Chapter 1

Momiji sat on the wall that surrounded Main House and looked out over the street; he linked to sit up there, it was quiet to him.  It's not like people often entered or left the compound.  But today was nice indeed, spring had pulled the world into her bosom and showered it with life and beauty.  Suddenly the sight of someone coming up the road caught his attention.  For a moment, he thought it was Tohru, but then realized that the look was all wrong.  The girl's hair was darker and her clothes looked somewhat foreign.  Wrapping his arms around his knees he wondered if the girl was lost.  She didn't look familiar, then again the Souma's were an awful big family and there was no way the rabbit could have ever met them all.  He watched her walk to the gate and lift her hand to knock, fat lot of good it would have done her since no one ever can hear a knock on the gate, but never the less he watched her small fist came down on the doors… once, then again.  Who was the stranger?  At this close he could see that she was younger than he originally thought, probably about his and Haru's age.  She had dark hair, just shy of black, and pail skin.  She was dressed nicely though, as if she knew she was going somewhere important.  The black dress jacket she wore matched the pants and the shoes, and there was a white silk blouse underneath.  To the rabbit's surprise, the strange girl actually stood there in front of the gate and waited, feeling a tinge of pity for the kid he leaned over and called out to her.

"You know, you could be standing there for hours."  The girl seemed surprised by his presence and jumped back to look up at him.  "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you." She shook her head and seemed to regain composure.

"No, that's okay.  Um… is this the Souma residence?"  She called back, placing a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun.  She had a distinctly British accent.

"One of many, depends who you are looking for?" 

"Well you see… actually… I mean…"  She sighed and started over.  "I'm not actually sure."

Momiji tilted his head to the side and looked down at her, strange indeed.  "Hang on a second, just stay there."  And with that said the rabbit climbed down the wall and went over to open the doors.  When the doors opened, he saw that she had stayed exactly where she was, hands clasped politely in front of her.  She was a pretty girl; he could now tell that her dark hair framed a delicate face and warm brown eyes.  There was something strikingly familiar about her now that he could see her up close, so then again maybe he had seen her before… but then the accent wouldn't make sense.  She gave him a charming smile and held out her hand.  "Hi, I know I must seem really creepy by now, but I figure if I introduce myself it will make it less so.  My name is Lina Belmont."  The accent was much stronger now that she wasn't yelling and it made her seem almost eloquent.

"Hi, I'm Momiji Souma."  He shook her hand. 

"It is a pleasure Momiji Souma."  She smiled and gave a bow with an incline of her head.  He smiled at her in return; even if she wasn't familiar with customs she was still very polite.

"Not to change the subject.  But you are obviously here for a reason… and since you don't know WHO you are looking for… Can I ask what brings you to Souma House?"  She hesitated for a moment.

"Well, I guess you could say I am looking for a friend of my mother's.  Her name was Karen Belmont, but I think she moved back to England before you were born, so I doubt you would have known her."  The rabbit pondered that for a time, it made sense, but that just meant they needed to talk to someone older… and he had the perfect person in mind. 

"Okay then..."  He grabbed her hand and tugged her forward.  "Follow me.  I know just the person who can help."

"Great, thank you so much Momiji."  The boy was almost surprised at the way she willingly ran across the compound with him.  Looking so formal he had wondered if she was the type to run around and play, but she kept an easy pace that made it clear that she had run like this many times.  The rabbit thought on that, of course she would, any kid who lived a "normal" life would be running around having a good time every day.  He brought them to a stop in front of a familiar door and knocked on it.  Lina had come to a stop next to him and removed her hand, clasping them across her thighs again; Momiji was beginning to wonder if all girls in England did that or if it was just her.  After a moment of silence, the door slid open and Hatori walked out onto the deck, raising an eyebrow at the two. 

"Hello Momiji.  Who is your friend?"  The Doctor was dressed impeccably as usual.

"Well, this is Lina Belmont.  Lina, this is Dr. Hatori Souma." The dragon's eyebrow went up a little further as the rabbit finished introductions.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Dr. Souma.  I am terribly sorry if we have interrupted your work but Momiji thought that you might be able to help me."  Hatori took a step back.

"I wasn't actually busy right now, what is it that Momiji thought I could help with exactly?"  The girl glanced at her new friend for support and after a nod and a smile, she turned her attention back to the elder Souma.

"I was looking for a friend or some friends of my mother's actually.  And Momiji would not have been old enough to remember her."

"Well who was it that you were looking for?"  This is getting very interesting, Hatori thought to himself.

"I don't really know.  I wasn't able to find any first names for people.  The only thing I was able to make out of any of my mother's stuff was the name Souma and a location here, in Japan."  She fished around in her pocket for a moment before holding out a picture to the Doctor that had been folded in half.  "Her name was Karen Belmont and she studied here in Japan for a year before I was born.  She was already back in London when that happened."  Taking the photo and unfolding it the dragon took a good look at the faces in the picture. 

"I see, and where is your mother now?"  He asked with out taking his eyes off the photo.

"She… well… she died actually.  It was like a year ago in a robbery at the bank she worked at." 

"And your father?"  Hatori's voice was as stoic as it always was; but when she didn't answer him he finally looked back over at her.  Momiji was staring at her too, but Lina had her eyes focused on the ground as if it had suddenly become very interesting.  "Ms. Belmont?" 

Lina looked back up at him and blinked and shrugged.  "I don't know I never knew my father.  It was always just me and my mom."

"I see."  He nodded slowly.

"So do you think you can help me?"  There was a slight desperation to the youngsters voice.  "Do you know those people or have I been on the very wrong track?"  He held the photo back out to her and answered.

"Actually I do know them--"  At the exact same time as Momiji looked at the photo and cut him off by saying,

"Hey Hatori, that's you!"  The rabbit grinned as if he had just "solved the case."  "And Shigure and Ayame.  Wow, you guys are like… Tohru and Yuki's age in that picture."

The dragon and Lina both remained silent, still looking at each other.  "Actually, in that picture, we are more like Hatsuharu's age."

"Wow, that's so cool."  The rabbit beamed.

"So…"  Finally Lina had chosen to speak again.  "So you knew my mom then?"  Hatori nodded,

"Yes, she was a friend of ours back then.  Myself and my cousins that is.  But I had not heard from her since she left for London 15 years ago."   Glancing between the two, the dragon realized what Akito would do if he saw a stranger inside the walls.  "Momiji, why don't you go get us something to drink and we'll move inside my office."

"Okay, sure Hatori."  The rabbit said as he bounced away.

"Ms. Belmont, why don't you come in and sit down."  He walked back inside and waited for the girl to follow. 

Once she was seated across from him at the desk the Doctor steepled his fingers.  "I think I have a pretty good idea why you're here."