He first got interested on the day she pointed at him. He remembered clearly, her black hair up in pigtails, her green eyes demanding. She wore a pink little dress.
He remembered when she was three and made herself known to him.
He visited the mortal world very much. With him being alone in a kingdom of nitwits, who wouldn't want to escape.
In a park in a little town, he leaned against a small stone pillar. He was going to turn into an owl, but decided he didn't want people to ogle and wonder why an owl was out during the day. He just used his magic to hide himself so that he could watch these interesting humans in peace.
He had seen the woman bring her to the park, but put it out of his mind.
He had heard the woman tell her to play and not go too far.
The little girl ran off with a small ball, while the woman went off to talk with some other parents. The girl played with herself, till the ball bounced away, heading in his direction.
She ran after it, but when she looked up, her eyes didn't wander past him like everyone else's did. She didn't just grab the ball and go back to the woman's sight. She stared at him with an indigent frown on her face.
And then she pointed, and spoke what was on her mind.
"You look like mom went at you with scissors."
If anyone else had said that to him, in any other moment, he'd have bogged them on the spot. But he was shocked. Shocked to see that a little girl could actually see him. Shocked that his magic didn't seem to affect her.
He didn't show it. He was an arrogant bastard of course, and being shocked didn't help him play the part.
"That's not a nice thing to say little girl. Run off to your mother now."
The girl sniffed, looking back.
"Mom is busy. Play with me."
She wasn't asking, it was a demand. A demand to a stranger to.
"Weren't you taught to not speak to strangers? You could be stolen away."
The little girl frowned, moving her head to the side.
"But then how would you make friends if you didn't speak to anyone? Everyone's a stranger here."
He was surprised at how her words rang true. He consented, and tossed the ball back and forth to her. She didn't flinch when he conjured up a crystal ball to check on his kingdom, and waved when he turned into an owl to leave.
He flew away, but landed somewhere she couldn't see him. She was playing alone again, and seemed like a normal child.
After that day, he would come to the park whenever she did. He would watch her as an owl, standing on that stone pillar silently.
She never paid him any attention, except around Christmas when she would leave a gingerbread cookie. He always took it, humoring her slightly to show that he liked her gifts. In truth, he liked more when her eyes would light up in excitement when she saw that the cookie was gone.
As she got older though, she stopped playing with the ball, and began to act out scenes. She found the book about his world, and became obsessed with it. He enjoyed listening to her speak, even though when she said the last words it always made him cringe. He had to continue listening.
She would bring a dog, and he knew that the dog also could tell what he was. Even in owl form, the dog knew that he was not from this world.
When she said the words, he didn't know it would happen. It just did. He didn't grant the wish to everyone, only to the people who meant it fully with their hearts. But when she said the words, he felt it, and granted it quickly.
He didn't know at the time, but he had already fallen for her. The little girl who was now almost a woman. He had fallen for her hard, and wasn't going to give up.
Even after she defeated him, he still watched. He left her a peach everyday on her dresser, and everyday he felt joy. She would eat the fruit, despite what had happened when she had eaten the first one he had given her.
He hoped that this meant she wanted to go back.
And one day, she did. She called for him, and he whisked her away. He took along her old dog to, since he had grown fond of the poor thing, since it was her first friend.
Several years into their forever, she asked him something.
"You remember? When we first met?"
He chuckled.
"You were a little girl who told me I had hideous hair."
She blinked, surprised.
"That's not how we met?"
He kissed her cheek, smiling.
"Actually it is. You may not remember it, but when you were younger…"
AUTHOR NOTE: Woo! I got this idea and decided to write it out. I think you can all guess who He is and who She is.