Dani and the other world trotters learned that their mission was to go to the city of Central and use their stones to scan files about a missing alchemist there. Elise had an unreadable look on her face, but Dani brushed it off as her being a bit nervous. Dani had never left New York before much less going to another world with different laws. The very idea made her both excited and nervous at the same time. Almost as if she knew Dani was nervous, Elise turned to Dani and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Since this is your first mission, I'll be your partner." Elise said.

"Thanks a lot, Elise. That makes me feel a lot better." Dani chirped.

Of course, Randal looked mega disappointed, but Elise and Dani could honestly care less. Tiffany went with Nate because everyone knew she was not going with Randal. Randal of course went alone to impress Elise with how "tough" he was. Elise and Dani's job was to patrol the city for any suspicious activity that could relate to the case. This gave Dani the opportunity to have some alone time with Elise and get to know her a little more.

"Can we talk for a bit while we walk?" Dani asked.

"As long as we're paying attention, sure." Elise bluntly answered.

"What do you think of New York?" Dani nervously asked.

Elise gave a pondering look for a moment before she answered, "It's…pretty weird, but I kinda like it. It's definitely more peaceful than my home…"

"What was your home like?" Dani questioned while cocking her head.

"It was alright…just war-torn…" Elise somberly said.

Dani looked at her in shock about how nonchalant she was about living in a world ruined by war. She couldn't help it.

"How do you survive in a world like that? Sounds pretty hellish if you ask me, no offence." Dani scolded herself silently for being so careless with her words.

Elise just smiled sadly and said, "All I can do is cherish every laugh, remember those I love, and live on."

That must've been why Elise had been so pessimistic compared to people like Tiffany and herself. She had seen the horrors people were capable of bringing about. Elise probably saw Dani's innocent optimism as a beautiful thing that she herself could never have again. Not after everything she's probably seen.

This revelation made Dani a little angry at Randal. All he seemed to care about was how cool she looked when in action. He didn't even bother to look deeper and see who she was as a person. Elise was a young woman who was haunted by the mistakes of her past and the horrific things war brought about. Yet, Randal would never accept the fact that she needed space sometimes.

"Elise, why didn't you bring Monica?" Dani remembered.

"Because she isn't safe on missions." Elise sighed.

"Oh right, duh." Dani laughed at her stupid question.

Elise then turned to her and asked, "Now it's my turn to ask questions."

"Okay!" Dani piped up.

Elise gave a bitter look when asking her first question, "What was your home like?"

"It was pretty lonely," Dani sadly looked down, "My parents didn't really care about me. All they wanted was money, and they saw me as a financial burden."

Elise looked even more bitter as Dani continued her story.

"I'm usually alone in the house when I'm not in school. I know they actively avoid coming home because they don't want to have to deal with me."

When Dani looked up, Elise had a resentful look on her face like she knew what she meant.

"Are you okay?" Dani finally asked.

"It's just…" Elise began, "I'd rather not talk about it."

And Dani ended the conversation with, "Okay, we won't."

It definitely seemed like her family was a sensitive topic for Elise. But on the flip side, Dani got to see a deeper side of her that none of the others had seen. Everyone else, she was rather secretive with. Maybe Elise something in her that the others simply didn't have. Dani wasn't completely sure. All she knew was she wanted nothing more than to be Elise's friend. Dani knew that getting Elise's trust was no easy task, for she had plenty of baggage from her past to deal with. Dani decided that the only thing she could do was continue to prove that she could trust her.

Soon enough, patrol was over, and Tiffany and Nate came back with the files saved to their stones. They had no idea what Randal had been up to the past few hours, but no one really wanted to know. The world trotters returned to the Ice Cream Bowl and were alerted of a shift coming the next day. As they were getting ready for lunch, Elise, who was feeding Monica, came to Dani looking her straight in the eye.

"Hey, Dani." Elise called out.

Dani turned to Elise and was surprised to see a genuine smile from her.

"Thanks for chatting with me earlier," Elise said, "I actually enjoyed a conversation for the first time since I came here.

Dani was a bit embarrassed by the praise, but smiled and said, "First time? Dang…"

"Well, it always felt like whenever someone wanted to talk, they just wanted to poke their noses into my damn business," Elise sadly explained, "Talking to you…feels like talking to my brother."

"I'm just glad I made you feel better here." Dani said with a grin.

Elise smiled at Dani almost as a silent "thank you" to her before going to her room. Dani decided to go help Nate with the meal preparations.

"There's something I wanted to tell you." Nate suddenly said.

"Huh?" was the only thing that came from Dani's mouth.

"Thanks."

"For what?" Dani questioned.

"Elise has been happier ever since you started talking to her," Nate happily told her, "When she got here, she wouldn't even talk to anyone unless they spoke to her."

"Well then, no problem." Dani replied.

Elise may have been a secretive person, but Dani knew she was not a bad person by any means. The world had been too cruel to Elise and her family. She probably felt like everyone just wanted to uncover her secrets and didn't talk to anyone as a result of this. That's how Elise became the secretive person she met on that first day.

Dani walked to go to her room and get her phone when she saw Elise looking at a strange pocket watch. She ran off before Elise could see her, but she couldn't help wondering what the strange phrase carved on it meant.

"Don't forget, 3 Oct. 11"

A/N

Dani is pretty much the only one who hasn't tried to pry her nose where it doesn't belong. We all know Randal would. But, what about Tiffany and Nate? What did they do? Keep reading to find out. Mwahahahaha!

Also, if the millions of hints Elise was dropping didn't scream who she really is, the pocket watch will.

That's really all I've gotta say for now.

Toodles