A/N: Here is my first story with an OC that was submitted! The OC was sent in by ledisko21! (*applause) I especially hope she enjoys it and all of y'all like it too~ ^-^

Rafi smiled, making her way down into the mountain path, as her secret date gently grabbed her hand. He looked down at her and grinned. His chocolate eyes gazed deeply into her bright blue ones and made her melt. Little did she know, Soseki felt the same way. She tightened her grip on his hand.

Soseki was slightly older than her, but in this time in life, it seemed much more dramatic than it actually was. Unlike the other boys in Echo, Soseki cared for her and made her feel protected. No one else in the village approved of this relationship though. Well, nobody really knew. Sure, they were seen flirting a bit around the village, but not a single person saw them sneak out and have dates in the mountains. If Dunhill, who was like a father to her, knew, he would probably kill her.

Soseki loves to fish, but Rafi, not so much. Actually, she couldn't stand fish. She went with her boyfriend to make him happy. She honestly didn't care what they did, as long as they were together.

She spotted the place where they usually stopped to fish. Soseki pulled his hand out from hers to hand Rafi her pole. He laid out a blanket for the apprentice farmer to sit on. She slipped off her boots to reveal fluffy white socks. He plopped down next to her, setting the poles beside them.

"Aren't you gonna fish?" Rafi asked, propping herself up with her hands.

"Maybe. I just wanna be with you for a minute." Soseki smiled. He gently brushed off some dirt that had stuck on the shirt Rafi was wearing. She sported a sleeveless cream colored button up tucked into a red skirt reminiscent of the 40's. The cherry red bottom matched her signature bow bandana.

"Thanks for getting that off," Rafi looked at the spot where the dirt had been. "Hopefully it doesn't stain.."

"Don't worry. I don't think it will." Soseki paused to stare at the beautiful trees all around them. Autumn had just begun and the leaves were just starting to fade from bright shades of green to tints of red or orange. The sun was still high above their picnic, but knowing the days were getting shorter, the sunset would begin earlier. The water from the pond glimmered under the light and the small ripples hitting the shore created a soothing melody for the couple. The air was fresh and crisp and free from the city's pollution.

"This would've been an absolutely perfect place to write about.. Too bad." Soseki sighed. Soseki had been a journalist before he came to Echo. Rafi wasn't quite sure why he stopped publishing his stories and articles, there was no question he was talented. Maybe his works, that weren't stories, were a bit too radical. Something's went wrong, but Rafi didn't want to push it out of him yet.

"Yeah, it would've been." Rafi bit her lip. She could be a bit blunt sometimes, but tried to be as cautious as possible around Soseki. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice her comment. Rafi took in her surroundings, gazing off at three birds flying above.

Soseki turned his attention to the girl sitting next to him. Her straight, blonde hair was always tied back, no matter how many times he convinced her it was perfect down. Her blue eyes sparkled and her mouth curled into a cute grin. Everything about her was beautiful to Soseki. He would give anything to be able to publicly express his love for her.

"I think I'm gonna start fishing.." Soseki said, grabbing his pole and standing up. He planted his feet next to the blanket and casted his line in. He seemed satisfied and asked if Rafi would like to hers. She said no as politely as possible, so he casted hers in also.

"Why don't you ever wanna fish?" Soseki sat back down next to Rafi.

"Okay, I'll just say it," Rafi grinded her teeth. "I hate fishing." There goes her bluntness once again.

"That's fine, babe." Soseki laughed.

"Good." On top of being a bit blunt, Rafi also had a humorous a bit sarcastic side. She crossed her arms and pushed out her chin to add to her act.

Soseki stopped chuckling for a moment to look up at the totally serious girl. He looked a tad confused at the girls words.

"I'm just kidding," Rafi giggled. "I'm glad you aren't mad."

"Why would I be mad? You should've told me earlier! We could do something else!"

"It's fine, as long as I'm with you.." Rafi's voice trailed off as she scooted closer to the brown haired male. He laid back and she followed. They stared up at the light blue sky. The white puffy clouds. The birds flying overhead and even an occasional airplane. Rafi leaned her head on the older mans chest. She felt warm and comforted around him. His somewhat muscular arm acted as a pillow under her neck and curled around to gently caress her shoulder. She let her eyes slowly droop until they closed.

Rafi awoke in a panic. Soseki had also drifted off. She shook him until his eyes opened and he sat up. Their surroundings were now dark, as night had fallen.

"What time is it?" Rafi panicked. "Dunhill is gonna kill me!" She shot up from her sitting position to pull on her boots.

"Calm down. Maybe we can just sneak back into town and go to bed. Nobody has to know." Soseki stood up also. Rafi's face was twisted into a worried and concerned look. He gave Rafi an assuring smile as he picked up the fishing poles that had fallen.

"Okay, let's go."

The pair quickly rushed through the mountains. The darkness made this difficult as pieces of rocks and branches covered the ground. Rafi could admit she was a bit scared; she didn't know what time it was, but she never stayed out here late. Soskei's hand around her waist calmed her a bit as they briskly walked. The hoots of owls filled their ears along with leaves crunching under their feet. Finally, they reached Echo.

Thinking they were home free, the couple sauntered back to Rafi's farm. They laughed at their carelessness. Luckily, it seemed the town had gone to bed peacefully and without worry.

As Rafi's farm was in eyeshot, Soskei pulled the girl into a sweet kiss. Surprised, Rafi's eyes widened. Her lips pressed against his harder, deepening the kiss. The girl tangled her fingers into Soseki's medium length, brown hair. His arms held the farmer by the waist holding her up as she melted. The journalist pulled away for air and looked deeply into his girlfriend's eyes. His heart flipped as she grinned back.

"I should get to bed.." Rafi chuckled. Rafi unlocked her door and stepped inside, Soskei following. She hasn't even noticed before, but the lights were already on in her house. As she looked up, she saw Dunhill sitting at her dining room table. A small scream escaped Rafi's lips.

"Dunhill, what are you doing here?' Rafi gasped.

"Rafiel," Dunhill began with Rafi's full name. She knew she was in trouble now. He stood up from his chair and made his way over to Soseki and Rafi. "When you moved here almost two years ago, I made a promise to your parents that I would look after you. Now, you are nineteen, but that doesn't mean I will stop worrying when you are out extremely late." Dunhill shot a deathly look at Soskei. "Go ahead, explain yourself."

"I'm sorry. We fell asleep! We were just fishing. No big deal. It will never happen again!" Rafi pleaded.

Dunhill squinted his eyes. "You shouldn't even be with Soseki. I don't want you two hanging out together anymore. I'm sorry, Rafi, but it's for the best."

Soseki cut Rafi off as she was about to talk. He stepped in front of the girl a bit, as if to protect her.

"Dunhill, I take full responsibility for this. It was my fault. I know I'm supposed to be the responsible one. This will not happen again," Soseki grabbed Rafi's hand in his. "I like Rafi a lot and I want to continue to see her. I can and will take care of her. You won't have to worry ever again."

"I do not approve." Dunhill shook his head.

"Well," Rafi started. "you don't have to. I'm an adult and so is he. We can make our own choices and this is the best decision I could have made." She stared up at the taller man beside her and smiled, proudly. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Dunhill sighed and closed his eyes. He shook his head once again, disapprovingly. "You really like him?"

"I have no doubts." Rafi assured.

"I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow." Dunhill rubbed his head with a hand as he made his way out the door. Rafi felt bad for making Dunhill worry, but he had to learn to trust her. Of course, she was still young, but Soseki wasn't a bad guy and would care for her.

"Well, that sucked." Soseki commented.

"I would say.." Rafi rolled her eyes.

"I promise I will make him like me, Rafi."

"That's okay."

"You know, nobody else here approves of us either.." Soseki's mouth gathered to one side.

"I don't really care. I know who you are and that's why I like you so much." Rafi smiled up at her boyfriend.

"Like?" Soseki raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm only a kid. What do I know about love?" Rafi laughed.

Soseki chuckled, pulling his girl, once again, into a light kiss.

A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :D Also, thanks for all your support and to ledisko21 for submitting such a wonderful OC! Please review too! Lots of love, Moonies ^-^ xx

This is a message to Guest, who reviewed this story: I can't PM you, since you don't have an account, so I will just say here! The NeilxRio one-shot is already posted on here :)