Finding the Little Girl

"Please, please find my baby!", the woman sobbed, overly hysterical due to her child having been missing now for several hours straight. No word, no note, no nothing. There had been no trace of the little girl having been around. People have even begun to hand out fliers; and some of those fliers had made it to the Market District, which happened to be where her traveling merchant parents had parked their shop for the week.

Zansho looked at the flier in her hand and then to her parents, frowning. "Dad, may I go help those people search for that little girl?"

Hono looked up from the item he had been helping a customer with. He thought hard for a moment before he finally nodded. "Sure, dear. Just be careful, I don't want to be looking for you, next. Alright?"

Zansho nodded and then hopped over the little gate that kept the citizens of the city from entering into the out of bounds area of their stall. She went over to the sobbing woman. "Ma'am... what sort of things does your daughter like?" Zansho figured she would go from another angle; everyone was looking for this little girl as if she had been taken and no one had found her. So, Zansho was going to think like the child she was - maybe she had harmlessly wandered away somewhere, distracted by something.

"Wha...? Why do you ask?"

"Well, maybe someone didn't take me. Maybe she saw something she liked and went to investigate and just got lost. My parents are merchants so I've been all over the place; I might be able to use that knowledge to locate her."

The woman let out a sob and then nodded in understanding, offering Zansho a smile filled with tears. "She enjoys butterflies, candy, and ribbons. She also likes small animals like kittens, squirrels, and those sorts of things."

Zansho nodded and took off, moving around the crowd. The first place she looked was at the local candy vendor. It was one of her own personal places to shop - where she spent a good portion of the money she had earned with all of her good deeds. She lifted up the flier, glad it had had a picture on it. "Excuse me, sir. This little girl is missing, her mother says she likes candy. I figured maybe you might have seen her come by here?"

The man who sold candy leaned in, taking a good look at the picture and frowning. "I have seen her, but not today, sorry.", he said finally as he shook his head no.

Zansho nodded. "Thank you, anyway." With that said she headed down further into the market, continuing to weave her way around the people coming to and fro. Her next stop was going to be the stall she knew to sell ribbons. It was further down into the market, a good ways from the candy stall; so she kept her eyes peeled as she walked, just in case the girl was wandering around anywhere. She got the the ribbon stall about fifteen minutes later and held up the flier with the little girls face on just as she had the time before. "Excuse me sir. This little girl is missing. Her mother says she likes ribbons, so I was hoping you could tell me if you've seen her today or not."

The man leaned forward, looking closely just as the man before him had done. After a moment he chuckled and nodded. "Aye, I did see her today. She was down the ways with a kitten in a box when I was coming back from lunch about an hour ago. She was drying the kitten off after having given it a bath, and I offered her a scrap of pink ribbon that I couldn't sell. She tied it in a bow around the kittens neck. She might still be there."

Zansho grinned and nodded. "Thank you, thank you!", she said before she took off down the way that the man had pointed her to. She crossed her fingers as she went, hoping that the little girl would still be there with the kitten. She pushed past people, trying her hardest not to knock anyone over as she went. A little ways down the road she spotted the little girl with an orange colored kitten.

"Mar? Is that you?" The little girl looked up when Zansho spoke to her, and nodded her head. Zansho held her hand out to the little girl. "Your mother is upset, she's been looking for you. She thinks you're lost."

The little girl took Zansho's hand, and began to follow her back up through the market. "No, I'm not lost. I found this kitty." She nodded her head towards the kitten in her arm, keeping pace with Zansho as they headed back to the area of the market her mother had been in. After several minutes of walking she spotted her mother and released Zansho's hand, running over to her and into her arms; where her mother scooped her up and hugged her and kitten. "I'm okay, mommy. This nice girl found me."

Zansho reached them and smiled, glad to see that the woman wasn't crying anymore; and that her daughter was back to her safe and sound. 

"Oh, thank you! Here, take this please!" The woman handed over a pouch of coins. "It was the reward money we were offering up for her safe return. I heard your name is Zansho from your parents: I spoke to them after you approached me. Thank you so much, Zansho."

Zansho took the pouch and nodded, noticing her parents watching in the distance, and how proud of her they looked. "You're very welcome ma'am, I'm just glad I could help." She waved as she watched them turn around, likely to head home, and then returned to her parents stall.

Word Count: 986