YAY! I finally updated this story! Sorry for the long wait guys but I've been working on other stuff. I don't really have much else to say other than thank you to everyone who's reviewed!

Chapter 13

(-Kayla-)

After entering the hotel room Ed went straight for his bed. "Alright guys, I'm beat," he sighed as he landed on his bed. His whole body slumped into the mattress and it wouldn't be too long until he fell asleep.

I shook my head at the boy and turned to gaze out the window. The moonlight fell upon the near empty street, a car or two passing every now and then. Trees were sparse in this area, making me frown. I enjoyed nature immensely, trees more than anything. That's another reason, besides the crowds, that I avoided big cities like Central. There just wasn't enough vegetation for my taste. How I'd love to be surrounded by trees right now and sprawl lazily in their limbs while watching the stars.

"Kayla?" Pulling out of my reverie, I glanced at Al. He kept his voice low for Ed's sake, though judging from the boys heart rate and breathing he wasn't out quite yet. "Aren't you going to go to sleep?"

I shook my head and answered in a soft voice as well, "I don't need that much sleep, just a few naps here and there. Cats are nocturnal anyways so I find it harder to sleep at night. So I guess you're stuck with my company."

Al chuckled, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

I gave him a small smile but gave Ed a look when he grunted and rolled over. We were probably annoying him. Heh, oops. I wish I could talk to Al without worrying about keeping Ed awake.

As an idea struck me, I rushed over to Al in the blink of an eye, "Hey Al, wanna go for a walk? I'd really like to go outside. Please?"

"Oh sure," he laughed but seemed to second guess himself when he glanced at his brother.

Ed, as if he knew Al was looking to him for permission, said, "Just be careful. And I swear to gate if you run away again Kayla I am not coming after you again."

"Brother!" Al chided.

A moment later, Ed groaned, "Not until a decent hour anyway."

And with that, Al and I left the hotel room. I breathed in the fresh air of night, smelling a few lingering traces of people and exhaust from cars. The stars were out and I couldn't help but be in a cheerful mood. Maybe that was because I could sense a warm front coming in. It's been chilly for the past week and some warmer weather would be most appreciated.

"I'm surprised," Al commented as we walked in a random direction.

"At what?"

"That you wanted to come out here. I thought you didn't like to be around others."

I shrugged, "I suppose, but it only really unnerves me when I'm in bigger crowds or small rooms. But there's less people around at night so it's okay. Plus, I love to be outdoors when I can."

"You would like Resembool then," he said as he took on a wistful tone. "There are lots hills and flowers and even a river. Ed and I used to play at the river with our friend Winry and sometimes Winry's dad would go with us and taught us how to fish. Ed was always mad because I caught more than he did."

"What about trees? Are there any there?"

"Oh yeah, there's plenty! In fact there's a whole forest on the edge of the town. It's so big I got lost in it one time. Brother eventually found me though."

I smiled at the image of his hometown, "It must be pretty."

"It is. I hope I can show it to you one day." We walked in a comfortable silence until Al suggested, "You want to head to the park? It's not far from here."

I brightened up and nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah!" Now that he mentioned it I could smell that we were close. I let my nose lead me as I charged down the sidewalk.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Al called, running after me.

I giggled at him. Then I stopped that action because it was so new to me. It shocked me so completely. I couldn't remember the last time I really laughed, let alone giggle, and here I was the happiest I had been in so long. I grinned and laughing again, just enjoying the feeling.

For a suit of armor Al kept up with me pretty well. In no time at all we reached the park and immediately I hopped into a tree and sat on a low branch.

I smiled as Al stood in front of me, "Look, now we're the same height."

"You sound happy all of a sudden," he noticed, and I think if he had a mouth he would be smiling.

I leaned back on the trunk of the tree to look up into the starry sky as I answered, "I guess I am. It's just that, for the first time in my life I feel…hopeful. I'm still worried about Serah, but I know now that she's alive at least. And I have a feeling that wherever she is she's okay. She's a lot tougher than me and is probably here in Central somewhere trying to find me."

"Right," Al agreed with me. "It's only a matter of time before you find each other. And now that you have us to help it'll be that much easier."

I looked at him, a warmth blossoming in my chest. "You know Alphonse, I've never had someone to ever rely on. It's always been just me. I've never had anyone to call my friend until Serah and that itself I thought was a one in a million chance."

He cocked his head, "What about when you traveled around? Didn't you meet people?"

"Oh yeah, I met lots of people. Most were kind enough…others were not. But the ones that were I experienced their company only in passing. There were some people that let me work for a meal or would outright offer a night in their home like I was apart of the family. But then I'd move on. I didn't stay in one place for long."

"Why not?" he asked as he leaned against the tree.

"…I could say that it was simply because I wanted to travel, which was true but only to an extent. I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone completely. I'd convince myself to move on before it got bad because somehow, some way, it would always become bad…and that fear always sent me running."

"But not from us," Al said in a light voice.

I smiled at him, "Not now but in the beginning I did. Remember?"

He chuckled, "Yes. I was wondering at the time why Miss Kitty kept running away."

"She was scared…She's still scared."

"…Kayla?" I looked over to him with sorrowful eyes. "I promise to you that I will never hurt you. I'll protect you and always be your friend no matter what."

Again, that same warmth tightened in my chest. It was a strange sensation I've never felt before and it confused me while at the same time bringing me comfort. But still, that same old guarded part of me screamed at me to be wary of his words, to not fall for them and it actually hurt because I wanted to. And I was surprised that it wasn't just because I wanted to believe in someone. I wanted to believe in Al.

"I…I want to believe you, I really do. But I can't help but feel scared. But I don't want to feel scared anymore."

"As long as you want to believe then that's good enough for me."

It was words like that that made me want to believe in him. His patience, his undeniable kindness, his generosity. Speaking of which, I never did thank him.

"Um, Al?"

"Yeah?"

For some reason I couldn't look at him and nervously pulled at a loose string on my jacket, "I just wanted to…thank you…for everything you've done for me. Both you and Ed."

He radiated happy vibes as he responded, "It's alright. That's what friends are for."

"Friends," I murmured and smiled to myself. The word was still new to me but I loved the sound of it. And now that I think about sounds…One of my ears twitched as I sat up and concentrated.

Al, noticing my sudden alertness, asked, "What is it?"

"I hear something," I whispered to him.

He scanned the park, puzzled, "I don't see anyone."

As I deciphered the sound I smiled, "Who said it was a person?" Not giving him time to answer my rhetorical question, I jumped down and followed my ears. Al tagged along and not far from our tree we found the source of the noise.

"Hey little guy," I cooed, reaching in the hollow of an old oak tree and pulling out a fuzzy black and white kitten.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Al cried in excitement. It amused me to see a giant suit of armor so enthusiastic by the sight of a kitten.

We sat on the ground with the kitten between us, both of us petting it. For a wild kitten he seemed perfectly fine with strangers fussing over him. He leaned into our touches and meowed at us in contentment. Al and I mostly talked about how cute the kitten was for the next few minutes. Then the kitten decided to get frisky and began climbing on me. He made it up my arm and began smelling me, probably wondering why he was smelling a feline scent when I appeared human. He got over it quickly, deciding that I was okay. So okay in fact, he dove into the recesses of my hood behind my neck.

I laughed, "Hey! That tickles! Al, help me out, would you?" I would have gotten the kitten myself but I didn't want to hurt him by trying to pull him out.

Al removed the kitten carefully, only to have the little scamp gnaw at his fingers. "Don't be like that kitty! I'm sorry, what did I do?"

I giggled at him, "Al, he's not mad at you. He just wants to play."

He looked up at me and gasped, "Wait, can you understand him?"

I shook my head and couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous notion, "I may be part cat but it doesn't automatically mean I can communicate with them. But because I have animal senses they can tell me things that ordinary people can't tell. Things like emotions. If the emotion is strong enough I can smell if someone is sad, angry, happy, etcetera."

"Oh," he replied thoughtfully. He plucked a stick off the ground and began playing with the kitten. The kitten responded by biting at the stick and clawing at it.

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"About what you guys said before…when you said that you'd help me control my switches…how are you going to do that?"

"I'm not really sure," he answered honestly. "Your switches are linked to your emotions, right?"

I nodded, "Whenever I panic or become too stressed I switch automatically. Sometimes I can feel it coming but I can't stop it unless I run away from the problem."

"So all we need to do is make it to where you can control your emotions. That way you can control your switches."

My eyes widened, "You really think it's that easy?"

"It's probably harder than it sounds but it's worth a try. Maybe we should think of your switches like fighting."

He lost me there, "But…I don't like fighting."

"No, I didn't mean that you would have to fight. I meant to say that your switches and fighting are fundamentally similar. The woman who taught Brother and I alchemy also taught us how to fight. Teacher said in order to train the body you must also train the mind."

"So I've got to train my mind?"

"Exactly!"

I stared down at the kitten that still played with Al, then back up to Al himself. He seemed to be waiting for an answer of some sort.

Finally, I nodded, "Alright. I'm in your hands, Al."

(-Serah-)

Serah woke up the next morning confused. A toddler sat in front of her bed. Said child sat on the floor and kept stealing glances at Serah and going back to writing something on paper.

"Hey," Serah peered at the little girl. "…what are you doing?"

Elysia smiled, "I'm coloring my big sister!" The girl proceeded to show Serah the piece of paper, which had a colored drawing of Serah on it. Sure it was a child's drawing and hard to decipher, but Serah knew it was her. The fox ears on her head were a dead give away.

Ah, shit! Serah cursed inwardly, barely stopping herself from yelling it out loud. Elysia's parents would not be thrilled if she picked up some colorful words from her 'big sister'. Serah frantically felt the top of her head and, sure enough she felt fuzzy fox ears. She must have somehow partially transformed in her sleep. The chimera reverted to a normal state just as Hughes bounded through the door.

"There you are, Elysia!" he exclaimed. Serah winced at how loud he was. How could anyone be so cheerful this early in the morning?

"I colored Big Sister!" the girl told her father happily.

Hughes inspected the drawing curiously and Serah's stomach dropped. "Honey, what are those things on her head?"

"Her doggie ears!" she answered sweetly.

Serah laughed nervously, "Heh, you know how kids are! Everything with animal ears is automatically fifty percent cuter. Say, I bet Elysia would be even more precious with bunny ears!"

Hughes went right along with it and squealed over the image of Elysia with bunny ears. Serah sighed in relief and mentally patted herself on the back for such quick thinking. In the future she'd have to be more careful. She was just lucky that little Elysia was the one to see her in such a state rather than one of her parents.

"So. I've got to head into work so you two play nice." He gave Elysia a big bear hug and, surprising Serah, he ruffled her own hair affectionately. Serah growled but seeing that big grin on his face she couldn't help but smile back. Then he strolled out the door to head for work.

With just the two girls left, silence sat upon them. Until Serah's stomach growled that is. She rubbed her stomach and moaned, "I'm so hungry."

Elysia giggled, "You missed breakfast."

Serah's face fell, "Seriously? I can't believe I slept so late!" With a groan, she fell back onto the bed, "Do me a favor kid, next time it's time for breakfast just slap me with a waffle would ya?"

That made the girl laugh again and she added, "But Mommy saved you some leftovers."

Serah shot up, "Then what are we waiting for? LET'S GOOO!" Serah swooped Elysia up in her arms and flew down the stairs with almost inhuman speed, causing the child to cheer. When they reached the kitchen she let her down and greeted Gracia.

"Good morning!"

"Oh, you're up," Gracia smiled. "Would you like something to eat?"

If Serah had her tail out it would be wagging. "Yes please!" she nodded vigorously.

As Serah ate, Gracia mentioned that she needed to go grocery shopping and pick up a few things.

"It would be a big help if you'd watch Elysia for me while I'm out," she finished.

Serah blinked at the woman, "You want me to baby sit for you? You sure you're okay with that?"

"Of course," the woman smiled. "If you want you can take her to the playground right down the street."

"Yay! Let's go to the playground, Big Sister!" Elysia cried, entirely for the idea. Without warning, the little girl grabbed her hand and drug her towards the door. Serah was still too stunned by the change of events to fight back.

"Be safe, and don't stay out too long!" Gracia called after them.

Serah was led down the street to a quaint playground that held a slide, several swings, and a merry-go-round. Elysia veered for the nearest swing set and called for Serah to come push her.

Serah sweat dropped, "This kid's got way too much energy." She relented and went to push the girl on the swing. As they played Serah really questioned the sanity of Elysia's parents. Didn't they know better than to leave their daughter with a complete stranger? Sure, Serah was an easy going gal but even she wondered why they would trust her so easily. Some people she would never understand.

The two of them swung until that got boring. Then they slid a bunch of times until they finally ended up going to the merry-go-round. Elysia huddled down in the center while Serah spun the ride as fast as it would go before jumping on herself. Their laughs filled the air as they each had a blast.

As the merry-go-round slowed from their most recent go around, Serah collapsed backwards on to the flat surface. She was starting to get sick from all of this spinning.

"Big Sister, are you okay?" Elysia asked, hovering over her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just need to catch my breath is all. Why don't you go swing and I'll join you in a few minutes."

"Okay!" she replied cheerily and ran off.

Serah shook her head with a small smile and remained where she was. She stared up at the clouds, keeping her ears trained on Elysia. At one point she heard some other people arrive to the playground but it was only a group of kids and was of no concern. Serah lazily moved the merry-go-round with her feet, all the while wondering what Kayla was up to at the moment.

"That's ours, so move it!" a little boy's voice complained.

Serah looked up to where Elysia had been swinging. She sat in her swing unmoving while a group of little boys ganged up on her.

"But I was here first!" Elysia argued.

"We always use these swings. So you better move!"

A tick mark appeared on Serah's forehead. What was it with little kids and their inability to share? Serah hoped she hadn't been as bratty and selfish as these tykes when she was their age.

"Hey," Serah growled from behind the group of boys. They turned around and their eyes widened to see Serah looming over them, a threatening gleam in her eyes. "You twerps better get lost if you know what's good for you. You're giving me a headache with all your whining, so BEAT IT!"

"Aaaaaah!" they screamed as they ran for their lives. As they cleared the area Serah chuckled with a big evil grin on her face.

"Big Sister?"

Serah looked down to Elysia, wondering if she had scared her too by accident. Nope. The girl was gazing at her with nothing more than curiosity.

"Why do you have doggy ears and a tail?"

Serah blanched and felt her head. Oh crap, she thought. Next she checked behind her back and saw her fluffy, orange fox tail complete with a white tip. At times like these when Serah became riled up her animal traits appeared sometimes. Not always when she was angry but whenever they did it just had to be at inconvenient times like now.

She kneeled in front of the kid and spoke to her in a serious tone, "It's a little complicated and I wasn't always like this but that's how I am now. But please Elysia, we've got to keep this our little secret. Can you do that for me?"

Elysia didn't even hesitate. She nodded and asked in awe, "Can I pet your ears?"

"You want to pet them?" she asked incredulously? Shouldn't the girl be afraid or something? Serah was something unnatural, loathsome, and she wanted to pet her? Serah shrugged and chalked it up to the innocence of a child. Elysia didn't know any better than to see her as some big person like dog. Others would see her for what she truly was though and those were the ones that would hate her, curse her, and run away.

Elysia reached out with her small hands as Serah bent down for her. She poked one ear and was rewarded with a twitch. The girl giggled and rubbed her ears gently.

Serah closed her eyes and smiled, "You know, that actually kind of feels good."

Elysia laughed some more, "Your tail is wagging just like a doggie!"

"It does that sometimes," Serah said with a laugh of her own.

With a sigh, Serah suggested that they head back to the house. It had already been about an hour since they left and Gracia would be getting back soon. Instead of pouting like Serah expected her too, Elysia just smiled and jogged off down the sidewalk.

Serah rolled her eyes at the kid's enthusiasm. Making sure that she reverted back to normal, Serah ran off after her.

(-Serah-)

Serah heard the front door open and turned to see Gracia enter the house loaded down with groceries. She hopped up from her spot on the living room floor and took some of the bags from the woman.

"Thanks. Did you two have fun at the playground?"

"Yep! Big Sister pushed me on the swings and we spun around and around on the merry-go-round," and on Elysia went as the older ones set about putting the groceries away. Serah bit her lip and worried that the kid might spill about her being part animal but she heard not a word about it. Serah thanked her lucky stars for that.

"Sounds like you had a big morning," Gracia smiled at her daughter. Then she turned to Serah, "I appreciate you looking after her, Serah."

Serah waved her off, "No problem. It's the least I could do for everything you've done for me. Plus, I think the squirt is starting to grow on me."

"Look Mommy! Big Sister colored with me even though her drawings look kinda funny," Elysia said as she held up the sheet of paper Serah had been doodling on earlier that held a bunch of deformed stick figures .

Serah sweat dropped and muttered, "Yep, growing on me like a fungus."

She helped Gracia prepare lunch and they sat down to a pleasant meal. Afterwards, Serah excused herself and said she would be back later this afternoon. When she left the house, Serah headed towards the direction of the library. Ever since she had to leave yesterday her mind had kept coming back to all of the books she had read. She told herself that she was just trying to find a lead on Kayla but really she was fascinated with the item known as the Philosopher's Stone, said to be powerful enough to do anything…maybe even turning a chimera like herself into a human again.

Using the same method as yesterday, Serah entered the library through the window. There were a few more people there than the last time and that made her somewhat nervous. She fought to keep her cool and act like she belonged there. If she didn't freak out then no one should so much as glance her way.

She found the same section she browsed through yesterday and mused to herself, Where to begin…This one? Nah, not what I'm looking for. How about this one? Uh no, too many big words. This one? Arg! Couldn't they just put more pictures in them or something?

Serah sighed and continued to scan through the shelves of books but to her extreme disappointment she did not find a book labeled, 'Reversing the Chimera Process for Dummies'. It would have been a big help though.

Resigned to her fate, Serah braced herself and picked a few books that looked useful. She'd just have to read one after another until she came across something. For the next couple of hours she scoured over volumes of utterly useless junk! But she kept researching and didn't give up, albeit she did wonder who in their right mind had taken the pointless amount of time to write all of this crap. Some of it was interesting though, like the good bits she found on the Philosopher's Stone. But those good bits were far and in between.

She had taken all of the interesting sounding books to a table where she skimmed through them for hours but finally she stood and collected them in a large stack to take back where they belonged. Serah walked carefully with the books in her arms and was unprepared when someone rounded the corner of one of the books shelves. The two collided and the books scattered on the floor.

"Hey! Watch where you're going next time shrimp!" Serah fumed at the blonde midget. She was unprepared for what happened next.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP SO SMALL HE COULD FIND SHADE UNDER A BLADE OF GRASS?"

I wonder who that could be...

Origially there was gonna be a lot more in this chapter but then it would have been too long so I cut it off here and save it for the next chapter. Hopefully I won't take as long to update next time. Until then my furry friends!