After little Stathis said his name, he saw little Serena down to the ground, he rushed to her and asked her.
"Are you hurt?"
Little Serena, was surprised by the sudden appearance of Stathis and becomes stunned for a moment and she doesn't answer his question.
"Hey girl, are you ok?"
Hearing the loud voice of little Stathis, little Serena snapped out of her stunned condition and she answered little Stathis' question in a painful tone.
"No, I am not ok, I was playing hide and seek with my elder sister, got separated and I lost her and now I got hurt because I was startled."
When little Serena said the last part, she unintentionally looked at the direction of the cat, Kyro.
Little Stathis, who noticed this detail, looked at Kyro with a scornful expression and the next moment she looked at little Serena with an apologetic expression and he said to her.
"I apologize for what had happened, you see kyro likes to play tricks on the others, but she didn't mean any harm."
Little Serena, who heard little Stathi's apology, realizes that the cat belonged to him.
Being surprised by this fact, little Serena asked him.
"Does this cat belong to you?"
Little Stathis, who heard little Serena's question, answered to her truthfully.
"Yes, I rescued her from a storm two years ago and since then she has stayed in our house for two years now and as you have noticed, she has quite the unique character."
After little Stathis explained kyro's back story, little Serena tried to get up from the ground.
"Ouch!!"
But she failed again, because of the injury she got from the fall, before.
Little Stathis, who saw this, came closer, kneeled down and began to treat the wound.
"Wait,what are you doing!?"
Little Stathis answered little Serena's question as naturally as possible.
"I am taking care of your wound, what else do you think I am doing?"
After he said that, little Stathis continued to treat the wound.
First, little Stathis cleaned up the wound with water, next he checked to see if the little Serena had any internal injury in the knee, then he took out from his basket a few wild herbs, like alloy, hypericum perforatum, lanceolata, achillea millefolium and etc.
He then crushed them with a stone to make a paste, placed the paste on little Serena's knee and finally, he tied the wound with a verbascum leaf and above the leaf he tied a colorfully stitched handkerchief that he carries with him.
After he finished, little Stathis said to little Serena.
"Alright, that should do, for now, can you get up?"
"I'll try."
After she said that she tried to get up, but she only managed to reach the middle of the most, before the pain returned and made her fall back to the ground.
"Ouch, it still hurts."
After little Serena said that, little Stathis, who was still kneeling, got up and extended his hand to her.
"Come on, don't give up until the end, okay?"
After little Stathis said that, little Serena looked at him hesitantly for a moment and then she grabbed his hand and he gently managed to pull her up.
"See? It was nothing, right?"
Little Serena didn't say anything back, she only nodded her hand, while her face became red from embarrassment.
This was the first time she touched anyone's hand from the opposite gender, except her father.
As little Serena stayed there absent minded, little Stathis said something.
"It's going to get dark soon, I think it's better to leave the forest, do you agree e…?"
At the end of his sentence, little Stathis realized something important, he forgot to ask for the girl's name.
"Serena, My name is Tachibana Serena."
But fortunately for him, little Serena figured out what he wanted to say and she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Serena, So,shall we move outside, from the Forest?
After little Serena heard little Stathi's suggestion, she nodded and they started to move towards the exit of the forest.
After they exited the forest little Stathis led little Serena towards the location of the house of her grandparents, based on the description Serena gave him.
The reason why little Serena and her family came for vacation in Argyropetra was for her and Sakura to meet their grandchildren from their mother's side.
As they walked little Serena asked little Stathis curiously.
"By the way, why did you come to the forest?"
Little Stathis, who heard the question, answered little Serena in a normal tone.
"Well, I was there to pick up wild berries and herbs, but then this 'prankster' decided to play a prank on me and she ran away. I followed her and I ended up meeting you."
As little Stathis explained how he ended up meeting little Serena at the forest, the 'pranksters' at the question, Kyro, followed them from behind.
After little Serena heard the explanation from little Stathis, she now realizes that little Stathis has a basket on his hand, filled with wild berries and herbs.
"Did the herbs you used to treat my wounds were from the ones you collected before?"
"Yep,they were collected a few minutes before I started to run behind this 'prankster'."
After she heard this, little Serena asked little Stathis in a questioning tone.
"How much do you want?"
"Excuse me?"
Not understanding the question, little Stathis asked her to repeat the question.
"How much money do you want, for your services and your herbs."
Little Stathis, understanding what she meant, looked at in a friendly tone and he said to her.
"I don't want money or anything in exchange, I only helped a friend."
After he said that, little Serena looked at little Stathis with a surprised expression and she asked him.
"Do you see me as your friend?"
"Of course I do, unless you don't want to?"
At the end of his sentence, little Stathis lowered his head and his eyes became sad.
"No, I didn't mean that, I would like to be your friend."
When she said that, the expression of little Stathis became stunned he asked little Serena with disbelief in his voice.
"Really!?"
"Really! Besides in Japan I don't have many friends and I would like to have friends from all over the world. "
After she said that, little Stathis asked with curiosity.
"You are from Japan?"
Little Serena nodded positively at his question.
"Yeah, I was born in Japan, I am only in Greece to see my maternal grandparents."
When she said that, little Stathis' expression became sad and he said.
"That means, you came for little, right?"
When he said that, little Serena nodded sadly and she said.
"Yeah, we only came for a couple days for vacation."
When little Serena answers that, little Stathis said with a sad tone.
"Then what's the point of being friends, if you are going to leave for Japan?."
Little Serena, who heard what little Stathis said, became upset and she said to him with a serious tone.
"Listen! Just because I am staying for a little time, that doesn't mean that we can't become friends, in fact I promise you that from this moment on, we are gonna be best friends."
Hearing this, little Stathis smiles and he asked her.
"Do you mean that?"
"Υeah, I mean it"
After little Serena assured him that they will be friends forever, little Stathis made a pinky figure gesture and asked Serena.
"Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise!"
And so after they made this promise, they continued to move on towards their destination.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
'After we arrived at my grandparents house, we said goodbye and we never met again, because the next morning we left for Japan due to some issues with my father's company and we never came to Greece again, until now.'
As Serena continues to recall these memories, she thinks to herself with a melancholic expression on her face.
'I wonder if he remembers me after all these years or if he's angry with me, because I didn't keep my promise?'
As Serena thinks that, a voice from the driver's seat snaps her out from her line of thought.
"Mistress, we have arrived at our destination, the university of Alexander the Great."
As Stephanie says this, Serena looks outside the window and looks at the university which is very huge.
And as she watching, she thinks to herself.
'Finally! I am here and I hope you're here too.'
And so a new story starts for Serena, without knowing that the one she is looking for is closer than she imagined.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Announcement: you can find the pictures of the female characters in my Discord server for the novel:
You can also find the link at the novels description.