Well... I had a lot of trouble with the first entry... *sigh* but ill b better now! I promise! Teehee here is the second chapter¡¦

O and someone asked me about the design motive of Rei Ayanami... um... shes not really anything much like Rei... actually the character I had in mind was Chii from Chobits (another Clamp xD)
and I forgot the disclaimer... oops... Sorata and the other X characters belong to Clamp, not me (sheds tears) but Rei Ayanami (apart from her actual name) belongs to me! Me only! Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Yes well, enjoy...

[[ episode two : the meetings ]]

¡°Yes, well, we should probably take her back to your house...¡± Seiichirou said finally, breaking the silence of three men staring dumbly at a girl, staring back just as confusedly.

¡°Okay,¡± Kamui said, leading the way, followed closely by Seiichirou. It was obvious just how puzzled Kamui was by the way he forgot to say goodbye to Kotori¡¯s tree.

Sorata was about to follow when he noticed Rei was not moving at all. He said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± but she did not move.

He was about to call her, but he found that he had some difficulties calling her by her first name. When he had met other girls, he had easily done away with the politeness and called them by their true names, but this girl made him nervous.

¡°Ayanami, let¡¯s go,¡± he said, but she still didn¡¯t walk. Kamui and Seiichirou had not noticed and were walking away. He seized her wrist and started walking her out of the cemetery. She finally started moving, and Sorata, embarrassed at his sudden move, let her hand fall and blushed slightly as he stared determinedly at anywhere but her.

¡°Hi!!! Kamui!!!! Mr. Aoki!!!!!!!! Sorata!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± A very happy Yuzuriha called as she opened the door to the house, Inuki on her shoulder. Then she noticed the new girl, walking slightly behind Sorata. ¡°Um... who¡¯s that?¡±

¡°She¡¯s Rei Ayanami,¡± Kamui said, walking in and helping himself to a cookie. (note: cookies!)

¡°Hi, Rei!¡± Yuzuriha bounced about, looking positively thrilled at meeting a new friend.

Rei did not say anything. Yuzuriha, somewhat taken aback by Rei¡¯s unenthusiastic reaction, asked, ¡°is she deaf?¡±

¡°No,¡± Seiichirou said as he patted Yuzuriha¡¯s head. ¡°She¡¯s just... er... not very cheerful.¡±

¡°Wow...¡± Yuzuriha said, surprised that anyone could be not cheerful.

¡°Anyway... Sorata, come with me. I think I better talk to her and see who she is...¡± Seiichirou took Rei¡¯s hand and went upstairs. Sorata followed, a bit bewildered.

They entered Sorata and Kamui¡¯s bedroom. Sorata pulled two chairs onto the floor covered with books and magazines, and then crashed onto his bed. Seiichirou sat down and told Rei to sit. When she just stared at him blankly, he got up and gently bent her back onto the chair.

¡°Now¡¦ did Arashi send you here?¡± Seiichirou asked. Sorata¡¯s head snapped up immediately.

¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rei replied. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± Seiichirou sighed.

¡°Well¡¦ she must have, because you¡¯re carrying a message from her¡¦¡± he looked thoughtful. ¡°Well, I guess we should try to find out what kind of power she has¡¦¡±

¡°How?¡± Sorata asked, confused.

¡°Well, Subaru can help us¡¦ There¡¯s an elemental spell in the Sumeragi household that distinguishes a person¡¯s magical power¡¦¡± Seiichirou touched Rei¡¯s forehead with his thumb and index finger. ¡°But first, I think we¡¯d better eliminate this possibility.¡±

A light swish of wind escaped from Seiichirou¡¯s hand and circled Rei¡¯s forehead like a halo that had slipped down. Sorata stared as a symbol of a cross with wings appeared on her skin.

¡°She¡¯s a Healer¡¦?¡±

¡°What??¡± Sorata looked at Seiichirou, who was looking very startled.

¡°That was a spell to distinguish the members of my race,¡± Seiichirou said, almost to himself. ¡°Only the ones in our race can use this spell. When it is used on another one from my race, our symbol of a cross with wings will appear.¡±

¡°But she¡¯s a Healer? I thought your race were Wind-users.¡±

¡°The men in our race are Wind-users,¡± Seiichirou said. ¡°The women are Healers. The men and the women work together, but men have absolutely no healing magic, and women have no attacking magic.¡± Sorata blinked, trying to process all this information at once.

¡°And there is another thing about the Winged Cross race,¡± Seiichirou said. ¡°Most people¡¯s spirits go to heaven or hell and stay there once the body has died. However, our race¡¯s spirits are reborn once for a different body, even though they have no memory of their past lives.¡±

¡°Into another member of your race, right?¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Seiichirou said. ¡°Arashi must have realized there is no healing magic in the Seals or the Angels. She resurrected a Winged Cross spirit to fight with us. But I wonder why she chose to resurrect a spirit instead of creating a newborn spirit¡¦¡±

¡°How can you tell she was resurrected?¡±
¡±Rei¡¯s spirit entered the body not at birth, but at another convenient time in life¡¦¡± Seiichirou answered. ¡°Only resurrected spirits can do this.¡±

¡°So¡¦¡± Sorata sorted all this out in his head. ¡°Rei is a reborn Healer?¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Seiichirou looked thoughtful. ¡°But I wonder who she was in her past life¡¦¡±
Yuzuriha with Inuki and Kamui walked in just then. ¡°So what¡¯s the verdict?¡± Yuzuriha asked, while Kamui simply stared at Rei. Seiichirou told them about Rei¡¯s identity. Kamui looked slightly disturbed and confused, but Yuzuriha said, ¡°So she¡¯s staying with us?¡±

¡°Yes,¡± Seiichirou said. ¡°I guess she can use¡¦¡±

They all fell silent as they realized that Rei would really be replacing Arashi in that house, using her room and her things. However, Yuzuriha perked up fast enough and said, ¡°Okay! Come on, Rei, I¡¯ll show you your new room!¡±

Inuki, who had placed himself on Rei¡¯s head, barked joyfully as Rei reached for him. They all watched in surprise as Rei lowered Inuki from her head and petted him. Could this be an actual normal reaction??