Subi: Chapters again!... yeah, got stuck... >>;

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4. Small Gifts

"Hey, Sprite! Time to get in the car!" Her 'dad' called from the driveway.

"I'm coming! Give me a minute, dad!" Blazestorm called back. She quickly turned to her two friends she'd made over the three years she'd been in Arizona. "Bye Alicia and Mandy, I'll miss you both terribly..." She said, hugging them both. "I'll do my best to keep in touch."

"You better, or we'll find a way to hunt you down," Alicia said jokingly before holding out a wrapped box. "I asked my mom to bring me to the store the other day, and we got this for you. I know you like robots and stuff, so I thought you'd like to put this one together when you get around to 'freeing' it." Blazestorm took the box, smiling at her friend. "Thanks Alicia."

"I got this for you," Mandy said, holding out another box, though somewhat smaller. "Same story here, I hope you like it." Blazestorm put that box on top of the other one, fighting back tears. "Thanks Mandy."

"Trish, lets go! We won't hit Los Vegas if we don't go now!"

"Coming!" Blazestorm hugged her friends one last time before running over to the front-passenger side of the blue-grey van sitting in the driveway. She stashed the boxes under the dashboard, climbed onto the seat, and waved at her friends through the window as her dad started the car. She quickly sat down on the seat, shut the door and pulled the seatbelt over her shoulder.

"Ready to go, Sprite?"

" 'We won't make Vegas' if we aren't," She quoted, rephrasing what her dad had said somewhat. He laughed and backed the van out of the driveway, before turning it and headed towards the highway half a mile away... ... ...

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Later that night, in the hotel they were staying at in Vegas, Blazestorm found herself lying awake, thinking of the two boxes at the foot of her bed. Finally overcome with curiosity, she slipped out of bed and fetched the boxes from where she'd put them. Returning to her 'island sancutary', she put the boxes in front of her and gazed at them thoughtfully, trying to decide which one to open first. Letting out a soft sigh, she finally picked up Alicia's gift and quietly unwrapped the box. She stared at the box after it'd been unwrapped, easily recognizing the obvious, mechanical look in the picture of what the pieces inside would create: a blue, black, and silver lion-like robot.

"Alicia..." Blazestorm whispered. Inspired, she picked up Mandy's box, and quickly, but quietly unwrapped that box as well. Only the picture on that box was even more mechanical-happying for her; This one was an actual robot- though it didnt change shape or anything- that was white, blue, red, and yellow in color.

"Mandi... Alicia... I could have never thanked you enough," Blazestorm breathed, placed the wrapping paper in the trash, and carefully put the boxes in her suitcase of clothes. Climbing back onto the bed, she snuggled under the blankets and for the first time in three years, fell into a peaceful sleep...

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A joyful, eight-year-old girl bounded through the front door of her new house, two boxes in her arms, and after kicking her shoes off, bounded up the recently carpeted stairs to check out her new room. She immediately put the boxes in the most hidden corner of her odd-shaped closet, and set off to explore the house. She was thrilled to find there was a second story below the first level, and spent the most amount of time exploring the basement level- which was far from a usual basement, turned into a third, livable floor. She eventually made her way back up the the main level, finding the 'great room' of the house was 20 ft tall from floor to ceiling, opening the higher part to clear view of the second floor, and gawked at it for a moment before continuing her explorations. She giggled at her dad when he asked if she'd looked downstairs yet and told him she'd already explored down there. Then she dashed up the stairs- having already explored all of the middle floor- and found it a rather short look around on the highest level of the house. She peered over the railing next to the door of her room into the great room with muffled laughter as her dad came up the stairs from the basement and paused to rub his head in confusion, obviously expecting to see her waiting for him on the middle floor already. He looked up, saw her, and smiled. She squeaked and ran into her room, and got the two boxes out again. Her dad came up a moment later, and leaned against the doorway.

"You like this room?" He asked.

"Yep!"

"Do you want this one then?"

"Yep!"

"Alright," He laughed, adding, "Don't make a big mess in less than ten minutes of being in here."

"I won't. Can I get one out and put it together?"

"Sure, just make sure any trash goes back in the box, Sprite."

"Okay!" Blazestorm chirped, and decided to put the cat-robot together first. She quickly opened the box, careful not to tear it, and started to sort out what pieces went together, not bothering to even glance at the instructions. Within minutes the lion-robot was crawling around the floor by its own, battery-powered 'will.' She immediately opened the other box, pausing to note there was too many pieces to put this one together so simply. Pulling out the instructions, Blazestorm began to build the small model of a robot... ... ...

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Subi: Review please. I hope that isn't too much to ask...