"H-here's your ball…" he stuttered nervously, holding it out to them. They ran.
When they were gone, a girl came up to him. She walked right up to him and held out her hand.
"I'll play with you." she said.
He nodded slowly, suspicious of some kind of trick. They passed the ball back and forth for a while, before she finally spoke.
"So what was up with them?" she asked.
"They never want to play…" he muttered so softly that she wouldn't have been able to hear if it wasn't for her unnaturally keen hearing.
"Why?"
He shrugged.
"Where do you live?" she asked.
He pointed at a large spread of buildings.
"Hmmmmm… I used to live in a big place like that…" she mumbled absent-mindedly.
"Why don't you still live there?" he asked, dropping the ball and walking over to her.
She didn't answer, instead trying to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes. He hugged her gently.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded into his shirt. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at him.
"I'm Anda." She said, starting to smile.
"I'm Gaara"
Prologue