With the custody incident settled, Elkis chose to take the kids home and call someone to restore her burned living room. But when she arrived she found police tape and demolition workers around her house.

"What the hell is going on here?!" She shouted.

"Miss Scarlet." Said the man in charge. "I'm very sorry to tell you this but we have a court order to demolish your house."

"What? Why?"

"There's a broken gas pipe under here and it must be removed before it causes any further harm. To do that we must demolish this house so experts can dig underground for it."

"But you can't do this! This is my home! Where am I and the kids supposed to live?"

"I can't help you there. I'm sorry. I can allow you to go inside and get your things but that's it. You can't stay here anymore."

"This is ridiculous! Who issued this court order?!"

"Mayor Heartfilia."

"Ugh! Why am I not surprised?!"

She argued with them for almost an hour and didn't agree to their terms until they threatened to call the police. Not wanting to face jail time especially when she just got the kids back, she reluctantly told the kids to pack up all their belongings while she did the same with hers. She couldn't afford to bring her furniture. She could only bring what could fit in suitcases, boxes, and bags. Whatever remained in the house would be destroyed.

She tried to get a room at a motel or a bed and breakfast but apparently their policies wouldn't allow them to take in someone who had been investigated by the police. In other words Lusha had spread the word about the custody case and made it sound like Elkis was an arsonist who got off on a technicality.

"I swear this woman is relentless." She cursed under her breath.

"So where are we going to live?" Nasha asked her.

"I don't know but for now I'm afraid it's my car." Elkis said. "It won't be long. I promise. I'll think of something."

"How exactly are we supposed to live in a car?"

"We'll manage."

"Manage what?" Nakku was walking back from work when he saw them packing things into her car. "Going on a trip?"

"No. Lusha had my house demolished."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently it's the only way to remove the bust gas pipe underneath. But actually it's her way of finding another reason to take the kids out of my custody. They can't stay with me if I don't provide suitable living conditions."

"Have you tried a motel or a bed and breakfast?"

"They won't take me because I've been investigated by the police."

"So you're gonna live in your car?"

"I don't have any other option and it's only a matter of time before Mr. Justine gets wind of this and sends the kids back."

Nakku thought for a moment and he got an idea.

"Well why don't you all stay with me in my apartment?"

"Nakku that's sweet but I can't."

"Why not? I have two bedrooms. You and Nasha can have the guest room, Greige will take my room, and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Nakku I can't ask you to do that. It's too much."

"It's better than a car isn't it?"

"But that's your home. To impose-"

"You wouldn't be imposing. To be honest I'm lonely. I've gotten tired of living by myself."

"I don't know if you realize what you're offering. It's not just me who's living with you. It's me and two kids who are ten and thirteen. Children in those age groups aren't easy to live with."

"Hey I'm actually more good with kids than you think. I babysit Mr. Conbolt's son and Mrs. Marvell's granddaughter all the time. They're thirteen and twelve. I think I know what I'll be living with."

"You really don't mind us staying with you?"

"Not at all."

"Okay but let me pay half the rent."

"You don't have to do that."

"I can and I will. I'll get a second job. Maybe Mrs. Marvell will let me work at her diner."

"Why not? You're bound to be better employee than Cara."

"Does she not do a good job?"

"She does but she tends to sneak in a few sips of liquor between her break time and you know how Mrs. Marvell is a stickler for sober workers. Mrs. Marvell knows me very well so I'll recommend you for hire."

"Thanks."

"Anything for a friend right?"

"Right...Oh no."

"What?"

"I forgot the kids have to see that therapist tomorrow."

"They're seeing a therapist?"

"Shh!" She hushed before whispering. She didn't want the kids to know yet because she didn't want them to think she was having them see him because she believed them to be crazy. "It's not what you think. I thought maybe a therapist could help me find out more about them. So I could help them get through their emotional problems."

"Okay so what's the issue?" He whispered.

"I don't know if I can afford him now."

"Hey if it's too expensive I'll chip in."

"No Nakku. Not money. Letting us stay with you is enough."

"I want to help you however I can. Especially if you're still going to work and not mooch off of me."

"But you have money problems too."

"Yes but I have a home, food, and no family. You are homeless, out of resources, and you have kids. So which one of us do you think needs money more?"

She smiled and hugged him. Sometimes Nakku just amazed Elkis. The way he always went out of his way to help someone was almost unreal. Made her wonder how anyone could hate him.

"Thank you." She said gratefully. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." He said hugging her back.

They moved in during the afternoon and Nakku helped both Elkis and the kids get settled in. As he was helping Nasha get unpacked he couldn't help but notice the little toy kitty cat that fell out of her bag.

"What's this?" He asked picking it up.

"It's nothing! Give it back!" She grabbed it from him. "You shouldn't be going through my things! Creep!"

"I'm sorry but I wasn't going through your things. It fell out of your bag." Nakku explained. "I hope I didn't mess it up. I...I'll leave you alone."

He started to leave the room. Nasha didn't know why but she suddenly felt bad for how she spoke to him and wanted to not only apologise but tell him about her toy.

"Wait." She said softly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you or called you that."

She showed the blue teddy cat to him.

"His name is Happy. I've had him for as long as I can remember. Growing up he's pretty much the only thing that made me happy so I called him that. I know it's a silly name."

"No I like it." He said with a smile. "Funny thing though when I was a boy I...I think I had a pet named Happy once."

"You think?"

"I was very little so I don't know if it's a memory or if I just imagined it. Heck I don't even know what kind of pet it was." He looked at the toy in her hand. Cute little thing. Do you know who gave it to you?"

"No. I don't. I know I'm probably too old to still be carrying him around...or to act like it's real instead of a toy but all my life I've had the strangest feeling that it's somehow alive. When I was real little I used to think that every night when I went to sleep he- I mean it would watch over me. Like it was protecting me."

"Maybe he was." Nakku said. "You know they say that toys will protect kids from the monsters who hide under their beds."

"There were no monsters under my bed."

"How do you know? Maybe there were but you never saw them because Happy here kept you safe."

"Oh yeah? How? Look at him. He's little."

"Don't underestimate what animal will do to protect a person they love. Why there have been horses known to fight like lions to protect their riders."

"Well I doubt Happy could fight anything. He can't even blink."

"Maybe he can move, he just chooses not to because he knows it would freak everyone out."

Nasha couldn't help but let out a little laugh at how far Nakku's imagination stretched. He definitely was creative and you don't see a lot of that in adults. Part of her wished she had met him back when she was little and loved using her imagination. He no doubt would have made a great playmate.

"Hey do you mind if I hold him?" Nakku asked looking at the toy.

"Why?"

"I just want to feel him. He looks soft."

She gently handed the stuffed kitty to him. Nakku held it gently. As if it were a real animal or a real friend. For some reason it made him feel like he had been breifly reunited with a long lost pet or friend from his childhood.

"He's a good friend." He said handing it back to her. "Be good to him."

"I will. I may be too old to see him- it as anything more than a toy but I'll take care of it. After all it did make me happy."

She laid her toy on top of the bed she would share with Elkis then went with Nakku to help everyone else unpack. Unknown to both of them, as soon as they left the room a tear dripped down from the unblinking eye of the stuffed blue kitty cat.

...

A royal coach was going down a trail in the forest. What the coach carried was a chest of gold coins that were to be delivered to the Summer Palace of the king of Northern Fiore. He and his family were staying here for the Summer to take some time off from the exhaustion of politics and to make a trade agreement with the monarchy of Eastern Fiore.

The trip would have been uneventful had the path not been blocked by what appeared to be a fallen tree. The guards left the coach and went to move the tree. But one guard in particular who was more perceptive than the others noticed something off about the edges of where the tree had broke off from his trunk. Then he realized that it hadn't of been broken off. It had been cut.

"It's an ambush!" He realized.

At that moment he spotted a cloak figure swipe a good amount of gold coins from the chest in the coach and slip it into their satchel. When the figure realized it had been spotted it started to flee. Quickly he chased down the thief and managed to pin them to the ground.

"Show your face you coward!" He demanded as he turned the figure over and ripped off the hood to face him. Only to be startled to see that the bandit wasn't a man as he had first suspected. It was a young woman. A very beautiful young woman with long scarlet red hair. Call him naive or even stupid but he never thought a woman would stoop to theft. Especially since most of the ladies he was around often spoke of how barbaric it was to steal. But to be honest at the moment he wasn't sure what he was more taken aback by. The fact that she was a woman or the fact that her beauty was unlike anything he had ever seen. 

"You're a girl?" He let slip from his mouth.

"Woman." She corrected with a smirk before she grabbed a nearby rock and hit the blue haired man on the side of his face with it. He clutched his jaw and fell to the ground. Which allowed her to escape his grasp and steal his horse.

"They always think they can catch me." He heard her giggle.

He stood up and watched her ride off. Though defeated in this encounter he would not be undaunted. She looked back at him but only to give him a taunting smile which infuriated him further.

"You can't hide from me!" He declared. "Where ever you are! I will find you!"