::::-----==============-----::::

A shallow breeze blew through the meadow, causing the tall blades of grass to bow under its might. Meanwhile, a small herd of deer gathered around a nearby pond to rest their hooves and catch a quick drink before moving on once more. One of them looked up suddenly, springing its ears erect atop of its head like radar's, as if something around it was amiss, but when all seemed well, it lowered its head back to the pond and continued to lap the crystal blue water. Another deer behind the latter crept up to the pond slowly, trying not to seem too anxious. It stood motionless behind the drinking deer, until the moment was right. Suddenly, the cautious deer transformed into a white-haired boy wearing a funny hat, and holding quite an impressive, yet bizarre weapon. Before the unsuspecting deer could turn to run, the boy pulled back his weapon, ready to strike.

"Caught one!" yelled Rue, proudly carrying a deer carcass over his shoulders into the cottage where Claire was busying herself at the stove, and much to Rue's surprise, the usually soft spoken young woman quickly turned to the beaming boy with a serious look. "Rue! You should know better than to bring it inside!" Claire's tone was as sharp as the knife she used to dice her vegetables.

"Oh, right, sorry..." Rue smiled apologetically with an "Oh, what was I thinking?!" look on his face. "I guess I sort of forgot..."

Claire shook her head understandingly. It had been three years, after all. "It's all right, Rue. Just take it outside. And I just hope you haven't forgotten what parts of it I'm going to need."

"Ha, are you kidding me? I'm so hungry I could eat the whole thing right now!" said Rue, heading out the door as he boasted about his apparent ability to eat large amounts of raw meat. Yet despite what he just said, he really was anticipating Claire making his favorite stew for him again. Just like how she always made before....

Rue shook his head of the memory. It's already been three months since he was reunited with the girl to whom he's spent three years dedicating his life to, and everything still felt a little unreal. There was this new or perhaps nostalgic feeling inside of him, much like when a arduous chore is completed -- something seemed to be not well with the world, or maybe just not with his. Everything felt so different. The feeling transformed itself into a voice that clawed at the back of his mind asking "...what now?". But he ignored it. There was nothing else to do now. There was nothing else that SHOULD be done now. Things were just different. It was time to relax.

'Relax...'

The word danced around Rue's mind. Just like it did on that long boat ride from Carona back home...with Claire. During the three years without her, he had nearly forgotten how to relax. He was separated from the feeling by the cold, stone wall of revenge and despair. Rue will never forget that boat ride back home -- especially the way he couldn't stop staring at Claire (that is, when he wasn't constantly asking the captain questions such as "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer...?"). He'll never be able to forget the way the wind playfully tossed Claire's flowing brown hair as she wistfully gazed out across the sea, as if she'd forgotten how blue it actually was. Though on the boat, he could have been the poster-boy for the word "uptight", Rue was beginning to become more accustomed to that feeling of serenity that Claire was engulfed with on the trip, and boy, did it feel good. The songbirds' melodies were happier, the sun shone brighter, heck, even the air smelled better.... Though that was probably the fresh mountain air doing him good. Oh well.

With a renewed sense of exhilaration, Rue carried the slain deer (which he nearly forgot about) off to the nearby cliffs that had a glorious view of the hillside. Resting the deer on a patch of grass, he looked over the cliff in awe, and released a sigh which was all he could muster up to explain his present feelings. It was so good to be home. He couldn't remember when was the last time he felt so happy. For the past three years all he could do was think of Claire...finding the [relic] to get her back...and getting revenge for her murder. To him, the world was just empty without her...

Rue grabbed his arc edge and turned back to his kill, readying himself to butcher it. Though a sudden, loud explosion stopped him dead in his tracks before he could make a single chop. Immediately, Rue looked up and turned to the cottage in immeasurable concern, making sure that Claire wasn't in any danger. Just as he saw that the cottage was still in one piece, he heard yet another explosion, but then noticed that it was coming from below the cliff. In a state of both curiosity and worry, Rue decided to find out what all the ruckus was about. He left the deer and jumped over the cliff, hopping from ledge to ledge, making his way to the base with the reflexes of a fox. Or to be more precise, a rather heavy fox, given that Rue's foot eventually landed on an unstable mass of rock, which immediately crumbled under his un-fox like weight.

"Aaaah..!"

Rue desperately tried to re-maneuver himself to land on his feet.

At the sudden noise coming from the cliff, a confused and injured Mint impulsively shot a bolt of magic at whatever it might have been that made it, without so much as a second thought.

That very moment, Rue caught glimpse of an inexplicable bolt of magic heading straight for him. Without worrying where it came from, and having only a split second to react, Rue pulled his arc edge from behind his back and placed it in front of him to block the blast, but in doing so, he completely forgot about his first task; landing on his feet.

"Augh..." Rue moaned, rubbing his backside and slowly raising himself to his feet. 'What the heck was that..?' He opened one eye to survey his surroundings and find his attacker, but all he found was a girl with huge, red ponytails staring wide-eyed at him. Upon recognizing the figure, Rue returned the blank stare.

".... Long time," he said, awkwardly.

::::-----==============-----::::

"Ow!....OW!! Careful! What the hell are you trying to do -- kill me??"

"Which is completely different from what you were trying to do to me at the cliffs, huh, Mint?" Rue said to the immobilized girl whom he was carrying on his back. She claimed to have injured her leg somehow and couldn't possibly walk for herself.

"Hey, that was different! I was only trying to protect myself -- I had absolutely no idea it was you. So basically, it was YOUR fault that you almost got yourself killed. Try to be more careful next time, will ya?"

Rue shook his head and tried to change the subject to a more important matter. "So.. you fell down the cliff and.."

"I did not fall," said Mint matter-of-factly, as if falling was the most detestable thing in existence. "I was fighting this huge, ENORMOUS monster when I suddenly lost my balance. Truly a gallant battle unmatched by any other; there I was..."

Rue rolled his eyes as Mint continued on about her "gallant battle". Having lived in the area for most of his relatively short life, Rue knew quite well that the cliffs were only inhabited by pollywogs and perhaps a few wolves. But he didn't say a word, knowing that doing so would probably mean certain death. However, Rue couldn't help but wonder what Mint could have been doing here, of all places. He blinked thoughtfully, trying to come up with solutions.

"Hey, are you listening to me??!" yelled Mint, leaning her head closer to Rue's ear so he could experience the full potential of her bellowing. "Jeez, how could you expect to understand why I'm here playing piggy-back rides with you, when I would LOVE to do pretty much anything else, if you're not even paying attention?? I mean honestly, don't people have any manners nowadays?"

Rue did his best to turn off his hearing, realizing that he'd have to put up with Mint's "royal treatment" all the way back to the cottage. He also started to regret having that ironic reflection earlier on how good it was to be able to relax again.

"Darn, I was just leaving myself open for a plot twist..." he mumbled, almost inaudibly.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing."

The door to the cottage flew open and hit the adjacent wall with a loud slam. Rue didn't really mean to open it so rudely, but then again, he did still have a Mint on his back.

Claire however, oddly wasn't at all surprised by the sudden break in the tranquility of the cabin by the slightest, and greeted Rue with one of her usual, heart-melting smiles.

"Welcome back Rue. I'm about ready to-- ...oh.."

Rue rested Mint on the futon without saying a word. Mint, on the other hand, gave out a sigh as if she was doing all the work, and began to critically look around her new surroundings, seemingly only finding aspects to which she'd give an enthusiastic thumbs down.

"Um, Rue.." Claire started, staring at their new guest, "I believe something's happened to your deer.."

Rue shot back after hearing Claire. "The deer! Oh no, I forgot all about it!" he quickly dashed out of the cottage without explanation. But just when he noticed his actions, he ran back in to clear things up. "Claire..this is, um, Mint, an old fr--..partner of mine. She's injured herself, so I thought she should stay here...until she's better, that is."

"That is.." he added, looking at Claire with the face of a young boy who has just come home to his mother with a bird that has broken its wing, "..if that's okay.."

Claire laughed inwardly at the display. "I understand, Rue. Now you should probably go retrieve the deer that you left out there. It's getting dark.." And without a second thought, Rue turned and ran. Claire herself turned back to her pot of herbs, spices and vegetables which seemed to currently have the world revolving around it for her, and seemed to overlook the redheaded stranger that stared vacantly at her in silence. Alas, it was as if Claire had somehow forgotten about the beautiful and undeniably important princess behind her... though Mint couldn't quite figure out how that could be possible.

Mint began to twiddle her thumbs awkwardly, to the rhythm of Claire's clacking wooden spoon against the metal pot.

"Um.......okay...."

::::-----==============-----::::

"Augh, I knew it! I knew I should have hidden it! I'm so sorry Claire, this is all my fault.."

Rue lowered his head in shame while confronting Claire with the bad news. When he returned to the cliffs, the deer was gone, most probably mistaken for the remnants of an All You Can Eat buffet table by some other predator.

"Oh dear.." said Claire, wearing the first dismayed expression that Rue's seen on her face in quite some time. "That is a problem...And I know how much you've been looking forward to my stew.."

Rue nodded enthusiastically, proving her right. "Well.." she said thoughtfully, glancing back at the steaming pot on the stove, "I guess we can still have stew.. only it will have to be a vegetable stew..." she gave an apologetic smile.

Rue immediately smiled back at her. It would tear him up inside if Claire were to feel responsible for his carelessness. "No, Claire it's all right. It was my fault to begin with, don't feel guilty..."

"Besides," he continued, "I know I'll enjoy it. Anything you make is always delicious.."

"Why... thank you, Rue.." replied Claire, not really knowing what to say after the compliment.

"Vegetable stew??!" piped up Mint from the futon, as if you didn't see that coming. Her wounded leg now propped up on all 3 pillows from the futon. "There had better not be any pumpkins in it! Uch! I HATE pumpkins!!"

Both Rue and Claire turned and stared at the young princess, as if they never knew she was there. Mint shifted uneasily.

"...I hate pumpkins..," Mint repeated, a little less forward this time.

Claire laughed softly. "You don't have to worry, Mint. I didn't use pumpkins. And I'll remember not to, during your stay here."

Mint would have been quite surprised at how accommodating Claire was willing to be for her if she wasn't already reeling from the fact that she already remembered her name. She shook off the feeling and concluded that she deserved such treatment. 'Hu, at least someone knows how to treat royalty..', she thought, pompously, and began to wait for her stew that she knew would only make her long more for her chef back at home...

"Mmm! Seconds!!" Mint squealed, as she held out her empty bowl anxiously.

"You mean thirds.." Rue corrected, quite unmelodically.

"Rue, your friend may have a broken foot, but it's good to see that her stomach is still working fine," said Claire cheerfully, scraping out the last bits of her stew into Mint's awaiting bowl, which she immediately began to inhale. Mint's left foot had now been bandaged up by Rue while Claire finished cooking. However, Mint had seemed to forget about the pain (which she herself had labeled earlier as "unbearable"), as she was too busy gorging herself in stew heaven.

"Wow, Rue" Mint began, after cleaning out her bowl so impressively that Claire almost questioned the need to wash it, "you never told me that Claire was such a great cook! Now I know why you wanted her back so much!"

Rue's head shot up from his palm, worried if Mint's inattentive words would have in some way offended the recently resurrected Claire.

"Jeez, Mint, the least you could do is--"

"Oh, Rue.." Claire, however, laughed off Mint's comment, and took it as an innocent joke, despite how awfully personal it was. Though she did notice that Rue didn't share in her ability to overlook it.

"...Rue, I do believe that my remedial herbs are in the back cupboard. Would you mind getting them for me? They might be what Mint needs to feel better."

"Uhh...sure," Rue said, and went to the back to retrieve what Claire asked for, forgetting about the annoying princess in the other room. Upon returning, he decided not to stay long.

"I guess... I'll turn in now.." he said, as he began to slip off his gloves. "Good night, Claire... Mint." And as quickly as he had come back, the reserved boy had gone into his room.

"'Night...," Mint said back to him, though he was almost already gone.

Without wasting any time at all, Claire started to mix the herbs Rue brought her using her hands while Mint watched in silence. She then started to daintily unwrap Mint's bandages using the most elegance humanly possible, and during this process Mint could feel sharp twinges of pain, but refused to yelp every single time to make it obvious for Claire, as she did for Rue when he was initially wrapping her leg. She instead cringed and forced each cry back, with much effort. And besides, it just wouldn't be as much fun. To keep her mind off the pain, she decided not to stare so intently at her foot, and looked around the quaint, country home that Rue and Claire shared. ...Mint was sure she had never seen a dinkier place in her life.

'...What a dump...,' she thought, with narrowed eyes, though she wouldn't dare say it aloud. Mint turned her eyes back to Claire when the aroma of the herbs she was mixing caught her attention. Claire then took the bandages that wrapped Mint's leg and mixed it around with the rest of the herbs. After watching her for a while, Mint came to the conclusion that Claire knew what she was doing...whatever it was. It never even occurred to Mint that she eventually started studying the girl intently -- her expression, her clothes, that weird, ever-present content smile on her face -- this was Claire. ...So this was the person who was so important to Rue, huh? It was a little weird looking at her, for some reason. Mint couldn't really understand why. It was probably because she had just become accustomed to thinking of Claire as an object that belonged to Rue rather than a real, living person. However, Claire was in fact a perfect angel; polite, caring, kind... and with cooking skills to boot. Mint couldn't help but be in awe of her little brunette nurse who seemed to be as intent on tending to her broken foot as she was stirring the pot of vegetables hours ago. Mint also couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her as well. If she were killed... would anyone want her back, too? Did she even have anyone who would go through such lengths for her as Rue went through for Claire? Her mind ran circles around that question for a moment.

'......Maya..?'

"Mint are you alright..?" asked Claire, quite concerned after hearing the sudden gagging noises Mint was making.

As soon as she was done, Claire re-wrapped Mint's foot with the same flair and style she used earlier, then proceeded to get up. She spoke with a satisfied expression on her face.

"So Mint," she started, "what do you think -- better?"

To Mint's astonishment, the pain had relatively subsided and she was even able to rotate her injured foot a bit.

"Y..yeah." Mint internally scoffed at herself for not being able to express her emotions more efficiently.

"Wonderful," Claire replied with a pleasant smile, "I knew this would help. Now hopefully you can sleep a little better. I've noticed you've grown accustomed to the futon a bit. I hope you won't mind using it for the night. This cottage...isn't really built for guests." She smiled apologetically.

"Aw, I'll manage somehow..," groaned Mint in her usual gruff way, as she looked at the futon distastefully. "..I-I mean...it's not that much of a bother..," she corrected herself, trying to sound more grateful, as she watched Claire blow out the candles turning the room dark as pitch, save the light of the moon that shone through the windows.

"Good night, Mint," Claire said, bowing her head slightly, in a regal manner.

"G'night, Claire... oh, and Claire..?"

Claire stopped and turned back to the now peaceful-looking girl on the futon in the dark room.

"Thanks," Mint said, hardly sounding like herself.

"Oh, don't thank me," Claire said, being humble as usual, "thank Rue." And with that, she disappeared into the darkness of her room, ironically fixated closest to the kitchen stove.

Without further delay, Mint spread herself across the futon, enjoying, or at least trying to enjoy, every inch of it, as she was so used to doing in her king-sized (or princess-sized, if you really want to get into technicalities) bed back at the royal palace in East Heaven. She wasn't able to fall asleep right away, which gave her a few good moments to spend time running a few thoughts through that world domination-filled head of hers.

'Rue..,' she thought as she rolled over to her side, mulling over the last words Claire said to her, 'he still better help me find that new [relic]! What good luck of mine, running into him like this!' Mint cackled softly as a sly grin crept onto her face, but soon faded.

'Or maybe...maybe I shouldn't...ask him.' The thought of Claire came to Mint's mind. If she was in Rue's place, she probably wouldn't want to leave Claire either... they were just reunited after 3 years and all. And he just seemed so happy now..Mint had never seen Rue like this before. It was almost scary..

But then again, it was for a good cause. After she took over the world, he could be with Claire all he wanted. 'Heck, I'll even help them move outta this pile of toothpicks they call a home. That should be a piece of cake when the entire world beckons at my feet!' Mint thought, gleefully.

'Beckons.... I like that word..' she thought, as she stored it under the 'B' file of world domination terms. Hey, no one ever said that all of Mint's thoughts were supposed to make sense.

The important thing was Mint had her battle plan. Yeah, that's what she'll tell him. It was an offer he couldn't refuse. And yet, in the abundance of her confidence.... Mint couldn't help but wonder if Rue still wouldn't be willing to help her.

'......And why would he?!' she thought, beginning to get as mad at herself as she was so prone to doing to other people. 'He's only got Claire, and a peaceful life and... and... dammit! I'm tired of thinking!'

Mint angrily rolled to her other side and tried to force herself to sleep. However, she forgot about how tender her foot actually was, and the twist sent a sharp pang of pain through her.

"Ow..." she said aloud, the pain annoying her more than hurting her.

The shot of pain was all Mint needed for her brain to gradually begin shutting down. Subconscious thoughts of glorious world conquest and getting even with her enemies lulled her to sleep...as did one other memory...

~~~~~~~~~

Mint stood at the end of the Carona docks impatiently waiting for her little sister to arrive. Despite all her new (and dear...there, she said it!) memories, she still couldn't wait to get the hell out of this shoddy town and back to her kingdom, where she knew she'd be welcomed back with open arms by her loving public..or at least she had better be. Then suddenly, a certain white-haired boy came up to Mint to yank her out of her realm of spitefulness and give her a final goodbye.

"Hey Mint," Rue called out, wearing half of a smile, "You're still here? I thought you would've left by now.."

Mint jerked her eyes away from his face and spat out a "well, it's obvious that I HAVEN'T!" with the same amount of idle annoyance as a cow that's been recently tipped over. Though as soon as she ended that sentence, she turned back to him, and noticed that his head was turned away as well, wearing a bit of an embarrassed expression. She decided that now was as good a time as ever to...

"...I almost forgot," she added, her voice becoming a little less like her, and with what looked like a smile on her face, "I'm kinda glad I met you... it's...it's been fun."

"... .... ..Dang, what the heck could be taking her so long?!" Mint groaned, turning her head back to the view over the pier to hide the fact that her face was rapidly turning red.

~~~~~~~~~

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Author's Notes: Well, this has been the first fanfic I've written for a while. Though actually, I've been working on this for quite some time. Almost a year now, in fact (not nonstop! just something I blow the dust off of every now and then).

Why'd I write it? Hrmm, well I think I'll go into more detail on that later, but for now I'll just say that I wanted to make my own R/M fic, in my own way. This fic is a trilogy, by the way. That's right -- it's already finished (well...almost). I promise to upload the second chapter soon. Thanks for reading the first one, though. Tell me what you think! ^^

So for now, ja ne.

-- serendipity do da