A/N: Oh God, I love writing about Connor and kids. That was always one of my headcanons for him. Anyway, Michelle is the Native American woman in the multiplayer part of the game. I hate her for personal reasons so I used her as the witch in this chapter.

And that is one of my personal goals in life, to own all of the Disney movies on DVD, so I put it as a collection in here because I'll never achieve it.

Enjoy!

Ellie studied Connor as he helped the kids off their ponies again. The kids chattered to Connor in Mohawk as they unsaddled their horses and started to brush them off. Ellie ran her brush over the palomino's shoulder, peeking at Connor around the horse's neck.

He was saying something to Andrew and brushing off his own horse when Ellie actually realized how tall he was. Sure, she knew he was taller than normal, but seeing him next to the horse just put his size in perspective for her.

The horse nudged her with its nose, whickering at her. She stared at her reflection in the mare's big brown eyes. "What?" she asked, pouting.

The horse nodded a little, whickering again.

"Shut up." Ellie rolled her eyes at the horse.

"I didn't say anything," Connor said, sounding confused.

Ellie peeked at him again. "Don't you know I speak horse? She was being rude."

Connor shook his head in amusement, leading each horse and pony into the corral beside the barn. Looking at Erica and Andrew, he said something in Mohawk that made them giggle and race toward the barn entrance.

"What did you say?" Ellie asked, looking up at him.

"I asked them to get the apples." He grinned widely.

The kids ran out again, a bucket of apples between them. Erica chirped something in Mohawk and the horses came trotting over to the fence, whickering and reaching for the tasty snack.

Connor plucked a couple out and handed one to Ellie. Holding her hand out, she let her palomino gobble it up.

The kids continued feeding the horses happily.

"Andrew, be careful. You know he bites," Connor chided, giving Andrew a stern look as he moved his hand a bit too close to one of the hungry mouths.

"Okay."

Ellie grinned smugly, leaning back on the fence and eying Connor, who eyed her back. "What now?" he asked with a grin.

"You're going to be a good dad, you know that?"

The grin disappeared and his 'internally combusting' face appeared.

Ellie gestured to the kids. "You're going to be good at it. I can tell. They love you."

He rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat roughly. "I…guess that's a good thing."

Thumping his shoulder, she rolled her eyes. "Of course it is!"

They waited until Jon came back with the younger kids. Waving goodbye, they left the kids with their grandfather.

"I really like this place," Ellie said, looking around as they walked down the road.

"It's home."

Ellie looked up at him, cocking her head. He frowned at her.

"What?" she asked, laughing a little.

"I don't like it when you do that with your head."

"What," she asked, righting her head and cocking it again, "this?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because you usually read my mind or something when you do that!"

Ellie smirked evilly. "According to you, I read your mind no matter what my head does."

"But when you do that, there's no doubt you are."

Ellie rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Anyway, I was going to ask you something," she asked, becoming serious again.

He stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket, nodding. "And that was?"

"Do you not like living in Saratoga?"

Connor stopped and looked down at her, frowning a little. Looking right back at him, she lost herself in his eyes. The rest of him was stoic and cold, she realized, but looking at his eyes always gave his emotions away.

At the moment, his eyes were clouded with sadness and confusion. "I-…I don't know. It's just not my real home."

Ellie looked around at the community again. "I don't blame you," she paused and looked back at him. "Why did your mom want you to live with your dad? I mean, you had your grandmother and other people who are basically your family here, so why move to Saratoga?"

Connor exhaled deeply, shaking his head. "That is something my dad and I will never know. I think my grandmother knows, but for some reason she doesn't want to tell me."

Shrugging, Ellie wondered how she would feel in his shoes. It must be kind of frustrating, she thought.

"I'm okay with it," he said, kicking at a rock.

"That's good." She nodded, watching the rock skitter away.

"I mean, I met you. I finally got to meet my dad. The Auditores are pretty cool, and who would have protected Kadar?"

Ellie grinned up at him, nudging his arm with hers. "I'm glad I met you too. It's nice to have a good guy friend that isn't like a brother."

He arched a brow, grinning. "What?"

Ellie shrugged. "Well, Ezio and Fed are great friends, but they act like my big brothers. You're a nerd bomber like me that likes to chill."

Connor laughed. "Nerd bomber?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Peter came up with that one. He was trying to be Bob Saget or something."

Connor kept chuckling. They made it to the Craft Shop. Ellie grinned. Being in there with the kids was nice, but she didn't get the chance to just look around.

"You guys hold Mohawk language classes here, right?" she asked, walking in.

Connor followed her in, walking toward the woven baskets on the other side of the room. "Yeah. The leaders here are trying to get other communities involved. They say it would be good for the Reservation if more people learned about our culture."

Ellie nodded, leaning forward to study a small basket sitting on the top shelf. She got up on her tip toes, trying to look inside.

"Do you need a step stool?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, trying to hold back a grin as she playfully shoved him. "Jerk."

He chuckled and peered over at the counter. "I think there's one over there."

Ellie laughed and strolled over to where the jewelry was on display. Cocking her head, she examined a leather bracelet. Various animals were worked into the leather, giving it a traditional, rustic look.

"I might just collect these after I get done with my DVD one," she mused, standing up straight.

Connor stuck his hands in his pocket, looking curious. "What DVDs do you collect?"

Ellie grinned. "I'm trying to get a DVD version of every Disney movie. I only have 10 left."

Connor shook his head in amusement. "Disney movies."

Ellie looked up at him challengingly. "Yeah. Disney movies. Some of those babies are hard to find!"

Connor rolled his eyes. "I doubt that."

Ellie arched a brow, crossing her arms. "Have you ever tried to find Pinocchio on DVD? Peter and I spent months looking for that one."

Connor looked really confused. "Seriously?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah. They only make a certain amount every five years or so. That's why it's hard to find certain ones, like the older Disney movies."

Connor shrugged, looking convinced. "So, which ones do you not have?"

Ellie sighed, looking up as she pictured her bookshelf full of DVDs at home. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves…Pocahontas, which is weird because that DVD is everywhere, just haven't got around to it. Fantasia, Dumbo, and Beauty and the Beast."

Connor looked at her in shock. "You don't have Beauty and the Beast?"

Ellie sighed, looking up. "I'm saving the best for last. That will be the last piece of the puzzle for me."

Connor shook his head and inhaled. "Whatever you say."

She smiled, shifting her gaze to another bracelet.

"Connor?!"

Ellie turned and eyed the girl standing in the doorway to the Craft Shop. She squealed and ran over to Connor, throwing her arms around his neck. He gave Ellie a helpless, pleading look. Ellie tried to not snicker at him as he stood stiffly.

The girl finally let go and Ellie got a good look at her. Her dark hair was put into two braids that dangled down over her a leather jacket and blue cutoff shirt. It was chilly outside! Why would someone be wearing a midriff?

The girl looked down her nose at Ellie, and she knew they wouldn't be getting along.

"And who is this?" she asked, reaching up and playing with the collar of Connor's hoodie. Connor's 'Internally Combusting' face was slightly different now…it was more of an internally combusting face that was caused by irritation rather than embarrassment. Ellie could tell when a girl was on the prowl- if throwing herself at Connor wasn't enough to give it away. For this girl, it was Connor Season.

He jerked away from the girl's hand, clearing his throat and awkwardly trying to step away. "Michelle, this is my friend Ellie."

Ellie coughed to cover up a snicker as she realized who this was. She could see why Connor didn't like her back.

Michelle crossed her arms, looking up at Connor again. "A friend, huh?"

Ellie tensed up. She knew where this was going.

"Yes. She's a friend. I told her a lot about this place and I asked if she would like to visit with me this weekend," Connor said, crossing his arms as well.

Michelle looked at Ellie again, smiling a smile that was fake to the very core. "It's nice to meet you, Ellie." She paused. "I'm sorry; I'm trying to think of a nice compliment, but somehow, nothing comes to mind."

Ellie cocked her head. "I wasn't looking for a compliment from you."

Michelle sighed, crossing her arms and looking up at Connor. "Does she know what a Native American is? Or does she call us 'Indians' like everyone else."

Ellie smiled sweetly. Two could play at this game. "Wow, how long did it take to think of that one?"

Michelle smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ellie couldn't stop the evil grin from coming to her face. "Trust me, I'd like to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my butt."

"Wow, you're a bitch."

"Name calling now? I would continue arguing but I don't want to lower my intelligence to your level."

Michelle pressed her lips into a thin line. Ellie could tell she pushed a button there.

Connor looked even more flustered than before. The poor guy had no idea what to do except sputter and widen his eyes.

Ellie couldn't stop the smug grin from coming to her face as the girl promptly turned on her heel and stalked toward the door. Josh just happened to walk in at that moment, jumping out of Michelle's way.

Picking himself up, he looked up at Ellie and Connor, jerking a thumb toward the door. "What happened there?"

Connor covered his face with his hands groaning a little.

Ellie held her hand out, acting like she was checking her nails. "Huh?" she asked, feigning innocence with a smug grin.

Josh chuckled and rested an elbow on Connor's shoulder. "Look at it this way, my friend; she won't bother you when Ellie's here."

Connor gave Josh an exasperated look.

Ellie tugged on his sleeve. "Was she always like that?" she said, patting Connor's arm. "You poor thing,"

Connor groaned again, turning away from them and walking toward the door.

Josh shared a look with her, nodding in silent agreement.

They spent the rest of the day teasing him.

Connor threw another clump of granola into his mouth, trying to focus on the movie. Men in Tights just happened to be on TV and Ellie couldn't have been more delighted. Connor had plopped himself down on the floor, leaning back against the bed in his room.

"Man, white men can't jump."

Ellie snickered from her spot on the bed behind him, reaching down and stealing some granola from the bowl in his lap. Connor tried to not think about how close their heads were as she laid down on her stomach.

"Connor?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry about today."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Sorry about what?" he asked, feeling confused.

Ellie bit her lip, drawing circles in the blanket underneath her. "I...I don't usually retaliate like that when someone is being a butthead. I feel bad about what happened with Michelle."

Connor sighed, muting the TV. He rested his head back on the bed, turning his head to look at her. "She was rude to you. Why are you sorry?"

She blew some bangs out of her face, pushing herself up to her elbows. "I just… I brought myself down to her level. I try not to do that but I feel like I did."

Connor furrowed his brow. "You were not even close to how mean she could be. Jen, the store owner, was a few shelves behind you and started to walk toward us. That was why Michelle left when she did."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Yeah but-"

"Ellie, she has said worse things to people she has known her whole life. You were nowhere near to her level; you shouldn't feel bad about it."

She didn't look convinced, but dropped the topic and began playing with his braid. Connor tried to not focus on that. He knew he would blush if he did, but couldn't help the heat that crawled up his neck.

"Has she always been that...clingy?"

Connor shrugged, scrunching his face a little. Memories of when Michelle used to play with him and Josh went through his mind. "Yes and no. When we were little... I thought nothing of it. It started to get weird in middle school, and high school was just plain awkward."

Ellie dropped his braid, resting her cheek in her palm. She was reading his mind again.

"And you've never told her to back off?"

Connor sighed. "It's hard to do that in a small community like this."

Ellie tugged on his ponytail. "Poor you."

Connor let out a laugh. "Yeah, poor me."

The commercials ended and Connor unmuted the TV, tensing up as Ellie sighed and rested her chin on top of his head.

He would face Michelle any day if that meant he got to do this with Ellie every time.