Melting Pot [Three Delivery Fan Fic]

8/8/2019 Melting Pot [Three Delivery Fan Fic]

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Chapter One

It was one of those days; Friday night and nothing at all to do, because

she had no life. Well, she figured, what’s wrong with a walk? Maybe she’d

get lucky and stumble upon a life.

A few hours had passed since the end of the school week, and shewasn’t sad about it. She saw it as such a waste of time, especially when she

had tons of thing she’d rather be doing. Like... Lost for anything she’d rather

be doing, besides heading to the arcade, she sighed, running a hand through

her uneven hair. She needed a past time.

She stopped on the sidewalk, eyes looking up at the sky, looking for

the first star to appear. In a few weeks it would be summer break, so the

days had been getting longer. Dusk was just now approaching. Even being

about at night in Chinatown was better than being at home. No doubt her

father had gotten home soon after she abandoned her finished homework,

and was already drunk. It was the norm; and the fighting with her mother

soon after. That wasn’t every night, but it seemed like it. Some days she

heard her mother in the small bathroom, water running and the door locked,

crying. She could hardly stand it, and her daughter couldn’t either.

She wasn’t stupid; she knew the only reason they stayed together was

because of her. But she was almost done with school, about to go out on her

own, and she hoped that her mother would step up then and leave him,

finally. Whenever she spoke with her mother about it, her mother just shook

her head on top of her skinny frame, terrified at the thought of leaving him,

and terrified at his reaction. Which was reasonable. He was pretty scary

when he was drunk, though she had only seen him hit her mother once, when

they were fighting. He’s better than most of his kind.“Hey, watch out!” A voice called, and a quick glance around and she

was up against the wall of the building she had stopped next to, and a bike

went whizzing by, doing a wheelie. The boy spun around and came to a stop,

a bag swinging dangerously from his handlebars. “Sorry!”

“For what? No one’s hurt,” she called in reply. The boy put a hand on

his chin in a contemplating and amusing manner.

“True. Did you see that trick though! I was like woosh!” He

exxagerated with his hands, and she giggled despite herself. “Hey, you go to

the high school right? Lily isn’t it?”

“Um that’s right,” Lily said, walking a bit closer, trying to decide if she

knew this boy as well. “How did you know?”

“Your hair,” he said simply, pointing at their identical bangs, except

hers were dyed red, and his were blonde. “We match!”

Lily laughed again. “I never noticed! Who might you be?”

“Tobey.” Ah, that’s right, she realised. She had seen him and his

siblings before. He started walking his bike, glancing back at her, and she

came to the otherside, getting the hint. “So... Lily.”



“Tobey?” She said, raising her eyebrows.

A ringing interrupted him, and he pulled out his phone with one hand.

“Oh, wow, really? Okay Sue, be right there.” He closed it and turns back to

Lily, looking awkward. “I uh have to go. Mind delivering this for me?” He

handed her the bag with an address on it, smiled, and hopped on his bike,

zooming off down the street and around the corner.Lily sighed heavily and looked at the address. Well, it was just around

the corner. She had forgotten they worked at Wu’s Garden, one of the

Chinese restaurants here in Chinatown. Well, maybe she could get a job

there, since she now had an in, and she was doing that boy Tobey a favor.

Maybe. It would be a good excuse to get out of the house, to be sure.

After delivering the food to an inquistive and cautious Mr. Wong, she

took the money back to Wu’s Garden, where the three teenagers weren’t

back yet. “Um,” she said, standing at the counter, and after a brief spout of

yelling, she was greeted by a guy who was stirring rice. He just raised his

eyebrows at her, and she handed over the money.

“Uh, did you order something?”

“No, I delivered an order for Tobey. Here’s the money.”

“You what?!” A deeper voice asked, and suddenly her vision was full of

a large man, and the younger one moved out of the way. “He pawned off the

order on—“

“No, its okay, really.” She thrust the money at him. “I was actually

wondering if I could work here.” He took the money with narrowed eyes,

counting it and handing her a few bills back.

“Oh, I see. Well, okay. You’re not delivering though.”

“Really Dad?” The younger man said, looking confused.

“Yeah, why not? Besides she can hold her own.” He looked closely atLily now, an eye narrowed. “Right?”

“Uh, right, Mr. Wu.” She said quickly, doing a comical salute. He then

promptly dissappeared, and she heard a exercise tape. “Uh..”

“Well, you can cook with me, I guess,” the guy said, inclining his head

to the kitchen. “I’m Barney, by the way. And you’re...?”

“Lily,” she said, helping by making rice and putting orders in their

boxes. Two hours later the three return, looking much the worse for the

wear. They all stop at spotting her in the kitchen, and Sue, the only girl,

blushes as her eyes flick to Barney and then her again. “Uh, hey guys,” she

said, waving with a spoon in her hand.“Oh cool, you’re working here too now? Sweet!” Tobey said, grinning.

“Yeah. Mr. Wu wasn’t too happy about—“

“You told him?” A yell from the back room cut off their conversation,

and the three wince.

“Hahaha,” Sid said, both him and Sue doubled over in laughter, and

Tobey glared at him. “That’s what you get! At least the order got delivered

this time.”



“TOBEY! Why did you pawn off your order on this girl?!” Mr. Wu

demands to know, banging the door open from the back room. “Good thing

she was trustworthy--!” He went on for a minute, then sentencing him to

scrubbing the tile in the dining room.

“So,” Sid said, leaning on one counter, while his sister leaned on the

one on the other side of Lily. “Gonna do that for him again?”“I hadn’t meant to do it this time,” she said, tasting a piece of rice.

“Where did you guys have to go in such a hurry?”

“Oh, you know, just stuff,” Sue said quickly, and the two quickly

dissappeared upstairs.

“They’re always like that,” Barney assured her, handing her a pot to

put in an order. “But they’re family, y’know?”

“They are?” She said, eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, yeah. Nana adopted them years ago.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” she said, contemplating the situation. An

hour later, Tobey returned to the kitchen, sitting down at the table with a

sigh.

“Hey, thanks Lily, but next time keep it to yourself, k?” He came up

and put an arm around her shoulder. She looked at him with a glare as she

went about her work. “What?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t be working here!”

“Oh, right.”

“Tobey, where is Sue and Sid?” An elderly woman asked, and Lily

assumed that this is their Nana.

“They’re upstairs,” Lily answered before Tobey, and the woman looked

at her.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, inclining her head towards Tobey, and theyhead upstairs to get the siblings.

“Deliveries!” Mr. Wu bellowed up the stairs a few seconds later, and it

made Lily jump. “Now you three!”

Tobey slid down the banister with a grin, grabbing a few of the bags,

and Sue and Sid followed quickly after, and their Nana came down the stairs

after a minute. “Calvin, who is this?”

“Oh, this is Lily Nana,” Barney answered.

“Um, nice to meet you,” Lily said, turning to look over her shoulder at

her.

“You know Tobey?” Lily’s eyes brighten.“That’s right. He almost ran me over with his bike earlier, and from

school as well. Kinda.” She shrugged. “I know the others by sight only,

never really spoken with any of them.”

“I see,” she said mysteriously, sitting down at the table and watching

her work.

“Can I get you something to eat?” She wondered, uneasy with the

woman’s eyes on her.



“No, no thank you. I’ll be in the garden.” She got up and went through

the back door. Lily just caught a glance of the garden before she had to

return her attention to her rice.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“I dunno,” Barney answered, adjusting his baseball cap. Sighing, Lily

helped him clean up for the night, then sat down at the table, not wanting togo home. “Here,” he said suddenly, handing her a timecard. “I wrote down

your hours, so just write down your name at the top. You can work tomorrow,

too right?”

“Yeah, anytime you need me,” she said gratefully, writing her short

name on the card and handing it back to him.

“Cool, just come here around, I dunno, 9, k?” She nodded, but didn’t

get up or indicate she was going to head home. When the three returned

from their deliveries, though, she couldn’t delay it any longer. She got up

and said a swift goodbye, but Tobey caught up with her after he had a quick

word with his friends.

“Wanna ride? You shouldn’t be walking around alone at night.”

Wondering about his concern, she nodded, and he handed her Sue’s helmet,

taking his own and getting on his bike, showing her how to hold on to his

shoulders while standing on the pegs. Terrified, she warned him not to do

any tricks. He nodded, amazingly not joking, and they set off for her house,

once she gave him the street address.

“Uh-oh,” he said as he heard sirens in the distance, and a second later

his phone rang. He pulled to the road and answered it. Lily climbed down to

the road, crouching and relishing in the solid ground. She looked up at him

when his voice got unreasonably high, and he was looking at her, worried.

He hung up, indicating she was to get back on the bike. He turned aroundwithout an explanation, heading back to Wu’s Garden.

“Wait, what are you doing? Take me home!”

“Lily, no. There’s nothing there. They’ll all explain it to you when we

get back.” She couldn’t help it, she let go of his shoulders, and he stopped

quickly, looking at her where she lay on the pavement. “Com’on,” he said,

offering her his arm, his tone still uncharestically serious, which worried her

more than the fact that her house wasn’t there anymore. That means her

parents too-- She took his arm and hugged him. He didn’t seem to be too

surprised, but after a minute he silently got back on his bike, and she

followed suit, following him into the restaurant blankly. He led her to one of the booths, where Sid, Sue and their Nana were all sitting, and her and Tobey

joined them.

“Someone set fire to your home. It took out half of the block.”

“That’s not a normal fire,” Tobey said. “It’s like some kind of super

fire!”

“Exactly,” their Nana said, raising her eyebrows. “It was a recipe, I’m

sure of it.”



“You think it was coincidence, Nana?” Sue asked, leaning forward

worriedly.

“No, Sue, I think it was Kong Li.” She answered, and Tobey’s arm

somehow made it around Lily’s shoulders, his hand tightening on her

shoulder.

“He saw us,” Tobey said, anger in his voice.“I can only assume so. He would have assumed she went home after.”

“Wait, what?” Lily asked, confused. They all just shook their heads.

“What I don’t get is why he didn’t try to get to her first.”

“Maybe this is his way, right?”

“Ai-ya, this is horrible,” Sid said, head in his hands.

She banged her hand on the table. “No, don’t do that. Tell me. I need

to know; apparently this has something to do with me, so tell me!” They all

exchange a long look, but their Nana nods, getting up and heading to the

back door to the garden, and the others follow, and Tobey pulls her out there

too.

Their Nana is sitting on a stone, a large book on her lap. The strange

group sat down on other rocks and in the grass, and the old woman takes a

deep breath. “This is a magic cookbook. It contains recipes from my old

master, which we are still collecting. Kong Li—“

“You mentioned him before,” Lily said. She nodded.

“Yes. We were students of the same master, but he’s evil.”

“Yeah, he’s not very nice. If left to his own devices, he’ll take over the

world, literally,” Sue said.

“I set up a forcefield to contain his magic and him within Chinatown,

but he’s still trying to find a way to break it down. I have ways to do so in the

Cookbook, which is why we protect it.”“So, this... erm, Cookbook,” she said, finding everything a little surreal.

It seemed so silly. “It has powerful enough spells—recipes, that it could burn

down half a block?”

“Yes, and there’s a lot worse out there. I don’t have that particular

recipe, though, so he must.”

“There’s more,” Lily prompts after a minute. They all look at Tobey,

who sat next to Lily, and so she does as well, raising her eyebrows.

“Kong Li—he’s my father,” he said in a whisper, hiding his face from

the rest of the group, his arms wrapped around his legs.

“Oh,” Lily said thoughfully. She thought about the information earlierwith this new information, but she still didn’t understand fully. “So, he wants

to turn you evil?”

“We don’t know his intentions,” their Nana said, running a hand over

the Magic Cookbook fondly. “But yes, he might have thought that you—if you

were in you house at the time, it might have made Tobey mad enough that

he would have turned to other methods to gain revenge, something Kong Li

would have used to his advantage, to manipulate him.”



Lily put a hand on Tobey’s arm, in an attempt to comfort him. It was

strange; her family was probably dead, but she was the one doing the

comforting. No, there was no probability, she realised, her face falling. There

was no way they could have survived that. No one could have. “So, you

guys try to take back the recipes before him.”

“Right, we end up in more fights with the strangest things—“ Sidgrumbled. “Though Kong Li is bad enough by himself.”

“Though not all of the recipes are his handiwork,” Sue said, a little

more peppier than she should be, perhaps realising that Lily doesn’t like

Barney. “Some are just people who find the recipes and decide to try them.

Usually the recipes look like any other recipe.”

“Except they glow once someone’s made it,” Tobey said.

“Yeah you think that would tip people off,” Sid said sarcastically, and

Lily smiled despite herself.

“This one time I was a Nian! I was all rawwwwwwwr !” Tobey said,

imitating the Nian’s howl and growl perfectly. He got on his hands and knees

and leaned back his head, howling eerily.

Sue laughed. “And before that you were a puppy, remember?”

“Oh yeah that was fun! You know those toys are a lot more fun at their

level! You guys should try it some time!”

“Lily, perhaps you should start training with Sue, Sid and Tobey. I’m

sure they would be more than happy to teach you some basics.”

“What, like, fighting?” She asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Well, yeah,” Tobey said, sounding more excited by the minute. “You

guys should have seen her reflexes earlier! Like a second after I called out to

her she was out of the way! Amazing!”

“Yes, Nana’s been teaching us Kung Fu,” Sue said, ultimately ignoring Tobey. He shot her a glare. “It’s really quite useful, when you see the things

we do.”

“Actually, can I talk to Lily alone for a few minutes?” Their Nana asked,

and with a long look the three others left to go back into the restaurant. “I

know its been a hard day. But I have to wonder why Kong Li would come

after you in that way,” she said once they were alone.

“You mean, something other than Tobey?” The woman nodded.

“Like...?”

“He might see you as a threat,” she said, chin on her fist, elbow on the

cookbook, looking at Lily with interest. “I noticed it some earlier, before Iknew the connection. Sue has some of the natural aptitude for magic, but I

think you have more. Perhaps with training you could come to rival Kong Li.”

“That’s what he is so afraid of.”

“I think so. He might have spotted it when he saw you earlier. He

could have been following you and not Tobey, and it was just a coincidence.

Whatever it is, all our destinies are now intertwined.”

“And when social services comes?”



“Yes, I was thinking of taking you in as a foster child for now. Is that

alright?”

“Oh my goodness, yes!” She crossed the short space and hugged the

older woman. “Thank you!”

The woman smiled. “You’re welcome. I don’t think anyone should

have to go through what you’re going through, and live in a strange house.”She looked up at their house above the restaurant. “We have a guest room,

and you can stay there for now. Just ask someone where it is.”

“Thank you!” She paused from her turn to go back into the restaurant.

“Um, what should I call you?”

“You can call me Mai Hua, or Nana if you prefer.” Lily bowed lightly.

“Thank you, Nana.” She nodded as the girl dissappeared into the

restaurant to seach for Sue. She found Tobey instead, waiting for her in the

kitchen. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he said, a little awkwardly. “So... you don’t take who my father is

against me?”

“As long as you don’t take who my father is against me,” Lily replied

lightly, eyebrows raised. “He wasn’t the nicest guy.”

He smiled wryly. “Hey, we match again!” He said with a laugh, then

showed her up the stairs.

“Nana said there was a guest room—“

“Oh, right,” he said, blinking and leading her down the hall a ways to a

wooden door, opening it to reveal a simple room. “I’m sure tomorrow you

can go shopping—buy clothes and stuff.” He swept his bangs back. “But if

you want to borrow some of my clothes for tomorrow—“

“Maybe just a new shirt,” she said, looking down at her own red one,

which was stained from her day’s work. Her shorts had fared better.“Sure! Hey, make yourself at home, I’ll be right back.” He left swiftly,

and she looked around the small room. Against the wall and under the one

window was the twin bed. At the end of that and against the wall was the

dresser, with a mirror and a few small decorative figurines on top. Against

the wall with the door sat a desk with a chair to go with it. She pulled open

the drawers and found paper, pens and pencils. Next to the desk was a

bookcase with a number of books both in Chinese and English, and next to

the bed was the night table, with a simple clock/radio combo on top of it.

Cosy, she decided. Very clean, she amended, wondering how long it would

stay like that.While setting the radio’s station, Tobey comes back in with a short

knock, placing in her arms two of his shirts. They’re just simple a-shirts, but

they were worn and well loved. She thanked him warmly, placing the two

items in the top drawer of the dresser while he watched.

“What did Nana want to talk to you about?” He asked after a few

seconds.

“Just about training, really. And about the family situation.”



“You don’t seem too broken up about it,” he commented, and she side-

glanced at him.

“When have I had time to be broken up about it?” She asked

somewhat bitterly, sitting down against the bed, leaning her head back on it.

“Besides, I’m never one to wear my feelings out on my sleeves.”

“Yeah, I’ve been noticing that,” he said. “So, is Nana going to adoptyou?”

“Um, she said she was going to foster me for now. Which is good.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m here if you ever want to talk about it. Just like Sid and

Sue. We’re all in this boat together now.” He squeezed her shoulder tightly

with a hand and gave her a wild grin. “We have to get you a bike too! You

know how to ride right?”

“Yeah I did, once,” she said.

“Well its not something you really forget, right? Maybe Mr. Wu will let

me off tomorrow to help you shop!”

“It would be nice to have a companion. But I would think Sue—“

“What? No, it has to be me!” He grinned at her again, and she got the

feeling that Nana had assigned him as her bodyguard. Maybe he was just

being nice, friendly, kinda flirty, too.

“Yes, well, alright,” she said, akward feeling again despite the easiness

of being in his company. She was too aware of him. The words from earlier

spun around in her head as they said good night amiably and she took off her

shoes and climbed in the bed, clicked off the lamp and stared into the

darkness. Everyone could see there was something between them, and she

wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with that. Even Kong Li saw it. Maybe.

She frowned at herself and rolled to her side, shutting her eyes tight and

focusing on her breath like she often did to drown out the sound of herparent’s fighting—

And the mention of her parents, here, alone, in her thoughts and this

dark room, brought on a whole new wave of emotion. She could hardly

believe it. She knew—heard—it was like this for a while. Disbelief, denial,

then the real recovery. She had her protectiveness over her emotions on her

side, at least. She had so much practice, it would take little effort to conceal

this, she reasoned. A little more than her day to day, maybe, but if she took

the night to mourn, she should be alright come morning.

She turned to her other side, shutting her eyes tight again, trying to

ignore the tears that wet her pillow, but failing.

Chapter Two

Barney made them breakfast the next morning, which the others

assured Lily was better than Mr. Wu doing the same. They had the morning

free, which Sid and Sue decided to spend on homework. After a quick word

with Nana, Lily gets her money and the money that the woman gives her to



buy some clothes and maybe a bike, if they were lucky. She thinks that

wearing Tobey’s shirt helped her cause a bit with the family, and after

breakfast Lily and Tobey head to one of the many clothes shops in

Chinatown. After two such shops, she asked if there was a consignment

shop, or a thrift store.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, walking with her along the road, andpointing in a complicated manner around a few corners. “Right, then that

way, then a left, and its right there!” She laughed, and he did as well,

grinning. “I didn’t think you to be that type of girl.”

“What’s wrong with getting cute clothes at a cheap price?” She

wondered, and he grinned again.

“No, nothing,” he assured her.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘that type of girl’?”

“Well, I figured you weren’t prissy, which is good, mind. All I was

sayin’.” He shrugs and starts to whistle.

She shook her head with a laugh. “You’re so silly!” She said, thanking

him when he opened the door to the shop for her.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, and stood by her as she flipped through

clothes racks for things to try on, eventually getting a pile over her arm and

then disappearing into the changing room, making sure everything fit. She

went for just comfortable things—t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, and jeans. She

had snuck in a dress, which she found to be quite flattering when she tried it

on. “Hey,” he called through the door, and Lily, clothes off, blushed despite

the wood separating them. “There’s a bike here, pretty good condition.”

“Oh great! We should get it!” She got dressed back in his shirt and her

other clothes again, opening the door to see him leaning against the door

frame.“I was thinking the same thing,” he admitted, holding up the orange

tag inbetween his fingers with a smile. “Everything fit?”

“Just about,” she said, putting back a few shirts and a pair of jeans that

didn’t flatter her. “Ready?”

“Yeah, and look!” He tugged on her arm and pulled her over to the

counter. In the case were a number of old comic books and other objects,

but he was lusting after the comics. “They have number 34 of Dragon Robot

Warrior!”

“Is that... good?” She wondered, eyebrows furrowed, never having

followed comics before. She peered at it through the case.“Yeah! It’s the one where—“ he goes on for a minute, complete with

sound effects and arm waving, and Lily smiled. “What?”

“Do you want it, Tobey?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have enough,” he whined, looking back at it.

“I’ll cover the difference, if you want—“ He hugged her fiercly around

her neck, and she almost choked with surprise. “You’re welcome,” she

managed to say.



“Oh, Lily, thank you!” She laughed, and they made their purchases.

She had some left over, so she went in search of a new backpack. “Yeah, just

think, you have all that homework to make up!” She wrinkled up her nose.

“All my teachers know I do my work. Hopefully they’ll excuse me this

time.” She rolled her eyes. She was pushing her new bike and helmet, with

the bag of clothes hanging from one handlebar. He was walking close besideher, hugging his new comic, and couldn’t stop smiling. She bought a red

backpack in the school supply store—along with some notebooks and small

things like that. She returned to Tobey outside, and they walked the short

way home to Wu’s Garden in amiable silence. She locked the bike on the

bike rack outside the restaurant, hanging her helmet from it like the others.

Hers was shabby, rusty, but it would do. It was just a way from point a to

point b, after all.

After putting her new clothes away, she tried to return the money to

Nana, but the woman refused. “Keep it for anything else you might need.

Like a hairbrush or something like that.” Lily thanked her and returned to her

room, setting her new school things on her desk neatly while Tobey laid on

his stomach on her floor, reading his new comic. She joined him, laying

beside him and watching him and half-heartedly reading the comic. He tried

to explain it to her, but she told him not to bother with a laugh.

“I’ll get you the first ones, so you can read it from the beginning,” he

said almost to himself, turning the page reverently. She laughed again and

nudged him in the shoulder.

Lunch came, again made by Barney, and then it was time to work. She

worked in the kitchen again, Barney trusting her with one of the simpler

dishes, which she thought was a compliment. In the afternoon slow-time,

Nana took the four of them into the garden to commence training.She gave Lily a set of moves, basic but could be used to defend

herself, to practice, and watched her carefully while she instructed the

others. She would occasionally come over to correct a stance or to add

another to the set. Sue and Sid finished, and Tobey came over to watch her,

sitting on a rock while the others went inside. She stumbled, embarassed,

not used to being watched with such intensity.

“Let’s try some one-on-one,” he suggested after a minute, a smile on

his face.

“What, like—“

“Yeah!” He stood up, circling her in a fighting pose. She copied hismovements. He made a strike at her neck and she ducked to the side

quickly, using her agility to her advantage. He didn’t lose a step, sweeping

her feet from underneath her, a move she hadn’t expected and thus couldn’t

avoid. She hit the ground hard and glared up at him, but he just grinned,

offering a hand. She took it, and they repeated the excercise. This time she

remembered to watch the subtle movements Nana had told her about, to

anticipate his next move. She didn’t fare much better, but she was laughing



along with him. “Not bad for an hour of training,” he admitted after about

thirty minutes of the excercise. He leaned against one of the rocks, and she

sat on another, out of breath. “Water?” He suggested, and she nodded,

returning inside with him.

After work that night, Nana took Lily outside to give her her first magic

lesson, something the older woman told the younger would become routine. They sat together and meditated for a time, Nana teaching her about

chakras, and afterwards giving her a number of books to read, ranging from

old sorcerers of middle ages to ancient Chinese times, to techniques, and a

book that Nana thinks Kong Li has a copy of. Sue joined them after a while at

Nana’s request, talking of small things, recipes they could use and the like.

Nana told Lily of her fortune cookies she was perfecting, among other things.

After a couple of hours, Sue and Lily head up to bed, Sue trailing in after Lily

to her room, taking a look around.

“You know, ever since he found out, he’s had a hard time talking about

it. He’s been kinda—out of it.”

“He hides it well,” Lily said, knowing Sue referred to Tobey.

“He’s really very mad that Kong Li would do this to you—to him.” She

paused, looking at the view out of the small window. “I think that Nana was

right in saying that Tobey would have turned to some alternative methods to

avenge you. He still might.”

“But why? We barely know each other.”

“You’re a cute girl. You haven’t escaped notice from the guys, trust

me. And you’re mysterious. Sid’s kinda mad Tobey met you officially first.”

“You’re just glad I don’t like Barney,” Lily countered, and Sue blushed,

looking at her a little sharply.

“Well, yeah. You noticed huh?” She looked back out at the lights outthe window. “He doesn’t know I exist. Well, he knows that I exist, because I

work with him, but not as a woman. I’ll probably be that girl he met always.”

“I don’t think so,” Lily said, yawning and rubbing her eye. “I think you

just shouldn’t be so subtle about it. If you express interest you might be

surprised.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Sue said doubtfully, but said a quiet good night and

left, closing the door behind her. Lily was taking off her shoes when Tobey

opened the door sneakily and closed it behind him.

“Hi!” He said cheerfully, sitting on the chair to the desk backwards,

arms folded across the back and resting his chin on them. “You and Sue hada good chat huh?”

She lined up her shoes carefully, blushing and trying not to let him see.

“Um yeah. I’m guessing you were eavesdropping.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said vaguely, feinting aloofness. She just rolled her

eyes, sitting down on the floor with one of her new books Nana had given

her. “Woah, what are those?”

“Magic books,” she said, smiling as he came to sit beside her, yanking



the one in her hands from her and flipping through it. “Its all about how he

can use the different recipes and the kinds of ingredients and meditating and

stuff.”

“You and Sue like that kind of stuff,” he said, wrinkling up his nose and

giving her back the book. “I have a natural talent for it,” he said proudly.

“Would Sue and Sid agree?” Lily asked, flipping back to her page, notreally paying attention to what she was reading.

“Well, no, not after that one time.”

“What time?” She asked, eyebrows raised curiously. Surely any story

he had to tell would be amusing.

“I mixed the ingredients wrong and made a living blob,” he admitted,

hanging his head. “It started growing on me too—er not literally,” he

amended with a laugh, telling her the full story. After they sat in silence for a

few minutes, Lily re-reading a few characters over and over again, but

smiling. “Sue was right, darn her,” he said lightly. “I don’t like talking about

it.”

“I understand. I wouldn’t either,” she said, closing the book and

placing it and the others up on the bookshelf. She returned to him, sitting

cross-legged in front of him.

“It’s more than that though. He tricked me—and I won’t forget that.”

She nodded, not knowing the full story, but understanding. “And I keep on

thinking, ‘what if I turn out just like him?’”

“Tobey,” she said, reaching out to touch his shoulder, but surprised

when he put a hand over hers. “You’re nothing like him. I hardly know

anything about him, but I know that. I’m sure he was never this nice, or as

loving.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a sniffle, and she frowned, using her freehand to lift up his chin. There were tears in his eyes.

“Tobey, I’m serious. And I know Sue and Sid have told you the same

things, right?” He nodded. “So why be so sad? You’re the happiest person

I’ve ever known.”

“You must’ve had some kind of life,” he half-laughs, and she nods,

pulling him into a hug. He clutched to her. “I’m sorry, I know it might seem

silly I’m worried about the future when—“ He cut off, clutching tighter.

“It’s alright,” she said softly in a monotone. The full weight of the

situation hadn’t hit her yet, but she was sure it would whenever social

services showed up. “I wasn’t terribly close to my parents.”“You aren’t close with anyone,” he said.

“Well, I hope I can change that. I’m just guarded is all. I have a large

wall.”

“Like the Great Wall?” She smiled.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“And I’ve just started to climb it, huh?”

“You’re nearly at the top,” she amended, and he pulled away slightly



to smile at her.

“Well, good! I was afraid I would have to sharpen my grappling hook!”

He made a claw with his hand to demonstrate and she giggled at his random

silliness before he tickled her, causing her to break out in laughter. “Oh,

you’re ticklish,” he said evilly, “this is gonna be fun!”

She sat back up from where she had fallen from laughter, and grins.“You’re too silly.”

“I’m not always,” he said with meaning and a sly smile, before Sid

banged on the door, and they bid each other a good night. She called a good

night to Sid as well, and he stuck his head in the doorway, smiling and saying

the same before Tobey dragged him back to their room.

Chapter Three

The next morning, instead of shopping, Lily went outside with the

others and read her books while they practiced on their own. She joined

them for strength excercises and stretches, and did a few of her own sets

before turning again to her book about the days of old and the magicians and

sorcerers. She found it fascinating, and this exercise of her rusty Chinese

made it all the more interesting. There were a lot of older and less-used

characters that she had to look up or use the context to figure out. But still,

she went through the book quickly, having it half done by the time they were

finished with their practice.

She helped Barney make the lunch. “So...” She said, glancing up at

him where he worked beside her at the counter. She stirred the pot uneasily

as he looked back. “Sue?” She mentally kills herself for her lack of tact, but

listens for his answer.“No, I’m Barney, remember?” He looked at her like she was crazy.

“I know who you are, I’m not an idiot,” she said narrowing eyes at him.

“I meant, you know Sue likes you?”

“I would hope so, we’ve been in the same house for a few years now.”

She shook her head at him, rolling her eyes and wondering if he was really

that dense. A few minutes passed, him frowning at the ingredients he was

chopping, before he looked at her, comprehension dawning on his face.

“OH!”

Lily smiled, nodding. They said nothing more, as Sue came in with Sid

and Tobey just then, but Barney smiled back at Lily. Tobey came up betweenthem, stealing a carrot and putting an arm around Lily’s shoulder. “What’s

this?” She just smiled wryly with a small wink that she made sure Sue

couldn’t see. “You’re naughty,” he whispered in her ear before crunching the

carrot loudly in the same ear, and she laughed, nudging him away.

They all eat the lunch with smiles, Nana even joining them, and Mr. Wu

as well. He complimented Lily on the cooking, but she blushed and told him

it was mostly Barney’s handiwork. Barney just shook his head with a smile.



After lunch the calls started coming in, and after a while her and Barney were

alone again. Busy, but alone.

“How did you know?”

“Honestly? A total stranger could see that.” She blinked. “Which I am

very near to.”

“What? No you’re not. You’re like family now.”She laughs drily. “After a few days? Give it a while, Barney. In any

case, she admitted it to me.”

“Oh wow, really?” He handed her a pot to dump into the respective

orders.

“Yeah,” she said, doing as he bid without much thought anymore.

“Does it bother you?”

“What, no, I had no idea!” He said, raising his hands up for a second in

a mock surrender. “It’s a bit of a shock.”

“I imagine,” she said in a low voice, but was happy. “Are you going to

do anything about it?”

“Uh, well, maybe. What do you think?”

“I told her to not be so subtle, so see if she does anything first, right?

If not, then, yeah, you should.” He frowned and returned his full attention to

his work. She had been taught how to answer the phones, so this was added

to her duties. Seeing Tobey and the siblings between their deliveries was a

good break in the monotone, but she began to see why Barney was always so

spacey, and his father wasn’t ever in the kitchen. After her shift and helping

clean up, she gave a loud sigh, sitting down at the table and putting her

cheek on the surface, her eyes closing. They hadn’t even had a slow hour

today, for training. It was nearly constant. She knew in a few minutes when

the three returned from their last deliveries they would have training, andshe sighed louder.

“Welcome to my world,” Barney said, joining her at the table. He

offered her a glass of juice and she accepted, watching as Sue and Sid

entered, but no Tobey.

At her furrowed eyebrows, Sue smiled. “He wanted to stop at one of

his disgusting food joints.” As if on cue, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and

she pulled it out to see it was a text from Tobey. She smiled despite herself.

“Got food 4 2!” Sid took the phone from her before she knew it, and

he made a swoony noise before Sue hit him aside the head, and Lily stole her

phone back with a glare.“Trust me, Lils, you’re gonna wanna eat before he gets here—or

maybe not, depending.” He made a face and plugged his nose, and a look at

Sue made Lily seriously worry.

“He’s right. Most of what he gets is inedible.” Barney nodded in

agreement with a smile, not really paying attention to the conversation.

“I’ll live,” she assured them, getting up to wait by the bike rack for

him. She checked her nails casually until she heard his bike’s tires on the



road and looked up to see him. He grinned at her, taking off his helmet and

locking up his bike next to hers.

“I figured that you might want something besides Chinese—“ he lifted

a paper bag, slightly soggy, with a smile. “Burgers alright?”

“Sounds great,” she said, relieved that it sounded completely edible.

They sat down on the sidewalk, and he handed her a burger wrapped in foil,and she examined under the bun curiously, looking for anything odd.

“Honestly, I know how normal people eat,” he said, almost whining,

half a burger in his mouth. “They way Sid and Sue talk, they make it seem

like I’m completely mental.”

She smiled and agreed, eating the burger hungrily. He finished four in

the time it took her to eat one, and she watched him with interest. He almost

inhaled them. She examined one of the ones in the queue, unwrapped but

not eaten yet, and among sardines and jalapenos, there was the normal

condiments, bacon, lettuce, tomato, lots of cheese, onions... She handed it to

him with a smile and he laughed, taking it and eating that last one quickly

too, burping as he finished. She made a burp to rival his, and he stared for a

second before busting out into laughter, ruffling her hair playfully.

They then took turns shooting the wrappers into the trash can, only

returning inside when Mr. Wu threatened to lock them outside. The four of

them spent some time in Sid and Tobey’s room before Sue and Lily retreat to

Sue’s next door. “He got you normal food, huh? He must really like you.”

Lily chuckled. “Yeah, I guess. Any news on your front?” Sue sighed

and shook her head.

“Worried about school tomorrow? No one will be around to protect

you. From Kong Li or other students,” she added.

“Yeah a little I guess. Good thing its almost over.” Sue nodded inagreement. “I’m riding with you guys tomorrow, right?”

“I would hope so! How else would you get there?” She laughed and

Lily joined in before saying a pleasant good night and returning to her room.

She sighed as she sank into her bed, kicking off her shoes without a

care, eyes closing for a few minutes...

She wakes up a few minutes later to a swift knock on the door and

Tobey coming in, locking the door behind him with a smile. She sat up and

greeted him, interrupted by a yawn. “Are you that tired?” He asked, worried.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, watching as he joined her sitting on the

bed.“Alright. So tell me what was with Barney earlier.”

“I told him that Sue likes him,” she said simply with a shrug. He

laughed and brought her into a side-hug.

“You truly are naughty. I thought that was it,” he said, not letting her

out of the hug. “And you didn’t tell Sue you told him.”

“Oh, no! She would be mad!” She said, eyes wide. “It took him a few

minutes as it was to understand me, but he seemed quite pleased.”



“You think...?”

“I think what?”

“They’ll get together?”

“They should, right?” He nodded, and she nodded in return. “Right.”

“And, um...” He looked up at the ceiling. She waited for him to finish a

bit impatiently. “And us?”She smiled widely. “I dunno. What do you think?” She asked in her

most curious voice, and he looked a little down until he looked back at her

and saw her smile. He grinned back.

“I think we should.” She nodded in reply, and he clutched her close,

face burrowed in her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair lightly,

suppressing another yawn as to not to ruin the moment. “I’m sorry, I know

you’re tired.” He pulled back and kissed her on her cheek, whispering a good

night in her ear. He left, and she touched her cheek softly, giggling and

laying back on her bed. His company had kept her mood up for a while, but

now that he was gone, his aura of presence slowly faded and she felt her

mood growing sour.

She sighed, shutting off her light and laying down in her bed much like

the night before, curled tightly in a ball. Tomorrow was going to be hard;

harder than she probably realised. It would be full of people—kids and

teachers alike—expressing their condolences. She didn’t want to think about

it. She suddenly wished she had one of the three in her classes—but she was

a year ahead of them. She scowled and turned to her other side.

Chapter Four

“Lily,” Nana said as Lily came down the stairs the next morning, hernew bag over her shoulder. “These men are here to see you.” Lily stopped

at the bottom of the staircase, staring at the two men that nodded at her.

Tobey and Sid stopped behind her, so she moved through the kitchen and

into the dining room, sliding into the booth next to Nana. “We’ve been

talking about you living here.”

“You know about the fires?” One of the men, with a shaved head,

asked, flipping through a file and looking up at her.

“Ah, yessir,” she said quietly, averting her eyes.

“I’m sorry that this happened. It effected a lot of people, though the

fire seemed to originate in your house.” She nodded understanding. She hadfigured as much. “Mrs. Wu was just telling me that she has offered to take

you in foster care, as next year you’ll be an adult, so the process of adoption

seems a bit unreasonable.”

The other man frowned. “Do you know anything about the fire?”

“No, sir, I was here, working,” she said quietly, looking up into his eyes,

meeting his suspicious glare. “When I left my father hadn’t even come home

yet.”



“I see. Well if you remember any suspicious activity, be sure to

contact us, won’t you?” He handed her a card, and she took it carefully,

looking it over. She nodded. The other man cleared his throat to reclaim her

attention.

“In any case, Mrs. Wu, if you will just fill out this, and you too, Miss

Zhang,” he said, handing them each a paper and a pen. “This is a simplematter, but it still has to be filled out.”

“Sir,” Lily said, looking up at the police officer when she finished with

the paperwork. “Is there... anything left?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head wearily. “Half of the block was melted

to the ground before the firefighters could put it out.”

“Melted?” She asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes, its very strange. But we’re still investigating. If we find anything

else out, we’ll be sure to let you know.” She gave him her new cell phone

number, as she had been added to the Wu’s plan, so he could tell her if

anything came up. Their business done, the men leave, and Lily hugged

Nana tight.

“Thank you, Nana,” she said warmly with a smile before going back to

the kitchen to eat her waiting breakfast. She sat inbetween Sue and Tobey

and they ate in near silence. She finished last, and then they headed out to

their bikes, strapping on their helmets in an almost eerie line, one after the

other. She climbed onto her bike, her eyebrows furrowed as she fought to

remember. She followed the others with her eyes, looking at their feet, and

put one foot on its pedal, pushing the bike forward a little bit.

“Com’on!” Sid called, getting bored. “We’ll be late.” Lily just nodded

and tried again, pedaling a little more now, wobbily, before it suddenly

clicked and she remembered, her muscles remembered the movements of when she was little.

“Give me a break; its been years!” She complained, tongue in her

teeth as she started to ride, a bit slower than the others, but they still made it

to the school in good time. They locked their bikes up and headed inside

together. She started to head to her first class, saying a ‘see you later,’ but

Sid joined her.

“My class is right near yours,” he explained, but she knew why they

didn’t want her alone. She was more certain than ever that Nana had given

them instructions to protect her. Well, once she got good enough she

wouldn’t need protecting anymore. “Don’t let anyone get to you, alright? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, if it hadn’t been for Tobey, I wouldn’t be here,” she said, looking

down and adjusting her bag over her shoulder. “I mean that in a good way,

of course. I would have gone home.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said curiously. “In any case, with finals coming up

you and everyone else will have plenty to keep occupied with.”

“True,” she said, happy it was almost the end of the year. They came



to her classroom, and she bid him a farewell, turning into the room.

In every class before lunch, the teachers seemed surprised that she

had shown up, a fact that she tried very hard to ignore. She kept her head

down as usual, thankful when lunch came and she got to sit with her new

friends. Her only friends, really. One of the three had walked with her to

each class, which she didn’t mind. It made it go faster, but she was gladwhen Tobey was there to walk with her to lunch.

His aura of happiness instantly cheered her up, only strengthened

when he put an arm over her shoulders and kissed her cheek as they walked

through the hallway. She smiled at him, thanking him in a small voice. He

filled her ear with stories of pranks from the week before, making her laugh,

especially when they involved Sid or Mr. Wu. They joined the other two, Sue

texting under the table. Sid looked kinda bored, but was looking over at

Tiffany Cho’s table as he spun his noodles aimlessly around his chopsticks.

Tobey wasted no time looking over Sue’s shoulder, giving Lily a sly grin

and a thumbs up. Lily sat next to Sue, looking for herself. “Nosy!” Sue

complained, turning over her phone in her lap with a frown, looking up at

Tobey.

“Who were you texting, hmm?” Tobey wondered, making a snatch at

the phone, though he already knew.

“Yeah, Mai-Mai, it wasn’t Barney was it?”

“No!” She said defensively, pushing Tobey out of reach, and he sat

with a smile next to Sid, pulling out a large lunch bag and devouring the

contents in record time. Barney had made Lily a lunch as well: it was her

favorite, orange chicken and rice. She ate it slowly, well, compared to Tobey,

who eyed her food. She frowned and put her arm protectively around it,

eating quicker. He laughed, and returned to the light conversation, mostlyabout their classes.

“Sue, was it Barney?” Lily asked as Sue walked her to her next class.

Sue bit her lip for a minute, contemplating telling the other girl, then nodded

with a smile.

“Yes! He texted me earlier, look!” She flipped through a few texts and

shoved the phone in Lily’s face. He had texted her ‘have a good day,’ and

then she texted something back, and he made a very happy ‘:D’ face. “Oh,

and look!” She flipped through a few more, showing her the latest. ‘Ill be

waiting after u get out of school. Running errands early.’ Sue actually

squealed in excitement, hugging Lily before she left for her own class, andLily laughed and shook her head, admiring her handiwork and texting Tobey

with the news.

Sid greeted her after, holding up his phone in her face. She frowned

and took his wrist, holding it at a reasonable distance so she could read it.

‘sue and barney!’ it read, and she knew it was from Tobey.

“Okay?” She released his wrist and he took back his phone, frowning at

it.



“He’s not good enough for her,” he said, a little angrily, flipping the

phone closed with a snap.

“Come on, you can’t protect her forever,” she told him with a roll of

her eyes. “It was bound to happen. You guys aren’t kids.”

“I know,” he said with a frown. “I just wish I could hold it off a bit

longer.”“You don’t want her hurt,” she assumed.

“Do you know awkward it will be, for all of us, if they end badly?” He

asked her, and she furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. She hadn’t

considered it. “And he’s bound to notice that we sometimes disappear, now

that he has a reason to pay attention.” She blushed, not fully realising the

weight of what she had done. “Like you, and Tobey, that’s okay because

we’re all in this together. But I know first hand trying to get a date and

protecting Chinatown.”

“Cho?” She asked simply, and he grunted and nodded. She could

understand his frustration. She couldn’t imagine trying to keep such a large

secret from someone she was dating. It would ruin all the trust. She didn’t

have to worry about it, but she could feel the frustration radiating out in

waves off of Sid, and it made her worry.

After school, the four ride back to the restaurant, and Nana called

them out back for some training. She sets Lily and Sid together, so that he

can teach her rolls and jumps, and she tried her best to master the

techniques as quickly as possible. “It’s not something you learn in one day,”

he scolds her as she falls from the wall for the third time.

“I know, but I want it to be,” she complained, trying again to imitate

his flip off the wall. She lands on her back, hard, and she sighed, feeling

insignificant.“It’s okay,” he said, helping her up. “It’s important, but don’t push

yourself. Let’s try something else.” They did a quick one-on-one fight, and

she swept his feet from under him, like Tobey had done to her. He frowned.

“You’re quick.” She offered him a hand up but he refused, jumping to his

feet. She used some of the blocks she had been taught, but its a struggle.

He was strong, stronger than Tobey, though she thought that Tobey had

been holding back a bit. He got her down three times before Sue stepped in,

and Lily and her circled each other. They didn’t know that she was learning

the moves they were using on her, and used a move Sid had on her: a quick

strike to distract, then pinned her to the ground by twisting one of her armsup to her back. Sue called out in surprise as she felt Lily’s knee on her back.

“You are fast!” Sue said, sitting up when Lily let her up. She brushed

off dirt from her white shirt, eyebrows furrowed.

“If that’s all I got on my side, then I’ll take it,” Lily said, sitting down on

one of the benches. Nana nodded.

“It seems to work to your advantage. No one can follow your

movements.”



“Yeah, its like a snake,” Sid said, leaning against the wall.

“Is she going to study Snake Style first, Nana?” Tobey asked hopefully.

Nana smiled at him.

“That might be wise.”

“Sweet!” He said, punching the air above his head and coming to sit

beside Lily.

“Woah, look!” Sue said, pointing over the wall a while later, pointing at

a smoke stack.

“Another fire?” Lily wondered, worried.

“You three go investigate,” Nana said quickly, and after a brief

hesitation Sue, Sid and Tobey leave the back way, heading towards it. “Let’s

go inside,” she suggested casually. “Let’s see if we can find anything on this

recipe.” Lily just nodded and followed her into the restaurant. They sat down

at the table with old books and flipped through them, both frowning.

“Lillllly!” Barney called from the front, peeking his head around. “Oh,

there you are! Can you help?”

“Oh, uh, sure,” she said, looking up from her book and going to wash

up and help cook. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she answered it,

saying her name quickly and informally.

“We may have a problem,” Sid said, wind whistling by the speaker. He

was riding his bike, or running. “I got the recipe, but he got Tobey—“

“He what?!” She exclaimed, returning her attention to her pan with

difficulty so the food wouldn’t burn. She turned to Nana, and they exchanged

a worried look.

“It’s a trap,” Sue said, now in a conference call. “He wants you to go,

Lily. He wants you in his control.”“Who cares? We have to get him back!” When Nana makes a move

with her hand, Lily tosses her the phone, and the older woman catches it

deftly, speaking quickly and quietly.

“There’s no help for it. She has to come with you two.” There was a

pause. “I’ll give her a few magic fortune cookies to help.... Yeah come back

here.” Nana tossed Lily the phone back, and Sid informed her they were just

a minute away. She took off her apron quickly, apologising to Barney,

accepting a small package and instructions from Nana before leaving for her

bike, the other two already there.

“Lily, no matter what happens, don’t do anything against your morals,”Sid warned as they started off towards the edge of the town. Lily ground her

teeth against anger and rage that boiled up inside of her, wanting to spew

angry curses into the air. This wasn’t fair. She couldn’t be that important.

No way she could mean this much to him—though she was a little too curious

to finally meet Tobey’s father.

As soon as Tobey was safe, she was going to give him a big kiss, she

decided with a determined smile.



“GPS ends here—yeah look there’s his bike!” Sue said, referring to her

phone.

“You really think he would have rode his bike to wherever Kong Li took

him?” Sid said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s all we have to go on—hey, look!” She pointed by his bike, picking

up a note pinned under the tire. “It’s coordinates,” she said, putting theminto her phone. “Warehouse district.” They head off again, and Sue cleared

her throat. “He’ll be fine, Lils, really. Kong Li won’t seriously harm him.”

“I don’t know if he’s above that,” Sid mumbled, and Sue shot him a

glare. “What? You know what he’s capable of.”

“I do know,” Sue said quietly, starting to pedal her bike faster, turning

her bike dangerously around the corner, the two others behind her. They all

come to an abrupt stop at a fence. “It’s just on the other side, in that

warehouse.”

“How cliched,” Sid said, but dropped his bike and scaled the fence,

dropping to the other side. Sue made Lily go ahead of her, and Lily climbed

the fence a little slower than Sid, never having done it before, hearing Sid’s

voice from earlier, telling her how to fall. She landed from the top of the

fence in a roll, and Sue dropped beside her a second later. “Com’on!”

He kicked in the door, and the siblings came through the door first, on

guard. Lily came after them, trying to imitate them to make it seem she

knew what she was doing. She was mad, furious, worried, and she feared the

worst, and that everyone could hear her heartbeat, but she definitely had no

idea what she was doing. Her only contribution was the small package she

had in her bag at her side. And, you know, the fact that Kong Li wanted to

turn her evil or kill her.

“Ah, my favorite brats,” a voice said, and their attention was broughtfrom scanning the crates that surrounded the walls to up on the second floor,

where a caped and hooded man sat in a crouch, a bright red staff the only

colorful thing about him. “I should’ve known that you two would come.”

“Where’s Tobey?” Sid yelled up at him, his hands clenched in fists.

“Patience, patience,” the man said, drawing back his hood. He was

older, like Nana, but he didn’t age nearly as well. It was hard to believe that

he was Tobey’s father, though she did see some resemblance in their jawline.

“I think your new friend should join me up here first, don’t you?” He twiddled

a finger at Lily in the near-darkness. “Come now. No need for harm to come

to my son, is there?”“I want to see him,” she said in a determined voice, her hand inside

her bag casually. Kong Li’s eyes narrow.

“He’s up here, with me.” Lily frowned and started walking to the

stairs, but Sue caught her arm.

“Lily, no! He’ll take you too!”

“I’ll be fine, Sue.” She gave the girl a smile, sly and mysterious. “We’ll

all get out of here alright.” She slid her arm out of her grip and made her



way over to the stairs again, only to be caught by Sid. “Sid.”

“I’m coming with you,” he told her firmly, and Sue followed close

behind. They made it to the top of the stairs, and Kong Li was waiting, his

eyes still narrowed. “Com’on, Kong Li, let’s settle this!” The older man just

smiled, slamming his staff into the metal under his feet, and the rest of the

upper floor, mainly the part they were standing on, began to shake andshatter. Sue hit the ground below first with a yell, and Sid pushed Lily to the

solid ground near Kong Li, but was slipping himself.

“Sid!” She said, her voice high-pitched, catching his hand. He greatly

outweighed her, but somehow she hung on to him, her arms straining. She

saw Kong Li out of the corner of her eye, coming behind her, and could

almost feel his presence. Glad she had read that part of the book already,

she knew what he was trying to do. Mind control.

She closed her eyes tight, trying to keep half her attention on keeping

Sid from falling and the other half on keeping Kong Li out of her mind. She

twitched, not liking the feeling at all, wishing she had a hand free, then shook

her head from the thought. That was his work. She couldn’t let go of Sid.

Kong Li’s determination not to hurt her surprised her. He could have just

pried her hand from Sid’s, but instead he chose a more subtle method.

She ground her teeth, opening her chakras a bit too quickly, but it

worked at keeping her focused. She pushed his mind from hers with much

difficutly. He was strong, and she was still weak, untrained. Keeping him at

bay still, she started backing up slowly until Sid could pull himself onto solid

ground. Sue somehow got up, but was stuck helpless at the top of the stairs.

Kong Li slipped from her mind, perhaps giving up, but a second later

she realised why. He had jumped most nimbly onto Sid, crushing his throat

with the side of his forearm as he pushed him against the railing, whichcreaked dangerously. “SID!” Sue and Lily screamed at once, but he had no

threat from Sue. He turned his head to point his staff at Lily with a wicked

smile.

“Join me,” he said, ignoring Sid clawing at his arm. Lily didn’t answer,

examining her options. “Now, you’re powerful. Don’t do anything foolish.

Don’t you want a proper training?”

Yes, she thought fiercely, then with a powerful move, one she

attributed later to adrenaline, she tore the staff from his outstretched hand,

and swung it around like a bat and it cracked against his skull. He fell down,

unconcious, on Sid, who pushed him off with a disgusted cry and coughing.“Are you alright?” Lily asked Sid, helping him up.

“I’m fine! Find Tobey!” He gasped at her, and she nodded, standing up

and thinking of where he would be.

“Tobey!” She yelled loudly, then listened intently. Something scurried

across the floor to her, sitting down and looking up at her. “A rat!” She said,

slowly walking backwards. It kept on looking at her, then started walking

back towards the way it came, then stopped and looked back at her.



Grinding her teeth, having watched enough TV to know she had to follow it,

she did, finally finding a small cage, bending down to look inside of it.

“Tobey?” She asked the rat inside of the cage, whose fur grew just over its

eyes like his, even being that white-blonde. “Oh my god.”

She instantly regretted her promise to herself. She wouldn’t be kissing

Tobey now that he was safe, she realised with a smile, just glad that he was.“Don’t be like that,” the Tobey-rat said. “It’s not like I asked for this!”

“I know,” she replied, marveling at the fact that he could talk at all.

“Let’s get you home to Nana. She’ll fix you up.”

“What should we do about Kong Loser?” Sid asked in a loud voice.

“We could drag him back on our bikes,” Sue said with a wicked smile.

Both siblings stopped and stared as Lily appeared with the cage, opening it to

let Tobey out onto her shoulder. He was frowning. Then they both bent over

in laughter.

“Com’on guys, let’s get Kong Li back before he wakes up,” she said

over their laughter, using the dragon staff to push Kong Li over the edge of

the floor and onto the ground beneath. “What is she going to do to him?”

“Something magicky,” Tobey said in her ear, and she smiled.

“Maybe she’ll turn him into a rat,” Sue said in a serious voice, climbing

back down the stairs. Sid jumped to the ground, signaling for her to follow.

Lily looked at him doubtfully, those twelve feet looking very scary, especially

when Tobey’s life was, literally, in her hands.

“You’ll be fine. It’s not that much farther than the fence,” he called up,

and she nodded. When she didn’t move, he and Sue pushed some crates

under where she stood, which broke the distance by half. Thanking them

quietly, she lowered herself down on those crates and then jumped from

there. She just didn’t have that much confidence in her abilities yet. Wait,what abilities? She shook her head and picked up Kong Li’s staff where it laid

on the floor, a kind of energy running up through her hands. She shook her

head again against the magic, her eyes clouding over, blacking out her

vision.

“OW!” She said, her vision clearing as Tobey bites, hard, on her ear,

bringing her attention back to the present. “Thanks,” she says in a quieter

voice as he lets go, settling back onto her shoulder contently and a bit

smugly. Sid and Sue look at them with interest, eyeing her bleeding ear. She

put a hand up to it with a slight blush. “Let’s go.”

“Er... right,” Sid said, dragging Kong Li by his wrists without much careout to their bikes. “Let me call Nana...” He pulled out his phone while the

others settled themselves on their bikes.

“You’re not gonna fall off, are you?” Lily asked Tobey.

“Pssh, as if,” he replied, clutching to her shirt tighter. She reached a

hand to him and pet him absently. “Hey, stop it,” he said without much

determination behind his voice.

“I kinda like you like this,” she said with a laugh, running a finger along



his back.

“Don’t get used to it,” he muttered, while Sid told them that Nana was

on her way to bring him back herself.

“She suggested that you two go back to Wu’s,” he told Lily and Tobey.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get his bike on the way back.”

“Alright, thanks,” she said, feeling awkward as she starts pedalingback to the restaurant at her own pace, not feeling the pressure to go terribly

fast. She hummed a light tune even as she locked up her bike outside and

went into the restaurant, warning Tobey not to talk in front of Barney and Mr.

Wu.

“I’m not that dumb,” he told her, climbing up into her hair, blending in

almost perfectly before she went inside.

“There you are! Where have you been?!” Mr. Wu asked, before shaking

his head. “Nevermind! Where are the others? There’s some deliveries—“

“I’ll take them, Mr. Wu,” she said, taking the bag he handed her. “The

others should be back in a few,” she told him before sprinting back out the

door. Tobey-rat climbed back to her shoulder with a frown.

“Couldn’t have left me there?” He whined, and she frowned at him as

she strapped on her helmet.

“No! I wouldn’t want Mr. Wu killing you on accident!” He sulked on her

shoulder, hiding as she went to the doors, but otherwise keeping mostly

quiet. Finally she sighed and frowned at him. “I’m sorry you’re not fond of

being a rat, but, honestly, nothing I can do about it.”

“I know,” he said. “At least being a dog was kinda cool. But he turned

me into a rat !” Lily smiled, finding the whole situation rather amusing. She

started back to Wu’s, excited to have human-Tobey back, but kinda sad to

not have him on her shoulder anymore. “You can’t get much more insulting,as mammals go.”

She laughed. “Its kinda a compliment. He saw you as such a threat

that he had to turn you into something that couldn’t cause much harm.” He

was quiet, contemplating this.

“I never thought of it that way.”

“Of course not!” She grinned at him, almost running into a parked car

in the process. She corrected herself quickly. A minute later she was locking

up her bike again, heading inside, sliding in to a booth with Nana, Sue and

Sid. “Hey,” she said, and Tobey climbed down to the table, washing his face

with his paws.Nana leaned over to take a closer look, then laughed. “Sue and Sid

told me, but its much more amusing in person.”

“Nana!” Tobey said, pouting somehow. “Can you change me back?”

“I dunno...” She said, pointing to the book in front of her. “I will have

to make a fresh batch of fortune cookies... You might be spending the night

like that, Tobey.”

“What?! No! I’ll stay up until you get them done!”



She frowned, but nodded. “I’ll go get started on them, then.” She left

for the kitchen, muttering to herself about ingredients.

“You, er, might want to get him upstairs before Mr. Wu catches sight of

him,” Sid said, pointing to Tobey. Tobey snapped at his finger, and Sid

recoiled quickly. “I’m serious!”

“I know; thanks Sid,” Lily said, scooping up Tobey-rat and carrying him,handing the small package back to Nana, and asking what she had done with

Kong Li.

“Oh, yes, he’s magically bound and tied up in my room, in case he

wakes up soon. Quite impressive,” she added with a smile. Saying a small

thanks, Lily continued up the stairs, coming to her room and closing the door

behind them.

“No, no! Let’s go grab some food out of my room first.” He scurried to

the door, and she opened it, following him to the room he shared with Sid,

and helping get some of the snacks he had stashed in his drawers and other

various places around the room. Her arms full, she walks warily back to her

room, and together they sit and munch.

A while later, they hear Sue yelling at Sid. “It’s none of your business!”

She screeches, slamming the door to her room. Lily and Tobey peek out the

door to see Sid standing in front of Sue’s door, furious.

“It is my business! Mai-mai!” He bangs on the door.

“No it isn’t! I didn’t object when you wanted to date Tiffany Cho!”

“You’re my little sister! It’s different!”

“Stay out of my business, Sid!” He looked away from the door angrily,

and spot the pair eavesdropping.

“Yeah, well, I told you I didn’t like it, didn’t I, Lils?” He kicked the wall

angrily and slammed the door to his room.“He did?” Tobey asked, confused. She shut the door to her room again.

“That’s right. He was mad because its hard for him to get a date. He

said that because of the secrets we have to keep...”

“Right.” He returned to his bag of chips, eating one hungrily. She

wrinkled up her nose slightly.

“Even as a rat, you have a neverending stomach.” He chuckled, and

she laughed at hearing such a strange sound. “You are adorable!” She

declared, scooping him up and cuddling him up to her cheek. He licked her

cheek, making her blink in surprise, then laugh. “Oh, I’m gonna miss you like

this!” Tobey-rat smiled a ratty smile and climbed up to settle into her hair.“You’re right. I could never sit on your head before!”

“Oh! Just don’t poop in my hair!” She said, genuinely worried.

“Gross! Com’on, not even I would do that!” She laughed. “Hey, go

into my room and I’ll show you where those comics are.” She agreed,

heading to Sid and Tobey’s room, knocking awkwardly. Sid let them in with a

curious expression, watching the pair as she dug through his mess of a closet

at his instruction, pulling out comics along the way.



“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said, wrinkling her nose as she

pulled out something moldy.

“Me either,” Sid said, watching her from his bunk. “Don’t you have

anything better to do?”

She shrugged. “Not really. Besides reading the books Nana gave

me... which turned out to come in handy tonight.”“Yeah, hey, thanks, by the way. That fall could’ve been bad.”

“The fall? What about him choking you?!” She looked at him, alarmed,

and he rubbed his throat in remembrance.

“Yeah, well, that too. I guess I owe you twice for tonight.” She

nodded, returning to her digging, blushing slightly.

“You guys know I can every word you’re saying, right?” Tobey asked

from inside a bag of candy he had found. He stuck his head out to look at

them sternly. “Don’t get any ideas, Sid.”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sid said with a roll of his eyes, but

when Tobey returned to his bag, he gave Lily a smile. She furrowed her

eyebrows and turned back to collecting comics, confused. What just

happened?

“I’m gonna talk to Sue for a minute,” she told them, slipping out the

door and next door before they could object, knocking on Sue’s door. Sue

answered after a second, a hand holding up her hair. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she answered, allowing Lily to come in and shut the door

behind her. Sue then let her hair down, and it fell just past her shoulders.

She looked at it sadly before returning to putting it up. “What’s up?”

“Just, er, making sure you’re alright,” Lily answered, and Sue looked at

her in the mirror.

“I’m fine, just annoyed. Sid was threatening Barney and I caught him.”She heaved a big sigh. “He had him pinned against the wall.”

“He’s just worried about you,” Lily said calmly, sitting cross-legged on

the floor.

“I know, I mean, I know that. It’s just...aggrevating. I mean, I can take

care of myself!”

“He knows that. But he’s your brother; he’s always going to be

protective.” She paused. “He doesn’t think Barney is good enough for you.”

At this Sue turned around and sat in front of the other girl.

“What?”

“Yeah; he told me that.”“But that’s silly. Barney’s great!” She smiled in such a convincing way

that Lily smiled in return.

“Let him warm up to the idea,” she suggested, fixing a stray strand of

Sue’s hair so it laid flat. “I actually... had a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

Lily looked down at her hands, going through a thousand different

ways of saying what was on her mind. “I think Sid likes me,” she said in a



small voice, and Sue laughed in a small way.

“Of course he does. But if you and Tobey get together—then he won’t

try anything. He’ll find someone else.”

“Oh, okay. Just making sure I wasn’t imagining anything.”

“No, you’re not. Plus, he’s grateful for earlier. That might have made

it worse.” Sue gave her a half-hearted smile.“Yeah, I got that feeling too.”

“Look, don’t feel bound to them. You don’t have to date either!” She

paused. “But if you hurt either one of them you’ll have me to answer to!”

“Sue, if I choose one I’m bound to hurt the other. Besides, I’m already

pretty settled on Tobey.” She looked up at the girl. “I can’t see your brother

as any more than a friend, really. He seems to be a great one.”

“He is,” she agreed. “Still, might want to get back to the rat before he

gets in trouble.”

“True,” Lily said with a frown, bidding Sue a goodbye and returning to

the room next door.

“Is she alright?” Sid asked immediatly after her return. Lily nodded.

“Yeah, she’s just annoyed by you. She told me what was happening—“

“I didn’t want him getting smug!” Sid said defensively, standing up off

his bottom bunk. “I’ve always liked him, but his hands on—“

“Dude, chill,” Tobey said, climbing up Lily’s leg and to her shoulder.

She sat down and petted him absentmindedly. “No one’s condemning you

here.”

“Right,” Lily said with a small smile, “just telling you what happened.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Sid said, sliding down to the floor with them. He ran a

hand down his face, then watched Lily pet Tobey. “Isn’t that weird?”

She raised her eyebrows. “A little, but I’m getting used to it.”“And it feels good,” Tobey said, enlongating the word and he nudged

her hand again.

Sid smiled slightly. “Too bad Nana’s changing him back tonight. You

could’ve—“ As if she had heard their conversation, Nana knocked on the

door, calling to Tobey. He licked Lily’s cheek before scurrying over to Nana

and they head downstairs, Nana carrying a set of clothes for him. Suddenly

Lily was left alone with Sid, and no quick way to escape. She cleared her

throat slightly and picked up the stack of comics she had collected,

organising them numerically. “Are you guys...” He trailed off, and Lily looked

up at him, eyebrows raised. “Y’know, are you guys going out?”“Oh,” she said, looking down at the comic in her hands. “Um, not yet,

as far as I know.”

“Well, keep me updated, alright?” He asked, coming to sit beside her

and helping her straighten out the comic’s covers and arrange them. “He’s

like a brother to me.”

“Not going to threaten me, are you?” She asked with a small laugh,

and he smirked.



“If I feel the need to I will. Just be careful with him, alright? He’s been

through a lot.” He stopped, looking at her. “I mean, so have you but—“

“I knew what you meant,” she said, saving him from his hole. “There’s

no rush, is there? I’m here pretty much permanently.” He nodded. “I’ve only

known you guys for a few days after all—“

Tobey burst through the door then, crying a yell of glee and tacklingher with a hug. She laughed and they fell over. “Glad to have you back to

normal, Tobey.”

“Glad to be back!” He said with a grin, looking down at her with a

strange look in his eyes, then letting her up and hugging Sid.

“Ack, get off!” Sid said half-heartedly, smiling. Tobey then hooked an

arm around each of their shoulders.

“What were you guys talking about, huh?”

“Er, you,” Lily said with a small laugh.

“I knew it!” He said with a grin, scooping up the comics sloppily and

leading Lily from the room. She said a quick and hasty goodbye as she was

almost dragged from his room to hers. He locked the door behind them and

set the comics in the center of her floor. He then sat down and pulled her

down too, suddenly much more serious. “Was he bothering you?”

“What? No, of course not,” she answered, taking his hand and twining

her fingers through his.

“Are you sure?” He said, sounding worried. He caught her other hand

and did the same, pulling her closer to in front of him. “Sid’s great, and I

mean if you—“

“Tobey,” she said softly, looking him straight in his eyes. “He is great,

but he’s not you.” She smiled at him, and he smiled genuinely back.

“You think I’m better than Sid?”“No,” she watched his smile fall in that split second. “You are better

than Sid. And everyone else, in my eyes.”

“Even though—I mean, my past—“ She shook her head.

“I don’t care. I’ll keep you in line if need be, but I won’t need to.

You’re a great person.” She touched her nose to his gently. He closed his

eyes for a few seconds before reopening them.

“Are you sure...?” He came a little closer, his lips a breath from hers.

She just nods quickly, closing that small gap between them and kissing him.

He kissed her back after a second, releasing her hands to wrap his arms

around her, and her hands fell to his legs and she didn’t make to move themin a hurry.

He growled as Nana’s voice came down the hall in a panic. But he

kissed her again, and again, before releasing her and they go to open the

door and see what was the matter. She bit her lip softly, trying to keep her

mind at what was at hand. He glanced at her, then he was all business,

running down the hall with her a step behind.

“Nana?” He called. She was back in her room—her hair was tousled



and her face was furious.

“Tobey! Lily! He—“ Nana’s face was a ocean of emotion before she

got herself under control again. “He’s gotten away somehow. I don’t know

how, but I know he won’t try anything again too quickly.” She frowned and

looked out of the broken window. “I don’t understand it. I had a magic

barrier on him.”“Nana, he’s very powerful—its possible he worked on a way around it,”

Lily said, stepping into the room and examining the remnants of the rope.

Tobey stepped over to Nana and led her to a chair.

“Yes, I suppose,” Nana said, then looked up at Lily. “Tell me what

happened.”

Lily hesitated, then took a deep breath. “We got there, he told us that

he had Tobey up there, Sid threatened him, but he asked for—for me to go up

there. Sid and Sue come up as well. He cracks the second floor where we

stood—right near the stairs you know? Sue fell, but she was alright. I caught

Sid.” Here she paused, knowing it was the first time Tobey had heard the

story as well. She kept her eyes from his. “He’s heavy, but I couldn’t drop

him. Kong Li tried to make me. He tried to get into my mind—I could feel

him. But I remembered what I read, from the books that you gave me, Nana,

and I could push him out. I pulled Sid up, but Kong Li jumped on him, choking

him. By then Sue was on the top stair, but the jump was too far, she couldn’t

help. When I tried to help, he pointed that damned staff at me and—“ She

cut off, moving her head slightly to the side, not sure how to explain it. She

could explain mind control and that kind of magic, but her strength that

somehow overpowered this man? “I took it from his hands and knocked him

out with it.”

Tobey actually laughed, then covered up his mouth, but he was stilllaughing. Nana just smiled. “Sometimes the simplest techniques can be

more effective than the most elaborate plan,” she said, looking out the

window again from her seat. “He’s becoming more powerful. We’ll have to

keep up your training, Lily. In all aspects.” She looked toward the door then.

“Sue, and Sid? Where are they?”

“They fought; I doubt they’ll want to see each other,” Lily said.

“Yeah, when Sid’s playing his guitar you can’t hear much else,” Tobey

said jokingly, and Nana smiled. “What? It’s true!”

“I know. Just make sure to inform them, alright?” They both nod, and

they leave Nana’s room, exchanging glances with each other sidelong—witha hint of a smile.

“I’ll tell Sid. You tell Sue. Then go to your room—“ She nodded in

comprehension, he smiled, then dissappeared into his room. Lily knocked on

Sue’s door, and was let in. She told the girl quickly what had happened,

making Sue frown.

“Nana’s right. He is getting stronger. They only thing for it is to get

stronger ourselves.” Lily nodded, yawning and saying goodnight. “Hey—“



Lily turned back around, a question in her eyes. “Now that Tobey’s not a rat

—“

“I’ll keep you updated,” Lily replied with a small smile and a nod,

retiring to her room.

Chapter Five

Lily sat at the end of her bed, staring out her window. It had been a

while, and she wasn’t certain if Tobey was coming over again or not—she

hoped he was, but… She shook her head free of the depressing thoughts

that had started to penetrate the happiness when she was with Tobey. Or

thought of him. She frowned, knowing she should be feeling what she’s

feeling, but not liking that she actually did. She didn’t like that she was

virtually alone in the world. She had no pictures, no anything to keep her

memories sharp in her head. She knew it would be a few years before their

faces faded completely—and she hoped that that didn’t happen at all. She

didn’t want to forget that completely.

Lost in her thoughts, she jumped as a knock against the door briefly

warned her before Tobey came in and locked the door closed behind him.

“Sorry, Sid—“ He stopped as she looked at him, and at seeing her face he

came over to hug her warmly and sit beside her. “It’s alright to mourn

them.”

“I just—I don’t want to forget.”

“You won’t. You knew them for sixteen years. You won’t forget them

easily.” He took his thumb and wiped away her tears. “Besides, you’re not

alone. We didn’t know them, but we’re still here to support you and listen

and love you.”“I know, I know,” she said, hugging him around his neck and burrowing

her face into his shoulder. “But, just a picture. I think even that would be

enough.”

“Hey,” he said, pulling her head up and bonking his forehead onto

hers. “Don’t get all sad over something like that. I’m sure you look like

them, so every time you look in the mirror its like looking at them.” He

pondered for a second. “Your mom must have been a babe.”

Lily snorted out a laugh and gave him a wide smile. “She was, in her

day.”

Documents

Melting Pot [Three Delivery Fan Fic]