On their majestic wings, birds soar freely in the sky, riding the wind to wherever they wish. Of course, they are not born with this wonderful gift of flight. Baby birds are confined to the nest, until they are old enough to begin learning. For most species, it is only a few weeks before they can start this process, but one little bird in particular has waited five whole years to do more than just walk or run around. But at last, the day came, and her eyes lit up the moment she saw the small bike her parents bought her.

What most people don't know about a young bird learning to fly is that the start is far from gentle or elegant. The first step is to jump right out of the nest down to the ground.

"Uwaa!"

Though perhaps this bird did not need to fall quite so hard onto the pavement. Fortunately, that's what mother was for. In a flash, she was by her daughter's side and helped her up.

"Kotori, are you okay? I think that's enough for today."

The girl nodded, silently following her mother back inside the house. It would take many more tries and many more falls before she would be truly able to ride her bike, but under mother's watchful guidance she slowly made her way to that point.

A year passed. She was riding around in the empty streets with her friends. The little bird could fly straight now, and she was confident enough to close her eyes and enjoy the feeling of the wind in her hair.

"You're amazing Kotori-chan! You're so good at it already!" Her friend yelled out from behind and added, "I still have trouble going that far without crashing."

"That's because you're so clumsy, Honoka," the third one said from up ahead. It was one of the rare moments when Umi was the one in the lead, since Honoka was still far too accident-prone to drag them into her reckless adventures.

Kotori was content following Umi, because the blue-haired girl was nothing if not cautious. Where she went, Kotori knew it was safe. And even when it was Honoka who was in front, dragging them on some crazy escapade, she could always rely on Umi to be responsible.

It was a long time before she tried to go any further. But eventually, she was standing at the airport, waiting for the plane that would take her away to the prestigious school she had been invited to. She knew that she should have felt excited about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But instead, all she felt was doubt, and fear, and sadness. She was leaving so much behind, and she didn't know what awaited her on the other side. All she knew was that she would be all alone. She checked her watch and noted that it was almost time. She started walking to her terminal–

"Kotori-chan!"

–and a hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist. As the sound of her dear friend's voice reached her ears, the bird released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. And with that breath, all her doubt was gone. Even before Honoka started begging her not to go, she knew what she truly wanted to do.

Perhaps choosing to stay with what was familiar instead of pursuing her dreams elsewhere was cowardice. But to just leap on the first chance she got when there was still more to be done here, wasn't that also irresponsible? There were still higher trees to climb, more places to go, and as long as she was with Honoka, she could reach them all. And this time, she would not just let herself get pulled along by the wind. She would reach for those dreams too, and see them through to the end.

She was eighteen when she was at the airport again, headed to a different fashion school overseas. They had reached their dreams here, and she knew it was time for her to go down her own path.

"I'm really going to miss you guys," she said to her dear friends. The eight of them had all come to see her off.

"We know, you don't have to keep saying it," Nico scoffed. "...Come back soon, okay?"

"We'll keep in touch, alright?" Eli said. "It'll be hard with the time difference, but we'll make it work."

Kotori nodded. "Well, I'll be going now." Giving them one last smile and a wave, she turned around to make her way to the terminal–

–and froze. There was nobody in front of her, no one to lead the way. There was only a sea of strangers, and she'd have to navigate it all by herself now. She forced herself to move forward, but it was all she could do to take one small, shaky step forward, and she immediately lost her balance and fell backwards.

Suddenly, two hands placed themselves on her back, breaking her fall.

"That's no good, Kotori-chan! You gotta be strong and stand on your own two feet!"

"But I guess we can give you one last push."

As her two best friends pushed her back forward, she knew they didn't just mean it literally. Even without turning around, she could see the wistful smiles on their faces as they started singing the song of their beginning:

"Even newborn baby birds will someday soar through the sky. They'll fly with great, strong wings."

They continued singing, and everyone joined in, but Kotori didn't hear them. Her heart filled with hope, she began running, towards the future that awaited her. And as the plane took off, the words of a different song resonated in her heart. Not a song of ending, but a song of a new chapter, a song of a whole world opening before her as the little bird finally left the nest.

"The little bird's wings have finally grown large, it's a day to take flight."

Happy birthday, Kotori-chan! I originally wrote this for the LL Wikia's birthday giveaway for her, and it tied for third place! Chun chun~