It was at the Odaiban Castle. King Takafumi Ishida had thrown a lavish party for all the nobles of the continent of Elibe as a symbol of unity and friendship, thus many important political figures of the land was present. But for the young, blonde boy that is walking through the crowds of adults upon adults, it is just another stupid, boring ball that his father threw for his friends. After minutes of searching, he finally located his parents chatting pleasantly with two other couple. Judging by their attire, the two was from a very respectable, if not royal, house. But to the blonde eight-year-old, he could care less about the social status of the guests. So he rudely intruded into their conversation.
"Hey daddy, can you play with me?" asked the boy, who was wearing a green tunic made of fine linen and a pair of brown shorts that was also of high quality.
"Son, have I taught you no manner? We are currently having a conversation." The boy's father mildly scolded, as he ruffled the boy's short blonde hair and stared into his ocean-blue eyes.
"But daddy, I don't want to be alone! This party's boring as the history lessons!" complained the boy.
"…." The boy's father could only sighed at the boy's complaint, apparently he felt a little sorry for neglecting his son all night.
"Ahaha…I see this is your second son, Takafumi. He has grown into a fine young lad." The man that King Takafumi was chatting with spoke up. He then turned to the boy with a kind, apologetic face, "Sorry, son, but your father and I need to talk about something important, can you come back to entertain us later?"
The boy then lowered his head, a bit crestfallen at his failed attempt, but quickly turned to his mother, "Then mommy, you play with me!" he demanded.
But the boy's mother seemed to have foreseen this. She knelt down to level her face with her son and said, "Sorry, baby, but I need to be with your father right now." The she turned her head back to the lady who was beside King Tsuiryuu's friend the whole time, as if asking something. The lady smiled and gently nodded. The boy's mother then turned back to her son, "Son, why don't you go talk to the pretty little girl over there? Maybe she'll play with you." said the boy's mother, as she pointed toward the entrance door.
"Oh…alright then, bye mommy." the boy said to his mother as she kissed him on his forehead and left to join her husband's company.
"Are you sure it is alright for them to meet? Isn't it a little too early?" the boy's mother asked the lady beside her as they trailed behind their husbands.
"The earlier they meet, the earlier they'll become friends and maybe even fall in love. Wouldn't you say so, Natsuki?" the lady giggled, imagining the future far away.
Upon hearing this, the Natsuki Ishida could also not help but giggle, "I suppose you're right, Rena."
Meanwhile the boy gazed toward the direction where his mother had pointed to. On the chair near the door sat a young girl of eight, who wore a petit pink dress. Her shoulder-length, chocolate brown hair was tied back with a pink ribbon, which was tied into a bow. She stared off into space as she sat, alone. Around her neck she wore a silver necklace, a radiant pink crystal orb fixed on the end of the chain. The little blonde hair boy studied her for a few seconds, before slowly walking toward her.
"Hi! Why are you here all alone?" he asked, striking a conversation when he had reached her.
"Just taking a break, what about you? Why are you here?" the little girl answered, smiling back politely.
"My father's the one who threw the ball. I came down because I had too. My stupid brother left me alone and ran off with one of his friends."
"I see. Well, my parents said something about that this was an important event so I needed to show up as well. I was with my brother until he too left me for his friends."
"Ahaha, seems like we're on the same boat. Are you not enjoying the party?"
"No no, the party is fantastic! It's just that it's a little boring without someone my age around."
"Well not anymore! We're about the same age aren't we?"
The girl thought for a bit, "Well…I suppose so."
The boy's mind then suddenly had an idea, "Hey, want to go to the garden to play?"
"I don't know…my mommy told me to stay here…"
"Come on, I promise it'll be fun, better than just sitting on some dumb old chair." The boy said, as he offered his hand to the girl.
"Well…okay!" The girl said, delighted, and took his hand. "Let's go!"
"Haha, seems like someone's enthusiastic."
"Let's play tag! Come on let's go!"
"Okay! I'll race you to the garden!"
"Okay! One…Two…Three…GO!"
The two children bolted out the door, and happily dashed into the night.
After a few games of running around trying to catch each other, the two lay down on the grass, exhausted. The boy was surprised at how fast the girl could run, even in a dress. He held no advantage over her in speed at all during the game.
"Well, that was fun wasn't it!" the boy said, panting hard.
"It sure was, thanks for playing with me, you've really made the night more interesting." replied the girl, who was also exhausted. The two held hands and lay side by side, looking at the ocean of stars above, feeling their hearts rush from all the running. The boy turned his sight toward the girl. Shining sweat, illuminated by the starlight trickled downed her, making her radiate in a faint light. He watched her as she was mesmerized by the night sky, stretching out her hand toward the heaven, as if trying to grasp the celestial lights. It was not before a little while when she noticed the boy was staring at her. She turned her face toward the boy's and looked right into his azure eyes with her ruby eyes, smiling. But the boy turned away, a trace of red color appeared on his cheek, while leaving the girl staring at his back. She giggled, and returned to looking above.
"Honey! Where are you? It's time to go home!" But good moments never last long. At the sound of the voice the girl sprang up, brushed her dress, and looked toward where the it was coming from.
"That's my mother...looks like it's time for me to leave..." the girl said, with reluctance in her voice.
"Oh...is that so...that's too bad. We were having so much fun too..." the boy pouted as he also rose from the ground, crestfallen that his newfound friend has to leave early.
"I'm sorry...but I promise I'll come play with you again someday." she promised with an assuring tone.
"Alright, I guess this is..." he started, but was cut off by an approaching individual.
"Excuse me, my lord Takeru, but his majesty requests your presence at once." Out of nowhere, the attendant approached the two and said.
Turning back to the girl, Takeru said, "It looks like I have to leave as well. It was really fun playing with you!"
The girl smiled at him, "Yeah, it was fun." She then retrieved her necklace from her neck, and placed it in his left hand. "Here. My mommy gave this to me when I was five, and it has been with me ever since. Now it can be with you so that whenever you see it, you can remember our time together. Please take care of it, and the next time we meet again, you can give it back to me okay? It's a promise that I'll come back." she held out her pinky.
Takeru gazed at her for a moment, and closing his left hand around the necklace, he smiled, "Okay, I promise to look after it. But make sure you come back okay?" he locked his pinky with hers, and both smiled.
She smiled, "For sure! Well I really have to go now, I'll see you again someday Takeru. Whenever that someday may be, I hope that you'll still remember me." She approached him, and kissed him on the cheek, making Takeru's whole face scarlet. With that and a final smile, she skipped along toward the voice of the her mother.
Seeing her silhouette finally fading into the night, he turned around to follow the attendant. Goodbye, ...uh..., Takeru froze, suddenly realizing something. Great, just great, I forgot to ask for her name...
While at the castle gate, the girl gazed out of the carriage at the silver moon. Takeru, I hope we will meet again.