Lost....

Trader rolled over.

She was in a state of awareness, though she wasn't awake. The roll over dribbled consciousness into her bruised body, jump-starting her senses.

God, I feel like shit. She opened one eye, quickly closing it again. And that hurts. She groaned as she reached an arm up to rub her eyes, sore muscles that had gone stiff in the night stretching.

Rolling onto her back, she rubbed her cheek on her shoulder, blindly wiping off dirt and blood.

Trader moaned again as her shoulders and back moved. If Kyle isn't here when I open my eyes, I'm going to kill myself.

"Miss...."

Kyle attempted to speak, but his voice had caught in his throat after looking at Trader laying there on the ground. He had momentarily forgotten just how long it had been sense he had seen her. Seeing her slowly stirring, Kyle leaped forward and hugged Trader around the neck, tears pouring from his eyes, "Miss Trader!"

OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Trader sat up and hugged Kyle anyway. Her eyes were still crispy-glued shut, but the little shudders that make her chest fill with warmth told her all she needed to know.

That voice. That little, chirpy voice. Like a songbird that had been punished for singing wonderous melodies was being let loose into the sky, swooping and telling the world, "This is who I am, and this is what I do. Don't like it? Fuck you."

Her voice was weak and broke with unshed tears when she whispered his name. Trader layed her lips in his hair, holding him tighter.

Please don't ever leave me.

"I...." Kyle gazed up at Trader, his eyes once again filling with tears, "I won't ever again!" He yelled, muffling his voice as he buried his face into Traders chest. It felt wonderful to be this close to her again.

Sitting there for a moment to let it sink in that he was finally Trader again, Kyle then raised his head to look at her once again, "Can.....Can we go home now?" He thought longingly of the food served at the university cafeteria and the warm bed that would surly await him.

Trader steadied her breathing before answering.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can go home now." Her tears had loosened the sleep in her eyes, and she tore her eyelids away to get a first good look of Kyle.

Her assesment was quick, wrapping him in another hug and carrying him out from under the tree. Trader flinched at the streams of sunlight filtering through the trees.

She almost walked away. Almost. She turned to the tree, whose branches were perking up again.

Thank you. She thought as hard as she could, for a few seconds, before turning towards the direction where she knew the University to be.

They were walking through the forest for only a matter of minutes when Kyle jumped forward and grabbed Traders hand, weaving his fingers in-between hers. It was so warm, the warmest thing he had known for several weeks. He only looked down toward the ground, refusing to look into Traders eyes. He burned to ask what was on his mind, but every time he made to talk, his voice would catch in his throat.

Swallowing hard, Kyle would finally look up at Trader, his eyes starting to well-up once again, "Are you mad at me, M-Miss Trader?"

Trader squeezed his hand when it slipped into hers. She was stunned by the question.

"No! No, Kyle, I'm not mad at you. I'm insanely glad that you're here. I'm happy to have you. Why would I be mad?" She had to admit, though, she had been mad, though only in frustration and impatience.

Trader remembered one of her friends telilng her that children were curious about everything they could see, always asking questions, always touching and hearing and seeing. "They also eat a lot. But that's a growing-kid thing." Trader remembered smiling at that, the last time she had talked to a punk teenager with kids.

Another thought tickled her mind. So she asked quietly, almost in a whisper, "And... Why did you leave?"

Kyle would look back to the ground, a tear streaming down his face, "I.....I don't really know...."

His mind was racing with thought. What happened to me?

"I...I just wanted to go out...." But at this point, he couldn't take it anymore. Letting Traders hand go, he whipped around and wrapped his arms around her waist, the highest part he could reach on her, and began to really cry, burying his sobbing face into her stomach, "I'm sorry Miss Trader, I'm sorry, please, I won't do it again...Please...."

Trader was somewhat suprised when he was almost crawling over her.

"Hey. Hey." She kneeled down, wrapping him in her arms again. "You're fine. You're here now, and you're okay." Her ankles protested at the odd position and extra weight of her body as she held Kyle close.

"You look okay to me, but do you think you're okay?" She swallowed as she held him out, looking into his eyes.

"And do you have any idea about a brother of yours?"

A warmth like Kyle had never felt spread through him as Trader put her arms around him, like building boiling water from toe to head. "I...I'm a little hungry." he said, responding to her first question with a look of shame on his face. This was always a coming when he needed food, and it was always possible for him to accidentally starve himself for fear of asking for food even though he know he shouldn't.

"My brother?" he asked, snapping his attention back to Traders face, "Do you know who he is? Who said there my brother?!" His voice mounting in excitement, eyes lighting up. Did Trader find out something about his family when he was gone?

Trader smiled and ruffled his hair.

"We'll get something to eat soon enough." She put his face between her hands, using her thumbs to push his cheeks up in a tight smile.

"As for your brother, he said his name was like, Krin or something. He looked just like you, but his eyes were kinda red. Do you know him?" She let his cheeks fall, rubbing his ears with her palms.

Kyle’s eyes expanded as far as they would go, "Wha....Krin!?"

Getting very excited, Kyle would jump up and down, "It wasn't a dream Trader! I met him! Just before I woke up, I was in this huge room filled with all kinds of stuff and I met him! He..." Pausing for a moment, taking a breath from the one sentence, he would finish,” He DID look like me!"

A look of frustration would suddenly wrinkle his face as he looked back at Trader, "But where was that place, and when did you meet him?"

Hey cool, I'm not the only one that's gone insane out here. Yay! Trader stood, took Kyle's hand.

"I guess it wasn't a dream, then. I don't know where that would be, probably a closet or storeroom of some kind." She rolled her shoulders, wiped her free hand across her face. "I met him just before you came along. We just..." She smiled. "... Ran into each other, talked a bit, and then he turned into you. It was reasonably weird."

She nodded her finality. "You ready to go get something to eat?"

Kyle stared at Trader for a moment as she took his hand. He what? But the question was driven out by the though of food completely, "Yeah, I am. But..."

Kyle looked around, once again realizing that they were out in the middle of nowhere, "Umm....Where are we?"

"We're just outside the University, on the opposite side of the lake. We should be there soon."

She started walking. She could see through the thick branches the sparkling water of her home, imagining stuffing her face with food that had no nutritional value. Junk food, how I miss thee. She planned on taking a seriously long shower and then watching a movie or just crashing when she was done. She wondered what Kyle was planning to do once they got home.

Haha, eat. Sleep. Eat some more. Snuggle, probably. Fall asleep while snuggling and snacking. Trader smiled. I love this kid.

Kyle followed Trader out of the wooded area to see a vast expanse of water. He had never been told to not go down to the water, but there was something about it that seemed foreboding to Kyle. Wishing this feeling would go away along with all the dirt and filth on him, Kyle realized he hadn't taken a proper bath for several weeks. Thinking of how he must look right now, he looked up to Trader, "Miss Trader, is Mr. Elrith mad at me?"

She laughed pretty hard at that.

"I'd imagine if he was mad at anyone, it would be me. Even if he was remotely mad at you, I wouldn't be worried. He's a cool enough guy." She sighed at the sight of the water, the lights blinking in the University across the water.

So, so good to be back. She smiled down at Kyle, squeezing his hand as she began walking down the rocky shore, creating a great clatter with her feet.

Letting go of Traders hand, Kyle ran forward a little ways away from her. Jumping through the air, Kyle would land on a rock twice his own height, then turn around, waving over at Trader.

After a moment of looking out at the lake, Kyle would jump from the large rock down to a smaller rock. Never staying on one rock for more then a second, he would move with speed down the shore.

Time being short to him, Kyle would stop on one rock to look and see that Trader was now several hundred feet behind him. Shrugging, he jumped his way back to her, "Miss. Trader, I don't get it. I was really really tired before, but now I have lots of energy, and I'm not nearly as hungry as I was back then. Do you know what happened?"

Trader smiled, waved. A little angel in this hell called life. Such a nice change.

She watched him hop from rock to rock, suddenly feeling old. I remember being like that when I was younger. She stuck her hands in her pockets, feeling the weight of being tired and hungry lifting as they drew closer to the Uni.

She pondered Kyle's question for a moment before answering. "It might just be because we're so close to home. You're also a very energetic person." She raised the corner of her mouth in a half-smile.

"Race ya."

With Trader having the advantage of running first, Kyle stood for a fraction of a second before bolting after her. He himself was sure she would beat him, her legs almost as tall as Kyle himself, but put under pressure of not wanting to look bad, the neko in him reared. Ears pelting back, tail straitening with the length of his body and his fingernails sharpening, Kyle would fall from running with two legs to using all four or his limbs.

Keeping low to the ground, Kyle would pass Trader with such speed that the spinning air around him would whip around her, a small pop sounding as his speed created a vacuum in front of his hair. Stopping at a good distance from Trader now, her appearance a small dot in the distance, Kyle would put both hands to his mouth, "C'mon Miss Trader!"

Trader dashed up the the bank so the rocks didn't break her ankles when she ran. She moved her arms in a long, steady rhythm with her legs, lifting her knees to get her maximum speed.

She thought her ears had popped, but the streak in her vision told her otherwise. Her legs were wobly and stiff, but he was just a short little kid. How was he going that fast?!

She stopped when she heard his voice. Trader couldn't even see him. "Oh my God." She began a jog, tucking the strings on her sweatshirt inside it as she went.

Trader wished she had some sort of music to run to. Something with a steady beat.

"Well, now you gotta wait for the slow poke!" she continued her jog.

Kyle stood where he was, his ears flickering slightly in the wind coming off of the water. Once Trader caught up, he realized that the university was only a short distance now. Able to see the road, Kyle would point, "There is the road Miss Trader. Were almost home."

Walking forward again, Kyle would reach the road at roughly the same time as Trader, the gaits of the university only a couple hundred feet away.

When Trader finally saw him, she kept her pace, her breathing heavy. No, don't move! Come back!

She fluffed his hair once they were together again. "How do you go that fast?" She rolled up her sleeves and rolled her shoulders. She yawned and stretched, her jaw popping once out, then back in. Her stomach growled.

"Man, I'm starving. How about some food, mmmm?" She put a hand on Kyle's shoulder as they walked, using the other to pull the strings back out of her sweatshirt.

Almost home.

Such familiarity moved around him, invigorating his senses. The smell of thousands of people he knew, food wafting from the lunch room, the mixture of oil and gun powder from the labs and of Trader right next to him making Kyle extremely excited to be back finally. Stretching some, Kyle longed for a bath. Scratching at his left ear, he would look up to Trader, "Miss. Trader, can…..Can I go take a bath please?"