Sakura sat high in the grand and ancient tree, her back against the wide trunk as one leg dangled from its roomy branch. She looked down at the vicious mass of thorn bushes below, observing the lack of any signs of life around them. There hadn’t been so much as a rabbit or squirrel run by. Not even the birds landed in the nearby trees. It was the strangest thing the girl had ever seen. There was plenty of life in these woods, they just avoided this area. She clicked her tongue, considering the circumstances she found herself in and what to do about it as she snagged a dagger from around her thigh and etched another notch into the wood behind her.

Fifteen.

It had been fifteen days since she had found this place.

Slipping the dagger back into the holster, the girl gave her temporary home one last glance and pushed herself from the branch, her long hair whipping behind her as she plummeted to the ground. She landed with one knee and both hands onto the forest floor, the leaves crinkling under her weight. Carefully, the demon took her time in crawling to the bushes and pushing her way in through the sharp thorns that didn’t even so much as graze her despite being long and plentiful. They may have looked angry and volatile, and perhaps they were, but they didn’t appear to mind the fox’s intrusion, each one seeming to avoid making contact with her skin.

She didn’t have to go far before the narrow tunnel opened up into a larger, cleared out shelter where its treasure was kept. In the fifteen days that Sakura had visited the secret hideout, not once did the young girl move from her curled up position on the ground, her chest rising and falling with her peaceful slumber. The demon wrapped her fingers around the girl’s wrist and then ran them along her rib cage, noting that she was thinner than the last time she checked.

She sat back and studied the girl, debating on what to do and trying to decide on whether or not there was anything that could be done. It was obvious the girl was alive, but she hadn’t moved at all. There was definitely magic involved, some sort of enchantment that the girl was under, and although Sakura was familiar with different types of magic, she certainly was no expert and had no idea how to deal with what was before her. Would she need to find a witch to reverse this enchantment or cast a new one? Was there something else that could be done?

When the fox was small, Raz had read a story to her and Ren about a princess who had been put under a curse by a jealous sorceress that put her into an eternal sleep. The only way to break the curse was with true love’s first kiss, which was delivered by a handsome prince who then swept the princess off to his kingdom where they lived happily ever after.

The only problem with that was, although she could kiss the girl, it wouldn’t be true love.

The demon also was certainly no handsome prince.

She’d have to try something else.

“Hey,” Sakura spoke softly as she shook the girl gently. She felt foolish for making such a simple attempt. “Wake up. Come on. You can’t stay here anymore.”

The demon’s heart leapt into her throat, and she nearly choked when the girl’s eyes actually fluttered open, and a yawn fell from her lips. The girl pushed herself up, gracefully stretching out her arms and neck, her limbs like those of a flourishing dancer.

“Good morning.” She smiled, a vision like a thousand sunsets, and looked at the demon like she had been expecting her.

Sakura was taken back. The girl was stunning, by far the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen. The fox hadn’t realized the extent of the girl’s charms when she was only quickly checking on her. But now, with her enchanting face, lustrous amethyst waves, and mesmerizing violet eyes fully exposed, it was almost unbearable being in the presence of something so perfect. Not even Ren or any other angel could hold a candle to the girl.

She was like a dream.

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“Why are you here?” The demon managed to ask through her astonishment.

The girl looked around innocently, surprised at her surroundings. “Oh. I’m not sure. Did you bring me here?” She had the loveliest and lyrical of voices, the most enchanting melody.

“No. You don’t know why you’re here?”

The girl shook her head and smiled, her eyes beyond bright and cheerful. It was almost too much to look at, but Sakura couldn’t look away.

“Do you know your name?”

“Ivy,” she answered without hesitation. “Do you know yours?”

The fox nodded slowly. “Sakura.”

“That’s so pretty,” she sighed. “Are you the one who takes care of me, Sakura?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Oh.” Ivy’s bottom lip jutted out in a darling pout as her eyes glanced towards the ground in disappointment. “Why not?”

The look was like taking the worst punch to the fox’s gut, making tears spring to her eyes before quickly blinking them away. Despite the sorrow that sat excruciatingly heavy in her chest, Sakura didn’t want the girl to notice, least it make Ivy feel even worse than she already was.

Hurting her was the last thing the demon ever wanted.

“Where’s your family? Your mother? Your father?” She had to get this girl home. Surely someone was missing her. How could they not?

Ivy’s smile returned as she leaned forward expectantly. “Aren’t you my mother?”

Of course she wasn’t. Not only did they look nothing alike, but there couldn’t have been much difference in age between the two of them. However, Sakura couldn’t handle another heartbroken look, so she avoided the question altogether. “How old are you?”

Rosy lips pursed together in thought. “Hmmm… Twelve.”

Three years younger than her, but so much smaller than the demon.

“Do you know anything else about yourself?”

Ivy thought about it, cutely bobbing her head side to side as she considered it carefully. “Ummm. Nope!”

What kind of spell was she under? And why would someone do this to her? What was Sakura going to do? She had already staked the area out for this long and there wasn’t even so much as rabbit tracks around. But the girl hadn’t appeared out of nowhere. Someone must have brought her out here. Left her here for some reason, far from the road where she would be difficult to find.

Where it was likely that no one would ever find her unless they knew where she was.

A place that Sakura still didn’t understand how she’d found.

When she had first caught the sound, like notes to a song, it was as if something had taken control of her body as she rushed through the trees like her life depended on it, until diving without a second thought into the bushes where she found the girl. She had escaped quickly, overpowered by the girl’s tantalizing fragrance that made her spin and terrified by finding a child’s motionless body. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave. The fox had to know more about her, so she kept close, checking on her daily, and waiting for something or someone to come for her.

But no one did.

Sakura was the only one who ever came.

She looked at the darling child, her heart sinking. The fox thought of her den, those who had turned their backs on her despite touting about their strength and pride and love. How they watched her tiny body waste away. How they preached taking care of their own while not even offering her crumbs.

Ivy grasped her hands and looked up at her, her violet eyes sparkling and endless.

Sakura refused to believe that this child was the same as her.

Abandoned.

Despised.

Left for dead.

It was impossible. No one with an ounce of kindness in their heart would ever do that to such a precious being. Ivy must be like the princess in Raz’s story; stolen away from her home and those who love her by someone cruel and terrible and envious of her perfection. A truly evil creature.

There was someone out there looking for her.

Someone who loved her.

Sakura just knew it.

There was no way Ivy was the same as her.

This girl was a blessing.

“Will you take care of me?” the girl pleaded, her voice heavenly, her face full of purity and sweetness and love.

Sakura thought of Raz. A man who had started as nothing to her, but who had given her everything. She could do the same. She could give the girl everything she needed. And she would, no matter what it took, she would take care of the girl. Protect her with her life. Love her unconditionally.

She thought of Ren.

Ren would know what to do. Ren would help her. Ren could find anyone.

Sakura looked down at the girl, completely enamored as the feeling of a peaceful warmth filled her entire being and calmed the mayhem that had been consuming her since the day that Ren had left. The mayhem that had become uncontrollable since Raz had died.

For the first time in a long time, she felt hope.

Sakura returned the smile, cupping Ivy’s soft cheeks in her hands and pressing her lips against her forehead. “I will. I’ll take you where you need to be. I promise.”