* Kaede stops around the corner of the building and takes a deep breath, turning 
around.
* Katie stops.
<Kaede> I was just wondering...Katie...you know the Sakura festival coming up 
and all...
* Katie nods. "What about it?"
* Kaede looks past Katie towards the front of the school. "I just...I don't want 
to bother everyone else...and all this..."
* Kaede shakes his head. "You're good at drawing...I've seen you. I was 
wondering...could you help me with a design?"
* Katie considers.
<Katie> A design for what?  Advertisement?
<Kaede> I've been...meaning to ask a while...I don't know why I didn't bring it 
up earlier..and with everything today..."
<Kaede> Well...yeah sort of.  A sign actually...
* Katie shrugs. "It's not a problem. I was going to offer, anyway."
* Kaede blinks. "You were?"
* Katie laughs.
* Kaede 's actually looking at her now.
<Katie> Of course.  What's the point of knowing how to do these things if you 
keep it to yourself?
<Kaede> I....guess so...I don't know...I've just always depended on myself...
<Kaede> That seems all you can do...in the end that is...
<Katie> Whether you depended on yourself or not, and whether you're alone in the 
end or not, I'm here now.  And I'll do it.
* Kaede takes a deep release of breath. "Thank you..."
* Katie grins. "You're welcome."
* Kaede looks back out to the courtyard. "I...I really would have fought him. I 
can't believe it..."
<Kaede> I've been hanging around this arcana stuff for too long...trusting cards 
and fate...
<Katie> Oh, I was about to, actually.  If he wanted to get a hang of our 
fighting styles, I would be one of the last people to look at.
* Kaede shakes his head....
* Kaede looks at Katie again. "You..would have?"
* Katie sighs. "Yes."
<Katie> Cards and fate?  I'm... worried about them, too.
<Kaede> Katie...you don't need to.
* Katie shrugs. "That's the thing."
* Kaede wrinkles his nose again. "It's a waste..."
<Katie> Whether it's cards, or fate, or fortune or anything, in the end you're 
responsible for what you do, and you control what you do.
<Katie> I'm trying not to let things tell me differently.  But it's hard.
* Kaede starts to say something, then smiles slightly.
<Kaede> Things aren't any different than that.
<Kaede> You're a human being, I am too.  You're Katie Andrews.
<Kaede> Maybe a Katie Andrews who draws the Page of Swords from a deck all the 
time and gives out little gusts here and there, but still Katie Andrews.
<Kaede> I...may not be confident..about a lot of things.  But I'm confident 
about that.
* Kaede nods his head around the bend. "Let's get back, shall we? We said we 
wouldn't be long."
* Katie nods. "That's good."
<Katie> And we did?  Well, maybe *you* did.
* Kaede grins. "What? You're Shanghaiing me?
* Katie looks at Kaede with wide, innocent eyes. "I'd never thing of such a 
thing." She breaks into a grin. "Let's go."
* Kaede snickers and walks casually back towards the front.
* Katie heads after him, glancing once to the sky as she does.