A/N: After long consideration, I decided to set their age difference by the actor's ages, since I don't remember it was mentioned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, or anything relating to it. I really wish I did, but I don't =\

Chapter One - A Very Christmas Meeting

"Can I offer you any help, sir?" the voice asked him. He turned around to face the saleslady, a tall blonde with a too broad smile.

"Eh, no, thanks, I was just looking," he answered as he ran his fingers on a purple pair of gloves. The leather was cool underneath his fingers, and he knew this would be perfect, but it was more then he could afford. He had just came back from Edgewyck Academy for Christmas a few hours earlier to an empty apartment, and knew this would be the best time to find his mother the right present, but it was not going as well as he wished. He exited the shop with a sigh, and stood for a moment in the middle of the fast-pacing crowd. He tried to catch glimpses of conversation, figure out who those people are, what they going to buy for their family and friends just from their looks. He liked doing that, noticing all those tiny details. He is a writer, after all. Or maybe... planning on becoming a writer one day. It was a a process in progress. Yeah. That rhymes nicely.

Then he noticed her. A young girl, probably seven, or eight... or maybe nine? He wasn't good at estimating children ages. She had long brown curls, and it waved around her face and shoulders as she turned around, looking from side to side, her lips forming the word "Mom" over and over again.

He made his way through the crowd and knelt next to her.

"Hey, kid, are you okay?" he asked.

She looked at him, green eyes widening with surprise, and swallowed before answering.

"I- I can't find my mom," she said, her eyes flickering around, one moment on his and the other searching behind him. "She was right here, and then suddenly, she wasn't."

"How about we go the mall's information office, they could help us, right?" he waited for her nod of approval before asking her name.

"Kate. What's yours?"

"Richard. But you can just call me Rick."

"Why Rick, if your name is Richard?"

"Only my mom calls me Richard," he held out his hand, and she took.

"I see."

They started walking with the crowd, Rick searching for any sign that will point them to the information office, Kate searching for her mother.

"So what were you and your mom doing here?" He asked, trying to form any kind of conversation.

"Buying a new watch for my dad. For Christmas. We just picked a really nice one, with a black leather strap. And you?" she looked up at him.

"Trying to find something for mom. I was thinking about getting her gloves, but they were way too expensive."

"What does she like doing?"

"Um, she's an actress," he half asked his answer.

"Then you should get her a set of Sharpies, to help her memorize her lines!" Kate said in excitement.

"How old are you?" He asked her.

"Almost eight," She said with a cheerful smile, "And you?"

"Fifteen."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing. There's a sign over there," She pointed at a gray sign to their right, filled with small symbols and arrows. He examined it for a moment until he found an `i` inside a blue circle, and an arrow pointing to the left underneath it.

"Left it is," he told her, and they kept walking.

"So, what was the `huh` sound you made earlier?" Rick asked her.

"I don't know what you're referring to." she said decisively.

"Oh, come on, when I told how old I am."

"Oh, that. Well, I just thought you are older."

"Older?" he asked, wanting her to continue.

"Older. Maybe seventeen."

"Whoa. Really?"

Kate stopped, forcing Rick to stop as well, and he looked down at her. She was narrowing her eyes into a somewhat harsh look that scared him a little, and then said: "Don't let it get into your head."

Rick felt his eyes widen and tried to keep his expressions under control. There was no way he's scared of an eight year old. Maybe a little intimidated... no. He is not.

"Well, we better keep walking if you want to find you mom," he eventually said.

Kate smiled at him then, and his face lit up in response. "Yeah," she breathed out the word, and so they kept walking.

They turned around the corner to the left, and suddenly Kate's hand left his, and she started running.

"Kate!" he called, and started running after her, but she wasn't listening. She was leaping into the arms of a woman who stood next to the mall's officer. The woman looked at her, surprise and relief washing her face, and then embraced her into a tight hug.

Just as Rick reached them, she broke the hug and looked at him, then asked Kate: "Is this him?"

Kate nodded, and the woman stood up.

"Thank you," she said, "Eh, what's your name?"

He could now see the resemblance between Kate and the woman; the same hair color, the same clever green eyes.

"Richard Rodgers, Ma'am," Rick answered.

"Thank you so much, Richard. Kate told me you brought her here."

"Yes, Ma'am. I was happy to help."

"And you", she turned to Kate, "don't you ever disappear like this again, okay? I was so worried."

"Sorry, mom. But you were the one who disappeared!"

The woman laughed.

"No, seriously," Kate continues stubbornly, "One moment you were there, and the next you weren't."

"Okay, why don't we go home?" She asked Kate and took her hand in hers. Then she turned to rick and said; "Again, thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

Rick watched as they turned around and started walking, and just as they were about to disappear in the crowd Kate turned around to wave at him happily, and he waved back with a smile.

A/N: Reviews and cookies are welcomed!