My surname and Ren's rhyme; when we were little and figured it out, we decided to always hail each other from afar by our surnames. And it made us laugh together every time.

Fifteen years ago...

"Sakura!" Ren called me from across Sukoshi hill.

"Takara!" I shouted back from the edge of the cherry blossom path, and even from that distance, I could see a wide grin break out on his face, one which I mirrored. It was so cool that our surnames rhyme! His means treasure and mine means cherry blossom. We made it our code to call each other and loved hearing them echo together across the valley. I raced to him, my pigtails flying in the wind and emperor butterflies fleeing from my path.

"You made it!" Ren said with a smile at me when I reached him.

"Of course I did, silly, you called me!" I laughed. "What did you want to show me?" Ren took my chubby hand in his little one and led me through the trees, two seven-year-olds traversing the forest. Ren motioned me to be quiet.

"Shh, any noise might scare it away," he whispered. We came upon a little pond and a guzzling waterfall in the woods and I gasped at how beautiful it was.

"Wow! Ren, how did you find this? I've never come this far in the woods before!"

"That's not what I want you to see," Ren shook his head violently as if annoyed that I admired the wrong thing. "Look!" He pointed high above, to the ledge of the waterfall. I followed his finger and my mouth fell open in a gasp of awe when I saw a little red panda sitting on the rocky ledge, washing its face. At least, I think that's what it's doing.

"It's a red panda! Ren, you found a red panda!" I whispered, jumping up and down.

"Yes, now keep an eye on it for me, I want to draw it!" He said, impatiently grabbing his sketchpad and crayons from his pocket.

"Oh, it's so kawai!" I gushed over the red panda, watching it from afar while Ren sketched. "I wish it would come down so we could pet it."

"My Ojisan (that's grandfather) says they're not tame enough for that," Ren said, while vigorously scribbling without looking up.

"I guess that's true. We'll have to stick to petting old Kiyomi back home," I said with a laugh, referring to our neighborhood cat.

"Yes, and if we had to pet it, I wouldn't be able to sketch it—there! Done!" Ren showed me the picture he worked on and I smiled widely—it was beautifully done for a seven-year-old in five minutes!

"Ren, it's exactly like him!" I exclaimed. "I wish I could keep it..."

"Then it's yours," Ren said generously, pushing the drawing into my hands. "Keep it as a gift from me, of the first time we saw a red panda together."

"Really?" I asked with glowing eyes. "Thank you, Ren!" I leaped forward to hug him.

"I'm happy you like it," Ren said, hugging me back. "Oh! There's one more thing I must do." He grabbed a black crayon and wrote the date, his name in a corner—and a little message: to Sakura, from Takara.

"You used our codenames?" I asked.

"Of course. So no one but us will know its purpose," Ren said with childlike delight. I hugged him again.

"You'll always be my treasure, won't you?" I asked. He smiled at me.

"Of course, Seina. And you'll always be my cherry blossom," he replied, and we returned home, hand in hand.

Present day...

I still have that panda picture. I had it framed in the finest cherry wood and hung in my bedroom, my only relic of Ren. I wonder if he remembers it...

Like he remembered our precious codenames.

I ended up staying in Tokyo in a hotel that night instead of going straight to the village—my courage failed me when I thought of meeting Ren face-to-face. What if he had changed beyond recognition? What if the only reason he contacted me was to tell me he'd moved on?

But then he remembered my promise...

The next morning (or rather noon) I gathered all my courage and drove myself to Hirohito in a rented car. No more putting it off, it's time to get it over with! And I couldn't deny my heart was beyond excited to see Ren again.

I was nostalgic as I drove through the familiar streets of Hirohito—not much had changed in the village although a few more new buildings did come up here and there. Every tree, every bridge, every pebble, every pathway I came across reminded me of Ren... I was so lovesick. But the more my love for Ren grew, the more anxious I became—what if Ren didn't feel the same anymore?

I parked outside the village and walked the rest of the way on foot. I rambled a little through the village, picking up yakitori (grilled chicken on a skewer) and corn on a cob from the friendly street vendors who thankfully did not recognize me. This was better than any lunch in a five-star hotel in L.A. and so filling! Ren and I used to pop over for these after school before I moved away...

I wondered if those days would ever come back.

I dawdled until evening, purposefully waiting for sundown. That was the time the light would stream down the cherry blossom tree path, creating a gold and pink aisle to stroll down during the festival. It was breathtaking. That was the time Ren and I used to meet. We used to see couples sneak away there and often caught them making out, much to our chagrin. We'd sneak away, grinning quietly after that. But I always wished Ren and I could be like those couples someday...

Around sundown, I walked to the Kakureta tree, Ren's and my hideout. My breath caught when I saw a dark-haired figure there—and I recognized him the moment he turned around with a lovely smile on his face. 

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