This is more of a preliminary look at a story that I'm still working on the skeleton of, so I would love to hear any criticism or other helpful thoughts on it. I know it isn't much of a look into the actual story, but it does show one of the major relationships that sets up the plot for most of the story.

Ya* sighed dejectedly, her usually graceful strides slowed by the heaviness in her breaking heart. Should I have been so harsh with him? He didn't mean any harm by his actions, and he's so immature and childish that I should have expected him to do something silly like he did...But, the problem is, that he still laughed at what happened! she thought testily to herself, her petal-like lips held in a thin pout.

As the dark haired Chinese woman came to the crosswalk, she barely even looked up to see if there were any cars coming; the distress in her heart laying siege to her normally bright and aware mind. Just as she was about to step out into the empty road, Ya heard someone call to her from behind.

"Ya! Wait, da*!" a familiar Russian voice called out; the sound of booted feet hitting the uneven cement sidewalk was accompanied by heavy pants for air.

He never was a good runner, Ya commented ruefully in her mind as she turned to face her childhood friend, her expression as blank as the porcelain dolls that her mother had sold to help keep their family housed and decently fed. Despite what she was feeling inside, she would try to uphold her pride. "What do you want, Ivan?" she inquired stonily; her voice seemed to hold a bite that was almost physical, if the way that Ivan flinched was anything to go by.

"Ya-Ya," Ivan began, using the old childhood nickname that had always brought a fond smile to the woman's lips in the past; it didn't appear to have any sway on her this time, though. "I'm sorry, da? I didn't mean for it to turn out the way it did...I just wanted to surprise you!"

"Oh, you surprised me, alright. So much, in fact, that I spilled my drink all over my new dress, aru!" Ya snapped, gesturing to the large dark splotch on her vibrant red dress. Which I wore because it's your favorite color...

"You still look beautiful to me...," Ivan mumbled in a tone so soft that Ya couldn't even hear what he had said. "I-I'm sorry," he repeated, his purple eyes unable to meet honey brown ones as he started to fidget with the hem of his black and white shirt. "I thought you liked pandas..."

"Not when they sneak up behind me and shout something in my ear as loud as they can, aru!" Ya sniffed haughtily, her slender eyebrows angling down as she narrowed those wonderfully expressive eyes that the Russian loved so much.

Ya couldn't help the delightedly warm smile that broke out onto her face as she waited in surpressed anticipation for her friend to show up. It had been a while since they had gotten together, since Ivan was still attending college, and Ya was anxious to see the Russian after almost a year of not seeing one another in person. She had gone out the day before and splurged on this gorgeous red dress that she had seen, excitedly planning on what to wear with it and how to do her hair for tonight: her birthday. A light blush pooled onto her pale cheeks as she fantasized about finally confessing her feelings to her childhood friend, her hand tightly clutching the glass she held. Normally, Ya didn't drink alcohol, but tonight was special.

A wave of low chuckles, derisive sniggers, and outright laughter suddenly swelled in her ears as slow footsteps padded up behind the Asian woman. Ya was about to turn around to greet her friend - for it must have been Ivan, doing something silly behind her back - her brown eyes rolling in amusement as her smile widened, but a pair of large, fuzzy paws covered her eyes - and the rest of her face, what with how large they were - halting her from moving and blinding her by black faux fur. She yelped in surprise as she was pulled into a rough embrace, her back being pressed into a broad chest, a furry snout snuffling next to her cheek. Ya would have screamed, but she was gagged by a mouthful of fur from the paws covering her face. So, Ya squirmed around, trying to break free from whoever was holding her.

She jolted in surprise when something was shouted rather unintelligibly into her ear, her shocked movement causing her to spill the fancy alcoholic beverage that she had been holding onto her lovely new dress. "Aiyah!" Ya gasped past the fur in her mouth, shuddering at the unpleasant feeling of liquid dripping down her legs and soaking into the fabric of her clothing and shoes.

The plush paws were suddenly lifted from her face, clearing Ya's vision. She spun around angrily to confront whoever it was that had just humiliated her, but froze when she was met with the laughing face of her friend; a giant panda head was resting on the seat next to him. For a moment, she had no words to express how hurt she felt; but, as Ivan's laughter died down, Ya's anger bubbled up.

"You are a childish fool, aru! Why did you do that?! I cannot believe your absolute stupidity, Ivan Braginski! You have publicly humiliated me, and I-I...I was going to...," Ya trailed off, tears of many reasons spilling from her eyes. I was going to say it tonight...I love you..."I hate you, aru," she hissed out in her tempest of hurt and disappointment; not caring how juvenile it sounded, for that's how she felt in her temporary misery. "I don't even know why I expected anything from you. You need to grow up, Ivan..."

"Ya, wait! Let me explain!" Ivan called out as she stormed away from him and out of the establishment, desperately fumbling to get the panda paws off as he tried to catch up with the Chinese woman.

"A-And you...you laughed!" Ya choked out, her facade of indifference cracking. "H-How could you do that?"

"I didn't know that I made you spill your drink...I couldn't see what had happened because of the bear head, but that's still no excuse for laughing...," Ivan replied regretfully, his accent becoming thicker as he got more and more upset with himself. He had never meant to make Ya cry; especially not on her birthday, and especially not on the birthday that he was going to confess his feelings to her! Ivan shoved his hand into his coat pocket, thick fingers curling around the small box there.

Two weeks prior to this night, he had gone to Ya's father and mother to ask for her hand; he knew that her family was one for ceremony and tradition, and he wanted to do this right. Instead, it seems, that he had failed in this as he had with everything else in his life. The one thing that he believed to have succeeded in, the one thing that he cherished above everything else in this world, was his relationship with Ya.

Ya's anger quickly burnt itself out as she finally took notice of how upset the Russian was, guilt at reacting as strongly as she did to this unfourtunate misunderstanding rushing forth. I never could stay mad at him for very long..., she thought with a soft sigh as she was reminded of the awkward, chubby little Russian boy that she had first become friends with.

All the other children were suspicious of the Russian boy when he and his family first moved into the neighborhood, and they would drive him away from whatever games they were playing or would tease and taunt him with cruel words. Ya had watched from a distance for several weeks as the younger boy would approach a group of kids, all sweet smiles and hopeful looks, only for him to be rejected and turned away to try again elsewhere. And try again he did, until he had exhausted the supply of children on the playground that were close to, or at his age. Ya, who was actually three years older than Ivan, had asked the boy if he wanted to play with her panda stuffed toys. Ivan shyly agreed, happy that he wasn't being rejected outright; he was still wary of Ya possibly playing a trick on him, though. After a while, the two warmed up to each other and became fast friends.

"Ya-Ya...," Ivan murmured in an unsure tone, his arm shaking as he started to bring out the small velvet box from his coat pocket. Even if Ya didn't say yes, even if she wanted nothing else to do with him, he wanted her to have the ring anyway. She could do whatever she liked with it, but he knew that it would only fester painfully if he were to keep it in his possession.

"Ivan, I'm not angry with you...I know you meant well, but you have to understand how this upset me, White Bear*...," Ya said in a soft voice, smiling a bit as she used the nickname that she had come up with so long ago. "I just...need to be by myself for a while, alright? We'll try another time, aru; maybe it will go better the second time, hm?" she suggested, offering her old friend, and secret crush, a warm smile.

Ivan choked on his resolve, quickly withdrawing his hand from his coat pocket; leaving the box to silently burn in its resting place. "Da...right. Next week, then? My treat, whatever you want," Ivan said, returning Ya's smile with one of his own.

"Yes, that sounds nice," Ya hummed, stepping out into the street as she waved goodbye.

Ivan waved back half-heartedly, his smile fading as the woman he loved turned her back to him. Coward...Stupid, stupid, worthless coward..., he berated himself, starting to head back the way he had come.

A flash of light reflecting off the windows of the buildings caught his attention, and he glanced over his shoulder to see what it was. Dread spilled down his spine to pool in his stomach as he saw a car barrel down the street erratically, heading right for Ya. For one split second he was frozen in shock, but in the next he had bolted out into the street. "Ya!"

Ya turned around in confusion at the frantic tone in Ivan's voice, her mouth opening in shock as she was suddenly blinded by the car's headlights. She felt strong arms wrap around her protectively before the screech of tires filled her ears and everything went black.

Honey brown eyes fluttered open in confusion, a delicate hand brushing dark hair out of the way. The woman - she couldn't remember her name - winced as she sat up, her whole body feeling sore. As she righted herself, something sparkled in the striking light that streamed from the headlights of an abandoned car just a little ways off. She reached out to pick up the sparkling thing, discovering that it was an intricate ring with Chinese characters for "undying love" and "loyalty" carved into its silvery surface. She rolled the ring in between her thumb and index finger, seeing that "Happy Birthday" was etched inside the curve of the ring. Her eyes were drawn away from the beautiful object when she heard a strangled gasp for air, her honey brown eyes widening as she became aware of the scene in front of her.

"Aiyah! What happened here, aru?!" she exclaimed, hurrying over to the young man as he struggled to bring air into his lungs. She grimaced at the amount of blood that lay splattered on the pavement, reaching her hand out to rest reassuringly on his shoulder. "Hold on, please. I'm sure help will be here soon...," she murmured in a low voice, looking around for anyone who could help.

The young man's deep purple eyes were glazed over with pain, but they widened in recognition as they saw the woman's face. He tried to speak, but all he was able to achieve was a gurgling wheeze. His hand twitched slightly, clumsily motioning to the body next to him, which the woman had failed to notice before.

She quickly checked for a pulse on the other person's wrist, but couldn't detect anything. "I...I'm sorry...," she trailed off, her eyes lingering on the red dress that the still figure on the ground was wearing. She couldn't help but feel that it was important in some way, but she just didn't know how. When she turned back to the young man, his eyes were closed and his chest no longer rose and fell with his labored breaths.

The silence of deep midnight was broken by the soft whispering sound of wings, white feathers falling like a dusting of snow around the crash scene. The woman would have found it all quite wonderous if she had been watching the winged being alight near the tragedy, but her honey brown eyes were drawn back to the silver ring in her left hand. She closed her eyes and closed her fingers into a fist around the ring, pressing her hand to her chest. She didn't know why the ring gave her this light, warm feeling in her heart - especially with the terrible death she had just witnessed - but she accepted the hopeful feelings as a good sign for the future.

Ya: Means "elegant" in Chinese. This is the name I chose for Fem!China.

Da: Yes in Russian

White Bear was supposed to be in Chinese characters, but I guess they don't show up on FF.

白种的