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At "Go!", Nozomi dashed towards the rock, fully prepared to just kick it towards the bench as hard as she could. She wasn't out to beat Vydia to a pulp, but that didn't mean she'd just lie down without trying.



Meanwhile, a young kimono-clad woman strolled her way down the path, holding a covered picnic basket. She stopped at a distance behind Nozomi, visible to the other two kids... and wondered if she should approach. She didn't really want to cut off a game that had just started - and it looked like the two girls were about to have fun.

She smiled softly as she spotted the glowing blue mark on Nozomi's elbow, and nodded to herself.

She's the one, then... I wonder where the other guardians are?

Everything happened so quickly, Kaiden was somewhat clueless as to what he should address first. He wanted to see if Vydia was alright, but he wasn't entirely sure there was anything he could do for her if she wasn't. He also had noticed a human woman in bright red approaching their little corner of the park and so he was very hesitant to abandon their stars, even for a few moments. Since sitting and thinking never was his strong point, Kaiden decided to simply take action and pray his instincts would help him out a bit. Figuring... well, alright, hoping Nozomi would have more of an idea of what to do for Vydia, Kaiden moved around the bench intending to offer Vydia a hand and to quietly call Nozomi over until the woman made it clear she meant no harm.

Rushing to the darker girl's wounded side, Kaiden hesitated in just grabbing her and instead held a hand out palm up. "Can I... do you want help getting back to the bench Vydia?" He watched over her head, slightly distracted as the human hesitated in the path. For some reason, he felt the three of them would be safer at the bench. "Nozomi, there is someone coming, lets go back to the bench until she tells us who she is. And maybe... do you think holding your star might help you feel better Vydia? As he was speaking, he slipped an arm around Vydia's shoulders, snaking under her arm, hoping to take some of the weight off the knee she was babying... completely forgetting that he was probably safer waiting for the headstrong girl to approve of his assistance.

Vydia was hesitant to accept Kaiden’s arm, not that she had much choice as he very ninja-like slid it around and helped support her. She winced at the close contact and aimed to get to the bench as quickly as possible. She was grateful for the help but wasn’t sure how to express it and was positive she could have made it there fine on her own. Once she was sitting on the bench and able to rest her leg, she nodded her head in brief thanks and attempted to wiggle free of his hold.

Her attention became focused on the new woman, was she a threat? Vydia wanted to tell Nozomi to come sit with them, like Stella had told them to do, even if Vydia had earlier strayed from the bench. She stuck out her chin and eyed the women while she spoke. Her expression softened as she explained she was Nozomi’s guardian and poured water on the wound. Vydia rolled her eyes and allowed the women to clean her knee. She had fallen before and generally it wasn’t such a big deal, of course she was usually on her own.

Vydia was just a little jealous that Nozomi’s guardian was so nice. Of course her guardian would be so much more ….awesome. “His name is Kaiden!” She blurted out, a little angry the women didn’t know his name. “I’m Vydia and we are Noz…..” she was going to say Nozomi’s friends but she hadn’t really made friends before and wasn’t sure if an unfinished game constituted as a friendship, “We are here to meet our guardians too.”

Nozomi nodded cheerfully at her new guardian, and, while she couldn't understand the other girl's indignation - they hadn't known Kaiden's name either until they asked - she thought she could start off a good relationship with her guardian by doing as she said.

With a concerned look at Vydia, she hauled the basket closer so the Dark girl wouldn't have to move too far, spread out a cloth on the ground and started to set out things.

There were lots of rice balls, more than the children alone could eat; assorted sandwiches, plates, cups, another bottle of water, a bottle filled with orange liquid, and a small flask of who knew what.

"Hey, Kaiden. Umm.. Could I have my star back now?" Nozomi felt strangely nervous, wanting so bad to make a good first impression. She felt like she needed something to cling to, and her star would do nicely.

Llia looked quietly up at the girl she was tending to with red-iris'd eyes, more bemused at the outburst than anything.

"I am sorry. I thought to help you before asking your names." She nodded back at Kaiden, even more amused at how solemn he was. Wasn't he trying a little hard to grow up so quickly?

"Good to meet you, Kaiden, Vydia."

Tucking a stray lock of waist-long hair behind her ear, Llia checked the graze one last time to make sure it was clean, capped the bottle.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Help yourselves."

The seamstress wasn't showing it, but she was actually about as nervous as Nozomi. What if they didn't like rice balls or sandwiches? What if Vydia's guardian showed up and got cross at her scrapes? Where were the other guardians, did she really have to take Nozomi away from her friends so soon?

Carefully retrieving the lavender star, Kaiden wound his way around to the far side of the bench where the Light child sat and returned it to Nozomi's waiting hands. Glancing at all the food Nozomi's guardian had brought, Kaiden gingerly took a rice ball to munch on his way back to the tree. Seeing Vydia take a huge bite from the sandwich she held had reminded him that he was hungry as well. The rice ball was quite good and after finishing, he looked up and offered a shy half smile to the woman. "Thank you for breakfast... um, Miss... it's very good." He hadn't recalled hearing the woman offer a name.

Not sure just what to do with himself, Kaiden shifted and tried to catch Vydia's eye to see if she wanted her star back as well.

"Lila...." She said the woman's name aloud, it rolled off the tongue easily, "It's a pretty name. I guess we know that Nozomi will have some good cooking to look forward to." She smiled and grabbed another sandwich, the food somehow putting her in a better mood.

Cliff glanced at his watch. Not only was he late but the damn leather band was worn to the point of breaking and it was his favorite watch, albeit his only watch. Taking large steps he flew through the park, cutting across the large open grass and toward the general direction he thought the bench was. He rubbed his eyes, tired from the nights work and threw a hand through his hair. It wasn't long before he heard some voices and because they were the only sounds he assumed they were the people he had to meet. His worn cowboy boots crushed the grass underneath them alerting everyone to his presence.

He spotted the lovely lady first, man was she a looker! She seemed to be having a picnic. He wasn't sure if she was a potential guardian or someone else. "Howdy miss." He nodded his head in her direction and then regrettably drew his focus to the children. A young boy and another child were drinking orange juice from the looks of it. Cliff's never cared much for the stuff, he is more of a milk man.

At this point he wished he had listened more to the description of Vydia but it had been early morning and he hadn't been able to focus real well on the details. He figured he'd introduce himself, "I'm Cliff. I'm here to pick up one of you little misses but I seem to have forgotten which one." He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little awkward.

Vydia scowled as the man introduced himself. His shoes looked funny, they were oddly pointed and he talked weird. Of course he wouldn't know who she was, she would get a stupid one. Vydia just popped the rest of the sandwich she had been working on into her mouth and made no attempt to say anything.

Nozomi followed Kaiden and carefully sat down next to Llia, leaving some space between herself and Vydia for Kaiden to sit. When the stranger said he was here to pick up a "little miss", Nozomi couldn't help but giggle - how terribly polite he was! She wanted to nudge Vydia into speaking up, but she had something else to attend to... handing Kaiden back his cup.

And she had conveniently forgotten which one was his.

"Um... Kaiden? I can't remember which one's yours..." Nozomi blushed, feeling rather silly.

"Good day," said Llia, turning her red gaze upon Cliff with a small smile. She was used to having men gape at her - and from the look of Nozomi, her young charge would have to get used to that, too.

"Oh? Well... is her name Vydia?"