C h a p t e r o n e

"Stellar…! Would you hurry up?!" the sky haired called after the blonde impatiently.

Sting was already waiting in the car, with all their packed belongings in the trunk. They didn't have much, since they had just been released from the laboratory at Lodonia.

The war was long since gone, and they had to return to the lab to get the effects of being an Extended reversed, which took a really long time.

The young girl nodded, reluctantly climbing into the car with Auel. The three drove on into the city, not used to the normal life, but had gotten an apartment and were going to be enrolled in school.

Auel and Sting remembered school when they were younger, Stellar didn't because her parents had abused and tortured her, so she could never really go to school.

The memories of the young extended's were erased, but probably for the best since the memories of their lives were much too unbearable to keep with them.

"Are we there yet?"

Sting sighed, "no… just while longer."

"Are we there yet?"

"No…"

"Are we there yet?"

"No…!"

"Now?"

"No!"

Auel paused, giving Sting false hope, then suddenly chirped back in, "Nooow…?"

"NO! NOW SHUT UP!"

Auel stopped entertaining himself, then sighed, "sheesh… you don't have to be so touchy about it…"

Stellar giggled, "Auel and Sting are funny."

The green haired chuckled, seeing Stellar smile for the first time since they had departed from Neo. Auel and Sting knew that Stellar was attached to Neo, but also knew that it was for the best that the two should be away from each other.

Sting's smile faded, that bastard was only using Stellar to benefit for himself, and he hated it, how Stellar could be so naive and how Neo could take advantage of that fact.

"Wow… that's a big building!" Stellar said, pointing ahead of them.

He nodded, "yep, that's where we are going to be staying."

Auel stood up from his seat, "wow! Really?"

"Yeah… but don't bug our neighbors ok? I don't want us to end up getting kicked out of such a nice place…"

The three finally arrived, and each carried their own bags, their furniture was supposed to arrive shortly, but it hadn't come yet.

"Hi… Uhm… we bought the apartment #304 here," Sting said to the lady, supposedly the manager of the apartment building.

The woman smiled, but they could see that it was just because they bought the apartment.

"Right this way," she said, then led them to the elevator, pressing the button labeled '3'.

"I'm sure you'll like it here, this is a very comfortable place to live in… you three are going to be roommates right?"

They all nodded, and Stellar blinked, seeing her reflection in the mirror that covered the walls of the elevator walls. She spun around, yet still carefully holding her box of items.

The lady stared at her strangely, then ignored it, "well, here we are, floor three."

They stepped out of the doors as soon as they opened, then followed the woman as she led them to a door at the end of the hall, opening it with one of her many keys.

They stepped in, and Stellar smiled immediately, seeing that the balcony had a perfect view of the ocean. She put her stuff down before running and going to the balcony, staring at the ocean with clear happiness.

"Oh uh… well, as you can see, that's the balcony, and the rooms are right this way," the woman said, leading Auel and Sting up the stairs.

"C'mon Stellar! Or else you can't pick your room!" Auel called after her.

Stellar immediately ran up the stairs, "I want to pick mine!" She said, hoping she could find one with a view of the ocean.

"Wow… This one's mine!" Auel shouted, Sting sighing as he was left with the smallest one. Auel, apparently had the biggest one, it was pretty big. Stellar had the one that had a big window that looked towards he ocean, so she immediately chose it.

"Not to worry," the woman said when she saw Sting's disappointment, "you have the biggest closet and a bathroom all to yourself," she said.

Sting perked up, "HA! Beat that Auel! I get a bathroom all to myself and you have to share with Stellar!"

Auel groaned, "nooo! She takes really long showers…!"

The green haired stuck his tongue out, "hehe…"

The woman smiled at how childish they were, "well, you can start unpacking your things and check out the bathrooms and living room and the kitchen, your stuff will probably be here shortly."

The three began exploring their new house, Auel running around wildly and getting hyper, and Stellar staying on the balcony to stare out onto the ocean. Sting, however, was taking responsibility and was looking through the kitchen and bathroom to make sure everything was in tip top shape.

"Heehee! This is really fun! You should try it!"

"Auel! Get down from there! You might fall and hurt somebody!" Sting said sternly as he saw his companion standing on the balcony railing.

The sky haired stuck his tongue out, "you're really no fun you know!'

Stellar didn't seem to notice Auel standing on the railing she was leaning on, her expression seemed dazed as she gazed at the ocean.

The sky haired jumped down, looking at the blonde girl, "sheesh… you're such a ditz, Stellar."

She didn't respond, and Auel just left the balcony, walking back inside the house. Sting was inspecting the faucets and the counter tops and making sure nothing gross was in the cup boards so Stellar wouldn't be the one to find something.

The sky haired grinned, "I like this place, it's really nice. It's so different from what we're used to… ne?"

Sting smiled, "yeah, I bet Stellar likes it too. She deserves to get away from all that destruction," he said, remembering when she piloted the Destroy and Neo had forced her to destroy city by city.

Auel nodded, "yeah, I guess. I deserve it too!" Sting gave him a look, then he sighed, "shut up."

"Remember that guy that saved Stellar from drowning?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, Stellar's memories were permanently erased of him, and he probably forgot her too, it's been two years since they last saw each other… She's grown her hair longer and her eyes seem to be brighter than they were when she was eighteen."

The sky haired shrugged, "never noticed."

The two began to unpack their belongings, the furniture arriving and the workers setting down the furniture where Auel told them to.

"There!… NOT THERE! Over there!" Auel persisted, bossing them around.

The workers were apparently staring at the blonde girl on the balcony, "wow… check it out, guys," one said, as they all stared in awe.

Stellar turned, feeling like eyes were on her, then saw the workers, she smiled and waved, then giggled with Auel bopped them on the head, "stop staring you idiots and get to work! You guys just cut your tip in half!"

They immediately set to work once more, not wanting their fee to lower much more. Stellar turned back to the ocean, as if nothing happened, but still had not idea what was the big deal.

"Stellar! It's your turn! The guys want to move your furniture in your room now!" Auel called.

The blonde nodded, then walked up the stairs, the guys carrying her furniture following her, then blankly pointed to the spot where she wanted all her stuff; not making such a fuss like Auel did.

"Thank you ma'am," one said as they left her room.

She blinked, "for what?"

The man smirked, then suddenly had his lips upon hers, "for this…"

Immediately, her eyes widened and she screamed, Auel and Sting running to her aid as quickly as her mouth had let out the shriek.

"You bastard!" Auel and Sting shouted in unison, equally as angry, Sting punched the man in the face, Auel kicking him as hard as he could in the gut, making the man spit out blood.

His comrades picked him up, "we're sorry for the trouble… he's known to be a pervert, you don't owe us anything from all this… sorry." Then they left.

Stellar sighed, wiping her mouth, "yucky."

Sting looked at her with concern, putting his hand on her head affectionately, "you okay, Stellar?"

She nodded, "yeah! Thank you!"

Auel just snorted in response, while Sting stroked her hair, something he saw Neo do before and that immediately made her calm and happy.

She looked at Sting with tender eyes, remembering that same touch from Neo.

The green haired just smiled, "okay, let's settle down, we have our first day of school tomorrow."

The three separated, going into their own bedrooms. Stellar and Sting heard Auel jumping his bed and giggling happily, something he wouldn't do in public, and especially not in front of them, but he probably didn't know they could hear him.

Stellar slipped under the covers of her round bed, being used to it. She had tried the rectangular shaped ones, but they didn't feel as comfortable as the circle ones.

Her eyes slowly closed, feeling sleep already beginning to overcome her, before she was completely asleep, she smiled, she was going to finally have a normal life like she had always wanted.