Only The Skies Know

"Oh..I'm fine. Just tired. You?" Lana wasn't completely honest, she was just thinking about what she and her father talked about last night so she had a lot on her mind.

Leon wondered how that was even going to work, they lived across the other side of the world from each other. He was surprised Catherine wasn't feeling 'jet lag' so to speak from hopping back and forth.

As they headed inside, Leon and Lana saw Lamar which was a surprise, the later stiffened a bit. They made their way over. "Is this a bad time or later?"

"Maybe later if I feel inclined. I'm in the middle of something." Leon said distantly.

Lamar shrugged. "I figured as much. You two take care then." Without another word he left. What that was all about was anyone's guess who didn't know.

Catherine didn't comment on the matter. It seemed personal and if Leon wanted her to,know, he would tell her. Though she could practically feel the hurt coming off him, as well as a few other, more aggressive, emotions.

She wanted to take him in her arms and,do,her best to comfort him, but she reframed from doing so. They hardly knew eachother, but she was looking to change that.

"Who was that?" Kisa asks "It looked like you two didn't like eachother very much." she points out.

Catherine looks shocked that Kisa would ask something so personal. She kneels down the young girl "Kisa, dear, that's a very personal question. Leon doesn't know us all that well yet, so we shouldn't ask questions that make anyone uncomfortable." she explains in a soft, soothing voice.

Kisa nods and looks over to Leon "I'm sorry for asking such a personal question. I was only curious." she says.

Leon shook his head. "It's fine, I don't get offended that easily." Plus he had been around kids enough to know how they could be. If stuff like that bothered you, one had no business being around kids as is. He gently

"I'll tell you later Catherine, in private." He wouldn't give literally everything away but enough.

Catherine smiles at Leon "I truely appreciate your trust in me, but there's no reason you should confide in me just yet." she says in a soft voice "I want to earn your trust enough that you want to willingly share anything with me."

Kisa wheels close to Lana, eyeing her ears "Um, m-may I, uh, t-touch your ears?" she asks, stammering, her cheeks going pink.

Lana blinked, surprised. "Um..okay." Her ears caught attention both good and negative. P-Chan had liked them a lot.

"Still, there's one or two things I want to talk to you in private regardless. But I apperciate it." He meant it, at least she wasn't trying to force herself in his life

Kisa reaches up and very gently touches Lana's ears and rubs them ever so lightly "They feel just like mine." she says with a giggle as she moves her hands away.

Catherine looks over to Lana "What Kisa means, is that she's a Zoanthrope and her animal form is that of a tiger." she explains with a soft, reassuring smile.

Kisa nods "Yeah. I don't like changing very much. But when I do, for a short bit, I can walk again." she says in a little voice.

Catherine nods "The doctors don't know what to really make of that. They say any damage should be repaired each time Kisa changes, but it isn't." she explains "That's what we were doing here yesterday. Seeing a specialist in Zoanthrope physiology. But the poor young man was at a loss."

Kisa heaves a sigh "I guess I'm just too broken to be fixed." she says, sounding sad.

Lana just patted Kisa on the shoulder, she could sympathize but wasn't sure what to say; she had never been injured to the point she needed a wheel chair.

"I don't know a lot about Zoanthropes, but it sounds like a genetic thing. If they heal naturally maybe there's something blocking it that isn't detected normally." There might be something to it, Catherine obviously couldn't heal it or she would have already as well so it likely wasn't an illness.

she nods, absently "It might be that. But the doctors say that when Kisa changes into her animal form, her entire genetic structure undergoes a change as well and that's why she can walk, but it reverts back to it's original state when she changes back to her Human form." she explains.

Kisa "That's right. As it was told to me, any damage the Human form has starts to heal rapidly when in the Beast form and when they change back, anything that wasn't able to heal or that was added to, in the Beast form, stays." she explains, scrunching her brow, trying to remember.

Catherine kneels down to Kisa "Kisa, dear, remember what we talked about?" she asks in a gentle tone "You're not a beast, nor do you become a beast when you change. You simply become different. That's why I've never called it a 'Beast Form', but rather an Animal Form. Because you're not a beast." she says with a smile, ruffling Kisa's hair lightly.

Leon nodded a bit. "Catherine is right, you're just different and there's nothing wrong with that. Just like Lana is here." He wished he had gotten to tell Natsumi that more then he had, that she was still attractive and there was nothing wrong with their looks. But that wasn't the here nor there. It was the past.

"In fact, I've met all kinds of people where I came from on my travels Kisa. Some were more unique then you, but all of them still were people."

Kisa's face urns pink from all the attention . She wasn't use to getting this much attention and puts her hands over her face, hiding. Catherine just smiled and moves back "Shall we head in? I believe I owe you lunch." she says to Leon with the same smile as before.

Leon was a bit amused by that but turned back to Catherine. "Go ahead, Lana is pretty hungry." Which was true, the little girl could really eat.

They head into Mickey D's and it was pretty crowded inside. Catherine was sticking close to Kisa, who looked pretty nervous about it. The young Mystic woman could sense that Kisa was terrified, but was trying her best to be brave.

Catherine keels down to the young Zoanthrope "Kisa, dear, if this is really bothering you, we can alays lave and go some place else." she says in a soothing voice, trying to calm the young girl down.

Kisa shakes her head "N-no. I'm fine. I just need a quick breather." she says, looking over to Leon "Could we go outside, please? While Cathy and Lana order for us?" she asks. She didn't know if Lana would be comfortable bring with Catherine alone, but she felt fine with Leon. Besides, he was Really cute and that would help take her mind off the crowd.

Leon was confused about what Kisa was freaking out about, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary from the last time. It couldn't have been the crowd, because last time hadn't been slow either.

"If its all right with Lana. Are you okay with it?" He asked the young girl.

Lana was okay being around Catherine alone, she wasn't sure how much she'd be talking though. "Um, that's fine."

Slow it might not have been, but crowed it was not Kisa wheels herself outside and looks over to Leon "Um, thank you seeing me out. I don't do too well around  large crowds anymore." she says in a small, embarrassed voice.

She focuses on Leon "Um, if it's not too personal, may I ask why you seem sad all the time?" she asks, genuine concern in her voice.

Leon paused, not sure if he should tell the young girl but a brief abridged wouldn't hurt. "That woman you visited, Natsumi with her grave? Me and Lana were really close to them." It wasn't the only reason, there were countless 'what ifs' and things he never got to say to them and questions he had that helped it linger more then it should. But..he supposed people handled grief differently and at different rates.

Kisa was abut to say something but was saved by Catherine coming out with their meal "I apologise for taking longer then normal. With that big crowd, it was getting rather hectic in there." she says She was getting plenty of negative emotions from both Kisa and Leon.

"Um, here's your, uh, meal." she stammers sightly as she hands out the food "I hope it's what everyone wanted, because I don't think we could go back in there, without a search and rescue." she says, making a lame attempt at humor.

Leon smiled to Cahterine, hopefully to put them a bit at ease. "Thank you and its fine, it wasn't actually that long."

Lana didn't say anything, she was thinking of..something. She did feel something was going on, but wasn't sure what.

Her attempt at humor to lighten the mood hadn't gone as well as she had hoped, because now even Lana had fallen silent. So it was time for a new approach  "So, um, Lana. Where would you and Leon like to go after this? An amusement park or a movie or someplace?" she asks.

Lana was naturally more a introvert, so Catherine didn't have to worry about anything. She just got that way at times. "Um..a amusement park then? Is that okay?" She asked, more so to Leon.

They person in question nodded. "Of course it is. We're free for the day." He wasn't trying to focus on the negative right now, but really he wasn't that bothered. right now really. "And Catherine? Don't be so nervous, we're fine." He assured her, as the young woman seemed nervous and such. It wasn't one hundred percent true, he and Lana had their baggage but they weren't going to let it control everything they do.

The young Zoanthrope wasn't too sure about an amusement park, since she couldn't really go on many of the rides. But she would put up with it, because she was the one who caused the ripples in the first place and Catherine was doing her best to calm the waters back down.

The Mystic woman nods "I know of a great place where we can go after we eat. Though I would recommend that we stay off the more fast paced rides until our food settles." she suggests with a smile.

Leon thought about it a bit longer, then turned to Kisa. "Would there be anywhere else you'd want to go to instead Kisa?" After what had happened earlier about crowds, it would be kinda inconsiderate to take her to a possibly More crowded place without checking first.

The young Zoanthrope thinks for a bit and shakes her head "No,we can go to the amusement park. Some of the rides there are really fun and they don't have height restrictions." she says, smiling at Leon.

Catherine nods with a internal sigh of relief "It's settled then. We'll head to the amusement park and have so much fun there at we couldn't possibly want anymore." she says with her own warm, soft smile.

Lana smiled. "It'll be fun. I haven't been in one in a long time." It would be a nice change of pace from the usual places and things she did.

For his part, Leon was glad Kisa was feeling better. He had answered honestly but he hadn't wanted them to feel bad or anything, perhaps he should have talked around it but it had been adverted and that was the important thing.

Catherine was starting to really enjoy Leon and Lana' company. But she didn't want to get her hopes too high that they would have a future together, after all, she had just met them and while she feels it's the will of the Mighty and Wise Galford, it's yet to be seen if their paths ran parallel to each other, or branched away.

Still, she would see where this crazy ride took her. For the moment, it took her and her young friends to a happy little amusement park. It wasn't much for four all-pass tickets inside. Kisa looked so excited to be here that her things with crowds was forgotten. She didn't know what ride she wanted to go on first. She and Lana would have to talk it over. She had decided that her and Lana were in charge of the fun today.

Leon wasn't sure where the future would lead, but it was obvious at this point he and Lana needed to move on with their lives for a future that was in itself, a pipe dream. He couldn't promise anything for himself or others so he didn't; he just knew he'd try.

"I never actually been to a amusement park before." Lana admitted to Kisa. "Have you?"