Chapter One: Partings and Reunions

Four Months Later...

"Goodbye Astra, I trust you will keep in touch this time."

"I will, Zigfried; I promise."

"Good; come back, and stay anytime you like. You are always welcome here; after all, this is your home as well."

"That's definitely an invitation I won't turn down; I'll come back to visit in a couple months, tops."

"I'll be expecting you then, Astra."

Astra laughed and hugged her best friend goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you so much; I wish I didn't have to leave."

"Then stay, you needn't leave if you don't want to."

"Zigfried…I've already told you; I have to go. I have a job waiting for me and…"

"If it's the job then just stay here; I'll give you a job at Schroeder Corporation. You can have any position you desire."

"I know all of that, Zigfried, but I need to see if I can make it by myself in the world. I got my programmer's license and studied so hard, so I could work as a programmer. It doesn't count if I work for my best friend. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do understand, but you know you can come to me for help if you need it, right?"

"Of course, I do; now, I've got to go if I'm to catch the ferry to the mainland."

"Where will you go from there?"

"I'll either buy a train or plane ticket to Domino City; a friend that lives there is giving me a job in her store. It's not my dream job, but it's a start and…hey, what's so funny?"

"You don't actually think I'd let you go on the ferry, do you? Of course, you'll take one of my jets straight to Domino City."

Astra's eyes lit up, and she pulled Zigfried into a hug that squeezed the breath out of him.

"Really?! That'd be great, Zigfried!"

"You're very welcome; now which color do you prefer? Any one of them can be fueled and ready at a moment's notice, so it's your choice."

"You know which one's always been my favorite; it hasn't changed."

"Ahh yes, the light blue one, wasn't it?"

Astra nodded excitedly.

"It's waiting for you on the runway."

Zigfried and Astra headed toward the jet runway; when they arrived, they were informed that her luggage was already onboard, and they were only awaiting her.

"I'll see you later, Zigfried; I hope things get better with Leon."

"You needn't worry about us, everything will be fine."

After another round of hugs and kisses, Astra boarded the jet and waved to Zigfried from a window. Zigfried stood watching as the blue jet took off into the sky; he watched until he could no longer see it. 'I wish you luck in your ventures; return here safely.' Then he headed inside for his lunch and some wine.


As soon as Astra had gotten off the jet, she took her bags, thanked the pilot and steward, and then called her friend. Within an hour she was settled in at her friend, Catherine Walters', apartment having dinner. Catherin Walters, or Cathy, had curly, golden hair that fell to her shoulders and brilliant blue eyes. She wasn't slim but not large either and was twenty years old; she owned a small, computer store in downtown Domino City.

"So, about the job you were…"

"Oh, Astra, you just got here; we can discuss work tomorrow at the office. Tonight, let's just savor the fact that we're together again."

Astra smiled; it had been a long while since she and Cathy had seen each other. In fact, she hadn't seen any of her friends in years; she'd fallen out of touch with everyone she was once close to.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that I'm so happy to see you again; it's been so long since I've been with any of my friends."

"I've missed you too, and I hope you aren't planning on disappearing again anytime soon."

"Don't worry, Cathy; I'm not."

"That's good to hear."

"Tell me, Cathy, what's been going on since I left? How's your business doing?"

"Not too bad; people always have computers that need fixing or programming, so I can't complain. Oh, but the really interesting news is Kaiba Corp.."

"Oh, really? What news?"

"How can you not know? You were just with the CEO of Shroeder Corp.; you had to have heard from him. Everyone's talking about this new project that's been started. Funny thing is no one knows what it's exactly about, just that a new project has been started."

"Zigfried and I had other things to talk about, and that's funny; details always leak out when something's so big."

"Not this time; all we know is that a bunch of new scientists have been hired, and Kaiba's been keeping security tighter than ever around his headquarters."

"Interesting, very interesting."

"Yeah, but come on; we should go to bed. We've got an early morning tomorrow.

The two girls headed into their separate bedrooms, bidding each other goodnight.

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