TohruEmber once again! Are you bored by me yet? Ha … ha …

I'm really enjoying your reviews!!!!

I consider this chapter the beginning of the story. The introduction to it all is all gone! Finally! This chapter, I'll admit, is more … 'fun fun', than anything else. When I was writing this, I remember laughing to myself as I imagine a rat flying from a desk going 'help meeee'. I'm sick, right? I just found it hilarious. Like I said, British humour! It makes no sense.

Oh! And I'd just like to comment back to you allyg1990 (thank you so much for your reviews), that Rogue's childishness is done intentional. In regard to the cat in the zodiac story, she's, like she said, a big fan! I thought to myself she can't be perfect, so make her a little over the top about the cat. (Also I got your PM, but I thought I'd mention this anyway, thank you for the PM =D )

And to Wanda W (also a huge thank you to you, too), without revealing too much, there will be a piece on this … stalker … Yes, I do wonder how Remy feels too (hehe). Uncomfortable, obviously – but it is Remy after all. About the continuation about the Xavier line – that question can be answered in chapter six. But, the Xavier family aren't just the Zodiacs. They are a big, big, big family. And any one of the Xavier's can give birth to an animal of the zodiac if one is not present. (I'm sorry I'm being a bit vague). As for the Zodiacs, this is a problem Marie will notice – how would they feel when they fall in love with someone they can't really be intimate with? Are they doomed to be alone forever?

Please enjoy the next instalment of:

Blessed

Chapter Four

Turtles with Shells

Hello! Mah name is Marie Darkholme an' last month mah Aunt Irene informed me that she was gonna stay with her daughter f'r a while.. Ah was determined to stay in Bayville because ah really didn' want to have any time off from high school.

So that's how ah ended up living in a tent in the middle of a forest. An' the next thing ah know, the Prince of mah high school, Joseph Xavier offered for me t' stay with him Hank and Remy Xavier, his cousins, permanently!

But ah also found out that the Xavier family have a deep and terrible secret! Its members are possessed by spirits of the Chinese Zodiac! They transform into their chosen animal when a member of the opposite sex embraces them or when they become weak!

Ah wonder what adventures await me today?!

~~~~~~ Bayville High/Classroom ~~~~~~

'He's sooo cute!' a girl whispered.

'He's an Xavier, right? I wonder if he could tell us about Joseph?' said another girl.

'He's sooo cute,' the girl repeated.

'Not as cute as Joseph,' someone else disagreed.

Remy's hands clenched. 'Leave me alone!' he shouted.

'Wow, you don't have to shout!' said a girl.

'What do you think; is he really Prince Joseph's cousin?'

'I bet he knows everything about him.'

'Poor Remy; he looks really flustered,' said Marie as she, Betsy and Tessa watched the group of girls surrounding the irritated Remy who was sitting at his desk. The moment Marie, Joseph and Remy had entered the school building this morning, all the girls had been following him, fascinated that one of Prince Joseph's cousins was attending the same school. They were even more delighted to find that he was just as handsome – though other girls opposed that idea. One thing Marie had noticed though was that Remy had put contacts in: a normal hazel brown colour. Even though that colour was nice, she had to admit, she missed his unusual ones – which only made her wonder why he didn't want anyone else to see them.

'He may even get his own fan club soon,' laughed Betsy, her hands deep in her pockets.

Somehow ah don' think Remy would like that very much … Marie thought.

'They're the same,' whispered Tessa, her blank eyes burning into Remy as he shouted at the girls.

Marie and Betsy glanced at her. 'Huh?'

'His energy, his life force, his aura are exactly the same as Joseph's. I don't know but there's something about them that's almost … inhuman.'

Marie's eyes went wide. 'W-Well erm…' The secret, the secret, the secret! She had forgotten about Tessa's unusual gift of sight – damn it –: she was able to see people's auras, which in turn could help her to understand the mood of a person. But she had mentioned on more than one occasion how Joseph's was different to anyone else's she had ever encountered. Marie hoped that she wouldn't figure it out.

'Tessa, that's just rude,' Betsy remarked.

Marie sighed with relief.

'Damn it! Jus' go away!' Remy yelled.

As the lesson begun, Marie glanced over to Remy who was staring solemnly out of the window. She frowned sadly.

He really is like the cat from the ol' story. He must feel so alone right now, but who knows, maybe, maybe one day we can be friends.

'Before we finish class, Joseph would like to make an announcement,' said the teacher abruptly.

The girls – and even some of the boys – in the class suddenly became attentive as Joseph rose from his seat and stood in front of them all.

'The Student Council have decided to throw a school festival before Christmas break,' he explained. 'I know it's only November, but we thought we'd do it next week. Each class will be assigned to different things: Class A1 has drama duty; Class B1 has music duty; Class C1 has juice duty; our class, Class D1 has food duty …' Some people in the class moaned, most wanting to be involved in the drama play. Joseph went on until he got to Class H1 and returned to his seat.

After a class discussion, they had all agreed to make something individually so that there would be a bigger variety of foods to select from.

This sounds interesting! Marie thought. Ah wonder what ah should make …

~~~~~~ A week later ~~~~~~

The classroom was practically empty as one of the choirs was scheduled to play in the main hall. But before that, lots of students had been into Class D1, wanting some cakes and buns and biscuits that they had baked.

Marie, Joseph and Remy were still in the room, watching over the cakes for everyone. Marie hadn't wanted to miss out on the choir, but she much preferred to watch over the cakes with Joseph and Remy.

'Yours is the best one so far, Miss Darkholme,' smiled Joseph as he cut yet another slice from the vanilla sponge cake she had made.

'Thanks, Joseph!'

'I've had better,' Remy moaned, taking a small bite out of it.

Marie narrowed her eyes.

'Pay no attention to him; he's just a stupid cat,' Joseph commented.

'What?!' shouted Remy, throwing his paper plate to the floor. 'You wanna fight, ya damn rat?!'

Joseph grinned. 'Do you really want me to make a fool out of you in public?'

'Why you!'

'Remy! Remy!' a few girls chimed as they rushed into the classroom towards him. He stepped away, careful for them not to touch him, or hug him accidentally.

'Didn' I already tell you t' leave me alone?!'

'But we want you to come and watch our plaaaaay!' complained a brunette as she stifled forwards toward him.

'Get away!' Remy pushed her back, causing her to fall backwards. Joseph instantly went to catch her.

POOF!

The cloud of smoke soon disappeared to reveal the girl sat on the floor, appearing dazed. 'W-What just happened?' asked the girl.

'Ahahaha,' Marie laughed hysterically, hastily kicking Joseph's clothes what were behind the girl under the table. 'T-That was me! A-Ah erm … ah have a smoke machine! Ahahaha! E-Erm ah better erm …'

'Where did Prince Joseph go?' asked a girl, looking round.

'Ahhh!' someone screeched. 'A rat! A rat!'

A little rat was running as fast as his legs could take him, into the corner of the classroom. One of the girls ran out to tell a teacher. Marie went over to the corner to retrieve Joseph, but when she got there, he was not there.

Joseph! Marie thought.

Joseph tried to avoid the people walking in case they stood on him as they were ignorant to his existence … for now that was.

How did I end up in this situation?! Joe thought as he dodged a trainer of what he thought was Remy at one point.

He spotted the science lab door open, and, thinking that no one would be in there at this time since it was the festival and all, he dashed into. But as soon as he had entered it, a teacher had slammed a container over him, as though he had been expecting him.

The moustached teacher lifted the container into the air, Joseph scratching and trying to bite his way out, and then placed it onto the table.

'It's extermination for you,' smiled the teacher, his voice evil with intent.

The rat scrambled around, and as soon as the teacher let go of his container, Joseph, with all his might, pushed against it, and it toppled onto the floor. The teacher, surprised, went to grab the rat, but he ran across the table, too quick for him to grasp. As he came nearer to the edge, Joseph realised he would have to jump.

'Help meee!' the rat cried as he fell.

Meanwhile ...

Marie saw Remy in the hallways, scratching his head. 'Ah can' find 'im anywhere!' she said, panicked.

Remy scoffed. 'Who cares? It's his own fault.'

Marie growled. 'Ah know you don' get along, but this is serious! It'd be the worst 'f everyone's memories had to b' erased!' Stepping closer to him, she added, 'Please help me find 'im.'

Seeing how desperate she looked, he found his resolve wavering. 'Fine! But only 'coz I wanna throw it in 'is face later on,' Remy said.

xxxx

Scurrying through the hallways, Joseph entered the part of the school he knew would be empty due to the festival being held in the opposite side of the building.

I'm just glad I haven't transformed back yet, thought Joseph.

He then heard someone exhaling for air, coming round the corner, exactly where he was. He gasped – they were going to step on him!

Marie had looked everywhere, but she still couldn't find any trace of a rat. Rounding the corner at the end of the corridor, her fear that Joseph may transform in front of everyone became more likely.

'Miss Darkholme! Miss Darkholme!' she heard a tiny voice call. She stopped, recognising it instantly.

'Joseph!' she exclaimed happily as she dropped to the floor. 'Thank goodness ah found you.'

'I'm such an idiot,' Joseph sighed.

'But you did a good thing,' said Marie, patting his small, furry head. 'Ya transformed f'r a good reason.'

'It doesn't matter …' he said, turning away. 'That stupid cat wouldn't have even done something that reckless…'

Marie titled her head to the side.

'He's lucky, you know. Remy. He can be whoever he wants around these people. I can't,' Joseph said. 'Ever since I was little I always thought that he had the type of personality that people seemed drawn too. No matter how he acted, people would still like him. With me, it's different.'

Joseph is jealous o' Remy? Marie thought. 'But so many people like you, Joseph,' she pointed out.

'But not for me. They only like the person I act like: someone smart, careful, proper. I try to act like some kind of … prince, you might say. I try to act like someone people will like,' he admitted, ashamed of himself. 'I'm not really kind. I'm probably not like that at all. But I've been wearing this mask for so long now; I don't even know who I am.'

Marie looked at him sympathetically.

He sighed again. 'It's all my fault. I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have gone to catch her,' Joseph said.

'But she would have hurt herself 'f you didn',' Marie said. 'Ah know it must b' hard havin' t' live like this and regretting doin' nice things 'coz o' the consequences, but ah'm glad ya like that, Joseph. Ah'm glad ya have such a kind heart – and despite what ya say, ya do. Ya like a candle. Whenever ya come into a room, it's as though the world gets a little brighter. An' ah know everyone in this school would agree. So … please don' regret ya kind actions. Please don' think that ya not a kind person. Maybe ya haven' discovered yaself yet, but in time ya will.'

Marie thought that his black eyes were almost sparkling with tears as he looked up to her.

POOF!

Marie squealed. 'Ah didn' look, ah didn' look!' She threw his clothes at him as she covered her eyes.

Moments passed and then she heard Joseph say, 'Thank you …'

Marie turned to face him and found him dressed in his school uniform, smiling sincerely. Red crept onto her cheeks.

They began to walk down the hall, side by side.

'I'm probably going to hear a lot about this from that cat, aren't I?' asked Joseph scratching his neck.

'Haha … well …'

~~~~~ Home Sweet Home ~~~~~

As Marie cleaned up around Remy who was sat on the floor around the coffee table, drinking some water, she couldn't help but think about what Joseph had said to her.

All those people at school really like Joseph … could it really be that he doesn' even notice? Doesn' he know he has a fan club? Marie picked up the plate that Hank had eaten from and stacked it on another. Even though Joseph said that he didn' show his true face t' everyone, ah hardly doubt that his true self is horrible. Ah won' believe it. He's one o' the kindest people ah've met – an' that can' possibly be a mask!

'What Joseph did was quite noble wasn' it?' said Marie as she knelt next to Remy.

He didn't look in her direction. 'Noble? Dat was de mos' foolish t'ing he coulda done.'

'But he really did well – he didn' even get found out at all,' insisted Marie.

''Coz he got de luck of a rat, 'f ya ask me.'

'An' he must have been so exhausted too! He really did try his best.'

'Pah! He's an idiot! No one even gets themselves in dat situation in de first place.'

Marie clenched her fist into a ball. Would she ever get him to like Joseph?

'It's okay f'r 'im though,' Remy continued.

Marie looked at him puzzled.

'Even 'f dat damn rat transformed an' ev'ryone found out, he'd still be accepted,' he moaned. 'Ev'ryone adores 'im. Its jus' stupid. No matter where he goes, ev'ryone likes dat rat. Dey can' help it. It was never like dat f'r me. Ever since I grew up, people always said "Look, ders dat cat. Don' go near 'im. He's de worst one o' all. Don' look at 'im. Don' speak t' him."' His eyes narrowed. ''Ow can dey judge me? Dey don' even know me! An' its de same with dat rat. No one knows 'im either. But dey love 'im nonedeless.'

Marie blinked.

'He's lucky, you know. Remy.'

Then that means … Marie thought …

'He can be whoever he wants around these people. With me, it's different.'

So … Joseph envies Remy … an' Remy envies Joseph, thought Marie surprised. But … can they not see there own qualities?

'Oh! It all makes sense! Ah finally get it now!' exclaimed Marie, clapping her hands together.

'Get what?' sighed Remy.

'Remy is a turtle!'

Remy nearly chocked on his drink. 'What?! Are ya try'na say 'm slow?!'

A little taken aback by his anger, Marie laughed anxiously. 'N-No, o' course not! It's just … Imagine all the people in th' world as turtles, an' the good qualities they have are their shells on their backs. Every shell is different: some are white, some are green, some are gold or silver, or striped or spotted. But Mr Turtle can' see his own shell – he can only see ev'ryone else's. "Ah'm no good," said the turtle. "There's nothin' remarkable about me." But that's not true! Because there is as shell on his back too. Ah think this is why people get jealous o' each other. They can't see there own wonderful qualities, they can't see their own beautiful shell, only other turtles'. But ah can' see them clearly. An' ah can see yours too, Remy. It's shining bright, even now.' She smiled. 'Joseph is wonderful. An' Remy is wonderful too.'

Remy stared at her, so much that Marie began to feel a little uncomfortable. He then swung his head away. 'Dat's de dumbest t'ing I've ever heard! 'Ow old are you, five?! An' why does it have t' b' a turtle o' all de t'ings ya coulda chosen. Some analogy!'

Marie frowned. There was a beeping sound from the kitchen. 'Ah better go and get that,' she said irritably, standing up.

'Hey!'

Marie looked down at him.

'You … You have one … a … shell,' he almost whispered. His eyes met hers. 'You have one on your back too – I can see it.'

Marie stared at him for a moment until she beamed wide.

'But it's a real shabby one! You can hardly tell ya have one!' said Remy.

Marie continued to smile.

'People wouldn' even noticed 'f I hadn't have!'

She laughed.

'An' it's not dat bright either …'

'Okay,' Marie said, still smiling.

'An' it's not got any spots or stripes on it …'

And this went on for a while…

Someone might b' envyin' another f'r something they don' see in themselves. They might b' longin' f'r a quality they already possess. When ah think about it that way, ah realise that ah need t' do mah best with the qualities ah have, even 'f ah can' always see what they are…

'End 4/22 ~

I enjoyed writing the quick experience for Remy at his new school. If you wanted to know what happened in the week that passed, it was pretty much the same as when he started: girls questioning him about Joseph. He got very annoyed and at one point even stormed out of the classroom, and even jumped from the window! Lucky he had martial arts training, huh? Marie was also very happy that Remy took his contacts out when he was at home – she must really like his eyes!

Oh! And Joseph had baked a few cup cakes, but a lot of the students only pretended to eat them as they were so bad, (die hard fan club girls actually ate them – yuck!). And Remy made some tasty rice balls – he is good at cooking!

It may all seem Rogeph or Joegue, or even Mareph or Joerie (I'm having fun) at the moment, but we'll definitely get Romy in there! *Evil laugh*

Hank didn't come up in this one. Did you miss him? I wonder. I found this chapter fun to write. Rat Joseph is soooo cute!

PLEASE REVIEW so that I know I should continue posting or not!!! =D

Next Chapter!!! Marie: As it turns out, Irene is coming back home, but she has news f'r me: she's stayin' in Mississippi an' wants me to come back. Ah really have no choice …

Remy: So you're really leaving, huh?

Joseph: I can't thank her enough for all she's done for me in such a short time. But … can I really sit by and let her leave like this?

Marie: See ya, everyone.

Remy: Grrr ….

Marie: Join me, Marie, in the next chapter to find out what happens next!