[Day: Thursday, February 27th. Time: 4:45 p.m.] [Weather: Sunny and chilly. Clear skies.] [After the talk at Tokyo Tower ended, there was just barely enough time for Taki to make a quick trip home before tonight's game at 7:00 p.m. She's just leaving her apartment building now, on her way to practice.] [Mini Start] * Taki pushes the door open and steps outside, "Okay...The team has all my equipment..so there's nothing for me to leave behind...I still remember where I'm going..." * Taki nods to herself, "So that's everything..." * Taki starts walking twords the rink. * Katie is leaning at a corner, just a few blocks down. She's wearing casual clothes and a gray overcoat, satchel slung over one shoulder. Her hands are shoved into her pockets as she looks into the distance. * Taki walks closer to Katie and can be heard muttering to herself about what she's supposed to do if the shot is low on her catcher side. I wouldn't know, really. Isn't it a bad thing if the goalie can't remember right before her game? * Taki blinks and looks up at Katie, "If it's high enough I catch it, if not I fall to my knees and block with my body, I know it now, but I'm afraid I'm going to freeze when I get out there." * Katie looks at Taki. "You won't know until you find out." She straightens and starts walking with the other girl. * Taki nods, "I hope I remember. What brings you out here? I wasn't expecting anybody to show up untill game time, and I'm not even at the rink yet." * Katie shrugs. I just wanted to talk to you. * Taki looks over at Katie,"Oh? What about? I'm afraid I've got hockey on my mind right now." * Katie smiles faintly. "It has something to do with hockey, yes." It has to do with your memory, too. You didn't listen to me. * Taki blinks "My memory? What are tal...Oh..." * Taki looks at her feet, "So that wasn't a dream was it?" Yeah, "oh". A dream? * Katie snickers. "You actually told yourself it was a dream so much that you believed it?" * Taki nods slowly, "Given the nightmares I had after I got home it wasn't that hard...I did ask you to tell me that is wasn't right?" ...And now you are... Didn't I *tell* you I wouldn't let anyone know it really happened? How pathetic can you be? * Taki sighs and shakes her head, "A promise is a promise, and you could have brought it up sooner, It's not like have the worlds bigest social life and am never alone." I don't know. You seem to have a secret admirer or two. Looks like just Satoshi isn't good enough for you. Hey! I turned him down! * Katie looks at Taki. "Sure. So you could keep Satoshi after you told *me* you'd back off. Where were you the night of the attack, anyway? Did you go to comfort him?" I was at home with my dad practicaly crying on me because he was so glad that I hadn't gotten killd by a bunch of craized bikers. I tried to leave a few times, but short of teleporting out of his arms I couldn't have! And I still thought that that was a nightmare then... * Katie nods. "My parents were worried, too." She looks ahead again. "But I managed to find time to go and see him. And whether you thought it was a nightmare or not, you didn't go. You didn't help him." * Taki looks into Katie's face, "Between a parent who is breaking down in front of you, one who you know has allready suffered by loosing his wife and never recovered from it, and a freind who is suffering because he thought he killed someone, and you knew that you could trust your other friends to stay with him..." * Katie stops and waits for Taki to go on, looking back evenly. I chose my father, I'm thankfull that you could go to Satoshi, but I couldn't do that to him, I don't think he could take loosing me too. * Katie nods. "Fine." She starts walking again. * Taki sighs and starts walking again, "I will keep my promis to you, but...What happens if he decides not to go with you?" If he decides not to, then he decides not to. * Taki nods again, "I feel like I'm doing something stupid and forgetting something important...but I trust Satoshi, and I...you...even when...I still think you're one of my friends." And don't bother giving me the "You're an idiot, you know?" look I do know. * Katie smirks and continues looking ahead, not turning to glance at Taki in the slightest. "As you asked." Thanks, I'm honered. Is there anything else I can do for you? I'm not going to quit the team, but you're welcome to join too, we need everybody we can get." I have my hands full with everything else I'm doing for people, but thanks for the offer. And I'm not asking you to quit the team. * Katie looks at Taki this time. "Just back off." * Taki nods "I will, I think I've told you this three times now, but given what happend last time, I understand why you think I wouldn't." I felt the need to hammer the point home. * Katie checks her watch. "I'll leave you to the rest of your walk, unless you want to talk about anything else?" Not realy, I assume you're going to show up for the game though. * Katie nods. "I probably will. I wouldn't want to miss it." She smiles pleasantly. "Oh, and we didn't have this talk, either." Probably? What's the point of my not being there if you arn't? * Katie blinks. "I said I'll probably show up for your game." It's Satoshi's firts game in weeks, why on earth would you miss something important to him? It's a bit of normalcy from all the insaine things that have happened to all of us. * Katie stares at Taki for a moment. "Look, I'm going to be there if possible. But sometimes things come up." She frowns. "I'm not going to make a promise I might not keep." * Taki shakes her head, "I wouldn't make you promise, but I want...I want you to be happy with somebody who isn't Satoshi..."::shakes her head again, " That's not quite what I wanted to say...I want you to know that this is important to him." I know it is. That's why I'm going to try to be there. * Taki sighs, "Good I'll see you there then, and come running if you arn't 'cause something big must have happened." * Katie checks her watch again. "Fine." She looks at Taki. "I'll get going, and like I said, I'll try to be at the game." Goodbye then. * Katie grins. "Oh, and I think I need to repeat this, too. I didn't just walk you to practice." She waves, then heads in a different direction. * Taki waits untill Katie is out of site, "What a wonderfull birthday this is going to be...' [Mini End]