Oh, my gosh! I should be in bed right now – I have to work tomorrow morning! I just got so excited and had to post this, though.

So, yeah, I am going to finish this story!

I have most of the details worked out and know where I want to go with it. I just need the time to write it basically. It's likely that updates will be sporadic and somewhat infrequent, but it's better than nothing, I think. I am so excited! This story is going somewhere pretty awesome, I think, too! So thank you to all the reviewers whom pushed me to finish this! You rock! I love all your passionate feedback!

Anyway, I seem to "think" too much.

Well, this chapter was a little difficult because I promised a kiss and the chapters I'd already written were deleted. Plus, I figured a kiss was owed to all you loyal readers and reviewers. I bet it's not what you expected, though, but this was my idea from the beginning! The italicized-ness means FLASHBACK!

And, yeah, I got the idea for the title from 3OH!3 "My First Kiss."

Kai: Moonlight Serenity doesn't own beyblade or 3OH!3. Now, finally, on with the fic!

Remembering You

Chapter Seven:

A Little Like This

The playground at a small, Russian primary school was nearly barren fifteen minutes after the school bell rang. A small group of children stood by the chain-length fence waiting for their parents and another rocked lazily by the swings. A few strays stood idly or ambled.

One of the ambling strays looked a little concerned. "Hilary!" called a small, redheaded seven year-old boy. The boy was keen to leave the schoolyard, but found he couldn't leave when he realized his best friend was missing. The boy's brow wrinkled. He knew Hilary wouldn't leave without him as they always strolled home as a pair. He was a little perturbed as he'd only been in the bathroom a few minutes and she'd managed to disappear. It was several impatient minutes later when the boy finally received a response.

"Tal-tal!" a quiet, familiar voice hissed from behind the bushes under a classroom window. Tala hurriedly shuffled over to the source of the sound and started to crouch down, but an unexpected hand shot out from the shrubbery and clutched the hem of his shirt. A small brunette girl then tugged him to the ground forcefully. He landed in the dirt accompanied by a soft thud.

The boy blinked. Hilary, concealed by the foliage, was squatting apprehensively. She was perched on her toes with her knees pressed to her chest and appeared poised to run for it with minimal notice.

"Wha-?" Tala started to question, but she swatted his head and pressed her finger to her lips asking for silence. She pointed through a crack in the shrubbery. She gestured to a boy their age standing twenty feet away.

"Efim wants to steal my first kiss," she whispered as she again jabbed her index finger at a flaxen boy standing beside the playground's slide. Tala looked to the other boy before resting his blue orbs on his best friend. "I don't want him to have it."

"Oh," the redhead said dumbly. The ruby eyes of his friend implored him to find a solution to her dilemma. He chewed his lip a little while he reviewed the information. Hilary pursed her mouth impatiently and looked away. The young boy spoke again a few moments later, "okay, I have an idea."

"Really!" the girl twisted to face her friend eagerly. She was thankful to have such an intelligent best friend and to have a solution so quickly; however, the redhead hardly looked relieved and Hilary suddenly felt a little confused. Shouldn't he be glad to be so smart and able to help her?

"Yeah, but you may not like it," the boy eventually stated. Tala wrinkled his nose as the idea took greater shape in his mind. "It may be kind of gross," he said slowly. It wouldn't be that gross, though, he soon realized. "I mean, we're going to have to kiss the people we marry, anyway." He tried to reason with himself.

Hilary cocked her head to one side, "I don't want Efim to have my first kiss."

"I know," Tala replied quickly. "I could have your first kiss, though; then it wouldn't belong to Efim – he'll probably leave you alone, then."

Hilary stared at him with wide eyes and blinked a dozen times in rapid succession.

The implications of Tala's words were dawning on her gradually.

"Hilary," the boy breathed, "may I have your first kiss?"

A pronounced blush spread across the girl's cheeks. She was very hesitant at first, but slowly worked up her resolve. "Yes," she said firmly.

The girl looked away once more before looking deeply into Tala's burning crystal blue eyes. He took her hand, placed his other palm on her shoulder, and tipped forward to press a feathery, chaste kiss to her awaiting mouth The contact was very brief, but it only took a moment for Tala to register how soft her lips were and how pleasant it felt to have them pressed against his own. The boy then gently pushed away.

The pair was very silent for a few minutes. Ruby and blue eyes roved over the schoolyard and occasionally focused on the form of the other body. "Thank you for kissing me, Tal-Tal," Hilary finally said softly.

The boy nodded, "you're welcome. C'mon, we should go tell Efim so he'll leave you alone."

"Okay," the girl replied, "and then we'll go to your house and get hot chocolate, right?"

Tala stood and dusted his pants before extending his hand to Hilary. She took it and he heaved until she was standing beside him. "Right," he said and then turned toward the playground, "let's go."

As the pair sauntered toward the blond boy in the middle of the schoolyard, Tala thought about his first kiss and his best friend. He liked it, but it wasn't something he wanted to do again any time soon. He certainly didn't want to marry Hilary, did he? No, of course not, he thought as the object of his thoughts stumbled over a pile of snow. She was just his best friend and marrying girls seemed gross; however, he realized he didn't want to kiss anyone else or Hilary to kiss anyone else, either.

I SHOULD BE SLEEPING! Phew, that was a little hard to write because they're so little I didn't want it to be awkward or creepy! I hope it wasn't! They certainly won't be kissing again until their much, much older. Oh, well, at least Tala salvaged Hilary's first kiss before some other icky boy could snag it. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and it was what they were waiting for! Sorry I made you wait so long! Please review and let me know what you think!

Ja ne and God bless!

-AJ