Besarki: Do you have any idea how much freaking research I have to do for this story? It's like school! ARGH!

Reviewer101: Sorry, friend, but Men's mother is, in fact, Jeanne. x.x Yes, everyone was like, "...WTF?" Well, technically, Takei never says that it's Jeanne, but he gives a ton of huge hints, especially because Lyserg seems to know.
Aww, that kinda stinks. My brother is bad with his money too. Meh. Brothers.
NUH UH! I thought I was the only one who said le gasp! -High fives you-
YEAH! It's like Monster! I love that stuff. Only, I get sick every time I drink it. BAHAHAHA.
And lastly, of course the ending was epic! Though, I only really laughed a little. Mostly, I sobbed. I cried for about an hour. Thank god no one was home. Hahaha.

And we have new reviewers! Hooray! I welcome you to the wagon!

Oh, and by the way, apparently Hana says something along the lines of "Welcome home! Something something something." When he kicks Yoh in the balls. Har har har. My friend knows a little hiragana and katakana so she was able to supposedly translate that line for me. Don't know if it's right or not, but it sounds like something Hana would say so I'm going to say that yes, that's part of what he says.

Correction: He actually says "Welcome kick." That makes just as much sense. Thanks to Smart Angel for the correction.

Do you guys actually pay attention to the songs I stick in down here? This time, it's sort of irrelevant, but usually it's a big hint as to what happens in the chapter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do ya like the freckles on my face?
Do ya like my teeth, they're out of place?
I'd like to think so
Do ya like the funny way I speak?
I don't clean my room for weeks...and weeks
I'd like to think so

~Do Ya, Jump5

(This is a really good YohxAnna song, actually. Maybe I'll make an AMV...Heh heh. Go figure that this isn't a Yoh-Anna chapter)

I once read a book about a boy who loved to climb trees. Honestly, I didn't see what the big deal was.

I leaned back against the trunk of the sturdy tree and took a bite out of my apple. My eyes closed as I rested in the shade of the treetop.

After the fight with Zang-Ching, Naka scoped out an little abandoned clearing in Naples. It was a tiny spot near a crowded roadway, but since people were only there to drive past, we figured we'd be okay to stick around for a while.

Kaa-san was still sleeping at that point, but it didn't matter all that much. Zang-Ching's defeat gave us temporary immunity from Hao's minions, though I suppose it was more of a mindset than a true immunity.

According to Matamune, Kaa-san was going to be out for the rest of the day, and we weren't going to be going anywhere tomorrow either. This was all fine and awesome for a while, but, you know, sitting in the same place for hours on end: not my thing.

And so, after about two hours of sitting around quietly, I ended up reaching my limit and taking off. I told Matamune first, of course, and I promised not to go farther than they could see. Matamune reluctantly OK-ed that under the promise that I would return as soon as the sun set. I agreed.

I found a big apple tree that was just barely in view and, after suddenly remembering the story about the boy and the tree, decided that it was my best bet.

I bit another chunk out of my nicked snack. (AN: Nicked is British slang. It's another word for stolen)

The tree in the story hadn't been like this one, though. For one, that tree could talk. This one had no such power. Though...I may be able to make it talk if I stick a spirit in it...

Heh. This oversoul thing was pretty cool.

My one eye reopened as a raucous bird zipped over my head, then turned around and landed on it. I sighed and opened the other eye. Humans couldn't tell shamans from other humans, but animals could. This big guy was obviously no exception. No wild bird would choose a regular human's head as its resting roost, but a shaman, now that was a different story.

The bird ruffled its feathers and peered down at me and the apple in my hand. I sighed again.

"Want some?" I asked, holding the fruit up with the bird to peck at. He was kind of weird looking, if you ask me. He had a reddish head, but a silver beak and a back covered in black, white, and grey feathers. His chest was colored maroon, and he was almost as fat as Zang-Ching. I'd seen this breed of bird several times over our journey, but I'd never paid much attention to them. They looked like funny ducks, but cawed like Kaa-san when she was mad.

I shuddered at the thought. That was never a pretty sight.

Sitting high above the ground with no one around but me and birdbrain here gave me some time to think, to assess everything that was happening.

We had been on the road for a little over a month now. We'd been attacked twice--three times if you counted the psycho Italian that followed us most of yesterday. The first time, Kaa-san repelled the attack fairly easily. The second time, she got knocked out and I beat the bad guy. With all of Hao's crazies out there, I didn't doubt for a minute that we'd get attacked again. But the question was where, and more importantly, when? And that guy...the one who spoke to me when we were fighting Zang-Ching...who was he? What did he have to do with us? And more than any of that, how the hell was I able to hear him when he wasn't there?! How did I hear all those people with their simple cares and sudden anxiety? None of this made sense to me.

"Gwack," Squawked the bird above me. Upon looking, I saw that he had carved my apple to its very core, something I didn't know that birds were even capable of doing. Jeez, he must have been really hungry.

Gidge, as I'd randomly named the bird, stared expectantly at me. It was like he was expecting me to pluck and peel another apple for him.

"Hey, I just gave you mine! I'm not getting you a whole 'nother one!" Though Gidge obviously had no idea what I was talking about.

"Gwack," He complained. I growled. Was he even making the right noise for his species?

"Great, so you're the reject duck and you're expecting me to feel bad and give you food. Well, tough luck, buddy." I tried to sound tough and commanding, but he didn't seem phased by my attempt. "Jeez, Gidge." I shook my head, surrendering almost as soon as I'd gone on the offensive. "Okay, fine. Later on, I'll pick some apples to take back to Kaa-san and Matamune and you can have one of them."

Somehow, he understood that and seemed pleased with the bargain. No wonder. All he had to do was sit around.

I sort of expected him to leave soon, but several hours passed and he appeared to merely sit on my head while I climbed from branch to branch of the big tree. When I sat down on another branch, he cozied up and stared straight ahead.

"Hey, so Gidge, listen to this," I said, though why I was starting a conversation with a bird was beyond me. "Yesterday, my okaa and I got attacked by this fat guy named Zang-Ching. We beat him of course, but some time during the battle, I heard all these voices in my head. It was really weird, and kinda creepy."

To my surprise, I felt Gidge inching forward then. After a moment, he hopped off my head and landed on the branch in front of me. I expected him to open up his wings and fly away, but he didn't. Instead, he turned around and sat facing me, like he was just trying to get a better seat in order to better listen to my story.

I cocked my head. What a strange bird...

"Gwack," He suddenly clucked. I jumped a little, not expecting it. I'm not sure what he meant by that, but by his earlier actions I took it as an indication that he wanted me to continue my tale.

"It's just that...there was this one voice at the very beginning and the very end, that stood out from the others. I don't know who it was, and I can't say I've ever heard it before."

Gidge glanced behind him for a moment, then scuttled over to the end of the limb. He plucked two leaves from the branch then hobbled back to me. He laid the leaves on my lap. I stared at him strangely. Had he just responded with something?

"Leaves..." I trailed off, lost in the little green shapes. "Yoh. That's my otou's name."

My new friend flexed his tri-colored feathers and contorted his beak. Though I could have been wrong, it looked almost like a smile had formed on his face.

"What are you grinning about, Birdbrain?"

"Gwack."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "You would get along great with Naka. Neither of you say stuff that makes sense."

"Gwack."

I snorted and swatted at the quirky little animal. As I had hoped, he jumped back and then fluttered away from his spot. Unfortunately, it was only to change location and perch back onto my head. I gave up.

"You want an apple that bad?" I guessed, waving the leaves in his face. He grabbed them by the stems and held them over me. He could have them if he wanted them back. They were just leaves. "Stupid bird..."

Though the next hour or so was mostly spent calling Gidge a dumb animal, I had to say, I sort of liked the big guy. He was bold for a bird, and, even though he didn't really talk, I found that he actually could understand. There were animals like that, but it was becoming increasingly hard to find them. Still, to be this human-like was bizarre.

"You're kinda weird, Gidge," I bluntly said to the bird. He shook his tail feathers and squawked, though whether it was in agreement or protest I wasn't sure.

"Gwack."

"Sure, Gidge. Whatever you say."

"Gwack."

Sigh.

After another hour of "stupid bird"s and many, many "gwack"s, I suddenly noticed that the sun was beginning to set.

I swung my legs over the branch I was sitting on and slowly slid off and onto the branch below it. I continued this, picking whatever apples were on the way, until I finally reached the ground.

I carefully placed the gathered apples in a pile in the grass. I was pretty sure that this was a public property so taking these shouldn't be all that bad. Plus, I was seven and could use the excuse that I didn't know if I got into trouble, though I doubt taking five apples plus one more for a local bird would cause all that much commotion.

Gidge landed beside the little apple hill, leaves still in his mouth, and commenced in staring intently at it.

"I haven't forgotten about you, birdbrain," I muttered, picking them up one by one and stuffing them in my backpack. When only one remained, I glanced over at the duck bird. "This one can be yours, but I'm not peeling it. Don't complain."

That smug little grin returned to his face. He looked at the apple for a moment, then thrust his head down and speared it with his beak. I threw him the strangest look. What a weird bird...

"Gwk." Gidge's attempt to quack had been foiled by his newly acquired prize.

"Good luck flying home with that," I mumbled, moving my backpack from the ground to its proper place on my back. Gidge saw this as no problem and merely set off waddling in the direction opposite to the one I was facing. I couldn't help but laugh. "Goodbye, you stupid bird."
---0---0---0---0---0---
When I arrived back with my elder companions, I found that Kaa-san had already awakened. She seemed pretty awake so she must not have slept as long as Matamune thought she was going to, but then, when did the Asakuras ever do what was expected of them?

"Welcome back, Hana," Kaa-san greeted as I entered camp. Naka and Matamune looked up as well.

"Hi Kaa-san," I said, rather unenthusiastically. "You're up early."

She looked at me strangely. "I slept all day."

"Well...yeah." That was a pretty dumb thing for me to say, huh? Luckily, Kaa-san merely shrugged it off and continued speaking.

"So, where've you been all day?" Crap.

"Just in that tree," I said, pointing to my hideout for the day. "I asked Matamune first. He said I could go."

"Don't blame things on your ghost."

"I wasn't--" But she cut me off.

"Regardless, why were you in a tree all day?"

I shrugged. "Climbing trees may be overrated, but it's better than sitting around and having a staring contest with Matamune."

Matamune frowned behind us, but didn't say anything.

"I can't argue with that." His tiny cat eyebrows pulled together now. We both ignored him. "So...you were just climbing?"

"Yeah, mostly. This weird bird popped up and sat around with me all day."

"A bird?" She asked, evidently surprised.

"Yeah. A bird with a weird fetish for leaves, apples, and sitting on people's heads."

To my intense surprise, Kaa-san suddenly laughed lightly. I wanted to yell APOCALYPSE really loud, but I had a feeling she'd smack me if I did, so I kept quiet.

"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

"Leaves, you said?"

"Yeah...?" Where was she going with this?

She smiled. "Ha. That man just can't sit still."

I stared in utter confusion. She was speaking nonsense! "What the hell are you talking about, Kaa-san?"

She shook her head, still smiling uncharacteristically. "Nothing, Hana. Nothing at all."

I hated it when people answered like that. Now this was going to bug me for the rest of the night.

Or so I thought.

My train of thought suddenly wrecked at the crossroads and swiftly disappeared as my mother shoved a plate of something that looked really good in front of me. Whatever I was eating, augmented by the apples I'd stolen-er, borrowed made this the best meal I'd eaten in a long time. Again, I nearly asked what it was, but decided against it for the sake that it was something gross like dog or horse. Kaa-san wouldn't do that, but Naka...

I banished the thought from my mind as I greedily dug into my dinner.

Not far from where I sat, a single apple lay alone and deserted in the grass.

Besarki: Ahhh. I'm so mean to poor Matamune. As you might guess, this was a filler to take up the time that Anna and Hana used to recover from the fight with Zang-Ching. If I didn't include it, it would kill a lot of the realistic...ness of the story. Next chapter continues the plot, though so don't fear! Won't be boring like this one!

For those who were curious, the book Hana was referring to was The Giving Tree. It's my favorite children's book.

Gidge was a Eurasian Wigeon. However, did you get what was weird about Gidge? Like why Gidge could only take the apple when Hana offered it to him, and why Anna was smiling at the end...? No? I'll give you a clue: He wasn't actually a bird. Heh heh.

"Gidge glanced behind him for a moment, then scuttled over to the end of the limb." That was really awkward, but I couldn't think of anything better. Gah.

For the sake that someone reading this is new to the SK fandom and didn't get the line with the leaves, let me quickly explain. Yo, accent on the o, is the japanese word for leaves. The character Yoh has an h at the end of his name when it's translated to English rather than the accent. Normally, it would be a u instead. However, that could confuse English readers because his name would be spelled the same way as the word you. This is probably similar to the reason the renamed Hao in the dub. Though it drives the manga readers bonkers, Zeke is less confusing because it isn't pronounced the same way as an English word (Hao - How). If the target audience had been teens like in the manga, they probably wouldn't have changed it. Meh. But, with that paragraph out, do you now understand who Gidge was? BWAHAHAHA! And Hana didn't even know! Ahahaha. Aieyieyie.

Heads up: Next chapter, I'm going to have a rant (oh no! NOT ANOTHER ONE) that I will title, "The Hana Conspiracy" though there's nothing conspiring about it. Anywho, look forward to it cause it's gonna be awesome!

Last thing before we part: I promised only one more Yoh-Anna conversation, but I've gotten requests for more. The number of conversations will not affect the Yoh chapter placement. In other words, it won't affect when the chapter will pop up. However, you might not like these conversations and see them only as something to take up space. I'm sure some people do. So, would you like to see more? I've set up a poll on my profile, but voicing your opinion in a review works too.

Let me know, munchies!