Summery: Another young woman mustbe chose as Pretear, with Himeno's own power waning. Unfortunately, she refuses to allow the Knights close enough to her, and it'll take some slick convincing to bring her around

Warning: Some language and violence. Rating may go up, but doubt it. MAY be some slight spoilers, but I try hard not to give too much away for you guys. May have some OOC, but I'm doing my dardnest not to. I love 'em just the way they are!

Disclaimer: Don't own Pretear manga or anime. Do own OCs and plot!

All right, this is a little weird. I love both anime and manga, so...(takes deep breath): All the characters will look like they do in the anime, but Sasame will be a little more like he is in the manga. (If you haven't seen anime/read manga, it's fine.) HOWEVER, (SPOILER ALERT!) Sasame will NOT have fallen in love with Takako, but she will have had summoned the Great Tree of Fenrir like in the anime. Himeno defeats her the same way as well, but Takako merely fades away. If you don't care for this merging of both anime and manga, you may or may not want to leave, it's up to you. But please give it a chance! This is really just so no one gets confused - it doesn't tie into this story too much.

Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome. No flames, but if you don't like it, just tell me why without swearing or being ridiculously nasty. Oh, and the way I spell Pret is the way they spelled it in the English subtitle in the anime - I checked.

"But I don't want another Pretear!" Mannen protested with a frown. "Why can't Himeno still be Pretear?"

"She isn't going to become the Princess of Disaster, is she?" Hajime asked suddenly, and he and Shin looked scared. Himeno looked taken aback for a moment before shaking her head in protest, laughing.

"That isn't it," Kei explained calmly. "Her time as Pretear has expired, that's all. She isn't able to Prêt with us anymore. Fenrir has been gone for over a year, and Himeno's power is simply gone. That doesn't mean she can't still be with us, you twits!" he yelled, realizing their worries were. "Get a hold of yourselves!"

"So…we don't need another Pretear, then?" Hajime asked cautiously. "I mean, if we don't need to fight the Princess of Disaster, then we don't have to Prêt, right?"

"Stupid," Go shook his head. "We still need to restore Leafe to this world, and we need a Pretear to do that."

"I think we should start searching as soon as possible," Sasame suggested. "After all, the sooner we find the Pretear, the sooner we can all relax."

"Good idea!" Go agreed, and sped off.

"I'll use my program to see what I can dig up," Kei offered, and a yellow light disappeared into the sky.

"You're okay with this?" Hayate asked her doubtfully. Himeno merely grinned and nodded.

"Well, of course I'll miss being able to Prêt with all of you, but I'll still be able to know all of you," she pointed out, grabbing Hayate's arm. He turned red and spun around, dragging her with him. Sasame remained silent as the other Knights left as well, and stared at the sky.

"First Takako, then Himeno…who will this next Pretear be? And what will she bring?" he wondered to himself. Hearing someone approach, he looked to see a young woman, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, striding down the street, seemingly lost in her own world. Her amber-colored hair, falling a little past her shoulders, glinted in the sunlight. "I doubt this girl will be the Pretear, but may as well eliminate one girl," he thought, and approached her. "Excuse me…"

"Get lost," she ordered, quickening her pace. She obviously didn't want anything to do with him, and Sasame remained standing were he was as the girl, wearing dark clothes and heavy makeup, brushed past him. If looks could kill, Sasame would be on the pavement reeling from the pain.

"Hmm…"

"Where were you all day?" Antonia's stepfather demanded as she strode into the house.

"I was out," she replied shortly, but he grabbed her arm as she went to go upstairs.

"Don't give me any of that crap," he growled, quickly looking up as her mother came out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Antonia, you're home!"

"I was just telling her not to be late again," Duane replied cheerfully, still keeping a painful grip on his stepdaughter's elbow.

"You had me worried," her mother admonished her gently. Antonia hung her head slightly and gritted her teeth. Black makeup accentuated her gray eyes, making them seem bigger than they were, but did nothing to hide the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Sorry, mother," she managed. "I'll try harder next time."

"That's all I ask. Now, I think you should have dinner in your room so you can think about today and what you've learned," her mother said, the suggestion obviously an order. Antonia nodded silently and rushed up the stairs as soon as Duane let her arm go, ignoring the look he was giving her.

"Damn it," she muttered, flopping on her bed angrily. Her long black skirt flowed around her long legs as she crossed them, and the indigo top bunched up as she tucked her legs behind her and curled up in a ball, staring at the wall. "I thought I'd be able to get back without them noticing," she said to herself. "I'm in for it when he gets a hold of me," she thought, suddenly stretching back out and reaching over to her stereo. Music began to blast from the speakers, deafening her to the rest of her reality. After lying silently for a few moments she switched over to the radio and Sasame's Word Gate echoed in her head.

"He seems to know everything," she thought. "But I bet he doesn't know half the things he pretends to. After all, he's just a radio personality. I don't know why I listen to him anyway." Despite her words, Antonia left the radio on, his words flowing over her and relaxing her mind.

"You cut class again?" her mother asked in despair. "Antonia, I don't know what's gotten into you lately! You were always so good at school!" Her daughter merely shrugged, and Duane stood from his seat.

"Let me talk to her, Nina," he offered, guiding her mother to the door. "Maybe she just needs a father to speak to her."

"All right," Antonia's mother nodded gratefully and strode from the room, closing the door behind her. Duane turned to Antonia and she flinched before she could stop herself.

"You've caused her mother and I a lot of worry, Antonia," he began softly, rolling his sleeves up. She refused to back up, even though her mind screamed at her to get out of his way. "I thought you would have learned after the lesson," he continued, raising his arm for the first blow. She closed her eyes in acceptance.

"Oh, it's not a postcard," Sasame realized, opening up the envelope. "It's a letter."

"Hey, have we had any news on the Pretear yet?" Go asked suddenly, and Kei looked up from his computer in annoyance.

"If we had, you would know," he replied. "Where's Hayate?"

"With Himeno," Mannen supplied, and tried to peer over Sasame's shoulder. "Hey, whatcha got? Another love letter?"

"Not exactly," he said, and folded it up. Putting it in his jacket, he looked around. "Where did Shin and Hajime go? Mannen…"

"They were right there a sec ago!" the Knight of Ice protested, and rushed off before Go could grab him.

"I'll go look too," Go offered with a sigh.

"So, what's up?" Kei asked without looking away from the screen, once the rest of the Knights had left the room. Sasame looked up in surprise, and then shrugged with a slight smile on his face.

"Nothing new."

"If that's what you say," the Light-wielding Knight shrugged and returned to his computer. Sasame stood up from the desktop he was sitting on and strode out onto the street, passing several young girls who were crowded around Shin. He saw with surprise that Go was talking to yet another girl, while Mannen and Hajime attracted several more.

"I never realize how many girls there are unless we're looking for the Pretear," he thought ruefully, "And now it seems that they're everywhere." Glancing around and not seeing anyone else, he headed to the studio to read the letter he had received.

Dear Sasame,

I actually don't know why I'm writing to you, since I think you're basically a fraud. But I guess there's not really anyone else that actually listens. Since all people do is act nowadays, I guess that's better than nothing.

My mother recently remarried to a real bastard. She seems to actually love him, but I can't figure out his feelings for her. I hate him with everything I have. He hurts me, but my mother's blind to it. I'm not able to tell anyone – no one would believe me. He has an excuse for everything.

Please don't read this on the air. I just wanted to write this down to someone.

Toni

The letter's signature left little doubt to whether the author was male or female, and Sasame remained gazing at the small paper for a few moments that seemed to stretch out. Few people sent him letters like this one he held in his hand – most were about boyfriends or girlfriends or not feeling accepted, but only a small minority truly reached out to him in this fashion. To be honest, he was never sure how to respond – not that there was a way to get to this girl, seeing as she requested he not read it, and it was without a return address.

"Hey, Hajime, get back here!" Go yelled, running after the Knight of Water, who was followed by the other two as usual. "Damn brats," he panted, pausing for a moment. Looking back up, he saw the three younger Knights crowded around a young woman with bright gray eyes. She was smiling at them cheerfully, sitting on a park bench. Wearing a black skirt, heels, and snug shirt underneath a black jacket that touched the ground, she didn't seem the type to be Pretear, but he supposed that they were trying as hard as they could to find the new Pretear like Sasame said to.

"I'm Antonia," she said.

"I'm Mannen," the white-haired kid introduced himself. "And these are Shin and Hajime. And that's Go over there."

"Nice to meet ya," Go grinned cheerfully, offering his hand. She merely gazed at him and suddenly stood up, brushing her skirt out.

"I have to get going," she told them, her attention returning to the small boys beside her. "But it was nice to meet you three."

"Bye," Shin said quietly, grasping her hand lightly. A light shone from her palm, and for a moment the Knights thought that the girl was going to Prêt with Shin – but in the next instant she released herself from the boy's grasp and shook her hand.

"Wow, that was some static," she commented absently, before striding past a gaping Go and out of the park.

"Uh…wasn't she the one we're looking for?" Mannen pointed out.

"But she wasn't able to Prêt with Shin," Hajime pointed out unnecessarily.

"She was," Shin protested. "But something blocked her heart. But she's the Pretear, I know it!"

"I guess we may as well go tell the others," Go managed, and began to drag them with him. "Don't run off again, brats."

"Weird kids," Antonia thought, before looking up the side of the house. "Now…how to get up there?" she wondered, gazing up at her window. There was no ivy or anything to grip on the side of the house, but a tree hung low over the roof. "Hmm…"

Despite her skirts, she pulled herself up onto the limbs of the tree, somehow managing to grasp branches that seemed just out of reach to most people. Managing to jump onto the roof, she suddenly realized her position and laughed for a moment.

"I'm an idiot," she sighed, sitting down at an angle. "Now I'm completely stuck. There's no way I can reach the damn window from here. I guess I'm stuck here until morning – I'll climb back down before they get up and sneak in. With luck, they won't even know I was –"

"Are you all right?" a voice suddenly reached her and she started in surprise. Looking down, she saw the same pale-haired man from the other day, and glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, gripping the roof tiles to keep herself from falling off.

"I saw you trying to climb, and thought you might hurt yourself," he said. "I'm Sasame."

"Whatever. Get lost before…before I…" she trailed off, unable to think of anything. She was stuck on the roof, and there was no way she'd wake up her mother and Duane. "Just get lost," she finished lamely, and he smiled up at her.

"It looks like you're stuck."

"Thanks for pointing that out," she muttered, and Sasame suppressed a chuckle.

"What an odd girl…Go said she completely ignored him but talked to the kids, and now she's acting like it's my fault she's in the tree in the first place. But if Shin's right, I may as well try to strike up a friendship before she really hates me. But…she wasn't able to Prêt. I wonder what's wrong…"

The Knight of Sound was snapped out of his reverie when she suddenly shrieked, losing her grip on the roofing. Moving instantaneously, he caught her in her arms before she hit the ground, and she remained frozen for a few moments, staring into his face. Suddenly turning red, she shoved herself out of his grasp and pulled her skirt back down.

"Thanks," she finally mumbled, still bent down. "I'm Antonia."

"Toni…" he murmured, the pieces suddenly coming together. "I see."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"So, I said thanks – you can get lost now," she prodded, pointing toward the street. "Wait a sec!" she called, when he began to stride off the lawn. "What were you doing here, anyway?" she asked, biting her lip for a few seconds and not meeting his steady gaze.

"Just taking a nightly stroll," he replied, before leaving her alone. She blinked in surprise, and then sighed, resigned to her fate. Feeling something cold hit her face, she looked up at the sky and raised her palm to catch the flakes falling from the sky.

"Red snow…? Just like over a year ago…I wonder if those things will come back?" she wondered, shuddering in remembrance of the strange creatures that had appeared.

"So, you met this girl?" Go asked the next morning, as the Knights met to discuss the situation.

"Yes," Sasame nodded. "I believe I know part of the problem from a letter received."

"What was the other thing you mentioned?" Himeno asked, sitting next to a sullen Hayate.

"I called up to her for a rather long time before she even noticed I was there," Sasame said. "I don't think it was just because she was daydreaming. I sensed she couldn't hear a word I said until she fell off the roof."

"So, you're saying she's deaf?" Kei asked.

"I believe so," he nodded. "Not fully, of course, but she certainly lost a lot of hearing ability."

"Would that affect her becoming Pretear?" Himeno asked.

"If she becomes Pretear," Hayate reminded them. "Shin said she wasn't able to Prêt with him, remember? That means she has the power but can't access that. Whenever that happens…"

"Yes, I know," Sasame nodded. "That's why I think the younger ones have a better chance of gaining her trust before us."

"Us?" Mannen asked in surprise. Sasame nodded and he grinned proudly. "Cool!"

"She cuts school constantly," Himeno told them after thinking for a minute. "I think I know who're you're talking about…Antonia Behzadi, I think. She's a few months older than I am, and moved here about the same time I became Pretear. She seemed really nice, but a few months ago she started cutting class. I think her mom remarried when her dad died, but I don't know what he died of."

"I see," Sasame nodded.

"I don't think this girl is going to work out," Hayate muttered, and for once Kei seemed to agree with him, a doubtful expression on his face.

"We can at least give her a try!" Go protested.

"Yeah!" Hajime and Shin chimed in, with Mannen nodding eagerly.

"All right," Sasame said suddenly. "We'll keep an eye out for her, that's all."

"I guess I'll see what I can dig up on her," Kei said grudgingly, and took off. Hayate merely grunted and stalked off, and Himeno ran after him.

"What's his problem?" Go wondered.

"He doesn't want to serve another Pretear, of course," Sasame replied simply.

"Hayate, what's the matter?" Himeno asked, catching up to him.

"We don't need another Princess of Disaster," the Wind Knight said suddenly. "If she bonded with Shin but wasn't able to Prêt that means there's a serious problem with her. We shouldn't take the risk."

"But it means that she has the power of Pretear," she pointed out. "And she'll be the only one for a long time, Hayate. There was a time I wasn't able to Prêt, remember?" He remained silent, and she sighed loudly. "Oh, come on. I know you said you didn't want another Pretear, but it's not like I'll disappear from your life. Duh," she giggled. "You'd have a hard time escaping."

"I think that's her over there!" Shin pointed to a figure in the park, and Mannen grinned.

"All right! Hey, Antonia!" he shouted, as the three ran up to her. She looked up in surprise, having lost track of time, and blinked to see herself suddenly surrounded by them.

"Oh…hi there," she said hesitantly.

"How've ya been?" Mannen asked cheerfully, grabbing her hand firmly and shaking it while Hajime and Shin grasped the other one.

"Are those three trying to make her Prêt?" Go grumbled, and Kei shrugged. Go turned away from the tree and returned to Sasame and Kei. "Well, you said you found something on her?"

"Yeah. Apparently, her father was killed by the Demon Larvae when they overran the city during Fenrir's attack," Kei told them. "She's seventeen, almost eighteen, and moved her with her parents from Austria almost two years ago."

"Wow," Go blinked and glanced back to the girl, who was absorbed in conversation with the other Knights. "Was that it?"

"That's it," Kei nodded.

"I see…and what she wrote about her stepfather must contribute to the pain she feels," Sasame thought quietly. "With those open wounds, it's not surprising she can't Prêt."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Wanna go out for ice cream?" Hajime asked. "Our friend works at a restaurant in the city near here."

"That one?" she asked, pointing to a skulking Go.

"Yeah, that weirdo," Mannen agreed, and she giggled. The two older Knights suddenly pulled her to feet as Shin clung to her legs, making it impossible for her to escape. "Hey, Go!"

"What, you little punk?" he asked, trying to pretend he hadn't been sneaking around the entire time. "Those jerks escaped!" he realized angrily, seeing that Sasame and Kei had disappeared.

"We're gonna take Antonia out for ice cream," Hajime informed him. "Your treat."

"I can pay for myself," she interrupted, her voice suddenly cold. Glancing to the younger ones she smiled again. "And I prefer Toni."

"All right then, Toni –"

"I told them I prefer Toni, not you," she interrupted him. "Antonia is just fine from you."

"Oh…okay, well, are you coming with us?" Go asked, taking a moment to recover from her sudden change in attitude. Shin, sensing something, held her hand tightly and she squeezed back.

See? I am NOT going to break up Himeno and Hayate, and I am NOT going to toss Himeno out to make room for my character. This is my first Pretear fic, so be truthful in a review, please!