Tavi: Discovery 3

I keep looking to where they went.  Did I really see that?  Was that even real?  I snap myself back around as my ears catch the sound of someone crying.  I cautiously make my way further down the hallway and the sobbing sounds louder.  I turn the hall to see a girl with long brown hair and emerald eyes sadly staring at the hall.  She looks the same age that I do, but I know I'm older than eight and the sadness of her eyes shows age beyond an eight year old.
"What're you doing here?" She asks as though I'm the one intruding on her space.
I simply turn my head to a nearby vine and give it a loving stroke.  I turn back to her to see if she understood my gesture.
"So you've been taking care of the plants," she says cheerfully, rocking on the balls of her feet.
I cock my head in question.
"Oh, I used to spend my fair share of time here.  Sometimes I come back when I feel nostalgic," she drifts off staring back to the hall.
"Why that wall?" I whisper.  "Nothing's ever been there."
"Before you there was," she says with a chuckle.  "Behind this wall was a room.  This room was full of games, tea parties, hide and seek.  Childhood friends and adventure."
"What about the other girls?" I ask quietly.
"That was just a memory pulled from these walls.  Something to comfort me as my old friends have moved on and grown."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Say, what's your name?"
"Tavi."
"I'm Sophie," she smiles brightly at me as she extends a hand out toward me. "Mind if I hang out with you?"
The smile is contagious and I find myself returning her grin as I place my hand in her's.