Something I whipped up in time for November 30th.

Happy birthday to the one and only Erin AKA MagicalSquaresOfDarkness. She's now thirteen. :)

"You light up my world like nobody else; the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed.
But you when smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell. You don't know you're beautiful." –What Makes You Beautiful, One Direction

I gallop into the meadow with my mind set of today's activities. We're going to go horseback riding and I'm going to take her to see the sunset and give her a kiss...

To my relief, she is already riding around with her own horse. The afternoon sun shines on her face. Laughing, she approaches me. "Great. You made it," she says, pulling on the reins to halt her horse. I do the same.

"Lillian, happy belated birthday!" I say. I grin, grateful that she's here in front of me and not all the way in Bluebell, where she lives.

She blushes in that adorable way and tucks a lock of soft, golden hair behind her red ear. "Thanks." Then she asks, "How was yesterday?"

Yesterday? Staying overnight at Zephyr town with Dirk and his nerdy brother Ivan pained me. Hey, I didn't mind the jobs they gave me. I hauled crates, delivered the mail, taught some kids a little information on horses... No problem.

I just wished that the day Ida asked me to repay Dirk for destroying his mail crate and breaking his foot little over three seasons ago wasn't on Lillian's birthday. I couldn't see her. I couldn't great her. That's what pained me.

"It sucked," I admit. "I couldn't see you at all. I missed your birthday."

Lillian laughs and dismounts her horse, Clover. "It's fine. We're here today." She takes a simple look around and throws her hands in the air. "Let's hang out here today!"

"Here? Why?" I question. I slip of my own horse, Hayate.

This meadow is on top of the mountain, smack in the middle of Konohana and Bluebell town. As high it is, when leaning over the rough, thick fence you can see the rushing rivers and majestic trees towering over the wildlife. People watch sunsets, the swirling splashes of rose and orange washing in the sky.

"We haven't before," she explains, walking towards me. "I mean: what have we got to lose? I really like rolling around here." Hopefully smiling, Lillian folds her hands behind her back.

I agree. "No problem, birthday girl."

It turns out my plans for horseback riding and kissing during the sunset did not exactly turn out the way I planned.

We instead chase each other around the grassy field, laughing our heads off. Together we decided to play a simple game of tag for about ten minutes or so, but it turns out to be much, much longer than that.

"You're so slow at running!" Lillian complains, hiking up her peach dress up to sprint away from me once more. Her dark brown boots thump against the slippery ground. I follow in my beat up sneakers, lunging at her but failing.

"Maybe you're just fast!" I shoot back, raising my eyebrows. For a few moments I stop in my tracks, trying to catch my breath. Man, she is fast for someone so petite. All that working on the farm must have paid off.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pursue her once more.

I feel as if the sounds of our laughs echo, bouncing off the surface of nearby cliffs and far mountains.

"Phew! I'm beat!" Lillian exclaims as she falls into my arms. When I caught her, she began to playfully punch me, protesting that I wasn't "playing fair" or whatever she called me resorting to throwing mushrooms in her direction.

The sun has begun to set. It sinks below the curling tree like a working man retiring for the night. The color of rose washes the sky, layers of fiery yellow sweeping over. Clouds fade into the smallest of wisps, barely seen to the eye. Breathtakingly the pale light casts a dimmed light on Lillian.

I can see her more clearly than ever. The way the light hits her face and the shadows cast over the little details. She's more vivid than ever. From the branch of her nose to the tips of her hair, Lillian is there.

I pant, "No kidding." I can feel the slick sweat against her body. My racing heart beats against the small of her back, so loud and quickly I'm sure she can sense it. "Are you tired?"

She gives me a look. "I don't know Kana," she asks in that voice that makes me chuckle. "Am I tired?"

"Yes, you are," I say, running my hands through her thick hair.

I let them tangle through her curls. The ringlets twirl around my fingers. Her hair is soft and warm and slightly damp. As I arrange them so they spill even more over her shoulders, she says, "You're too amazing, Kana."

Lillian turns in my grasp, using her hand to caress my cheek. It feels heavenly on my skin as the tips stroke along my face. "If I weren't so sweaty," she giggles, "I'd totally kiss you right now." Using a thin hand to flip her hair, Lillian teasingly leans in, but retreats.

I growl, "Shut up, you don't even need to joke about that." The way her hair shines in this late afternoon sun is absolutely gorgeous. I swear it glows even more than it did an hour ago. It's pretty overwhelming. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I murmur, "You don't know how beautiful you are."

"I'm only beautiful to you," she softly says, wrapping her arms around my neck. When I place my hands on her waist, she mutters, "I mean, nobody looks at me the way you do."

"That's because I'm the only one who makes it obvious," I tell her, trying to catch her intense violet gaze. "All the guys used to like you. You know," I proudly gesture to myself, "before I came in and started dating you."

She stares at the ground, oblivious at my attempts to make eye-contact. "Maybe," she says. "Just maybe. But it's okay; I don't care."

Making a little noise that is distinguishable as "hm," I rest my fingers on the nape of her neck. Under my fingers I can feel the pulse of her heart. It's steady and quick, like mine. "And why wouldn't that be?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Because I love you, silly!" she exclaims.

I laugh once more. "I love you so much, Lillian," I say before leaning down to sweetly kiss her. When we pull back, her eyes are gleaming. "You're beautiful in every way possible."

Have a thrilling thirteenth celebration.