He bit his lip a little (carefully, because of his fangs), and continued on, reaching the giggling bibble of Norns. They all turned to look at him. He managed a hopeful smile.

"H-hi," he stammered. "My name's Grornen. Can...can I play with you guys?"

The one who seemed to be the leader of the bibble, a Forest norn, scowled at the innocent grorn.

"Not a chance, Grendel," he said, spitting the last word out as if it tasted bad.

"I'm not a Grendel," Grornen responded, his hopes already sinking.

"Oh, right, like we're gonna believe that? The Hand was right...you Grendels _are_ idiots!"

"I'm not a Grendel!" Grornen repeated desperately. "You gotta believe me! I know I look like one, but I'm not! I haven't punched any of you."

"No, but I bet you're waiting to," snarled another Norn, this time a female. She had a fluffy tail and a spotted head. "Just trying to get us to trust you so you can kill us! Get out of here, Glycotoxin-breath!"

"But I'm not! I just wanna fit in!"

"You'll never fit in," said the male. "_Never!_" He kicked Grornen hard, knocking him down. That was all the encouragement Grornen needed to scramble to his feet and run away as fast as his legs would take him. Tears began to stream down his eyes as he heard the laughs and jeers of the bibble behind him as he ran. Without quite remembering the sequence of events that took him there, he found himself curled up into a ball in the Treehouse, sobbing. He sat there for a long time.

~

Leia, a pretty young PMN, awakened from her snooze in the cellars. She stretched, yawned and wandered to a lift, taking it up. After eating a few Morning Glories to wake up, she stiffened, hearing something. It sounded like...crying!

"Wonder what happened to make that poor Norn so sad," she said aloud to herself. With a shrug, she headed to another lift, taking it up to the trees. She looked around for the crying Norn, but saw none. Just a Grendel, curled up into a little ball. She realized that was what was crying. Instinct fought with compassion...follow instinct and run away for safety, or follow compassion and try and console the creature? The battle continued for a few seconds, and compassion won. She walked up to the beast and laid one hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

The Grendel wiped his eyes and said, in a Norn voice, "Everybody hates me."

Leia's head suddenly felt light. This definitely was not a Grendel before her...Grendels didn't talk that way, ever. But it sure wasn't a Norn. A grenorn, maybe?

"What are you, anyway? You're no Grendel, but you can't be a Norn, either."

"I dunno what I am," responded the oddity. "The Hand told me a long time ago that I was something called a...a grorn, but then it left me alone."

"A grorn?" Leia wrinkled her nose. What was that? "You mean, a grenorn?"

"No, I'm not a grenorn," was the reply. "The Hand told me I was a grorn."

"So you're a grorn then," Leia said, understanding. "Why does everybody hate you?"

The grorn turned to look at her, incredulous.

"Are you _blind_, girl? Can't you see what I look like?"

"Yes, I can see you quite well, thank you," Leia responded, a little annoyed. "But why does everybody hate you? _Besides_ the fact that you look like a Grendel."

"No reason," he said. "Everyone thinks I'm a Grendel, no matter how I try to tell them I'm not. They just don't listen, and then exclude me. I hate it. I've tried to fit in, but...nobody'll accept me!" He was getting hysterical, looking about ready to go into another round of sobbing.

"There, there," Leia said. "I don't hate you, I'll accept you as you are."

"You will?" the grorn asked, smiling hopefully.

"'Course I will," Leia said. "Never did much like exclusion."

"Aw, thanks!" The grorn's voice was just running over with relief.

"Not a problem," Leia grinned. "What's your name?"

"Grornen. What's yours?"

"Leia."

"Leia. That's a pretty name. Lot better than 'Grornen'."

Leia giggled. And that was the day a new friendship was born in Albia.

~

Jesse, the Forest Norn who had mocked Grornen earlier, lounged by the waterfall, chewing on a grass stalk. He looked up at the cloudless sky, musing. Celia, the chief gossiper of the bibble, slid over to him, smirking smugly.

"Guess who I saw with that Grendel," she said silkily. Jesse looked at her and took the grass stalk out of his mouth.

"Who?" he inquired.

Celia, still grinning, half-closed her eyes, looked around dramatically, and whispered conspiratorially to Jesse, "Leia."

"Leia??" Jesse exploded. "_LEIA?!?_ My _girlfriend??_"

"Mm-hmm," Celia said. "What's more.. .she wasn't doing what any sane norn would do."

"What was she doing?" Jesse demanded, his temples already beginning to throb with rage.

"She was hugging him, and talking to him, and laughing with him," Celia cooed. "I think she feels for that brute."

"Wha--? That little bitch! I'm gonna go teach her a thing or two... consorting with those motherf..."

"Now now, watch your language," Celia soothed. "Calm down."

"CALM DOWN?? My girlfriend is associating with Grendels, and you tell me to calm down???"

"You're right," Celia purred. "Go ahead and teach her a lesson."

"_Thank_  you," Jesse grumbled, and stormed to the cable car to find Leia. Celia smirked with satisfaction.

~

"Leia!"

Leia's head jerked up, towards the voice. She saw Jesse stomping across the floor to her.

"Oh, h-hi, Jesse," she managed.

"Leia, what the hell are you doing with that... that... that _monster_?" Jesse spat, pointing a trembling finger at Grornen. He was one pissed-off Norn.

"He's not a monster," Leia said defensively.

"'He's not a monster'," Jesse mocked. "Well, isn't that cute. The beauty and her beast. Leia, that thing is a _Grendel!_"

"No he's not," Leia growled. "He just looks like one. Jesse, remember the last time you ran into a Grendel? You came back with so many bruises from his punches, that you looked like one big blotch of black and blue! To save your ego, you told everyone that you climbed the Grendel tree and fell!"

Jesse was getting angrier.

"So?" he defended. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You'll notice that I don't have any such bruises," Leia said, her voice low. "Look, you know how weak I am, physically. If he had wanted to hurt me, he could have done it by now! He doesn't wanna hurt anyone, he just wants to be accepted."

"Leia... I'm surprised at you. You... you _believed_ his lies?"

"They aren't lies," Leia and Grornen said at the same time.

"Shut up, Grendel!" Jesse spat at the grorn. "As far as I'm concerned, you can go to HELL!"

Grornen looked shocked. "I... I don't... I don't mean any harm..."

"Leave my girl alone, you sonofabitch!" He tried to kick Grornen again, but suddenly found himself on his back, staring up at the enraged face of Leia. She had grabbed his leg in mid-kick and yanked it up, resulting in Jesse on his back.

"Leave my _friend_ alone, you narrow-minded creep!"

"Don't you talk to me that way you little..."

"Jesse, I'll talk to you however I want! Got it? I'm not the clinging, mindless little girl you want! Like it or not, Jesse, I have a mind of my own!"

Jesse tried to say something, but at that point, he was too enraged to get a word out of his mouth. He was trembling violently from rage, and he was clenching and unclenching his fists spasmodically.

"Hand, damn you both!" he sputtered, at last, and turned to go. However, his path was suddenly blocked by none other than...the Hand!

"Where do you think you're going, Jesse?" the Hand inquired, advancing towards the suddenly terrified Forest norn.

"J-j-just back to the waterfall, s-sir," he stammered. The Hand was backing him towards Grornen and Leia.

"Jesse, I am disgusted with you. You're judgemental, prejudiced, exclusive... the exact same qualities of the school bullies back home. Grornen is not a Grendel. You hear me? _Grornen is not a Grendel._ He's something called a grorn. You know what a grorn is, Jesse?"

"No," said the Forest in a small voice.

"A grorn is just a Norn with the appearance of a Grendel. He doesn't have any glycotoxin or anything... he just looks like a Grendel. Why is it that you can't accept him? He's said that all he wants to do is _fit in_."

"But you said..."

"I said Grendels were slavering, bloodthirsty idiots. Grorns are a whole different story altogether. Besides, even Grendels can be good. I've got experience in that, trust me. Hell, just ask Karma, another Hand I know... she's done great things with Grendels. Grendels aren't all evil... and Grornen's not even a grendel."

Grornen found himself staring in wonder at the Hand, as it continued lecturing Jesse. He was deeply stunned that the Hand, after leaving him alone as an infant, would come to his defense. All his life, he'd thought that everyone... even the Hand... despised him.

"Now, Jesse," finished the Hand, "I think you can see why I'm angry at you. I don't take well to Norns who exclude others, without giving them even a first chance."

Jesse bowed his head. He was very, very ashamed.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he said, dully. He turned to Grornen. "Sorry, Grornen. I... I was wrong." It sounded like the words hurt. Jesse, the Norn in Albia who had most hated being thought weak, or proven wrong, now had to admit his error in front of his girlfriend and the Hand...the two people he would have least wanted to be around at that time.

"It's... it's okay, Jesse," Grornen said. "I just... it's okay."

Jesse looked at the grorn, who smiled. Jesse smiled back. And that was the day a barrier was broken in Albia.

~

A little Norn girl bounced across the Garden, running for her friend.

She was a pretty little Norn, with the arms and legs of a PMN, and the body and head of a Forest.

"Grornen!" she called, running to the grorn for a hug. Grornen grinned and embraced the cute little girl.

"Hey there, kiddo," he said, tousling her ruff of purple hair with one claw. "How're you today?"

"I'm fine," giggled the girl.

"Where's your parents, Jenny?"

"Right here," Leia said from behind Jennifer. She smiled.

"Good to see you again, Grornen," Jesse said, also smiling.

"I can remember when you wouldn't dare say that," Grornen quipped.

"Yeh, well, I was little and naive then," Jesse said, grinning lopsidedly. "I know better now."

"Thanks to the Hand," said Leia slyly from next to him.

Grornen grinned as Jesse and Leia's banter went on. He remembered how, when they were all children, he had been hated by Jesse, and Leia became his first friend. Then the Hand had delivered The Lecture to Jesse, and things were fine after that. Now, Jesse and Leia were adults, as was Grornen. And the giggling Jennifer was Leia and Jesse's daughter. Grornen suddenly realized that Leia's belly was looking slightly more swollen than usual...

"Leia, you look a bit different," Grornen commented. "Mind telling me what it is?"

Leia smiled. "Bun in the oven," she said.

"Another one?"

"Yep."

"Mommy, when'll you lay it? Whenwhenwhenwhenwhen?"

Leia laughed at the eager little girl. "When it's ready to come out, hon," she said. "It's not quite ready yet.

"Aww," Jenny said, looking crestfallen. "I wanna little baby bwother."

"You will," Leia soothed. "Either that, or a sister."

"Oooo," Jenny squealed happily.

Laughter filled the Garden at the antics of the little child. For the first time if ages, it seemed all was right. Except for one little thing, that would soon be fixed.

"Grornen, come here a moment," the Hand said from behind the grorn. Grornen turned to face the Hand.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I've got a little surprise for you," the Hand said slyly. "C'mere."

The Hand floated off towards the Temple. Grornen followed. The Hand moved aside as Grornen reached his destination. The grorn looked around, and gasped. There, sitting by the gentian, twirled one of the colorful blossoms between her fingers was...a female grorn!

"Wha... bu... huh... uh...?" Grornen stuttered. The grorness looked up suddenly, saw him, and smiled.

"Her name is Grorna," said the Hand. "I've been raising her in another Albia. Now that you're both the same age..."

Grornen got the hint. He grinned hugely, and shuffled shyly towards Grorna.

"You're Grornen, right?" Grorna asked.

"Yeah," Grornen said, his cheeks beginning to flush.

"The Hand told me about you," Grorna said, also flushing a little.

The Hand flew away, leaving the two grorns to get to know each other. He flew high over the heads of Jesse and Leia, and their daughter Jenny, and plowed through a chittering flock of birds. Jenny looked up, saw the sight, and giggled.

And that was the day that all of Albia was happy.

~

end