Prologue

"It's been settled. Father and I are moving to the States. He proposed to Linda and a little over a couple of months, they are going to wed."

I have known this bright green-haired boy since I was two. And after four years, that was the only time he spoke more than a sentence to me. But the news of him moving away was more shocking than the fact that Ferbs Fletcher, the lad whom most people thought was mute, suddenly opened his mouth instead of shrugging or gesturing things. Before I could say a response, he continued which again, caught me off guard.

"To be honest, I am not really surprised. Father fell really hard for her. And just by looking at him, you can see how he's over the moon. I guess having common experiences even though as dreadful as untimely end of a marriage and being a single parent can draw people together."

After that little speech which to him was equivalent to a presidential address, he just stared ahead and gazed at the horizon.

At that time, we were leaning against an old apple tree on top of a small hill we found one time we decided to make a little detour whilst going home. Ever since then, it had become our little hideout where we usually stopped by after school. This was also our favorite meeting place whenever we wanted to hang out and discuss things we read or learned about (I was the one who mostly spoke. He would just give signs of confirmations or hand me some notes.)

You see, he and I were next door neighbors. Our fathers had known each other since childhood. Lawrence Fletcher was a good fella and a nice old chum. We were introduced when we had just moved in to the village. Father was invited over by Mr. Fletcher for tea and he brought me along after hearing that I was the same age as his son. That was also the first time I met the former Mrs. Fletcher. I don't remember much about her but I think she was pretty and classy. After all, just after a year, she was gone. Whenever I was over at their place, she was always absent anyway.

Like other people, I first assumed that Ferb was suffering from some sort of mutism. But after that one time I fell and scraped my knee, I realized that he just spoke when he deemed it fit. He was also quite eloquent for such a wee child. Though he would drop only a few words, they would not lack sense and would go from being witty, snarky or sarcastic. I just learned how to translate his actions for convenience.

And from the moment we met, I immediately discovered how brilliant that boy could be. How could I not? At two, he was already tinkering with loose parts of an old clock and would convert them to little toys that could be mistaken as ones bought in stores. When I turned three, he gave me a tiny walking doll which I knew he made from scratch. He didn't even greet me 'Happy Birthday.' He just handed me a box wrapped in blue (which was my favorite color by the way) and walked straight towards the cake. I still kept it after all these years.

I really didn't know what to tell him that time. Should I console him? I wanted to cry at that moment. I mean, my best friend (it wasn't official but that was the closest thing we were to each other) was moving away. He would be thousands of miles away and I would be there in London without a pal. To a six-year-old girl, that was a huge deal wasn't it? It was something akin to a relationship breakup.

I took a moment to study his features which showed blank to those who didn't know him. But his eyes show a little bit of uncertainty and sadness. Though it pained me to know that he was leaving so soon; that did not mean our friendship was over. Right? He was just emigrating, not dying or something.

"Oi, don't be so gloomy about it. You are just going to America, not the outer space." He gave a side glance which I knew meant that he had been conjuring that idea for a while and may happen in the future. Knowing him, it wouldn't be impossible. I just rolled my eyes and continued.

"Look, Britain is just a plane away. Moreover, we can mail because you clearly don't know the true purpose of a telephone. It will be fine. And shouldn't you be excited? You will have stepsiblings. We both know how dreary it gets when you are an only child. Don't worry. I will write to you and tell you everything you will be missing out on. Sure you're going to miss lots of me mum's sweets but your new stepmother might be a good cook and would make you lots of treats too. I heard she's a very nice lady."

Ferb just shrugged after I finished and gave a shallow sigh. As we watch the sun slowly going down, I suddenly became aware that that might be the last sunset we'd get to witness together for a while. With that thought, I savored each minute until the sky was a mixture of orange, yellow, indigo and purple which signifies the start of twilight.

Before I could fully stand up and dust my trousers, I was a little bit startled when a hand seized my forearm. Ferb was clutching me around my wrist and looked solemn for a few seconds. My face contorted to one says 'Why?' and surprisingly, he spoke once more.

"Promise me you'll write as much as you can. Promise me that you won't forget me no matter what. And lastly, promise me that you will take care of this tree.

After a few heartbeats, I gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on a shoulder.

"That I can do, Ferbs. You don't even have to ask." I replied.

"Thank you, Cassandra." I helped him get up and gave him a lopsided grin.

"How many times do I have to remind you, Ferb? Just Cassie will do."

A/N: So what do you guys think? It's canon that Ferb ended up with Vanessa and I want to twist that. This is a FerbxOC fanfic (as the description says) so those who ship Ferbessa can say farewell now because I can assure you that you will hate me for what I plan on writing. It's not that I hate Vanessa. I just think that her personality isn't well-matched for Ferb's. (That's just my honest opinion) And I figure she would be more suited with someone else.

Also, English isn't my native tongue so if there are flaws in grammar, sorry about that. I'm trying to polish it but sometimes it's hard to correct everything so please bear with me. The the POV would also shift but mostly just between Ferb and the OC. In this fic, Phinabella will be present and a side Canderemy (maybe?) But again, expect that Ferb and Vanessa won't be together in the end *spoiler*

Anyway, please leave a review. That would be really appreciated. It would also help me decide if I should continue with this or not since my other fanfic is hanging (Sorry to my readers who are following MHIY. I'm taking my sweet time. Don't hate me.)

Have a great day everyone! See ya!