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There was absolutely no shortage of animals in Taji's home that anyone could be sure of -- the family owned horses, and in celebration of the new addition to the family, many more creatures had been sent to live in the rapidly cramping Delnoir mansion. Taji owned, so far, a whole flock of furry squirrel creatures, a tempermental Kitsusagi that at least now knew how to sit (but got very angry when there was no treat to be had for his efforts), two puppies, one pony, one baby elephant (a source of confusion for Taji's parents as well), one trained bear, one penguin, two sheep, a giraffe, a variety of fish and sea creatures, and finally the lady and lord of the house managed to put their foot down.

"No more animals," they told Taji.

"But -- BUT--" the young girl had begun to protest, but was ultimately not able to finish: the kitsu began to harass the sheep and the giraffe got stuck in the laundry chute again and the maid was wailing about how she was not paid enough for this, and so Taji had to leave to herd everyone back into place.

Three days later, on her way home from school, she browsed thoughtfully through yet another pet store, which boasting a variety of creatures and spirits to bring home and spread their good fortune. While she avoided the bigger things, recognizing that there was no way she could smuggle those home in the superman hoodie she'd borrowed from Con, she allowed herself to peer carefully at a shelf which contained many tiny creatures in jars.

Taji jumped at being so suddenly addressed, having been so absorbed in trying to decide which of the pets she wanted to buy, and caught off-balance, began to stumble backwards and into a display of jarmono pet food. CLANG CLANG went the cans all over the floor, OW OW went the Taji, shortly following.

Guiltily she scrambled to her knees and began rapidly gathering the cans into a small pile, eager to clean up her mess before one of the store owners came to yell at her. To the other boy she grinned lopsidedly and chirped, "I am Taji, an' I have two left feet! Have you come to buy more mamamamamamimals too?"

"An' you shake it all about~" Taji quickly added and half-sung. Finally managing to shove all the cans into something vaguely representing a pile (like that of leaves, which looked fairly tempting to jump in now that she looked it except it probably would not feel nice at all.)

"What's your name?" She asked the other boy, noting his wings with a sense of awe. They just -- they looked so shiny. She immediately reached out and grabbed one, pulling gently as if expecting it to release from his back.

"I dunno!" Taji shrugged and glanced between her latest victim and the row of animals. "I like the.. I like the kitty. And the pandy, and the bunny, and thr turtley, and the piggy, and the sheepy..."

All of them? All of them? That was allowed? "You're gonna buy the whooole shelf? Aww, now all the little pandas and bunnies and sheepies and turtlies and kitties and piggies will have homes!" She beamed proudly at the entire shelf as said animals drifted aimlessly in their jars, thankfully oblivious to their eventual fates.

"I donno, I was thinking of buying a little bunny, but if you will buy them all then thassok. Maybe I can come visit them sometime! What're you going to name them all? I think this one," she jabbed a finger at one of the jarred pandas, "Looks like a... a Puu."

"I think..." Taji wondered a little, tilting her head at an angle to peer at the rapidly emptying shelves as Ryder began moving all of the jars into his wagon. There was only one that he missed -- left way in the back, a jar with a panda that was just slightly bigger than all the others. Standing up on tiptoes, she reached back and pulled it out; the creature awoke with a yawn and, blinking sleepily up at her, began twinkling at her with little stars.

"Look!" Taji grinned at Ryder, bringing her new pet over to the cashier to pay with the little pocket money she had saved up. It was much more expensive, this panda creature, and she wouldn't be able to get any ice cream for weeks -- not that Taji cared much. For now, anyway. She'd much rather have this panda. "He's magic!" She continued, poking her fingers into the glass and making silly faces at her new friend. "I'mma name him Leaf! --I wonder how they get them all into the jars anyway?"

Delicately placing Leaf onto the pet wagon with all the other jars, Taji waved goodbye to the cashier and began leading Ryder out the door. "My house is not too far from here! Five streets over that way, and two streets down. 'M not," she began very suddenly and in a rather guilty tone of voice, "Supposed to bring home any more animals, but maybe if you tell them that they're all yours and I'm just keeping a few for a while..."

She was not entirely sure this would work, but it couldn't hurt to try, could it?

Taji skipped along the pavement, occasionally stubbing her toes into cracks and nearly faceplanting into the sidewalk. She considerably slowed when Ryder asked her, though, and swept strands of dark hair towards her mouth to thoughtfully chew on.

"I 'unno," Taji said finally, "Sometimes I think I'm a star, and sometimes I just.. forget." It would've been nice, she thought somewhat enviously as she admired Ryder's wings once more, to have something so plainly obvious to not only prove to herself but to the rest of her family what she was before she became human-shaped.

"How did Logan know you're a feenix birdy?" She wanted to know as she continued leading him towards her house. They were nearly there now -- her house was just up the road, large, white, and somewhat imposing. There was a long cobblestone path leading up to the twin front doors, surrounded by what was not so much a lawn but a field of recently-blooming spring flowers.

"Yeah!" Taji grinned and extended one arm to point a finger resolutely at the sun. "Day sky too, that star is the most important one here." She felt vaguely guilty not even knowing its name -- for all of its closeness, she had had absolutely no chance to speak to it. Well... That is -- if she weren't just deluding herself into believing that she might even know the language of the stars at all.

It was so inconvenient to forget things as one grew up. Her being a star, she was beginning to see as the days passed, sounded just like her many claims to being the long-lost pink pony princess.

She was only half-listening when Ryder continued speaking, but it was still enough to abruptly interrupt her thoughts and send her into howls of laughter. "Peasearch! Blegh, I hate peas! But --" her voice lowered only a little bit as she confided in Ryder her newest secret, "--I know some people who eat all their vegetables, my best friend Con, he always does, and I learned because of the meeting of Zee that these green thingies can give you special powers."

A pause. "And peasearch," Taji added hastily, "So that you know things, like being a feenix birdy. Yeah!" This very last part addressed Ryder's actual question at last as the young girl planted her fists on her hips and stared up at her house. "Come on, we can wheel the wagon into the garage, 'n you 'n the jarnimals can come in and have cookies."

It was only a short walk to the garage, following a smaller, divergent cobblestone path to a door set discretely in the side of the offshoot building. When Taji leaned up on tiptoes to try the doorknob, it proved to be locked; it only took her a moment of rapidly making hand gestures against the wall (only it was with one finger, as if she were tracing something, or just randomly doodling -- with her attention span, who knew) and when she tried it again, it swung open into the house.

The garage was cool, dark, and slightly musty. The only other source of light other than the doorway they had opened was the one leading into the house, thankfully left a little ajar; the reason for this proved to be the habit of one of Taji's sheep demanding to take naps on top of Rhine's bike in the most nonsensical, draping, limb-entangling way ever. There was a car parked in here, an antique (well, honestly, just plain old) model, and two other bikes: the one decorated liberally with Magic School Bus stickers and rainbow streamers was obviously Taji's.