“Lily?”

Sigh. This wasn’t good. Penelope Pepper, young, brightly colored girl, was completely lost. She had come to the mall with her older sister Lilith Pepper but Penelope had accidentally gotten separated when she darted into a store that had some extremely pretty rainbow colored hair clips. Unfortunately, in doing so, she didn’t keep a track of where Lilith wandered off to so the young 11 year-old was left to her own devices.

Not…Good.

“Darn it,” she muttered as she stared down at the cool, shiny floor of the mall. She had no idea where to start looking.

The young child, dressed in blue overalls and a brightly tie-dyed t-shirt (with matching bandana), looked up and down the busy mall. There was absolutely no sign of her sister anywhere and it probably didn’t help that she had forgotten her phone in her backpack too.

Today was just not her day.

Shaking her head, Penelope sighed and she tried to make a decision. Where the was the best place she could wait? The toy store? No. Too many other kids. This store? Nah, Lily would never know to look here. How about…

“The food court!” Yes. That was the best option. Lily knew how much that Penelope loved the triple chili dogs at Bonnie Rockets so there was probably the best place to be found. A plan was formed and it was one that she liked.

Her fingers curling around her stuffed, red and white striped rabbit named “Mr. Tickle”, Penelope turned on her heel and made a beeline for the food court. While she walked, she kept her eyes down and away from the downcast gaze of the other people present. She didn’t need to alert them to the fact that she was by herself. Not that she didn’t trust people, but if they saw her by herself, they mind try to get the mall security people. And she didn’t like cops or guards! They were mean!

But…there was no need to think about that right now. Instead, she focused on her breathing and just followed her nose until she found the food court.

Minutes later, Penelope smiled up at the cashier of Bonnie Rocket’s as her triple chili hotdog was handed over to her. It sizzled with crackling, wonderful sounds, and smelled so absolutely wonderful that she had trouble keeping her mouth dry. She would make quick work of it. Hopefully Lily would find her by that time.

“Thank you!” she beamed happily and quickly turned on her heel.

…unfortunately she spun too hard and sent some of the mountain of chili flying through the air, splattering on a person who just happened to be wandering by.

The look on Penelope’s face…mortified! Not only had she unintentionally hurled chili on an innocent person, a woman, but she had also lost some chili! Quickly she sputtered and attempted an apology.

“O-M-G! I’m SO sorry! Are you okay?” she inquired.

Lately, Tses felt like a wandering cat with no real direction but a drive to just keep moving. Each day that went past built the anxiety more and more, and she felt like eventually, it would bubble over and steal her sanity completely. Recklessness wasn't enough, and she had yet to discover if keeping busy would help. All she knew was she couldn't handle being home, and she couldn't handle being alone.

That state of mind brought her to the mall, and it carried her through the steps of shopping and browsing. She was a wind-up doll, going through the motions of life. She didn't even steal anything while she was about. In fact, at the CD store, she paid for her CD with cash, and wandered on with her purchase. If the store owners had known how often she typically took things from them, they would have rejoiced at the change. But the one thing about being a thief was making sure no one knew about it.

On days like today, it felt like no one knew her at all.

She made it to the food court, hunger carrying her like a hook to a fish. Already on a short fuse and distant, she paid little attention to the people around her. It was odd how desperately she wanted someone to talk to, yet how appalled she was at the idea. But then again, that seemed to be her nature. The things that scared her were the things that were good for her, and her self-destructive lifestyle would only get her so far. For a few moments, she was resolved to mend her ways.

Then she got splattered by some rather hot chili on her clean t-shirt and gloves, and her resolution melted away.

Growling angrily, Tses turned and glared at the little girl who was trying to apologize. She wasn't good with kids. They were obnoxious and loud, and apparently, they didn't know how to hold a chili dog without turning it into a weapon. Flicking a bean off her shoulder, she tried to count in her head to calm herself, like she heard people did to keep their zen. 1, 2, 3, 4.... Then she realized, she didn't even know what Zen was, and blew up.

"Dumb little punk! can't you be more careful?" She bristled. Perhaps it was a tab bit rude and uncalled for, but that seemed to be what she was gifted at. Making people upset at her, making them cry, making them upset; inwardly, that tiny part of her that wanted to be better cringed and waited for the tears. But outwardly, she just looked like a very pissed off teenager covered in what felt like the chili dogs puke.

Penelope was absolutely MORTIFIED! Frozen in spot, she stared at the woman that she had just inadvertently flung a splattering of hot chili at. If there was one thing that Penelope knew was to never attack strangers with food. First of all, they may not take it as a joke; secondly, older people could be extremely possessive of their clothing. Penelope could understand that because she loved her tie-dyed shirts and would have hated to have them ruined. But still, she was more than willing to move on to another favorite shirt. She always had extras. Most adults weren’t like that.

That seemed to be the case for this woman too. She really looked as if she were trying to control herself but was quickly losing the battle.

3…

2…

1…

And Penelope could practically see smoke coming out of her ears. She was like a cartoon character…

>> "Dumb little punk! can't you be more careful?"[/color]

Now, the issue here is that most kids would have probably lost it. First would have been the shock that came from hearing the loud voice, then the fear of seeing the adult’s twisted, angry face, and lastly the words would eventually sink in that an insult was being given. Kids could be quite a sensitive lot and there was every possible expectation that Penelope would have been just as shocked, scared, and upset at what flew from the woman’s mouth.

But Penelope wasn’t like other people.

She snerked. And not just a little half snerk that could be passed off as something like an itchy nose or facial twitch. It was a full on snerk, which turned into a grin, and finally into a wide smile that filled her eyes with mirth.

Looking up at the woman, Penelope couldn’t help but laugh. The woman’s expression, her anger over her stained clothes, it was just too much for Penelope to NOT[/b] laugh at! Especially the fact that she called her a little ”punk”. She wasn’t a punk. She was a girl!

“Heheheeh! I-I’m sorry Miss,” she beamed happily. Taking up napkins and starting to dab at the woman’s clothing. “I’m not making fun. But…you're funny! Hehehe! I can help, though!” she smiled and continued to wipe chili off the clothing. Huh. She hoped it wouldn’t stain too bad…

There were some things that you didn't do around normal people, and definitely not around Tses. You didn't throw chili on them, you didn't laugh at them, and then you didn't try to wipe it off while inadvertently making the stain worse. But those things, done to Tses, who was quite frankly already short tempered, were like a death wish.

Tses was in disbelief at first. Here this little girl had attacked her with food product, and her apology had melted into laughter. Then she was trying to clean it up, which, in Tses' opinion, was only making it worse. It was like having a stray animal following you around and tripping you as you tried to escape. Annoying and too cute to really do much to. If this kid were an adult, Tses would have punched them. But instead she waggled her hand at the kid, trying to shoo her away like a bug she was extremely uncomfortable with.

"Stoppit! You're just going to make it all worse!" She snapped, and tried to get her sleeve out of the child's reach. It was like a bad nightmare. The little bits of meat and beans had left red brown stains all across her light silver t-shirt, and she grumbled unhappily. Unlike her white clothing, a good dose of bleach usually didn't fix things. It may be lost forever, and it was one of the few normal t's she had, a design of a cd player with music notes drifting up towards the shoulder. Now there was musical chili.

Her mouth twitched as she tried not to think about that too long, then resumed being angry.

"Why aren't you with like, a parent or someone? Someone needs to keep a leash on you and your chili." She growled, and glared at the kid. She tried to look intimidating, but it was really hard when your anger was only making someone laugh. Lately, she was wondering if she had lost her touch. When she tried robbing a coffee shop, the barista listened to her mp3 player and ignored her the whole time; and when she tried getting that bird guy to leave her alone, he roped her into making a stuffed animal. She needed to regain dignity, and fast. Standing up to this kid had to do it.

>> "Stoppit! You're just going to make it all worse!" [/color]

She didn’t. To her mind it seemed as if the young woman was just annoyed and was having a hard time coming to terms with that fact. Because of this, Penelope was fairly certain that her attempts to “shoo” her away were more brought on by her being suddenly flooded with confused thoughts over how to handle someone trying to fix their mistake. Penelope knew, from experience mind you, that all she had to do was be persistent enough and eventually she would allow her to help.

If her mother and father taught her anything, if was to always fix your mistakes. You never knew when something could come back to haunt you. Who knows, if Penelope let this go unfixed, she could very well ruin not only the woman’s day, but the rest of hers as well! She couldn’t have that.

“Uh-uh! I think I got it!” she said, still reached and swiping off chili from the woman’s pretty shirt. The majority of it was gone and all that really seemed to be left was an icky stain. Penelope would ask someone, maybe Lily, to figure out how to clean that off. Of course Lily would know!

Ugh! If only she would stop trying to jerk away! Hello, trying to help here! A look of steely determination filled Penelope’s eyes as her lips twisted into focus.

>> "Why aren't you with like, a parent or someone? Someone needs to keep a leash on you and your chili."[/color]

She paused momentarily…thought for a second…then grabbed more napkins to which she spat in and then started to rub at the stain again. Spit usually got out stains, right? While doing this nonchalantly began to answer the woman’s question.

“Oh, I’m lost,” she said with a beaming smile. “My sister is…somewhere here. And my parents were killed last year.”

This kid... was a different variety of human; Tses was starting to think she was the innocently oblivious type. The blond haired mutant was quite visibly pissed off, and her demanding was clear enough the girl should be running away by now crying for an adult figure. But instead, she kept trying to scrub her shirt, and Tses kept trying to jerk herself away. It was a warped game it seemed, for the girl to try to hang on and keep scrubbing no matter which way Tses yanked. Every pull just made the little creature come bouncing after her. It was like having having a dryer sheet stuck to you. You kept shaking your arm but it clung stubbornly to you with it's static little arms, saying nooooo I don't wanna go!!!

"No, you don't have it! Your not helping, I'll get a new shirt it's fine just let go! Wait, what are you doing, DON'T SPIT ON IT!!!!" Tses snarled, and her hands flickered ever so slightly with green energy. She took a deep breathe, and tried to calm herself, but all she could register was the not so subtle scrubbing of spit into her shirt. I will not try to blow up a child today, I will not try to blow up a child today.

"Oh, I'm lost." Tses flinched as the girl talked, and inwardly groaned. Oh, gee, that was just wonderful. The kids parental figures weren't going to be rescuing her anytime soon, meanwhile she was going to have to tolerate the lovely damp feel of child saliva drenching her chili stained t-shirt. Then to make things worse..."...and my parents were killed last year."

Tses stared at the tiny human with the beaming smile, and her emotions were oddly reflective of the kid in the seat next to her when she hijacked a car the other day. That whole 'what type of crazy are you' screaming thing seemed to make a LOT more sense now, and she felt a bit trapped. Small kid, lost, parents dead. It was worse than tears....

Tears would be acceptable about now.

"Well, I'm sorry kid, I mean it's awful your lost, but how about we just say you've helped enough, and we find some other nice person to help you find your sister?" Nice being the deciding factor. Tses definitely did not fit that category right now. She looked like a cat trying to crawl its way out of a bath tub.

>> "No, you don't have it! Your not helping, I'll get a new shirt it's fine just let go! Wait, what are you doing, DON'T SPIT ON IT!!!!"[/color]

Penelope hadn’t heard. She had a task at hand and she aimed to complete it. If she couldn’t get the stain out right now, then she was going to at least do absolutely everything she could to try. She was not about to quit righting the wrong that she had done. She had (apparently) ruined this young woman’s shirt and she would not rest until it was cleaned or she had done everything possible.

But darn this woman was squirmy! She dodged, weaved, tried to keep away from Penelope. But she was persistent! Eventually she was going to give in! Haha! Penelope would win. She always did…

Something strange happened though. After Penelope had explained her situation, including about her parents, the woman seemed to stop her struggles. At first she really didn’t know why but Penelope used the opportunity to try and scrub the stain harder. Sadly it was doing no good. She huffed. She would have to give this a good think. Unfortunately she couldn’t just yet because the woman had decided to speak and the tone of her voice snagged her attention.

>> "Well, I'm sorry kid, I mean it's awful your lost, but how about we just say you've helped enough, and we find some other nice person to help you find your sister?"[/color]

She thought for a second…

Another second…

Another…

Finally she smiled and nodded. It was an acceptable plan. After all, she really didn’t want to try and bother the young woman with her presence.

“Okay!” she beamed. “But, um, no guards or police please? T-They are bad men.” she nodded fervently. After a beat, she introduced herself. “I’m Penelope! Who’re you?”

Tses looked at the little girl slightly bewildered, and was relieved when the child at least agreed to be pawned off assisted in finding her sister. She quickly glanced around the mall, looking for a likely victim. But as she did, the listened to the girl, and felt herself chuckling slightly at the comment. "Trust me kid, I don't want to see a guard or a police officer any more than you are. I know most adults would be all 'they're the good guys, they're trying to help'. but between you and me, they're nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing." Tses muttered, and pushed her hair out of her face. She really needed to trim her bangs because they got in the way so often, but a haircut was pretty far down her to do list.

"How do you feel about old ladies?" Tses said, eyeballing an older woman that looked like she might be willing to help the young girl find her sister. she didn't seem too bad, although she looked like she probably smelled like prunes and cats. Although, that was what every old person seemed to smell like to Tses. Her neighbor had more of the cat smell than anything else though. "She doesn't have a badge, which is a plus.... although, if she's hard of hearing I guess that could make it hard for her to hear what your sister looks like.... what does she look like, anyway?" Tses glanced at the kid, and figured if she was going to be looking for people, she may as well watch for the kids sister at the same time.

While she gazed, Tses tried to ignore the smell of food, and her stomach was still rumbling. She'd need to get something to eat eventually, but it would probably have to wait until she got rid of this little shadow that had stumbled into her life. While she tried to decide what she would eat, the girls introduction wiggled it's way into her brain, and she shrugged her shoulders in reply. "I'm Tses." She said casually, although she momentarily wondered if it was a good idea to give this kid her name. Especially since she had tried to spit polish Tses' shirt.

>> "Trust me kid, I don't want to see a guard or a police officer any more than you are. I know most adults would be all 'they're the good guys, they're trying to help'. but between you and me, they're nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing."[/color]

Penelope breathed a sigh of relief. She was thankful for this. Not everyone seemed to be as understanding as this woman. Too many people trusted police officers and always wanted to run to them for help. But not Penelope. No siree. She trusted police officers before and then they killed her parents in front of her. That was something that she was never going to forget. And neither would Jezebel.

The woman was right. They were nothing more than wolves. Someone ought to huff, puff, and blow all their houses down!

Hehehehahahaeheh….

Penelope winced at the laughter that started to ring throughout her ears! She needed to be careful because it was obvious that Jezebel was beginning to listen in on her conversations. She couldn’t have that, now could she? Otherwise Jezebel may want to come out and “play.”

She cleared her throat, smiled at the woman again, and continue to walk by her.

>> "How do you feel about old ladies? She doesn't have a badge, which is a plus.... although, if she's hard of hearing I guess that could make it hard for her to hear what your sister looks like.... what does she look like, anyway?"[/color]

Penelope wrinkled her nose. She didn’t really care for old ladies. They were pinchers and liked to pull and squeeze her cheeks until it looked like she had a permanent blush. That was definitely not a situation she wanted to be in. Quietly she pressed a little closer to the woman, thankful that the conversation began to turn to something else.

“Oh, she looks like me, silly,” she grinned toothily. If she had her phone she would have shown the woman a picture, but, seeing as she didn’t, she would have to relate the image through words. “Um, she is tall, about a couple inches taller than you. She has black hair, all curly and puffed up like mine. OH! And she was wearing a beige dress with a fat leather bet.” she nodded. Luckily she had a good memory for what people wore.

>> "I'm Tses."[/color]

Tses? Hmm, Penelope wasn’t sure she had ever heard such a name before. She stopped and smiled up at the woman whose shirt she had inadvertently stained.

“That’s a weird name. But it’s pretty and nice!” she nodded as a spark of an idea shined behind her eyes. Beaming wide, she suddenly seized the young woman’s hand and held on tight. Activate…child-hand-holding-death-grip-mode! “Nice names usually mean a nice person! You’re a nice person! You can help me find my sister! Hehehe! Much better than an old woman or a police officer!”

Ok, so old ladies apparently didn't seem to be something this kid was interested in; no surprise there. Tses wouldn't have been all too thrilled either. But that didn't help solve Tses' problem. Trying to find someone to find someone was apparently more difficult than she first assumed. The mall was full of quite a few people she wouldn't pawn the girl off on: teenage punks, fighting couples, cuddling couples that were oblivious to everyone around them, and then the occasional snotty teenybopper. It was strange when Tses was actually one of the better options for childcare....and somewhat frightening.

She turned slowly in place, and waited for the answer to her second question. To her surprise, the younger girl grinned, and Tses had to resist the urge to stare. She didn't think her question had been that odd, but apparently it was by the young child's reaction.

>> "Oh, she looks like me, silly."

Tses wanted to roll her eyes. Well how was she supposed to know that? She didn't look a thing like her younger sister, who was a brown haired brown eyed beauty. Well, she had been last time Tses saw her. Sometimes, in her mind she still saw Kelarii like this little kid; she would have been sweet, childlike, and certainly she would have never grown up. In her mind, that was what she thought at least.

"K, the dress helps a bit; sometimes it's easier to spot clothing than anything else i these place..." Tses said thoughtfully, and started to hunt for the clothing. There didn't seem to be any dresses in the food court though. Plenty of weather inappropriately short skirts, jeans, and leg warmers though. The sister was probably somewhere else in the mall hunting for the kid. Probably wherever the child had come from. Based on this girl's behavior, she probably didn't do the 'stay in one place until you get found' thing she'd heard parents try to teach. That made Tses smile a little in her head though. She liked independence in the little twirp.

As the kid analyzed her name, she moved from annoyed to flattered, and back to annoyed again. "Hey, don't be getting ideas. I'm just helping you find someone to help you find your sister! I I'm really not equipped to deal with kids. Honestly, you're probably safer with the old lady. Didn't you learn like, stranger danger or anything?" Tses said putting a hand on her hip.

She made a little face as she felt the texture of a tiny piece of chili that had escaped the cleaning spree, and flicked it off with her wrapped hands. The arm bands she wore would definitely need a good wash, while the fishnets and her shirt would probably have to go in the trash. At least her pants weren't ruined... if she told Chrys she was attacked by chili, the other mutant wouldn't believe her and she might get dragged on another miserable shopping excursion.

Huh…for some reason the woman now seemed less eager to be Penelope’s friend. Though she could have sworn that she spotted a half-second or two of mirth in her eyes, they seemed to quickly wash over with irritation once Penelope had stated that she could help her inside of anyone else. To be honest Penelope was getting rather fond of the young woman and really didn’t want to be part with her company. That was why she suggesting that she help her instead of anyone else.

That apparently didn’t sit well with the young woman.

>> "Hey, don't be getting ideas. I'm just helping you find someone to help you find your sister! I I'm really not equipped to deal with kids. Honestly, you're probably safer with the old lady. Didn't you learn like, stranger danger or anything?"[/color]

She tilted her head. She really did seem dead set on getting someone else to help Penelope. How unfortunate. But that didn’t mean that Penelope had to leave right RIGHT now, right? After all, she could keep a steady out for her own sister while this woman helped her to look for someone else. Yes…the perfect plan. She was sure she could delay just a tiny bit. Tses, from what Penelope could gather, was warming up to her.

Resolution shined in her eyes. She would not give up this friendship so easily.

Tilting her head, she giggled a little at the “stranger danger” comment. She had heard the phrase before but it was always used as a joke a TV. She had always figured that that was all it was…a joke.

“Of course I have. But if you get someone else to watch me, then aren’t you just giving me to a stranger and putting me in danger? Even old women can be serial killers, ya know. Or witches!” she said matter-of-factly. “Besides, we already know eachother’s names! We’re not strangers anymore! So I’m safe with you.” A twinkle in her eyes, she smiled as she nudged Tses’ hip. “By the way…you’re handling things fine so far.”

Tses sighed and slowly looked at the kid. She wondered if this was how Ty felt with her all the time when he tried to talk to her. It was like no matter what she said, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other, and then the seriousness resulted in another round of giggles. Tses was never receptive to emotions, whether it was this lost kid or her lost boyfriend. Maybe she could try being a little nicer to the little girl.

Only a little though.

>>"But if you get someone else to watch me, then aren’t you just giving me to a stranger and putting me in danger?"

Tses frowned. It was a good point, and as she continued to describe the types of bad people, Tses momentarily wondered if it could happen. what if she gave the kid over to a serial killer? How would she feel about herself if she got hurt because she just lacked the emotional maturity to deal with the situation that presented itself? Probably about as bad as she felt now that Ty wasn't around, and they left on bad terms because of her. It was like watching a noose start to tighten around her neck. Inch by inch, she was getting roped into babysitting duty.

"Safe... I think safe is a relative term, kid. You may be safe from like, muggers, but not from me being a bad influence. There are reasons i don't like cops, and they probably aren't as good as yours." Tses said, sighing and looking around. She wasn't insisting the kid leave now, more like warning her that their 'friendship' wasn't necessarily a good thing. As they moved, slowly shifting away from the food court, Tses kept skimming the crowd. She spotted a couple dresses finally, but they were all floral patterns attached to skinny blonds on their cell phones.

"I'm glad you think I'm handling things fine... at least your not crying or running away in terror yet." Tses said, a snarky sarcastic joke slipping in. She wondered what she would have been like if she wasn't on the street her whole life. Would she have been this giggly and cheerful even after loosing her big sister in a mall?

>> "Safe... I think safe is a relative term, kid. You may be safe from like, muggers, but not from me being a bad influence. There are reasons i don't like cops, and they probably aren't as good as yours." [/color]

She eyed Tses, but remained quiet.

>> "I'm glad you think I'm handling things fine... at least your not crying or running away in terror yet."[/color]

Penelope smirked a little as she walked alongside the woman. Though she seemed reluctant to want to take any responsibility for her, it was obvious that the young girl had managed to worm her way into the woman’s mind. Her words rang true and now Tses was second guessing her original plan to pawn Penelope off on someone. Yay! That meant she would get to spend more time with her and hopefully find her sister at the same time! After all, the woman really was doing a rather good job of taking care of her. She was rather pleasant!

Meanwhile, since it seemed that Tses was accepting her fate of watching over Penelope, she could hopefully get to learn some more about her new friend. She looked up, though, curiously, and wondered why Tses so disliked cops. Penelope knew why she didn’t, but she couldn’t just assume that everyone had such experiences.

Maybe Tses would share if Penelope did?

“I doubt it,” she said with a firm shake of her head, causing her mass of hair to wave about as she finally addressed Tses comment about her experiences. “Police people killed my parents in front of me.”

Tses glanced at the girl, and couldn't hide the small amount of surprise in her expression. She shrugged and paused, peeking inside one of the clothing stores for an older style 'Penelope'. It was like playing a matching game. Blond hair+black hair? Nope. Not a match. Male+female? Nope. Not a match. "Well, that's a pretty good reason to hate them. Mine was pretty basic. Grew up on the streets, no money so I stole. Cops don't like it when you steal." She gave a crooked grin that flashed for just a second, and then she turned, scanning the mall again.

"Sorry 'bought your parents though. Mine died when I was pretty young and it sucks. Least you got a sister though." Somewhere around here....[/color] She was a little surprised at herself for admitting it. She rarely talked about her parents, but she figured she'd never see the kid again, so why not? At least it would pass the time and she could keep the kid from getting into trouble.

She glanced down at her gloves for a second, like she was checking for more chili stains, but the crime was mostly forgiven at this point. She'd had worse happen to her, and a little food wouldn't be the end of the world. Maybe it was just her worries about Ty and Chloe, but it left little room to be angry right now. She just felt exhausted more than anything. "You two get along?" She said it out of curiosity. She missed her sister, and Kelarii was one of the few people she really felt understood her. Penelope seemed worried about finding her sister, so that seemed to suggest they did. Although the more the kid talked, the less Tses seemed to think she 'worried' at all. She just seemed abnormally delighted about everything.

Penelope continue alongside the Tses, musing to herself after her big revelation. In all honesty, she didn’t like talking about it but she was getting better at mentioning it. Maybe it was because she realized what was the point of hiding it? She was afraid of cops and she had a valid reason. If someone was scared of spiders and asked to touch one, they would say no and why, wouldn’t they? So why couldn’t the same apply to her?

Sure, it was a little dark what she said. But cops were dangerous and she had valid reasons to fear them. Nothing wrong with informing others that they should be wary too.

Tses, though, seemed momentarily stunned by Penelope’s bluntness. It was enough, considering how vocal and brash the woman was earlier, to make the young child giggle. It may have seemed a bit…macabre for someone as young as Penelope to giggle after making a comment like that, but Penelope was not a common child. She had a light and energy inside of her that always made her so…effervescent. Like rock candy popping in one’s mouth.

She shared one more glance with Tses before she continued to keep an eye out for her sister.

>>"Well, that's a pretty good reason to hate them. Mine was pretty basic. Grew up on the streets, no money so I stole. Cops don't like it when you steal. Sorry 'bought your parents though. Mine died when I was pretty young and it sucks. Least you got a sister though."[/color]

“Thanks,” she said with an honest smile. She did love Lilith, even if her sister was frightened of her. It made her feel loved that Lily would go through so much to keep her safe. Even live with Penelope’s obvious…problem.

Heheheahahehe…

>> . "You two get along?"[/color]

Penelope nodded. “Mmhmm,” she muttered as she started to skip a little, still keeping her wide eyes open for a familiar sign of her sister. “Sometimes we don’t, but usually we do. She can be a butthead with certain things like me wanting to stay up late, or singing too loud,” she said with a laugh. “But she takes care of me! So I love her.” She sighed and shrugged, “Even if she and Mrs. Tickle don’t like each other.”

Her grip slightly tightened on one of Mr. Tickle’s ears, holding him closer to her. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought HER up…