Little Tsu: Hey everyone. Sorry for the three month long wait on the latest one-shot, but my harddrive ta my old computer crashed & I lost literally everything that had been saved up on there. I still never managed to recover any of it, but after a long month of waiting, I finally got a new & much better computer. So without further adue, please enjoy.

Resolve and Assistance

It had been three days since my last return to Eryie Building where my clan resided as their home; the time where our leader, Goliath had so blatantly rejected Nia and ordered me to return her. Even now, I refused to. This child belonged to me. I wasn't about to give her up so easily. Even...Even if it meant never returning to my clan. I would still see them around during patrols and all, but...it's not like they needed me. They were all strong and capable warriors. If anything, Nia was the one who needed me more than anyone else did.

Something bothered me though.

During my time with Nia and taking care of her, which was surprisingly a much easier task than I had initially thought, we had been talking more and more each night and getting to know one another. We didn't keep any secrets from each other. I had even told her all about mine and my clan's life before awakening in Manhattan. Something that I hadn't spoken about to anyone else. I just felt so relaxed and comfortable with this human child. However,...it was what she told me about her life that bothered me.

Some of the things she said were good memories, but...some of the things she mentioned had me slightly troubled and worried. Nia told me of not remembering anything at all from before she was four-years-old except that she remembered being in a lab and that she heard voices around her that she didn't reconigze. She also mentioned that the bad men that had attacked her and her parents had said something about being there to take back their project. Apparently, judging from what she had said about her parents trying to protect her from them, those men had been talking about Nia.
She was this...project that they were after.

Question was though,...why?

Sighing to myself, I shook my head and drifted my golden eyes over towards Nia, who was currently in the middle of the expansive flat roof of the very building that I had come to that night as well. This had been where we were staying and there was a hanging over about a third of the roof to act as cover for whenever it rained. After all, I couldn't let Nia get sick. Watching her play with a little toy that I had found for her though, I couldn't help but smile a bit despite what all was on my mind. Seeing my little human acting so carefree and innocent now, it made my resolve all the more stronger. I didn't care what Goliath and the others thought about it...I was never going to abandon Nia. I already cared about her far too much.

As my thoughts were beginning to drift away to everything that had happened since my finding her, I was soon pulled out of them by the feel on a little hand suddenly grabbing my own taloned one. Snapping out of it, I glance in front of me from where I was seated on the roof and saw that it was Nia. Her own bright magenta eyes were locked with mine as she continued to hold my hand. She was no longer dirty as I had managed to get her cleaned up and even find herself some clean clothes that fit her...Of course that had involved some breaking in, but it was nessessary to be honest.
"Nia?...What is it? Are you not wanting to play with your ball anymore?"

She just stood there staring at me, but then bit her bottom lip as she blushed a little in what seemed to be embarrassment when I suddenly heard her stomach growl. In all honesty, I couldn't help but chuckle faintly at this. For a little human, Nia was just so cute to me and I loved her expressions too along with the way she acted. Shifting the taloned hand that she was holding, I gently wrap said hand around her's before rising up onto my feet, picking her up into my arms in the process. Once she was securely craddled in my arms with her own wrapped gently, yet firmly around my neck, I leaped up onto the ledge of the roof.

My tail flicked behind me a bit as I extended my wings to their full expansion before finally leaping off of the ledge and gliding off with her. Since Nia was hungry, it was best that I try to find a place that had something to eat that she would enjoy. Perhaps even I would get myself a little something as well so we could both enjoy ourselves together like we normally did.

As I glided through the air, I soon spotted a place that smelled rather good and descended to a landing in an alley next to the building that held the food that we could smell. Just when I was about to slip out of the alley to steal some food after setting Nia back onto the ground, I halted the moment I saw Elisa walk by. However, she had only made it halfway by the alley when she suddenly spotted me and halted.

Her brown gaze turned towards me and seemed to have a look of surprise on her features. Then again, I guess I shouldn't blame her since she hadn't seen me in the last four days. "Brooklyn?
Where have you been? The others have been worried about you. They told me that you left three days ago and have yet to return even once...Something about a little human child?" I could see a mix of confusion in her gaze now as she stared at me, but her gaze only remained on me for a second longer before they suddenly drifted to the child hiding right behind me. "Is that...?"

Nodding my head, I sighed softly, closing my eyes before opening them again as they held a soft expression in them. "...Yeah. This is Nitalia. She's the human child that Goliath obviously mentioned to you about, but...he refuses to listen to me. He won't let me explain why I had brought the child with me and instead, he ordered me to return her." Shaking my head, my eyes suddenly narrowed in frustration as my tail curled around Nia's little waist gently in a protective manner. "Nia's parents are gone. They were...taken...from her four night ago by these bad humans. They're not going to stop until they have her. She's not safe anywhere with other humans. I'm the only one that can protect her."

Elisa remained silent the entire time as I explained what was going on and when I finished, she seemed to go into deep thought before bringing her gaze back down onto Nia. It was then that she knelt down and smiled gently at her. "Hi there. So your name's Nitalia. That's really pretty. Mine's Elisa Maza. I'm one of Brooklyn's friends so you can trust me, ok?" Hearing this, I glance down at Nia and saw her timidly nod her head a bit before Elisa continued to speak. "You really like Brooklyn here, don't you?...You're not afraid of him?"

I seemed a bit surprised by these latest questions and I was about to say something, but all words halted in my throat when Nia spoke up. "...He's really nice...Brooklyn keeps me safe and warm and...I really, really like being with him...I was scared at first, but...I really like Brooklyn a lot...He's my best friend." It was when she finished saying this, that Nia smiled shyly now. Even though I had never once left her side since the night I found her, what she had said about me and...most importantly, what she called me, honestly made me blush a bit, though it went unnoticed thanks to my already red skin. Hearing her think of me as her best friend...actually made me really happy.

Smiling gently at this, I rested a taloned hand on top of her head and gently stroked her orchid hair. I was more than sure of it now; my resolve...I was never going to leave Nia for as long as she lived.

Bringing my gaze back onto Elisa, I saw her smile as well before pushing herself to stand up once again. It was then that she brought her gaze onto myself now. "It's obvious where this girl wishes to be. I'm not gonna take her from you Brooklyn...But I will help you out with anything you need such as shelter, food, clothing, and anything else that you need. Hopefully, Goliath will come around soon and see what I've just seen with my own eyes."

Hearing this, my smile only seemed to spread out a bit more as I nodded my head once. "Thank you. I truly appriciate it Elisa and we could use your help with all of that. In fact,...can you get us something to eat at this...restuarant as you humans call it? Nia is rather hungry right now to be honest." As if on cue, the small girl's stomach growled causing her to blush once again and for myself and Elisa as well to laugh lightly. Watching as Elisa nodded her head in agreement, she turned around and left the alley to get them something to eat before heading to her own home where Nia and myself would be staying till Goliath came to his senses and listened to me.

At least we now had Elisa on our side...She would be a great help in all of this.

End

Little Tsu: Well, that's it for this latest one-shot. Hope you all enjoyed it & don't worry everyone, Goliath will come around possibly in the next one-shot so until then, review & see ya next time fellow readers!^^