A single letter had come to the owlery, addressed to Elena Jones, one single remnant of her past.

Allowed out into the world for the simple reason of checking on the last remnant of her past that will talk to her. Her mother's mother, a grandmother. That greeted her as if she was a miracle, and hugged her like she was the only part of the world left worth caring about. The old woman had fussed over Elena's blue hair, telling her a story about when not only the grandmother had dyed her hair, but also her mother. Bright orange and bright pink, Leonora Incendia had smiled widely and then gave Elena something special. A handkerchief embroidered with birds, a family heirloom the woman had said.

Then Elena was shooed out of the care ward so her grandmother could sleep, and stood there, staring at the handkerchief as tears made their way down along her cheeks. Her grandmother didn't have long left, and that meant not long before the girl was left all alone again. Not long before there was simply nothing left.

Swallowing her fear, Elena made her way along the halls. Then had to stop and glue herself to a wall so a boy that looked somehow familiar could run past. Elena was lost inside the hospital, so she just followed him to an eventual location.

Doctors and family swarmed a boy that Elena knew she'd seen before then disappeared, leaving the boy alone, her curiousity was sated but then she realised something. The boy was all alone. That was something Elena Jones would not let stand.

So she slipped behind the curtain, and looked at the boy inside, feeling a little worried about his reaction to someone that was practically a stranger, "Hi, I'm Elena, Elena Jones. You're... Miko right? Tal's friend?"

Miko was obviously really hurt, not able to deal with a blanket on him and after a moment tears began streaming down his face. Elena pulled a tissue from the side table and very carefully wiped away the tears from the unbruised eye, "Hey hey, it's gonna be okay. I know it hurts, and that it feels like it's never gonna get better, but it does. I once hurt myself like this, really badly."

"I'm all better now though, and you're gonna be all better one day too. I double promise." Elena spoke softly, "I can stay for a while if you need, my friend Eliza used to read to me, I have a book with me but I can also just tell you a story, or sing."

The Hobbit was safely in a small tattered satchel bag that Elena'd had for years, so that was true, and she looked at Miko full of concern and worry. Something about him being in pain like that struck a chord and her mind unusually, instead of telling her to stay away, told her she needed to help him. Rare as that was, "It's okay, you're safe now, whatever happened is in the past. Far far away from now."

It was a strange thing to say but it was all the girl could think of to help him stay in the now. Angel of the Alleyways indeed.

Miko's face lit up at the idea of Elena singing, and just before she could answer someone's voice cut into the room. Elena's head slowly turned to the new kid, he looked exactly like Miko from where she was sitting but that's where the similarity ends, there was a hard edge in his eyes and he carried himself like he thought he was tough. Thought being the operative word here, as the toughest person in this room was either Miko or the girl sitting by him, not the boy who thought singing made you weak.

"Singing makes you stronger my dear, I remember when I was getting better I had a punctured lung, and singing was actually a part of my physical therapy." Elena had turned her soft smile back to the injured boy, "And trust me, nothing makes you feel better than singing, there's one in this book I've been meaning to try. The dwarves sing it at the start."

Elena walked a little ways to the door where she'd hung up her satchel on the way in, and started going through it. She dropped her voice to talk to Milo, so it was not only quieter, but also a lot more dangerous, "You can either stay or leave, but if you insult my patient then you're going to have more of an enemy than you can handle. Nobody is tougher than the smallest kid alive on the streets, especially not some rich kid like you. I hold the cards here, trust me."

The girl retrieved her book and walked back over to Miko, plopping down in the chair next to him, "If you want I can hold it up so you can sing too?"

The girl used her usual introduction, "I'm Elena, Elena Jones. Lass is fine, that's what one of my other friends call me."

The twin came back in and decided to prod Miko, Elena twitched slightly but kept her completely calm and relaxed demeanor up, mostly because she'd lost the ability to care.

"Nice to meet you Milo, I'm Elena Jones. Self proclaimed angel of the alleyways and Miko's friend." Elena sent him a smile and desperately tried to remember anything, "I'm looking forward to meeting Miko's boyfriend too, although I'm not quite sure what you mean about it being gay? Pointing out the obvious is a skill of mine but even that isn't something I'd usually stoop to."

Elena shrugged, "Also please refrain from poking the patient's bruises, painkiller potions only go so far I'm afraid. Not the best idea to aid the healing process, and you are his brother yes? Family is meant to take care of each other."

Too many words came too quickly, tumbling one after the other, play dumb, play the bestie, play it smart. Play it overly formal, underly formal. Too many words and too many plans spiralling down to make Elena look calm and sweet and like a good friend.

"Crying actually helps me, mostly because it actually removes the hormones making you feel stressed and in more pain." Elena smiled at Miko, "And it takes a lot more bravery to show vulnerability than it does to show strength. Anyone can pretend to be strong, it takes someone with guts to show what they're feeling."

The second part was clearly meant to be an admonishment to Milo, but it was also said with the cause of making Miko feel a bit better. Time for Operation Exclusion to begin.

"Do you want that story now Miko?" Elena closed her book and put it gently on the bedside table to make it clear this wasn't the story she was talking about, "Once upon a time there was a girl and a boy, in a land full of magic and monsters. The boy was a scientist, brilliant yet absolutely mad. He could make a gadget out of nearly anything, sadly his mind was plagued with nightmares and he only trusted one person. A girl, made of pure magic, she was as mad and scared as the boy was. The problem was, that they could never have the happy ending they needed while they both lived. They were cursed like that, you see."

Elena paused and took a breath before continuing, "One day they fought a terrible enemy, the Witch. They were powerful and scary, with the ability to control the bodies of anyone they wanted. They set the boy after the girl, and the boy fought the control with all his might. Holding off the power of the Witch but the girl knew the only way he could be freed of the Witch's control was if she died, and also knew that would stop the curse. So she gave the boy one last kiss and let herself die by his hand."

The story was darker than most others she could possibly tell Miko, "The trick of the tale, you see, is that they could never have the happy ending they needed. Not the one they wanted. So the boy was able to figure out how to use his madness and nightmares to turn the witch's power against him. He found soul for a soul, and brought back the girl. They never got the happy ending but they got something better, they got each other."

"Sorry if that's a bit strange but I found it in a book a long time ago, that's actually how I chose the last name. The boy's last name was Jones and I really liked it." Elena smiled.