The gentleman who answered the door wore a severe black suit that proclaimed him to be a butler. He had a full head of salt and pepper hair, particularly gray around the temples and penetrating brown eyes currently aimed at Kakyou and the little suitcase in his hands. ( Read more... )

[I am missing the best bits, including the beginning.]

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Aya-chan was told not to gather flowers in this part of the woods. That's part of why she was there. The flowers were lovelier here… and a little strange. For Aya, that only added to their beauty.

"Hello!" The voice was bright and cheerful and coming from just a little behind and above her. Lyn was laying along a tree branch, her light, multi-colored skirts fluttering now and then in faint breezes. She was smiling happily down, green eyes curious.( Read more... )

The PINpoint sparked in Aya's hand. It had never done that before. He looked around a room that he did not recognize. It was spartan with bars an ornate but ominous grill on the window. There was a bookshelf but little else. He recognized some of the titles. He turned in circle. The wary surprise and confusion written on his face was easier to read than many of the books on the shelves. He looked at a small boy sitting on a bed. He recognized him at once.( Read more... )

Ran touched his swollen and tender nose, and winced. He could feel a bruise coming in beneath his left eye. He had probably broken some ribs. Maybe they should have gone to the medical bay before meeting with the superior officer. Ran glanced over at his Vulcan companion who had taken out three of the five attackers. There was a spot of green blood on his lower lip. That was it. His hair wasn't even mussed. He was talking in that low, calm voice that he had. A voice that he had not raised even when he was fighting. Ran let him do the talking. The Vulcans seemed to understand each other better; and Ran's voice sounded thick and awful. Ran watched Mr. Spock raise and eyebrow and wondered if that meant the same thing in Vulcans as it did in Humans.( Read more... )

Aya-chan rubbed her hands together to keep out some of the chill of the morning. She leaning against the railing of the cathedral steps, waiting for Ran to change out of his vestments so they could go home. Mom and dad were in Venice for the week, but they had arranged for a car service and asked that daddy's assistant to check in on "the kids" while they were away. Which is what made this such perfect timing, Aya-chan thought, smiling up at the looming gray building.( Read more... )