Little Sana met with the little sorcerer who just moved in next door.

Spoiler alert: the young sorcerer is Made in Taiwan.

 

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In a supposedly secret small tree house perched atop a maple tree, a binocular is peeking out from a small slit of a wooden window. A pair of eyes is stealthily ogling the neighbor's house for the whereabouts of the scary witch disguising as an old woman, but found none. She frowned, it has been almost a week since she last saw the light of the front porch turns on. Scurrying down the tree, she runs through the backyard along the obstacles of mainly her scattered toys, smashing the kitchen door with her small body which alerts the pretty woman currently washing the dishes.

“Sana!” She heaved a deep breath, “Gosh that scared me. What did I tell you about walking in like a normal girl?”

“But I don’t want to be normal… we’ve talked about this, Mama!”

She sighed, wondering what is going on in the mind of her innocent nine years old daughter. Blame her husband for spoiling the kid too much.

“By the way,” She caught her attention again, “Did granny died?”

She almost fainted, if not for her husband who had just walked in. After dragging her almost passed out wife to a chair, he guffawed heartily after listening to the repeated question. Her wife glares, but he was unfazed. They’ve lived together for more than 10 years, anyway.

“No, Sana. She’s still well and alive.” He kneeled down to her level, “She went back to her hometown for some family matters. She’ll be back soon.”

“That’s a relief.”

They shared looks, wondering whose trait did their daughter inherit to be this intelligent and quirky for a kid her age. They argued most of the time that it’s theirs, of course, only when the manner is favorable. Satisfied with the answer, she quickly bid her parents good night, running up the stairs to her own room to continue her daily activities of a curious growing kid.

The next day, she lazily sings to herself in the tree house while lying on her back, legs perched on top of the window sill as her hands make random shape of animals. She’s bored; the old witch is missing and she has no one to play with except, well, herself. The sound of a car engine from the house next door caught her attention, her feet scrambling to peek through the window. She gasped, seeing two unfamiliar visitors alongside the old woman.

Oh no! She brought along her evil sidekicks, Sana thought.

Rushing to search for her one dollar binocular among her piled up toys and plushies, she quickly gets back to spying on her neighbor. Once her sight fell on the little girl, she gasps. The newcomer is pretty with her straight back and long raven hair, ears slightly protruding from the tresses. Just as she was deeply gawking on the girl, a voice calls her name.

“Saa-chan!”

She gasps again, this time loudly, finding the old woman waving her hand towards her. She quickly dodged under the window sill, relieved she was quick in hiding from the evil stare of the old witch. The latter must have found the legendary secret book of wizardry craft, trying to hypnotize Sana with a new spell she had created when she went back to her hometown. A head peeks out slowly along with the binocular, only to see a red monster standing beside the witch with folded arms and glaring eyes.

“Yabai!” She crouched again.

“Minatozaki Sana!”

Hearing the threatening tone of her mother, Sana hurried down the tree before approaching them with both hands on her back and a smile adorning her face, acting as innocent as she can be with smudge of dirt on her right cheek.

“Looks like the evil witch win again, huh?”

Sana huffs with a pout, “It’s not fair, granny! You have the red monster as your ally...”

Sana eyed her mother indignantly, before averting her gaze to her dirty shoes and feigned ignorance when she saw her mother's shocked face. The supposedly red monster points a finger to herself in disbelief. “What? Wait, m-me? I’m the red monster?!”

The old woman laughed while patting the stunned mother’s back, at the same time sharing a fist bump with the smirking Sana. The latter jumps happily when she received a box of chocolate from her old neighbor. She grins when she found the familiar MADE IN CHINA written at the back, satisfied with the genuinity of the product. As she is checking her gift, she sensed someone looking at her with interest. She raised her head to be met with the curious stare of the girl she was stalking earlier.

“Umm… hi?” Sana greets in her perfect kindergarten level of Hangul. A line appeared on the girl’s forehead. Realizing she doesn’t know any Korean words yet, Sana tried again in a different way.

“Good morning!”

Hearing the chirpy and loud ohayou from the girl, laughter erupts from the older women. Her mother pats Sana’s shoulder, saying the girl wouldn’t know what that meant and to try again. Scratching her head in confusion, Sana thinks hard before a light bulb flashes in her head when she met eyes with the smiling granny.

“Ni - hao - ma?”

That’s when the blank eyes had a bit of life as she responded, happy that finally someone is speaking in a language she knows, only that she had bombarded Sana with too many foreign words, the latter starts to get dizzy with the strange pronunciations.

She only knows another word the granny had taught her before and that is, “Wo… aini?”

Red hues adorn the stranger’s cheek; Sana thought she was about to fall sick.

“Um, I don’t know if this works or not, but papa always give me chocolate when I’m sick so…” She reached out the open box, “Here?”

The girl merely stares at the chocolate, causing Sana to panic from the knowing stare. “Ah, you can’t have all of it! Granny gave it to me as a gift. It’s expensive and rare, you know?”

She still stares at Sana and the chocolate without blinking. Letting out a sigh, Sana relents as she pushes the box into the girl’s hand. “Fine, take it. Just because I’m a great friend.”

A dimpled smile appears, causing Sana to freeze on her spot as she dumbly watches the girl break a piece of her sacred gift. She shoves one in front of Sana’s lips, prompting the girl to automatically open to taste the heavenly goodness of an imported chocolate.

“Share?”

Now this word was foreign, but Sana had at least watched countless of Pocoyo on youtube to understand what it means. With a nod and a wide toothy grin, Sana took the girl’s hand for a handshake.

“Share!”

 

*

 

Sana is trying hard to befriend her new neighbor, but using sign languages and body gestures with perfect abilities of her five senses just seem to take a huge toll on her patience. Pocoyo isn’t helping either, sadly. She grumbles, screaming frustratingly in her pillow as she recalls the scene earlier. They were supposed to play hide and seek like how kids their age are supposed to, only that she was the only one excitingly hiding for an hour, while the girl is happily sitting on the same spot while doodling on her picture book.

“Does she hate me?”

Older people said the one thing to do when you meet with bad people, is to avoid them. Perhaps, Sana is a bad person in the new neighbor's eyes. Maybe Sana is indeed a bad person; she doesn’t even know the girl’s name. She rushes down the stairs to be met with her mother sipping tea with a book on her lap.

 “Mama!”

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you know the young sorcerer’s name?”

Her left eye twitched, “The what?”

“The young sorcerer’s name... you know, our new neighbor?”

She closed the book on her lap, massaging her forehead from her daughter’s imaginary but creative naming of people. At least sorcerer is better than a red monster, whatever that is. She wouldn’t want to know.

“Sana, you can’t call people like that.”

“That’s why I asked if you know her name.”

The innocent eyes almost fooled her, quote almost, but she knows her daughter so much. This kind of absurd behavior definitely comes from her father’s teaching.

“Did you ask her yet?”

“If we’re both from Mars, I’d know by now.” Sana groans while rolling her eyes.

Yep, obviously from her father.

“Have you tried other ways?”

The girl’s head tilted curiously. “Such as?”

Her mother thinks for a solution, before pulling out a notebook and a pencil from the nearby cabinet. “Here.”

“Eh? You want me to draw her, mama?”

“No, Sana.” She shakes her head amusedly from her daughter’s response. “Why don’t you ask her to write her name and perhaps, draw the things you want to do in here, hm? Just, draw anything…?”

Her forehead scrunched, deep in thought. It doesn’t make sense. How can she understand what to write when her new neighbor can’t even comprehend what she’s asking? Yep, didn’t make sense at all. She nods anyway, slowly taking her leave as her mother smiles contentedly at her departure and resumes her reading.

Sana takes a detour, snatching a piece of cookie her mother just baked that morning,before her eyes fell on her mother’s charging phone abandoned on the kitchen’s table top. Her eyes shine as she thought of a better idea.

The new girl is busy trying to read an article from a newspaper which had recently been the wrapper of her grandmother’s vegetables, when she heard loud footsteps running her way. The girl, her new neighbor she remembers, stops before her, taking out a device before typing something. Sana shows the blinding screen on the sorcerer’s face, her eyes squinting to read what seemed to be a google translate webpage. There are some wrong words, but she understands nonetheless.

“Chou Tzuyu.”

Sana tilts her head. “Cho Chiyu?”

“Tzuyu.”

“Che... wy?”

“Zi. Yu.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said... Che. Wy.”

Tzuyu blinks, unable to give another response as she let the mispronunciation of her name slides. Not that she knows how to argue in this new language. Sana points to herself giddily, assuming Tzuyu’s silence as her turn to do the same.

“Minatozaki Sana!”

Tzuyu blinks twice. “Ha?”

Sana scratched her cheek, thinking her family’s name is too long, even for her. It took Sana almost a month to remember each syllable one by one when she was in pre-school.

“Just Sana is fine.”

The girl scratched her raven hair. “…ha?”

Sana sighed, it’s really hard trying to make friends.

“Sa. Na.” She again points to herself with each sound of her name.

“Sana?”

“Correct!” She replied with her broken English.

Tzuyu nods, waiting again for anything else this Sana wants to say before returning her attention back to the appeal of black and white pictures on the newspaper. Taking a seat beside Tzuyu, Sana continues to type in her mother’s phone as Tzuyu watches expectantly from the side.

“Where... are… you… from…” Sana said aloud while typing, Tzuyu reading the translated sentence popping on the parallel box.

She quickly answered with a short, “Taiwan.”

“Taiwan… Ah!”

Same as old witch

“Old witch?” Tzuyu's eyebrows knitted together.

Old woman

Sana points to the kitchen area where the supposed old witch is cooking dinner. Tzuyu giggles from the silly title Sana had given to her guardian.

My grandmother

Sana bobs her head in understanding. No wonder they have the same scary aura, she thought. She then remembered another occupant of the house she had saw the other day, an older boy playing with Tzuyu in the backyard.

Where is your brother?

Again, Tzuyu’s forehead scrunched from confusion. She gives an incredulous look to Sana as if she’s delusional or something.

I do not have a brother

Now, it was Sana who is confused. Did her mind played tricks or was she actually seeing something else? Well, the ghost-san can wait for another time, Sana thought. She begins bombarding Tzuyu with so many questions she’s curious about but it was getting tedious to be typing so much, plus her writing vocabulary is still lacking in many areas. As they were taking a break, mainly it was Sana who suddenly turned silent and laid on her back, Tzuyu politely asked for the phone. She puts it on the ground between them before clicking a button, speaking like a kindergarten kid who had just learned to talk. Sana observes in amazement before she claps loudly when the phone speaks in a language she understands.

“Wow! How did you do that?”

Tzuyu points to the gadget, prompting Sana to talk into it. They laugh from the translated version of Sana’s fascination, which didn’t seem as fascinated as the girls are. The new friends remain talking with the phone as their translator until late evening, when Sana’s mother finally realized her phone is missing and in the search for her precious LG chocolate, she had found it in the clutch of her sleeping daughter.

She cooed at the sight of Sana holding hands with her new partner-in-crime as they dozed off in the balcony with smiles on their faces. She definitely won’t miss this picture-worthy moment as she slowly retrieves her phone from her mischievous daughter and takes a snap. A bribe she can use against her daughter in the future, her mother thought with an evil grin.

 

*

 

“Nee, granny…”

The old woman stops her sweeping as a girl was sprawled on the floor, both limbs sticking out like a sore thumb. The girl waves the crumpled paper in her hand frustratingly.

“Why do I have to do this?”

“Why not?” She continues sweeping, despite the major roadblock of a smol human disrupting her daily chores.

“It’s hard, I can’t read the words.” She accusingly points a finger to the old woman with a scowl. “You tricked me into this, you old witch!”

The woman snickers, “But you agreed without a thought when Tzuyu asked you to.”

“That was…” Sana thought for a while with a pout, “She’s a friend. I can’t say no to a friend.”

She mumbles to herself. The woman heard her but paid no heed to her whining, only the corner of her lips lifted upwards in amusement.

“Why can’t I just use Mr Oogle instead?”

Sana pouts, her argument with her mother still clear in her mind albeit it was a few weeks back. She was reprimanded for using the phone without permission, but knowing Sana, the latter probably had millions of answers and excuses as her defending statement, all for the motive of befriending her new foreign neighbor. Her mother was strict with her way, but granny knows which weapon can be used to melt the hard-headed girl; the MADE IN TAIWAN young sorcerer.

“Because you know that’s not going to help both of you to be better in Korean, Saa-chan. There are no shortcuts in life, only hard work will pay off. Okay?” She swats Sana’s bum with the broom. “Now move before I sweep you out of the room too.”

“Hmph! Meanie!”

She sticks her tongue out, only rolling her plump body over to the clean side of the floor. She continues her homework, reading Tzuyu’s letter with the help of granny and her book of dummy’s guide to translate the whole thing. It has become a weekly thing for them where they would exchange letters hidden in their secret spots and to decipher it to understand what the other is saying. The reward is to fulfill any request of the other, as they agreed on.

“Here.”

Sana’s mouth is open like a dead fish. She almost took the whole week to translate Tzuyu’s letter, but the latter had finished it only within two days.

“You cheated,” She squints her eyes, “Didn’t you?”

“Did not.”

“You bribed granny to do it for you.”

“Grandma did help me, but just a bit!” Tzuyu frowns, “I really did it all by myself…”

Sana keeps her glare while crossing her arms. She takes the letter, reading her own messy handwriting as Tzuyu speaks aloud of the content. It was embarrassing because her friend actually understood the meaning as she double checks with the old woman. She puffs out her cheeks as granny holds her laughter while Tzuyu scratches her nape shyly.

“Am I…” Tzuyu voiced out with a tinge of red on her cheeks, “Am I really pretty like Maleficent?”

“As stated by Saa-chan.” Granny nods, still with her teasing grin as she pats the back of the blushing girl before stooping close to Sana’s ear. “Tzuyu got first place in her Korean language exam last week, just so you know.”

She left the girls with a light giggle, Sana watching the witch’s retreating back in utter betrayal. Of course, she knows her granddaughter had no problem adapting to the new language; Tzuyu is a fast learner, she had actually converse easily with her teacher in just two months after she moved in. She still lacks in the writing part, but that can be dealt with easily with hard work and creativity; such as this game. Tzuyu tugs her friend’s sleeve with an eager smile, excited to get her reward. Letting out a sigh, Sana surrenders and admit defeat for the first time since they played the game months ago.

“Fine... What do you want?”

“Candy.”

She raised a brow. “Eh?”

“Caramel candy.” Tzuyu jumps on her toes, “That candy you gave me when I fell down with a scratched knee. Remember?”

“Ah…” Sana nodded, scratching her head as she recalls the mentioned candy. “Wait a minute.”

Sana runs back to her house, scrimmaging through the cabinet’s kitchen for her mother’s stash of hidden candy (which was found out easily by her daughter) and takes two pieces from the jar, hiding another piece in her pant’s pocket. She found Tzuyu crouching, watching the ants marching in a straight line on the ground. She shoves the candy in front of her face, startling the girl out of her concentration.

“Here.”

A grin quickly appears, together with the small indention on her left cheek as she takes the candy from Sana’s open palm. She pops it inside , humming in delight as the confectionery melts on her tongue. Sana watches her friend happily as she does the same, making the same noise as she savors the sweet buttery flavor.

“Mama is going to scold me later.”

“Why?”

“For stealing her candy.”

Sana grins, bits of the caramel stuck on her front tooth. Tzuyu, who was worried earlier, had hunched forward with laughter as she points at Sana’s mouth. They shared giggles, easily forgetting Sana’s doom with the red monster when she’s having dinner later.

As if it was a silent agreement, they continue the tradition of exchanging letters but this time, it was accompanied with the caramel candy from both sides since they really enjoy the creamy taste. Despite Sana’s misfortune of enduring a scold at least once a week by her mother for the disappearing candies in the cupboard, of course.

 

*

 

“How was your day in school, Sana?”

“Good.” The girl answered simply, before shoving a bit of rice into . “I asked Tzuyu about her parents today.”

Both Minatozaki paused their actions midway, stunned with the girl's blunt statement who had turned ten years old just a month ago. They had expected Sana’s response about school day will be the same as any other day; a short one sentence comprised of at least five words, as compared to her adventures and time spent with Tzuyu which probably lasted until her bedtime. But this, this was not what they had anticipated for.

They shared a look, not knowing where this conversation is going. They had never touched the sensitive topic with their daughter, let alone having intention of explaining the background of Tzuyu’s family when they are already familiar with the eight years old girl for almost a year now. Mr Minatozaki signals her wife to be calm and wait for Sana to speak.

“I didn’t know that they... that they’re gone.” Sana said after a moment of silence.

Her mother grasped her tiny hand as she saw her daughter’s quivering lips, still trying to chew the bits of rice in . She knows despite her rowdiness and blunt personality, Sana has a gentle and soft heart. She would cry even if her mother had accidentally killed a cockroach, regardless of her intense disgust for the creepy crawler.

“I didn’t know… I feel bad for asking Tzuyu about it but she was smiling and said that it’s fine.” She sniffs, her food already abandoned. “Is it - is it really fine, Mama?”

“Oh, sweetie…”

Mrs Minatozaki her head in a loving manner, hoping it will ease her daughter’s sadness while her husband pulls her crying daughter in a comforting embrace. They let her cry silently while whispering words of consolation for their precious little Sana. After a while, Sana pulls away on her own, wiping her teary eyes and cheeks with the sleeve of her pajama.

“I feel bad, Papa… what should I do to make Tzuyu happy again?”

Her father pondered for a while before he thought of an idea. He wipes Sana’s tears and snots with a tissue, giving her daughter a smile.

“Do you remember the time I was always away because of my work?”

Sana nods despite her vague memories, but she does recall she misses her father a lot when she was still a toddler.

“What did I taught you to do when you miss me on those days?”

She squints her eyes for the memories, the scene replaying in her head as her eyes widen in recognition.

“The wishing stars!”

He bobs his head with a wide grin, waiting for his clever daughter to think on her own what she should do to cheer up her friend later when they meet again.

The day after, Sana made a beeline to her tree house after getting permission to stargaze with Tzuyu after dinner. It is the weekend, they don’t mind as long as Sana does her responsibility and chores beforehand. As she reached the tree, she found Tzuyu already waiting for her while gazing at the sky from her usual stalking spot. Sana surprised the latter as she pummels her friend with an embrace from the back.

“Sana…?”

“Have you waited long?”

Tzuyu shakes her head with a smile, “I just got here.”

Sana laid her chin on the girl’s shoulder, her breath tickling the latter’s ear which resulted in a giggling mess of the girls. Sana keeps teasing Tzuyu by tickling her waist, but the younger was faster to hold her hands together in a leash.

“What’s with you?” Tzuyu asked from the sudden skinship. Sana is mostly clingy when she’s either sad or mad, or just plain excited with something.

“I just like hugs. Don’t you like hugs?”

She peers back on her shoulder, meeting eyes with the pouty Sana.

“It has been a while since I’ve got one.”

Sana knew she had hit another nerve with the downcasted eyes of her friend. She tightens her hold on Tzuyu’s waist before lifting the younger girl up in the air. “Well, now you have it!”

“Kyaah!! Sana, put me down!”

They laugh together after Sana put her down, Tzuyu getting herself comfortable with the hug as she laid against Sana’s body. It’s warm and soothing, just like how her mother felt like.

“Nee, wanna know something neat?”

“What?”

“I can catch those stars for you.”

“Grandma said kids shouldn’t be lying, Saa-chan.”

“It’s true!” Sana whines, hitting her laughing friend on her arm. She released the hug, rummaging through her tote bag before showing colored papers and a pair of scissors with her signature TADA! pose.

“What are you doing?” Tzuyu asked, intently eyeing the materials spread before her. Sana gives her friend a smug grin, “Watch me.”

Her forehead creased with fascination as the piece of paper is being folded patiently by the older girl. What was once a long strip of blue paper, had turned into a puffed out small star as Sana proudly holds it in between her little fingers with a grin.

“Here, this is yours.”

“Really? I… can have it?”

“Mm!” She smiled, puffing her chest out. “I can make thousands of it in a day.”

The little girl nodded with agape, holding the little star lightly as if it would crumple if she handles it just a tad roughly. They watch silently as Tzuyu twirls the star on her palm, having their own thoughts about the small little thing.

“Papa taught me this.”

“Uncle did?”

“Yeah.” Little Sana rolls on her back, the other followed suit as they face the open window of their supposedly secret tree hut.

“He said I should wish upon the stars if I want something. But, you know... stars are so far away, how can my thoughts reach them just by thinking about it? You get it?”

The younger one merely nods in agreement, not really sure what it meant, but she do get it in some ways.

“So papa said to write my thoughts on a strip of paper like this, and fold it into a star. That way, the fairy would bring it to the stars above when they come at night.”

“W-Wait... fairy?”

“Oh, don’t worry. They’re harmless. I’ve met them once.”

“Eh?”

“That’s a story for later.” Sana waved it off, before taking the star from her friend’s hand and point it outwards toward the sky.

“You miss your mom and dad, right?”

Tzuyu was silent as she gazed up the sky, responding with a small shrug. “I… guess so?”

“What’s with that reaction? You should miss them! You should, you shouuld!” She chortles when she received a slap from her frowning friend, “Fine, fine!” Tzuyu grins, only for it to falter into a sad smile as she looks up to the stars. “I do miss them… so much.”

She whispered the last words but Sana caught it nonetheless, taking the former’s hand in hers and entwining their fingers together. “Whenever you miss your mom and dad, make a star for each of them. Then, put it in a jar on the table. The fairy will come at night and send the thoughts to them.”

Tzuyu tried to process the thought, thinking it might be true. There’s no harm in believing it, because Sana said so. She misses her mom and dad too. She wonders if they are well up there. She never thought of these feelings before, not when Sana had mention it yesterday.

“Will it work on living person, too?”

“Of course! Well… I guess? Who knows? You should try it!”

She nodded, a cute dimple showing on her left cheek. “I will!”

Tzuyu grabbed a pencil and a long strip from the mess they made, already thought of one wish to write for her first wishing star. Sana curiously observes her friend writing on the piece of paper, before gasping in surprise. The younger girl grins widely as she ignores the startled face of her friend, before mimicking her friend’s step-by-step folding.

“Oh! I did it!”

She holds it like a precious little trophy, before giving it to Sana who took it with a baffled look. “Why did you write that?”

“Because you’re my friend, Saa-chan.” Tzuyu merely shrugs with a grin. "And since I didn't get you a present for your birthday last month, so... "

Sana was supposed to be the one cheering her friend so why was she the one getting cheered up instead? Sana doesn’t know why her eyes are blurry or why Tzuyu is panicking but one thing she knows, she wants to be with Tzuyu for a long time. She wants them to be together, if not forever, but for however long they will for it to last.

Sana makes another star the next morning with a wish dedicated to her friend. She put hers in a small delicate jar decorated with some Swarovski stones she stole from her mother’s kitchen, along with Tzuyu’s tiny purple star. She digs a hole on her backyard right under her tree house and wraps the jar in a cloth she found by the sink. She pats it a few times, giving it a light kiss before burying it underground. She wants to keep it as a treasure, in case one day she turns old and decided to be forgetful (like granny) about her wish in the jar; their first wishes for each other. She wipes her sweaty forehead with a satisfied grin, only to be scolded for being a dirty mess when she gets back inside.

It doesn’t matter anyway. She’s happy because that’s what Tzuyu wished for.

The first wish she had ever received from a friend.

 

 

I wish Sana-chan will always be happy and keep on smiling because I love her smile the most.

 

 

---

A/N:

An early gift for Sana's upcoming birthday since I'll be stuck serving other people for the whole week. Tbh, I already have like 10 chapters waiting to be publish but I don't want to spoil you guys more than it is so... ehehehe

Happy birthday, Sana-chan! Just do what you like, because you deserve it <3