She heard her laughter first, her laughter sounded as if they were bells ringing throughout the small forest, announcing the presence of a fairy-like princess.
She doesn't announce her presence to the small girl that day... or any day after. She just studies her, watching her play or read under the large oak tree.
She wishes she could just go down and meet with the little girl, befriend her and not be alone anymore. But then, she can't. If she went down there, there was chance that the small girl won't keep quiet about the strange woman (or child, depending on what she went down there as) in her small forest.
She regrets hiding the moment she hears the scream - the blood curdling scream that she knew all too well. After all the years she lived, she knew what the scream meant... knew who was screaming.
Racing across the forest to try and get to her - to save her. she knew though, that she failed. Yet again.
The rage she felt was beyond anything she ever felt before. The little girl did nothing to deserve this. The man that stood in front of front of the crumbled figure of the girl had no idea what hit him when she attacked.
She battled many humans and mutants alike... she's killed many people. But never would she have killed an innocent child again...
In the end, he went down like a bunch of potatoes, and she gathered the little girl in her arms. Her skin was cold, and her eyes were dull and staring unseeingly out at her. She could practically feel the broken bones the man must have caused her before breaking her. There was blood on the surrounding grass and covered her dress.
She was too late... again. She wasn't able to save the girl.
Gently, she stood up with the girl in her arms and settled the girl underneath the oak tree that she had first seen the girl. Turning around, her back to the tree, she moved further away. She wouldn't let that man be anywhere near the girl - even if he too was dead.
She dumped him into overflowing creek, knowing he would be carried far away before the creek slowed down. He would be found in a year, but that didn't matter. the only thing that did was that he was far away from this place...
She bathed the little girl's body to clean away the blood and tears before she dug a hole deep enough in front of the oak tree, where she would let the girl rest in afterlife - forever playing underneath the great oak tree.
It was after sunset when she heard shouting, the little girl's mother shouting for her.
With one last look at the oak tree, she turned around and headed towards the yells, her body changing and turning into the form of a little girl with red hair and the most brilliant green eyes.
THE END.