For howlsatthemoon, for giving me this prompt! :) and for being the inspiration :P

I know it sucks and everything, but i hope you guys like it anyway! (:

"No Jase," she says, for the hundredth time in the day, "not a goldfish."

The little boy in front of her (with teary eyes and folded arms) just stares right at her, lips still in a pout, eyes still hopeful and hair still messed up.

"But Mommy," he whines, "it's my birthday, and I really want a fishy."

She looks at him one more time, afraid that he might break into tears any second, and she almost gives in to his demands before she forces herself to look away.

"Jason, honey, try to understand. You're my little seven year old ninja; but one who can hardly take care of himself and needs mommy around all the time. You can't possibly take care of a fish."

"Oh but I can, Mom. I promise." He says, as he holds out his pinkie, hoping that maybe, just maybe, his mom will finally agree, and link their pinkies together.

"No, you can't. What if you're not careful enough and it dies?" She asks, reaching out for his hand.

He immediately jerks his hand away, and it almost takes her by a surprise. And without any more exchange of words, he's running to his room, and in a blink of an eye, she hears the door slam shut.

And all Marie does is sighs, hoping that he'll understand.

--

It's two days later, that she finally realizes he really is serious about this. She knows that Jason's character is one that if he wants to do something with all his heart, he will.

So she knocks at his bedroom door, and all she hears is a whispered 'come in', and she takes a step in, and seats herself on his bed, and he's all cuddled up in his blanket.

"Jason, come on, get up."

He doesn't reply, instead, only response from him is the crumpling of his sheet, and him trying to stuff his face in the pillow.

So she says what she's come here to say.

"Oh, Jason, are you still cross with me? I thought we were going to go get your fishy today?"

Immediately, the crumpled sheets fly halfway across the room as his head shoots up, eyes glittering with excitement.

"We are?" He asks, and when she nods, he pinches himself to know it's real. "Thank you. I'll go change." He says, making his way to the bathroom. Instantly, he stops like he's forgotten something, and he realizes, so he turns and runs back to his mother and hugs her as tightly as he can, and she can't breathe for a mere second.

"I love you, Mommy. So, so much."

And before she has a chance to reply, he runs to the bathroom, with little squeals of glee escaping his lips.

And he's ready to go in the next ten minutes.

--

The ride there is talkative. All Jason's doing is trying to figure out a name for the fishy and Marie's trying to get through the sound of her son to listen to the music that's playing in the background. Of course, she never succeeds.

They're there before they know it, and with every step his excitement's crossing bounds. By the time they enter the pet shop; he's running and jumping and skipping, all in one.

She doesn't remember the last time he's been this excited before.

--

It's been an hour and they're still looking at the fish; Jason is unable to make up his mind on which one he wants to buy while Marie is just wondering when he'll actually finish.

Five minutes more, and then her boss calls her.

She excuses herself and asks him to be careful, and he just sighs. ("Mom, I'm not a kid anymore") and then he laughs when he realizes he's just seven.

And then she leaves, and that's when he notices the blonde girl with the pink frock.

She's standing next to the gate, with her hair softly blowing in the air, and it takes him a minute to realize that there's a fan right next to her. Her hands clutching her mom's and she's kinda startled by the amount of people at the shop. She's wearing a pink frock and a pink headband and she's holding a pink purse, and he silently wonders to himself how girlier could she get. And instantly, she looks at him, waving in his face. He then realizes that he's been staring for way to long and that she's probably freaked out now. So he quickly looks away; cheeks flushing red and eyes embarrassed.

He waits a minute or two before looking back, and this time, she's without her mom. He can tell the people are freaking her out, so he makes his way to her, hoping that someone's company would make her less scared.

"Hi. I'm Jason." He offers her a smile.

She instantly smiles back. "Hey. I'm Tessie. Well, Tess really, but call me Tessie."

"Nice name," he says, before he thinks of something else to say, "how old are you?"

This isn't one of those teenage conversations where the girl freaks out when the guys asks her this. (Heck, they're not even ten yet)

So she just replies. "Six. You?"

"Seven."

"Oh." She says, and it's accompanied by a small silence, but she lets it pass before she speaks up.

"What are you here for? I mean, I know it's a pet shop, what pet do you want to buy?"

"Fishy." He says, "you?"

"Nothing." She says, "I just like the animals, all of them I mean. I couldn't pick one."

"So, what fish are you getting?" She inquires, strangely interested.

"I don't know yet. You want to help me?" He asks, hoping that she'll say yes.

And she doesn't answer, instead, he feels a hand slip into his and he smiles when she leads the way, and he looks at all the fishes again. Almost at the end of the shop, she stops, pointing to the goldfish that's next to the wall.

"She's my favorite," she states, "I think you should get her."

He looks at the goldfish that's right in front of him, and she can swear that she's the prettiest one he's ever seen.

(And Jason, animal lover, has seen a lot of fish.)

"So, what do you think?" Tess asks, worrying and impatient because she doesn't know what's taking him so long to answer.

"I love her. I'm gonna get her." He replies, mind all set up. "Thank you."

"No problem." She responds, with an added smile.

And the silence following them is comfortable, and he finds himself smiling in his head. A minute later, he hears a woman gasp.

"Tessie, God! Here you are! I've been looking for you all over!" She tells Tess, who just smiles in apology. "Let's go, okay?" She asks Tess, who nods.

"You carry on to the gate, I'll be there." Tess replies.

She nods, and then leads the way. Meanwhile, Tess looks at Jason, who is bent down, trying to introduce himself to the fish. ('I'm Jason, possibly your new owner')

He notices her gaze, and so immediately straightens up.

"So, uhm, you're going?"

"Yes."

"Before you go, tell me what to name fishy?" He asks.

She stands, looking at the fish, silent. And then, after what seems like a minute but is rarely a couple of seconds tied together with pink ribbon, she answers,

"I don't know, Jason. But I do know that it was very, very nice meeting you." She says, her cheeks slowly turning a light shade of crimson.

"It was nice to meet you too, Tessie." He replies, and honestly, he means it.

And unexpectedly, she moves herself towards Jason and gives me a kiss on the cheek. He doesn't really believe it, and is just having an internal debate over if it really happened or not, (after all, this is his first cheek-kiss), but her voice cuts his thoughts out. "Bye, Jason. Take care."

"Thanks. You too."

And she walks away, and he can't help but feel a little disappointed, (wasn't she supposed to turn like those girls in the movies?) But he's only seven, and the movie-part is yet to happen. So he smiles anyway.

Five minutes later, his mother comes back.

"Sorry, honey. Boss wouldn't finish talking!" She says, sighing in annoyance. "Anyway, did you choose a fish?"

"Yeah, I did." He replies, as he points at it. His mom smiles at his choice. "Very well then, let's get it, shall we?" She asks.

He nods, his eyes gleaming in the light of the shop.

--

After the payment is done, the shop offers to get the fish delivered to their house. Marie thanks them and they make their way out.

Marie's walking in a constant rythm and he's kicking the pebbles on the side-walk and watching cars go by with every step.

"By the way, Jason, did you pick a name for it?" His mom asks.

He smiles to himself, thinking of the girl he met barely an hour ago. "Yeah, mom," he says, "I think I'll name her Tessie."

--

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