Kate fidgeted with her fingers as she walked down the hall to the door she had been dreading since she had gotten back. If there was anything she regretted it was leaving Gawain and Maya when s/he was so close to finding his/her mom. She really was the worst best friend ever.

Kate lifted her hand to knock on the closed door, but lost her nerve before she could and started making her way back down the hall to her own room. She was a coward. How was it that facing Sam wasn’t this hard? Oh yeah… Sam hasn’t been abandoned and left wanting like Mirror. What if he hates her? Could Kate live with loosing someone that was so important to her?

Kate walked through her open door, leaned on her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She really did look different. She was wearing a shirt very different from what the mansion had seen of her previously, skinny jeans, and a pair of rather hot shoes as far as she was concerned. Would he even recognize her? Sam didn’t.

"Stop thinking like that. You can do this."

Kate sighed deeply and walked out of the room once more, making a b-line for the door of her oldest best friend. And before she stopped herself she knocked and waited.

Maya had many things on her mind. Mom, Maxine, money, the Lion King, more money, Mom, Sam, the X-men, Twyla, no, not Twyla, definitely not Twyla, anyone but Twyla, money, Mom, the lion...

Someone knocked.
Thank God, someone knocked.

Maya pushed a few strands of stray hair out of her face and walked over to the door. Damn the hair. She had just cut it short again, long hair was getting annoying, especially when she trained, and she trained a lot these days. Now it was just long enough for pigtails, and quite messy.

"Coming!" she called as she stepped over various items scattered around on the floor. The room really needed some cleaning. The tank top and cargo pants she was wearing were really the last in the clean pile.

Maya opened the door, and there she was.

Seeing the blonde locks first, for a split second she thought it was Twyla. For a split second. Even less. It was enough to feel like a punch in the stomach, but then she blinked, and it was Kate.

"Kate?..." her eyes narrowed. She looked... different. "Hoooooly sh*t! Kate!" she grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her into a hug. She was warm as usual "You are back!"

>>Kate?...Hoooooly sh*t! Kate! You are back!

She wrapped her arms around the slender girl and held on tightly as happy tears started falling from her eyes. She had really expect Maya to hate her. Though, she was very grateful she didn’t.

After a long, but greatly needed, while they pulled away and Kate looked up at her friend, “I’m sorry I just expected you to hate me… I am so happy you don’t.”

>>"I'm sorry I just expected you to hate me. I am so happy you don't."

Maya hugged her friend, and then pulled back to look at her. Wiping her tears with her thumbs, she smiled.

"You are silly. And even your tears are warm. Come on in."

They walked back inside the room, and Maya closed the door, looking a bit apologetic at all the mess. Instead of apologizing, though, she turned her attention back to Kate.

"You look gorgeous, by the way" she smirked "You have always had fire, but now you are decidedly hot." she grinned at the girl, folding her arms. "Sooo. Where the f**** have you been?!"

>>You are silly. And even your tears are warm. Come on in.

Kate followed her into the messy room, looking around and choosing to say nothing.

>>You look gorgeous, by the way. "You have always had fire, but now you are decidedly hot.

Kate wiped her tears and laughed at the rather direct comment from her best friend, “Are you saying I look better as a blonde?”

>>Sooo. Where the f**** have you been?!


Kate sighed knowing that this would have to come eventually. How was she going to tell her best friend about the best friend that had changed her life? Kate really didn’t want to offend Maya without even meaning to. It was already lucky that she even wanted to speak to her.

“I would love to tell you the story if you want to hear it. But for the most part I was in Rome.”

>>“Are you saying I look better as a blonde?”

"I'm sayin' you look classy from head to toe."

She was not flirting. Not really. But Kate was one of her best friends, and she deserved to hear how good she looked. Especially because there must have been a reason why she disappeared, and those reasons were rarely ever nice.

>>“I would love to tell you the story if you want to hear it. But for the most part I was in Rome.”

Maya blinked. "You b*tch." she said with a wide grin "That explains a lot."

Pulling up a chair, she turned it around and sat, arms folded on the back of the chair. She left the bed for her to sit, more comfortable.

"I'm listening" she said with a smirk. Must be one hell of a story.

>>You b*tch. That explains a lot

“What do you mean that explains a lot?!” Kate watched as Maya pulled up a chair leaving the bed open for her to take a seat on. Which she did gladly.

>>I'm listening

“Well to tell you the truth when it all happened I was quite unsure of where I was even going to go. All I did was call David to take me to the airport, pack a bag and go. I had no real plan. I actually stood in front of the departures listings for forever before I finally went to a desk and just asked for what flight was leaving next.” Kate remembered the face of the confused clerk as she asked for any flight going to Europe that was leaving soon. The poor woman had been so confused by the odd request. It isn’t often people show up at an airport with no real direction, “Once I got there I did the usual things. I got a hotel, I settled in. I actually didn’t leave for days. I just sat there wallowing in my own self misery until one day I looked in the mirror and I hated everything about myself.” That was something that Kate hadn’t even said to Hanna and the thought of how she felt then scared her. It was really lucky that she had just called the concierge instead of doing something far more drastic, “I called the front desk and asked them to find me a way to change the way I look. They sent me Hanna and she did all of this,” Kate inclined to her clothes and hair, which had been a Hanna Winners production from top to bottom, “I am more grateful for that woman then she will ever know. She pulled me out of the dark and gave me my life back.”

>>“Once I got there I did the usual things. I got a hotel, I settled in. I actually didn’t leave for days. I just sat there wallowing in my own self misery until one day I looked in the mirror and I hated everything about myself. I called the front desk and asked them to find me a way to change the way I look. They sent me Hanna and she did all of this. I am more grateful for that woman then she will ever know. She pulled me out of the dark and gave me my life back.”

Maya listened to the story curiously. Well, Kate certainly had the time and the money for extremely expensive self-pity. Of course she did not say that out loud.

"Soo, let me get this straight" she tilted her head "You flew to Rome, rented a hotel room, and went 'before-after' crazy on yourself because your life sucked?... See the irony there?" she giggled. She was not really mocking her. She just thought it was funny.

"Kate. You know there was nothing wrong with you before, right?" she asked, more serious this time, honesty evident in her tone "You need to know that. You have always been pretty, and smart, and kind." she smirked "Except when you burnt down pianos, but oh well."

>>Soo, let me get this straight. You flew to Rome, rented a hotel room, and went 'before-after' crazy on yourself because your life sucked?... See the irony there?

“It’s really not that funny. I really did hate myself. I had grown to resent my mutation and everything that it made me, and it really did make me hate myself. I mean I never really admitted it till now, but looking back that’s what was wrong with me. I am starting to think that Hanna really did save me from doing a horrible thing.”

Kate had never ever thought about what would have happened if Hanna hadn’t of shown up at her door that day. Sure she had stated that things would have been different but she had never thought about how they would be different. Who knows if she would have even made it through the week. Hanna had shown up and started her whirlwind of change without even giving Kate time to sit down long enough and realize why she had never been able to get out of her funk.

>>Kate. You know there was nothing wrong with you before, right? You need to know that. You have always been pretty, and smart, and kind. Except when you burnt down pianos, but oh well.

“I know that now. I mean Hanna made me look good and feel good about the way I look. And Albee.. Well he just made me feel good.” Kate giggled at her comment as her hands rose to cover her blushing face and she feel back onto the bed.

The mutation. It was always the mutation.
All right, so seven times out of ten, it was the mutation. The other three was always the guy. Or guys.
Or, in Maya's case, girls.

>>“I know that now. I mean Hanna made me look good and feel good about the way I look. And Albee.. Well he just made me feel good.”

"Now we're talkin'" Maya grinned "Cute Italian guy? Spill it."

At least Kate lookd happy now. Whatever made her leave and fall into the mood she had just described, she looked okay now. Pretty, shiny, all new and cheerful, even if a bit apologetic. That was more than Maya could say about herself, so who was she to judge her?

>>Now we're talkin'. Cute Italian guy? Spill it.

Kate could feel a blush rush over her as she thought about the boy in question, “He is Austrian and yes he is more than just cute.” She sat up and smiled at the girl across from her, “You would be proud of me you know. The first time I met him I woke up in his bed, which he hasn’t slept in, with the biggest hangover I have ever had.”

>>“He is Austrian and yes he is more than just cute. You would be proud of me you know. The first time I met him I woke up in his bed, which he hasn’t slept in, with the biggest hangover I have ever had.”

Now that was something Maya had not expected to hear, not from Kate, not in a million years. She blinked, for a moment suspicious that it might be a joke, than a wide grin spread across her face.

"Goooood girl" she nodded approvingly, then "Wait, time out. When have I become the person who is proud of her friends' shameless behavior?..."

Maya was decidedly not a player. She was in a serious... oh, scratch that.
Moving on.

"Anyhow. Did ya just spend hangover time in his virgin bed, or did somethin' actually happen? Don't spare the dirty details."

>>Goooood girl Wait, time out. When have I become the person who is proud of her friends' shameless behavior?...

Kate raised an eyebrow at Maya, “I thought that you would be happy that a bit of your lewd behavior may have rubbed off on me.”

>>Anyhow. Did ya just spend hangover time in his virgin bed, or did somethin' actually happen? Don't spare the dirty details.

“No. It was completely innocent. I actually had no idea who he was then. I woke up as Hanna ran out to work and left me with a strange man who was making me breakfast.”

>>“I thought that you would be happy that a bit of your lewd behavior may have rubbed off on me.”

Maya glared at her, mock offended, secretly proud.

"When have I ever been lewd?..."

She really had not. She had been in a serious relationship, and she was all faithful and in love and sh*t. A world of good it did her, huh.

>>“No. It was completely innocent. I actually had no idea who he was then. I woke up as Hanna ran out to work and left me with a strange man who was making me breakfast.”

"Oh please, come on!" she growled "Tell me ya did not build this whole story up just to let me know ya've got a new butler..."

Maybe Kate had not changed that much after all.

>>When have I ever been lewd?...

“Would you really like me to answer that?” It was interesting to fall back into old patterns after so much time. It was nice to know that they could still be friends, unlike her and Andrew. That relationship was going to take some time to repair.

>>Oh please, come on! Tell me ya did not build this whole story up just to let me know ya've got a new butler...

“Most certainly not my butler. That would be… well… disgusting.” Kate couldn’t think about even being interested in her butler. Who, she made a note to call as soon as she was done talking to Mirror. It had been over a week since they had spoken and he would be getting worried. He didn’t like her decision to leave the school and was constantly worried about her being on her own, but so far had done nothing to stop her. Which Kate appreciated greatly.

“No he was making me breakfast because I was a guest in his apartment.” A dreamy smile crossed her face, “We had to have sat there all morning and most of the afternoon just talking. He told me about all the ridiculous things I had done the night before. We had apparently met up with him when he got into the city, I just don’t remember that part or anything after it.” Kate chuckled at the thought. That was an interesting moment, one that she had yet to repeat. Thank god for a really high metabolism to burn off the alcohol.

“Next thing we knew Hanna had come back and both of us hasn’t moved. I think I spent every day he was in the city, and not doing something work related, with him. So like I said, not my butler.”