Part I
[Hiraeth: the feeling of longing for a romanticized past, or; a mixture of nostalgia, longing, wistfulness and yearning]
Toothed wooden sandals clicked against the stone path winding throughout the glade. Fireflies appear in the footsteps wake, blinking their bulbs happily as they followed a small girl through the circular dell. They circled around the outskirts with the child with pale and gentle features, and the girl smiled as she bends over to stroke the head of a red fox mother about to return to her den for the night. The moon cast a white glow upon her face, and along the grass and flowers and tree trunks, illuminating the clearing, making the abundance of flora and fauna shine as if wet with liquid moonlight. The world was getting ready to sleep, flowers folding up, animals hiding away in their homes, rivers slowing and lakes stilling once the crickets began to chirp their nightly song. The cicadas slowed their buzz, nearly asleep themselves.
She spun around around the stones and mushrooms and flowers, stepping confidently like she had every path through the meadow memorized. She passed the oblong pond where gold and white and black fish swam gently, getting ready to rest for the night. She circled around the the bushes lining the pond and gently hopped over a small stream twisting through the grass, before stopping in front a small hill. She turns on her heel and falls onto her back, head angled just right to stare up at the moon with wide sapphire eyes.
She twirled the loose string of her white-speckled obi around her fingers, and watched as clouds passed by the moon, hiding the stars only to move and them once more. Her smile softens to something a little more melancholy, and she closes her eyes, letting the pale moonlight wash over her, listening to the sounds of a sleeping forest.
A small snap of a twig makes her jump, and she sits up, eyes wide, and turns her head to see a young boy with wild black hair staring right back at her.
"Hello," She said with a small smile, and the boy struggled to return it. He was distracted as he met her gaze, eyes flickering off behind her at the small glade, and she giggled, gesturing for him to enter further.
"Pretty, isn't it? I found this place when I was young," She stood, gently brushing off invisible dust and readjusting her obi to rest properly around her waist once more. He was looking around the glade with undisguised awe, and she smiled, knowing the feeling. The glade truly was beautiful.
She grinned merrily, and skipped over to him, pulling his hand and by extension, him, further into the grassy dell. She guided him over the streams and around the flower bushes. Across the mushroom patches and blankets of clovers until they were standing in the very centre of the clearing, facing the circular opening he wandered in through. The fish pond sparkled brightly in the corner of their eyes, making the boy glance over to it every so often as they stood there.
"What.. are you doing out here?" He asked after a long pause, and she smiled.
"What are you doing out here?" She shot back, and snickered when his face scrunched up in a frown. He huffed, and looked away.
He glanced back, and the girl had her face turned back up to the stars, so he copies her and does the same, dipping his head to face the black expanse of empty space. His bangs fall to the side, revealing rounded cheeks and eyes as black as the night. The tiny pinpricks of light twinkle, almost as if in greeting, and he felt a small smile creep onto his face.
"...what's your name?" He asked, not looking away from the night sky.
A small firefly landed on her shoulder, and she raised a hand to let it crawl onto, pulling her gaze from the stars to look at the stargazing boy. The moonlight captured his face, highlighting the bridge of his nose and rounded jaw. His pale skin gleamed in the watery light, making him look like he was glowing. She was vaguely reminded of an old story her grandmother told her when she was a baby, about a man who ruled the moon… didn't he have black hair and eyes as well? It was so long ago, she couldn't remember...
"It's rude to ask for another's name before giving your own, you know," she teased softly, and he huffed, crossing his arms and shifted his weight. She poked his forehead with a smile and he glared at her.
"Madara," He stated, then looked away, and she grinned.
"Hoshiko."
""Star child"?" Madara inquires, and she sits on the grass, patting the spot next to her, and he sits. It was a nicer spot than the small hill, you were able to see how the flowers and bushes shine with the moonlight, and how the small pond filled with sleepy fish shone as if it were day thanks to all the fluorescent algae lining the sides and bottom.
"Pretty, isn't it? Grandmother said my mother always loved the stars, that she would have liked the name." She leaned back and closed her eyes.
"It is. Has a nice ring to it," Madara agreed, gaze wandering back to the sky. There was something entrancing about the stars and clouds and moon in this place. Anywhere else, any other time and he wouldn't have thought twice about the night sky, but here it drew you in and didn't let you go, he felt.
"Are you always this sweet, Madara-san?" Hoshiko nudged him in the side, and he stuttered.
"Yes! Who do you take me for, a heathen?"
Hoshiko laughed, and he felt his face warm. He did not mean to sound so defensive, not at all. He raked his hand through the soft tufts of grass, enjoying its cool texture.
She held a hand up to her mouth and tried to calm herself, eyes shining with mirth. Wiping her eyes, she turned back to the boy. She saw his embarassed expression and gave him an apologetic but guilt free grin.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me," She said, and he looked away again. "I shouldn't have laughed at you,"
"...it's fine," He replied, and stood abruptly.
Hoshiko watched as he straightened his clothes, and gave her a small, yet genuine smile, and she returned it. She stood as well, balancing perfectly on her single tooth sandals.
"It's late, you should head back to the compound," Madara said, and she looked to the position of the moon, noting that it was late. Later than most people would be awake. She felt like all the energy had left her body in that single moment, and yawned widely.
"I don't live at the compound, Madara-san," Hoshiko smiled, and Madara stared at her, indecisive. If she didn't live at the compound, then she wasn't an Uchiha. She was an outsider. He liked her though, so he chose to ignore her words, simply nodding to acknowledge them.
"You should hurry back, it wouldn't bode well if your father catches you out after dark," She smiled, and walked him to the entrance of the dell. Madara smiled faintly at her, more of a twitch of the lips than a smile really, one hand on a tree trunk. She shooed him away with her hands, and he huffed, jumping off into the trees and disappearing from sight.
Behind him, Hoshiko walked back, sandals clicking upon the stones and laid back against the small hill to watch the stars. The trees closed behind Madara, roots and branches twisting together, hiding the entrance to the glade away from the world.
"Come back soon, clan heir. The forest has much for you to do."