Title: Sisters

Characters: Lucy Cade, Kakizaki Hatsune, and Nekane Springfield

Genre: Friendship

Rated: G

Timeframe: The third day of the festival in Book 2 (this side story happens during Chapter 13)

Spoilers: What happened the previous two days of the festival. It helps if you've read the story up to that point.

"So," Lucy Cade said as she sat down with her drink at her table at the small outdoor cafe she had frequented since arriving in Mahora. "How did you end up looking like that?" she asked the bruised and sore looking woman seated across from her. When she arrived at the balcony cafe earlier, Lucy had found the woman seated at Lucy's usual table and, instead of choosing another, had sat down across from her and begun to chat. Lucy knew she herself wasn't quite as friendly as her little sister Possum, but she wasn't averse to the occasional conversation with a stranger.

Kakizaki Hatsune grinned crookedly in spite of the way it made her face hurt. "I was trying to teach my little sister a lesson," she said ruefully.

Lucy grinned in response and she took a sip of her drink. From what she could tell, Hatsune hadn't touched her own drink since she introduced herself. "Guess she taught you a lesson instead, huh?"

"No," Hatsune replied, shaking her head, that rueful grin still in place. "Her girlfriend did."

Lucy snorted in amusement and took another sip of her drink. She could still recall the first time Possum had 'taught her a lesson' instead of the other way around; she had been itchy for days after that fiasco. Possum had a much greater grasp of creating powders than she did, especially those that caused the victim to feel as if they had just run naked through a patch of poison ivy...

After a moment, Lucy noticed a pretty young foreign woman with long blonde hair seated alone at a nearby table who kept glancing over at them. She glanced at Hatsune and motioned with her eyes at the stranger. Hatsune shrugged and finally took a sip of her drink. Lucy shrugged; Hatsune had left it up to her. Waiting for the right timing, Lucy looked up at the same instant as the foreign woman, caught her watching, and grinned. "Gotcha," she said aloud. "Do I know you?" she asked pleasantly. The woman was somewhat familiar, though Lucy couldn't recall ever meeting her before.

The woman blushed in embarrassment, but smiled back anyway. "Hello...are you by any chance related to Kakizaki Misa?" she asked, looking at Hatsune.

Hatsune's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Yes...yes I am. She is my little sister. How did you know?" Hatsune was curious; her personality tended to blind other people to any family resemblance between herself and her half-sister Misa. "I am Kakizaki Hatsune."

"Lucy Cade," Lucy said, already up and grabbing another chair from a nearby table. She pushed it into place at her table while the woman hesitantly approached. Lucy waited until the stranger had seated herself before sitting back down in her own chair.

"And you are...?" Hatsune asked.

"Nekane Springfield," the foreign woman said, smiling prettily as she took a sip of the tea she had brought over from her own table. "I know Misa-chan through—"

"Negi Springfield," Lucy said, grinning. "What are you, his sister?"

"A cousin, actually," Nekane said. "How did you...?" she trailed off.

"Know?" Lucy supplied. Nekane nodded. "My little sister's in his class; er...yeah..." she said, her spirits drooping as she recalled the fact that Possum was still missing.

"Ah! Then you would be little Possum's sister?" Nekane said, clapping her hands together in front of her as she smiled.

"Er...yeah," Lucy said, unable to recover her former good cheer though she made a good try at it. "How did you know?"

"Negi-kun mentions her often in his letters," Nekane said pleasantly.

"All good, I hope?" Lucy asked.

Nekane looked away, then back evasively as a slight blush appeared on her face. "He says she is very...very spirited."

"Well that's one way to put it, I suppose," Hatsune said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Lucy.

Lucy scowled at Hatsune, but the expression lacked any strong feeling. "That bad, huh?" she asked Nekane.

Nekane nodded regretfully. "I'm afraid so. He often mentions her in connection with another girl, Urashima Taro, I think...?" she said hesitantly, looking up at the sky and squinting cutely as she tried to recall what were to her foreign names. "Nakamura...Sachiko? Yes, and Mochizuki Kagami. He says they are all quite spirited."

"Sounds like the usual suspects," Lucy said, rolling her eyes as she made a half-hearted grin.

"Has she been found yet?" Nekane asked, looking concerned.

Lucy looked away as Nekane and Hatsune both turned their attention on her. "No... I know she can take care of herself, but I can't help but worry..." She trailed off as someone took her hand. Looking back at her table mates, she saw Nekane leaning across the table, holding Lucy's hands in her own.

"It will be okay, Lucy. You have to believe in Negi; if anyone can help her, he can."

"Well..." Lucy said.

"She's probably right," Hatsune offered as she sat back in her chair. She paused to take a sip of her drink before continuing. "I did a lot of research before I came down from Hokkaido; Negi Springfield is certainly capable. I have no doubt she will be found soon."

Lucy looked from Hatsune's confident expression to Nekane's ever-cheerful face and sighed; she just couldn't stay depressed after such an assault. It didn't stop her from worrying, though... "Yeah...you two are probably right. Besides, I always thought the same thing; the kid's resourceful, you know," she said, referring to Negi. Hatsune nodded while Nekane beamed at her in the way only a big sister can when someone compliments their beloved sibling.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two, but I am afraid I must be going; there is a band I want to see playing in thirty minutes, and I should have already gone," Hatsune said, standing up.

"See ya," Lucy said, waving.

"It was nice meeting you!" Nekane said pleasantly.

"Heh...I guess it was, wasn't it?" Hatsune said, grinning as she looked down at the other two. She took out a piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled down her phone number. "Here, give me a call if you ever need anything, either one of you; I may not but able to help you personally, but if I can't, I can point you in the direction of someone who can," she said, then nodded at Lucy and Nekane and strolled away.

"Well, she's something else, all right," Lucy said, watching Hatsune go. She took a moment to copy the woman's number down and added it to her cell phone, then pushed the paper over to Nekane, who put it into her pocket. "I've gotta go too; it was nice meeting you, Nekane," she said, standing up and holding out her hand.

Nekane took her hand as she stood up and smiled brightly. "It was nice meeting you too! Would you care to...?"

"Oh, you want my number? Sure, hang on a sec," Lucy said as she dug in her pockets for paper and pencil herself. When she had exchanged numbers with the friendly woman, she pocketed the slip of paper with her new friend's information on it.

"Good luck finding your sister," Nekane said politely.

"Thanks," Lucy said, giving the other woman a half-hearted smile. "If you ever need any special charms or powders made, I'm your girl!" she said. "I can even read your palm, if you want. See you around?"

Nekane gave her a bright smile. "I'll be returning to Wales soon, but...I'll keep it in mind!"

Lucy nodded at the woman and waved as she walked away. Lucy stood up just as a waiter appeared to check up on the table, and made her way down to street level. She paused before moving onto the sidewalk. Poor Possum...kidnapped! No one had come out and actually told Lucy her little sister had been kidnapped, but it was easy enough to piece together from the little clues everyone had let slip. But...what Hatsune and Nekane had said earlier was true: Negi Springfield was resourceful, and had great resources both within the city and without. He had access to far greater resources than Lucy herself did; one didn't poke their nose into matters involving mid or high level magic officials when one was a skilled rootworker and Hoodoo specialist like she was, not if one wished to avoid being turned into an ermine. But...poor Possum. Lucy heaved a sigh and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

She would continue her search, and the others would continue theirs, and they would exchange information as it came up, all while neglecting to mention the fact that Possum was also a skilled rootworker and Hoodoo user. She grinned. Those mages who focused so much on law and order could be a little crooked as well. Her little sister would be found; if not by her, then by someone else. Possum was strong; stronger than she was herself. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if- Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She pulled it out and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Lucy Cade?"the speaker sounded familiar; Lucy thought she might have been that Asakura woman that hung around with Negi sometimes.

Lucy frowned. "Yes? I'm Lucy. Is something wrong?"

"We found her."