Chapter 1

The baby stirred slightly as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. She felt the same about him now as she had when he'd been born a month ago. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help who he was and what he represented, but that still didn't stop her feeling the way she did.

'He's got his father's nose, don't you think?'

The sound of his voice made her jump. She glanced up to see Covo leant against the doorframe watching her. Covo's addition to the household had initially filled her with mixed feelings and a vague plot to focus Ahna's attention on him so she would forget Joey existed. In the days which had passed since then she'd quickly regretted ever thinking of him as a pawn. Covo had a strange sense of humour, but he never allowed it to interfere with his duties, which he took seriously despite the way in he'd fallen into the position. He was also easy to talk to and generous enough with his time to really listen to what you had to say, even if it didn't always make sense. He was also the most open and honest person Mai had ever met, but something bothered her about him, she just wasn't quite sure what it was...

'Maybe,' she found herself studying the baby for a moment, 'but I don't see it.'

'So what do you see?' Covo crossed the room towards the crib, positioning himself opposite Mai as he did.

'His mother,' she smiled sadly, 'and the fact that he's not mine.'

'I know what you mean,' Covo rested his head on his arms as he stared down at the infant. 'But every time I see Ahna and Veronie together I know love didn't have a hand in making this child. He looks at her the same way he looks at Catilin, so it's a wonder anyone believed they were a couple to begin with. There's just... nothing there.'

'It still doesn't erase the fact he almost married her and now they have a child together.'

'I know, but in a weird kind of way I'm glad Ahna did the things she did back then.'

'Oh?'

'Well if she hadn't she might never have ended up in the Temple of Mov and then I would never have met her,' Covo's eyes flicked up towards Mai. 'I know Ahna's past is a little bit... chequered to say the least, but... I look at her and all I can see is the woman I've fallen in love with.' He gave an embarrassed little laugh. 'Sorry, I'm being soppy and weird, aren't I?'

'No,' Mai shook her head.

'And hey, no relationships perfect right?'

'True, but I think this little one might well be,' she gazed back down at the child. 'I mean, I've seen what he can do already and it's pretty scary.'

'I don't think the level of someone's power is a reflection of their perfection,' Covo laughed again. 'Okay the soppiness might have been forgivable, but even you have to admit that rhyming was pretty damn terrible.'

'Yeah, it was,' Mai laughed, before studying him thoughtfully for a moment. 'Hey Covo can I ask you a potentially stupid question?'

'Sure, maybe I can give you a potentially stupid answer to go with it,' his face filled with a stupid grin.

'Ha, ha, I'm being serious here. I mean, I would ask Joey but... Well he's not here right now and you are.'

'Wow Mai, you really know how to make a guy feel appreciated,' Covo poked his tongue out at her. 'So what's your question?'

'Well... Joey and Ahna are both Silkoneons, which means Crovell is a Silkoneon too, right?'

'Right.'

'And Silkoneons all have Sintoys, like Joey's is a wolf and Ahna's is a cat,' Mai pressed her lips together, 'so... what will Crovell's be? I mean, will he inherit a wolf from Joey or...'

'Right at this moment in time, honestly, he could be anything,' Covo folded his arms as he cut her off. 'Bird, horse, dear, rabbit, monkey, elephant, just name an animal and right now he could be it.'

'I don't understand,' Mai frowned, 'I thought Sintoys were passed down through family lines. Joey told me every single head of the Lutoni family, bar maybe one or two, have been wolves, so how can you tell me the child could be anything?'

'Because the whole Sintoy thing is a little more... complicated than even most Silkoneons give it credit for,' Covo pulled a face. 'You're right; in ninety percent of cases a child will inherit the same Sintoy line as one or other parent. Which theoretically means little Crovell here has a forty-five percent chance of being a cat and a forty-five percent chance of being a wolf, with only a ten percent chance of being anything else. Theoretically. The fact that he's a first born Lutoni skews the odds slightly. The Lutoni Sintoy line is dominant because, as you pointed out, most head Lutonis have been wolves and Veronie is descended from them. The cat might be the oldest and most traditional form of Sintoy in the Crovell line, but they've frequently had deviations meaning in truth there's a fifty percent chance the baby will inherit the Lutoni wolf, a thirty percent chance he'll get the Crovell cat and a twenty percent chance he could be anything else.'

'Err... okay...' Mai found herself staring at him.

'I mentioned before I was a bit of a geek, right,' Covo's cheeks flamed red for a moment. 'Look, odds are Crovell will be a wolf, but it will be a while before we know for sure.'

'How long exactly?'

'Normally a child's Sintoy will reveal itself when a child is about three, but since Crovell's no ordinary child it will be whenever he's ready for us to know what it is, I guess.'

'I see,' Mai sighed for a moment, before studying Covo. 'Hey, what's your family's traditional Sintoy then?'

'My family are a little unusual in that regard,' Covo's face filled with a strange smile, 'technically we have two, but people only really know us for one of them.'

'Why is that?'

'It's complicated and I'd really rather not get into it,' he shifted uncomfortably.

'So what two animals are your family's traditional Sintoys then?'

'Rabbits and deer.'

'And which do people know you for?'

'The rabbits,' his voice was strangely quiet, 'and lucky me I'm a deer. The first stag to be the oldest...' his voice trailed.

'What?'

'What?' Covo blinked up at her.

'I...' she hesitated; in all honesty she didn't know Covo well enough to pry. 'Do we know when people will get to vote for changing the law on marrying Standings yet?' Mai forced a smile onto her face.

'It's to be held the day after the Duite,' Covo smiled, 'and don't worry I'm pretty confident it'll go in your favour. I mean, we were born and raised around Standing so Veronie can't be the only one who's likely to lose his heart to one. And since he's definitely lost his heart to you I'm pretty certain he's not going to let this matter drop even if everyone does vote against it.'

'It makes me kind of nervous though, knowing my future with Joey is in the hands of other people.'

'It's not like that and you know it,' Covo shook his head, 'but if you don't mind I've got a few things is should be getting on with now.'

'Of course,' Mai nodded.

'You should worry a little less Mai,' Covo shot her a sympathetic look as he left the room, 'Veronie is your soul mate and one silly little vote's not going to change that.'

'Did anyone remember to invite Tristan this time?' Duke's eyes turned over the inside of the Kame Game shop as they waited for Yugi. 'I mean, I know he's really hot and cold with us at the moment, but he does get really narky if we completely forget to invite him. Remember when he found out we went bowling without him last week?'

'He gets narky if we do remember to invite him,' Téa rolled her eyes, 'like you said he's just so hot and cold with us at the moment. But I think Yugi called him after he got off the phone to me.'

'But you were organising this little trip, so shouldn't you have called Tristan?' Duke cocked an eyebrow at her.

'He chooses to ignore my calls,' Téa shook her head and sighed. 'You know if I knew what I'd done to offend him so badly I would apologise for it, but...'

'I don't think you've done anything Téa, I just think he finds you difficult to deal with after everything he's been through.'

'Why?'

'Because you're the only one who hasn't gone through any kind of change, I guess,' Duke shrugged. 'I don't know, he was ranting to me about how you still act like things are the way they used to be when you're the only one who's the same. It was part of the same rant he gave about the bowling, so I tuned out after a while.'

'Turned out of what?' Yugi's voice sounded from the direction of the stairwell.

'One of Tristan's rants,' he rolled his eyes, 'what else.'

'Yeah, those things are just amazingly fun, aren't they,' Yugi smirked.

'It's a pity Tristan doesn't like Téa enough to give her one of her own,' Duke teased, 'I mean, she was just saying how left out she felt.'

'Well she can always takeover during my next one,' Yugi laughed.

'Alright guys, enough with the teasing already,' Téa shook her head, 'it's dry and for once the sun is giving out a little bit of warmth, so I, for one, would like to make the most of the day.'

'By going to the beach in the middle of winter,' Duke smirked, 'I must be mad for agreeing to this.'

'You don't have to come if you don't want to you know,' Téa smirked.

'I know, but it's not like I had anything better to do.'