Part II

[ Retrouvailles: the happiness of meeting again after a long time]

Years passed and Hoshiko did not see Madara again. The glade opened for her at night and closed again as she waited, and still Madara did not show. She was disappointed, almost. Someone was finally welcomed inside her home in the forest, and yet, it seemed the world didn't want him here. She sat on the edge of the pond with a heavy heart, water lapping gently at her ankles. The moonlight shone down on her as she kicked her feet back and forth, disturbing the fish as they swam in circles around her toes and they swam away closer to the centre of the pond.

Like that night so many years ago, a twig snapped near the hidden entrance to the glade, and her head shot up, hope bright in her eyes. Familiar black hair and eyes greeted her although they looked older and… sadder, somehow. He hadn't changed much, and she could never forget the soft smile of her first friend.

She stood quickly, nearly tripping as she skipped over to the boy's side. He grinned at her, and she beamed back. He looked the same as all those years ago, illuminated in the moonlight the same as back then, just as pretty.

She slowed when she noticed he wasn't alone, and not even five feet away from her old friend, she stopped completely, staring at the tall brunette standing slightly behind Madara.

"... Madara-san," She began, a frown making its way onto her face, "who is this?"

Madara smiled at her. is head turned and gestured to the newcomer, who grinned hesitantly yet brightly at her.

"This is Hashirama." Said boy gave a wave, "I told him about the glade and he wanted to see it."

Hoshiko didn't know what to make of the boy. He was tall, that was for sure, and the plants seemed to buzz and animals light up in elated greeting as he neared them. The whole dell was alive at the sight of him, so much more than it was for her. She stared into his brown eyes, searching for what made them love him more than her. She didn't find anything. was he anything like the gruff, awkward disposition that Madara had, or was he soft and happy like her?

... No, he was something else. She didn't know what, but she wasn't sure she welcomed the freakishly familiarity that came with his presence. It was a new feeling, and it scared her.

She turned on her heel, and walked back to the pond. Standing on the steps, she spoke without looking back.

"Leave."

Madara was at a loss, and Hashirama looked confused and a little disappointed as well.

"You know this place is special to me." She stated, still not turning around. "You don't come for years, and you have the nerve to bring an unknown here? The forest seems to love him but I do not. Leave."

Hashirama lit up at the mention of the forest, and he grinned as if he didn't hear the part about her wanting him to leave.

"You can hear the forest too?" Hashirama grinned, walking quickly up to her, startling her as he laid a hand on her shoulder. He was surprised for a moment, but then he remembered that Madara had told him she was a civilian. Or, at least, thats what Madara thought. Hoshiko had never shown any hint of formal, or informal, training in those nights he spent with her playing in the glade. She didn't even know the games he grew up playing as a child. Although now that he's thought about it, the games he was brought up with always did something to improve your memory, tracking skills or dexterity.

Hoshiko slipped out his grasp and deftly stepped over a cluster of butterflies resting on a bunch of white flowers. Hashirama followed her as she went, scampering through the grass in a one-sided game of tag. Madara watched off to the side, bewildered. Every time the two children made contact, flowers would bloom underneath their feet. The pair didn't notice it, of course. Hoshiko was focused on being left alone and Hashirama was focused on catching the girl and getting answers to his questions. The fireflies flickered around them and the grasshoppers chirped to an unheard of decibel.

"Leave me be, will you?" Hoshiko shouted finally, startling the fireflies and butterflies and grasshoppers and fish.

Hashirama shook his head, and sh crossed her arms and growled.

"Yes, I can hear the forest. Yes, I can understand them, and no I don't know how!" She stepped over a shallow creek, leaving the persistent boy on the other side. Hoshiko stared him down, blue clashing with brown, and then flickered her eyes over to the quiet boy still standing on the edges of the trees. She sighed softly, turning her face up to the stars, and sat, patting the ground next to her just like she did on the day they met. Both Hashirama and Madara quickly obeyed and sat on either side of her, watching the stars with her.

"... I've always been able to hear them," Hoshiko whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence of the chilly spring night. "Ever since I was little, they would whisper to me… 'come home' they would say. 'We're waiting for you'."

Hoshiko turned to Hashirama, and he watched her face like he was entranced, and she figured that was what she looked like when she saw Madara for the first time, that night.

"Can you… can you control them?" Hashirama asked, hesitantly. Hoshiko smiled.

"...No, I can't," She shifted so she was laying with her back against the soft grass. "I can ask them to do things for me, but I don't command them. They seem to like me, and have saved me from injury many times,"

Hashirama seems thoughtful. He hymned, and no one said a word more. The trio laid on the grass and flowers, and Hoshiko felt something click into place, something she never knew was unaligned. She smiled, feeling whole for the first time in a very, very long time.

The two boys left without her that night, Hashirama with an orange and yellow crown of lilies and Madara with a crown of red and white marigolds, and a sense of rightness in their chests. They were meant to be there that night, Kami knows why, but they weren't going to question that feeling.

Back within the flowering clearing with the crystal blue pond and buzzing fireflies, Hoshiko mused on how long it will take until Madara returms once more... until both return once more.

Her heart felt heavy.