When Love Takes Over

Chapter 1

Mai Comes to Town

Pucca: 14

Mai: 14

Garu: 15

Ching: 14

Abyo: 15

She skipped through the village looking for the only boy that's perfect for her. Garu. She knew he was around here, hiding somewhere. She loved it when he would hide. It was fun searching for him. That's when Pucca spots him at a small snack stand. He gasps when he sees her and starts to run. Pucca giggles and chases after him, tackling him in 3 seconds. She lie on top of him.

"Garu, I found you!" she giggled as she kissed his cheek. "Please get off of me…" he asked, his face all red. "No," she responded and kissed his cheek again. Garu looked around to find anyone to help him. He saw Abyo and Ching walking by. "Hey! Garu!" shouted Abyo, "wanna train?" He jumped up and ripped his shirt. "HIYAH!" While Pucca's friends distracted her, Garu hopped up and ran to Abyo. "Sure, let's go!" he said quickly and ran away. Pucca frowned as she watched Garu run into the forest with Abyo. "Oh, don't worry Pucca. He'll come around soon," said Ching smiling.

The two girls walked into the noodle shop where they were holding a contest.

"Step right up! Step right up! See if YOU can eat the most noodles and hold the record! Winner will eat free here for one month!" shouted Linguini, "so far Santa Clause holds the record!" "Ho ho ho! Can anyone dare to eat past 23 bowls of noodles?" said the jolly old man, looking for competition. "Pucca, you should enter!" said Ching. Pucca shook her head and frowned. "They said it would be unfair since I can eat a lot…" she said. Ching sighed. "Oh well."

"What? No one DARES to challenge? I guess I'm given victory! Ho ho ho!" said Santa. "I'll do it!" perked up a small but loud voice from the back. The crowd moved aside to reveal a short girl walking towards the table of noodles. As she walked by, some people chuckled. "You think she could do it?" Pucca asked. "A girl that small? No way," responded Ching. Pucca smiled. "It's brave of her to try."

As the girl approached the table, Ho had to question her. "Um… are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"23 bowls of noodles is quite a lot…" said Uncle Dumpling.

"I want to do it!" she insisted, "don't underestimate me." She smirked. "Very well child. What is your name?" asked Linguini.

"I'm 14, and my name's Mai," she said confidently.

They laid out 10 bowls of noodles in front of her. She at them all to the bottom in a matter of 5 minutes. They laid 10 more bowls out, with the same result. Finally, 5 bowls were put in front of her. She wasn't done yet. She looked over at Santa, who was now biting his fingers. He wanted the prize badly. Mai wasn't going to let him win. She at the 5 bowls of noodles and took the lead. Everyone gasped and Santa slouched and pouted.

Ho raised Mai's arm, "And it looks like Mai is our new winner-"

"May I have 5 more bowls? I'm still hungry," interrupted Mai. "Whoa," said Pucca softly.

The following day, Mai walked in the noodle restaurant with a smile on her face. She carried a grey sketchbook with her that had a pink flower design on it. She sat at a table. Pucca wanted to get to know her. She walked to Mai's table.

"Welcome to Sooga's Noodle Shop! May I take your order?" she asked. Mai looked up from her sketchbook. She had large, dark brown eyes. She put the sketchbook down on the table. "Can I have a plain bowl of noodles?" she asked shyly. "Of course," said Pucca. She looked down at the sketchbook to see a girl playing with her hair.

"You draw?" she asked. "Yeah… for about 5 to 6 years," she said shyly. "That's a pretty picture. You should think about getting into the Manga business," said Pucca.

"Thank you," said Mai, "but I'm more of a musician than an artist. What are you into?" she asked. "I'm not so sure… I guess I really like taking pictures… maybe photography?" answered Pucca. Mai smiled. "That's a good career. You can make a lot of money with that." She looked at Pucca's style. "What about fashion? You wear nice outfits!" she said.

"Hmm, I never really thought of that… I do like making new designs with different clothing," said Pucca. Mai winked. "That's the spirit."

The two girls talked for about a half hour. Pucca learned that Mai was a runaway from Hokkaido. She was looking for freedom and adventure in another village.

"You should meet my friends. They're ninjas. We have different adventures everyday!" said Pucca. "Wow, ninjas? I took karate lessons, but I was never that good… I'm glad I met you Pucca!" said Mai. Pucca smiled. "Oh! I forgot all about your noodles! I'll be right back." Pucca came back in about 2 seconds and placed the noodles on the table. "You're fast," said Mai. At that moment Garu walked in with Abyo and Ching.

"Garu!" shouted Pucca running to him. "Garu braced himself. She gave him a hug that almost made him fall, but surprisingly didn't. She kissed his cheek and he growled. Pucca ran up to Ching. "Come meet Mai!" she said. "That girl that won the noodle eating contest?" she asked. Pucca nodded. They ran over to Mai's table. Ching congratulated her for winning and Mai blushed.

"I-I did that contest so I could eat free here! I don't exactly have a lot of money! I-It's not like I eat a lot! Ok… I do, but don't judge me!" she yelled while slamming her head on the table, covering it with her arms. She was starting to show her real personality… the crazy one. "It looked as if you were the quiet type…" said Ching. Mai looked up rolling her eyes. "Please. Quiet people don't know the first thing about having a real adventure," she said. She stood on the table, "I, on the other hand, want to fly! Fly into the sky, up to the stars! I want to climb the tallest mountain! I want to hike through forests and run through rivers! I want to…" and she went on for about 5 minutes, until Abyo interrupted. "You're crazy! You just wanna get killed!" he shouted. She smirked.

"I would risk my life to have an adventure," she said smiling. She got down from the table. "That's an admirable goal," said Garu. Mai smiled at him. "I don't even know any of your names…" she said, "I know Pucca. What are all your names?" They each said their names and their favorite things to do. Pucca picked up Mai's sketchbook again. "This short one is a true artist! Look at all of her drawings," she said, handing it to Ching.

"Pucca! It's not nice to call people short," said Ching, taking the sketchbook. "Like Pucca's always nice…" murmured Abyo. Garu snickered. "I'm proud I'm short. There's nothing wrong with that. If there were ever a zombie apocalypse, I would live! Live I say! I can crawl into the tiniest places, watching you all get your hearts ripped out and eaten," said Mai. Everyone stared at her. Their faces looked scared. "Sorry…" she said, softly chuckling. "Wow Mai, this stuff is beautiful! How long did it take you to learn?" asked Ching.

"About 5 years," she responded.

"Did you take lessons?"

"I learned on my own."

"That's also admirable," said Garu again, this time grinning.

"Think you could teach me?" piped up Abyo. Mai shook her head smiling. Abyo pouted. "You suck…" he said.

No one had realized that it was late. The clock struck 8:00 p.m. and everyone left saying their goodbyes. Even Garu said goodbye. Pucca kissed his cheek before he left. His face turned red and he growled walking out, like usual. "Um, Pucca, could I stay for the night? My apartment isn't finished being painted yet and it gives me the creeps…" said Mai. Pucca nodded, excited that she would be having a sleepover with her new friend.

The clock struck 11:00 p.m. as the girls crawled into bed. Pucca no longer had pictures of Garu all over the room. Mai slept on a blow up mattress on the floor.

"Hey Pucca, are you dating that guy you kissed?" Mai asked. "Pucca blushed. "Not exactly… I just really like him," she replied. Mai smiled. "I think you guys are so cute together! Awwwww it's just so adorable thinking about it! You two would be soooo cute! I should draw a picture…" said Mai. She was stopped by a yawn. She laid her head down on the pillow. "How romantic…"she murmured, and then fell asleep.

Pucca, still awake, turned over on her bed, starting to close her eyes. "I hope he'll come around soon…" she whispered softly, and fell asleep.

Oh why hello there person! :) Yes this is my second story! I just love love love love love Pucca! So, I decided to make a decent story, or at least I hope it was decent. Sorry if it was so boring, just tried setting the conflict. D: School's almost over! I've only got one week left, so after school ends, I'm all over FanFiction. :D

I'll put the next chapter up soon. I'm also already working on the next chapter for Airrider. I'll see you soon my lovely readers. ;D