Disclaimer: If I owned FMP then I wouldn't be writing this disclaimer, actually, I wouldn't even be here. lol

Summary: What if Sosuke and Kaname were to have met before as kids but just didn't remember? This is kind of an AU set shortly after Kaname and her family moved to New York when she was 8 years old. She meets an odd boy who has never witnessed the snow fall before. Just a sweet story of what might have happened.

A/N: I tried to get the dates as accurate as I could. Kaname's are all accurate, her birthday and the her family's arrival to New York. But Sosuke's didn't quite fit, hence why it's an AU, since he is supposed to be in Helmajistan by this time but I set the fic where it's just before he goes there so he has a serious personality but he hasn't become the crazed war nut we all know.

Chapter 1: Yuki

On a clear Christmas Eve day, young Kaname Chidori clung tightly to her thick jacket as an icy breeze blew past her, numbing the tip of her nose as she rounded a property corner. Beyond it sat the large clearing of a city park which marked the center of the suburban neighborhood were she and her family lived, located just outside of New York City. Without the protection of the surrounding houses, the chilly winter air was free to disperse, forcing the young girl to pull up her hood in an effort to protect her blushed ears. She snuggled into her jacket's warmth, taking in the strange smell of the new fabric. Today had been her ninth birthday but, being the day that it was, her family would always celebrate it on Christmas. Still, they would give her one present to honor the day but would leave the rest for the party. The jacket she now wore had been this year's honorary birthday gift and she inwardly thanked her parents again, as the garment protected her from the winter's bitter breath.

Kaname began to make her was to the playground sitting in the center of the clearing. The ground was covered with a thin blanket of snow that lightly crunched beneath her boots with each step she took. It wasn't until she reached the playground that she noticed a person sitting atop the jungle gym. As she rounded, the structure she could make out the features of a young boy, about the same age as her. She knew there were other kids her age that lived in the area but it was rare for her to bump into them here when it remained this cold at midday. Halfway around the structure, she halted when she reached his front, but on ground level, she stood well beneath his field of vision. From this angle Kaname could clearly see his dark brown hair that hung lightly over his face, pushed more to one side than the other. He had a faint scar that sat on his lower left jaw line and his light blue eyes held a solemn, concentrated stare.

"Is there something you would like to say?" he asked in English without averting his gaze. His words were slightly accented and confident suggesting that he could speak the language fluently. The sudden sound of his voice took her by surprise and even though he hadn't looked at her, she couldn't help but blush and lower her eyes to the ground nervously.

"I soree. I not seen you around here before," she replied in a shaky voice as she struggled with her words. Unlike his, her words came out thickly accented and broken. Her parents started teaching her English when they arrived here two months ago from Japan. She was learning fast and could clearly understand it but still had a really hard time speaking and reading it. Because she wasn't very fluent yet, her parents thought it best to home school her until she could keep up with the other kids her age. Unfortunately this also prevented her from making any friends.

Kaname nervously looked back up at him and was shocked to find him now looking at her. His head was tilted slightly and she could see slight confusion in his eyes. As much as she wanted to look away in embarrassment, she was taken aback by stone grey color of his stare which she had previously mistaken for blue. She had never seen eyes that color before. After what seemed like a very long five seconds, her blush deepened in color and she quickly averted her attention to the ground again, her light peacock hair promptly concealing the look on her face.

"You have a familiar accent," he said with an interested tone, "Are you not from here?" He sounded a little too formal for someone of his age but at the moment she really didn't care and slowly forced herself to look back up at the strange boy.

A nervous smile formed on her face as her mind fumbled around for the right words. "I jus' come here two month ago from Japan. My mommy teaching me English since we come here. I still not bary good at speaking though."

"So you can speak Japanese?"

"Hai…oops, uh…yes!"

Once she replied, the boy's gaze relaxed into something that Kaname could only describe as relief, although the expression lacked the smile she'd expect to see. Instead, she could sense it in his eyes and hear it in his voice as he spoke. "I can speak it well too."

Kaname's face broke into a smile as she thanked her lucky stars for finding someone her age who spoke her native language. With a lot more confidence now, she happily spoke back to him in Japanese. "Can I sit up there with you?" Without a word the boy merely scooted to the side creating a space for her to sit. She simply smiled at him and made her way up the cold metal structure to accompany him. By the time she reached his side he had gone back to staring out into the distance and she couldn't help but wonder what it was he was looking at.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked following the direction of his gaze but finding nothing that caught her eye.

"Watching for…uh…I don't know the correct term but here they call it 'snow.' I'm aware that it is the white stuff on the ground, or so my guardian told me, but I've never seen it fall from the sky and everyone keeps telling me how amazing it is to witness so, since it seems to happen here often, I'm gonna watch for it." he replied in perfect Japanese but using the English term for "snow".

Kaname couldn't help but giggle at how serious he was about something as simple to her as snow. "Yuki," she finally said.

"Huh?" He looked at her, confused.

"Snow," she repeated in English then continued in Japanese, "It's pronounced yuki in Japanese." She drew the hiragana characters for "yu" and "ki" in the space between them with the tip of her gloved finger. "And it's not gonna snow today," she added with another giggle.

"It's not?"

"No, silly. See how clear the sky is?" she asked pointing to the sky.

"Yeah," he replied following the direction of her hand.

"Snow is just like rain but frozen so it will only fall when it's cloudy."

"Ah…" He continued to peer at the sky, its blue color reflecting beautifully off his slate eyes.

"So what's your name?" she asked catching his attention again.

"Sosuke..."

"Well Sosuke, I'm Kaname but you can just call me Kana," she said rising to her feet. "And now that we're friends, let's go play tag together."

"Uh...ok," he responded as she dragged him to his feet and led him off the jungle gym.

TBC…