As Scipio pulled out a package of food, Acey figured it was time to leave.

The day had gone by in a blur, but everything was fun. They had stayed at the Stella, talking, laughing and just having fun like normal friends do. She had learned the Prosper had taken Bo away from his aunt; the aunt that only wanted the cute, little child. Of course, Bo was more than happy to leave the life with his aunt and go with his brother. Scipio, or, The Thief Lord, escaped the orphanage when he was little and came to Venice, the city of magic. Naturally, the others were all orphans, too.

"I suppose I should be going," she said sadly, wondering if she'd ever see them again. "The Hotel is quite a walk away."

"So you can't stay?" asked Bo sadly, looking up at her.

"Well..." she said, her mouth turning up into a smile. "I guess I could stay... If it's alright with everyone else..."

"Yes!" said Hornet, "Scip, couldn't she stay? It's nice to have another girl around..."

"Well, I suppose she can stay," he said thoughtfully, looking over at Acey. "On one condition."

"What is it?" asked Acey, as she leaned forward curiously.

"You have to help out around here. You know, help clean, help shop, help steal..."

"Alrigh- Wait. Steal? I can't do that! You're the Thief Lord, isn't that your job?"

"Well, I'm going to be out of town for a while, and you guys do need the money," he said simply, shrugging.

"Y-you're going?" Acey inquired. She didn't want him to go anywhere. For one thing, she wasn't even positive how she felt about him.

"Yeah, I have... Uh... business to work on," he explained, just a little bit nervously.

"Yeah! Scip always goes 'way to steal stuff!" said Bo enthusiastically. "But he comes back with loads of stuff!"

"It's true," said Mosca, nodding. "And that's how we get by."

"Wow. I've read about this kind of stuff, but never really seen it," she said, scribbling something down on her notepad. She was on the third or fourth page now. "Yeah, I know, I'm a nerd."

"Yes, yes you are," agreed Scipio, laughing. If anyone else had of said it, she would have been insulted. But when Scipio said it... She just blushed and took it as a compliment.

"So, where do we sleep, anyway?" she asked, changing the subject.

"On these mattresses," said Prosper, motioning to the mattresses scattered about the room.

"Scipio stole 'em for us," explained Riccio, grabbing some fruit from the food Scipio had got.

"There's extras over here," said Hornet as she took Acey over to get one.

"Have you seen the way she looks at you?" Riccio whispered to Scipio while the two girls were away.

"What about it?" Scipio replied, looking at Riccio curiously. "I haven't noticed anything."

"Yeah! Scip, she looks at you funny!" agreed Bo, nibbling a piece of bread.

Scipio nodded, but there was a far away look in his eye as he watched Acey and Hornet.