Chapter 17: Juno/Wing
"Sometimes it hurts more to love someone than to lose them." - Juno/Wing

I lit several incense sticks and candles in my room, sat on the huge black pillow in the middle of the room, turned on my thought recorder and I let my mind drift. The past few days have even more hectic than others. It started about three days ago....

I was sitting at the bar in the Zodiac. Oh wait. You wouldn't know about the Zodiac, would you? Yes, you. Hello reader. I'm Juno, your tour guide. Anyway, The Zodiac is a bar that Aunt Neko and Uncle Chaos own. The Bar, in it's onw right, is called the Rusty Gunblade, based on some private joke between Aunt Neko and the bartender, Sam. Sam. Is. Cool. I mean, because California (his home State) was totally roasted with radioactivity, he somehow survived, and got a really weird power. He can make people sing and dance. It's like power of persuasion or something. And he's always there with an egg sandwhich to make you feel better.

I was sitting in the bar at the Zodiac, Sam had just given me my cup of Green tea and was wiping down the counter, humming merrily to himself. Neko walked in, holding her head.

"Sam....... I need some coffee."

Sam blinked and handed her an egg sandwhich, "Wanna talk about it?"
Neko accepted the sandwhich and sat down, "Something big is going down."

"Lillith?"

It was obvious I was being ignored, so I just sipped my tea, as Sam put a mug of coffee in front of Neko.

"No. But if I feel it, so will she. And She'll send out her lackeys and then I'll send out my troops and it'll just....... uhg."

That when Tethys walked in. Tethys looks sixteen, but don't be fooled. He's really fourty seven. And he, supposedly, works for Lillith. Our enemy. He's not loyal to her though. I don't know why, and he won't tell me, we're happy at that. He's also a bit random, but it's almost endearing. He's like a viloent hyperactive two year old with a very wide music vocabulary. Sam glanced up.

"Tethys. What'll it be?"

"Anything that will kill a normal person with alcohol poisioning."

"That bad?"

"Lillith is SOOO... grrrr. I wish I were human enough to drown my sorrows in alcohol."

"Angel dust works wonders, I hear." I said, grinning at him.

"Is that what you put in your tea?" Neko asked, rasing an eye brow at me. Aunt Neko's actually pretty cool. She's very mellow and sarcastic, but she's very maternal of us. Most of all Deathscythe. Deathscythe actually asked Uncle Chaos to see if Neko was her mom.... Aunt Neko's not her mom, but as Aunt Neko says 'Sweetie, if I had the chance to make love to your dad, I would have done it a while ago.' Of course this sent Deathscythe screaming in the opposite direction. My version is the edited verson and there's only so much you can say to a mentally scarred nine year old.

"Actually no, I use weed in my tea."

"Ahh.... figured." Aunt Neko winked. She knew I was joking. She's very cool like that. Uncle Chaos is cool too. He kinda demands a bit of repect, you know?

Tethys got up, with a sigh, "Oh well. Off to the bitch I work for...... hmmm..... maybe if I'm lucky, I could drag Corrin here and get him nice and drunk...."

"That's always fun." Neko said, turning back to her coffee.

And then there was the next day. I mostly meditated that day. Adrian (More commonly known as Heavy Arms) did pop into my room for a while. He was 'hideing'.

"Hey Juno."

"Can I help you, Adrian?"

"No. I just wanna hang out and get high off your incence." He smiled. He doesn't do it often but when he does.... be prepared. He was a handsome guy..... maybe when the war is over.... I'll ask him out. Reader, say anything to him and die.

Where was I, ahh, yes, he smiled, "I'm glad you like it. It's actually strawberries."

He sat down on my couch. He sank into it. I found it at an antique shop, and I decided to relieve it of the shop keeper. It's fun to have insanely strong friends, no? "Oh joy. Berry scented stuff that gets you high."

"Why does everyone think that I get high?"

"You're always so mellow."

"And you're always quiet."

"It's my nature. I'm the dark brooding one with a thing for explosives, remeber?"

"Can this be? The dark brooding one has said more than then words?"

"Funny. Really." He unlaced his combat boots and toed them off, curling up on my couch.

"Why are you here?"

He yawned and removed his glasses. placeing them on the table next to the couch, and looked at me with those soft grey eyes of his, the eyes that no one has seen, with the exception of myself, since his mother died. "Epyon wanted me to take her shopping."

"Ahh, and you're hiding?"

"Yes. Let her take Marms. He's strong enough." He shut his eyes, "G'Night."

I watched him as he slept. He's soo sweet, but no one knowns that side. Except me. I could use it for blackmail, but that's too easy. I'm not going to string him along, that's too mean. I probably have a nice steamy make out session with him, but not right now. Alas, young love is a pain in the arse. And then There was Yesterday. Ohh, poetic, I should write that down..... uhh yeah. Anyway, yesterday was when the Animorphs first showed up. It was hard at first, dealing with the fact that 'Hey these are our parents. And they're not dead!' But I can't remeber my parents.... I don't even know my own last name. Aunt Neko and Uncle Chaos know something.... they're just not telling me and I HATE IT! But every time I look at the Andalite, I see something so familar in him, and that frightens me. To my core. I spent the first night they were here crying in Adrian's arms. He's so nice to me. He's so sweet and caring and....... my god.................. I've fallen in love with him...... with Adrian. Sure I'd date him, but I never thought..... I've fallen in love with Adrian.......

My eyes snapped open as the lyrics of The Cure's "lovesong" boomed through the speakers. "HEAVY ARMS!" Aunt Neko screeched over the music, "LOWER IT!" The music died down to a sane level and Aunt Neko hollered a "Thank you!" as I laughed. Heavy Arms had a strange love for old music, The Cure being a MAJOR soft spot. I shut the thought recorder and walked out. Maybe I should drop in on Adrian, see why he's blasting "lovesong". Heh......... maybe this 'love' thing won't be so bad after all.