After constructing her third sandcastle, Noire smiled excitedly and retrieved another fallen leaf from outside the sandbox, inserting at the top of her newest creation. Without another moment's hesitation, Noire began construction on the next one, far too occupied with her activity to notice the small figure approaching the sandbox.
"Hey, who are you?"
The sudden voice made Noire's heart stop abruptly as she dropped the toy bucket from her hands to hastily address her visitor with a frightened, flustered expression. Overwhelmed, Noire stared breathlessly at the red-haired girl standing on the edge of the sandbox with her arms folded bashfully. Noire hadn't realised she had been staring until the young girl tilted her head in confusion.
"Um…hello?"
Equally confused and conflicted, Noire felt her apprehension and anxiety begin to overwhelm her, mind far too clouded with frightening thoughts to even process her visitor's words.
The young red-head stepped towards her. "Hey, are you OK?"
Under-prepared and overwhelmed, Noire selected the action she always pursued when she felt frightened or challenged: find her parents for their protection. And with that, Noire stood up and hastily retreated form the sandbox, leaving the other girl puzzled and confused.
Virion and Tharja watched the entire exchange with curious expressions, but were soon alarmed when they witnessed their young girl sprinting towards them with a frightened expression. The two parents stood up hastily when Noire approached them.
"Good heavens, Noire, what is wrong, dear?" Virion extended his arms as the young girl embraced him desperately.
Noire exchanged a look between them, and shook her head anxiously, visibly overwhelmed and confused.
Tharja, overreacting, exchanged a look of burning resentment towards the sandbox and back to her daughter. "What did that girl say to you!?" Tharja clenched her fists, prepared to approach the red-head for upsetting their daughter.
Frantically, Noire released her father and turned to her mother. "N-no, please, M-mother" protested Noire desperately, "I'm not…"
She struggled to finish her sentence which prompted Tharja to dispel her angered expression, and kneel down beside her husband.
"What happened?" Tharja, too, was concerned.
With an embarrassed expression, Noire shook her head anxiously. "I can't…", she whispered.
Virion gently placed his hand on her cheek. "You can't what, dear?"
Overwhelmed, Noire buried her face into her hands and wept silently. "I want to go home", she whispered desperately.
Virion and Tharja, both equally frightened and concerned, exchanged a conflicted expression between one another, neither of them sure of what to do to comfort their daughter. Carefully, Virion removed the young girl's hands from her face, and smiled reassuringly for her. Noire averted her eyes in embarrassment.
"Did that girl surprise you, dear?"
Noire sniffled and nodded softly.
Abandoning her anger and scorn, Tharja offered her hand, and Noire hastily grabbed it for protection. "What did she say, Noire?"
Wiping her nose with her other hand, Noire caught her frantic breath. "…S-she said…'h-hello' to me…but then I…I got r-really scared and…"
Struggling to choke out her final words, she returned to sobbing silently. Desperately, Noire closed the distance between her and her mother, and held Tharja tightly for support.
Tharja, hesitant at first, gently rubbed the back of the young girl's head. "…It's alright, Noire" she reassured softly, "everything is alright. You did the right thing coming back to us - you made a strong choice."
Confused, Noire removed herself from her mother's embrace and exchanged a worried glance between her parents who greeted her with comforting smile. Virion gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, and exhaled softly.
"Do you want to try speaking with that girl again?"
Immediately, Noire's eyes widened with alarm as she shook her head violently.
"No, no, it's OK" reassured her father, "you aren't in trouble, dear, there's no need to be afraid."
Controlling her breathing, Noire turned her attention back to the sandbox where she was surprised to see the red-haired girl inserting more leaves into the sandcastles.
"See, dear? She's decorating your creations", he took her hand and shook it excitedly, "I venture she just wishes to play with you."
Noire watched as the dark mage observed the other girl with concentration. "She seems…sincere."
With her start still beating sporadically, Noire exchanged another glance between her parents and the girl in the sandbox. Although a part of her was still incredibly reluctant to return to the red-head, a warm, relieving feeling developed in her chest over the prospect of spending time with another child, an experience Noire wasn't very familiar with.
The young girl wiped her nose and smiled weakly. "OK."
Delighted, Virion wiped her forehead with his sleeve and any remaining tears from her cheeks. "There's no reason to be afraid, Noire, just be yourself, and don't forget to smile." He scratched underneath her chin, causing her to giggle again.
"…I'll be good, F-father."
She gazed towards her mother for affirmation. Although the girl could still observe a trace of uncertainty on the dark mage's face, Tharja nodded assertively. "…Be strong."
With uncertainty, she acknowledged her parents' request.
Virion gestured for her to return to the sandbox, gently pushing her with his hand. "You're more than welcome to try what we practiced at home."
Nodding anxiously, Noire sheepishly bid her parents farewell with her hand and began to make her way back. Upon approaching the outside of the sandbox, the redheaded girl hastily turned to address Noire with a confused expression.
"What did you do that for?"
Noire felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "…I…" she stammered. Still apprehensive of her next action, Noire turned back to parents for reassurance. She was greeted with an excited, encouraging expression from her father and a confident nod from her mother.
Closing her eyes, she cleared her throat. "…H-hello" she began with a weak wave of her hand, "m-my name i-is…N-n-noire…and I-I am", she extended her fingers for emphasis, "…five years old."
The redhead blinked in confusion. "Um…OK", she responded hesitantly, "I'm…Severa."
With a gentle smile, Noire bowed her head politely. "It's very n-nice to meet you…Severa."
The newly identified redhead acknowledged with a small, amused smile. "…Rrrright" she answered, "so, why did you run off?"
Noire, embarrassed, hung her head in humiliation. "...I got scared."
"Scared? Why, 'cause of me?"
"…I don't know." Noire shrugged her shoulders bashfully.
With a fallen stick cradled in her hand, Severa began to absentmindedly draw lines in the sand. "…Well, I'm sorry if I did - I just wanted to see if we could…", she hesitated, "play…together?"
Noire felt her heart beat excitedly from the girl's confession. "Oh, r-really?"
Severa disposed of the stick. "Yeah" she answered casually, "I saw you playing here by yourself…and 'cause I'm alone too I thought..."
Ecstatic over the prospect of playing with another child, Noire nodded her excitedly. "Y-yes, please."
Severa averted her eyes. "We don't have to you if you don't wanna..."
"N-no, p-please...I'd…like that."Anxiously, Noire shook her head.
Severa returned to Noire with a worried expression, gesturing towards one of her own sandcastles. "Do you like mine?"
"I-it's really good."
The red-head smiled bashfully. "Yeah, thanks", she shrugged her shoulders, "…so…did you wanna keep making more?"
Noire nodded eagerly.
As the two sat down, Severa retrieved the empty toy bucket and offered it to Noire who accepted it gratefully. Smiling gently, Noire placed the item down beside her and turned back to Severa with a hopeful expression, causing the other girl to tilt her head in confusion.
Before speaking, Noire took a deep breath. "Do you want to be…friends?"
Noire watched with disappointment in her heart as the red-head furrowed her eyebrows, visibly conflicted by the proposal. "…Friends?"
While she hadn't expected a direct answer, Noire was surprised to witness the red-head turn her head around frantically to concentrate on something, prompting Noire to follow. On the other side of the playground sat someone the woman from earlier - the older red-hair Noire assumed was Severa's mother. Noire observed curiously as the mother nodded her head encouragingly with an eager smile.
Noire sat quietly as Severa returned her attention to her with a stoic expression. The young girl stirred in her seat before answering.
"…Yes, please…".
Smiling excitedly as a thrill of exhilaration raced down her spine, Noire wriggled herself closer to the red-head and offered her the bucket. After some hesitation, Severa smiled bashfully and accepted the toy.
Noire folded her arms politely over her waist. "…I…I've never r-really had a friend before."
Severa developed a bashful smirk. "Yeah, same."