They were older now, the pair.

Emi's hair was still slightly messy at the age of 16, but it was longer, and smoother. 

Joji's hair had grown out slightly at the age of 17, but he preferred to keep it shorter. At the time, at least. 

The pair hiked along the forest floor. It was early, around 5 in the morning. 

Joji had woken up that morning with the intention of calling Emi for a morning hike. 

It was something that he loved, hiking. 

They both loved it, and especially when they lived in Japan, near many beautiful forests that called out to them, begging them to explore their lands and gaze upon their beauty, to take in their colors and sounds, and to love them. 

Of course, that was exactly what they did. 

It was this early Saturday morning, where George Miller and Emi Amari began the trek that they had many times before. 

Joji wore his Vans, sweatpants, and maroon sweater. Emi was dressed in black jeans, Converse high tops that were the pastel pink that she adored so much, and a dark grey sweater, that was, again, slightly too large for her. 

As they strolled along, Joji glanced over at Emi. 

He watched as her hair blew not only from her movement but from the wind around them as well. 

There wasn't much of it, but it was enough to make her look even more magical than she already was to Joji. 

He watched her pull the dark colored sleeves past her hands and he chuckled as he threw an arm around her, guiding her over the large protruding tree root that he had tripped over all those years ago. 

"You still have that rabbit, don't you, Emi?" he wondered aloud. 

"Mhm." she nodded. 

"That's good." he replied. 

They walked on, mostly in silence. 

They had no need to speak just in this moment. 

Joji dropped his arm from her shoulders as he glanced out at a light clearing in the trees. 

He gazed upon the beauty, and took it in. 

Green. 

Green and... delicate. He thought. 

He took every moment he could, in memorizing that color. 

Emi turned and watched Joji as he did this. 

She did something similar to him, but instead of memorizing the nature around her, she memorized the look of his profile. 

She gazed upon every inch of his face, as she felt the familiar change in her chest. 

Her heart was warmer. 

As Joji licked his lips, determined to gaze upon the nature a few seconds longer before he turned away and continued their journey, Emi couldn't help but smile to herself. 

Joji glanced at her and she kept smiling, gazing down ever so slightly. 

"What?" he asked. 

"何もない." ( Nothing. ) she mumbled to him, linking her hands behind her back as she turned away and slowly began to walk.

Joji eyed her warily.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he began to walk after her.

"教えてください。" ( Tell me. ) he said.

She smiled back at him, revealing a small smile as she brought her index finger up to her nose.

"まず、私を捕まえなければならないでしょう." ( You'll have to catch me, first. ) she smirked.

Then, just like that, she ran.

She began to run fast, and it took no time at all for Joji to let out a hardy chuckle as he began running after the small girl.

He could play this game.

It was something that they did a lot.

"速度を落とす！" ( Slow down ! ) he shouted after a few minutes had passed.

"Never!" she shouted, lifting her head and gazing back at him.

It felt like slow motion as her foot caught on a root, sending her body flying.

She let out a yelp and squeezed her eyes shut... But, she never met the ground.

Rather than a cold ground, she found the arms of George wrapped around her.

She opened her eyes and gazed into George's, their heavy breaths mingling in the cold.

Their faces were not far apart, merely inches, as they stared wide eyed into one anothers eyes.

As he gazed into her eyes, he found within them the reflection of the forest around them.

Green, and... delicate.

They were deep and held memories and experiences, thoughts and ideas, things Joji would not be able to guess.

Emi's face grew warm, and Joji helped her back up.

"注意してください、愚か！" ( Be careful, stupid! ) he said jokingly as he looked her over for any injuries.

"Whatever!" she replied, hitting his shoulder with a smile.

Both the teens pretended to brush away the moment that they'd just been engrossed in, but they would never forget the rush of feelings that they'd felt for each other in that moment.

Never.