[Kitsumi]

"Shuko! I missed you! Were where you?" The moment Shuko was back in their room, the seven-year-old Rosy launched herself into his arms. Years of hard labor made it easy for him to catch her, spinning her around, his spirits rising as her laughter filled the room.
"Sorry it took me so long, Rosy. We had a new customer, and I wanted to help her get settled in. She'll be joining us for dinner, too. Cookie said that she'd bring us extra food, so that we could share with her. Is that ok?"
Rosy, being the sweet, sharing girl that she was, nodded happily. "Of course! You're so nice, Shuko, offering to share our dinner. When is she gonna be here?"
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Before Shuko could open it, Rosy had ran over and flung the door open.

[Kitsumi]

The door was swung open so fast that Nala nearly fell inside. Instead of seeing Shuko, she saw a little girl of perhaps eight standing in the doorway, a wide grin on her face.
"Hey, you must be Rosy." Nala was surprised to find that the girl's smile gained an automatic response, causing Nala to smile back whether she wanted to or not. "My name is La'nalaeoki. But you can call me Nala. Mind if I come in?"

[Kitsumi]

Her smile widening, Rosy giggled. "Of course you can come in!" She grabbed Nala's hand and pulled her inside. "You have a really long name. I'm glad you have a nickname, or I wouldn't be able to talk to you, because I can't say your name!" She giggled again.
Shuko smiled as he watched Nala smile at Rosy. For some reason, she seemed to open up to the little girl. She didn't even protest when Rosy sat in her lap, snuggling up to her, and asked Nala to read a story to her. To Shuko's amazement, Nala simply smiled, opened the book, and began reading.

[Kitsumi]

It was odd, how Nala allowed herself to be so taken with the child. After all, she had never really cared for children, nor had she ever had a soft spot for them. But something about Rosy's childlike innocence appealed to Nala, and she was all too happy to do whatever the pretty child asked of her.
With Rosy snuggled into her lap, Nala opened the book entitled "Domi the Sleepy Taigra" and began reading in a soft, tender voice. It was nothing like her ordinarily harsh voice, devoid of all emotions. This voice was soothing, gentle.

[Kitsumi]

Shuko probably would have forgotten all about dinner and sat there watching Nala reading to Rosy all night had he not heard Cookie's loud knock on the door. "I gots you some dinner," she said, bustling into the room carrying a large tray with food enough for five grown men.
Staring at the food in shock, Shuko was barely able to choke out the words he was saying. "Cookie, how on earth did you come by so much food? You know that master will skin both of us alive if he finds out we took all that food! He's sure to notice that it's missing, isn't he?"
Cookie simply shook her head. "Don't fret, laddy. It's not his food, it's me sister's." When Shuko stared at her in confusion, she sighed and began to explain further. "Me sister went to a wedding today. They had too much food left over, and since she had prevented some sort of minor catastrophe right before the wedding began, they gave all of it to her as thanks. She ate as much as she could, but she's always had the appetite of a bird, poor dear. So she came and brought the food to me. But if you don't want it I can always take it back down."
Shuko shook his head. "Now, now, Cookie. You know us better than that. We never turn down food." He winked at the older lady and then took the tray. "Thank you so much."

[Kitsumi]

A knock on the door caught Nala's attention. When the cook came in carrying the food, Nala's eyes grew wide. "Oh, lord," she said once the cook had left, leaving the food with her. "I haven't had this much to eat in...years!" She licked her lips as her stomach began to grumble. "Is this really all for us? Like, seriously?"