Kitten's Sunrise

by Alexia Goddess

Chapter Three

Fae wasted no time, once she got home. After dealing with her mother, Kitten, whom Fae feared knew more than she let on -though why she thought this, she didn't know- Fae retreated up one of the back staircases of the Sanq Palace to the wing that was closed off to everyone but Fae, Kitten, Axis, Angel, the Gundam Pilots, and anyone who was invited. She slipped her key into the door that opened into the main corridor of the wing, and quietly ducked inside. She slinked to her room, slipped silently inside, locked the door, and quickly copied the web address she'd written on the inside of her arm to a piece of paper.

She looked at her computer, ready and waiting. She knew there was no avoiding it; she needed to leave as soon as possible. But she was so tired...

She kicked herself, mentally, firming her resolve; best to start working on the kinks in her self discipline now.

It took her only a matter of moments to download the application file and print it out.  While it printed, Fae dug out from underneath her bed –which was a world all its own- a large duffle bag.  She set to packing, and since she had done it countless times before on trips of all sorts, she almost automatically packed her best and favorite clothes without even thinking about it. When she looked at what she had packed, she frowned. She doubted a black mini skirt and red tank top would lend herself as a very good soldier.

I mean, a girl trying to weasel her way into a tough place hiking up her skirt and winking flirtatiously always worked in the movies, but only for voluptuous, full-chested beauties, not slight fourteen year old whose best talent was ballet.

Fae slumped down to the floor, leaning against one of the bed posts. Who was she kidding? She could never get into the Preventers…she was short and small. The shortness she got from her mother. She had no idea where she got her smallness; her mother was very curvy. Grandparents had always been a possibility, but Uncle Zion had always said how much her mom and dad resembled their parents, so that was probably out.

Fae sighed. And what about her name? A short, slight blonde fourteen year old ballerina madonna named Faerie. She could see those buff Preventer interviewers laughing already.

Fae let her head lean back and rest against the hard polished wood of the bed post. But she had to do something…she had to get out of here… That man…he would come back. Fae knew it. She knew it to a degree that scared her.

She shook herself. Either way, she had to get out. The Preventer's headquarters was as good as any place to head for. Fae, whom had never taken an interest in battle or military, would never be looked for there. The New York Dance company, maybe, or the Fliers (a group of elite space pilots who performed breathtaking displays), but not the Preventers.

Anyway, at least it gave her a destination. Uncle Trowa had always told her to never set foot out the door unless you had a destination in mind.

The application was finished printing. All twenty pages of it. Looking it over, Fae winced. They asked some pretty detailed questions…good Lord, they even inquired after the state of her virginity! Her face flushed red. She'd skip that question.

Flipping through the four pages of basic info at the back of the application form, she discovered that the nearest registration headquarters was over four hours away. The farthest one from her was in Japan. She bit her lip. Japan or this place called Kaloa? She had the funds to go to Japan, no problem. Having your own personal back account that got fed by getting a $20+ allowance from your parents, a former queen, your uncle, and four of the most famous and wealthy people of the planet, and money wasn't a problem.

So Japan it was.

Fae grabbed a backpack and dumped into it the form, a few books, a few school books, pens, pencils, paper, ect. Into her purse she deposited her wallet, keys –not that she'd need them- cell phone, and make-up kit- hey, she was still a girl. After she had packed up her laptop as well, she paused. If she used her cell phone or logged onto the internet with her laptop, she knew Uncle Heero would have no problem tracing her. And if she knew her father, he'd probably had tracking devices installed in several of her personal belongings.

Fae bit her lip.

Making a decision, and cursing her lost time, she unpacked everything and put it all away. At last she decided to take a pillowcase and drop into it some clothes, feminine essentials, a few books, her photo album, and a few other knickknacks. Wallet went into the pack pocket of the black jeans she changed into. She slipped into a functional –but stylish- body hugging red tank top, tailored black leather jacket, boots, hair clipped back.

Into her boots she stuck two daggers she had received for Christmas last year. Around her wrists she wrapped the bands that held the Chinese throwing stars Wufei had given her for her birthday; the sleeves of the jacket were big enough to allow her to slip her hand up one to grab a throwing star without much hindrance.

She stuck the silver pistol into the back of her pants, hoping the jacket would hide the bulge decently. Fae hesitated, then grabbed the small back velvet box containing the expensive gold and ruby jewelry set and slipped it into her pocket. Could come in handy, though the thought of having to barter them away made her wince.

At last she deemed herself ready. It was well past midnight, and she knew dawn was only a few hours away. The bank would be opening soon. Even though she knew time was running out –her would-be murderer could arrive at any moment- she couldn't resist the temptation to take a few moments and run a loving hand over everything in her room. Her bed, her nightstand, the lamp shaped like a golden dragon with a laughing fairy on its back, her moonlit fairy wallpaper, her dragon and fairy and unicorn and wood nymph posters and pictures…

The hand crafted, gold plated mirror and brush on her dresser, the barr that ran along one wall of her room, the one her father had installed for her when she was young and her interest in ballet had begun to show.

The sword hanging on the wall, that beautiful, intricate, breathtakingly gorgeous golden hilt… Fae bit her lip. She wanted to take it with her….but wouldn't it draw attention? Maybe that was a good thing… No one would expect her to try and draw attention… and she really hadn't though up an alias or a cover-up story for a fourteen year old flying to Japan on her own…

Grinning as an idea came to her, Fae unhaltered the sword from the wall, sheathed it in the sheath that was bracketed underneath it. But before strapping it in place, she took a piece of cloth from one of her drawers, a large red handkerchief, and wrapped it around the hilt, then strapped the hilt in place, thus keeping the cloth in place and hiding the give-away design of the hilt. Using the leather cords, Fae strapped the sheath to her back, diagonally, so all she had to do was reach up and draw it.

Fae grinned. She felt like a modern-day Xena; Warrior Princess, escaping a foe to go to a place where she could fight her enemy without having to worry about her loved ones getting hurt…

Fae saddened. She didn't want to leave them…and she couldn't even leave a note…she could leave anything behind that could give her attacker a reason to hurt her family. Of course, the mere fact that they were her family at may be enough of a reason. She didn't know why this guy was after her in the first place.

Fae sighed and looked at her watch. It was time to go. She hefted the knotted pillowcase and went to the window, shoved it open and kicked the screen out. Lifting the pillowcase and slinging it over her shoulder, she glanced around her room once more. Her eyes fell on the beautiful porcelain statue of a fairy queen on her dresser. She had her hands cupped as she smiled down at something she held; the fairy necklace Uncle Quatre had given her along with the statue.

Fae bit her lip. She sighed, and with not all that much hesitation, even though she knew this simple act could very well give her away –what if there was a tracking device in it?- Fae strode to the fairy statue and lifted the necklace out from the fairy's cupped hands. She clasped it around her neck, patted it with a small smile, then turned on her heel and went to the window once more.

With a final glance around her room and a small, sad smile, Fae grabbed her pillowcase and dumped it out the window, following it down with a deft twist of her body. She landed smoothly, bending her knees and crouching to absorb the impact. Still, she winced as the landing jarred her entire body; she'd never jumped down from a third story before without a mat.

Shaking herself, she grabbed the pillowcase and slung it over her shoulder. She looked up her window and grinned wistfully as she let her gaze slid from her own window to the one three windows down; her parents room. The lights were out.

"Bye, mom…" Fae said softly. "Please don't worry about me, I'll be fine…I promise…"

Without even another look over her shoulder, Fae turned and left the Sanq Kingdom grounds, heading for the bus stop.

She never saw the golden eyes that watched her with mixed pride, pity, and amusement from the shadowed eves of the building above her window.

It hadn't taken Faerie long to figure out a course of action and her cover story. She was Crystal Smith- she grinned with the irony of taking her mother's maiden name- student from England –she did quite a good accent- on her way to a trournament in Japan; thus the sword.

Customs had been easy enough once Fae had found a nearby library and used the, er, 'skill's Uncle Duo had taught her –without the awareness of any of her other relatives, that is- to print out fake passport papers to get a passport.

She got some cash out of her bank account and bought herself a suitcase and a backpack. Then she completely emptied her account and put the cash, in neat bundles, in a hidden compartment in the bottom of the backpack. She then bought herself another laptop and cell phone, as well as a fake I.D.

The hardest obstacle so far was getting her sword cleared past security. She eventually was forced to relinquish it, but only with several –on paper- promises that any harm to it would be paid for, double over. With all the hub-bub over the in-plain-sight sword, no one noticed when she skipped around, rather than through, the metal detector gates, thus avoiding going through the whole thing over again with the Chinese throwing stars under her sleeves and the daggers in her boots and the gun in her pants.

When at last Fae was seated aboard a non-stop flight to Tokyo, Japan, exhaustion overcame her; she hadn't slept in a day in a half. She knew some soldiers went days without sleep, but, hey, she wasn't a soldier yet, she was only going there to learn to be one. And even then, she was only going because it seemed like a good place to hide and learn to defend herself should her attacker ever come after her again- which, she knew to the depths of her being, he would. It was only a matter of time…

With this final disturbing thought, Fae drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

It was several hours later that Fae awoke to the sounds of an announcement being made in Japanese; she must have missed the English one. Mentally thanking Uncle Heero for speaking much Japanese in front of her –thus forcing her to learn the language else have no idea what he was saying, a concept she had never liked- Fae realized that they were about to land.

Once they landed and the passengers were allowed to make their way off the plane, Fae decided to just sit and wait while everyone else got off, rather than have to deal with the push-and-shove crowd.

When the mess of people had dissipated, Fae stood, grabbed her backpack loaded with cash, slung it over her shoulder, and headed on off the plane. She winced as she realized that maybe she should have gone with the crowd; that way she could have easily snuck past the security guards by the door-way-shaped metal detector. Now there was no one else, and they had already spotted her.

Wincing as she was all to aware of her weapon-covered self, Fae took a deep breath and strode on forward…maybe she could make a run for it…

She waltzed right through the metal detector, grinning flirtatiously with the guards. When the alarm went off with a vengeance, the guards were surprised enough –Fae guessed it didn't go off often- that the girl had a good five second head start as she sprinted for the door. She'd come back for her baggage later, or buy new stuff…

She would have gotten away just fine, until she ran smack into a hard, solid something. She bounced back somewhat, and blinked with surprise up into a face…

A face that made her go cold all over…

Her 'attacker' gripped her arm as panic flooded Fae's body. How had he found her???? She struggled, kicking and biting and punching. She was making a scene, but she didn't care, in fact she was hoping it would help the same way it had last time… But when no one moved to help, she realized they'd seen her sprint from the security guards.

"Crap," she muttered to herself as the guards approached.

"I'll take care of her," the man, in black just as before, told the guards. He flashed a badge –fake, Fae guessed- before pulling her towards the door.

With a flash of insight, Fae saw an opening. She kicked, and he doubled over as he fought to breathe.

Fae ran, only one question circulating through her mind…

"How did he find me????"

To Be Continued….

*sighs and rubs brow wearily* Short and rather bland, I know, and I apologize. Life has been beating me about the head and shoulders from all sides. Please be patient, my readers.

Until next time, ja!

Smile More, Dream Always,

Alexia Goddess