"Are you okay?"

"Huh!" my eyes widened in surprise as I thought he had dropped the topic.

He must have Realized what I was thinking, because he quickly pointed to my knees.

"What I mean is, are you hurt?"

"Huh- oh yeah, I scrapped my knees when I fell earlier." I said with a small smile, which I knew gave off a hint of worry.

"Don't worry, I have some bandages and ointments.....and stuff I can use on it that could help."

"Thanks" I said smiling again to him.

That was when I realized something. I hadn't smiled this much for a while.

As he slowly went through his first aid kit and dressed my bruised knees, I couldn't help but look at him bewildered.

"Um......by the way, why are you helping me?"

"That's what people do, help each other " he said smiling as he completed dressing my knee and moved towards the other one. "By the way, what is your name?"

Oh no!

I quickly averted my eyes because this was the question I was hoping to avoid.

"What?, did I say something to offend you?"

I hung my head and rapidly shook it.

Oh no, I don't want him to know my name. I can't let him know my name. What if he....no I can't!

When he tried to look at me I averted my eyes again. I then pulled my leg from his hand and turned to get up and run, but he stopped me by grabbing my hand so warmly and tightly that it sent a shock through my body which calmed me down.

Something about him made me feel warm.

Something about him made me feel warm?

"What's wrong, if I said something which you found-"

"No" I said stopping him.

"The problem is..... my name."

"What?.... I don't understand" he said looking at me strangely while tilting his head to the side.

"My name is Fumiko."

He gasped when he heard my name which led me to think that he thought it was so revolting that I was called by that.

Oh no, he must hate me.

But something strange happened. He smiled at me and said,

"Your name is.......beautiful."

Hearing this surprised me and I almost fell backwards off the stool.

"What did you... just say?"

"Your name is........ beautiful, do you know your name means child of abundant beauty?"

"What!?" I said in shock and disbelief as my mind wandered trying to understand what I had just heard.

"You have a beautiful name." He said smiling. "My name is Sora"

I looked up at him in surprise because his name sounded even stranger than mine.

"What does your name mean?" I asked surprised.

"Sky" he said calmly.

"What? That's it!" I asked shocked.

"Yeah, I guess it's not as colourful as yours."

The way he said my name made it sound so beautiful and special, that for the first time in my life I felt lucky to have it.

"I have to return you home now, its getting late." he said suddenly in a solemn tone, which matched that of my face.

***

We walked down the street that led to my house; the road glistened in the street lights as our feet made soft sounds on the wet road surface. He stared at me the whole time waiting for me to break the silence, while I tugged at his jacket that he had placed on me to keep warm.

"Fumiko, are you..."

"Do I have to go home." I asked while looking down and still tugging at his jacket.

"Don't you miss your family?"

"Yes, but I don't want to be teased anymore, and what if my mom and dad..."

"Your parents must miss you because your such a special girl. They are bound to be worried" As soon as he said this, we came around a corner and there it was, my house.

I gasped at the thought of entering the house and I squeezed his hand tightly hoping for another word of encouragement. Just then a woman dressed in a dark blue dress came running from the house and she hugged me tightly as tears streamed down her face.

"Fumiko, my baby, honey! you came home!, I'm sorry if I haven't been a good mother or if I wasn't there for you-"

"Its not your fault mom, please. I decided to run away, it has nothing to do with you"

"Honey, your father and I have been so worried and...." she suddenly stopped turning to look at the man standing next to me. "Who is this?"