"Candy Candy" manga is written by Kyoko Mizuki, Yumiko Igarashi.

oOo

Chapter 1: The Angel of the Hill

Candy and Annie were not yet six years old when Mr. and Mrs. Brighton came to Pony's home to adopt Annie. Candy and Annie couldn't believe that the adoption was actually happening. Many people came and went before but they never actually chose to adopt either one of them… until now.

Before they began to grasp what's going on, they came to take Annie. They made Annie change to the most beautiful dress Candy had ever seen. After allowing Annie to hug Candy, they put Annie inside the car. Before Candy could take the next breath the car had started to move…

"Candy!" screamed Annie, sobbing, from the car window. "I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave!" She suddenly felt scared.

"Be happy, Annie! You have mom and dad!" With a big brave smile Candy waved to Annie. She ran along the car until she couldn't keep up anymore. "Be happy! BE! HAPPY!"

As always, Candy always boosted her confidence… Even until the very last second. "Candy!" screamed Annie tearfully. "I love you!"

"I love you, Annie!" screamed Candy. "Bye!"

"Bye!" The car disappeared before Annie finished screaming. Leaving Candy alone...

Panted heavily, Candy bent over with hands on her knees, trying to breath and to grasp the reality. Annie is adopted, thought Candy in disbelief. She has a mom and a dad now. I'm happy for her.

Candy kept telling herself how happy she was. But it's hard to actually feel so. Without Annie, she felt lonely. She missed her friend greatly and gradually the sad reality started to sink in: no one wanted to adopt her.

No, she's not happy at all. To not upset Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane, Candy ran to the Pony's hill to cry herself out, alone.

"I want a mom and a dad, too," cried Candy. Feeling lonely and abandoned, she ran so fast that she fell. Didn't bother to get up, she buried her face in her arms and burst into heartbreaking tears. Bitterly, she cried never endingly.

Suddenly, among her sobs Candy heard a faint noise coming from the far.

Candy ignored it initially, but the sound kept moving closer… getting louder. That's weird, thought Candy. This hill was her and Annie's secret place. They had never met anyone here.

"Mama!" After a while Candy caught the sound distinctly.

She lifted up her head and sat up rigidly to see who's there. On the foot of the hill, she saw a little boy.

"Mama where are you? Ma!" screamed the boy.

Candy wiped her tears and drifted her attention to the boy.

"Mama!" the boy wailed in distressed. "Mama … Where are you?" He cried.

From the top of the hill, Candy looked around. There's no one else.

Poor thing, thought Candy as she witnessed the boy who kept crying desperately. She forgot about her misery, right away. He must've got lost! I'll help him!

Candy sprang on her feet and ran down the hill to approach the boy. He's about the same height as her, probably even shorter. His face was all wet smeared by mixture of tears and mud from his dirty hand. He startled seeing candy. But since Candy was just a little girl, he's not afraid of her.

"Hello," said Candy in her friendly voice. "You're looking for your mother?"

He nodded and cried out loud. "I can't find my mama. I can't find anyone," he said, shaking with sobs. "I was following a frog, when I came back they're all gone." He cried.

"Don't worry," said Candy. "I help you to find your mother."

"C-could you?" he stammered, sobbing in agony.

"Yes," said Candy decisively. "Oh, I'm Candy. You?"

"N-Neal," said the boy. Among his sobs, he offered his hand for a handshake. The two children shook hands.

"Don't cry, Neal," said Candy. "Come with me. My mothers will help you to find your mother." Kindly, Candy took Neal's hand and held it in hers. She took him to Pony's home.

Candy took Neal to Ms. Pony and explained the situation.

"Don't worry, dear," said Ms. Pony kindly to Neal. "We will find your mother."

Candy watched Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane did some brainstorming which she didn't pay much attention to. She kept looking at her little friend instead. He looked cute in his little suit. She often saw men wore suit but she never saw a little boy dress in a suit like that before.

"Come here, Neal… We go to the police office," said Sr. Lane kindly. "Say bye to candy."

Sr. Lane tried to separate Neal from Candy but he refused. He held Candy's hand tighter and started to cry again. So Sr. Lane let Candy hold Neal's hand and took Candy to the police with her too. Sr. Lane drove the horse buggy herself.

"You're very nice," said Neal meekly to Candy inside the buggy. "Just like my sister."

"You have a sister?" Candy asked.

Neal nodded.

"She's very pretty. Just like you."

Inside the police office, they waited until Neal's parents came which's pretty quick. They had been looking for their son everywhere. The entire policemen in the whole city knew that the son of the famous Leagan family was missing. Soon, Mrs. Sarah Leagan arrived. Neal's face burst with smile when he saw his mother. Quickly, he released Candy's hand and ran to his mother's arms.

Candy noticed. She saw how happy his face became.

"Mama," screamed Neal with the jolliest smile.

Sarah lifted him up and hugged her tearfully, happy to find her beloved son again.

Next to Neal's mother, stood a little girl wearing a pretty dress. From their conversation, Candy picked up that she's Eliza, Neal's sister. Her dress was beautiful. She looked just like a real princess reminding Candy of Annie. Seeing all these made Candy want to be adopted even more.

Sarah offered a large sum of money to Ms. Lane which Sr. Lane refused. But, Sarah insisted on giving.

"Thanks Ma'am. I'd rather we give something for Candy. She's the one who found your son," said Sr. Lane.

Sarah came to approach Candy.

"Thank you, Candy," Sarah said kindly.

"You're welcome," said little Candy.

"We'd like to give you a gift. Anything you want?"

"No, thank you," answered Candy mechanically. Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane always taught the children to give help to others without requesting something in return.

"But we do want to give you something. Toy, perhaps? A new dress?"

Candy was silent, looking thoughtful.

"I want a mommy," said Candy after lengthy moment. Sarah was surprised to hear that difficult request. She personally wasn't planning to adopt. She wouldn't want to have children with unknown background in her home. On top of it, her hands were already full with her own two young children.

Sarah got up, thoughtful, staying composed. She discussed something to Sr. Lane which Candy didn't follow.

Sarah then came back to Candy again. "Thanks again, Candy," said Sarah. "Neal, say thank you to Candy. We go home."

Neal moved forward. "Thank you Candy," said little Neal.

"You're welcome," answered Candy.

Neal stared at Candy deeply before running to his mother and sister. Candy was disappointed that they didn't take her with them.

"Mama, Candy won't come with us?" Candy heard Neal say.

Candy couldn't catch his mother's answer. She saw Neal struggle. He pulled his hand from his mother and ran back to Candy.

"Candy…" Neal took something out from the pocket of his suit. "This is for you," Neal whispered. He put that something in Candy's hand and quickly ran back to his mother.

In the buggy, Candy opened her palm to examine what Neal gave her. It's a metal plate, richly decorated. The size was a bit bigger than half of her little palm with a letter "L" in the middle.

What's this?, she thought.

"What's that Candy?" Sr. Lane asked curiously. "Oh nice. A family badge, I guess." She smiled and continued riding the horse to go back home.

oOo

Life went on as usual for Candy.

Meanwhile, Sarah who was grateful to Candy worked seriously to realize Candy's wish. She contacted her vast network of rich friends and found an affluent banker who were childless, the Bernstein. Sarah successfully persuaded them to adopt Candy. Before long the Bernstein moved to France and took Candy with them.

Neal never met Candy again, not yet at least. Candy never met Annie anymore either, but they wrote letters to each other regularly. Candy also wrote regularly to Ms. Pony and Sr. Lane.

-To be continued-

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