"Beauty of Venus here... Sorry it took so long to update... but Geez! School stinks really badly and my computer decided that it hates me all of a sudden and won't let me save my work without blue-screening on me! (But that's when floppy disks come in handy!!) Oh and also... I kind of bought a butt load of books and they were really good and so... yeah... I read my books instead of updating... so sue me!

Now taking into consideration my hair color (Blonde)...I've got a question...What is a beta? I saw where Transcendent wrote where I should consider one, but I don't know how the stinkin' to find one!?! I'm guessing it's someone who proofreads the stories and gives suggestions, but that doesn't help me find one... Unless of course you can buy them or order them at the store... Then I could probably locate one pretty easily. ˆ-ˆ

Okay, now that I feel like a total dork, on with the story...

Chapter 3 - New Meetings

"Aino Minako..." Quatre muttered to himself as he walked out of the Preventor Headquarters. "That name doesn't sound that bad. It actually sounds kind of pretty." He glanced down at the pack of papers in his hand. "Let see... North on Collins Street until I get to Tigress Lane; then turn Left at the Third red-light. Follow street until it dead ends into Williams Avenue. Man! How long of a drive is this supposed to be!?!" Quatre got into his midnight blue car and threw the papers into the passenger seat. He turned his car on and put his seatbelt on.

Better Safe than Sorry! Quatre thought remembering how Duo used to always badger him about wearing one, saying that they were as safe as wearing cement to go swimming. Quatre let a slight smile slip as he remembered other arguments he had held with the Shinigami pilot. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes to hold back the tears. How could he ever go back to the way it was before? He sat in his car for what seemed like hours and gave into his sorrow. He let the tears flow freely until he was sure there was none left to cry, then finally put his car into drive and took off down the street.

He turned on his radio and listened to Beethoven's 2nd Movement of Ode to Joy. The music was sweet and soothing as he decided to go check out his new "home".

After about an hour drive, Quatre finally pulled up to the apartment building that he was soon to move into. The first thing he noticed was the gate that seemed to lead to the first set of apartments. It was rather tall with little insignias connecting to the rather sharp spikes at the top of it. He also noticed that the ground windows had burglar bars protecting them. The must have a problem with break-ins... but the neighborhood doesn't seem all that bad, it actually seems a little bit high-class. Quatre thought as he moved to the imposing gates. He hit the square button that said, "push for assistance" and heard a gruff "Can I help you?" came as a result.

"I'm Quatre Winner and I'm the new..."

"Oh, you're the new guy for apartment 524 right? Come right in"

Somewhere a buzzer sounded and the gates opened with a metallic grind that made Quatre's teeth hurt. As Quatre made his way to the large doors across the way, he took in the courtyard and the other residents of the building, which were mostly children. He made his way through the doors and into the lobby where he met the person who the gruff voice belonged to. It was a middle-aged man with horrible comb-over and wearing a neatly pressed suit. As Quatre neared the desk, the man placed a piece of paper and a pen and asked him to sign above the dotted lines. Quatre signed his name neatly and even dated it before giving it back to the older gentleman behind the counter.

"Your apartment is on the 3rd floor and down the hall to the left once you leave the stairwell. The elevators are being repaired and so all patrons are asked to take the stairs. There are no pets allowed and no loud music after 9 o'clock. There is no curfew, but residents who come in after 11 o'clock will asked to verify there residency here and also have a valid state issued id. If you have any more questions or concerns, you can call this front desk or if the matter is urgent you can contact the manager directly at the number on the bottom of this sheet. Anything else you would like to know?" The man finished giving Quatre a list of dos and don'ts along with contact info and a map of the building. "No sir. Thank you very much" Quatre waved as he started towards the stairway.

I guess they do have a security issue somewhat, but they do seem to know what they're doing. Quatre came to the door labeled "Stairs" and opened in up to reveal the next obstacle he was going to have to go through. The stairs winded upwards in a spiral fashion, with a landing at each level. "Great..." Quatre muttered starting his accent.

Mina ran full speed into the lobby of her apartment building. Waving at the man behind the counter, who yelled for her to stop before recognizing who it was. "Crap! Crap! Crap!" Mina kept repeating over and over again out loud. Why did I have to forget my purse! Rei is surely going to kill me... "Crap!!" She yelled even louder as she entered the stair well. As Mina raced up the stairs to her level, she cursed the idiot who complained about the elevator making "funny" noises. She reached the landing for the 3rd floor and swung open the door leading into the hallway and rushed around the corner to her apartment. As she turned the corner, she stumbled over a person kneeling in front of her door, sending both of them to the floor with a loud "thud". She moved to get into a sitting position, which caused her to knee the person in the face. " Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there and..." She caught her breath when she realized that the person she tripped over was a guy. And not just any guy but a very hot guy. Wow! He's even better looking than that guy Rei hooked up with...

"Are you okay" She heard him ask her as he tried to stand up without stepping on her.

"I'm fine... I didn't see you and I... uh...what were you doing?" She snapped out of her fluster when she noticed small metal tools spread across the floor. He was trying to pick my lock! The guy looked down and he must have realized his mistake because he bent down and tried to snatch them up. "Well, you see, I ... uh... I'm supposed to be staying here and the key didn't seem to work... and so I..." He shook his head and looked at her pleadingly. His eyes were a beautiful cyan color, a darker shade than her cerulean eyes.

Suddenly it registered to her what he had said. Living here? " You're supposed to be living here?" She asked credulously

"Yes m'am. So you know where the person who lives here went? Or where I could find her?" The boy asked her, giving her a hopeful look. Mina stared at the young man in front of her for a few minutes. Should I trust him? He doesn't seem like the type to lie and go around killing people... But still, now a days, you never know... "Here, let me see your key?" She asked holding out her hand and ignoring his question. He looked at her curiously and handed over his key. She glanced at it and went to her apartment door. She knew from experience that you had to wiggle the doorknob and lift it slightly to get the key to even enter the keyhole. She placed the key in and turned. When she heard the soft click of the lock, as it gave way. She turned and stared at the young man again. He seemed to be looking at her as of she was from a different planet or something. "What?" She asked getting nervous under his stare.

"How did you do that!?!" He practically yelled awestruck. "I had been trying to get that key to work for the past half hour and it wouldn't even enter the keyhole." Mina laughed lightly and explained to the handsome blond before her the trick to opening the door. She watched him as he shook his head and laughed softly and muttered

"Figures." under his breath. "How did you know how to do that?" He asked looking up and meeting her eyes.

"Why wouldn't I know how to open my own apartment?" She enjoyed the look of shock that she got from him when he heard her statement.

"This is your apartment?" He asked blushing slightly.

"Yep! The name's Aino Minako! You can call me Mina." She exclaimed holding out her hand in greeting. The man laughed again and accepted her hand. "Quatre Rebarba Winner. Its nice to meet you, Mina."

tbc

Okay Another Question.. How do you spell Quatre's middle name? I tried looking on the Internet, but its spelled like three different ways. Oh! And Yes, I know this chapter is short but I don't want to change perspective again in the middle of the story. I'm picky about that much at least. ˆ-ˆ