The marketplace was crowded, and even managed to outpace the noise of an airship overhead. It was always like this at the closing of a long day, and as the sun set, people grew more frantic to be done with chores, shopping and jobs alike.

In the chaos it was easy to be lost in a sea of people, and easier still to drop belongs whenever someone jarred the person next to them. Everyone begin to blur together in the mass, until it all faded away.

Walking against the tide, a young man with dark hair attempted to avoid unnecessary contact with those around him while trying to juggle his armful of baskets.

Someone collided with his shoulder with enough force to knock him back a few steps, and he looked up, fully intent on glaring and sparing them a few choice words.

The culprit was a young woman wearing a midnight dark cloak over a flowing blue dress. Teal hair had cascaded from underneath her hood at the impact, spilling over her shoulders and bouncing with curls against her cheeks.

Her vibrant eyes that matched the shade of her hair blinked before she smiled slightly. She had already turned halfway around, hands reaching to pull her hood back up, all in one fluid motion.

"Sorry," she said lightly, voice a strange mixture of caution and kindness.

It was the word that broke his trace and he blinked, giving her a shrug. "No, my fault,"

That actually wasn't true. It had been her folly entirely, but she seemed so fragile and somehow misty that he felt compelled to concede the point.

She was like living water and wind, somehow unreal and brightly contrasting the world around her. A perfection of life standing out against all the disarray around her.

The girl smiled again, ever so slight on her pale face, before she turned fully around, cloak about her, and was gone into the crowd.

He wished he'd asked her for her name, because he had the strangest feeling he'd met her before. But if he had, he was fairly certain he'd remember.

It wasn't every day you met someone with teal hair.

With a sigh, he likewise turned to walk away, already late for a homecoming. His family would be worried if the sun finished setting.

One last look over his shoulder and he blinked again, spotting a now familiar figure not far off. She, too, had glanced back, and rather than looking embarrassed at being caught, she just smiled again. In a flash, she was gone, quickly ducking behind a few stands, a single strand of her hair trailing after her.

He'd have to figure out her name, at least, whoever she was.

Moonclaw, what is this?

Er...a story? A random, pointless, story?

I know. But I had a thought awhile back...what if history were altered slightly at certain points, and people's fates were different? Would Kieran and Cuore have ever met if all that bad stuff didn't keep happening to them?

I'd like to think yes.

So. This.

I also wanted to write something, and this was short and took 20 mins.