Bride of beetlejuice asked for this one. :) Here you go, Amigo! :) Enjoy! :)

Balan Wonderworld belongs to Square Enix. I only own Chantrea, which means 'moonlight'.


A Home For A Sad Heart

It was getting late as people began to turn in for the night, the city starting to get quiet as lights turned off and doors were locked up tight.

In one home, a foster child was waiting patiently for the right time, sliding her window open and stepping onto the roof, her backpack over her back as she carefully creeped down the porch roof that had been right under the window.

"Do you think the brat will do as we ask and steal for us tomorrow?" Came a woman's voice.

"She better," said a male voice. "Honestly, you'd think a eight year old would know to do as she's told."

The child, who's name was Chantrea, shook her head. "Not when stealing is wrong," she said to herself.

The couple had taken in the child and had given the pretense of wanting to be parents, but they were really thieves and wanted Chantrea to pickpocket people, which the child refused and she was abused by the couple for disobeying them.

Now, she was looking to run away and escape forever. Her black hair was in two pigtail braids while her clothes consisted of a neon green t-shirt that was a tad small on her and a pair of blue jean shorts that were also getting a bit small on her too. Her brown sandals were nearly worn out too as her coffee-and-cream colored skin was a bit bruised from her punishments.

Listening carefully, she peeked over the side and saw the lights in the front turn off and the door was locked tight. Chantrea checked her bag one last time, seeing she had her favorite book, another change of clothes, and her favorite stuffed animal, which was a pink rabbit with soft blue eyes. Zipping up her backpack, she waited until she heard the woman call the man to go upstairs with her and she counted quietly before hearing the first step creak and no sooner had she heard that, she quickly moved, going off the roof and clinging to one of the posts on the edge of the porch and putting her feet down on the railing. It was then a piece of cake to climb down and once her feet touched the ground, she took a deep breath and backed away before turning and running as fast as she could go, knowing the couple wouldn't check on her until morning. She hoped to be somewhere else by then.

As she was walking down the street looking for a place to stay, she heard an odd sound and looked to see a creature that looked like a bird with no feet hopping down the street. What caught her attention was that it was the same color as her shirt and it had a mohawk. Her chocolate brown eyes followed it as it hopped into an alleyway and she felt her feet move to follow it, her eight-year-old mind curious. "What is that?" She asked quietly.

The strange bird led her to the doors of a building that looked unusual to the girl, but she noted that it looked inviting, unlike the home she had just escaped from. The bird pushed the door open and went back to her, getting behind her and gently pushing her left leg forward, making her take a step towards the open door. "You want me to go in?" She asked.

It nodded and she took another step towards it, noting the warm air coming from the open door, warm air that chased away the chill of the cold night. Taking a deep breath, she went inside, the door closing behind her as she headed deeper inside.

But her entry didn't go unnoticed as a certain tendriled figure was watching her as the Tim led her to one of the living rooms where a fire was going in the hearth and the child looked very happy. "At least it's warm in here," she said softly before going over to the fire and sitting on the edge of the hearth, being careful to not touch the very warm bricks. She smiled as she then pulled out her stuffed rabbit and hugged him close. "We're safe now, Cotton," she said to the stuffed animal. "I'm never going back to that mean couple and I'm not going to steal either. It's wrong."

As she hugged her plushie close, the Tim went up to her, nuzzling her hand and she picked it up too, hugging it close. "Those people were so mean to me," she said. "They pretended they wanted me for their daughter, but they really wanted me to pickpocket and steal from people." She shook her head. "But I remember my grandma telling me it's wrong to steal and I won't do it. Even if I'm supposed to do as I'm told, I won't do something wrong."

"Making a child steal for their own personal gain? Despicable," came a deep voice that made the child jump up with a gasp and she turned quickly to find a man clad in purple with black tendrils that had neon designs on them on his back. His blue-and-yellow eyes gazed at her as she backed up in fear. When he took a step towards her, Chantrea screamed and turned to run.

"Help! Help! A monster!" She cried out, running down the hallway.

"Wait, child! Stop!" The same voice called out and she looked over her shoulder to see the tendriled man was running after her. Screaming again, she turned to look ahead of her and kept running before she saw someone come around the corner and she tried to stop, but couldn't and ended up crashing into another tall being's legs.

"Oh, my," another deep voice said. "Are you alright, little one?"

She tilted her head back to look up at who she had crashed into and she gasped, scooting backwards as she saw how tall this person was and his eyes were in his hat while he had green hair. She stood up and continued backing up before hearing a sound and turning to find the tendriled man catching up. Screaming, the child turned around and, seeing a hallway on her left, she ran down it. "Wait, little one!" The tall being she had crashed into called out, but Chantrea didn't stop running, trying to find a way out or a place to hide.

Finally, after a bit, she found a closet that had the door open and she quickly went inside, shutting it behind her and sitting on the floor, panting a bit as she tried to catch her breath from running. She then heard voices and gasped softly, covering her mouth to keep from making a sound.

"The little one must be around here somewhere," said the tall being with the eyes in his hat.

"She was running from an abusive home, at least that's what I gathered from what she told that Tim," said the tendriled being.

"She couldn't have gone far," said the other. "I'll check down the other hallways."

"I'll look around here."

After Balan left, Lance closed his eyes and opened them a moment later, looking towards the closet door and he opened it, finding the child sitting on the floor, but she now gasped and backed up to where her back was pressed up against the wall and she was clutching her stuffed rabbit close. Seeing this, the tendriled being kneeled down to make himself a little less scary to the child. "Shh, little one," he cooed to her, his voice soft and soothing.

Chantrea looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Please don't eat me," she pleaded, shivering a little now.

A gentle chuckle escaped Lance. "I'm not going to eat you, little one," he said. "And I'm not going to hurt you either."

She continued looking at him, now biting her lip nervously. "What...What are you going to do to me then?" She asked.

"First off, convince you to come out of that closet," he said with a smile, a tendril reaching towards the child, who gasped, but the tendril didn't grab her. Instead, it brushed over her head in a soothing manner before it gently brushed against her face, wiping away the tears that had been threatening to fall. "Will you come out, little one? I promise, Balan and I won't bite."

Just then, the other tall being came up to them. "Oh, good. You found her," he said in relief.

"Yes, but she's terrified," Lance said. "I've just gotten her to calm down a little bit now."

Balan nodded and looked at the child with a gentle smile. "It's alright, little one," he said gently before an idea hit him and he whispered it to Lance, who nodded and looked at the child.

"Are you hungry, little one?" He asked. "There's some macaroni and cheese that you can have. Perhaps a bit of dessert too afterwards."

The child seemed to perk up at the mention of macaroni and cheese and her stomach growled a little, making both men smile. "If you come out of that closet, you can have the macaroni and cheese," Balan promised.

Chantrea looked at them both. "What...What do I have to do when I come out of the closet?" She asked, seeming hesitant.

Both men looked at each other in confusion. "What do you mean, little one?" Lance asked.

She looked at him. "I'm not going to steal just so that I can eat," she said, lifting her chin up as if to say that was her final decision.

Balan blinked in surprise before realizing Lance hadn't been kidding about the child being abused. It sounded like she was even denied food unless she did something. "What is your name, my dear?" He asked now.

She blinked in surprise, looking away for a moment before looking back at them. "Chantrea," she said.

"That's a beautiful name," Lance said with a smile. "Chantrea, we won't make you do anything. If you come out of the closet, we promise you can eat. We're not going to let you go hungry."

Chantrea looked at them. "Promise?" She asked.

"We promise, little one," Balan said before he realized something. "Oh, you don't know our names." He bowed. "You may call me Balan."

"And I'm Lance," the tendriled being said as the tendril that had been rubbing the child's head now moved and gently wrapped around her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Come out, Chantrea. You're safe here."

She looked at them before getting up, holding onto the tendril as she came out, still clutching her rabbit in her other arm. Lance stood up and gently took her backpack from her, noting how light it was. "What is in here, little one?" He asked.

"Just my other outfit and a book," she said truthfully. "It's all I have besides Cotton."

She held up her stuffed rabbit to show them and both realized how serious the situation was. "Well, why don't we get you that macaroni and cheese that we promised you?" Balan said, holding out his hand to the child to take.

Chantrea looked at his hand uncertainly, but felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder. "Go with Balan, little one. I'll be along shortly," Lance promised.

Nodding, the child took the ringmaster's hand and he smiled as he led her to the kitchen where the promised food was. It wasn't long before she was eating and she began to feel better afterwards. "Eat up, little one," Balan said, serving her seconds, which she ate up. The tall being then served her some chocolate pudding, which was new to her as she had never had it before, but found it to be delicious. When she was done, she rubbed her eyes before a yawn escaped her. Lance came in then and smiled.

"Looks like someone is a little tired," he said, picking her up and holding her in his arms as she leaned her head trustingly on his shoulder.

"Why don't you show her to the guest room, Lance?" Balan said. "I'll see about getting a room ready for her."

The tendriled being nodded. "We have to discuss something afterwards, Balan," he said.

"Very well," the Maestro of Positivity said with a nod.

Lance carried the child to the guest room and set her down on the bed. She looked around in surprise before noting the bed was soft and she yawned again, feeling the tendril being remove her sandals and he looked at them before shaking his head. "We need to get you some new clothes and shoes," he said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "I mean that you need a few things, but we'll worry about that in the morning," he said, grabbing a blanket and tucking it in around her as she curled up underneath the warm covering, hugging Cotton close to her as a gentle hand brushed over her head. "Good night, little one. Sweet dreams."

"Night, Lance," she said softly before falling asleep.

Lance smiled before leaving the room and going to find Balan, who looked up and his smile had fallen, which told the maestro of Negativity that his counterpart had found something. "What is it?" He asked.

"I did a bit of digging and it seems that our guest isn't just an orphan, but she's labeled as a foster child too," Balan said. "Her current home, the one she must have escaped from tonight, was her tenth home to be placed in."

"How long has she been an orphan/foster child?" Lance asked.

"According to the documents, ever since she was three years old," the ringmaster said.

The tendriled being shook his head. "It explains a lot," he said before coming to a decision. "Balan, I'm going to adopt her."

Balan smiled. "I had a feeling you would," he said. "I called up a friend and thankfully he was still up and he agreed to look over Chantrea's file in the morning."

"Good, thank you," Lance said with a nod.

Morning came fast and Chantrea woke up, looking around to see she was in a different room and she smiled before getting up, noticing a outfit that looked brand new and a new pair of sandals were nearby. Curious, she changed out of her old clothes and put the new ones on, liking how they fit and she even liked how her sandals were new and fit really good. Smiling, she grabbed Cotton and headed out, going down the hallway and finding Lance coming towards her. "Ah, you're awake, Chantrea," he said with a smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Lance," she said with a smile.

"How do your new clothes fit?"

She did a twirl. "They fit perfectly," she said.

"Good," he said, smiling still. "Come. Balan has breakfast ready."

After breakfast, Balan gave something to Lance, who looked it over and signed something before giving the file back to his counterpart, who smiled and vanished before returning moments later with the file and nodding. "It's official," he said.

"What's official?" Chantrea asked.

Lance smiled at her. "Chantrea, what would you say if I asked you if you wanted to stay here?" He asked.

She looked curious. "You mean, live here?" She asked. "You...You're gonna foster me?"

The tendriled being shook his head gently. "I'll do you one better," he said. "I adopted you, little one. You don't have to go to another foster home or the orphanage ever again."

The eight-year-old girl looked at him in shock. "What?" She asked. "You...You adopted me? But...why?"

"Because I couldn't ignore the fact that you were abused by your prior foster families and I wasn't about to make you go to another one of them," Lance said. "Plus...well, Balan and I are both fond of children."

Chantrea looked surprised before she smiled. "So...you're my daddy then?" She asked.

The tendriled being blinked in surprise before smiling. "Yes, I'm your dad now," he said.

The child's smile was huge before she jumped into Lance's arms, hugging him as he hugged her back. "My wish came true," she said.

"What wish, little one?" Balan asked.

"I dreamed I saw a shooting star and I wished that Lance would be my daddy," she said. "And it came true."

Lance smiled as he hugged his new daughter again, kissing her forehead in affection. "Welcome home, my little Chantrea," he said.

She smiled, happy to have a caring parent and a good home at last.


Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418