Author's Note: Hello again. You have made your way to Chapter II of the prequel chaps. There will only be one more prequel chapter before we get into the actual Heart Series. It's necessary to have this kind of thing, so... just read and review, mmk?

Zeke was distracted. He found his daily thoughts wandering constantly back to the girl from the forest, known to him as Lia, known to everyone else as Wind Girl. He knew he could and should help her, but he didn't know how. She probably wouldn't come back to Starlight Valley with him, due to her discomfort around people. He pulled out another blade of grass in his front yard, searching his brain for an answer, twirling it absently. Could he possibly bring her food? Yes, of course. She probably hadn't had a hot meal since… probably ever. Standing to stretch his previously crossed legs and grinning broadly, he went inside to see what they had by way of leftovers. He would help her in whatever way he could.

He snuck out at nightfall, carrying the newly reheated mixture of rice, chicken, and vegetables under his arm in a covered bowl. He walked until he reached the rock wall separating him from the cave. "Lia?" he called. "Lia, are you there?" he placed the bowl on a rock before pulling himself up. "Liaaaa…" He reached up to grab the next rock.

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Zeke jumped almost a foot in the air in surprise, grasping the stone he had planned to climb to regain his balance. He turned, expecting an adult. "Lia!" he yelped, recognizing the girl. He sighed in relief. Had she been standing there the whole time? She was watching him with a confused look on her face, her head tilted to the side, her hands clasped behind her back. "What are you doing?" she asked, blinking with an air of bewilderment. He sighed and grabbed the bowl, holding it out to her. "I brought you some warm food. It's chicken, and it's really good."

Lia stared at the bowl in apparent surprise. She looked up at him, not knowing if he was being sincere or not. "Take it!" he said, grinning. "You'll like it."

She took it hesitantly, sitting down to examine its contents. "Chicken? Where does that grow?"

Her words surprised him. He then realized: the only food she had ever had was whatever she could take from the markets: fruits and vegetables. She probably couldn't hunt very well, either; after all she only looked about seven or eight. "Chicken is meat." He explained, sitting down across from her. "It tastes a lot different from fruit. Eat it."

She pulled back the plastic wrapping covering the bowl and examined it, smelling it and staring back and forth from the clear wrapping to the steam rising from the rice and chicken. Her stomach growled hungrily, she had obviously not gone foraging yet. Zeke leaned against the stone wall and watched, curious as to what she would do. She reached in and took the metal spoon he had placed in there for her. She smelled it, then stuck it in her mouth and tried to bite it, but quickly took it back out. Handing it over to him, she said plainly, "You can eat that."

Zeke smiled and laughed softly, pocketing the spoon, amazed by how much she didn't know. Scooping up the flavored rice with her hands, she placed the whole handful in her mouth. Her eyes lit up, smiling in satisfaction. She gulped down the remaining contents greedily, running a finger around the rim of the bowl to get the last bits of sauce. Zeke held out his hand to take the bowl. She licked her lips. "Thank you." She whispered, "This means so much…" her voice trailed off. She let out a slow growl of pain, placing a hand over her heart and leaning forward, grimacing. Zeke placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked. She began to tremble. "Go home… Go." She said, her voice getting fainter than normal.

"What?" Zeke said. Her head snapped up, she was obviously forcing back tears. "Go! Y-You don't want to see me like this." She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly.

"See you like what?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

She moaned, determined to hold in the pain she was experiencing. She hadn't told this boy yet, but her body wasn't the only weak thing about her. Her heart wasn't as strong as it probably should be, and every so often it would torment her with pains so fierce she was usually reduced to nothing but sobs and screams. "It hurts…" she whimpered. "Zeke… it hurts…"

"Your heart?" he said, reaching out to move her hand. She gripped the fabric tighter, not wanting to let him past. "Please don't touch it." She snapped. Her head shot backwards as she let out a scream, not completely out of pain and terror but of frustration. She didn't want to scare off her new friend, yet she knew she was doing so.

He scooted back, petrified. He needed to help her, but what could he do? She screamed again, louder, but she bit short, clenching her teeth. Zeke gritted his teeth and stood up. "We need to get you help." He said, walking over and scooping her up. She had looked light for her size, but her weight was frighteningly lighter than even what he predicted. It was like carrying a feather, he decided. She wrapped her arms around his neck, interlocking her fingers together. Every so often a tremor of pain would rattle through her, causing her grip to tighten and another yell to burst past her lips. She held to Zeke for dear life as he made his way into town.

It was easily midnight, probably later, but he had to find the doctor and quickly. Running up to the house he and his mother had often visited for shots, medicine, and the like, he placed Lia carefully on the porch before turning to knock on the door loudly. "Ms. Barnaby!" he called. "Ms. Barnaby, please, this is an emergency!" He hammered again, louder. "Help!"

No one answered, nothing changed. The lights in the house remained off. "Help us!" he cried louder. Enough was enough. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it roughly. It wouldn't budge, the door was locked. The doctor was gone, perhaps? He turned around to glance at Lia, who was hugging her knees, crying silently. "Why- don't- they- ever- help?" she said in-between short gasping hiccups, tears rolling down her cheeks like raindrops. Zeke sat down beside her and held her, the total helplessness of the situation affecting him greatly. "Please don't cry. It'll be okay, just wait, just don't cry…" he said, although he wasn't exactly sure who the words were directed at, her or him.

The pain was subsiding gradually; soon it was enough so Lia didn't have to yell anymore. Every so often she would grimace, but that was all now. Her breathing eventually calmed, her eyes closing in soft, exhausted slumber. Zeke brushed her hair from her face, pondering what he should do next. Take her to his house, or back to her cave? No, he couldn't do that to her. Leaving her on that cold stone wouldn't be right. So, he scooped her up and began his walk home. Hopefully Mom doesn't notice one of her bowls is missing, he thought with a frown. Or the fact that there's a girl at our house. Yeah, hopefully she won't notice that either.

Pushing open their front door exhaustedly, he walked over to their couch and placed her down on the soft dark-purple cushions. He grabbed a thick blanket and draped it over her before trudging down the hall to his room. He could barely pull on his pajamas before slinking into bed, noting the glowing red 2:42 on his clock before basically passing out on his pillow.

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Several hours later, Lia opened her eyes groggily. She snuggled into the blanket, she was so warm… wait, warm? Blanket? Where was she? She sat up, her eyes darting around. Her breath quickened, the last question buzzing around her head like an angry fly. Where was she, where was she?

She stood, her feet light on the wood floor. Tiptoeing around, she tried to get hints as to where she was. Peering out the window, she didn't see a porch, so this wasn't the doctor's house… She walked down a hallway without a sound, peering in one of the open doorways.

Curled up in a dark-blue comforter was Zeke. She sighed, slightly more relieved. But the sun was coming up, she had to get back to the forest before the activity was too much for her… and she didn't know if Zeke's parents would enjoy knowing there was a foreign girl hiding in their house. She tiptoed up to him and brushed his bangs, thanking whatever Gods were above for this boy who had helped her so much.

She made her way to the front door and opened it softly, knowing now would be the best time to leave. Glancing back at the couch, she wondered if she was making the wrong decision. Maybe she should stay. After all, if Zeke was nice, how bad could his parents be? She pursed her lips; then tiptoed back to the couch. Sorry, Zeke…

Scooping up the blanket, she took off out the door in a flash, making her way towards her safe, secure hovel. Zeke wouldn't mind, she thought to herself as she sprinted as fast as she could, after all, he would probably have given it to me later, right?