[Kate, Juri, and Sumire are aboard an express train from Ohji to Sendai, en route to the Shinguuji compound for the Christmas festivities.]

        Kate pictured a younger Sumire exploding onto the scene at the
Deedlit Satori Mandeville Memorial Institute and couldn't help laughing.
        "What's so funny about that?" Sumire demanded.  "Do you not
think I could've gotten in?  I'm not just one of the great beauties of
our age, you know; I also happen to have a brilliant mind."
        "I'm j-just pic-c-picturing you and L-Liza g-going head t-to
head b-b-back in the d-day," said Kate between giggles.
        Sumire's dark eyes widened.  "What, before her transformation?
(And before mine, come to that, I'm sure you've heard the stories,)" she
noted as if making an aside to a stage audience.  "Frankly, I'd like to
think I would have crushed her.  I was an -exceptionally- talented
bitch."  She sighed nostalgically.  "Ah, well, that was then.  I've
mellowed considerably in my old age.  You can thank Kaitlyn's father for
that," she added offhandedly to Juri.  "It turns out the old saying
about difficult women is true."
        Kate made a small noise; Sumire turned back to her with a
solicitous look.  "I'm sorry, Kaitlyn darling, too much information?"
Kate merely gave her a look, because she knew that if she opened her
mouth it was all over; Sumire shrugged and added nonchalantly, "In that
case, I probably shouldn't mention that your mother and I are planning
to finally fix him up with Kohran this year.  The poor dear desperately
needs her bolts tightened, if you'll pardon the expression."
        Kate, barely containing herself, glanced to Juri for support;
but all she got from that quarter was a single arched eyebrow, which
finished her off.  She buried her face in Serge's back (puzzling the
tiger considerably) to avoid alerting the whole coach with her torrent
of laughter.
        Once she'd gotten that out of her system, she raised her face a
little from the tiger's back (now slightly damp with tears of mirth) and
said, "Y-you're n-not really."
        "Are we -not,-" Sumire replied mock-haughtily.  "She -was- the
first of the Hanagumi to kiss him, you know."
        Shaking her head, Kate let go of Serge's sides and flopped back
against the compartment wall.  "You p-people have r-r-ruined his r-
reput-t-tation," she said sadly.
        "It's a dirty job," Sumire conceded, "but someone has to do it.
It's probably petty of me, but I just like seeing -how ridiculous- we
can make the rumors in 'Hello!' magazine without his knowledge.
Everyone needs hobbies."
        "Th-th-the one about the chorus l-line was a b-b-bit much," Kate
opined.
        Sumire gave a rather Gallic shrug.  "I only regret that I not
only can't claim, but don't know who -is- responsible for, the one about
James May."

This just made my day. And now I have to clean the sprayed coffee out of my laptop. You'd think I'd know better...

---
"Together we will build an empire of a million shining suns." -- Dave, Dictator of Utopia.

Let us observe James May as he sits in his cubicle, reading an article in 'Hello!' magazine. Over the top of the pages, we can see the upper half of his face go through several interesting convolutions as he reads and re-reads the same paragraph several times. As he finally finishes the article, we can see that his hands have balled into fists, which also ruins the magazine.

A moment later, May's head emerges from the entrance to his cubicle. "CLARKSON!" he bellows, his voice heavy with his irritation...

So, this is how the audiobook played out in my head. It was read by Alan Rickman, apparently.
----
Now Playing:
VNV Nation -- Carry You (Judgement, 2007)

...

< THIS SPACE FOR RENT >

Oh yes, that fits both UF and RL Clarkson perfectly. May's the intended target too, Gryphon's just (possibly complicit) collateral damage.

That's a fun and cheery little fragment, but it only whets my appetite for more.

Random thought: If this story does get finished, will Symphony 3 cease to be title "The Unfinished Symphony?"

>That's a fun and cheery little fragment, but it only whets my appetite
>for more.
>
>Random thought: If this story does get finished, will Symphony 3 cease
>to be title "The Unfinished Symphony?"

According to the page for Symphony 3, Entr'Acte: A Day at the Races is still to come. By the listing, that one would fit in the timeline immediately before Christmas in Sendai, and directly after Fifth Movement: Sophomore Slump.

Jeanne

	Jeanne Hedge http://www.jhedge.com
"Believe me, if I have to go the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself won't be a problem." -- Gabrielle of Potadeia

Always good to see the Grave Feminine Conspiracy use its powers for Evil instead of Good.

------
Jon Helscher

That thing you burned up isn't important to me. It's the fluid catalytic cracking unit. It made shoes for orphans. Nice job breaking it, hero.

GLaDOS- Portal

Ah, god, you have no idea how I needed a laugh this morning.

Since I'd pretty much resigned myself to A Walk in the Woods being all we'd see of the long "promised" Christmas in Sendai, I hope this means more goodness might see the light of day relatively soon. :)

Jeanne

	Jeanne Hedge http://www.jhedge.com
"Believe me, if I have to go the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself won't be a problem." -- Gabrielle of Potadeia

>Since I'd pretty much resigned myself to
>A Walk in >the Woods> being all we'd see of the long "promised" Christmas in
>Sendai, I hope this means more goodness might see the light of day
>relatively soon. :)
>
>Jeanne
>

Funny thing is, every time I read that, I end up thinking of the Halo OST song 'A Walk in the Woods', which oddly enough, really fits that chapter as they look for the Giants/Meltrandi. But then, UF is awesome that way.

>>A Walk in the Woods

>Funny thing is, every time I read that, I end up thinking of the Halo
>OST song 'A Walk in the Woods', which oddly enough, really fits that
>chapter as they look for the Giants/Meltrandi. But then, UF is awesome
>that way.

/me gives Barricade a Cookie, as that was the music playing in my mental soundtrack at the time.

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "And it can now be told, that yes, the costumes for Utena, Anthy, and Corwin were taken directly from the Meynard christmas pic. You can assume they did the snowball battle another day, though... there was no good place to put it here."