Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Just some kid I'm taking care of," Sheena said, receiving a sharp tug to her arm and a glare from Ichigo. "I didn't mean it that way," She told him apologetically. She then turned back to Lloyd. "His name is Ichigo and he's a boy from the village. He's sort of in my custody for a while."

"How do you do?" Ichigo asked very politely.

Truth was that Ichigo had been in her custody for the past two years. His parents had gone on a mission and hadn't come back. No one was sure where they were but they hadn't contacted anyone... Sheena, having been an orphan herself, couldn't stand seeing the little boy so put out, so she unofficially adopted him. They'd grown quite used to each other and were very close. Ichigo was practically Sheena's shadow.

Sheena raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior but answered none the less. "I've been doing ok. I'm used to it now. I'm actually here on business." There was a cough from Ichigo and he tugged her hand again. "WE'RE here on business." She corrected.

"Yeah!" Ichigo said excitedly "I'm gonna be an exchange student here just like Sheena was in that school when she was a kid! Right Sheena?!"

The ninja nodded. "I thought it would be good to have better inter-culture relations with near by towns. It'll cut down on prejudices... kind of like what Genis and Raine are working on."

Sheena's smile faded and cold look came over her. "This time it's my turn to leave you without saying 'goodbye'...." She said, sounding a lot like the chief that she was.

She picked up Ichigo and carried him on her hip. As they walked away, the little boy looked over her shoulder and mouthed the words 'Buh-bye!' and opened and closed his little hand in a sort of wave.

He... He's changed... It's like we don't even know each other anymore. Sheena swallowed hard to clear her throat. She hardly ever cried, and she wasn't about to cry over him.

"Want to go out to lunch, Ichi-kun?" She asked, in the fake happy voice that Ichigo knew meant something was wrong.

It wasn't long before Sheena found herself at a table, staring at a bowl of untouched salad before her, while across the table Ichigo was munching away at a turkey sandwich.

It's been three years... and when I finally see him again... all I can do is yell at him? Sheena thought to herself, moving a tomato around in the bowl but never actually lifting it to her mouth. But... he deserved it... Didnt he?

"Sheena-sama... aren't you hungry?" Ichigo asked innocently.

Sheena simply shook her head.

(fast foward through dinner)

"It's getting kind of late... we won't make it home before dark..." Sheena observed. Normally she wouldn't care, she could easily handle anything that crossed her path, but she wouldn't want to battle with Ichigo at her heels unless she absolutely had to.

"Are we gonna stay here?" The boy asked, still a little concerned for his guardian.

Sheena nodded. "I guess we don't really have a choice. Why don't you go play outside and I 'll rent us a room. Don't go too far, ok? And absolutely no leaving Luin! And don't talk to strangers!" By this time he was already out the door, but she called one final warning "And tie your shoe!"

She found out that there was only one room left at the inn and she rented it quickly. It had two beds, but was small. It was only for one night and she was used to sleeping outside when traveling, so this was nice.

After the roo was settled she went out in search of Ichigo...

Ichigo looked at him suspiciously even with his hood off. This was the man who had made Sheena sad... he was not to be trusted. "None of your bussiness, mister." the boy said and crossed his little arms to show he was serious. "You'd better stay away from her and not make her upset! She works really hard and she doesn't need you giving her a hard time! I'm gonna be a great assisin some day when I grow up, just llike Sheena-sama is! So you'd better leave her alone or you'll have to answer to me."

The boy nodded, his resolve was solid as a rock. He was talking pretty tough, considering he was only as tall as Lloyd's waist. The kids from the villiage would be shocked to see him act like that, Ichigo was normally a mamas boy... but then again, this weird guy in red was kind of messing with his mom.

Ichigo stuck his tongue out at Lloyd as he walked away and then ran off to find Sheena. But, she was out looking for him as well and they missed each other.

Instead of finding her ward, the chief instead crossed paths with the red clad swordsman. She decided it would be best to pretend she didn't see him for now, even though they were practically face to face. She acted like she found something in a near by shop window very interesting and stopped to look at it, hoping he would pass her by.

Sheena stared into the window for a few more second. Someone passing by might think that she was deaf and hadn't heard him, but Lloyd was probably close enough to see her shoulders tense up, and if he had been looking from another angle he might have seen her nose wrinkle and her eye brows furrow, her lips in a furious pout.
She quickly whipped around to face him, not realizing how close he was. "We are still friends!" she said, her tone was angry and didn't match her words. "No matter what, we'll all still be friends! I've been angry at you for years, and I've been angry at Zelos for over half of my life, but you guys are my best friends. Don't act like you don't know it either."
"I don't see why I have to be there, exphires aren't my specialities, but I'll be there tomorrow. I'm staying in town tonight anyway, consider it a favor and a blessing from Martel."

Just then, Lloyd was kicked in the back of the knee by a very angry little boy. "I warned you, red!"

"I'm alright, Ichigo..." She reassured him before he kicked her old traveling companion again. She then looked back at Lloyd. "If we're going to talk about this I'd rather it be somewhere more private."