Caterina's eyes fluttered open after her sleep was disturbed by a vivid thud. Startled, she sat up in her bed, noticing a mysterious shadow slink between the screen and the glass of her window. Shortly, the figure slid off the sill, and landed upon her wooded floor.

"Who's there?" she quivered. "Who a-are you?"

Without warning, the figure responded quickly by making a swift sprint towards her bed. Then a gallant, cold hand cupped over her mouth to block out her voice. But gradually, Caterina's insecurity had dissolved the instant she recognized the intruder's trench coat. And hanging out of its pocket half way, was a distinguishable beaked mask.

"Damn Hornet, don't panic, it's me," the boy said. "Sorry, I didn't realize this was your room."

Caterina also became mindful of the name he used to address her. Hornet. It had been quite some time that anyone had called her by her old pet name. From the time when they all had been taken into Ida's custody, she then again like long before, was legally acknowledged as Caterina Grimani. The only person who wouldn't have caught onto to that habit would….

"Scipio…you're finally…you're back?" Hornet inhaled deeply, locking her eyes upon his face, and thoroughly searched his dark, shining eyes for his motive for returning.

"Please, I don't want to wake everyone yet. I needed to talk to Ida first."

"It's just…I'm the only one here for now," Hornet clarified. "Ida wanted photographs for a new project she has been working on latley, so Victor surprised everyone with a planned tour of the mountains. Although, I had gotten sick to my stomach the day before we were supposed to leave. And since I knew Ida could have the housekeeper be with me during the daytime, I still wanted them to go. They're coming home tomorrow."

Scipio's head hung with disappointment. "Ah, I see."

"Scipio." Hornet said more emotionally, yet more strictly this time. It was clear that she wanted to get straight to the point. "What happened to you? You've been away for three years!"

Scipio cocked his head lightheartedly, "What happened to the sturdy girl I used to know, eh? You seem to have grown soft over time."

Caterina shifted into kneeling position, inching closer to the spot where he was sitting. Her long nightshirt rippled about her as she settled down. "With everything we all went through involving the Conte and your father, you just up and left Victor's office without a word for a couple of years…and now show up here tonight, and you're a boy again? So, how dare you blame me for being concerned for you right now! I would have thought you learned your lesson about keeping secrets from us! It doesn't serve you in any way!"

Scipio's somber expression reflected some regret and he murmured an apology, as small tears began to well in her eyes.

"Did you somehow visit the Conte again? Is this how you returned to your original state? Do you not understand what we've been through when you disappeared? By now, Riccio has convinced himself that you have died, and recently Mosca and Prosper have been gaining more and more doubts."

"And you?" Scipio questioned carefully, before swallowing, "Have you thought I had passed on?"

She shook her head profoundly, "…I didn't want to believe it. Where have you been staying all this time? A hotel? The Stella? Wait…you are not with your father again, are you?"

He sighed, running his hand through the length of his hair. He simply stood from the edge of her bed then, and began to make a move for the very window that he had entered through, instead of heading for the proper doorway. She figured the taste for of living through more adventurous means, had yet to leave Scipio's system. "It's late, Hornet."

Although before he was able to take another step, Caterina had leaned forward, her arm snatching out. Feeling the material, her fingers curled, roughly catching Scipio by the cuff of his sleeve. Scipio staggered as he was rapidly drawn back. He faced her yet again in surprise, looming over her now via the force of her pull. Fairly offended by the way he had just disregarded her questions and alarm, Caterina grasped him by the shoulders, and she shook him once. She glared at him under the moonlight. "It's Caterina now, Scipio. It has always been my real name, in fact."

Scipio blinked at that point, and it seemed as if he was lost for words.

In the past, the boys had possessed so much faith in him, almost worshiped him as a true lord. But Hornet, or whether Caterina Grimani, always had a mind of her own. Even when she was grateful for his help, she still stood up to him whenever she deemed necessary. She always had been the most—well, challenging—one of the group for Scipio to deal with. She was the only one ever who could get away with pulling at his ponytail, after all.

He remembered the day Riccio had tried to steal the money from his back pocket. He vowed to the damaged-toothed, hedgehog boy that he would not report him as a criminal, in exchange for him to show where he and his two so-called accomplices were hiding out. So, Riccio had warily introduced him to the boat-expert Mosca, and to the medicine bookworm girl with apparently no name at all. A short time later, Scipio had presented himself as the Thief Lord, and said the three of them should take shelter at the Stella Theater, his private Star Lair.

Though the memory of that specific time, had caused Scipio to recall and acknowledge why he was rather stunned by her last statement. And as to why, he too, felt somewhat insulted, and felt a little dissatisfied. He remembered another time soon after that day.

Riccio and Mosca had carried in their little amount of possessions. And as they settled into their chosen sections of the theater, hauling up their hammocks, Scipio had offered his help to the nameless girl to carry in the usually large collection of books which she kept.

Keeling upon her new mattress that Scipio had somehow provided her; she looked up at him standing before her, holding the last tall stack of novels. "Could you just set those here?" she pointed to the spot nearest to her. "I'm going to organize them all later the way I want them."

"Here you are," Scipio nodded in response, bending over to place the books his hold where she had requested him to.

But their timing was rather unfortunate. As soon as she turned her head to meet his gaze and formally thank him for all had done for her and her friends, her closet braid had whipped out with the motion—and the end somehow had poked the Their Lord in the eye instead. It hadn't hurt much, really, but he couldn't deny that it caught him off guard when it happened. He closed his left eye for a second to relieve it from the mild throbbing.

"Oh!" she half-screamed, and she flushed with embarrassment. "You are alright, aren't you? If you want me to, I can see what I have to treat it in my—"

She rotated to fetch her medicine box, though the Thief Lord grabbed her wrist to halt her in the process. "I'm alright. It was very a minor injury, believe me. Do not get yourself worked up about it. I…was just not expecting it, that is all."

"Are you certain?"

He smiled teasingly at her, saying, "You have a couple of stingers on you." And he could not help himself, when he chuckled, watching her eyebrows furrow together with confusion.

He reached for the portion of hair that had just pricked him in the eye. "The ends of your braids," he clarified, waving the braid between his fingertips in her view, "They are like a hornet's stinger."

"Scipio…are you alright? You sort of dazed off for a moment just now."

"But, I gave you that name," was his reply, "To me, you will always be Hornet."

Hornet just didn't know what Scipio had expected to come out of this encounter, or out of his present situation. Things changed since their Stella era, they all have changed and grown since then. They had different, more proper and domesticated lives, they even had school lives now too, all thanks to Ida and Victor. Things couldn't, wouldn't go back to how they were, she thought. Did Scipio honestly expect her, or everyone else to pass over, overlook the details involving his strange disappearing-reappearing act, and merely move on with their daily responsibilities?

Thunder suddenly trundled in, and rumbled over the rooftops of their small city's buildings.

All she could do was to look at him with saddened eyes, and she said, "Scipio…stay. Just stay, don't go, please. Don't leave me…us…don't leave us again, please. Besides, it's about storm, don't go out there."

She slid to the other side of the bed, and Scipio had allowed her pull him down alongside her on the mattress, after he gave in and slipped off his coat. The moment his head touched the pillow, Scipio had just realized how tired he truly had been all along. He gazed contently at the yellowing ceiling, with Hornet's cheek resting on his shoulder. Her breaths fluttered against the exposed part of his neck.

"By the way," Caterina chastely whispered, very softly, "Welcome back…Thief Lord."

He slowly turned his head to meet her eyes, but they were already closed, yet her fingers clutched tightly his undershirt even as she fell deep into slumber. And that's when somehow, Scipio had become impeccably aware of her proximity, of her likable scent, and for the first time, viewed her as someone apart from the young, thin girl with waist-long braids. She was older, nearly the same age as he was currently. She was quite easy on the eyes, and her hair had been neatly trimmed now, and her long wavy, russet tresses sprawled across the pillow and sheet underbeneath her.

Scipio faintly smiled. It felt nice to be back, to be with a friend.

"Cata! Cata!"

Caterina, once more, had been awoken very early the following morning by another unanticipated noise. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in bed when her bedroom door had recklessly burst open. A fair-headed boy with an angel face, and a cheery grin, dashed to her, and leaped into her lap in pure excitement. "Cata, we're back!"

"Bo! I didn't think you were to going to be back until this afternoon." She responded, taken aback, holding him up so he wouldn't tip off the bed. On pure instinct, Caterina looked to her side, to see who else was bothered by the child, though she had been alone in the room.

Had Scipio really…? Was it but a dream?

"We all decided to surprise you." Prosper piped up, walking into the room as well, with Riccio and Mosca on his heels.

"During the entire trip we felt somewhat guilty leaving you when you were ill," Mosca elucidated, as the rest of them sunk onto her bed.

Caterina shook her head, giving the boys a tender smile, "But I told you to go. I told you all to go and have a good time. Besides, I'm much better now, I feel normal again."

"No, we did have fun," Riccio reassured, while digging into his jacket pocket, "though hoped we could make it up to you a bit."

Clasped within Riccio's hand, was an ashen-colored, sparkling stone. Her mouth parted in amazement as the hedgehog had handed it to her. "Victor took us hiking a few days, up some mountain trails, and we found a whole pile of these. Victor says it's some type of natural earth crystal. This is the biggest one we could find."

"Oh, it's so beautiful! Thank you, all of you!" she leaned in to tug them all into a tight group hug.

Prosper then replied, "Ida and Victor both want you to get properly dressed, and then come down into the kitchen when you're ready. They're making a huge homecoming breakfast."

"Alright," Caterina agreed, "sure thing."

The group of boys left the room in order for her to, for the only other female living in the house, to prepare herself for the day in private. Though when they were out of sight, it only gave her added time to dwell over the events of the very night before. She thought their Thief Lord had finally returned. She remembered she had managed to persuade Scipio to stay the night to maintain his good health. But since he was nowhere to be seen at the current moment, she didn't know whether to believe if it was truly a dream or not.

Caterina sighed in frustration. Or—plain and simple—Scipio was there, but as soon as he saw that she was sleeping, he fled. She made her way over towards her dresser to set her new crystal stone near her hairbrush. However, something was already in its place, awaiting her. It was a small-cut letter, a short note, tied with a dark, lanky string. A type of string that was regularly used on masks. The string was from….?

Caterina quickly picked up the note, unknotting Scipio's mask string, and she read:

You were right, Hornet. You do not deserve any more secrets kept by me. I promise sometime soon, I will tell all of you what have happened to me, in more detail. Though for now, I just need a little time to gather my thoughts together, and think of exactly how to explain it. Don't worry for me, Hornet, I will not be gone for long this time. The merry-go-round's magic is only a quick fix.

I promise, Scipio

p.s. Thank you

A quick fix? Caterina read the scrip a few times over. The effects of that merry-go-round wore off over time?Had the Conte and his sister known this by chance? She figured she had to wait now for Scipio's second grand re-entry. She would, no, they all would know then.

In any case, the Thief Lord may have kept many secrets, but Scipio had always kept his promises.