"Hello."

Sebastian called out softly. He didn't know where he was or how he ended up there, but for some reason, his mind was at ease.

It was sunny out and he was in a secluded part of the forest. A statue covered with moss and vines stood in front of him, a step behind him a pond filled with carp and koi fish. This part of the forest felt somewhat brighter than the rest of the town, despite the leaves that swayed overhead, showing gaps of sunlight through leaves that failed to create a full canopy.

The wind blew past Sebastian, his auburn hair flowing furiously with it.

A little girl stood lonesome in front of the statue, admiring its curves and crevasses. Sebastian noted the way her body jerked with surprise as she turned to find him. She stared, big doe eyes marked with wonder and the angriest with curiosity.

"Hello." Said the little girl back, tilting her head to look at Sebastian from a different perspective.

Her voice was sweet and accented. A way of saying western words with the sound of a Gotoran. Not to mention, her looks seemed to be different from others in the area. The shape of her eyes, the curve of her jaw. The fullness of her lips. The way her nose was small and curved.

Studying her, Sebastian confirmed this girl was from the Gotoran Empire.

But just where had they been to meet?

"Who are you?" Sebastian said with a firm voice, standing his ground. He could remember what Mayor Lewis once told them of the past. Gotoran people were violent and reckless. Smart as well. There had been past wars between Ferngill Republic and the Empire and there was still no end.

"I'm Y/n, nice to meet you." The girl bowed at an angle of 30 degrees, a sign of formal respect from Gotoran culture.

Sebastian didn't know this though. Staring strangely at her, he sneers to himself for the awkward tension floating in the air. Just what was she bowing for?

"Uh... I'm Sebastian." He holds out his hand. Y/n stares at it for a moment before she walks over, shaking it gently. "Do you know where you are?" She asks as she continues to hold his hand, still shaking it as she turned to look back at the statue.

"No, do you?"

"Nope!"

A snicker is evident in her response, smiling carelessly as she glanced back at Sebastian. He's caught off guard by her honesty, he doesn't think to pull away as their handshake had gone on for long enough.

Y/n looked down where they intertwined and pulled away, rubbing her hands together before urging Sebastian to follow her to the statue with the gesture of her head.

"Honestly, I was hoping you'd know where we are since I've never been here. I kinda just woke up here." Said Y/n softly.

Tilting his head, Sebastian sat down next to her on the floor next to the statue. The grass tickled against the skin of his hands, pale and slim dotted with freckles and moles.

He couldn't help but think about how he liked the way she spoke. Her accent, the highs and the lows. The way she let her words slip from her lips was foreign but pretty.

"I've never been here before either." He muttered under his breath.

He felt the tension in his shoulders die as they sat in comfortable silence, and eventually, he allowed himself to glance over at Y/n who was already staring back at him. The corner of her lips is upturned as her smile widens. Her eyes seem to smile as she did too. "You're kind of awkward, Sebastian."

Sebastian's cheeks are a furious shade of red, his pale complexion hiding beneath the blush that spread over his face, neck and ears.

"I know that already-" he grunts out, scratching the back of his head. Y/n simply giggles in return. "Let's meet again!"

____

Waking from his dream, Sebastian sits up slowly from his pillow when his eyes shoot open.

He's back in his room and his clothes feel tight against him, in a cold sweat. Exhaling, he wonders quietly to himself as he takes his shirt off to cool down and lays back down after a moment of comfort.

"So that's what a dream is like..."

His voice is quiet and he's mesmerized. He's never had a proper dream. If he did, he wouldn't remember it all too well. But even when he was fully awake, he could vividly remember the round face of the girl.

Y/n, her name was. How her hair was messily perfect, the way she dressed and how different she'd been compared to others in town, others in his country. He remembered she was Gotoran.

How beautiful their features were compared to what he was unfairly told.

Pushing himself from his bed again, Sebastian scurries to his game table and shoves away stray papers dirtied with random scribbles. He never really liked art too much but it kept him busy when attention from his family was focused mostly on his half-sibling Maru. But grabbing at his pencil and crayons, Sebastian tries to replicate the image of Y/n in his head. The pretty one his mind conjured.

Real or not, she was certainly someone he would hate to forget.

Instead of scribbling, Sebastian drew carefully, the curve of her jaw, the point of her eyes, the fullness of her lips and even her small nose he found so cute.

A crease between his brows appeared, furrowed as his focus was deep and wanting. He bit on his bottom lip, tracing each and every feature of her from his mind.

When he was finally done, the resemblance was a little far but he could remember exactly what she looked like from just his badly drawn version of her. Sebastian was a little embarrassed. His art skills weren't too great but he was willing to perfect them till he had the perfect picture.

Checking the clock on his desk-side table, it had been 4:02 AM and all the need to sleep had withered in his little body. Turning his eyes to his door, he noticed the lights were still off upstairs.

His mother would be up around 6:00 AM to make breakfast and go out for a project Lewis requested. She'd most likely take him with her so she could do her work as he did his work for his home-schooling with her.

So in the meantime, he had about two hours till he was forced to do his homework. Glancing down at his drawing of Y/n, Sebastian picks up blank pieces of paper he could use to practice more. How purely he wanted to remember her. How sweet his remembrance was of her.

For once in his childhood, he could sincerely say he was content.