A/N: Errr... well, this is the prologue, obviously, and it's a bit short, I confess, but that's just fine, right? I'll upload the first chapter at the same time, yeah? I hope to be consistent, so hopefully updates are once a week.
DISCLAIMER: I obviously don't own APH, so this thing is a bit useless.
A small child stood in the field, the wind blowing his hair around. His eyes were wide as he looked at the bushes, a pattern of green and red.
"Nice, isn't it?" Another boy said beside him, holding his hand. The smaller of the two looked up and nodded, smiling. "What are those?" he said as he pointed to the red flowers in the green leaves. The older one looked at them and smiled.
"Come on, let's get a closer look, Alfie," the older one said. He walked towards the bushes, taking Alfie by the hand to look at the flowers. Alfie's eyes widened as he saw the ruby red blossoms up close. Arthur picked a handful, handling them carefully.
"Ooh, they're pretty, Arthur!" Alfie exclaimed as Arthur handed him a flower and he twirled it in his hand, 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing as he did so, before suddenly dropping the flower and sucking on his thumb. "Be careful! These are roses," Arthur said and gestured at the flowers. "They're nice-looking, but they have thorns. They can hurt you." He picked the rose up and showed Alfie the thorns. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly.
The small boy nodded, tears in his eyes. "Owie," he said. "I don't like owies." Arthur kneeled down and took Alfie's hand, inspecting the wound. "There, there," he murmured softly. "I'll make it better."
Arthur touched the wound with his finger, his eyes closed. For a moment, something like green strings seemed to wrap around Alfie's finger before dissolving. When he lifted it, the cut was gone. Alfie looked at him with wonder in his blue eyes, now wide and curious.
"Wow! How did you do that?" Alfie asked, looking at his newly healed finger as if it was a precious gem. "It's a secret," Arthur answered. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"
Alfie cocked his head sideways. "But why? It's cool, and I'm sure people want to hear about it." Arthur answered, "Because then your father won't let me play with you anymore." His little friend nodded enthusiastically. "Okay! I won't tell! It's our secret, right? Our special secret!"
Arthur smiled at him. "Now come on, I'll take you home. You've been outside too long, your dad's going to be worried if you get sick. It's cold out." "Won't get sick!" Alfie said indignantly, shaking his head. "I'll be fine!" Arthur laughed but went ahead anyway, and the other boy ran to catch up. "Can we play again tomorrow?" he asked, looking up.
Arthur opened his mouth, and then closed it again. "Of course," he said, and Alfie smiled. He stopped walking, realizing that he was in front of Alfie's house, freshly painted red, like the roses they just saw, like the blood when Alfie pricked his hand on a cunning thorn.. "Well, here's your house. See you tomorrow, Alfie."
Alfie ran inside, yelling "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!" and Arthur watched him go with a sad smile.
Bonds always made leaving harder.