~~*Author's note: Again, none of them are mine. I wish, with all my heart, of course, that for some odd reason, I'm the sole-
owner of them in some will of a long lost....::Ahem:: Anyway, they're not mine. If you think it sucks, please keep your
comments to youself. I wrote it at 2:30 AM. So it's bound to have problems.
I'm rambling. Good bye.*~~

//Timeline: Somewhere within a week of the last one...still AU...never gonna change that..\\

~#$#~

I keep wondering what would have happened if even just one, tiny, microscopic thing had been altered in some way that day.
Would it have turned out the same? Things like that always cross my mind.

I just happened to be thinking like that when I first caught sight of her.

She didn't seem like anything special - just another scantly clad woman for the ages. Long blonde hair, legs any woman in
their right mind - and even some men - would die for, a rack you could lose yourself in, and the body of a model fresh off
the line.

She also happened to be sporting a rather empty bottle of Wild Turkey and a half-empty pack of cigarettes.

I didn't pay much attention, being caught up in my own morose thoughts at the time; just a quick glance in her direction as
she stumbled away from the liquor store. I kept on walking, not even really noticing the young man following her.

Thinking back, I wonder why I'd been able to miss his purple hair, so like a beacon of different-ness it was.

Of course, it didn't really matter then.

We were to meet again.

~*~

It was only 2 days after the first "encounter." Standing in the doorway of the local video store, I was waiting for my ride
to appear. After an hour, I finally began my long walk home. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before - just another thing
to ponder as I took to the open sidewalk.

I really don't know what made me look up from the rather rapt contemplation of the blacktop - perhaps it was the chirp of
the cricket two or three feet away. Perhaps a passing car. Or the sound of the plain overhead.

Anyway, for whatever reason, I looked up.

I should probably mention at this time that the local video store is adjacent to one of the local liquor stores. Or maybe
you'd already figured that out.

I admit; I ended up stopping and staring at the pair. For some reason, in the back of my head, there was a nagging feeling.
Like I'd known these two, or seen them before.

It took about 1.3 seconds to figure out why.

She wasn't as drunk this time. In fact, I don't think she was drunk at all. Of course, that wasn't the reason I stared. It
was the other one, the young man.

This time, his hair did catch my attention.

I was so engrossed in it that I didn't even notice that they had, in return, begun to stare at me. It was only when the man
turned his head that my concentration was broken. Blushing, I had quickly averted my gaze. Of course, that meant that I
ended up looking at the woman.

She didn't seem at all disturbed at my behavior - something that I still contemplate at times. All she did was quirk and
eyebrow, and raise her fresh bottle of Wild Turkey is something akin to a salute. I cocked my head, and out of my peripheral
vision, caught the man smirking, his purple eyes gleaming.

Suddenly, a car rushed by.

And in that moment, something very fragile broke. Whatever it was that had made this encounter possible was gone forever.

When the car had passed, the woman and the young man were gone.

I still wonder whether I'll ever see them again,

the master of Beasts and her Tricky companion.

*~~Afternote: Of course, I own myself..or I think I do...~~*