Notes from Protarn: Good to be back readers, I will grant you good luck for reading this fanfic. If you skip to get into this chapter, no good luck for you. Anyway, give credit to my friend Nicholas, the creator of the character Bolt. And if anyone is tired reading this backstory, I guess you have to suffer one more chapter before we get to the real thing.

Earlier: We're still in a flashback of Olivia's past. She made friends with Nick and his sister when they were young in the orphanage, until they got adopted by a rich guy. And now Olivia is suffering from a loss in spite of the fact Nick and Olivia will visit her everyday. . .

A Kitten's Tears

I never thought promises can break. It used to be some kind of joke or to stay away from trouble; that's what promises were like to me, until I actually met friends who really stayed. Unlike everyone else, they stayed with me for years. Until the day when they left. Eating at dinner or hanging out at night doesn't seem fun anymore. It all felt different now, everything just felt so quiet and depressing, no matter how loud everyone can get, nothing felt the same. For few days, they haven't visited me, as if I didn't exist, or they were my imagination for years and I was alone all this time.

Them being gone really did made a big difference in here. A bunch of people had been showing up lately, renovating everything and making things look messy. There were less cracks on the walls, the molds were removed, the air felt cleaner, the old windows were replaced, the beds looked comfortable now. Meals had been looking nice lately, it's not usual to look so good. More adults had been popping out, taking in more of our own. Only I refused, and I did no matter what it takes whether I have a choice or not, even if they try to take things away from me, not giving me dinner, I'll never let them steal my life. It's not the same anymore. Only I remain while this whole place change. Everyone start to dress up differently trying to look nice, Miss Luna is one of them, but I stayed with my old clothes. I don't want to forget, those were part of my life, part of what I'd been through.

I had enough what's going around here. So much of my life had been taken by this place, and it's the place where I sleep and wake up everyday. If things were to change, then I'll do the same, this place is not my home anymore. Everyone keeps telling me to move on and find a family, they don't understand how it feels to see something I know becomes so different, like something becoming a complete stranger to me. My first attempt was at night, just ran to the door and hope everyone's asleep. Some kind of a detector found me and it woke everyone up. I didn't know there was a detector, nobody told me about it, as if they know I'll try to escape and punish me, just keep me as their prisoner. I got several talks from Miss Luna, most of the time is her making me feel bad, which is something she never done before, because she often yells at me. So what can I do to get out now? I was constantly kept watch for weeks, every day and night. The only time I could get out was when everyone were allowed to take a walk in the park, but I forced to be in Miss Luna's side like she leashed me.

A chance finally sprung up. I thought it was a nightmare at first, only for me to be proven wrong when I hear something loud as if something exploded, but the explosion keeps on repeating and things did not actually exploded. Someone was shooting with a gun, and I never thought guns can be so loud and terrifying like it's what an earthquake would sound like if it has a voice. A strange man broke through the door, with a gun aimed at us. This can't be real. . . I feel like fainting. Then he fired his gun at the ceiling. The sound shocked my body from moving, the gun was like what would happen if a thunder decided to yell at my ears. The worse fact was the man was wearing a clown mask, as if he came out of a nightmare to haunt everyone. I was hoping he would be the only one, until more clown-masked men came in our room and drag us outside. I want to fight back and move, just like in the shows, yet my mind was blanked out.

Everyone around me were crying. We were helpless against them. Suddenly there was fire, spreading everywhere, consuming everything it sees. I couldn't breath from the smoke and it was getting so hot in here as if I'm living in an oven. Something caught my eyes, someone, Miss Luna was lying on the floor, wounded and bleeding, she looked cold and lifeless. I didn't expect her to end up like that nor do I want to. I want to scream for her to get up before the fire reaches for her. The man carrying me noticed what I was looking at. Even with a mask on, I could feel from the looks on his eyes that he was smiling. He made me watch. He began to beat Miss Luna, he kicked her like an animal going crazy. However, Miss Luna didn't move. Is she really dead? Out of nowhere, two shots were fired at her legs. I want to scream so much, just for her to wake up and save everyone, but she didn't bother to move. When he was done, he hauled me outside the building the building. Now everything I know will burn away and vanish.

Somewhere around, there was more shooting. The clowns panicked. In the corner of my eyes, I saw something dark in the fire, something moving fast. Things got a bit quieter. There was less shooting and less clowns. I couldn't see nor tell what was happening. The man dropped me off and starts to shoot his gun at a random direction. For a moment, I was stunned until something told me in my mind to run. Whenever I turned my head, the dark creature kept on moving fast, scaring every clown, and making them vanish, as if they were never there.

The door was free, no one was guarding. I took my chance to leave. For a moment, I coughed a little, but the fresh air came in and I could feel the breeze coming into me. There were many people running away in panic, afraid and confuse what was happening, with a few watching from the distant. Some of the police officers had already arrived. One of them saw me. For some reason, I just ran away. I ran as fast as I can until I feel no one was chasing me. I didn't know why I ran. Suddenly I heard a loud explosion behind me. My heart felt like bursting out and my body overwhelmed by the forcing sound of the explosion like something demonic yelled as loud as it can. I feel like shaking and just fall off to the ground trembling. For some weird reason, I ran on no matter how much I want to stop moving and stop thinking.

I didn't know long had I been running. When I look back, nobody was behind me. It was still dark. From the distant I could hear the sound of sirens and panic, yet in here, it's so quiet and dark. I look around, and I found myself alone. I want to scream as much as I can, maybe it will help me relieve myself. It didn't. I remembered when I got separated from everyone during a trip. I look around, and all I see were strangers. Miss Luna was the one who found me, Now there's no one. So all I did was keep on running until I get tired, never turning back, never looking back until my old home seemed to never exist.

The word "home" seems to be like a memory for me now. I've been out here for a while, doing as much as I can to survive. But it's so hard. All alone, barely anyone to really help me, no one to trust. I want to go back. But will the disaster be over. Every time I think about home, I see clowns and fire. There was so much screaming and the longer I tried to remember it, the more painful it gets when my heart starts beating.

No place for me to go. Nothing nice or good to see. In my first night alone, I hid in an alley, hoping no one would see me. I was awake the whole night because of strangers talking out loud. Sometimes I would hear fights and then suddenly a gun was fired, a sound that stunned me for hours as if it unleashed a demon that wants to imprison me in its arms, never letting me go. Worse of all: I'm surrounded by darkness, no light for me to see, no light to make me feel safe. I thought I would see monsters in the corner of my eye or something watching me. Miss Luna once told me of a ghost story where kids were haunted at night if they failed to go to sleep, we would be given nightmares. Me, Nick, and Olivia had played a game who will be the last one staying up and the bravest of us three. Now it's so difficult without them around. It was the longest night I ever experienced. I still stayed in my spot, not bothering to move when morning came out. I only came out when my stomach was starting to rumble; it annoyed me so much, like some internal earthquake or something punching really hard. My legs were feeling weak, I couldn't get up. I look up and see how bright the sun was, while down here is dark and lonely.

I look around and saw a burger and some fries placed perfectly on a plastic plate. Where did it came from? It wasn't there before or did I ignore? I didn't want to eat it. Might've came from the dump. Past lessons thought me how nasty things could be when grabbing something from the trash, and I know how things gets mixed in there, like mixing dry broccoli, cabbages, ice-cream, and fish. Something in me push me forward to reach for the burger. What if someone grabbed my hand if I tried to touch it? What if someone was setting up a trap? I didn't look around, it's only the food I'm looking. Nothing happened. I touch it and I'm fine. I began to eat.

Honestly, I didn't know how I was even alive. Maybe I'm just I look at the mirror, there was something different about me, like I'm getting a bit taller and there was so much changes in my face. I feel older. There were blood suddenly leaking out of me that happened in different weeks, and nothing hurt me, until the sudden bleeding came, how? It was so upsetting to bleed. Why didn't the police show up sooner back then? Their failure is the reason why I'm here. And I have to suffer because of it. The blood was so gross, I want to get rid all of it. I began to take clothes from abandoned stores and change often whenever blood began pouring out. At least I found a little home for a while. There had been a lot of places abandoned recently, in fact there was so much chaos. I spend time hiding from the riots spreading. Eventually I didn't need to find any clothes when some kind of a weird monster gave me clothes.

I just remembered something: I left my power rangers action figures in the fire, now they're a pile of ashes. I imagined them all getting burned, helpless, and I wasn't there to save them. Those were the only toys I had, and the only things closest to me since my betrayal. I cried a bit. When I'm bored or lonely, I'll had them fight each other or do crazy things and sleep with them to feel safe, because power rangers fight bad guys and I don't want to lose them. They make my dreams feel fun and I'm one of the heroes fighting bad guys. A hero didn't show up in real life, since I was defenses the whole. And things are getting really lonely, until I saw an abandoned toy store. I look around if there's someone hiding. It seems I'm the only one. Some of the stuff had already been stolen, except for some and it is what I wanted. In a box container is the red ranger, the leader of the power rangers. I found it fun being the leader. So I snatched the box and opened it up as fast as I can and in my hands again is the red ranger action figure. Although I got a new one, it makes me miss my old toys more, I had them for years and they were like extra friends. Well I was going to make my way out, then an old guy yelled at me out of nowhere.

'The perfect time for thieves to show up. I always thought that when the law is taken down, everyone can reveal their true selves. A monster would always rise without the fear of the law haunting them, like an eclipse where vampires can longer fear the sun. You just revealed to me that you're a criminal, a villain who deserves to be damned in prison.'

I couldn't think what to say, like my mouth got sewed.

'Why are you still standing around for? You already got what you want, I'm not trying to stop you or anything, so run along before the Grim Reaper finds you and judge your soul. I have no reason to end your misery, you deserve the punishment for living; the likes of you. Just imagine what you would be like when you're older, a demon baby reaching maturity.'

I ran as fast as I can until the old guy was out of my head. When I found a wall to rest by, the red ranger was still in my hands. The word "villain" pops in to my head whenever I look at the red ranger. He is a hero, the one who's suppose to make us feel safe and fight villains. I stole something, which makes me a villain. Do I even deserve this? I thought of letting go of the toy, but I couldn't. It makes me feel safe, a villain like me sleep better.

Sometimes when I look around, I see a dark creature moving so fast at night, jumping from one building to another. but it could be my imagination, yet I have a feeling I saw it before. There was a time when groups of gangs were shooting at another group, cursing at loud, sounding like they're the biggest guys ever existed. Each firing was like a big punch to my ears. But then things were suddenly quiet. All of them were tied by a dark cord, none of them saying a word, they just look asleep, yet they look like something beat them. For a small glimpse, I spotted the dark creature again, moving fast and seeing it made me feel afraid like it's a demon. I told myself the dark thing did it, it ended the fight. I don't know how, but it did something. Anyway it made everything peaceful and nice, my ears were relaxed now, and I don't feel afraid. Like there's some guardian watching over the streets.

For some reason, I get a glimpse of another monster at night. This one kinda reminded me of a monster who sneaks up at night and stare through the window while perching in a tree. Maybe it's just me but there's something about it that makes it so different, as if it watches me everyday and leading me to someplace safe. And it's very silent and sneaky, but nothing haunting like the other one. It makes me feel safe and whenever it appeared, fresh food pops out. The food is what kept me going. I stopped hunting for clothes when it gave me clothes everyday, and it's very warm. There was a time I get a close look when I was sick; it gave me medicine but I was too tired to see things clearly. It was very blurry, like everything seems to be shaken and mixed, but I noticed a shape in the monster, it looked like cat ears and for some reason my mind is telling me that it's not an it, it's a she. And I feel some strange connection with her; it's a really weird feeling as if I knew her. What makes her so different was that she appeared so often at day unlike the other, and yet no one took notice of her, unless a fight broke loose. I would be walking in an alley, thinking what I should do next and not think about home, then thugs suddenly grabbed me out of nowhere. They made my head numb with something, like some weird smell. Thinking at that time was tough, I was feeling dizzy. For a small bit, I saw the thugs fighting among themselves. When my head recovered, most of the thugs were beaten; the last ones were getting destroyed by the lady. After they were beaten, she left in an instant, climbing the wall like a cat with ease.

I thought having a real home again would never come true. I moved to places since more gangs kept on showing up and more police people trying to get me. A day came up to prove me wrong. The cat lady jumped off from a wall and landed in front of me. She told me to follow her. I only stood. My hand was suddenly grabbed and put me behind her back, then she quickly went up on the wall. I get a feeling she struggled because of my weight, fortunately she got through with the running and jumping from one roof to another; her skills to jump really surprised and if I'm not on her back, imagine how high she can jump. So after many minutes later, we stopped inside in an empty room that has dust covering every corners.

So she's been helping this whole time. She helped me when I was alone in the street. Yet all she did was watch me for so long. I had no one to talk to, no friends to make me happy. For a moment, I considered seeing her a friend, but somewhere in my head, I'm a bit creeped out. She didn't walk to me, just followed me like some stalker. All I know was she's been following me for months? Years? That's all I know about her. A part of me told me to leave. I made a mistake.

Then she look carefully into my eyes as if she's trying to see something. I didn't expect it but she suddenly hugged me. My head was blank, couldn't think how I should respond. This is starting to make me feel uncomfortable. She's a complete stranger to me. So I push her away and slowly walk back.

'Who are you?!'

She was quiet, there was a short pause. When finally say something, she sound like she's trying to hold something back, like she's about to unleash more raindrops from her eyes. 'Sorry. Sorry. I'm really sorry.'

'What do you want from me?'

'You to be happy.'

'Explain. . . Or stay away from me.'

'I can't. It's for your safety.'

What I should say to her? If I said something wrong, she might do something. I couldn't think what to say. I don't want to risk saying the wrong words.

'It's my fault this all happened to you. I didn't really expect how complicated things would get.' She stressed out and scratch her head and violently. 'Please forgive me.'

'I don't know you!'

'I have no choice then. . . I'm your mother. . .'

'. . .' What? What?! That can't be real. My mom abandoned me. She's lying. Miss Luna told me that strangers can tell you anything they want you to know, even lies. She might as well be crazy. Why would she go far to protect me and told me she's my mom so sudden.

There was a short pause. I leaned back on a wall and my mind going numb from this confusion and scary thing, while she kept on crying. She took hold of herself and said, 'It's not your fault why you're life is like this. I'm responsible of bringing you into a life you don't deserve. I should've thought this through.'

What is she saying? 'What are you talking about?'

'You're too young to understand and it's for the best. But I don't deserve to be your mother. A mother's job is to take care of her children.'

'Please. . . Stay away from me. . . If. . . I can trust you. . . You'll. . . Let me leave. . . Just leave me alone. . . Then maybe I can trust you. . . Or explain to me what's going on. Just explain what led to this. Who are you? Why are you doing this all to me? How can you be my mom?'

'How should I say this? You look so grown up now. What should I begin with?-'

'Tell me or leave me be!'

'It all began when I met a man. I was different back then. Everything was different compared to today. But there things that will never change.'

'What does a guy had to do with me?'

'Do you want to know where babies came from?'

'Not really. I asked that question a lot but everyone tells me either something different or things that makes no sense like a stork dropping me off from the sky or I was made from a clay.'

'Do you want me to explain where babies came from? I don't think you can handle it. It'll be better when you're older. The way you see things will never be the same. Trust me.'

'My home was burned down and my friends had betrayed me. I can handle it.'

'If you say so.'

'Why are sounding like it's a weird topic to explain? But if it explains a lot about you. Then do it. I don't care.'

So this is why people say ignorance is bliss. Maybe sticking with the old idea would be a good idea. What she told me made everything sense, but it changes how I see everything. The things on T.V and people's explaining, it was a big lie. I could never watch T.V or look at anyone without thinking about the process. If only she explain something less gross. Why are we born with something disgusting?

'Now that I have it cleared up. This is how you were born. As for him, we never seen each other ever again. Can't believe he tricked me. I always knew he should never be trusted, just doing what he wants. An important advice if you met someone who seems charming and turning out to be trash.'

'Can we please move on.'

'I guess it's enough for education today. Things aren't so easy when you're belly so swollen, like you're running with a bag in front of you or a boulder. I have someone I trusted to look out for me until time is up.'

'Shouldn't you go to the hospital?'

'I would have. I didn't have to go through this harsh labor. Take the easy way. But where I am standing, my option was only the hard way. Lots of people want to hunt me down, and they know I'm in labor. The police, they're not on my side. What kind of a people would help someone who stole something? With the fact I did more wrong things.'

'You're a criminal?' I knew there was something wrong. This just makes things hard for me to get out. What criminal would willingly let their prisoners out? I have no choice but to stay or she would kill me. She's really making me really uncomfortable.

'I'm not a type of criminal who likes to hurt everyone. I became a criminal because life thinks it's funny to give me bad luck, while some rich kids has homes with a nice family and a soft bed. When you live in the street and finding ways to be happy, everyone is your enemy. Happiness is not easy to get and sharing happiness means giving up some of it. What kind of person would want to be miserable? You saw it didn't you? The riots and you know how depressing it is to live alone and feeling afraid all the time. Feeling safe counts as not being depressed. Every night I see you cuddling with the red ranger every night. I see kids enjoying the shows, where heroes fight monsters and keep the city safe. But the monsters we see here are people. And heroes can die anytime.'

I just thought what would it be like if the Power Rangers were to die, all of them in the same spot. What would the world be like if they failed? But seeing this city, this is what the world would look like if there are no heroes. Does she ever kill a hero, is she the reason why there are no heroes to protect me? Yet strangely, a criminal claimed to be my mom and the one keeping me alive. Her out of all people. If she is really my mom, would that make me a villain because I was born out of here? I had been stealing things recently. I was a big mess. And thinking back in my old home, I was really rude. I look at the red ranger carefully, and think to myself.

'We can stop anytime. You don't have to listen anymore of this. I understand that it's overwhelming.'

'I have to know.' It's a bit too much. What she's saying, it makes my head shut up a little. I didn't know why I said it, it just slipped through my mouth.

'No. I think it's best i give this to you. I almost forgot to show it to you.' From her pocket, she took out an old picture of her younger self and a baby in her arms. There was no one else around. In the background, was a wooden wall that looked like it's going to fall apart. Then something came to my mind, who took the picture? But I didn't bother ask at all.

'This pictures helps me remember you, reminding myself I have a daughter I have to protect. And I hope this will convince you. If you don't, I'll give you time. Remember this, I did it to protect you. If they knew I had a daughter, they will hunt you down and I can't bare myself to see you hurt. Just stay for a while.'

'Okay. I will stay.'

'Good. There is something I have to show you. You're going to need it. There are people who would want to hurt you. But before they do that, you fight back. You know where this is going.'

'What?'

'I'll teach you how to fight. There's no reason to be helpless if you know how to fight. Just like the red ranger who fights monsters, and the best way to keep the things you love safe. It's what I do and what you'll do in the future.'

I guess I have no choice but to accept it. Maybe it will keep me safe, and hopefully happy. And there is something deep inside me, telling me that she really is my mom, it's just the weird feeling like some connection, as if I found something I lost, but I still feel lost and I don't know why.