Disclaimer: Castle and its characters do not belong to me but to the very talented Andrew W. Marlowe and the ABC Studios.

When she finally leaves Mr. Castle's loft, she has the silliest smile on her face and the joy is practically bursting out of her chest. She feels like laughing and smiling and it's just ridiculous.

Jackland dropped by to pick up Leia about half hour ago and she decided that it was best if she didn't took any chances and waited a bit for him to leave. Just to be safe. The last thing on this earth she wanted was Jackland to find out that her sister had access to her again. He would disappear faster than a blink of an eye.

She smiled to herself and started down the street and towards the subway station.

She was smiling because they had a master plan to get her sister and her together forever. It was a good, solid plan that implied tricking Jackass and she absolutely loved it.

She reached the subway station and went down the stairs, heading home.

Well, no. Not exactly home. The orphanage had been everything but a home to her. And she knew she was being cheesy, and really that was so not her, but her home was wherever her sister was. Her little sister that she loved more than anything in the world.

But right now she had to reach the orphanage before curfew and have a good night of sleep, so in the morning she would be ready to face the world again.

He's sitting in the same park bench where he saw her yesterday, hopping and praying that she would show up or pass by.

Yesterday when she had entered the subway and left him on the street, staring dumbfounded after her, he regretted not having followed her. He regretted it the minute the doors of the car slide shut and it started moving for its destination.

And now here he was. In the last place he had seen her, hoping upon hope that she would show up. Just like a puppy waiting obediently for its owner. He didn't even cared about it. He just wanted to say he was sorry and if she would like to go on a date with him.

Yeah, a date. The thought of it left his hands sweating and made him blink twice as much.

It had been a hour since he sat down with a hot chocolate in one hand and nervous eyes that surveyed the place every five seconds, looking for that flash of blue hair. Until he finally saw her. Exiting the subway and passing straight by him without even a look in his direction.

He felt somewhat discouraged.

He watched her go and saw her taking her phone out of her pocket and taping the screen a couple of times, putting the phone back in her pocket.

That's when he noticed the change of rhythm in her walk and how she bounced a little with each step.

Oh! She was listening to music. Maybe she hadn't really seen him sitting there.

With that he got up and chased after her. When he finally reached her he tapped her on the shoulder a stepped back quickly. He did not want to be thrown to the floor again.

She turned with the most beautiful smile on her face. A smile that turned her lips upward and filled her eyes with a bright happiness that transformed the stormy grey in brilliant silver.

Oh, wow. Stunning!

"Ah, hi... I- hmm..." and suddenly he turned into a blabbering idiot. Great.

Lyra took the earbuds from her ears and tapped on the screen of her phone, stopping the music and turning her full attention to him.

"Hi!" she said back. So bright and happy.

He'd seen her many sides. Amused Lyra, Sarcastic Lyra, Pissed off Lyra, Caring Lyra, but this was the first time he saw the full beaming Happy Lyra. It was beautiful.

"Hi."

"Hello, Damien." she said with an amused smile.

He stared at her, hands sweating and eyes blinking fast.

"Are you okay?" she asked, seeming concerned now "You look like you might throw up or something." she took a step back and he took an answering step forward, making her raise an eyebrow at him. She was back to amused now.

"Yeah, no. Just fine."

"Okay then. It was good to see you." she made a little wave with her hand and turned on her heels.

Damien head slapped himself.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He had to do something. Do something now or he would lose all his courage, not like he had a lot of it right now, but still.

"I'm sorry." he shouted after her. Effectively making her turn around and face him.

She started walking his way and he walked her way; met her halfway.

"You're sorry?" she asked raising an eyebrow and her eyes losing some of their happiness.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about your dad. I didn't knew and I didn't mean to hurt you. And I'm sorry he's gone. It sucks to not have a dad."

So many hours spent crafting the perfect apology speech and he was stuck with 'It sucks!'.

"Thanks. I think you're one of the first people who ever said they were sorry and actually meant it. And you're right. It sucks a great deal."

He nodded and smiled back.

"Walk with me?" she asked.

He nodded again, his smile growing.

He walked beside her in a comfortable silence that he was rather found of, but still he felt like he should be talking. Say something more.

"Can I ask what happened to your dad?" and the stupidest thing he could say left his mouth. He really should have just kept his mouth shut.

She looked at him with pained eyes and a dark look took over her face. And suddenly he could tell she was not there anymore, but somewhere else entirely. Somewhere that definitely was not very a pleasant place for her.

"You don't have to tell me. It was stupid of me to ask." he shook his head vehemently and buried his hands in his pockets feeling the little object that he had kept there for safety. The little thing he got for her as a peace offering.

He took it out and flipped it in his hands, inspecting it carefully. And then he grabbed her hand and placed the little object in it, folding her fingers again.

Lyra look at him with a questioning look and then very carefully she opened her hand, looking at the object and flipping it in her hands, and a soft smile slowly blossomed on her face.

She trusted her finger inside the key ring and let it dangle from her finger, so the little dragon attached to it was suspended in the air.

It was simple and he saw it when he was passing a store this morning and he just couldn't resist.

The little dragon was blue and white with safire eyes and his wings spread wide. It was adorable and simple and really, just a little thing that he thought she might like.

He was glad he was right.

The smile on her face was wide with her teeth showing and he could glimpse a little peek of her tongue from between them.

"Because dragons are awesome." he explained needlessly.

"Yeah, they are."

She grabbed his arm, making him stop dead in his tracks.

"I love it. Thank you, it was very sweet." and then she carefully pecked him on the cheek. And when he could see her face again, he could see the faintest of blushes adorning her cheeks and the way her eyes were so playful and happy.

Yeah, she liked it alright.

And suddenly all of her face changed to a set determination. The smile was still there, although a little less smiley and her eyes weren't as heavy as they had once been, but something had changed. She had her mind set on something.

"Do you have time?"

"For what?"

"I'm going to tell you a story."

His eyebrows knit in his forehead as he frowned in incomprehension.

"A story?" she nodded and moved to sit on the nearest bench, patting the sit beside her.

"I'm going to tell you the story of how my parents were murdered." she said calmly.

All in him froze as he stared in disbelieving shock. The word murdered echoing trough his head like a hammer hitting metal over and over again.

And then he moved and sat down beside her, waiting to hear Lyra's story.

She took a deep breath and glanced at the boy sitting next to her, patiently waiting to hear her. The boy that gave her a little key ring dragon, because she had mentioned once that dragons were awesome.

She smiled a little, thinking about it. Damien was the boy who listened and that was why she was going to tell him this story.

She looked back at her hands and the little blue dragon. She wasn't able to say this if she had to be looking at him.

She prepared herself and started telling the story.

"I was eleven when it happened, my sister was seven-"

"You have a sister?"

Oh, yeah. He didn't knew about Leia.

"Yeah. But don't interrupt me or I won't tell my story."

He nodded his head twice and made a gesture with his hand as if he was locking his mouth with a key and throwing it away.

She smiled a little and continued.

"As I was saying. I was eleven and my sister - Leia - was seven. We used to tease each other a lot, but it was only playing around, nothing serious. But our parents - William and Jane, he was a karate teacher and she was a doctor - got very annoyed and it was fun to see." she recalled "And this summer day we were on vacation. We had rented a house near this beautiful beach and we became fast friends with our neighbors that lived in front of us. So on this day that we couldn't go to the beach because dad was feeling sick and mom didn't want to take us. She was afraid of the water and me and Leia loved to swim, so she didn't take us that day, because she didn't want us to be in any sort of dangerous situation. Leia and I weren't very happy with it, so we asked to go play with the front door neighbors and they let us, although they didn't want us going alone, but they did because they trusted me to take care of my little sister."

She had to take a deep breath to calm down, she felt she could drown in it again. She really could if it weren't for her sister.

Damien placed one of his hands on top of hers and somehow the weight of his hand didn't help her drown, but kept her afloat. Gave her new strength.

She gave him a strained smile and continued.

"We ran late. We were supposed to be home half an hour ago, but we were having fun and lost track of time so we ran late half an hour. And I could tell that there was something wrong, because the window next to the door was broken and the door was wide open and my parents were both too careful to do that. Just for safety I made Leia hang back and I went in, calling for mom and dad. I found them in the living room. And it should have just happened because they weren't dead yet. Not yet."

She could feel the hot tears running down her face but made no move to stop them, knowing that it was pointless. They would just keep on coming.

Damien squeezed her hand tightly and scooted closer.

"I froze for about five minutes. I didn't do anything. I just stared at them dying and cried. The only thing that brought me back to action was my sister screaming to me and asking if she could come in now. Then I ran to the phone and called 911, but it was too late then. Five minuted too late. And when I realized that, I just broke down. Ran to them and hugged them. I can't quite remember the rest. I don't remember the paramedics arriving or anything else. The next thing I knew I was in an ambulance covered in blood and my sister was in a gurney next to me. She had passed out. Too much for her."

She sobbed and tried to stop. Just stop! Because hadn't she already cried enough?! But no, she hadn't, because now she had a gapping hole in her heart.

And now what?! What was she supposed to do?!

Damien tentatively placed his arm around her shoulder in a weird one-arm-hug that was actually comforting. It helped, so she let her head rest on his shoulder.

"The police said it was a robbery gone wrong, but there was nothing stolen. Nothing out of place. Just a lot of blood. And you know what's the worst part?! The worst part was that while my parents were being stabbed to dead I was having fun. Just playing like a normal kid and sometimes I wish that in real life there would be all that crap of sensing when your family is in distress, like in the movies. But real life sucks and apparently stuff doesn't quite work that way."

She breathed out slowly and dared to look at him. A quick glimpse that showed the tears trapped in his eyes. And she was so damn glad to find no pity in his blue eyes. So damn glad! There was a lot of sadness and even anger, but no pity.

"And then they placed us in an orphanage, because we didn't have any other family. It was not that bad for the first year, until my sister got adopted by this rich guy that was looking for a cute kid to show around and my sister was the best. She is adorable and well behaved and polite and he ruined her a little bit. He didn't adopt me though, and that was fine because I thought that she would be happy and that I still got to see her, but no. Jackass decided I was a bad influence and moved with my sister to another part of the town and I didn't knew where. I found her, eventually. And that's basically how we go. I find her. He finds that I found her and they move. And I begin searching again."

She looked up at him. Waiting.

Because he was a boy and she knew he would run, like every other single boy. But she had to tell him. She had to because he gave her a dragon.

"It sucks." he said choking on his words and making her laugh a little.

"It sucks." she agreed "But this time I have a plan to get my sister for good. And it's going to work."

"You found your sister again?"

"Yeah. Mr. Castle found her for me. One of those weird coincidences."

"I'm so happy for you and I'll be very happy to help you with your evil plan."

She smiled bright and wide, because he hadn't run. He was still here and he wanted to help and that was all that she could ask and more.

"Yeah, I would like that. And I think I know exactly what you can help with."

"It's a date!" he said with the silliest smile, making her laugh.

A/N: One more chapter to go! Hope you enjoyed this one.