The clockmaker's daughter was a lively thing ever since birth, and never had trouble making friends with anything she could get her hands on. Really, anything. Just the other Wednesday, the child had come home with a handful of her neighbour's white lilies, still with their earthy roots, and told her parents that they wanted to come see her bedroom. Of course, her mother was extremely opposed to her daughter trailing even more dirt into their usually kept home, and had sent her child back to apologize for the disturbance she caused with the neighbour's garden. The neighbours forgave her right away. One look at the little girl's cute smile had them enchanted, and with a promise to never do it again, they sent her home to get washed up.

This was the kind of girl Shiyi was. At the young age of six, her childish immaturity was adorable and endearing; even the classmates in her first grade class thought so. It wasn't to say that Shiyi didn't get into a scrap or two (being such a high-energy girl, she often participated in the boyish hobby of wrestling), but by the end of the school day, everything was always forgotten and reset come the next morning. Yes, Shiyi had her fair share of friendly faces in her school and neighbourhood, but her favourite out of all of them was the unlikely crybaby named Huang Zitao.

Huang Zitao, make no mistake, was also a cute boy. He was a little shy in comparison to Shiyi, but in general was a child of surprising physical strength and athleticism. Despite this, the little boy was often the of playground brawls, and ended up crying his eyes out if the fighting ever got really aggressive. It was a good thing that Shiyi wasn't much interested in fighting Zitao, because she knew how to make him cry with just her words. The two had become quite good friends within their first year of school, and Shiyi, being the high-energy quick learner that she was, learned of the many things that Zitao was frightened of. For instance, the small bucket of slugs she had gathered the afternoon before, and let sit waiting on the driveway for her playdate with Zitao today.

Shiyi had woken up particularly early this morning in anticipation - because it was Zitao. Although, she didn't make a big deal about wearing her favourite "special shirt with the sparkling yellow stripes", and put on any old t-shirt and skirt - because it was just Zitao. After a breakfast of seasonal strawberries and toast, she spent her morning where she always did: up in the attic. For this was her beloved father's workspace.

Shiyi's father was a humble clockmaker, and although it wasn't as if his clocks brought in a huge amount of income (unlike Shiyi's mother who was a very experienced banker), he was skilled and creative. If Shiyi's father knew one thing, it was how to appeal to people through aesthetics. He could spend years on one single clock, making sure that every detail was in the exact right place, sanded smoothly, and varnished evenly. His hard work always payed off in a beautiful clock for his customers, who were always pleased to get more than they asked for.

While Shiyi's father was still young, he had a dream. He wanted to complete a certain grandfather clock; a soon-to-be family heirloom. It would be his masterpiece. He would use the finest wood, handmade warm varnish, and his own design inspired by his loving family. And he was prepared to spend years working on his dream until it reached perfection. The process had been going on since a little after Shiyi's birth, and finally had the base foundation shaped. As he sat down at his work bench, his daughter's face pressed against the desk across the room, he wondered where he should even begin.

"Shiyi? Bao bei, what is your favourite thing in the whole world?"

"Of course I love papa the best!"

"Haha, yes Shiyi, but besides papa what do you love?"

"I love flowers!" The answer was typical of a six year old girl.

"Ahhh, yes flowers are very pretty. What flower is the prettiest?"

As Shiyi tapped her chin in thought, the doorbell downstairs rang out and Shiyi's father could hear his wife descend the second floor stairs to answer the call.

"I like roses, like the ones from Sleeping Beauty!" Shiyi had been read the story before bed the night before, and roses were likely the first flower that popped into her head.

"Would you like papa to carve you some roses on your clock, Shiyi?"

His adorable daughter nodded happily before she was called downstairs to meet Zitao, who had arrived for their playdate. As her father watched Shiyi's long pigtails wave around as she scampered towards the ladder, he thought that he might add different species of flowers to his design, just in case his fickle daughter changed her mind.

Downstairs, Shiyi ignored her mother, who was engaged in grown-up talk with Zitao's mother, and skipped right for Zitao. She took his hand and announced, "Mama, we are going to play on the front lawn!" and waited for her mother's nod before dragging the boy outside with her. The two mothers watched them go, and made a joke about what the marriage between their two children would be like.

Zitao's scream could be heard from halfway down the block after Shiyi showed him her prized slugs, and it took Shiyi several apologies and innocent cheek-kisses before he stopped crying. Zitao's laugh could be heard a block down after Shiyi made an ugly face to cheer him up. And both their excited screams could be heard two blocks down after they began playing an exciting game of tag with the fat stray cat, whom they lovingly called "Tubby". 

As the two friends played, they barely noticed the middle aged woman who observed them from the porch of the house two doors down across the street. This was because the watchful behaviour of the woman was typical. At first, the family was a little concerned and wondered if the woman would be considered a stalker. But as time passed, and the woman's intention seemed to only be to sit outside and peacefully observe, Shiyi's family let it go, and even went as far as to socialize with the woman on occasion. The mysterious woman always remained rather elusive in her thoughts, like her mind was elsewhere. Perhaps she wasn't "all together" in the brain, but regardless she was pleasant. 

Before today, she had never stood up from her chair and crossed the street to talk to Shiyi. And as the woman did so, Shiyi did not feel threatened by her (not that Shiyi was particularly weary of strangers, like Zitao, who hid behind Shiyi's back).

"Hello Shiyi."

"Hi ma'am!"

The woman looked a little taken aback at the term "ma'am", but smiled anyway. "Who is your friend? I see him here often."

"This is Zitao! He is my little taozi!"

Zitao frowned a bit, and kicked Shiyi's foot lightly. He didn't much care for being referred to as a peach.

The woman's smile shifted, and began to look more distant, though the change went unnoticed by Shiyi. "That's very clever. You must like peaches as much as you like Zitao, right?"

"Oh yes! I love my taozi and my Zitao!"

"Hey! Stop it!" Zitao spoke quietly into Shiyi's ear.

The woman looked at Zitao for a second, which caused him to shrink further back behind his more confident friend. The woman's eyes lingered on the young boy, and her hand trembled with the want to touch his face. But she restrained herself, in fear of scaring the little boy further.

"I have one last question for you, Shiyi," The girl responded with an eager nod. "Are you going to become your taozi's bride when you grow up?"

Shiyi thought for a second, as the notion had never crossed her mind before. Marriage meant being together forever, and Shiyi certainly never wanted to leave Zitao. At the time, the young girl did not understand the weight of a marriage vow, and so her response was simple, "Of course!"

The woman held out her pinky finger, "Do you promise me that you will? And that you will treat him well?"

"Yes, ma'am! I will!"

After Shiyi made the promise, the woman seemed satisfied, and said goodbye before retreating back into the house. With the woman gone, Zitao regained his usual self and tapped Shiyi harshly on the shoulder to get her attention.

"You told that lady that we're going to get married."

"Yup!"

"When did you decide that?"

"Just now!"

Zitao narrowed his eyes, and studied the face of his new bride-to-be. "Okay."

"Okay, then let's go inside now and get married."

"Okay."

The two entered the house again - the mothers had gone into the kitchen to continue their long chat over a pot of tea. So Shiyi had no trouble yelling at Zitao to wait at the bottom of the stairs before she went up because "the bride is first". And again when they reached the ladder to the attic.

Shiyi's father had temporarily abandoned his work for a lunch break, so when Zitao gasped in awe of the magnificent work around him, Shiyi proudly put her hands on her hips and began to lie.

"I helped my papa with this clock and this one too. And I did that one all by myself."

"Did you?"

"Yup! What, you don't believe me?"

"That's amazing!"

"I know! Now. You're my husband so you're the clockmaker. Come sit on your bench."

Hesitantly, like a good boy, Zitao crept over and made sure not to bump or brush anything he wasn't supposed to. He slid himself onto the sturdy wooden seat before the masterpiece clock, and admired the work, although he had no particular interest in ever becoming a clockmaker. As he did this, Shiyi confidently carried her father's toolbox over to Zitao, and placed it in front of him.

"Now it's your turn to make the clocks! Go on!"

"I don't know how to use any of this stuff."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you!"

Shiyi picked up the sharp carving knife and handed it to her friend. "You need to use this!"

"My mom says not to touch sharp things."

Shiyi frowned, her forehead creasing in frustration. "But you're my husband now. You have to!"

She had a point, Zitao thought. And so thought it went against every fibre of his being, Zitao took the tool from Shiyi, which brought a smile to her face.

"Good! Now carve the clock for me."

He didn't want to seem like a weak husband, and so he slowly approached the grandfather clock, not knowing the hard work that Shiyi's father had already put into it. Shiyi's eyes egged Zitao on to pressing the blade to a blank side of the clock. When it didn't make an immediate cut, he became confused and a little frustrated, pressing harder and harder until the pressure was too much. 

It happened very fast. The thin and delicate handiwork of Shiyi's father couldn't handle the concentrated pressure in one hollow spot, and what was originally a pretty small cut in the side of the clock became one large gash running vertically up the clock along the grains. Horrified at what he had done, Zitao yanked the knife out of the clock hard, and his body flew back into the work bench behind him. When he banged his ribcage against the seat, he began to cry.

The large bang that Zitao caused alerted the parents downstairs, and within a second, Shiyi's father was at the scene, followed by the two deeply concerned mothers. While the mothers were relieved to see that their children weren't hurt, a look of panic could be seen in Shiyi's father's eyes at what Zitao had done. Her father approached the clock and ran his hands down the side of the clock, as if he couldn't believe it.

Shiyi was not just a highly energetic girl - she was also a quick thinker. As Zitao continued to sob on the floor next to her, she grabbed the knife from his hands and held onto it tightly. She was scared as she tapped her father's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, papa."

Her father looked at her in a way that he had never done so before. It was a mix of anger, surprise, and hurt, and although Shiyi couldn't identify this, she knew that her father was not happy. This thought brought tears to her eyes fast, and she joined Zitao's sobs, chanting that she was sorry over and over again. At last, her father snapped out of his emotion, and comforted his daughter. The heavy sobs and snotty nose that her father got in return was all he needed to be comforted. The grandfather clock was meant to be a present for his family - and he decided he wouldn't be mad at his daughter for cracking it. Instead, he thought that he'd leave it there to serve as a reminder of Shiyi's childish nature.

Once the two children had calmed down, the parents ushered them downstairs and offered them toys from Shiyi's room. They left when they were reassured that their children were safe, and had no intention of picking up another sharp object.

Zitao looked down at the wooden blocks, which reminded him of the attic and quietly asked, "Why didn't you tell them it was me?"

Shiyi gave Zitao one of the brightest smiles he had ever seen and said, "Because you're my future husband!" as if it was the simplest explanation in the world.

________________________

author's note:
i knew this was going to be long, but
okay LOL
well i guess for normal standards this isn't that long.... but its long for me.
the heart wants what the heart wants
and my heart wants to write "long" chapters about tao is that so wrong