A/N: Army nearly killed me. But I walked away alive. I am alive, and so is this story. Even if there may not be the same number of people as there was before, this story deserves an ending. Time to pick up where I left off, and finish this.

Thanks to Dragon's Savior, Mad-Racer, WordNerb93, Mike101, BlackCatNeko, Aronim, Bane7567, Arkazu, CaMinz, Mojotheomegawolf, wanchingtang, SpartanSlayer1, and Foximilius for reviewing, more than 2 years ago.

Chapter 26: Revelations

It was strange. Mittens didn't know whether to feel happy or sad. On one hand, there was her missing family…but on the other hand, there was Kasal. Fun, loving, protective Kasal. He was just like her owner in many ways, which made the cold winter days that much more tolerable.

It had been two days since they had met, and he hadn't left her side since. He sat with Mittens by her house, waiting for her owners to return. With the time they spent together, Kasal taught Mittens about the world outside her house. He taught her where to find the best scraps, what to avoid eating out of the trash, how to deal with dogs and other cats…

But they would mostly just play. Without anyone else around, she completely relished the time she spent with Kasal. They'd play hunter and prey, hide and seek, and a whole bunch of other random games they could think of.

Their biggest achievement came when together, with Mittens standing on Kasal's back, they managed to open the mailbox in the garden, sending papers flying everywhere. After cheering and jumping at every fluttering letter, they sat down on the grass, having collected all the letters into a pile.

"There sure is a lot of them…" Kasal mumbled. They've really been gone a long time…

"Yeah. Hey, Kasal. What's this?" Mittens asked, holding up a colourful flyer. Kasal looked at it, taking it from her with his teeth and spreading it out on the floor. There were some words Mittens couldn't read on the front, and inside there were lots of pictures with food in them.

"Oh, this is a just a Waffle World flyer. Remember that burger and waffle place we passed by just now?" Mittens nodded. "Yeah, that one. It's just showing you where you can find other Waffle Worlds in America."

"Where are we?" Mittens asked.

"Here. By the big green lady with the torch." He placed his paw on the words of the map for emphasis. "That's New York."

"You can read?" Mittens asked excitedly, her tail springing to life.

Kasal grinned sheepishly.

"Not really. I just know what it's called. When you're out here long enough, you hear enough things to know what they're called. But I guess you could say I can read a little."

"What's this?" Mittens asked, pointing on the other side of the map at the most eye-catching picture she could see: The same Waffle World mascot, with a pair of sunglasses over its eyes. Kasal cocked his head.

"That's…Hollywood. I think that's where they make all the TV shows and movies that humans watch." He paused in thought. "You know, I heard from Carla yesterday that they're actually putting animals like us inside the TV now. Can you imagine a flying dog shooting lasers? It would be hilarious…"

Mittens wasn't particularly interested after 'flying dog'. She was more interested in the map, staring intently at the different boundaries and areas, along with the colourful cartoon pictures. It looked a lot more interesting than the boring dull picture her owner kept in the living room.

She started tracing the boundary lines with a paw, noticing the different shapes the boundaries made.

"Have you heard of Las Vegas?"

Mittens looked up at him, snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

"Las Vegas. It's over here." He pointed a short distance to the east of Hollywood. "Some friends I know call it the legendary food paradise. They say you don't even need to beg there, because there's so much food lying around. Imagine, rows and rows of dumpsters, all filled to the top with all kinds of sandwiches, doughnuts, hot dogs..." Mittens could almost see his eyes gleaming.

"I also heard it's full of pretty shows and lights. They say it's the perfect place to live. Food, shelter, shows…" he sighed wistfully. "It would be a dream come true."

Mittens looked at the map, then back at him.

"Why don't you go there then?"

Kasal chuckled.

"Because it's far, Mittens. You see how far it is from here to there?" He said, tracing a line with his paws. "It would take a super long time, and I'd probably have to cross through rain, snow, deserts, and all other sorts of dangerous things."

"So it's like an adventure?" Mittens asked excitedly. Kasal could see her eyes twinkling. He chuckled.

"Yeah, an adventure." He ruffled the fur on top of her head. "But this kitty's too old for adventure. His best years are all far behind him."

Mittens frowned.

"You're only a year older than me."

"And what a difference a year makes." He grinned. "I feel weary, and my bones feel brittle and weak. I lack the youthful body to go the distance. But it's okay. I'm content with what I have. When you get old, you learn to be content and just enjoy what you have." He yawned and stretched his body.

"So…you're just too lazy to go, right?"

"…maybe."

It started to get colder as the hours went by. The humans had started buttoning up their coats and tucking their hands into their pockets. It made Mittens wish she had a coat for herself. She treaded through the grass quietly, with her collar jingling every now and then. It was evening, but the park was deserted.

It wasn't surprising, she thought. Most people were probably heading home, before it got too cold.

A particularly cold gust of wind blew through her fur. She clenched her paws, bringing her tail close to her body.

They'll be home soon, too.

She forced herself to refocus on why she had even come to the park in the first place. Food. More specifically, begging for it. Kasal had taught her plenty in the two days, and she was eager to prove to him what she could do. That's why she had snuck away from the garden as soon as Kasal fell asleep for his afternoon nap and headed straight to the nearest park, where he had taught her the fundamentals of begging.

"Don't ever try to go begging without me, understand?" Kasal's voice echoed in her head.

That had made her even more determined to prove herself to him. Even though Kasal never said it, she knew he still thought of her as a little kit, being extremely protective of her. It was time to change that.

But there's no one around to beg from…

She was starting to think she'd come all the way out here for nothing, when the sound of footsteps on the grass caught her attention. A young man dressed entirely in black had sat down on one of the many benches littered around the park. He was faced away from her, but she could still see, and more importantly, smell something good that he pulled out noisily from a paper bag. She instantly perked up.

Yes! Alright, what do I do? Don't panic…I just need to go up, sniff around, look at him, mew, then paw his leg…or was it the other way around?

Her eyes darted over to him as she heard a loud crunch. He was already munching on whatever he was eating.

Ngh! No time…she had to go before she'd miss her chance.

The man didn't notice as she approached in a half cautious, half urgent jog. As she got closer, she started to feel a chill creeping up on her. Right when she was under the bench, she suddenly realised her mind had gone blank. Everything she had learnt from Kasal had disappeared, and she was left standing awkwardly under him.

Uh…what do I do? What am I supposed to—

"Oh, hello there."

Her heart jumped. It took her a second to realise her head was just poking out slightly from under the bench, and he could see her very clearly.

"What are you doing here, little kitty? You're…hey…"

The man leaned over her, casting an intimidating looming shadow that covered her entire body.

If Mittens had been scared before, she was terrified now.

"Yeah, it is you, isn't it? You're the little kitty that I spilled my drink on. What are you doing here? And you're all clean too…"

Spilt…drink? It only took Mittens two seconds to remember her embarrassing accident from the day before.

Oh…oh no. Her muscles tensed. Run. Run run run run run—

Unfortunately, it only took a second for the man to wrap his hand around her waist and lift her up into the air. Mittens struggled, but the man held fast this time. He placed her on his lap, pressing firmly on her back.

"Ahhhh! No! Don't hurt me don't hurt me!" Mittens wailed, legs and paws flailing wildly in an attempt to free herself from him.

This was all starting to seem strangely familiar.

The man gripped her by her waist tightly now, making her attempts more or less futile.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, kitty."

Mittens wasn't listening, trying to push herself away from him. She pulled as hard as she could, to no avail. Finally, after a good half minute more of struggling, she slumped onto his lap, panting.

Oh my god I'm gonna die! He's gonna cut me open and eat my insides! She regretted secretly watching that late night scary movie with her owner when his parents were away.

And she was really regretting coming out on her own now.

The man lifted a finger to inspect her neck. She held her breath, waiting for him to snap it. It didn't happen. Maybe he wanted to choke her to death slowly instead. That was definitely a possibility.

The man wrapped his hand around her neck. She froze.

Ohmygoshhesgonnadoit—he's gonna kill me!

The man held her firmly as her turned her around to face him. She stared straight at his face. Every part of her body told her to bite him, to do anything to get away, but she was frozen still. She couldn't find it in herself to bite a human.

The man's free hand started moving to the top of Mittens' head. She squeezed her eyes shut. But there was no pain. A gentle tickling sensation ran across the top of her head and between her ears.

Ever so slowly, Mittens opened her eyes. The man smiled when she did, moving his hand to rub her cheek.

He's…smiling? Why didn't he kill me?

"Aw, you poor thing. You must be terrified. It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you."

The words sent a pang through Mittens' heart. She found herself suddenly in her owner's arms a year ago, cold and shivering. She was looking up at the little boy with big eyes, terrified.

It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, he had whispered.

She felt that familiar ache in her heart again. It was becoming more frequent now.

The man continued rubbing her, while she remained stiff in his arms. She didn't even move her tail, or twitch her whiskers. A part of her inside still was still dreading the moment where the man would change his mind and torque her head backwards, but it never happened.

Something was lifted right in front of her nose, pulling her away from her thoughts. It smelt delicious. She forgot about her sadness for a moment as realisation suddenly hit her.

He's offering me food! She wanted to smack herself for forgetting that the food was the whole reason she had come to the man in the first place.

I didn't even need to beg for it…she thought, somewhat embarrassed. Maybe Kasal was right about people being nicer to kittens…

The man nudged her with it, and she bit into it, feeling warm sauces leaking into her mouth. Some of it dribbled down the corner of her mouth, and the man used a napkin to clean it up. Mittens was going very red. She only knew this man for a few minutes, if she didn't count her accident a few days ago, and here she was eating out of his hand and letting him clean her mouth like she was a baby.

Thank goodness Kasal isn't around to see this, she thought, leaning forward gratefully to take another bite. She'd never hear the end of it if he had.

The sun set pretty quickly, leaving dark clouds and even colder winds in its wake. Mittens hadn't expected the man to stay as long as he had. And he was generous, too. He'd given her some biscuits and some creamy stuff that tasted sweet. It was a lot more than she'd ever thought she would have gotten. After the meal, she tried mewing and purring and generally being cute, like Kasal had said. The man seemed extremely pleased, and seeing him smile made her feel just a little bit better.

The man pulled out his phone after a while, staring intently at the lit screen. Mittens couldn't make heads or tails of what was being shown. She wished she could read, like Kasal. Maybe she could persuade him to teach her how to read later.

"My word, it's so late already…" the man mumbled. He gently held Mittens by her side and placed her on the bench beside mumbled something about her tag not having her address written on it, then picking up his numerous bags of bulky goods after looking at his phone for a while. As he stood up, he looked at Mittens.

"I have to rush off. Got a Christmas dinner tonight. I wish I could bring you to the shelter, but my hands are kinda full. I'll come and get you tomorrow, okay? Don't wander off too far."

With that, he walked off, leaving Mittens alone again on the bench.

Silly humans, Mittens thought, giggling. Even her owner and his family often talked to her, expecting her to speak back.

Mittens rubbed her tummy. It felt good. She even had a bit of the sandwich leftover that she didn't eat, and the man seemed content to let her have it. Now she could brag to Kasal and wave a sandwich around his face!

With a silly grin on her face, she held the remains of the sandwich in her mouth and started walking back to the house. Maybe she could bring Kasal with her tomorrow.

As she passed through the narrow alley that mysteriously led to her house, she started thinking of ways to brag to Kasal about her achievement.

Maybe I'll wave it around first, and then he'll ask me where I got it. Or maybe I'll sneak up on him and stuff it in his mouth! Yeah, that sounds good…

"You're awfully happy."

"Eep!" Mittens squeaked, letting the sandwich between her teeth go and jumping back. She looked up at a stack of cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other, where the sound was coming from. The voice was unmistakable.

"Still jumpy as ever, aren't ya, kit?" Keiro said, smirking from the top of the pile. His tail waved around lazily. "So what's got you so happy that you could walk right past me without even noticing?"

"Keiro!"

"Yes, I'm Keiro. Nice to meet you, kit."

"How come you're here? I haven't seen you at all for the past few days…"

"Oh I've been around." He dismissed nonchalantly. "And I asked you first. How come you're so happy?"

Mittens looked at her sandwich, and gasped softly. The contents had spilled out and onto the ground. She quickly ran over and tried putting everything back nicely the way it originally was. It was difficult, using her paws, but she eventually managed to make it look almost like it hadn't been touched.

"That's a nice looking sandwich. Where'd you get it?"

"I…" Mittens paused, hesitating. "I got it from a kind human. He gave me a lot of food. I couldn't finish it, so I wanted to bring it back."

"A human?" Keiro's eyes darted to the entrance of the alleyway, ears twitching. Mittens gulped inwardly. She had expected this reaction. But thankfully, to her relief, Keiro soon turned his eyes back to her, although he didn't look too pleased.

"I…wanted to try begging for food like Kasal does. I wanted to show him I could do it." She managed to find her voice towards the end.

Keiro's frown slowly disappeared, reverting back to what seemed to be his default smirk.

"So little Kit is trying to show that she isn't little anymore, hmm?"

"No! Wait—I mean yes!" she smacked herself on the side of her head.

Keiro laughed, making her feel a little more relieved at least.

"Well, not bad, considering it was your first time," he said, looking at the sandwich. "Looks pretty good too."

Mittens blinked. That was it? No more snarky comments? She had expected him to completely grill her over being a kitten at least another twenty times before he'd laugh himself all the way to the bottom of the cardboard pile.

"W…would you like it?" she suddenly blurted out.

Keiro raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, what's this about? What did Kasal tell you to do to me?"

"No, it's not that! He didn't tell me…I mean I'm not doing anything to you!" Wait, I'm supposed to try and make friends with him! This isn't helping! Arrgh!

"You're being nice. I know you didn't appreciate me saying those things about your owners when we first met. So what gives?"

Mittens rubbed her front leg awkwardly with her other paw.

"Well…I…I mean, Kasal, he—umm…"

"Uh-huh."

"Kasal kinda told me…about, you know…"

"Spill it, kit." Keiro said, tail flicking sharply in irritation.

Mittens took a deep breath.

"I heard about what happened to you when you were at the shelter and then what happened with the kids who hurt your nose!" She spat it out quickly and cowered away, expecting him to spontaneously combust or something.

But Keiro's only reaction was a slight frown. He said nothing. Slowly, Mittens sat back up, although she was wary.

"So, what about it?" he finally said.

"What…about it?"

"Yeah. You heard my story. Knowing Kasal, he probably told you everything. So? What does me being attacked by a bunch of little humans have to do with you giving me this sandwich?" His eyes narrowed. He clearly wasn't happy of being reminded of his scar.

Mittens didn't answer for a moment, rubbing her front leg with her other paw.

"Well, um…"

Keiro scrutinised her, staring intensely at the uncomfortable kitten in front of him.

"I didn't know you had been treated so badly by humans…" Mittens said, growing progressively softer as she continued. "I just wanted to do something nice for you…" Her ears flattened against her head.

Not all humans are bad, Keiro…she thought inwardly. She very much wanted to say that to him, but from their first encounter, she was pretty sure that saying that would just make him angrier.

For a moment, Mittens thought she was seeing things. She saw Keiro recoil, his expression falter. He continued staring at her a while longer. Then his eyes shifted to the sandwich that was sitting on the ground. He slowly walked over to it, sniffing it. He lifted the top off to inspect its contents. He hesitated.

"You sure I can have this, Kit?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

Mittens blinked.

He's…accepting my offer? She wasn't about to say no, so she nodded quickly.

Looking somewhat satisfied, Keiro brought it up to his mouth with his paws and took a bite out of it. He chewed slowly, swirling the piece inside his mouth a few times, before swallowing it.

"Hmm…ham, lettuce, cheese, and barbeque sauce. Pretty tasty." He licked his lips. Then, he did something Mittens never expected.

He smiled. Just barely, but it was a smile.

"Thank you, Kit. This was quite sweet of you."

Mittens blinked again, thinking she had heard wrongly. She waited for the dripping sarcasm, the punch line, the part where he'd laugh at her, but it never came. He was actually thanking her? Sincerely? The thought left her completely stunned.

"Hello? Earth to Kit?" Keiro said, waving his paw in front of her face. "I just said thanks. There's no need to go comatose on me."

"Wah, ah, uh…" She shook herself back into focus. "I…it's no problem."

Having said that, she watched silently as Keiro munched down the rest of the sandwich. She was starting to feel a lot more relieved now, and a little bit glad that she was making some progress with him.

"So…did you like it?" she asked, once he had taken the last bite from it. It seemed an innocent enough question.

Kasal licked his lips, using a claw to dig something out of his teeth.

"It was pretty good. Better than what I had this morning, anyway."

"I-I can get more tomorrow, if you want," she said. "Do you want me to?"

Keiro raised an eyebrow, before chuckling. "There's no need to, Kit."

He narrowed his eyes again, this time with what seemed to be a more curious interest. He laid on his stomach again, tail flicking slightly back and forth over the ground.

"So, Kasal taught you how to beg, hmm? What did you do to get the food?" Keiro asked.

"Well, um…I didn't really do anything, really." Except maybe scream and try to claw him with claws I don't have…She decided against telling him about that particular part. "He was nice enough to give me food without me begging."

"So did you enjoy it? Head scratching, tummy rubs…cheek tickling…" He mimicked the motions, then reached out with his paw and ran it across her cheek. Wide eyed, she pulled back, feeling very warm in her face.

"W-well, maybe..."

Keiro smiled resolutely. "You're such a pet."

He knows about all this stuff. Maybe the lady who took care of him at the shelter did that to him…Mittens thought to herself. She pictured Keiro a year ago: a happy, playful kitten, with big eyes and a smiling face. Then she pictured him being stoned by children. It still made her stomach turn.

"I-I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"For what?"

"Kasal said the lady that took care of you in the shelter was nice. I'm sorry she didn't adopt you."

Mittens saw his face darken. He didn't seem too happy to be reminded of that particular incident.

No no no! I shouldn't have said that! Now he's gonna hate me again! It was going so well, too.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter to me anymore, kit." He said, glancing away. "She would've probably thrown us back into the shelter once she got bored with us anyway."

Keiro…

"Anyway, I'm impressed that you went begging all by yourself, kit." Keiro said, changing the topic. "I hear animal control's been coming round a lot more lately. After what Kasal told you, I thought you wouldn't have the guts to try begging by yourself."

"Animal control?" Mittens asked, confused.

"Yeah, animal control. You know, the no-good humans who catch you and bring you to the shelter and then kill you. What did Kasal call them, then?"

"Well, I didn't see any—"

A bubble popped somewhere in Mittens' head.

"What?!" she yelled loudly, standing up.

Keiro yelped and slapped a paw across her mouth, covering it.

"Dammit, Kit. What was that for?" he hissed. He quickly looked around, but nothing around them stirred. Mittens raised her paws to remove his paw from her mouth.

"What do you mean they kill you?" Kasal never said anything about that!

"It's exactly what I said. They—" he paused. He stared at her. She stared back. That went on for a while, confusion written on their faces.

Then it clicked. Keiro sighed.

"Kasal didn't tell you, did he…"

"Tell me what?" Mittens replied almost instantly. "What do you mean they kill you?"

Keiro retracted his paw from Mittens' body.

"Yeah, that. He told you about our time in the shelter, but he didn't tell you the most important part? About us escaping before they killed us? Jeez…" Keiro shook his head.

Escape? Killed? Kasal never said anything about that! The words made her feel a little light-headed. Why would he not tell me the most important thing? Actually, what did he even say?

"She took care of us, until we had to leave."

It occurred to her—somewhat belatedly—Kasal never actually told her why they had to leave. It hadn't crossed her mind to actually ask him why.

"You mean…they were going to kill you? And Kasal?"

"Yeah, pretty much, Kit. That's what happens to animals who don't get adopted."

Mittens waited for the punchline, the smirk, the part where he'd burst out laughing and say: "Ha, got ya good, Kit! Should've seen your face!"

But it never came.

"Me and Kasal were in the shelter for a long time, Kit. Besides that lady," he said the word distastefully, as if it left a sour taste in his mouth. "No one else wanted to adopt us. We just sat there in our cell every day, watching the humans go by. There were a lot of us, too. Siamese, coons, tabbies…At first we didn't know, but someone tipped us off. Slowly, one by one, the ones who've been in there for a long time started disappearing. The humans brought them to a small room in the back, and we never saw them again."

"Maybe they were…adopted?" Mittens chanced softly.

Keiro shook his head. "No, Kit. They couldn't have been adopted, because everyone who was adopted went out through the front door. There's no other explanation for it. When they bring you to the back, they'll make it look like a normal check-up. When you're not looking, they'll jab you with a small needle, and you're gone. Then they get rid of your body in the trash. The big dumpster ones, by the way. We wouldn't fit in the small ones."

Although the last part was said in mirth—a morbid sort of mirth—Keiro still looked serious. Dead serious. It wasn't anything like when he pretended to threaten to eat her.

And that made her scared.

"But…why? Why would they kill you? Can't they put you back on the streets if nobody wanted to adopt you?"

Keiro shook his head.

"Because then that would defeat the purpose of taking us in the first place."

Seeing the blank expression on Mittens' face, Keiro elaborated.

"You already know it, Kit. The shelter is there to 'rescue' strays from the streets. To reduce the number of us out here. If you put us back after a while, you're back at square one. Do you get it now? Keeping us in there takes money. And when you don't get adopted, they're wasting money on you. It's easier to just get rid of you and make way for cuter, more adoptable dogs and cats."

"But that's horrible!"

"I know."

That's all Keiro said, and yet they were more chilling than anything else Mittens thought he could have said. She didn't want to believe, but it made sense, in a horrible, twisted way.

"I'm putting it bluntly, Kit. I know it's hard for you to understand, but that's how it is. If you're not cute enough, you don't get adopted. You get left behind forever. Just like me and Kasal."

"B-but, you and Kasal were kittens back then, right? Kasal said humans like kittens, so someone should have adopted you and him…"

Keiro shrugged.

"Who knows? They probably had some stupid reason. Maybe they didn't like our fur colour or something dumb like that. On a side note, Kit. A lot of humans don't like black cats. They think it's bad luck," he said in disgust. "So try not to land yourself in the shelter. Kasal would probably have a heart attack."

Mittens felt like she was already having one.

They were going to do that to them? She thought of the smiling man who had fed her. He wanted to bring her to the shelter. What if he had gotten this animal control to drag her there? What if Kasal or her owners never found her and no one wanted to adopt her? Would they have killed her too?

"Anyway, Kit, Kasal probably didn't tell you 'cos he didn't want to scare you. If he got caught by animal control, it would probably be the end of him. Same with you. I bet he told you to never go out by yourself without telling him, right?"

He did. Mittens' eyes widened. Oh my gosh I completely forgot about Kasal! What time is it? He's going to be so mad when I get back…

Keiro sighed and looked behind him.

"Yeah, that's why. He doesn't want you to get yourself caught by animal control. He knows how dangerous it is. That's why I said earlier that you have some…" Keiro looked back, only to see Mittens running towards the end of the alley.

"Sorry Keiro I'm late Kasal's gonna kill me I'll have to talk next time!" Mittens called out behind her without stopping.

"…guts." He finished. Mittens turned the corner, disappearing from sight and leaving him alone in the cold alleyway.

He stared for a while, before shaking his head and chuckling.

"Kits." He climbed back into one of the cardboard boxes to settle down for the night.

Mittens' run had slowed to a walk by the time she neared her house. She panted, the cold air chilling her to the core. Her body was trembling. Everything Keiro said—and did—was still rolling around in her head, and she didn't know what to make of it. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she walked headfirst into a trashcan. Twice.

Now she sat at the exit of the alley closest to her house, rubbing her sore head with a paw. It didn't make the headache go away though.

The shelter was going to kill Keiro and Kasal? I was going to end up like one of them? Is this another one of his 'jokes'? She wouldn't put it beyond him to take a joke that far. But he looked serious. Dead serious.

And why was he being nice to me today? He'd thanked her for the sandwich—called her sweet while he was at it—and he didn't even raise his voice once. It wasn't something Mittens ever expected to hear from him. At least, not from their brief two meetings. What was with that?

"Ngaaaahh…" Mittens groaned out loud. "What's going on?"

The alley walls remained silent. She huffed, having almost expected an answer. But she had more important things to worry about.

How am I going to explain myself to Kasal?

Over in her garden, a single cat was pacing around frantically. He looked worried.

A quick glance overhead at the dark sky reminded Mittens how long she'd been gone. It felt like ages since she'd snuck out to try and beg for an afternoon snack, which obviously wasn't going to happen since she'd given that to Keiro. A pang of guilt welled up inside her as she quickly ran out of the alley towards him. He wasn't going to be happy, that was for sure.

But she had to find out the truth.