Ceres:

Celestial Legend

Jenifer rushed to class. She was late and she knew it.

"Oh man! I can't believe that I'm late again." She thought running through the halls.

"Glad to see you could join us today, Miss. Amicitia. Please take your seat and I'll see you after class"

"Yes, Sensei." She whispered with her head hung.

Then she took her seat.

"Late again?" Someone asked.

"Wonder what she does." Another person said.

Jenifer sat down next to a boy and began taking notes.

"Late again, Amicitia?" the boy asked. "What's your excuse today?"

"I had a few extra things to take care of this morning. It seems like my mornings just keep getting busier and busier." She replied.

"Jenifer, since you seemed to enjoy talking so much, please read."

Blushing slightly, she stood and began to read.

"Together forever is what we said. Without a doubt; without hesitation. You told me you would love me as long as stars shone down from the heavens. Your tender embrace. Your longing kiss. Even your sweet fragrance told of nothing, but our love. How is it something so sweet and wonderful as our strong, long lasting bond vanishes as if it had never existed with just one word?"

"Very good. Now please pay attention."

She nodded and sat down.

"Thanks a lot, Aogiri." She mumbled to the boy beside her.

"Me? I didn't do anything."

He smiled. He knew she was only joking and was sorry for getting her into trouble. She smiled back. How could she not? After all, Yuhi was really her only friend. She still remembered when they first met.

It had been the year before. She was sitting quietly waiting for the teacher to begin. It was a cooking class. Although she never would say it, she was one of the best in the class. That day the teacher said there would be a cook off. Jenifer stayed in round after round until it was down to the last two students.

"Alright then, Aogiri and Amicitia are the last two standing." The teacher said. "Now the last dish, it is extremely hard. You will be making…Angel Wings(A Hungarian pastry)!"

Jen was a bit skeptical. She wasn't sure if she could pull it off without even knowing what its suppose to look like. The teacher gave them each a recipe and told them to begin. She went straight to work, following the recipe exactly. Before she knew it, the teacher called time and came to sample the Angel Wings.

"It's a tie!" she exclaimed.

The teacher dismissed the class and Jenifer's opponent came over to her.

"Good job today." He said. "My name's Yuhi."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you." She replied softly. "My name's Jenifer."

Slowly, little by little, Yuhi became her best friend. When they were assigned to be partners for a project, Jen met Yuhi's sister-in-law Suzumi and Mrs. Q. Not long after, her mother grew extremely ill. She had to take on all of her mother's responsibilities and it made attending school quite difficult. Jenifer didn't come to school for a while after her mother became ill. She had even thought of dropping out of school. When Jenifer thought of that, she decided that Yuhi had the right to know. She walked to his house trying to think of the best way to explain everything. When she saw his face in his doorway looking at her with concern and relief, she cried. Through her tears, she told him everything. He kept her in a tight embrace and let her cry. Then he convinced her not to quit school. That brought her up to today. Yuhi teased her, but she knew that he really cared.

Class ended and she made her way to her next class.

"Hey Jen!"

"Hey Yuhi!" She replied turning around.

"Wanna stop by the house after school? Suzumi would be thrilled to see you again."

"Sure. I might not be able to stay long though."

"That's okay."

"Alright. See you after school."

The day seemed to fly by after that. She always had fun and felt welcomed at Yuhi's home. Finally, the final bell rang and Jenifer was about to go meet Yuhi when the teacher from that morning stopped her.

"There you are, Amicitia. Did you forget that I asked to see you after class?"

"Sorry Sensei."

"You need to start being on time. I don't know why you are constantly tardy, but you need to start getting to class on time or it will hurt you."

"I'll try and do better Sensei."

Then Jenifer ran to catch Yuhi."

"What took you so long?" He asked as they began to walk.

"Sorry. I had another talk about tardiness to listen to." She said and let out a sigh. "What more can I do? Maybe I should drop…"

"Don't even think about it, Jen." Yuhi interrupted. "It's like I told you before. You can't quit school just to take care of your mother. You're gonna need to do something after she gets better."

"I know, I know. It's just getting really hard."

"Don't worry. You'll pull through. I know you will. If you ever you ever need help remember, Suzumi and I are always there for you."

"Thanks, Yuhi."

"No problem."

As they continued to walk, they talked about random things. School, people, weekend plans… nothing unusual. Eventually, they reached Yuhi's house.

"Hi Jenifer." Suzumi greeted her. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Suzumi."

"What a pleasant surprise!" Mrs. Q said right in her face.

Normally, this would scare most people, but Jen never seemed to mind.

"Hello, Mrs. Q. How have been?"

"Fine. Thanks for asking."

"How is it she never fazes you?" Yuhi asked.

"I don't know. Maybe everyone else just over reacts."

"Over reacts?" Yuhi thought "One or two people getting creepied out is over reacting. When everyone else but Jen gets creepped out, that's not over reacting. Oh well. That's just Jen I guess." Then he said "I'm gonna go make a snack."

Then he headed for the kitchen.

"Come on. Let's sit down and chat for a while." Suzumi said leading the way to the living room.

Jenifer followed and sat down next to Suzumi on the couch.

"How's school going?"

"You know me, straight A's. Just a little tardy."

"Maybe could tutor Yuhi." His sister-in-law joked.

They both laughed.

"How's your mother doing?"

Jenifer fell quiet a moment.

"Her…condition hasn't improved. I'm doing everything I can for her. I won't give up. I just know that if I do a really good job caring for her, she'll get well again."

"Try not to push yourself too hard, Jen. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"It does seem hard to get to school on time. I've considered dropping out more than once. Yuhi would never let me though. I'm going to keep trying no matter what. Don't worry about me, Suzumi. Everything's gonna turn out fine."

Jenifer smiled and Suzumi returned it.

"I hope your right, Jenifer. I just hope you're not expecting too much of yourself." Suzumi thought.

Jenifer glanced at her watched and jumped up.

"I'm so sorry I have to cut my visit short. I have to get my Mom her dinner. Good nutrition helps you stay healthy, you know. I'll see you later. Tell Yuhi bye for me."

With that she left. Little did she know that Yuhi had heard the whole thing.

"Jen you really need to take it easy." He thought and went to prepare dinner.

"Mom, I'm home. Sorry I'm late. I'll start dinner now." Jenifer called.

She went to the kitchen and made dinner. She placed the food on a tray and carried it to her mother's room.

"Mom dinner's ready." She said walking in. "It's one of your…"

There was silence.

"Mom?"

No answer.

"Mom?"

Still no answer.

Mater?!(Latin for mother)"

Jen dropped the tray of food. It fell with a loud smash.

"Mater!"