Hunter Moebius and I don't own Code Lyoko, Maximum Ride, or Kaitlyn Belpois. We do, however, own our own OC's and the plot.

Before we knew it, the next morning had arrived. Heck, I was the first to open my eyes, knowing what was to come. Finally, after all of that driving around over the past few days, I would finally be near home…

Well, one home, at least. I had basically lived in France for the past few years, going to school at Kadic Academy with the others, but before all of that, I had two homes in the United States: my real home, in Albion, Illinois, and my summer home, in North Platte, Nebraska. So essentially, I was going to be visiting my summer home, where I expected my grandparents to be; but either way, this was going to be a real treat.

Excitement filling my being, I wasted no time pulling back my portion of the covers, being sure not to disturb Sister, or Aelita. Of course, what I didn't realize was that, during the night, Kiwi happened to sleep trot over to where Sister, Aelita, and I were sleeping as one impromptu family unit. So, when I flung my covers backward, the sheets ended up landing on him.

"The moose did it! I'm an innocent dog meant for this mortal realm! Don't take Tutu away, Mr. Cow!" he yelped, vigorously pawing at the sheets until they fell off from him.

Instantly, one of my eyebrows shot toward the ceiling, slight amusement and confusion mixing into one. "Uh… Kiwi… what was in that dog food you ate last night?"

He shook his body to wake himself up, looking up at me. "Oh, Cassidy, it's just you. For a moment I thought a bull detective was going to hurt Tutu. Such a weird and scary dream."

Suddenly, before I could reply, my wildcard boyfriend suddenly shot upright like a laser caught him off guard, with his arm outstretched, like he was going to fire laser arrows in retaliation.

"Let go of my diggity-dog's girlfriend, you crazy Krabe!" He yelled, pretending to "fire his laser arrows", clearly forgetting he wasn't on Lyoko, or even in France, for that matter. Naturally, this made my eyebrow break through the ceiling.

"Uh… Kiwi had a nightmare, Novio," I giggled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Odd, Master," Kiwi lamented.

"Huh?" he lowered his arm, looking confused, as his eyes drooped halfway. "So there's no crazy XANA attack?"

"Not that I know of," I reassured.

He shrugged his shoulders, managing a half-awake smirk. "Well, at least my diggity-dog and his cute girlfriend are alive and well."

"Yep," Kiwi woofed.

"Who is that SCREAMING?!" the three of us heard, next. Turning to my right, I found Sister had awakened, only she didn't look very happy. Of course, she soon looked around the room, noticed I wasn't freaking out, and that Kiwi and mi novio were slightly locos, and began to calm down. "Oh…"

"Odd got worried that Kiwi's girlfriend was taken by a Krabe, but Kiwi was apparently watching cop shows all night," I reported. "Sorry to wake you up, Sister."

She raised her arms into the air, letting out a calming, soothing yawn, before turning to me as they came back down. "That's okay. I've already gotten my beauty rest, anyway. Did you sleep well, dear sister?"

"Yeah," I answered.

Not long afterward, we heard another grunt from our friendly neighborhood Einstein, who was also quite out of it. "Okay, who gave George the keys we retrieved from the toilet to the boat?"

"Jeremie, dear, you don't even know a George," Sister softly protested.

"Huh?!" He gained a surprised look, as he glanced at Sister. "What are you talking about, Sissi?!"

"Well, you have been waking up and spouting things about a George," I noted, giggling, "to hilarious results, Einstein. The only one I know is a Georgina."

Jeremie's cheeks slowly began to gain a slight rosy tint. "I… I-I have?"

"Do you wanna hug and squeeze someone, calling them George, Jeremie?" Odd quipped, pointing at the only sleeping member in our suite. "Well, Princess is right over there, but you can't call her George."

That only made his blush worse, bringing mi novio close to chuckling. "But I… I don't… what are you even talking about?!"

"But speaking of Aelita," I came in, hoping to change the subject before our genius's "condition" grew much worse, "she must be exhausted from our battle yesterday."

"It took a lot out of all of us," Sister agreed, rubbing her eyes. "I thought I was going to sleep straight through into the afternoon."

"I might take a nap during the trip," I muttered, as I didn't entirely feel fully awake just yet, despite having slept at least seven hours. Apparently, it was going to take more than that, before the feeling of the previous day's battle finally wore off.

"And you deserve it, Cat Girl," Odd smirked. "You were incredible out there! Did you see the way you took down that Eraser? And then Reilly, and even Mandy?! It was like you weren't even afraid of them!"

Now, it was my turn to feel my cheeks heat up. "Uh… I—"

At that moment, any attempt to make anything that sounded even halfway close to a sentence was turned into squeaking, random babbling, and rehearsed vowels. It was like my brain and larynx were out of sync, or I was imitating Sister, that day Franz possessed her.

"Odd, honey," Sister gently scolded. "You know how your girlfriend, my dear sister is, when it comes to people praising her!"

"It's not my fault she doesn't know how to be humble!" Odd retorted, half-jokingly, as he folded his arms. "I keep trying to teach her, but she just starts babbling every time!"

Hearing those two go back and forth, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to get my brain to cooperate with my tongue. "Guh—Gah—G-Gu-Guy-Guys?"

Things got much better, as Sister wrapped her arms around me, giving me a gentle snuggle, but before she could say anything reassuring, the four of us soon heard another noise.

In the bed between Sister and I, our lovely pink-haired friend finally rejoined the world of the living, raising her arms into the air as a gentle, soothing yawn escaped her lips.

"Good morning, everyone," she greeted us warmly, a smile on her face as she rubbed her eyes. "I had such a wonderful dream. Did all of you sleep well?"

"Sister, Jeremie, and I had good dreams, but Kiwi somehow got involved in a cop or mafia drama—hard to tell—and poor Odd got a bit worried on Lyoko in his," I reported, coming into normalcy.

"I swear to the sky, the moose did it!" Kiwi yipped.

"The moose?" Aelita raised an eyebrow as she looked at the winged dog.

"Okay, who let Kiwi watch Law & Order last night?" Jeremie asked, his complexion back to its normal state.

"We didn't watch anything on television at all, remember?" I asked. "We just talked around and then fell asleep."

"That's right, dear sister," Sister agreed. "After that battle, yesterday, we were all quite worn out. I almost wanted to fall asleep, during my bath!"

"I still feel a little shaken from what happened to Jeremie. But given the fact that he gave himself up for Aelita, it helps me calm down a bit," I admitted.

"I couldn't just let them get her, without a fight," Einstein reassured me, managing to keep himself calm as he recalled his actions. "It seemed like the best course of action, and I wasn't about to let Hunter think that his first outing as a Lyoko Warrior was nothing but hypodermic needles and sedatives. I wanted to try and outsmart them, but they had me cornered. What else could I have done?"

"I'm glad they left us alone afterward," Aelita added, smiling warmly at her knight in glasses and a brownish red turtleneck. "But you were really brave, Jeremie."

"It was for a good cause," Odd jumped in, raising a finger.

I nodded in reply to their three comments. "I know that, but to see you on the pavement, down for the count, it still scares me a little. However, you're still a genius, Jeremie."

"Well, um… I… only did my best, after all." The blond genius rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly as a blush lightly tinted his cheeks.

Before he knew it, Sister had climbed out of her bed, walked over, and sat down next to Jeremie.

"I think that deserves a hero's snuggle, Jeremie, dear!" she exclaimed, before embracing the bespectacled blond in a warm, soothing and relaxing snuggle, not only taking away the blush, but calming him completely, as he brought his arms around to return the hug.

She held the hug for a good ten seconds, if not longer, before the door to our suite opened. All of our friends then came in, carrying their luggage in suitcases. Apparently, they had already packed up all of their things, while Sister, Odd, Aelita, Jeremie, Kiwi, and I were chatting about dreams, and acts of bravery. Yet, as I watched the others come in, I began to get a sinking feeling as Georgina, Jeb, Max, and Ari walked in, which only intensified as the last person entered: Hunter. Right away, as I looked at him, I could immediately tell why: first, he was really bad at hiding these sorts of things, as he hadn't had the experiences with XANA that the others and I had; and second, nearly everyone else in the suite could see images from the nightmare he had playing through our minds, as well as his.

"Hunter? A-Are you o-okay?" I asked, feeling his emotions start to make my internal ones tremble.

Afraid that my empathy was going to throw me into an overload, I quickly tried to imagine myself in Lyoko HQ. I was sitting on my bed, knitting, while Odd and Ulrich were playing Ultimate Blaster as Kiwi slept beside mi novio. Sister and Anthea sat behind me, taking turns gently brushing my hair, while Aelita and Yumi sat on my geisha friend's bed, playing a game of Go. Jeremie resided over his computer, looking for any XANA activity with Franz flanking him to watch over the results. It seemed to help for the most part, as I began to feel my nerves evaporate as I kept up the memory. I then began to wonder if imagining either myself, or Hunter, undergoing some sort of spa treatment—one that didn't involve him getting washed—would convince him to transfer my thought to his mind, and calm him down.

So much for praying.

He took a deep breath, trying to stop his hands from occasionally twitching, but it was still quite noticeable in his voice. "I-I-I-I'm… not too bad. I… just didn't get very much… sleep, is all…"

"He had a bit of a hard night," Georgina explained, putting her arms around him. "I tried to really help him relax, before he went to sleep. I softly, soothingly and thoroughly wiped every inch of his body twice, and gave him a nice, long, slow massage, and a full-body rub in-between. I even let him sleep in his favorite pajamas. But I guess the battle last night had more of an effect on him than we thought."

Hunter closed his eyes, before taking another deep breath, hoping to pull himself together, but he was still quite shaken up, as the nightmare was still fresh on his mind.

So, that's when Sister stepped up to the plate.

"You came into the right suite, Hunter, darling!" she explained warmly, walking over to the black-haired programmer with a warm, inviting smile on her face, and her arms outstretched. "I know just how to get rid of terrible nightmares like yours!"

As Georgina slid her hands up onto Hunter's shoulders, my dear sister wrapped her arms around the black-haired programmer, who slowly returned the gesture. Right away, we all watched as his arms stopped shaking, and could see his mind clearing itself within our own. At that moment, Hunter tightened his grip around Sister, giving her an even warmer, gratitude-filled snuggle in reply, relaxing in her arms as a grin spread across his features. His nightmare had completely vanished, and with it, the terrible feelings it brought him.

Taking myself out of my imagination, I took in a deep breath of my own, finding my emotions getting a foothold in the rock wall. "Thanks, Sister, sweetie. I really didn't want Jeb to sedate me after what had happened last night."

Sister began to softly rub Hunter's back, as she turned her head toward me. "Oh, don't worry about that, dear sister! I was more afraid he would sedate poor Hunter, here! But a nice, warm snuggle is all you need to get rid of a really bad nightmare."

Jeremie clapped his hands together, a smile on his face. "Nice one, Sissi. Great to see your powers have proved useful, once again."

"So, would you all like to go down to the spa before we leave?" Ari asked. "That way, Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Total, and I can do some patrols before the trip. Jeb will pack everything for you."

Everyone voiced their approval. After all, with what happened yesterday, we were looking forward to the spa, even though we probably wouldn't stay very long, compared to last time.

"Why don't you all head back to your suites and get ready," Georgina suggested, as Sister finally freed Hunter from her warm embrace. "I'll just take Cassidy into the bathroom, so I can have a look at her bruise, and get her ready."

"Yeah, I forgot about that," I giggled sheepishly.

Everyone except Sister, Aelita, Odd, Jeremie, Kiwi, Georgina, and I wasted no time heading out of our suite, and back into their own, while the former whitecoat gently led me into the bathroom. After closing the door, she went to find where the bathrobes were stored, as I undressed. Once all of my clothing had come off, she gently removed the bandages that had protected the bruise the Eraser had given me, the day before, and was surprised to find it had been reduced to a small scab.

"Well, I'll be…" I heard her whisper to herself, before raising her voice to indoor levels. "It seems your bruise has healed itself quite well. In fact, it's healed up faster than I thought it would."

"Then again, we do have stronger healing powers, than before," I noted. "If it weren't for the return in time, Ulrich would have been in a cast for six to eight weeks as his arm healed up, and who knows if he would have needed surgery."

"You seem to know how the body works, sweetheart," Georgina grinned.

"I just get bored and research anything that we wouldn't normally learn in the semester," I shrugged indifferently. "Or just read any topic to educate myself. That's how I knew about the child abuse cases in A Child Called "It" and Abused but Chosen. But sometimes my material had raised some brows. Like when I reread the Kidnapped trilogy, Aelita wouldn't stop staring at me weirdly for two weeks. I just love Gordon Korman's work, that's all."

"They seem like quite the interesting books," Georgina critiqued in reply, while still keeping a warm smile. "But there's absolutely nothing wrong with having distinctive tastes. No one should fault you, no matter what types of books you like. After all, not everyone likes mystery books, but some do."

"You're right, Georgina. I guess I'm a bit eclectic in my choices," I smiled.

"That's right."

And with that, Georgina gently helped me into a very soft, very gentle terrycloth robe, and I made my way out of the bathroom, out of my suite, and into the hallway, where my friends had gathered, all wearing similar outfits to mine. In the time that I had taken to get ready, Max, Ari, and Max's flock had taken off on another patrol, even though sometimes I wondered why they didn't stay for their own spa experience, as they worked even harder than we did, and were much more deserving. Oh well, I guess you can't make a gorilla drink after you lead it to water…

Once we were all together, Georgina led the way down to the spa area, which did give us slight Las Cruces vibes, as we picked out the treatments we wanted. I could already hear Sister's mind going crazy with all of the different treatments they had, hoping we could do more, but knowing that we were only going for massages, to save time. Somehow, I couldn't help but think of her old personality, which would have taken her time, and gotten nearly every treatment, if she could; if that had happened, there was a really good chance we never would have left New Mexico. It was one of the many reasons, that I was thankful for Sister's change in personality.

The massages were chosen, and money was paid, before several masseuses walked us back to our own rooms. Each was somewhat basic, yet relaxing and inviting, with dim lighting, soothing, calming music playing from speakers placed in the corners of the walls, near the ceiling, and a bed in the center with fresh, white sheets upon it, and a square pillow with a hole in the center. Next to this bed was a chair, and a small wooden table, upon which sat different kinds of lotions and creams. This was where mine differed from the ones the others received; while they went for standard, full-body massages that went on for an hour, mine was similar, went for the same length of time, but also included medicated creams and lotions, along with essential oil-based ones, mainly intended for the shrunken scab on my back.

The masseuse walked over to her chair, and I made quick work of my bathrobe while she had her back turned, before laying upon the bed on my belly, feeling the soft, gentle sheets soothingly caress my bare skin. Once she lathered up her hands with a medicated cream and began soothingly working it all over my upper and lower back, my eyes slowly began to close, as my entire body fell into a state of relaxation. It was little tiny stops like these, along with the ability to see my parents and relatives again, that took care of some of the bad things this trip had brought me. After all, not everyone could brag to their friends, "hey, I got taken to California, experimented on, given wings and new psychic powers, as did my friends, but we got some of the most invigorating and relaxing spa treatments from all over the United States, which kinda made up for the terrible parts," could they?

On second thought, I might be too afraid to even mention that…

Completely forgetting about everything, including the time, as we got all of our worries and cares soothingly, softly, and thoroughly rubbed out of nearly every inch of our bodies, the hour had soon gone by, and with a quick "thanks" to each of our masseuses, we re-robed, and made our way back up to our suites. It took us each anywhere from five to ten minutes to slide back out of our bathrobes, once back in our respective suites, and into the clothes we were going to wear for the day, and once our shoes were back on, Jeb came back in, and helped each of us pack our belongings into the van. It only took us a half-hour to get through that and get our card keys returned to the lobby.

Thankfully, last night's battle came without any damage to the hotel itself. To Jeremie, Aelita, Hunter, Nudge, and Fang's credit, they kept away from any expensive vase or breakable mirror. The maintenance crew had cleaned up the blood on the parking lot, so not to freak out other patrons. When we went out and got into the van, it looked almost as though we had never battled any whitecoats and Erasers at all, which surprised me. I mean, I know how blood can stain things, but… wow. They must've had a lot of Coca Cola or peroxide.

With a quick glance in that direction, and all of our belongings loaded into the van's seemingly immaculate back end, we boarded the vehicle, buckled up, and Georgina started the engine. Pulling out of the hotel's parking lot, soon we were back on the main road, and heading toward another highway on-ramp, only this one was farther away from the last one, just in case the whitecoats and Erasers had one extra trick up their sleeves, despite their efforts to "regroup."

Thankfully, the ride was completely calm as we got onto the highway. However, things did get interesting after that, and not because of any of those cretins or crazy things I just mentioned.

We had been driving along on the highway, some of us looking out the window, watching Max and the others provide aerial protection, while Odd played a losing game of I Spy against Jeremie (I tried to warn him against it, but he insisted at his own "peril"), becoming almost an exercise in futility. It was at this time that I started to get excited about where we were soon going to be headed.

"I can't wait to be in North Platte. It's been ages since I've been there," I smiled, feeling totally exhilarated. "I'm so excited I could sing!"

And in fact, I did kinda feel like singing. Only… that's not what happened.

When I opened my mouth to sing The Only Difference between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage (seriously, Panic!? You couldn't resist?), instead of Brendan Urie's unique vocals exiting my mouth, something a bit farther… eastern came out, instead. Something that didn't even sound like an exchanging of words. In fact, I sounded more like I belonged in a Ricola commercial.

"Wow, Cat Girl," Odd quirked, as I started yodeling. "I didn't know you were part Swiss."

I-I'm not… my thoughts wavered, before I opened my mouth.

"Breaking news," I said, although the voice that came out was not my own; it was Olivia Descartes, the France 24 news reporter, from before. "We have an update on the kidnapped teens and their dog. Reports have recently surfaced that the thirteen are, in fact, alive and well. They had escaped from a facility in Death Valley, California in the United States, and are making their way toward a sea port in Baltimore, Maryland, where they hope to return to France."

"Hey," Jeremie began, quite surprised by both my strange style of singing, and the voice that he had heard, previously. "That's Olivia."

"The parents and relatives of the thirteen abductees reported to France 24 that they had received phone calls from each, only six days after they had been reported missing," Olivia's voice continued to waft from my mouth, as I tried closing it, making my own noises, and even mouthing other things entirely; nothing seemed to stop Ms. Descartes from talking. "However, we just received word from our North American affiliate, NBC News, that they had to fight their way out of a precarious situation in Denver."

Jeb raised his eyebrows, both surprised and impressed by the report. "Well I'll be… Word travels fast…"

As it continued, I made some motions to Odd, +This is so weird… I want it to stop…but I'm stuck!+

But if having an older woman's voice uncontrollably coming from my mouth was weird, imagine how weird I felt when Hiroki's voice suddenly started talking. It was as though I had suddenly grown younger and somehow was born the opposite gender than what I was currently. "My sister's such a cool fighter. I bet she probably showed those white jacketed guys a few moves from Ultimate Blaster. And she's got her boyfriend Ulrich with her, so she can't possibly lose! I'll bet they probably kissed after they won, too!"

"Hiroki!" Yumi's face slowly started to turn red, both out of anger and embarrassment, as she listened to her little brother; thankfully, he was cut off, just as he started to make kissing noises.

Shirley… could you make this stop any time soon?! This is so embarrassing… I tried to ask in my mind, keeping my shields up.

But that was far from the end. Next, however, a more familiar voice left my lips, this one from a well-known, and somewhat well-respected, science teacher.

"Of course, they had to go and capture three of my brightest students!" It was Mrs. Hertz, and at first, she didn't seem so happy. "But they should realize they're wasting their time. With their respective mental capacities, I'm sure Jeremie, Aelita, and Cassidy can out-plot anything those scoundrels have up their sleeves!"

My defenses lowered. Uh… we tried to…

She has no idea what any of us are going through, I heard Jeremie's thoughts echo in my mind, as he glanced over at me with a calm look on his face. She can only imagine, and she probably won't have an accurate picture.

The voice coming from my mouth switched back to Ms. Descartes', but only briefly. "Upon hearing of their safety and good fortune, Jean-Pierre Delmas had this to say."

"It warms my heart to hear that the children, especially my daughter, and daughter by proxy, are alive and well," Mr. Delmas' voice wafted from the gap between my lips, almost as if I was an incredibly good ventriloquist, matching wits with the likes of Jeff Dunham or the Gasman outside. "When I received that cell phone call from my darling Elisabeth, followed by one from Cassidy, I was overjoyed to hear of their safety."

"Daddy! It's 'Sissi!' I hate being called 'Elisabeth!'" Sister protested.

However, Dad wasn't finished. "Word does happen to travel fast, however, and the entire school knows of their escapades. We all wish them the safest of trips, and hope to see their triumphant return to Paris, within a month."

"I know if I was up against those dunderheads," Jim's voice was the next one to burst from my mouth, almost surprising me, "I'd give them exactly what for! It'd be just like that time I fought with the Secret Services, against the Blue Flag Army! Ah… they didn't know what was coming to them, either… but I'd rather not talk about it."

Everybody else burst out laughing, when they heard Jim's "trademark line." Even Hunter, who had never heard him say that firsthand, found himself giggling up a storm, along with the others. It was good to know that Jim was still okay, and still his funny, ridiculous self. I only wished I could laugh right along with them, but the price of playing long-distance radio tends to strip you of your ability to do anything else.

Then came a voice I almost wasn't expecting, but it put a smile on Odd's face, as well as the others.

"We'll all be waiting for you guys, when you get back here." It was Rosa. "I've got a big, loving spoonful of spaghetti, mashed potatoes, French Fries, meatballs, and gravy just for you, Odd. And Cassidy, too. I've got lots of good food for all thirteen of you. Even you, Mr. Hunter Moebius! When you start coming here, I'm gonna treat you to the best cuisine Kadic Academy has to offer!"

"Yeah!" Odd raised his fist into the air, excitedly. "I can't wait to get back to Kadic, now! All the meatballs and gravy I can eat! Mmmmmm!"

"Save me a plate," Kiwi chipped in.

"The various families have chimed in about their excitement to learn the safety and wellbeing of their children," Olivia's voice returned, "and say that they are eager to keep tabs on their progress, as they make their way toward a seaport in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Eastern coast of the United States. From there, France 24 has learned that they will be boarding a cruise liner, which will take them the rest of the way back to the French mainland. However, all of this will take the better portion of a month, but we have heard that the twelve, and their dog, are well cared for as they make their journey. We'll keep you up-to-date with more on this story as it develops."

Finally, whatever in me that was making me imitate Kadic's faculty lost the signal, as I leaned forward slightly, before pulling myself back up. I couldn't begin to tell you how crazy that was.

I started to tremble with exhaustion, hugging myself as though I was cold. Heat rose to my cheeks. "Ugh… that was way wackier than wacky neighbors doing cosas locas—under a blue moon and with rocket powered roller skates attached to their elbows for no reason…"

"You can say that again, Cat Girl!" Odd agreed, as he started to laugh. "Not even elbow ollies would make it any more interesting than that!"

Of course, my dear sister wasn't in a laughing mood, and her arms soon found their way around my body, bringing me the heat I thought I needed, to stop my crazy shivering.

"Don't worry, dear sister," she cooed, snuggling me warmly. "Isn't it better to know our daddy is so excited for us? We'll get to see him again really soon!"

"I know that, Sister. And I'm glad for that, but the fact of a broadcast coming out of my mouth like that… I don't think I can even compare it to getting attacked by the Schyphozoa—and I had been attacked by that monster about five times, Yumi and William only once, and Aelita even more so!" I protested.

"Cassidy, having a news broadcast come out of your mouth is nowhere near getting picked up by the Schyphozoa," Aelita gently reminded me. "At least you get to keep your memories, and you don't have a chance of being possessed by XANA. Besides, I'm sure we can always change the channel."

"True, Aelita, but at the same time, I don't know what to compare it to. I don't even think Meat Loaf can make this situation into a song."

"Oh, I could see that," Sam chimed in, grinning. "He'd need something for the third Bat Out of Hell album, wouldn't he?"

"I think their track list is full," Ulrich quipped, chuckling.

"I'm sure he could always go for one more!" Odd added, laughing, hoping to raise my spirits. "He could even borrow from Billy Joel!"

He then began to sing his own version of Piano Man. "And the psychic's a yodeling radio, as she tries to vie for control…"

Of course, that only served to make my cheeks heat up more, as I gathered my knees to my chest. I knew they were trying to make me feel better, but you'd think they'd know me better than that; that was more humiliating than uplifting. Even Odd putting a picture and a video submission to Milly and Tamiya slowly got better with time.

Aelita looked over at me, with concern on her face. "You shouldn't let it bother you. You know they're just trying to make you feel better."

"I guess it could be a little funny, once it has been a few hours," I shrugged, slowly smiling. "And I thought Larry could try yodeling to make pets feel better. Or Jessie could try to rally her animal friends this way."

That made mi novio start laughing even harder, his high-pitched giggles turning into cackles. "You still got it, Cat Girl!"

"When have I ever lost it?" I quipped.

He laughed a bit more, before a deep breath brought him back down to Earth. "Well… there were these two times you made fun of Kiwi, but I won't hold them against you."

"Right. Not my best moments, I have to admit, but one of them was just to wake you up, Odd," I retorted, giggling.

"She's right," Kiwi yipped, hopping onto my lap. "You were laughing pretty hard, Odd, Master."

Now it was his turn to be offended, only he was pretending.

"Hey! Whose side are you on, my little diggity-dog?" Mi novio quipped with a voice of mock anger, folding his arms.

"I'm an impartial party, Odd, Master," he quipped, winking with one eye, as his tongue hung out of his mouth in a goofy fashion.

Odd's eyes widened at these words, pulling him out of his pretend anger altogether. "Wow! You sure weren't kidding, Cassidy… Even I didn't teach him that!"

"Makes you wonder if all the time he spent around Einstein rubbed off on him, huh?" Ulrich commented, grinning somewhat ambitiously at his original roommate.

"Well, he still hinted that something had happened at one point," I blinked, remembering what happened when Yumi, Odd, and I took Kiwi back to the dorms.

"You're right." With surprise in her voice, Yumi suddenly remembered the time I read Odd's diggity-dog's thoughts, that day Kiwi spent a day at her house. "You told me that Kiwi somehow remembered spending the day at my house once before, and how I didn't believe you at first…"

She then lowered her voice a bit, knowing how I felt about what she was going to mention. "Until later…"

"Yeah, that was my own brain," Kiwi explained the situation further. "At first, when I went through my motions as a regular canine, I thought I was doing what I would normally. It wasn't until Cassidy here started reading my mind that I felt that there was something strange around. Even when she and I fused, I started thinking about how it was possible, but then I began remembering a bright flash of light, bringing me back into Odd Master's bag as I ate a couple treats, and his hair was down.

"Then came the Big Quake!" he continued. "Everything started breaking around me. And then, suddenly, I was floating…"

"That was the monster," Jeremie explained, assuming the dog didn't know.

"I'm still gonna call it the Big Quake, Einstein," Kiwi raised a paw, as though raising a finger. "It was so unusual. Well, when I watched that movie… it started to click and make sense. I was repeating my actions as I had before, but with a few differences. Cassidy would hop in as soon as she sensed danger. When Sissi helped me so I could join her on that bed at the human vet's, I felt more secure. She's a Mother Wolf to me."

I grinned modestly, my wings ruffling, feeling my cheeks heat up again, bringing a slight reddish tint with them. "Uh… sure… we can go with that!"

Aelita couldn't help but giggle, both at how Kiwi praised me, and the way he described a doctor's office or hospital room. "'Mother Wolf?' I guess Odd will have to start calling you 'wolf girl' from now on!"

"That'll be a tough habit to break," I laughed. "He might mix nicknames, even."

While Sister, Aelita, and I were focusing on what Kiwi was talking about, his master had gotten lost back at the beginning of his diggity-dog's description, pleasantly surprised by the way he was talking.

"Wooow!" he exclaimed, grinning excitedly at the winged canine. "Either Einstein left his dictionary out where you could take a few bites, or you've been reading somebody's mind an awful lot, because I never taught you any of that! Faaaan-tastic!"

Then, he looked up at me, keeping his expression the same. "And look at you, Cat Girl! You're finally learning how to stay modest and humble! I knew one day my training would pay off!"

"I guess it is," I muttered, feeling as though the effect was only temporary.

Of course, a moment after I did that, I tried to stifle a yawn, afraid of giving the others the wrong idea, especially Odd. After all that talk of me suddenly conforming to his version of "humble", I didn't want him to think it was all a lie.

But Yumi's keen senses were onto me, like a lioness with her prey in her sights. "Are you okay, Cassidy?"

"Still really beat after we had that big battle. Makes me wish I built up my stamina in Jim's commando camp," I sighed, my mind slowing to a fatigued crawl.

"When you were sick like that?!" Ulrich could remember that day easily, and still thought Jim was out of his mind for demanding I come, anyway.

"I kinda meant after the boar attack, Samurai," I whispered, another yawn escaping my mouth.

"I don't understand what it is about Jim's commando camps that you two like, Jeremie and Cassidy," Hunter commented, looking a bit surprised. "I saw the first two he had you two go through, and… besides the fact that he was out of his mind for making you do it, with the way you were that day, if I wanted to be yelled at, and treated like dirt, no matter how hard I try, I'd join the Army."

"I don't know what came over him that day, either, Hunter," Aelita came in.

"It was foolish pride," Kiwi yipped. "He was excited Jeremie was going through agility training that he overlooked Cassidy's ill state. If it were me, I'd have called the human vet to help her."

"Well, I also think he was out of his damn mind," Kaitlyn exhumed, raising a furious fist. "He really should have excused her, Kiwi."

"No kidding!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Anyone could see she looked terrible!" Sam picked up, as if she was continuing Ulrich's sentence, yet with less tact than he had, as she stretched her arms out toward me. "If my old gym teacher told me to work, even though I felt like I was gonna pass out, I'd talk to the principal!"

"Well… Mr. Delmas ended up finding out anyway," Jeremie jumped in, thinking about what he had overheard from Milly and Tamiya not long after, "thanks to Yolanda. He wasn't too thrilled about how Jim just worked her, so he let him off with a warning. I don't know how he thought she was in tip-top shape, when she was riding around on one of Yolanda's cots after she went out cold for a while, anyway."

Kaitlyn, Hunter, Aelita, Ulrich, and Sam collectively breathed a sigh of relief at this, albeit at different times, rather than like one big chorus. Even Kiwi had his own unique way of showing how relieved he was, by panting a few times and yipping as he did before The School did what it did.

"Thanks, Einstein… I don't even want to know what we would do without you…" I yawned again.

"It's okay," Jeremie replied almost automatically, before he started to gain a bit of a blush. It was then that he noticed I wasn't exactly running on all four cylinders. "Hey Cassidy, don't you think that maybe you should take a nap? It's probably going to be a nice, quiet ride to North Platte, so you shouldn't need to stay on your guard the entire time. We can manage without you for a few hours."

I lowered my head onto Odd's lap. "Yeah… You're right."

A warm smile slowly snuck its way onto Odd's face as he began to softly and slowly rub my arms and sides. Aelita then grabbed the Twilight Sparkle blanket Hunter had gotten me for my belated birthday, and gently wrapped it around my body, her face finding Odd's grin contagious in the process. "There…"

"Nice one, Princess," mi novio praised.

"I'm so… glad to have friends… like you all…" I smiled, starting to trail off.

"Good night, Cat Girl," Odd cooed softly to me, which turned out to be the last thing I remember hearing, before sleep gently took hold of me.

It was a couple hours later, during which some of the others tried as many car games as they could think of, all without beating Jeremie, when I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, rubbing them. "Mm… Where are we?"

Around me, I could see Sister, Aelita, and Hunter had taken my lead and dozed off at some point after I did, their snoozing bodies decorating the adjacent seats as they slept peacefully, before my eyes focused on Jeremie.

He had a grin on his face as his eyes met mine. "We have some good news: As soon as we pass Julesburg, we're officially about to enter Nebraska!"

That made his smile doubly contagious, to the point where I thought the excitement would swallow me up. But I had to stay quiet; even though I wanted to show exactly what I thought of the direction we were taking, anything in the realm of an excited scream or shout was liable to wake Aelita, Sister, or Hunter, and possibly the dead.

So I whispered, putting as much happiness into my voice as I could, without getting too high-pitched. "Really?"

"Better believe it, Cat Girl!" Odd grinned, running his hand up and down my back, between my wings.

The blond genius turned his laptop's screen in my direction, so I could see where the map program it displayed was pointing to. "We're heading through Julesburg, right now. In about 16 miles, we will have officially crossed the Nebraska state line, inside Big Springs."

It took my eyes a few seconds to find the arrow representing the van on the screen, but when they did, and when they saw the path it was taking, they widened in amazement. "Oh, wow…"

And not long after, Aelita slowly sat up, resting her back up against the back of her chair, yawning a bit and rubbing her eyes.

Immediately, Jeremie looked over at her, as a warm smile took hold of the corners of his lips. "Did you sleep well, Princess?"

She nodded, a sweet smile gracing her lips. "I did. Better than I did when I woke up this morning, Jeremie."

"You probably needed more sleep," I noted, shrugging off the blanket and trying to fold it up.

However, as I brought my arms up to fold the blanket lengthwise, I didn't notice the blanket had gotten in the way and was soon reminded of this.

"Cassidy, don't block Georgina's rear view mirror, please," Ari turned around and warned me lightly. "She needs to see behind her."

"Sorry, Ari." Slightly embarrassed, I giggled sheepishly as I brought my arms down.

"It's okay," Georgina said, keeping her eyes on the road.

As I allowed myself to calm down and find another way to fold up my Twilight Sparkle blanket, Aelita turned around and looked out the window. "So, where are we now?"

"Close to the Colorado/Nebraska state line," I whispered excitedly, sucking in a breath as my squeals threatened to escape my throat.

Odd couldn't help but grin at this, knowing how I couldn't wait to see my grandparents again, and quiet chuckles soon poured from his mouth. Yet, while this seemed all fine and well at first, I could see him thinking about it over and over again in his mind, which only made his laughter get louder and louder, until he had forgotten that two of our friends were sleeping nearby.

Well, at least they were.

Hunter slowly sat up, running his fingers through his disheveled black hair as he balanced himself against the back of his chair. Not long after, Sister opened her eyes, looking a bit upset at first, but soon calming down, as she let out a calming, soothing yawn that Hunter almost found contagious.

"Odd…" The black-haired programmer groaned, moving his hands downward to rub his electric green eyes. "What happened this time?"

"Oh, the wonderful Cat Girl is slowly returning to her old self again!" mi novio sighed happily.

"That's good at least," he replied groggily, slowly trying to smile in reply. "So… how far have we gotten… now?"

"We're almost to Nebraska, Hunter!" I squealed, trying not to scream out loud, lest I startle Georgina into driving into a ditch.

While Hunter's eyes widened in surprise, both at that revelation and my excitement, Sister shot Odd an angry look, before turning toward me as it magically transformed into one of exhilaration—or at least as much as a half-asleep former snob could muster—upon realizing what I had said.

"H-how far away are we?!" Her groggy voice could only contain her own enthusiasm somewhat.

"We are about 14-15 miles to the state line," Jeremie answered for me, soon catching part of Sister's grin, himself.

"And the best part is, soon we'll all be in North Platte," Aelita and Sam chorused, both girls beaming with glee.

That did it. Just hearing how excited some of the others were, along with my own excitement, soon got to be too much for my body to handle. Before I could do anything, an overjoyed scream left my mouth, my arms shooting toward the roof of the van, as if I had won the lottery, and was able to give everyone $5 million, each.

Naturally, thanks to the terrible acoustics in the van, anyone who had free hands grabbed their ears as fast as they could, just in case another bomb of happiness within me decided to explode. However, they couldn't help but grin and giggle at how happy I was.

"Okay, who gave Cassidy caffeine this morning?" Ulrich deadpanned, grinning as though Odd had made a comment, saying Kiwi's eating habits were far superior to Nicholas's, already chuckling on the side.

While most of the van's occupants were quite surprised by my sudden scream, only one seemed to not be affected by it at all: Georgina. She kept her eyes firmly on the road, and the steering wheel in both of her hands, calmly steering the van down the highway without stopping to worry about what caused my outburst. It was probably because she knew nothing crazy had happened in the back; she didn't hear any of the doors open, so nobody could have gotten out, and the locks had been triple-checked since Jeremie was flung out, four states earlier, so she was incredibly certain I couldn't have screamed because any of the windows broke—she didn't hear that, either—or some whitecoats and Erasers had dropped in from a helicopter—there were no other bangs on the roof since we had passed into Denver, Colorado—so everything checked out in her mind, and she figured it had to be something positive, instead.

"Easy does it, kiddo," Jeb teased, chuckling as he turned in his seat. "You should save your excitement and ecstasy for your grandparents, don't you think?"

"True," I smiled, giggling sheepishly. "I guess I'm just happy to see them both, plus my parents, since it has been ages."

Yumi couldn't help but grin, as she started to get an idea. Her eyes slowly darted over toward Hippity, my green stuffed bunny Sam gave me as a belated birthday present, as her thoughts turned to her telekinesis ability. She had been caught subconsciously moving things in midair with it, without even realizing that's what she was doing, so it seemed as though she knew she could do it… but she hadn't yet tried consciously using it. And since my stuffed bunny was a good enough size, and my heart wouldn't break if she accidentally dropped it, it seemed like a good test.

A look of determination overtaking her face, she closed her eyes and placed her fingers to her temples, just like she would when she was on Lyoko. She focused her mind on Hippity, making a couple of us slightly curious, despite knowing the expression. It only took a couple of seconds, but soon my stuffed bunny began to rise from its spot on top of my suitcase, and slowly hovered over toward me. My eyes widened even farther as I saw Hippity look as though it was flying straight toward me, wobbling every so often, which led me to slowly stretch out my arms toward it, while keeping my eyes transfixed. A few seconds later, it slowly hovered into my hands, as Yumi slowly opened her eyes, looking almost as though she had gotten a headache from her little test. I, on the other hand, slowly turned my head toward her, my expression still looking as though a ghost had appeared in front of me.

As you might expect, I wasn't the only one who was shocked by what Yumi had just done.

"W-wait… d-did you just do that, Yumi?!" Hunter gasped, looking pale as a sheet.

I was quite freaked out by what Yumi had done as well, but at least Hunter could talk, albeit with a few stutters in places; I couldn't even do that. I opened my mouth to ask Yumi what she just did, and the only thing that came out was a small squeak.

And Jeremie only fared slightly better, a look of complete shock on his face, and fear in his voice. "Oh, wow…"

Yet, while Hunter, Einstein, and I were stewing around in our stunned amazement, Ulrich somehow found a reason to smile. "Great work, Yumi, kanojo."

"I didn't know if it would even work," Yumi lamented, mostly surprised that Hunter, Jeremie, and I took it the way we did, while feeling somewhat happy for herself, like Ulrich was.

"Oh, it so did, Yumi, darling," Sister grinned.

A few shakes later, attempts at regaining control of every single one of my senses, I finally stuttered out something that actually sounded like a comment. "Wait—whoa—huh?! That—Yumi…wow… Uh…"

She looked over at me, as the corners of her lips gently pulled themselves upward a tiny bit. "I didn't mean to scare you. I thought having Hippity would make you feel better."

I took a deep breath, finding some sense of normality. "Well, it more awestruck me than scared the pants off me. Holy cow… And I thought you saving Odd in the Mountain Sector when he almost took his first dip into the Digital Sea or the time you crushed William with a Desert Sector Replika pillar was amazing enough."

"But that was on Lyoko!" Odd commented, starting to look a bit excited as he stared at Yumi. "Are you sure we haven't been teleported?"

"Not likely, Odd. We're still in the United States," I deadpanned, hugging Hippity close.

"It has to be something about the way we got our bird wings," Yumi theorized, looking at Odd. "Think about it; we can all read each other's thoughts, something only Cassidy could do before the monster hit. Sissi can heal emotional wounds. Those whitecoats had to have done something more to us, than just give all of us bird DNA, Cassidy some of Aelita's DNA, and Kiwi some of Odd's DNA."

"I agree with you there, Yumi," I nodded. "But as to what before our out-of-body experience, even I am stumped. I mean, Max and her flock have had their powers since when they were born—and new abilities slowly sprouted over time—but with me, I make no sense at all. Save for a few instances of Deja vu-like dreams in America, I was not even born psychic. These powers just randomly came to me out of nowhere, the day I stood at Kadic's gates. One minute, I was human and nervous about my new school; the next, I ended up with these powers."

While I spoke, Jeremie began fighting with his tongue, which was twisted into knots, as something I said didn't really sit well with him. It took him up until a few seconds after I finished my sentence, that he was finally able to untangle his tongue, and rebuke me.

"What are you talking about?!" he shouted at me, flabbergasted. "How can you just sit there and tell us that you don't make any sense whatsoever?! Are you even listening to yourself?!"

"I don't know if you have noticed, Jeremie, but sometimes you all would look at me as though I grew a second head when I spoke in a random way. Even my almost-correct Southern accent would make Jim stare at me as though I said something in spy code and think 'Is there some sort of reply I should say to her?'" I shot back, keeping a cool tone.

"Okay, then!" Jeremie lowered his voice a few decibels, as his eyes locked with my own. "Name one time any of us questioned your speech patterns, your sanity, or your abilities."

"Ulrich gave me a weird look when I said that I was 'a-coming' to see Kiwi for the first time," I blinked. "As for my sanity, because of my powers, I tried to give you guys advice, but it ended up coming out completely different. I could feel Samurai's eyes upon me when I tried to tell him to stab his clone through the stomach. Abilities, I could name a few, but when I couldn't stop time for the second time, when Odd and I were kidnapped in place of him and Yumi, and I yelled everything I could, but nothing. Later on, Odd even commented on it, wondering why I couldn't get it right."

Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Aelita all stared at me, surprised I had kept mental notes of every single time a situation like that came up. They knew I had wrote down every single psychic vision I had ever had, but they didn't realize it extended to other things, as well.

It took Jeremie nearly half of a minute to find the words for any sort of reply or rebuttal.

"Okay…" He hesitated slightly as he spoke, partly wanting to tell me how right I was, but also afraid of what damage that could cause. "Maybe you're right about that… but I don't think you should sell yourself so short."

"But you agreed to what I said yourself, Einstein. I'm an enigma. Maybe that's why Julian Xao glared at me the first day I came through the gates," I sighed, defeated. "He could see that I was weird, and he didn't want anything to do with me. Maybe that's why Valerie moved out of my dorm after the fall break. She was my roommate, and she could somehow sense I wasn't like the other girls at Kadic."

"But sister, darling," Sister spoke sweetly and reassuringly, in an attempt to lift my spirits, "they just judged you! They didn't know anything! They were too stupid to try and get to know you! If Valerie, or even that stupid idiot Julian tried to get to know you first, they wouldn't think of you the way you think of you. Maybe Valerie had another reason for moving out? It might not have even had anything to do with you, or your powers! And how can people get to know you, just by looking at you? Even I was too stupid to see the real you, and I was stupid to everybody, even Nicholas and Hervé! But if any of us had gotten to know you, they probably wouldn't have thought badly of you, and if they did, then forget them!"

She then gestured in Hunter's direction. "And do you think Hunter would have come all the way to Paris from here, if he didn't want to be with any of us? You know what he thinks of your powers, and he thinks of all of us as his heroes! That includes you, sister dear!"

I looked up into her eyes. "Really?"

A grin slowly grew on Sister's face, as she returned my gaze, nodding.

"She's right," Aelita jumped in, bearing a warm smile as well. "And just think of all of the wonderful things you've done for us. How many times have your psychic powers helped us? You've saved Yumi on multiple occasions, you've helped me navigate through Kadic, you've helped Odd and Ulrich bring up their grades, you've also helped Jeremie write programs to help us fight against XANA, and you even sang with me at our Subdigitals concert. I'm sure all the times you've helped us far outweigh the times you think you messed up. You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself. And besides, I would never move out of our dorm room."

She added a slight giggle at the end, hoping it would encourage the same in me.

And while it didn't get me to giggle, I did smirk amusedly at it. "Well, Lyoko HQ would not be Lyoko HQ without you, Aelita. And you're right. I guess I still have some dark clouds that are too thick for me to beat away."

"All you need is some sunlight!" Odd piped up, grinning at me like someone paid him a hefty compliment. "And what better sunlight than Odd the Magnificent, ¿tu querido novio? If I'm not bright enough to blast those mean ol' dark clouds away, then I'm not trying hard enough! Just ask Ulrich!"

To this, his original roommate raised an eyebrow, caught off-guard. "Hey!"

So at this point, I'm sure it's probably obvious how my darling wildcard seems to know exactly what buttons to press, to make me laugh. And with that, along with Ulrich being utterly surprised by Odd's last comment, I immediately fell back into my seat, cackling like a crazy woman as I clutched my belly with both hands. I even started kicking my feet, as well.

"Well, Odd, you've done it again," Ulrich commented, his surprised expression turning into a grin as he looked at his good buddy.

"Definitely," Jeb agreed, chuckling a bit, himself.

"I think your parents would love to attend your wedding, Odd," Samurai continued, chuckling, "You both have the same sense of humor."

Hunter chuckled a bit, before running his fingers through his hair for a few seconds. "I don't think I could see Cassidy wearing a promise ring, or even a wedding ring, though. She rarely wears jewelry as it is."

"You're right, Hunter dear," Sister smiled. "She doesn't even have her ears pierced."

Sucking in a deep breath, I shook my head, causing my hair to fall over my ears as my cheeks started to heat up. "Uh…"

Yumi was the first to notice what could have been a possible overload, as she winced, slightly. "Why don't we talk about something else, instead? Cassidy isn't taking that too well."

Hoping to find another topic to quickly jump into, Jeremie looked at his laptop. His face brightened up as he got a good look at the map program's output. "Hey! We're so close to the state line, now, Cassidy!"

My eyes widened in surprise as he announced that, swerving my focus toward the genius of our large group. "Really?!"

He looked up from his laptop with a wide grin on his face. "Yes! In fact, we're just about to pass through into Nebraska! Five!"

"Four!" Kiwi piped up.

"Three!" Yumi shouted.

"Two!" Jeb came in next.

"One!" Ari jumped in.

"Zero!" Georgina announced, as the van passed a gigantic "Welcome to Nebraska, the Cornhusker State" sign. "We're now in Big Springs, Nebraska, Cassidy!"

Just from hearing those words, the excitement within me grew to yet another fever pitch, feeling like a bomb whose fuse had just about burned down to the explosive part, and a few seconds later, detonated. My eyes widened, my cheeks stretched out, and my heart began to race, as my voice reached a higher pitch, but not one that would risk hurting the others' eardrums, or making Kiwi go mad from hearing a pitch only he can hear. "This is so great!"

"I'll bet," Jeremie beamed. "You've been waiting a very long time to come back here one day."

"And I really hope this makes up for what happened a while ago, Cass," William chimed in, "even if the circumstances weren't ideal."

"It does, so much, William," I whispered, so unbelievably happy.

Aelita extended her arms toward me, smiling warmly. "Welcome to one of your homes, Cassidy."

I nearly leaped into my former first roommate's arms, almost knocking her backward, if her seatbelt hadn't kept her steady. "Oh, thank you, Aelita."

She couldn't help but giggle as she felt the tight hug I gave her. She knew how excited I was, but I don't think she really predicted the full extent of it.

Odd was even laughing, too, as he extended his arms in my direction, but more as a gesture, rather than an invitation for his own hug. "Now, there's the Cat Girl we all know and love, but I love her more!"

"And let's intend on keeping it that way, Odd, honey!" Sister grinned. "All warm smiles, from here on in! We'll all love that!"

Yumi nodded in agreement, finding she had also caught the smiling bug. "Mm-hmm!"

"And look at how happy we made her," Jeb beamed. "I wouldn't have expected any reaction less."

Nearby, Jeremie had watched my reaction to Aelita's hug invitation, and was quite surprised when my skeleton almost flew faster than my skin, but he was still quite happy for me, regardless of how excited I was. Even Ulrich was caught a bit off-guard by my actions, but it didn't make him any less ecstatic. The two boys merely grinned, showing some level of excitement, yet it wasn't as close as mine; Jeremie didn't even think his lips would stretch that far.

"Now that's how you make a thrill session," Sam commented with an excited grin and giggle, as she pointed at Aelita and me.

Over in his seat, Odd tried to fight back the slight blush that was overtaking his cheeks, at the mention of the words "thrill session," especially because of the memories they invoked. But this time, he had his own way of countering it.

"Yeah, and I like this kind of thrill session better!" he commented, grinning first at Sam, and then at Aelita and me.

"I hear you," Hunter agreed, looking as happy as the ones around him. "And after the way she's been feeling and acting, so do I."

"You can say that again, Hunter," Odd smiled. "I'm happy Cassidy's enjoying herself right now!"

As if I was oblivious to Odd, Hunter, and Sam talking about me, I kept my arms firmly around Aelita, hugging her warmly as the two of us giggled happily. It was several seconds after this that I broke our embrace and decided to focus on her elf, picking up Mister Pück and giving him a kiss out of excitement. This raised a few eyebrows in the back, mainly from William, Ulrich, Kaitlyn, and Patrick, but they just dismissed it not long after, chalking it up to my excitement for being back in one of my home states, and who I was going to see, by the time the day was over.

Of course, among the excitement for seeing North Platte again, there was also a bit of worry, well-hidden and well-disguised beneath all my cheers, giddy laughter and high-pitched screams. Yes, I would be seeing my grandparents again after a couple years… but then again, I'm not exactly the same girl they once knew. It was more than just what they probably saw from the monster; every single one of us had wings now, I had a strand of pink hair right in the front, that was only easy to miss if you actually tried to, and Kiwi could talk. Talking dogs were something you'd only see in movies and cartoons and read in books; they wouldn't expect to actually see one standing by their feet, looking up and asking them if it was supper time, and that did worry me to an extent. Despite the fact that nearly everyone we had met seemed to turn a blind eye to these feathered things sticking out of my and everyone's backs, two of the people that mattered most to me probably wouldn't… at least, not at first. They were loving—I mean, they were my grandparents, for crying out loud—but what would their oldest granddaughter suddenly growing a lovely pair of wings make them think?

Maybe I was worrying too much, like Hunter would every now and then, and having quite a tendency to see every worst-case scenario possible. But I wouldn't really know for sure, until I knocked on their front door, and one, or both of them opened it. Hopefully they didn't find me in a puddle on the front walk from all of the fear.

Heck… would they even recognize me like this?