Day 13 continued

Lily wouldn't leave Lincoln's side. The whole day she followed him or he held her yet she never said a word about her nightmare. If they were apart by any distance, he was always within her sight.

"I say we develope a device to observe her dreams. I could set it up to project them on the wall." Lisa was already working on a diagram.

Leni objected. "Dreams are, like, private, Lisa. That's why it is called sharing when people talk about it!" Honestly Leni was just worried about Lisa testing it on her, like many of the genius' experiments. That didn't mean that she didn't believe her statement.

"I have an idea." Shinji pointed to Yuki. "Want to go to the park?" She aksed Lily. "Yuki will show you how to take pictures."

The little girl shook her head no.

"Mika will teach you how to make smores on the grills in the park. You can share them with your little friends." Yuki stepped in.

Again, Lily shook her head no and clung to lincoln.

"Shinji could draw with you and buy you ice cream after." Mika stepped in.

Lily climbed into her big brother's arms. "I don't wanna go no wheres!"

"Lily, it's okay. I need a shower anyway and it won't be long. The park isn't far and a little air will do you good!"

After a moment the girl pointed to Yuki. "You want to go with me?"

"If I can take pictures of flowers." Lily stated.

Yuki nodded.

"Trash." She said next and got another nod from Yuki.

"Anything you want, Lily, they'll be your pictures!" Yuki told her and handed her an old poloroid.

Lily reluctantly let go of Lincoln and moved into Yuki's arms.

It wasn't long after their arrival that Lily grew bored of snapping photos, but in that time of twenty minutes she took thirty eight pictures ranging from the sky to a stray dog to the ground.

Yuki now watched as Lily ran around the jungle gym and played with the other kids.

Yuki observed closely and took pictures of her own.

She watched as a boy of Lily's age, maybe a bit older ran into the play area. Right away he was trouble. He pushed a kid, took another's toy car, generally being a brat and a bully. A couple kids ran to their parents, a few more were called. his pool of potential victims had shrank by half.

The boy ran to his mother briefly to get a cookie. After gobbling it down it was back to his own fun. His target this time was Lily. She was just coming off the slide when he barreled into her, arms out and giving her a hard shove. Lily tumbled back, fell, rolled over herself and ended up in a sitting position. The boy laughed and went up the jungle gym stairs.

Lily was upset, but she brushed herself off and went to the swings.

Yuki, keeping an eye on the child, went to the boy's mother and explained what she had seen.

"Children will be children." The woman said dismissively.

Yuki returned to her and Lily's bench.

Lily was again by the slide. Helping a boy up. His nose bled and she helped him to his parents. It wasn't said what had happened, but Yuki had an idea.

Lily returned to the playground and was immediately pushed down again. She fell on her side and the boy laughed as he jumped over her a few times. Lily stayed still to keep from getting hurt. Just as Yuki was up and moving, the boy left Lily alone and the girl ran to Yuki.

"He pushed me!" She said sadly. A tinge of anger in her voice.

"I saw. Would you like to go home?" Lily looked back at the few children she had been playing with. So few now.

"No." Lily answered. "How do I make him stop?" She asked as her eyes followed the bully.

"For now, try to avoid him, but, next time he pushes you, do this." Yuki showed Lily how to make a proper fist. Thumb on the outside and tight. "If he pushes you again, get up fast and punch him in the nose, hard!"

Lily looked unsure, but Yuki smiled. "It's okay to defend yourself."

"What if he pushes someone else?" Lily asked.

Yuki beamed with pride at the girl. "Even better! Step between him and the other, if he tries anything..."

"Punch him in the nose?" Lily asked and Yuki nodded. Lily returned the gesture.

"I still don't know if that's okay." She said.

"Lily, you believe in magic?" The girl nodded. "You believe magic can let me know what people know?" Lily thought a moment then nodded. "Here's a secret. I am magic. I know that Lori defended herself, she hasn't told anyone, but that's why she lost her job. The boy in the park that Lincoln fought, Lincoln did it because he was sticking up for Luan. The mean boy had been picking on her." Yuki brushed Lily's hair back and picked a leaf from it. "Do you think Lori and Lincoln were wrong?" Lily shook her head no. "Do you think they will think you are wrong?" Lily gave it some thought, then shook her head no. "Then go have fun, and try to avoid that little brat. Okay?"

Yuki had spoken to the boy's mother again. "The girl with the blonde hair, I'm in charge of her today. She told me your son had pushed her again."

"Children will be children." The woman replied. "I thought you heard me earlier."

"I'll remember that." Yuki nodded and returned to her spot.

Lily was not out there more than ten minutes before she stepped between the brat and a younger girl, another little blonde who had just arrived. The boy shoved lily into the girl. Lily helped the girl up then turned to the laughing boy.

She stood firmly in front of the other girl. "Leave us alone, brat!" Her shout drew the attention of others. The boy got mad and tried to push Lily, the youngest Loud swung hard and punched the boy square in the nose.

He fell back, holding his nose with a look of utter surprise. He sat stunned for a moment then began to bawl, hopping up and running to his mother crying "Mommy!" all the way.

Yuki watched in amusement as he was babied while relaying the tale of what had just happened. The boy's furious mother stormed over with him in tow. Lily was coming back from walking the other girl to her parents. She reached Yuki first.

Then the boy and his mother.

"Your child hit my son!" The woman got in Yuki's face and grabbed her shirt while pointing angrily at Lily. "I demand that girl be punished!"

The tall Japanese woman retrieved a recorder from her pocket and hit play.

The woman looked stunned as her own voice came from the machine. "Children will be children."

"I might not have forgotten, but I figured that you might." She said simply and smugly. "Now let go and back up or I'll punch you." She said very calmly.

"I'll call the police!" The woman said as she let go while taking her phone from her pocket.

"You do that!" Yuki smiled happily. "Who do you think they'll believe? Me, Lily, how about the parents of the children your son bullied? Surely they've been told of what he did to them."

Yuki kept Lily just behind her. "I think your son has learned his lesson. Hopefully you'll learn to be a better mother." Yuki's watch beeped. "Time to go, Lily! Your sisters and brother are waiting for you!"

They quietly gathered their things and left the two standing there.

As they drove home Yuki looked to Lily through the mirror. "You are very brave, Lily." She smiled but the little girl could see the concern on her face. "But no matter how strong we are, we all need help. Talk with Lincoln today, okay?"

"About what bothers me?" Lily asked as she looked away.

"Yes! I think you are ready."

"Do you know what bothers me?" Lily asked feeling small.

"I only see what people let me see, Lily. I won't walk into someone's home, but I can look through the windows from the street. It's like that, you know." Yuki explained.

"I think I understand how your magic works." Lily hugged Yuki as she turned the car off.

"Lily, your pictures." Yuki handed her the poloroids and the little girl stare at them. "You okay?"

"I don't know what to do with them."

"Of course you do, Lily."

Yuki made no mention of what had happened at the park. Neither did Lily.

Yuki went about talking of how Lily took pictures and made a couple friends.

Lily went up to her room.

She was going through the pictures while deep in thought. She sorted them. Then arranged them by what color they had the most of. Then by what color there was less of.

Lisa was distracted by her little sister repeating the process, so much so, the genius had to stop a beaker from boiling over. "Good thing that was just coco." she spoke to herself. She poured a cup for herself and one for Lily.

"You look like you are working hard." Lisa told her little sister.

"Thinking." Lily replied. "Thank you." She looked to Lisa as she took the cup. She slid it to the back of the desk and stood up. "Older female sibling, I would like some affecton." She said while holding her arms open.

"Street name, a hug." Lisa said with a smile.

Lily hugged Lisa tightly for a good minute or more then left the room without a word.

Lincoln stare at his clock, it read noon, he tapped his pencil on blank paper. He recieved a text. Rusty was back in town. the slightly older redhead had been away at his uncle's for a while so he and the guys were on their way over.

Just as he set the phone down Lily walked in. "Lincoln." She sounded like she was miles away. "Can we talk?"

"Sure, Lily!" He smiled but he felt how heavy her words were. He patted his lap and watched as she closed the door before approaching him. She climbed up on his lap and hugged him tight. Her face pressed into his shirt. He let her take her time.