Author's note: Hey! I didn't take that long this time, thankfully. I'm gonna start working on finals soon though, so, uh, don't expect much. Still, I'll try.

No warnings yet, but they'll start coming soon! By the way, I know warnings usually spoil a chapter at least a little bit, so I'm wondering if I should put them at the end so that anyone that needs them can scroll down to see them and anyone who doesn't won't have to get spoiled? Tell me what you guys think.

Rose did end up eating her words. She ate them as topping for the fantastic pizzas he'd made.

The dinner table was as animated as ever, the slices of cheesy Cappresse pizzas being passed around and everyone barely stopping short of hugging them to their chests as if they'd been given gold. Even Rose, who had been initially skeptical about his skills as a cook, ended up asking for seconds and telling Yakko to shut up when he sent her a smug smirk.

"You've proven yourself worthy of the title of God of Cooking. Again" Wakko hummed happily as he ate his fifth slice of pizza. Yakko had half-heartedly berated him for eating so much but couldn't really be upset about it "Are you Hestia's cousin or something?"

"Bet you don't even know who Hestia is" Dot sent him an annoyed smile, mostly trying to aggravate him because she couldn't eat as much as her endless hole of a brother. She wanted to taste the pizza some more but she was full.

"She's the greek Goddess of the hearth. Duh" Wakko snorted against his glass, sending his sister a look that said 'you won't embarrass me today, demon' "I'm surprised you know who she is. I know because I know everything there is to know about food."

"Are you passionate for anything that isn't food, Wakko?" Yakko sent him an exasperated look when he stood up to get out yet another pizza from the oven "You should get a hobby or something."

"Building stuff counts!" he pouted at his older brother, perfectly okay with Dot being mean to him but not Yakko "... It does, right?"

When he looked around the table for some reassurance, Marilyn stopped eating to pat Wakko's head with the hand she hadn't been scarfing down pizza with "Of course it does, Wak. And you're good at it too."

Wakko beamed at her and Dot rolled her eyes, ignoring the small moment between teacher and pupil to smile at Yakko and compliment his food.

"It's almost as delicious as I am cute."

"Almost?" Yakko sent her a pointed look, but he was smiling.

Dot giggled "Almost."

Accepting that that was the best compliment his little sister could dish out, Yakko just shrugged and went to put another pizza on the table so that Rose and Wakko wouldn't start fighting for the last slices. They both got cranky when they were hungry.

When he went to sit at the table again, Marilyn stopped her chat with everyone else and jumped at him, almost making both of them fall to the floor.

"Will you cook for me for the rest of my life if I ask for your hand in marriage?" Yakko only stood there awkwardly with her arms around him, looking down at her, speechless, as she looked up to him with pleading, though playful, eyes "Your pizza's so good I want to cry."

"Mary, you're being melodramatic" Rose rolled her eyes, but she wasn't denying her statement of how good his pizza was "I doubt he'd want to marry such a hyper-active person."

Marilyn stuck her tongue out at her sister, which Rose returned, and Yakko just suppressed a snort and laughed out "Sorry, I'm taken."

The teen gasped incredulously in his arms "You are not!" her interested grin was huge "Do we know them? Are they cute?"

This time Yakko did snort, and Rose had to let out a sigh because her sister was being dumb "He's kidding, sis. Who would he even be taken by? The only people in WarnerStock he knows that aren't in this room he only chatted with for a few minutes. I'm... pretty sure."

"Well, I mean you never know. He could've been dating a human before they came here or something" Marilyn's eyebrows furrowed a bit in disappointment "Too bad though. Here I thought we were going to get some cute couples around here."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but a human, really?" Yakko smiled in amusement at the mere thought.

"I don't know about the couple discussion, but I do agree with the statements about the food" StarDust ate quietly and neatly and happily complimented the food with a bigger smile than before that made Yakko feel accomplished. Getting two StarDust smiles in less than twenty-four hours was a pretty good record "I'd vote for you to become our new chef, if there were an election."

Rose just raised her hands up in surrender "Look, if nobody complains about my potato salad anymore Yakko can start slaving away in the kitchen instead of me from now on. I have no problem with it."

"Looks like you're going to be cooking a lot more often, eh, Yakko?" Marilyn chuckled and elbowed him gently, but Yakko was barely listening because all he heard was "cook" and "more". For the record, he was ecstatic at being able to cook again.

"Cool" was all he could get out, his eyes passing along the table and seeing everyone smiling and chatting together. It brought a smile to his face; he had always thought that food tasted better when everyone was having fun.

"Three cheers for the new cook!" Wakko laughed as he fist pumped the air, and with a happy aura, everyone played along. Yakko couldn't resist ruffling his little brother's hair at that.

Everyone kept munching away at their food happily, the conversation light. It was such a happy atmosphere; Yakko was actually surprised that, for all the stress he'd been under the first few days with the Milers, life with them was rather tranquil, and even fun, aside from the intense training sessions. Their lives had almost normalized.

That was not to say however, that Yakko didn't know that this calm wouldn't last forever. He was painfully aware of the fact that they would start doing more dangerous and risky things, and rather soon at that. The worry and anxiousness would be back, and when it happened, he'd have to be ready to use his skills for more than just knocking over dummies at the gym.

He might have to use them to kill people.

Yakko shivered at the thought, even though the air around him was relaxed and happy. They wouldn't have to go that far, would they? It was a war though... Rose had already told him that many had died back when the first revolution against the Warner king had happened, and now that the population was starving even more warners were dying, even if it wasn't in battle. They had to stop this in whichever way possible, and if the only way was killing their enemies, then they would have to do it regardless of their morals. It didn't mean he wanted to though. Just thinking about bringing a knife or a gun to a person's throat simply to threaten them made his stomach churn, made his hands twitch.

"Speaking of which," StarDust interrupted whatever conversation the rest of the group had been having while he'd been lost in his thoughts, using her napkin to clean her mouth. Her eyes had turned serious "You've heard the rumor going around, haven't you?"

The other four people looked up from their food, but while Wakko and Dot looked curious as to what the oldest Milers was talking about, Rose and Marilyn's smiles turned into straight lines. Yakko knew the topic of conversation had been changed to something important and thus tried to calm himself down and listen. He'd have the chance to question whether he'd have the guts to kill someone another day.

"You don't think it's true, do you?" Marilyn turned concerned eyes toward Rose, who merely shrugged as an answer "It's really far-fetched..."

"What is?" it seemed the tension had been too much for his younger sister, because Dot stopped drinking to regard StarDust with a light frown "What's the rumor?"

"Some people have been saying that they've seen the prince walking around Artemis" the oldest explained, and this was where Yakko became so intrigued that he couldn't help asking questions himself.

"The prince? You're searching for him, right?"

Rose had said the guy was very important, and that the three Milers wanted to put him up on the throne in the stead of his father, the king. They didn't know if he was alive though, so it was obvious that they were all skeptical to believe the rumor.

"Yeah" Rose answered him, her eyebrows furrowed as she most likely processed StarDust's words "But it would be strange for him to be around Artemis if he's alive. He's smart, so I'd bet if he were alive, he would be hiding."

"Are you sure people didn't mistake someone else for him?" Marilyn was the one who was the least ready to believe this, but her eyes shone with hope, as if she wanted to believe he was alive, but didn't want to risk getting hurt by a fake rumor "I mean, even if he were walking around, he would at least wear a disguise."

"Who would be mistaken for him?" StarDust shook her head "The signs of the Royal Family are obvious no matter how much he may try to hide them."

"No, but, Mary has a point" Rose had her hand on her mouth, eyes narrowed in deep thought "I mean, Yakko, Wakko and Dot all have black hair and eyes, so it's not impossible for some other really distant relatives of the Warner family to be out there. Hell, it's possible people mistook this doofus for Elias" she snorted, waving her hand in a dead-panning Yakko's general direction.

"So you're saying I have a face like a prince's?" Yakko jokingly swished his hair to the side as if to look handsome and batted his eyelashes, which made Wakko and Dot giggle from their seats.

"No, I'm saying you're the right age and just have the same characteristics" Rose rolled her eyes, but it was clear from the smile on her face that she was more amused than annoyed "You carry more the air of a peasant, not a prince."

Yakko huffed and his siblings laughed louder "Rude."

"Always am" the blonde smirked at him, but quickly became serious again to regard her sisters "But in all seriousness- I think we should look into it anyway. Where there's smoke, there's probably fire."

So now they were going to be stuck searching around town for some guy that might or might not be the prince?

Sighing and letting his face fall against the table, Yakko glanced at Rose "Sounds incredibly boring."

"Well excuse me, nobody said this was going to be exciting" Rose then proceeded to lean over in her seat and flick his nose.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?"

"That was for whining like a brat in front of your leader."

"Children, stop fighting" Marilyn lightly berated them, a grin on her face "We should just keep our eyes peeled whenever we go outside. Going around in circles searching for someone who may not even be there would be pointless."

That was what was agreed on as Yakko noticed that every single slice of pizza he'd made had vanished and only pitiful crumbs rested where food should have been. A question of who was going to clean the dishes was all that was needed for everyone to understand that dinner had ended and that it was time to go to bed.

Rose offered to clean the plates since she apparently wasn't going to cook anymore, and Yakko gratefully left the job to her before following the rest of the group to the back of the base, where the bedrooms were. He slipped into his and Rose's room and plopped himself down on his bed, completely exhausted despite the fact that all he'd really done that day had been walk around aimlessly through Athena and cook some pizzas. He just shrugged to himself and supposed that had been productive enough.

Still, he wanted to do one more thing.

As he lied down on his side, Yakko attempted to call the voice out. He still felt terrible for the things he'd said, didn't think he'd be able to truly relax until he properly apologized.

- ... Hey... -

- ... -

- ... I... I'm sorry. -

- ... -

- ... Are you still angry at me? -

Yakko heard a low grumble, one that sounded reluctant.

- ... Not really. I'm... kind of angry at myself. -

The voice still sounded kind of sad, making Yakko feel even worse. He really hadn't thought his words would affect it that much, he'd just expected it to get mad or annoyed, like usual... Not cry.

- ... I'm sorry for acting like that. I shouldn't be berating you just because you're trying to make friends. -

- I appreciate it, but I really shouldn't have said those things to you either. -

He could tell the voice was smiling at him, though it was sadly.

- It hurt to hear, but I know you didn't mean it. I'm just... I'm really worried about you... -

The fact that it brought this up again made Yakko want to roll his eyes, but he just rolled over in his bed instead, burying his face further into the pillow. His mood dampened the slightest bit.

- I told you I'm fine. -

- ... It's not how you are now that's worrying me, Yakko. -

That made him open his eyes half-way and actually frown a little.

- What do you mean? -

The voice shuffled around anxiously in his head. Don't ask Yakko how he knew what the voice was doing when it didn't exactly have a body and he couldn't see it move, he just knew. It was kind of weird.

- Remember how I told you that coming to WarnerStock was a bad idea? -

- Yeah? -

It sighed, and the sound was so filled with dread that Yakko felt a bit scared for a moment, feeling, not for the first time, like the voice knew something big that he wasn't aware of and that that was what it was afraid of.

- It has to do with that. -

- Can't you just tell me what it is? -

- ... I wish I could tell you Yakko, really... but I can't. -

Yakko just groaned in response, feeling the last of his good mood evaporating and being replaced with annoyance instead. He scoffed.

- Should've known. -

- ... Please don't be angry at me... I really can't tell you. I'm being honest with you here. -

The voice sounded too sincere for Yakko to be upset at it. It still sounded so sad... as if not telling him whatever it was hiding from him was making it miserable. Hearing it like that made him miserable.

- ... Why? What could be so terrible that you have to hide like this all the time? -

His thought was soft, and if he could have touched the voice he would have hugged it right then and there.

- Because if you knew... You'd get hurt. Badly. -

Him? Hurt?

- Why would I...? -

His stomach made a displeased sound and Yakko felt it churn. Somehow, he felt like his body was trying to tell him that the voice was right. "You don't want to know what it's hiding" he felt like it was saying to him, but he just cradled it in his hands and wished he didn't have to keep wondering. Because not knowing something that would apparently hurt him made him feel worse than it probably would feel just to know.

He hated not knowing.

- Can we drop it? ... Please? I really can't give you an answer. -

His stomach twisted unhappily again, but Yakko just sighed.

Someday, he told himself. Someday, he would know what the voice was and what it was hiding from him.

... It just wouldn't be that day.

- Fine. But only if you tell me something else. -

If the voice had had ears, they would have twitched up with curiousness.

- Okay. I'll answer to the best of my ability. -

Yakko took a deep breath, though he didn't really need to since he wasn't using his vocal cords, and asked.

- What's your name? -

The voice only groaned, as if it had actually been expecting a cool question on its blog and just got stuck with one that was already answered in its Q&A.

- Yakko, we talked about this. -

- Vooooooooice- -

- Hey! I told you not to call me that! -

- That's why I'm asking you to give me something to call you by! You never even told me what gender you are so I have to think of you as an it. -

It huffed, offended.

- I don't even get "they" as a pronoun? You have to use one you use to describe things with? -

- I'm sorry, okay, I don't even know what you are. -

There was a short silence in his head, kind of a sad silence, and then, the voice sighed.

- ... I'm a boy. -

The voice had actually answered one of his questions.

Were pigs flying?

Yakko could have jumped in the air and made the same silly dance Marilyn had started when she was told he was making pizza, but he refrained because Rose could walk in on him doing that. And he certainly didn't want that to happen.

- Okay! Okay. You're a boy. Now, about your name... -

- Yakko. -

- Voice. -

- Stop it! -

The voice's tone was annoyed, but Yakko figured that if he wasn't going to tell him his name, then Yakko was just going to annoy him until he told him.

- Tell me your name then. -

- ... -

- Well? -

The voice groaned and after a moment, responded.

- Joey. -

At first Yakko was going to take it for truth and attempt to do another happy dance- but something tugged at his memory and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion instead. What had been the last show they'd watched together again...?

- That's not your name. -

- ... How would you know? -

Just the tone of his voice made it clear that he had not only been caught red handed, but that he was outright playing with him. A snort escaped Yakko, even though he was trying to be mad.

- Because that's the name of one of the freaking Friend's cast, you doofus. -

Instead of responding the voice just laughed, a surprisingly high giggle considering his tone usually sounded pretty deep. It made it super hard for Yakko to be angry.

- Yeah, yeah, you're sooooo funny. Ha-ha. -

He sounded painfully sarcastic, but he couldn't stop a smile from forming.

- Sorry. I couldn't resist, hehe. -

- Okay, smart guy. What if I give you a nickname instead? Is that bad too? -

Almost instantly, Yakko felt how the amusement left the voice, leaving emptiness instead. He could only frown in confusion at the sudden change in mood.

- ... I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that. -

- Um. Why? -

- ... Just 'cause. -

... Oooookay, that was a little weird.

- You got something against nicknames? -

- ... -

- Come on, Voice, don't leave me hanging. -

A pause.

- If you give me a nickname I'll start calling you Yaya. -

- ... You wouldn't. -

- I would. -

Okay, maybe he should leave the matter alone. That nickname was super embarrassing, and he didn't really want to have to hear it on a regular basis.

- Okay, okay, I won't! ... Just don't call me that. Ever. -

The voice's response was merely another giggle, which Yakko responded to with a small smile. As he thought about it though, it slowly left his face.

... Still no name, huh.

Yakko didn't really like calling his friend "the voice" either... It was such a tired argument between them, so why wouldn't he just give him something?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

"Oh. You're still awake."

He was actually thankful that Rose decided to make an appearance at that moment, because she successfully gave him a reason not to talk to the voice anymore and not make things any more awkward than they already were.

"Yeah" he merely answered, sitting up on his bed and following Rose with his eyes when she went over to their shared wardrobe, searching for her sleep-clothes.

"What were you doing before I came in? Staring at the ceiling?" the blonde sent him a smirk, but upon looking at his expression, which Yakko supposed was both sad and annoyed, her smile fell "Is something wrong?"

"... No, I was just thinking" he lied, turning around and attempting to hide his face from Rose. Wakko and Dot said his nose twitched when he lied, so he should try to keep his face hidden.

She just sent him a soft look in response "Thinking about sad stuff?"

"... Yeah."

Rose sat down next to him on his bed, poking him gently on his back to make him look at her "Is it something I can help with?"

Yakko wanted to tell her that no, she couldn't help with this, but then he thought something.

Maybe the voice would never tell him anything about himself but... Yakko could still ask others. They could have answers. What if the voice was actually something that some warners have? What if Yakko having the voice was normal?

... But what if he got the courage to ask and it wasn't normal?

"What if I told you something crazy? Something that would be hard to believe?" he turned around to look at her, his brows furrowed, and she stared back with a surprised expression at his words "Would you believe me?"

Her eyes looked to the side before focusing back on him, but she looked skeptical "... Depends on what it is."

Well, at least she was honest.

The truth was, Yakko had been questioning his whole life whether the voice was real or not. He knew what his psychiatrist had said, but... The voice just felt so real. He couldn't have possibly made him up, could he? He wasn't nearly that creative.

Yakko wanted to know, he wanted others to help him figure the mystery out, but what if the sisters thought he was nuts and sent him to a mental hospital or something? That would be the worst case scenario, because he could handle seeing a psychiatrist every few days if it turned out he really did have a problem and the voice was nothing more than a part of his imagination, he'd already been doing that anyway. But being sent to a mental hospital?

That just sounded nightmarish. Not only would he be too far away to protect his brother and sister as much as possible but... Well, he didn't know what conditions the mental hospitals of WarnerStock were in. For all he knew, it would be like it was in the old days for the humans- hell, even nowadays they were still terrifying. The conditions the patients were kept in, most treated like animals or like wastes of space... He was scared of all of that. He didn't want to end up like that.

Rose must have noticed his tenseness in the silence, because she just sighed softly and did something unexpectedly gentle, coming from her.

She brought a hand to his hair and softly ruffled it, though it was so gentle that it felt more like petting. It made his chest feel warm.

"You don't have to tell me right now if you're so worried about it" her voice was soft, and when he looked up at her through his bangs that Rose had mussed up so they were in his face, speechless, she gave him a small smile "But I would like it if you could confide in me, no matter what about. I'll do my best to understand and help you, and Star and Mary will too. For all three of you."

When she took her hand away from his hair and stood up to fetch her clothes, seemingly in embarrassment at what she'd just done, he had to bring his hands up to his head, his eyes a bit wider.

"... Thanks. I'll keep it in mind."

"Good" she busied herself with opening the wardrobe and taking out a pair of shorts and a tank top, and then she turned to head out of the room, most likely to the bathroom so she could change "Just... Don't stress yourself any more than necessary, okay?"

With those words, she was out of the room, and Yakko couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face at how nice she'd been. For all their banter and occasional fighting, Rose seemed like she liked him as a person, and he could safely say that he liked her as a person too- even as a friend at this point. He wondered if he'd been upgraded from Person-I-Tolerate to Friend in her book yet, but he wouldn't let it bother him, not after she'd told him about her friend. That had to mean she at least trusted him a little, right?

Actually, he was surprised that the voice hadn't stopped him to tell him not to tell Rose about his existence. He had been pretty adamant about Yakko not coming into contact with her more than it was strictly necessary, so that was odd.

Yakko softly, very softly, called out to the voice, wondering if he was asleep already.

- ... You awake? -

When the only answer he received was a soft sigh that he only noticed because he'd been concentrating really hard, he shook his head. Yep, the voice was asleep already and hadn't heard his conversation with Rose. Which, he supposed was a good thing, but it still meant that the voice probably wouldn't be happy if Yakko tried to discuss him with the three sisters, and Yakko didn't want to make the voice angry, or sad.

But not knowing was killing him, and Yakko needed answers. He could bear with his doubts for a bit longer, but he wouldn't be able to stand it if he never found out anything else about the voice. Just the thought depressed him.

Rose returned from changing five minutes later and closed the door behind her, avoiding Yakko's gaze as she slipped into her own bed. She still seemed embarrassed that she'd been so nice to him, and he had to stop himself from giggling as he nuzzled into his pillow, ready to sleep.

There was just one last thing he wanted to do though.

"Goodnight Rose."

The girl almost jumped in her bed at his words, because they'd never said goodnight to each other before, since it'd been too awkward, but he'd felt it necessary this time. Sort of a "thank you" for her earlier reassurance.

Besides, they were close enough to at least say goodnight to each other, right?

He stared at her back that was facing him for the ten seconds that it took her to let out a soft, happy snort. He knew she was smiling.

"Goodnight Yakko."

Yakko smiled as he sighed softly too, resting his head on his pillow. Too bad the voice was already asleep, because he'd wanted to say goodnight to him too.

Oh well. There was always next time.

Author's note: Keep in mind that Yakko's limited knowledge of how mental hospitals work comes from tv and movies, so, he only knows the nightmarish version of them. I, personally, dunno how they actually are, but I certainly hope they're far better than what our media will have us believe.

Also, we finally got to the chapter where I announce the voice's gender. Yay!