HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME!!!

Authoress is presently on a hyper mode.

today is authoress' birthday!!

My class got into the finals of drama nite!! Of which I ahem was the av rep. and my dear friend/classmate/mentor/reviewer laiqualaurelote was the female lead. claps enthusiastically

My senior just mentioned tamora pierce!!!!! Oh my gosh!!! Tamora pierce tamora pierce tamora pierce!!!! freaks out faints

Lolx. Anyway, review answers!

Asha Ice: meeps you. Nvr give me helpful reviews... well, at least I should be thankful tt fanfic doesn't hv a copyright thing you can review about rolls eyes and of COURSE you have more reviews. You have 15 chapters. This is my SIXTH. And you are morbid and lame and wu liao, my dear girl. AND YOU OWE ME A PRESENT. MWAHAHAHAHA.

TrunkZy: BUT im POSITIVE that the webby thing said pari meant fairy in Persian. Oh never mind. Not going to change the name anyway. And you're half Persian? THAT'S SO COOOL. And yeahh, you're right about who the mysterious person is... so don't get embarrassed. AND YOU LIKE PARI!! MWAHAHAHAHA. VERY GOOD. If more people start liking pari, I might hv to change my plot. Hm. internal battle must... keep... typing!!!

Cocoaducks: has anyone told you that you have a REALLY REALLY active imagination? Your thinking kinda sounds like mine. But no, that's not the plot, though some pieces here and there were... hmm... some what correct... haha. Keep reviewing!

Black-eagle77777: longer reviews! pleads and glad you like it!

Laiqualaurelote: HAVE I TOLD YOU HOW WONDERFUL YOU WERE IN THE PLAY??? Haha... and thanks lots and lots and lots for the present, lissehondonya. And actually lissehonya sounds like something I would say, non? Nonsense... grin I think I died in EOYS. Bwahh. And hm... I'll work on the segregations thing... but I still like them. wistful look at segregations work hard for drama nite, dear!

Ivy-Jola: yay! Glad you like it!!! hm... I agree its very discouraging to see holly like that... I am presently deciding on whether to let her become even more depressed in the end or to make her her normal self. Hm...

Okay. End of review answers!!! This chapter, there are only... counts 2 POV changes, first Holly, then Pari, then Holly again. Yup. Okayy. Sit back and enjoy!!!

heartstealer

Paperwork.

This was boring. Holly ran her hands through her hair and sighe. She could never figure out numbers. Ah, to be in the field again, with a nice Neutron blaster in her hand, flying with Mud people clipped to her moon belt. She remembered the last time she had taken that Mud boy, Artemis Fowl, for a ride. She had flown low over shark-infested waters, chuckling as his knuckles turned white and she carefully, slowly pulled his legs up, trying not to let her notice. She still had.

Holly leaned back and relished the thought. Try as she might, she could not think of a single being, fairy or Mud person, who hadn't freaked out when she flew them, helplessly clipped to her moonbelt, over that area.

Suddenly, the memory hit her. Hard. She had carried one such person.

Her mother.

Or to be more exact, her body.

Holly bit her lip as memories rushed back. The sharks snapped at air, longing to take away what was left of her mother's body. Her mother's limp body, glassy eyes staring up at her, as each precious drop of fairy blood which dripped from her back to the sea attracted more and more sharks. Each drop of blood had on the way down mingled with a tear, from the streams flowing down her face.

The last bonding of mother and daughter.

As the memories pounded at her, hot tears welled up in her eyes. Anger at those who had killed her mother, and at herself, for being unable to save her. Furious, she pushed back her chair and grabbed a tissue to dry her eyes. For a few moments, she just sat there, bunching and twisting the tissue paper, while trying to calm down.

Looking down, she saw that the tissue had been shredded to pieces. Throwing away the remains of the tissue, she got up and walked to the empty corridor, to the coffee machine. The Mud people may be primitive, but they had great coffee.

She reached into her pocket and swore. "D'Arvit." She had forgotten to bring her wallet. What had gotten into her, these days? She turned around to return to her table, and ended up staring into a pair of clear blue eyes.

"Here, my treat." Ares reached over her shoulder and fed the machine a quarter.

Holly thankfully accepted the warm cup and took a sip, feeling the caffeine course through her veins. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Ares with growing curiousity. The sprite had only been here a week or so, and yet she had bumped into him a surprising number of times. It seemed like he was everywhere. The maze of corridors, the cafeteria, the library, the magma chutes; everywhere she went, he popped up.

At first, it had been uncomfortable; it still was. But still, she never tired of seeing him, his bright cheerful face always brightened her day. Maybe she had an admirer. At this thought, Holly giggled, and choked on a mouthful of the sweet drink.

She sputtered and started to cough violently. Almost immediately, she felt a pair of hands pat her back, and a soothing voice telling her to calm down.

Pari's POV

Pari yawned as she padded down the corridor. She could not get to sleep, and knew that Holly would be somewhere around, as she said she was working a night shift. Suddenly, Pari heard a fairy coughing violently and hurried around the corner, only to see Ares patting Holly's back as she recovered from her coughing fit. Feeling a twinge of jealousy, she suppressed it and dashed forward to help Holly.

"Holly! Are you alright?" Anxiously, she stroked her friend's back. Holly straightened and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm alright. No need to worry. Just choked on my coffee, that's all."

Holly's POV

"Guess I should be going then." That was Ares. He threw his cup away and prepared to leave.

"Thanks." Inreply, Ares flashed a smile which melted her all the way, before walking off.

Holly turned to Pari. "Thanks too. I thought you went to sleep already?"

Pari shrugged. "Couldn't get to sleep. So, what happened just now?" She grinned mischievously.

In spite of herself, Holly felt her face turning pink, and was glad for the dim lighting. "Oh, nothing. He bought me a coffee, that's all."

Pari raised an eyebrow. "Right. Come on, tell me. do you like him?"

"What?! No way! You...You're the boy-crazy one, not me!" Holly felt her face glowing crimson, and quickly steered her friend towards her room.

"You said so. That means he's free to me!" Pari's voice was light, and Holly rolled her eyes at her friend's flirtatious tone.

"Yes, yes, take him. Now go to sleep."

Holly turned back to her table to shut down, leaving Pari in her room.

Trying to ignore the tingling up and down her spine.

And failing.

So? How was it? Review me!!! treat it as a birthday present! Haha... PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSEE??? Haha... okay. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...