A/N: Wh00t! Another chapter.

Alright everyone, I'd like to apologize for taking so long.. I actually had well over 2000+ words for this chapter done over a month ago, but then college starting picking up and I haven't really been in the right frame of mind to finish the rest until recently.

I just want to clarify something else though before I let you all read the chapter, Akari really isn't very 'kick butt' in this story, especially not at this point, just opinionated and more than willing to stand up for herself if necessary. Also I apologize if Owen seems a little too interested at this point, he's a pain to write any other way because he's just too damn nice for his own good.. D: I'm having trouble balancing his nice guy attitude and how he's treating Akari, because at times it does appear that he's more interested in her right now than he really is.

This chapter was also supposed to be a LOT longer and with actual AkarixOwen interaction, but I had a change of plans. (Read my Authors Notes at the bottom for more info.)

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There was something to be said about waking up in the morning. Feeling the sun caress your face with the utmost care as it urged you to greet the new day, the echoing sounds of the birds as they chirping happily in all conceivable directions, the smell of the morning dew that had condensed upon the grass the night before, all of these things were a part of the accepted morning ritual for most living beings.. Akari was usually no exception, for she relished these usually insignificant details and had come to love each of them in their own unique way..

Today was different however, for rather than appreciating the warm sun as it danced across her face through the glass panels of the window next to her motley straw bed, she felt nothing but a budding sense of aggravation at it's intrusion into her tiny home. The sounds of the song birds, which she normally loved ever so much, were now little more than blaring sirens in her ears, breaking the small reprieve that the previous night's sleep had brought to her weary body.. Even the smell of the dew seemed to burn unpleasantly in her nostrils, as it too dragged her further and further from the dark void that she had mentally constructed for herself and coiled into the moment her head had hit the pillow the previous night.

Hoping to preserve the last remnants of the tranquility that she had so carefully crafted, Akari tried to shift her body slightly away from the emblazoned window. This attempt ultimately failed however as she came up woefully short when the pleading of her tired muscles and the weight upon her stomach would allow her to go no further..

'Great.. Just great…' She grounded out mentally, clenching her eyes tightly together to block out the persistent rays of the sun that seemed intent upon burning her retinas. Maybe if she could…

Wait…? A weight upon her stomach..? How was that possible..? Surely it wasn't her pillow? To put this to the test Akari tiredly groped around with one of her hands in the general direction of where her head was resting until it fell upon the object in question, still in the same place as it had been the night before. Ah, so it definitely wasn't her pillow then.. But what could it be? It had been years since Akari had slept with any stuffed toys, and she was sure she had relocated her dirt stained work clothing and satchels to the kitchen area, Hamilton had of course neglected to add a washing machine to her small home, for a good washing before stumbling into bed..

Groaning slightly in annoyance Akari finally cracked open her eyes to spy what it was that was bothering her so.. Mentally promising herself to inflict a large amount of pain upon the culprit, inanimate or not, as she did..

Of course, her agitation turned to a numbing sense of shock as Akari locked eyes with the rat from the night before. Said rat had apparently made itself quite comfortable on her stomach area, as it was curled into a tiny ball with it's tail looping around it's body securely. It's beady eyes steadily returning her gaze in an almost blasé fashion, as if it suddenly materializing in her home and then resting upon her stomach were the most normal actions in the world for it to take.

Akari allowed a startled yell slowly crawl it's way up her throat, but soon after felt it die before it could reach her parted lips. Great, apparently she was too tired to even scream right now.. Just peachy.. She didn't necessarily wish to make a fuss over the little creature's uncanny ability to materialize out of thin air, though it did give her a slight jolt, but it was slightly off putting that her body refused to partake in such a simple action.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing here…?" She slowly groaned out finally, wincing at just how scratchy her voice sounded to her ears as she regarded the rodent. She knew the rat couldn't answer her, let alone probably even understand what she was saying, but maybe it would leave her alone if it sensed the agitation in her voice…

The small creature simply let out a yawn before it began stretching it's body out fully with it's tail end up in the air before returning to it's previous position, clearly having no intention of humoring Akari at the moment. If the nice girl wanted something from it, she'd best just go back to sleep and wake it up again later.. Now back to dreaming about those delicious corn puffs he'd found that one time!

Akari felt her eye twitch slightly, which was quickly becoming a habit around the rat, and without another word deftly picked the rat up and brought it before her face in an attempt to garner it's full attention. Which of course, earned a squeal from the creature as it dug it's claws desperately into the fabric of her comforter to stay in it's once cozy little spot. It promptly let go of the fabric, though not without leaving several visible gashes in it's wake, not long after and let itself fall limp as both Akari and it regarded one another.

She just couldn't figure this little creature out! It wasn't acting anything like the rats she had handled at the various volunteer jobs she had had previously, and given her having been assigned to the snake enclosures for several months out of the year at the exotics shelter, she was pretty sure she'd be well versed in their behavior patterns. Oh don't give her that look, the rats were always humanely killed and well cared for, practically treated like royalty, even before they got fed to the snakes. No need to call PETA or do anything drastic..

Anyways..

For one, wild rats are generally afraid of people. The rest of this little guy's family seemed to fit the mold given how they reacted the day before.. And she seriously doubted that Chloe would have gone down into the 'basement of no return' as she had called it just to befriend one little rat and get it used to human company... The rat also didn't appear young enough to not have developed a fear of humans… So why was this little guy so completely unaffected by her presence to actually follow her home? Akari knew animals could sometimes develop a bond with someone if that person happened to rescue them from a dire situation, but all she did was lift a crate off of it's body.. It's not like she rescued the little guy from a rat poison infested mine field that was surrounded by dozens of pressure sensitive mouse traps or something equally ridiculous… It might have been the food she had given it, that thought had crossed her mind, but that still didn't explain why it ended up in her lap to be fed in the first place..

Letting out a heavy sigh Akari finally decided that it was way too early in the morning for such exhausting conundrums.. Best just to get dressed, eat what little food she had brought with her and what had been given to her by Ruth and Anissa before she left the Soufflé Farm, and make her way back to the blacksmith's for her next day of work.. Maybe she could sneak the little guy back to his old home when she got there..? It was worth a try.

"Might as well get some food for the both of us before you go back, eh? I hope you like corn puffs little guy, because that's all you're getting…" Akari mumbled as she slowly extracted herself from the tangle of covers and sheet, with the rat still in her hand. Of course, had she known how addicted the little guy apparently was to the little puffs of corn she probably would have just let the both of them go hungry for the day and left it at that.. However the excited squeaks that came from her little companion at the combination of the words 'corn' and 'puffs' now made it entirely impossible for her to change her mind.. Oh well.. How much could the little guy eat anyways?

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Apparently a lot..

Unfortunately Akari had underestimated the small creature's voracious appetite, and sadly her house had paid the price for her mistake.. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try and take that bag of corn puffs away from the rat.. It wasn't that she was trying to starve the poor thing, but you would think the rat would have been full after eating 2.6 bags of corn puffs in less than the space of ten minutes…. Apparently the rat didn't seem to agree, for the moment she tried to save the last two-fifths of the final bag the rat had decided to make a run for it, bag and all…

Now her home would probably be classified as an official disaster zone by anyone else that happened to have the misfortune to come across it at the moment.. The drapes were falling off their railings, the chairs and tool box had fallen to their sides on the floor, the sheets from her bed had somehow ended up half way across the room, corn puffs and random pieces of clothing from her overnight bag littered nearly every conceivable inch of the flooring, and the ceiling was now covered in layer upon layer of little muddy paw prints.. Akari didn't even want nor know how to explain how the last one had happened…

Needless to say, the entire interior of her quaint little abode was in complete disarray.. And with no time left to clean it before the Blacksmith's shop opened, Akari was forced to leave it that way until she returned later in the evening. Heck, she barely even had enough time to change into one of her spare pair of jeans and tank tops before she left.. It was honestly one of those times when Akari was truly grateful towards her mother for always nagging her about bringing a couple spare changes of clothing whenever she went somewhere abroad..

And it was all because of the tiny little creature that was currently happily hanging out on Chloe's mop of bright red hair at the moment..

Oh? Did Akari forget to mention that in addition to not being able to put the rat back into the basement where it came from when she arrived at work earlier, she had also been caught in the act by a very enthusiastic Chloe who now seemed incredibly intent on convincing her to keep the little guy..?

Yeah, just what she needed after the hellish morning that she just experienced.. An overly hyper nine year old attempting to harass her for hours on end into keeping the little creature with a bottomless appetite; all while Akari was trying to painstakingly reorganize their storage system as per Ramsey's newest request… She only knew the man for two days, this one included, and she swore he was starting to sadistically enjoy delegating all the harder tasks around the shop for her to do..

Someone, or something, up there must really be out to get her…

"So Akari! What are you going to name him? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Chloe nearly shouted out happily, breaking Akari out of her reverie.. "Come on, you gotta name him something! What do you think about the name Fred? Pete? Cole? Pick something already! :D" (A/N: And yes, that smilie face was completely necessary. xD)

Dear god, or was it goddess? Did this child ever calm down..? Don't get her wrong, Chloe was slowly but surely worming herself into Akari's heart with her cheerful attitude and outlook on life, but Akari was seriously wondering where she got all that energy from.. Did she somehow manage to dump several cups of raw sugar into her bowl of cereal in the morning behind Ramsey's back? Akari just couldn't imagine that the old man would willingly make or abide by the kid this being this energetic if the locked spice cabinets she saw earlier were any indication.. Or was she just naturally this bubbly?

"Akari!" Chloe's impatient, yet still strangely cheerful, voice once again broke Akari out of her rather annoyed musings.

"Sorry Chloe, but I'd rather not give it a name.." Akari said with a sigh as she stopped what she was currently doing to rub her now aching temples.. Where did Ramsey keep the aspirin in this place…? Besides, to name an animal was the first step in becoming attached to it and the last thing Akari wanted right now was to become attached to that corn puff stealing, ceiling walking, no good disaster in the making rat…

"Then I'll name it for you! Now let's see, um… How about Eggo? :D" Chloe exclaimed, not letting the older woman's desire to have nothing more to do with the rat ruin her persistence. Besides the rat apparently like the name, if the happy squeak and it's running around the peppy child's pig tails were anything to go by.

Akari blinked warily as she turned to regard the other.. "Eggo..?" What was with these islanders and their obsession with food related names? It was kind of amusing at first but she was seriously starting to question their sanity at this point.. Sure some of the names were tolerable to an extent such as Maple Lake and Praline Forest.. But who in their right mind would name an entire town after a waffle of all things…?

"Yup! Eggo! Sounds nice huh?" The child said with a self-satisfied smile as she looked up at the rat who was now partially hanging off of her forehead. "You think so too huh?" Reaching up to stroke the creature along it's exposed back as she spoke.

Squeak! Was the excited reply as the rat, or Eggo as Chloe seemed determined to call it, swished it's tail back and forth in excitement. He was really starting to like this girl!

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon your perspective, before Akari could argue against naming it anything at all the sound of Ramsey's voice calling her towards the front of the shop interrupted their little conversation..

'Finally..' Akari let out the mental equivalent of a sigh of relief, 'Saved by the grouchy old man…' Turning towards her younger counterpart Akari managed to pull together and show a rather apologetic smile, though she was quite happy for the reprieve, before walking towards the front of the shop to see what Ramsey had wanted from her.

She didn't miss Ramsey's annoyed, yet ultimately good natured, statement of "Took you long enough.." as she entered the main part of the shop.. But instead of giving her own snarky, yet also good natured, reply opted to focus her attention more upon the various crates and small boxes that were stacked neatly along the far wall.. Weren't those the boxes Ramsey had ordered her to fill with various tools earlier in the day..? She could have sworn they were still back in the kitchen the last time she checked..

Akari turned her attention away from the neat rows of containers to regard Ramsey with a curious glance, confusion showing through her eyes as clear as day.

Ramsey merely grunted slightly as he wrung his hands together in a old ragged piece of cloth in a poor attempt to remove at least some of the grime from his hands after slaving over his forge for the past few hours.

"Well..?" Akari implored as she waited for the other to finish cleaning his hands, a task he seemed intent upon finishing before he satisfied her curiosity. If she didn't know any better she'd say someone had harangued the old blacksmith repeatedly about doing such things before leaving the forge area.. After all he didn't seem to particularly enjoy the task, and went about it in the same manner a child who had been properly chastised by their parent into doing their daily chores.. Akari nearly shuddered as she wondered just what kind of person it took to beat such a simple action into the stubborn old man's head..

Maybe if she ever met them, they could give her a few pointers..

"They're deliveries." Ramsey finally said as he put the rag away, all the while grumbling something about how much trouble women were and how if he ever had his way he'd have nothing else to do with the whole lot of them. Especially the ones with light violet colored hair..

"Oh.." Akari replied slowly. Well that made sense. "So who is going to deliver them..?"

"Why you are of course." Ramsey replied with a rather amused grin as he stepped over to the large shipment in front of them. One could almost feel the amusement he was feeling exuding from his being..

"Me…?!" Akari squeaked, looking at the various containers in front of her.. The small boxes she could handle, but those crates had to weight at least thirty pounds each..! While Akari prided herself on being able to handle a fair amount of manual labor she wasn't stupid.. There wasn't a snow ball's chance in hell that she could actually carry all those crates, of which there were three in total, AND balance the smaller boxes at the same time..

"Yes, you." Ramsey continued to grin. He had only known the young woman for two days and he could already tell he was going to enjoy having her around. He had been getting bored lately without anyone to tease to be perfectly honest, and Akari was far too tempting a target to pass up.. Not his problem that she was so easy to rile up.

Hesitantly Akari looked both at the boxes and then him once more, the look upon her face showing him quite clearly that she thought he was absolutely manic to request such a thing.

"Oh stop that. You'll have help." Ramsey chuckled, really Akari was just too easy to freak out. He then turned his head to regard the spot just back where Akari was standing and bellowed, causing the other occupant in the room to jump into the air in shock. "Chloe!"

Before Akari could even so much as blink the young girl had somehow materialized in the room, though surprisingly Eggo was nowhere to be seen, and then threw her hand up in what would have appeared to been a mock salute before speaking, "You called?"

Akari openly gawked at the younger girl, surely Ramsey would not be so cruel as to assign Chloe as her help..? Part of her doubted that the old grump would seriously consider assigning tasks involving hefting various things that weighed a third of what she did, the old man was far too devoted to the child to consider such a thing, but you just never knew.. Then again it could be that she was just developing a severe sense of paranoia in the wake of the stress that she had felt earlier in the morning.. Maybe she should look into finding a local shrink or something similar…

Still, Akari thought as she turned to regard the two for a brief second before Ramsey decided to respond, if he really did make Chloe her partner on this particular task Akari swore that she would do whatever she could to make the man's life a living hell for the next week or longer… Again, she was starting to adore Chloe a good deal but even a saint would be driven to the point of insanity at the prospect of having to spend a couple hours hefting around heavy objects with the sugar crazed child. Who, you might recall, was also now accompanied by an equally corn puff crazed rat.

Speaking of which, where was Eggo, Akari was slowly but surely realizing just how futile it was to deny Chloe's attempts to name the creature, anyways..? He was practically glued to Chloe's scalp a few moments ago.. Where could he have gotten too…?

"Chloe." Ramsey chuckled patiently, his facial expression softening as he regarded his granddaughter. "What did I say about saluting..?"

At this the younger girl pouted slightly as she lowered her arm back down to her side, not at all happy that she had been chastised for her previous action. Still a smile eventually crept back onto her face as she looked back at her grandfather. "That you should never salute someone if you aren't in the service as it's seen as dis.. diss.. disrespectful to the other person?" She stumbled over a couple words, her face scrunching up into a sour look as she did so, but otherwise managed to recite a lecture she had been given in the past about said subject.

Ramsey seemed pleased by this, for he let a large smile break out on his face as he responded, "That's right. Now would do you happen to know where your cousin went?"

"Owen? Hmm… I think he's still in the mine right now. Why? Do you need him for something?" Chloe asked curiously, shifting from one foot to the other in apparent boredom. A child can only stand staying in one place for so long after all.

"In the mine huh..? Figures. Alright then, Akari would you mind going to get him?" Ramsey asked as he turned to the other. "While you do that Chloe and I will finish going over the inventory in the boxes to make sure everything is as it should be." With that he turned around and began asking Chloe to help him find the sales sheets for this particular shipment, which Chloe was only too happy to help with. Almost enough to give her rendition of a pirate salute again.. Almost.

With a slight smile coloring her face, Akari turned and left the shop without a word, shaking her head at their antics as she did so. Really, it was strange how at ease she felt around the two of them now despite only knowing them for the span of two days. Oh sure, Akari still thought Ramsey could be a sadistic jerk at times, case in point her little trip to the basement of no return; but one really couldn't help but see him in a new light when observing his interactions with the rest of his family. Akari chuckled to herself, really Ramsey seemed to be little more than a big softie when you got down to it.

Of course, Akari would have loved to say that the short walk to the mines was a fairly uneventful one, but fate seemed rather determined that day to ensure that nothing be that simple.. And the sound of tiny paws scurrying across the dirty road where her only warning before…

WHAM!

"Gah!" Akari cried out in shock as she felt something slam into her leg at full velocity. So much for an uneventful stroll to the mines..

Wincing slightly at the sting the impact had left, she turned her attention down to the culprit only to find herself starting face to face with, you guessed it, Eggo. Whom seemed rather determined at the moment to leave the spot where he landed on her leg and make his way up to her shoulder, all the while using the fabric of her jeans and shirt for leverage.

Groaning slightly, Akari eyed the small rat warily.. Why couldn't he have just stayed behind with Chloe..? They seemed to have been getting along just fine. After a few moments of watching the rat struggle up her clothing Akari decided enough was enough and gently picked Eggo up by the scruff of his neck, before bring him level with her face.

They stayed like that for a brief moment, neither breaking eye contact, before Akari let out a small sigh of defeat and smiled softly at the creature. "I guess it's futile to stop you from following me huh..?"

"Squeak!" Eggo exclaimed as his tail began to wag back and forth in apparent happiness, making him look like some kind of demented, yet cute, puppy dog. He didn't quite understand why he felt the need to follow this human everywhere, he actually quite enjoyed hanging around the smaller one called 'Chloe', but at this moment it didn't matter. All he knew was that his instincts, and sense of affection for the human after she saved him were telling him to do so. The fact that she seemed to be loosing up after the incident in the morning was a good sign. Maybe if this kept up he'd get more corn puffs when they went back later!

Akari found herself chuckling slightly as the rat expressed it's excitement, "Well then I guess that's that.. Still you're going to have to stay in my satchel for the duration of the trip you understand? I don't want you frightening anyone."

Eggo gave what Akari later decided was a rodent version of an annoyed huff at that, though he seemed to silently agree to the terms that were being put forth. Really though! Who'd be scared of a cute little guy like him? Of all the absurd things to think…

Shaking her head in amusement, Akari undid the latch that held her satchel closed and gently lowered the rat into it's confines. It took a moment for him to get situated, it might surprise some of you but satchel's aren't exactly terribly comfortable, before he poked his head over the side and squeaked to Akari to let her know he was ready.

"Well here goes nothing.." Akari muttered to herself, turning to enter the mine.

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A/N: Ooooh! I wonder what happen's next. D *shot'd*

Sorry guys but there was a change of plans. This originally was just one part of the original Ch.3, but since I'm taking so long to write the rest I figured I should just split the thing in two and post what I already had written. That way the whole thing didn't sit in limbo for even more months. So I'll post the next part, which is going to be FULL of AkarixOwen interaction, as Ch.4 instead. =) Hope that's ok!

Also! Eggo does indeed show he has a purpose in the second half, now Ch.4, and is not just there to act cute. (Though the real reason why I picked a rat for Akari's animal companion won't be apparent until the fifth chapter. HINT: It has something to do with how light rat's are and their incredible sense of smell. Can you figure it out? ;-P)