Rain stood still stunned and didn't know what to say, "E-Elana?" she stammered. It was all she could say. She stared at the girl she abandoned almost a year ago and had avoided her since. Rain felt the old memories and feelings flooding back to her. She closed her eyes and tried to shake it off. She managed a smile, "When did you start working here?" Elana returned a gentle smile but her eyes betrayed her true emotions, "I've been working here a few months now." Rain nodded, "Ah. Um so do you like it here?" Elana shrugged a little, "It's been good so far." Rain nodded again, "Good. That's...that's good." The awkwardness of the conversation made Rain start to fidget as she tried to think of what to do. She finally decided to simply retreat. "Well, uh, it's good to see you doing well. I'm just going to get going now." Rain started to leave when Elana grabbed her arm, "Wait!" Rain turned and looked at her; now it was Elana's turn to feel awkward, "Um weren't you looking for something?" Rain suddenly remembered why she came into the shop, "Oh. I didn't really know what I was going to get so I'll just..."Elana shook her head, "That's fine, just describe what kind of object you wanted and I could probably find it." Rain saw that there wasn't a way to escape, especially when Elana makes up her mind. Rain gave in, "O-okay." Elana smiled gently and started to show Rain around the shop.

As they walked around Rain couldn't tell how Elana was feeling and started to worry. As Rain was lost in her thoughts Elana stopped, "So did you see anything?" Rain snapped out of her thoughts and realized that she wasn't even looking. "Well, um, there are a lot of choices." Elana looked at her and could tell that she wasn't paying attention, "Well, you could tell me what you wanted it for and I could pick something out for you", "I was looking for a thank you gift." Elana turned and started looking through the shelves, "Okay, we have plenty of choices for that. Is it for a man or a woman?" Rain didn't like where this conversation was going, "A woman." Elana froze for a second then continued to look through the shelves. Rain could feel the tension that came from Elana and it hung in the air between the two. After a minute Elana walked back to Rain holding a small necklace, "Here, you could give her this." The necklace had a small pendant that was in the shape of a sword with a small red jewel in the hilt. Rain stared at the pendant in Elana's hand, she closed her eyes for a second and said softly, "I don't think that would fit her." Rain looked around for a second and then picked up a small red vile, " I think this would be more her style." Rain placed a couple of coins on the counter then started to leave, "Rain wait!" Rain stopped but didn't turn around. "Please just tell me why. I don't care if you reject me or not just tell me why." Rain said nothing and simply walked out the door.

When the door closed Elana stood still looking at the closed door. She covered her face, slowly sank to her knees and wept. As soon as Rain was out of sight from the shop she paused. She reached up and pulled on a string that was around her neck. A pendant came out from under her shirt; it looked almost exactly like the one Elana showed her in the shop. She stared at it for a minute; her hand closed around it and squeezed it gently. Rain closed her eyes as tears began to from and flow down her face. Rain quickly wiped the tears from her face and started walking home to get ready for later that night.

As darkness fell over the city Rain made her way to her normal nightclub where Starlet would be performing tonight. After the performance Rain walked out of the club and went around back. Not long after she got there Starlet came out the back door. Starlet looked at the cloaked Rain and said cautiously, "Who are you?" Rain laughed a little took off the hood of her cloak, "What you don't recognize me?" Starlet looked relieved, "Rain. Of course I recognize, if I have to save someone's bottom I'm not going to forget them anytime soon." Rain smiled and nodded, "Of which I'm very grateful." Rain held out a small pouch to Starlet, "Here, I wanted to thank you." Starlet took the pouch and took out the small red vile, "What's this?" "It's a mage potion" Rain replied, "It allows you to use magic naturally for a short period of time." Starlet smiled and seemed to like her present, "Thank you, I've always wanted to see what it was like to be a real mage." Starlet then looked at Rain with an eyebrow raised, "Now what made you think of this?" Rain grinned, "Well, I saw you using orbs instead of casting spells so I guessed that you couldn't use magic naturally." Starlet smiled, "Well I'll have plenty of opportunities to try it out." Rain decided not to ask her what those opportunities might be. "So, would you like to go get something to eat?" Starlet thought for a second, "Hmm, sure! Have anywhere in mind?" Rain realized that she didn't really plan out anything for the night, "Well not really, as long as it's not in any dark alleys I'm fine." Starlet laughed, "Made more enemies other than your poker buddies?" Rain grinned, "Not that I know of, but just to be sure." Starlet laughed again, "Okay, well I do know this small place that has excellent food just around the corner." "That sounds fine." 

Rain followed Starlet down the road towards the marketplace. As they passed all the shops Rain hoped that Elana was off work so she wouldn't run into her. Rain's mind started to wonder and she started to think of Elana. 'She hasn't changed much' she thought. She smiled as she remembered being together and wished that things could go back to how they were back then. Then she remembered why she lost contact with her in the first place. Rain frowned, she felt horrible for abandoning Elana and hurting her but it was to protect her, or at least that's how Rain saw it. Rain lowered her eyes, 'She's probably better off without me.' "Rain, are you okay?" Rain snapped back to reality, "Huh, oh yeah I'm fine." Starlet looked at her for a second, "Okay you were looking spaced out there for a second." Rain felt embarrassed, "Oh, sorry." Starlet shook her head, "it's okay. Anyway we're here." Rain looked up to see a small cafe restaurant with a sign that read 'The Magic Knight'. Rain smiled at the name, "I like the name" she said to Starlet. Starlet smiled, "It's one of the reasons I like coming here." The irony of the name would be lost to any stranger to the Knighthood. The Knighthood is opposed to magic in any form and there are severe punishments for knights who use magic even in emergencies. Rain and Starlet went inside to find the cafe comfortable and with a medium sized crowd. Starlet led Rain to a table near the back and sat down; a moment later a young waitress took their orders and went to prepare Rain looked around at the small cafe and found it to be a nice little place. The people chatted away at their own little tables and generally looked like they were enjoying themselves. Rain slowly relaxed and had an enjoyable dinner with Starlet. As they left the cafe Rain wondered how late she had been out. She looked up to see the blackened shy filled with and a beautiful full moon. If only she had looked into the alleyways she would have seen a shadowy form following close behind.