Who Knew

It was late, the night had already shrunk in on the school. Ninette left the building, hiding in the shadows, as she always did at about this time.

She needed no one to be around. She could not do this with someone else there, it would simple not do.

Reaching the fountain, illuminated by magical lights, floating in the water, Ninette smiled slightly - a real happy smile, not her usual smirk, or the dull polite one she was forced to give on occasion - and sat down.

She looked around her once more; the palace was a blaze of lights, people inside doing their usual nightly activities - but she herself was alone. As she liked it.

Running her had through the water, she began to hum to herself softly, waiting for the words to come to her.

"You took my hand/You showed me how/You promised me you'd be around,," her voice was low, soft, but true, in tune and strong. She continued with her song, her voice raising slightly as she got more into it.

With each word her cold frozen heart began to thaw just a bit more, and her eyes began to swim, a single tear dropping from her face, falling into the water, causing it to ripple and ring out.

"Cause you said forever," her voice chocked and wavered just for a second as her tears started to fall stronger, and a sob fought its way to come through. Her voice began to drop again with each word, "And ever/Who knew ."

Ninette stopped between verses, letting her last words hang in the air. It had been years, years since him but here she was, she still mourned it - any time she gave herself a chance too...

Maybe that was the problem she never gave herself the chance.

She opened her mouth to sing again when she hear the voice. Her back stiffened, and she was read to whirl around and terroize whoever it was.

However the voice made her stop. It wasn't familar exactly but... it was oddly... comforting?

She was surprised to find that she wanted to hear the end of the joke, so instead of saying anything, she reached a hand to wipe away the remaining tears, and got ready to tell him off when he was done.

Only she was surprised to find herself laughing at the end of it. She shook her head.

"Not bad, Marcus," she said slowly, turning around to see the face of who she was speaking to, "But if you tell anyone-"

Her threat died on her lips. Those eyes, that face... she-she...

No. No. It was impossible. Her face went pale, and eyes widened. She leaned heavily on the fountaine edge, feeling faint. It was impossible but she'd have sworn.

She'd seen those features before - theyd had been yonger, frozen in time but....

"Simon?" The word came out in a gasp as she strived to keep from passing out.

Ninette shook her head, blinking a couple of times. Not Simon, Marcus. She knew that - he said that.

She took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of herself, but his gaze wasn't really helping - the gaze that was so like...

"Not Simon - I know, or new," she bit her lip and shook her head, "Sorry, you just look like - its impossble really - someone I know.. knew... knew."

She looked at him one more time, feeling her heart twist at the impossible familiarity of it all. Ninette swallowed hard and twisted out of his grasp, pushing her self up.

She had to to - this was... she was getting too, too... emotional, weak... too...

The girl only got a couple wobbly steps before her foot caught an uneven bump in the cobblestone, and tripped, skinning her hands as the broke her fall.

Ninette called out in surprise as she fell, and swore rather loudly to herself as he hand skidded to the ground.

As the boy, Marcus, came to help her, she at first flinched away, her usually bitch retorts on the tip of her tongue, but as looked at the face, they all got stuck in her throat again.

"Yeah think?" she asked with a slight laugh and shake of her head, her voice heavily sarcastic but not quite as rude as it normal would be. There was a soft edge to her sarcasim that she usually only reserved for her mother, or Gran.

"I never want to talk about it."

"Well aren't you just lucky then," she drawled slowly with a smile. "What gave me away? I would have thought my manors were flawless, I use them so much."

She rolled her eyes, as she bent her hands getting use to the stinking feeling that came with it. She'll get the healer to deal with that later. Or maybe she'd go find Mama - she might just get a hug and a smile from there. Ninette felt like she could use both right now.

The young girl glanced at the boy again. Her brain still could hardly comprehend it, and yet... now that she was calming down some she could see the slight differences. Simon's chin had stuck out more... his voice was different, not quiet as deep. The other boy had had a deeper voice, even before puberty had a chance to change it.

"Not even to my friends; I don't... no one knows."

She narrowed her eyes. She didn't let anyone hear her sing.

"If you tell anyone about that..." she started to threaten but lost heart halfway through and shrugged. "Thank you, but I don't sing infront of people. You understand that Padre?"

Ninette smirked slightly, "Only sounds slightly creepy, then again, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to stalk me - I am very enchanting aren't I?" She wiggled her eyebrows, as her eyes flashed, flirting as she usually would but this time she felt more ... light hearted about it. Not purely joking, Ninette was far too out of practice to just jump right back into a carefree happy-go-lucky attitude, but... she was getting better in this small moment.

Surprised by the comment, even though she shouldn't be, she blushed slightly and looked away. She really did have to get a grip on herself. Biting her lip she didn't answer is question.

"Good," she said, looking stern for a moment - a bit of her usual self shining through - before she laughed and hooked her pinky around his. She held it there for a moment longer the necessary, before shaking her head and looking away again.

His question, he one he asked and she'd ignored drifted back to her. She was silent for a long moment, and then she spoke, in a soft, detached voice.

"Have you ever had someone in you're life, that you just knew that you were going to spend the rest of your life with; its not even a want, or a romantic thing - it may become one it may not - but when you look at them, you just know that your life needs them in it -always?"

She glanced at him a moment before looking away again.

"That was what Simon was to me."

Ninette smirked, and inclined her head, "I guess I'll take intreging, for now. I better get upgraded later. For good behaviour and what not."

"What this," she wiggled her eyebrows again, her smirk slowly being replaced by a genuine, playful smile, "I've always been able to do it."

Nine suprised herself by actually laughing. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I hereby award Five points - with my prefect powers - to Angelique for... ingenuity in the face of the impossible," she nodded her head, before putting on a glare, "Though I shall take even more away if you go spreading this around."

She sighed, pulling her knees into her chest, and resting her chin on them. It was a precarious way to perch on the bench but she did it anyways.

"Thats problem though, sometimes... you didn't die with them. And then you're constantly left wondering... what might have been."

She let out another laugh. This one slightly sadder, softer, but still a laugh of some sort.

"No, don't change your face. I like it."

Ninette smirked slightly, running a pinky under her eye, trying to fix any make up that may have run down her face from moments before, "Oh I don't know. I'll let you decide, but I was thinking along the lines of aw-inspiring, magnificant, queen of the world."

She snorted, rolling her eyes in amusement, "Well, not all of us can have this much talent?"

Nine shook her head. Not even dignifying his question with a responce, the head shake ended in a half yell-laugh as he got up.

"Don't you dare change you're face," she smirked slowly. "Or else I'll be forced to be less nice again. I'm told I'm not very likeable when I'm less nice."

"Good," Ninette nodded with grin. "As it should be."

She smirked and shook her head. "Nope, I can't give all my talents away in one go. What will keep you around then? I would so hate to lose you so suddenly."

"It would be weird would it?" she asked with a little smirk. "I know a lot of people who'd think it would be weird otherwise... I think even my friends would say it would be weird if I were otherwise."

She raised her eyebrow, "Are they now? You could be trying to poison me or..."

Marcus rolled his eyes but a smile was on his lips, "I'm pretty hard to get rid of me once you get to know me. Are you sure you don't want to end our friendship right now?" He laughed, "Just warning you ahead of time, I get annoying after awhile."

The boy shrugged, the smile still present on his lips. "Maybe it's because since you've been nice since the beginning, I'd find it quite odd if you were something else. I suppose it'd be odd for all of your friends as well," he said. "Then again, for all we know, you might be nice to all the people you meet first and then you turn mean!"

"Or I'm just trying to be nice," he finished for her with a sincere grin. "And woo you with chocolate."

Ninette shrugged, her lips pulling into a half smirk, "I shall consider myself warned. However, I'm sure if I decide it necessary I can get rid of anyone. I'll keep you for now."

She leaned back into the bench, streaching her hands in front of her, grimacing as she pulled at the wounds she had forgotten about.

"I'm not," she stated simply with a shrug, "Nice to everyone that is. I tend to be... more me than usual with new people."

She shrugged again and waved to herself, trying to impy her current behavor, "This, is unusual. You should feel honoured."

"Wooing me huh?" she shook her head, smiled and took a handful of the small candies. "And is it working? This wooing?"

"Keep me for now?" He repeated. "Am I some kind of pet or something now?"

"You might now want to do that," Marcus frowned as he saw her grimace from the new wounds on her hands. "If you do, you just might get infected." The boy's head tilted to the side curiously and raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to say that you're not being you around me? That doesn't sound too pleasant. You don't have to be someone else because you're around me. I mean, if anything, I wouldn't feel honored if you're not yourself. It makes me feel like I'm changing you to be someone else."

Marcus laughed a little as he mocked her and shrugged, smirking at her with bright eyes, "I don't know. You tell me."

"Maybe," she drawled slowly, smirking slightly, before listening to his next words and smiling softly, looking at her hands. "You sound like you might actually care if they get infected or not."

"No, I'm not being someone different," she said softly, shaking her head slightly, not realizing the truth of the words until she had actually spoken them. "I'm still myself... just- I think I'm being a me... I didn't think I could still be."

She smiled a bit and popped one of the candies into her mouth, "The jury's still out."

"Well," he said as he elongated the word slightly and winking playfully. "Does that mean that I'm a good pet?" Marcus smiled genuinely at her "Of course I would care. If you don't get that taken care of, next thing you know, your hands will get chopped off and you wouldn't want to have no hands, right? Unless you wants hooks for hands." Feeling like an idiot, Marcus grabbing his wand, he gently took a hold of the girl's hand and placed a simple episkey spell that cured the girls hand. "Hope that's better," he grinned as he placed the wand away.

He nodded, understanding what she meant by that and he told her that, "I guess we are all ourselves, it just so happens that different people tend to bring a different side we never see."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, confused at what she meant by that. "The jury's still out?" he repeated, questioningly. "What do you mean by that?"

Ninette didn't bother answering him, she just smirked, enjoying leaving him haning. She did always enjoy that power over people.

She was silent as he spoke looking at her hands after they were healed. She smiled slightly at them before pushing herself off the bench and smirking down at him slightly.

"It means that I'm still deciding - the Jury is still out of the court room, they're still dilibrating," she took a half step away from the boy. "I haven't made my mind up about you yet, Casanova."

She inclinde her head, her smirk in place now, but eyes still kind.

"Thanks for the help - I'll see you around."

Marucs shook his head, almost expecting for her not to answer. Smiling however, he took it as if he was a good pet and left that part of the conversation.

As she stepped away, he couldn't help but look at her in wonder. She was different from any other girl that he had ever met. Nine.... was different in her eyes and there was something about her that he couldn't help but feel attracted to. He wasn't sure what it was but one thing he knew for sure was that she was hiding something else, or so he he thought.

Standing up as well, he smirked, "Casanova." He arched an eyebrow, "Never had of that one before. Might as well come up with a nick name for you soon." Slinging his guitar case over his shoulders once more, he smiled and added, "Hopefully." And with that, Marcus turned on his heel and began to walk towards his initial destination.