Chapter 4: The bond of our friendship
Aaren sat patiently beside his cherry tree. From the day he and Sakura first met, he had always waited for her here, hoping that she would come. He just couldn't wait.
"I hope that she will come today." He said and glanced at his tree, a smile formed on his lips. A voice then echoed from the distant, causing him to look at its direction. It's Lyrica, who was 11. Her blond hair had reached her shoulder and her emerald eyes were glimmering with joy. She was always a cheerful girl, and that was one of the things Aaren liked about her, she was kind of like a big sister to him.
"Greeting, His Highness! Good day, isn't it?" She said.
"Yes, it is." He smiled back at her. "But Lyrica, I told you, you don't have to call me 'His Highness'. Beside, I'm younger than you."
"That's true, but you're a prince, Aaren. And I'm just a normal person."
"That doesn't matter, sis. I just want you to call me 'Aaren'. Okay?"
"Okay then." She smiled again. "What are you doing anyway?"
"That? Ah, I… uh… I'm… uh… I'm taking care of my tree!" He finally managed to say without stuttering. Lyrica noticed this, but ignored it anyway. Jesse called out for her from afar.
"Lyrica. Lyrica, where are you? I need you to help me this."
"Coming mom!" Before she went away, she turned back to Aaren. "I have to go now. Have a nice day, His Hi- I mean, Aaren."
"You too." He waved at her as she ran toward her mother. After she was out of his view, he looked back at the tree and continued to wait for Sakura. After a while, he sighed.
"Well, I guess that she's not going to come…" He said and ready to get up, but suddenly a glow of lights appeared in front of him. More lights came until they form a shape of a human, they then disappeared and revealed Sakura, who was smiling at him.
"Hi Aaren." She said, and he jumped up in joy.
"Sakura! You finally come!"
"Well, I said that I'll come back, right?" She looked at the tree. "Taking care for your tree again?"
"Actually, I'm waiting for you. I always wait for you here."
She smiled again. "So, what are we going to do?"
"I have planned already. Let's play tag first."
Her face became confused. "What's 'tag'?"
His eyes widened in surprise. "You don't know what tag is!?"
"Yeah, I've never heard of that before."
"I'll tell you then. In tag, one person is chosen and he or she has to chase the others. If one is caught, then that person will be the chaser. Seem easy to understand, huh?"
"I guess so. But how can they decide who is the chaser?" Sakura asked with curious.
" There are various ways. But the simplest way is to play 'rock, paper, scissor', if there are only two player."
" 'Rock, paper, scissor'? I know it!"
"Then let's do it, shall we?"
They rolled their hands into fists and raised them high. Sakura then lowered her hand and opened it completely, while Aaren made a scissor.
"Ah, I won! Then you'll chase me." He then ran way before she could respond. "Try your best to catch me!"
"Ah, w- wait!"
They ran, and ran, and ran until Aaren started to get tired. He didn't notice that he was slowing down, and Sakura had run near him. She extended her hand and touched his shoulder. They stopped and tried to catch their breaths.
"I… *huff* got you." Sakura said.
"Well, I guess *huff* that you d… *huff* did." Aaren replied. "It's my turn to *huff* chase you then."
"Honestly, I don't… *huff* want to run anymore."
"Me too. Let's rest."
They then sat down under the cherry tree. They stayed quiet for a while before Aaren spoke.
"I still can't understand that why you don't know what tag is… It's a very common game that everyone knows all the time."
Her face saddened. "Well, I… don't have anyone to play with."
"You don't!?"
"Yes, I don't have any friend. My mom always forces me to study."
"Really? Why does she do that?!"
"She said that I'm the next queen because I'm the only child in the family… It's just me and my mother, actually."
"Did your dad… die?"
"No, he just… went missing, if my mother told me correctly. She said that when they were married for about a year, he went away suddenly without letting her knows, without any words or reasons. The thing that made my mom very sad that it was almost her birthday. But before she could get over it, she discovered that she was pregnant. Now, when she says about it, she gets mad because she thinks that… he's cheating."
Then, she looked down at the ground and stayed silent. He quickly put a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, I… I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay." She cut him off with a smile. "Good thing that you're here with me. I'm glad that you become my friend."
He smiled back at her. "I'm happy to be friends with you too, Sakura."
They sat back and Sakura glanced up at the cherry tree they were under. It was still blooming beautifully, and Sakura's eyes couldn't take themselves away from it.
"Such a beautiful thing…"
"Yes, it is. I hope that my tree will be like that some day."
His words made her remembered something.
"Oh! Almost forgot!" She said and he looked at her in confusion.
"Huh?"
"Come to your cherry tree with me!" She pulled him up from his position. "I have something to show you!"
"What do have to show me, Sakura?" Aaren asked.
Sakura didn't say anything; instead, she took out a brown and dark blue ribbon and tied it around a small branch of the tree.
"There, I want to give you and it this ribbon, Aaren." She smiled. "I want our friendship to last forever, so I made this as a bond of our friendship and a thing for us to remember each other, even when one of us aren't there for the other. Aaren, you're so special and precious to me, I don't want to lose you. You're my only friend."
"Sakura…" Aaren mumbled, trying to hold back his tears. He hugged her tightly, which made her yelped in surprise. "I promise you, Sakura. I won't ever forget you. I won't ever!"
She smiled and hugged him back. "Best friend forever?"
"Best friend forever."
