A/N: another late night. I got two more good reviews and I feel guilty again. Also, just so you don't get the wrong idea, Stella does not dye her hair, but you'll find that out later at the expense of our poor Father Nightroad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood.

The next morning, it was Stella who woke Abel. She shook his shoulders and when he opened a bleary eye, he knew that she had done more than that to wake him. He smiled weakly, fully expecting to be scolded. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I tell you that if I had to watch another stream of drool go down your face I was going to go crazy?" Abel was surprised to find her voice was filled with good humor and she was actually smiling.

He stood up, ready to apologize, then froze. This was not the same bloodied girl he had brought in with him the day before. She had been cleaned up and given new clothes. The first thing he noticed was that the clothes was much too big for her small form. They hung off her like they would a scarecrow. He noticed that the blue habit set off her eyes nicely. Then he noticed her hair, and his jaw nearly dropped. Before it had been a light brown color, but now it was bordering on black. It was wavy and reached down to mid-back, but two dark crimson curls bordered her face.

Stella must have noticed him staring, because a hand went halfway up to one of the curls before she stopped and closed her eyes. Pressing her lips together, she opened them again.

She gestured down at the habit, "Not exactly practical, especially since I have no intentions of becoming a sister. Besides that, if I want to fight I'll need to move around." She added as an after thought, "Father Nightroad, I believe you were supposed to hand in your report?"

Abel jumped. It must have been close to noon! "I… er… excuse me but…" Abel wasn't sure how he was to explain his need to leave with her.

Stella waved him off. "Abel, I handed it in for you and I know I have to stay with you. So, what are we going to do?" She smiled brightly, but Abel could see that her eyes flashed at the mention of her freedom restrictedness.

"I er…" Paperwork having been taken care of, Abel had o idea what to do. Fortunately, his stomach did. He blushed as it decided to add in its two cents. He covered his stomach with his arms as if to quiet it. "He…he, I don't suppose…"

"Come on, we'll get you something to eat." Stella said with a wave of her hand and a roll of her eyes.



Abel felt slightly uncomfortable with Stella watching him eat, but he tried to ignore it as he plowed down everything from eggs to pastries. Of course, what would breakfast be without his cup of tea with thirteen sugars?

As Abel started to polish off a pastry, he noticed Stella's raised eyebrows. In the entire time he had been eating, Stella had barely finished half of her Danish. "Er… something wrong?" Abel asked feebly.

Stella snapped out of her reverie gracefully and said smoothly, "oh no, I'm just preparing for the oncoming famine."

"Hey! That's not fair! I'm a growing man!" Abel spouted the first excuse that came to mind.

"Growing horizontally, perhaps." Stella smiled.

Abel sweat dropped. "How cruel." When had she learned to have such a smart mouth?

They finished brunch and went for a tour. As they walked by the open hallway to the gardens, Stella stopped. Grinning, she grabbed Abel by the hand and pulled him to a corner.

"What?"

"Shh… We are being followed." Stella smiled like a mad woman. "Stay here." Without waiting for a reply, she moved, but Abel did not see where she had gone. All he felt was a slight breeze moving past him.

A few second later he heard someone cry out. He looked around the pillar that Stella had dragged him to, to find the girl in question sitting quite primly on top of none other than Father Leon. Had Stella not have such a peeved expression on her face, Abel would have laughed at the sight.

"Teach you to follow people. Leon, Abel said that one of your rules was to be nice." She said in mock-anger.

"Sorry, Stella."

Abel did laugh at this. Come on, now, think about it. A Father getting preached to by a woman who had just that morning stated she had no intention of becoming a sister. Besides that, the generalization of basically all of the Holy Book was about and the lack of formality was too much to bear.

Stella glared at him. "Father Nightroad! I thought you had a little more silence than that!"

"Sorry… hah… hah… Miss Stella."

Stella rolled her eyes heavenward. "Did I tell you not twenty minutes ago when we were in the gardens to call me nothing but Stella? You fathers and your formalities."

Abel was about to say something when Stella turned her back to them. "Good morning, Father Tres."

Abel was impressed. How had she known that Tres was coming when he wasn't visible until two seconds after she had made her remark? She waved and went forward to talk to the android, which by now she should have fully realized did not make good conversation.

He would definitely have to learn more about this girl.

A/N: All right, another relatively boring chapter. Don't worry the next will tantalize your mystery sense as well as tell you about Stella's past.