Elysia was a little bit afraid when first introduced to the Kid.

After all, Alphonse had mentioned something about him being a Fairy, and he did look quite different from anyone else she had ever met. She could not be sure; she had not seen a fairy herself, but she knew that they came from a secret world that could only be reached through a magical door in a ring of toadstools. Or maybe it was the crook of a tree, or the crossing of a road...but she was sure it was a ring of toadstools; one of her books said so.

And he was so very unusual, he had to be a Fairy. Aside from his strange clothes, there were his strange words--lilting and staccato and bouncing, like cricket song, or a bubbly creek, or laughing birds. Only Hakuba--who looked rather more like Edward and therefore not quite so unusual--could understand him. And, she had been told, he did not understand any of their words.

And there was the way he walked--his feet made no sounds even on the wood floor, and he was somehow smooth and perfectly balanced even when he was jumbled and chaotic and flopped down on the couch just like Edward did sometimes. And he sat as still as a fallen leaf, despite the energy she could see inside him; his eyes traced around to all the people in the room and even to herself.

And there were his strange eyes--very bright, very deep color, with set and shape that she had never seen before. They reminded her of the eyes of a white cat one of their neighbors had--luminous, transparent and opaque. And he seemed to see everything all at once, and his eyes were always keeping things inside as if he saw and understood things that no one else could.

And maybe he did, for when most adults came to call, they greeted her pleasantly enough but ignored her thereafter; only Edward and Alphonse would play when they had time. Kid, however, watched her as often as he watched the others, and had given her a polite bow and spoken to her in his dancing-words language, which had made her giggle and hide behind Mama's knees.

In what he wore and how he walked, in how he spoke and how he looked, he was unlike anyone she had ever seen. He was different, special, and it made her a little bit afraid--there were stories about fairies, and not all of them were good--but also a little bit delighted. Like a little piece of the world inside the ring of toadstools had come out; or maybe he had brought them all in. But either way, it thrilled her--something magical right here in her house. She wondered if even Mama really understood.

He was a Fairy. If not Fey, what else could he possibly be?

Everyone was sitting around in the living room drinking coffee or tea or whatever, and the adults were talk-talk-talking about big important things like usual. Edward was explaining things to Mama, and Hakuba too, and even Alphonse was doing grownup-talk, but Kitty--as Edward called him some of the time, when he wasn't calling him names--was sitting silent, flopped out there on the second couch. His strange eyes were watching everything, and as she watched from her hiding place beside Alphonse she had to remind herself he didn't understand.

But his eyes were very wise, and he was watching her watching him.

She was a little bit afraid. But he was smiling, and she couldn't doubt that smile. She only hid a tiny bit when he rose from the couch and walked over to her, crouching down to her eye-level. His grin was contagious; she smiled in reply. He knew just how to short-circuit what was left of her little bit of fear; wordlessly his open, gloved hands came up, empty, and he waggled his fingers at her to show that he held nothing.

Then he flicked those fingers, as if he were plucking a bird's feather from the air--and suddenly he was holding a beautiful flower. No circle, no clap, no flash of light, no object for Equivalent Trade--just...a flower from nowhere, right before her eyes.

She gasped in delight, amazed. She was aware that the others had gone quiet to watch, but paid no attention to them.

"Hai, Ojousan--purezento da," came the dancing-words, as he offered her the flower.

"He says it is a present." She heard the voice of Hakuba, clear despite the strange twist of accent given to his speech. "You can take it, if you wish to."

Further enchanted, her eyes brightened as she clutched the gift. "Danke sehr," she said breathlessly, holding the precious, impossible flower close--it was not real, she discovered, but its petals were made of the thinnest, softest fabric she had ever touched, and that in itself was amazing; that someone could make an artificial flower look so real. "How did you do that?"

The deep bright eyes looked into hers with amusement and faint regretful confusion; Hakuba spoke quietly in the same cricket-song language for a second, and then Kitty laughed.

"Majikku," he replied, and even before Hakuba told her, she understood.

"Magie."

Magic.

Maybe he had brought out a little piece of the world inside the ring of toadstools; or maybe he had brought them all in. Either way, there was something magical here--right here, in her very own house, and he was very good and very nice and very, very special. He was only visiting from the world inside the ring of toadstools, and he would have to go back like Edward had said, she didn't really want him to go, not now; even if she was a little bit afraid--but mostly not. He was different and special and magical, and she had always wanted to meet a real fairy--and it had to be a wonderful thing to have a Fairy-person as a friend.

So she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Welcome to my house," she told him, forgetting that their words were different, but it didn't matter anyway. "I hope you can stay forever."

Everyone else was laughing, and Kitty held very still. She heard Hakuba talking again, and even when she let go of Kitty's neck she still held on to his arm, beaming up at him.

He looked back at her, startled but smiling. "Arigato."

Thank you. She understood that much; the simple things were in his eyes.

"That's very nice of you, Elysia," Mama praised. "It's kind of you to make him feel at home."

"You've really done it this time, Diebkatze. You're never gonna get back," Edward snickered, even as Hakuba looked alarmed. "Elysia's never gonna let go, now."

Everyone got the joke and laughed, even Kitty once Hakuba told him. But he didn't seem to mind, not really; he just chuckled and shrugged and smiled at her. Maybe he couldn't stay; maybe he didn't want to stay here in her house forever. Maybe he really would go. That made her sad, but she was still happy he was here.

The simple things were in his eyes; that was easy to understand. Maybe he did have to go back to the world inside the ring of toadstools, but it would be good while he was here.