***

I walked through the forest as I tried to find something. I had my hood over my head and my satchel was slung over my shoulder. The sound of nature around me was very calming to listen to. There were flowers in the ground and sunlight was streaming through the trees. I stopped when something caught my eye and I ran over to it. It was a bush with beautiful flowers. "Yes! These are exactly what I'm looking for!" I said happily. I reached down and grabbed the brown and green plant. I pulled it out of the ground and started to study it, "The spellami hearb. It's an ao shidare perennial. When you steam and dry the roots then you can use it to lower fevers, and alleviate pain," I heard the sound of the bells in the distance which made me shoot up, "I better get going. I don't wanna get scolded by Shirayuki for being late... again."

I put the plant in my satchel and started to run out of the forest. The wind started to blow and the next thing I knew, my hood came flying off. My long purple hair which was tied back with a purple bow came flying out. I don't have time to worry about that though. I needed to get going.

***

I was now in the shop helping Shirayuk make medicine for the customers in our shop. Shirayuki and I have been best friends since we were younger and we practically grew up together. We were always interested in becoming an herbalist so we learned everything we knew together. We did everything together when we were little and we still do now. A child that we helped ran out of the door with his mother following behind him. He called out, "Thank you, misses! Bye, bye!"

"Goodbye. Take your medicine now!" Shirayuki called out after him.

Yoshi looked up to us and started to walk out of the shop, "See ya soon, Miss Shiryuki, Miss Emiko."

I waved to him, "Bye, Yoshi!"

"Feel better, Yoshi," Shirayuki said to him. He walked out of the shop and our attention turned to Kino. Kino was this old woman who Shirayuki and I have known for a very long time. She knew Shirayuki's grandparents and my mother well. Shirayuki walked to her chair, "Thanks for your patience. You're still waiting for your medicine, right, Kino?"

"Did we keep you waiting for so long?" I asked her. I went over to where we keep our herbs and started to make the medicine. Shirayuki came over and helped me.

Kino waved us off, "Yes, but please, take your time, I just came to let my eyes rest on your beautiful hair, Emiko. I've never seen anything quite so extraordinary! I'm also hoping that you'll sing for me some time, Emiko." Those were two things that I heard quite often. No one else has hair like mine and everyone found it to be, like Kino said, extraordinary. I have a good singing voice according to a lot of people. They were always wanting to hear me sing something. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

I turned to her and smiled, "Thank you, Kino. You are just too kind. And maybe... if you're lucky."

Shirayuki started pulling some of the herbs off of the shelves, "Since we already have you here, we'll start preparing another remedy. We found some good medicinal herbs, so please take some with you."

We heard crying and turned to see that it was Kino, "You two have turned into very fine herbalists. If only your late grandparents could see this, Shirayuki. They would be beaming with pride. Your mother would be so proud of you too, Emiko. You have a very beautiful voice, just like she did." Kino wiped her eyes with the cloth she had in her hands.

I became alarmed by her sudden change in mood, "Please, don't cry. It's alrigh-"

Kino jumped out of her chair and let out a shocked gasp making me cut myself off, "Oh, my goodness! I believe I left the stove on, I must go," Shirayuki and I gasped at what she said. Kino walked to the door of the shop, "Oh dear, silly me." She chuckled and walked out of the shop.

I continued to stare at the door that she walked out of, "That woman always knows how to scare the living daylights out of us," The both of us laughed, "I can take her medicine to her later on, Shirayuki."

"Thank you," Shirayuki suddenly gasped. People seem to be doing that a lot lately. "I left something at home. Can you take over the shop while I'm gone?"

I nodded, "Sure. You can count on me," Shirayuki took off her apron and laid it on the counter. She then ran out of the shop leaving me alone. I continued to make Kino's medicine when I heard the door open. I assumed that it was Kino so I turned and said, "Did you forget something, Kino?" I was surprised to see a soldier instead. He then explained why he was here. I was frozen in shock. "Really? Prince Raji's concubine?"

"Yes. In other words, you would be his mistress." The soldier said. His eyes were void of any emotion and his smile wasn't genuine at all. As I continued to look at him, alarms were going off in my head.

"Yeah, I know what a concubine is," I rolled my eyes, "This is absolutely insane! Why only like me because of the color of my hair? There's no way I'm doing it." I crossed my arms over my chest in defiance.

"Prince Raji has taken a liking to you," The soldier started to take steps toward me and I backed away from him. "Therefore, you are required to formally appear at the castle tomorrow morning," I bumped into the counter and I eyed the soldier as he readjusted his sword at his hip. "I suggest you look presentable." He walked out of the shop leaving me with just my thoughts.

***

Later on that day, I was still sitting in the shop, except this time Shirayuki sat with me. I had already told her everything that happened with the soldier and what he told me. Like the first time I heard it, she was as shocked as I was. "The prince wants you to be his mistress because of your hair color?" I nodded.

"I was planning to run away. I was also wondering if you would like to come with me." I looked up at her in expectancy.

Shirayuki looked surprised by my statement, "Emiko... I... can't," I let out an inaudible sigh and looked away from her. I knew that she would want to stay, but that didn't stop me from hoping. "I have to stay here and look after the shop. But it's going to be okay. You can write me letters and I can come to visit you sometime."

I let out a small laugh, "I don't think it's going to be that easy, Shirayuki. Thanks anyway though. It really means a lot to me," We stared at each other for a minute. "I'm gonna miss you!" I said as I reached out and hugged her. After a while, we let out of the hug and we sat in silence.

"How about we work together just one last time?" Shirayuki suggested. I smiled at the thought and nodded as a reply. We spent most of the time we had together making medicine for our customers. When we were done, it is dark outside and only candles light the shop. I turned and my hair caught my attention in the window. I sadly stared at it and picked up a pair of scissors lying close by. I brought it close to my hair and Shirayuki asked quickly, "What are you doing?"

I turned to her, "Don't worry. I'm only going to cut off a few inches." Shirayuki nodded and I brought the scissors back up to my hair. With one final thought, I cut off my hair. My hair now came down a little past my shoulders and I left the hair I cut off and my bow on the window sill. I said goodbye to Shirayuki one more time and then I went on my way.

***

Flashback:

Two nine-year-olds, one with red hair and one with purple, were sitting on the floor. The redhead had her hair in a braid and she was in the process of doing the purple-haired girl's hair. The two laughed at something funny the other said and the two were silent again. The redhead paused in her actions and the purple-haired girl looked back at her, "What's wrong, Shirayuki?" The little girl inquired.

"Let's make a promise, Emiko," Shirayuki said. Emiko tilted her head in confusion but told her to continue. "A promise to never cut our hair."

"Why?" Emiko questioned in confusion.

Shirayuki smiled brightly, "Because then we can have moments like this all of the time. Plus, it would be hard to do your hair when it's short."

Emiko thought about it before smiling as well, "That sounds like a great idea! I promise." The two girls laughed as Shirayuki continued to do Emiko's hair.

***

I woke up lying on the ground in front of a stone house. I was using my satchel as a pillow which wasn't really comfortable, but it was the only thing I had. I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. Seeing as I just woke up, I was obviously a little groggy. I let out a yawn. I moved some of my hair out of my face. I wished that I hadn't left my bow behind too. I then heard someone say, "Mitsuhide, Kiki! I'm goin' on ahead!" It sounded like a boy.

I heard someone else call out, "Hey, careful, braggart! You'll hurt yourself." Suddenly a boy came jumping over the stone wall beside me. He had white hair and beautiful blue eyes. I gasped at the sudden appearance of the boy. He must've heard me because he looked over and his eyes widened. His foot ended up getting caught on the wall and he fell to the ground with a thud. I shielded myself with my satchel to make sure I didn't get hit. I heard him wince and I looked up to see him holding his wrist in pain.

"I told you so, Zen," The guy who was talking before showed up. He had bluish-greenish hair and behind him was a woman with blonde hair. They must've been the 'Mitsuhide and Kiki' the boy was calling out to. So that means his name was Zen. "Are you hurt? Did you fall on your head? Tell me, what's one plus one?" I shielded myself from sight with my hood.

"Purple," Zen said. "Wait. Who're you again?"

"It's me, Mitsuhide!" Mitsuhide shouted.

"Oh, I forgot. Was that your name?" Kiki asked sarcastically.

Mitsuhide turned to her, "Kiki! Not helping even a little bit!" Zen laughed. I decided to now start crawling away from them. I didn't get far when Zen remembered that I was here.

"Hold," He said making me freeze in my tracks. "Mind telling me who you are?" He stood up and rested his sheathed sword on his shoulder, "And what you're doing in the woods all alone?"

I sat up and said nervously, "I was just... uh. I just left home in a hurry. Then I kinda got lost and ended up here so..." Zen pointed the tip of his sword at my face. He then used it to lift my hood off my head making my purple hair tumble down my shoulders. They all looked at my hair in surprise.

Zen rested his sword on his shoulder again. He had a straight face, "You have very unusual hair."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot," I noticed his red and injured arm, "Your arm is injured."

Zen looked down at it, "Eh, I've had worse."

I opened my satchel and try to look for something to help, "I'm an herbalist so I can help you with that."

"No, thanks," Zen stated sharply. I froze and turned to see the sword pointed at my face again. "It could be poison or something. I'm not going to fall for that little trick. I wasn't born yesterday, y'know. Trust is something earned, not given. In other words, we're done here. So, off you go, then."

"I just have to do one thing first," I said. He looked at me confused as I grabbed his sword.

"Hey. What the-" He stopped when I hit my arm with his sword. Ouch! I really go to extreme links to get my point across. "No. What're you?" Zen trailed off.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the cream. With a little difficulty, I opened it and used my fingers to scoop some up. I got a paper and spread the cream on it. I then placed it on my arm and lifted it up to show him, "I don't carry around poison."

Zen dropped his sword on the ground and Mitsuhide laughed. "She sure got you there, Zen."

Zen laughed as well and sat down in front of me, "Sorry about that. My name is Zen."

"I'm Emiko." I introduced.

Zen lifted up his injured arm, "It's lovely to meet you, Emiko. However, I think you're at least partially responsible for my less than graceful landing."

***

The four of us were now sitting inside the cottage. Zen and I were sitting on the couch while I wrapped his arm up with the bandage. Mitsuhide and Kiki were in the corner of the room playing a game of chess. "No one lives in this house, but we spend time here. So, the one getting beaten at chess over there is Mitsuhide," I looked up and over at the two. Mitsuhide gasped and sighed in defeat. "The one doing the beating is Kiki."

Mitsuhide turned to face us, "Zen, how do you know I'm losing when you aren't even paying attention to the game?"

Zen smirked, but didn't turn back, "I can just tell."

"I'm shellacking you," Kiki stated and Mitsuhide growled while still looking in our direction.

I tied up the bandage, "And you are good to go."

Zen inspected his arm, "Wow, you've got impressive skills, Emiko."

I started wrapping up my arm, "I've been doing this kind of thing for awhile. I did tell you that I was an herbalist."

"Yes, you did," Zen looked over at me, "So, why would a talented herbalist run away from home?"

I paused and then continued to wrap my arm, "It doesn't matter. I need to get some air so if you'll excuse me." I stood up and Zen watched me.

***

I walked through the forest and smiled. It always felt so nice out in nature. The wind blew through my hair as I walked. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I gazed back at Zen, "I was wondering," I turned my body to face him as I continued to walk backward, "Why did you decide to follow me?" 

"I couldn't let you go into these woods all by your lonesome. That would be quite ungentlemanly." Zen replied.

I turned back around to look in front of me, "I like walking through the mountains and forests. I became comfortable with them while I was studying to be an herbalist," I stopped in a clearing and took a deep breath, closing my eyes again. I leaned against a tree and said, "Everything is different here than in town. I prefer here a lot more."

"I couldn't agree more," Zen said smiling.

I leaned my head back against the tree and gazed at him, "Well, look who isn't all bluff and bluster," Zen blushed making me smile. I went to get off of the tree, but pain followed and I couldn't get away, "Ouch!"

Zen walked over to see what the problem was, "Oh, look like your hair's caught. You have a strand that's longer than the others."

"I must've missed a piece by accident," I mumbled to myself. I spoke louder, "Hey, Zen, would you mind cutting it for me? It doesn't have to be neat."

Zen smirked and walked out to stand in front of me, "I'll only do it if you answer a question for me. Did cutting your hair have something to do with why you ran away from home? If you tell me the reason, maybe then I can help you."

I stared at him with a straight face, "I don't think I like you now." Zen raised his hands in surrender and chuckled. When he helped me out, I explained to him everything that had happened to me.

"You were ordered to be a concubine?" Zen asked loudly.

I looked at my feet, "Yes. By a very famous, and an idiot, boy. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he learned to speak in the redlight district. He only came for me because of my hair and wanted to keep it like some sort of prize. Pretty stupid, if you ask me... If I went with him then it would be like buying fruit at the fruit seller."

"Emik-" Zen started.

I stood up and said, "He got part of what he wanted because I decided to leave my hair behind."

Zen broke out into laughter, "That was ingenious thinking! Good job escaping from that dunce. I guess it's because of that purple hair of yours."

"And what do you mean exactly?" I question confusedly.

Zen turned back around to look at me, "Well, color has meaning. And purple represents independence. You may not like it much now, but it really represents your personality well from what I can tell."

I stared at him with a thoughtful look on my face, "Well, that's one way to look at it."