A/n: Hey so I got a request! I never do Simon stuff and I found this really old story like two weeks ago that I started about him so I'm already in the Simon feels and when I had the option I hella fucking jumped. So yeah. Simon imagine blessed to you all by @Animeia_Sangster !! Thanks girl! I hope you like it and that you feel like I did a well enough job of portraying you :D

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- 3rd Person POV -

When Animeila first met Simon Brown, they were extremely young. It was even before his mother died. He was happy and his happiness was so contagious that she felt it whenever she was around him. She didn't get to feel that often, and, therefore, found herself more and more hanging around him, collecting that warm blanket feeling and soaking it up as much as she could.

Then Simon's mother died. It changed everything. For a long time, the entire family was on its head. Simon did nothing but cry and cling to her and beg her to never leave and she promised. Even at their young age, she learned what it was to lose. What it was to hurt. She learned what it meant to be alone. Because, before, even though she had no one but the Browns, she had the Browns. Now, she did not even have that.

When she would leave Simon's house, or slip away from their secret meeting place, she would go home again and slip into the house through her window. Animeila would climb into her bed and pull the covers up[ to her chin after she slipped underneath them. Then she would cry. She could not cry silently back then and so she'd bury herself under her sheets and put her face down into the pillow and do everything to muffle her loud, heartbreaking sobs. Not only had she lost the only motherly figure in her life, she'd lost her entire happiness. She'd lost her best friend as she knew it, and his family that equally meant so much to her.

In those dark moments, where she would tell herself she would never leave her blankets and she'd let herself rot away, she had to stop. She had to remind herself to breathe. Her chest would be tight, but her eyes would be squeezed shut tighter. She would force even breaths in and out and remember better times.

Usually she thought of how they'd met first.

"Hello."

Animeila looked over to the little boy that had just approached her. She had been standing still in the middle of the walkway, head tilted all the way back, staring up into the sky with a hopeless expression, all by her lonesome with no one else in sight. She was alone, soaking in the sun and the gorgeous blue sky. It had intrigued the boy enough to point it out to his mother, who'd been walking with him on the other side of the road. She, at that point, had been worried and confused enough to come over to check on the young girl.

"Hi," Animeila whispered, her voice cracking.

"What's your name?" It's Simon who's taken the initiative to talk to this lonely girl.

"Animeila," Animeila responds without a second thought. Simon's eyebrows crinkled.

"Ani...Amin....Amim..." Mrs. Brown nudges her son, giving him the 'You're being rude' look and the young boy snaps his mouth shut a second before sighing and looking back at his strange friend. For he already did think of her as a friend. "I can't say your name -" Another nudge from his mother. "May I call you Mei?" Animeila tilted her head, but a tentative smile was growing on her face.

Mei. She liked it. "Sure." The two beam at each other. "What is your name?" She asks after the moment passes.

"Simon," Simon tells her. "Simon Brown." He holds his free hand - the one not in his mother's - out to her, offering it. She takes it with a bit of uncertainty and they shake. "Nice to meet you." She nods in agreeance. "So, Mei, why are you out here by yourself? Are you lost?" Well, he wasn't one to beat around the bush, was he?

Animeila shrugged. "Mama loves the midday sun, when there are no clouds and you can look right up into the blue and look at it forever and ever. I love it, too. I might be a little lost, though."

"And where is your mother, dear?" Mrs. Brown asks, kneeling down like a lady in order to see Animeila better but in a way as not to be improper.

The girl stops short. "She left." When met with confused looks, she sighed. "Papa says that she went to a trip. She went on a place. Er, on a trip to a place. See, she didn't like us anymore and so she found somewhere that would make her happy. Mama always did love to be happy." Animeila grinned and Mrs. Brown returned that look with one of pure horror. The older woman quickly composes herself for the child's sake.

"What about your papa?" Simon follows up without hesitation. "Why are you out here alone?"

"Papa...." Animeila looked to the side, shrugging. She looked more confused than sad, but there was sadness in her huge eyes. "He was angry at me, so I left. I said I wanted to see the blue skies like mama always let me do and he didn't like that."

There was a moment's pause. "Do you have any siblings?" Mrs. Brown asked.

"No," Animeila said, sighing, her sadness truly coming through now. "Mama was pregnant a lot of times but the baby was too sick."

Another pause, then, "Do you want to come by our home and meet our family?" Simon asked quietly, feeling his mother's broken heart without seeing it. Animeila light up.

"I'd love to!"

So she did. 

As they walked, Simon took her hand in his free one and whispered to her, "I found you," referring to her comment about being lost earlier, smiling to him.

Simon and Mrs. Brown took little Animeila to their home, introduced them to the family, and everyone was over the moon and back again to meet such a bright soul. They welcomed her immediately, and little Animeila missed the whispers exchanged between Mr. and Mrs. Brown and the looks the two parents gave her as she got acquainted with their children. Animeila would only recall it later, looking back.

When it was getting later, Mr. Brown offered to take her home and Animeila nodded, prepared to go. "Thank you," she'd told him.

"Mei?" Mrs. Brown called. The girl turned. "You're always welcomed here, when your papa is angry at you. We'd al love to see you again."

Animeila beamed. "I'd love that."

So, every day after, she did come back. Sometimes, if she was very busy, she'd only pop by every other day or every two days. But never more. It was later, when she was old enough to understand that her mother was not coming back and wise enough to not only see that her father was abusive but to hide it that she started to loathe the name she had. It reminded her of her lost mother, her abusive father. Her broken family and her lost hope. That hope that only came back when she was with Simon.

Because Simon didn't call her Animeila, she didn't want to call herself Animeila either. So she settled on Mei. A good name. A new name. For a new life. A good life.

When Simon's mom first died, it was hard, indeed. That new life shattered for her. She stepped in as best she could and started to take a place with the Brown's. She helped where she could, making it as little stress as possible for Mr. Brown. Trying to keep the children cheery.

That's when Mr. Brown started getting distant. Getting wrapped up and totally lost in his work. That's when Simon started getting bitter. That's when the Brown children all became mischievous. At first Mei tried to stop them. Took Mr. Brown's side. Told all her friends that he just needed time.... But he didn't. She lost control but when Mr. Brown got the new maid and started secluding himself and making Mei feel almost... unwelcome. That's when she started helping. Anything to get that happiness back. Anything to make Simon's family better and good again.

Just as everything started getting really good, and the kids had finally limited all of Mr. Brown's options and it was all coming together -

Nanny McFee happened. Everything changed. Slowly, Simon got more and more frustrated and Mei stayed home more and more and the two plotted and fought but eventually... Simon buckled. Simon changed. Mei didn't.

Mr. Brown got remarried to Evangeline and the Brown household was complete and happy again. But Mei didn't know. Mei wasn't around to know.

Al because of one dumb fight.

"Simon I have a new plan! This one outta catch that Nanny McFee off her feet and -"

"No, Mei. No more plans."

Mei paused, confused. "What do you mean, no more plans?"

"Papa is getting remarried. And we're going to be good. We got HER back. It's all going to work out, I promise."

HER? Simon and the kids had gotten that disgusting old lady to marry Mr. Brown? "But we worked so hard to -"

"I know, Mei. And it was almost a complete disaster."

"We avoided a disaster by getting rid of her," Mei argued.

Simon huffed. "Look, you weren't there anymore, okay? You didn't see! You can't understand how bad it would be if Papa doesn't get remarried again. Soon. And.... And we only have one option left. HER. So yes, we are going to be good and Papa will remarry HER and everything will be okay because we will do everything right this time."

Completely confused and taken aback, Mei stepped away from him. "I don't understand..."

Unhappy, Simon glared at his feet. "I know you don't. You wouldn't."

It stung. Mei had always understood. Simon had gone to Mei for every little problem and bump for as long as she'd known him. Even when his mother was alive, he'd have both women in the room. Then, after, he'd cling to Mei like his life depended on it. He understood that she always understood and they mutually understood each other. Always. Mei turned around. "I guess you don't need me anymore, then." Simon looked up sharply and his eyes went wide, his heart racing.

He'd lost so much. He'd won so many battles against his father, but he was losing the war. He'd lost Evangeline, who'd he'd actually quite liked to have around. He'd almost lost Christy. He'd lost his mother. He'd almost lost his house. Now he'd be losing his home. His happiness. The evil that was HER would swoop in and ruin everything and now, after losing everything he'd loved, he was losing Mei too.

"Bye, Simon."

So he was left there, trying to find words to say to get her to come back and understand and be happy and stay with him -

His throat was too dry. His mind too blank. So he let her go.

It was a long time until Mei ever saw Simon again. Her father got worse and worse until she just accepted it and got used to the pain. Life fell more and more, like before. It was years later, when Simon was sixteen, that he saw her again.

Mei stood in a different spot than he'd seen her the first time, but in the same position on the same kind of day.

She was older. Taller. Prettier. No, not prettier. But different. Now Simon NOTICED that she was pretty. Her wide eyes looked into the sky, watery but blank. As blank as her facial expression. Her body was relaxed and she looked into that blank, wide, blue sky.

A tear fell down her face, tracing her cheek bones and then falling along her jaw.

Lost for words and thought as much as the last time he'd seen her, Simon silently made his way to her side. He couldn't look away from her face, bathed in sunlight as she wore a light yellow dress. In his mind, she glowed. But what ruined all of it was the huge brownish-blue bruise on her cheekbone which faced him, opposite the side her tear had fallen. His hand twitched as he fought the urge to touch it.

"Mei?" He managed. His voice cracked and was so quiet that he wasn't sure she'd heard it. But she did. And when she did, she looked at him. Her beautiful eyes filled with water even more and overfilled, a constant flow of tears falling now. She reached out a hand, planting it flat on his chest. her eyes widened. "Mei?" He whispered again, this time stronger.

"You're real," was all she said in reply.

Simon looked at the girl he'd always seen as his best friend. The other half to their duo. The other master in his plan. His partner in crime. His strength. His weakness. The one person he'd always turned to. Now... a stranger.

He hugged her. He took her in his arms and buried his face in her hair and held her close to him and he felt her catch her breath and sob and choke on her sobs and she broke. But he held her together. She clung to him, like he had to her so many times in the past. For the first time ever, he was her leaning post. Except, now, he held her up. She collapsed on him and he kept her standing. They stood like that until she calmed down.

He stooped a bit ad picked her up, holding her in his arms. "Come on, Mei. I'll take you home."

Two years. It had been two years. Wow.

Apparently Mei's father had finally passed away from alcohol poisoning, and Mei had been kicked out of her house and she'd been at her lowest right when Simon had found her. His happiness and his kindness and all the good memories his face and voice and presence held for her overwhelmed her in her weakened state.

"I never forgot you," she whispered to him when she'd calmed down and rested up. He looked up in shock and their eyes locked. "The sound of your voice. Or your smile. Your laugh. Your smell. It kept me going, you know? In my dreams, despite everything, you still wanted me. We never had that fight and I understood what happened with your family and what Nanny McPhee did to change your family so much and- And it was all good again."

"I always wanted you," Simon whispered, in such a broken tone that Mei was reminded of his words in that dumb little argument that had driven such a drift between them. "I never stopped. You were always my best friend. I just didn't know how to fix it and I was scared of going to your house and time kept passing, so I kept thinking that you must have moved on or hated me by now and I could never get the courage up to come over and talk to you.... But I never stopped wanting you in my life."

There was a moment of silence where little tears of joy fell down Mei's cheeks and she looked at the ceiling, smiling. Simon's hand slowly, tentatively found hers and their fingers intertwined and she chuckled a bit, smiling wider. "You found me," she whispered.

He smiled as their eyes locked again. "I found you," had kind of become their thing. When she would run away from her home and Simon would go looking for her, always magically knowing when she needed him. Or when she got lost with her horrible sense of direction and Simon finally resolved to take her to and from her home or just to and from her destination, when she started to stay at his house more and more. Every time she'd come over, too, looking upset. Or when they were in the middle of a conversation and something upset her. Or anything along those lines, her phrase to tell him privately that she was feeling bad was always "I'm lost" and he'd take her hand and lean close and whisper, "I'll find you."

Now, it seemed to mean so much more. "Of course I did," Simon whispered. "I'll always find you, Mei."

Memories and feelings and untold thoughts passed between the two for a few moments of comfortable, warm, welcomed silence. Then, softly, she just whispered, "I know."

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A/n: Look I know this is a mess and total shit but I tried.... ugh DX I'll write you another, better one babe I'm so sorry <3