Breathing in the fresh spring air, Sasha was glad that she had allowed herself some free time for a walk in the city park. It was certainly a break. The tinkling of the public fountains and the rustling of the perfectly manicured trees helped to ease the stress of the last couple of days.
Turning down a less-well-kept path, the Samoyed was momentarily caught in a bush, a few twigs sticking in her thick fur, although she shook them off fairly easily.
Strolling down the stone walkway, with the dappled sunlight on her fur, it was easy not to notice what she had just left behind...
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Eli heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the quiet sanctuary of the park. Home was a madhouse--Damian had friends over, and between the wrestling and the 'friendly' arguing, the more peaceful of the two brothers had been decidedly uncomfortable.
Strolling slowly, not thinking about anything in particular, he made his way around the gently sloping main trails through the trees and shrubs, past courtyards with stone fountains, and a family of Golden Retrievers, the puppies playing happily in the water.
He smiled then, but turned and exited the courtyard. A glint from a bush that nearly concealed a path caught his eye.
A pendant, tangled in the limbs of the shrub, its silver chain snapped, although it still held a glossy pink heart-shaped charm. A few white hairs were caught in the links of the chain, and the charm bore a few scratches. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew it was very precious to whoever it belonged to.
Best to leave it there, so its owner could find it, he thought, as he was already untangling the chain from the twigs, holding the broken ends in his mouth so that the charm did not slip off.
Now that he had it, he was unsure of what to do with the thing...
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Something sounded rather wrong in Sasha's step, although she wasn't sure what. After a few more steps, it dawned on her, that she wasn't hearing the familiar tinkling of her necklace--the last gift her mother had given her before she had passed away, nearly a year ago. Panic rose as she accepted that her most beloved possession had been misplaced. Where could she have dropped it? Quickly wheeling around, she began to retrace her steps, in case she had lost it somewhere in the park.
As the edge of the semi-overgrown trail she had been walking, she saw a shine of pink, and she burst through the bushes, no thought in her head except for that relief at finding the necklace.
Of course, she was rather shocked to find it dangling from the mouth of an apathetic-looking male Doberman.
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Startled, Eli whipped his head back to avoid being bowled into my a very fluffy white Samoyed.
He remembered the white fur in the chain, and worked out that she must have lost her pendant when she turned off onto the nearby trail.
It had only been a second or two, but Eli was a bit embarrassed, nearly nose to nose with a strange female. What should he say...His brother was good with women...what would Damian say?
Surely something like, 'Hello, Gorgeous, I believe you left your heart with me.'
He couldn't say anything like that...it just wasn't in his character. Quietly, and rather lamely, he finally asked, "I'm sorry, is this yours?"
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Sasha nodded shyly, as she apologized.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to run into you."
"It's no problem," he replied after a moment, craning his neck out so that Sasha could take her necklace.
Her voice slightly muffled around the charm, she inclined her head, murmuring 'thank you' and taking a few steps backwards.
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Over the next few days, Eli ended up seeing the Samoyed quite a bit. Coincidence, he assumed, never thinking of the call of soulmate to soulmate.
He noticed that their eyes would meet for a moment across a street, among a crowd, as if their gazes were magnetic to one another.
Perhaps, soon, he could work up the courage to talk to her...He had never even learned her name.

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Author's comments now.
Well, this is my little idea for how Eli and Sasha met. You like, Midnight? :B

Anyway, my half of the trade is finished! I quite like how it came out. :3 Background is kind of lame, though...

BTW, just a fun fact...what you're viewing it 25 percent of the original image. XD I start with a BIG canvas.

Art and Sasha (c) Me
Eli (c) *Wolves-of-Midnight
Light ray brushes (c) `spiritsighs