Me: *peeks at the author's note where I said 'none of my stories will be continued on this site'.

Also me: *Turns my head to look at the chapter*

The angel on my shoulder: Post it! Just because you have a grudge against this site doesn't mean you should keep the new chapter from your readers!

The devil on my other shoulder: Leave it! This site betrayed you, and you want to CONTINUE using it? Don't post the chapter, and don't use your account on it again either like you did right after you found your stories deleted (Yes I was and am still salty)!

A sweet review: I don't use ao3 much, but still good luck!

My inbox I haven't touched for years: Hello, I love your story, wanna talk about it? Or update it?

Me, weak: ...Fine, I'll post the darn chapter.

Interlude: Amos' Day

Amos POV:

I smiled as Nyssa gave a little wave before dashing into the classroom. Then, when she was out of sight, I let my body droop like my mood did.

…So this is why parents dread sending their kid to kindergarten. I feel so empty.

No no, Amos, look on the bright side! You'll see Nyssa again in a few hours! And at least she wasn't crying like that one kid nearby!

Wait what? I did a double take.

This one boy was crying while clinging to a man's (I assume his father's) leg. The father seemed quite troubled too.

Our eyes met and I gave him a sympathetic smile. He shrugged in a way that said, You too huh?

The man tried his best to pry his leg out of his son's grip and console him. I speed-walked away from there. Every parent(s) and child(ren) needs this privacy.

I blinked. Hold up. Where did that lady with the clipboard go? Ohh. Maybe she did the same thing that I did for that man and his son. I wonder if kids crying when they go to kindergarten is a normal thing. I mean, Nyssa didn't, and she's pretty normal, right?

(Deep down I knew. I knew that she wasn't normal. But I ignored the signs. All I want is for her to be safe and happy, it doesn't matter how normal or abnormal she is).

I arrived back at the entrance while thinking about Nyssa, started the car while thinking about Nyssa, drove while thinking about Nyssa, and entered the house while thinking about Nyssa.

What if she doesn't like kindergarten? What if she doesn't make any friends (other than Rachel)? What if she gets bullied? What if she gets in trouble? I started pacing in the foyer.

That's where Julius found me an hour later. "Oh my lord, Amos, how long have you been there?"

That snapped me out of my Nyssa-trance. "Uh, I don't know. Two minutes?" I glanced at my watch and yelped. "Holy-! It's been an hour! An hour since I saw Nyssa! Oh, is she ok? Has she eaten her snacks? No wait, her snack time doesn't start for another hour! I should go back to the kindergarten so I can pick her up as soon as it's over!"

I started to dash out the door when I felt Julius' hand on my shoulder. "Amos, have you had any caffeine lately? Or sleep, for that matter?" he sounded concerned.

I laughed to cover my nerves. "Sleep? Sleep is for the weak! That time is much better spent planning for everything Nyssa might go through in school!" I felt my eye twitching.

"Amos," I hear Julius sigh disappointedly. I felt it in my bones. "You need sleep."

"Nuh-uh"

"Uh-huh"

"Nuh-uh"

"Amos you go to bed right now or so help me I will drag you there and tie you to it," Julius ordered. My shoulders slumped. "I'm just worried about Nyssa, you know?" even I could hear the whine in my tone, but I didn't care about it.

"I know, but I'm worried about you. You're a parent now. How would Nyssa feel if she saw her Dad collapse from exhaustion? Do you want her to go through that?"

Hearing that, my fight left me in an instant. My knees buckled. Julius caught me.

He always did.

"C'mon then, let's get you to your room," He heaved my arm over his shoulder and pulled me towards Nyssa and I's room (It was on the ground floor, because I was technically leader of the Nome).

I slept like a rock.

When my body deemed that I had enough sleep, I woke up. And glanced at my watch. And screamed. "Oh shit, it's 1 pm! I should've picked her up ages ago!"

I hurriedly tidied my hair and grabbed my coat from the foyer. "Julius why didn't you wake me up?!" I didn't wait for an answer before running out the door and starting the car.

"Shit, shit, shit," I cursed, absently noting that Ruby would've rinsed my mouth if I said that in front of Nyssa. It takes more than 20 minutes to get to kindergarten from here! Why oh why didn't Julius wake me up?! I'll be an hour late now! Is Nyssa okay? Is she crying because she misses me? Oh no oh no.

I hit the accelerator and sped off to the first intersection on my path. Then frowned and tapped my foot as I waited for the red light to turn green.

It took what seemed like ages for me to pull up in front of the kindergarten. I speed-walked into the building (oh, there isn't a receptionist, guess I'll just go straight to the classroom), turned a corner and ran into someone. I was pushed back slightly and heard something (someone?) hit the floor.

I heard a groan and looked down. There was a lady on the floor, rubbing her forehead.

For a moment, I lost my breath. She looked… so, so much like Elenora.

Then she opened her eyes, and they were a clear blue so unlike Ellie's silver ones, and the illusion shattered. I broke out of my trance and held out my hand. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

She blinked (I desperately tried not to think it was cute) and took my hand. I helped her up. "No, I wasn't paying attention either."

"Guess it's both of our faults then". I reluctantly dropped her hand. We both gave an awkward laugh. "Do you happen to know where class 1-A is? I kind of got lost," I had not gotten lost, in fact I knew exactly where Nyssa's classroom was. But for some reason, I wanted to stay with her just a bit longer.

(Sorry for using you as an excuse, Nyssa.)

[A/N: If Nyssa heard this she'd be like, It's fine, Dad, I also kind of agreed with her son to treat her as my mom so it's totally cool. *Whispers towards the readers* This is so ridiculous that it's actually kind of funny.]

Her eyes sharpened. For some reason I felt a shiver running down my spine."Are you Nyssa's father?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"It's been an hour since kindergarten closed! Where have you been?! I was worried!" she started scolding me out of the blue.

I shrank back, confused, and seeing this she huffed. "I am Nyssa's homeroom teacher, Naomi Solace. It seems like you- Well, never mind. Nyssa's waiting. Let's go. I'm sure you regret being late. Don't you?" she said that last part with a particularly venomous tone.

I nodded my head so fast I was afraid it would fall off. She didn't even stop to look before starting to walk down the hall in the direction of the classroom.

I gulped and followed her.

When I saw Nyssa, all my thoughts melted and I ran to her. "Sorry about that, Nyssa. Did you wait long?"

She jumped into my arms – Whoa that surprised me- and smiled brightly. "Nope! I had a lot of fun with Will! We're friends!"

Oh, she made a friend. I looked down and noticed a blond kid. I hope they get along.

I didn't find out about the promise they made until years after. That left me shocked for a good while.