A/N: A little more background story! :) [EDITED: color-coded the languages :)]

English, Cantonese, Korean

Qilin's POV:

There are a lot of things I don't remember, but the things I do remember, I remember in vivid detail.

I remember the day we sent my mother away in body, though she'd been gone for years in spirit.

That morning was my first time on an airplane, the flight to Hong Kong. Maman's funeral was in the afternoon. She'd wanted a burial in the place she was born.

It was the first and only time I met my grandparents, in that dark funeral home where my mother lay. I never cried, because Maman silent and motionless seemed less terrifying than Maman when she forgot my name, or celebrated my birthday two days in a row. I looked like my grandmother, Grandpère said, looking at Grandma the way appa used to look at Maman, back when she remembered my name more often than she forgot it and birthdays were once a year.

The first and last time appa spoke to me was that morning.

I remember the day I was lost from my father, the day I lost my father, the four days of hell that followed.

I knew that appa loved Maman like nothing else, and that he tried unsuccessfully not to blame me for Maman's condition and eventual death. Every glimpse of my dark auburn hair made the smile fade from my father's face. Every word of French I spoke made the sadness appear in his eyes. Every time I met his eyes with my own, whether hazel or otherwise, he turned away first. So I was always a quiet child, more often over at oppa's house than at home, where I was a constant reminder of the mental and physical capacity Maman had to sacrifice. I always felt bad for oppa, too, when his friends made fun of him. I just had nobody else to turn to.

The day after the funeral, appa went to settle some final accounts and take care of the burial. He didn't take me with him, instead leaving me with our English au pair.

That afternoon, our au pair took me out for a walk. She left me for just a minute to ask for directions. Who knew a minute could change so much…

"Hello, are you lost?" Someone loomed over me. "I'll help you find your parents."

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged away. The grip on my wrist was tight. The hand over my mouth was tighter. When we got far enough away from the public eye, the man blindfolded me and led me up a flight of stairs.

"Ox," someone called as I heard a door open. Ox removed his hand from my eyes. There was a man in the middle of the room I was led into. "Tie her here," he ordered.

I struggled in the first man's grasp as he sat me carefully on the chair in the middle of the room. I could tell my silence disturbed him. I looked around. There were multiple men standing on the perimeter of the room. Some of them looked unhappy.

"Wait a second." The man tying me up narrowed his eyes and studied my face. "Rooster…"

A gasp came from a guy standing by the door. He looked young, barely out of middle school, and Korean. "Ox, you don't think we've got the wrong girl?"

"Shut up, Rabbit," Rooster ordered. "Ox, keep tying her up. She's got to be the right one. Look at her."

Rabbit murmured, evidently to himself, "But she wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this district today."

I held my breath, listening hard.

"I've had a bad feeling about this from the start," a new voice announced. The man's words were clipped and terse. "Rooster, you should have cleared this with Dragon."

"Tiger, are you his second or am I?" Rooster demanded sneeringly.

"You are," Tiger answered complacently. However, his next words were all but compliant. "But Dragon will have words with you when he comes back."

"Oh, relax," Rooster hissed contemptuously. "Nobody's getting hurt. You'll be happy when her father delivers the money."

"I'll have no part in this." Tiger shook his head and left.

"And the rest of you?" Rooster glared around at the rest of the group. "Horse? Rat? Monkey? You, Rabbit? Ox?" They lowered their heads in turn, except for one. "Snake? You helped me plan this."

"You know I'll follow your orders, ge," said Snake, relaxed.

"Alright. Rabbit, send out the request for ransom."

I spent almost four days in that room. I don't know what Rooster thought I would attempt, but apparently I could have inflicted major harm, so he kept me tied to that chair for hours at a time, bolted down to the floor, though the door was also locked. There was one little window, directly ahead of me, covered with a semi-opaque blind. I would watch the light change, viewing the sunrise and sunset. I told time by counting in my mind. I never uttered a word, and my patience never ran out, cultivated by endless hours spent during my childhood waiting for what I can't remember. I thought about my father, sometimes about my mother. They seemed impossibly far away. Once a day, someone came in with food. Thrice a day, I was blindfolded and led to the bathroom. Sometimes, people would come in for no reason and watch me, though I never felt threatened but for once, when Snake brought me food on the first day. I'd never liked him. I was glad when he was expelled shortly after.

When Snake stood over me and watched me eat, something in his eyes scared me. I ate fast what little he gave, hoping he would leave sooner. He retied the ropes tighter than they had been before. Nobody else came that day. I shivered through the whole night, feeling the ropes digging into my body. Occasionally, I could hear people talking outside the room. I strained to hear through the walls.

The second day, it was the man who'd grabbed me off the street. Ox. "I'm sorry for hurting you yesterday," he apologized as he gently undid the ropes and handed me the bowl of food, frowning when he saw the impressions the rough bonds had left.

I didn't respond, merely huddling over the lukewarm bowl of congee. I've hated congee ever since.

After I finished, I leaned forward, trying to stand up. Sitting tied to that hard chair throughout the whole night had wreaked havoc on my muscles. I fell as soon as I got to my feet.

"Are you okay?" Ox held me up easily.

"I can't feel my legs," I said quietly.

I'll never forget the expression that came over Ox's face when he heard me speak for the first time. It was the moment I realized for sure that they had the wrong person, and that I would never see my father again.

"You have an accent… Are you not… Sarah?"

I stared at him, my eyes changing color as my emotions plummeted. Appa, I cried in my mind, but like always, I knew he wouldn't respond. I shook my head, neck stiff with fear and fatigue.

There was despair in his eyes when my own settled into dark brown. I saw the moment my face shifted, became more Asian from his perspective.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," I said with numb lips.

He sat me in the chair and tied me up as if his bones had become a thousand times heavier, and left the room with a ground-shaking sigh. He returned twice more to lead me to the bathroom, but he stayed silent. I didn't sleep that night. The tears came fleetingly, warm and wet as they collected on the collar of my sundress, but for the most part I stayed tearless. I had some slack in the ropes, but all I could do was sit, frozen and uncomprehending. My old life was gone. Sunrise came an eternity later, but I still wasn't ready to face the truth.

The third day, it was Rabbit, the Korean boy. He came in timidly, holding the bowl in both hands like it was an offering.

"I heard from Ox," he said in accented English. "That you're not American. No wonder they still haven't responded to our ransom request, if you're the wrong person. I'm sorry."

"What are they going to do to me?" I remember asking him as he untied me.

"You're Korean?" he asked, surprised.

"They're not going to kill me, are they? I don't want to die," I told him.

He looked uncomfortable and sad. "I don't know what they're doing. I'm just the tech guy and the maknae. I have no authority. Besides, they still think you're the right person, but who knows what they'll do when they find out you're not? Just wait until Dragon hyung comes back, he'll take care of everything. I promise."

"When will he come back?" I asked, desperate.

"Soon." He listened to something, eyes darting to the door, and looked back at me urgently. "They're coming. Eat your congee. I never talked to you, araji?"

I nodded and obeyed. Rooster and Snake came in and stood by the door. I studied them out of the corner of my eye, hair falling to cover the direction of my gaze.

Rooster had a crooked, misshapen nose, probably from a fight he'd lost before. His eyes were hard and nearly black. He stood aggressively, arms crossed and showcasing a long scar on his left forearm.

Snake was obviously younger. As I'd noticed before, on the first day, he was relatively unscarred, with only one small but distinctive mark over his right eye. He was wiry, and his eyes were bright and calculative. Even though Rooster radiated menace, Snake was the one who made me cold in my bones.

Just a while longer, I thought, breathless with nerves, but not fear. Even though Rabbit was just a scrawny teenager, his presence was calming back then, and has always been ever since. Just a while longer, and everything will be all right.

Most of all, I remember the day I gained my brothers.

The first time someone tried to kill me.

The first time I saw someone die.

The day I began a new life.

The next day, the fourth day, the last day… Tiger finally came, the one who had walked out of the room, refusing to be one of my captors. Silently, furiously, he untied my bonds and held me steady as my legs shook under me. Instinctively, I knew that his anger was directed not at me, but at Rooster.

Tiger began to lead me out of the room, but not blindfolded as I had been before. The living space was very large and messy, with doors leading to what looked like rooms similar to the one I was kept in. I shudder to think of all the junk that was there. Obviously, I've cleaned it up nicely over the years. It could be featured in an interior design magazine now.

"What are you doing?" Rooster demanded, appearing suddenly, eyes blazing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. Letting out a soft cry, I fell and skidded slightly. Rabbit helped me up, eyes worried.

"You have the wrong girl." Tiger spoke quietly, but his voice was like steel. "I'm just fixing your mistake, Rooster. Don't do something we'll both regret."

"How do you know?" Rooster sneered.

"Because Peter Johnson left this morning on the 11 am flight, HKG to LAX," Tiger bit out, almost choking on his anger. He flung a newspaper cutout into the air between them. "Along with his wife… and daughter."

Rooster's face whitened with fury and his eyes landed on me. "Well then, I guess we don't need you anymore," he observed cruelly and drew a knife, bringing it down towards me where I stood, swaying with fatigue.

I think it was at that exact moment that everyone lost faith in him.

Rabbit ducked and dragged me with him, crawling under a table.

Ox punched the knife out of Rooster's hand with one large fist, heedless of the gash he received on his knuckles, and drew a gun. "We never harm innocents," he rumbled.

Rat and Monkey had identical expressions of distaste on their faces as they circled around to stand behind Tiger, shaking their heads.

"Nobody's getting hurt?" Monkey spat.

Horse looked at Rooster's fallen knife in horror, pulled Rabbit and me out from under the table, and shoved us behind his back where he stood with Tiger. "She's just a child, Rooster!"

"What is going on here?" A new voice inquired calmly. Everyone froze. "Ox, lower your gun. You know we don't use guns in the living room. And why in the world are you pointing it at Rooster?"

Inconspicuously, Snake moved away from Rooster, towards Tiger. I watched him, as I would for months, and stepped timidly out from behind Horse.

My brothers tell me now that back then, they were shocked that I was brave enough to speak up. I just remember how Dragon appeared so strong and dependable, like an uncle. His eyes were what gave me courage to speak. He always had bright, caring eyes.

"Who's the child?"

"Uncle?" I asked. "Are you Dragon?"

Everyone's eyes widened.

"You can speak Cantonese?" Rabbit blurted out in Korean, looking down at me.

"I am. Who might you be, little miss?" Dragon asked kindly. "Are you hurt? Come here."

Rabbit urged me forward, but I fell before I could make it all the way to Dragon's feet. In a flash, he came forward and knelt down, frowning when he saw the bruises on my skin.

"Who did this?" His voice, deceptively soft, brooked no evasion as he stood up, eyes steely. I got to my feet slowly. "Don't make me ask again."

"I did it," Rooster admitted proudly, after a breath of charged silence. "Peter Johnson came over on a business trip with his family. We were holding her for a ransom of 10 million HKD."

"I thought I taught you not to engage in that sort of activity. Have you learned nothing from me? As my second, you act in my stead. We never involve innocents. I can't tolerate this, Rooster," Dragon spoke, still calm.

"Nobody got hurt, Dragon," Rooster said defensively.

"Sure, Rooster," Tiger spoke up derisively. "She wouldn't have gotten hurt, just ended up dead."

Rooster froze. "Explain," Dragon ordered.

"Rooster told us to kidnap the girl when she was nearby. It seemed that we had the wrong person, but he refused to verify. This morning-" Tiger picked up the newspaper clipping in one fluid, angry motion. "Peter Johnson left with his family to Los Angeles, California. Rabbit notified me first. His tracking device showed Johnson at the airport. I was freeing the girl when Rooster stopped me. When I told him of the mistake, he drew a knife with intent to kill."

As Tiger spoke, Dragon's face grew resigned, then cold. "I took you in and loved you like a son, Rooster. You were so dear to me. I should have recognized that you wouldn't recover from your scars so easily. Is life such a joke to you, that you would kill a mere child?"

Fear gradually began to show on Rooster's face. "D-Dragon…"

"Tiger, as my second from now onwards, deal with him as you will."

 "Yes, Dragon. But what about the girl?"

Dragon turned from where he had already begun walking out, footsteps heavy. He looked at me with tired, sad eyes. "Child, what is your name?"

I shook my head. "I can't say."

"We have to know who you are to return you to your family." Dragon frowned.

 "I know you can't give me my life back, but that's okay, Uncle Dragon. I don't want it. My father wouldn't want me back anyway. He probably hasn't even realized I'm gone. My mother was the one who loved me, not him, but she's dead. Let me stay here with you, uncle."

Dragon looked thoughtful. "What do you think, kids?"

"Yah, you can't stay here," Rabbit gasped. "This is no place for you! Tell her, Dragon!"

"You're here and I bet you're not much older than I am," I retorted.

The next few seconds lasted forever.

While everyone was looking towards me, Rooster had swiped the knife where it still lay on the ground. He now lunged towards me. I found out after that he was planning on threatening my life, for what I don't know. Tiger tells me he was never planning on killing him, just expelling him like he did Snake, later on.

I remember the deafening sound of the gun, so foreign then and so familiar now. The sight of Rooster's eyes emptying of life, the knife clattering to the floor, followed by his crumpled body. The hole in the back of his head, his sparse hair matted with sudden blood. Ox's grim expression as he holstered his gun. Rabbit's face, white with shock at seeing his first death. The resigned, downcast gazes of the rest of Zodiac. The warm splatters of blood that landed on me.

I remember turning to look at Dragon in what seemed like a frozen moment. He looked at me, then. I saw the pain in his eyes, and I realized that he had just lost a son.

"Are you sure you still want to stay here? Your life will be very different."

I nodded slowly.

"Welcome to the family. You'll be Puppy from now on. Kids, clean up."

I threw up after… but not as much as Rabbit did.