Trigger Warning: More Mild Abuse

The picture above describes the kitten that Emma finds. Just thought you'd like to know ☺️

Snow had continued to pile up on Old Corona pretty quickly, which caused minor discomfort amongst the people. This especially bothered Emma's parents, mainly because they got pissed about almost everything. Emma had begun to feel nervous about hanging around her parents due to their sudden grumpiness, so she usually spent her time with Varian.

One morning, Emma could sense that her parents were in the mood for a fight, so she decided to leave her house.

"Good morning, Mom and Dad," she greeted. "Um, I'm going to go to Varian's house, ok? I'll see you later. I love you! Bye!" She opened the front door and raced outside in the snowy town before they could say anything.

"Man, it's so cold!" Emma shivered. "I hope Varian's home."

On her way, she heard quiet meows and stopped. "Where's that coming from?"

Emma glanced around and noticed a cardboard box resting in a huge pile of snow. She ran towards it and gasped when she saw what was inside the box.

It was a small kitten! It had a very unique fur coat. One half of it was ginger tabby with a blue eye, while the other half was black with a yellow eye.

"Wow, you're incredible!" Emma sighed as she kneeled down next to the kitten's box. She reached out to pet it. "Who would leave such a beautiful kitten out in the snow?" The kitten sniffed her hand and licked it cautiously. "Aww, it's so cute! Wanna come with me, little kitten?"

Emma gently picked up the box with the kitten inside and ran the rest of the way to Varian and Quirin's house. When she neared the house, she shouted, "Varian, Varian! Look what I found! Varian!"

Soon enough, Varian slammed his front door open. "What? What's going on?" He ran to Emma, panting and gasping. He looked severely panicked. "Wh-what happened?"

Emma held up the box with a massive smile on her face. "I found a kitten! Isn't it adorable?!"

Varian peeked his head into the box and his eyes widened when he saw the kitten.

"Oh, this... this is beautiful!" Varian marveled. "Where did you find it?"

"It was sitting in this box that I found in the snow," Emma said, her smile fading. "The poor thing! I couldn't leave it there. I have to keep it!"

"Wh-what'll your parents say?" Varian sputtered. "I-I'm not sure they'll be alright with you taking a cat home."

"Well… what else can I do? I-I really like this cat a-and I don't want to abandon it." Emma looked down at the kitten sympathetically. It looked back at her and mewed sadly. Varian seemed to get the memo. He wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

"Don't worry, Em. We'll figure out something. I promise," he assured. "Let's get you inside. It's really cold out." Varian led Emma and the kitten inside and into the kitchen.

Varian's father, Quirin, entered the room and gave a warm, welcoming smile.

"Nice to see you again, Emma." He then noticed the box that was placed on the table. "What's in the box?"

Varian and Emma shared a glance before Varian spoke up, saying, "Emma found a kitten outside in the snow and we're trying to figure out what to do with it."

Quirin looked inside the box and inspected the kitten carefully. "Well, it seems to be healthy. No signs of infection or anything. It's a very beautiful cat. You're very lucky to have found a breed like this," he concluded. "Are you going to give it to the pet shop?"

"She… says she likes the cat too much to give it away," Varian answered. "However, we're worried that her parents won't let her keep it."

"Maybe, if it's alright with the both of you, Varian and I can keep the cat safe for you," Quirin suggested. "You can come visit it whenever you'd like to."

"Really?" Emma squeaked excitedly. "That would be just fine."

Varian was a bit hesitant, but gave in once he saw how happy Emma was.

"Yeah, we'll do it," he smiled. "What do you want to name it, Em? After all, you found it."

Emma thought about it for a moment, then decided on the name Mercury, which the kitten happily agreed on. It was also discovered that Mercury was a female cat, so the name suited her purr-fectly (pun intended).

"Wanna take Mercury upstairs to my room?" Varian asked. "I would've said the lab, but I decided that my room is probably the safest place to keep her."

"Yeah, sure!" Emma gently scooped up Mercury and followed Varian upstairs.

"I don't think I've actually been inside your room before," Emma said. "We usually just hang out in your lab."

They reached the bedroom door.

"Well, I guess this is an exciting adventure for you then," Varian said, smiling brightly. He reached for the doorknob and twisted it. As the door swung open, he announced, "Welcome to the unknown part of this house… my room!"

Emma gasped with amazement. His room was surprisingly normal for an alchemist, besides sketches laying all over a desk and small inventions scattered around. "Wow! Your room is so cool, V."

Varian blushed slightly. "Thank you. It's not much, but I'm hoping that Mercury will be happy here."

"First things first, we have to make sure that she likes both of us before we decide where she'll stay," Emma instructed. "Mercury, this is my best friend, Varian. Can you say hi to him?"

Varian held his arms out as Emma placed Mercury in Varian's embrace. Mercury felt a little unsure at first, but quickly warmed up to Varian. She began to purr softly.

"Aww! You guys look so cute together," Emma squealed. That comment made Varian's entire face blush bright red.

"C-cute?..." Varian mumbled quietly to himself. He appeared to be really flustered.

"I just have to get a picture," Emma said as she pulled a camera out of her handbag.

Before Varian could say anything, Emma added, "Gotta be prepared!" She pointed the camera at Varian and Mercury and said, "Say cheese!"

Varian smiled adorably as Emma snapped a quick photo and put the camera away. Varian carefully set Mercury on the floor.

"You wanna explore my room?" Varian asked Mercury. "Uh- here! I'll make a bed for you." He scrambled around to gather parts that would make a good bed for a cat.

Emma stroked Mercury's back, her eyes sparkling with content.

"You must really love cats, huh?" Varian sat down next to her.

Emma nodded. "This is my first time owning a cat, so I'm pretty excited. I hope this isn't too much of a burden on you."

"No, no! Why would it be? Trust me, I'll take good care of Mercury," Varian promised.

Emma tackled Varian with a hug.

"Thank you so much! This really means a lot to me." Varian returned the hug willingly.

"No problem! I'm always willing to help you."

Time Skip
 
Emma and Varian spent the rest of their day cooped in Varian's bedroom, playing with Mercury. It was so much fun getting to know the friendly feline and helping her feel comfortable living in the bedroom. Ruddiger, however, was jealous of all the attention going towards the kitten, so Emma included Ruddiger in their activities. When it was time for Emma to go back home, she kissed Mercury goodbye, wished Varian and Quirin good luck, and headed out.

Just before she left, Varian called out, "Wait! Can I walk with you?"

"Sure, I don't mind at all!" Emma grinned.

When they reached Emma's home after a quiet walk, Emma saw that her parents were fighting through the front window. Emma whimpered nervously and took a step back. Varian held her gently.

"It's going to be alright," he said soothingly. "If they do anything to you, I'll come in and stop them."

"Thanks for everything, Varian. You're the best," Emma smiled sadly. "You don't have to do that though. I can handle them. See ya later!"

Varian stayed put as Emma walked to the front door and opened it cautiously. From there, she tried to sneak to her room, but she was caught instantly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Viktor asked threateningly. Emma froze and turned to face her parents.

"T-to my room," she replied.

"You were gone for so long," Amy scolded.

"I told you where I was going and that I would see you later." Emma rolled her eyes. "In fact, I tell you these things every time I leave, but then you get mad at me later. It doesn't make any sense!"

"Are you sassing your mother?" Viktor hissed.

"N-no, I-"

"Because it sounds like you are," Viktor interrupted. "This needs to stop, young lady!" He smacked Emma's face. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

Emma held her cheek and cried as she ran to her bedroom and locked the door shut. She threw herself onto her bed and sobbed as she rubbed her cheek sorrowfully.

"All I want is to fix this family," she said to herself miserably. "Why can't they understand?"

She stared out of her window and had the thought to run away. She immediately gathered her important belongings and snuck out her window. She felt lucky that her room was on the first floor so she wouldn't have to climb down the side of her house.

"Goodbye, home," she whispered before she took off running in the snow. Emma hated the cold, but she didn't want to burden anyone. She had no choice but to sleep outside that night. As she was running, the tears that fell from her eyes felt cold. The bitter cold made her face feel numb and her breath was shaky. After running for a while, Emma spotted the local bakery. She smiled and made her way to the alleyway that was next to the bakery.

She leaned up against the building, tried to get as comfortable as possible, and muttered to herself, "This is perfect. I'll be… just fine…"

Emma could feel herself falling asleep, her eyes dropping and her body numb.

Word Count: 1707

I just love kittens! Especially heterochromia cats like Mercury. I think that they're really pretty 😍

If you guys are wondering how I'm able to post so many chapters so quickly, the reason is that I already have part of this story written on a Google Doc and I'm just transferring it over. When I reach where I left off, it'll take me a bit longer to put out new chapters for this story