As Sienna and Zaya left Zanele's store Sienna asked, "Do you want to go see the market in the village square. We can get you a treat to celebrate today."
Zaya nodded her head in excitement, "Yes, please. I would love to go there." Sienna smiled and the two of them started to walk towards the village square.
As they walked Zaya saw all sorts of stalls and shops set up in full now. They had spent so much time getting her clothes that the village was awake and lively.
She saw children her age running around playing together and parents following slowly behind them, chatting amongst themselves.
Sienna saw Zaya's eyes darting all over the place to take everything in, "Don't worry, you don't need to see everything today. You can come back another day and play with the kids her and explore the other shops."
Zaya smiled and thought of all the things she could do and see in the village. She had never been able to join in on the games with the kids and had only been able to watch from afar.
She decided to stop thinking about her horrible past and start thinking about her hopeful and bright future.
She pulled at Sienna's arm, "Let's hurry and go see the market", she said with great enthusiasm. Sienna and Zaya laughed as they started to run in the direction of the market.
As they got to the village square, Zaya's eyes went wide open in awe of the amount of people and stalls.
There were stalls lined up in rows along the street and people walking through looking at all the fruits and vegetables, as well as the merchandise on display.
Merchants were pulling in on their carriages and had carts of goods being pulled behind them.
The merchants came from different villages and were on their way to bigger cities and town but would stop in smaller villages for lodging and to sell some merchandise to the locals.
The square was buzzing with activity and Zaya couldn't contain er excitement. She started tugging at Sienna's arm, so they could get going.
"Don't rush", Sienna said. "We have plenty of time to look around at everything on display."
The two of them started to walk slowly, hand in hand, around the square to see all the stands. Sienna would occasionally stop to get some fresh ingredients for cooking, from the local farmers.
As they walked, they came across food stalls. The stall owners were selling kebabs of different animals, some unknown to Zaya.
There was also a stall that was full of sweets, candies, pastries and puddings. Sienna could see Zaya salivating as they walked past the stalls, so she stopped walking and looked down at Zaya.
"Do you want something?", Sienna asked. Zaya tried to keep a straight face, but her stomach growled and eyes said a different story.
"I see", said Sienna, with a laugh. "Which one do you want?" Zaya pointed out the kebab she had been eyeing out for a while and a puff pastry that had cream and jam inside.
Sienna bought one of each for Zaya and got herself a kebab. Sienna looked around and found an open bench where they could sit.
"Let's go over there and eat", she said. They walked over and sat down. Zaya looked at her kebab with overwhelming desire to eat it.
She started to chew on the meat and let a sigh of satisfaction. The kebab was delicious and she finished it so that the stick looked brand new.
Sienna her handkerchief and wiped Zaya's mouth and face of the meat juices and sauce. Zaya looked down at her hands, covered in sauce, and not wanting to contaminate her pastry looked up at Sienna.
Sienna laughed, "Look behind us, there's a tap there. Go rinse your hands quickly." Zaya got up and went and rinsed her hands.
As she came back, Sienna had just finished her kebab and handed Zaya her pastry. "Thank you", said Zaya.
"You're welcome", Sienna said as she threw the two kebab sticks away. Zaya looked at her pastry and then at Sienna's empty hands.
"Here", Zaya said. She had broken the pastry in half and the jelly and cream was now leaking everywhere, but she wanted to share her treat with Sienna.
Sienna was taken aback by Zaya's kind gesture and said, "Thank you Zaya. Now quickly eat it before all the filling falls out."
Zaya and Sienna quickly ate their pastry and then went and rinsed their ands under the tap water.
They continued to walk around the market a bit longer. They saw what the merchants had for sale, but it was nothing that interested Sienna.
Sienna could see that Zaya was also getting tired as well. She looked at her, "Let's go home. It's been a busy day."
Zaya nodded and let out a yawn. As they left Zaya waved goodbye to the kebab and pastry stall owners.
As they started to leave the village, the lights on the houses, were lit by a man walking past.
The pathway, to Sienna's house, had lamps along the way that had already been lit by the same man.
As they walked, Zaya looked up at the sky and saw it covered in stars. It was a clear night, with not one cloud in the sky.
You could see every cluster of stars that you can imagine. As Zaya was looking up, she saw a star shoot right across the sky, almost splitting it in half.
"Look", Zaya said. "A shooting star." As Sienna looked up the one Zaya had seen turned into tens of shooting stars, covering the night sky.
"Wow, I've never seen that many before", Sienna said. They shooting stars continued to come and seem to never end before the last one disappeared.
Zaya, still in awe of the majesty of the sky, continued to look up and around to see if there were any more to come.
Unfortunately, that was all the night sky could offer tonight. "Let's go Zaya", Sienna said, while pulling her attention from the sky and to the short distance they still had to cover.
As they were getting to the house Sienna suddenly stopped in her tracks. Zaya pumped into the back of her as she was looking at the ground.
She looked up to see Sienna stood still, just shy of the house. "What's wrong?" Zaya asked, genuinely confused by what was happening.
"Stay behind me", Sienna said, in a stern and sharp voice. Zaya hadn't heard her speak like that before. She had always been calm and cheerful but now she was almost cold.
Sienna slowly approached the house, wand in hand. The light was on inside the house, which wasn't possible as, no one should be home.
As Sienna slowly opened the door a familiar figure sat at the table. He had a sword at his hip and a chest plate on.
Sienna looked around, through the gap in the door to see if there was anyone else around but could only see the man at the table.
Sienna opened the door fully and saw the man's face, "It's been a while, Sienna. My poor old sister."