A/N Hi guys! I felt kind of bad about leaving you on that cliff hanger, so I finished Ch 2 early! Yayy! So please remember to favorite/follow/review! It would really mean a lot. WARRNING, this chapter contains some abuse themes, but they do not go into detail. Oh! And a special shout-out to Emador, who helped me out a bit with some technical difficulties I had with the first chapter. So thanks for that again, and thanks for your review, but I think some of the spelling errors was me trying to get the newsie accent, you know the street slang, so just a general note to anyone reading! Now, onward with the story and remember, Liam is Spot. The title comes from Titanic (Distant Memories) And Ragnall's name is pronounced Ran-nall. Enjoy!

Chapter 2- Distant Memories a.

Aoife stared into the eyes of the boy who she never thought she'd see again. She would recognize those eyes anywhere, so unique and special. They weren't just grey, or blue but a mix between the two, like the color of the sky in Ireland before there would be a rainstorm, a perfectly clear blue sky bombarded by the gloom of smoky clouds. But the distinct part of this boy's eyes, the feature that made Aoife positive she knew him, was the dark grey circle that outlined the glassy orbs. She took in a breath, her heart started to beat faster and her palms began to get clammy as she thought carefully about the question she was about to ask. If it wasn't true, she would look like a fool and be completely embarrassed, but if it was true… she finally spoke up after at least a minuet of staring at the boy.

"Liam?"

The boy's already confused face turned into one of even more disoriented bafflement as he stared at Aoife his own eyes growing wide. He had never seen this girl before, how did she know his name?

"Do I know you?" he asked thinking maybe she was a fling he had a month back.

"It's me." She answered, hoping her accent would be any clue as a trigger to a memory, but seeing as his facial expression did not change, and she slowly brought he hand to her neck and pulled on a long chain that fastened around her neck. On the chain, was a charm of a lock engraved with intricate Celtic knot designs. And audible gasp involuntarily escaped his lips as his own hand shot up to his chest. Around his neck was a key, mirroring the same Celtic designs. Realization suddenly dawned on him as he retained memories he hadn't thought about in years.

"Aoife?" he asked. She nodded her head, tears welling in her eyes. Seconds went by before the two were engulfed in each other's arms in an embrace neither of the thought they would ever be in again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her pulling apart studying every feature on her face he could. Seeing what had changed and stayed the same, mentally kicking himself for net seeing it sooner.

"I left." She answered simply.

"Well I can see that. But why? When?"

"I left port 13 days ago and got here just a few hours ago. She paused to wipe threatening tears before they fell to her cheek. "Liam, I never thought I'd see you again!" she said once again pulling him into another hug.

"Aoife." He stated sternly. "Why are you here? Why did you come after all dese years?"

"I don't understand Liam. Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Yes I am, but I don't understand. What would make you want to leave home? You didn't have half of da problems I did, you had no reason to go."

"What do you know about the problems I've had?" Aoife asked her old childhood friend, suddenly feeling a bit defensive. "After you left, things changed…people changed." I've changed, she thought. "But you wouldn't know that, you left before you could see change." Aoife said turning to march out of the alley. But as soon as she stepped into the street she felt a hand grasp her wrist, firmly, but not enough to hurt her.

"Hey, I had to leave; there was nothing left for me there! When Pappy died, I had no one. Me, just me, so I had to make my own decisions and look after myself. And that's exactly what I did."

"You had me" Aoife said quietly, almost to herself. A silence fell between the two as the sky grew darker. Now it was a royal blue color, just a hint of orange littering the horizon.

"You never answered me." Liam said, finally breaking the silence. "Why did you leave."

"For the same reasons you did. I had no one to take care of me."

"What do you mean, you had your father, Ragnall."

"Like I said before, things change, people change."

Again there was another long pause of a silence between the two.

"Well, look Liam, it had been nice seeing you again, but it is getting late and I must be going."

"Well, fine but let me walk ya to where eva' you're stayin'. A goil shouldn't walk alone at night in Brooklyn."

Forgetting that she was currently jobless and homeless, Aoife lowered her gaze from Liam's and started to take a certain interest in a loose stone in the alley wall. Liam sighed.

"Ya don't have a place to stay huh?" he asked and was replied by a shameful nod. "Well." Liam continued "How about you follow me to my lodgin' house huh? Ya can spend a couple nights dere before we decide what we're going to do with ya."

With another nod from Aoife, Liam once again gently took her wrist and led her further down the street. They had walked for a few minutes before Aoife spoke up again.

"I meant what I said before Liam. People have changed. My father changed." Liam gave her a confused look and edged her one to continue. "When your father died, Athair, couldn't take it. They were best friends and with you gone, and him gone." She paused. "He couldn't take it, and it led him to the bottle. He would drink so much and spend all his profit from the fields on it. It made him different, mean. He shut away from Ragnall and me, until one night. He had been at the tavern all night from sundown to sun up the next day, he had spent all of his money and returned to the house to get our savings, but when he went to retrieve them, Ragnall had the safe box, and he wouldn't give it up. And so Athair, he-he started to beat him and hit him, and kick him." Aoife paused to sniffle and wipe some stray tears that had begun to fall. "He hurt him so bad, that- h-he ki-killed him." And that is when Aoife lost it. She stopped Liam and crushed him in a hug, burying her head in the nook of his shoulder. He gently placed one arm around her shoulders and the other he used to stroke her hair.

"I'm so sorry Aoife." Liam said. "I had no idea, really." Aoife believed that he had not intentions of making her feel bad, she just haven't talked about it to anyone before-let alone her long-lost oldest friend.

After a few moments she regained her composure and they began to walk again and Aoife continued with her story. "For four years, ever since I was 13, he's been doing the same thing, spending all of our earnings until I've finally had enough, I didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore, or possibly become his next victim, and so I secretly got a job at the old seamstresses shop and finally after a few months earned enough for a ticket to America. I must admit I was scared. I didn't know what it would be like, or who I would meet- definitely was not expecting you- what kind of people would be here-and by the looks of it by that display back there- not a lot of friendly ones. By the way, who were those boys? You seemed to know each other. Have you been getting mixed up in street trouble?"

"Well" Liam started. "Not exactly, but there is something I should tell you before we get home. I'm a king." He said very plainly. "King of Brooklyn." Aoife raised her eyebrows in mock surprise as if to say "are you for real?", but by the look on Liam's face, he was.

"King of Brooklyn?" Aoife repeated.

"Well, king of the Brooklyn newsies."

A million things raced through Aoife's mind. What exactly did Liam mean by king? An official ruler of something? Was he rich? And what was a newsie. As if reading her mind, Liam stated:

"You'll find everything out soon. We're almost there."

And he was right as they, rounded a corner what appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse of some sort was placed a walking distance from the docks.

A/N So that was chapter 2. Sorry if it seemed to drag on a bit, one of my personal goals is to get better at writing one-on-one scenes. But anyway things will pick up after this and all will be explained. Remember to review please! Even if it's just "good" or "bad." I don't care! Oh and Athair means father in Gaelic. Bye!