Chobits! Chobits! RA RA RA! I wanna cry with laughter (or just cry). I'm listening to TRC's OST right now. It's ominous music strengthens my whimsical writing ability (or maybe not, but I don't care). Well, chappie 2 is up! Another long thing to type for me, but it's worth it. Now to start.

A Window in Time

"WHAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Lloyd screamed. Altessa scrambled about, fumbling over his own feet to find a way to calm the child he took in. Only two days, and he already knew he will have a difficult time ahead of him in raising this 3 year old boy. His heightening stress caused more hairs on his head to grey faster than ever.

As he ran across the spacious room to find something to make Lloyd happy, Noishe stretched and lazily walked around the house. He was free to roam almost wherever he pleased within the area. Of course, Altessa was too busy to really care what the animal was doing. Noishe yawned deeply, showing his amazingly white teeth. He laid back down next to the child that was having a fit.

Tabatha came over. She indifferently stared at the boy that cried in front of her and slowly blinked. Lloyd looked at her with his huge eyes and sniffled. Tabatha noticed he had stopped wailing.

"IT IS TIME FOR BREAKFAST." She moved toward the large pot in the corner of the room. She opened the lid and a delicious aroma escaped from the food inside. Lloyd watched in captivation, his eyes still red with tears.

He waddled up to her and inhaled the smells of what the female robot was preparing. He remained silenced as he sat still.

Altessa was immediately aware that the boy had quieted. He cautiously approached Lloyd and Tabatha so that he would not somehow make Lloyd explode into tears again.

"Tabatha… What are you cooking right now?" The dwarf made sure that the boy did not stick his hand into the mixture of food.

Tabatha continued to stir the contents in the pot. "I AM MAKING CURRY AT THE MOMENT. IT WILL BE READY SHORTLY."

Drool began to leak out of Lloyd's gaping mouth. "Ta… btha. Tabtha? I'm hungry…" (I know "Tabatha" is spelled wrong. Lloyd's still a kid of course.) His small stomach growled in confirmation.

Altessa patted Lloyd's tangled brown hair. "Why don't you go play with Noishe while Tabatha is cooking?" The little tyke nodded and made his way over to the pet, disturbing his rest.

The dwarf stroked his beard for a moment. "Hm… He is going to be quite a hassle, that boy… But look how he responded to food!" He softly chuckled and shook his head.

Once Lloyd had a fully satisfied stomach, he lounged next to Noishe and burped. His mind suddenly wandered to the days before. The small-bodied boy perked up to his feet and unsteadily walked to Altessa.

Altessa was in an arm chair, completely exhausted and relieved that ordeal was done with. He then heard the loud slaps of the bear footed boy running across the stone-grey floor. He sighed and prepared for Lloyd's arrival.

Lloyd nearly tripped over his feet. He came right up to the dwarf and tilted his body to the side. "…When will Daddy come?"

Altessa hoped he would not ask that again. "I don't know…" was all he could say.

"Is… Daddy not coming…?"

He did not know how to respond. "Um… Go and play with Noishe."

"Okay!" Lloyd woke up Noishe and made his carry him around.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lloyd was now 6. He caused even more mayhem in the household than before.

"Noishe! Catch!" He and Noishe were playing fetch with a long stick outside.

Lloyd's hair was a little longer and spikier now. Right now, he ran around the grass gleefully with his obedient green and white pet. Altessa watched from the window to make sure the boy was not doing anything bad. He had his own matters to attend to.

"…She should be coming soon…" The dwarf walked to his work area and put both elbows against the desk. He glanced to his right. It was still there. Altessa looked away from the table. "I wonder if he is ready for me to give this to him…"

Meanwhile, as Lloyd played around, a short girl with pink hair approached the grounds of the house. Her pigtails moved with the gentle wind. The forest around her seemed to silence, only to have the sound of her footsteps present.

Noishe stopped looking at Lloyd. He faced away from the stone house and whined.

"What is it, boy?" Lloyd asked as he turned the same direction as Noishe. There was the girl. She stopped in her tracks and blankly looked at the boy and the canine thing beside him.

"Is… Altessa home…?" No real emotion was reflected though her voice as she asked.

"Yeah. Dad's inside." Lloyd pointed at the entrance.

The petite girl slowly walked toward the house with her firm strides. Her purple dress looked somewhat old. Lloyd thought it was weird to have someone come over to this location. And he never remembered seeing her all the times he went to Ozette. He continued to stare and finally saw a red shimmer below the girl's neck.

The girl entered the building. As curious as Lloyd was, he and Noishe followed her.

Altessa had his back facing Lloyd and was talking to the pink-haired person near the door Lloyd had walked through. The girl merely nodded at what Altessa said.

"Dad? So we have a visitor today?"

"Oh, Lloyd!" Altessa turned. "This is Presea… She… just came back to Ozette a while ago. She will be… coming and going often."

Lloyd smiled. "Hello, Presea!" He stuck out his hand, expecting her to shake it. Presea just stared at him, almost as if she did not care.

"I will leave now…" Presea grabbed the doorknob to exit.

"Uh…" The brown-haired boy was disappointed. "Dad? Why didn't she really talk much?"

The dwarf did not answer. "…Um, Lloyd… I… have something to give to you."

Lloyd's eyes lit up. "What?!"

"Come with me Lloyd." The two went to Altessa's working table. "I want you to have this…" He gave the 6 year old the crystal he had kept.

"What is it, Dad?" Lloyd stared at the crystal that was placed in his hand.

"That is called and exsphere." He looked at Lloyd. "Think of your mother when you have it on…"

"Mom? …"

"It was hers you know."

"It was?" He looked at the crystal more when something struck him. "Hey! That Presea girl had one of these!" Altessa twitched.

"I will attach the crystal to you. I have made a key crest so you can wear it."

"A key crest? What's that?"

"You need it so that… Um… I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Sure!" Altessa placed the key crest on the exsphere and put the crystal on Lloyd's left hand. "Thanks a whole bunch, Dad!" The energetic kid ran back to Noishe and began playing again.

The dwarf closed his eyes and sighed. "I couldn't tell him again…"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next day when the 6 year old got to the village to go to school, he saw… Presea.

"Hi, there!" He called out. The girl ignored him and entered the house next to her. "Huh? I thought that place was abandoned…" He decided to take a quick peek inside.

(Whew… I just had a break of approximately 7 hours and 30 minutes. And I don't have my music on anymore. If only my dad had more work at the moment…) Lloyd swiftly reached the door of the uncared for building. "Noishe, stay h-." The animal was gone. Lloyd shrugged and entered the house.

The wooden boards that held the house together were already breaking apart. It seemed like it was much darker in that house than the forest, with slivers of beams of light seldom found in the building. A rat scurried on past Lloyd and escaped from sight through a shadow in a corner. Cobwebs surrounded several objects, including a cup that was obviously left alone on a dining table for quite a while.

Lloyd watched where he stepped on the creaky floorboards. He was amazed how creepy this place was. Shuffling sounds were just up ahead. The boy curiously peered around the wall that blocked him from the pink-haired girl's sight. She was picking out books from a shelf and threw them onto a bed behind her. There was a peculiar shape that the covers of the bed took. Lloyd mustered enough courage to ask what Presea was doing there. He reviled himself from his hiding spot.

"Hey, Presea!" She did not look at him. "What are you doing here, Presea?" Lloyd walked next to the girl, who was surprisingly taller than he thought. That is, she was apparently taller than him. Presea remained un-phased.

Lloyd went over to the bed and was about to pick up a book. "No." Presea told him. "Please refrain from handling that reading material." Lloyd stepped back.

"So what'cha doin' here Presea?" She looked at him square in the eyes. Her green eyes looked as though she were in some sort of trance. She blinked like Tabatha would. No response left the girl's lips.

"Uh… Is there something wrong Presea?" Still nothing. Lloyd then looked at the bed again. Curiosity got the best of him. He lifted the sheet on the bed and gasped. A body lay dead on the bed.

"Pr-Presea?! It's a dead guy!" The grotesque sight freaked out the young boy. Presea continued to seem indifferent about the situation. Finally, she spoke up.

"I advise that you leave this household."

"B-But!"

"Please do so now."

Lloyd hesitantly complied. "O-Okay…"

On the porch of the building, Lloyd played back the events in his head over and over. Then he realized he was late for class. He rushed to the school house.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"YOU'RE LATE, LLOYD!" A wrinkled woman shouted as he entered the door. Her spectacles made her look deadly evil. Her primarily whitened hair was in a tight bun with a pencil stuck in it. Folding her arms, the old woman impatiently waited for an excuse. "Hm? So why were you late?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Weyden. I…" he made up something, "I had to help my dad. Yeah!"

"YOU LIE!" The brutally cranky old hag threw a textbook at him. "Now go to your seat. Now!"

As Lloyd seated himself, the older girl behind him chuckled. "She sure got you this time, twerp."

"Don't make fun of me, Rin!" The boy snapped. (Rin Tohsaka is a character in Fate stay night. I have the theme song stuck in my head, so I decided to give her a camio here.)

The teen girl poked at Lloyd's head to spite him. "Not a chance, kid." She brushed her wavy black hair behind her. "You are the weirdo here, right?" Another child entered the conversation and agreed.

"Raised by a dwarf. My daddy says you'll turn out bad like those stupid half-elves."

"He doesn't belong here." One more added.

"Yeah. This kid doesn't even have any friends!"

Lloyd tried to ignore their harmful words. He tried not to let it get to him.

Rin thought for a moment. "Oh, hasn't that girl who everyone says hasn't aged come back?" This caught Lloyd's attention.

"I think so, Tohsaka-san. They say she's back in that crummy old house near the forest."

"I heard that a demon took over her body, and now she's like a dummy."

"My mother said she is not a normal girl 'cuz she's got super-human strength! I think that's cool!"

"Nah, that's abnormal --. Scary!" The school children continued gossiping.

Finally, "BE QUITE, STUDENTS!" The old lady teacher broke a ruler in two and hissed, "Do the assignment given… OKAY?"

"Yes, Ms. Weyden." Everyone began working away, fearing her wrath.

Lloyd still could not help but think of that girl… Presea… What happened to her? …Why was she at his house a couple of days ago? …Are the rumors true? This was all too much for the 6 year old's brain.

Hmmm… Well, I do not own Tales of Symphonia nor Fate stay night… When I had that quite lengthy pausing earlier, I was watching Fate stay night. I totally recommend you watch the anime. It's really good. Air is a great thing to watch too. Oh, and, I GOT TALES OF THE ABYSS TODAY!!! I'm so happy! I'll start playing it tomorrow! My mom considers this as an early birthday present for me. (She's trying to save money.) Anyway… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! …Reviews please.