Welcome to Gaia! ::

This probably wasn't what her mom had had in mind when she'd signed her up for school in the Liberty Center, Maddy pondered with the hint of a smile on her face. Not that there was anything wrong with that, as Olivia had probably been envisioning her daughter as some sort of life-of-the-party, Queen Bee when she'd signed the papers, and if anything, that was not a description that fit Madeleine Taylor very well.

On the contrary, eating her lunch in peace (also known as alone) suited her just fine; it wasn't that she had some sort of beef with the other kids, she just liked to unwind and relax in her breaks - and with a rambunctious class like hers, that was out of the question.

And that was how she'd found her way into the playground next to the daycare, practically abandoned at this time of year (it wasn't quite frostweather yet, but it wasn't particularly warm either), sitting on one of the merry-go-rounds and eating her home-packed sandwiches.

Neflheim had grown attached to Midas during the short period of time he had spent with his guardian. The night before, Midas had carefully explained about the daycare Neflheim was attending the following morning, piquing the little boy's interest. To Neflheim, it mean more people to befriend and play with.

Monday morning rolled by and Midas ferried the little boy to his new daycare - Liberty Center, a highly unique school for unique children like Neflheim. Midas carried Neflheim in one hand while signing some administrative papers. Setting Neflheim down on the ground, Midas promised his child that he would be back as soon as work ended and gave him a small peck on his forehead. Handing Neflheim a small little lunchbox with food specially hand-made, Midas waved goodbye and left for work.

Neflheim was disappointed that the morning yielded no potential friend. Most, if not all, of the kids at the daycare shunned him or shied away from him as soon as they saw his icy skin. Those whom he had managed to introduce himself to immediately fled after touching his icy skin. Wearing a sullen look about his face, Neflheim dragged his feet to the deserted playground, away from the other children.

Sitting on the swing, Neflheim opened his lunchbox and began to munch on his lunch.

She'd noticed the weird kid making his (her?) way from the daycare pretty fast, considering that it was the first time in the whole week she'd spent her lunchbreaks here that she'd seen anyone else on the playground. Not that he seemed to notice her, or much of anything for that matter - seemed pretty determined to make it to the swings.

Shrugging, she went back to her sandwiches. Probably just another kid wanting a bit of peace and quiet.
But after nearly a minute of just that, Maddy couldn't help but glance back at Neflheim. He did seem rather sad.. or angry. It was hard to tell at this range, and the light reflecting off of the ice of his body didn't exactly make it easier - he really did look quite weird, but then again, so did she.

With a sigh she quickly packed the remains of her lunch away, cursing her bleeding heart as she marched over to the other kid, deliberately making as much noise as she could to alert him. No reason to make things awkward by surprising him into dropping his lunch or something.

"So. Hey." She tried her best to lounge in the swing like the cool people people in movies did, but wings and awkwardly growing limbs made that nearly impossible, and a brief struggle - to re-situate herself after a minor setback - later, she smiled at the smaller child and continued.

"I've never seen you around here before. New?"

Nibbling on his sandwiches, Neflheim thought through the morning pensively, failing to notice the girl approaching him. As he finished his first sandwich, Neflheim felt the swing vibrate a little and realised he wasn't alone in the playground. Turning around to watch the girl as she struggled in the swing, Neflheim stared bug-eyed. She has wings! Pretty wings!

The girl had apparently noticed him and tried to start a conversation. Neflheim was elated that someone had actually wanted to talk to him and eagerly replied "Hi there!", placing his second sandwich back into the lunchbox. Stretching out his hand, Neflheim introduced himself saying "Yes I'm new, I just joined today. My name is Neflheim, what is yours?"

"Welcome to the Liberty Center, then!" Maddy had been raised polite, and took the offered hand without question.

"Argh, damnit!" cradling her hand to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut to stop herself from crying, she couldn't help but let out a dry sob. Luckily she hadn't touched Neflheim for more than a second, or she'd have bigger problems - as it was, her hand hurt like hell but it wasn't anything cold water and a bit of time couldn't fix.

Breathe, Maddy.. In, out. Okay, got it? Letting out a whoosh of air, still cradling her hand, she turned a watery smile on the other kid.

"I'm Maddy. Do you know where the Daycare's got their bathrooms? I've never been in there for all that long.
"I think we're going to need some cold water for this." She wiggled the fingers of her injured hand, half to reassure herself that they were still there and halfway to reassure Neflheim that her hand was okay.

His instinctual friendly gesture had caused another person to be hurt. Looking downwards dejectedly, Neflheim apologised profusely saying "I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to hurt you!" Seeing Maddy smile despite the obvious pain she was going through, Neflheim began to tear himself. A lone drop of tear rolled out of his eye and crystallised into ice before it even traveled half his cheek.

Wiping the ice away, Neflheim peered at Maddy's hand and saw that it was red from the effects of his icy touch. Neflheim quickly got off the swing and gestured towards the Daycare building saying "I went to one just now, its this way!" He resisted the urge to hold Maddy and pull her towards the toilets for fear of burning her with his icy touch. I hope I didn't just scare another person off.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it, OK?" she followed him into the Daycare where finding the bathrooms wasn't too hard, thanks to Neflheim's knowledge.

Waiting until her hand had properly numbed beneath the jet of cool water, she threw a comforting look over to the younger child.
"That's gotta be a bit of a hassle, huh? Being made of ice, I mean," she made a vague gesture in his direction with her good hand.

Carefully watching Maddy from a distance, Neflheim hoped he didn't hurt her too much. The water flowed freely from the tap and soothed her hands and seeing Maddy's expression change from a grimace to a one of calmness helped to settle his nerves. Speaking softly once more, Neflheim said "I'm sorry."

Maddy looked comfortingly over at him, giving Neflheim a sense of security. He didn't feel as nervous and upset about hurting her now. He hung his head down low as he replied her saying, "Not really, Daddy never had problems touching me... Today was different though, I think I hurt a few people already, including yourself."

Feeling his confidence sap away from him as he recalled the first few incidents, Neflheim added "That's why no one wants to talk to me."

"Oh, is your dad made of ice too?" it was a logical conclusion, seeing as her mom had once told her that not all of the children at the Center were unrelated to their parents.

Seeing the poor boy completely deflate at the last bit, Maddy felt her insides twist up in pity. And she'd nearly just ignored him, as well!
"Don't worry about them, Nefl," she knelt down to look him in the eyes, ignoring the sting from her hand, "They're just idiots. But they'll come around when they see how awesome you are, so don't sweat it."

A teasing light came over her face as she tried to diffuse the serious mood, "I can call you Nefl, right? Neflheim is a bit of a mouthful.. it's nearly as bad as Madeleine!" A wink told him she wasn't being too serious.

"Oh no! My dad seems normal and umm... Meaty? I dunno what you call it, but he looks normal." replied Neflheim. Suddenly remembering Midas' peculiar trait, Neflheim added "Well, his skin can sometimes turn to a shiny gold colour!" Mentally generating an image of Midas, Neflheim's eyes sparkled as he thought about him. Certain his father had no other particular peculiar traits, Neflheim let his head hang low again.

Looking back up at Maddy as she tried to cheer him up, Neflheim realised that she was really putting in a lot of effort to ignore the pain in her hand. "They're not idiots, they just don't want to hurt themselves!" said Neflheim, defending the children he had hurt previously.

"Well, since you let me call you Maddy, you can call me Nefl... But daddy calls me Neffy." replied Neflheim. His eyes sparkled when he mentioned his father.

"Meaty??" a snort, then a giggle, "Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Still though, he sounds pretty awesome." Now that the danger had obviously passed, getting her hand back under the cold tap felt heavenly.

"I wish I could turn gold. It'd be much prettier than having wings and antennae - more practical, too!" she added.

He really was very smart for a toddler, but then again, Maddy had heard that all of the kids that had come from the cabbages were. Her mother had gone into some longwinded explanation concerning things such as genetical engineering and whatnot, but Maddy had become somewhat of an expert in tuning out her mother's rants.
"That's not a reason to hurt anyone else, though, is it?" the question was rhetorical, and was quickly expanded upon, "I mean, you should always be careful of other people and their hurt too. Mom says if everyone followed that thought the world would be a much better place."

"Nah, I like Nefl. It'll be my private name for you!" that was awesome - she'd never had a nickname for a friend that was just hers to use before, so this was a bit of a milestone in the girl's mind.

Slightly offended by Maddy's snort and giggle, Neflheim sulked a little before realising she was merely joking. Adding to her statement, Neflheim said "I think your wings and antennae are so pretty... Better than my icy skin.", glancing down towards his own frosty body.

Neflheim had a little talk with Midas about his origin and about being careful about his powers. Listening to Maddy, Neflheim realised he was not vigilant enough and did not follow his father's instructions more clearly. Replying her, Neflheim said "I didn't mean to hurt them. Daddy did tell me to be careful, but I got too excited about making new friends that I forgot."

His mood was going downhill once more, but was thankful that Maddy was nice enough to actually hang around with him. Still clutching his lunchbox, Neflheim decided to offer Maddy some lunch. Lifting his lunchbox up towards Maddy's face, Neflheim offered "Would you like to eat some egg sandwiches and avocado sandwiches? My Dad made them himself and they are nice!"

"I dunno, I guess they're okay. It can be a bit of a bother sometime, no using chairs with backs, and you gotta be careful when you brush your hair or an antennae will get caught. Not to mention, my wings get dust everywhere," she shrugged, in the stage of life where everything looks greener on the other side. "You look cool, though - like a superhero or something! And your dad can touch you, so I bet there's other people that can too."

She nodded thoughtfully at Nefl's words. "Well, I'm sure they'll be alright and you know, I bet you won't forget again anytime soon. So something good came out of this, right?" It had to be tough having to think about and restrict your interaction with other people all the time. Already, Maddy had caught herself from wishing to give the little boy a hug to comfort him several times, and that was only through one conversation! Imagine having to go through life like that..

But at least his dad could touch him, and if he could, probably other people too. This was a world of magic, and in her childlike way, Maddy was sure that there was something out there that would allow Nefl to shake hands with someone without hurting them.

"Avocado? I've never had that before," it did smell good, though! And mom hadn't had time to buy groceries yesterday, so she'd only had one sandwich with her today, "thanks a bunch, Nefl."
Figuring her hand was okay now - the pain had receded to a dull, warm throbbing - she turned off the water and took a bite out of one of the sandwiches.
"These are good!" a thankful grin made it's way onto her face, "You know, I'll have to treat you to one of my sugar and honey sandwiches. Mom says they're disgusting, but they're really not."

Thinking about how her unique features hampered her in everyday life, Neflheim begin to realise that his appearance and hers were similar in that way. They both had to learn to adapt to their surroundings and not the other way around. Nodding at Maddy's statement, Neflheim replied "Yes, that's why I have been keeping a distance from you. In case I might forget, though I don't think I would so soon."

Neflheim wished he could be less icy, so he could hug, touch and play with the other children - Be a part of a group of friends. Glancing down towards his hands, he sighed and picked up another sandwich. He hadn't been around long enough to eat much, but whatever Midas made, he ate. And whatever he ate, he found pleasing to his palate. "Daddy makes good food! Maybe you should come over to my house for a meal, I'm sure Daddy won't mind!"

"That'd be great - do you think he'd let me see him turn himself gold? I've never heard of anyone else who can do that!" it really did sound neat, and mom would be happy she'd made a friend.

Smiling and nodding, Neflheim replied "I'm sure Daddy will show you, he will do it when he touches me so you'll see it when you come over!" He was proud of his Dad and couldn't stop beaming. Continuing, Neflheim said "What about your mum? Is she very special like you too?"

"Nah, Mom's pretty boring. What was it you said?" a mischievious grin, "Right meaty. She's pretty cool though, I guess - lets me do all sorts of stuff, as long as I promise not to do anything stupid, like go home with a total stranger or such." Olivia had long since seen the futility in trying to treat her daughter like a normal kid when it'd seemed like her maturity level far exceeded them. That wasn't to say she let Maddy go off on her own at will, or make big decisions about her life for herself or anything like that.

"Anyway, I think I better go back now. Class should be starting soon, and I don't want to be late." She made a face to show how nasty that'd be.
"But if you want to eat lunch together again another day, I'm usually out at the playground on lunch breaks."

Looking down towards his wrist, Neflheim was able to catch a glimpse of the time on the ice encrusted watch on his wrist. True enough, lunch time was almost over and they have to leave. Nodding at Maddy, Neflheim replied "I have to go too! I'll see you sometime again!"

Running off towards the building, Neflheim stopped and turned around to wave goodbye to Maddy. Yelling loudly, he said "It was nice meeting you! I'll see you here tomorrow at lunch!", smiling happily knowing that he had made a friend on the first day at the Daycare.

After meeting her Secret Santa giftgiver and getting her first gift, if in a somewhat unusual fashion, it'd occured to Maddy that she should probably make some attempts at getting to know her own Secret Santa.

So, after some spiffing recon work (if you asked her), she'd found Kashmira Maker and silently stalked her for the rest of the day, trying to catch her alone.
Which wasn't easy, mostly because as it turned out, Kashmira was a twin and went nearly nowhere alone - and as if that wasn't bad enough, Maddy had found out very quickly that wings was, in fact, conducive to spying. At all. She'd be pretty surprised if Kash hadn't figured out that someone was stalking her by this point in time, or at least gotten informed about it by one of the alarmed bystanders.

But it was lunch now, and she'd finally caught the other girl alone for a moment.
Plopping down in the seat next to her, Maddy stuck out her hand and tried to channel the confidence of Wisp or Kaimi.
"Hi, I'm Maddy. Wow, that's some nice looking sandwiches you've got there." Lamest. Into. Ever.

"They're peanut butter and jelly," Kash said. "But since my Mama only likes spicy things, it's spicy jelly, and I'd offer you some, but you'd probably not like it," she said cheerfully. "You've been following me, right?" She took a big bite of her sandwich, as if she weren't bothered by that fact one bit. "I'll forgive you if you let me draw you."

"Probably not," she readily agreed with the other girl, "I tend to like sweet things mostly. It's the wings and the feelers, see?" She flickered both to show what she meant.

"Yeah, I have." The smile was slightly weary - today had been an emotional rollercoaster, peaking with her fear of Austin. Really, all the fight had gone out of her.
"Sure, I guess. You draw?" There was definitely some potential gifts there, if she did.

Kash blinked at the weary look. "I was just teasing," she said. "I mean, I'd like to draw you, of course. You're really pretty, especially your wings, but I won't force you to sit unless you want to. Um, are you okay?"

The other girl looked as if she'd been ran over by a bulldozer, or something.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just.. had a bit of a scare earlier." She waved it off, feeling infinitely more comfortable with the more down-to-earth Kash.

"Thanks, though. I'd love to get drawn, really. I don't think anyone's done so - well, except Wisp and I did some zombie-outbreak pictures, but a picture of a normal me that is. But I can totally roll with it if you want to do something funky like that." Really, she was just extremely flattered that anyone wanted to make art of her, period, which showed in the brilliant smile she sent Kash's way.

Kash was focused on the scare comment. "Did you accidentally run into Chris?" she asked, the first thought of scary jumping into her mind. "He's a big guy, but he's really nice, so you shouldn't be too scared of him."

Chris was the only reason in the school for anyone to be afraid, so far as she was concerned. (She obviously hadn't met Merroth when he was a baby.)

"No, er, some kid named Austin." She blinked before shuddering for the second time that day. Damnit, there were more scary kids in school? Great, just great.
"I've never seen him around before, but I guess he goes here - not very big though, just.. scary." She'd have added something about him being her Secret Santa, but that might give away her own agenda for being here.
"But.. I'll try to remember that if I run into your Chris."

"Huh," Kash said. "Never met him," she added. "I'm Kashmira, by the way. What's your name?" She took another bite of her sandwich as she waited for a reply. Spicy jelly was seriously addicting.

"Er, Madeleine, but you can call me Maddy," shrugging, she presented herself a second time. It wasn't like her intro had been very good, so she figured Kashmira'd been justified in not noticing it, "That's a very pretty name, though. Kashmira, that is. It sounds like the name of a heroine in a storybook, you know?"

"You totally told me that earlier, didn't you?" Kash said. "I'm sorry, I got distracted and forgot." She shook her head, feeling like an idiot. "I'm horrible with names, you know. But yeah, except Papa and Mama named me after a Led Zeppelin song. Rhye's named after a Queen song. You can call me Kash. But Casca and Papa call me Mira."

How she pronounced "Kash" had a soft "j" as in jasmine sound at the end, rather than the sharper "sh" sound.

"I've never heard of either of them before, sorry. Still, that's all kinds of awesome," she wrinkled her nose, slightly envious of the origins of her new friend's name, "I think I was named after a great aunt or someone, not something as cool as a song."

"Rhye's your sister, right? I saw her earlier, when I was, er, stalking you." She'd never actually learned the name of Kash's twin during her mission, but it seemed a good guess.

"Yep!" Kash said cheerfully. "She's a bookworm, so she's either with me or hiding away in the library or something. It's boring, but it makes her happy so I can't really compl--"

And the jelly on her sandwich dropped out, splatting on her white shirt. "Awww, maaan," she complained, digging through her bag for a napkin. "This stuff always happens to me."

"Here," Maddy held out the little handkerchief her mom always made her put in the pocket of her jeans and smiled awkwardly, "you can use this."

"I guess boring for some people is interesting for others. I like turtles, but Mom says they're the most boring animal to ever grace Gaia, ever." She rolled her eyes, displaying how much she thought her mom's opinion on that mattered.

"Yeah, probably," she said. "And turtles are cool. I like wolves, myself. And luck dragons, of course. We watched the Neverending Story just last week, and it was soooo good!"

"I think I saw that, once. It was on TV, but we didn't get to record and I can't remember it very well." Her wings gave an embarrassed little flutter, "Still, I think I liked it."

She eyed Kash contemplatively for a little while after that statement, "If you don't mind me asking.. What exactly are you and your sister? I've been wondering, but, well." She gave a helpless little shrug.

"Well, Papa says we're adorable, but Mama says we might be luck dragon kids, which is why we watched that movie. I don't know, really. Fluffy and scaly, as far as I can tell." She shrugged, not too bothered. "With dog feet."

She looked at the butterfly girl. "It's pretty obvious what you are, though. Do you feel happier knowing what it is?"

"Ah, that's even more cool. I've never met a dragon before - or even a might-be dragon, for that matter."

"Yeah, I guess it is. The wings and feelers kind of give it away," she smiled with a touch of irony, "but I guess I don't. I mean, not really, but I've never really thought about it. Does it bother you that you don't know?"

"Does knowing change anything?" she asked, honestly curious. "I mean, it's not like I'm going to go run around looking for my real parents. I came from a vegetable, after all. And I like the parents I have just fine, even though Papa has fangs and Mama can shapeshift."

"I don't know, honestly. I mean, I've got butterfly wings growing out of my back so how would I not know? And I can't really imagine having wings and not knowing, but then again I can't imagine not having wings and still being me." This was getting confusing, and slightly philosophical.

"I guess not." She'd been guessing a lot of things today, actually. "It's the same for all of us, even if my mom hasn't got fangs or powers, but I don't really see anyone caring, yeah? So, I guess it really doesn't change anything."

"Exactly!" Kash said, glad that her point had been made. "So I don't think it's a big deal knowing or not knowing, to tell the truth. I'm me, Rhye's Rhye, and you're you, right?"

She finished off her sandwich and grabbed her juice box, only to spray herself in the face as she poked the straw through the hole. "Maaaan," she said. "I'm such a clutz." She made a face, then wiped it off with her sleeve, since the shirt was already a mess.

She giggled loudly when Kash ruined the thoughtful mood by getting more food on herself. "So much for deep thought and reflections, huh?" She smiled mischieviously, "Are you always this clumsy? No offense." She added hurriedly, honestly not wanting to offend but to make conversation.

"It's my luck," Kash said with a shrug. "This always happens to me. Whenever I walk down the street someone hits a puddle so it hits me. When I walk down the stairs I tend to trip on something. It sucks." She sighed, obviously irritated, but used to it.

"That sounds awful." Maddy frowned, taking a moment to think it over, "Well, if it's your luck, can't you buy one of those magic luck charms? I'm sure there's a magician out there that can make one for you."

"Yeah, maybe," she said finally. She wasn't big on the idea of magic, for some reason. It was too much like fairy tale stuff, or something. "I'll outgrow it," she finally decided.

"I hope so. You'd end up spending a lot of money on new clothes if you have to go through life like this." She eyed the two stains on Kash's shirt speculatively.

"Ginger ale," Kash said simply. "It works, really. But this was still my last white shirt. I don't think I'll get any more. Ever." She glanced up as the bell rang. "Time to go to class," she said. "It was nice talking to you, Maddy!"

And she still had no idea why she had been stalking her. Meh, it didn't matter, she decided. "I can draw you later, right?"

"Alright, that sounds good. Bye!" And she'd gotten away with her Secret Santa-status undetected, too!

The butterfly girl praised her luck as she packed her stuff and got ready for class, a lot calmer with the whole spectacle out of the way.

Josh and Maddy -- Adventures in the Park

Joshua was eager to get to the park, he wanted to see if his friends Ginger and Zemel were there. Though his mother told him it was too cold, and that they weren't there because Grace was planning a trip, he insisted.

"Come on! Come on!" He cried, pulling her as well as he could. "We have to hurry!" Thali couldn't help laughing, was this really the shy Joshua she knew so well?

They hurried to the park. "They're not here." He had a look of such disapointment that Thali couldn't say 'I told you so'.

Thali tried to keep her son's spirits up. "Maybe you'll meet some new friends," She said encouragingly.

Maddy wasn't normally the kind of girl who spent hours digging up flowerbeds and 'appreciating' nature, but there was something special about the park in winter - it wasn't snowing yet, but there was a profound coldness in the air and all the trees looked like scarecrows.

Still, she reflected as she sat on the bench closest to the little pond, it's one of the most beautiful things ever, even if it is a little lonely.

Thali quickly spotted a girl a little older than Joshua. "There, see? She looks like she'd like someone to play with. You should go introduce yourself." She pushed him in the girl's direction. She was always worrying about Joshua's shy behavior. When would he come out of that shell?

Joshua felt awkward walking up to the girl. "I'm Josh," he said, forcing a smile. "Want to be friends? It's no fun playing by yourself."

Maddy blinked, a bit surprised to have been approached. Still, she relaxed when she saw that it was just a little boy, probably younger than herself.

"I'm Maddy," she smiled, taken by how cute he looked all bundled up in his winter clothes, "and sure! I don't know anything we can play, though. What would you like to play?"

Josh paused, thinking. "Do you like tag?" He asked, tag was one of his favorite games. But maybe it was too cold to play tag.

"Or pretending? Luc and me play dinopirates! Good ones! We stole from the witch and gave to the poor. Maybe we can play hidenseek! Vinny says he's the best hider, but I find him." He stopped, smiling. "Do you have a brother or sister?" He asked.

"I've never really.. played tag." She shrugged, keeping her smile, "But I love playing pretend! I was a Butterfly Princess once, me and my friend. And dinopirates sound cool. Was the witch a dinosaur too?" Maddy had never heard of a witch-dinosaur, but on the other hand she'd never heard of dinopirates either.

She shook her head, nearly dislocating her neck in the process. "Nah, it's just me and Mom. And obviously that just means that you're the best finder. Is Vinny your brother?"

Josh shook his head, "The witch is too mean to be a dinosaur, she takes all the money! And know what she does?" He paused, "She eats it!" Eating money automatically made you the bad guy. "You're a princess?" He asked, smiling.

"Then I'll be a prince! Or maybe a knight.." He paused, he'd never been a knight before. "I'll save you if you need it!" He told her. His mommy had told him stories about princesses needing saving.

"Vinny's my little brother!" He said smiling, "He's bigger than me though." He put his hand over his head to show how tall Vinny was. "

"Eats it?! That's awful!" Money could be spent on much better things, like getting new things for her turtle's aquarium or, if you felt in the giving mood, feeding the starving. Probably.

"I'll definitely be a princess if you'll be my prince. I've already got a knight, you see, or a champion more like. It's the same thing, really." She informed him with a serious face.

"Oh? Well, I'm sure you'll outgrow him eventually! Once you're my age you'll start growing like crazy and before you know it, zap! You'll be taller than him!"

Josh nodded, "Okay! How do princes act?" He'd never pretended to be one before. He knew they saved princesses, but what else did they do? "I don't see any nice dragons though." He frowned. Maybe they were hiding!

Josh liked the idea of being taller than Vinny. "Then I can be the best hider and finder!" He decided happily.

Maddy thought for a moment. "They're.. gallant. Nice and polite, I guess. Except when they're killing dragons, probably." She looked around, trying to spot the elusive dragons as well.

"They must've gone into hiding when they heard a prince came to my rescue! It's a good thing you're the best finder in the whole, wide world or we'd really be in trouble."

She stood up, before sweeping into an awkward curtsey. "Your Highness, I, the Butterfly Princess of the Frozen Park implore you to save us from the evil dragons hiding in my kingdom!" She paused her dramatic speech to look up at him, "Implore means asking really nicely, by the way."

Joshua liked the idea of being a prince, except for killing dragons. "But what about nice dragons?" He asked. "Do I have to kill them too?" He liked the nice ones.

He blinked in surprise at her curtsey, and bowed awkwardly. He'd seen enough movies to know what to do. "I know, the evil dragons scared all the nice ones away!" He said, "I'll protect you and the good dragons too! But.. I don't have a sword."

"Oh no, of course you don't have to kill the nice dragons!" She thought for a moment, "Rather, we have to save them - you see, all the nice dragons help protect my kingdom, so when the evil dragons attacked the first thing they did was to kidnap all our good dragons!"

"Hmm.." She looked around before spotting a small, dead branch that'd fallen off one of the trees during the winter storms. "Here, the Shortsword of Slaying Evil Things!" Maddy presented it with much pomp and regality, enounciating each word carefully to put attention on the all-important capital letters.

Joshua was relieved. "Let's go save them!" He said, smiling. "We'll save the kingdom and then rule it!" He'd heard that Princes have a lot of rules. He took the branch and waved it around like a sword. "This is a good sword," He said.

"The evil dragons will surrender!" He'd learned the word surrender only this morning. "Or.. We'll hurt them! Right? Princes always win. And then they get married." He made a face.

"Well, we don't have to get married if we don't want to. After all, we'll rule the kingdom, right? They can't tell us what to do!" She nodded resolutely, not particularly keen on marrying someone either.

A strong gust of wind made a nearby bush, desperately clinging on to it's last leaves, rustle. Maddy spun on her heel and pointed at it wildly.
"There! They're spying on us, the awful things!"

Joshua smiled. "Princes don't have to get married," he corrected himself happily. "Cause no one bosses us around!" He paused, "Does that mean princes have no Mommies? Mommies sometimes are bossy. But that's okay. They're nice."

Joshua nodded, "I saw them! We have to hide!" He took Maddy's hand and pulled her behind the slide. "They won't find us in the castle." He told her.

Maddy nodded, keeping an eye out for any incoming evil dragons. "We need a plan of action, Prince Josh. Any ideas?" She'd be the first to admit that her tactical knowledge probably wasn't entirely up to par with that of the evil dragons'.

Josh frowned in thought, then remembered the story his mother had told him earlier. "Maybe we can pretend to give them presents, and then attack! Mommy told me a story like that! And the people who gave presents won, cause the bad guys didn't expect it!"

"That sounds good. But," she furrowed her brow in thought, "what should we give them? We haven't got anything." She turned her pockets inside-out in illustration, clearly empty except for the occasional pebble.

Joshua paused, and picked up a pinecone from under the slide. "We'll give them jewels!" He said, holding it up. "Dragons love shiney stuff. If we give them all one, they'll go away!" There were several pinecones on top of the snow. "The dragons must have lost them," He told Maddy. "But they have bad memories, so they don't know that they did."

"Genius!" Maddy beamed as she picked up some pinecones herself, and inwardly cheering for having snagged such a smart prince to help with the evil dragons.

"Ready to go confront them?" She stood up, hands full of pinecones and wings fluttering madly in excitement.

Joshua smiled and nodded. "The dragons won't attack ig we offer these." He said. "We can trade them for our friends." He walked towards the dragons.

"Great dragons, we bring gifts!" He said. He'd seen something like this on tv, except it'd been a king, not a dragon. "We wish to trade!"

They waited for a bit, but it didn't seem like the dragons were going to show - until one landed right in front of them.

"It's huge!" Maddy's eyes were comically wide as she beheld the legendary dragon that'd swooped in from nowhere, or if you were going to be fussy, the small bird pecking for worms.
The bird in question gave a few wary trills as the butterfly girl carefully rolled some of her pinecones towards it.

"I think it likes them." The bird had hopped forward and was inspecting the pinecones, obviously hoping for something to eat from them.

Joshua nodded, "I think it does." He said. "Dragon, will you give our friends back?" He asked. He smiled, "He says he will! He wants to join our kingdom and protect you!" He looked around for the other dragons.

"That's awesome, Prince Josh! You're really good at this diplomacy thing, you know?" Her mom had always put emphasis on being diplomatic with people, but Maddy didn't think she was anywhere near as good at it as Josh was.

"There they are, look!" A couple of leaves had floated near them on the recent breeze, and in her mind they quickly took on the shape of her kidnapped dragons. "Are you alright, mighty dragons?"

She cocked her head to the side, and made a thoughtful face, obviously imitating listening for their reply. "My dragons say that they're fine, and they'd be very happy our new friend in the Royal Guard."

Joshua smiled, even though he was slightly confused. "What's dilomancy?" He asked. "Is it like being a Prince?" If he was good at it, he might as well know what it is. He liked being good at things.

Joshua looked at the dragons. "Our new friend says he's very glad to work with us." He said, "The other dragons were mean to him."

"It's like.." She thought for a moment. "Being really good at saying things to people, I guess. It's a bit odd." She shrugged; it might sound odd, but her mom had said it was a good skill to have.

"That's awful." She looked pityingly at the dragon, before continuing: "Friends should stick together. But it's okay, 'cause now he's one of us and we'll be nice to him."

Joshua still didn't get it, but he supposed he should at least pretend to. "I don't like talking to many people." He admitted. If he was good at it, his mom would be happy, at least.

"We're his friends now!" Joshua said, smiling. "We'll take good care of him, and go after the mean ones."

"Me neither." Maddy made a face, showing her dislike of crowds and having to entertain them. "But that's okay, you'll get better eventually. I've gotten a bit better, too."

"Yes, and then we'll beat their as-- er, beat them, I mean." She blushed a bit, almost having said a bad word in front of a toddler. How embarrassing! Good thing she'd caught her enthusiasm just in time.

Joshua nodded, "Mommy says I'll get better like her. Mommy's good at talking." He paused, and looked for the evil dragons. "I think you scared them away." He told her. "They don't like being beat up." He hadn't noticed her slip up, or he would have mentioned it.

"Well, that's no fun." She looked around with a frown before being interrupted by a loud rumble. "Uhh.." Maddy was definitely blushing, and holding her stomach.

"I guess I'm a bit hungry, sorry. I should probably get going, too." It was darkening, and as her tummy had reminded her, it'd be dinnertime soon. "Now that the dragons are safe, I'm sure they won't mind managing the kingdom for a little while."

Joshua nodded, "We'll protect it for you!" He said smiling. His stomach growled, and he giggled. "After dinner! The dragons already had theirs, so they're happy."

"Alright." Maddy beamed at her new friend, happy to have made another one.

"It was awesome to meet you, Josh! See you later!" She gave him a quick hug before waving and walking off towards home.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"In the kitchen, Sweetheart," the chopping sound of some vegetable being mangled could be heard before her mom continued, "and don't forgot to take your boots off!"

"Ugh," Maddy muttered, rolling her eyes and dutifully shaking off her boots along with her coat. Dumping her schoolbag, she ran into the kitchen where Olivia was preparing dinner.

"Whatcha making?" She took a seat on her favorite kitchen chair, languidly dangling her feet around and trying to get some warmth back into them. It was getting cold out there, brr!

"Spaghetti bolognese, and be careful with those feet or you'll--"



Today Mom yelled at me for toppling over everything in the kitchen, or at least that's what she says. Honestly it was just a couple of potted plants and I don't see what the big fuss is. Mom's crazy. She's also really, really angry and made me go into my room and stay there until dinner.

Whatever, I like my room a lot anyway. Turtle likes the little seashells from the bottle, and the bottle looks very nice standing on my shelf. It's make lovely green stains on the wall when the sun hits it, and I'm going to put the sand from it down into Turtle's aquarium once it's been cleaned.

Today Austin came me an old turtle shell, and it's so cute! It's a little bit worn around the edges, but that's good, means that he hasn't killed it himself alright, it's still very cute. I'm not sure if I should put it down to Turtle or not, since he might get scared seeing the remains of another dead turtle and think I'll do the same to him. I don't want that. I guess I could put it on my shelf and make it a treasure-shelf - that'd be kinda cool too, right?

I gave Kash a luck dragon statue today (only plastic, though), it was very cute as well. It was a bit old though, we had so much trouble finding it. Mom found it in the end but she didn't tell me where, just that it was OK that I 'collected turtle things' and at least it wasn't and then she mumbled something. I don't know, she refuses to talk about it, but it must've been bad. I don't see why, though, but I guess moms are just weird like that sometimes.

Anyway, I really hope Kash likes the statue, she put luck dragons on her paper and she talked about them that time too, so I think she will.

I can't wait till tomorrow though, that'll be the best present! But I won't tell you anything else now, 'cause it's a secret, but I'll tell you tomorrow, OK? I hope Austin gives me a nice present too, maybe a picture of that giant turtle he saw. Or the turtle. That'd be awesome.

Love,
Madeleine

Maddy & Austin -- A Gift for Maddy ( Xmas 08 )

(counted as ½ of an ORP -- combined with Turtle or Bust! for 1 full ORP)

Theoretically being kidnapped by a pirate was supposed to be romantic in these days. It was all due to the big push on movies and cheesy romance novels. But to be honest, one would feel sorry for a girl grabbed by Austin Island. He pulled the poor butterfly girl off to a corner in the gym and proceeded to start patting his pockets again.

It was becoming quite obvious that the boy never paid attention to where he stuck his things. He stopped, pulling a sheet of paper out of one pocket and looking at it blankly. There was nothing on the paper. "So that's where I put it..."

"Ah.." Maddy shifted a bit, notably more uncomfortable once she was alone with Austin again. It didn't help that he had apparently gone insane, when she had been expecting to receive her final gift and not stand around staring at blank papers.

She had to say though, he'd really stepped it up on the gifts - they were all very cute, pretty or ornamental, which certainly wasn't what she had expected when she'd learned that he was her Secret Santa.
Following this trend, she was pretty sure that the paper wasn't her gift, even if only because Polly would have surely forced him to find something more suitable.

"Put what?" It seemed the only thing to ask at this point.

He looked at her, then held the page up to the ceiling, revealing a long line of numbers that were invisible unless held up to light. "This--" His mind rushed, wondering if she had any clue what those lines of numbers meant. For some reason he hoped she didn't.

Just in case, though, he folded the paper again and slipped it back into a pocket. "Ah, just the paper that was in your bottle before I filled it with sand and junk," he told her, starting his patting habit again.

"Wow!" So that was why he carried a not-really-blank paper around - not that she knew what exactly the numbers meant, but Maddy was smart enough to draw the lines between the dots and figure out that it was obviously a map of some sort. Pirates + papers in old bottles = maps - everyone knew that.

"It was very pretty junk, though." She couldn't help but defend the earlier gift, quite fascinated by the seashells in it. "Thanks, by the way."

He shrugged, a faint trail of red crossing his cheeks at that compliment. Pirates weren't supposed to do pretty! He just... he just liked seashells, cuz they reminded him of home!

But he didn't say that. Instead he jerked, remembering where he had put her gift as it pinched him. "Ouch," he muttered, untying the pouch that held the hermit crab and trying to extract his finger from its hold. "'ere we go," he said, offering her the pouch with his hand still in it.

Maddy took it, a bit wary by his earlier 'ouch' and the odd way the pouch got presented. Was that.. needles? No, they were too big and not sharp enough and the pouch was far too heavy for it to be needles (unless he'd given her like ten thousand of the things).

So she held the pouch in the palm of her hand, completely untying the string holding it together since Austin's hand was still trapped.



In the pouch was a small hermit crab, obviously quite disgruntled at being moved around.

"Oh. My. God!" The butterfly girl squealed, not caring if she was being too girly. "That's so cute! So cute!" She carefully pried the crab's claws away from Austin, cooing like a madwoman the whole time. It was love at first sight.

He blinked. "You actually like it?" he finally asked, a bit stunned. He was pretty sure (even as dense as he was when it came to females) that he wouldn't be able to explain how to cook the thing to her. She might get mad at him. "It's meaner than 'eck."

And his throbbing finger gave testament to that fact. He lifted the finger to his lips, blowing on it and wincing.

"Aww, he's just a little misunderstood. Aren't you, my little baby?" She'd deteriorated into baby-talk, but Maddy was too far gone in admiring the crab's adorable little feelers and pin-p***k eyes to notice.

"Thank you!" She looked up from her gift long enough to smile brilliantly at Austin - she might even had attempted a hug if she wasn't afraid of squishing the little thing. "Does he have a name?"

Dinner, he wanted to say, but he got the feeling she wouldn't see the humor in that, either. His mind rushed, but since Austin was never good at naming things to begin with, it didn't get very far.

"'ow about... Pirate?" he asked finally. "You can name him Pirate." It was a good steady name, if you asked him, and it suited the little b*****d's personality just right.

Well, it wasn't the most original of names but it had a nice sound and since she had gotten him from a pirate to begin with..

"Right, Pirate it is." She nodded, pleased enough with how it sounded out loud. It wasn't exactly like Maddy was particularly creative either, as evidenced by her turtle, Turtle.
"Thanks a bunch Austin, I really, really love him. It's the best gift ever." She was holding the crab to her chest, pseudo-hugging it while the little beast was decimating all the red lace it could find. Not that she noticed or anything.

"Well, good," he said. "Now I can shove it in Polly's face that I didn't screw up entirely for this thing." And there it was, his greatest motivator for the Secret Santa thing. He looked around for aforementioned cousin, noticing that she was now raiding the food table. His stomach rumbled. Somehow Jake had found out they'd be eating food at school and not bothered to pack him a lunch.

"So... see ya!" he said, turning to head for his cousin, and more importantly, the food.

Maddy made her way back to Kaimi and Nefl, still cooing maniacally at the newly dubbed Pirate. She couldn't wait to show him off to her friends - this was the best Christmas ever!

Maddy & Rook -- The Tiniest Violin of All

(Counted as ½ of an ORP -- put together with Waiting in Lines for 1 full ORP)

It had not been a good day for Madeleine Taylor, butterfly girl extra-ordinaire.

Sure, it had started out great; Christmas had come and gone, and with it had come a lot of awesome presents (that, thankfully, had not gone but stayed around), and Maddy had made plans the night before to play with her new toys. She'd gotten a doll much like the one her friend Dalal had, only this one had seen less wear and tear, and some Legos and a bunch of other stuff.

Frankly, she'd gotten so many toys she'd had to set up a mental scheme for when she'd play with what.

And today had been the gorgeous new doll's day. So she'd gotten up, fed Turtle and Pirate and then introduced the two to her gleaming new Barbie.

It'd been a blast.

And then her mom had stuck her head into her room and said, with the meekest voice Maddy had ever heard: "Madeleine, we need to talk for a bit."

That was where things had started to go wrong.

She'd gone out into the kitchen, where, sure enough, her mom sat at the table and looked pensive. Things had just gone downhill from there.

Her mom had talked about a lot of things, mostly to stall the time, but eventually she'd gotten around to things like 'loneliness', 'friends', 'siblings' and then the dread thing: 'cabbage'.

She was planning to take on another of Dr. Akari's children, the doctor that had created Maddy. Sure, she said it was because she wanted Maddy to have a friend, one that'd always be there, but like hell that was what she really thought - obviously she didn't love Maddy anymore and had decided to replace her with some stupid, idiotic kid that was 'better' than she was.

And so in a fit of tears, she'd ran from the apartment to find some place where her mom wasn't a b***h, and when that failed, had settled on the children's section at the local library where she was currently sobbing her brains out.

Libraries were supposed to be quiet places his mother said, There were signs that told you to shush and everything. Thus Rook was confused when he could quite clearly hear someone crying nearby. Confused but also worried, crying was never good thing. Leaving his mother to mull over which of bear who loved marmalade books to get Rook turned and spotted the pretty winged crier.

Walking over to her he smiled softly and wiggled his left foot a bit letting the small length on change on it jingle. That always cheered him up and it was his best idea on how to help. " Did a dog die?" he asked quietly crimson eyes curious " Bishop says the ones with dogs always make them die. Don't read them." Having seen old Yeller the other day which he'd learned was also a book Rook had to agree books with dogs were bad.

Dogs? Die? Maddy opened her eyes and spotted the funny-looking kid near her who was staring at her curiously.

Her inner politeness kicked in. "N-no," she sniffled quietly, "I don't have a dog. I have a turtle and a hermit crab, though." She couldn't resist adding the last bit - bragging about her awesome pets was second nature by now.

She paused for a second, replaying his words in her mind. Oh. He meant a book? "I haven't read a book about a dog before." This only seemed to make her even sadder than she already was.

" Don't " Rook cautioned his tail swaying back and froth behind him like a big cats "They just die, except lassie." Considering his first experience with animal death had been traumatic enough to give him nightmares the boy was determined never to read , or be read to about such a thing again and warning others was only right.

Still he perked up a lot at the thought of the girl's mentioned pets " Crabs and turtles love water right? Do you? I love water." Baths and trips to the local pool were quite possibly Rook's favorite things in the world. Absently as he spoke the boy lifted a three fingered hand and rubbed at the red jewels embedded into his rubbery Grey skin.

She nodded, a bit more composed now that it seemed she had company determined to stick around.

"I like water, but I.. I can't swim in it." She grimaced and pointed to her wings, giving them a flutter: "They're too delicate and getting them wet hurts." It made taking a shower quite complicated, involving specially made plastic bags and some creative maneouvering.

"But I like having my feet in water. That's really nice." Maddy added, trying to be a bit less depressing for the poor boy.

Rook frowned briefly, to be unable to swim was a horrible thought. Bishop had wings sort of and she could swim, hers were small though and she still didn't like getting them wet. " Well at least you can have your feet in, water really is nice." He eyed her wings carefully " Can you fly with them? Bishop has wings but she can't fly."


"It is." It was one of the many problems with having butterfly wings; when the dust on her wings got displaced, as it tended to do in water, they started hurting like hell. Honestly, at this point Maddy was sure there were more disadvantages to having wings than there were advantages.

"I can't fly either." She shrugged, attempting a watery smile for the sake of Rook. "I'd like to, though - that'd be kinda cool. Who's Bishop?"

Deciding that standing was too much effort if they were just going to talk Rook let his legs collapse so he was in a cross legged position and hied til curled round his waist to end in his lap. Comfortable he replied " Bishop's my older sister except not with blood becuase I came from a cabbage and she didn't." Not that Rook really cared where his family was from as long as they all got along.
"Oh." She paused, taking in the strange boy's words. Older sister? Cabbage? That all sounded frightfully familiar. What was this, some sort of cosmic conspiracy?

"I came from a cabbage, too." Might as well play along, right? He probably didn't even know. She hesitated again, before giving in to temptation: "Your parents like you both, right? And your sister.. she likes you too?"

Rook nodded " We just have mom but she loves all three of us." Rook had never felt any less cared about than the others although he was starting to realize that Andrea was allowed to do certain things he and bishop weren't which confused him a bit.

" Bishop and Andrea helped me to walk." There was a slightly blurred line between helped and forced but all Rook really cared about was that they'd tried to help him learned and been there just as excited as he was when it had happened. " Everyone likes each other." He couldn't imagine anyone not liking each other and having never witnessed a fight by any members of his family he couldn't see why anyone would expect something to be wrong.

"Really?" She didn't know who Andrea was but assumed she was another sister or something of the like. "My mom wants to get me a sister or a brother, but I don't know."

Rook nodded and fingered the links of chain as he looked thoughtful. After a moment he smiled reassuringly " Be nice and help, they will like you." Rook wasn't always happy with the things his sister did but he did care about her becuase she cared about him. " Moms can love everyone" Here his voice was firm and he nodded as if needing to hammer through his point.

Well.. that did make sense. A lot of sense, actually.

"I guess so." Her feelers twitched, feeling a bit awkward for some reason. "What's your name, anyway?"

Rook blinked in puzzlement for a moment before staring at the floor in embarrassment. He'd completely forgotten to say who he was and you were always supposed to do that first. " I'm Rook" he said when he finally lifted his eyes again.

" You know, Kaimi or" he paused trying to remember the name of the other cabbage child he knew " or Christian? An what's your name" That too was important to know.

Maddy brightened considerably. "Yes! I know Kaimi, and I think I've.. seen Christian around a few times." If he was that scary, large guy that she kept getting assured wasn't that scary. But Kaimi was her friend, her first real one, and the mention of the flower-girl perked her up.

"I'm Madeleine, but that's really awful to pronounce so everyone calls me Maddy." She smiled, rolling her eyes a bit when she talked about how awful her name was.

Rook looked thoughtful for a moment" madline madal " he frowned " Maddy" he nodded Maddy was easier. Perhaps he was just used to saying the other's name more or perhaps it was the fact that her name was long that made it difficult. Either way his first attempts had proven that copying exactly how she said her name wasn't going to work right away. Rook was still too young yet to pick up all words or names off the bat.

" Mom should just call you Maddy" He suggested as the tip of his tail curled and uncurled in his lap. Why give someone a hard name?

"Yeah, I thought so too, but.." She shrugged: "Apparently it was the name of some great-aunt or something. It's just stupid, you know? Why give me a name I'll never use?"

She grimaced, when she got a sibling she was sure as heck going to make sure that her mom named it something nicer and easier to pronounce.

Maddy started, looking a bit confused: did she really just think that? But.. She shook her head - suddenly getting a sibling didn't seem so bad as it had before.

Oh well. Maybe having Rook put things into perspective had helped? That had to be it, yeah.

She smiled again, brushing the awkward feeling of something aside from her mind.

Rook shrugged as well then directed his attention to something far more interesting, the girl's wings " Can I touch? Will be gentle" he gestured towards them. Bishop's headwings were soft and feathery, Gal's wings were similar but different and he wanted to know what these ones felt like. Touch was still a very important part of the learning process for him.

Carol approached slowly from behind Rook having grabbed a copy of Paddington bear and a small tome of illustrated fairytales. She watched her son carefully, not quite ready to interrupt his play but eager to get home nonetheless.

She considered him for a few moments. On one hand, she hated having people touch her wings, but on the other, he'd asked nicely and said he'd be gentle - and she was a sucker for a cute face.

"Alright, but be really careful, OK? And try to keep the dust off your clothes, it can be a pain to get out." She turned around and tried to keep her wings still long enough for him to touch them.

Rook was confused by the mention of dust but Nodded anyways and reached out. He brushed his fingers lightly against the pale bottom of a wing before pulling back quickly at the strange feel. Definetely different than the other wings he'd felt, not bad just strange " was weird , thank you" he murmured now looking at his dust covered fingers, uncertain about what to do with them.

"You can just wipe it on my sleeve, it'll be full of the stuff by tonight anyway." She held out an arm for him to wipe his hand on, smiling lightly. "And you're welcome - is that your Mom over there, looking at us? Because if not, I think we need to get an adult soon." She grinned mischieviously, doing a 180 jump from her earlier mood.

Rook turned to per over his shoulder while using the girl's shirt to remove the power from his hands. He hoped she knew how to get rid of it easily herself after her warning to him " That's mom" he confirmed completely missing the girls other reference in the statement" I think she wants to go now." Rook was enjoying talking to Maddy but he couldn't very well deny his mother.

"Alright. Thanks for.." She hesitated - he probably hadn't cottoned on to how much he'd helped her, so mentioning that would just be awkward. "Thanks for cheering me up. I'll see you sometime, OK?"

She smiled at his mom and got up. "It was nice to meet you, Rook. Bye!" It was time she got home to her own mom and told her about her change of heart.

Solo Entry

It'd been a few days already, and the cabbage hadn't done anything too terribly interesting. In fact, the most interesting thing it'd done was fall down to the floor when Pirate had climbed up the curtains and accidentally pushed it.

It wasn't the sort of thing you'd write a book about. It was, she mused, not the sort of thing that warranted much of anything except putting the thing back in the windowsill.

It was boring, in other words. Maddy had expected that it'd only be a day, heck, a few hours or less before the cabbage would spawn a kid, but apparently that wasn't so. The thing'd been stagnant for days, just sitting in the windowsill, soaking up the sun and the water she fed it regularly.

Her mom had entrusted her with the care of the cabbage, hoping to create some bonds between the butterfly girl and her new sibling before he or she actually arrived - or, well, make Maddy feel more bonded to her new sibling, in any case.

Maddy wasn't quite sure if Olivia's tactic had worked, or she was just generally warming up to the idea, but she was beginning to really look forward to having someone new in the house. Maybe it was because her mom had to work late a lot of times, or maybe it was because she didn't really have any close friends, but she was beginning to feel quite lonely these days.

It was an awful feeling, she'd quickly decided. Sure, she had friends - had made quite a few of them lately, actually, but none of them were particularly close; no-one she'd classify as a 'best friend'. She'd seen a few of them a couple of times, but not enough to share her secrets with them or really consider them someone vital.

Not that she should expect a sibling to fill that void, but she couldn't help it. Maddy wanted a friend that was all her's, someone she could trust, and maybe that was what her mom had picked up on when she decided to adopt another child. Even if wouldn't be best friends (and they likely wouldn't, seeing as siblings are siblings) they'd at least always be together and someone to count on in times of need.

And on the nights when her mom came home late. Olivia had said that Maddy was old enough to help out with her new sibling, at least once they became a bit older (and Dr. Akari's children tended to age fast), and the nanny didn't charge per child, thankfully.

The hardest part was not knowing, really - would the cabbage open to reveal a sister or a brother? How'd they look; the cabbage-generated kids generally looked all sorts of odd, but some of them had looked quite normal as well, so which would it be? How'd they act, who were they, what of their personality? Would they be bratty and intolerable, or cute and sweet?

Waiting was horrible.