Four-year-old Cristina Yang was a determined, intelligent little soul. She always knew what she wanted and knew how to get it. She liked things a particular way and it was always her way. She hated when her older brother Garrett came into her room and interfered with her toys. He was seven years old and would also tease her because he was so much bigger. She heard his voice and inwardly, the little girl went on full alert. He was going to bother her, as usual.

But it seemed he was talking to someone. It was another boy. Not another boy, she thought. Garrett was enough trouble.

She opened the door of her bedroom and saw Garrett and the boy talking in the corridor just outside of her brother's bedroom. He was a tall boy for his age with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He looked around and saw the little girl with the full head of raven curls.

"Who's that?" the boy asked, pointing to Cristina.

"That's my little sister Cristina. She is four. Don't mess with her, she is mean," Garrett said, laughing.

"She can't be so mean," the boy said, coming towards Cristina. "Look how cute she is. Look at these curls and these cheeks. She is like a doll." The boy squeezed Cristina's cheeks. Her eyebrows knitted together. She hated when people squeezed her cheeks.

"I am warning you, Owen. Don't mess with my little sister," Garrett said. As much as she hated people squeezing her cheeks, Cristina decided that she was going to do the opposite of whatever Garrett said about her. She smiled sweetly, showing off her tiny baby teeth.

"Aw, you see that," Owen said. "She's smiling at me. She likes me." Garrett shook his head. "She will turn on you in a minute," Garrett warned.

"Hello, Cristina," Owen said. "My name is Owen. Can you say my name?"

Of course she could say his name, she thought. Did he think she was a baby? She decided to humor him.

"O-wen," she said, as if she was struggling to say it.

"Yes," Owen said, happily.

"She's only messing with you, Owen," Garrett said. "You don't know how much she gets me into trouble."

"I think you just don't know how to deal with her," Owen said.

"Come on, let's go into my room and play our games," Garrett said, urging his friend to leave his sister alone. "You're not here to play with my little sister."

"Alright, I am coming," Owen said. He softly stroked Cristina's curls. "Goodbye, Cristina. I will see you soon." He turned away and headed into Garrett's room.

Cristina closed her door and went back to playing with her dollies and teddy bears. That was the first time she met Owen Hunt.

The blonde boy soon became a regular visitor at the Yang household. He and Garrett were in the same grade and they had become fast friends because they liked so many of the same things. While he ostensibly came over to play with Garrett, he always made time for Garrett's little sister.

He was fascinated by this tiny doll-like creature with the delicate features, the porcelain skin and the darkest of curls. He had an older sister, Julia, who was 13, but she was nothing like this little princess. Julia was loud and obnoxious and was already into boys and fashion. He didn't like Julia at all.

He knocked on her door. She was used to him, coming to see her. At least he knocked on her door, not like Garrett, who often barged into her room. Owen treated her much nicer than her brother.

"Hello, Cristina," he said, as he entered her room. He took a seat at her tiny table where she had a tea-set all laid out. She had dolls and bears in each chair around the table, except for her chair and the chair in which Owen sat.

"Do you want some tea and biscuits, Owen?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he said, as the little girl poured out some imaginary tea while handing him a plate of plastic biscuits. He pretended to drink the tea and eat the plastic biscuits. "Yummy," he said. She laughed. She had a cute little laugh, he thought. They would play tea party for about half an hour, before Garrett always came to get him so they could go to his room.

"Good bye, Cristina," Owen told the little girl. "I will see you soon." Cristina nodded at him.

"Why do you spend so much time with my little sister?" Garrett asked. "She is a total pain."

"No, she's not. You should try and get along with your sister. She is not like my terrible sister, Julia, who is always shouting at me," Owen said. "Your little sister is so cute."

"On the whole, sisters are terrible," Garrett said. "Okay, what are we playing, today?" The two boys disappeared into his room, while the tiny girl in the room next door sang to her dollies and teddy bears.

When Cristina was five, she was ready for kindergarten. Her dad, Stanley, knew she was such a smart, little cookie. She was going to the same school as Owen and Garrett, who were now eight years old and in Grade 3.

"So you're excited, Cristina? Your first day of kindergarten!" Stanley said, taking a glance at his tiny daughter in her booster seat.

"Yes, Daddy," she said, happily. She loved her daddy so much.

"So, Garrett, you will take care of your little sister," Stanley told his son.

"Must I, dad?" Garrett asked. "She's got such a big mouth, she can take care of herself."

"She may have a big mouth at home but she is one of the smallest kids in the school so she won't be as talkative there," Stanley said.

"Aaargh!" Garrett groaned. He always was forced to look out for Cristina because he was her older brother. He hated that. Being responsible for himself was enough.

As they pulled up in front of the school, Stanley stopped and unstrapped his little girl. He took her out of the car and handed the little girl, her lunch bag. He picked up her little knapsack. "Okay, so we're ready for our first day, baby girl," he said, as he took her tiny hand into his. As they entered the school compound, they met Owen on the school steps.

"Hello, Owen," Stanley said. "Nice to see you."

"Good morning, Mr. Yang," the blonde boy said. "Hey, Garrett. Hello, Cristina."

"Hello, Owen," the little girl said, looking up at the blonde boy.

"Hey," Garrett said to his friend.

"Are you excited for your first day of school?" Owen asked Cristina.

"Yes," she said, holding her daddy's hand tightly.

"If you need to go to work, Mr. Yang, I can take her to her class," Owen said. Stanley looked at his watch. He was running late because he was the one who had to get the kids ready for school that morning. Usually, his wife, Helen would have handled it but she had to meet one of her clients early that morning and he was left to handle those duties.

"Would that be okay, Cristina?" he asked his little girl. "Can Owen take you to your classroom?"

"Yes, Daddy" she said. Her daddy bent down and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. "Be good, baby girl." Owen took the little girl's hand into his and accepted her knapsack from Mr. Yang. Garrett groaned. Now he would be forced to walk his little sister to her classroom.

"Please take good care of her," Stanley said. He was actually talking to Garrett but it was Owen who answered. "Yes, I will," Owen said. Garrett reluctantly followed his friend and his little sister to her classroom, dragging his feet behind them.

As they walked through the school, Owen pointed out some of the places that the little girl should know about.

"That is the lunchroom," Owen said. "You can bring your lunch and eat in there. I will come for you at lunchtime and we can eat together."

"Oh, no," Garrett said. "We have to eat with her, too? What will the other guys say about us having to eat with this baby?"

"I am not a baby," Cristina said, defiantly as she shook her curls.

"No, you're not a baby," Owen said. He gave his friend a glare.

"That is the girls' restroom," Owen said, pointing to a door where two girls had just entered.

"That is the teachers' lounge," he pointed to a blue door. "Never go in there. They get so mad, if you do."

"And this is your classroom," he said, as they reached the kindergarten class. He went straight up to the teacher, Miss Giles.

"Miss Giles," he said. "I have brought you a new student. Her name is Cristina Yang. She is Garrett's little sister." Garrett nodded, glumly to the teacher.

"Welcome, Cristina," Miss Giles said, as she checked her attendance book for Cristina's name. "Thank you, Owen for bringing her to class. Where are her parents?"

"Her dad had to go to work and I volunteered to bring her to class. She is my friend," Owen said.

"Well, you're a good friend, Owen. I will take her, now," she said. Owen released her hand and turned to her. "Goodbye, Cristina. I will see you soon."

"Goodbye, Owen," Cristina said. She gave her brother a face. "And you, too, Garrett."

"Yeah, yeah," Garrett muttered. He knew it was going to be a pain to have his little sister come to the same school as he did.

The two boys turned to leave. Owen looked back as he saw Miss Giles take the tiny girl and place her at a table with two other children. She looked so small and forlorn, he thought. He gave her a little wave and she smiled back at him.

As they walked to their classroom, Garrett asked, "Why do you care so much about my little sister?"

Owen pondered the question. "Because she is very small and needs to be protected. It's like she is my little sister. I just like her."

For her entire kindergarten year, Owen met the Yangs every morning. He was always ready to take Cristina to her classroom. It was his morning ritual. He and Garrett always met her for lunch in the lunchroom. In the evenings, he was there to see her off.

When she entered first grade, she told him that he didn't have to accompany her to her classroom, anymore. She was now six and therefore, a big girl. He sighed. She was getting bigger and didn't want him to take care of her, anymore. She wanted to be independent. She now had her own friends and she ate with them, instead of Owen and Garrett, in the lunchroom. That was much to Garrett's relief that he no longer had to eat with his baby sister. Owen, on the other hand, missed eating with the little girl.

Even if she said he didn't want her to look out for her anymore, he still did, anyway but he never told her that he did. He made sure that she was not bullied because of her diminutive size. And that is how it continued until the day the two boys were going to graduate from eighth grade.

It was the day of the boys' graduation. Cristina and her parents were there to see Garrett graduate. Owen's older sister, Julia, who was now in college, and his parents also came to see him graduate. Garrett had a crush on Julia and he always made a fool of himself whenever he was around her. Julia always treated him like a puppy dog.

Cristina was leaving fifth grade and in the fall, she was entering sixth grade. Both Cristina and Owen had birthdays during the summer. He was turning 14 at the end of June and she was turning 11 in August. Garrett had just turned 14 right before the graduation.

Cristina cheered when her brother and Owen received their diplomas. Owen waved at her, when he heard her voice. Both Mr. Yang and Mr. Hunt took numerous pictures of the young graduates. They were a little bit obnoxious trying to get the best shots.

After the official ceremony, there were lots of picture-taking. Cristina stood back because it was really her brother's and Owen's day.

"Come on, Cristina, get in the picture," Owen called out to her. She shook her head. "Yeah, come on, Cristina," Garrett said. Over the years, his attitude towards his little sister had softened. She was less of a pain now and he actually enjoyed her company. She reluctantly came forward and stood between the two boys for their picture. Both Mr. Yang and Mr. Hunt took their pictures.

"This one is going in a frame," Mr. Hunt said, laughing. "Look how good they look."

They all joined the reception for graduates and their families to enjoy some sandwiches and juice.

Cristina was standing in a corner, watching the crowd around her. Everyone seemed so happy. In a couple of years, she too, would be graduating.

"Hey," Owen said, as he handed her a sandwich and a drink. "Brought you something so you won't have to stand in line."

"You didn't have to do that," she said, accepting the refreshments.

"I wanted to," he said. He stared out at the crowd. "So you know, when the fall semester starts, you will be all alone, here. Garrett and I will be going to high school, then."

"Yeah, I know that. It's okay, Owen. I am going to be okay," she said, smiling at him.

"I won't be around to look out for you,' he said. "Even though you didn't want me to, I couldn't help it. I still looked out for you."

"Yes, Owen, I know you did," she said, laughing.

"How did you know that?" he asked.

"In third grade, when Bobby Chamberlain put that gum in my hair and the nurse had to cut off a huge chunk of hair. You saw me crying in the nurse's office. I saw you watching me. The next day, Bobby apologized to me and he couldn't look me in the eye. I kinda figured you took care of it. He never messed with me, again," Cristina said.

"Yeah, that boy was a weasel," Owen said, laughing at the thought.

"He's not so bad, now," Cristina said.

"What do you mean?" Owen said, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Oh, he is quite nice to me, now," Cristina said. "He asked me if I wanted to go to the movies with him."

"And are you going?" Owen asked. He needed to know.

"No, my dad said I can't date until I am in high school. Bobby said he would wait," Cristina laughed. "Who's going to wait for a girl for that long?"

Owen thought, "I would."

"Hey, Owen," Mr. Hunt called out to him. "We're heading to the airport to drop off Julia. Come on."

"Okay, Dad," Owen answered. "Gotta go, Cristina."

"Yes, okay," Cristina answered. She put down her sandwich and drink. She gave him a tight hug. "Owen Hunt, you were my bestest friend in grade school."

He put his arms around her. "Goodbye, Cristina. I will see you soon."

A/N: Yes, it is a new story. Please, please, leave your reviews. I do hope you have enjoyed it.