There were a million reasons in the world to explain just about anything that would cross a child's mind at any given point in time. A child's mind was full of limitless imagination. To an adult or teen, a child running across the yard with a stick was simply just that but to the gleeful kid swatting the air with the misshapen sword they held within their right hand, they were defending their castle from a siege from a rivaling kingdom. With each strike, they were closer than ever to protecting what was beyond the castle gates. It was their duty to protect the citizens.

However, as the youth roll through life and begin growing up they leave the stick behind in the mud. As the seasons come and go and as the child grows into the mature adult they would be, the castle they once protected from their enemies becomes nothing more than a blur and the trusted sword they confidently struck down attackers with becomes one with the earth around it. Time would always take everything that was remotely alive on the earth including childhood innocence.

This childhood innocence in question had already begun to rot away in the mind of Sachi Iwaizumi. Sure, she still had plenty of time to enjoy it in all of its worth but she knew how pointless it would be to express this imagination to the world if she would only lose her grasp on it eventually just like when she had lost her tight hold on her mother's memorial photo at the funeral when her father dragged her off from the crowd kicking and screaming. Time had already stolen so much from the young girl, she wanted to keep anything left of her childhood close to her heart and away from the skinny, decaying fingers of father time. She wanted to cherish these moments for herself and pray that she would never lose them.

"You seem to be a little lost in thought today kiddo," A gentle flick on the tip of the young girl's nose caused her eyes to flutter as she was snapped away from her thoughts. Her green gaze lifted up from the white tiled floor and met the gaze of her father who sat directly beside her on a bench in the front lobby. Hajime Iwaizumi's smile was soft on his face and his eyes radiated nothing but love and affection towards his only child as he leaned forward to rest his elbows against his knees.

Sachi flashed her father a wide smile as she began to swing her short legs, soles of her shoes needing just a few more inches before they met the tiles below. "I was just thinking about what i wanted to eat for dinner tonight," She clasped her hands together. 'Mama said lying wasn't okay but papa probably doesn't want me to tell him i was thinking about her... would he?' Sachi thought to herself shamefully. Gods, her mom would've told her that she was being mean to her father right now but Sachi thought that maybe if she didn't bring up Wakumi to Hajime that perhaps her father's face would last a while longer tonight.

Hajime let out a deep sigh as he leaned back rubbing a hand against the back of his neck while his thick brows furrowed together to make them look like a fuzzy caterpillar. "Ahg I forgot to pick up groceries when I carried you home yesterday didn't i?" He then pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment of silence he relaxed his wide shoulders, "McDonald's tonight?"

"We had that last night and the night before that too, papa."

"Uhhh... do you want Zosui?"

Sachi felt the corners of her lips stretch wide as she hopped up to her feet and threw her arms into the air in excitement, twirling around as she began to sing in reply, "Zo~ su~ i~!"

Hajime let out a deep, hearty laugh as he gripped his stomach. Sachi always managed to get the man to laugh whenever she got so excited about dinner. She continued to sing 'Zosui' as she twirled around and jumped up in the air in excitement. anything but fast food seemed like a blessing from the gods above!

"You two are already having fun without me?" a familiar voice stopped Sachi mid dance. Her arms were held above her head but dropped down to right below her chin when she turned around and found the man that the voice belonged to.

Who was it? Well it was the one, the only- "Prince Tooru!" Sachi exclaimed as she made a dead sprint towards the tall and lanky man before she threw herself against his body and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Erf-" The air in Tooru's lungs got knocked right out of him upon impact and he had to brace himself against one of his legs in order to keep himself from falling backwards onto the floor. he coughed into his sleeve as he let out a little wheeze, "H-hey there kiddo..."

Sachi pulled away and waved her hands in a greeting, "You showed up, Prince Tooru!" She giggled and then grabbed hold of one of his soft hands and held it in her own, "You also look really fluffy today," She lifted a finger up to point out the fluffiness of his hair.

Tooru twirled a piece of his brunette hair between his fingers and raised an eyebrow, "I suppose you're right about that. It kinda looks like a makeup brush doesn't it?" He let a small smile cross his thin lips.

"You look like a poodle!" Sachi exclaimed, grabbing at Tooru's hands as she hopped up and down in pure excitement. "Are you ready to get lunch now?"

Tooru's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as Sachi tugged at him. His brown eyes flittered over to Hajime before he quickly glanced away from the man rising from where he once sat. "Ah- um, let's not say I look like a dog lil one," Tooru awkwardly patted the top of Sachi's head with his free hand.

Hajime snickered a little bit as he reached out for his daughter's other hand. "I think the name suits you, you seem to act like a dog sometimes after all."

The two men began to bicker amongst each other while holding onto little Sachi's hands. She didn't mind really. She actually enjoyed it a lot. As much as her father seemed to be annoyed whenever Tooru was around him, Tooru always brought the tiniest of grins to her father's face. she was thankful. All her praying to the gods didn't seem futile anymore. 'Papa has a new friend now,' Sachi smiled to herself as she swung their hands on the way to the lunchroom. One of these days, Sachi hoped that her father wouldn't have to look at that little coin he always carried around in his pocket with a frown. She wanted him to look at another person with a smile that could outshine the sun with ease and make someone as happy as he used to make her and mom feel. She simply wanted her father back to who he had been before her mother passed away.

As the three of them passed by the large Christmas tree in the lobby, Sachi sent a silent prayer out to the heavens hoping that her mother was smiling down at them as well. 

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I want to apologize right off the bat for being inactive and for giving you all such a short chapter. I have been struggling horribly with my mental illnesses and tried to find the motivation to write this chapter but i never could. This is probably the 80th version I have written.

My mental illness isn't an excuse to neglect people I have made promises to and I plan on trying to keep trucking along through stories. The reason this chapter was so short outside of not knowing what to write, was that I didn't necessarily want a whole chapter dedicated to Sachi since she isn't really a huge character for the story.  I wasn't sure how to write from a child's perspective about grief and  longing for the return of a father's happiness. Children process grief in really strange ways to be quite honest. I wanted to have Sachi have a slight understanding of what happened to Wakumi but not necessarily have her stuck on the loss of her mother because she had to step up to make her father happy.

There will be many trigger warnings throughout the story if you are new here due to the fact that Oikawa and Iwaizumi each have different traumas they deal with that will be in depth because I don't want this to be a normal fanfiction. I want this to be a story about healing and finding love during the darkest times. Iwaizumi, if you didn't catch it at the end has a sobriety coin so along with grief over his wife he will be struggling with the act of staying sober and  the memories of the terrible person he was while he was an alcoholic. My goal isn't to demonize alcoholics because they struggle just like any  other addict does and I want to handle that with grace.

Oikawa will be struggling with his sexuality, sexual abuse, childhood neglect, and needing the constant need of acceptance. As a person who has gone through these things myself I will be trying to spare details when it isn't relevant because I understand just how triggering these things are and I want to make sure this is a safe environment for readers who have gone through these things. Trigger warnings will always be placed ahead of Oikawa chapters if they have these things.  

Thank you to those who have patiently been waiting for the new chapter and i apologize for how short it was but I wanted to get through this chapter I have been struggling hard to write. If you have questions about the future of this story please ask. If you have any comments or concerns don't be afraid to leave them here and I will try to get back to everyone to the best of my abilities. I do listen to requests for certain scenes  or little head canons but please be aware that if I cant fit it into the story that I didn't ignore you!

Please stay safe and healthy during these hard times <3

-Anri Watanabe