"Ellen was... Well, she was Sartana's one and only beloved. To him, she was like a mother, sister, and lover all wrapped into one... Like the sun itself, you might say..." Kay

"See you tomorrow," said Trinity, with a big grin on his face. "Bright and early."

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Sartana. He mumbled a few more unintelligible words before heading out the door into the streets.

Trinity was about to leave too, before hearing Kay call out to him. He waved back, and Kay approached him.

"Hello, Kay. How's everything?" he asked.

"Everything is fine with me, Sir," Kay replied. "I wanted to tell you that we are all set for the mission tomorrow, if we leave around this time tomorrow, we should get to Acuna by day."

Trinity responded, "Good, that'll be fine."

Kay hesitated for a moment. "There is...one more thing."

"Oh?"

"There has been some word spreading around about Acuna. People are getting a little restless."

"What sort of rumors?"

"Adbuctions. They say that in Acuna, people are being kidnapped. But the strange thing is, it only seems to be the women. Aside from that, there isn't any pattern. We don't know why only certain people are chosen...or what for."

Trinity grabbed his chin in thought. "Okay," he responded, "We'll have to look into it. When we hit Acuna tomorrow, we'll ask around." He paused for a moment before asking, "Do you think...do you think the vampires may be involved?"

"Possibly."

"Alright," said Trinity, "I suppose we'll find out soon. For now, let's all go home and get some rest."

"I'm home sweetie," said Sartana, as he entered the house. Outside, the sun was beginning to set.

"I'm in the kitchen," came the reply, "dinner's ready!"

Sartana instantly lit up as he heard her voice. Joyfully, he called out, "coming!"

He entered the kitchen, Ellen was washing her hands. "Hi sweetie," she said, as she noticed him.

They both sat down and Sartana placed some food on his plate. Politely, he asked, "Ellen, how was your day?" Although they called each other mushy nicknames such as sweetie or honey, Ellen was always adamant in insisting that people never used a dimunitive form of her name.

She said, "it was fine. Nothing really special." Then she smiled and added, "until you came home. So, how about you?"

It was the sort of thing they had going on. Normally, she would ask him how his day was first. Whenever he asked her how her day was, she knew that he had something he wanted to vent. Asking her to talk first was just a sign of respect that existed between the two.

"I am really getting sick of the guild," he said, wasting no time. "Trinity rode me all day long." He began to imitate Trinity. "'You're not doing it right, do it again, you owe me push-ups, one more time, almost right.'" He paused to chew and swallow, then continued. "He's driving me insane. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable for that guy..."

"So," Ellen said, "you feel like he's expecting too much of you."

"Yeah. He's trying to kill me," he joked.

She waited until she was sure he was done. He made a brushing motion with his hand. "Eh, thanks for listening," he said.

She nodded back and smiled. "So, do you want to hear what I think?"

"Sure."

"I don't think he hates you. I think he cares about you, almost as much as I do."

Sartana was surprised. "Serious?"

Ellen replied, "completely. If he wanted you dead, he'd just shoot you and get it over with!"

Sartana made a face that showed he was not amused. "Ha, ha."

Ellen laughed and said, "Ha ha, I'm just kidding. But I was serious that he cares about you. Why else would he work you so hard? It's because he cares to make you better." She got up and walked over to him, saying, "and I am doing this because I care about you." She scooped up a serving of vegetables and laid it on his plate. "Eat some vegetables."

He chuckled and shook his head as he began eating them. "You really think so?"

"Of course," she said, "after all, you're going to be his successor. He needs you to be the best."

His face changed once again, this time, he was excited. "Wait, you really think so? He wants me to be his successor?"

Ellen shook her head and said, "Of course! Everyone can see it...except for you." She laughed.

He quickly tried to save face. "Well, now that I think about it...I might've, well I sorta, I think,"

She smiled as he fumbled over his words. "So I say, just smile, ignore him, and eventually he'll come up with something that annoys you even more."

This time, he laughed too. They kissed, and they were both happy for a while.