His friend spent a moment looking at the picture, playing with the edges before flipping it over and squinting at the muddled print. He finally seemed to decipher it, and a grin broke out across his face.

He said he had missed her, and Hitomi wondered where she had gone to make him say such a thing.

AU: Van is no Price Charming and Hitomi, a local merchant's daughter, is far from Cinderella. But when Hitomi's father strikes a deal to marry her off...