Ariel speaking :: Hello everyone! I'm sorry for not posting up anything for almost a year. I lost everything I wrote and just couldn't write after that. But then after reading everyone's review I felt very happy and started again. This chapter is very...very short but I promise the next one will be longer.
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I spent the remainder of the day with her, sitting on the swings quietly while she talked. When the sun rose high in the sky, she still sat with me, even though I told her to go home. Then night fell and I didn't let her have another word and ordered her to go back to the village. Even staying out of the wall was dangerous.
She finally did go home, but after promising me that she would be back tomorrow. I couldn't help but feel a faint smile tug on my lips. As I watched her retreating back, I saw her shadow. It stayed with her no matter what and I vowed that I would do that for her too. I would...be her second shadow and never leave her.
It was the first time in my life that I felt at peace. Even after Yashamaru's attack just the night before faded from my thoughts. Only her name lingered in my head.
Aiko, the kanji characters for "love" and "child," meaning "a person who loves others."
How fitting her name is.
Just saying it made my heart light and beat faster.
First time ever, my six year old heart felt something other fright and angst.