So, this is my rewrite/expansion of a previous story on here titled "Yellow Eyed Girl" by LettietheGreatestShowman. This is done with her permission and with a little bit of input from her. I hope you enjoy!

Havana was sitting on her usual corner, watching the people pass by, hoping for a little generosity, but not really expecting it. No one cared about some street girl with yellow eyes and red hair. She was always cold in the winter and hot in the summer. She never had enough to eat, but she made do. Of course, some days were harder than others.

Unfortunately, today appeared to be one of the hard days. "Hey, you! Freak!"

Sighing a little to herself, Havana turned around. "What do you want?"

"You and every freak like you caged."

Havana rolled her eyes, used to hearing such things. "Really? How do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this," he growled. Jumping at her, he hit her hard, knocking her to the ground.

Havana's head bounced off the sidewalk, almost causing her to black out. Groaning, she rolled over, seeing the man coming after her, ready to strike again. But just then, an unfamiliar female voice called out. "Hey! What's going on here?"

The man's head snapped around, Havana's gaze a little slower due to her headache. It took a moment for Havana to realize she recognized the woman. She'd seen her unique face on posters all over the city. She was "The Incredible" Miss Lettie, The Bearded Lady from the Barnum Circus.

The man's face turned even more violent. "You. You're one of those Barnum freaks, aren't you?"

Lettie's expression remained flat as she shrugged. "If that's what you want to call us, then yes, I'm one of 'Barnum's freaks'." She glanced down at Havana, then turned a glare on the man. "And you'd best lay off. You see, there's a couple of police officers watching you and coming this way. I happen to know they don't take too kindly to child abuse."

Spinning around, the man saw the officers getting closer and cursed. "I'll cage you. I'll see ALL you Barnum freaks caged!" With that he turned and ran.

Lettie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, bring your lunch, buddy." When he was gone, a victorious smile curled the corners of her mouth for a moment before her look became concerned. She reached down to help Havana up. "You alright?"

Havana nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

Lettie gave her a smile. "We oddities have to stick together." She looked the younger woman over, frowning at her worn, dirty clothes. "Where do you live, honey?"

Havana blushed a bit in embarrassment. She hated this topic. "The streets. I was abandoned as a toddler." She could feel her eyes stinging with tears. She didn't know why she was telling a stranger this, but she couldn't help herself. There was just something about this woman. "Just because I look different." The pain of a lifetime came crashing into her and she could no longer hold back the tears.

Sighing in sympathy, Lettie pulled her into a hug. "Shhh, it's alright. You're not alone in that."

Eventually, Havana recovered and something struck her. "Ma'am, why didn't it bother you when that man called you a freak?"

Lettie shrugged, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Oh, believe me, it used to. I wasn't so different from you. But since I joined Barnum's circus, I learned that it doesn't matter what the narrow minded general population thinks of you. As Charity Barnum says; you don't need the world to love you, just a few good people. And if you can love yourself, then it doesn't matter what a bunch of ignorant strangers think, and their words don't bother you hardly at all."

Havana considered this for a moment before looking back up at Lettie. "How does one go about joining Barnum's circus?"