Theme #1, "look over here!"

Nino shivered as she pulled her cloak tighter around herself. Winter was coming to a close, but spring wasn't quite there yet.

"I wish winter didn't feel so long," she mumbled, stepping carefully around the patches of snow that still lingered from last month's storms. At least it was finally warm enough to play outside, and yesterday she'd seen a few flowers poking up from the grass.

"Any day now," she mused, sitting down on a nearby tree stump and taking out a book. She'd made some progress with her reading last night, so maybe today was a good day to practice some more.

She was about a page into the story when she heard rustling. She dropped the book and leapt to her feet.

"W-who's there?" She hoped it wasn't a bandit, or one of the bad people her mother kept talking about. The only answer was more rustling.

"I-I have a fire tome, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Nino called, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. The bush rustled again, and a small furry head poked through the branches. A gust of wind kicked up, pushing the branches aside to reveal a small cluster of-

"Kittens!" Nino gasped with relief. "It was only a mother cat and her kittens...how silly of me!" She fell to her knees laughing. "Only kittens...and to think I would've burned them!"

Suddenly, she leapt to her feet, nearly tripping over the forgotten book in her haste. She had to tell someone!

*

Jaffar was coming back from his mission when he heard her cry.

"Jaffar!"

Was something wrong? Not that he was worried about her, of course.

"What is it?" he asked, holding a hand out to stop her from crashing into him. No, nothing was wrong...she looked ridiculously happy, in fact.

"You have to see this!" Nino cried. "Come on, it's over by the tree stump, we have to hurry or it might go away!"

He didn't know why he followed her, but when he got there she was holding back the branches of a bush and pointing at something.

"Cats?" he asked blankly.

"Not just cats, a mother cat and her kittens!" Nino squealed. "They were moving around and making a lot of noise, and they startled me...I thought they were bandits!"

Jaffar stood motionless, staring as Nino continued to babble about the cats. She'd dragged him all the way out here to watch pointless balls of fluff lie about?

He almost walked away. He didn't have the time to waste, and Sonia would probably be calling him for another mission soon. Nino was so wrapped up in her discovery she wouldn't notice he'd left.

"Jaffar?"

He turned around, and she was holding a kitten in her outstretched hands.

"...You want me to touch it?" he asked.

"Feel it, it's soft!"

I don't have time for this, he wanted to say. Stop bothering me with this foolishness.

"Nino, I really must-" he started to say, cut off by something moist touching his hand. "...It licked me."

Nino giggled.

"See? It likes you, it wanted to give you a kiss!" she said. "Isn't it cute?"

Jaffar sighed, reaching out and gingerly stroking the animal's head.

"It's not too bad." This girl will be the end of me, I swear it.

The mother cat started meowing and nudging Nino's ankle.

"Oh, I think it's mother wants it back for now. But you can come back and visit them anytime you like!" Nino said, returning the cat to its mother and siblings.

Jaffar nodded.

"I should be going. I'll see you later, I guess."

"Okay! Bye, Jaffar!" Nino chirped.

Jaffar shook his head as he walked back to Black Fang headquarters. It never failed; Nino always managed to evoke this strange confusion in him.

What is it about her...