A/N: Hope you like it!

The Beginning of Love

Himeno walked down to the pond where she had first met the Leafe knights. She remembered that day very clearly, as if it were yesterday. But it had been in fact two years since that day.

She ran her hand through the cold water and sat down, she pictured Hayate's face in her mind and sighed. No matter what she did, or how bad things got, she knew that if she just thought of him, everything would be fine.

"Himeno!" Mannen the now twelve year old ran up to her. "Do you know where Hajime went?" He grinned, jumping up and down. "We're playing a game! Wanna join us?"

Himeno shook her head. "No thanks, I'm fine. I think I saw him heading that way." Himeno smiled slightly at the young boy and pointed towards the Awayuki mansion.

Mannen nodded and ran, very quickly, in that direction. "Ja ne!" He called to her as he left.

Himeno nearly fell into the cool water of the pond as she felt a hand pat her on her head. She spun around and saw Hayate. "Oh!" Himeno hugged him around the middle and attempted to sit up.

Hayate removed his hand from her head and set it on her shoulder, not allowing her to stand. Instead he sat down beside her. "It'll be sunset soon." He said to her, his eyes staring off into the sky. A cool breeze washed over them.

"Yes. I noticed. I should be going in soon." Himeno looked at his peaceful face. She felt her own face growing warm. Looking away quickly she started to get up.

"Wait a moment, and stay here with me for a bit will you?" Hayate glanced at her, and once again rested his hand on her shoulder. Himeno nodded and scooted a little closer to him.

"Thanks." Hayate's face turned pink and he looked at the sky once more. It was sunset now. The sky was filled with wonderful colors of red, orange, pink, and yellow. The breeze that had been going stopped as Hayate finally stood up after a few moments.

"Himeno, would you like to go out with me tomorrow, there's supposed to be some festival going on…" He blushed again, and waited for an answer, turning away from her quickly.

"You mean it?" Himeno jumped up and ran around to talk face to face. He nodded. She was grinning her big cheesy grin. "Of course!" She jumped up and hugged him.

He smiled at her and hugged her back. "Let's go back shall we?" She settled down a bit and took his hand, still in a very happy mood.

"Miss Himeno!" Their new maid called in the distance. "Dinner is being served!" Himeno turned to Hayate. "Would you like some dinner?" She asked hopefully, and made puppy eyes.

"Sorry Himeno…I already ate. But I'll stick around for a while out here." He let go of her hand, and walked over to a bench nearby. Himeno nodded and ran up the steps to the front door, and went inside.

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Himeno ran outside half an hour later, and found Hayate dozing on the bench. "Hayate, wake up." She whispered and shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes and sat up properly. "I brought out some leftover desert! Want some?" She had two plated with slices of strawberry pie. Something her dad had taken a liking to.

"Sure." He laughed slightly and took one plate. Himeno sat down beside him, and finished her piece in a short amount of time. She set her plate down on the ground beside the bench, and watched Hayate eat his.

"It's pretty out tonight." She stated looking up at the sky. It was filled with millions of tiny sparkly stars. She heard Hayate mumble something, but couldn't make it out. "Hmm?"

"Oh…nothing." He said almost too quickly. He had in fact said something; he didn't want her to know what it was though. How is it that someone can be so beautiful, yet so annoying...He thought to himself.

"I should be going." He stated and stood up quickly. "You should be going inside anyway. It's cold out here." She stood up and picked up the plates from their pie. He rubbed her on the shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, before disappearing.

Himeno stood there blushing watching the place where he had been. She raised a hand to her face, touching the place where he had kissed her. She drew her attention back to the sky for a moment.

She thought of her mom, picturing the few memories of her mother she still had in her head. "Wish me luck for tomorrow mom." She said to herself, then turned around and ran inside.

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Himeno woke to the sound of birds singing. It was still quite early she noticed as she looked at her clock. Oh well, she got out of bed and changed into her usual outfit. She then combed her hair and walked out of her room.

Himeno ran outside and sat down on the stairs to the door. She stretched and watched the sunrise. Whoosh. A breeze washed over her, and Hayate appeared next to her.

"Good morning Himeno." He said and walked over to her, then sat down beside her. "That festival is starting at 5:30 this afternoon. I just thought I should let you know."

Himeno nodded to him. "Okay. I'll be ready to go around then." She smiled and watched the last of the sun come up. "Hayate…Have you had breakfast yet?" she was determined to get him to stay longer.

"No." He stood up and helped Himeno up. "But Goh was supposed to be bringing food here. Their all coming today…everyone wants to visit."

She turned to face him. "Well…I should probably go and eat then, I'll hurry. I want to get lots of energy for tonight." She grinned and ran up the steps.

Hayate smiled slightly and walked away from the steps, into the trees. He stood there watching the front door for a while then finally walked towards the pond.

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Himeno walked out of her room at twenty minutes to 5:00 that afternoon. She went downstairs and found Natsue. "Mother! I'm going out with Hayate tonight. I won't be here for dinner." Her stepmother nodded, and smiled.

Himeno walked outside and over to the bench she and Hayate had been sitting on the previous night. She sat and waited for a few minutes. At around 5:10 Hayate appeared behind her at the steps to the front door to the mansion.

"Over here!" Himeno called to him. He walked over to her and took her hand. He looked over her. She was wearing a pink, slightly fancy dress that went to her knees and very weird white boots. He laughed slightly and pulled her up.

"Ready to go?" He asked, already knowing the answer. She nodded and took his hand in her own. They drifted up into the sky and flew towards the Festival that was going on in town. A few blocks away Hayate landed them in an alley.

They walked out of the alley and towards the festival. "Make sure you have lots of fun." Hayate said with a slight grin. Himeno laughed and began running, pulling Hayate along with her.

A/N: How'd you like the first chapter? Please tell me in a review!