sorry about the wait, people. i had writer's block that was only functioned for things non-fanfiction-related.

plus, june's a crazy month for my family. parents' anniversary, father's day, sister's birthday, dad's birthday. . .all within two weeks of each other.

and this year, i helped my sister move out. on her birthday. which was the same day michael jackson died. so they're both gone, and i'm sad.

but enough about my personal goings-on. you can read now.

and happy fourth of july.

disclaimer: don't own +anima.

Eya POV

We all made it out of the burning inn alive.

But the looks on the faces of the townspeople made me wish I was still inside.

The bucket brigade had stopped moving; the fire was almost out anyway, so it wasn't dangerous. But it wasn't just them--everybody was still, just staring at us. Some looked surprised, others were angry, but most just had a kind-of frightened confusion on their faces. The little kid Cooro had saved squirmed free and ran to one of the women in the crowd.

"Cooro," I said slowly, feeling my tail and ears retreating from sight. "Put away your wings. Now. Senri, get rid of the claw. You should all get out of here."

"We're not leaving you by yourself," Husky said hotly.

"Why would we do that?" Cooro asked, sounding puzzled. "We're your friends."

I scoffed. "We've known each other, what, a day? That makes us friends?"

Cooro shrugged. "But you're a +Anima, like us. We're not just going to abandon you."

"Guys, guys!" Nana came running out of the crowd, apparently having run all the way from Reese's house on the outskirts of town. "I heard about the fire, are you all oka--" She stopped when she saw the looks on our faces, when she realized the inn was still burning behind us without anybody doing anything to stop it.

"What's going on?" she asked breathlessly.

"They found out we were +Anima," I mumbled, scanning the faces of the townspeople. "And they're not too happy about it."

I finally spotted Reese--he was one of those surprised faces. He saw me watching him and came forward, breaking free of the frozen crowd.

"Now, listen here, Eya," he began sternly. My heart fell, 'cuz I knew he wasn't going to vouch for me, like I'd hoped. "You know this town's hist'ry."

A gang of +Anima had stormed the town a year ago, a little before I came through. They went crazy, setting fire to buildings, terrorizing the people, stealing what they could, even kidnapping some of the children. Everybody had been affected; ergo, everybody hated anything to do with +Anima. To them, we were monsters.

I took a breath. "I know, Mr. Reese, I. . ."

"You know none of us 'round here tolerate your kind."

Your kind. Like I was suddenly a different species. Like I was suddenly not a person.

"Reese, I know!" I said, a little louder than I'd intended. I tried to take a step forward. "Please, just let me. . ."

"There's nothin' you can say, kiddo," Reese interrupted, shaking his head. He turned his back. "You lied to everybody and put their lives at risk and you know it. If you don't leave on your own, we'll have to make ya."

I understood the betrayal he must be feeling--Reese's twin sons, Kenny and Kyle, had been dragged from the shop by some type of dog +Anima during the raid. But putting everybody's lives at risk?

"I never hurt anybody, Reese," I said, trying to catch his attention as he tried to disappear back into the crowd. "I just did my job and went home, I never put anybody's life at risk!"

He finally looked back, but his eyes were cold and unyielding.

"You're not welcome here anymore. Leave. Now."

I don't really know why, but that part really hurt. When I'd come to town looking for work, he'd been the only one to not slam the door in my face. I don't know how many times he'd told me I was like a daughter to him. Just this morning, he'd trusted me. Now he was telling me to leave, telling me I wasn't welcome anymore.

The other townspeople were turning away now, slowly making an attempt to disperse.

"You people are horrible!"

I jumped and looked back at Husky. He was gripping that weird staff of his tightly and glaring at anybody making eye contact with him. His dark, sapphire eyes were glinting in anger.

"Husky, shut up!" I said, knowing he was going to try to give another we didn't choose to be this way lecture. It hadn't worked on that lady inside and it wasn't gonna work on anybody else. "They're not gonna listen to you!"

"You just saved their lives! None of them even said thank you!"

"I don't care! We have to leave, now!" I grabbed his wrist and started pulling him away down the street. Senri, Cooro, and Nana followed. I nervously glanced back at the crowd--most of them had either trickled away or gone back to fighting the fire, but others still were glaring at us like we'd done something wrong.

"Stop pulling me," Husky mumbled, twisting his wrist from my grasp. He kept following me as I led the way down the street, but he was lagging. Still pissed about the reaction we got, I guess. After a while, he just stopped walking.

"You guys keep going," I said to Cooro, Nana, and Senri. "Go to my house and pack up."

Cooro nodded. "Okay. We'll meet you there."

"Husky's really stubborn," Nana warned me. "He's probably still mad about the townspeople."

I nodded. "We'll see you at the house."

Then I turned and went back to Husky, who was staring at the ground, gloved hands tight around the staff.

"Husky, for some reason you've stopped moving," I said, like pointing out something obvious to a three-year-old. "Care to tell me why?"

"Why do they hate us so much?" he muttered. "We didn't do anything wrong."

I let out a breath. "This place was attacked by a gang of +Anima a few years ago. A lot of people still hurt from it. Ergo, they still dislike anything to do with +Anima. Now, I don't think they were joking when they said they'd make us leave. So we should go. Like, now."

But he didn't move, still staring absently at the dirt road

"Now means now, Husky," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along again. "So come on. Let's go."

"How can you let them treat you that way?" he demanded, sounding mad again. "You've lived here for, I don't know, a year, at least? And you're leaving just because they told you to? That's not right!"

"It doesn't matter," I said shortly. "If I stayed, there'd be no way for me to live. Nobody would give me a job, nobody would sell to me, and eventually they'd find my house and chase me out anyway. It's just not worth staying. So drop it."

He fell quiet again, and I had nothing else to say, so we just left the town and headed up the road to the mansion. We saw Cooro and Nana and Senri up ahead of us but made no real effort to catch up.

"Eya?" Husky said suddenly, when we'd almost made it up the hill to the house. I jumped, jerked from a long and rather random train of thought.

"What?"

"What. . .what are you gonna do?" he asked quietly, almost like he was a little embarrassed to ask. "I mean, since you can't live here anymore. . ."

"Uh. . .I'll just go back to traveling, I guess," I muttered. I'd have to pack, leave some things behind. . .like all those books in the library, all the pens and ink and blank paper in the study, pretty much everything. . .

"I'm sorry we chased you out."

"Wasn't your fault. They were bound to find out anyway."

Third Person POV--Nana

She, Cooro, and Senri entered Eya's house in a quiet, almost melancholy state. They all felt bad about what had happened, but nobody felt like mentioning it.

They went upstairs to their separate rooms, gathering their things. By the time they'd packed up and gotten back to the ground floor, Eya and Husky had caught up, just entering the house. Nana frowned a little when she noticed they were holding hands.

"Are you guys friends now?" Cooro asked, also noticing.

At first, they both looked confused, but then Eya glanced down. Flushing, she quickly let go. Husky let his arm fall rigidly to his side and refused to look in Eya's direction.

"Whatever," Eya mumbled. Shaking her head, she made for the staircase. "You guys should get out of here as fast as you can," she called back. "Somebody from the village might've followed us to make sure we left."

"Why would they do that?" Nana wondered aloud, watching for the wolf +Anima's reaction.

She shrugged, ascending the stairs. "Not everybody down there is. . .oh, well, um, was as nice to me as Reese. Just steer clear if you plan to head that direction."

"What about you?" Cooro said, bounding up to the second floor after Eya. He went down the hall after her, disappearing from sight as the balcony overlooking the front hall ended. "What're you gonna do? Where're you gonna go?"

Third Person POV--Cooro

"I don't really know, Cooro," Eya said absently, entering the room at the end of the hall. Cooro caught a quick glimpse inside--a small bed, lots of books, scribbled-on paper scattered over the floor--before Eya turned back around to face him, blocking the room from view. "Why do you care, anyway?"

Cooro frowned. "It's kinda my fault you have to leave. I wanna make sure you can take care of yourself."

Eya smiled weakly, her bright blue eyes twinkling. "It's not your fault, Cooro. I would've revealed myself anyway, if not today, someday soon. And the same thing would've happened." Then she turned, entering her room and leaving Cooro out in the hall.

After a second, he walked through the doorway. Eya was going over a bookcase, pulling out a few books at random and flipping through them, as if she were trying to decide whether to take them or not.

"Come with us."

Eya jumped a little and looked over her shoulder at him. "Wh-what?"

"Come with us," Cooro repeated, taking a step forward. He smiled in an attempt to rid the wariness from Eya's expression. "We've been trying to find other +Anima, and you're the first one we've met in a while. Since you were living here already, I wasn't gonna ask, but now that we all have to leave. . ." He trailed off, his voice hopeful.

Eya blinked, then looked back to the book in her hands. "I-I dunno, Cooro, I mean. . .I don't know you guys very well, and I'm not sure. . ."

"Please?"

Cooro watched her shoulders rise in a tiny sigh. "Um. . .okay. I guess. As long as Nana, Senri, and, uh, Husky all say it's okay."

Cooro's mood brightened considerably. He'd been feeling guilty before, knowing that if he hadn't spread his wings, this might not've happened. They wouldn't have to leave. But now she was coming with them, so he'd have a chance to make it up to her.

"So you'll come! That's great!"

Eya exhaled, and for a second Cooro thought she muttered something like, "If you say so. . ."