The teenager ran from the guards as fast as he possibly could, catching his breath. He noticed an alleyway in front of him and immediately darted towards it. He found a barrel and hid inside. The guards searched the alley, but did not check the barrels, for whatever reason. Once they left, the raven haired teen jumped out of the barrel and walked out of the alley. He noticed that his hair was now undone; the blue ribbon holding his hair in a ponytail had slipped off while he was being pursued. The adolescent opened up his satchel, grabbing the apple he had stolen and eating it. After a few minutes of eating, he threw the apple away and continued to walk. Suddenly, his blue eyes saw a guard running to him. The teenager panicked and sprinted off, trying to find a hiding spot. The brunet spotted a church and darted inside. The friar of the church looked at the boy, puzzled.

"You look like you've been running for quite a while, my child. The question is, what is it you were running from?" The friar inquired. The teen spoke, panting.

"Guards... apple... stolen... chased..." He said through breaths.

"So let me get this straight; you stole an apple, the guards caught you, and they chased you?" The black haired adolescent nodded, sweating.

"My child, you must repent for stealing. You know that it is a sin to steal," said the friar. The teenager rolled his eyes.

"I am serious, boy. Repent for your sins."

The boy sighed and started "speaking" to God. "Dear Heavenly Father, I am sorry for the sins I have committed. I ask for your forgiveness. Amen," he concluded. The friar simply shook his head.

"I hope that God forgives you, boy. Let us hope that somehow, the guards will forgive you, too."

"Yeah, right. They'll just arrest me."

"Well, what you did was wrong. Even if it was just a measly apple that you stole, you still committed a crime, and the laws must be upheld."

"I guess so," the boy stated. "Maybe I deserve to be arrested, friar. I've done a lot of terrible things in my life. I need to be punished for those things. You know... I think I'll turn myself in." The teenager left the church and walked up to one of the guards.

"Arrest me," he said. The guard nodded and tied up the kid's hands together, putting him on his horse. He rode off to the prison, throwing the adolescent into a cell. Just moments later, the guard returned and threw a girl the boy's age into the cell. Her hair was brown, and her eyes were emerald green in color. She wore a tattered, dirty green dress. Her hands were also tied up. The boy attempted to talk to the girl.

"So, what did you do?" he asked. The girl sighed.

"I stabbed a man in a bar," she said.

"Really? Well, all I did was steal a piece of fruit," the boy replied.

"Why didn't you just pay the guards?" the girl inquired.

"I don't have any money on me. I'm dirt poor."

"Ah, I see. That explains it. You know, my brother was a thief once, too. But he was too good-hearted, so whenever he got caught, he would always pay the guards the fees. Now he's given up stealing. He pays the mandolin for money, instead. He's quite good at it, but he doesn't make much. By the way, my name is Rosa Cervantes. Who are you?"

"I'm Tulio Cordero. It's nice to meet you, Miss Cervantes." Rosa giggled.

"Please just refer to me as Rosa, Tulio." Tulio nodded.

"Tulio... I've heard the name before. Wait a minute, are you that boy who was on the wanted posters?"

"Yep, that's me."

"My God! You are him! They wanted you dead! Do you think they'll go through with that?" Rosa asked.

"Probably," Tulio responded.

"Well, I don't want you to die. You were nice to me. Tell you what, we're gonna escape."

"How the hell do we do that?"

"I've got a plan." Rosa whispered her plan to Tulio, and he smirked. That night, a guard passed their cell. Rosa snatched the keys he had on him and unlocked the cell door. The two teenagers ran fast, dashing to the exit. A horde of guards followed them. Rosa knocked a guard off of his horse and jumped on.

"Get on, Tulio!" Rosa said. Tulio got on the back of the black horse.

"Uh, do you know how to ride horses, Rosa?" he asked.

"Um... no. But we have to get out of here quickly!"

Rosa rode off, escaping the prison. The horse went into the city. It stopped at the house of Rosa's parents. Rosa and Tulio got off the horse.

"Come inside, Tulio. It's safe, here."

"You sure?"

Rosa nodded. Tulio sighed and walked in, with Rosa following him inside. Rosa hugged her mother tightly.

"Rosa, who is this boy?" Her mother asked.

"His name is Tulio, madre. He helped me," Rosa replied.

"Hello, ma'am," Tulio said.

"Hello, Tulio. You look very tired. Why don't you stay here for the night? I'll let your parents know."

"Well, thing is, my parents are dead. I live on my own..."

"That's such a shame. You poor little thing. Where do you stay, now?"

"Anywhere I want. But it's nice of you to let me sleep here for the night, miss. I can't thank you enough."

"No need to thank me. You saved my daughter, so this is my way of repaying you. Now get some rest. It's very late." Tulio nodded and slept for the night.

Tulio woke up the next morning with a headache. He grabbed his head, groaning from the pain.

"Got a headache, Tulio?" Rosa asked. Tulio nodded.

"As if it weren't obvious enough..."

After Tulio's headache went away, he and Rosa went to play ball together. While they were playing, Rosa started to talk to Tulio.

"So tell me about yourself, Tulio."

"Well, I'm an orphan from the countryside. My padre was a devout Catholic, and my madre was a converso; they forced her to give up Judaism, and she became a Catholic. They say that if your mother is Jewish, then you are. I'm not so sure, since she converted, but I supposed ethnically I'm a Jew. Anyway, my parents died when I was 12. I've been on my own ever since. I left the country not long after my parents died and came here. I've stayed ever since. That's my story."

"That's sad. They left you at such a young age..." Tulio nodded. Suddenly, a blond haired boy appeared. He looked similar to Rosa, but was slightly younger than her and Tulio; he was 14, at most.

"Is that your brother that you were talking about yesterday?" Tulio asked. Rosa nodded.

"Rosa, my mandolin broke," the blond boy said.

"There's nothing I can do about it, Miguel. ask padre if he can fix it for you," Rosa replied. Miguel sighed and walked off.

"That was my little brother, Miguel. He's a sweet kid."

"I'm sure he is."

Tulio left the Cervantes household that day, as he was only staying for one night. He slept in the alley. As he slept, he dreamed about Rosa. He thought that she was so beautiful. Even though they barely knew each other, Tulio was beginning to fall in love with Rosa. But could he ever win her heart?