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The midday sun beamed down onto the coast, warming the sand and washing the sea in brilliant, sparkling blue. It was here, by the pier, that Kanan and Mari and Dia often came to play, though Dia was absent on this particular day, as she and her sister Ruby had to attend some sort of business lunch with their parents. Mari sometimes went to meetings like that, too, but Kanan’s family never did any such thing, and she was glad of it! Childhood was far too short to spend it wearing stiff clothes in a room full of self-important adults speaking a subtle language far beyond the understandings of children.Today, Kanan and Mari were free, and they spent their time searching out crabs on the beach, spooking them from their burrows and chasing them along the sand until they ducked into yet another hole, after which the cycle would repeat until the fed-up and frightened creatures at last scuttled into the ocean. Hunting the skittish little animals was endless fun for the pair of cubs, particularly for Kanan, who, as a young alpha, was keen on demonstrating her fast-developing speed and strength to Mari. Mari, in turn, was enamored with every aspect of Kanan, but she didn’t express this in an outwardly flirtatious or forward manner as perhaps an adult omega might; she was still a cub, after all, and like many cubs inexperienced in love, she showed her interest instead through playful teasing, great peals of laughter at just about everything, and plenty of rough-style affection.“Kanan-chan!”The little alpha turned around at Mari’s cry, and instantly found herself hug-tackled into the sand, with Mari’s fangs pressed hard into her shoulder.“Ouch!”Kanan shoved her friend away, and the pair began to bristle and circle each other like adult shifters preparing to fight. Their cubbish displays of fur and fangs were all done in play, of course – mimicking the combat of grown alphas and omegas was some of the most fun a growing cub could have. Courteous Kanan let Mari deliver the first strike, and soon found herself with her arm caught between the omega’s fangs, while claws tore at the back of her shirt. Kanan returned the attack in earnest, and the two of them tumbled all along the shoreline, shoving and scratching and gnawing at each other.“Kanan, stop!” Mari begged her friend in between gusts of laughter. She could hardly catch her breath she was playing and laughing so hard, but Kanan was seemingly tireless! Adolescence was fast approaching for the young pair, and though their scents were still soft and cubbish, there was already a considerable difference in their strength and stamina that would continue to grow in the coming years.“Are you tired already?” Kanan taunted her. She pinned her friend down into the warm sand, her tail swishing to and fro with the delight of dominance. Had any adults seen them in such a position, they might have chastised them for indecency, but, young as they were, they found nothing indecent about the winning predator pinning the loser prey.“I’m not!” Mari said, though her breath came heavily and her cheeks beneath her blonde fur were flushed with red. She shoved Kanan aside and sat up, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her head atop them.Kanan pressed herself close to Mari, and together they admired the waves that rolled and crashed along the beach while they caught their breath. Had Kanan been familiar with the word “idyllic,” that’s how she might have described the moment, sat there with her best friend in the sun, with the roar of the surf and the cry of the gulls serving as the soundtrack. Secretly, she was glad for Dia’s absence, if only so she could share this afternoon with Mari, and only Mari. She turned to her companion, and couldn’t help but notice how lovely she looked with the sun playing in her hair and her cheeks still tinted pink.“Mari,” she said, fully intending to compliment her.“Hm? What?”Kanan found herself tongue-tied when Mari’s curious yellow gaze came upon her, and her heart thumped madly in her burning chest.“N-nothing,” she said, and turned her attention back to the waves.“Kanan!” Mari giggled and leaned into her friend, rumbling happily and rubbing her scent all along the alpha’s cheek and shoulder. “When we grow up, we should go to the big city.”Kanan, though still quite flustered, returned the scenting. “I don’t want to live in the city,” she said. “It’s better here. It’s quiet, and there’s not that many people, or cars.”“Well, we don’t have to live there,” Mari said. “But don’t you think it’d be fun? Sometimes Mama and Papa take me on their business trips, and it’s really cool! Like, there’s all these big and pretty buildings, and so many stores, and we go to really nice restaurants for dinner. Plus all the lights! There’s so much stuff to do even at night.”Kanan highly doubted she’d ever be able to afford to live the city lifestyle in any capacity, and she didn’t want to, either. She wanted to stay right here, in the sand and the sun, with her best friend, until the pair of them were wrinkled and grey-furred. “Night is for sleeping,” she replied stubbornly.Mari was a little put off at her alpha friend’s resistance, but she also knew that the sea and a love of it was an indispensable part of Kanan, perhaps as much as the two of them were a part of each other. Close as they were, Mari also happened to know a couple of Kanan’s weak spots. “I’ll just go with Dia, then,” she said with a fiendish grin.That caught the jealous young Kanan’s attention. “I mean, if it’s just for a short vacation, then…”They talked and laughed there for a while longer, but soon their bellies began to rumble and groan for food, and the grit of the sand began to irritate their sun-warmed skin, so they stood, dusting the offensive material from their legs and their clothes. Kanan, once again, couldn’t stop herself from thinking how incredibly pretty her omega friend looked with that great big smile on her rosy-cheeked face. A smidge of sunburn was already showing at the tip of the blonde’s nose, and Kanan found that somehow endearing.“Mari,” she said, and again found her heart racing when the omega met her eyes. “Do you… Maybe wanna come over for lunch?”“Well…” Mari, for once, looked uncertain. “I mean, Mama said…”“It’s okay if you don’t want to!” Kanan said quickly. “It’s just that, uh…” Here she turned her eyes back to the ocean (it was far easier to look at than her dear friend’s eyes sometimes). “I have something for you.”The intrigue of a special something was enough for Mari to shake off whatever her mother had told her this morning, and the little cubs went hand-in-hand back to Kanan’s house. Grandpa, a weathered old alpha man with a curiously sandy scent, was there, tending his shop as usual, and he met the girls with a warm smile.“Finally decided to grab lunch?” he chuckled.“Uh-huh!”Kanan led Mari into the residential portion of the building, and began rummaging about in the refrigerator. Sandwiches were a quick and simple meal for cubs, so Kanan grabbed the meat and the cheese and what was left of the tomato from breakfast. Mari, even at the age of eleven, was still peculiarly unused to preparing her own food – one aspect of her privileged upbringing that was unfortunate – but Kanan didn’t mind making it for her.“So what’s this secret thing?” Mari asked around a mouthful of her vegetable-laden sandwich.Kanan opted the skip the veggies entirely, instead layering her sandwich with slice upon slice of the meat – a bad habit of many a growing alpha cub. “It’s something,” she said, and shrugged with what she hoped was nonchalance, but was actually incredible shyness.Such a vague and unhelpful answer only fueled Mari's interest, and she pestered Kanan all through their meal, begging and pleading for a hint or, preferably, a complete revelation. Finally, with her tummy turning, Kanan agreed to go and retrieve the mystery gift.“Just wait here,” she told Mari, and then scurried off to her room, her heart pounding. She dug the object out of her desk and held it up to the light, inspecting it with a now-critical eye. She’d spent weeks putting it together, and indeed had been very proud when it was at last completed, but now, when it was finally time to give it to Mari, she wondered if the omega would even like it at all. Mari had everything she could ever ask for, after all – all the nicest clothes, all the best toys, even the finest food – and Kanan’s measly gift seemed small and insignificant in comparison to those lavish things.“Kanan-chaaan!”Mari’s voice outside the bedroom door made Kanan’s tummy tighten with fiercely heightened anxiety. She hid the gift behind her back just as soon as the door burst open and the impatient Mari barreled in.“Why are you taking so long?” Mari demanded, and was instantly interested in whatever Kanan was holding behind her. “What’ve you got? Is it the present?!”Kanan thought she might faint, but there was no turning back at this point; she’d already built up the suspense of a surprise. In a burst of boldness, she thrust the thing into Mari’s hands.“Here!”Mari gave a little peep of surprise as the jar was suddenly shoved into her hands. It was a sealed mason jar, and inside there were a multitude of seashells, some small and some large, some brightly colored and others beautifully patterned, all arranged atop a thin bed of colorful sea glass. She turned the jar over in her hands for a while, admiring the way some of the pieces caught the light, and then finally turned her sunny gaze back to Kanan.“Kanan!” she cried. “You made this for me?”Kanan nodded sheepishly. “I collected a lot of the shells after you went home every day,” she said.Mari laughed aloud at that. “Sneaky!” she said. “It’s not even my birthday or anything, and you got me a present!”“It’s… just because,” Kanan said, and her cheeks took on an impressive red.“Well, I like it very much,” Mari said, and leaned close to share her scent with the alpha once again, rumbling all the while.Having Mari so close incited some astonishingly embarrassing thoughts in Kanan’s juvenile alpha brain. For just a moment, she thought of kissing her friend, but quickly dashed the notion – surely that was too much? Still, the excitement of the closeness was overwhelming in the way that only a young and innocent love can be.“M-Mari,” she began, and felt her heart begin to pound mercilessly against her ribcage as the rest of her chest burned and her furs began to show through the skin. “You know, I’ve just been wondering if… If you… If you’ll be…” The words “mate” and “girlfriend” blared through her mind like emergency sirens, but she couldn’t quite bring her tongue to speak those words – every time she tried, it felt as though her mouth went totally dry and she was choking on her own throat. She did the best she could. “Will you be my friend forever?”Mari set the jar of shells on the desk and threw her arms about the flustered Kanan, holding her as tightly as she could and drawing in that cubbish musk she loved oh-so-much. “Of course I will.”