Angeal wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing the inside of the six year olds bedroom. He expected girly pink walls, pink bedding, pink everything. So much pink that it would burn his eye sockets and all the while he'd kindly agree with the bouncing girl that it was a very pretty room. However when his ridged body forcefully walked into the little girl's bedroom-he was happily surprised.

The only pink things in the room were the small bedding and a few choice outfits on some, not all, of the dolls. The walls were colored in a soft yellow, a dark hard wood floor, and a light blue ceiling meant to resemble the sky with white clouds doting the azure hues. He couldn't help himself as he sighed relief at the lack of rose colored items while Cheri led him deeper into her fantasy room. It was the last place on the second floor of the home that Cheri hadn't shown him yet and after a quick detour to her room, they would continue their tour to the first level of the place.

"…and momma said I could put my dream-catcher, right here!" Cheri said as Angeal gently nodded continuing to glance around the room, it was very…cute. Then the full meaning of Cheri's explanation hit him.

"A dream-catcher?" Angeal asked looking over to Cheri as she sat in the middle of her bed while her tiny hand rested at the headboard of the bed. She smiled with a tilt of her head then her eyes dropped down to the small flowery rug by her bedside.

"Ah-huh. Its to keep away the bad dreams. I get really scary nightmares." Her lower lip trembled at the frightening memories of a certain silver haired, flashing green cat eyed swordsman. "He's really mean and-and he's got a really long sword that's gonna hurt me."

Angeal's eyes softened at the sound of the fright in the child's voice and while the description was lacking it did bring back one memory of a certain long sword. Cheri then looked up to where her hand rested and began to softly smile before glancing back to Angeal. "Its okay though, because mommy said that once she makes my dream-catcher then the bad dreams will go away. But I have to be pa…pat….patent…until she can get real angel feathers to use."

"Its patient, Cheri." A male voice said as he stood in the doorway of the little girl's room. It was a young boy barely ten or twelve years old at most. Dark brown hair flopped near his hazel colored eyes as he stared at the odd scene before him. And it certainly was odd. There was a huge bulky man in his little sister's dainty room. Not that he was afraid of him or at least he wouldn't let the man before him ever think such a thing.

"Aw, Rudy! I was trying!" Cheri complained as she climbed down from her bed and ran over to Angeal's side. Her hand instantly moving to clasp his pant leg then tightened once she had a grip on them. Angeal was once again shocked by how the tiny girl behaved around him. Did he no longer pose as a looming threat like on Gaia? It seemed that people and children were always afraid of him but this little girl didn't seem in the least frightened. " This is Angeal! He's the man you helped up the stairs with momma! Remember?"

"Of course I remember, Cheri." Rudy snapped at his sister then frowned when he saw his sister wince at his hurtful tone. His tanned cheeks flushed under the stoic gaze of the older man then nervously shifted from one foot to the other, anxious to get back to his mother's side.

"Mom wanted me to come and get you two for breakfast. After that we can show you around the stables. Is that okay?" He said more to Angeal than Cheri as he gazed down at the floor only looking up to make sure his little sister was safe with the man he had brought into the house the night before. After all, Rudy was, as his mother put it, the man of the house. It was his responsibility to look after his mother and especially his little sister. However, it was very easy to see that Cheri was completely taken by the large dark haired man standing in her room and he seemed to be fairly comfortable with her too.

"That sounds great." Angeal said with a light nod to the younger boy. Angeal could easily see that Rudy wasn't quite as welcoming as Cheri seemed to be. The ten year old had kept his distance from the SOLDIER, his stance was completely ridged, and eyes tight as he stared down the older male. It was obvious he didn't trust him in the least bit. Angeal didn't blame him. In fact he was actually glad to see that Anise's son was so determined to keep his family safe. It reflected well on the children's upbringing.

"Follow me." Rudy said tightly as he turned his back to Angeal and headed down the hall, proceeding to climb down the stairs. Meanwhile Cheri released her grip on the Ex-SOLDIER's pant leg and moved to take hold of his hand as they continued after Rudy. After stepping off the mahogany stairs they walked a little ways down a hall until they reached what seemed to be the kitchen/breakfast area. Anise was reaching for drinking glasses from a row of shelves when Angeal and the children made their way into the kitchen. Stopping what she was doing, Anise turned around to look at the three people with a warm smile.

"Breakfast is served. Just grab a seat." Anise said before returning to her endeavor to take down an extra glass from the shelf for her new houseguest. Cheri dashed to her usual chair beside the double doors that led to the back yard and quickly pulled out a chair before smiling in Angeal's direction.

"Come sit by me! Please? Please? Pleease?" She begged patting the chair she pulled out while Angeal just nodded which earned a squeal of delight from the six year old. He took his seat beside the bouncing girl and moments later a plate of eggs and bacon was set before him. Anise returned with two more plates for her children then finally sat down with a plate of her own.

"After we finish eating I'll take you around the back and finish up the bottom part of the tour." Anise said as her fingers deftly gripped her fork while cutting into her piece of egg. " We don't have what can exactly be called a farm, but its close enough."

"We've got cows, chickens and horses too!" Cheri piped into the conversation happy to join the adult talk when she noticed Angeal's confused expression. "What is it, Angeal?"

It was then that Anise realized what the problem was. Gaia didn't have the same type of animals as Earth did. She shook her head then looked to Angeal with an apologetic smile before addressing Cheri.

"Sweetie, where he's from they don't have horses." Anise said gently then looked to Angeal who was puzzled as to what a horse was? " They're kind of like Chocobos, except that they're not birds. More like ah…Hmm…I suppose kind of like a large dog but not as hairy and they don't bark either. You can ride them just like a Chocobo, I think. I've never ridden on a chocobo before so I wouldn't know."

She explained as Angeal silently nodded but couldn't get a clear image of what the animal could have possibly looked like until he saw it for himself. Then another question came to mind as he looked down to tiny Cheri sitting beside him and Rudy who sat between his sister and mother.

"Do the children go to a school of some sort?"

Anise nearly choked on her glass of orange juice at the question then swallowed what was left before answering the question. "No. Not exactly. They're home schooled. I really don't like the school system and its less gas to spend from driving half an hour to the closest school district."

"They do have home schooling on Gaia, don't they?" Anise asked as Angeal slowly nodded then looked to his half eaten plate of food. Memories of his own school days came back to mind. Racing Genesis to the school yard. He had heard of home schooling, but it was so rare that he barely knew anyone who had been taught at home. Genesis had a private tutor and he actually didn't have to go to the small school house in Banora, but because he wanted to make friends with the other children he suffered through the boring classes.

"They do, but it's hardly ever done. Most people couldn't afford the curriculum, it was easier to just send them to the local public school."

"That's pretty much how it is here. Now a days, people are leaning towards home schooling more but it is so much easier to send them to school instead. But I want to keep my kids close and I think they learn more in the real world than in a class room." Anise agreed, glad to be able to spend so much time with her children. But the school system wasn't the only reason why she kept her kids from public school. And she wouldn't reveal that reason until much, much later.

Angeal noticed the sudden mood switch when Anise spoke of why she had home schooled. There seemed to be…is it pain in her eyes? Angeal thought as he continued to study the young woman before him. No. Not pain. Fear.

Thank you! Thank you! For all the great reviews! Sorry for the long wait! Once again this chapter was Beta read by the fabulous Dragonia27 from Deviant Art! Please keep up the reviews! Thank you! ~God Bless!~

~This story was inspired from Dragonia27's story 'Gods Touched' and 'A year of memories' on Deviant Art! All credits go to her!~