She had begun to see things differently lately. Oh sure, the things she had seen before were still there but there was more now. Looking at even the simplest of things, say a flower, she noticed every imperfection along with all the beauty. It was really very enlightening. She preferred her innocence.

She hadn’t looked at him since her view had changed. She didn’t want him to become imperfect like the rest of the world. It was childish, she knew, but she wanted him to forever be her one perfect memory. She couldn’t avoid him forever though, not if she stayed here. It left her with only one option besides giving up on that dream. She would leave and preserve the last vestiges of her innocent view of the world.

It was almost humorous, she had been so desperate to grow up so that he would look at her as a woman and now that she had she wished for nothing more than for things to go back to the way they were. Maybe he would never see her the way she wanted him to but she knew that she would never be able to see him the way she had. And that changed everything. If he were as different to her as everything else, would she still feel the same? She wouldn’t take that chance.

Better to love forever as a child than to have that cherished feeling change as a woman. It was probably illogical to feel that way, she knew he would never leave just to hold onto an impossible dream. But what did she care about logic? She was a being of emotion that cried when hurt and smiled when happy. Maybe that would change too, now that she saw things in this new light, but she certainly hoped not.

She gathered the few things she would be taking with her, placing them in a small satchel. Then she took her mantle, draped it over her shoulders, took the satchel and headed towards Okina’s room.

She knocked once on the door, a sharp echoing sound answered her movement. “Jiya?”

The shoji slid open, revealing her surrogate grandfather. He looked at her, taking in the mantle and satchel before nodding slightly.

“Going to see the Kamiya girl?” He knew that wasn’t it but and old man could hope, couldn’t he?

“Maybe. You knew this would happen eventually, Jiya. I couldn’t stay a child forever and I can’t stay here forever either.”

He nodded. As much as he wanted to fight it, to plead for her to stay, he knew that she had to do this, to say no would only result in her leaving without saying goodbye. So instead of arguing he grabbed her in a bear hug then held her at arms length so he could remember just how she looked, telling her that he wanted to tell her how she changed when she came back, even if it was only to visit. She smiled at his acceptance, hugging him once more before whispering her goodbye and heading off to find the others.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes to find the other four. She would have left then but Okon and Omasu insisted that she take some food with her. That was fine, she would wait.

Not long after she was handed a small package that she assumed was full of rice balls. Okon and Omasu hugged her tearfully, saying goodbye. Shiro and Kuro said their good-byes as well and she started out the door, leaving behind the safety of her childhood and her last innocent dream.

Author’s Note: Eh…I dunno where this came from. I’m not sure if I want to leave it a one-shot or make it into a longer story… I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Standard disclaimers apply.