Are you okay Kuratu? she wrote to him. She felt that something was wrong.

Kuratu glanced at her and smiled gently. 'Yes, I'm fine...Don't worry about me.' He looked up ahead again, and though his smile didn't fade, the look in his eye changed. The three boys in the street ahead of them weren't good people to meet alone, and they'd already been spotted.

Don't lie to me please. If something is wrong, it's always best to talk about it you know. she wrote and noticed three boys in the street looking at them.

Kuratu read what she said, but didn't answer. The boys were approaching; the leader spoke up. 'Yo! Bookworm - who's the b-tch?' Kuratu clenched one fist as the boys laughed. 'What are you doing here, Knife?'

'Better question - what's she doing here?' the boy Kuratu had addressed as Knife said.

'She's none of your business, Knife,' Kuratu said warningly.

Amelia was confused but didn't like the look of what was happening. Sadly she didn't want to leave him alone, so she just stood where she was. Amelia did glare at the boy called knife and looked around to see if anyone else was looking.

'Y'know, I don't think so, Bookworm,' Knife said, walking up to Amelia. He put an arm around her, grinning down at her. 'I think a girl who looks like this is definitely my business.'

In seconds, Kuratu crossed the distance between them and grabbed Knife by the collar. He pulled him off Amelia and threw him against the wall. The two boys who had been with Knife came up on either side of Kuratu.

'Watch out,' Knife said, all hint of taunting gone. 'Don't try anything with me, Bookworm.'

'I think I might, if you don't shut up,' Kuratu said, his voice quiet.

Amelia ran behind Kuratu and stuck her tongue out at Knife and his friends.
Be careful Kuratu.... she thought to herself and hoped nothing bad happened. Poking her head out from behind Kuratu, she checked what was happening.

Kuratu could tell from the way Knife looked behind him and grinned that Amelia was behind him. 'Amelia, step back,' he warned, turning his had slightly to look back at her. Knife took his opportunity and punched Kuratu, who staggered, but Kuratu recovered quickly and delivered Knife a punch that broke his nose. The two behind him grabbed his shoulders and threw him down, but a kick to each of their knees made sure Kuratu didn't sustain any further harm.

Knife looked back at Kuratu, growling. He pulled a knife out of his pocket and pointed it at Kuratu. Kuratu pulled out twin daggers and pointed them back at Knife.

Amelia nodded and backed up a little. She stared at what was happening and wanted to do something but she had nothing to hit them with.
I must help in some way...but how? she wondered.

The two young men stayed that way for a bit until the other boys took out knives, as well. Kuratu glanced at them, then looked back at Knife. 'Leave it alone, Knife. She doesn't deserve to get involved in this.'

Knife glanced at Amelia, then back at Kuratu. 'How much does she know, Bookworm?'

Amelia glared at them. How dare they start picking on them like they own the place. It just wasn't fair that she couldn't even speak...if she could, she would probably be telling them off. She looked at Kuratu then at the boys.

Kuratu's expression didn't change. 'I don't know what you're talking about, Knife.'

'Oh, you know what I'm talking about,' Knife said, grinning. 'You haven't told her what happened, have you?'

'Knife...' Kuratu began warningly.

'Not very surprising,' Knife said, grinning more. 'Your parents were so damn useless...'

Kuratu sprung foreword, knocking Knife to the ground with a punch to his neck. He dropped the knife, coughing hard, as Kuratu stood over him, his eyes blazing and his hands gripping his daggers.

Amelia stood in front of Kuratu and tried to calm him down.
Kuratu, calm down...let's go home now and study okay? she wrote and quickly showed him.

Kuratu read what she wrote and nodded. He looked down at Knife. 'Go, all right?' Knife, still coughing, only glared at Kuratu. Taking that as a yes, Kuratu turned without a word and indicated for Amelia to follow him, tucking the knives away.

Amelia sighed and followed him quickly.
What was all that about? she asked in her writing. She quickly looked back at the three boys and ran after Kuratu.

Kuratu shook his head. 'Forget it,' he told her.

Amelia got mad.
'How?' she asked in sign. What just happened is a big thing and I want to know why they were picking on us! she wrote.

'They just like to cause trouble, all right?' Kuratu said, hardly glancing at her.

She stopped walking.
He had changed after this thing that happened.
You changed....come back when the old Kuratu comes back! she wrote and gave him that page and ran off angry and sad.
She got home went straight to her room upstairs.
Her mother noticed and knocked on her door. "What's wrong Amelia?"she asked.
Amelia opened the door and let her mother in.
Some big fight happened and Kuratu changed after that...he seemed very angry and mean. I don't know why, he won't tell me. she wrote.
"Oh. don't worry dear. If he's really your friend, he'll be back to normal."she reassured.

Kuratu sighed. He crumpled the paper in his hand, trying to calm down, but Knife's words haunted him. He had to calm down somehow and try explaining things to Amelia later.

You're right...can we make more smores? she asked in her writing.
'Yes' replied her mother in sign. They went downstairs to the kitchen and began to make more smores. Amelia noticed that the sun was setting and then her father got home.
"I'm home!"he said smiling. Amelia ran and hugged him.
"She passed her first test dear!"explained her mother.
"I knew you would Amelia...hey, where's Kuratu anyway?"he asked.
He had to go somewhere... wrote Amelia and went back to the kitchen to make smores with her mother.

Kuratu sat down on his park bench. At first, he tried thinking of ways to calm down; then, one thing led to another and he ended up reminiscing about the days before his parents died. He couldn't help the memories as they washed over him, one event leading to another with no apparent order. It wasn't until Kuratu blinked and realised the sun was setting that he remembered he had to get back and talk to Amelia.

He was at her house a few minutes later. On the walk, he had carefully decided what he would and wouldn't tell her; some things he didn't want to bring up yet. He knocked on the door quietly.

"I'll get it..."said her mother.
"Oh Kuratu...come in!"she said kindly letting him in.
"Dear, you help me make smores since Kuratu and Amelia need to talk."she said and dragged her husband to the kitchen and dragged Amelia out to the living room.
Amelia looked at Kuratu and sat on the couch and crossed her arms still upset.

Kuratu watched Amelia quietly, still standing. After a moment, he spoke up, maintaining steady eye contact. 'First off, Amelia, and this is important, there are some things that happened in the past that I would like to stay in the past. They're...not very easy to talk about. They are related to what caused that fight, but only distantly. We don't really need to bring them up.

'Secondly, you need to understand that your life has been relatively sheltered compared to mine. You haven't seen half the things I have, and I hope you don't. Despite my best intentions, I've made enemies. Knife and his friends were some of them.

'Thirdly, Amelia, I need to explain more fully why those boys did that. There are...a few ways a person can end up because of a hard life like what they lived. One way is the way I am, fairly normal. Another is like them; violent troublemakers who do whatever they can to gain a leg up on people they see as their enemies. The easiest way to do that is through fighting. Knife and his friends...they wanted to start a fight today. ...I'm sorry to say they succeeded. They...know which buttons to press.' Kuratu sighed, running a hand through his hair, not really sure what else he could say.

Amelia stood up and walked to him and smiled.
'Sorry' she said in sign.
Kuratu...I'm sorry I got mad at you...I promise not to ask anymore. I just got mad because you sounded mean..and it scared me. I thought I had lost a friend...will you forgive me please?she wrote frowning.
Her parents blocked out all the noise so they would hear the conversation and continued to make the smores.