Quite some time ago, in a park somewhere, a little boy named Matthew sat on a swing. He is seven years old, with curly blond hair, and dark blue eyes. He is a very charming child, who always says please and thank you, and knows his table manners, and is very proud of the fact that he knows how to spell "Mississippi" correctly, because not even his brother can do that.

Despite this, he is very quiet, and doesn't have a very strong presence. It's because of this that he's often overlooked. He doesn't have many friends, but he does have an imaginary friend named Kuma. Kuma was with him now, actually, sitting on the swing next to him. Matthew and Kuma were having a heated discussion about which topping was best on pancakes, when another little boy walked up to the swings.

This boy's name was Gilbert, but Matthew didn't know it at the time. He was an albino, with white hair, red eyes, and pale skin that burned easily. At such a young age, and having a kind and caring disposition, Matthew didn't know to judge Gilbert for his coloring.

"Who are you talking to?" Gilbert asked. Matthew turned from Kuma in surprise. It wasn't often that other kids talked to him, and he didn't know how to react, so he simply told the truth.

"My imaginary friend," he said matter-of-factly. "He's a polar bear, and his name's Kuma, and if you hold out your hand he'll sniff it."

Gilbert's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow!" He held out his hand to the swing where Kuma was sitting. "Is he sniffing me? Is he?"

Matthew nodded. "Yup. He likes you!" he said. "He says he likes your hair, too."

Matthew couldn't possibly understand how happy those simple words made Gilbert, because Matthew didn't know that Gilbert was an outcast, too. Gilbert's hair made him the subject of teasing and bullying, but here was a boy (well, bear, but Gilbert was clever enough to know that if Kuma liked his hair, then so must Matthew, because people and their imaginary friends tend to think alike, you know) who liked it! Gilbert smiled.

"I know, right? I was born with it like that!" Gilbert said, for once very proud of his most noticeable feature.

"That's so cool!" Matthew said. "Can I touch it?" he asked.

"Sure," Gilbert said, and bowed his head forward so that Matthew could feel a piece of his thin hair. "Hey, do you want to come play at the creek over there with me? I saw a bunch of tadpoles under the rocks and stuff."

Matthew almost agreed, but then he remembered why he was on the swings in the first place, and shook his head no. "Can't. My parents told me to wait here until they get back. They went to take my little brother to go pee."

"Oh," Gilbert said. He was a little disappointed. "That's okay. I'll just stay here, then. Can you ask Kuma to move so I can sit with you?"

"Okay," Matthew said, and turned to his imaginary friend. "Kuma, please move." Kuma got up and toddled away. "He got up, so you can use the swing now."

Gilbert sat on the swing so that his legs straddled the seat and he was facing Matthew. Matthew copied him, and the two looked like they were riding horses instead of swinging on the swings.

"So what's your name?" Gilbert asked, kicking at the woodchips on the ground.

"Matthew," Matthew answered. "What about you?"

"Gilbert," Gilbert said. "What were you talking to Kuma about?" Matthew pouted.

"We were having a fight," he said. "Kuma thinks that peanut butter tastes good on pancakes, but I think maple syrup is a bajillion times better. What do you think?"

Gilbert hummed, seriously thinking over the question. On one hand, maple syrup was amazing on pancakes. On the other hand, Gilbert had never tried peanut butter on pancakes, and his grandpa always said to try something before saying it was gross. After much contemplation, he came upon an answer.

"Why don't you try them both together?" Gilbert said, because if they were good separately, then they should be even better together, right?

Matthew thought about it. "It might work. I'll try it one day."

The pair continued to talk about all of the trivial things that seven-year-olds found interesting, like favorite colors, and pets, and family, and all the best sports, and how icky girls were. The sun started to set, and Gilbert's grandpa came over.

Gilbert's grandpa was named Adair.* He was a rather strict and severe man, with long blond hair that was going grey in some places, and piercing blue eyes. He wore a stern expression almost all the time, but he really did love his grandsons, whom he had been taking care of ever since his daughter and her husband died in a car accident. He was carrying his youngest grandson in his arms, whose name was Ludwig. Ludwig had blond hair and blue eyes, much like his grandfather, and was dozing, because he was only two, after all, and it was his naptime.

"Gilbert, it's time to go home," Adair said.

"Opa, I made a new friend!" Gilbert said, jumping off of the swing and grabbing Matthew by the hand so he could introduce him to his grandpa. "This is Matthew! He likes polar bears, and hockey, and he said he likes my hair! Right, Mattie?"

Matthew nodded and gave a nervous little wave, intimidated by Adair's stony expression. "H-hello, sir," he said, curling his fingers around Gilbert's hand.

Adair, though he didn't show it, was glad that his grandson had finally found a friend who wouldn't make fun of him because of his albinism. He nodded stiffly. "Hello, there, Matthew."

Unfazed by his grandpa's seemingly unenthusiastic greeting, Gilbert bounced around and tugged on the man's pant leg.

"Can I give him our address? Please? I want him to come over and play since we didn't get to today!"

Adair raised an eyebrow. "You were just talking this entire time?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah. Mattie had to stay put because his parents haven't come back yet."

"They went to take my little brother to the bathroom," Matthew chimed in.

Something about that made alarms go off in Adair's head. He knelt down so that he was at eye level with Matthew. "Matthew, when did your parents say they would be coming back?" he asked.

"In a few minutes."

"And how long have they been gone?"

"Um…" Matthew looked down at the ground and gripped Gilbert's hand more tightly. "I dunno…"

"What do your parents look like?" Gilbert asked. "We'll help you find them!"

Matthew described his parents as best he could, and the group wandered around the park in search of the adults. Matthew's hope was quickly dwindling, though, as evening approached, and the park became deserted. The realization that he had been forgotten sank in, and Matthew started to cry. Gilbert tried to make his new friend stop crying, but nothing he did worked. Gilbert looked up to his grandpa for help. He wanted to make his friend feel better!

Adair, deeply concerned for the forgotten boy, instructed Gilbert and Matthew to go back to the swings and wait while he made a call. Adair had never been so grateful that he had decided to buy a cell phone in case of emergencies than at that very moment as he dialed 911.

The next few hours were spent discovering some hard facts that nobody wanted to tell Matthew. How do you tell a seven-year-old that his parents didn't forget him, but abandoned him? How can you tell him that his family only answered the phone once, and, upon learning it was the police, hung up and never picked up again? How can you tell him that nobody knew where his parents were, or if they were ever coming back?

Matthew was crying, crying so hard that he felt like he was going to make himself sick. He was scared and hurt and hysterical, and he refused to let go of Gilbert's hand. Not that Gilbert would have let go, either. They made a pact that night, a solemn pinky promise to never ever ever not be friends.

They would be together forever, because Matthew had nobody left to love him, and Gilbert selfishly didn't want anybody else to.

A/N: Some notes:

*Adair, obviously, is my name for Germania.

I thought I'd try out a different style with this chapter. I don't know what it would be called, but it's... something. Whatever it is, it took far too long to write, and I apologize. *bows*

I really want this universe to continue. I have the chapter thought out, but it's just a matter of when a matching theme will come up...

Leave questions, comments, and criticism in a review!

~Jel