Notes: Hello friends! Guess what! We have a new chapter already! It's amazing, I know. We're almost done with the story now, Lily and I have determined there will be about two more chapters, plus the epilogues. Thanks for sticking with us! Enjoy :)

Kai POV

I barely leave the pond for three days. Newt comes by here and there to make sure I have food, but he seems to be very distracted, rushing back and forth to care for his creatures, before leaving the suitcase again. He hasn't told me much, only that we're travelling again. Looking for something, probably another creature. I hear him mutter to himself occasionally, something about obtuses, or obscures, or obstacles? Something like that.

He won't tell me what it is, or where we're going, only that he might need my help. I suppose that means we aren't going to America just yet. A part of me is relieved, though I don't know exactly why. Still, it is a testament to how broken our friendship is that he refuses to tell me anything.

I'm swimming around in circles, nursing my irritation at Newt for keeping me in the dark, when all of a sudden, he comes rushing over to my pond, almost falling in when he stumbles to a stop.

"Kai! Need you to come with me!" He pants, his hair a wild mess and his face flushed with exertion.

"What's going on?! Newt, what's happening?" I ask, alarmed.

"Just! No time! Come on!" He urges, and rushes back to the workshop. I curse and clamber out of the water after him.

"Newt! Wait!" I struggle to get out of the water, and glare at his receding back. "Newt!"

"Oh! Sorry!" He turns around and runs back over to help me. I roll my eyes.

"What. Is. Happening?" I demand.

"I told you! It's an Obscurus!" Newt says, looking very distressed. I sigh and grab on to his arm to make him calm down for a moment.

"Newt, you didn't explain anything. I don't know where we are, or what we are doing. And what the hell is an Obscurus?" I ask, with rather admirable patience.

"I—I thought I told you?" Newt looks genuinely surprised. "Or maybe that was niffler…" He mutters.

"Newt. Explain, please."

"Oh, right. We're in Sudan. Before I left, Clarisse gave me a note she received from a friend of hers. It said there's an Obscurus somewhere in this village that's been killing people, and she asked me to help."

"Can you? What's an Obscurus? Is it a creature?" I ask.

"No, it is something much more dangerous than any creature I have ever come across. See, before wizards went underground, when they were still hunted by muggles, young witches and wizards sometimes suppressed their magic to avoid persecution. Instead of learning to control their powers, they developed what's called an Obscurus. It's a powerful, uncontrollable dark force that busts out and attacks, and then vanishes."

"That's awful. How do you get rid of them?" I ask.

"You can't." Newt says quietly. "Obscurus' only develop in young children. It eats away at their life force, and it doesn't stop until the host dies."

"How long can they survive?" I ask, gravely.

"There's never been a documented case of one living past the age of ten." He says, and I can see him blink back tears. Those poor children, how could something so horrible happen to them? They don't deserve that. I reach out to comfort him, but then think better of it and retract my hand.

"So, what's happened?" I ask.

"The Obscurus has started attacking again, but I don't know what child is causing it. I need your help Kai, before someone else dies." He says, and I nod.

"I will do whatever I can to save that child." I tell him. Newt takes a deep breath and stands up, offering me a hand. Together we leave the suitcase, to save yet another innocent creature from harm.

When we make it out of the case, the first thing we hear is children crying as their parents try to comfort them. The village is in shambles, roofs torn off huts, trees collapsed, with their branches scattered across the ground, and clouds of dust thick in the air. Newt starts looking around, presumably for any children that seem to be showing signs of an Obscurus.

As he's investigating, I notice movement behind one of the destroyed huts. I cautiously make my way over, and there, hidden behind the destroyed home is a little girl with a sinister black dust swarming around her. I slowly crouch down beside her.

"Hello." I say, as calmly as I can. I suspect this girl is the one we are looking for, and when she looks up at me with swirling black eyes, I'm certain. I smile gently, hoping to ease her fear. I need to let Newt know, but I also don't want to startle her and make her run away, or worse, have her attack again. I know just the thing. I inhale deeply and start to sing. It's a familiar lullaby, though I couldn't say why it seems so familiar to me.

The girl watches me warily, but she doesn't run. As I sing, the dust around her seems to settle, and her eyes shift to a more human-looking dark brown. I don't stop singing, even when Newt comes to crouch beside me. The girl's eyes flicker to him briefly, then return to me. I tense up slightly when I feel his eyes on me as well, but I ignore it, focusing only on the melody.

Eventually, my song comes to an end, and the little girl is calm, slowly inching closer to me. I hold out my hands for her, and she immediately climbs into my lap. I pat her head, and look over at Newt. He is watching me with wonder, but also a bit of pride.

"What should we do?" I ask Newt quietly.

"Let's take her to the case, for now." He says, and I agree. I stand up, making sure to not disturb the girl in my arms as I do so. She flinches once, but then settles back down with a sigh. We walk back to where his suitcase is, careful not draw attention from the locals, though they are too busy trying to repair the damage to their village to notice us.

"I will go in first, and then you can hand her down to me if she allows it," Newt says, opening his case.

"Okay, but if she doesn't want to leave me, I can get her down the ladder myself."

Newt steps into the case, and I cautiously hand him the girl, giving her a reassuring smile as I do so. She doesn't seem to object when Newt carries her down, but she still turns her head to make sure I don't leave her field of view. As soon as I am on the ground, she reaches for me and I take her hand. Newt grabs a blanket off his bed, and wraps it around her.

"Newt, is there a way for us to be able to understand each other?" I ask him, and he nods.

"There is a spell that can translate what we say to her," He says, and then mutters the spell, moving his wand in an 's' shape as he does. The girl watches him with interest, then turns to me.

"Hello darling," I say, and her eyes widen.

"You speak like me!" she says, surprised, but excited.

"Yes. I'm Kai. What's your name?" I ask her.

"Saja." She tells me, with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, Saja. Oh, and this is Newt." I say, gesturing to the wizard hovering over us anxiously. Saja eyes Newt warily, but she doesn't run away or freak out, so I count it as a win.

'Would you like to look around?" I ask her, and she nods. I lead her out of the workshop and into the rest of the suitcase, where Newt's various creatures are roaming around. I'm a bit apprehensive about showing her the creatures, but for some reason I think she needs to see them.

Newt follows us closely, though he doesn't try to stop us, so I imagine he doesn't think the creatures will hurt her. Or vice versa. And indeed, as soon as we step into the habitats, Saja's eyes grow wide with wonder. She doesn't look scared or upset as she watches the graphorns run by, leaving trails of dust in their wake.

"What are they?" She asks me.

"Those are graphorns." I reply.

"What are those?" She asks, pointing to the moon calves, bouncing around happily on their grassy hill.

"Those are moon calves." I say.

"What are those?" She asks, now pointing at a bright pink colored owl creature. I frown, because I don't remember what those are called, and look to Newt for guidance.

"That's a fwooper." He supplies, helpfully.

"It's pink!" Saja giggles with delight.

"Yes, yes, it is." I laugh.

"What's that?" She asks again, pointing to the nundu as it roars and puffs up its spiky mane. I smile and tell her, and we wander around the suitcase, introducing her to all the creatures. She loves niffler especially, and he seems to like her too. He even hands her a small gold coin. I've never seen niffler willing part with any of his treasure before, and judging by his stunned expression, I don't think Newt has either.

"Thank you!" She exclaims, and shows Newt and I the coin. I smile at her, and lean down to kiss the top of her head. I don't know why, but it feels right.

"You should feel very proud, niffler never shares his coins. That must mean he really likes you," I tell her, and she beams and hugs niffler tightly. Niffler looks very pleased with himself and pats her arm.

"Newt, why don't you show her Pickett." I say to him, and he snaps out of his shocked state.

"Oh! Right, right." He carefully takes Pickett out of his pocket.

"Saja, this is Pickett. He's a bowtruckle," Pickett looks up at the new human curiously, then waves. Saja smiles shyly back, and tentatively pats his head.

"He's really nice." She says. From his house niffler huffs, making Saja look at him as he tries to show off his treasures, while Pickett is looking oddly smug. Newt stares at them bewilderment, and I can't help myself; I burst out laughing at him and the whole exchange that just happened.

"Looks like the creatures have a new favorite." I tell Newt with a grin, and he nods.

"Ungrateful animals. I'm the one who raised them!" Newt says, crossing his arms indignantly. I roll my eyes and nudge him playfully with my elbow.

"Jealous?" I ask.

"No." Newt pouts.

"What lives there?" Saja asks suddenly, pointing at my pond. I glance uneasily at Newt, silently asking if I should tell the truth, but he looks back at me impassively, allowing me to decide. I bite the inside of my cheek, secretly pleased he trusts me enough to make the choice.

"I do." I say, glancing down at Saja, who seems understandably confused. I coax her over to the edge of the pond, and then I slide into the water. Within seconds my tail is back, stretched out behind me, the dark blue scales reflecting the light.

"Ooooh." Saja says, watching my tail with fascination. "Mermaid."

"Sort of." I nod, incredibly happy she didn't scream and run away.

"Can I touch?" She asks, gesturing to my scales. I nod and move my tail closer. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt at all." I reassure her. Newt sits down next to her as she traces the pattern of my scales.

"Are you magic?" She asks quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Yes." I say. "So is Newt."

Saja looks over at him, and he nods in conformation.

"Me too." She admits, so quietly I almost don't hear her. I reach over and take her hand.

"Then you'll fit right in here. All these creatures? They're magic too." I explain, and Saja watches me with her large brown eyes.

"I can stay?" She asks. I turn to Newt, who doesn't even hesitate.

"Yes, Saja. You can stay."

Saja glances at us both, and starts to cry. Newt looks at me, at a loss for what to do, but I just pull her into my arms and hum.

"W-what's wrong?" Newt asks Saja but she's still sniffling.

"She's happy Newt, nothing is wrong." I tell him, and he calms down. He smiles sheepishly at me, and gently strokes Saja's head.

"I'm sorry, I am not good with people." He explains, and she just giggles.

"That's okay. I'm not good with people too," She says, and my heart melts a little. Newt beams at her.

"Then I suppose we can learn together." He says. Saja nods happily. I tighten my arms around her for a second, then reluctantly letting her go when I notice how dark the artificial sky in the case has become.

"It's almost nighttime." I point out, and Newt glances up in surprise.

"Oh dear. I should go make sure the village is alright, and let the other wizards know we found the…" He cuts himself off and his eyes flicker momentarily to Saja, "I'll be right back."

"Okay. Where should Saja sleep for tonight?" I ask him.

"Oh! Good point. Um. She can sleep on the cot I have in the workshop for now." Newt suggests.

"Okay." I turn to Saja. "Goodnight, darling. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

Saja shakes her head and lies down on the grass, resting her head on her folded hands.

"I'll stay here. It's comfortable." She says, and closes her eyes. I look at Newt who just shrugs.

"Alright." I say.

"Yes, well. Goodnight then girls, sleep well." Newt says. I give him a tiny smile, and Saja waves as he leaves.

The light in the case fades, and I float on my back through the water, glancing over at Saja occasionally to make sure she's still okay.

At some point Newt returns, and I watch him make his usual rounds, feeding the creatures. He wanders back over to the pond, but I don't want to talk, so I stay at the far side as he kneels to check on Saja. He lays a gentle hand on her head and strokes her hair for a few seconds. He looks like himself again, at the moment. Like the kind, gentle Newt from when I first met him, and so unlike the cold, angry Newt who had refused to look me in the eye while he told me I was a monster. Then he's standing up again, retreating back to his workshop, and I know I can't leave him alone. I can't go back to Hawaii, and I'm not sure I want to anymore.