As a rule, China did not frequent coffee shops. They meant being around average people and provided the perfect opportunity for an enemy to slip poison into her drink. On this particular day it was a necessity. The rain was falling persistantly, which was of course not much of a problem for China except for the inconvenience of having to magic the rain away from her body. The problem was that it was beginning to look suspicious to those around her who were getting soaked whilst she remained dry without so much as an umbrella.

She ducked into the quaint little shop and approached the counter, ignoring the looks of adoration she was receiving from those seated at the small, round tables dotted around, ordered something sophisticated sounding, her attempt at paying waved off by the open-mouthed barrister, and sat down in a secluded corner.

She was about to take a sip when she glanced up and noticed a young woman staring at her in a vastly different way than any of the others in the coffee shop. There was a look of fascination on her face quite unlike anything China had experience before. It was as if she was seeing past the false image of love and could see the real China underneath. It made her feel vulnerable; for once she was not in control of someone's feelings for her. The strangest thing was, in a way China almost liked it.

The girl did not seem embarrassed at being caught staring, in fact she got up and walked over to where China was sat with the most confident and bold look on her face that China had ever seen. The girl sat down opposite her and stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Clarabelle." She said in a dreamy voice. "You're very beautiful."

"Thank you, my dear. My name is China." A pause in conversation followed and China took the opportunity to study the girl closer. She was certainly young, only in her 20s- not that that had stopped China before- and her hair was an alarming shade of blue. An unusual looking girl, but certainly not unattractive; not unattractive at all.

They talked away half the afternoon, China had to lie about some points of her life, her age and skills to name a few, but mainly she told Clarabelle about her fierce love of books and the knowledge that came with them. The whole time she talked Clarabelle's eyes never left her face. When it was Clarabelle's turn to talk she found herself doing the same thing as the girl talked about how she was still seeking work and that she too loved to read. The more she talked the more China was interested in the girl who had so boldly approached her and she felt her defences slowly coming down around her.

The rain had stopped long ago and China desperately needed to leave; there was a very famous and very ancient book to buy that would not wait forever. Bringing the conversation to a close she stood up to leave. Leaning down she placed a soft kiss on the young girl's lips, barely touching them, guaranteeing that the girl would find her again.