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"Mmm? Haircut? No, I don't believe so. And..." Slowly DS raised her head, looking straight in front of her.

When had her daughter gotten so tall? And so... beautiful? And how could she not have noticed? She could spot new children a mile away, but her own was changing right underneath her nose, and barely even got a nod. "Linnea, I..."

One hand rushed to her face self-consiously, the other stayed stone still. The water faeling managed to maintain control for an entire three seconds before bursting into tears.

Somehow DS managed to upset two Fae in one day. One minute, even. "No, you're not in trouble... I just... I..."

It really wasn't either of them that upset Linnea, but the combination of the two gawking at her was enough to start the waterworks. This, of course, made it worse, and she ran outside, (hopefully) away from all the people.

"Great." Sighing, DS looked at Momo. "I hate to ask, Momo-chan, but would you mind talking to her? I'm not sure what to say right now, and she looks up to you..." Though not as much as she did before, the thought bemusedly.

Linnea hadn't strayed too far from the inn. It was a warm day, and she took it slowly to be on the safe side, even if it meant someone would catch her. When Momo did, she simply stared at the ground.

"Not mad," she finally answered. "Just don't want everyone looking at me."

Her hands reached towards her face again. One good thing about her outburst was that her tears helped keep her skin moist, but that water had to come from somewhere inside her...

Carol sighed to herself as she sat. Carol thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. She looked back at the woman "I can sew a lot of things" she stated. "But I need a design. Without a design, I'm hopeless. The design sometimes takes a long time to work on, but its worth it when the outfits complete" She nodded enthusiastically in agreement with her own statement. Then a sudden idea came to her, forcing her to jump out of her chair. "HEY! If you ever come up with a cute design, tell me!" she spoke, grinning widely "I bet you we could sell it!".

Carol grinned "Great! It's a deal then!" she cheered happily. "And our first job" she spoke looking down at her clothes "To make ourselves new outfits" she frowned, hunching her shoulders foward and waving her arms back and forth. "Mine's are all ruined"

Carol glanced over at Kapono in Kizzy's arms and smiled at the fae. "Kizzy dear, are you hungry?" she said as her own stomach growled some. "I might not be the best cook but I'm sure I can whip up something" she said, her grin reaapearing. "What about you Miss Paine?"

Hisakata took the letter and read it carefully. She sat down on her chair and nodded slightly. She fidgeted with her fingers and stood up suddenly causing her chair to rock slightly. "Xue-Lien?" She called out for the metal fae. "Xue-Lien Ineed to tell you something!"

Xue-Lien was just putting the instrument away when she heard some one call her name. She walked out of her room and looked around. "What?" She asked as she tiptoed down the stairs. She saw her mother holding a peice of paper which made her wonder slightly.

Hisakata motioned Xue-Lien to come closer and so Xue-Lien did, trying not to trip on her dress. "Well I have some news for you Xue-Lien. You're going to go to school soon." Xue-Lien looked puzzled. "What school?" Xue-Lien inquired, raising an eyebrow. "School is where you learn stuff. Like how to cook! Speaking of which, I'm missing one ingredient for the cookies. I only have one egg left. Want to come with me to get some eggs?" Hisakata asked cheerfully. Xue-Lien grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

Nekura had finished his bath and made his way back downstairs, "...Human..." he said in a trail off before he steeled himself, "Train me more human." he half-commanded half-asked as he looked at Cordain.

Cordain shook his head, "We will continue after you get home from your first day of school. If we move too fast in your training you will end up injured and missing several days of training, possibly months." he stated calmly.

"...Alright." Nekura stated before he turned around and moved back up the stairs and to his room to sleep.

Cordain sighed as he seated himself behind the bar, "...Well...he's not so resistant..." he muttered to himself before he took a bottle of cider and poured himself a glass, "...We still have a long way to go and he'll never be the happy kid he was when we met but...At least his violent urges will be focused and away from harming the humans here..."

He took a long drink from the glass of cider before he leaned back, "...Well...Who would have thought being a father would be anywhere near this difficult..." he sighed again and looked up at the ceiling, "...I should get myself fixed so I can't have my own kids...Once is bad enough..."

With a final gulp, he finished his glass of cider and promptly went about cleaning up the inn's tavern section. He picked up the abandoned, empty bowls, wooden silverware and cups, carrying all of it back into the kitchen where he set about cleaning all of them. He looked at the stew pot, which had been emptied by now to feed himself, Faevan and Nekura. The remainder he had already brought up and left in bowls for Sai and Kizzy should they return.

After he had finished with the washing, leaving them to dry in a rack, he made his way back out to sit behind the bar. Once seated he began idly watching time and people pass outside the inn through the street side windows.

---

Once he was up the stairs Nekura shook his head and growled, "No, Humans are bad, he'll just leave me like my mother did!" he made his way to his room. Once he had the door shut he had begun to violently punch the wall for several minutes.

Eventually Nekura crumpled to the floor to pound on it feebly, his knuckles bloodied from punching the wall, "...I hate them...I hate them all..." he said through a choked sob with no conviction in his voice, "...They will abandon me like mother...I know it..."

He quietly and slowly climbed into bed and removed his mask for the first time since he found it. He curled about the mask as if it meant more than his own life and slipped into slumberland, tears of frustration still sliding down his face.