All right, a new update. Reviews please?

-X-X-X-

Fortune Cookies

-X-X-X-

I think he likes you.

Nemo ignored Emile. She was thinking.

"How am I going to get my stuff back from the asylum?"

Why would it matter? The only clothes they took from you were the ones you wore the day you came in. And, I hope you don't mind my saying, but you've grown quite a bit since you were eleven.

Nemo frowned. "I was twelve."

Really now? Time flies. Well, as I was saying, those clothes would be far too small for you. Do you even remember what you were wearing the day you went in?

"A green starched blouse with a knee length black skirt and flip flops." She looked to the ground. "There was a ribbon in my hair. A green one."

You want that ragdoll back too, Emile said softly. There was sympathy in his voice.

"My mother made that doll for me." She smiled. "I remember that you showed up the moment after they took her away from me."

Ask Johnny to get your things back for you.

"What?" Nemo's face contorted into a puzzled look. "What makes you think he'd want to do that? I barely know him!"

As I've already established, I think he may have taken a liking to you. And I know he'll be able to get them back without any trouble.

"Why do you think that?"

Because I am all-knowing, my dear. The reason I am here is to tell you things that God so unfortunately happened not to be there for. I know more about this Johnny fellow than you do.

"Then tell me why you think he'll be able to get my things back for me."

Now now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm not the sort of person who goes blathering on about other people like some major gossip link. You should know that about me by now.

Nemo stared straight ahead at the ground, her eyes unblinking. She was thinking hard. "Then at least tell me one thing."

What, dear?

Her breathing stopped for a second, and whether she was aware of it or not was a mystery. "Is Trevor going to find me?"

She heard Emile sigh. That is something I cannot tell you, love. I may be all-knowing, but I'm not telepathic. But I have a feeling that if you stay with Johnny, he won't ever touch you again.

"I want to be alone."

Emile paused. You know what will happen if I leave. They'll just come right back.

"I'll just have to take my chances, Emile. In the asylum, did you ever notice that I wasn't ever given the chance to mourn my family? I'm finally free of that horrible place and I realized that I can't go back to what I had. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm not twelve years old. My mother, my father, and my sister are dead. My house isn't mine anymore. All of my belongings, all the things in my room, all the things that brought me joy aren't mine anymore. I'm not Tuesday Nikols, daughter of Jayne and William Nikols. Not sister of Lydia Nikols. Those people don't exist anymore. I don't exist anymore.

"I'm just Nemo."

-X-X-X-

Nny returned to his house with a plastic bag in his hand and raindrops in his eyes. It had been raining for the past two days and it was starting to piss him off. There was blood on his shirt which he kept hidden underneath his coat. Moonlight poured through the exposed cracks through the boarded-up window and onto the floorboards of the house.

Johnny walked into his small kitchen, setting the bag on a nearby counter. He'd come to find out that Nemo's sleeping schedule was somewhat nocturnal. She slept through most of the day and did not go to sleep until the sun came up. Why, he had no idea. But she was no longer on the couch as she had been when he'd left.

He looked for her around the nearly barren living room, figuring there weren't very many places she could be hiding. Why would she have been hiding anyway? The door to the basement was locked, as was the front door when he'd left. The thing behind the wall had disappeared when he'd come back from hell. There was nothing that could scare her into hiding.

It was when he was looking through the cupboards that he head soft sounds coming from the bathroom. Nny smiled, figuring he had found her. "Nemo?" he called, making his way toward the quiet sounds. He got no answer. Thinking something might have been wrong, Johnny swung open the bathroom door. Nemo was huddled up in the far corner, curled up against the wall. She clutched her head and shook. Johnny stood there, waiting for her to say something to acknowledge his presence.

"Shut up!" she cried, "Just SHUT UP!"

She began to sob. Nny tilted his head to the side. "Nemo?"

"You're lying! I know you are! You're just trying to get to me like you always do! Shut up, you fucking bitch, because I'm not listening anymore!"

Johnny stepped back, unsure of what to do. She didn't seem to be talking to him. He doubted she even knew he was there. "Nemo, who are you talking to?" he asked, raising his voice a little.

The girl cringed at the sound of his voice, snapping her head up to look at him. Her shivering still hadn't stopped. Tearstains lined her cheeks, shining in the light. "She… she won't leave me alone."

Nny stepped down to her height. "Who?" he asked quietly.

"Kitty…" Nemo's voice trembled slightly.

"Who's Kitty?"

"She hates me." Nemo wiped at her eyes. "She's not like Emile. She always tells me bad things, tries to make me feel bad. She thinks it's funny when I cry."

"This… Kitty person," Johnny said. "She's not real, is she?"

"She's real to me." Nemo sniffed. "She's gone now. Emile's back."

"Good." Nny sighed, sifting a hand through his hair. "What did she say to you? It must have been nasty to make you cry like that."

"She said…" Nemo murmured, "She said that you would hurt me. Just like… him."

"What?" Nny got down on all fours in front of her. "Nemo, who hurt you? What did they do to you?" He felt a wave of fear pass through his chest, something unfamiliar to him. Why was he so concerned? The sight of someone crying had never made him feel like this.

Nemo couldn't respond. Her body racked with sobs at just the sheer memory of something Johnny didn't know about. Nny gave up on his question, figuring that he would get no answer out of her.

"Nny, can I ask you something?" Nemo whispered.

Nny's eyes returned to her face. "Sure."

"You wouldn't hurt me… would you?" She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes.

"I…" Jonny paused. "I wouldn't… try to. If I did, I wouldn't mean to, I guess."

He gave a relieved sigh when a smile found its way to Nemo's lips. Before Nny could stop her, she leaned forward and hugged his neck. Johnny twitched, flinching at the physical contact. It was all he could do to stop himself from yelling out and pulling away from her grasp. The last thing he needed was for her to start crying again. He tried to relax and get used to having another human being this close to him. There was a pleasant scent in the air… Was that peppermint? Hmm, Nemo smelled like peppermint.

"Thank you," she murmured. "I really needed to hear that." When she pulled away, Nny was sad to find out that she took the peppermint smell with her. He looked into her beaming face, tearstains and red eyes forgotten.

"Um," he stammered, "I brought food." Nny felt angry at himself. That was some genius statement.

"You did?" Nemo asked. "What kind."

Nny stood up, waiting for her to do the same. He opened the bathroom door and walked out with Nemo behind him, towards the kitchen where the plastic bag resided on the counter. "Chinese. I… didn't really know what you liked. But, I figured that everyone likes rice, so I got you some of that."

Nemo accepted the little takeout box he handed her. She looked at it thoughtfully. "I like vegetable lo mien. And almond chicken. But I hate wontons and egg rolls."

"I'll remember that."

The small meal was passed in silence. Nny finished his food and washed it down with the brainfreezy he'd picked up on the way back. When Nemo was done, only one third of her box was empty. She cracked open her fortune cookie, careful not to rip the little slip of paper that lay folded inside. She read it pensively.

"What does it say?" Johnny asked her.

"Good things come in time." She scoffed. "Like five years in an asylum isn't enough time."

Johnny shrugged. "Maybe the wait's only a little longer." He opened his.

"What does your say?"

He ran his eyes over it again. "Patience is a virtue."

Nemo snickered. "How ironic."

-X-X-X-

Mmkay, there you have it. It's now 12:30 in the morning, and I do not have the willpower to carry on. Reviews! Please and kiitos!