The following morning, Hanna travels with Maria to the lynx's Jade Creek home, arriving just in time to find Danny and Sally have finished breakfast, and are loading their trikes with salvage to take to HQ.
"Ah," Danny comments as the vixen and lynx stop in front of the garage and kill their engines.
"Let me guess: Maria interrupted Hanna and Rob again," Sally guesses.
"Correct," Hanna confirms. "Why do you keep sending her to us?" she demands.
"It was his idea," Sally deflects.
"I don't care," Hanna replies. "Both me and Rob have had enough. Luckily for you. I struck a deal with Maria last night to prevent this happening again."
At first, Maria doesn't respond, but after a gesture from Hanna, she realises it's her turn to speak. "Oh, sorry," she begins. "Didn't realise. Anyway… Danny, Sally, I apologise for getting in your fur so much these past two weeks. I may be feeling a bit lonely recently, but that's no excuse not to give you two the space you need. From now on, if you want time alone, just say, and I'll do what I can to facilimate… faliminate… famicitate… that big word I can't say for some reason."
"Facilitate," Hanna offers.
"That one," Maria confirms.
"Thank you, Maria," Danny acknowledges. "And in return, we promise to be more considerate of you too. Right, Sal?"
"Right," Sally agrees.
"Thanks," Maria smiles. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to shower and change so I can stop being a smelly kitty."
Hanna waits for Maria to enter the house before turning on Danny and Sally. "I am warning both of you: if this happens again, I will come straight over and deal with you both personally. Kapische?"
"We don't want it to happen again any more than you do," Danny assures.
"I hope so," Hanna accepts. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm running late. Tell Maria I've gone to HQ, and I'll see her at lunch in the mess hall."
Hanna fires up her ATV and rides off without waiting for a reply.
"Is it just me, or is Hanna very protective of Maria?" Sally asks Danny.
"It's not just you," Danny confirms.
"How come?"
"That's not my story to tell."
"You sure I can't persuade you?" Sally purrs.
"Please don't," Danny insists. "It really isn't my story to tell: it's Maria's and hers alone."
"That serious, huh?" Sally guesses. "Then I won't press."
"Thanks," Danny smiles with relief.
At lunchtime, Hanna meets Maria in the mess hall as promised.
"Hey, Meanie!" Maria greets cheerfully as the vixen joins her at the table.
"How many times have I asked you not to use that name in HQ?" Hanna sighs in amusement.
"I lost count after seventeen," Maria retorts cheekily. "How was training this morning?"
"I fear for the future of our guild," Hanna sighs.
"They looked OK to me," Maria reveals.
"You were watching?" Hanna asks, a little surprised.
"For an hour or so," Maria confirms. "Then I went for a walk around the pretty gardens, then I was hungry, which was good because it was almost lunchtime by that point, so I came here, and then you joined me, and we started this conversation, and now it's now, and I don't know what happened next, because it hasn't happened yet."
"You could have finished that story a few clauses sooner," Hanna teases. "You could have helped out this morning, y'know."
"Could I?"
"Sure: the instructors are always open to helpers."
"You're only doing it because it's punishment for going to the Gotoshi without permission."
"Yeah," Hanna sighs. "Still, it's better than the alternative. And I only have two more weeks left."
"You shouldn't have talked back to the Leaders," Maria teases. "You'd be done already."
"Yeah," Hanna admits. "Still, I wouldn't be me if I didn't talk back. Anyway, thought about how you're going to keep your promise?"
Maria sighs. "It's gonna be icky tricky, that's for sure," she admits. "During the day, it's not so bad: I can help out at HQ with stuff and things. It's the evenings where it'll be hard though, as there's not that much to do here, and I can't go to Shang Tu because I'm meant to be dead, and Shang Mu and Shuigang are so far away, and I don't want to go out all on my own as I'll just get bored‑"
"I get the idea," Hanna interrupts. "The problem is, the four people you normally hang out with are two young couples, one married and one not. Thus, you're always going to be like a third wheel. No offence."
"None taken," Maria assures. "Not all things with three wheels are bad though, like my trike."
"It was a figure of speech," Hanan reminds.
"I know," Maria confirms. "There is one thing I could do, I guess."
"What's that?"
"Move back into HQ."
Hanna almost chokes on her drink in surprise. "Woah, hold on there! No need to do anything that drastic!"
"I hope not," Maria agrees. "But I can't think of any other options."
"I can: make new friends," Hanna suggests.
"I dunno," Maria sighs. "It sounds nice, but…"
"In all the time I've known you, only two people have taken a genuine dislike to you," Hanna reminds. "Tsubaki Moto, who we can discount because she's insane, and Nika Markovic, who we can also discount because she hates everyone. Oh, and I imagine Kaede Himura's not all that fond of you right now either, but her anger is directed more at Danny and Sally anyway."
"Kaede called me 'kitten' when I was under mind control," Maria reveals. "I don't think she hates me at all."
"It's irrelevant anyway," Hanna dismisses. "She's locked up for what I hope is the rest of her life. Even if I would rather see her dead. Remember how she almost took advantage of you when she first met us?"
"And remember how I slammed her face into the duct until she blacked out?" Maria reminds.
Hanna can't help but chuckle at the memory. "Ah yes, I forgot about that."
"You said last night I need to grow up," Maria recalls. "And while you're right, there's something else."
"Hm?"
"Stop treating me like a kid."
Hanna is about to retort, but stops herself when she realises Maria's right. "I guess I have been rather protective of you these past six years or so," she admits.
"Not without reason," Maria confirms. "But then it was me who brought down Captain Icky, and it was my idea to get the Crystals so we could end the Gotoshi Naisen."
"I was locked up in a dungeon starving to death during that first one," Hanna recalls, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.
"And we saved you," Maria reminds. "Just like you saved me six years ago."
"Can we return to the present?" Hanna asks. "All this talk's getting me down."
"Sure," Maria agrees. "What are you up to this afternoon?"
"Haven't decided yet," Hanna answers. "Kinda depends on what Rob's doing. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," Maria shrugs. "I think I'll hang around HQ for a bit, see if there's anything I can help with."
"I heard something about a swordplay class in the afternoons," Hanna informs. "There's a batch of regulars that have decided on a specialisation, and there's even a few veterans who are picking up a new or second specialisation."
"Then that's what I'll help with," Maria decides.
After lunch, Maria heads over to the dojo to find where this sword technique training session is being held. It doesn't take her long to find, and the instructor (a russet male langur senior in his mid‑thirties) doesn't hesitate to accept her offer of assistance. And a few hours later, weary from the surprising intensity of the session, a satisfied Maria perches herself atop a pile of training mats to relax.
"Thanks again for volunteering to help out," the instructor thanks.
"My pleasure," Maria acknowledges. "At least it stopped me being bored. Plus, it was good fun. Did I do a good job?"
"You did a great job," the langur confirms. "In fact, I'd like you to be my assistant on a regular basis, if you're not otherwise occupied."
"Sure!" Maria agrees. "Same time tomorrow?"
"And every weekday," the langur confirms. "Well, I gotta go."
"Can I stay here and rest a bit?" Maria asks.
"I don't see why not," the langur shrugs, handing Maria the key to the room. "Lock up when you're done, and I'll see you tomorrow."
Maria waits for the instructor to leave, then curls up on top of the mats to snooze for half an hour. However, before she can slip into a light sleep, she hears an odd sound from outside the door. Curious, Maria slides off the stack of mats, heads to the door, and peers out into the corridor to see… no‑one. Must have been my imagination. Oh well. And now I'm an alert kitty again. Guess I'll head home. But what if Blondie and Miss Spiky want time alone? Maria shrugs to herself. I'll work that out if I need to.
Her decision made, Maria leaves the training room, locks it, and heads out of the dojo, handing the key to the receptionist on duty on the way. Outside the dojo, just as she's about to turn towards the main parking area by the front gates, she pauses again. Is someone following me? Maria looks all around her, but sees no‑one out of the ordinary. Get your silly kitty head together, and stop imagining things.
Fifteen minutes later, Maria arrives at the parking lot where her trike is, though she still can't shake the feeling someone's following her. Distracted, she fails to notice Danny and Sally before she bumps into the latter.
"Hey, watch‑ Oh, hi Maria," Sally greets. "What's up?"
"Huh? Oh, hi," Maria greets in return. "Sorry, I was just… I think someone's following me."
Danny and Sally look in the direction Maria's looking. "I don't see anyone who would be," Danny concludes.
"Me neither," Sally agrees. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"Yeah," Maria confirms. "I guess I'm just being a silly kitty."
"What else is new?" Danny teases.
"I'm helping out with sword technique training weekday afternoons now," Maria answers.
"As a volunteer, I assume," Danny replies.
"Yep!" Maria confirms. "It's fun, if a bit tiring. But then all fun things are tiring in some way. Oh, before I forget: do you two want the evening to yourself tonight?"
"Well, we were thinking that tonight, we'd hang out with you and do what you want," Sally informs. "We know you've been feeling lonely, and we've not been all that understanding about it."
"Meanie had a go at you, didn't she?" Maria guesses.
"Yeah," Sally sighs.
"Typical," Maria smiles, shaking her head in amusement.
"What do you say?" Danny asks.
"I'll gladly hang out with you tonight," Maria agrees. "And tomorrow, I'll see if I can arrange to hang out with Meanie and Fluff‑Tail so you two can have an evening alone."
"Deal," Danny and Sally chorus.
As the trio departs, a young female leopard emerges from the shadows. Great going Tai, you've creeped her out now. All because you don't have the courage to just walk up to her and ask her out.