Healed By Love

Hello Kitty/Yao-part 1

"Go ahead und choose, Kylie." Her little body went deep into the bag, and she felt something soft and plush beneath her fingers somewhere near the bottom. She dragged this out, and saw a stuffed kitty in a ballerina's tutu. It was a Ballerina Hello Kitty. She had picked out China's item, and he stood quickly in his excitement. "That is mine!" "Mm. Meeting adjourned. We meet in France next time," The blonde man holding the bag took out his own item and began to pass it around as Yao made his way to her and Arthur. France made a remark about seeing her there, but The British man holding her had her attention. "That man," Arthur smiled, "Despite our history together, has raised many fine coun—people. Many fine people. He will give you an excellent life, alright?" "O-okway…" "It had better be away from that toxic bog in his cities," Alfred muttered beside you, then said louder, "His people's food is as questionable as Arthur's used to be, be careful." "HEY!" Arthur exclaimed. "Hey indeed," The mysterious man playfully hit Alfred on the shoulder. "I know just the place to raise her without the industrialization and western influence in my country. And you can both come visit too to see for yourself, aru," China said as he finally knelt down in front of you. "My name is Yao Wang, Kylie. Ignore these westerners, I am going to take good care of you."... "So," The Chinese man's eyes did not linger on her scars for very long. He had plenty of his own, and he had seen and given many scars in his long life. "How did you and other Tinies celebrate Christmas?" It was March, after all. He wanted to ask casual questions that would let her open up about her life. "…W-whwat's Chwristmwas?" she asked. "Mm," Yao pursed his lips. "Never mind…I chose the wrong topic. While your clothes are being washed, do you want to snuggle that stuffed Hello Kitty I have?" "K…Kitty?" "Shi, I will show you! It's the same one as from the meeting!" He smiled. "…Shi means 'yes.' I will teach you my language as you grow. Now shut your eyes so the shampoo does not get in them." She thought that he was eccentric, even though she didn’t know the word. Yao was not mean in any way, and it almost made her uncomfortable how comfortable he made her feel. These people she had met today were the kindest she had ever met. Her former Caretaker and his friends were never kind. She never knew kindness outside of television or fantasies in her mind. It was a beautiful thing. After she was cleaned and dressed in a Tiny sized nightdress, Yao brought her to one of the beds and went to his suitcase. "I am going to make you dinner, alright? You stay here and stay warm. I never leave home without the makings of a dumpling dish!" He pulled out a wok. Over the top was aluminum foil, and he pulled it off and went to the hotel mini-kitchen to put it over the stovetop. Inside of the wok were, as he said, makings for a dumpling dish wrapped carefully in plastic and paper. He took everything out of their bags and added water, and began to stir-fry everything together. She watched in silence as he worked expertly, fascinated by how fluidly and automatically his body moved and added various spices or more water or whatever else there was. By the time he finished, she was nearly drooling from the wonderful smell in the air. "Now you can stay right there," Yao called over his shoulder as he poured the contents of the wok into a deep dish. "I will bring everything over to you," One thing he liked about America—their spring water was as fresh as they came. The hotel tap was on city water, but China secretly bought a gallon or two of spring water every time he visited. It made for wonderful tea, which he brewed for himself and for her. It was a special treat to have tea brewed personally for her by the ancient country of China himself. He brought her tea and the one dish of dumplings (mixed with mild spices, sauces, and vegetables to make it far more flavorful so she could experience true taste without going into taste shock), and then brought over his own tea and a pair of chopsticks and a fork. "This is how you use the chopsticks," Yao showed, teaching her to hold them the proper way and pick up food like that. But she was shivering so badly he wound up feeding her. "Hungry, aren't you?" He said softly. "I would imagine so. You are very small, even for your age, even with the fact you're a Tiny. I do not say this to many Westerners, but you really do need to fatten up." "Huh?" she asked. "You are too skinny," He carefully poked her belly, and smiled when she giggled. "What do you normally eat?" "Um…L-lweftwovers." "Ah," He looked at you, and then nodded. "Leftovers. You say you lived in a pet shop? Do you have a mother and a father?" "N-no." "Did that man separate them from you?" Yao tried to feed another bite, but she declined. So he took a bite himself, since there was still half the large dish left. It did not go unnoticed that he was eating her leftovers. "N-no…Wother Twinies twold me thwat momma and Poppa gwot swick... S-Shwop mwan twook thwem away…Awnd thwey were nwever sween agwain…" she shrugged. "Ah. I am very sorry," He understood her better. She had no one but that abusive shopkeeper and the other Tinies, and there were probably no else in the picture. At least, there were no people that noticed her abuse. "I-I nwever mwet thwem, dwon't b-bwe." She shook her head. "…Y-you weat," she suddenly pushed the chopsticks in his hand towards his face. "You…you weat!" China blinked in surprise and took the chopsticks. "You deserve it more, little one." "Bwut ywou're, ywou're nwice awnd ywou dwo t-twoo!" He laughed and kissed her forehead. "How do they say? . . . Sweet. You are very sweet. Are you full?" "Huh?" "Have you had enough to eat?" "Oh…Ywes." "Are you thirsty? Do you want tea?" He offered her the cup, and she sipped the wonderful drink quickly. "Be careful. It is hot." She grunted in response, and pushed the tea away after a few sips. He set the drink down on the nightstand beside his and turned back to the food, and finally allowed himself to eat what she had not. "You know," He started between bites, "I will tell you this right now, it will be hard to live where I do. There are a lot of problems in the world, and I want you to know that we will be staying in one of my older homes in the countryside, away from the noise and panic of the bigger cities. The air up there is still fresh and you do not need air masks to breathe like most do in the cities. You and I will live a quiet life, but I will take you with me on my travels. I am old, old enough to raise a baby like you, but I am also stubborn and forgetful. You may need to help me know what you need, okay? I will be your new Ba." "Ba?" She could barely hear him, and barely understood what he was saying, but she was hanging on with some interest. His kindness was touching her heart. "Ba means Daddy in Mandarin, my language," He smiled. "I can teach you how to speak many different languages, I know them all. With age comes knowledge, if the time is spent well." There was silence as he ate and she watched him with increasingly droopy eyes. "I won't hurt you, you know," Yao said once he finished. "I have scars too. I know what it is like to live in constant pain and fear, and while I am not kind to my enemies I have raised my family with the greatest love within my power as a superpower. You can be happy with me, and you can relax around me. I will never hurt you." He brushed his fingertip over her hair with a soft smile, and it grew when she smiled back up at him. "Today has been hectic, but we will learn to love one another, okay? Now, I am going to take a quick shower and will be right back. You snuggle Hello Kitty and I will be back out to keep you warm." "Okway," she agreed, and snuggled the stuffed animal beneath several layers of blankets as he cleaned the kitchen area quickly and went to clean himself too. She drifted off into a light doze before Yao got out. It did wake her up when he climbed into the bed, and she sat up with a whimper. "Sh,"He whispered. "It is okay, it is okay…" she whimpered again, but this time snuggled into his chest. "…Ywou hwave lwong h-hwair." "…I-I know?" He frowned at this, and turned off the lights. China had come out in long fleece pants and a white shirt, without his hair tied up. It was a very large difference from his business suit with a ponytail that slightly scared her. "It's eird," she pouted. "It's stylish!" He pouted right back and looked down at you. "It's eird!" "It's stylish!" "Ywou lwook lwike a gwirl!" Kylie suddenly giggled. "Once the fangirls see me with my shirt off they don't think so." "Huh?" "Just ignore my hair and go to sleep!" "No!" "Shi!" She reached up to take a lock of Yao's hair and just feel it. It was damp from the recent shower, and so soft… "It fweels lwike the stwuffed kitty!" "My hair does not feel like Hello Kitty's fur!" He gasped and sat up to cross his arms over his head protectively. "I am a man! A big, strong man!" By sitting up, he had wound her up too. She had been pulled up when he moved and continued holding onto the one damp lock of hair. "Ywou're c-cwute!" "Men are not cute!" He was acting so childish she could not believe this was the same man who looked so old and mature a few minutes ago. "W-well ywou awre!" Yao, finally realizing that she was still cold and ill, pulled her out of his hair, and onto his chest. He tucked the covers around her body and tried to stay in a position that allowed her to hold onto his hair. "If I am cute then you are adorable!" "Wuz' thwat?" "Even more cute!" "No, ywou!" She let go of his hair to put her hand under the covers, but at this point they were both grinning. "You need to go to sleep," He laughed and booped her nose carefully. "Tomorrow we can play, but for now you need to sleep!" He got her to lay back down, and turned off the light. Yao smiled when she abandoned the Hello Kitty to curl up into his chest, still shivering lightly. The warm tea hopefully helped her throat a little bit, and he was grateful she liked the brew (or seemed to, since she could not currently taste). His arms went around her body, and he knew that she was comforted by the gesture from how she relaxed into his hold. Yao was excited to raise another child. He was old enough to be considered an ancient country like Rome, and despite what the other nations said he was mature when he wanted to be. He was a good older brother for centuries, and a good father figure to some, but now he would really be a father to something entirely new: a human child. Not an animal, not another country that could be stolen from him (Hong Kong was a constant reminder), not a passing friend that would leave him soon. She would be his daughter, and he already welcomed her into his home and family with open arms.