"I wish to offer my congratulations on your achievement," Delphine said, surprising him by appearing without ceremony at his side in the midst of so many. "You have done very well."

He smiled quickly at her, trying not to look as though he had been looking for someone. "Thanks, Aunt."

"I understand your parents are hosting a celebration tomorrow," she added. "Do you mean to attend?"

"Oh, I'll attend," he said dryly. "Truth. If my parents have to drag me out of bed at quarter before, they'll make sure I don't miss it."

She inclined her head, pretending not to notice his reluctance. "I will see you tomorrow, then."

Distracted by the conversation, he failed to notice Sanaro's return until it was too late. His friend reclaimed his place against the wall with studied indifference, saying blithely, "Your girl's waiting for you." Then, as though he had only just realized she was there, he added, "Greetings, Ranger Delphine."

He did his level best not to glare at his friend, who had clearly done that only to cause trouble, and he forced a smile when his aunt tilted her head inquiringly at him. "'Your girl'?" she repeated, the slightest hint of reproof in her tone.

"He's not serious, Aunt." This time he did glare, giving his friend a look that said clearly Thanks for that. "I'll see you tomorrow, true? Thanks for coming."

He dragged Sanaro off, knowing the remark would get back to his parents before the end of the day. "Thanks," he muttered under his breath. "That was a really great thing to say in front of the first female White Ranger since Kalesi."

Sanaro blinked, then looked a little chagrinned. "Oh. I didn't think of that. Sorry."

He sighed. "If you're lucky, the family will be too busy asking me about what you said to take offense at how you said it. Which I *also* owe you for," he added, giving his friend an annoyed look.

The other shrugged, his embarrassment already fading. "Just trying to keep myself entertained," he said, an unrepentant grin tugging at his expression.

***

"Surprise," said a voice in Cetaci's ear.

"Aura!" Reiya positively shrieked at the sight of her friend, drawing looks from those nearby as she reached out her hand. One or two of the looks turned blank as someone pretended not to see the multi-colored pin displayed prominently on the other girl's sash.

Aura pressed her palm to Reiya's briefly, and Cetaci snuck a glance at the pin while she was distracted. I know what you're thinking, it read defiantly. I just don't care. She tried not to giggle--Aura was a telepath, and a strong one, and she'd been open about it since before Cetaci had known her. She was one of a very few students who dared to wear TP rights slogans wherever she went.

"Hello Ci," Aura added, holding out her hand in turn. "How's your sister?"

She touched Aura's hand, trying to hold onto her smile. "They say she's getting better. She's still not awake much."

Aura's fingers squeezed hers gently before letting go. "She'll be all right," she said, sympathy warring with worry in her eyes. "It takes time."

"She'll be sorry to have missed this," Reiya said, glancing around. "I know she had an invitation to the graduation party tonight."

"I'll cause enough trouble for both of us," Aura promised, a smirk chasing the worry off of her face. "Shall we start now?"

Reiya grinned at the challenge, but she shook her head regretfully. "Can't. We're waiting for Ci's pilot to show."

"Really?" Aura sounded so interested that Cetaci bit back her protest. "Which one?"

"Delphinius," Reiya answered for her, and only then did she realize that she hadn't known his name until now. "Ranger Delphine's nephew."

Aura's expression went from one of interest to distaste in a flash. "Not *him*," she said skeptically. "He's not a friend of yours, is he?"

***

Delphinius stopped, catching sight of the person who had just joined the two girls. "Oh, not her," he muttered. "Sanaro, wait."

Sanaro paused, looking at him oddly. "What's wrong?"

"Remember that girl I hit in the diver lanes a few days ago?" he asked, staring at the trio by the second table.

"Vividly," Sanaro confirmed. "Insane and with an attitude to match."

Delphinius sighed. "That's her," he agreed. "And she's over there by the table with our friends right now."

Sanaro peered through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of them. "Interesting," he said, sounding amused. "Maybe your girl isn't such an angel after all."

"I never said she was an angel," he protested. But he felt compelled to add, "And don't judge her by the company she keeps. You don't know anything about her."

Sanaro laughed. "Neither do you, my friend. Try to keep that in mind!"

He shifted uneasily. "Maybe we should wait until they're alone."

"With the number of people here? That could be all night. Come on--if you don't at least talk to her after this, I'll never let you forget it."

***

"You know him?" Reiya asked, turning to search out the object of their conversation. "How?"

"He ran me down in Coralside last week." Aura frowned in the direction Reiya was looking. "Tore up my flit over the southwest exit flow, then came back and swore at me for being in the diver lanes with a flitter."

"You shouldn't have been," Reiya pointed out, her eyes dancing with mirth.

"I know, but he didn't have to be so insufferable about it." Aura was still eyeing the crowd.

"What were you doing over the southwest flow?" Cetaci asked, not sure she wanted to know. Most of Aura's driving antics weren't legal in a diver, let alone a flit.

"Buzzing the paraplay dome," Aura answered, flashing her a grin. "The kids love it."

"And every time I have to pretend that I have no idea who it is," Reiya put in.

"Oh, look, there's Cen," Aura said innocently, as though she hadn't heard. "If you're trying to meet Silver Boy there, it's probably better if I'm not around."

"You don't have to leave," Cetaci protested immediately, but Aura shook her head.

"I don't want to see him again anyway. He'd probably give me another lecture. I'll catch up with Cen and we'll go get a place for dinner. You're both coming, aren't you?"

Reiya said "yes" just as Cetaci said "no", and Aura gave her a look. "I'd stay and talk you into it if *he* wasn't two steps away," she said. "Reiya, make sure she comes. See you both later."

With that she was gone, and her timing couldn't have been better. No sooner had she vanished than a familiar voice spoke from somewhere behind Cetaci.

***

"And another one runs away," Sanaro commented. "You seem to be having that effect on people this evening, Delphinius."

"Do I look scary or something?" he asked plaintively. It figures, he thought wryly. The one night I go out of my way to meet people...

The thought trailed off as the blonde-haired girl turned around and he got his first good look at her. Had he thought about it, he would have expected her to have eyes pale enough to match her hair. But instead they were so deeply violet that they were almost blue, and though he knew he was staring, he found he couldn't help himself.

"No one ran away," the girl snapped, and those almost-blue eyes sparkled indignantly. He was so caught up in watching them that her displeased tone barely registered.

"I suppose she went to get a drink, too?" Sanaro suggested lazily.

"She went to meet a friend," the blonde-haired girl informed him. "Not that I'd blame her for 'running away', as you say, after the other day."

She shot an odd look in his direction--somewhere between curious and scathing--and it was enough to rouse him to protest. "Hey, the accident wasn't my fault," he informed her. "She was out there illegally."

"She didn't hit *you*!" The friend of the blonde-haired girl sounded more indignant than she did, and she seemed about to continue when Sanaro intervened.

"She should have," his friend drawled. "Might have given him some respect for flits. He's always complaining about how fragile they are--makes me crazy."

Diverted, the girl's friend gave him a second, more appraising look. "Do you flit?"

"Sometimes," he allowed. "I'm Sanaro, by the way, and my incompetent friend here is Delphinius."

Delphinius did his best to repress a glare. He hated to let Sanaro get away without a retort, and more than that he hated letting it happen repeatedly, but his friend did have an uncanny ability to smooth over almost as much trouble as he started. The confrontational atmosphere faded a little, and the blonde-haired girl even smiled at his introduction.

"I'm Reiya," her friend told Sanaro, her gaze sweeping toward him to include him momentarily.

"Cetaci," the blonde-haired girl added. "Pleased to know you." Unlike her friend she spoke only to him, but then, he reminded himself, she and Sanaro had already met.

He didn't know what made him press his fingertips together before nodding to her--Delphine's formality rubbing off on him, maybe--and he regretted it the moment he did it. It was a silly thing to do among students, really...

She looked surprised at the gesture, but not as surprised as he felt when she echoed it. He felt a smile spread across his face, and then--she *winked* at him.

"I saw you do that," he blurted, searching her expression for some sign of comprehension. "From the platform, during the ceremony... I saw you wink."

Reiya laughed, and the blonde-haired girl--Cetaci, his mind supplied, trying it out--looked faintly embarrassed. "I was trying to decide whether you were looking at me or the door," she mumbled, not looking away. "It was hard to tell."

"Oh, he was looking at you," Sanaro interjected. "In fact, he couldn't stop--"

"Sanaro's going to stop talking now," he said loudly, glaring at his friend even as he spoke over him. "Because he's such a good friend that he isn't going to repeat anything I might or might not have said at the time..."

Sanaro gave him an arch look. "How good a friend am I, again? Refresh my memory."

"Good enough that you don't have to be bribed," Delphinius told him.

Sanaro sighed in mock-regret. "I was afraid he was going to say that," he confided to Reiya.

"Sanaro!" said a voice from the crowd, and he looked up in time to see Leis waving to them from the other end of the table. "Delphinius! They're going to start serving the graduates. Come on!"

Sanaro waved in acknowledgement, but Delphinius hesitated. "You'll be at the dinner, true?" he asked, strangely anxious that this girl he had only just met should not disappear so quickly. If she did, he knew he might never see her again.

"Certainly," she answered, and her friend gave her a strange look.

Smiling, he barely noticed. "Then I'll see you at dinner. It was nice to meet you."

"And you," she replied automatically.

He saw Sanaro nod to Reiya out of the corner of his eye, but if they had exchanged words he'd missed it. He followed his friend toward the nearest exit, looking back just before the crowd swallowed them up completely. She was watching him go with a small smile on her face, and whether it was meant for him or not, he couldn't help grinning back.