(A/N) I'm bumping the rating up to T, since maybe 8-year-olds shouldn't be this depressed! Kind of a sad chappy...

Maika slowly walked out of the forest after a very slow day. It was mid-afternoon now, and the ham-hams were probably wondering where he was.

"Oh well," he said. "They'll be just fine I'm sure..."

Maika painfully drug himself to the hole in the old tree where he slept the night of the attack. He stopped for a moment, then looked around for cats, then carefully crept near the hole. He Hiff-hiff'd for a second or two, then peeked inside eagerly.

Empty.

He really was all alone. The only living things he knew in this area were cats, and they sure didn't care about what he was doing there. Probably nobody cared - nobody except for Julia.

Maika continued walking until he reached the collapsed tunnel that lead inside the village. He walked around to the north entrance where a large gate stood. At the top of it was a large banner saying "Welcome!" which reminded him that his village was full of friendly ham-hams. Maika dug underneath the gate for a minute or two, and produced a fairly large brass key. He put it into place in the middle of the gate and opened it.

Inside was nothing but ruin and devastation. A light rain had started to spatter along with a soft breeze. Maika made his way to a hill at the center of the village where he could see everything around him. He began to think of his friends he had lost, of the cats that came, of all the years of work gone to waste, and more than anything else - Julia. Maika sat down on the small dirt hill and closed his eyes and his arms open. A few moments later, he opened his eyes, expecting Julia to be there in front of him, ready to hold him close to her as she had always done. But there was no Julia; there was only a dejecting nocturne he had deep in his heart.

The song he sang was for his village, for his friends, for Julia, and for himself. The first two lines of each stanza were full of anger, nearly a scream; but it wavered off a little for the remaining lines. (A/N) If you've ever seen Les Miserable, it sounds like one of the later songs I've been told.

Maika sat down again, cross-legged, and formed small droplets in his eyes amidst the shallow puddles of water developing around him. His heart knew this was the right thing to do - he had to just let go. He started to moan his song, very slowly.

Ghostly screaming in the cropfield,
Bloody gashes on the doors,
The cats have come and robbed me
Of all that I
Adore.

Maika looked up at the sky, and felt as if Julia had been there waiting for him to come back to her.

Could you see my cringing body...?
Could you taste the tears I bore?
All alone inside that den,
My slitted heart
Did outpour.

Oh where's your JULIA, dear Maika!
Could you not save her from before?
You were sleeping in your bedroom,
Where she will sleep
No more...

Maika stood up with tears in his eyes, his voice shaking.

Now I must continue on...
I must keep pressing forward...

A cat had spotted Maika, just a few feet away.

I'll try to live my life without you...

The cat quickened its pace, nearing Maika with every second.

But is life worth living

The cat raised its claw.

Anymore?

"MAIKA! NO!" The cat thrust its paw down at Maika, who stood there motionless with his eyes closed. He opened them a second later to find that the cat was scampering away, shaking its paw with pain. A half-circle with a greenish tint had appeared in front of him.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, MAIKA?" Harmony came out from the gate, casting small spark spells at the fleeing cat. "You almost got yourself killed! Good thing I came in to save the day, huh?" She was still terribly angry with Maika, but she smiled with triumph over the feline. Meanwhile, Maika was flailing his arms about, saying something.

"HARMONY! TO YOUR RIGHT!"

"Heke?" Harmony took a step back, causing the near-fatal claw from another cat to merely graze her cheek. Another blow came from the other paw, knocking her back nearly a foot.

Maika rushed over to Harmony and grabbed her wand. He shook it furiously at the cat, but merely small fire spells came out, only slowing the cat down. The cat was at their feet and opened it's mouth to devour them.

"Ah, to heck with it!" Maika threw the wand into the cat's mouth, causing the cat to stop in its tracks. Its four legs started shaking, then its ears and nose twitched, then all of a sudden, it disappeared.

"Oh Harmony, I'm so sorry! I never should have came back to this village... Look at you! Your poor face..." Maika knelt down and rubbed his paw on Harmony's scratched cheek. He tore off a little bit of his shirt to try to soak the few droplets of blood that had come out.

"M...Maika... Are you safe?"

"Please, don't speak, Harmony. I'm... I'm here for you..." Maika lifted Harmony in his arms and made his way back to the main gate where he paused. "There's nothing back there for me..." Maika carried her to the old tree where they rested for a few hours.

Harmony woke up with Maika humming a soothing tune, still holding on to her. She kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. The tune that Maika hummed was the same one Harmony sang for him the first time they met, as well as for Melodie's blessing. It didn't really have a name, so he decided to call it "Angel's Lullaby." When he told Harmony, she was filled with delight at such a fitting name. They sang it often, together and alone, because it reminded them that they would always have each other to rely on.

Harmony remained in Maika's caring arms for a long time, and even though Maika had realized that she had come out of her sleep, he let it go and decided to pretend, too.