An older Hispanic woman opened the door with a flourish, laughing and talking rapidly to someone behind her in Spanish. Dressed in a long green dress with a black apron around her waist and a mixing bowl in her left hand she looked almost comical, especially since a parrot landed on the woman's head.

"Hola chica, como esta?" The woman began with a grin, and then noticing my uncomprehending face she tried again. "Hello, how are you?" She smiled.

"I'm fine, how 'bout you?" I replied a little unsure.

"Oh, perfect as a peach." The woman laughed, and stirred her mixing bowl with a sigh.

"I need to talk to Raf. We have some homework-"

"¡Aburrido! Come in, dear. Rafael, ¡vamos!" The woman called, gesturing me in with one hand and then slamming the door. Teens were everywhere. Some were playing on the all important X-Box, others just chatting and laughing, and a few girls were stealing treats from the kitchen. "No, Leona, no snacks until later!" The woman chided with a smile.

"Mama." The girl sighed, and slinked away. Laughter and voices were coming from the backyard, and the woman lead me out with a smile. "My children are having a niños vs. niñas fútbol game. Come watch, Rafael is refereeing." The woman explained as she pushed past a door. What I assumed was Raf's mom had long brown hair all curled up into a bun, which the parrot was trying unsuccessfully to destroy, and dancing brown eyes that glowed as she looked around herself in the backyard. The yard was big compared to most yards. The grassy area was big enough to have almost a full half field for soccer, and players were all over the field. Children were everywhere, all mostly teens and young tweens, and some adults as well. Sitting quietly by the house was an older woman slowly knitting a piece of clothing. The stars danced above us, but large light posts blocked the inky blackness from permeating the field. "My whole family is having a fiesta, we're all celebrating so I'd suggest you be careful. Some of the people in my family can be a bit rowdy." She told me with a smile as she looked over the field affectionately. "Almost all the children are playing fútbol, it is the favorite you see. Mi familia loves Fútbol, it is a pastime around here. Rafael is the only impartial child in mi familia, so he is always the ref. Rafael, ¡ven aquí! Detengan el juego!"

"¡Mama!¿Hablas en serio?" Voices complained, and the ball was kicked into Raf's hands.

"What's up, mama?" Raf asked pleasantly as he ran towards his mother and me. "Oh, hey Mik-Miko." Raf faltered as he noticed me.

"Hey Raf, I need to talk to you." I began, but a laugh made me look towards the field. One of the boy players was looking at me with a quiet smirk.

"¡Gringa en la casa!" He laughed.

"Gringa, gringa." A girl laughed.

"Oh shush niños. Bueno, es una amiga de Rafael." Raf's mom reprimanded, and beside some suppressed giggles no one said anything. "Rafael, who is your pretty friend here?" Raf's mom smiled, turning to look at me thoughtfully.

"This is Miko, she's a friend from school. Remember, I told you about her? Jack, she, and I all hang out together after school." Raf explained, and I waved a hello. "Miko, this is my mama, Mrs. Esquivel."

"Hey Mrs. Esquivel, I'll only keep Raf a few minutes." I promised, but Mrs. Esquivel shook her head.

"Oh nonsense! I'll have Pepita play ref for now, she's the oldest and she should be unbiased. And please, Mrs. Esquivel is so formal, to stuffy. Just call me Tía Zarita, all my children's friends do." Tía Zarita smiled.

"'Tía' is Spanish for aunt." Raf explained in a whisper.

"Oh, okay." I replied with a nod.

"All my children grow up bilingual, both español and inglés. My children might end up nicknaming you gringa, but don't worry about it. They think it's odd that others cannot speak our language, but others do not have our history!" Tía Zarita laughed, and then called for the game to be resumed.

"Thanks for getting me out of that, none of my siblings ever take me seriously since I'm the littlest." Raf breathed as we entered the house. "Neither do my cousins. The whole family is over for a fiesta, that means all the aunts and uncles, cousins, and both of my abuelos. It's kinda crazy out there." He laughed, handing me a coke and we sat down on the sofa. "So what's up?" He began.

"You know I'm not Miko." I started out bluntly. "And I know you're pretty smart, so I was wondering if you could help me figure out where to go from here. You found Miko's second clue, and I know she would have left another. She always loved taunting me when she had the chance, and I doubt it's any different now. So where do I go from here?" I asked with a sigh, sinking into the couch with a grunt of frustration.

"Of course I'm gonna help you, but now's not the best time." Raf hedged.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well, you see-"

"¡Rafael! ¡Vamos, Rafael! Pepita prefiere a las ninas!, ¡vamos ya!" A guy was saying, sticking his head in the room when he spied us. "¿Quien es tu amiga?"

"Miko, la gringa. Ella no sabe hablar español, ¿así que podemos hablar en ínglés?"Raf asked quickly, and I had absolutely no idea what anybody was saying.

"Sí, sí." The guy sighed. "Hey Miko, I'm Alejandro, Raf older brother. Look, if we don't get Rafael back right now Pepita is going to make sure those girls beat us!"

"Gotta go, come on and watch the game!" Raf suggested, and grabbing my hand we ran back out to the field. All the boys erupted in cheers as Raf raced onto the field, and the girls let out a groan. "A jugar!"Raf called out, and the game began again with an unpartial ref.

"Hola chica, enjoying the game?" A voice asked, and I found an older woman beside me.

"Uh yeah, it's cool your whole family gets together and does this." I replied honestly.

"Oh, Zarita makes sure we stay a familia. We do this once a week, everybody all together." The woman smiled as she looked about the field. "Rafael is the youngest of seven, did you know that? Seis hermanos, six siblings. Three brothers and three sisters, my my his life is complicated." She tsked happily. "And the youngest of them all, he has much to accomplish. I only have five, only one girl though. She is playing against her brothers, I am happy she has so many cousins. Mucho primos, Sí, sí." She nodded, her eyes laughing at all the chaos going down on the field below. "I am Tía Roberta, ¿quien eres tu?" She asked.

"Um, I'm Miko, one of Raf's friends." I replied a little hesitantly.

"Ah, ¡uno amigo de Rafael! Rafael does not bring many of his friends to los juegos para la familia."

"Uh...what?" I asked confused.

"The family games, child." Tía Roberta replied with a calm smile.

"Oh, he doesn't?" I asked surprised.

"No, he keeps the games within the family. My sons always bring friends along, they are more fun that way. You seem troubled, child, what is wrong?" Tía Roberta asked.

What was wrong? I chuckled. Well, let's see: I was actually my twin's sister pretending to be her, I was supposed to be in Japan but I was actually in America, my sister had joined the dark side, I was trying to find her with little to no success, and one of my sister's friends had found me out and now I was at a full blown Spanish party. What could be wrong?

"Not much, I'm the gringa and I don't understand what anybody's saying." I replied, and Tía Roberta tsked.

"Ah, you are the gringa. The children have been talking about you." Tía Roberta said darkly.

"I'll be fine." I sighed.

"If they try anything, just tell your Tía Roberta." The woman told me kindly, then walked toward the field cheering in Spanish.

"Yeah, sure." I replied with smile. A girl about my age with brown hair and bright blue eyes came beside me and touched my shoulder.

"¿Como te llamas?" She smiled. "Mi llamo Elena, ¿tu?"

"I'm Miko." I replied, at least know this piece of foreinness.

"Ah, la gringa." Elena nodded wisely. "¿Jugar al fútbol?"

"Ah, no?" I tried, and she rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Tu gringos." Elena laughed, then reached out to touch my hair. "¿Te despintaste el pelo? Ya lo tienes moreno." She said, and touched her own hair with a sigh of wistfullness. "¿No más rosa?" She asked after noticing something.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I confessed, and Elena sighed.

"Tu cabello antes tenia luces rosas, ahora no"." Elena said slowly.

"Can you please speak English?" I begged.

"No se inglés." She sighed. "Oscar! ¡Vamos, por favor!" Elena shouted, and a boy a bit older than us came running up.

"¿Qué? Estoy muy ocupado, hermanita." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, dark black eyes steeling good naturedly.

"Mi traductor, milena no lo entiende." Elena said, looking at me with a sigh.

"Sin duda, ¿por qué no?" He sighed, and turned with a smile to face me. "Hey, I'm Oscar, Elena's brother. We just moved from deep Mexico, and my sister is having trouble with the language so you'll have to forgive her. Now, what do you want to say Elena?" He asked, turning to his sister again.

"Pregúntale porque se despinto el pelo. Lo tenia pintado de rosa cuando la vi en el reportaje del." Elenachatted eagerly.

"¿Qué?" Oscar replied, and I was totally lost.

Any non Spanish person would be.

Oscar turned back to me to translate. "First, she's wondering why you don't have pink in your hair anymore. Second, she said she saw you on TV about the Mariana Trench crash. Did you go overseas or something?"

"No." I replied slowly. But I had a good idea who might be...

"Ella no era la muchacha a la que se vio en la televisión." Oscar told his sister quickly, and Elena looked at me confused.

"¿No?" Elena asked me, and I shook my head. "No entiendo. Qué extraño."

"What?" I asked, looking at Oscar for help.

"Ignore her." Ocsar replied, waving his sister off. "Come on, let's go watch the game. Have you ever played?" He asked, taking me right down to the field.

"No, soccer wasn't important for me. Why?" I replied, and Oscar shouted something out in Spanish and a girl ran towards us.

"You're going to play for Dyvonne." Oscar grinned smirkeshly, and I was pushed onto the field.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, as the ball was kicked at me. "I don't even know which way I'm supposed to go!" I cried out in shock.

"That way, Miko!" Raf shouted, and I just ran where he pointed. A boy ran to intercept, and I kicked the ball towards an open girl who skirted it through enemy territory with an aggresive edge. Just as she was about to kick, a boy stole it and I just stood slack jawed as he barreled at me.

"¡Muevete!"Someone screamed, and I budged just in time to not get knocked over. Some of the girls came and forced him back, and I started running with them. Pepita was still playing, and nodding at the goal she kicked it towards me and I drove towards the goal. "¡Dé puntapiés!"Someone shouted, and taking it as encouragement I shot into the net as hard as I could. The goalie missed it by a mere second, and the ball hit the back of the net with a swish. The girls screamed energetically, and ran back to their end of the field as the ball was run back to the middle. The girls nodded at me and grinned, and a girl shouted, "Good job, gringa!" I was never going to lose that name, was I? I groaned mentally, preparing to chase the ball down. The cousins and siblings all chatted in Spanish, shouting jeers or motivation or just talking, and I felt a little left out. There was one girl though, who always spoke English to me, so I didn't feel to lonely throughout the game. Finally Raf called the game over, and the girls won.

"Rematch!" A boy hollered, and the girls replied with the most natural "Game on." you've ever heard. I stepped off the field, glad to get out of the chaos that was the family game. Raf passed the whistle to a relative and ran towards me.

"So what do you think?" He grinned, looking the happiest I'd ever seen him.

"I think I need to learn Spanish." I replied with a laugh.

"You kinda need to be bilingual around here." He agreed. "So about that Miko thing." He began, but I rushed in with my news.

"Your cousin Elena? She says she say Miko on the news! Remember how Arcee was talking about the Warship that crashed in the Mariana? Elena says she saw Miko on the news about that! It was probably just on accident, and she's probably long gone by now, but she was there!" I exclaimed excitedly. Raf looked at me shocked, then grinned.

"We have a lead."

"But how do we use it?" I mused aloud.

"Oh, we'll figure it out Miki, don't worry." Raf nodded. "Hey, come this way. There's going to be a pinata smashing, you wanna give a whack at it?"

"Please." I smiled, feeling the need to hit something. My sister had dragged me halfway around the world so she could go running away with a 'con, and trying to find her was going to take forever and a day and I was getting frustrated. I had my one little piece of hope left, that she was off near the Trench watching for another 'con ship to destroy.

"Cool, let's go." Raf said, and we took off at a run to the patio right outside Raf's house. Four pinatas had been strung up: the regular colorful donkey, a sun, a spiky ball, and a car.

"Hola mijo." An older voice said softly, and Raf turned and went to hug an older woman. She had graying hair held up in a bun, and a wooden walking stick in her right hand. The woman had kind green eyes, and a wrinkled, smiling face.

"¡Abula!" Raf smiled. "La abuela, esta es Miko. Ella es uno de mis amigos."

"Ah, hola Miko. He oído acera de usted. La gringa." She smiled warmly.

"Abuela." Raf warned gently.

"Rafa, no te preocupes. Es un placer conocerte Miko."

"Mejor." Rafnodded. "She says it's nice to meet you." My friend translated.

"Tell her the same." I replied.

"Ella me dice es agradable concocer tambien vosotros." Raf told his grandmother, and she beamed at me.

"Adios, Rafael, quiero ver el partido." Raf's grandmother waved, and she headed slowly toward the games.

"Adios Abuela." Raf called back. "She doesn't want to watch the game, she wants to play in it." Raf confided quietly after translating her words. "She loves the sport, but we can't let her play anymore. She's getting to old, and we don't want her getting hurt."

"Oh." I replied.

"Yeah, but she'll be fine with all my family keeping watch on her, and besides, it's time to whack a pinata!" He cheered as he was handed two sticks. "One for me and one for you." He explained as Alejandro blindfolded him. "Pepita will blindfold you in a second, but first I get to take a hit at something." Raf told me as he was spun around and all the cousins and siblings laughed and cheered.

"Come on, Rafael!" Alejandro called as he poised to strike, and with a slamming hit the pinata began to swing wildly, still perfectly intact. Raf took his blindfold off and shrugged.

"I tried." He smiled, looking at the pinata he'd hit, the spiky ball one. "Pepita's going to blindfold you now, so get ready." I was warned, and then I was encompassed by darkness. I heard the laughter as I was awkwardly spun around, and then I was jolted to a stop and pushed in the direction I needed to go. I wasn't sure what I was doing, and that was half the battle as I picked up my stick to strike. A thought struck me, what if I was going about this all wrong? What if I just let Miko do her thing? I was trying to locate her with no success, I was trying to find my sister blindfolded. What if I just let go...what happens, will happen. I needed to let go. I gripped the bat, got my feet into a batter's hitting position, and blasted the pinata with all I had. I heard the excited cheers behind me, and as I pushed the blindfold off I found all the candy on the ground.

"Congrats, Miko!" Tía Roberta called from the crowd, and grinning I reached down to pick up some candy bits before it was to late.

"Congrats la gringa." A voice taunted, and I found the first boy who had called me gringa behind me.

"Noah, be polite." Tía Roberta warned, and he just shrugged.

"Of course, Tía." Noah smiled. "I always am."

"I'm warning you, Noah, do not try anything." Tía Roberta repeated, and he just smiled at her and walked to stand right in front of me.

"So, La Gringa thinks she's something. Big deal, I could have taken the pinata out in one swing as well." Noah smirked, looking at the remains of my achievement.

"Noah, leave her alone." Raf spoke up.

"Be quiet Rafael, this is between the gringa and me." Noah told him, glaring at the younger boy.

"What do you want?" I demanded, glaring straight into Noah's dark chocolate brown eyes.

"I want you out. No gringa can ever be a part of the games."

"Not true, Tía Roberta told me her children bring friends to the games all the time!" I shot back hotly.

"They're all bilingual, they can actually pass as normal here. You on the other hand, little Miss Japanese, you can't say anything without revealing how gringa you are."

"Noah, that is enough!" Tía Zarita called, stepping into the fight.

"Tía, I am just having a conversation with the gringa, what am I doing wrong?" He asked socially.

"You are being cruel, stop this instant." Tía Zarita demanded, her hands on her hips and her once dancing eyes black holes of anger and fire.

"Of course, what ever you say Tía Zarita." Naoh replied, and he looked at me for a moment before smirking. "Tía Zarita won't always be here to save you, remeber that gringa." He warned me, taking a sip of a coca-cola. smirking again, he spit the contents at me, then poured the rest of the drink over my head. I gasped in shock stepping back, but by then Noah had found some salsa and had smeared that on my shirt with a smile. I stood shellshocked as I felt coke stick itself in my hair, drip down my face, and melt into my T-shirt's fabric with a gaping face. The salsa hung limply to my clothes, and as I looked myself over I felt a fury rise in me.

"Leave me alone." I ground out, and rushed a tackle on him. Throwing him to the ground, I reached to grab some type of Spanish dip, and smeared that on him with a growl. "Do not ever do that again, got that? La Gringa will fight back." I hissed at him standing up.

"Bravo, Miko." Someone whispered, and clucking worriedly Tía Zarita rushed me inside and into some clean clothes. It was a traditional Spanish dress, one used in dances, but I didn't mind. I liked the bright reds and oranges of the dress, so bright and cheerful. The skirt billowed out as I walked back outside, and I knew this was a celebration dress with all its folds and layers. Giving a twirl, I knew it was perfect. Red and orange for fire, for victory, for celebration.

"You look amazing, Miko." One of Raf's sisters told me with a smile.

"You did a good job with Noah, and you do look amazing." Alejandro told me as well.

"Well, this seems like another typical family games, so who wants to take the next hit for the second pinata?" Tía Zarita asked, clapping her hands to bring everyone to attention.

"Uh, no thanks. I actually think I want something to eat." I told her, and Tía Zarita just nodded with a smile.

"Rafael, let her try something in the kitchen." She told her son, and Raf nodded with a grin.

"Come on, Miko, you're going to love mama's cooking!" Raf laughed, and brought me into the house again. Piles of all sorts of smells hit me and my mouth started watering as I heard the cry of excitement as another pinata burst.

After all the pinata's had been blown, Raf and I had gotten some food, something I had no idea what was but tasted delicious, we took a seat on a swinging bench. I thought about the whole letting go thing, it worked with the pinata, but would it work with Miko? And I had promised Raf we'd get Miko back...I knew my real answer, and it wasn't what I knew I should do. Just like with Noah, I knew that backing down wasn't going to be an option.

I wasn't giving up.

"Back to the Miko thing." Raf began after taking a bit of a taco.

"You wouldn't believe it!" I gushed. "We actually have a lead! But I don't know what to do now. We know she was probably involved in the Warship crash, but why? And if she was, will she do it again? We have to assume yes, and this is where I need your help." I began, a plan formulating itself in my head. "I want you to help me uncover the 'con ships, not to warn them of course, but so we can try to estimate her next attack." I told him, and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Interesante." He mused. "It might work, we'll have to see though."

"How many 'con ships can there be? If there were tons they'd have been discovered, and if some 'cons escaped the crash, they'll have gone to another ship." I explained rationally.

"Yeah I guess, that's pretty smart Miki, I don't think I could have figured that out." Raf nodded, and I smiled bashfully.

"Well you know, older sister trying to save her sibling here. I'm not going to let her get hurt, and this is most certainly on the 'Stupidest Stunts of the Year' list."

"You're telling me." Raf agreed.

"But anyway, besides soccer, those pinatas, and evil dudes, what else is there? I'm not exactly a huge soccer fan." I laughed weakly.

"You're not? Then you definitely won't get along well with my family, that and the language barrier." Raf smiled, and we headed up to the house chatting on how we could go about uncovering 'con ships undetected. Just do it right under Autobots noses, can't be to complicated right?

"I bet I can find a program or two in the super computer at the base, but how do I do it without Ratchet over my shoulder? Hm." Raf thought aloud. Yep, how indeed.

"Hola, Rafael." A relative called, and Raf waved back with a smile.

"You have a huge family." I wondered aloud.

"This isn't everybody." Raf told me with a chuckle. "My Aunt Carmen has a family as well, and she is not here. You should see our family reunioun!"

"Uh, no thanks. All those Spanish speakers in a room? And me kinda not a Spanish speaker? I'll pass." I replied.

"Suit yourself." Raf replied easily. "Mama is making some Spanish delicacies, you wanna try some?"

"I'll give a whack at it." I replied, and Raf grinned.

"Come on then! You have to try here tortilla cake, it's awesome!" I gaped unsure but let myself get dragged along. What in the world was a tortilla cake anyway?

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Well, that took me forever and a day, and if you're like me you aren't the biggest comprehender of español. Also, a gringa(o) is someone who can't speak a host country's language. It is usually used in Spanish or Hispanic counrties, and is not typically common in America. So here's all the translations, and if you do know Spanish and I have anything misspelled or is incorrect please tell me and I'll fix it, here we go:

¡Vamos!, ¡Ven aquí! (comeone)

¡Aburrido! (Boring!)

¡Detengan el juego! (Pause the game!)

¡Gringa en la casa! (Gringa in the house!)

Oh shush niños. Bueno, es una amiga de Rafael. (Oh shush children. Be nice, she's one of Rafael's friends.)

¿quien es tu amigo? (Who is your friend?)

¡Rafael! ¡Vamos, Rafael! Pepita es parciales a muchachas, ¡vamos ya! (Rafael, come on! Pepita is parial to the girls, come on already!)

Miko, la gringa. Ella no sabe hablar español, ¿así que podemos hablar en ínglés? (Miko, the gringa. She can't speak Spanish, so can you talk in English?)

A jugar! (Let's play.)

Los juegos para la familia. (the family games)

¿Como te llamas? (What is your name?)

Mi llamo Elena, ¿tu? (My name is Elena, you?)

Tu gringos. (You gringos)

¿Jugar al futball? (Play soccer?)

"¿Te despintaste el pelo? Ya lo tienes moreno. (Very dark haired. Me, dark haired, you very dark haired. No more pink?)

Tu cabello antes tenia luces rosas, ahora no. (Your hair, it had pink in it, now no.)

No se inglés. (I don't understand English.)

¡Vamos, por favor! (Come here please!)

¿Qué? Estoy muy ocupado, hermanita. (What? I'm busy little sister.)

Mi traductor, milena no lo entiende. (Translate for me, the gringa doesn't understand.)

Sin duda, ¿por qué no? (Sure, why not?)

Pregúntale porque se despinto el pelo. Lo tenia pintado de rosa cuando la vi en el reportaje del. (Ask her why she took the pink out of her hair. And tell her I saw her on the television about the crash in the Mariana Trench, she was there!)

¿Qué? (What?)

Ella no era la muchacha a la que se vio en la televisión. (She was not the girl you saw on TV.)

Yo no entiendo. Qué extraño. (I do not understand. How odd.)

¡Muevete! (Move!)

¡Dé puntapiés! (Kick!)

Hola mijo. (Hello my grandon.)

La abuela, esta es Miko. Ella es uno de mis amigos. (Grandma, this is Miko. She's one of my friends.)

Ah, hola Miko. He oído acera de usted. La gringa. (Ah, hello Miko. I've heard about you. The gringa.)

Rafa, no te preocupes. Es un placer conocerte Miko. (Oh, Rafael, you worry to much. It is nice to meet you Miko.)

Mejor. (Better.)

Ella me dice es agradable concocer tambien vosotros. (She says it is nice to meet you too.)

Adios, Rafael, quiero ver el partido. (Goodbye Rafael, I want to watch the game.)

Interesante. (Interesting.)