surprise, Angel had admitted that she wasn't. But still she had mentioned that she usually ended up dancing with someone, which had only reminded Kat that she had had even less experience dancing than dating. Lost in her thoughts, Kat almost didn't see that they were about to pass her house.
"Oh, that's my house!" Angel quickly hit the brake, and Kat was glad for her seat belt. Angel backed up and pulled over in front of the driveway and they both got out to take out the bike.
Kat took one look at the back seat and cried out, "Oh, Angel! The bike did mess up your car. I'm so so sorry!" Kat looked at the marks on the floor from the tires and the little oil stain on the seat.
"Hey, it's no biggie. I can get it cleaned." Angel shrugged.
"No biggie? Are you kidding?! Your seats are leather! I'm sure it'll be expensive to get out the stain. You've got to at least let me pay for cleaning it."
"No, I'll handle it. It wasn't your idea to put the bike in. It was mine."
"But it was my bike!" Kat reached into her bookbag and pulled out her wallet again. "I won't let you pay for getting your car cleaned. Come on, at least let me pay part of the cost." She hoped she had enough in her wallet to pay for it.
She took out the money and started to give it to Angel, who now did look upset. *I knew it, she hates me now. God, why am I such a freak sometimes.*
But suddenly Angel's hand stopped hers again.
"I won't take the money!"
Kat didn't know what to say. She attempted, "But your car-"
"I'll cover it. Don't worry about it, ok?" They looked at each other for a few seconds, neither of them sure
what to do, each at a loss for what to say.
Finally, Angel's voice softened, as she said, "Do you really want to make it up to me?"
Kat nodded, not knowing what was coming next. She dreaded that Angel might tell her to leave her alone, to never speak to her again. She looked up at her, but Angel was smiling again and her eyes were filled with warmth.
"Well, it's always good to eat before the dance. If we go to dinner together before the dance, I'll let you pay for both of us, and we can call it even."
"Dinner�? Before the dance�?"
"Yeah. Neither of us needs to worry about a guy taking us out before the dance. So I can just stop by at 6 and pick you up."
*Is she tripping? Replace a stained car seat with paying for dinner?* Obviously, Angel must be kidding. The cost of dinner couldn't possible cover the cost of cleaning the seat. She looked at the blonde, but there was no hint of teasing anywhere on her face. "Uh, well, I mean if you're sure. I guess that'll be fine."
Angel, apparently satisfied, released her hand, and Kat turned away to get her bike. But it was also an attempt to hide her excitement from the older girl. Now they were definitely going to hanging out more. For some unknown reason Angel didn't hate her guts. In fact she wanted to spend more time with her.
She picked up her bike and stood up, coming face to face with her father.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Greg Urawa had been watching his eldest daughter interact with Angel Tenoh practically since they had pulled up (Katherine's fear at the sudden stop of the car had alerted him to her presence). He couldn't really know what they were talking about, but he could definitely sense what they were feeling. He wondered if Katherine knew who she was talking to.
No, he couldn't miss the friendship that was slowly developing between them. But there was also a little confusion and hesitation. Not exactly what he expected from Amara's eldest daughter.
As Katherine turned away from Angel, he thought it might be best to go out there and explain to her about the importance of calling when she was going to be late. Besides, he could get a better reading on what Angel was thinking from out there.
