Crona couldn't keep from gawking at the huge house this human carried her to. It was what Maka would surely describe as gothic in design and was surrounded by huge iron gates. Her breath was taken away. Maka didn't, hadn't, and probably would never have a house this big. The large front doors closed silently behind them and he struggled with closing and shaking out his umbrella. A sudden, shrill screech made Crona give a startled yelp, shrinking against Kid's chest fearfully.

Turning to look in the direction of the noise she saw a tall human girl who looked to be about Maka's age with black hair, pretty blue eyes, and a somewhat pale complexion standing in an open doorway, gaping at Kid like he were holding some vile monster.

A lone volbeat and illumise floated alongside either of the girl's shoulders, glaring at the human male holding Crona who started to tremble, fully aware she was not welcomed here. "It's all right," Kid murmured reassuringly to the sylveon, though Crona caught the annoyance etching itself into his tone. He looked up to the source of the earlier shriek with a firm stare. "What's the matter now?"

"What's that?!" the girl demanded, pointing a finger at the hapless fairy-type.

"A sylveon. I found her-"

"I don't care where you found it! It's filthy!"

"Relax, Ponera, I'm just keeping her for tonight. I think I might take an ad out in the paper and, hopefully, her owner will show up."

"That'd be a total waste of money." she said sharply, eyes cold as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You'd do better to just turn it over to the pound or something!"

Ignoring her, Kid headed into the next room, which was huge and decorated with beautifully expensive looking furniture. Everything was neat and arranged perfectly. The color scheme was nice and respectable, practical, and fit Kid to a T.

It was absolutely exquisite. Crona felt like she'd just been carried into one of Maka's dreams. Or, at least, one of the dreams where she had a nice house and was someone other than a transient.

Kid took her up a set of stairs and before she fully understood what was happening Crona found herself shoulder-deep in bubbly, rosy scented bath water. Lucky for Kid, Maka had taught Crona baths could be fun otherwise she may have mistaken his attempts at bathing her as an attempted drowning. Thankfully, though, the water was warm and the actual bathing only lasted about twenty minutes. Smiling, Kid dried her off and brushed her fur, smoothing it down afterwards. He had to admit, he did some pretty good work. Crona looked ready for a contest.

"Oh, my," he breathed, holding a handheld mirror up for her to see, "look how beautiful you turned out."

Staring at her reflection for a moment, Crona could feel her face heat up at his compliment, but failed to see exactly what it was he meant. He put the mirror away after a moment and gave her an affectionate pat on the head as he then stood to leave. Kid was rather surprised when he felt a feeler wrap itself around his wrist, stopping him from taking another step. The look the timid pokemon gave him begged him to not leave her alone even as he gently unwrapped the ribbon-like feeler encircling his arm.

"Aren't you coming with me?"

She cringed, shrinking down low to where her belly brushed against the cool tiles of the floor, making her wound sting and causing her to give a pained whimper. Oh, right! Kid felt like an idiot for forgetting about that. First, he inspected the wound. Crona didn't seem to like that, especially when his features contorted with disgust upon seeing the thick black that encrusted the wound. Is it infected? He wondered, feeling somewhat sickened.

How long had she been wounded? He'd assumed it had been caused by those leather cords tearing into the soft flesh of her belly, but now he was wondering if she'd been injured beforehand. Had her owner purposely deserted her after a lost battle? The very idea of anyone abandoning such a helpless creature sickened Kid to his very core.

His disgust didn't die down upon realizing that the black was not infection, rather the pokemon's blood. Again, this realization caused him concern. It seemed...unnatural. Had the poor thing contracted cancer or some other horrid disease? Had Crona's owner/trainer left her because of this? He certainly hoped that wasn't the case. Perhaps it was too much of a financial burden caring for the sylveon or had the fairy-type's owner decided to release her, leaving Crona to the mercy of the city streets? Kid had heard of trainers and owners that had done such a thing.

The mere thought of such a scenario being true made him feel a tad sick. Luckily, he had a pressing issue to attend to so he was easily distracted, getting out a silky soft stick-on bandage he'd purchased from the store after one catastrophic incident, he made sure to first disinfect the wound as carefully as possible, fearing the sting would cause Crona enough alarm, but she barely even winced and allowed him to put the bandage over her wound with little resistance.

"I think we might have to get you an appointment. Just to make sure everything is all right."

"Syl..." Crona murmured. Kid suspected–for reasons beyond him–that the sylveon's simple response translated into a compliant, "Okay...". It was at this point he decided a normal person would have decided that they had been slowly descending into insanity, not that he particularly cared or thought that considering he wasn't what many would refer to as 'normal'.

It was then he eyed her collar, which he'd placed next to the sink before bathing her. Its silver tag beamed beneath the bright bathroom lights. Kid read the words engraved in the metal one more time, fingers running over the accessory's soft, ripped material. What owner would engrave such loving words then up and leave? That'd be like him abandoning his beloved pets. No, he was certain–if only by personal opinion–that whatever kind of person Crona's owner was they weren't cruel, at least not to the sylveon, who Kid noticed eyed the collar with a heavy cloud of gloom forming within her dazzling blue orbs.

He supposed he'd have to put that away, preferably out of sight, until he could get it mended. Or until her owner turned up. If they were decent then they'd get the accessory fixed or purchase a new one so Crona wasn't running around with a half torn collar.

Heading downstairs with Crona practically on his heels he found himself sort of wishing she were more talkative. It was a silent walk and he didn't think he'd have minded some made-up conversation. Her voice was soft and pleasant, unlike the horrid cries she'd emitted earlier when he first found her.

Soon they were in the kitchen. Of course, it wasn't what Crona had come to know as a kitchen, being twice its size with nearly three times the appliances and five times the food. She felt like a speck as she stood there with Kid. Meanwhile, he got a dish out from under the kitchen sink without any second thoughts. Humming softly as he worked he neglected the nervous sylveon on the floor, too busy preparing her something to eat to notice when she started creeping off to investigate around the large stove on the opposite side of the room.

What's with this smell? She wondered, unsure of what it was, but knew it made her hungry. It wasn't like the berries or pokefood Maka had given her. It certainly wasn't like the delicious block-shaped treats she'd sometimes provided. It didn't even smell like some of the delectable human food her beloved friend and trainer had been kind enough to share.

It's sweet...like...

"Crona?"

She nearly jumped out of her fur. She never knew humans could be so sneaky! Eyeing Kid with wary hues she cringed momentarily, scared she had done something wrong.

"What is it, girl?" He paused. A grin came over him as a thought occurred to him. "Do you smell something you like?"

"Syl..." she mumbled. Her stomach growled and her ears flattened in embarrassment. Kid gave a chuckle and turned back to his previous task. He knew she was in for a surprise as he set the silver dish onto the floor. Crona was hesitant to eat, noticing the letters P-a-t-t-y etched into the side of the bowl. She knew a name when she saw one and wasn't too relaxed upon noticing a fresh scent covering the bowl, not from the food, but from the presence of another pokemon.

She looked up to Kid worriedly. Are you sure this is okay? Her eyes were downcast as she pondered over this, growing hungrier and hungrier with each passing minute.

"Hey," he spoke softly, kneeling down to give her a few gentle, reassuring strokes, "don't worry, nobody's going to hurt you. Or is it because this is someone else's dish?" There was a momentary pause as he decided this was, in fact, the case. "You're very polite, aren't you?" Kid chuckled, finding it a tad ironic he was having to soothe a calming pokemon.

"Don't worry about it. I know this is all new, but it's good. And I know Patty won't mind if you use her bowl." Crona still wasn't familiar with human speech, but was certain she heard dishonesty hidden in there amongst all his kind words.

Still, she was hungry and didn't have it in her to resist such a mouth-watering offer. The treat looked and tasted quite yummy with pink frosting, a cherry topping, and a fluffy, cream-filled center. Her lack of resistance just reaffirmed what she already knew: Maka had made her soft. Ever since she came into the benevolent girl's possession Crona had been pampered and showered with affection to the point where she felt almost suffocated.

Thank Arceus for Soul and Ragnarok. If not for them, Crona feared Maka would have literally suffocated her under all that undeserved attention.

Once she was finished Kid, who was beginning to remind Crona of Maka, prepared another treat that was orange with a chain of orange fruit slices going around it. It was really good, too. The sylveon felt like she was going to grow horribly fat if she ate another so she took a few steps away from the bowl, licking whatever traces of frosting or crumbs were left on her lips.

Kid seemed to get the message and put the dish away after giving it a good rinse in the sink, whether it was to ensure the frosting didn't make it sticky or to wash away Crona's scent was unclear, but he hastily put it away and turned back to Crona just as that girl appeared in the room with that volbeat and illumise following after her.

"How long will it be here?" she asked, eyeing Crona with a frown. The look in her eye made the sylveon scurry off to hide behind Kid's legs. He didn't seem too pleased with this, but Crona wasn't about to move as long as those scornful eyes were aimed at her.

Memories of cold golden orbs that burnt into her soul flashed before her soft blue hues. She recalled all shades of abuse and various forms of failure that led to cruel mistreatment. Tears sprang up and she whimpered, hugging Kid's legs with her feelers and silently praying he wouldn't leave her to the mercy of this horrid girl with those cold eyes.

"Would you stop talking so harshly? You're scaring her half to death."

"Seriously? You're acting like this thing is...is...your pet!"

"She is very friendly so I do believe she's meant to be a companion. Is it wrong to treat her as such? Besides, I'd think you would like her. Isn't she just endearing? And symmetrical..."

"Adorable?" this girl, Ponera, scrunched her nose with evident distaste. "You know I hate those things! They're too weird and girly!"

"Well, what do you plan on having me do? I can't very well throw her out."

"I don't care," she huffed, "just keep it away from me and my pets." Crona trembled, staring at the two bug-types floating on either side of Ponera, glaring at her with as much disapproval as their mistress. "And after you get rid of it why don't you consider getting a manly pokemon? Or at least one that is useful."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." he muttered. Again, Crona sensed some hidden annoyance and hostility in his tone. With this being said, Ponera turned and left, leaving Kid to sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, collecting his thoughts as he tried to decide on what to do next now that Crona had been cleaned, bandaged, and fed a little something. Releasing his legs Crona moved to peer out the doorway, making sure the girl was truly gone. She was, thankfully, out of sight.

She's really scary...

"Most girls like fairy-types, most girls think they're cute, most girls don't go for bugs..." He gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "Why did I have to get stuck with the one girl on the planet who doesn't understand me?"

I don't know... Crona murmured, and then shyly inquired, as heat pooled in her cheeks, Is she your mate?

"I can't believe Dad arranged for us to get married. I can't stand her and I know she feels the same about me. Why else would she purposely insult me? Criticize me..." giving another heavy sigh, Kid gave Crona a forced smile, "at least you don't judge me so harshly."

Married? Crona knew that term. She felt like Maka had mentioned it before...oh, wait...yes!

It all came back to the sylveon. She'd been sitting next to Maka watching the sun set and her mistress had felt the need to spill her heart out to someone. She'd talked about her parents divorce, which Crona supposed was when humans separate from their mates indefinitely, and then Maka had gone into how she wished to someday marry. However, she was uncertain if it would actually happen because she was scared of men, or rather she was scared of trusting them. Her mother had trusted her father and been devastated after their divorce, leaving Maka to her father and moving off to a far away land just to forget the man who'd broken her heart.

Crona had listened and supposed that marrying–human's form of mating–wasn't something Kid wanted. Young males usually didn't go for that so the idea wasn't too surprising.

"You know, Crona, you're lucky. You can mate for life or break up without things becoming complicated. "

That's not true, Crona thought, things can get really complicated. Especially if two males fight over you. Not that she was ever really in that flattering dilemma. What male could want her? Besides, all the males she'd ever been exposed to were violent, frightening creatures that fought over the silliest of things. Crona's original trainer/mother had prided herself about owning such strong fighters. Crona was probably her only true failure, but it was the sylveon who was truly at fault. She was the one who'd been born with a frail body and fragile soul. Although, Maka had said it wasn't really her fault so she supposed it was somewhat true.

"I'm sure you're very popular among your kind, hmm?" Kid teased, rubbing her between the ears and chuckling. "I'm sure you have a lot of options available."

Wha...? It took Crona a moment to fully understand what his teasing words meant. N-no! The only males I'm around anymore are Soul and Ragnarok, maybe Black*Star, but he's with Tsubaki and neither Soul or Ragnarok like me much so I-

Of course, the dark-haired human couldn't understand a word she said since she spoke in her native poketongue; nevertheless, he realized that his words had really upset her. "Hey," Kid tried to soothe, laughing at how panicked she'd gotten, "I didn't mean to offend or upset you. I was only joking."

J-joking? She felt mortified, hanging her head low and letting an aura of depression take over. Kid rubbed her behind the ears, causing her to jolt as he touched a certain spot there that felt absolutely delightful when massaged. Her hind leg unconsciously thumped and she leaned into his touch, wondering just how long that spot had been there. She was disappointed when he stopped.

"Feel better?" He didn't need an answer to know she wasn't sad anymore.

Unfortunately, he had the feeling she was now a bit cross with him. Patty usually got mad when he did that and stopped, which he supposed was fair considering it was probably like giving someone a delicious cupcake, letting them take a bite, and then snatching it away once they decided they liked it. Not like that exactly, but it was the best example he could conjure up.

"Okay, so now that you're all taken care of I think I'll go upstairs to get ready for bed. You can wander around if you like. Liz and Patty should be around here somewhere so you should have someone to play with just don't let them convince you its okay to chew on or move anything out of place. Be a good girl."

N-no, please don't leave me alone! Crona begged, following him out of the kitchen and all the way upstairs. Sadly, she was locked out of his bedroom so she sat outside feeling horribly neglected, almost as though she'd been abandoned by a dear friend. Well, she sort of had been earlier so–

No, don't think like that, she scolded herself aloud. Maka is out looking for you. She cares...she does...care...she...

It didn't matter what she told herself. She felt a seed of doubt sprouting within her heart and was horribly ashamed to feel that way. Crona hated herself for that doubt. She despised how she let herself doubt Maka, of all people, but if she were honest with herself Crona knew the fear of abandonment had been there ever since she'd became Maka's friend. Her heart had taken on that mistrust the same instant she allowed herself the luxury of hope.

I promise I won't ever leave you.

And she wasn't too certain if her heart could take such a betrayal. If there was a betrayal, which there clearly wasn't. This was all just an accident. Yes, she told herself, just an accident. So why was there such an agonizing pang reverberating throughout her entire being?

Maka...