In the Arms of an Angel

AUTHOR'S NOTES: o.O;; Is this becoming a rip-off of song titles?! Anyway, Lei + Cerridwen = SPARKS FLY~~~!!! And Yuri isn't too happy about it. Uh-oh, the green-eyed monster's about to rear its ugly head. I guess Lei should take care NOT to hold Cerridwen TOO close to him...^^;; R/R PLEASE~~~!!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade and its Bey Blades...I own the OC's portrayed herein. So no SUING people~~~!!!

Cerridwen felt as if time had suddenly stopped.

How long had it been?

God, even if 6 months had already passed, she still felt like crying every time she thought of him.

And he was there right in front of HER.

What...did Crescendo call him back to her from beyond this mortal plane?

She was just 12 years old then, and he was 15. She had just accompanied one of her cousins from her father's side to this ball, of which she didn't want to be in, anyway. But the reason why she was here was because she heard Arthur Lancaster would be there, and she had loved him ever since she was a little girl. But she was too shy then, and he was always surrounded by his friends, and he had other pretty girls to be preoccupied about. He was so close yet so far away, and Cerridwen didn't even think that he would remember her, not after that disastrous Cosplay of which she was a part and he came with his best friend and a girl she recognized as one of the society girls she's heard and read so much about in the high society pages of the newspapers.

All she did was gag and look like a fish out of water, to which he just blinked politely and his companions short of rolling around on the floor while laughing very hysterically.

She's been scared of guys ever since.

But...

He was right there, holding out a tiny glass of orange sherbet to her, smiling kindly and very warmly at that, his slanted hazelnut eyes looking at HER not right through her.

***Hello. I do believe we're not yet formally introduced?***

***...*** Cerridwen could only gape at him, then remembered who she was talking to, and her cheeks flamed scarlet. She held the tiny glass of sherbet tightly, her knuckles turning white. ***-Oh please God don't make ME gag again...-*** she thought.

Arthur Lancaster laughed lightly. He nodded. ***Well then. I'm Arthur Lancaster, aka Squall Leonhart of the last Anicon Cosplay. And...I daresay you made quite a cute-looking Sakura Kinomoto. Except you have red hair, and those were one heck of o-dango buns I've ever seen in my entire life. Did you conceptualize your costume?***

***Y-yes...***

***That was genuine Tomoyo Daidouji, if I do say so myself. Are you sure you're just human?***

***...*** Cerridwen blushed. ***Hee. I guess my muses were working really hard the whole week. Thanks.***

***Nothing to it.*** Arthur nodded. ***And you're...***

***Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge,*** Cerridwen blurted out almost immediately. Her cheeks flamed scarlet again. ***I...***

***Yes, the candidate from the St. Ingrid Abbey? I remember you.*** Arthur nodded. ***You were so small then when I left Ellincourt.***

***...!*** Cerridwen blinked. ***You...remember me...***

***Who wouldn't? You were always so quiet, while the rest of your cousins were short of uprooting Mother's gigantic front lawn in the old manor where she grew up. And how could I forget you, you always hung out with little Johnny. The 2 of you were VERY inseparable. Be it Bey Blading, or Johnny plain protecting you from those kids who bully you all the time in Sunday school. Hey, he almost named his Bey Blade Cerri, right? Good thing he stuck with Salamander.***

Cerridwen was now so sure she was as red as an apple. ***You...still...***

***I think he still calls it Cerri privately. I'm very sure Salamander wouldn't like it one bit, and wouldn't call Salamander Cerri right in front of your face.***

***...***

***I'm really glad to see you again, Cerridwen. It's been 8 long years since we saw each other last.*** He smiled, his eyes closed happily. ***Would you care to dance with me...?***

Arthur died of bone cancer the next year after. Cerridwen couldn't believe it. He was so strong, he was so young...

And she wasn't able to say all the things she wanted him to know before he went away. She didn't know he was living with the disease for 2 whole years already, and...as his older sister told her during the funeral, he was always telling her that he was missing his Cerri, his little Cerri, and was really pained that his time was so short.

He died on her birthday.

And...

Here he was, standing right in front of her. It was very unbelievable. He couldn't have...did he even...

"...and this here is Cerridwen Aerin Elisabeth Ascot-Elridge, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ellincourt, Lady Ascot-Elridge in blueblood circles. One of the only 5 Guild Masters known in existence, and she's a lady, and she's only 13." Mr. Willowberry was nodding his head. "Probably the youngest, to boot. One of the youngest. The other one was Arthur Sigismund Lawrance Huntington-Lancaster, 17 years of age. It was such a pity...he was so young."

"..." Selenay glanced at her, biting her lip. Cerridwen's eyes became a trifle sad.

"And may I present the BBA Team. Their team captain is Takao Kinogu." Chairman Daitenji gestured to Takao, who was short of having his eyeballs pop out and roll around on the floor as he stared at Cerridwen. "And, I am very pleased and honored to announce, the world's youngest Bey Blade champion."

"..."

"Takao?"

"OH! Errh...heh heh heh...pleased to meet you," Takao said, a goofy expression on his face. Medain had such a look of complete disdain on her face Kikka fought a mad desire to laugh like a madman.

"This is Max Mizuhara, the son of the PBB Director, Dr. Judy Mizuhara, from America," Chairman Daitenji continued, "and this is Kai Hiwatari, grandson of Souichiro (^^;; is this his NAME?!) Hiwatari, of Hiwatari Industries."

"Hi! I'm 13 and I'm SOO glad to meet you ALL," Max greeted them all heartily with a jaunty wave of his hand. Kai was just quiet.

Shizue sweatdropped.

"This is Professor, he serves as the team's Bey tech, and Yuri Ivanov, formerly of Team Russia, first place at the Bey Blade Finals held in Russia," Chairman Daitenji went on. "Yuri's here of his own free will. He's not affiliated with the Balkov Monastery anymore, after that 'incident'."

Selenay's eyes turned to little hearts and the air about her became very sparkly.

"Hello," Professor said, very happy to see his idol up close and personal at last. Yuri was just looking at Cerridwen, his curious blue eyes looking a trifle worried. At this expression Selenay instantly sprouted spirit orbs about her head.

"And last but certainly not the least, this is Lei Kon. He's the leader of the White Tiger Clan, but he has graciously accepted his position as one of the BBA Team's members once again. Surely you have heard of the White Tiger Team?"

"Those people who looked like cats?" SD Kikka asked, blinking.

SD Lei had a huge boulder fall on top of him that had suddenly been thrown at him from nowhere and squashed him flat. SD Takao, SD Max, SD Kai, SD Professor, and SD Yuri had huge sweatdrops on top of their heads.

"Yes, the people who looked like cats," Chairman Daitenji answered her with a huge sweatdrop on top of his head as well. "They're a really tough team, having been invited to the Finals as the BBA Team here."

"Really?!" SD Kikka's eyes became huge and very sparkly. "I LOVE CATS~~~!!! WOW~~~!!!"

"..." SD chibi neko Lei had a hopeless expression on his face. "Errh...right. Hi."

"Well then, young ladies and gentlemen, now that you have all known each other's names...we leave you to get to know each other better, after the dinner. Let's celebrate it with a dance. Countess Summer with Takao, Lady Tsukigata with Max, Marquise Reinholt with Professor~~~"

"Oh no, thanks, I'm not much of a dancing guy," Professor said, his face beet red.

"Oh, alright. Marquise Reinholt with Yuri, Lady Herrault with Kai, and Lady Ascot-Elridge with Lei. Would that be fine? Good." Mr. Willowberry nodded and went off. "Have a good time children."

"WHA~~~?! WAIT~~~" Medain began.

"Too bad I'm stuck with a loudmouth," Takao mumbled. "Why couldn't I dance with somebody ELSE?!"

SD Medain had many gargantuan twitches on top of her head. "And I don't want to dance with you EITHER~~~!!! I don't want to dance with a punched up little brat like YOU~~~!!!"

"I am NOT a punched-up BRAT~~~!!!" SD Takao fumed, gargantuan twitches sprouting on top of his head, as well.

"Punched-up little PIPSQUEAK~~~!!!"

"Why YOU~~~"

"..." SD Shizue had a huge pulsing vein on top of her head. "Boy oh BOY, this is going to be ONE LONG night."

It was the longest dinner of Selenay's life. She was dressed to kill, she saw Yuri, but now she was going to be stuck with some quiet guy who looked like he'd rather talk to his own shadow than dance with her. And Kai Hiwatari did not look more of a dancing machine than she WAS.

Why does EVERYTHING horrid have to happen to HER?! Why could Kikka have hogged the best-looking guy available in that particular dinner TONIGHT, without really TRYING?!

Yes, Medain was right; some girls have ALL the luck in the world.

She was stabbing her peas so murderously Kikka was blinking as she watched her go on about her "killing spree". "Hey, aren't you going to be indicted for first degree murder with WHAT you're DOING?"

"Don't START Kikka," Selenay fumed.

"Yes, don't start," Medain added. She was cutting up her steak as viciously as a a butcher-surgeon could have done. "Why we have to put up with this stupid dinner is way beyond my comprehension. I've enough staredowns to last a hundred lifetimes."

"Don't forget catcalls and lewd inuendos," Shizue said, munching on some buttered young corn as she sliced up her own steak with a style very reminiscent of that certain dreaded hitokiri. "Those guys over at the Presidential Table have been eyeing at and whispering about ALL of us like we're pieces of scantily-clad meat on display. Have any idea what team those maniacs are with?"

"Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen THEM," Kikka remarked.

"Cerridwen, how does it feel to have that Arthur clone...well...you ARE going to be dance partners," Medain asked, looking up from her steak. Selenay, Shizue, and Kikka all turned to look at her as well.

"..." Cerridwen sighed. "I don't know...it's really ODD, isn't it? It's like...he's alive again..."

"Yep, you said it right," Kikka remarked. "But maybe it's just because he looks so much like HIM."

"If you just clip those horrid fangs and those catty amber yellow-gold eyes, and long hair...make those eyes hazelnut...yes, that's DEFINITELY Arthur," Selenay told her. "But...then again, those fangs are kind of CUTE, and that long jet-black hair's SO manly..."

"I THOUGHT Yuri's the only way to go for YOU," Shizue asked as she blinked at Selenay.

"Well, he has EYES only for CERRIDWEN~~~!!!" SD Selenay started stabbing her peas even more murderously than the last. "Why do all gorgeous guys have to FALL for her and not ME?!"

"Maybe start acting like...human?" Kikka said helpfully.

SD Selenay glared at SD Kikka. "What do you MEAN by that...are YOU saying that I'm not HUMAN?!"

Medain stifled a laugh. "Children DO see things more than what we COULD, Selenay. Take a leaf off from her BOOK, will you?"

"Oh shut up, MEDAIN~~~!!!"

The dance was a disaster waiting to happen.

Max and Shizue were OK, except that Max did all the talking and Shizue was just quiet. Takao and Medain glided over the dance floor like a pair of cardboard cutouts, as they kept glaring at each other, with matching gargantuan twitches on their heads. Kai and Selenay kept gracefully weaving in and out of the dancing couples, and Selenay was very HORRIFIED to learn that Kai Hiwatari could dance REALLY well, and she kept looking over at Yuri. And Yuri and Kikka were quite OK, except Yuri kept darting his glances over to the end of the dance floor where Lei and Cerridwen were dancing.

Oh, he was annoyed, alright. Yuri could see how the 2 of them looked so right even from afar.

Kikka was not that dense as not to sense it.

"Eh, you really like her, don't you, Yuri?"

Yuri blinked, then looked down at Kikka who was smiling at him brightly. "What do you mean?"

"Hee, I don't need to become an empath to know what you feel for HER." Kikka glanced over at Lei, who, like Kai, was a magnificent dancer as well. "I know how very difficult this is for her, seeing Lei, who looks so much like Arthur. It's hard competing with a 'ghost'."

Yuri stared at her. "For a 12 year-old, you sure do KNOW a lot of THINGS."

"Oh, yeah! Mama's been telling me for as long as I could remember that I was born old. That I REALLY think like my grandfather at this age," Kikka told him, her eyes closed happily. "And Papa's telling me that we may be kindred souls born like a gazillion years apart."

"..." Yuri bit his lip as he gently turned Kikka around in order to avoid a rather exuberantly dancing middle-aged couple. "I have a feeling your parents are RIGHT."

"Look, if you're feeling really panicky over her, then why don't you just tell her what you feel and get on with it? That way, we'll not have ugly confrontations or arguments in between..."

"Confrontations?"

"Really Yuri. What side of the planet you've cooped yourself up in for THAT long? Well, there's the Monastery, but certainly...you should've been completely aware of facts like THAT about now, right?"

"The Monastery isn't exactly coed, Kikka. We're an all-boys club, as you Abbey girls are all-girls. It's but natural that we feel ridiculous about getting brushes with the 'unknown'. We practice Bey Blade all the time, and Balkov just kept us cooped up in that frigging Monastery for as long as we all could remember. The only guy who has successfully escaped the Monastery, so to speak, is Kai Hiwatari," Yuri told her.

"Kai...Hiwatari? That GUY Selenay's dancing WITH?!" SD Kikka asked, her eyes going widely circular.

"Bet you didn't know about that. As soon as he defected from the Balkov Monastery, Balkov made sure that he deleted every file about him, but still, he sort of hoped he'd come back. That was like a good 7 years ago."

"How old is Kai, anyway?"

"He's just my age."

"And you're..."

"15."

"Really? I thought you were around 17 or somebody older. You sure act that way." Kikka looked over at Lei. "He's the leader of the White Tiger Clan, right?"

"Yes, he is."

"Is he 15, too?"

"I think so...yeah."

"He's quite young to become a leader of any clan," Kikka remarked. "Does he have any fiancee or anything?"

"I don't know," Yuri answered with a shrug. "But I think he and Mao are a couple."

"Who's Mao?"

"Uh...his childhood sweetheart, as what Takao's been telling me."

"How does she look like?"

"Carnation pink hair, same amber gold eyes and fangs."

"You can't possibly mean...that girl Medain's so ticked up ABOUT?!"

"I think so. Wait a minute, you mean to say..."

"Medain told me she destroyed a pink Bey Blade, and she hates the pink girl who owned it. I guess they're one and the same. But...PINK...?!"

"...uh..."

"I don't mind pink but all I SEE is pink, and she's not that too SHY about it, going out in all PINK~~~!!!" SD Kikka was shaking her head violently from side to side. "I thought I got to see the end of the pink syndrome in Chibiusa, then she comes right ALONG~~~"

"..." Yuri turned SD. "I take it that you DON'T like pink."

"I don't mind PINK, but all PINK, you have got another thing COMING~~~!!!" SD Kikka was becoming very emotional about it indeed. "PINK~~~!!!"

A huge sweatdrop appeared over SD Yuri's head.

"Cerridwen may look eternally Christmas-y, but at least she's not flaunting IT!" SD Kikka's left hand was twitching spasmodically as she held it up, letting go of Yuri's shoulder for a moment. "PINK~~~!!!"

"..." The huge sweatdrop became a million smaller ones.

"Now where is she?"

"She's left behind at Japan, but I guess she'd be coming over to give moral support to her boyfriend sometime soon, when the tournament starts."

"I sure hope she won't come. My opponent's going to be REAL sorry." Kikka still looked over at where Lei and Cerridwen were dancing. "If it weren't for the color of the eyes...I say Arthur Lancaster's back dancing again. You have to work double time if you want her to become your girlfriend, Yuri."

Yuri blushed scarlet. "WHAT girlfriend?!"

"Hee hee hee, YOU know who I MEAN!" SD Kikka was laughing like a madman. "HAHAHAHAHA! Wait till I tell CERRIDWEN!"

"Oh, shut UP!" Yuri said, his cheeks becoming even redder.

Kikka was soon thinking up of a million things so that Yuri could make Cerridwen his, each plan more horrifying than the last. Yuri glanced over at Lei and Cerridwen, and the 2 of them looked so right together he wanted to do that iceberg attack on Lei right that instant.

But...

How could he compete with a GHOST?