Negi, Nodoka, and the Wish Tree

The sun had barely touched the wisps of fog covering the grounds of the school when Nodoka woke up. She blinked sleepily and tried to figure out why she had woken up so early. A glance towards her roommates told her that they were still sleeping, so they could not have woken her up. As she looked around her small sleeping area a piece of paper taped to one of the bedposts caught her eye. Wishes, it stated in neat capitals.

Nodoka clapped her hands to her mouth to contain the small squeak of surprise which escaped. After she had seen the writing on the paper she knew why she had woken up so early. She quietly got out of bed and started to get dressed. As she ran a brush through her short hair she decided she had picked a good day since so many people often slept in on Saturday.

After a moment of indecision she decided to tie up her hair with a blue ribbon, then quietly crept out of her shared room. Once she was outside of the doorway, she shut the door carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the quiet click of the lock.

Nodoka made her way quickly out of the dorm and headed for a small pavilion near the edge of the school grounds. Even though she was in a hurry, she took deep breaths of the cool air and noted the soft, sweet sounds of birds in the trees she passed by.

When she neared her destination she looked anxiously around to see if there were any people nearby. After she saw that there were no people around, Nodoka walked slowly up a path which led to a small pavilion.

Nodoka walked through the pavilion and went to touch a tall weeping cherry tree just at the edge of the walkway. The tree had lost most of its blossoms, but was covered with many multicolored bits of paper tied to the tree with white thread.

To the students and teachers this tree was known as the wish tree. It was not as well known as the huge world tree, but it was still special to many students. During the beginning of the school year the upperclassmen would write down their hopes and wishes for the coming year and tie them to the tree. It was said the longer your wish stayed on the tree, the more likely it was to come true.

Nodoka had been thinking about her wish for several weeks. She was usually one of the last people to put a wish on the tree because she never knew what to wish for, but this year she had a wish.

After admiring the tree for several moments she went to a box under a table and looked for a piece of paper which she could tie to the tree. She found several leftover pieces of paper in the box and a pen. She chose a light blue scrap of paper and started to carefully write down her wish.

As the pen touched the paper and words started to form, Nodoka reflected on who she was writing her wishes for this year. In the years before this one she had written wishes mostly for herself, her family, or sometimes her friends. This was the first year she had written a wish for a teacher.

Negi was just the type of teacher who could inspire wishes, Nodoka thought to herself. She was sure there would be wishes from her classmates which pertained to Negi, but she hoped her wish would be different from her classmates' wishes.

Nodoka knew she was not always able to easily express herself to others and through writing the wish down on paper she hoped to be able to consolidate what she wanted to express to Negi in a creative way.

When she finished writing her wish down, Nodoka thought about the ways in which Negi had inspired her. His kindness was the most important, she decided. Then there was his intelligence and his drive to succeed. He also appreciated all of his students for their unique talents. Also, she thought, Negi did not treat her like an invisible person just because she was quiet. In fact, he seemed to expect her to be smarter since she read books so often.

Nodoka walked over to the paper laden tree and searched for a place to tie her wish to. When she found the right spot, she undid the blue ribbon holding her hair back and carefully threaded it through the small piece of paper. She tied her wish to the tree and watched the small piece of paper flutter among the others as a cool breeze wound its way around the tree. Negi, she thought silently as she walked back to her dorm, please understand the true meaning of my wish.

Several days later, Negi visited the wish tree after several people had told him about the school's tradition. Chamo had also decided to come with Negi since he had not seen the tree either.

After they had both admired the tree and read some of the wishes on the bright papers, Chamo pointed out one wish which was not tied with white thread like all of the others. Negi pulled the wish closer so he could read it and was surprised to find that it was addressed to him.

The wish read:

Negi,

May you reach your goals,

Find true happiness and contentment,

And live up to your true potential, no matter where life takes you.

Nodoka

"And that" said Chamo "is why Nodoka makes such a good partner. She has your best interests at heart." Almost as an afterthought he added "Maybe you should marry her."

"Eh!!" exclaimed a slightly flustered Negi. "But you know I'm too young!"

"I know" replied Chamo "but you should at least thank her."

"I suppose…"

After class the next day Negi asked Nodoka if she could stay behind for a minute. He told her that he had read the wish and really appreciated how she wanted him to succeed and how selfless her wish was.

Then, with a child-like smile, but with adult seriousness, Negi grabbed her hand and kissed it. He gave Nodoka one more big smile, then said "You're a really kind person Nodoka; I'll see you tomorrow." Then he gathered up his papers and walked out of the classroom.

Nodoka touched the hand which Negi had kissed with surprise, then smiled and walked out of the room as if she was walking on air.