"YES!", shouted Kitty as she had just won her first round of the game.

Kurt congratulated her. "Ah, see Kitty? I told you you could do it!" While Kitty was very pleased with herself that she finally beat Kurt, and perhaps knocked him down a peg or two, she had not forgotten what they had talked about just a little bit before.

Kurt then noticed his friend's giddiness seemed to fade away. "Hey Kurt...", said Kitty, "Remember what we were discussing before? Do you... maybe feel like talking about it now?" Kurt felt his heart sink yet again. This was something that he tried his hardest to keep far back into the deep dark depths of his mind, and now he was being asked again to talk about it? But, in a way, he wanted to talk to Kitty about it. He had never shared this to anyone really, why not open up to his best friend? He felt so extremely close to her, that oddly, he was sort of comfortable talking to her about it. Even though he was comfortable talking to her about it, it surely didn't make it easy to relive. Regardless, he answered Kitty's request and said that he wanted to tell her.

Kurt got off from where they had been sitting and got onto the middle of his bed, in his usual "knees tucked up to his chest" position. "Here Kitty, come sit down with me." Kitty obliged and joined him on the bed, taking more of an "Indian style" posture. The two were facing each other. Kurt looked up into Kitty's eyes and asked, "So, you sure you want to hear this?" Kurt wanted to stress the severity of his story in case she may not want to know something so horrible about her best friend.

Kitty put her hand on his shoulder and responded, "Kurt, I want to hear it as long as you want to tell me." She paused for a moment. "Even if it's horrible, I want to be there for you."

Kurt sighed, "Alright, here it goes..." Kurt couldn't believe that he was about to tell his past to Kitty, but she wanted to hear it, so he was going to tell her. "So, you know how my parents adopted me, right?"

"Yeah, I know that. I think you even showed me a picture of them before."

"Ja, that is them. They were really great. I mean, really great! But, they were very protective of me. From the day they "adopted" me, or apparently fished out of a river as discovered in Rogue's dream... they knew I was different. Ever since I was a baby I looked like this. They loved me for who I was, but they knew that society wouldn't see me the way they did. I was just a kid though, I didn't understand, and they never told me I was different from them. I honestly didn't know... somehow. The innocence of a child, I guess... Well, for a while I was fine being inside all the time. I mean, I was like 4 years old and pretty easy to keep entertained. However, as I grew older, so did my curiosity of the outside world. I started to ask questions by the time I was about 6 years old. Whenever I would ask my parents why I couldn't go out like they did, they would always try to come up with something different. Eventually, they couldn't keep lying to me, and they finally told me. They told me I was different... They told me that while they loved me, others wouldn't understand and may treat me cruelly. It's really a hard thing for a 6 year old to grasp. I didn't understand. Even if I looked different, why should people care? You know?"

Kurt paused for a moment, then continued. "So, I would tell them I didn't care. I didn't care if people saw me differently, I just wanted to get out and see what I was missing. I mean, you can't keep someone locked up forever, and I think my parents were starting to see that too. They finally agreed to take me out. But... there were conditions. The only way they said I could go out was if I was completely covered. They told me it was for my own good. Honestly? I didn't care. I was just so happy to be getting out! So... Mutter took me to the market. It was wonderful! All of the sights, the smells, the people, I loved it! It was so exciting to see my parents' world, and from the looks of it, everyone else's! I had no idea there were so many people! Of course, after that day, I wanted more. I think that's when my parents started to regret taking me out... Every time they went to leave, I asked to go with them. I would get really upset when they would tell me 'Kein Sohn, nicht heute.' Why wouldn't they take me, I wondered? I always covered up like they wanted, but still, it was only every once in a while that they would take me with them. So, one night I was sitting at home with my Vater and I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't be left alone anymore. I decided to sneak out of the house and go exploring on my own, however, I didn't leave without covering up like my Mutter always told me. I'm not quite sure how I got out without my Vater noticing, but I did."

Kitty asked, "So, where did you go?"

"I went to the only place my Mutter ever really took me, the market place. I loved it there. But it was dark now, and everything looked so different. But it was so knew and exciting as well! Even so, I was very careful to stay away from the people there and kept to myself, covered in my cloak deep into the shadows. I knew my Mutter told me all of those things for a reason, I wasn't about to let myself be seen out in the open. I just loved being out. So, there I was, a little six year old boy all alone in a dark, unfamiliar world. I continued to walk along some buildings where I could stay in the shadows, but apparently a street light caught me slightly... And that's when it happened, someone noticed me."

Kitty was so into his story, it was almost like it wasn't real, but was something out of a novel. "What happened when they noticed you?"

"Oh, Kitty... it was the single worst moment of my life." Kurt put his head down, as if he was about to cry.

"Kurt, you can stop if you want to. I don't want to push you to go on." She put her hand on his to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, Kitty. I am going to finish telling you... it's just so hard to relive all of this." Kurt paused, then continued his story after regaining some of his composure. "So, this man noticed me. I got really scared when I saw him approaching me, but I didn't run. I just stood there. The man asked me what I was doing there all alone. Remember, I was covered, but he could tell I was a child because of how small I was. He asked me where my parents were. I told him I didn't know, and then he insisted on helping me find them. He was a really kind gentlemen, or... at least at that moment he was. He took my wrist and wanted me to follow him and talk to him, but I knew this was wrong. I wasn't supposed to be doing this. I asked him to please let me go. Then when he wouldn't, I started to get more frightened and started to try to pull away. He had me into the light now, I was no longer protected by the darkness. All that stood between me and him was a cloak. Well, I kept struggling and struggling, but he kept yelling at me to let him help. Well, during the struggle I tripped and fell, and the hood to my cloak fell from my head. It was then that everything went horribly wrong. The man just stared at me, with the most horrified look I think I've ever seen in someone's eyes. Then another person saw me, then another. Then, in my nervousness, I accidentally allowed my tail to slip out of my disguise. They all started to freak out, and the man that originally wanted to 'help me' picked me up and hiked me into the crowd as he yelled, "It's a demon!". Everyone ran and screamed in terror, as I, a little boy, laid helplessly on the ground."

Kitty interrupted, "That's awful..."

Kurt replied, "It gets worse... So, I'm there on the ground as the crowd is panicking. 'What do you want from us, Demon?' and 'Who sent you here?' among other questions were being shouted at me. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. Then I heard the crowd, or 'mob' rather at this point, yell, 'Get him! Don't let him get away!'. I ran as fast as I could, but in the end, it wasn't enough. They caught me. Some were beating me. Some were throwing insults. Some were standing back scared. But then, everything managed, somehow, to get even worse."

Kitty was almost speechless. Her expression was of shock, she had no idea something this horrible had happened, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear anymore. But, her friend was courageous enough to tell her his story, the least she could do is finish listening to it. "It got worse?", she asked, horrified.

"Ja, it did... I was trying to get away, trying to squirm out of the crowd. But out of nowhere, there was an unbelievable pain from the end of my tail. They had driven a stake into me, nailed me to the ground. It hurt so bad, the pain kept radiating up my spine, that I almost couldn't move. Then, before I knew it, everyone started to pelt me with bricks and rocks. I should have died that night. Everything was in place, and I was so near the end. But like a guardian angel, my Mutter found me and came fighting through the crowd. They let her through, I suppose they figured she was there to join in 'bringing down the demon'. She then made her way to me, covered me with her body, and yelled, 'Leave him alone! He's only a child!'. Luckily my Mutter was a pretty well respected woman around there, or else she probably would have been taken down with me. They kept yelling back to her at how I was a demon and needed to be stopped, and she kept trying to assure them it wasn't the case. They were not in the mind set to listen though. But, in the end, they did respect her wishes, just demanded answers. 'You'll get your answers, but not tonight', she said. My Vater then came running to me and helped remove the stake. I cried and grasped onto my Mutter's clothes as he pulled it out. She then cradled me in her arms and they took me home. After I healed up, which took months... I never wandered again. It wasn't until I moved here, that I actually felt safe again."

Kitty had no idea what to say. How could this have ever happened to such a sweet guy? How could he possibly be so friendly now, but have gone through something so horrific as a child? She tried to find words to say, "Kurt... I... had no idea all of that happened to you." Kitty's eyes started to fill up, and she started to cry.

Kurt grew very concerned, this was what he was afraid would happen. He didn't want Kitty to feel sorry for him. Kurt put his hands up to her face as he used his fingers to brush her tears away. "Hey, hey, don't you cry, Kätzchen. Please don't cry for me, I'm fine now, you know that."

Kitty put her hand up to Kurt's, "I'm sorry, Kurt. I just can't believe how, well, amazing of a person you are having gone through that. Anyone else would have been finished with the world. But not you. Why is this?"

Kurt responded, "I guess... I just don't blame those people for what they did. It was horrible, yes, but they acted on what they thought was right. They were very religious people, and thought I was a demon. It was only natural that they did what they did. I can't blame them, I can't be mad at them..."

"Wow, I never would have thought about it like that. But still... you are truly amazing Kurt." Kurt managed to smile at Kitty, something she hadn't seen since before the conversation had started. "Do... you have any scars from that night?"

Kurt answered, "Ja, I've got a lot of them, they're just covered with fur. But, this is my worse one." Kurt picked his tail up into his hands and placed the spade of it into Kitty's hand. "Part the fur, you'll see the scar. It's on the other side too." Kitty parted the fur and sure enough, a deep, painful scar stared back at her.

Hearing the story was one thing, but actually seeing the scar was another. This made it real. She didn't know how to handle it, but she tried. "That's so awful..." was all she managed to get out as she gently rubbed her fingers over the scar. "I'm so sorry Kurt."

Kurt smiled, "Nein, don't feel sorry for me, Kitty. I have a good life here. There's a reason I don't talk about my past. I like it best when that's where it stays, and my friends don't have to be worried about me. I like just being 'me'. I only told you about it because I trust you, and you wanted to know."

Kitty replied, "I know... I just can't really help it. Now I understand how bad I hurt you that first day. I had no idea... And how I always pull on your tail, have I ever hurt you? I didn't know that happened to you... I never would have..."

Kurt interrupted her, "Kitty, it's ok. Trust me. I understand why you were afraid when we first met. And I wasn't going to stop until you saw the real me, and it worked! And the tail thing, don't worry, you never hurt me. It's obviously a very sensitive area to me, but like I've said, I trust you. It doesn't bother me at all. Probably the only person really I don't mind doing it, too."

Kitty laughed, "Yeah, I remember you totally got mad at Scott that one time!"

Kurt replied, "Ja, that was totally uncalled for!" The two giggled together, which felt really good. This is what Kurt wanted, he didn't want anything to change just because he told Kitty his story. "Kitty, please promise me something? Promise me that things aren't going to change between us just because I told you this, ok?"

Kitty smiled as she realized her friend was truly alright, "I promise. I'm sorry I got worked up. It's just like, a shock, you know?"

Kurt smiled, "Yeah, I know. Also... don't tell anyone about what I told you, ok? Not even Rogue... I don't want anyone else to know."

Kitty grabbed his hand. "I promise Kurt, I'll never tell anyone."

Kurt grinned, "Thanks Kitty. You're the best."


AN: So glad you all are enjoying it so far! :) I really enjoyed writing this chapter and feel like it's probably my best so far. As far as Kurt's past goes, I played off what Evo gives you a little and just kind of went with it. Let me know what you think, please review! :)