The next story in the A Perfect World series is here! :)

I hope you all like it. :3

The little Sockop stared at Star with its big, dark eyes. Star sat down on her bed and stared back.

"Well, little guy," she said, "you're finally going back to your family tonight. I can't believe how long you've been staying here!"

The baby Sockop had been living with Star since early last winter. It was now time for spring break.

The original plan had been to take it back to its family ASAP, but the winter had been a harsh, cold one, and there seem to be no chance of finding the other Sockop in that kind of weather. Now that it had warmed up some, Star and her friends were going to try again. And this time, they weren't giving up until the Sockop was back with its family!

The baby made cute little happy noises, making Star smile slightly. It had been living in a dog cage all winter; she couldn't blame it for being excited.

After a moment, the girl frowned, realizing how attached she had gotten to the odd little creature. "It's been nice having a roommate, but it's time to let you go." She got up and continued packing. She would be leaving with her parents early tomorrow morning to stay with her aunt for spring break. Star sighed.

It wasn't that she disliked her aunt; her mother's older sister was a lot of fun. But she hated leaving her friends. Although…there was always summer vacation to look forward to.

There was a knock on her bedroom door and her mother poked her head in.

"Almost done?" she asked, referring to the packing Star had been doing.

"Yeah, just about. What time do I have to get up at again?"

"Seven. So you better hurry up and finish so you can hang out with your friends tonight. I expect you in bed no later than eight-thirty"

Star groaned. "Fiiiine. I think I'm done, so I'm heading out now. We have to find the Sockop's family."

"Finally getting rid of our boarder?" Star's mother looked amused.

"Yes." Star picked up the cage by its handle. "See you in about an hour!"

"Good bye, dear. Remember, be home by eight!"

"Got it!"

"Stupid bus line and its ridiculous rules," Star muttered as she walked up to the Dark City bus top where her friends were waiting for her.

"What took you so long getting here?" Dimentio asked, giving her a bored look.

"The bus driver told me I couldn't ride the bus with the Sockop with me! Wild critters aren't allowed, so I had to walk the whole way."

"You walked to here from Toad Town?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't too bad." Star sighed. "Just tiring. Where's Dawn?"

"She can't come," Mimi said. "She texted me before saying something had come up and we should look for the Sockop group without her."

'Whatever. Let's get going then; I have to be home by eight. We have to get an early start tomorrow because it's a long drive to my aunt's house."

So the four of them—Star, Dimentio, Mimi, and Fawful—started walking deeper into the forest where Dark City was located.

The deeper they went, the darker it got. Star began to wish she had brought a flashlight. Luckily for them, Mimi had thought ahead and had a large flashlight that lid the way for all of them.

"What are we even looking for?" Fawful wondered out loud. "What are the signs of a Sockop group living near by?"

"I don't know…" Mimi sighed. "Maybe we should have done some research."

"What we should have done is brought a leash," Star said jokingly. "Then we could carefully tie it around the baby Sockop's neck and see if it'll lead us to its home!"

Everyone laughed at that idea.

"Actually, it isn't a bad idea," Dimentio said suddenly. He made a rope about four feet long appear in his hand. "It could work."

Star shrugged. "I was just kidding. But hey, if you think it might work, let's try it." She set the cage down and opened it up, letting the little Sockop wander outside of it. With some help from Mimi, who held it in one place, Dimentio tied the rope around the baby's neck and gave Star the other end of it to hold.

Then they waited.

At first just stood there while the Sockop hopped around a little, exploring the near by bushes. Then, after making a pose that made it look like it was sniffing the air, the Sockop started excitedly hopping north.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Star said happily. Her joy only lasted until the Sockop stopped in front of a bush and started eating berries. Star groaned and did a facepalm, and the others did a sweatdrop.

"Well…that didn't work so well…" Dimentio sighed. "I guess we'll have to try something else. But in the meantime, it's getting late. Star, you should go home."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I was hoping we could get this little guy home tonight, though; I can't take him back home." She thought for a moment. "Fawful, you take him tonight."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! I'm not going to be home all week, so I can't watch him. Dimentio and Mimi can't watch him this week, because let's face it; their family would not like that. Look, if you really can't do it, go see if Dawn can. But either way, please try and figure something out, because if I don't get home soon, I'll be in a lot of trouble."

Fawful sighed. "Alright, I'll watch it tonight and figure things out in the morning."

"Thank you." Star smiled as she gave the makeshift leash to her friend. "I hate to admit it, but I've gotten a bit attached to the little guy, and I want to be sure he'll be taken care of while I'm gone. Crap! I have to go!"

She turned and ran toward the bus stop. "I'll see you guys when school starts!" She called over her shoulder. "Tell Dawn I'll miss her!"

"Bye, Star!"

"Later!"

"We should go home, too," Mimi said. "I don't care if it is spring break; I have to do some studying for history class. I think I'm failing, and I don't even want to think about what will happen if I bring home an F on my next report card."

"What are you having trouble with?" Fawful asked.

"Nothing really. I'm just not studying as much as I should be. It's so boring…"

"Why don't I go to your place tomorrow and help you?"

Mimi smiled shyly. "Okay, thanks. But maybe we'd better do it at your house. It might be quieter, you know?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Come over around ten, okay?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure you wouldn't have any problems with bringing the Sockop home?" Dimentio asked suddenly. "Won't your mom mind?"

"Uh…I'll figure something out…"

"As long as you're sure… Well, like Mimi said, we'd better get going."

"Bye, Fawful!"

"Bye, guys."

Dimentio teleported himself and his little sister back to their home, leaving Fawful alone. Alone save for the baby Sockop, that is.

Sighing, he put it back its cage then picked up the cage and headed for home.

As he was walking past the bus stop, a bus rolled up and a single person stepped out.

"Dawn?"

"I'm too late, aren't I?" she asked quietly. "I'm sorry; I wanted to help, but something came up and I couldn't leave right away…"

"It's okay, Dawn. We couldn't find the Sockop's family, so you didn't miss anything."

"Still… Um, what's that rope around its neck?"

"We wanted to see if it could lead us to its family."

Dawn laughed. "Cute. Whose idea was that?"

"Star's."

"Of course." At that moment the bus drove away. "Annnnnd there goes my ride home. Nice. Do you know if there's another bus coming through here tonight?"

"Yeah, the last one comes in an hour from now. Why don't you come over to my house while you wait? It's only a few minutes away."

Dawn offered a small smile. "Sure. It beats sitting here for an hour, or walking back to Toad Town in the dark."

They walked in silence, with Fawful leading the way because Dawn had never been to his house before. The latter of the two seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

When they arrived, Fawful knew right away that his mom, Cackletta, wasn't home from work yet.

"Is your mom asleep?" Dawn asked, looking at the dark house, feeling uneasy. "If she is, I wouldn't want to wake her…"

"No. She's just working late, I guess. I don't think it'll be a problem if you come in for a little while." Fawful got out his house key and unlocked the door. "Come on in."

"Thanks." They went inside, and the young Beanish turned some lights on.

For a while they sat on the couch in the living room and stared at the Sockop until Fawful finally asked what had been on his mind for the pass hour.

"So…is it alright if I ask what came up before? Did your mom need you to babysit again?"

Dawn bit her lip and turned away. "I don't really want to talk about it now," she said softly.

"Did something bad happen?"

"Nothing bad. I just…" The girl sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. I wanted to wait until the five of us were together again, but it might make me feel better to talk about it."

She turned back to Fawful and looked him in the eye.

"Fawful…I'm adopted."