"Yes, She...she is putting on dress and," Hans mimed a ripping down the front, "Is tear, and for shame of womanliness she is not leave her room,"

"I... I have not dealt with such a thing before," murmured Randy. "Should I try to speak with her?"

"Is maybe help her stop crying?" Hans suggested hopefully.

"You are right; I will see what I can do." Randy took a deep breath and headed to Alissa's room...

Alissa's door was locked and from within the sound of sniffling could be heard....

Randy gave a rap on the door. "Alissa?" he called softly.

"Randy?" she called back, "is that you?"

"Yes," he replied. "What is the matter?"

"My favorite dress ripped, it was only a little tight when I put it on today, I thought it would be fine but when I went to reach for a book the stitches in the front popped and everybody saw everything! It was humiliating!" she cried.

"Poor dear," Randy cooed through the door. "Is there anything I can do?"

Alissa sighed, "No.... unless you can erase everyone's memory. All of mama's rich and famous friends saw my chest," she said as she got up to let Randy in.

"Well, I am afraid I cannot do that, but I can be here to talk to you if you like," Randy offered with a faint smile.

Alissa gave it some thought, "Alright," she said motioning for him to come in, "I probably should be this upset anymore, but lately every little thing seems to bother me." she crossed her arms over her already noteworthy chest as though to block it from view.

"It is a part of growing up," Randy stated. "A person at your age is prone to experiencing hormonal changes, and these may result in mood fluctuations and an increased rate of physical development."

"Hormonal?" Alissa questioned. "What is that?"

Randy's ears drooped as he suddenly wondered whether the word was even in common use, his own knowledge of human speech having come from varied sources and approximations based on word origin. "Er... What I mean is, the biological functions which make your body change as you grow older," he corrected.

Alissa nodded, "Mother says girls my age are touchy because they're between being a child and a grown-up, I suppose it's all the same thing." she reasoned.

"Yes, that is a simpler way to explain it," Randy replied with a nod.

"I don't know if I can face mama's friends again.....I mean...they saw me," she said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes again.

"I understand," Randy said quietly, though all he truly understood about it was that humans seemed to have some irrational fear of being seen nude except in very specific situations. "But I am sure they will forget all about it. Accidents happen."

Alissa buried her face in his shirt and sniffled, "This has been an awful day!"

He gave her a hesitant pat on the back. "It will get better."

Alissa nodded, "I hope so," she gave him a squeeze and rubbed her face against his chest.

After a moment's silence, Randy asked, "Would you like to come and share dinner with me?"

Alissa wiped her eyes and nodded, giving him a weak smile, "That would be lovely..."

"I hope it hasn't gone too cold by now," Randy murmured as he led the way back to his room where the tray was still waiting.

the food was quiet cold, but it was still pleasant and enjoyable and by the time the evening was done Alissa seemed to have forgotten her woes and she gave Randy his kiss on the cheek as she always had.

Randy beamed and bid her goodnight, pleased with the apparent success (however shaky) of his attempt.

The next few months progressed peacefully until a full year had passed and soon it was approaching Alissa's fifteenth birthday.

Randy had kept record of all of the progress made during that time, and noted fondly how much Alissa had grown. She was developing into a beautiful young woman and he was happy to play an important role in her life.

Alissa, for her part, had begun to notice just how large and muscular Randy was and whenever she was near him she'd feel a fluttering in her stomach and she found herself wanting to look nice for him and attract his attention.

While Randy had noticed how she had developed, the thought of his being anything more than her friend--and in some ways perhaps even a father figure--had not occurred to him. She was still a child, and he still intended to help her study and look after her as usual.

Alissa's mother had also noticed that Alissa was growing into a woman and she decided that it was time for the girl to learn to be a lady. She had soon hired a tutor in town to help Alissa study music and she requested that Randy watch over her and make certain that Alissa did not dally with young men. Randy was required to spend nearly his entire day accompanying Alissa to her lessons.

This didn't bother Randy much at all; he enjoyed spending time with Alissa, and watching over her gave him something worthwhile to do.

One day during her lessons the tutor mentioned that Alissa would have a party to introduce her to high society and that she would have to learn to dance, "You're old enough to start mingling with the other people of your class, it's time you learned how a lady presents herself," the tutor waved his thin hand at Randy, "You! You've a good, straight form! Come here and put your arm around her waist, you're going to help her practice!"

Randy nodded and did as instructed, though he'd never actually done such a dance before, himself.

The tutor guided them along, teaching them the various steps and then he let them waltz. Alissa stepped on Randy's foot twice and nearly fell over before it was done.

Fortunately, Randy himself was quite sturdy and had no trouble both maintaining his own footing and helping Alissa to keep hers. Whenever she stumbled he chuckled a bit, though not out of unkindness.

Finally it was time for them to head home, "I don't know if I like being a lady, my feet hurt and I can't breath in this corset mother made me wear,"

"I do not envy your position," Randy replied. "Why must you wear it?"