*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Okay, for this fic, I need you to pretend one of two things either A) Students in Japan finish grade school in grade 8 and then take entrance exams to get into high schools, or B) Umi, Fuu and Hkaru are all in grade 9 when they get sucked into Cefiro. I know it's politically incorrect and all, but, for the sake of the fic... and besides, they were in grade 9 in the OAV series. Although this fic has nothing to do with the OAV's, why not here too.

*~*~*~*~*

Together...

The word was whispered by the trees, swaying gently in a soft wind that tangled her sunny straw hair and made dust devils along the abandoned dirt road. Fuu frowned slightly and automatically put one foot in front of another. Not any more they weren't, together that is. Now, Fuu was alone, walking down some country road, heading for her new no-where high school in her new, no-where home town. Fuu wouldn't have minded it so much under normal circumstances, however Umi and Hikaru were now so far away, she would only be able to visit them once a month at most, after taking the tree hour train ride back to Tokyo. How could this have happened? How could the Magic Knights have been so terribly divided by something as meager and common...as moving?

It had happened one night at dinner. Fuu's parents had announced their plans to retire from busy university life to live in the country and write books on their theses and get out of the city. It perfect timing after all. Kuu would be going off to University next year, and Fuu would be finishing off her middle school this year anyway. Why not get a fresh start at a new high school?

"Because Umi, Hikaru and I have made plans to go to high school together! I can't move so far away, I need them!" she wanted to scream, but she didn't. Not her. Not calm, quiet, agreeable Fuu, never. First, her parents would think something was wrong, and they'd ask her about it. Then she might end up letting something slip about Cefiro, and before long, they'd have her going to visit a psychiatrist once a week.

No, they'd all agreed that Cefiro must be kept secret, for their own sanity as much as for the sake of appearances. The last thing they needed was to have some idiot find out about their adventures and tease them about something that already hurt them so much. Or worse, have their family members think they were insane, and forbid them from seeing each other in hopes of finding a "cure" for the disease.

No, Fuu hadn't protested, she'd even smiled as she'd stepped out of the car and took a good first look at the wreak that was to be their house. The paint was chipped, the door was crooked, the roof leaked and the inside looked like it hadn't seen a cleaning rag in years. Worst of all, the whole area was green and beautiful, rich with lush forests and rolling mountains, just like Cefiro had been, before ...

To take her mind off of it, Fuu set to work. Cleaning, scrubbing, fixing and painting, it took almost the whole summer before the house was at least what Fuu would call decent. She tried to see the positive side of everything. It was a quaint house, rustic, almost like a postcard, and the forests were natural, beautiful, and something she would just have to get used to again. After all, forests were normal, and she liked green...

"SPLASH!"

A wall of muddy water went flying up as a passing motorbike whizzed it's way carelessly through a puddle in the road. Fuu was pulled from her thoughts to find herself half soaked, half sullied by the silted liquid. The water dripped quietly down her legs and off the hem of her green skirt to make an even bigger mess out of her socks and squish uncomfortably in her shoes. No, she admitted to herself, she didn't like this place. In fact, she was as close to hating it as she'd been to hating anything in her life. However, hate was a very strong word, and like it or not, she was stuck here, and had to deal.

Sighing, she wiped a lock of muddy hair from where it had plastered itself to her cheek, and continued down the road, still automatically placing one foot in front of the other.

*~*~*~*~*