Disclaimer: Me owns Dami and the plot and Quilter's street and it's history. I also own…. No, I'm done.

A/N: It has been brought to my attention that I have messed up a few times. Dawn is Dami, as I wanted to make her name more Tamora Pierce-y and that's what it is if I ever do that again. R&R PLEASE people! I'll even accept flames right now (mostly because I'm freezing)!

Dami was finishing her last routine before going inside when a familiar shadow came over her. It was the couple who had been coming to watch her dance and had been donating generously to her for a few weeks. She still remembered their kind smiles from the first time they had come, which did not differ from those they wore today.

The first time they had come, she had been looking at the collection of coins she had gained over the day and reminded herself to thank Pasco for helping her with that routine. The coins were enough to last her a week and pay for her classes. Their shadow had come over her then and she looked up curiously.

"Hello," she had said cautiously. "I'm done dancing for the day, but I'm gonna again tomorrow."

"Where are your parents, sweetie?" the lady had asked kindly. "They really should be out here to watch you dance."

"They're out on a trip," Dami had replied, using the same excuse she had been for the past three months. "They'll be back soon, but someone took all of our money they left for me, so I have to dance to make due."

"Oh you poor dear," the lady had said sympathetically, dropping a few coins into her collection. "If there's anything me or my husband can do for you, just ask." They had left after that, and then returned everyday since, dropping a few coins in her collection before leaving. The coins they left, however, were enough to support her for a month or so each time they donated. Dami now had in a small safe in her house a small collection of gold astrels that could get her by until she was able to work as a professional dancer.

As she gathered up her coins this day and began to head in, she saw riders coming down the street from the west, sun at their backs. She looked at them curiously to find Lady Sandry and Pasco riding towards her and she waved, hoping that they might stop by for a while. The house had been so lonely since her parents had died.

"Dami, what are you doing out here?" Sandry asked with concern as she reined in her horse. "You should be at home right now."

"Oh, I'm just out here to dance," she explained. "People give me money to get by if I put on a show. And my home is right there." She pointed directly behind her at what appeared to be a vacant lot.

Sandry looked at Dami's supposed home in confusion. An understanding suddenly hit her and a slightly amused smile crossed her face. "Dami," she said, her voice even and serious. "Your house is invisible."

The little girl looked at her house, then at Sandry in thoughts of protest. Only then did she remember her newfound ability. "How do I change it back?"

Sandry dismounted and allowed a very long string to unravel, encompassing where the house should have been and themselves. Dami went through the same process as when she made the school reappear, and the house was soon visible again. The locals took little notice of their activities as they continued about their work as usual.

"I was wondering why the tax collectors missed my house," Dami remarked as she invited them all in.

Sandry smiled as she broke the ward and gathered the string. As she followed her in she began to think. Where did a ten year old get so much power and how can she wield it without seeing what she's done? Only when she nearly stepped on a fluffy cat did she come out of her thoughts.

"Watch out for Mika," she warned, a giggle in her voice. "She likes to get in the way." She put the kettle on the stove and said, "I know it's not much, but it's home."

Sandry noticed a change in her. She no longer treated her like a noble, but as any other person. She liked this change and made a mental note to thank Yazmìn for talking to her, for se was certain she was responsible.

As Sandry and Pasco moved to help her, Dami ushered them back into their seats. "You're guests," she explained and at once went back to work. "What did you do at that temple place?"

"We found you a teacher," Sandry replied, "so you can learn how to control your magic and some drops for your eyes so you can see when you have made something invisible or tell the difference between something that is and is not invisible."

You mean you made that whole tip because of me?" she asked, flushing deeply as she made her way to the table with a small tray of tea and snacks. Her eye caught a motion outside. "Please don't notice my house," she pleaded quietly. "Please don't see my house."

Sandry saw a few veins of silver begin to weave themselves into the walls of her house. The two people who were walking past did not even look to the house as they past and Dami continued onto the table as though nothing had happened. Scowling slightly, Sandry accepted her tea and watched Dami for any sign that she knew what she had done, though none came.

Sandry went to Dami and put a drop of the strange liquid into her eyes at her consent. It seemed to pool on them, becoming a bright blue, then thin into a clear coating that would soon vanish.

"Dami, tell me about your parents," Sandry requested, interested to see if her family had any magic in the line.

"Lady Sandry, my parents are no longer among the living," she said quietly. Seeing that she was still interested, she continued anyway. "My Ma was beautiful, and my Dad was always smiling. They were humble merchants, all my life they were. Before me, though, my Ma had run away from royalty and been caught by my Dad's family. They gave her to him as a gift, and they fell in love. My Dad didn't agree with the ways of the family, though, so they disowned him and he began a new life here. My uncle came by for the first time ever three months ago and told me. He had my Dad's family emblem on him, anyway, and he said he was my uncle."

She took a long drink of her tea to calm herself from crying once more over her parents, though she felt that she had no more left to shed. She felt Sandry's sympathetic hand on her shoulder and took comfort in it, feeling better having talked to someone about her parents.

"Pasco, where are you going?" she asked as she looked up to what appeared to be an empty wall. "You always do that flirt when you're about to nick some food or hiding from Yazmìn or Lady Sandry."

Sheepishly, Pasco returned to his visible self, turning red with embarrassment. "You mean you could see me all those times?" he demanded angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"How was I supposed o know that I wasn't supposed to see you?" she argued back. "It's not like I knew any of this stuff before yesterday! I thought you did that stupid step for good luck!"

"Good luck?! I dance magic! Everyone knows that!"

"Well, no one bothered to tell me, now did they?"

Sandry quickly excused herself, unsure of how much longer she could hide her amusement behind her hand and began to wander the small house. For a house kept be a ten year old for the past three months, it was surprisingly clean and well kept.

Once she had completely regained her composure, she made her way back downstairs where the arguing persisted. From the way that they argued, it had become obvious that they were both close friends.

"How could someone have given you gold astrels for dancin' on the street?! They gotta be fake, else they stole it and planted 'em on you!. If the harriers find out 'bout this-"

"Then what? Then they'll find out I'm an orphan and take me to some orphanage? Or throw me in some dungeon like some criminal? I don't have to worry about any of that, 'cause harriers don't come down here! You're an Acalon, don't you know what street this is?"

Pasco considered for a minute, then he paled with recognition and fear. "Lady Sandry, we best leave before dark," he said, eyes darting to the setting sun.

"Why?" she asked, carefully inspecting the astrels Dami had left on the table for foul play and finding none.

"This is Quilter's street," he explained. "There were huge gang wars 'round here a while back and the merchants were getting tired of 'em. The merchants became as bad as the gangs for a bit, taking out a lot of 'em while tryin' to defend their shops. Eventually they made a truce sayin' that merchants got the street by day and the gangs got 'em by night. Merchants keep the peace here better than harriers and the gang wars at night are suicide to go into." His wide eyes turned to Dami. "How can you live here?"

"I've managed," she answered simply. Turning to Sandry, she said, "You probably should get going, though, unless you all wish to stay the night. I doubt if your guards could protect you against the gangs at night."

Regretfully, Sandry agreed to leave her and go home to her uncle. She told Dami that the astrels were real as she said goodbye. On the way to the Duke's Citadel, she made a mental note to get Dami to meditate with them the next day.