"Neo!" Not in the living room.

"Neo!" Not in the kitchen.

"Neo!" Not on the patio.

"Neo!" Not in her room.

"NEO WHERE ARE YOU?!" Roman didn't like to yell in his own home, but it couldn't be helped if he wanted to find her inside of an hour. Sometimes he really disliked living in a villa on a mountainside, the rascal under his care could be thinner than the high altitude air. Fortunately she did normally respond to him if she knew he was looking, so yelling was effective

Sure enough, she appeared a few moments later, her socked feet stepping lightly on the floor as she swirled around a corner into his sight.

"Hey! Where have you been? You know searching my own home is my least favorite hobby, right?" Roman did his best to be scolding even though he knew it would have no effect.

As he expected Neo shrugged it off, responding to his tone by closing her eyes and smiling happily, tapping her nose once and miming sitting, bending her legs a bit as if curtseying. Ah, she had been in the garden smelling the flowers. Well, she'd grown up in the city, it made sense she'd like to experience nature.

"Aw man, I should really put a bell on you or something, I swear you're impossible to find." Roman fingered the edge of his bowler a bit, unsure of what to do with his hands. He quickly stopped himself, annoyed as always how uneasy interacting with the girl could make him feel at times. Specifically at times like this.

Neo pouted a bit at his comment, her lower lip quivering while mock tears formed in her eyes.

Damn it, every time I make a crack she manages to make me feel bad. What a terrible straight man she'd make.

He sighed, brushing his hair out of his eye. At least he wasn't wearing any cosmetics for it to mess up. "Listen kiddo, we've got something to do."

She looked confused now, tilting her head to one side. She pointed between them and then towards the helipad.

"No, we don't have a job yet."

She nodded in satisfaction, clearly worried she had forgotten something important.

Crap, have I seriously become that accustomed to reading her emotions?

Roman shook his head to himself, stopping when he saw she was watching the movement, confusion evident on her face again.

"Ah, well, you see..." Roman quickly trailed off, feeling ridiculous when he thought about what he had come to say.

Is this really a good idea? I'm acting like a mess, I've been with the kid for years yet I'm falling apart over something as simple as this?

"Hey, the end of the year is coming up in a few hours, you know? I thought we could do something special, is all. I mean, not that I care that much."

Neo tilted her head again, then held a hand up and waved it back and forth. Unnecessary?!

"What?! What else could you possibly be doing anyways?! You were just sitting around smelling plants!" Roman felt his temper rising at the same time as a blush came to his face, wondering to himself what he had been thinking to suggest this.

Neo shook her head more vigorously, waving her hands back and forth. That wasn't what she had meant?

Damn it all, communicating with a mute never really got easier when neither party knew any form of sign language. At least, Roman didn't. He presumed Neo didn't as she never used very repetitive signals. Maybe she just liked being random. Yeah, that was probably it. Annoying yet suiting.

Roman leaned on the wall, one hand propping him up as he looked down at Neo, who was smiling back at him.

Honestly, how did it come to this?

"Hey! Hey, CINDER! YOU CAN'T JUST-" Roman was cut off as the vertibird shot off of the ground like a corkscrew, probably being helped along by the fire bitch's magic.

Her voice seemed to drift on the wind to him, a mocking, "See you later, Roman!"

He pinched his nose and breathed in deeply several times, calming himself. This was a dream—no! A hallucination! Yes. He would turn around, and he would be at his brand new villa. Alone. Nobody to bother him in the world. Just him, a cup of tea, and quiet.

He slowly turned around, opening his eyes to take in his home.

Oh no. Oh, no no no. It wasn't a dream.

Who the hell was this little girl supposed to be, and why was she with him?

"Aaaaalright, that's just about enough of this. Tell you what, little, er... Pink brown and weird, I'll just give you some money and you can scram, okay? Okay, sounds great!" Roman ended with a big smile and flourishing thumbs up, but the brat didn't respond to him at all.

Oh, playing hard to get are you? Well, I'll solve this one way or another!

"Fine, fine, whatever, I guess you can stay. I should warn you, though, I just got this villa, and it's filled with traps! Not even I'm sure how many there are, so it's pretty dangerous! Wouldn't want you, uh, getting hurt. Now would we?"

At this threat Neo's eyes brightened perceptibly, and she immediately whirled to walk towards the villa, holding her arms out to the side as if she were on a tightrope as she pranced away.

Seriously? Had she called his bluff that easily, or was she just insane and wanted to explore a building filled with traps?

Roman could feel his comfy home life slipping away and was not pleased in the least.

Glance.

Glance.

Glance

Roman's hand tightened on his fork. This dinner was being ruined by a certain someone shooting him irritated glances every five seconds. Oh, if she kept doing it though, Roman would show her the way to deal with real frustration. He could still only scarcely believe she had become angry when she figured out there were no traps, who the hell wanted traps in their home?! Then again, he could also still only scarcely believe she had searched the entire villa in under half an hour. It would have taken himself, who knew the layout by heart, at least an hour to traverse it all at a run. What, could she teleport or something? Maybe there were shortcuts only children could take. That might explain it. That might also be a good way to lose her... 'Stuck in a vent...'

Glare.

"What?! What do you want, you spoiled little—?!" Roman cut himself off when he realized she had been trying to get his attention to point to something. Following her finger, he cursed as he saw the stove heater was still on, and the dust heating was getting hot enough that the oil was leaping out of the pan and onto the nearby counter, burning small stains into the elegant wood.

He hurried over to turn off the active burner, then moved the pan onto a cool burner as quickly as he could before backing up several steps. He did not want oil on his coat, or even his gloves for that matter, or even his own skin for that matter. Excessive oil was a no-sir his handbook.

Roman turned back around to see Neo was beaming at him proudly, clearly ecstatic she had noticed it before him. He walked stiffly back to the table, picking up his plate and setting it down in a new spot; the seat next to her. He sat down slowly, trying desperately to fight back the smile trying to form on his face.

Gruffly, he said, "Well, thanks kid. Glad we avoided a complete disaster on the first meal."

Neo bounced happily in her seat for the rest of the meal.

Roman sighed into his glove. He hated to admit it, but she was kind of cute.

Neo looked down at her new boots happily, turning them this way and that as she admired how they caught the light. They fit perfectly and they were the right colors. Roman was really getting better, she had to admit to herself. Still a bit of a jerk sometimes, but better.

She stood up off the couch, politely curtseying to Roman before smiling at him. She enjoyed mixing up when she curtseyed; she liked to think he was never sure if she meant it as a good or bad thing.

Whichever way he took it, though, he didn't show. He was eyeing the boots critically, holding his knuckles against his chin thoughtfully while his other was propped on his hip. "Yeah, I dunno, they still seem a bit weird to me. I mean, listen, I know fashion, and I'm telling you to go with heels."

When Neo shook her head firmly that she definitely didn't want high heels, he smirked and asked, "What, afraid of seeing the world from above four and a half feet—Ouch!" He cut himself off as she slapped at him, catching his elbow at an awkward angle.

"Not nice, honey, not nice at all." Roman gritted the turned 'honey' out of his teeth then went toward the kitchen, pausing by a clock as he looked at it. He called back to her, "Cinder's going to be here in half an hour, I expect you to be ready to receive her oh high and mighty-ness." He turned his gaze to glare at her, adding in a harsher tone, "No food or drinks out until after she leaves, got it? Last time was a wreck! I don't need her getting angry over you getting something on yourself again, she called my place a pigsty last time because of that little incident."

Neo put on her best endearing expression, gesturing around them and then holding one hand to her own chest while extending the other towards him. The message was clear in her head; this place is both of ours!

Roman watched her pantomime coolly, then shook his head. "Sorry kiddo, you're gonna have to be more specific, 'cause I have no idea what you mean."

As she said, stupid jerk sometimes.

Neo stomped her boot on the floor but didn't elaborate to him. She twirled around and sat back on the couch, content to wait for Cinder to arrive. Roman was as thick as anyone she'd ever met, and she had met Mercury once!

She sat in relative silence, hearing Roman bustle about in the kitchen as he cleaned the already clean counters and double checked that the dishes were all filed neatly away rather than sitting in the sink. Neo sighed (internally) as she turned to stare out the massive window wall that dominated the conjoined kitchen and sitting area. It was an extremely beautiful home, the lavish living area and state of the art kitchen seeming to hang on a cliff edge since this side of the house was indeed just above a cliff. They could see most of the mountain range from this single area, and in the farthest distance she could just barely make out the trees of Forever Fall.

Who cares?! It's boring here!

She could only just hear the sound of the front door opening and closing, it was so far away. Roman, who had been leaning on the counter, immediately stood to walk towards the hall, muttering to himself, "Damn bitch never calls before she comes in..."

Neo heard them greet each other in the hallway, Roman showing much more deference once he was in earshot of Cinder, and they had both sat down shortly. Roman, much to Neo's surprise, chose to sit on the couch with her instead of in the armchair across from Cinder's armchair that he normally took.

"So, Cinder! To what do I owe this magnificent pleasure?" Roman spread his arms outward as he spoke, his face set into a well practiced smile. The only reason his casual face didn't convince Neo was simple; when he really smiled his eyes crinkled up a bit and they shone a brighter green.

She shook her head at herself. Why did she know that?

"Neo, how have you been doing?" Neo jumped a bit as Cinder addressed her, rapidly switching her attention from Roman to the flame user. She had been picked up as a kid by Cinder, sure, but the powerful dust manipulator still intimidated her quite a bit.

She pantomimed as enthusiastically as she could, doing her best to put on a smile for Cinder. She honestly had no idea what the dark haired woman bothered with these visits for; Neo had been with Roman for years now, what could change in a few months to necessitate her checking in?

After she stopped and lowered her arms, Cinder looked back to Roman. Neo bit back a flash of anger; she had taken the time to do all that, she at least deserved an acknowledgement. Cinder was always like this though. She ignored Roman's original question, she made Neo do some little show that Neo knew the flame witch understood virtually none of, and then she switched back to Roman without saying anything to Neo. She repeated this cycle over and over again as if drilling into the pair the idea that her interest was the only thing that mattered in these visits.

Cinder spoke smoothly, "Well, Roman. She seems healthy, and, intelligent." She paused a bit before 'intelligent,' causing another flash of white hot anger to roar up in Neo's chest.

None of you know sign language so why would I learn it?! Being mute doesn't equate to being dumb!

She tightened her face painfully, keeping up a determined smile as she listened to Roman reply. "Sure, the kid's pretty bright. You can be sure as sunshine she's healthy too, she keeps running around the place no matter what I say otherwise."

"Ah, she enjoys physical activity then? The breaking of your rules isn't a bad aside. This is excellent news, because I think it's time we put her to use. We'll start with finding out her semblance—"

"No."

Cinder's eyes widened with shock, and Neo looked at him with a similar expression. What was he thinking?! He had never defied Cinder before!

Cinder took a moment before speaking, her voice threatening now, "What do you mean no? Her fate is not up to you."

"Oh, well that's funny, personally I beg to differ on account of my feeding her and clothing her for three years." Roman crossed his arms over his chest, matching Cinder's glare with one of his own.

Neo had never heard or seen Roman acting so defiantly toward Cinder before, and it was causing a confusing cacophony of emotions to erupt inside of her. On the one hand she sort of wanted to go with Cinder, she had seen and done everything there was to do in the villa a million time, and she didn't care much for sitting on a computer for hours on end. On the other hand, though, she was a bit frightened by the idea; herself, Neopolitan, helping in crimes? Sure, she didn't care about it morally, Roman left on tasks and jobs all the time, but she wasn't exactly a seasoned crook.

As for Roman himself... She hadn't had any idea he cared so much. She thought she had become 'tolerable.' Being wanted, being defended... It was a new feeling. It was a good feeling.

She shook herself from her thoughts and tuned back into the conversation just in time to see Cinder stand up and storm out into the hallway. The front door was audible when it slammed shut. That was bad. Cinder had never lost her temper before.

Roman's fists were curled into tight balls where they rested on his knees. He was not shaking, but she could tell by the stiff way his shoulders were curled up that he was anxious. Worried that he had gone too far. But his eyes didn't look like he regretted what he had done.

Neo laid her hands over his, and they slowly unclenched. She leaned on him, the top of her head resting on the base of his shoulder.

She didn't think she needed to act out her emotions.

Thank you.

Roman slowly looked back and forth between the items being presented to him. One was a bowl of neapolitan ice cream, and the other was a glass of orange juice.

"... You're joking me, right? This is breakfast?"

The petite girl in front of him nodded demurely, scuffing the ground with her boot as she avoided his eyes.

"One day. One day out of over five years I'm not here to prepare breakfast but still show up in time for it. For this. Is this what you eat when I'm not here?"

Neo took a deep breath, staring studiously at the ceiling now. She seemed determined not to take any blame.

If that's how she's going to play it...

"You know what, you're right. This is just a perfect meal. I think this is all we'll eat for the rest of the month, just because you like it so much."

Neo's eyes quickly fastened onto his own, both turning a deep brown as they lit up with spirit.

Wrong move. Damn it all, the girl liked ice cream that much? He normally restricted how much junk food she ate so he hadn't realized...

Then again, even on restrictions they still manage to go through a tub every two weeks, and considering Roman never touched the stuff that was still an impressive amount for a girl her size to eat...

A girl her size. Roman sighed as he began spooning up ice-cream into his mouth, musings running about his head.

She was an aura user. That much was for sure, as she had accidentally released it during a fight with Roman about how far up the mountain she was allowed to go—His own aura had been down, and she had nearly broken his arm on accident when she moved to take his hand off her shoulder.

So, the logical next step was to find her semblance. Cinder hadn't broached the subject with Roman since the day they had argued, but he knew she would eventually. It was only a matter of time, and he wanted Neo to be ready when it came. She was going to be forced into their world, but he would be sure she could protect herself in it before that happened.

Unfortunately, so far it seemed most likely that Neo's semblance was simply to remain short forever. She was heading into the middle of her teen years but she still hadn't grown much. She didn't seem bothered by it, but Roman couldn't help a sneaking suspicion that she didn't realize she should be getting taller. For all he knew she could think you didn't grow until your twenties. There were a lot of things which fell under 'everyone knows that' knowledge that Neo didn't know. Roman normally tried to avoid telling her things, though, as it was hilarious when she seemed to think the oddest things were normal, or when something as normal as an airship literally dumbfounded her. She had pulled him out of the study once, frantic with fear and excitement, to drag him to the living room and point out to him... A blimp. A long range cargo carrier, meant to take things over rough terrain that had no railroads on it. He had laughed when he realized she was probably the only person in all of Vale to have never even heard of one before.

Roman pushed his empty bowl away, picking up the orange juice and downing it in one long draft. He noticed Neo was sitting on a barstool, staring at the calendar stuck to the fridge with a magnet. Curious as to what she was looking at, Roman walked over to follow her gaze. Upon seeing the calendar he stiffened in surprise. Every single day slot of every single week had a small image of ice cream on it, almost as if someone had gone on a sticker rampage. But he knew for a fact that nothing like a set of ice cream stickers were in the house.

Upon closer examination Roman realized something which was extremely interesting; all of the sticker images were exactly the same — large bowls of neapolitan ice cream. The bowls were smooth and white, shallow but wide. Exactly like the bowls she had served him his own ice cream in. This, combined with the intensity of her stare, led him to one conclusion; Neo was somehow making images of ice cream appear all over the calendar.

He fixed his eyes on the calendar before he spoke, "Kid?" As he had expected the illusion shattered while Neo started quite severely, seeming for all the world as if she hadn't realized he was even there.

Neo turned to look at him questioningly, seeming a bit disheveled. She had most certainly been out of it. Still, this was interesting. Very interesting, and more than a little exciting. A thief who could create optical illusions? That was quite likely the most handy thing he could think of existing...

Roman jerked out of his thoughts when he felt Neo tugging on his sleeve, an annoyed look on her face now. Right. If he had learned one thing over the years with her, then it was to never ignore her. Whether it was on purpose or just because he was engrossed in something else didn't matter to Neo; she would get angry either way.

She tapped her chest then motioned at her mouth before holding her hands palm up on either side of her. Following his usual process for interpreting her, Roman figured she was indicating herself, then speech, then a question. Ah, right, he had spoken to her as if he had a question.

"Kiddo, I've got something cool to share with you."

Neo's eyes lit up, switching the left to brown and the right to pink, opposite of what they had been. That was something he still didn't understand, though he was used to it.

"I think I just figured out your semblance."

Her mouth dropped open for a moment, but she quickly closed it as a look of doubt crossed her face.

Roman laughed jovially. "Trust me, you are gonna love it. Come on, let's go see if we can get it to work again, I'll explain on the way."

Roman turned and walked towards the hallway, intending to go to the training room. He might not understand the specifics, but damn was he excited. He had been out all night and had gotten a shitty breakfast, but he didn't care. All fatigue was burned from his mind as he basked in his wonderful revelation.

Neo is going to be strong. With a semblance like that and an aura like that? Just need to kick her into shape a bit and she'll never get into a fight she can't handle.

"Up."

Neo struggled to her feet, panting with exhaustion as sweat rolled down her... well, everything. She was completely drenched in the disgusting liquid.

"Try again."

Neo tried in vain to project an illusion, trying to create a copy of herself a few feet away. She didn't even make it to the point of the copy diluting the light where it was supposed to appear before she collapsed onto her knees again, drained completely from the effort.

"Up! Again!" Roman appeared more frustrated than ever with the significant lack of progress. Neo couldn't help but feel similar frustration with herself, but she had also come to hate these sessions. In the beginning creating illusions had been fun, and she had gotten good laughs the few times she managed to slip up Roman by changing the appearances of objects. Unfortunately, though, he had come to see through her 2D illusions, which prompted them to move onto 3D illusions.

Now, she wished they had stopped back then. It had taken her only two months to master 2D illusions, and she was able to whip them up easily enough without focusing on them. It was literally as easy as imagining something, with perhaps just a smidge more mental concentration. 3D illusions were completely different in every way imaginable. They had to be given space, bend light, have complex shifting perspective, and more. This took it completely beyond the realm of magical imagination, and into the realm of intense mental labor. It had been over four months since they had started trying to work towards Neo mastering this form as well, and progress was painfully slow. She could sustain illusions of smaller object fairly well; for example, a small opaque cup was easy enough to keep up for several minutes. As things got larger it got more difficult, however. Forming illusions of transparency were also insanely taxing, and it made her head feel like it would split each time she had to mimic the refractions and reflections of light that objects made out of glass caused naturally.

She stood again and called upon her will power once more, but this time it drained too much. She fell down to her knees yet again, catching herself from collapsing with her hands and gulping air as if she were in risk of suffocating or had just run a full length marathon whilst smoking one of Roman's cigars from Atlas. She slowly let herself slump to lay fully on the ground, not caring that her sweat stained shirt was pressing uncomfortably into her skin or that the wood flooring was hurting her cheek.

Roman walked over and stood above her, looking down at her with an odd mixture of frustration and concern on his face. Eventually he stooped down and offered his hand, which she gratefully accepted to help her stand up. Without him saying a word they left the training room. From there they headed towards Neo's bedroom, where he left as soon as she had entered. He said nothing the entire way, but Neo was afraid to try gesturing to relationship had grown too strained in the last month.

Neo sighed as she flopped onto the carpet, content to simply lay on the floor for a few minutes, and grateful that her room didn't also have hardwood flooring. Eventually, reluctantly, she stood up and made her way to the adjoined bathroom to begin drawing up a bath. As the water slowly pooled up to fill her large bathtub she amused herself with using her illusions to throw steam drawings on the mirror. This had become an almost essential part of her routine; no matter how down she got over the difficulty 3D illusions presented her, it always bolstered her to remind herself how good she was at tricking the eyes on flat surfaces. She wondered on occassion whether she couldn't just make money selling fake paintings using her illusions. Unfortunately she doubted it was possible, because the illusions didn't deal well with contact with humans. 3D illusions had an annoying propensity towards shattering into twisting shards of light, whereas the 2D images blurred and bent toward the point of contact as if they were trying to drive away the human presence.

Discarding the depressing thoughts, Neo slipped out of her sweat stained clothes, throwing them into the dirty laundry hamper before she slowly lowered herself into the searing hot water. Roman had told her many times he considered her insane for liking baths, but she couldn't care less for one simple reason. She grabbed a bottle off the rack next to the bath and began pouring it into the bath water, then she began stirring the water vigorously, making the water bubble up and froth.

General Neapoleon's All~In~One Bathing Solution!

It caused enormous amounts of bubbles, it treated hair well, and it completely replaced any body odors with the smell of light vanilla. It was, in Neo's opinion, a miracle substance.

She smiled in contentment as she sank into the water, her hair drifting to and fro in the water as it gently reacted to her every move. Slowly it stilled, and she spent as long as she wished simply floating. Perfectly still, perfectly content.

It was only once the water no longer felt warm that she finally broke her peaceful countenance, releasing the drain before standing up and stretching. Her muscles felt sore from the clenching they did whenever she was fighting herself to keep working at her illusions, but it wasn't too bad. She turned on the shower head to rinse bubbles out of her hair, then quickly grabbed a towel and pulled most of the moisture out of her hair before tousling her body dry. She didn't like the electric hair dryers Roman was so fond of; they were too loud and too hot. Besides, she liked the way her hair lay naturally by toweling it off, so why bother changing it?

Neo entered her room, shivering a bit as the heat held in the steam in the bathroom abandoned her. She slipped her undergarments on hastily before sliding into her bed, grateful for the immediate warmth the thick wool blankets lent her.

Still. Thoughts raged inside her head.

Neo didn't want to stop improving. If she did she would be disappointing herself, something she despised the very idea of. She had never let herself down before, and she refused to do so now. Thus it wasn't this side of the issue which caused her concern... What occupied her thoughts was, indeed, something else entirely. Roman would be disappointed in her, and that thought twisted her heart as if it had a knife going through it. She supposed it was to be expected, after all these years, but she still was surprised when she remembered that she actually cared about him so much now. They had never exactly been loving in their interactions with each other.

She turned and buried her face into her softest pillow, wishing she could scream in frustration over her problems like a normal person. Instead, she simply drifted off into sleep, ill content with herself and her situation.

That night she had nightmares.

"Up."

Roman watched as Neo struggled to her feet, her small chest heaving frantically as though she had run a full length marathon. Her arms were shaking and her knees were trembling, but she kept on trying anyways.

Roman had never been more proud of his young charge.

"Try again."

A look of intense concentration came over Neo's face, but she collapsed almost immediately, her knees striking the wooden floor with a dull thud. Roman winced internally, but gave no indication of it to Neo.

"Up! Again!"

Roman put a hint of vehemence in his voice. No matter how proud he was of Neo for struggling on, no matter how much sympathy he felt for the frustration, pain, and exhaustion this brought to her, he knew he could never be a kindly figure in this situation. Neo had to be pushed, or else the entire process would be worthless.

Semblances were different from auras. Auras were natural, they flowed out of you when activated. They could be refined, strengthened, altered, but they were easy to use as the user wished to, simply because it was a direct manifestation of energy. Semblances were different. They were more difficult to use. How much more difficult depended on the semblance and the person, but Neo's semblance was quite possibly the most difficult one he'd ever heard of. Thus he was not overly frustrated by the fact that progress was slow, but he kept on a front of being so in order to push her.

It was for her own good.

Roman watched as Neo painstakingly forced herself into a standing position again, then promptly fell back upon her hands and knees. Being mute, it was probable that the desperate gasping of air Roman currently heard was the loudest sound she could make with her throat. It was a thought he found amusing, but it was tempered by the realization that, once again, she couldn't do any more; as was evident when she slumped to actually lay on the floor. Trying to force her to keep working when it was impossible for progress to happen would be stupid, and would only hurt long term results.

Roman made his way over to her from the wall he had stood by, pausing to observe her for a brief moment before offering Neo a hand to get up. Her reaction to this varied day to day; often times she would, in pride, not accept his help. She would wait until she could stand on her own and walk to her room on her own. Today, however, like some days, she accepted his arm and pulled herself up to stand next to him. Together they walked out of the training room, down the hall for several minutes, and then they split at her room, her entering and him remaining outside.

Roman sighed after the door had shut, removing his bowler briefly to scratch his head. If this daily routine of theirs was bad, then the next part of his daily routine was ten times worse for him. Watching Neo suffer wasn't fun, but it certainly beat talking to her.

Swallowing his longing to go to the kitchen and make some food, Roman walked slowly to his office, where he sat wearily in his chair for a moment before proceeding to turn his computer on.

As it was booting, he took out his scroll, tapped through his contacts, and called the correct person, who picked up promptly.

"Ah, Roman, I've been waiting. Your call is late." Cinder left the statement hanging. It hadn't been phrased as a question, but Roman knew she wanted an answer.

"Neo worked hard today and lasted longer before I decided it was time for her to stop."

"Good, she'll need to be strong, and part of strength is endurance. Well done." Cinder's voice purred a bit, making Roman shudder. The only time she praised Roman was when Neo was doing well, but Roman wasn't sure he liked being praised for someone else's progress.

Nonetheless. If she offered it, he would take it.

"You know me, I get results. As for Neo... Her progress is coming along pretty damn well. When she was fresh this morning she sustained a good representation of herself for a few seconds. Today's the first day she's been able to do that, before she would always fail while it was still forming or release it as soon as it was done. I gotta say, the kid's getting angry with herself, but her progress is still perfect. I couldn't ask for more."

Cinder hummed thoughtfully before replying. "You should give her a pep talk sometime, It wouldn't do for her to become depressed. It's excellent she's making such progress, soon she'll be perfect for our plans..."

Roman flinched a bit at the last part. The important part. The reason he was pushing Neo so hard. Cinder was pressing him to let her use Neo, and Roman couldn't hold out for much longer. He was underneath Cinder in the pecking order, after all. Good reasoning and strength of emotions could only hold a vulture off for so long, and Cinder most certainly was a vulture, looking to grab Neo up as a piece of carrion to be eaten. In this case, eaten being "used for her strength then thrown away." Roman knew Cinder. She still saw Neo as a piece of trash that she had found, that she could use. She didn't see Neo as a person.

Roman hated Cinder so much for that.

"... I'm thinking that at the start of next year, we're going to have to see what she can do in the field."

Roman's head snapped to attention. "Say again?"

"The start of next year. I will not accept no for an answer this time. You have five months, Roman, I suggest you use them well." Cinder paused a moment before adding, "You should probably get her a weapon of some sort."

The screen went black for a moment before returning to his calling list.

Roman sighed and clenched his hands tightly. Another night of nightmares it was.

Neo breathed in slowly, her breaths measured with careful control as she focused. Her alter ego slowly strutted around the room, Neo's head turning smoothly to track it. She found the form moved most realistically when she kept her gaze on its midsection, where she could see all the limbs' movements as they related to each other. A movement here pulled a muscle there, the entire thing was a system. As her understanding of anatomy and movement increased she found it increasingly easy to make figures move, and it took less and less energy to make her imagination become reality.

Roman clapped twice. The first time her illusionary self stuttered for a moment, fading as if her link to the world was a string that had been plucked, then popped back into reality and resumed movement. The second time the noise had no effect.

"Jump."

Neo had her mimic slowly bring its feet together, arms hanging limply at her sides. Then, with a burst of focus, she made it jump. The body movement was still stiff, but she had finally managed to get gravity's effects on hair and clothing down pat. She caught herself admiring the way light reflected off of her other self's hair, changing the intensity of shine as it moved between the multicolored tresses.

Roman continued to drill her on different exercises for her illusionary copy to do, and she passed every one with flying colors; the jump ended up being the weakest part of her routine.

It had taken four months of working so hard she felt like she might puke after every session, but it was finally done. She could safely rely on her semblance to help her in real situations.

Neo was so caught up in admiring her own work that she didn't notice Roman approaching her until he laid a hand on her shoulder. His voice was a bit husky as he spoke, "Good job. Neo."

Neo turned to look up at him, stunned. She had never heard him say her name before. 'Kid,' 'shortie,' 'brat,' more recently even 'kiddo,' as a term of what Neo presumed was endearment. But not her name. Not once in all their years of being together.

She looked away quickly as she felt tears stinging at her eyes, hastily pulling her arm up to wipe them away. She had made Roman proud. Somehow that supplanted her own sense of pride, as if she cared more about his opinion than her own.

Did she? She couldn't tell herself which mattered more to her.

"Come on kid, let's go get some food. I think the time for us to go for a city visit together is a bit overdue, don't you?"

At this Neo's mouth literally dropped open, her eyes going huge as she stared at Roman. He was going to take her into the city? He was not acting normally.

But if not-normal Roman was willing to let her out of the villa and down the mountain for once, who was she to complain?

Neo's head felt like a whirling top, spinning around with such fierce speed that her hair was a danger to other passerby on the sidewalk. Her eyes drank in the sights around her eagerly, completely starved of such sights for nearly as long as she could remember. She had grown up in the streets of a city indiscernible from this one, yet everything was different from the shadowy memories that she had of those times. Now she was here again, and it was the same haze of noise and activity and concrete, but she was different. She was smarter, stronger, older... Taller? She hastily steered herself away from that line of thought.

Roman's hand grabbed the back of her head and forced it to look forward. Neo formed a bit of a pout, but Roman wasn't looking so it failed.

"Come on kid, no time for lollygagging. We've got a schedule to keep!" Roman sounded oddly excited, as if he were looking forward to something he had 'forgotten' to mention to her. Neo reached out, considering pulling on his sleeve and forcing him to explain, but she thought better of it at the last moment. He was in a good mood, she was in a good mood, she didn't want to cause an argument. She had faith in him that whatever he had in store would be good for her.

Several minutes of walking from where they had parked Roman abruptly turned into a hotel and entered it. Neo double glanced up at the building as she followed him, swallowing when she looked at how it extended into the sky to a pinprick. They had driven away from the mountains, yet they were still surrounded by artificial ones here.

Into the lobby, ignoring the desk help who yelled to stop, up a flight of stairs, into a random room Roman opened as if it had no lock. Several minutes of waiting while they could vaguely hear people running up and down the stairs and halls. After a minute of silence Roman led her back out the room, down the hall into the elevator, and then pressed the button for the floor fourth from the top.

The elevator ride was the strangest thing Neo had ever felt. A lurch beneath her feet, a sense of being pushed downwards, having to try a bit harder than normal to keep her head up proudly. As they reached the upper floors it gradually slowed, and a surreal feeling of lightness took over as she felt as if she were being stretched upwards as a weight lifted off her.

Maybe if she could experience just the stretching part she could get taller...

Then, as they locked into place, everything was as normal as if it was solid earth below them again. It was somewhat perturbing to her, but Neo didn't dally as Roman immediately left the elevator and strode down the hall to their right. Blinking, Neo realized he was knocking on door 1454.

The light from the peephole was blocked out, and a deep voice sounded out, "Roman? What're you doing here?"

"Open up, Junior, I've got a little lady who needs a weapon."

The deep voiced man grunted, "Ain't got no weapons for little ladies, but... Fine, come in." Neo heard multiple locks unlatching, then it swung open. Roman beckoned her forward, and they stepped into the room together before hearing it swing shut behind them, the locks being quickly moved back into place.

Neo looked around the room in astonishment. They were running something like this out of a hotel?!

Roman spoke softly, "Welcome, my young companion, to the greatest illegal weapon store in all of Vale. Please, select what you wish! It's on me."

Neo slowly walked into the room, gazing around with wonder. The walls were lined with weapons on racks, the entire room had shelves of weapons, and there were weapons hanging from the ceiling.

Just one problem. Neo had never held a weapon before. She turned to Roman, who had been following her, and spread her hands helplessly.

His face fell a bit with disappointment before becoming one of stern disbelief. "You can't tell me there's not a single thing in here that catches your eye. We've got—Junior, how many things are crammed in this trash heap?"

The big man standing by the wall scowled deeply at the insult before replying. "Two hundred and seventeen. All mechashift."

"Two hundred and seventeen, kid! We're literally at a buffet for deadly arms! Grab something that catches your eye, literally anything will do! I just need to teach you to fight in the next month, what with doesn't matter aaaaaat aaaaaaall!" Roman dragged the last two words out, making excited hand gestures for emphasis, moving his hands in opposite horizontal motions across his chest and extending his arms.

Something caught in Neo's mind. She needed to learn to fight inside of a month? What for?

Cinder?

Deciding it couldn't be anything else, Neo obligingly returned to browsing the shelves. Shotguns combined with chainsaws, Rifles combined with full length katanas, kamas which turned into dual revolvers, knives which combined to make a tommy gun, maces with explosive dust heads, gauntlets with brutal looking claws, the list went on and on for eternity.

Not a single item caught her eye as something she'd want to use. They were all too... well, crass. No matter how well made a tool was, it was still a tool. She wanted something that wouldn't feel like a tool, she wanted something that would feel like it existed solely for her use. She was the one who would be entrusting her life to her own ability to use whatever she chose after all.

But nothing here was right! Eventually Neo threw her hands up in frustration, turning to Roman and shaking her head. This time he simply sighed instead of trying to chew her out.

"Well, you definitely tried this time, I can't say no to that being true. Fine, ready to go kid? We'll get dinner in town."

Neo looked out the window wall, blinking with surprise as she found sunlight filtering directly into her eyes from the distant sunset. She looked back in time to see Roman making to depart and hastily followed him.

Junior had the most comically upset face she had ever seen as he unbolted all his locks and let them out, but he didn't say anything. Neo idly wondered how important Torchwick must be to command so much deference from an arms dealer who seemed to be top of the line. She resolved to ask him when they got home. The elevator started its descent.

"All right kid, let's get this straight, alright? Cinder wants you. I can't stop her this time. Your semblance is dandy and all, but you've got to know how to fight too, eh? What do you say to learning a few moves from me?"

Neo giggled to herself at the self important way Roman puffed himself out with the last word, but did her best to hide her merriment from the ginger criminal himself. She had no doubt, having seen him move when in a hurry before, that he was very much her superior when it came to physical action. She nodded her assent happily.

Neo was content, after all, to continue following Roman. She had been doing so for years, and it had yet to fail her.

A flurry of punches, a duck and leg sweep. Roman's hands darted around to push away the blows, and he quickly moved his legs away from the kick meant to sweep his feet out from under him. He missed, however, a small fist hurtling towards his lumbar as he focused on keeping his footing steady. It landed just below the center of the ribs, barely below the bone yet still far enough down to sink into his diaphragm. His breath whooshed out a bit and he quickly retreated a few paces, grateful Neo's muscles weren't better developed. Even with aura muscles still mattered, and if she were stronger that could have completely knocked the wind out of him and lose him the bout.

The leg kick must have been an illusion, that was the only explanation for how her fist could have appeared out of thin air, or how she had stood up nearly instantly when his eyes were closed for a split second. Roman grinned, pleased with her progress, and decided to push her.

He charged forward and unleashed a savage series of blows, and something remarkable happened. She avoided the first three, then the third connected and Neo shattered. It was her semblance, he knew, but it was incredibly disorienting even though he understood it. Before he had time to process it or react he could feel a foot on the back of his right knee shoving forward, forcing him to the ground as two small arms wrapped themselves around his own and pulled them back painfully.

Roman tried to toss her off unsuccessfully, bucking his torso as best he could to throw her off balance. He was failing, though, and his muscles were starting to seriously burn from the position she was holding him in, so he sighed in defeat and said loudly, "Fine! You got me, I offer my note... of resignation." He let sarcasm drip heavily off his words, but Neo still relented and released him immediately. He turned and stood to see she was panting, exhausted from using her semblance so much in combination with the physical effort, but a huge grin was spread across her face. Her eyes were in a rare alignment, as both were pink at the moment.

Roman lifted her chin a bit, staring into her eyes severely. "Watch it, that hurt."

Neo nodded, lowering her gaze, but he could see she was still smiling. Roman couldn't bring himself to be serious about being angry with her though; her progress had been explosive in the last two weeks. Cinder wanted her in another two weeks, but she was easily ready enough as was now. Not that Roman would ever willingly ship her off early.

As they entered the kitchen and Roman began preparing a lunch of two omelets, his mind returned to the problem that had been at the forefront of his mind for much of the last two days. Neo was good enough. She was agile, she was strong for her size, she was fast, and she had that semblance of hers... The months of work hadn't been wasted in the least. Neo never could have beaten Roman if they were restricting her semblance, but with it she was a force to be reckoned with. Roman restrained himself from using his own semblance; that wouldn't be conductive to her growth.

No, the problem wasn't anything about Neo herself. The problem was finding a weapon that suited her. As much as he had wheedled her to find a weapon at the time, Roman had known quite well going into Junior's shop that they probably wouldn't find anything suitable for her. Past a certain level of combat skill weapons became almost like semblances. They were personal items, they helped to define a person's character and the certainly defined fighting styles. Nobody but peons just went for any plain old weapon these days.

Neo fought in a very tricky way. She relied a lot on her semblance to keep herself safe while she struck at vital areas of tension on the enemy. At least, Roman assumed that was how she would normally fight in the future; a total of one sparring partner for her, himself no less, was not the best sample size. She would probably become more forceful and have to rely on trickery less when her muscles were developed more, but it was already an effective fighting style.

Her movements were characterized mostly by spinning. Roman didn't have any particular fighting style, so he had told her to "just wing it." It had worked out extremely well for her, even if less so for his pride. She had figured out in two days flat that, with her small frame, it was very easy for her to avoid Roman's blows with small twists and turns of herself. This had proven a continual source of agitation to Roman, who was not used to fighting with his fists. He had wished many times to simply have his cane to sweep across the area.

So... Think! She spins a lot, she avoids being hit at all costs, she prefers striking small areas over causing blunt trauma...

This called for another trip to the city. This time, though, he would be visiting company with a different rep.

If Roman had felt a bit uneasy walking into a Schnee owned hotel with Neo, that didn't compare to how he felt right now. He was staring across the street at his destination, anxiety clawing at his heart as he tried to work up the courage to walk across.

Great. The biggest glaring match he'd had in over eight years, and it was with a store sign.

Roman swallowed the lump in his throat as he started his way across the street to the store. Fabulous~Posh~Parasols stared down at him as he walked beneath the sign, and he immediately caught sound of someone talking about him as he approached the doors. A death glare silenced them before he entered the store.

"Yes? How may I help you sir?" The tiny lady behind the counter didn't seem to find anything strange about Roman, for which he was relieved. The sooner he was out of the store and into the back of the building the better.

"Take me to see Mister Lie, please."

The woman blinked up at him, her magenta eyes hardening as she stared him over, seemingly observing him for the first time. "Why should I take you into my home, Mister Torchwick?"

Roman spread his hands. "What can I say? I'm a businessman. I do business. I have business with your husband. Do you want business, lady?"

She snorted, replying, "You're more likely to steal from us than buy from us. Still, I'll let my husband deal with it." She gestured for him to follow, and he went around the counter to trail after her into the back.

As he pushed aside the curtain and stepped into the room he saw a head leaning out of a doorway. It had the same eyes as its mother, and it quickly disappeared into the room as he noticed it, long dark hair trailing after it before the door snapped shut.

"Shy daughter?"

"Quiet son." The response was a curt reprimand, so Roman took it no further. She showed him to a room and gestured for him to enter, closing the door behind him as he did.

It was a small room, and in it, resting on a low bed, sat the man he was looking for. His eyes opened and he regarded Roman with an air of general dislike. "What do you want, Roman?"

"I guess you could say I'm calling in an old favor."

"You expect me to fulfill something like that? After all this time? I am done making weapons, Roman."

"Oh no no no! Not a weapon, old friend! Just a sturdy parasol. Real sturdy though, if you catch my drift."

The man pursed his lips. "I am not your friend anymore, Roman. We have walked different paths for many years."

Roman's lips curved into a snarl. "Look, do you want the lien or not?" As he spoke, he reached into his coat pocket and retrieved multiple lien cards, taking them out and throwing them on the table next to the bed.

Lie Shei's eyes widened in shock as he regarded the sight. Seven cards of 100,000 lien; a veritable fortune for someone like him.

Magenta eyes slowly turned to meet emerald ones. "We have a deal. What do you want me to make you, Roman?"

"Neo!" He looked in the living room.

"Neo!" He looked in the kitchen.

"Neo!" He looked out on the patio.

"Neo!" Ke looked in her room.

"NEO WHERE ARE YOU?!" Roman shook his head in frustration, looking for the life of him as if he wanted to kill something. Neo couldn't help but giggle when he got flustered like this.

Still, she decided there was a limit to teasing, so she backed around the corner to let the illusion keeping her invisible drop. That done, she pranced around the corner with a small flourishing spin. She could hear him let out a sigh of relief as he spotted her.

"Hey! Where have you been? You know searching my own home is my least favorite hobby, right?" Roman sounded a bit sterner than normal, but Neo knew he couldn't pull that act off anymore so she shrugged it off. Instead she gave him her brightest smile and tapped her nose once before curtsying. It meant the garbage had been smelling the place up so she'd taken it out, and he could say 'Thank you' whenever he wanted. She didn't really expect him to get that, though.

"Aw man, I should really put a bell on you or something, I swear you're impossible to find." Roman played with his hat carelessly, looking as if he were thinking of something else. He quickly dropped his arm when he noticed she was watching intently, so she switched her face into a pout before he took any offense from her staring. For the sake of drama she threw in a couple watery eyes rather than her normal ones.

Roman looked taken aback, and he sighed, brushing his hair out his eye. Flustered, mission accomplished!

"Listen kiddo, we've got something to do."

Neo tilted her head questioningly. Cinder didn't want her until after the New Year's, it was a bit early for that. To make sure, she gestured between them and then to the helipad. He shook his head before replying, "No, we don't have a job yet."

Neo nodded, happy she hadn't been wrong. She felt a bit bad for teasing Roman so much, but she couldn't help it. Every day mattered now. So she was happy she hadn't been wrong, and she had more time with him.

He shook his head suddenly, making her look at him quizzically. Flustered, he said, "Ah, well, you see..." He paused for a moment before redoubling his efforts, "Hey, the end of the year is coming up in a few hours, you know? I thought we could do something special, is all. I mean, not that I care that much."

Neo tilted her head in bewilderment. This was not like Roman; this was not like Roman at all. She waved her hand back and forth, no, she didn't want to do anything special. She just wanted to spend time with him.

Unfortunately this had an undesired effect; Roman puffed up a bit indignantly, a note of anger entering his voice. "What?! What else could you possibly be doing anyways?! You were just sitting around smelling plants!"

Neo rapidly shook her head, waving her hands in a gesture of denial. She hadn't been smelling plants! What? Wait, besides, she hadn't meant it to be instigatory! He was going red in the face, which she feared was anger. Roman hadn't got angry with her in a very long time, and she didn't want to change that.

Roman leaned on the wall, propping himself up with one hand as a look of weariness overtook his face. Neo smiled tentatively up at him, hoping the misunderstanding was over.

For several moments they stood, staring into each other's eyes, before Roman snapped out of his stupor. Wordlessly, he gestured for her to follow him. Like so many times before, Neo complied with his wishes, following with soft footsteps on hard flooring.

Roman soundlessly took a long, thin package out from under the couch, and he held it out to her. As she took and set it on the table it he felt his heartbeat enter his throat. It had been years, just her and him in this house. She had never stopped being off-putting at times; she had always retained the ability to get under his nerves so quickly he thought she could make a career out of it. But she was Neo. His Neo. Roman had never been interested in love before, but he sometimes wondered if he wasn't as close to Neo as a father was to his daughter. They were more... roundabout than the average parent to child relationship, sure, but they were close.

Yet somehow it felt as if it all came down to this moment. In the grand scheme, did it really matter? It was the first technical present she would ever get from him, as he wasn't a big fan of the holiday spirit, but hadn't he bought all of the things she'd needed for years? Besides that, wasn't this a necessity too? Why did it feel like so much hinged on how she reacted to this?

Roman tried to calm his nerves, breathing in and out slowly, but his attempts completely broke down and his pulse quickened extremely as she finished removing the wrapping and began lifting the lid to the box.

This was it. Neo would like it. Right? Yes. She had to.

Neo kneeled to reach into the box and slowly pulled the out the parasol that lay in it, folded up inside of layers of felt. She didn't seem to realize what it was at first, as she still didn't react, just slowly pulling the fabric coverings off. Was she going slow on purpose, or were his nerves shot?

As the last piece of fabric was removed and the parasol was revealed fully, Neo's jaw slowly dropped into a small look of astonishment. She stood slowly, holding it out in front of her as she popped it open. She leaned it on her shoulder and gave a small twirl, smiling now. She folded it back in, then jabbed experimentally. It thrust into the air as smoothly as any sword.

Roman got up and held out his hands. He didn't demand it, but she handed it over reluctantly, her hand lingering on it a moment before retreating. He held the body gently, then showed her that, with a push of a latch, a forceful twist, and then a small tug, a slender blade could be pulled out from the center of the parasol. After his display was done he put the blade away and held it out back for her. Neo grabbed it eagerly, experimenting with releasing the hidden blade and sliding it back in a few times.

After a few more minutes of her playing with her parasol, a look of entrancement on her face, she slowly turned and sat it in the box. Roman frowned, worried that she didn't like something about it, but was stunned when she appeared in front of him in nearly an instant. She wrapped him in a hug, her face pressing into his stomach while her arms reached up around his torso, and his mind froze.

The most physical contact they had ever had was during sparring in the last few weeks. The most intimate contact they'd ever had was when he helped her hobble back to her room during those terrible days of semblance training when she had clung to his arm for support.

Roman slowly returned the hug, laying his arms around the top of her back and squeezing her arms gently. He thought they had sparred too often for her body size to ever take him by surprise again, but he was proven wrong in that moment, for it struck him with a certain clarity just how small Neopolitan was. He would probably still be taller than her if he sat on his knees, and his arms seemed massive as they enveloped her small frame.

They eventually moved to sit on the couch, Neo sitting in his lap while she idly played with her parasol, his arms around her waist. The world felt fair, for that one moment. Cinder would do as she would, Roman would do as he had to. But he would never forget this joy. Neopolitan was more integral to his world than anything else. He would protect this feeling, this place, this small girl sitting in his arms, as fiercely as he would protect his own life.

Neo woke slowly, groggy and unfamiliar with her position but oddly comfortable. As she came to she realized she was still sitting with Roman on the couch in the living room. Looking around, she saw the parasol propped against the must have put it there when she had fallen asleep, else it would have still been in her arms.

Roman's left arm was still holding her gently, his right having fallen to the couch, but she gently wriggled her way out his grasp, careful not to wake him up. Once she was free she ran to the kitchen, intent on preparing a meal.

Humming softly, merrily, as she worked, Neo made sure not to be too loud. She kept clinking dishware to a minimum, moved the bowls with care across the wooden countertops, and made the laying of metal utensils into the metal sink silent.

Once she was done she proudly made her way back to where Roman slept, setting one bowl and glass on the table for him before propping herself up in the armchair, setting her own bowl and glass on the waiting table next to it. She slapped her forehead softly as she realized she had forgotten the most important part!

She hastily made her way to the office, grabbed three pens and some paper, and hurried back to Roman, hoping he wouldn't be awake before she got there.

Roman was awakened by sunlight falling onto his eyelids. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes before opening them to look around.

"Neo?" The girl was sitting in the armchair, looking at him. She gestured happily towards the table, and Roman's eyes fell upon the bowl.

"Oh you have got to be—neapolitan ice cream again?" Roman felt a smile creeping onto his face as he tried not to laugh. It was funny, really, how this didn't annoy him like it had last time.

Neo nodded happily, picking up her own bowl of the sweet dessert off of the table. Sighing good naturedly, Roman did the same. As he did, he spotted a folded note that had been stuck under his bowl. Frowning, Roman picked it up, unsure of what it was.

He spotted three different colors of ink that showed through the paper, and he froze. Slowly, he set the bowl back, and began unfolding the note. The first actual words Neo would ever pass from herself to him were on this paper.

Roman,

There's been nothing better in my life than you.

The future looks scary, doesn't it?

But you've done everything for me to make sure I'm ready.

But to be honest, I'm still a bit afraid of going out alone.

Let's be together forever, okay?

END

AN: So that was a thing. Kind of long for a one shot, huh? I suspect it won't be read by many people due to its length, but to those of you who did read it I can say only this: Thank you very much for reading my story, and I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly.