DISCLAIMER: I not own Wild Arms, it belongs to Media Vision. The only thing original here is the plot. That said, please don't steal it~

This was made for star_flare in a Livejournal meme as a response to a prompt. I tried to make the characters as IC as possible, hope I succeeded to your liking.

Headband
By Kyoy

The wind was blowing in favor of their direction. Most travelers would find this to one's advantage but for some reason, the troubled heir of the Adlehyde throne didn't. (One should note, that being the heir of the said throne, she shouldn't be out traveling with these wanderers, but that's another story.)

For one thing, she lost her headband amidst the windstorm. Unlike most shallow girls her age, she wore a headband not to emphasize a certain feature on her face but to keep the wind from slapping against her face every now and then. And unlike Jack and his very loyal partner, she did not find this amusing.

She glanced at the quiet loner clad in red and blue. As usual, she could not make out what he had in mind regarding this trivial matter. He seemed curious on the incident but other than that little clue, she couldn't understand the workings of his mind. She shouldn't care, but she did.

It was not until they had paused a while to take a break that she realized what was on Rudy's mind after all. He silently sneaked up behind her—although "sneaked" wasn't the best word for that wasn't his intention at all—and tied a red piece of cloth around her head. She turned curiously to him in confusion and found out that he had lent her his bandana to substitute for her lost headband. When she raised a brow in question, he simply replied—

"You look prettier with your hair like that."

—and resumed to drinking his water.

She was caught off-guard by these words—and the fact that he spoke at all—that she had no time to thank him for the sincere gesture.

If only mages knew how to use magic to stop one's heart from beating so fast or to stop one's cheeks from flaring up so bright, she would find some use for her study of magic.

For now, all she could do was keep the bandana and conveniently forget to return it back.

FIN

Please review if you like it or just have some thoughts to share, I'll appreciate the gesture very much~ 3