For mariyam298:

Working at an orphanage with kids who didn't nearly deserve all the troubles they had to deal with was always rewarding for Mariyam. In a small town on the fringes of the German reach, she and a few other ragtag people took care of orphanages from around the area. "Did you hear about our guests?" one of her coworkers asked Mariyam.

"No, can't say that I have. What about them?" Mariyam questioned.

"How could you have not heard!? Some of the World Cup winners are visiting the orphanage tomorrow! Aren't you excited?"

"I was taking care of Lu the whole World Cup, remember? I didn't see any games," Mariyam replied, shrugging at her coworker. The children of the orphanage, on the other hand were absolutely overjoyed that their heroes were coming to visit them. They took their white t-shirts and made makeshift jerseys since the orphanage didn't nearly have enough money to buy them jerseys. They barely had enough money to buy the kids a goal and a few footballs.

Sighing to herself at breakfast the following day, Mariyam attempted to calm the children, who were bouncing out of their seats, literally. The doorbell went off and it was hard to hear it over the chaos that ensued. Mariyam shushed the kids, telling them to behave as she went to open the door. On the other side of the door, a few German players stood waiting patiently.

Mariyam unlocked the door and swung open the door, staring out at the German footballers. "Hello, we're the footballers," Marco Reus spoke for himself and his teammates.

"Of course. Come in, the kids have been bouncing out of their seats all day waiting for you guys," Mariyam smiled, stepping aside. Marco led the way, quickly followed by Bastian, Thomas, Erik, etc. Mesut pulled up the rear. Mariyam smiled as her and Mesut's eyes connected.

"Thank you for having us," Mesut nodded.

"Oh please, you guys are welcome any time," Mariyam smiled, closing the door behind Mesut. The footballers walked into the dining hall, where Mariyam stepped to the left and presented them. The kids could hardly contain their excitement. The players went down the line, introducing themselves although they didn't need any introduction. One boy, Karl, raised his hand. He was only about five but his love of the game encompassed decades.

"Will you play football with us?" he said quietly, shy when talking to his idols.

"Of course!" The kids cheered and led their heroes out to the backyard where they had made a makeshift goal. They split into two teams, made up of players and kids. Mariyam sat on the sidelines just watching them interact. Mariyam smiled as Karl scored a goal against Marco Reus, who was acting as a goal keeper for the occasion. Marco looked shocked as Mesut lifted Karl into the air.

"Goal!" Mesut shouted as he swung the boy around lightly. Karl laughed as he was put back on the ground. Mariyam laughed as the players let the kids dribble right past them. Bastian put his legs so far apart that it would be impossible for little Lu to not nutmeg him. Although the German national team players were all highly skilled, and let's face it attractive, Mariyam's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to one player in particular, Mesut Özil.

He seemed to get along well with Karl. They were both quiet, they let their actions on the field do the speaking. Karl had told Mariyam he wanted to play football professionally, when he was older. He was only five and had plenty of time to get to that level. Mariyam clapped as Ada blocked a shot from Thomas. These kids didn't have the best of lives. Yet, when there's a ball at their feet or a game on the old TV they had up in the old sister's room. The orphanage used to be run by nuns but they stopped sending them and so the job had fallen to Mariyam and her coworkers.

"Great job Ada!" Mariyam cheered, clapping as she kicked the ball. Her coworkers had come outside to sit and watch the game too.

"He's looking at you," one of her coworkers pointed out.

"Who?" Mariyam said, not taking her eyes off of the field.

"Number 8, what's his name? Oh, Mesut," her coworker stated. Mariyam looked over at the German international who quickly looked away. Mariyam smiled, blushing slightly at the attention. She wasn't used to male attention because of her job. "See!"

"Oh would you be quiet? It doesn't mean anything. I probably have something on my face," Mariyam shrugged, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. Her coworker rolled her eyes at Mariyam who was too busy staring at Mesut to really care. It started to rain, causing their makeshift field to turn into a mud pit, resembling that of a quicksand pit. "Kids, get inside," Mariyam stated.

They were already getting stuck in the mud a bit. Mariyam picked up Ada, leading the way to the door. The footballers helped get the kids inside. Mariyam helped her coworkers back into the house so that they could dry off the kids. Trudging through the mud, the kids' little legs couldn't move quite fast enough to not sink into the mud. Counting the kids as they walked in, Mariyam realized that one was still missing. Slightly panicking, she looked out towards the field. A white shirt stuck out against the brown mud. Mariyam sighed in relief, seeing Karl safely on Mesut's shoulders as he walked towards the door. She took Karl off his shoulders and wrapped a towel around him.

"Thank you for grabbing him," Mariyam smiled, holding out a towel.

"No problem. That's quite the quicksand pit you guys have back there," Mesut commented.

"Yeah. It always gets like that whenever it rains so I don't like the kids playing outside when it rains," Mariyam replied.

"Well, we'll have to fix that. Can't have the future faces of the German national team playing in mud, can we?" Marco said from behind Karl, shaking him lightly.

"Oh, you really don't have to," Mariyam smiled at their charity.

"We insist, it's nothing really," the other Germans chorused. They all poured their money into constructing a new field in the back yard for the kids. At the unveiling, Mariyam smiled as she saw a familiar face in the crowd.

"Thank you, I don't know how we'll ever be able to repay you," she told Mesut.

"Well you can repay us by going on a date with me," Mesut winked.

"It's a deal," Mariyam agreed as Karl ran past her, a new jersey on his back and a new ball in his hands.

"Are you playing, Mesut?" he asked.

"Of course," Mesut smiled, ruffling Karl's hair and running after him. He turned around and winked at Mariyam once more before playing with the kids.