Cross Alliance—Mission One—Rosa "Double Delight", Rainbow Hybrid Tea Rose

Operation: Encounter

"I want tea…" Rima murmured.

"Really?!" Nagihiko called from the other room, sarcastically. Rima pouted. "You're never like my servants," she grumbled. "I thought that's what you liked about me," Nagihiko said, faking the depressed tone in his voice. Rima's eyebrows twitched, clearly annoyed.

"Would you be serious, for like, 5 minutes?" Rima told him harshly. Nagihiko grinned at her, but it faded when he saw her serious expression.

"What's wrong?" he inquired quietly. Rima shook her head.

"I'm not quite sure. It's just…I've been getting this—feeling lately," she whispered to him. "So, it's not just me," he whispered back. Rima studied her partner's face. Pale skin, light brown eyes, and long, dark blue hair. She may be one of the most stubborn people in all of Japan, but she would never deny that she loved him.

"5 years," she said to him softly. He looked at her gently, and nodded. "Do you really believe it's because…" Rima let her voice trail off. "Perhaps, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Rima nodded, and went to take a shower.

---

Kekka nibbled on the sugar cookie Karen had handed to her. She wasn't hungry at all, but Karen was always such a good cook, as destiny had intended her to be.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Tawamure asked. Kekka didn't find it the least surprising that Tawamure had asked first; he was always the strategizer. "To be completely honest…I don't know," Kekka replied tentatively. For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then, Hell broke loose.

"You don't know?!" Shiriasu cried sharply. "But you're our leader!" Kansei, Souzouteki, and Karen shouted, perplexed. "I'm not surprised," Ijin and Youji muttered. "That's terrible leadership!" Miyabita barked. Warai broke out into a laughing fit. Koumyo and Odori bellowed from the other side of the room, "So what the hell are we going to do?!" "This is why I should be leader!!" Kiza hollered. Onchou merely gave her sister a sympathetic look.

"SHADDUP!!!" Mitsukai screamed over the noise. As expected, everyone shut up. "Thank you, Mitsu-chan," Kekka whispered to her friend. Mitsukai nodded. "As I was saying, I don't know what to do about this…but I think I know how to go about it." Silence. "Then…how?" Miyabita questioned.

Kekka cleared her throat. "We have to confront them…in person." A hush fell upon the room. Many of they eyes of the room turned downcast. "But…we've only been seeing them in our dreams…and those meetings are accidental. Are you sure we're ready?" Onchou asked her sister, her eyes portraying something close to fear.

Kekka didn't know if they were ready. But—she wanted so badly to meet her. The one she could never meet before. Kekka let her bangs shade over her silver eyes, which were beginning to tear up. "No, I'm not sure if we're ready…but…I want to meet them…no, her…so badly…" Kekka whispered.

Onchou, who had seen Kekka like this before, gently brushed the bangs away from her sister's face. Kekka quickly, before anyone else could see, blinked the tears away.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to see Amu-chan," Onchou announced thunderously. Mitsukai suddenly grinned and said, "I'm sure seeing Utau-chan will be refreshing."

"Hey! We want to see Amu-chan too!" Kansei, Souzouteki, and Karen called out indignantly.

"Well, if Mitsu's going to visit Utau, I might as well go too…" Ijin muttered, her face set into a stubborn line.

And so, everyone began to voice they're different reasons for seeing their old masters. Kekka looked at everyone's faces, a glint of—was that hope in her eyes?

---

Kekka, Onchou, Kansei, Souzouteki, and Karen all gathered that night to plan. Well… if you mean 'planning' as having a screaming contest—with snacks, of course.

"What the hell do you mean, he's your Koumyo?!" Souzouteki screeched.

"Did I stutter?!" Onchou yelled back. "Hmm…where have I heard this one before?" Kekka said, coming between the two.

"SHUT UP!!" they screamed at Kekka. Kekka sweatdropped and slowly stepped away from the Souzouteki VS Onchou argument to the Kansei VS Karen argument.

"Avocado is not a fruit!" Kansei shouted.

"Yes, it is-desu! The Health Channel even made an entire series dedicated to proving that the avocado is a fruit-desu!"

"The Health Channel is only broadcasted in America!" Kansei retorted.

"That doesn't have any relevance to the topic-desu!" Karen cried. Again, Kekka sweatdropped, and muttered to herself, "I'm not even going to comment." Abruptly, Kekka got an idea. She smirked mischievously.

"Hey, you two. You do know why they call it the 'avocado', right?" Kansei and Karen shook their heads dumbly. Kekka grinned as she whispered the answer into the two's ears.

Once Kekka was done, both leaned their heads away from her in horror and screamed.

"Oh, you didn't…" Onchou whispered, her expression a cross between disgust and amusement.

"I think she did…" Souzouteki murmured, fighting back giggles. Finally, they all burst out laughing (save Kansei and Karen, who were officially scarred).

After the fit of laughing, Kekka cleared her throat and said, "Now, let's just get to the point. We all want to see Amu again." All the girls nodded in unison. "And because it's been five years since she's formally seen, er, you guys, it's probably not a good idea to just go up to her and say, 'Hi, we're you're old Guardian Characters, reincarnated. Now we can be BFF's!'"

Again, everyone nodded. "So…we're going to have to befriend her…as new people. As who we are now," Kekka concluded quietly. Everyone gave her a solemn look.

"How will we 'befriend' her?" Kansei asked.

"Simple. We bump into her accidentally. Get acquainted, and begin to 'accidentally' see her more and more," responded Kekka.

"What if she doesn't like us?" Karen whispered, voicing what everyone was fearing at the moment.

"Well, I have to admit, we're gambling on sheer luck…but I believe that if Amu can still remember —you guys—she'll probably like you."

There was brief pause, before Onchou inquired, "What about you?"

Kekka remained quiet before replying, "I don't know what will happen to me. There's a 50/50 chance of either. But, even if she doesn't like me," Kekka placed a hand over her heart, "it would be nice…just to see her." Onchou smiled at her sister.

"I believe that major plotting is needed at the moment," she declared.

---

And so, the girls began to get as much information about Amu as they could get. Her new interests, new schedule, and new life story. So, that Sunday, when Amu had planned to have a spa getaway, the 5 girls decided to have their own vacation too.

All 5 walked up to the white brick building. Above the door was a sign, and in pink letters, it read:

Tranquille Tenir Séance

Kansei was the only one who looked completely confused. "It means 'Calm Days'-desu," Karen whispered to Kansei.

"I-I knew that!" she stammered. Karen shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Figures the sportsy one can't understand French…" Souzouteki hissed.

The Five entered the building and walked up to the reception center. "We have an appointment…the 2:45 for the Hinagoei girls," Kekka told the brown haired lady indifferently. The woman nodded towards the glass door across the hallway.

All five paced to the glass door, and as if on cue, out came the pink haired girl.

---

Amu wasn't your normal beautiful girl who had just got off from her daily pampering. She was drop dead gorgeous, even when she just rolled out of bed. Her slick, pink hair had grown out to reach her thighs. Her golden eyes still had that defiant, strong willed luster in them. Her body curved in all the right places, and her features were sharper, but still cute and innocent.

Kansei and Karen gasped quietly. Souzouteki's eyes widened. Onchou smiled warmly. Kekka's face was blank. Amu stared at the five girls in front of her.

Kansei, with her magenta hair tied back in a messy ponytail, her matching eyes having an honest glint. Wearing a light pink jersey, white sweatpants, baseball cap, and Nike tennis shoes, she was the heart of the group.

Souzouteki, with her navy blue hair put back into a loose, ballet bun, the actual bun hidden by her dark gray beret. Flaunting a blue-plaid combo pleated skirt and ruffled front blouse with electric blue kitten heels, she was the spade of the group.

Karen, with her blonde, shoulder length, curly hair and kind, emerald eyes. Dressed in a viridian, retro shirtwaist dress that had a light yellow bow tying at the waist, she was the clover of the group.

Onchou, with her long, orange hair in pigtails, and twinkling eyes. Showing off a golden tea gown, white Alice band, and yellow open toe stiletto heel with leg wrap, she was the diamond of the group.

Finally, Kekka, with her wavy silver hair and uncaring, silver eyes. Sporting a white blouse with a Victorian style black vest over it, black bellbottoms, and Jodhpur boots, she was the cross of the group.

Something inside Amu clicked as she saw the five assembled in a line. They looked so close to one another, like soul sisters. And a familiar feeling was beginning to grow in her as she studied their faces.

"Is it…really…them?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Wow...this chapter took me a while. My favorite part of this chapter is the argument between Karen and Kansei (btw, an avocado is a fruit). And if you don't get the inside joke, I suggest you read a bit about where 'avocado' (the word) comes from. Anyway, I wanted to say two things: one, I based Kekka off of Ushio. So, if you've never read ShinKuro, I suggest you find a picture of Ushio somewhere (photobucket, google, imageshack, etc.) Two, that I'm sure Kekka went deaf after the Souzouteki VS Onchou argument :) Hope you enjoyed!