Noel

Part 2

Author: Nyneve

Okay, here's the second part of the story. You know, I was just reading some stuff and I realized I have about um a lot of ficcies I have no intent of finishing. PLEASE PRAY THIS ISN'T ONE OF THEM! Well, that's all of an intro for today. I'm lazy. Don't own the anime.

-Nyneve

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Silent Night

Holy Night

All is calm

All is bright

Round yon Virgin

Mother and Child

Holy infant so

Tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Two weeks. Two Goddamn weeks of torment and torture. Two weeks without her best friend. Two weeks since Mihoshi's funeral.

Kiyone stared outside at the endless stars. Was Mihoshi one of them now? Was that what happened when you died?

God I hope so. If anyone deserved to become a star, it was you, Mihoshi she thought to herself.

After Mihoshi's death, Kiyone couldn't bring herself to go to the funeral. She hadn't stepped foot inside of the police station. A secretary would call every day, just to make sure she was all right. And alive.

Despite her inner torment and torture, all thoughts of suicide had been driven from Kiyone's mind. Not that she felt that she didn't deserve death. In her opinion, death would be a reward, an easy way out. She didn't deserve that. Instead of Death in Heaven, she chose Life in Hell.

Suddenly, she turned around and walked over to her desk. Mihoshi's music box stood still on top of it, silent. Kiyone stared at it angrily, then put it in a drawer. Then, she went around the apartment, taking all of the things that reminded her of Mihoshi and putting them in the drawer. Finally, she shut it and locked it, throwing the key on the floor and breaking into tears. Again.

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Bring! Bring!

Kiyone let the phone ring, assuming that it was just another annoying secretary. But the message on the answering machine wasn't that of the secretary. It was louder, and more demanding.

"God Damn it! Pick up the phone Kiyone!" the police chief ordered. Raising an eyebrow, Kiyone answered it.

"Yes?" she asked in a monotone, the way she'd taken to speaking.

"Kiyone, why the hell aren't you here?" the chief asked.

"I-I-I couldn't come sir," Kiyone answered.

"Bulls***. I realize you're shaken up about Mihoshi. We all are. But that is no excuse for you to quit coming to work! Now I expect you down here in an hour, do you understand Kiyone?" the chief ordered.

"Yes sir," Kiyone answered. She expected the chief to hang up, but he didn't. In fact, his voice softened and became gentle, almost reassuring.

"I know you're not quite ready for a new partner yet, but I've had you reassigned. He's a rookie, just out of the academy. You can think of him more as your apprentice than your partner. But please Kiyone, just come back," he asked.

"Yes sir," Kiyone repeated, then hung up.

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After a shower and a change of clothes, Kiyone arrived in the police chief's office. He was a big, muscular man, with gray hair and hard eyes from seeing too much. But still, he generally cared for people, even if he was harsh with words.

"Good Kiyone, you showed up," he smiled. "Have a seat. Coffee?"

"Yes, please," she answered, taking a seat across from his desk.

"Sugar, no cream?" the chief guessed, hoping she still liked her old favorite. But she shook her head.

"Black," she said simply. He bit his lip and poured the coffee, then handed it to her.

Kiyone had changed so much. The woman who was once the pride of the Galaxy Police was nothing more than a ghost, a phantom of something that did nothing more than it was ordered to. It seemed as though her teal hair had gone dull, and her eyes were still red from all of her days of crying.

"Now then, let's get down to business. Your new partner," the chief started.

"What about him?" Kiyone asked. The chief pulled out a folder, then extracted an info sheet.

"His name's Quatre Raberba Winner. Comes from Earth. Had a lot of experience in combat when he was younger. After the wars on Earth, he decided to join GP. He's very gifted in hand-to-hand combat, and graduated from the Academy at the top of his class. Still though, it would do both of you good to be partnered up. A challenge for him, a project for you," the chief paused, then pulled out a photograph of Kiyone's new partner. She gasped.

He had platinum blond hair and large blue eyes that seemed to read your thoughts. His face was kind and gentle, and he was smiling brightly. In other words, a male version of Mihoshi.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Kiyone yelled, jumping up. "Partnering me with a reincarnation of Mihoshi?"

It was unusual for her to act so irrational. But now that she had lost the one thing that was important to her, all of her common sense was gone.

"Kiyone, you're being an idiot!" the chief said.

"So what? Who gives a s*** if I am? You think you can make it better? You think you can fix everything inside of me that's broken by partnering me with someone like him? Hell you can. I'm outta here," she snarled, slamming her coffee mug against the desk and heading out the door.

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She knelt over the grave of her best friend.

"God Damn it Mihoshi! Why the Hell did you have to jump in the way? Why did you have to save me? You didn't deserve to die, and you didn't deserve to live in Hell, like me. You are such an idiot!" Kiyone screamed, kneeling over Mihoshi's grave, tears blurring her eyes.

She didn't notice the car pulling up.

She didn't notice the young man walking up behind her.

And she didn't notice his hand on her shoulder.

"Please Miss, it's getting cold. You really shouldn't be out in this weather," a soft voice asked. Kiyone looked up, her eyes looking with someone else's.

She was silent for a while, as she stared at him. "You're Quatre, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Yes I am. You're Officer Makibi, right?"

"Yeah. And you can go tell the chief to stay the hell out of my business," she muttered.

"The chief didn't ask me to come. I came by myself. I wanted to meet you," Quatre said. Kiyone stared at him. Not only did he look like Mihoshi, but he was just as innocent and endearing as her.

"Well then, you've met me. Now goodbye," she said, standing up.

"Um, do you need a ride home? I don't see a car anywhere, and it's getting cold. I'd be glad to give you a ride," he offered. Kiyone was about to say more, but froze. He was giving her the look. The pleading look that said "I'm worried about you. Please, just do this so that I know you'll be all right.". The look that was Mihoshi's.

"Fine. Whatever," Kiyone said, as she followed him over to the car, cursing herself and Fate for it's cruel ways.

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Hm. I think someone has some issues that they should discuss with a psychologist. R+R everyone!