Shoren distanced himself from me as soon as
he heard the cries. We searched behind the colossal sized oak tree together only to find the child huddled down on her knees sobbing.

I was in complete denial and utter shock. It was the small petite girl with the ginger curls that was playing with the another girl! I spotted her in the countryside the very day I was discharged from the sanatorium.

Shoren collectedly approached the girl. What was he doing? He was his usual self again, with no trace of the amusement that was there less than a minute ago.

"What are you doing?" I asked him curiously.

Shoren remained silent, motioning me to follow. I complied. There was no use in arguing over something so trivial so I stood close by, observing him.

Shoren kneeled down to the little girl. "Hey, is everything alright?" He benevolently asked, placing a careful hand on her shoulder.

The little girl was timid and obviously a little intimidated by Shoren initially but the moment he smiled encouragingly, the ginger-haired girl warmed up to him.

"M-momma..." The girl whimpered, still crying. I had a feeling I knew what was wrong so I took over from there.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?" I asked, wiping away her tears tenderly.

For once I was glad my experience with always being in charge of Eiriam was there as the little girl opened up to me quicker then I expected her to.

"Daddy's always busy with his job and he spends all his time with my sister, never me." She tearfully said, on the verge of yet another burst of tears.

I just stared at her, not believing what I just heard. It sounded like my relationship with my mother growing up. Eiriam and mother were always naturally close, due to their ability to understand each other, for as long as I could remember. But as soon as my father gone away, I felt like a third wheel.

I didn't want this beautiful young girl's relationship with her father to suffer the fate of me and my own mother's relationship. I looked her sympathetically in the eyes, wrapping her in my arms.

"You love your father, do you?"

She nodded, more tears drifting down her cheeks. "Yes." It was clear to see, her love for her father was unmistakable.

"I can relate, I promise you," I told her this to ensure her that she wasn't alone and never would be. She lowered her head in doubt but intently listened.

"Listen," I kneeled closer.

"I was born in Ellisburg, a town not far from here, heard of it?" I asked.

She hummed in agreement, her eyes sparkling with yearning. I glanced at Shoren for a mere second before continuing.

"You see, my mothers a seamstress and my fathers a soldier so as you could imagine, my father wasn't always there."

"But regardless, I'm close to my father and love him." I opened my locket to show her the miniature portrait of my family.

She pointed at my face, marveling in delight, "You were a pretty child."

I grew flustered, "Oh no, no, no you're bluffing." I hastily closed the locket.

I heard Shoren snicker from behind me. I whirled around to see that he had an uncharacteristic smirk on his face. I gave him the dirtiest glare I could muster before turning back to the little girl.

"Go on." She said, looking eager to hear the rest. I complied.

"But my relationship with my mother was far more turbulent and complicated." I always felt a tinge of both sadness and anger whenever I talked about my mother but I didn't have a choice. This was for the sake of this girl.

"My sister Eiriam always understood her better, I felt like a third wheel around them. But even though my father was always away, I was proud of him because he was supporting us even when he was deployed."

I concluded my story, trying to be as brief with my words as possible. "So the whole point of this was to give you a message that even though daddy may work a lot, just know he loves you. Even if he doesn't always show it." I choose my words as wisely as possible, knowing the little girl would likely take them to heart.

Tears brimmed her eyes again. When I proceeded to reach out to her, Shoren stopped me, winking at me. He picked her up protectively, placing her cute petite self on his broad shoulders. The little girl marveled taking in the view of the world from Shoren's perspective.

"Let's go find your family," Shoren told her.

The little girl giggled, "Yeah!"

And he went from there. I was baffled yet astonished by what I was seeing. If I didn't know this was Shoren, I'd would had definitely mistaken him for the father despite their physical differences.

"Your name's Shoren Arrighetti, is it?" The little girl abruptly asked. Shoren looked a little surprised that she actually already knew who he was by name. But he remained stoical.

"Yes, how did you know?"

The little girl responded, "I seen you on the weekly papers before." But if that answer was shocking then nothing could prepare me for what would come out her mouth next.

"Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?"

I distanced myself permanently from Shoren straight away. She sounded so smart and mature all of a sudden!

"No, we are not." I hushed her, mortified. And what made it worse was that she had the most adorable smile when she asked. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come back out again.

Shoren was in contrast, calmer and actually amused, his usual self. How could he be so okay with that?

"You wish." He teased, smiling.

The little girl never gave up though while I stood there dying in horror.

"Oh I see... but you do care about her now, do you?" She pestered, eying Shoren.

He took longer to answer so I pleaded him nonverbally to not say anything too embarrassingly absurd. He smiled warmly, "Of course I do."

Internally, I felt relieved yet a very small part of my heart ached a little at that direct, casual answer. That's it? Regardless, I tried not to let my face reflect those thoughts.

The little girl kept to herself for awhile before she battered Shoren once more with another question. "Do you have any advice for what I should say to daddy when I see him?"

Shoren thoughtfully remarked, "If I were able to see my own father again, I'd communicate honestly how I felt and said I loved him." I saw a different kind of emotion on his face. Some kind of nostalgia instead of the usual anger.

"Also...kindle a relationship, stay open and clear with daddy." He smiled towards the little girl and the little girl smiled back, presenting her dimples.

"You're very wise, you know that?" She commented.

Shoren laughed as if it was the stupidest nonsense he had ever heard. "Thank you, but I wouldn't say it's a consistent kind of wisdom then."

Both I and the little girl said in unison, "You're too modest." When we both realized that, we stared wide-eyed at one another and then burst out laughing as Shoren looked on silently with a priceless expression.

"Marion!" I heard a male voice call out in the distance.