The morning air was chilly and fog was seeping through the circus tent. Cathrine Bloom woke up earlier than usual. She stretched her fit body and walked to her dresser. Reaching for a brush, she sat in front of a mirror and started her daily hair brushing routine. Facing the mirror always haunted her. She didn't exactly know why but it always gave her a queasy feeling. It always made her look into herself. Remember the past. The past which always came back to her. memories of her parents. memories of her circus career. memories of war. She brushed her rich brown curls. Her mother used to comb her hair. always admired her beauty. Cathrine smiled at the thought. She remembered her mother calling her 'my little princess'. A little princess. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The night was much disturbed. The war was at its crucial moment and bombings were occurring. A family of four was travelling that night along with a carriage. They were quickly fleeing the area, which was chosen to be the current battlefield. Little Cathrine clutched to her mother for dear life. Her mother soothed her and sang to her a lullabye but Cathrine was still scared. Sensing her daughter's fear, Cathrine's mother tried to get her daughter's attention by telling her a story. <<Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl and she was the princess of the circus. When she was young, whenever she was lonely, she would always look up to the stars. She always loved to look at the stars. Her wish was to reach them. But she was a princess. the princess of the circus. She will remain and reign in her kingdom. She often wondered she and the stars have a lot in common. Twinkling but so far away. She as a princess, despite her glory was really very lonely. One day, a knight came to visit the princess and offered her a gift. The gift came from another princess from an unknown kingdom who apologized for not being able to come to her kingdom and play with her herself. Being the sweet princess she is, she accepted the gift and revealed a pair of star earrings. Perhaps the other princess knew how lonely she was? When he looked up to thank the knight, she saw him gone. The princess murmured her thanks to the wind and wished the other princess to receive her message of appreciation. From that time on, the princess always wore the star earrings.>> "Mama? Mama?! MAMA!!!" Little Cathrine cried as she was torn away from her mother and was thrown out of the carriage. She hit the ground with a thump and earned herself a bruise on her left thigh. She cried into the night, scared of the things that might happen to her that cold night as she was hardly making out her surroundings. Everything was on fire and yet the night was cold. "Mama? Papa?" Cathrine sobbed. "Triton imouto-chan?" She sobbed harder. After months of waiting, after months in anticipation for another member of the family, that great joy was quickly taken away from her. They were all so happy! Why was she separated from them? Why should they take Triton away? Why?! WHY?! She didn't understand the world's problem. She didn't understand the unfairness of it all. She didn't understand why she couldn't understand everything. "Hey kid, are you all right?" "Mama?" Cathrine mumbled as she rubbed her eyes awake. It wasn't her mother. The girl with seven hoops on each ear sighed and smiled. "Look kid, we've got food in that tent over there. Looks like you're famished and in need for nourishment. I hope you're not afraid of big cats." "Big cats?" "Lions. You scared of them?" "Um, no?" Cathrine answered with a wrinkled brow. What's a lion? "Great! You're cute, kid. What's your name?" "Cathrine Bloom. I am lost." "Bloom. I swear I've heard of it before. Well, what the heck, my name's Ruka." The girl named Ruka extended her hand for Cathrine to take but the little girl noticed a dagger strapped around the woman's arm. Cathrine shook Ruka's hand then took the dagger from its sheath. "Hey kid, be careful with that!" Cathrine blinked at her reflection. "Why do you have a knife?" "It's not a knife! It's a dagger! It is used for throwing at targets." "Targets?" "Yes. Mostly people from the audience." "Oh. Like this?" Cathrine threw the dagger at Ruka and it missed her, striking the tree trunk behind her, barely a centimeter away from her neck. Ruka blinked in sheer shock at the little girl standing before her kneeling form. Shit! She almost had my neck! The kid's got a knack for knife throwing? "You said you have nowhere to go?" Ruka said as she led her away from the clearing and into the circus tent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rhinestones glittered as light touched the dagger's handle Cathrine was toying with absently. She placed the dagger on the dresser table and walked outside her room. Her tracks suddenly stopped as she drank in the sight that faced her. Crouching in front of an open small refrigerator was Trowa, rubbing his eyes, looking very bedraggled with his bangs in disarray and covering most of his face. Noticing his sister's presence, he turned and faced Cathrine, blinking with a little pout on his face. "Ohayo." 'He looks so much of a child.' "Ohayo, Trowa. You're up early." Trowa instead looked away and looked for something to drink, still blinking. 'One day, I am going to gather that annoying hair in a rubber band.' Cathrine thought. She often wondered if Trowa still had the tiniest memory of their parents but instead, she shook the idea away. It's not like she would want Trowa to envy her for she still remembers them but she didn't want him to recall the hurt. What matters most was that they had each other. For them, their family is complete. Cathrine crouched behind Trowa and hugged the tall boy. The uni-banged boy stiffened for a while then loosened. Cathrine gave him a quick squeeze before letting go and ruffling his already disheveled hair. "It's still early. Go to sleep." Cathrine said as she pinched Trowa's cheek. Trowa blinked and yawned in response. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The audience's applause was beyond belief. Cat calls and whistles seemed unending, as the crowd wanted more of the show. The new knife-throwing act was marvelous. Who was the new girl in the circus crew? "Hey missy, can I have your autograph?" Cathrine blinked. Some guy was smiling asking for her autograph. She blinked and looked at her surrogate older sister, Ruka. Ruka chuckled and nodded at her, a gesture that it was okay to give out autographs. Cathrine beamed. Sure she had seen the other performers give out their autographs before but now, she was the one giving out hers! "Having fun, Cat?" "Uhn!" The girl nodded and smiled. She was having the time of her life. She was a performer in the circus and everyone loved her. She looked at the crowd. Everyone was clapping and cheering for her. "They really like you, Cat!" Ruka cheered and ruffled the girl's hair. 'They do?" "Yeah! Just look at them! They *adore* you! Most of them would probably come back for you." The ten-year old girl beamed. Ruka-neesan always made her feel good and secure. She helped her with everything and taught her everything she knew. Including the knife-throwing act. It was because of her that she was now a star. She cared about her the most. Cathrine grew up to be a tall girl and reached five feet at the age of ten. She looked at Ruka and thought of her surrogate sister with great love in her eyes. She was attracted to her and loved her so much. she knew they weren't really sisters but. 'I love her.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And so, I said, "You don't have to blame me for having natural blonde hair!" I mean, it's not my fault!" Quatre chattered away telling his parlor experience with several of his sisters once they went to get their hair done. Trowa was beside him on the couch, silently listening with his eyes softening while gazing at the blonde. "Uh huh." Duo answered, nodding his head. Obviously quite bored with Quatre's stories of misadventures in the company of his sisters. And oh, there's Trowa. beside his beloved Quatre. Yeah yeah, they're together and his Heero is. somewhere. "Anou, Duo. Any news from Heero yet?" That caught Duo out of his trance. "Um. Well you see--" "So Duo, you're here to talk to Cathrine about the speakers, right?" "Ah yes!" Duo beamed. Saved by Trowa again. Good thing that unibanged ex-pilot knew it was hard for him to talk about Heero at this moment. "I think the circus needed some technical repairs, especially the sound system, ne?" "Hai." Cathrine answered for Trowa as she entered the room. "The speakers are terrible, I might say. The ring master is also suggesting that the lights should be replaced." "I can do them for you if you want, neesan." "I know you can, Trowa but I don't want this to interfere with your training and performance in the circus act. It's too much work for you. And since Quatre-sama is here to visit, I think you should give time for your guest as his host." Cathrine answered his brother in a very 'older sister' tone. Duo could've sworn Trowa blushed at his sister's suggestion. "Well, here's the canvas listing Hilde and I made last night when Trowa told us about the repairs that are needed to be done." He said as he handed the note to Cathrine. Cathrine rubbed her temples as she examined every account in the list that Duo gave her. "Okay. I believe I should discuss this to the ring master but I think it would be best that you start the repairs as soon as possible." "Sure thing, Cat! Where can we start?" "Tomorrow?" "Ryoukai! Tomorrow it is!" Duo stood up and prepared to leave. 'One more minute with Quatre and Trowa rubbing each other's hands in front of me, I really am going to scream.' "Well, ja people! My roommate's bound to kill me to reach home before me with all my mangas scattered all over our living room!" "Bye, Duo! You take care, okay?" "Thanks, Quatre. Trowa. Cathrine." Both Trowa and Cathrine nodded at him.
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