Hey everyone, so sorry if I have been away for so long, I get so sidetracked and it makes me lose focus, so I'm sorry. So as we saw, Nana was struggling with Life a bit at Mapel Inn, but that is not all, we finally got a glimpse of Mariko or Number 35, Kakuzawa has ordered the girl to go hunt for both Nana and Lucy, things will start brewing very soon.

So this chapter is going to be another slice of life. If any of you have seen the OVA of the anime, then you might know what it is. And Ben will show some more of his forms to Mayu and Nana in this one. So anyway, sit back, grab popcorn and soda, and lets' watch :)

Also...HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! :D I hope you have a special day planned for your special someone and have a good time :)

To: Khyzaru: Thank you :)

To Multiverseomniverse104: No, he didn't get the virus, he got the headache due to the Ice Cream.

To the mysterious Mr.E: Yep, I already got ideas planned out, but you will have to wait for that chapter to come out beforehand :)

To demonicwolf1999: That will not happen till the next chapter.

To BvC: You mean Ultimate? Won't spoil anything.

To Guest: We got a long while before that happens, I'm not going to spoil anything as I got everything planned out. Thank you. Ben's compassion is something that Lucy will notice like Is aid I got things planned out :)

To Pietra Ikura: Well, no one really knows that Kaede is her real name so...but Ben is going to learn it at some point int he story.

Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action and Cartoon Network

Elfen Lied belongs to writer Lynn Okamoto and Weekly Young Jump and the anime was produced by Arms and licensed by Sentai Filmworks


Maple Inn

"AHHH, MAYU!" Nana cried out as she was holding onto a burning pan, Mayu took notice and ran towards her and turned off the stove. Now your possibly wondering what's going on? Well after the whole episode this morning, the others went out shopping for stuff, leaving Nana, Mayu, and Ben back at Maple Inn. Ben ran in the kitchen with a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?" He said to them. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern.

"Yea, we're alright...Nana though..." They turned to see Nana, whimpering and holding onto the pan, which was now holding something black and burnt. Ben could see that she was about to cry and went over to take the pan away. And he tried to console her.

"Hey, don't be upset Nana, not everyone can do it on their first try." He said as he set the pan down and took a good look at it, all the while sweating nervously. "I hope Yuka doesn't blame me for it though..."

"It's alright Ben," Mayu told him. "I can take care of it." She said as she took the pan from him. Nana then went over to the cutting board and got out a meat cleaver.

"Then I'll do this then!" The girl said brightly, both Ben and Mayu couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when they saw Nana with that knife, some things could go wrong...she could lose a finger, a thumb...or accidentally kill someone.

"W-well ok." Ben said a bit nervously, but still smiling a bit. "But be very careful though ok?" He said to her.

"Uh...Ben?" Mayu said to him. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry squirt." He said to her.

"Yea, I can do this!" Nana said as she rubbed the lettuce on the cutting board. "you just need to cut it up, right?" she asked as she raised the cleaver and started to cut.

BAM BAM

Well...not cut, but more like slam the tool down as if she was beating it, and doing so made both the Omnitrix wielder and younger girl get nervous.

"Uh...Nana? You might want to..." Ben tried to explain, but didn't get to finish because as Nana tried to bam at the lettuce again, the cleaver slipped right out of Nana's hand, Nana stopped for a moment to look in her now cleverness hand.

"huh? Where did-?" But she then saw behind her looking at a wide-eyed Ben Tennyson, looking as if he saw a demon or a ghost, and the cleaver? It was about two inches away from his head, and his hands were right on the Omnitrix, Mayu saw as well and was trembling in fright, worried that her brother would have been killed.

After that little episode, Ben and Mayu consoled Nana.

"I was sure it was going to go better this time." she said as tears began to run down her face.

"It's alright Nana, just try to give it another shot." Mayu said to her with a smile.

"And please...don't do it so hard please..." Ben said nervously, with sweat going down his face a bit. Nana, however, kept on being sad.

"And I'm just useless?" she asked as she looked down to her feet, feeling ashamed for almost killing Ben.

"No!" Ben told her. "Not at all," He said to her. But Nana wasn't having any of it.

"If I can't do anything right, then I'll get kicked out of here..." Nana said gloomily. Ben, however, leaned forward a bit to get to her level.

"No, you won't get kicked out of here." He told her. "Not while I'm here. Look, there are plenty of other things around here besides getting dinner ready that you can do." He said to her,

"That's right." Mayu said to her with a smile. "No one expects you to do anything perfectly."

"Yea, I mean, not all of us are perfect you know?" Ben told her, prompting Nana to look at him with a small frown. She then saw Mayu going to the cupboard to try to get a bowl out, but found that it was high up. Nana's frown turned into one of a smile as her eyes sparkled, she then used her vectors to reach up and grab the bowl, which she then took

"Maybe my job can be getting things off of high areas." Nana said to them. Ben thought that it would be so simple, but still not enough for Kouta to approve. But Mayu..well.

"You can't!" She told her, this prompted both Nana and Ben to get a bit confused. "We need to keep your..." gifts" a secret from everyone else." She told her. It wasn't that she didn't like her "arms" it was just that it might spook everyone else out if they saw her doing it. "Besides, didn't you promise someone that you would be good?"

Nana's eyes went wide when Mayu said that. "Papa!" she said as tears went down her eyes. Ben sighed and walked out.

"I think Yuka said that she wanted all the twigs and stuff swept off outside." He said as he stepped out of the house and took a look. Yep, twigs and other stuff all over the place...But this would be no problem for Ben, he adopted a smile and activated the Omnitrix. "Seems like a job for Water Hazard." He grinned as he slammed on the dial and was engulfed in bright light.

"WATER HAZARD!" He yelled as the light vanished. "Now let's hose these twigs down." He said as he raised both hands and sho tout warm water out of the portholes in his hands, the water getting rid of the twigs in an instant, but now the yard looked drenched. "Yelp, time to go Heatblast to make the ground dry quicker." Water Hazard said as he pushed on the dial on his chest and was engulfed in a bright light again.

Standing in Water Hazard's place was a large magma-based humanoid whose body was composed of yellow magma inside, while the outside of the body was covered by red-brown rocks, his feet were glowing like fire and were oval shared, and his hands were also glowing as well. Also, the Omnitrix dial was on his chest.

"HEATBLAST!" He shouted. the humanoid looked at the ground and smirked. "Alright, let's get all the water out of here before the others get back." He said, he raised his foot, and just walked around the water...just walked, it was easier and he didn't destroy anything by accident...like the forest back when he got the prototype... After a few minutes, the ground was beginning to get dry and Heatbalst turned back into Ben.

"Alright, I think we can call that a wrap." He said with a grin. He then went back inside as he put his shoes by the door. Ben had begun to know more about Japanese customs here, thanks to Yuka in Kouta of course. At first, he would leave his shoes on, but then Yuka would scold him about it. She didn't scold him too badly but just reminded him.

Ben then noticed a bowl on the table and gave a mischievous grin. Just what was he thinking?

5 minutes later...

Mayu and Nana were finished getting lunch ready for everyone. Nana was still upset a bit over screwing up lunch, but Mayu knew that she didn't do it on purpose. As they bought out everything and set them on the plate, Mayu noticed something odd. There was a bowl turned over.

"Huh?" The girl said with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" Nana asked her.

"That bowl...why is it turned over?" Mayu said while gesturing towards the bowl, Nana saw it and her eyes went wide.

"The bowls... don't walk, do they?" She asked in a nervous voice. Mayu gave her a small smile.

"No they don't, but I don't know how or why it's turned over." Mayu said as she went over to the bowl to fix it, but as she put her fingers on it and lifted it a bit, something suddenly flipped the bowl over.

"BOO!" Something shouted, causing both Mayu and Nana to scream in fright and back off, Wanta started to come in and bark wildly. The two girls were now huddled at the corner until something approached them

"Oh man, haha, that was perfect!" A small figure said, he was about four feet tall and resembled a frog, with grey skin and large green eyes that had rectangular pupils and horizontal eyelids. He was wearing a green and black jumpsuit with a black belt, had on black fingerless gloves, and the Omnitrix dial was on his back as well. This was Grey Matter, one of Ben's aliens who was a copy of the Galvan race.

Mayu and Nana breathed a bit and got a closer look at him.

"Ben?" Mayu asked in a surprised tone.

"Yea...well I usually go by Grey Matter in this form, but still yea. Sorry for the scare by the way. I just wanted to have some fun." He said with a smile. Nana gripped him and held him up close to her face.

"Wow...he's so tiny!" Nana said with her eyes as wide as saucers in amazement. "I never knew that aliens could be this cute looking!"

"Well, not all of them are pretty cute, to be honest." Grey Matter said sheepishly as Mayu took his from Nana, she also gave him a scolding look.

"Why did you scare us like that?"

"Sorry Mayu, as I said, I just wanted some fun." He said as he got out of her arms and got onto her head. "Now until everyone gets home, I'm going to rest on your head if that's alright?"

"Uh...sure...I guess." Mayu said, unsure of how to respond.

"Great!" The Galvan said as he then rested on top of her head and took a quick snooze. Mayu and Nana giggled a bit and sat down, making sure to be careful so they didn't knock Grey Matter off.

"I swear, he never ceases to amaze me!" Mayu said with a smile.

"I know! Ben's so nice!" Nana said with a grin but then pouted a bit. "But him doing that trick was not nice at all." She said.

"Are you going to hold that against me forever?" The Galvan asked her. Nana looked up and put her index finger on her chin.

"Hmmmmm..." She wondered. Grey Matter, however, scowled, and he knew that this was her way of getting back at him. "I will take it as a yes." He sighed as he hopped off of Mayu's head and pressed the dial on his back, and was engulfed in bright light, turning him back into Ben. Good thing he did too because when he did, they all heard the doors slide open.

"We're home!" Yuka called out.

"Nyu!" the girl said happily.

"Welcome back." Mayu said to them as Nana then bent her head forward in sadness, Ben sighed and rubbed her back in comfort. At this point, the rest of the Maple Inn family poured in.

"Something smells burnt, did you guys burn something?" Kouta asked as he sniffed around a bit.

"Well yea, but it was nothing major." Mayu said. Ben could see Nana putting her head down in shame even more.

"Ok then...sorry for leaving you and Ben here to do all the work." Yuka told her.

"Oh. it was fine, Nana also helped us a bit so it wasn't too bad." Mayu said as she was trying to build up Nana's confidence but from seeing her drop her head even more? It wasn't working. "So uh," Mayu said leaning in close to whisper to Yuka. "Did you guys get anything good?"

"Yep," The older girl said, this caused the two to giggle, prompting Nyu, Nana, and Ben to look confused

5 minutes later...

Everyone had sat down at the table to have their lunch, which consisted of egg, lettuce, and rice. While everyone was eating like normal, Nana was just shoveling everything into her mouth, she first took the whole egg and ate it, and then shoved the bowl of rice in her face and started to chew. Kouta, Yuka, Ben, and Nozomi looked on in perplex as Nana got up.

"Thanks, for the food." she simply said as she walked out to the kitchen.

"What's wrong with Nana?" Yuka asked, Nyu then shoved the whole egg and shoved it in her mouth. Mayu turned to face them with a small smile.

"Well..she's well..." She tried to say, but couldn't quite say it.

"Still trying to figure out what she's good at?" Kout asked as he took a sip of his tea.

"Now that you mention it, she does keep things to herself, like what happened earlier today. she doesn't talk about herself in any way." She then took a piece of her egg and ate it. "I honestly don't know what she would be good at."

"Well, we're still trying to figure it out." Ben said as he took a piece of rice out of his bowl.

"Right," Kouta said. "To be honest, there are some things I still want to ask her though."

"As I said, we shouldn't push it though." Ben told them.

"R-right," Nozomi said as she ate a piece of her egg.

Yuka then gasped out of happiness as the others looked at her. "I got an idea! Why don't we have her clean with Nyu?" she suggested. This prompted both Ben and Mayu to gasp in surprise.

"Yea, that's a good idea!" Kouta said,

"Nyu!" The horned girl said happily,

This prompted Ben to get nervous, after what happened in the graveyard and what happened a few nights ago, he knew that Nana would not want to work with Nyu, and if Kouta wanted her to, it would not go well.

"Well, here's the problem with that." Mayu said to them. "Nana doesn't think much of Nyu."

"Why not?" Nozomi asked her.

"Do you guys remember what happened a few nights ago?" Ben said to them. "Maybe she just wants to be away from her out of guilt." He knew that this was not true, but he had to think of something so that they didn't know about the graveyard battle.

"Well, we have to do something," Kouta said. "We have to break the ice a bit you know? And get them closer." He said.

"Closer?" Mayu and Nozomi said at the same time.

"Yea," the boy said with a smile. "All of us, closer." He said, Ben could notice the blush going on both girl's faces and sighed a bit as he drank his tea. He also noticed Yuka giving all three of them a jealous-looking glare.

"Bitten by the jealousy Beatle..." He thought in annoyance.

20 minutes later...

Ben was now in his room, folding up his futon. Everyone else was off doing their own thing while he was tying up his room a bit.

"Well. that should handle it." He said with a grin. All of a sudden, he heard a noise and went outside the door to investigate.

"Vrooooom!" He saw Nyu scrubbing the floor while running on it, almost as she was pushing something, Ben smiled a bit at her for her cuteness, but when he saw Nana he frowned a bit.

"Hey, Nana, why don't you help her?" He asked. Nana looked at him.

"Right...ok!" she said determinedly as she went after her. Bem saw her go off and was thinking to himself in private.

"I need to sit Nana down and explain to her what's going on with Nyu." He thought, then his eyes went wide about another thought. "Could Nana...know something? About that voice?" As he was pondering this, he heard some noise, so he looked to see Nyu and Nana, scrubbing the floor and running as well, now he would normally be fine by this, but he then saw that Nana was running to the stairs.

"Nana, look ou-"

"KYA!" Nana yelled a bit as she fell off the top and crashed onto the floor near the wall.

"Nana!" Ben said with worry as he ran out of his room and ran over to the steps, and Nyu was following as well. The two were right at Nana as Ben was helping her get up.

"Nana, are you alright?" He asked as he lifted her head up, when he did, he noticed that her nose was bleeding, possibly from the crash. "Ooh, let me go get some tissues." He told her as he left for a moment. Nyu looked down at Nana, who looked at her back and gave off a pout.

"I won't lose to you, Lucy." She said determinedly, prompting the other horned girl to give her a confused look.

15 minutes later…

Nyu and Nana were now scrubbing the windows, Nyu was having fun and making more vroom sounds, but Nana was having some difficulty. There was a particular bit of smudge on the window that was a big pain to get off and so she pressed harder on the glass, then harder, and then harder...until.

SMASH

Her whole arm went right through the glass and it caused her to lean forward, and this caused the whole door to break apart and crash to the ground, Nyu looked over at the damage and was worried that Nana was injured, but Nana got up and stared right at her with a big grin...but there was blood going down her head.

"Guess the doors clean now." she said triumphantly. Nyu looked on with worry until they heard some footprints approaching.

"What happened?" Yuka asked, but when she saw Nana she became concerned. "Nana, what happened to you?"

"It's fine, I'm alright." she tried to say, but Yuka wasn't having any of it.

"You don't look alright to me, Come on, let's get you cleaned up ok?" She said as she helped Nana on her feet. "Be careful so you don't step on the glass ok?" As she was helping Nana to the door. She turned to face Nyu. "Nyu, can you go get Ben and help clean this up? Then we can have snacks."

"Nyu!" She said as she went inside to get Ben, luckily not stepping on any broken glass.

"Snacks?" Nana thought

10 minutes later…

Everyone (sans Mayu) was now sitting down at the table, Ben and Nyu were able to clean up the glass and he threw the bag away.

"So much glass…." He moaned in dread as he put his head on the table.

Nana looked at him and felt ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry Ben…" She said in a depressed tone.

"*Sigh* Don't worry Nana, it wasn't your fault." Ben said while giving her a small smile. "Accidents will happen."

"Ok then…." She said, still unsure about what she had done. At this point, Mayu was now coming out and bringing out a big bowl of cookies that were shaped like birds. And at that point, Nyu and Nana immediately lost it.

"Wow!" Nana said as she and Nyu grabbed and hugged each other in glee. "These things, they look just like birds!" She said as the two-horned girls then grabbed and hugged Mayu. "Thank's Mayu!" Nana said.

"Uh...yea…" Mayu said, a bit flustered. The others were giving out smiles and Ben was smiling as well. If all goes well, this day could turn out alright possibly.

Yuka turned towards the others and smiled. "I never would have guessed that cookies would make them this happy before."

Kouta smiled back. "Heck, maybe all horned girls react like this to desert."

"How is that relevant?" Ben asked as he took a cookie and took a bite of it. "Delicious, these tastes just like graham crackers." He thought.

"I have to agree with Ben a bit." Nozomi said with a small smile.

"I mean, they are shaped like cute little birds, it almost makes me not want to eat them, don't you all think so too?" Nana asked as she and Nyu were still admiring the cookies that were laid out right in front of them.

"But darn it, I'm hungry. I'm sorry little birds." Nana said as she and Nyu both took one and began to nibble on them. Ben saw them and couldn't help but find them cute, with the way they are nibbling at the cookies, kinda like chipmunks.

"Amazing!" Nana said as she started blushing. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted."

"Yummy!" Nyu said as she took her cookie out of her mouth her blush going on her face.

"I know, it's so sweet and crunchy!" Nana said as she continued to nibble at the cookie. Making some of the older guests smile warmly.

"Oh yea, so what about Nana's chores?" Yuka asked as she was saying this, Ben noticed Kouta reaching for a bad right behind Yuka's' chair.

"I hate it!" Nana said, prompting everyone (sans Nyu, who was still eating her cookie) to look at her.

"Well, yea, but you did some good work though." Ben said trying to cheer her up, but Nana wasn't having any of it.

"I hate it!" She said to him, Kouta then looked at her a bit.

"Well you can at least clean though? Right?" He asked her. "Even Nyu does it to help out."

Nana felt really offended when he said that. And Ben was getting pretty worried. "This has nothing to do with it." Nana said as she turned away a bit. "I just can't stand cleaning, that's all."

"Nana!" Kouta said in a stern voice. "You shouldn't be selfish. Like I said before, you are not a guest like Nozomi. People who don't help clean can't stay."

"I never even asked you to let me stay here in the first place, did I?" Nana said in a sassy voice as she turned away again.

"Hey! Listen, Dammit!" Kouta angrily said as he was about to get up but Yuka and Ben were able to stop him before things escalated even further.

"Hey, relax Kouta…" Yuka said in a soft voice.

"Yeah dude, just relax." Ben said and he turned to face Nana. "You know Nana, if you don't like cleaning, then maybe we can think of something else that you can do."

"I agree with Ben," Yuka said.

"I-I'm sure there might be something I can teach you something...if you want to." Nozomi said a bit shyly, like before.

But Nana was just too angry to even acknowledge them. She got up from the table and stormed off. "Forget it!" She said as she left.

"Nana wait!" Mayu tried to call out to her, but the girl was already gone.

"*sigh* What else can go wrong?" Ben thought as he took a bite out of another cookie and then got up. "I'm going to go follow, her, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid or something." He said to them all.

"You don't want any of us to come with you?" Yuka asked him with concern.

"No, it's alright, I can handle it." Ben said as he went to the front door. As he was about to leave he felt someone grab his hand, he turned around to see Nyu, giving him a pleading look. "Nyu, don't worry. I won't be gone long."

"Ben come back soon?" She asked him.

"Yes, I'll be back soon." He said with a smile as he got on his shoes and walked out of the house. He walked a far away from the house before looking at the Omnitrix. "Probably not, Nana just left the house so she couldn't have gone too far." He said as he continued to walk out and went down the street.

After about 10 minutes he found Nana among the wall and sighed a bit as he walked over to her.

"Nana!" He called out to her, Nana saw him and pouted as she turned away.

"Go away Ben." She said,

Ben sighed a bit. "Come on Nana," He said to her.

"No!" She said, "I knew it, I'm not cut out for living with you people at all!" He said. "And Lucy is the problem as well, if she wasn't there it would be perfect."

Ben sighed once again. "Nana...Nyu..well...Lucy...is-"

"And besides," she interrupted him. "I figured that you would be on my side, she tried to attack you that one day as well right?" She asked him,

" I know," Ben said to her as he sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Look, you don't understand...Lucy...or Nyu I guess….her life was….horrible."

Nana then gave him a questionable look. "What do you mean?"

"It…*sigh* it's a really long story, a story that I do not want to explain...at least not right now...because after what I saw...I can't even go into detail." Ben said as he was trembling a bit. The memories he saw still shocked and frightened him a bit.

Nana looked over and saw how trembling Ben was and she immediately felt bad for acting out. "Ben, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you mad."

"I'm not mad Nana, it's just….look, I know you can't trust Nyu right now, especially after what happened last time. But try to at least be civil with her, ok?"

Nana was wondering about this for a moment, sure it would be better if Nyu or Lucy was not there with them. But she then remembered that Ben saved her last time. Who knows? If things go south again, then he can protect her again.

"But...what if she attacks again?" Nana asked him. Ben narrowed his eyes at her.

"I will not let her, I promise you that. I will protect everyone in the house, even you. That's a promise." He said to her.

Nana gave him a small smile. "Ok then...I'll try to be civil, whatever that means.

Ben chuckled a bit and ruffled her hair. "Come on, let's head home ok?"

"Alright!" She said with a grin as she and Ben began to head home. Nana looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, Ben? Mayu mentioned to me that you are her brother or something, are you really related to her?"

"Well, not really. You see, Siblings tend to come from the same parents, I am not Mayu's actual brother, but ever since I have been here, she has become something like a little sister to me. Everyone has, even though I have been here for a short time."

Nana looked at him and down while shuffling a bit. "Hey, Ben?"

"Hmm?"

Nana looked at him while giving a nervous frown. "Would….you consider me? Your sibling too?" She asked. "Even though we aren't related?"

Ben looked at her and smiled. "Of course."

Nana went up to Ben and grabbed his hands. "Really? You mean it?"

"Mmmhm, now come on little sis, let's' get back to the house." He said, all the while Nana immediately went to his side and held onto his arm. "Just like Nyu." He thought as they continued walking.

As they were laking back, Nana couldn't help but think about what the and that guy Bando said. Could. she really told him about Nyu? I mean, sure she had hurt her...but Ben told her about her life going downhill….could she really do it? She wondered

(Eyecatch of Water Hazard spraying water at Mayu and Nana, who are running and giggling)


(Eyecatch featuring Nyu (with a happy face) and Lucy (with a solemn face), back to back, while the DNA Voice stands in the middle (who had a wicked malicious face))

Maple Inn

Ben and Nana both arrived back at Maple Inn, but before they went inside. Ben looked at Nana again.

"Do you promise to be at least civil with her? You don't have to like her, but at least be a bit civil with her, alright?"

"Ok, but Ben...when you do, could you tell me..what happened to her? To make her….into a killer?"

Ben sighed a bit, it's not that he didn't want to, but he was just so nervous. "Alright, but you need to promise me not to tell anyone else."

"Ok...I promise." She said to him, Ben slid the door open and the two went inside.

"NYU!" The horned girl said as she ran towards them and hugged them both.

"Woah, easy Nyu." Ben said as Nana looked pretty startled a bit. Mayu then walked in.

"Welcome back," She told them. "Nyu was so worried, you just left and we had no idea where you went. Good thing Ben found you." She said with a smile.

"R-right." Nana said as she then looked at Nyu, who was giving both her and Ben an adorable smile while she was blushing.

"Dammit Nyu, stop being so cute!" Ben thought mentally

A few moments later…

Nana was sitting at the table with Kouta and Yuka. Kouta was giving her a solemn look.

"I overacted as well, I'm sorry." He said to her in a soft tone. But Nana shook her head.

"No, it's my fault. I was being selfish and petty, I promise that I'll help clean and other stuff." Nana said to him. Causing him and Yuka to smile at her.

"And Mayu and I can show her how to do things, just in case." Ben told them.

"Thank you Ben." Yuka told him with a smile on her face.

"Meh, all in a day's work I guess." He said while rubbing his head sheepishly, causing the girls to giggle a bit and Kouta to roll his eyes as he smirked a bit.

15 minutes had gone by and everything was going back to normal again. Nozomi told them that she had to go home for the day and that she would be back tomorrow.

"Be careful ok?" Yuka told her as Nozomi headed for the door.

"I will!" She said as she began to leave, along the way, she saw Ben standing by the door. "Oh, hey Ben…" She said with a small smile.

"Hey Nozomi, heading home for the day huh?"

"Yea…" She said with her looking down a bit. Ben then placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Remember if you need help standing up to your father, I'll come with you to your house, alright?" He asked her.

Nozomi looked at him and smiled. "R-right, thank you." She said with a smile as she then headed for the door. And as she was about to leave, she turned back to face Ben. "Thank you Ben, for being kind to me, you and everyone else here."

"No problem Nozomi," Ben said with a grin. The girl nodded back and she left the house. Ben sighed with a smile on his face, so far, this day was a bit stressful, but hopefully, the rest of the day will go by swimmingly.

"Nyu!" Ben turned to see Nyu coming up to him and grabbing his arm.

"What is it Nyu?"

"Outside!" She said pointing to the door. "Go Outside!" She said with a big grin on her face.

"Huh? What do you-"

"Uh...Ben?" Nana said as she was coming up to him. "I thought about taking Nyu for a walk, and I was wondering if you would maybe possibly come with us?" She asked him with a hopeful tone.

"Huh? Why do you need me to go with you?" Ben asked. It wasn't that he was against the idea, but he was just curious about why Nana wanted him to come with them.

"Well, I mean. Due to our horns….maybe you can come with us to protect us?" She asked.

"Well...she does have a point." Ben thought. For all he knew, if people saw the horns, there might be some big problems, and Ben did not want that to happen. "Alright then, let me go get my jacket and I'll meet you back here." He said,

"Yayy!" Nyu said as she hugged Ben tightly, causing him to wheeze.

"Nyu….choking...can't breath…" He said, prompting Nana to giggle a bit.


Streets

The three were walking around for a bit. Ben had told the others about the walk and allowed them to go. Ben was able to get Nyu a small hat for her to wear so that she could hide her horns, and Nana had her ribbon in her hair so she was fine.

As she was walking with them. Nana was thinking about something….maybe this could be her chance! She could turn Lucy to that Bando person, and Papa would finally be happy with her...but what would the others of Maple Inn say?

Also, what would happen to her relationship with Ben? Ben would possibly hate her and never speak to her again. Sure Ben wanted Nana to be at least civil with her….but after what Lucy did to her, could she?

"Oh, what do I do?" Nana thought. Meanwhile, Ben was looking up to see that the sky was turning grey a bit.

"Hey girls, we should head back soon! It looks like it will rain." Ben told them. The two girls nodded their heads as they continued walking. Nana, however, was walking all the way in the back. She was looking ahead as she was narrowing her eyes at Lucy.

"If I could just do it…" She thought as her vectors came out and were ready to attack. "Then Papa would finally-"

"Nyu!" Nana's thoughts were interrupted as Nyu stopped and took a cookie out of her jacket and handed it to her.

"Wh-is that..for me?" Nana asked as her vectors were disappearing. Nyu nodded her head in agreement. Ben saw this and smiled a bit.

"Seems like Nyu is trying to apologize, that or just wants to share it to be your friend, right Nyu?"

"Yes!" She said with a smile as she looked at Nana again. Nana looked at the cookie and was approaching a bit, but then she stopped and narrowed her eyes at Nyu.

"Yeah right! Like I want-NYAA!" She then slipped on the water on the ground and fell on her back. This made Ben and Nyu worried.

"Nana, are you ok?" He asked her as he was starting to approach her, and Nyu was already running a bit, Ben saw the water on the ground and tried to warn Nyu. but the girl unfortunately already slipped and fell on her back as well.

"Nyu!" Ben called out with worry, Nana had already gotten up and they both went towards the girl, who was now unconscious.

"Ben!" Nana said as she got behind Ben. "She might turn again! What do we do?!" Nana asked in a frightened voice.

"Nana, calm down." Ben said as he rubbed her head gently. "As I said, I will not let her do anything to you, ok?" Nana was a bit hesitant for a moment but nodded her head. Ben looked up to see that it was about to rain and judging from the booming noise, it might be a heavy one as well.

"Nana, we got to head back to the house, now this form I am about to change into...dodon't be frightened, ok?"

"Oh...ok," Nana said to him. Ben nodded and activated his Omnitrix again and switched to the alien he wanted to use. "Alright, time to go Jet Ray again." He said as he hit the dial and was engulfed in bright light.

"Ok Nana," Jey Ray said when the light diminished. "Put Nyu on my back and you climb on as well."

"Uh..ok." She said, really spooked a bit by his appearance, she was able to get Nyu up and put her on Jet Rays back. And she did the same.

"Alright, here we go, hold on tight." He said as he took off into the sky, all the while Nana was screaming a bit.


Maple Inn

Jet Ray had landed in front of the house, good thing too because the storm was getting a bit worse.

"Phew, we got back, you alright Nana?" He asked, but if you saw her, not really. She was trembling a bit and her eyes were as wide as saucers, plus her hair was a bit frazzled. Jet Ray took one look at her and blushed a bit. "Oh...sorry." He said sheepishly.

After Nana calmed down a bit, she got Nyu off of Jet Ray, and he pushed on the dial to turn back into Ben.

"Alright, now let's get inside before we get even wetter." He said as he and Nana both held onto Nyu and went inside the house. As they were getting their shoes off. They were approached by Yuka.

"About time you guys got home." She said, but when she saw Nyu unconscious she was worried. "What happened to Nyu?"

"She's fine," Ben said. "She just fell on the ground and is unconscious, just tell Kouta to get a warm washcloth for her alright?"

"Ok then…" Yuka said as she went into the kitchen, all the while Ben and Nana were getting Nyu to her room and into her futon.

5 minutes later…

Kouta, Yuka, Mayu, Ben, and Nana were in Nyu's room, the cloth on her and everyone watching with worry.

"Is she running a fever again?" Yuka asked as Kouta put his hand on her forehead.

"Yea…" He said, "How does this keep on happening?" He wondered.

"I think I might have a reason." Ben said. "I'm wondering if she is possibly having a bad dream or something. And those dreams are possibly making her go under stress, thus making her get a fever. But that's just my thought."

Ben did believe this, but at the same time, he is wondering if that voice might also be another reason for it.

"That kinda makes sense." Yuka said with her hand on her chin. "What should we do though?"

"I say we let her get some rest," Ben said to them. "Hopefully she will wake up very soon."

"Well, if you're sure." Mayu said as she was about to get up, along with everyone else. As they were walking out the door. Ben saw Nana still by her. "Nana, you coming?"

"Huh? Oh..I think I'll just wait a bit." She said to him, Ben was suspicious but relented. As they walked out and left the two girls alone, Ben was still not feeling too good about Nana being alone with Nyu, or Lucy.

"Mayu!" Ben called out to the younger girl. "Can you come here real quick?" He asked. Mayu nodded and came towards him.

"What is it Ben?" She asked.

"Can you stay in there with Nana and Nyu? Just make sure one of them doesn't do anything stupid or soemthing?"

"Sure." She said with a small smile and she went in there with her.

Ben went into the dining room and was looking out into the rain and thinking.

"If Nyu is having another dream...maybe I should check it out...just in case." He thought as he then got up and walked to the kitchen, where Yuka and Kouta were at. "I'm going to go to Nyu's room, just to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Ok Ben," Yuka said. Ben nodded and walked off. Kouta was looking back at him and just couldn't help but feel jealous of him, so far Nyu and Ben have been getting a bit closer and Kouta didn't like it. He didn't hate Ben by any means, but still though.

"Are you alright Kouta?" Yuka asked as she saw him tremble a bit.

"Huh? Oh, yea..I'm alright." He said.

Ben had gone back into the room to find Mayu and Nana sitting by Nyu, who was snow breathing a bit heavily.

"Alright," He said as they looked at him. "Time to go in." He said as he scrolled through the Omnitrix and hit the dial when the light vanished he was Pesky Dust once again.

"Alright-prrrr-let's see what else I can-prrrr-find now." He said as he then turned into a ball of light and went inside Nyu's body, all Mayu and Nana could say?"

"Oh my gosh...he looked so adorable!" Mayu said with a blushing face.

"I know…" Nana said, whose face was still blushed.


Valentines Day Omake

Maple Inn

Ben was pacing aorund in his room nervously. He had a bunch f different Valentines he wanted to give, mainly for his housemates, but there was one that stood out of all the rest.

Ben went over to his desk and took out the Valentine he made for Nyu. "Oh..I hope she likes it." He said to himself as he was nervous again.

SLAP

Ben slapped himself to calm himself. "Get model fo yourself, man!" He said. He then breathed out very calmly and got it out and put it in his pocket.

15 minutes later...

"Lunch is ready!" Mayu called out for everyone. Today's lunch consisted of some steamed fish, with rice and curry. Everyone had all sat down and smiled at eachother

Itadakimasu!" They all said as they began to dig in there food. Ben glanced over at Nyu, who was shoveling the fish in her face, with juices running down her mouth. Ben could not help but blush at how beautiful she looked as she was getting food on her face.

"Everyone!" Yuka said. Everyone turned to face her as she smiled fondly. "After this, we shall be passing out Valentines!" She said with a big grin on her face. As she said this, she glanced over at Kouta and blushed a bit, but quickly turned away in embarrassment.

"Valentine?" Nana asked with a raised eyebrow. Ben mentally slapped himself on the head, they totally forgot to teach this girl aobut valentines day and stuff like that.

"The day dedicated to love and romance." Ben said in a suave voice. This caused most of Maple Inn to laugh at him, while Yuka simply rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove.

"Ben, you're such a kidder." Yuka said with a smile on her face. Then she turned dot Nana. "But Ben is right in some ways, it's the day dedicated to someone you love."

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Nana said with a big grin on her face.

"It is." Yuka said with a grin. "Ok everyone, I hope you all picked something out for everyone!" Yuka said to the other housemates. Ben looked over at Nana and she didn't look to happy.

"What's up with Nana?" Mayu asked Ben.

"I don't know..." He said with some concern in his voice.

20 minutes later...

Nana was sitting on her futon in her and Mayu;s room. when Yuka told her aobut giving things to people, she felt bad. She didn't really have anything to give to anyone in the house, she wished she did though. Because for the weeks she has been there, she has enjoyed their company.

"Oh, what should I do?" She asked herself as she was nervous. "I don't have anything to give to them. They might hate me and kick me out." She said as she trembled in fear a bit. As she was still deep in thought, there was a knock coming at her door. "Who is it?"

"It's just me," Nana heard that it was Mayu's voice. "Can you come to the dining room for a moment?"

Nana was a bit nervous to go in there if she didn't have anything to give them...she might get kicked out of the house...the thought was making her scared and nervous.

5 minutes later...

Everyone was now in the dining room area, all sitting down at the table. Some had bags, but alot just had some small boxes as well. Yuka gathered aorund.

"Alright everyone, let's all begin, who shall begin?" She asked.

"Uh..." Nozomi said shyly. "I guess I-I can go..." she said as she handed everyone some chocolates, and also handed them some cards as well. they all opened the cards and read them. Ben had a hard time due to them being in Japanese, but Mayu was able to translate it for him. They all smiled at the girl.

"Arigato!" they said as they bowed at her, prompting her to blush a bit and smile back at them. Yuka was up next. She handed everyone some chocolates and cards. Everyone read them and smiled at her and thanked her again. And it went on like that a few more times. Ben got Mayu a dog plushie, causing her to give him a big hug. And everyone else smiled and laughed.

Nana was looking at them all and giving off a small smile. She didn't have anything, and it seemed as no one gave her anything either...

"Wait a minute." Ben announced. "I think we forgot someone." He said as he left eh room for a moment, Mayu scootched over to Nana and grabebd her hand and squeezed it gently, the horned girl looked at her with confusion as Mayu smiled at her. Ben came back in with a box and looked to see who it was for.

"Hmm, sais it's for Nana...who's Nana?" Ben called out, joking around and wondering who Nana was. Nana immediately raised her hand

"Me! Me!" She said raising her hand. Ben saw her and smiled.

"Oh, so you are Nana. Here you go." He said as Nana took it form him.

"Alos, you know who I am!" Nana said as she pouted a bit. But her annoyance was forgotten as she saw the package and her eyes went wide. "Is this...really for me?" She asked him.

Ben and the others nodded their heads with smiles on their faces. Nana immediately got excited and started to tear open the wrapping paper, while throwing them on the ground. when she opened the box up, her eyes went wide. There were plushies of animals, some new clothes, and some candy and there were some cards.

"A-are all of these...for me?" She asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"No, it's for the paperman," Ben said to her.

"Oh..." Nana said in disappointment. Ben, however, ruffled her hair.

"I'm just kidding, of course, they're for you." Ben said with a big grin. Nana looekd up at him and if one could look closely, tears were shown appearing from the corners of her eyes.

"I just...I can't believe it..." She said as she was beginning to cry. "Th-thank you...Thank you all!" She said as she buried her head into Ben's shoulder, prompting him to hug her back in a comforting embrace. The other Mape Inn residents soon joined in.

This was the happiest day of Nana's life, as it appeared that she finally found a place to call home, despite being in Lucy's presence. Nothing could have ruined this day


Wowzas, ok, so originally I was going to include the dream in this chapter, but after going back and rereading it, I felt like separating it into its own separate chapter. Next time Ben will discover moe on Nyu's past as she attempts to make a second attempt at friendship. And to those of you who read the manga..you know it...well better not spoil anything.

Sorry, it took so long to upload this one everyone, please forgive me.

So for the Omake, originally, it was going to be Ben and Nyu centered. but then I figured, Nana needs love as well. So the whole Ben/Nyu scenario turned into one centering aorund Nana. I hope you all enjoyed it :)

Anyways, as always. Please don't forget to read and review, I am always happy to hear from you guys and always happy to answer any questions you might have for me.

See you all next time, and happy Valentines day :)