The nine-year-old seemed wary of her kindness at first. He had been sitting alone on this bench of over an hour, and nobody had yet offered to help him. She was the first.
�I got lost,� he whispered. �I was s�posed to meet my mom, but I can�t find where I was s�posed to go.� He refrained from letting out a sob, simply letting his lip quiver and casting his teary eyes to the ground.
�Aww.� She bent over so that they were at the same eye level. �Don�t worry, I�ll help you.�
She took his hand and helped him off the bench. �Now where did she say she�d meet you?�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Shallow cuts. That�s what Tanzen had told him to use. Shallow cuts to keep the blood flowing as long as possible.
Innocent blood. The ritual required blood from an innocent soul taken by a (hitherto) innocent soul. How fortunate that the general had kept him from soiling it before this.
Jian-wa didn�t really think about what he was doing. He was just following Tanzen�s orders. If he thought about it, he might agree that bleeding a girl to death wasn�t really a good thing to do, but then again, neither was killing his parents, and the people who were responsible for that were practically considered saints. All he was doing now was making sure that they paid for what they did to them and to him. He�d suffered at their hands, and he wanted to make sure they suffered at his. It was only fair.
And this act was only the first step.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
�Jian-wa, you can�t beat yourself up about that.�
Jasper hung back from the two of them as they all walked down the hall towards the palace computer room. Mi-chan was hugging Jian-wa�s arm, part guiding him down the hall, part trying to comfort him.
�Tanzanite poisoned your mind since the day she met you. You thought you were doing the right thing.�
�No, I chose not to think about it at all. It�s probably the most evil thing I ever did, and I don�t even have an excuse. And now you and Neko-chan have to pay for it.� He gave a short angry laugh. �Which, I guess was my goal at the time, so yay me.�
�Jian-wa�.� Jasper could hardly believe the forgiving tone in her voice, as she started to speak again.
�Look, crying about it isn�t going to save Neko-chan, so let�s just move it along and find out where she is.� Jasper pushed past the two of them and turned the corner towards where Mi-chan had explained the computer room was. It was obvious that Mi-chan was never going to hate Jian-wa, just as she seemed never likely to forgive Jasper. Everyone they knew seemed to have attacked or killed or saved or forgiven someone else they knew, and nobody in the group ever seemed to care. Jian-wa had not too long ago attacked Mi-chan and her family, yet she hardly seemed to think about it now, whereas Jasper could single-handedly save Neko a million times (not that he had yet succeeded), and Mi-chan would probably still hate him. So what was the point of wasting time with Jian-wa�s apologies and Mi-chan�s assurances? It wasn�t going to change the fact that Neko was still missing.
Jasper reached the door and turned the handle. Locked. �Come on, give me a break,� he grumbled, as Jian-wa and Mi-chan caught up to him.
�Damn it! Why�d they have to go and lock it!?� Mi-chan yelled in frustration. �Can�t they see we�re trying to do something here?!�
�We�ll have to find another way,� Jian-wa said softly.
�They must not want their main computer system exposed with so many outsiders running around the palace.� Jasper paused, thinking about the mass of people in the ceremony hall and outside it. �I wonder how he got her out.�
�Huh?� Mi-chan looked at him as if he were insane � another look he was getting used to.
�Well, there are so many people out at the hall�s entrance, and I doubt it�d be easy to get through with an unconscious, uh, groom� or even if they thought it was you, with the maid of honor. How�d he do it?�
�Obviously, he found another way in,� Mi-chan snapped. Then she stopped. �Oh� wait!� She let go of Jian-wa and began to run back the way they came. �You guys stay here. I have to check out something.� As she turned away from them, both men winced as she tripped and almost fell, but she caught herself and continued around the corner.
Jasper shrugged. Sometimes Mi-chan was so easy to read, and sometimes she was a complete enigma.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan raced through the palace�s crystalline halls, past the ceremony hall, and towards Tenshi�s dressing room.
Well, raced wasn�t exactly accurate. The effect of whatever had happened to Neko was slowing her down a bit. At top speed she was likely to swerve into a wall. As knocking herself out would not help in finding Neko (though it would be a good way to stall the wedding), Mi-chan slowed her pace.
Just as she had hoped, Puroko was still in the bridal dressing room with Tenshi when Mi-chan arrived. Tenshi looked at Mi-chan�s breathless state with concern. �Mi-chan, is something wrong?�
�Uh, no. I just need to borrow Puroko-chan for a minute, if you don�t mind.�
�No, that�s not a problem.� Tenshi�s mouth turned up into a smile. �I�m sure Puroko can tell you about her wedding plans as easily as she can tell me, ne, Kiddo?�
�Hai,� agreed Puroko cheerfully, bouncing over to Mi-chan.
�Is that all?� Tenshi asked.
Mi-chan bit her lip, then responded cautiously, �I know the wedding�s supposed to start soon, but Neko needs a little more time to get ready. Is it okay if we push the ceremony back a bit?�
Tenshi blinked in surprise. �I� guess. If Koneko needs it.� Her smile was filled with worry now, as she tried to joke. �She�s not getting cold feet, is she?�
