She stood at the door of his house, with a bouquet of red roses that was large enough to feed the small dog that she kept. Her long blonde hair and long purple dress swayed as a new breeze whooshed by, causing a few new leaves to fall off the trees on the meticulously cared for lawn. She looked up into the air. There were a couple of birds tweeting around, and they flew to their nest in one of those trees. She was so entranced by it that she didn't notice him open the door. The grimace on his face was unmistakable. "Mister Vash?" she asked. "I am here."
Vash nodded. "Natalya, is it? Come on in. She's been waiting to see you."
Natalya stepped in, and was amazed, just like every time, at how clean the house was. The girl she had been waiting to see was sitting in the middle of the atrium, playing with the set of teacups that he had gotten her. Her large green eyes lit up at the sight of Natalya. "Hello?" she asked shyly, and extended the bouquet to her.
"All yours, for the day," murmured Vash as he clopped on into another room.
Natalya peered away into the room, to make sure that Vash was completely distracted. After a while, she turned to the girl, who was sitting on the red roses. "Lili?" she asked. "Do you think that we can go somewhere? You know, without your brother getting angry at us?" She took a small package off of the floor next to her, and palmed it between both hands, and stuck it in her apron for later use.
Lili paused, and finished her sip. Her small face contorted with thought. "Well..." she mused. "I guess if we stay super quiet and we make sure he doesn't know, then we just might." There was a small pause. "I don't know, though. He can be very protective, you know how he can be with us."
"It's fine," replied Natalya, taking her hand. "Well, there's something outside that I wanted to show you."
Lili's face lit up. "Where? Where is it?" she asked, and clapped her hands.
Natalya smiled a little bit, a half-smile. Whenever Lili could get one out of her, she always blushed in excitement. "Do you have your shoes on?" she asked.
Lili ran over to get her shoes. Natalya watched her slip them on, and couldn't help but chuckle to herself, seeing the little girl so amazed with life. She leaned against the wall, and looked at the porcelain cups. When nobody was looking, she took a small sip of the tea. She choked it down, and made a mental note to ask Lili what it was, and never to drink it again.
Presently, Lili dashed back to Natalya. Natalya quickly put the cup back on the plate, and looked up to the little girl running towards her. The little girl didn't care. "You ready?" asked Natalya, tying her long blonde hair back.
"Sure," replied Lili.
Natalya took her hand, and dashed out the door, Lili following close behind. They ran the few yards to their cars, and then hopped in. Sun beating down on the cars, they reached the dark green wooden buildings on the right. "Can you ride?" asked Natalya.
Lili thought. "I can try," she suggested.
Natalya walked into the stable, and brought out two horses. One was a rather large, sturdy stallion, and the other was a small dappled mare, with large eyes. Carefully, Natalya applied a helmet to the little girl and buckled it underneath her chin. "Now, if this is your first time, we'll need to start off slow. This mare is Daffy, and she's a rather gentle horse for this stable. To go faster, you say 'Giddy-up!' and to go slower, you say 'Whoa'. Do you think you can handle this?" she asked.
Lili nodded shyly, and began to stroke Daffy's mane.
"Mine is named Midnight, but that doesn't really matter," Natalya rasped as she got Midnight to trot a little bit. "Don't let the horse rear up, and remember to always be gentle for the horse." Lili nodded again. "Giddy-up!" shouted Natalya, as Midnight reared and they began galloping off.
"...Giddy-up," Lili ordered sheepishly a few seconds after Natalya had shouted. Daffy galloped as well, though not as fast as Midnight. "Whoa! Whoa!" shouted Lili, and Daffy slowed up a bit, but not much. "Natalya?" asked Lili. "I think that Daffy is starting to get a little... frantic over here..."
Natalya turned Midnight around. "Whoa!" she hollered, but none of the horses had noticed. They ran together, and the least that the two could do was to hold on. Lili thought she heard a car pull up in the distance, and Vash shouting their names. But she didn't look back. She couldn't look back, as the horses dashed right into a nearby forest. "Lili!" Natalya snapped. "Lili! Can you hear me?"
"Y-Yes?" replied the blonde girl.
"On the count of three, I want you to jump!" Natalya whispered, and leaned in close to her horse. "One—"
Natalya had no time to count, as the horses had both reared up at the same time. Lili and Natalya both fell back, and watched as their horses galloped at full speed into the forest, Daffy leading the way. Lili sighed.
Natalya felt something heavy in her pocket. "Lili?" she asked. "Do you think you can stay at the stables for one more thing?"
"What?" she asked, and turned around.
Natalya got out the package that she had picked up earlier. She opened it up, and got out two small sandwiches. "I know this isn't much, but..."
"Why, of course it's enough," replied Lili.
Natalya laid one in Lili's lap. She peered around the forest, damp and dark, with some light peeking through the leaves. There was the small trickle of the stream in the distance, and the faint whinny of one of the horses. It was starting to cloud up, and she could have sworn she felt a small drop on her shoulder. A squirrel peeked out of one of the trees, and rested back in again with its little bit of food. And in the middle of it all was Lili, looking sweet and innocent, who looked like she could befriend the birds with a single touch. But she had previously tried it before, and couldn't handle it.
All of a sudden, Natalya swooped in and gave Lili a hug. "This is actually not bad," nodded Natalya.
"It'll get better, most likely," replied Lili.