Freedom

Edward joined him on the middle roof, flopping down in the middle of the white and staring up at the flakes falling from the sky. He looked older then she, enough that he should be inside being mean and things like most of the other older people liked to do.

She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth. The boy would be gone for a long time, so long that she didn't think she'd ever see him again, but then he'd pop back into sight again, laughing loudly in a contagious way that made her want to jump and run with him. But she couldn't, no; she wasn't able to jump that high or run that fast. She wasn't able to walk around with no shoes on, and play without worrying about what the older ones would say.

Ed started humming, a toneless happy purr-like noise that she doubted anyone would hear. He was rushing past again, so fast and laughing the laugh that made her drop everything and join in. This time she waved, knowing he wouldn't see her but not really caring.
He probably wouldn't want to talk to her anyway, because it didn't really matter how he laughed or played, he was still older and he still wouldn't like talking to little girls like her. But he surely wouldn't mind if she watched...

He was coming over! Edward hugged her knees even tighter to herself, feeling stupid for waving. Now he was going to complain about her and tell her to go inside.. She closed her eyes against the angry words she was sure he was about to spew, peeking up shyly when she heard a soft voice instead.

She shook her head softly, glancing nervously up every so often to see if he was getting mad yet. Finally she decided he wasn't going to yell, and stared up at him with dull black eyes. "I was. M'not anymore." She stared intently at her previously freezing small hands, wondering why.

Ed looked back up at the boy, eyes widening at his previously un-noticed ears and tail and although she knew what the answer would be, she asked anyway. "Aren't you?"

Edward slowly relaxed as he went on, completely enthralled by the boy. Token. She dug her own shoes into the snow absent-mindedly, wriggling her toes at the cold that spilled in at the small hole that'd been worn at the toe. She'd need new ones. Mum had given her money for that sort of thing, hadn't she? Somehow she doubted it..

"After that, you must hate it here.." She mumbled thoughtfully, dull eyes flickering around at the rooftops, the power lines and concrete buildings that made even her long for home.

She molded a handful of snow into a small ball, taking a bite out of the fresh whiteness and shivering lightly at the cold. "Winter." She wasn’t sure why she’d given her last name, but it just seemed wrong not to when she were out in the middle of her namesake. She paused, tilting her head to the side curiously. "You’re Token?"

Edward nodded quietly. "My sister says that in autumn the leaves are fun to play in." She looked around again, face bright at the idea that next year she'd be able to take part instead of just watching from a window.

Her eyed dulled when he mentioned tests, and she tightened her grip on her knees once more, her head dropping back down to the safety of her arms. "Maybe they did it because you were outside. Maman always told me that if I went outside, people would come and poke needles and things in me." She shivered, remembering her mother's constant warnings to keep away from the windows when cars were passing, to hide in her room when the neighbors came over.

She looked up at Token, eyes shining with respect and fear that the boy had been able to survive such things. "Can you talk wolf?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. "I know a little bit." She mewed softly, perfectly imitating the babyish cry of a wolf cub she'd seen in the woods, the one calling with all her strength for her mother.

Animal talk was difficult for her, but it was beginning to become obvious she might have the ability, however far off it might be. If she just imitated them enough, felt the sounds coming from her mouth and digesting their meaning like she did with human languages.. She hoped that someday she might be able to speak it on her own, without parroting the animals she heard in the woods.

Ed put a hand up to her head, sighing softly when she remembered she didn't have ears or a tail. She closed her eyes, imagining what they'd look like and clapping her hands together happily when a matching set of ears and tail sprouted in the appropriate places.

"Would you really teach me?" She tilted her head to the side, ears twitching and tail wagging as she tried her new appendages out. "Sometime when you're not busy doing grownup stuff." She leaned forward, excited at the idea but doubting anything would come of it. Older people often made promises just to get the younger ones off their backs.

"Huh?" She looked up from where she was making a handprint next to his, shrugging her shoulders and slinking back to her previous spot. "I'm from France," She announced quietly, looking up at him and realizing he was asking more then that. "When I'm how I really sound, I have an accent and people can't understand me." She wrinkled her nose, re-wrapping her scarf that had somehow fallen. "I don't have a daddy. Sometimes when Maman gets mad at me, she says it's my fault he's all gone. But I don't think that's true... I was only a little baby when he went away." It was obvious by her tone of voice that she didn't care, never really thought of her past as tragic in the least.

"But I have a sister. She's scared of me, I think, so she's sometimes nice and sometimes mean." Ed rested her head on her knees, staring sideways at Token. "She's scared of me because I used to be ugly, even though I'm not anymore. I can change myself so I'm not all scary." She widened her eyes, flattening her ears against her head and looking at the boy pleadingly. "I don't look scary, do I?"