Yay Pandora Hearts. Great series. Lots of pretty characters. :) You should read it if you haven't! Scans aren't that far along yet, so it shouldn't take a long time to catch up. So, um, what's up?
As I said before, the summary blank is really too short for a proper summary. I, personally, am a little too bitter to provide you with one in this area. Or, actually, I suck at writing summaries so I'll just let you use your imagination :) Or, better yet, read. I assume you're at least minorly interested since you're reading this. I think I'll stop ranting before that interest departs. Happy reading :)

Will it really be a good riddance?

Chapter 1: Her First Encounter

Gilbert Nightray was pacing in the narrow cobbled streets, the heels of his shoes clunking dully on the tan bricks, when he felt it brush against his leg. The black-haired young man froze in the middle of the street, heart pounding, and looked down slowly. His bright yellow eyes widened in fear when he saw it.

A white kitten curling around his oxford-clad foot.

Letting out a frightened yell of "Cat!", Gil yanked his foot away and took several cautionary steps back

The kitten tumbled head over heels and sprawled in a position that would have broken anyone's heart. It started mewling piteously.

Gil tensed, ready to flee. His facial expression clearly betrayed his long-term phobia.

The kitten let out another pitiful sound, and Gil felt his heart shudder. Despite his fear, he started inching toward it, his trembling hands outstretched.

"Nightray!" a voice bellowed, causing him to flinch and look wildly up and down the street.

Elizabeth Feverel pushed her way between two startled women and planted herself firmly before the kitten and Gil. She was a sight to behold. Her normally delicate face had hardened into a kind of jewel-like beauty. The sheet of pale blond hair rippled in the wind like a cloak. Her blue-green eyes glittered ominously. "Caught you in flagrante," she declared, pointing at him with her white-gloved hand. "What do you think you're doing?"

Gil stiffened, obviously displeased and embarrassed by the young woman's appearance. "I was trying to pick up that cat," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes.

"Well, it looks like you're the one that made it fall down. You can't just kick a kitten around like that!" After sticking her finger in his face and shaking it warningly, Elizabeth knelt down by the still-mewling kitten and lifted it gently. It trembled in her hands. "Poor thing," she crooned, stroking it gently.

"Beast," Gil muttered under his breath.

Elizabeth didn't ask who. She crooked her finger—she really loved hand gestures—at him and demanded, "Give me your hat, Nightray."

"My—what?"

"Hat," she repeated, holding the kitten up with one hand and gesturing again. When he made no move to take it off, Elizabeth stalked forward. Her free hand shot out and landed on the black top hat at the same time Gil raised his, and a battle of tug of war ensued.

"Let go of my hat!" Gil barked angrily.

The hat was slipping from her grip when, in an act of suicidal bravery, the kitten escaped from her hold and jumped for Gil's throat. It only got as far as the half-foot to his hand, but made up for this failure by clamping down hard on his fingers. Sharp, thin kitten teeth sliced through glove, skin, and muscle.

Gil dropped the hat and let out a pained yelp, waving his hand with abandon to shake off the cat. It went flying with a triumphant yowl.

Elizabeth caught it gently, holding the hat upside down so the kitten landed where a person's head would normally go. "Good work, little kitty," she purred.

Gil glared at her while fixing his cravat, which had come undone in his epic struggle with the kitten. He smoothed his shoulder-length wavy hair. Tiny droplets of blood stood out bright red against his white gloves like rubies. "I thought you were attending Latowidge," he said accusatorily, as though it were her fault he was ill-informed.

She pouted at him over the brim of his hat-turned-cat-basket. "I already graduated, Gilly-kins. Students at Latowidge only study there until they are eighteen. I turned nineteen more than half a year ago. Please remember the age of your own friends."

"Why would I bother remembering something like that!? Who are you calling my friend!? And what do you mean by calling me—calling me that!?" he said all in a rush. "It's worse than anything Ada ever—" he broke off and clapped both hands over his mouth before letting out a squeak—he'd hit his injured finger. His normally pale face had turned the color ripe cherries.

Her small, red-painted mouth twisted in a sly smile. Despite her natural tendency to want to add insult to injury, Elizabeth made no comment.

"A-Anyways," Gil stammered, running his uninjured hand through his wavy black hair, "what are you doing here?"

She threw him a confused look. "Meeting with you."

He rolled his golden eyes. "Obviously, idiot. I meant why."

Now she was really confused, and Elizabeth petted the kitten to stall for time. "Break told me," Elizabeth murmured uncertainly, "to meet you here because we were going to have a conference with some people named Oz and Alice. Wait a minute," she added excitedly because Gil's mentioning Ada had reminded her. "This wouldn't be Ada's brother, your former master, who disappeared into the Abyss?"

"He is my master," Gil corrected. "But why are you talking about Break? He sent you to...? But he never told me! How do you even know him? "

Elizabeth sighed and twisted a lock of blond hair around her finger. It was a bad habit her mother abhorred. "I guess he didn't tell you I'm a member of Pandora either? It's true," she said when he looked at her doubtfully. "I even have their little medallion, see?" she added, dangling the charm before his face.

"That's not important. Where did we say he was meeting us?" he asked suspiciously.

Elizabeth tucked the charm away and resumed petting the cat to disguise how miffed she was at being dismissed so easily. "Your house."

"My house!? Like hell we are. Wait here," he ordered sharply.

Wait there? In the middle of the street, clutching the cat in the hat? He had to be kidding. Elizabeth followed, cradling the hat gently in her arms as she half-ran to keep up with his longer stride. "Will you slow down?" she panted, struggling to keep her skirts from entangling her legs.

"No," he said shortly.

He's been going faster since he realized I'm following him, she thought. I wonder, is he running away from the cat or from me?

By the time they reached Gil's house, a brick apartment building identical to those on either side of it, Elizabeth was gasping for breath. She sincerely hoped he lived on the first floor and not the fifth. "Which—floor—do—you—" she managed to moan before resuming her battle for air.

He barely glanced at her. "Top one."

"You would..." she grumbled as Gil unlocked the door and led the way up narrow flights of stairs. Lucky thing, Elizabeth thought at the cat she carried, which had curled up in the bottom of the hat and was now napping. I want someone to carry me... Elizabeth was a slender girl but had been weak physically since she was young. Walking was all right, but she hadn't run more than the distance from her bedroom door to her bed since leaving Latowidge.

"Gil," she heard an unfamiliar voice say in surprise. "You're back already?"

The young woman looked up and saw who she knew had to be Oz Vessalius. Blond-haired and green-eyed, he looked like a younger, male version of Ada. She smiled at him.

He smiled back, appearing flattered by her attention.

"Oz," Gil demanded, "did that thing turn up already?"

The young man continued smiling. "If you mean Break, he's in the living room with Alice. Is this person...?"

Gil went in without answering, but laid a hand affectionately on Oz's head before shouting angrily for Break.

She stepped forward. "I am Elizabeth Feverel. You are Oz Vessalius, yes?" She leaned down so their noses were almost touching. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

Oz flushed pink, gazing at her with widened bright green eyes.

She chucked him lightly on the chin and laughed softly, ruffling his hair as she passed him to go inside.

In the living room, Gil was arguing with Break, a silver-haired man with only one eye. He hid the empty socket with a thick fringe of hair, and the thought that the hair was bound to slip one day unsettled Elizabeth. But Xerxes Break was too pretty to resist looking at.

A young girl who looked to be in her teens watched them argue with relish. Her red eyes, a shade darker than Break's, glimmered mischievously. She didn't notice Elizabeth until Break said, "Ah! Our guest of honor arrives."

"Break," Elizabeth greeted. "How nice to see you."

"Likewise," Break sang. "What's that you have there?" he asked, peering down into her arms. "A cat. How cute."

"I'm thinking of giving to A"—she saw Oz waltz into the room from the corner of her eye and cleared her throat—"a certain someone." She winked at the boy.

"It looks like it's not only Miss Sharon who has a fetish for younger boys," Break murmured under his breath, and Elizabeth poked him in the ribs warningly.

Oz, who hadn't heard Break's comment, blushed and approached slowly. "It looks just like a snowflake or a drop of cream," he noted, reaching into the hat and caressing the sleeping kitten.

"Snowdrop," Elizabeth decided. Not a terribly original name for a cat. Not a terribly cat-like name, either.

"Now that we have that important matter out of the way," Gil said sarcastically, walking in with a tray of tea and sweets, "we can talk about frivolities like the illegal contractor we're hunting."

Elizabeth had to fight off a fit of laughter at the image. Her mind conjured a maid's dress and lacy bonnet, and she made a sound like a cat getting run over. That was her choking on suppressed giggles. "Well, well, well," Elizabeth drawled, "so Gilly-kins is actually this kind of man."

The other girl snickered. "I like you," she declared. Her voice was low for a girl's and rough, filled with energy. She probably got on Gil's nerves. Elizabeth knew at once that they would get along. "What's your name?"

"Elizabeth."

"Alice." She snickered again. "Gilly-kins," she crowed. "Gilly-kins!"

"Damn it, you stupid rabbit!"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Rabbit" wasn't much of an insult as far as she was concerned "What's this," she interrupted Gil's third fight of the day, "I hear about an illegal contractor?"

Break grinned at her and popped a piece of candy into his mouth. She heard it clack against his teeth and winced. "They," he said, "are on an assignment to capture an illegal contractor, but unfortunately, little Gilly-kins is too incompetent to do even that!"

"That's it!" Gil snapped. "I am going to kill you!"

"No, calm down, Gil!" Oz cried, restraining the older man. "Alice, help me!"

Alice laughed evilly. "Let 'im go, let 'im go," she advised. "Let 'em finish each other off!"

Break sipped tea and ignored this spectacle. "Even you," he continued calmly, "could do better, so I'm placing you here to assist them. Even you should be fine."

Elizabeth deadpanned.

"Even you," Break went on, "can't screw up as much as Gilly-kins has."

"Thanks for the confidence..."

"Well, that's all I needed to say," Break announced, standing up with his usual willowy grace. With one hand, he scooped the still-sleeping cat out of the hat. "I'll deliver this to 'a certain someone'," he promised. Then he waved and walked to a side room. The sound of him closing the door drew the attention of Alice, Gil, and Oz, who rushed to open it.

"He's gone again!" Alice exclaimed. "What is he, a ninja?"

"He's obviously a pirate," Gil countered.

"Ninja!"

"Pirate!"

"NINJA!"

"P-I-R-A-T-E!"

Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oz," she said, her clear voice carrying over Alice and Gil's new dispute, "would you accompany me around the city? A tour, if you would. Site-seeing."

Oz smiled. "I'd love to, Miss Elizabeth. But I think you are the only sight I will be looking at."

Gil heard this and sputtered. "Oz is practicing to be a host," he groaned. "He really is practicing to be a host!"

Elizabeth grinned and hooked her arm through Oz's outstretched arm. "Don't forget to make us dinner, Gilly-kins!" she said as her farewell, tossing the hat at him. "Break tells me you've become a wonderful cook. If you disappointed me, I shall throw a cat at you next."

Oz closed the door and walked her out onto the street. Elizabeth thought they looked absurd; she was at least a head and a half taller than him. But she didn't pull away until they had turned onto another street. "I suppose you knew I didn't want to come out for site-seeing?"

"Yeah." Oz smiled widely, positively exuding cuteness from every pore. "I figured you'd tell me what you wanted when we were alone."

"Aren't you worried I may turn out to be an assassin or the illegal contractor himself?" she inquired, trying to keep a straight face but unable to resist a quirky smile of her own.

"Nah. You're not the type; I'm a good judge of character. So? What did you want to do?"

"How intuitive of you," she complimented him, hiding the flash of disappointment. Personality wise, he was the opposite of Ada, who invariably responded to Elizabeth's teasing with exaggerated surprise and gullibility. "Actually, Oz, I want to look for the illegal contractor."

Oz blinked his large blue eyes owlishly. "But why wouldn't we take Gil and Alice with us for this?"

"Ah," she murmured. "That's because I didn't want those two hot-heads to ruin our fun little date together."

He laughed and bowed, the perfect little host, and extended his arm again. "In that case, where would you like to go first?"

She laid her palm on Oz's proffered arm with a wry smile, no longer caring how stupid they looked. "I'd like to see the docks."

"Of course, m'lady."

A note: Shouldn't sightseeing be siteseeing? Are you looking at sites or are you looking at sights? I guess either way it works. I guess sightseeing is more encompassing. This is really random.
I think I'll be doing notes at the end. Is it less distracting is it more? Do people read these? I read them 'cause I guess I'm just a bored and nosy person. Whatever~
There are so few Pandora Hearts fanfics. Now there are more :) Yay~

Thanks for reading :) And don't forget to review~ Ne?