What does the pair of light blue gloves symbolize, from the narrator's perspective?

While the Inui family is hiding in the narrator's home for a little while until their scheduled time to report to their safe house arrives, the narrator notices that Professor Inui's eight-year-old son is wearing a pair of handmade gloves with a chain of stitching keeping them from getting separated. She recalls having such a pair of gloves herself in her childhood, stating, "In this basement full of anxiety, they seemed like the lone sign of innocence and peace" (34).