I am I
Chapter Three


Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing.


When I walked into class again, I knew it was going to be a bad day. Okaa-san had insisted that I attend. I got up late and didn't bother to fix my hair, and it hung limply to my waist.

Guess who was already there? That's right, Kitty Anderson, the bane of my new existence. It's always someone isn't it? Here's exactly what happened:


"Hey Relena! Did you not look in a mirror? Oh, I forgot, every time you look in a mirror, it shatters."

During the laughter I had time to think.

I looked up, and let her see my sad eyes. " No, I don't look into mirrors. I'm afraid to see what I've become. Am I what you see, or the coward I see hiding behind a well-worn mask?"

I don't know what prompted me to say that. They all stared. My first instinct was to leave, so I did. Just my luck, that's when the teacher decided to walk in the door.

"Miss Peacecraft? Where are you going? Class is about to start." He said.

"I don't know. I don't care, as long as it's not here…" I said trailing off as I reached the door.

" I don't care if you are the former owner of this school; I will give you detention if you leave." he stated solemnly.
"Go ahead. I wouldn't show up anyway." I sighed, walking off down the hall.

I heard later that the whole class was shocked for a little while. That teacher went to speak to the new principal and owner of the school, Mrs. Densetsu. I detest that woman. She is rude and feels she must blame someone, usually the nearest person, even if they had no idea what she's talking about. She didn't like me, because several of the others in my classes described me as stuck-up and egotistical. Here's how my visit to her office went:

" Miss. Peacecraft. I've heard many things about you. Not many of them good. Your peers have given me an interesting report on you." Here she paused to shift through a folder on her desk.

"Ah. They say you have a tendency to be rude to your teachers, often ignoring them completely. It also says you have an odd obsession with...Heero Yuy, and have often been seen screaming his name, and, I quote, 'Glomping him till he turns blue.' What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Peacecraft?"

"Nothing. My `peers` have apparently told you everything about me. I will not attend detention, so I wouldn't bother assigning it, if I were you."

Her face became extremely red. Do you think I made her angry?

"Well, Miss. Peacecraft, you are not me. You will attend your SEVEN detentions if I have to track you down and drag you there by your hair. Is that understood?"

"I would like to see you try." Was my icy reply.
I did not know how cold my voice was until I was speaking to Artemis later that evening. I was surprised to find him in his human form…

"Her majesty," he said, referring to Okaa-san of course, "came up with a wonderful solution to a few problems today."

"Oh?" I inquired.

"Yes. She said that you haven't been letting her watch you from the Time Gates and since you needed a guardian she's given me back my human form. She wishes for me to become one of your teachers at the Academy."

Upon seeing my annoyed expression, he added, "It's a direct order as well, so no backing out for either of us." He sighed, "I don't like being around annoying brats."

Pause. Blink. "You think me annoying?" A simple question that proved challenging to answer.

"No...You were never annoying, or a brat."

"Not even after my first rebirth?"

Another pause, uncertain this time. He is afraid of angering me? Or of what 'her majesty' will do to him?

"Do not worry about making me angry, Artemis. It is an honest question, and it deserves an honest answer."

"No. I didn't find you annoying. Not even then. You were still a child, forced into a harsh, unending battle."

I smiled then. It had been so long since I last smiled. Before Chaos had come. I couldn't help it, that was the first time someone had something kind to me. He was the first one to treat me like a person in years. That was one of the reasons I liked him more than that other guardians I had gotten stuck with. He didn't scold me unnecessarily, and he didn't laugh at me when I failed; he just encouraged me to do better. I think I shocked him when I smiled.

"Thank you, Artemis. That is the first time in what has seemed like forever that someone has spoken to me without a certain amount of disgust."

"Disgust? What is that supposed to mean?" he asked with a worried look.

"They either hated the speeches or my supposed obsession with Heero Yuy. They never considered that I was scared, and that he happened to be the one I latched onto. No, it was always 'Relena- the-psycho-stalker', or the annoying pacifist, the...the...."

That's funny, I couldn't continue because I was crying. I didn't think that I still could. What surprised me more was what Artemis did; instead of calling me a baby like I was used to, he hugged me, and told me that it could only get better. He said that I wasn't alone anymore. Then the irony smacked me in the face. my own brother, Milliardo, couldn't even take the time to see if I had a good day, and here was a guardian I loved like a brother assuring me that I would be fine.

After I had calmed, my first question was, "Are you still going to take the job?"

"Of course! I'll even see if I can get your detentions reduced."

"Don't bother. I really deserved it this time." I said with a flinch. "I think I should apologize to that woman, even if I do hate her."

"Good for you. Now go to bed before it gets too late. You don't want me to be late on my first day, do you?" He said, in a poor attempt at strictness. He was trying not to laugh the entire time.

"On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You let me ride Ruka's bike to school in the morning."

"Only if I can come to!"

"Of course you can. Goodnight!"

()~)~()~()~()~()~)~()~()

"Ummm...Help?"

"What?" I asked, brushing out my hair. When I turned around, I saw Artemis with his hair tangled and a comb in hand.

"It's longer than it used to be!" he whined.

(It's about as long as Taiki's hair.)

"Come here." I said, with a grin at his childishness. "You know...we could just cut it all off..."

He frowned. "You wouldn't dare."

"Of course I wouldn't." I said, as I finished braiding his hair.

"Are you done yet?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go!!!"

**AUTHOR POV**

The G-boys and Kitty were standing just outside of Quatre's limo.

"Hey, Kitty," said Duo, "Do you want to help me pull a prank on Relena?"

She couldn't answer over the roar of a motorcycle engine as it pulled into the parking space next to them. The man climbed off first, pulling off his helmet as he went. The tall silver-haired man frowned down at the woman who had been driving.

"You've been racing again, haven't you?" he asked.

"Leave me alone, Artemis. I know you don't care." she said, removing her helmet and grinning up at him.

"Your brother does though." He smirked in reply.

"RELENA!?!?" shouted Wufei, Quatre, Duo, and Kitty.

"Yes?" she asked, smiling sweetly up at them.

"Wha...What are you wearing?" asked a scandalized Kitty.

"Huh?"

Instead of the standard uniform, she wore baggy blue pants and an ice-blue tank top.

"I see nothing wrong with it." stated Artemis.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" questioned Heero in his monotone.

"My name is Artemis, and I now work for this school."

"You're the new teacher?" asked Kitty, drooling over him shamelessly.

"What do you teach?" asked Quatre, as polite as ever.

"Horseback, archery, and a special class of sword fighting."

"What type?" asked Wufei, who was now interested in the conversation.

"You'll have to wait and see. I will tell you that it is an extremely advanced class. Are you sure you could handle it?"

"Of course! I am not weak!!" shouted Wufei.

"Yes, you are. You judge your enemies too quickly, and you cannot control yourself when you are angry." said Relena, who was just watching them the whole time.

"WHAT???"

"We should get to class before we're late. Besides, we don't have time to deal with this trash." said Kitty, looking down her nose at Relena haughtily.

Artemis glared, and opened his mouth to defend his hime, when Relena placed a hand on his arm.

"We should get going as well." she said gently.

"Yes, hime." They left, and Artemis directed one last glare in their direction.