Toris decided to take a walk after he finished the dishes. He quietly slipped out of the kitchen and tip toed to the door. Just as he reached for the doornob he heard the floorboards squeak behind him. He whirled around with his fists balled at his sides, just in case in was one of the orphan children. But instead of seeing a child, I was Sister Katyusha. "O-oh!" Toris stuttered and unclenched his fists. "Sister!"

"What are you doing, Toris?" she asked and took a step forward.

Toris glanced around and then at Sister Katyusha. "I'm going for a walk." he responded quietly.

Sister Katyusha frowned. "Toris, don't you know it's past six?" she said. "All the children are to be in their rooms." Toris nodded and hung his head.

"I-I just want to clear my head, that's all," Toris replied. "and I'll be back by seven." he added pleadingly and shuffled his feet.

Sister Katyusha's face softened. "Alright, go ahead." she said and shooed Toris out of the door. Toris chuckled as the door shut and shoved his hands in his pockets. He started to walk his usual route and glanced at the tall buildings that surrounded him, he kind of felt trapped. He always preffered open spaces, like fields. He's spent so much time in rye fields when he was younger, in his home in Lithuania, of course. You couldn't find a field in Chicago.

As Toris was reminiscing about his little village in Lithuania, he wasn't paying attention and accidentally bumped into someone's back. The person whirled around and scowled at Toris. Toris reconized the person, it was the boy looking for his dad's wallet. Toris didn't let on that he reconized the boy and scowled right back. "Watch were you're going," Toris growled. It was actually his fault, but he would never admit it.

"Me? You-" the boy began, but seemed to finally reconize Toris. "Oh, it's um...Toris! Hi!" he exclaimed in his European accent. Toris scowled as he tried to place the accent...Polish! That was it, he was Polish.

"Hi...fella." Toris replied stiffly and tried to step around the boy. But he stepped in his way and frowned.

"Feliks," The Pole corrected. He then stuck out his hand to Toris and smiled, Toris however, scowled at the hand. "It's called a handshake, you sha-"

"I know what a handshake is." Toris hissed between gritted teeth. Why can't this kid just beat it and let him finish his walk? He's supposed to be back at the orphanage by seven! "Um, okay, Feliks. Now, I'm going to leave so I can get back to my home on time." Toris said slowly and tried to walk around Feliks. Feliks smile seemed to widen.

"I'll walk with you!" he offered.

"That's not nessecary." Toris declined and frowned deeply at the Polish boy.

"Please! I insist! Since you found my dad's wallet, that's the least I could do!" Feliks exclaimed. Toris inwardly groaned, this was definatley the last time he would do something nice for something else. Look where it got him! But, if he agreed, this Feliks kid would probably leave him alone afterwards.

"All right."

Feliks seemed to brighten when Toris said that. "Great! Let's go!" he exclaimed and grabbed Toris's hand and pulled him along. Toris snatched his hand away, and scowled at Feliks.

"It's back there." Toris said faltly and jabbed a thumb behind him.

Feliks smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Of course! Sorry." and walked along with Toris. Feliks started to talk about something, but Toris tuned him out. God, how he hated his bubbly personality. Toris usually stayed away from people like Feliks, but fortunately he'd get rid of him soon. "Uh, hello? Earth to Toris!"

Toris blinked. "Ką?" he asked rudley.

Feliks tipped his head slightly. "Pardon?"

Toris sighed at his lack if intelligence. "It means 'what', in Lithuanian." he explained.

"You're Lithuanian?"

Toris rolled his eyes. "No," he said sarcastically. "I'm Japanese."

"Hey," Feliks huffed.

Toris spotted then orphanage and sighed in relief. They walked in silence until they reached the steps to the orphanage. "Well, bye." he said and started to climb the steps.

"Wait, you're an orphan?" Feliks asked, as if it were an outrageous thing.

"Taip. You think I dress like this for my health?" Toris asked straightened his flat cap on his head.

"I-I just..." Feliks stuttered then trailed off. "Well anyway, see ya later, Toris!" he exclaimed and took off.

Toris just growled in reply and swung the door open. His walk had been totally ruined by that annoying Pole! He grumpily stomped up the stairs and entered his room. The rrom was dark, so Raivis and Eduard were probably asleep. Toris took his flat cap off and carefully placed it on his desk, then climbed into his bunk. Since he wasn't tired, he stared up at the ceiling. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out the flaky wallpaper that was peeling off the ceiling. His eyes darted around the room, looking for anything interesting. He saw Eduard and Raivis's sleeping figures on the other side of the room. Toris's eyes swivled over to his desk, were he kept his belongings, and were some amateur drawings and short stories.

Toris got up from his bed and quietly tip-toed over to his desk. He switched the lamp on and sat down on his stiff wooden chair he'd built. His eyes swept over the cluttered sheets of paper that occupied his desk. He leaned back, taking it all in. Then his eyes rested on a photograph, he picked it up, and held it under the lamp light. It was a photo of him, his parents, and his grandparents. They were standing in front of a small, shack-like cottage. And they were all smiling, Little Toris especially. Toris's gaze rested on his father. His father had wispy brown hair; with a small, shaggy beard. His eyes were kind, but strong and determined. then his gaze darted to his mother and grandparents. His mother had curly blonde hair that fell over her shoulders, her blue eyes were shining. Toris's grandfather Dain, had a straight face, but his eyes were smiling. His thin grey hair neatly combed over his scalp, and his beard was neatly trimmed. His grandmother, Asura, was smiling broadly. Her white hair was held tightly in a bun, but a few strands fell loose. Her eyes were shut, giving her an almost comical look. And then finally, Toris's gaze rested upon his younger self. Oh, how happy he looked. Little Toris was grinning much like his grandmother, with his long brown hair tied in a loose ponytail. Toris noticed that a few of his teeth were missing, and had scraped knees. Toris was looking straight at the camera, his forest green eyes sparkling.

Toris smiled a the photograph. He remembered the cottage, he remembered playing in the forest. He remembered every good thing and every bad thing. He remembered how his father would play the violin at night, and how his grandfather would dance. He remembered the rolling hills, the glittering lakes, the golden fields, and the mysterious forests. He remembered his friends, Lukas, Dontas, and Irena. Toris's smile faded and he set the picture back to it's spot on the desk. The past was in the past. All those things were gone now. Oh, but what he would give to have all those things back again! To go home! But, that would never happen. Only but a dream for a poor orphan.

Toris grabbed his flat cap and turned of the lamp. He tip-toed over to the window and slid it open. He squeezed out, and carefully walked along the roof. He sat down on the edge, his legs dangling of the edge of the roof. He gazed out at the city and Lake Michigan. He inhailed the city smell. The smell of gas, smoke, and other air pollutiants. Toris missed the fresh air of the country, of Lithuania. His eyes darted to the roads, were cars honked at each other endlessly. Did he ever mention that he missed the quiet tranquility of the country? Toris sighed and leaned back to look at the sky, finding nothing worth looking at in the city-scape. The sky was tinged with red, becuase of the light pollution. He could barley make out the stars and the moon, but the stars and constillations he could make out, he whispered the names. "Lupus." he whispered and pointed at the constillation.

"Leo."

"Hydra."

"Taurus."

Toris audibly sighed again. He felt like going for a walk, since Feliks ruined the first one. He glanced around, but it was no use, he couldn't get off of this roof without dying. So, he went back to his room and shut the window. Eduard and Raivis were still fast asleep, Toris decided that he should get some sleep too. So he climbed into his bed, pulled the covers up to his chin and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Toris awoke to voices. He soon realised that they belonged to Eduard and Raivis. Probably discussing something, Toris decided to eavsdrop and pretend to still be asleep." Shouldn't we wake Toris up?" Raivis asked.

"No. It's his fault if he oversleeps." Eduard replied flatly. Toris frowned, Eduard was such a prick sometimes.

"Come on, Ed. Maybe if we start being nice to him, and not acting like we're scared of him-"

"We are scared of him! Did you see what he did to Gilbert?" Eduard exclaimed in exasperation.

"-he'll be nice to us! And get this," Raivis said and paused. As if making sure no one was listening. "I saw him smile last night!"

"What? Toris smiling? In your dreams. All he does is scowl and frown." Eduard replied nonchollantly.

"No! Really! I saw him smile! He was looking at that picture on his desk!" Raivis insisted.

Just then Toris let out a huge yawn. He opened my eyes and saw Raivis jumped three feet in the air, while Eduard's head snapped toward him in surprise. He sat up and stretched, then glanced at Eduard and Raivis as if he just noticed they were there. He just nodded slightly at them and got up out of the bed. "What were you two talking about?" Toris asked and walked over to them.

He being stronger, taller, and older that the other two, they looked up at him and shook their heads. "N-nothing really." Eduard said and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Raivis nodded in agreement.

Toris raised a brow, but then shrugged. "All right, then." Toris replied and grabbed his flat cap, then left the room without another word. As he came down the steps, he smelt breakfast. Bacon and eggs, is what it smelt like. Toris's stomach rumbled at the smell, so he went down and saw all the other children sitting at tables with their friends and chatting. Toris sat at 'his' table and just studied the wood. Since he'd done this many times before, he confirmed that it was made out of oak. The patterns of the table never ceased to amaze Toris, you could also say that he has the attention span of a chipmunk.

He looked up when He heard Gilbert's loud voice. The German sat down with his other friends and was laughing and making jokes about other people. Judging by people laughing and glancing at him every so often, Toris guessed that the jokes were about him. Toris decided that he would not pay Gilbert back, and what he did was just so he wouldn't get in trouble. Toris sighed and studied the flat cap in his hands, it was green plaid, and was a little worn out from being worn so much. The cap had belonged to his father as a boy and have given it Toris when he was younger.

"Breakfast!" a nun called. All the kids stampeded to the kitchen, Toris got up and brang up the rear. He grabbed a plate and held it out for his helping. They gave him two strips of burnt bacon and a small amount of scrambled eggs. He just nodded and continued on and sat down. He was just about to take a bite of his scrambled eggs when the door of the orphanage creaked open loudly. Everyone went silent.

"Who could that be?" one kid asked. Another got up and peeked around the corner, when he turned back, he smiled. "There are some people here, maybe they're going to adopt someone!" she exclaimed giddily.

Everyone erupted in conversation. Adoption was always an exciting time, some lucky brat gets to go live with a nice family, while the rest of the kids get to eat burnt bacon, and instead of attending public school, they attend a catholic school at the orphanage. Toris didn't hope to get adopted anymore, he was seventeen. He could move out into the real world next year and never look back. He didn't need to get adopted. He didn't want another set of parents, when he could have had his real ones.

Toris shovled to food into his mouth and chugged the tap water he had. He had just finished his meal and was getting up to put it in the kitchen when a nun came in and pointed and him. "Toris, come with me." she said.

AN:

CLIFFHANGER. DUN DUN DAHHH

I just had to get this finished, I promise I'll work on my other stories, I just love this one the most.

Review and Favorite, please! They're very nice. :0