Utena mrms as she strides into the parlor, gazing around to see who's here
if anyone. She's sort of hoping not, after the night she had, but... She
brushes her fingers though the riotous mass of her pink curls.

Jasmine looks over towards Utena, still looking a bit shaken up, but not
as hysterical as the other night. "Hullo Utena-san o.O"

Utena smiles carefully, suppressing her feelings as she nods to Jasmine
and glances her over. "You look like you're doing a bit better than
yesterday..."

Jasmine nodnods, "Kept havin' weird dreams, but other than that I'm okay.
S'nice n' peaceful here..kinda like the flower shop i...was."

Duplica is perched on top of a chair, wrinkling her nose.
"Boredboredboredbored..." She grins and a little lightbulb pops up over
her head. "I'll perfect my imitation technique!!"

Jasmine eyes Duplica, and leans over to Utena, "She's gettin' scaaaarrrrey
Utena-san. o_o"

Utena sits down, grins weakly at Duplica (is this a Bad Thing, she
wonders?) and nods to Jasmine. "What kind of dreams?" For some reason, as
she cranes forward, she looks intently interested.

Jasmine blinkblinks and almost bonks heads, managing to lean back in time.
Phew. Scritching her head, "Well ..stuff like ..that guy comin' back and
like, killing people and stuff. Was really scary. I think I was jumpin' at
shadows all night till I fell asleep again.." She looks a bit sheepish; a
grown woman, jumping at shadows like a child.

Utena closes her eyes a moment and then nods, with her hand brushing over
her mouth. She exhales, and her face becomes slack, relaxed. "Well, you
don't need to worry about it. You're safe here." She smiles, and hey, it
actually looks genuine. :)

Jasmine BEAMS and GLOMPS, "Arigatou Utena-san!" *BEAM*

Utena O.o's and eheh's softly as she's glomped onto by the hyperactive
girl... erk.. spine would be crushed if she actually had one to crush,
honest. n.n As it is, she ... well, the best word for it is -stretches- a
bit, compressing like taffy when Jasmine squishes her. n.n;

Jasmine releases the pink wonder after a moment, blinkblinking. "Wow, yer
all squishy n.n" blunt? Yes. But hey, she was dropped on her head as a kid
- or more accurately, fell on her head a couple of times while tree
climbing ..

Duplica, meanwhile, in the background, changes into several objects...
nothing too hard. O.O She then wrinkles her nose and concentrates,
transforming again to... hey... where'd she go? O.O >.> <.<

Utena offers a faint little smile to Jasmine. "Don't... uhm, just don't
ask." n.n;

Chichiri walks over from the foyer.

Jasmine blinkblinks and grins brightly, "Okay." She suddenly HOPS to her
feet and says what will soon become the five most feared words in all
mankind. Or at least where it applies to you three. "Shall I make some
Tea?"

Utena is here, and sitting on a couch, and just got GLOMPED the hell out
of her by Jasmine. n.n;

Utena gazes over and nods, grateful that the girl's going to distract
herself from asking a couple of questions Utena really isn't in a position
to answer, or even willing to answer...

Duplica was here... where is she? >.> <.<;;;

Duplica, you find, has been replaced by a peach! Oh nooooo!!! (j/k)

Jasmine is a puff of smoke! as she zips into the kitchen to prepare the
tea. Quick! Run, save yourselves before it's too late!

Chichiri steps into the room.  The first thing he hears is Jasmine's voice
and the word tea?  He quietly tries to tiptoe back out again.  >.>;

Utena locks onto Chichiri and bows her head to him respectfully, with a
wry sort of grin. "Leaving so soon? You just got here...?"

"Meow?"

Chichiri stops in midstep as he's snagged and droops his head.  o O (DA!)  
He looks up and eh heh's at Utena, returning her bow, inwardly grumbling
some.  "Ah, no, of course not no da."  o O (.....I'm doomed no daaaa.)  
;_;

"Meow no da."

Where'd that cat come from? No, this isn't a joke. ^.^;; Okay, it's irony,
but not that kinda funny.

Jasmine pokes her head out and waves the tea ke- Whoops! almost did a
major no no. She switches hands, "Konbanwa Chichiri-san! The tea will be
ready in a moment! n.n"

Jasmine blinkblinks. Neko?

Utena, being ignorant of Jasmine's tea thing, just gestures for the monk
to join her in the conversation pit, and then blinks a little at the
sudden 'miaow'. o.O

Jasmine SHRIEKS! "HOW CUTE!!" She promptly sets down the kettle and stuff
(without flinging them over her shoulder!) and (poor cat) GLOMPS onto the
kitty! "KAWAII! Utena-san I didn't know you had a cat!"

The little black kitten hisses and frails her cute little paws ( complete
with kawaii claws! ) at Jasmine. I swear it's self-defense!! O.O;;

Chichiri looks over towards Jasmine and nods ^_^; at the mention of tea.  
He then stares as Jasmine glomps the kitty.  o.o;

Utena eheh's and sweatdrops softly, her voice probably unheard below
Jasmine's happy shriek... "But I don't..."

Chichiri follows Utena over to the others and places his staff and kasa
down, then sits.

Okay... Let's review the situation... Duplica suddenly disappeared. Kitten
suddenly appears.

Jasmine SQUEAAALS (shredshredshred) completely oblivious to the pain,
"Kawaii kawaii desu! What's her name?" As she's getting mauled. By god
does the girl have no nerves or pain centers?

Chichiri (OOC) LOL'S!

Utena sweatbeads again, just a little drop that travels down the side of
her face, and she looks at Chichiri as if to say, from her silent but
evocative blue eyes, "HELP ME." o.o

Chichiri sweatdrops at Utena and nods, giving a deep sigh, then walking
carefully towards Jasmine.  Knowing this could possibly be his last walk.  
o.o;  "Ano, Jasmine-san.  Maybe you should put the neko down no da?"

The kitten meows and continues trying to shred Jasmine's hands. O.O

Jasmine blinkblinks, "..Awwww..." she pouts (as she's still getting
shredded. Um. Ow?) She does put the kitty down, "That's right! I have to
make the tea!" And she zips into the kitchen

Chichiri looks relieved as Jasmine puts the cat down, then kneels out and
extends a hand to the kitten.  He smiles, "Hello no da.  How did you get
into this house no da?"

Duplica just stands there. "Meow." =O.o= . o O ( Now how'd I get into
*this* mess...? )

Utena just watches Jasmine whirl around like a psychotic dervish, her
bangs blown about by the breeze of the girl's passing. She just.. stares,
for a moment. "I don't think I ever had that much spirit," then murmured
under her breath... ehehe. She touches the back of her neck. "So. Has
anyone heard anything more about Aerith's place or what can be done about
it?"

Duplica >.<;;'s. . o O ( No one even notices I'm gone, and I was here just
a coupla minutes ago!! ;.; )

Chichiri gently scoops up the cat, resting her in his arms and goes back
over to Utena.  He would notice Duplica gone but he didn't see her when he
came in.  He retakes his seat, holding the kitten and looking down at her.  
"I havn't seen the one who destroyed it since then no da.  I spent this
afternoon trying to keep her mother from taking a trip down there no da."  
^_^;

Duplica perks an ear. . o O ( Mother? Aerith's mom...? )

Utena reaches over and tickles the cat behind the ears, sheerly
absentminded, as she nods at this update. "I think we should see about
getting people to contribute to a fund to help pay for repairs, or
something like that... It'd be the right thing to do."

Duplica purrs at Utena scratching her behind the ears. ^.^ She then widens
her eyes at her purring. O.O >.< "Meow."

Chichiri smiles and nods.  "Hai, that sounds like a good idea no da."  He
looks down at the neko again and smiles as she purr's.

Duplica looks up at Chichiri. O.O . o O ( I gotta change back soon before
I do too much damage!! )

Damage? That's Jasmine's job! And here she comes. You might want to start
writing out your wills right about now. "Like, I've got some mint tea
though you'll like, need t'get s'more n'stuff cuz this is the last of it."
My. . look at the steam rising up from those cups.

Utena rises to her feet and excuses herself for a moment, drifting away
from sight, toward the foyer where she can be heard walking upstairs.
After a few minutes she returns with a small leather bag tied with a
leather string, which she hands to Chichiri. "Here... Consider this the
donation from me."

Duplica. o O ( At least I can blame me not drinking the tea... Maybe I can
save Chichiri. >.>;; )

And what about poor Utena?

Utena says, "I think you should keep it.." She glances at Jasmine a little
nervously.. Not saying that she thinks the hyper girl can't exactly be the
best person to give the money too...

Jasmine is perfectly responsible! ...it's just that her culinary skills
make Akane Tendo look like a master chef. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Duplica darts out of Chichiri's lap and makes a suidicial leap for the
tray!! O.O . o O ( I *must* save them!! )

Utena blinks, "Gah!" but doesn't QUITE react fast enough. Gee, darn. Must
be because her mind was on other things... really. Honest. :)

Jasmine blinks and *YAAGGHS!!!* "it's attacking!!!" *ZIP* She dives back
into the relative safety of the kitchen. Strangely there is no resounding
*CRASH* so she must have made it safely.

Chichiri takes the bag and looks at it, then smiles and nods, placing it
inside his kesa, "I'll be sure to give it to her no da.  He sweatdrops as
Jasmine enters the room, then gasps as the cat dives from the tray!  
O.O;"

Duplica attacks Jasmine, trying to knock over the tray. O.O;;

Utena walks over and attempts to snag the kitten by the back of its neck
(as mother cats do)...

Utena says, "Bad kitty! Do you have ANY IDEA how hard it is to get stains
out of this carpeting??"

Duplica flattens her ears. Yes, run! Run from the psycho kitt- argh!!
O.O;;

Chichiri sweatdrops.  ^_^;

Duplica looks at Utena. "Meow." . o O ( I *was* trying to save you, you
know. -.- )

Utena picks up the cat by the nape of her neck and waggles her finger at
it. "Anyway, that was rude." But she then sets the cat down on the back of
the couch. "Be good, or I'll have to set you outside, okay?" She smiles a
little, having had no intention of actually harming the cat.

Duplica flattens her ears and lies down, sulking. >.< . o O ( How do I
tell them?!? )

Chichiri looks over his shoulder at the kitten and smiles.  He wouldn't
want Utena's carpet to be ruined, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't
glad the neko did that.  ^_^ He scritches her behind the ear once.

Duplica purrs a little at that, then scares herself once more by that.
O.O;; She then tries to think. . o O ( Think... think... Where's my bag?!?
I *knew* I left it somewhere... )

Utena suddenly has... a bad feeling; she bites her lip as she glances
toward the kitchen, anxiety building in her stomach. . o O ( She's been in
there too long... )

You know it's awfully quiet in that kitchen. Though you can hear her
shuffling about, probably remaking more tea or s.. ..a door opens and
shuts. And it gets REAL quiet again. Kinda of like the quiet of the calm
before the storm. And here comes the storm. From the kitchen the highest
pitched blood curdling screem suddenly rips through the air.

Chichiri smiles at the purr and continues to pet the neko.  Of course,
he's always been fond of cats.

Utena FLINCHES, an eye squeezing closed from the scream. . o O ( Damn it!!
) She whirls quickly toward the kitchen.

Duplica's purrs at Chichiri's petting. Her tail then puffs out at the
scream. O.O;;

Jasmine is currently backpedaling the HELL out of the kitchen, stammering,
ashen and back to her goodbad hysterical self.
"OOHHMIGODOHMIGODOHMIGODOHMIGODOHMIGOD!!"

... which means she probably smacks right into Utena, actually...

Chichiri blinks behind his mask as he hears the scream.  Then gasps and
RUNS after Utena.  Uh oh.  Do I feel a collison coming on?  >.<

Jasmine *WHAM* .... o.o O.O "AAha.aaahaaha!" There goes that screaming
again, as she starts SCRAMBLING backwards, "OHMIGODOOOHMIGODOHMIGOD!!!"

Duplica looks around. >.> <.< "Meow..."

Jasmine whacks into Utena, which throws her off balance and sends her
smacking back into Chichiri, and that scream just rises over everything...
Utena's momentarily dazed. @.o

Chichiri falls backwards and hits the floor with a *THUD* @_@ "Daaaaaaa."

Jasmine would be climbing the walls if she could. As it is, she sure is
trying hard, screaming fit to wake the dea..er..*ahem*

Duplica just stays on the couch. "Meow." >.<

Utena picks herself up, wearily, from where she smacked into Chichiri and
tangled up on the floor with him... her hand brushes her hair back from
her eyes and she rapidly hurries to Jasmine, trying to get her arms around
the girl, to restrain/calm her.

Jasmine SQUEALS and scrambles backwardfs quickly as Utena hurries towards
her, in the process tripping over her feet, "Like stay away from me!" She
shrieks, falling back on her bum and planting her back against the side of
the cabinet. "Ohhhmigodohmigodohmiggawwwdd!"

Duplica pads up to Jasmine. "Meow?"

Utena narrows her eyes slightly, the already thin veneer of her patience
feeling stretched and thin as she attempts to make another grab for
Jasmine to get her wrapped up and calmed down so she doesn't continue to
hurt herself while stumbling around screaming.

Chichiri sits up and shakes his head slightly.  He gets up and moves after
Utena.  "Matte no da!"  He goes over to Jasmine's side, "Please calm down
no da."

Jasmine balls her fists beneath her chin, squealing, "AAH! Monster cat!!!!
Don't eat me MA-*yerf*" as she gets warpped up and squeals further.

Duplica does her cutest meow. ^.^ See, she's all nice and cute and
oh-so-kawaii! . o O ( Maybe this calm her down. )

Utena locks her arms tight around Jasmine, pinning the girl's arms to her
sides if possible; her own eyes are tightly closed. "Calm down," she
whispers over and over. "Just calm down. You don't understand. Calm down."

Jasmine manages to stop screaming..long enough to start rambling,
"OHmigodtherewas a bodyin there and it wasyoursandyou'rstandingrigh
hereandstuffand I can'tbelieve this'shappeningandstuffand Oohm'gaaawwd!!!"

Duplica. o O ( I think I'll wait till Jasmine's asleep before attempting
to become human again. >.>;; )

Utena says, "I know," Utena whispers, keeping the panicked Jasmine as
immobile as she can for now, "I know. Just calm down. It's not important
enough for you to worry about."

Jasmine suddenly goes blue in the face mid-ramble. At least she stops
rambling, and starts gasping for air. @.@ *pantgaspbreathe*

Duplica sits there awkwardly. O.O "Meow."

Chichiri o.o; as Jasmine begins to gasp for air and looks over to Utena.  
"This is turning out quite badly no da."  Understatement?  Nah.

Utena winces, and nods. She raises her voice, an eerie note of power in
it, and tells Jasmine sternly, "Breathe. Take deep breaths, in, out, in
out." Although there's nothing particularly different about her voice it
seems hard to resist, sheer will and force of personality in it. "Breathe
now."

Jasmine is all too happy to obey, even if her mind is runing in little
hyper circles. Whimpering slightly, she inhales and exhales, repeating the
process until she manages to look somewhat more like herself. Or at least
as close to it as one can get, when one just got scared out of their wits,
and then some.

Utena waits, until she's judged that Jasmine is calm enough, and then
releases her carefully, toward Chichiri's direction in case she freaks
again and needs someone to cling to. "Now... as far as you're concerned,
you didn't see that, do you understand?" That same strong tone of voice,
telling her exactly what she wants to hear. "You didn't see it, okay?"

Chichiri places a hand comfortingly on Jasmine's shoulder.  He doesn't
like the idea of being clung to though.  o.o;

Well you're in luck this time Chichiri. Jas doesn't latch; she does blink
as she was about to draw breath to belt out another shriek, until she
hears that voice of command from Utena. She blinks quite a lot in fact for
emphasis, before repeating slowly, "I didn't see it.o.o"

Utena nods, her blue eyes fixed on Jasmine. "You're going to sit down and
relax, and I am going to make some nice herbal tea that will calm you
down, okay?"

Jasmine nods,nods. "Okay o.o"

Chichiri takes Jasmine by the arm and leads her towards the couch to sit
her down.

Jasmine walks over to the couch calmly. Anticipating some herbal tea.
Mmgood.

Chichiri sighs and reclaims his seat on the couch, leaning back and giving
a stretch.

Utena moves into the kitchen and disappears for about fifteen minutes....


				   * 


Dark Horse Tavern

Xelloss juggles a couple of shotglasses to impress a waitress who's cute
as a button. "Oh, hello. n.n"

Hawk steps in through the doorway, assesses the situation, and begins
juggling an equal amount of daggers. "Evening. Trying to impress the
locals, I take it?"

Xelloss tosses you a shotglass. "Oh, no. I'm far too well known around
here for that. n.n"

Hawk adds it to the fray, idly kicking his feet to add his shoes to the
routine. "Or at least trying to flirt around a bit. Remember what I said
about being convincingly drunk." n.-

Xelloss grins, and nods ever so cheerfully, while adding a bottle of
something brown and pungent to the juggling act- the bottle is suspended
in midair, tipping to fill the shot glasses as they pass under the rim of
the bottle, and Xel is actually drinking the shots as they pass by him,
refilling them, and doing another round. n.n

Hawk can't duplicate that one, but he can still match it. n.n Setting down
the mass of stuff, he reaches for a bowl of fruit and begins juggling the
contents. Nothing special at first, until he adds a few shurikens to the
act...sliced fruit rapidly accumulates within the bowl. When there's none
left, he pockets the shurikens while simultaneously wrapping the
tablecloth around the bowl...juggles it a few more times, adds some
silverware to it, and suddenly...throws it all up into the air. o.o The
tablecloth unfolds on the table, bowl in the very center...utensils
landing in the appropriate places. "Voila. Fruit salad for two."

Xelloss grins, and flicks his wrist to send two of the shot glasses to sit
in their appropriate spots on the table, liquid even falling into place to
match without spilling a drop. "And drinks." n.n And then the
butterfingers drops the remaining two, and... grins sheepishly. "Oops.
n.n"

Hawk beams victory. n.n "Come, then. Care for a bite to eat while we catch
up on matters?"

Xelloss sweeps the glass shards away with a gesture- tidy, if
butterfingered- and grins. "Naturally." He moves over, props his staff
against the wall, and sits. n.n

Hawk flops down into his chair. "Before I drink, is this stuff safe? I
mean...it's hard to talk when you're a puddle on the ground." n.n;

Xelloss rubs his chin, and takes his shot glass, downing it swiftly and
slamming it down on the table when empty... pause. Nothing happens. And
then one of his eyes pops open and bugs out and turns bloodred and his
tongue swells up and his throat bubbles out like a frog's....
bluhhhhhhhhhh... And then it all snaps back into place like elastic and he
grins at you. "It should be fine for you. n.n"

Hawk glances down at the glass. And...chugs. "...So, how are things?"

Xelloss leans back. "In a hold pattern. I need Lina Inverse to help me
with Utena. Revi hasn't shown herself since she came in here to gloat at
us..." He picks up a couple of pieces of chopped fruit and pops them in
his mouth, grinning. "So, I've got lots of nothing on my hands."

Hawk draws one of his matched daggers, the two which aren't classified
under expendable projectiles...and spears a few fruit pieces, bringing
them to his mouth between statements. "Join the club. Things are pretty
dull around here at night...unless you happen to be hitting on Miyu's
boyfriend." He snickers briefly. "That girl thinks she owns the forest, I
swear."

Xelloss chuckles. "Oh, and I forgot, there is that magic stealing thing.
n.n" He snatches another piece of fruit, crunchcrunch, talking around it
with his mouth full. "... almost got int'a house coupl'a times..."

Hawk arches an eyebrow. "Magic stealing thing?" Mmm. Rings a bell for some
reason, though he can't remember right off.

Xelloss nods, nods, with a face full of pear. "... kawaii little girl
wandering around gobbledygooky talk. Tried t' get some from Ut's
assis'nt." *crunch, crunch, chew, gulp* "Ah." Takes a drink from a glass
of clear water that just appears in his hand. "Wouldn't happen to be
familiar with our cute little one, would you? I don't care, personally,
but she really annoyed Utena."

Hawk spears a few more. Mmm, he didn't do too bad. n.n Good variety. "Was
it that girl I was with the night we met? She snuck out of the magic shop
with a torn page, and I played around with her a bit by telling them
sorcerors have curses bound into their books for people who rip pages out
of them. If you can't remember right off, you can compare notes with
Canal...she was with you."

Xelloss's eyes are closed, so you can't see him doing the 'close eyes and
search memory' bit, but he does so, and for a moment there's just that
cheerful humming before he recalls brightly, "I don't remember that at
all!" n.n

Urd appears in a burst of expensive special effects, which she waves away
with a hand and emerges from, coughing.

Urd has arrived.

Xelloss looks up, and, without missing a beat, cheerfully holds out a
shotglass full of some brown liquid to Urd. "Drink? n.n"

Urd makes a face, having appeared from god(dess) knows where, and pushes
away the glass. "Not of that, no." She rummages behind the bar for
something else, much to the consternation of the barkeep, to be sure.

Hawk glances over to Urd, then shrugs mentally. He's seen stranger, and if
she's tolerable by Xel's standards...he spears a few more pieces of fruit
salad from the bowl between himself and the trixter priest, chomping them
down idly.

Xelloss awws, and his adorably cartoonish smile drops a notch. "Well,
well... too good for us mere mortals?" He downs the glass himself (just
the drink, mind), and leans back in his chair, hands behind head with an
indolently lazy smile calculated to piss off the goddess. n.n

Urd remains nonplussed. "More or less, yes. Ah, here we go..." She
withdraws a large bottle of a light brown liquid, then sinks back into a
barstool, snapping her fingers and summoning a sombrero. "Time to get me a
worm. Arriba!"

Trunks moves up to the bar, "oh barkeep, A drink please."

The poor barkeep brings Trunks a drink eventually. Keeping a wide berth
around Urd, too.

Xelloss watches the goddess for a moment, and his closed-eye gaze
momentarily falls on trunks before returning to a blatant, open leer at
Urd's chest. n.n Yet, it's a cute, little-boyish leer, probably devoid of
serious intent. Or so you'd think, anyway.

Urd, feeling particularly vicious, puts the bottle of tequila on the bar,
reaches over, and SNAGS Xel's head, burying his nose in her cleavage and
crying in a mock-kawaii voice, "Oh, Xelloss-chan! I was SOO AFRAID! WIddle
Urd-chan wouldn't know what to DO WITHOUT YOU!" Mark you, mortals have
died dreaming of less.

Xelloss *n.n*!! and flails. He can't BREATHE, mind you, but when did THAT
ever matter! SDly, his arms wobblewobble a moment, steam erupting from his
ears, high pitched whistle....

Xelloss . o O ( Calgon, take me AWAY! n.n )

Urd then, of course, reverses her grip and pushes him right off the
barstool, reclaiming her tequilia. "Watch yourself, N-eyes. I came to get
drunk for a reason."

Trunks finishes his drink, then turns to face what people are in the bar.

Xelloss doesn't fall smack on his ass- that would be styleless. Instead he
rebounds off the air, grinning like the cat that swallowed the canary
whole, and coincidentally quite red from neck to scalp. "You've made me so
very happy!" he clasps his hands. "But honestly, you sound as if someone
killed your best friend."

Hawk keeps his eyes on the fruit bowl. No need to call undue attention to
himself...and besides; he has good peripheral vision anyway. >.>; Room
with a view, baby.

"I'm tired and I'm up to my neck in work," Urd grumbles gloomily. "And
since Skuld is on sabaatical and Belldandy is nowhere to be found and her
damn priest won't leave me the hell alone and Dad's off somewhere doing
some ridiculous nonsense and then of course there was the incident with
Darshu..."

If it were possible, Hawkeye, you'd swear one of Urd's breasts just winked
at you.

Xelloss ahs, nodnodding ever so sympathetically. "And Kagato, and Utena's
being dead, and Revi-chan causing a panic, and someone stealing magic from
all over Darra, why, YES, I guess you're just up to the neck in it, aren't
you?" He grins, and touches his hand to the back of his neck. Reallllll
helpful, this one is. n.n

Xelloss OHS! suddenly as he recalls, "And someone blew Aerith-chan's
flower shop to matchsticks, too."

Xelloss n.n and sits down again, demurely crossing one leg over the other
and snatching a chunk of apple from the bowl he and Hawk have been
nibbling out of.

Urd swigs the tequila like a sailor, sombrero shaking as the bottle hits
the bar. "I'm about ready to petition Dad to just scrap all this and start
over."

Hawk makes no facial expression to indicate this whatsoever. He prefers
not being a dead man. Instead...he copies Xelloss, and spears a slice of
orange. n.n;

Saito treads in heavily, footsteps powered by a quickly dwindling energy
reserve..he must take a rest soon..the power of water might be long
lasting, but isn't eternal.  A quick glance around, and he decides this is
a safe enough place to take a breather for the night.  As soon as he takes
a seat, the travel sack over his shoulder hits the floor with a heavy thud
and accompanied metal ring inside..provoking a wince from the man who hard
formerly carried it..but he's too weary to be concerned over his wares at
the moment.

Xelloss pouts at Urd. "That wouldn't be much fun. And then what would all
of that nonsense with Balance have been for if you just fry everything in
Third Impact?"

Urd shhhes. "We haven't even had a Second Impact yet, shut up about that.
>.<"

Xelloss eheh's, the faintest sweatbead. "So sorry. n.n"

Urd fehs. "No you're not."

Xelloss says, "You're right! I'm not. n.n"

Saito tunes an ear in for the gossip going about, and arches an eyebrow at
that, "Impact?  Nanda ka?"  He might be tired..but there's always room for
information.

Xelloss says, "But, honestly, don't you think destroying the world is just
a little extreme?" He grins at Saito, who just happened to overhear
something that he really shouldn't have and waggles a finger. "Sorry,
priviledged information." n.n The Trickster Priest's eyes remain
cheerfully closed in that bright little boy's smile- he turns back to Urd.
"You know, what you really need is a boyfriend, Urd-chan. It does wonders
for goddesses."

Hawk's eyes widen. . o O ( Oh no. The *last* time he told someone that...
x.x; )

Urd's face darkens CONSIDERABLY. Without thinking about it, clouds roll in
outside. Thunder is heard. "I HAD a boyfriend. It didn't work out." 

Saito sweatdrops..nothing is privileged information in the world of
business.  Trade secrets?  It's practically an oxymoron.  But he'll take
the stranger's word for it for once..he calmly calls raises a hand to flag
down anyone who's on duty..to order a tall frothy mug of..water.

Xelloss glances up at the thunder and clouds. "You're not overreacting
now, are you?" n.n He shakes his shiny purple bowl-cut hair. "Honestly,
RELAX, Urd-chan. I've got just as much reason to stress as you. But then
again, you don't see me cracking the sky with my angst." n.n

The storm breaks, and Urd snaps angrily, "I'll vent however I damn well
please!" She mumbles and drinks s'more tequila. You know, to improve her
mood.

Xelloss makes a left-handed grab for the bottle. "You really shouldn't be
doing this, you know." n.n

Urd tiger-roars, ala Ling of Ally McBeal.

Xelloss is nonplussed. There are advantages to being someone who has no
respect for anyone or anything- even goddesses. He snatches it away,
waggling a finger and hiding the bottle somewhere in his robes. "I'm
afraid I just can't let you do that, Urd-chan. A drunken Urd isn't very
helpful to anything, is she?" n.n

Urd shrugs. "To be fair, it's going to take more than stealing a bottle to
keep me from getting drunk if I've got my mind set to it, mister."

Saito . o O ( I learned long ago that taking a bottle from someone like
that could prove hazardous to one's health.  Poor guy. o.o; )

Xelloss n.n's brightly. "I know that, of course. But honestly. It can't be
THAT bad." n.n "Maybe a vacation would do you some good."

Urd deadpans, "My last vacation was with Utena and Death."

Xelloss nods, nods. "And that means what?" n.n

Urd sighs and pulls another bottle of some volatile-looking liquor out of
hammerspace. "L-sama didn't program the lot of you with any ounce of
empathy, did she?"

Saito takes a long draught from his mug of..water.  How manly.  -.- . o O
( Vacation with Death..can't be any worse than a vacation with Kendel,
Roland, and Pota. )

Ouch. That one hurt; Xel's smile slips a half a notch. Not enough that
your average person could tell, but Urd and anyone who really knows him
knows that's the closest he gets to looking utterly mortified. He replies
quietly, "Itai. I just think that drinking yourself into a stupor isn't
going to solve any of your problems, you know."

Urd sighs and looks down at the bottle. "I'd think maybe after you took
over for Dream you'd have gained a sensibility for the kind of
responsibility I have," she says in all seriousness. "Occasionally I'm
sick of fixing problems and just wanna forget for a while. Joining the
French Foreign Legion isn't an option, considering it won't show up for
another 6 centuries."

Xelloss nods, nods again. "Utena-chan had the same problem. I didn't have
much of an answer for her, either." He isn't smiling now. "But you have a
lot more options than she does right now."

Saito says, "Actually..it could be argued that drinking oneself into a
hallucinegenic and euphoric state could bring about visions that could
lead to a solution that one hadn't thought of before when rationality was
rampant.. ..but.."

Saito shuts up. o.o;

Xelloss has an idea! He studiously bypasses Saito's comment and suggests
to Urd brightly, "Why don't you take the form of a new avatar for a while
and just be a rolicking mortal? n.n"

Urd ponders a moment. "I should go to Bolshevik Russia and beat up on Gaav
for a while." She pauses, sipping from the bottle. "I hear he's calling
himself Stalin now, or something."

Urd appears confused. "Or was it Rasputin?"

Xelloss corrects with a wag of his finger, "Actually, he's Lenin. That's a
common mistake."

Xelloss oh, by the way, tries to take Urd's other bottle, too. n.n Whether
he's just doing it to be annoying, or whether he's actually doing it out
of concern for her is really, really hard to tell.

Saito forgets trying to follow the conversation..it's far beyond him in
more than one dimension of speaking.  He just stares into his empty
mug..and frowns a bit. o O ( I wonder what sort of treasure there is
around here. )

Xel finds his hand snagged in mid-grab. "Get your own." 

Xelloss pouts. "You really shouldn't do this."

"You should read labels," Urd snaps back, turning the bottle around. It's
a wine spritzer. Someone with Urd's constitution would need to be hooked
up to a 24-7 IV to get drunk off those things.

Xelloss ohs, sheepishly, and grins. "I'm just worried about you. I mean,
yes, it does seem like reality's taken quite a beating lately. You should
see some of the dreams passing through Ops lately."

Urd glances at Xel. "You tell me any stories about penguins again, and I
swear I'll melt an ice cap in revenge."

Urd seems to ponder this. "Second flood, save the worthy...the surfing
after the last one was killer..."

Xelloss giggles almost girlishly, flipping open his red fan with the cute
white fringe and fans himself with it, n.n eyes over the edge. "Ohoho.
No, I meant.. these are vicious and nasty things. I haven't told
Utena-chan, of course. We've been able to control them so far, but I
haven't seen nightmares like that since..." He pauses a moment and thinks.
"Well, Nightmare. Order, really.."

Urd raises an eyebrow. "Really? Hmmm. His system activity's been spiking
recently, for some reason. Of course, the version of reality we're
currently running isn't designed to take the stress of L-sama or Order
being so active."

Xelloss opens an eye. "Even with Balance plugged in?"

Xelloss suddenly looks concerned. "... That was a stopgap measure, wasn't
it."

Urd nods. "A 'hack', if you will. Paradox would be proud."

Xelloss doesn't fidget, but he clearly looks uncomfortable as his voice
drops. "You do realize I feel extremely uncomfortable thinking of my
fiancee as a program hack."

Urd shrugs. "I've got you on CD-Rom. That make you feel better?" she
teases with a grin. "Lemme explain."

Xelloss is VERY attentive; he nods. n.n "Please, by all means."

Urd sighs, and grabs a cocktail napkin, summoning a pen. "Consider. We
have this board on top of three rocks. Now, the three rocks are necessary
to keep the board up, right?"

Xelloss nods, leaning over, scrutinizing Urd's 'demonstration'. "It's a
reflection of the four pillars, of course."

Saito just sits there..looking ponderous..though that's more or less just
a facade, for at the moment any thoughts that are bouncing around inside
that head of his must be pretty lonely.  "..."

Urd nods once. "Now, let's say we make these two end rocks round." She
draws them that way, and the drawing animates to watch the board roll off
to either side as the round rocks start rolling. "See...if the rocks start
moving, so does the board. Even if that middle balancing board is solidly
square and in place, the board is still wobbling the entire time." She
taps the napkin and the animation stops. "Now, make the third balancing
rock round..." She does so, and the board and rocks all fall down in a
heap. "...and everything goes to hell."

Xelloss winces. Actually winces. "That's not good." he replies. "You're
not saying it's her fault, of course, but what are you saying? How do we
unround the rocks?" He crosses his arms over his chest, sitting back with
a distinctly un-Xel expression of serious intent; the smile he wears is
pointedly nervous.

Urd crumples up the napkin and tosses it into a hyperdimensional garbage
can. "They're active. You need to get them to STOP. The thing about
fundamental forces is that they're not supposed to DO anything."

Xelloss comments, as he folds his hands, "I think we need to speak about
this in more depth. Can we move to my office?"

Urd grins. "We sure as hell know we can't go to my office." She pauses,
and looks around. "Just a sec."

Saito stares emptily into his likely empty mug of water..unsuspecting of
anything about him, and quite disconnected, as it were. o O ( I should go
take a look at that shop next door..they might have some things for
resale. )

As soon as Urd and Xel leave, the most any of you remember is that he was
talking to a wodnerfully sexy woman about wine. That is all. <sound of mic
feedback>

Saito . o O ( I remember some guy talking to a wonderfully sexy woman
about wine.  That is all.  Eh?  What?  What was I thinking about? o.x )

The World of Dreams

It's.. a rainbow-colored world of infinite distance.. fortunately fogged
so you can't SEE to infinity. The ground is made up of a cottony
substance, soft and pliant and colorful, but oddly supporting to your
weight. Of course, that's just what it looks like when you ARRIVE.

Xel's office. Nice, clean, tasteful, potted plastic plant in the corner,
door marked Employees Only to one side glowing with a gold edge... He hops
behind the desk, sits, and gestures to the chair across from him. "Does it
mean anything that Utena's been having dreams about Dios again, after all
this time?

Xelloss says, "He died, you know. But she's been talking about returning
to the beginning and dreaming about the Castle again."

Urd shrugs a bit. "It depends. Are we talking about Utena of the Arousal
of Murderous Intent? Or the actual Utena?"

Xelloss says, "The actual Utena, otherwise known as Balance." Xel sighs.
"Ever since the nasty Altar business wrapped itself up, she's had much the
same feeling as you- the 'why am I bothering' sensation. I thought it was
just stress, but what you just said there makes me wonder. Rather more
than I want to be wondering, considering everything..."

Xelloss says, "Also, Lina-chan was here asking about the Knighthood of
Chaos."

Urd shrugs a bit. "It depends on how you look at it." She pulls down a
Wasyuuterm (tm) diagram of the celestial balance. "See...a Knight is one
thing. They're intrinsicly mortal so they don't upset the same balance as
the forces themselves taking a hand in affairs." She pulls up the screen
with a snapping sound. "Plus...did you hear what I did to Revi's astral
Utena?"

Xelloss nods, rubbing the side of his face with a blue-gloved finger. "Of
course I did. It's kept her stable for the moment."

Urd nods. "The thing is...Yggdrasil is a complex system. The REAL Utena
could be getting feedback from her astral clone."

Xelloss hmms, hmms softly. "So, because of the turmoil in the astral self,
Balance is trying to restart certain conditions in reality?" He has a
sudden thought, and hmms. "My, my, this could be very ugly. Would you be
so kind as to run a system check for me and look for Dios's pattern?"

Urd shakes her head. "I don't have to." She sighs a bit. "Utena doesn't
know it, but divinity or no, her system force still runs parallel to that
of Dios."

Xelloss says, "All right." He puts his booted feet up on the desk. "That's
about what I suspected, though it's good to finally hear a direct
confirmation. Still, Urd-chan..." He pauses. "What exactly do we DO about
all this? We can't undo what's been done, and while you may be tempted to
shut down the whole thing, that would cause even more damage."

Urd looks at you briefly, then shrugs. "What do you want to do, Xelloss? I
can't meddle any more than this...giving of information. I can't just go
playing with Yggdrasil, it's a complex system...one file change and
everything changes. The only thing within my capability is to..." She
sighs. "...go into the archives and 'reboot' Utena from a backup copy. But
I think you know what that would mean>"

Xelloss opens an eye. "That puts me in a rotten position." 

Urd nods. And can't stifle a grin. "Not just you. But mainly you."

Very, very rarely, the trickster's mask drops, and the real person
underneath shows. This is one of those moments; his face goes slack, his
eyes open wholly, and he gazes at you in agony. "I want her to be happy.
That's all I ever wanted. A lot of what happened to her is my fault- I
made her this way, in accordance with my pacts with L-sama and you and
others. I did what I was asked to do. Now you're going to punish both of
us for my obeying those pacts?"

Urd looks at you curiously. "You should know better than that." She sighs
and rubs her temple. "It's not as easy as true love breaking all bonds,
Xel. It's okay for mortals to say 'to hell with rules' and think that
faith will get them through, because it will. In this kind of situation,
not following the rules isn't an option. You play the cards you're dealt,
because it's the very fabric of not just our reality, but other realities,
that is at stake here."

Xelloss rubs his brow as well. "This isn't fair." He slumps back into his
chair; an eye peeks at you. "I've always obeyed. But this is too much."

Urd quirks a brow. "That's funny, coming from the self-styled mysterious
priest, isn't it? Think how ridiculous that sounds."

Xelloss shrugs. "So I'm a hypocrite." He sighs. "If you put her back to
where she started, won't that undo Akio, Anshi, and Dios as well?"

Xelloss asks, "Won't that undo Balance itself? Who's going to be filling
the Altar if it's not her?"

Urd sighs. "There's...a bit of an escape clause." She steeples her
fingers. "The nature of causality is self-correcting. Everything Utena has
done will NOT disappear. The problem becomes that
something...someone...will have to fill the void. ANd if we don't choose,
if we don't find a volunteer...then Yggdrasil will randomly choose. It
could be anyone."

Xelloss nods. "And I don't think you could find anyone willing to
volunteer. Utena was born and bred to be what she ended up being." He
groans. "My, but this gets better and better."

Urd nods. "So, you're kind of screwed either way. Save her alone, screw up
history. Save her with a person...screw that person for eternity...or
screw a random person for eternity."

Xelloss pouts. "But if I let you, she'll forget me." The smile is now just
a small, sad moue.

Urd shakes her head a bit. "Do you see why I drink, now?"

Xelloss leans back. "Now I want one." He gestures. My, the desk turns into
a wet bar. o.o

Urd chuckles a bit. "Told you so." She sighs. "There might be other
options, hon. But it's not my place to hand them out. I'll answer
questions, but as for the rest...you know the line."

Xelloss shakes his head, after a few moments of grim silence. "I can't
decide this for her. I'll bring her here. She has to make up her own
mind."

Urd nods. She's got all the time in the world, considering the 'real' her
is plunked down in front of a monitor right now.

Utena blinks as she just.. appears. o.O Her eyes take in the sight of the
wet bar, and of the rather grim looking figures before her; she manages a
weak sort of grin. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Xelloss gestures to the chair next to Urd. "You'd better sit down." No
smile.

Utena winces, and timidly settles down, her hands resting nervously in her
lap, polychromatic light from the ring on her finger fading a bit.

Urd just sits there. It's Xel's gig, let him explain. For the records,
anyway.

Xelloss explains. Calmly, rationally, and making it sound like it's the
end of a very long and hard road. Conveniently leaving out any personal
feelings about the matter.

Utena instantly reads between the lines, of course, and her eyes turn
toward Urd helplessly. "... I won't exist...?"

Urd shakes her head. "Not...quite." She sighs, and summons...well, a CD,
basically. Looks like Utena OST 4, really, with the shimmery rose pattern
on black. "This...is you. Your file, actually. You as we know now would
cease to exist. Memories, thoughts, feelings...everything. It would be the
ultimate way of starting over."

Utena whimpers softly. "... but what about my friends...? What about ...
I.. I mean, I say I want to go back, sometimes, but I don't... I don't
MEAN it... I just get tired sometimes, and..." Her eyes fill with tears.
"... do I have to do this?"

Urd looks at Xelloss first. He's the one who can really answer that. She
idly toys with the CD, as if entranced by the reflection off it.

Xelloss wants to say that she doesn't have to. He looks at her while she
looks at him, and the two seem to have a long, long conversation with
their eyes. "I wish I could say it," he finally tells her aloud. "You know
what the price is."

Utena bites her lip. "What happens if I don't? If I just stay this way
until I'm not a Mazoku any more and I'm just a person again?"

"The choice is ultimately yours," the goddess points out, rather
matter-of-factly. "It's your existence. I think sometimes that L-sama,
Order, Nightmare, Balance...even me...we've tried to convince you that
you're more than what you think you are, to go beyond expectations. But
it's YOUR existence. No one else's."

Utena sums up her fears in four simple words, half-whispered, "But I'll be
alone."

Xelloss looks away.

Utena asks, "And you still didn't answer the question, Urd. If I don't do
this, what happens to the world?"

Urd sighs and looks down. "Things will only get more and more unstable.
Chaos and Order are moving too much, and let's face it...an inexperienced
Balance can't handle that kind of pressure. Magic will get erratic, the
gods will start infighting again...and Kami-sama won't be able to stop any
of it."

Utena wraps her hands over each other, resting them before her lips, her
eyes closing. Now her tears begin to flow openly, her dream-appearance
darkening as if a spotlight is being turned off. "I don't have a choice,
in other words. For all that you've said, I really don't."

Xelloss says, very straightforwardly, "Utena." No pleading, no whining. He
doesn't need to, because she knows.

Urd glances at Xelloss, then at Utena. She looks very calm for a moment,
then sighs. "No. You always have a choice." She holds up something small
hanging around her neck: an egg, a gilded golden egg. "Don't you remember
what you said? That's what being mortal is all about. Choices. Decisions."

Utena bows her head. She rises unsteadily from her chair, and wobbles
dizzily around the desk, her hand catching herself on its edge, and she
flings herself into Xelloss' arms, sobbing. Incoherent words. Apologies.
Regrets.

Xelloss folds his arms around her, buries himself in the flow of her hair,
and doesn't say a word at all, not a single word.

Urd is extra baggage at this point, emotionally or otherwise. She takes a
step out of her chair and summons the Elevator.

Utena turns, rubbing at her eyes. "When is it going to happen?"

Xelloss pushes Utena away gently. "... I don't want to see this." And then
he's just.. gone.


Xelloss teleports out of the room.

Xelloss has left.

Urd sighs as Xelloss leaves. She turns to you and shakes her head. "I
don't blame you if you hated the gods for the rest of your days."

Utena staggers toward you, shaking her head, unable to speak. She wants to
say a lot of things, but all words are freezing in her throat, and she has
no will strong enough to push them out.

Urd supports you, patting you on the back. "Do you want some advice,
Utena? Not advice from Urd the sysop, Urd the goddess, or Urd the
realist...but just from Urd?"

Utena nods, clinging to you, her head leaning against your arm.

Urd hugs tightly. She's warm to the touch, for some reason. You'd expect
an avatar might not feel so...human. "Utena, listen. Xelloss is bound by
rules. He wants to be free but he knows he'll always really be a servant.
He hates this situation because it's the ultimate reminder of that." She
strokes a hand through your pink hair idly. "I don't want you to start
over. I like the way you are. I like what you've done. But in a way...I
hate what you've become. You have such a noble spirit, that you want to
help everyone. You DID. Himemiya, World of Elegance, Xelloss...countless
others. But you did it by sublimating yourself. You took on more and more
of other mantles...when all that's really effective is the you, inside."

Utena just nods, sinking into your touch, sobbing quietly, letting her
whole weight rest on you. She seems so heavy for such a small thing, an
aura of tiredness and darkness around her light. "... I don't want to
forget.." She whispers. "It makes it all for nothing... but I have to..."

Utena says, "Everything that hurt me made me strong, and I could never see
you or Death or.... that's why I've tried to just go on, because I don't
want to lose everyone."

Urd frowns a little bit. "No! No, you don't have to do anything you don't
want to. Can't you see?" She pats your back consolingly, but is once again
the harbringer of bad news. "You're Himemiya now. Your cause is just...but
as she was to the Ryuzoku, as are you to Balance. A touchstone. Inside you
is power, and you don't need to be a Mazoku or a god or even a Knight or
an avatar to use it, Utena. You're looking too hard. You're trying to be
too much."

Utena says, "... It won't end for me, Urd. Even if I forget. I know what's
going to happen. Don't you? It'll start all over again. Revolution. God
damn REVOLUTION." Her anger flares for a moment, but sinks back again as
her eyes close. "I can feel him. He's furious. I think we're going to lose
him. Xel."

Urd's eyes darken a bit. Inside, thoughts whirl through at speeds
unfathomable to mortals. Some kind of understanding has to be reached.
Some kind of...hope. A solution. She smiles, whispering softly, "I
understand now, too. To be special. The one that helps. That's the mortal
dream. That's what true love is."

There is...a harshness, all of a sudden. Urd pushes you back, with
irresistable but not violent force. Something glitters near her, and
prismatic light whirls about her. "Powers of the Heavens, hear my voice!
Know my will! I am Urd, greatest of the three Norns, eldest child of God!
By that right invested within me, by the strictures of power set into the
universe itself..." And with that, you realize, she has just slipped the
ring of Balance onto her own finger, and in a flash of light...disappears.

Utena stammers, her tear-blinded eyes struggling to see as she stumbles
back against the desk and cries out, "... no! WAIT!" Helpless to do much
else, only stare in miserable bewilderment.

Only Xelloss' empty office remains. No one is left to hear your plea.

Utena whirls frantically and... she suddenly understands. Although she
despises the power and calling on it makes her bones shake and her blood
yearn to be fed, awakening the Mazoku power in her will let her do what
she has to do... she flings herself out of dream and unerringly toward her
fear; to where the Altar rests hidden from the world..

The Altar. A place that's everywhere and nowhere, a gleaming silver chair
set with perfectly fitting gleaming silver parts, save one small bolt near
the head of the chair marked with a sigil, a swirling spiral that connotes
Balance. Until all of a few minutes of astral time ago, this chair was
filled by the glowing form of the idea of Utena as Balance; her image,
very faintly transparent, bound hand and foot into the chair.

The current occupant of said altar has, indeed, changed. The image,
however, is much more solid than the astral one of Utena which previously
resided there: gods and goddesses, being primarily astral, are much more
tangible here. The dark jade eyes are closed, the triangular goddess
markings gone...as if she were in peaceful sleep.

Utena flings herself at the chair, knowing with bitter horror that her
suspicions were right; she can't do anything but her hands claw fiercely
at the straps; she even tries to reach it with her mind, force it open....
"You can't do this! You can't! URD!!"

Of course, in the place, the mind is as powerful a voice as the spoken
word. And in your mind, the familiar voice does respond. "There's nothing
I can't do," she boasts jokingly, invoking an old line of hers. "I didn't
understand until I remembered something you said to World of Elegance
once."

Utena sinks to her knees in front of the altar. "Please... please don't do
this.. it's my place, not yours.. I was willing.. "

The voice picks up a bit more force. "No! No, Utena, stop trying to be the
savior of the damn universe!" The physical form remains unchanged, but
after a moment you can sense the harshness relenting. "Utena, listen. You
once said humanity was about choices. That no matter what the name...god,
demon, angel, human...the humanity was the same. It was about doing what
knew in your heart to be true. You, though..." She sighs. "You doubt.
Balance used that against you...not maliciously, but it happened. It's
easy to mold someone who doubts. I can't doubt. I know EVERYTHING about
this dynamic. It's better for me to be here for now." For now. There might
be hope yet.

Utena says, "... what about your followers? What about your FAMILY? You
can't... Look, you had more to lose than me... PLEASE... come out of this!
You can't leave your sisters alone!"

A mental shaking-of-head. "They'll understand. We may disagree at times,
but we're a close knit family. Eons of bonding can do that." A gentle
mental caress. "But if you feel that I would be doing the world a horrible
disservice..." A golden ball of light appears above your hands.

Utena blinks at the sphere, her eyes drawn to it instinctively, though she
doesn't move. "... what is it?" she finally asks, noticing small,
flickering ripples of color-within-color inside it, layers and shades of
gold on gold like a delicate bubble... "..."

The ball bursts, and out of it falls a small object on a chain...a key.
"Yggdrasil's startup key. Skuld can teach you about system management, but
only you or my sisters will have direct access, key or no..." And of
course, with the key...comes all it implies.

Utena stammers in bewilderment and confusion. She went from preparing not
to exist at all, to... to this. Somehow, she feels there's a cosmic joke
she doesn't understand being played on her... feels Irony at work on this
again as her small fingers close around the key. "... But I'm... I mean...
Mazoku... and..." She stammers.

The voice, again, soothing but direct. "You're part Mazoku? Welcome to the
club," the mental touch chuckles wryly. "But remember this, Utena. You are
not becoming me. You are not to be Urd...you are to be Utena. Does that
make sense? DON'T shift to become someone else, powers or not."

Utena says, "I... Uhm." What the hell do you SAY? She whispers, "... I...
I won't refuse, but I can't take your power as mine. It's not mine." She
raises her hands and slips the key around her neck, under her hair,
letting whatever happens next happen to her without resistance.

Maybe a smile in the voice? Who can tell. The body is as still as
ever...although at this point, the altar seems active. Gold and
silver...chaos and order...flicker about it too. "Good. You make the
decision. The world can get along without the goddess Urd for a time. When
you've found yourself, when you've discovered what it's like to be
you...come back."

Utena nods slowly, taking the key in her hand and wrapping her fingers
around it slowly. "... Urd... I didn't want it to come to this. I wish I'd
been better in what I was supposed to be." She shakes her head. "I'll do
what I can." She turns, though slowly, lingeringly.

A slow smile spreads across the face of the goddess. She trusts you're
correct. She believes in you. And, more importantly, she believes in the
decisions you'll make.

Utena closes her eyes and flees the presence of the Altar. 

(Xel, back to the Tavern)

Xelloss.. staggers in.

From midair.

Hawk's reaction, is of course, simple as usual. "Take a seat, looks like
you could use one."

Xelloss sort of manages to collapse into one, looking... very much like
someone who's entire world just went away. Utterly and completely and with
no hope of restoration.

Hawk grits his teeth. That's the very same feeling he had when leaving
Naba'al...the same to which this very man he looks upon held no pity when
he related it upon request. The irony of it is beautiful, but Hawk is soft
when it comes to forgiveness. "You up to talking about it, dude?"

Xelloss shakes his head wearily. "... she's gone."

Hawk asks, "Gone." He thinks over the word for a few moments. Could mean
several things with this guy. "Howso?"

Xelloss's hand over the table slowly becomes a fist. "Gone. Taken from me.
Taken from ME."

Now, this is the man who didn't bat an eye when his lover was murdered,
and made into the exact antithesis of everything she ever wanted to be,
mind you. And he's sitting there with a smouldering aspect that seems to
say he's just this side of snapping.

Hawk was thinking somewhere along those lines. "Okay. So she was killed,
became a demon even, yet you didn't bat an eyelid. So whatever the hell
that happened had got to be pretty damn extreme. How was she 'taken', and
who managed it?"

Xelloss gives out a bitter laugh, his smile broken glass jagged. "Fate.
The gods. Destiny. Name it. For the sake of the world, she has to go away.
Leave me. Leave everyone."

Xelloss is very much NOT his characteristic smiling self in ANY degree.
His eyes sink into pitted black shadows below his bangs as he lowers his
head and murmurs, "I may not be coming around here any more."

Hawk snickers quietly to himself. "You poor fool." Without explanatin, he
just lets those words float on the air. And when the next words from the
trixter priest emerge, he repeats himself. "You poor...poor fool." Despite
whatever amusement he finds from this, he respects the request...and
stands slowly.

Shilfiel nods and her vision moves further..hearing a familar voice she
smiles and walks over to Xelloss's table, "Xelloss-san!" She blinks for a
moment noticing his mood and tilts her head, "What's the matter?"

Xelloss's eyes are utterly darkened, invisible within the shadow veiling
them. "Sorry, Shilfiel-chan. I'm afraid things are going to change."

Shilfiel blinks again...tilting a bit more, "Eh?"

Hawk turns at the sound of an equally familiar voice, towards Shilfiell.
"He's suffering from 'jaded romantic syndrome'. His love is lost forever,
or so he says...it's fairly typical. I'm afraid conversation isn't going
to be of much use at the moment...until he realises that nothing useful is
going to get done with him just sitting there."

Xelloss smiles at Hawk. It's not at all a nice smile in any respect. "No,
I have lost her. Forever. She'll be alive, but her mind is gone. Taken.
Her memories, her power, her will, and her love. So there's really nothing
left here for me." 

Shilfiel watches Xelloss stand, "Xelloss-san...?" Her voice is
concerned...seems she's thinking he's about to do something quite rash.

Xelloss gazes on Shilfiel. "Give my regards to your patron goddess when
next you pray to her. And tell her I've gone home." He vanishes without a
second word, blurring black and purple light.

Shilfiel blinks again and reaches out to where Xelloss was.
"Xelloss-chan!" O.O


Darra Village


Revi has arrived.

Revi says, "Hello, Xelloss....."

Xelloss glances up, but the shadow never leaves his face. Nor does he
smile, particularly; he just holds his staff quietly in one hand, robes
flickering in the cold wind. The whole world is cold to him now.

Shilfiel runs out of the inn looking around, "Xelloss-chan?" She looks
around as she comes to a hault on the tavern lot's edge.

Revi looks faintly amused.  "Why Xelloss?  Whatever is wrong?  No pretty
banter?  None of that 'Go fuck yourself' attitude?"

Xelloss is quite calmly standing here, facing down what looks like a
female version of himself; he holds his staff and his eyes are completely
veiled from sight.

Hawk follows Shilfiel out in a swish of ribbons. He's got to be around
here somewhere. It isn't quite like him, but niether is he himself at the
moment.

Xelloss shrugs with a dangerous lightness. "You know the saying,
Revi-chan, that you can't go home again? I never believed in it."

Shilfiel blinks at the sight... "Demo..." Her eyes shimer over and she
seems upset.

The female Xelloss begins a slow, seductive walk towards the male, a fan
snapping out to cover the lower portion of her face.  Her red cheongsem
dances on her body as she stops a few feet away from him.

Shilfiel begins walking toward Xelloss and Revi...

Revi asks, "Ara?  Are you saying that you want to go back?"

Hawk comes to a complete, full halt. "No. Not this. It's *too* stupid. And
classless to boot." . o O ( And so he betrays even the memory of his love.
Idiot! )

Xelloss smiles a little, teeth showing at the edges of his mouth. "If it's
not too late, Revi-chan. I thought I could make do as a human. But it
hasn't seemed to work out well."

Shilfiel blinks and looks between the two....a bit confused than closes
her eyes...her hands clunching the sides of her head as she shakes it
briefly. "Xelloss-san...no...no you can't."

Revi runs a free hand along the Xelloss' jawline, taking extreme delight
in this.  "Hrm........  I shall have to..... consider..... your
request......  You will hear back from me, but until then..."

Xelloss grabs Revi's hand. "Not later. NOW."

One of Xelloss's eyes becomes visible as it opens within the shadow. "Or
are you afraid I'll take over again?"

Revi levels a gaze at Xelloss.  "I should blast you for your
impertinence.....  But you make such a delectable underling.  Very
well.......  Welcome Home, Xelloss....."  As she finishes, Revi touches
the palm of her hand to his forehead, and a black fire lances out and
surrounds Xelloss, infusing him.  The balefire chills the surrounding area
as it washes over the priest, and returns him to what he was.

Hawk quietly draws a rose from his vest, and stares at it closely. What
he's considering will be an irrevocable course of action, and very
dangerous to his own self. ...But when -has- it been, here? Yes. It seems
right.

Shilfiel blinks...and watches in stuned silence.

Xelloss does not scream, nor does he do much but stand there and take it,
eyes completely hidden. . o O ( Without Utena, there's no value in being
human. I did everything I was ever asked and I don't get to keep her. The
hell with this world. I'm sick of it now. ) When the surge of dark power
flowing over him has passed... he yawns a little, and stretches out.
"Tingly!" n.n

Revi smiles.  "I'll be going now, Xelloss-chan.....  I trust you will take
care of things for me here......"  She turns towards Hawk, and looks at
him square in the face.  "Unless someone else has business with me......"

Shilfiel shivers lightly...casting her eyes down.. (There's that feeling
again...) She raises her eyes to the sky...

Hawk shakes his head slowly, smiling sadly underneath the cover of the
petals. "I'm afraid not. My buisness is of the unfinished variety."

Xelloss bows slightly, and kisses the back of Revi-chan's hand.
"Naturally." n.n He releases her hand and glances back, smiling
cheerfully. Except now there's a natural, flowing menace in the smile.
"Sure you won't join us as well?" he calls out.

Shilfiel shudders again....her head bowing slightly and her hands balling
into fists as she bites her lower lip.

Revi purrs slightly.  "Hrm.....  The idea does have a certain pleasure to
it....  but I'm afraid I have my eye on someone else at this time.....  
It should be most delicious to be watching him in a bit....."

Xelloss giggles faintly. "Isn't she cute, boys and girls?" He bows low at
the waist and stands, leaning on his staff as he gazes at the small crowd.
"Thank you all for coming, I hope you haven't been too disappointed. n.n"

Hawk's grin twists into the sadistic variety. Without releasing the grip
on the existing one, he flings another rose to the feet of Xellos. "A
white rose..." ...and indeed it is... "...for a dead man. How fitting."

Shilfiel raises her head to proclaim to the sky, "It's all her falut!"
Where that statement came from and who it's about or directed to is
unclear...but she looks very angry....very unlike the priestess.

Xelloss picks up the rose, and smiles at it with a grin that twists the
heart to look at. "Fitting indeed. White roses were her flower, you know."
He threads the rose, thorn and all, into the hair above his ear, quite
casually, and gazes on Hawk from below his purple bangs.

Shilfiel looks down at her fist and mutters, "If she wouldn't have been so
good...this wouldn't be happening..." What the heck is she babbling
about...

Kaoru strolls lightly into town, whistling a jaunty tune.  
"Hmmmhmmmhmmmmm Lumberjack, and I'm okay......."  He moves towards the
magic shoppe, but stops, waving happily.  "Oi!!!  OYAJI!!!!"

Hawk snorts quietly, a secretive smile of his own barely distinguishable
from underneath the cover of the flower in his hand. "...And yet you dare
to still call her your own." He snickers softly. "Traitor. You're a fool,
Xelloss. Damned by your own hand."

Kaoru asks, "Oro?  What's going on?"

Kaoru walks over towards Xelloss.  "Hey, Oyaji......"  He pulls on his
cloak to get his attention....  "To-san.....  What's he talking about?"

Shilfiel lowers her hand...and shudders again...than again wearing what
she is it's a wonder she isn't frezzing...she raises her head to look at
the others in the area.

Xelloss says, "That may be," the once-and-again Mazoku smiles; then,
glancing down, he looks at the young man. "Utena-chan is gone, Kaoru-chan.
So oyaji has decided to go home to his family."

Kaoru asks, "Kaachan..... gone?"  His face falls, and tears well up in his
eyes.  "What do you mean, kaachan's gone?"

Xelloss waves his hand. "Just so. Gone away, and we won't be seeing her
again."

Kaoru's face completely falls, and when he looks up, there is murder in
his eyes.  "Who?  Who did this?"

Xelloss flickers his gaze toward Shilfiel a moment, just observing her, to
see what she does, and if she intends to assault him. Hawk, too, is kept
in his line of sight from below the dark bangs. "A goddess, I'm sorry to
say."

Kaoru asks, "Then how do you kill a God?"

Xelloss chuckles. "You don't. I will. I'm afraid this whole system is shot
and really, needs to be overhauled from the ground up." n.n

Just behind Kaoru, there is a quick flicker of something that looks
ghostly feminine.  It smiles briefly, then fades out of existance.

Shilfiel does nothing...she doesn't seem to be intrested assaulting him
(or dying 9.9) at the moment.

Kaoru says, "I will.  I am a fully trained Hokage Assassin.  Master of the
Five Faces of Kogan Anki.  I've already lost my parents once without bein
able to exact vengence.  I will not sit idly by again."

Hawk continues to look Xelloss in the eye. Beneath those bangs. By words,
he addresses the child...but who is it he really talking to? "She lost her
memories. With that, a mother is lost...and a father." Perhaps both. "The
burden of being a man is too difficult for some I'm afraid. He laughed at
the tale of one man in the position, but the same fate doomed him. He's
Mazoku again...an existance taken back from the same woman you hate."

Hawk says, "A traitor. To himself, and he knows this. But to his
love...that he didn't think of."

Kaoru asks, "So if I become Mazoku, I will be able to help Kaachan, and
destroy the two that hurt her?"

Xelloss nods, nods. Grinning satanically, no hint of anything human there
now. No regret, no pain, no sadness, no loss. Just the dark, dark shadow.
"Quite so. We can speak about this later, though, Kaoru-chan." He looks
toward Hawk, grinning wickedly. Then he waggles a finger. "Not so. I
watched her bleed, suffer and die quite literally for this sad little
world more times than I care to count. If anyone is a traitor, this world
betrayed her."

Kaoru looks at the new arrival, choking off the urge to yell out for his
kaachan.

Utena appears quietly from .. somewhere. You're not really sure where.
Around her neck, she's wearing a small golden key, and she gazes
helplessly at the scene before her for a moment, before her hand reaches
out before her. "Xel..."

Xelloss turns and looks at her. Freeze frame.

Kaoru looks hopeful.  If she remembers Xelloss, then she could remember
him, and then everything would be alright....

Shilfiel follows everyone's glaze and sees Utena as well.

Utena looks at Shilfiel, blue eyes shivering and tear-laden. "... He
didn't do it, did he?"

Hawk's expression becomes neutral. He sees not one, but both...and he
isn't liking any of it one bit.

Shilfiel blinks slowly....than glances toward Xelloss for a moment before
looking to Utena and nods slowly.

Utena's face just collapses; she stumbles backward and crashes into a wall
by her back. "... why...?"

Kaoru whispers "Kaachan?"  and he hesitantly starts moving towards her.

Xelloss shrinks back, looking at her. She's supposed to be DEAD, dammit.
Dead and gone and unable to remember and... he turns swiftly to escape,
robes flaring.

Utena looks up at Kaoru and holds out her arms to him blindly. "..."

Shilfiel blinks and looks over to Xelloss as he flees.

Kaoru runs forward, completely uncaring of the tears he's shedding or
anything else, and wraps himself in her arms.  "Kaachan......  You're
alive......  You're not dead......  Kaachan....."

Utena folds her arms around Kaoru and cries herself, sobbing softly into
his small shoulder as she holds him closely. "... No, I thought I was...
but I'm not... she spared me... I thought I had to go away..."

Shilfiel looks back to the ground..than she shudders again...falling to
her knees. She hugs her arms around her waist and curses lightly.
"She's....waking up....not....now..." -_-

Shilfiel forces herself to her feet and tries to stumble off behind some
building...any building...

Kaoru says, "I'm sorry, kaachan.....  I wasn't here.....  I didn't do
anything to protect you.......  Please don't go away, kaachan......  
Please....."

Kaoru presses his face against Utena's shoulder, sobs wracking his body as
he clings desperately to her.

Utena tries to ssh him gently; she dimly lifts her head, still seeing him
standing there, turned away from her, not looking at her, and she sees
Shilfiel stumbling around, but she just... she can't move. No strength in
her anywhere. She clings to Kaoru as intensely as he clings to her. "..
it's all right," she whispers. "It's okay. kaachan's here..."

Hawk folds his arms at his chest briefly, traces a hand along his
brow...and extends the other palm up, clenching it into a fist. "Come now,
Xelloss.." The ground beneath him begins to blur, before gushing upwards
around his feet, and attempting to solidify around it. "..I think you
should stand on your own two feet for once tonight."

Shilfiel makes her way to the woods..someplace to hide... (Damn her. Damn
her...I have to get rid of her soon...) o.=

Kaoru starts to quiet down, and soon settles into just rocking smoothly
with his kaachan.  "Kaachan.....  I'm sorry......"

Revi whispers, "My....  isn't this a rather pleasent turn
of events......" to you.. ^_-

Shilfiel wanders into an alley, heading northward.

Xelloss turns, eyes open and glowing. "Not here, Hawk. And certainly not
now." The ground solidifies and seems to lock around his ankles, holding
there... but then he just hops over it lightly to land on an unaffected
patch of ground, staff in hand. And he smiles. Smiles ever so. A quick
flicker of his gaze toward Luna before he whips out his staff in a 'come
here' gesture toward Hawk. "If we really MUST fight... this is not the
place."

Utena stares at Xelloss blankly for several moments. "How could you..."
Her eyes shattering like glass. She grabs up Kaoru swiftly in her arms,
just after he's gotten his bundle up, then blurs into pink and white and
black and disappears instantly, willing to tap her curse to escape.

Hawk snorts. "Fight. The thought had occured to me earlier, but the only
thing I was trying to do now was prevent you from making a fool out of
yourself any more tonight." He glances over towards Utena, then back to
Xel. "You romantic fools are all alike. Never even stop to *CONSIDER* your
options for a moment before taking the most cowardly path. And now look
what is the result of it!"

Xelloss says nothing. That's a dangerous nothing for him to be saying; he
merely smiles, and the smile doesn't slip, even though it's now far, far
too late. Far too late for anything for him.

Hawk says, "That...is the most intelligent thing I've heard from you all
evening."

Xelloss has every intention of leaving. He doesn't need to stand around
here and be reminded of what he know understands is stupidity and his own
overreaction- he thought himself above humans even while being one.. and
now he understands painfully that he was never any better than the rest.
He says quietly, "Now, now, there's no need to be insulting."

Hawk shakes his head slowly, teeth bared slightly. But not in too much of
an unfriendly way. "I apologize. But you've made me very, very angry with
you this evening." A slow smile. "Not that I matter much in the overall
picture, though...I prefer it that way. I tried to warn you about what you
were about to do, before I knew what it was; it's the same story for
everyone in the same position."

Xelloss attempts to shrug it off, back to you, hand clenched hard on his
staff. "Well, we all make mistakes. The tiger can't change his stripes."

Hawk brushes his hair back again, putting the rose away. He might not need
it tonight after all. "Your stripes changed tonight, Xelloss...again."

A dark force rises, coiling blackness in blurring waves that blast out of
the ground and whirl around the Mazoku's feet; a coil of it unfurls and
whips across the space between us, toward you... not aimed specifically at
you, more of a warning shot as it lances and whirls out just above your
ear, just past your shoulder, and the head of it slams into the ground
behind you, causing a small explosion. "Don't presume you know me that
well." He's bitter, he's frustrated, he feels like an idiot- probably not
the best time to be mocking him.

Hawk slowly turns, pacing to where the detonation landed. He bends
over...peering close, anguishing seconds ticking by as he just stands
there, hands on his knees. He rises to his full height then, and turns
back towards you. "Do you know yourself any better? Think -very- carefully
about this one. What about me? Do you know my life well enough to *grin*
at a plight I suffered, the same one you do now?"

Xelloss's back still remains to you, as if inviting you, daring you to do
more than just shout words at him. "It's all the same to me," he says
lightly, with a brush of his hand along the shoulder of his robes.
FLicking off dirt, brushing you off. "None of that matters now, does it?"

Hawk grins. Shakes his head rapidly, spreads undoes his hair briefly. "Say
it all you want. You'll rue this day for a long time...please feel free to
strike me, and that is an invitation, because my words are harsh to friend
and enemy alike. I'd still like to think you were the former..." Slowly,
he turns to look at your back, arms crossed behind him. "...because even
when you were the lighthearted practical joker, you valued my words...for
what little they were worth...more than you do right now."

Xelloss gestures slightly with his staff. "I've no time for this nonsense.
So sorry, but I really must be going. More important things to do, I'm
afraid." There's just enough pain in his voice that you can hear the
denial, the desperate attempt to salvage ego and self, leaking through. He
blurs, melts, and is gone...  

Hawk grins to himself. . o O ( I'll see him later. He gets around, after
all. But once his moment of anguish passes...there'll be nothing left to
be friends with. ) He slowly makes his way back to the Dark Horse, redoing
his hair wrapping as he goes along. "The night is young, surely the drinks
are still hot." He only looks back once...not to where Xelloss was, but to
the crater. After halting for a moment to gaze at it, he breaks out into
another smile as he continues along. . o O ( He still has the flower.
He'll remember Utena...and me. )

				    * 

(Back at the Sanctuary)

Kaoru pushes away from Utena hesitantly, and moves over to grab his
bundle.  "Please..... no fighting.....  not now......" he says as he moves
back next to kaachan...

Kaoru looks up at you with a slight bit of trepadition.  "Kaachan?  How'd
you do that?"

Utena releases you and sinks back into the bed, her hands covering her
eyes. "... I don't.... I don't want to talk about it, right now..
please..." She's just on the edge of tears again, and tries valiantly to
fight them.

Kaoru moves over, and lays down next to you, holding you tightly.  
"Shhhh......  It's okay, kaachan......  Everything will be fine......."

Utena collapses, partly into you, partly into her pillow, and just wracks
with sobs, her heart breaking for what feels like the most truly lethal of
blows. She wept when Dios died, but that pain was NOTHING compared to
this.

Kaoru strokes a hand through your hair, and mumbles unintelligeble things
in your ears.  Desperately trying to calm you down, he rubs his cheek
against yours, tightening one arm around you.

Utena cries, and beats her hands helplessly into the pillows, weeping. "I
loved him... I love him, how could he DO that?? Everything we fought
for... and he just GOES BACK..." she is inconsolable in her agony, and
suddenly she feels utterly irrational, wants to be gone, wants to NOT be
able to remember, to see the lack of light in his face as he stared at her
a moment ago with no ability to reach to her... painful memories rising
now, their times together, what they could have had... her hand plunges
toward the key around her neck.

Kaoru misunderstands your intent, and thinks you are going to do something
drastic.  "He had no idea.....  he thought you were dead......  I thought
you were dead..."  He wraps both of his arms around your arms tightly.  
"Please....  don't leave me, kaachan.....  not again......"

Utena closes her eyes. "Kaoru-chan... I think I... I have to go away. I
can't handle this. I've suffered so much, and all I hoped was to be happy
at the end... but that can't be, now. I need... she said, that I should
find out who I was again... and I don't know any more." Her arms are
pinned at her sides, but her hand is still tight around the chain. "... I
want to ..."

Kaoru ignores you completely after you say 'go away'.  He buries his head
in your hair.  "I......  I can't let you go, kaachan.....  I couldn't help
it before, but now.... now there is something I can do.....  Please don't
leave me alone again, kaachan...."  He begins sobbing again, completely
beyond reason.

Kaoru's grip looses as his body wracks.

Utena slumps back into the bed. "... I can't do it, like this." She sighs,
her eyes closing. "I've never run from pain, and I won't run now." So
saying, the girl releases her grip on the key, and wraps her arms around
you tightly. "I'm sorry, Kaoru-chan. I'm so sorry. I'm not very strong,
I'm just... I want to be everyone's Prince, but I don't have much strength
sometimes, when my heart hurts." She brushes her fingers along your
tearstained face and lifts away some of the moisture with her hand. "Don't
cry... it makes me sad when you cry."

Kaoru pulls back and looks at you deeply, his eyes and face red from the
tears.  "I'll be strong for you.....  I'll make sure that nothing bad ever
happens to you again.  That way, you won't hurt....  and then you'll
smile, and everything will be like it was....."  Settling back down, he
lays his head on your shoulder.  "Kaachan, can I tell you a secret?"

Utena strokes her hand along your hair gently. "... sure." she says after
a moment or two of silence. "What is it?"

Kaoru hesitates for a moment, then turns his head away from you and
whispers into your shoulder.  "I'm an assassin."

Utena's eyes open, wide. Very wide. Because often words like that in a
tone like that.. usually end with the knife going into her neck. She
literally freezes up, stiff and solid, underneath you.

Kaoru shakes his head.  "No......  Not like that......  My clan was
killed......  I think......  I was out training with my mom.... when....."  
Silently, tears start running down his face again.

Utena ohs, and slowly, if a bit hesitantly, unkinks herself, lets her
breath out, and puts an arm around you again. "... I see..." She nudges
your forehead gently with her nose. "Don't cry, now. I lost my parents too
when I was very young, younger than you. You've been very brave, and you
can be brave now, can't you?"

Kaoru nods slowly, but continues, tears still streaming along well worn
paths.  "She..... she told me to run away..... she stayed behind.....  I
should have stayed.....  Please, kaachan.....  Don't leave me......  
Don't make me go away......  please, Utena?" he whispers, holding onto you
like the child that he is.

Utena closes her eyes.In her mind, she can see something she hasn't seen
in a long time... a small, sobbing girl, alone in the rain, staring at a
field of crosses, lightning flashing overhead.. and she remembers, as fast
and bright as that lightning. What it felt like. To be so alone and so
helpless and so vulnerable as to cling to anything at all that looked like
salvation... she nods slowly, holding you tighter to her. "You're not
alone. I won't make you go away." Her heart aches. . o O ( Dios.
Oujisama...oh, god... ) "I promise."

Kaoru almost crushes you with the force of his hold.  Rubbing his face
along your shoulder, neck, and cheek, you can feel him sobbing and
laughing at the same time.  "Thank you......  Thank you...." he repeats
over and over again.

Utena struggles internally for a moment. What she knows, what she
remembers. The doom of the archetype of the Prince, how fatally flawed it
is, how it can never be achieved in this world, how it dooms those who it
saves... but she swore to him, didn't she.. swore her oath on pain of
death with the whip smashing into her back... but he's DEAD now... No, she
decides. He's not dead if I still believe. And believing... there are
people that need the Prince... that need that kind of love, that
protection... like poor Kaoru... She holds him tight and lets him cry in
her arms, and the pain of losing her great love falls a little by the
wayside as she is caught in memory and in realization. He'll need a Prince
too, she decides; she saved him once, and she can do it again.

Kaoru relaxes after a while, turning his face towards you, and resting his
head on your shoulder, his cheek on your neck.  His eyes are wide with
fear, though, and tears are still streaming.  It's a rather odd contrast,
the state of relaxation of his body, and of anxiety in his eyes.

Utena cranes her neck up and kisses the tears from under your eyes,
smiling softly, with a strangely calming aura. "Rest now, okay? You've had
a pretty rough day." She reaches to pull the blanket up over us, letting
you snuggle up against her.