What does she know? Black Mist thought bitterly as he brought Hachi to the living room after breakfast. She doesn't know what I do. If she did, it would be a different story.

So why not tell her? the depressed voice asked. It's not like it would make a difference.

No. He had all he needed right here. The child beside him, little Hachi, was all he needed. Just the thought of that made him smile. He even forgot about the curse for a while as he watched Hachi get to know his uncles and aunts.

"So this is the new member of our family?" a warm voice behind him asked.

Black Mist turned and saw Hope behind him. "Yes, Papa." He smiled brightly.

Hope smiled right back, glad to see his son now happy. He wondered how long it would last, though. "Where did you find him?"

"The town a little far from here, the one with the flying races. I found him in the middle of a crowd, and that crowd was wondering what to do about his housing. I volunteered to bring him in." His smile thinned a little, and as he looked at his feet, he blushed a bit. "He calls me 'daddy.' I don't know if-"

"Nonsense," Hope interrupted. "There's nothing to be apprehensive about. He's already attached to you. This is good for you."

Black Mist looked up, the smile returning. "Thank you. Do you want to meet him?"

"Of course!" Almost too eagerly, Hope joined the crowd of children as they chatted. 

Black Mist watched from the side, and although he wanted to join, he had a strange urge to check on Anuenue. After all, she wasn't healed and she was pushing herself. So, excusing himself and ensuring Hachi that he would be safe with his granddad, he slipped into the shadows and looked for the girl, guessing that she was somewhere in the infirmary or at least around it, headed in that direction. She wasn't there, though.

So Mist tried the room Hope had assigned her after she'd been allowed out of her room. Sure enough, and unluckily enough, he found her in her room, nursing the wounds she'd managed to reopen. He sighed through his nose while he was in the shadows before emerging.

"You really shouldn't push yourself, you know," he said without waiting for her to notice his presence. "What have you been doing, anyway?"

Anuenue jumped, startled, and whipped her head to look at where he was. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"So sorry to interrupt you as you lick your reopened wounds." Mist carelessly sat beside her, grabbed her arm, and examined the wound. He ignored her protests. "What have you been doing?"

"Making sure the kids weren't lonely," she admitted, though she sounded defiant.

"Which ones?"

"The Dark Numbers."

"They like to play rough, you know. You went ahead and played with them without even thinking about the possibility of opening your wounds?"

Anuenue pulled her arm back, sticking her bottom lip out stubbornly. For some reason, this stirred something in Mist. "I don't need you to tell me what to do."

Black Mist made to grab her arm again, but seeing the way she pulled back, he stopped his attempts. This was odd to him. He usually didn't quit when he was given cues; he was stubborn like that. "You need to get that healed. I can do that for you, you know."

The girl looked at him stubbornly and slowly reached her arm out to him. Black Mist was impatient, but he waited for her to fully trust him before gently grasping her arm and making his hand sticky. He couldn't help but chuckle under his breath when as his cold ooze coated the opened wound on her arm, sealing the gash and healing it at the same time, she shivered with a look of disgust on her face. Despite the cold sliminess, however, there was great relief there.

Shyly, Anuenue asked, "Does that work for any wound?"

"Only bleeding ones," Black Mist replied nonchalantly as he examined her visible skin for any more open wounds, which she allowed him to heal. "Anything more?"

"No," she lied, but she was unwilling to take off her clothes so he could heal them. While she was grateful that she could heal him, she wasn't willing to trust him that much. "Thank you, though."

"You're welcome." He allowed himself to smile in her presence. The curse was forgotten, for the time being. "By the way, we're going to a flying race later on. Would you want to come?"

The sudden invitation surprised her. She didn't know they were going anywhere, but knowing Black Mist wanted her to come along was a pleasant surprise. Anuenue smiled back at him. "Sure. I'll be happy to go."

Mist breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid you were going to say no."

"Why would I say no? I've never seen a flying race! In all my travels, I don't know how I missed it."

"I'm sure you'll love it then." He got up and stretched. "I should go make sure Hachi is getting along with the children. I'll see you later."

"See you later."

Before Mist left the room, though, he turned back to her. "Be careful with the Dark Number kids next time. They like to play rough."

Anuenue nodded, a grin on her face. "Is that your way of giving me permission to leave my room?" she joked.

He laughed shortly. "Who am I to tell you what to do?" He left the room to go see Hachi before anything else could be said.

As soon as he was out of the room and a good deal away from it, Mist breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he didn't like being in Anuenue's presence. Quite the opposite, in fact; he liked being with her too much. Was that safe?

And suddenly the memory of the curse resurfaced. Of course this was a stupid idea! He'd just taken in a child who thought Mist was his father while at the same time inviting a girl to an outing! Who in their right mind would do such a thing knowing that they killed someone near and dear to them!? A psychopath, that's who. 

And I'm not there yet.

Resolve solid now, Mist made his way back to the living room to hang back and watch the children play or watch a movie. 

"Next month...!"

Mist winced at the voice of the little girl. Next month...the outing...

A/N: So, I had this in the back of my mind, but I need a second opinion before going on a huge project. Should I remake the Finding Darkness series? I'll leave the originals untouched, of course, but I've had the immense urge to remake them because I have a background for the stories now. So, should I?