Archive of Our Own ^beta

Perhaps it was because of the unusual heat wave that felt since the end of winter, perhaps it was because so much had happened during that short period, or perhaps it was because it always started on a different date than the previous one, but the Spring Festival from that year appeared to have lasted an eternity.

On the morning of the last day of the Spring Festival, always strictly on a Sunday, it was a tradition for the children of the Kingdom of Askr to go on an outdoor egg hunt. According to an ancient myth, eggs represented new beginnings and the joys to be discovered in the new season. Unlike in the past, the eggs used for that purpose were made of different types of chocolate, and inside were small gifts, such as tiny toys and children’s accessories. At Askr Castle, some members of the Order of Heroes, dressed in bright spring outfits, organized their own hunt, hoping to bring joy to their young comrades.

   - “Thank you for joining me, Ike.” – young Azura thanked her best friend, who was walking beside her, as they approached the entrance to the field where the event would take place.

   - “Thank you for inviting me.” – the lad replied. – “I’ll never refuse to go with you... or to get free chocolates.”

   - “Hehehe!” – she giggled. – “But you don’t like chocolates that much.”

   - “I like them, but you like them even more, and I will give you all the ones I find.” – he promised.

   - “Don’t you think your father will tell you that, in that case, you should share them with your little sister?”

   - “Don’t worry, Mist will be here, too, with Palla and her sisters. She’ll be able to get her own chocolate eggs.”

   - “Great!” – she grinned at him, and they kept walking.

When they finally arrived at the field entrance, the kids were joyfully greeted by Mae, who significantly collaborated in planning that delightful activity. There, the pink-haired mage handed them a pair of baskets and two bunny-ear headbands, gifts for all the children who participated in the chocolate egg hunt.

   - “Have a lot of fun, please.” – Eitr, who was with her friend Mae to the entrance, offered them a shy smile. – “We worked hard… to make it look nice.” – she tried to sound calm.

   - “Thank you so much for your effort.” – Ike slightly bowed. – “We’re sure it will be.”

   - “Your ears are so cute!” – Azura exclaimed. – “They’re long and fluffy, and their color is gorgeous.” – she put on a pleading look. – “Would you let me touch them, please?”

   - “Oh!” – she was a little startled, but she understood there was no bad intention in the little girl’s words. – “OK.”

   - “Thank you!” – she ran her hand over the dark blue lining of her left ear. – “It feels so soft!”

   - “Do you… want to touch it, too?” – she glimpsed at the other child.

   - “Thank you, but it’s unnecessary.” – he shook his head.

   - “OK. Please come into the field.”

   - “Thanks!”

Before starting, the friends prepared themselves, taking the bunny ears that had just been given to them.

   - “Interesting.” – the cerulean-eyed kid gazed at the accessory he received. – “The ears I got are brown, and yours are light blue. Mae gave us bunny ears with my father’s and your mother’s hair colors, respectively.”

   - “I’m sure it’s a coincidence. Don’t think too much about it.” – the girl adjusted her headband near the edge of her hat and turned to look at her friend. – “Do I look good with these bunny ears?”

   - “Of course!” – he nodded and followed her example. – “And me?”

   - “Indeed.” – she offered him a tiny smile. – “What are we waiting for? Let’s go look for chocolate eggs!”

   - “Yes!” – together, they started trotting, paying attention to the bright, colorful metallic wrappings that sparkled from the ground.

As Ike and Azura commenced filling their baskets with chocolates, they greeted Mist, who was also wearing a pair of bunny ears. They also saw little Lissa and Elise, who had become friends just a few days ago, running around the field with smiles and giggles; Ilyana was there too and, as glutton as ever, wouldn’t let any of the eggs reach her basket, only collecting scrunched wrappers.

   - “…” – the blue-haired boy looked around. – “Is it just me, or are most of the kids here younger than us”

   - “… Do you think so?” – his friend tried to confirm his words. – “That’s not true.” – with her face, she pointed out to a known silhouette. – “Palla is a little older than us and is here, too.”

   - “Only because she brought her younger sisters and Mist here.”

   - “…” – she noticed that, as he said, the green-eyed gal was standing behind Catria and Est, more like looking after them than playing freely. – “You’re right!” – their gazes met. – “Does that mean we’re too old for this?” – her face saddened, and she took out her bunny ears.

   - “It seems so.” – disappointed, he took his headband and removed it from his head, leaving it in his basket. – “And it’s a shame because I wanted to collect lots of chocolates for you, but…”

Before he could continue complaining, a lovely, lavender-haired, lavender-eyed girl with a pair of white bunny ears, who probably was around eleven or twelve years old, approached them with a warm smile, noticing they seemed to be refraining from continuing with the hunt for chocolate eggs.

   - “Azura, you and your friend look sad. What’s wrong?” – she asked them, genuinely interested. – “Why aren’t you participating anymore? Are you feeling ill?”

   - “Hi, Camilla.” – the golden-eyed child replied to her, downhearted. – “We’re OK.” – she sighed. – “It’s just that Ike and I are too old to participate in…”

   - “Who told you that?!” – the young lady exclaimed, slightly angry. – “Tell me who dared to…”

   - “Don’t worry, nobody has anything to do with this.” – the boy clarified. – “We figured it out on our own.”

   - “Huh? You guys came to that conclusion?” – she looked at them, confused. – “Why did you think that?”

   - “We noticed most of the kids here are younger than us, and…”

   - “And what’s the matter about your age?” – she offered them a sweet smile. – “I’m older than you, and I’m having so much fun.” – she showed them her basket, filled with shiny chocolate eggs. – “Kiran explained to me that, in Askr, neither children nor adults summoned to the Order of Heroes can grow up or age, but even if it weren’t the case, you shouldn’t question whether you’re too old to do something.” – she took two of the treats she found. – “Never let your age stop you from doing what makes you happy.” – she placed an egg in her interlocutors’ baskets. – “Please, promise me you’ll continue having fun today, tomorrow, and every day, no matter how old you get.”

   - “… We promise, Camilla.” – with a smile, they spoke in unison, encouraged by her words.

   - “Wonderful, my darlings!” – she smiled, pleased. – “But you’re still missing something.” – gently, she took the headbands, placing them in their heads. – “There you go, blueberry bunnies!”

   - “Yes! Thank you!” – they grinned at her back and ran off.

With renewed energy, Ike and Azura returned to searching for chocolate eggs together, effortlessly finding a few more, thanks to the glow of the metallic packaging covering the prizes. A few minutes later, as the light blue-haired girl was about to take a candy wrapped in orange foil, she found something even more captivating.

   - “Oh, my! A real bunny!” – the lass grinned, charmed. – “Ike! Ike! Come here!” – she exclaimed in a muffled voice.

   - “What’s going on?” – as he drew closer, he understood what his friend wanted to show him. – “Wow! A live rabbit! That means that what Merric commented was true.”

   - “What did Merric say?”

   - “I heard he told L’Arachel we were near where rabbits have their burrows.”

   - “That explains it!” – in awe, she kept gazing at the little animal. – “It’s so cute! Did you see its ears?”

   - “Yes, they’re quite long and droopy, like Eitr’s. I’m sure that’s what that species is like.”

   - “It’s adorable! I love it! Do you think…?” – before she could finish her question, the creature hopped away from them. – “Hey, wait! Come here!” – without hesitations, she started to follow it.

   - “Azura, where do you think you’re going?!” – since he couldn’t leave her alone, he had no choice but to join her.

The gray rabbit advanced a few meters when it stopped abruptly, causing the children behind it to slow down, too. As if it were aware of the presence of its young companions, the creature turned and, taking short steps, approached them, raising its nose to get a little more information about those cerulean-haired beings.

   - “Hello, little one.” – to be at its level, Azura squatted down and held out her hand for the tiny animal to sniff. – “Relax, we don’t want to hurt you. We think you’re a cutie.” – she turned to see her friend. – “Ike, introduce yourself to the bunny, too. Show him your empty hand so he can smell it and know you’re harmless.”

   - “OK.” – he followed her example, and the rabbit sniffed at him, too. – “Hehehe!” – he felt its warm, furry snout in his palm. – “Calm down, buddy.”

   - “He liked you!” – she gently patted its head. – “Hehehe! It’s like touching velvet!” – her voice filled with tenderness. – “You’re so soft, just like a cloud.”

   - “That’s a good name!”

   - “Huh? What? Cloud?”

   - “Yes!”

   - “Do you think so?”

   - “Certainly.” – he nodded, smiling at her. – “This rabbit is gray and fluffy, like a rain cloud.” – his fingers continued to touch the creature’s smooth fur. – “What do you think, buddy? Do you like that name?” – the creature glimpsed at them as if it approved their words.

   - “I think he did like it. From now on, your name will be Cloud.” – as she stroked its chin, her golden eyes started filtering a slight sadness. – “But, unfortunately, Cloud can’t stay with us, right?”

   - “I’m afraid not.” – he sighed. – “He’s a forest creature, and we have no right to keep him just because we want to.” – he took his hands off the bunny. – “Also, we would have to share him.”

   - “I wouldn’t mind sharing Cloud with you.” – she grinned at him. – “You’re my best friend.”

   - “And you’re my best friend, but if we keep him, he’d have to spend one day with you and one day with me, just to be fair.” – he pouted a little. – “I don’t know if the constant moving would affect Cloud, and I don’t think my father would let me keep him, even if you had him half the time.”

   - “My mother could convince him and…”

   - “No, it’s better this way.” – he sighed again. – “Cloud belongs in the forest, where he should be, not in a huge castle, changing rooms every night. Besides, we don’t know if Cloud has a family.”

   - “… You’re right.” – she finally gave in. – “I wouldn’t want us to leave Cloud without his family by keeping him. That would be quite cruel.” – she took a deep sigh and glimpsed at the tiny animal. – “Thank you for allowing us to pet you, Cloud.” – resigned, she released it. – “Ike and I enjoy visiting the forest so maybe we’ll see each other again soon. Please don’t forget us. We won’t forget you.” – the rabbit looked at them, gently moved its head, raised its long ears, and hopped away.

   - “Goodbye, Cloud!” – the children said as one, waving goodbye to their fluffy friend as it walked away from them, deeper into the forest.

As the gray rabbit disappeared from sight, the cerulean-haired boy looked up and noticed the sun's position; with determination, he declared it was probably almost noon, the time the egg hunt would end. Since they had wandered a little far from the field where the event was taking place, they had to return to the beginning and go back together to the castle.

   - “I wish I could have spent more time with Cloud.” – Azura admitted, walking beside her friend. – “But even though I don’t know if we’ll ever see him again, I’m so glad I met him.” – she turned to see him, smiling at him. – “It was a wonderful experience, and I will remember it forever.”

   - “Me too.” – Ike grinned at her back. – “Now I think about it, we met Cloud because we listened to Camilla and kept playing.”

   - “That’s true!” – her eyes seemed to glow. – “If we had stopped, we wouldn’t have found him.” – she enthusiastically smiled. – “I’m so happy! It has been a fantastic day! I met a real bunny, got lots of chocolate eggs, and spent a lot of time with you.” – she looked at him affectionately.

   - “And it’s not over yet.” – he added. – “I saw Marth yesterday, and he told me Caeda told him her older self was going to bake a cake that will be served this afternoon to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival.”

   - “Hooray! Cake!” – her smile was radiant. – “I wonder what flavor it will be. Big Azura told me that, once...” – she was so excited that she didn’t notice the stone before her and tripped. – “Ouch!”

   - “Azura!” – the boy quickly offered her his hand to help her up. – “Are you OK? Are you hurt?”

   - “Yes, I’m OK.” – she took his hand and, with her other palm, brushed off the dust her clothes caught. – “It was just a minor bump. Don’t worry.”

   - “Are you sure?”

   - “Yes.” – she confidently nodded. – “The important thing is that the eggs I collected didn’t fall.”

   - “That’s not the most important thing! The most important thing is that you’re not hurt!” – he noticed their palms were still joined. – “I think, for your safety, we should hold hands until we get to the castle.” – he couldn’t help but blush a little because, in addition to keeping her from falling again, he also wanted to hold her hand, like the first time he walked through the forest with her.

   - “…” – she noticed her friend lightly squeezed her hand. – “OK.” – she smiled at him and intertwined their fingers. – “I love you so much, Ike.”

   - “And I love you, too, Azura.” – turning their gaze forward again, the friends slowly returned to the path, talking as only they could among themselves.

The End.