I'm back! And with a lot more ideas! I hope you guys won't forget to read since I've been away for so long… Well enjoy reading, anyway!

Thanks for the reviews:

Hutchy: Your question about Hilary being different to the other girls to Enrique's eyes would have to wait. Actually if I answer all of your questions, you'll know the story right away. Patience, I'm coming to it.

Silver Suzaku: I'm glad you like my story and I hope this chapter will please you.

Chapter 13: After-war

"… when we've got separated, I crept up to the room where Wong was," Enrique was saying, "I've sprayed the guards with soporific spray that I always keep on myself when on mission. When I've got in the room however, that damned bodyguard of Balkov sniffed me out. I just had the time to snatch the invitations before they start shooting. I think it was then that I began to recover my visibility so I shot the rope across the building and dangled there for half of my life. Thank God Hiro was there to catch me in my fall, so I can still live to see my bride again" he ended with a feline grin.

Prima gave him a light punch on the shoulder but the rest of the ninjas could see that she was as glad as they were that he made it. Hilary smiled nervously as everyone's attention turned to senor Giovanni.

"Well, I can't say you've completely failed the mission," he said, "But you've surly had signaled our presence to our enemies."

"Oh Father," Enrique moaned, "They didn't really have time to se my face under the mask."

"Yes, but they'll probably be expecting something to happen at the party."

"So what are we gonna do?"

This time it was Tala who asked.

Hilary who hardly heard him speak gave a shudder. The boy seemed so strange, so mysterious.

"Tala, the next mission is for you," the master said. "This one will be easy: I want you to keep an eye on Balkov the whole of the evening."

Tala nodded.

"That's not all," the master continued. "Mariam and Hilary are going with you. I'll sign them up as extra maids for the evening."

Both Mariam and Hilary looked up in surprise. However Tala looked disgusted.

"I don't need help from weak females-"

"Watch your mou-!"

Before Mariam could finish, Prima had her Kendo sword pointing threateningly at Tala's neck.

"I won't say as much if I were you," she hissed.

Tala remained calm but he was eyeing Prima scathingly, because after all she was higher that he and he couldn't hurt her, not in the master's presence anyway.

"Calm down, girls!" the master commanded.

With a hump, Prima retreated her sword. Hilary caught Enrique's gaze. He rolled his eyes at his fiancée, causing her to giggle silently.

"Well, as I was saying," the master continued. "This will be a double mission: Tala will mingle with the guests and eventually watch over Balkov while you, Hilary and Mariam, you'll note down who the important guests are and try to find out the motive of the party, things that you've failed last time."

"Why's Hilary doing a mission again?" Prima asked hotly. "I'm getting bored, you know."

The master looked at her fondly.

"Mia carina, I assure you that I didn't forget you," he said. "You and Enrique can go on a lovers' trip to California that week."

Prima made a vomiting noise that spoilt her graceful features and got up to leave.

"I'll rather rot here than go anywhere with him!" she said before leaving.

Enrique and his father laughed joyously. The other ninjas could only sit and grin at the father and son.

Prima was determined that she was going to have something to do, whether her uncle liked it or not. One evening, when the Headquarters was deserted, she crept up to the giant computer.

"Help me with this, Dizzi," she said as she typed in the password.

The computer sprang into life and the usual female voice greeted her.

"Good evening, senorita Prima, how may I serve you?" the A.I. asked

"Find the owner of this handkerchief," she commanded.

The girl took out a white handkerchief out of a plastic bag where she kept it for many days. With a pincer, she removed it from the bag and put it on a finger mark-reading plate (A/N: I don't know if it exists…).

Dizzi took a few minutes to read the mark.

"Hmm, it's quite confusing…" the computer mesmerized, "… there seems to be a lot of substances on it…"

"Forget them, and take no heed of my fingerprints either. Just look up the unknown one," Prima said impatiently.

"Okay. Here we go… Bingo! Oh dear, that's not much is it?"

So right she was, the information about the owner of the fingerprint was quite restricted. The only thing Prima could read on the screen was that he worked for Boris Balkov, which confirmed her earlier hypothesis.

"Well, can't you do better that that?" she drummed her fingers on the mouse, without clicking them.

"It might take a while," the computer said hesitantly.

"Go ahead, I have time."

As she said this, Prima put her legs on the surface beside the keyboard and leaned on the chair, arms at the back of her head. As the computer was working, Prima's thoughts wandered to the strange boy she was trying to find about. He was so mysterious… She remembered well his deep fire-like eyes that seemed deprived from all life. Yet, he gave her that handkerchief… Why? Did he felt sympathy for her? Pity? Prima groaned. She couldn't stand being pitied. But the worst of all was that the boy had seen her cry. He had seen her lost her self-control, thing that she didn't do for as long as she remembered. No one must know that I can cry, she said to herself. That was why she was going to track this boy down and threaten him not to reveal her secret. How? Prima didn't exactly know but one thing was sure: she was going to find him. And him belonging to Balkov might make things easier for her, since Boris is easy enough to track down…

"I've found it!"

The computer's shrill voice woke her from the sleep she had fallen into. With a slight yawn she stared at the screen. Her heat sank.

There was a picture of the boy, the very same one to whom she bore hate and fear. But the data was blurred out.

"I'm afraid that who ever did this tried to rub the boy from existence," Dizzi said quietly.

"How can that possible?" Prima breathed.

What is the boy to Balkov, so that he had to pirate his files? How is she going to find him?


Since the next mission was far off, the ninjas profited to the maximum their free time. Hilary, Tyson, Mariam, Max and Salima all took three days off to the beach. They took the bus at half past nine the next morning. Tyson kept coming up with stupid songs like 'When you're happy and you know it clap your hands' thing. The other passengers turned and stared at them. Some looked amused while others probably thought Tyson mad. Mariam hid herself behind a magazine and whispered to Hilary:

"God, we have to put up with him for 3 whole days! I always wonder how come you lot got out alive from the mission with him scurrying around."

Hilary giggled.

"Ask Salima, she was with him."

Salima turned her head at the sound of her name.

"You can't believe what a nuisance he's been. He ate more than 5 dishes! The waiters were all staring at us!" she whispered.

"Maybe he likes getting attention," Mariam smirked.

Suddenly Hilary felt someone lifting her by the arm.

"Come on, Hilary. Sing this one with me," Tyson said before starting the Titanic theme song.

"God, Tyson, give me a break," Hilary hissed as she reddened under the stares.

"What? Okay."

Finally Tyson sat back and Hilary stuffed him with crisps so he didn't sing again.

On the other side, Max was looking queasy.

"Are you okay, Max?" Mariam was asking looking concerned.

"Heuh? No… I mean, yes… Well…Prkk."

"Arghh!"

Max kind of threw up on the front seat, covering the newspapers in the net with vomit.

"God, this is going to be good fun," Salima sighed, putting her hand over her mouth.

(A/N: I didn't do it on purpose but it seems that everyone curses by God in this passage. Sorry God XD)

When they finally arrived at the motel facing the sea, everyone's mood was brightened. They spent the day on the beach. The girls planned to get sun-bathed while the guys profited of the sea.

Salima passed the lotion to Hilary, adding "You know, I'm always jealous of Prima 'cause she has naturally tanned skin. It's so unfair! I hope three days will be enough to give me a beautiful texture."

"Do you have someone in mind? I never heard you speak like this before," Hilary said.

Salima looked outraged.

"Of course not! I haven't been going out with anyone since Enr-"

She stopped in mid-track, realizing that she had said too much.

But Salima proved not to be a woman of her words. That night, when they all sat in a bar, she arrived with their glasses and an excited smile.

"Hey, did you see those guys at the bar?" she asked in a hushed voice but her metal eyes were gleaming with enthusiasm.

Hilary and Mariam peered to where Salima was pointing and saw two cool-looking guys drinking at the counter. One had spiky flame hair and extraordinary green eyes. The other had his long silver hair tied in a ponytail but he wasn't facing them so they couldn't see his face.

"What are you girls looking at?" Max inquired.

"Nothing," Mariam giggled.

A while later, lulled by the drinks and music, Salima got up again and said, "I'm going to talk to them."

"What? Don't be silly!" Hilary yelled after her but she was already sprinting off.

Mariam and she could only watch Salima going up to the two men and talking to them.

"Who are they?" Max asked.

"No idea, but Sal seemed to like them," Hilary answered.

Suddenly Salima was returning with the two guys following her. Hilary's heart leaped.

"Guys, I've both more men," Salima said cheerfully.

Hilary and Mariam caught each other's eyes and both shared the feeling of slapping Salima. How could she be so… tactless. But the men didn't seem to mind being called men. As a matter of fact, the redhead smiled at Hilary. Tyson, seeing this emerged from the 7th club sandwich he ordered that evening.

"Who the Hell are you?" he asked, sauce dripping f the corner of his mouth.

The silver-haired guy raised his eyebrow before answering:

"The name's Garland. And my friend's Brooklyn."

Hilary noticed a red jewel on his forehead.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Max offered in his usual cheerfulness when he met new people.

To her surprise, Brooklyn sat between her and Tyson whilst Salima got Garland to sit next to her. The boy gave her the most charming smile before asking her name. Then the conversation started. She found out that he and his friend also were also on holiday. They worked as bodyguards for a famous singer, Ming Ming. Hilary heard of her from Kenny who started this collection of Ming Ming goodies and couldn't stop talking about her. But apparently, Brooklyn wasn't the sort to fall for glittery girls like the singer. He confided that he preferred the quietness of the country to the noisy cities where he lived. Tyson tried to barge in the conversation too but Brooklyn just laughed politely at each of the thing he said till he got fed up being a fool.

Then, hearing one of her favorite music, Salima squealed and took Garland to the dance floor. Max looked expectantly at Mariam so she gave him her hand. Hilary turned from Brooklyn to Tyson. Brooklyn just shrugged but Tyson was staring daggers at her. With a sign, she went off with Tyson.

"You like him?"

"Who?" Hilary asked

"You know who," Tyson persisted stubbornly.

"…"

"That Brooklyn guy."

Hilary couldn't help laughing.

"I hardly know him!" she said.

"Yeah, but you were really friendly with him and…and it's obvious that he likes you."

"What? He'd never…"

"You are so naïve," he hissed. "The look in his eyes… it's desire!"

Hilary shook her head and let the music guide her thought. She thought over every boy she knew: her last boyfriend, Michael Parker, a witless pretty boy, Tyson, friendly but stupid, Max, always gay… Enrique, who is he really?

The next day, Salima had planned a trip for them with Brooklyn and Garland to an island on speedboat. She was the latest one to come back last night and whatever happened with Garland, Salima never told them. Hilary noticed though, that she had a strange smile like one recalling wonderful souvenirs each time her gaze met his.

"Have you ever seen a herd of scarabs?" Brooklyn asked Hilary during the journey.

She shook her head.

"What does it look like?" she asked

"You'll see."

When they came ashore, they went to see a place to picnic. The island was managed by a small society called 'Wind Dragon' or something. They settled in the park where many families came as well. Signs showed sightseeing through the island.

"They say that there's a great view on top of that mountain," garland said pointing at the mountain top in a distant. "But it takes half an hour to go up."

"I'm not in a hurry," Salima cooed.

"Let's just eat first. Please!" Tyson intervened.

So after dinner, they separated to do different activities. Max and Mariam went scuba diving (the 'Wind Dragon' provided the equipment), Salima and Garland wanted to climb the mountain. Hilary didn't know what to do so she went with them as well as Brooklyn, so Tyson insisted on coming too. While they were crossing the forest to reach the mountain, Brooklyn stopped at a tree trunk and poured some sugar left from dessert. Tyson was looking alarmed: to him, it was a big waste. But before he could saw anything, he pointed something on the tree trunk and to Hilary's surprise, a dozen of scarabs scurried over the sugar.

"It's one of my hobbies to catch scarabs," Brooklyn said, delighted to see the surprise on Hilary's face. "Too bad, there aren't any in New York."

They continued their journey and began to ascend the mountain. Many tourists were there too but many lost their breath at not even the middle of the road. Tyson was heaving his way up too.

"W- wait! Slow do-down… p…plea-se," he

Brooklyn and garland were very sportive. As a matter of fact, under the heat of the sun, they took off their shirts, revealing beautiful muscles. Salima wasn't doing bad either. It's probably the fact that she practices martial arts. Garland was taken aback by her endurance but she just smiled at him and said, "You can't judge a person before knowing them."

Hilary would be the last if Tyson wasn't there but Brooklyn was always there to give her his hand during hard climbs. Eventually they all managed to reach the top, soaking with sweat. When they recovered their breath, they began to appreciate the view. Indeed it was magnificent: the tree tops were confused with the emerald surface of the sea beyond and they could make out the beach where they had left.

That night, there was a party on the beach. Since it was their last night together, Brooklyn, Garland, Hilary, Tyson, Salima, Max and Mariam built a fire in the middle of the beach and the boys bought fireworks to light the night sky. They all sat down around hot dogs and bottles of beer. As night advanced, Garland took out a guitar (A/N: don't ask me where he got it) and started playing. His gaze was intent on Salima. Hilary felt that it was none of her business to stare so she turned her gaze to Mariam instead but she wasn't there. Max neither.

The sea slashed gently the sand. The clear night sky bore no traces of the Moon but millions of stars stared downed at them. Max was humming a tuneless song while Mariam played with her locks. Suddenly he stopped. Mariam did so as well.

"Mariam," Max began.

She looked up at him, her gaze reflecting the stars above.

"I… I don't know how to put this," Max said hesitantly.

"What is it, Max?"

"We've known each other for a long time… I mean, we like each other don't we?"

Mariam nodded vigorously.

"It just happens that… I want to tell you…"

"Yes, Max?"

"You promise that you will agree?"

Mariam was taken by surprise at the strangeness of Max's question but she could feel her heart pounding.

"How can I refuse you?" she asked back.

Max passed his hand across his forehead and took a deep breath.

"Can you keep a plastic bag at hand during the journey, so that if I throw up you'll catch the vomit?"


Ha ha! I'm a real anti-climax. This chapter is quite useless really but I had fun writing it.