January 23, 2000, in a Manhattan apartment:

Azmaria stared at her blue-eyed and brown-haired reflection feeling bewildered and lost. Six months ago she had died of old age and was buried. She even remembered standing by her coffin – with her body in it – and watching it all. Then she woke up six feet underground and trapped. Thankfully Chrono had come to visit her grave and got her out when he had, blessedly, realized that she was alive (thank God for telepathy – and she meant that very literally). Joshua was the only other Apostle that this had happened to, but he had disappeared and Chrono wasn't sure where he was, or how to get into contact with him.

"Azmaria?" Chrono asked from the doorway, sounding concerned and startling the former Apostle half out of her wits.

"Sorry." He added sheepishly at her flustered expression.

It turned out that without Rosette around making a racket wherever she went and dragging Chrono around by the collar (sometimes literally) he was actually very quiet... To the point of not only being creepy, but accidentally sneaking up on everyone, despite his penchant for heavy-duty boots. As such, he had been scaring the living daylights out of her since he had dug her out of her grave.

"I'll be alright." She said, turning to face him, "Just getting used to looking like a young woman again..." She turned to look at her reflection again, bringing a hand up to her naturally pale face and added, "Are these... 'Color contacts' and hair dye really necessary?"

Chrono sighed and said, "Azzy I had to put a telepathic... How do I put this... Uh, shield around you to keep people from noticing your... Oddities."

"Ah... I see..." Azmaria replied, disappointed.

She had thought that people had simply accepted her as she was. Silly her.

"We did." He told her gently, responding to her thoughts, "All of us. It was just shielding against the general public. Everyone you were close to saw you as you were, oddities and all. I promise."

Azmaria smiled, vastly relieved.

August 1, 2008, The Special Zone, Japan:

Azmaria nervously made her way to the large building and swallowed hard, schooling herself against fiddling with her hair (a self-conscious habit born from her discomfort about her new hair color). She had just arrived in the country a week ago and was going to her first job interview to be a personal assistant. About a year ago she had finally met up with Joshua – entirely by accident – and found out that he had not only moved to Japan, but had gotten married as well. He had a two year old son and another baby on the way. Azmaria had been so happy for him when she found out.

He hadn't recognized her as well, but when he did they got caught up over the course of a six hour conversation. By the end of it Joshua had come to realize that she felt incredibly lonely and out of place. Chrono's tendency to wander all over the globe meant that she had been alone most of the time leaving her feeling depressed and adrift. She said nothing to him because he always returned with severe injuries. Aion, she had since learned, was not dead, though Chrono did keep him in check.

Joshua, being Joshua, had refused to leave her high and dry and helped her get into Japan, where his wife had welcomed her warmly. When Chrono had found out that she was moving to Japan and why he had apologized for not being able to be there for her and had helped her move into her new apartment... Which turned out to be right next to Joshua's (Azmaria suspected that his wife had something to do with the sudden and convenient vacancy). Chrono had wished her good luck and promised to visit at least twice a year. He was under threat of bodily from Joshua's wife if he didn't come by. She was under the mistaken impression that Azmaria was his daughter due to the way that he interacted with her.

Taking a deep, mildly steadying breath Azmaria centred herself in the here and now and walked through the front door.

Twenty Minutes Later:

She was seated on a couch, in a dim room lit by candles. It sounded romantic... Except for the fact that she had apparently applied for a job as the personal assistant to one Zelmen Clock – who was the 800 year old vampire sitting across from her on another couch reading her resume. He was known for many things that were not good. The man was absurdly beautiful, had red hair and red eyes and was wearing a white and blue track suit. Covering most of his impossibly red hair was a brown beanie of all things.

Finally, he tossed her resume aside, rested his arms on the back of the couch he was sitting on and studied her while she tried not to squirm in her seat. She mentally reprimanded herself with a firm reminder that she had faced worse than Zelmen Clock and come out of it both in one piece and sane. Besides she had a cellular phone that she could use to contact Chrono in an emergency and if things got really bad... Well, Chrono had told her that he'd hear it if she thought at him strongly enough.

Still, she hoped that Zelmen Clock would find her unsuitable.

"You're hired." Zelmen said abruptly, much to Azmaria's surprise and dismay (the latter of which she hid very well), "I'll have to get another assistant for feeding, but so far you're the most qualified person that's applied, so I suppose that you'll have to do... Still... It's a pity that you don't have a body as nice as your face..."

Azmaria wasn't sure if she had been insulted, complimented, or both. Ah well, at least she had a job.

A/N: Yeah, that's it. Just a couple of ideas that have been bobbing around in my head that I needed to get down. Hope that you guys enjoy.