Falling Petals
A young woman stood outside on the balcony to observe the magical night sky. Although the distant stars twinkled brightly, the moon stole the spotlight with its luminous light. The light shone upon a small figure and casted a lonely silhouette against the wall. Inside the building, music, laughter, and talk created a happy atmosphere.
Her emerald eyes observed the scene of couples dancing, but she quickly turned around and continued to bathe in the tranquility and beauty of the unusually warm winter evening.
As a gentle breeze stirred, the girl hugged her pink shawl tightly around her bare shouders, and smoothed down her cream-coloured dress to shield her knees from the sudden cold. The wind whipped her auburn curls into her face, so she lifted a slender hand, adorned with a silver bracelet, and brushed it back. She turned her back against the wind and continued to stare, entranced, at the golden orb floating in the middle of the sky.
The woman turned around as she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Her emerald eyes looked up in curiosity at the intense amber ones that bore into hers. The owner of the eyes bowed, "Would you honour me with a dance?"
The maiden flashed him an apologetic smile, with her eyes downcast. "I'd love to, but I'm not in the mood." The lady picked a flower from a nearby bush, ttwirled it around in her fingers, and proceeded to remove its pastel coloured petals.
"May I ask why not?" The gentleman inquired.
The
girl lifted her arms and indicated to him that he should look up.
"Just look at this."
"What about it?" The man
asked; his eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Isn't it just beautiful? If you look closely you can see Orion. See, over there." She pointed to a cluster of stars that formed a constellation.
He gazed up at the sky draped with a gold velvet blanket of stars and smiled. "It is enchanting."
Both of them continued to view the heavens in enraptured silence, but the spell was broken when the man persisted. "This is rather relaxing, but I'd rather spend my night dancing."
She raised a delicately painted brow,and replied. "I'm not stopping you."
The man took a step closer and reached for her hand, "But I'd really love for you to be my partner tonight."
She sighed exasperated, as she pulled her hand from his grasp. "Can't you tell that I relish this serene night and want to cherish the limited amount of time that I have to spend in silence and solitude before I am brought back to the bustling, busy society that we have to endure?"
He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace, "Yes, but it's just one dance."
She whirled around and gently pushed him away from her and frowned at him, "Why can't you find another person to dance with you?"
He ran his hand through his messy chocolate brown hair, "Everyone here has a partner. I'm one of the few that came alone." His facial expression remained unchanged and indifferent, however, his pleading eyes shone so brilliantly that it broke her determined resolve.
She sighed again and considered the situation. She resumed her separation of the pale petals from the stem of the orchid she held in her hand. "You won't leave me alone until I agree?"
He nodded his head slowly.
"Very well, how about I propose a little challenge. If you can guess my name in three tries, I will succumb to a dance that keeps me away from my moments of happiness." She announced dramatically and threw her arms up in resignation.
He concealed his shock at her sudden change and the difficulty in the challenge, so he protested, "But there are so many names."
She smiled mischeivously, "I'm not that cruel, I will give you a little rhyme to help you."
Spring is when it
lives,
Beauty is what it gives.
Withers and dies in the
Fall
Soft and sweet; loved by all.
He contemplated the rhyme for a while before he commented, "Well, I assume it's a plant or a flower that you're named after, but I don't think you're named after a vegetable or fruit. I mean, not everybody likes fruits and vegetables, especially children, and I highly doubt your name is Carrots."
She nodded her head to show that his assumption was correct.
He studied her, as he tried to think of a name that suited her the most. Her soft rosy cheeks and her elegance reminded him of a lovely flower. He tilted his head and said "Rose?"
She shook her head in response, and a tiny smile tugged at her luscious red lips.
He racked his brain for a name; any name that was related to flowers. Names flashed through his head, but none seemed suitable for this breathtakingly sweet and innocent girl that stood before him. He had only two guesses left, so he had to think carefully.
Marigold, Violet, Daisy, Lily, Petunia, Zinnia, Jasmine, Cynthia, Poppy? Which one? Which one to choose?
"Daisy." He declared after several minutes of indecision.
Her smile grew even wider in delighted amusement. Her eyes sparkled in laughter as she turned her gaze at him. Her expression told him that he had guessed wrong, and he groaned under his breath.
He thought to himself. 'Alright, this is your last chance. If you don't get it, then shame on you. You have never lost a challenge before. So, why start now, and lose a stupid challenge to a girl? He placed emphasis on the word girl And what's with the last line of the rhyme?
Soft and sweet; loved by all.
All flowers are soft and sweet, aren't they? Well, come to think of it, a rose is not really soft if you think about the long thorny stem. A daisy is soft, but sweet? It doesn't even have a scent, let alone a sweet and pleasant aroma. A jasmine flower is soft and smells nice, but loved by all? I know that my mother doesn't really like that flower.'
He was getting frustrated and annoyed. How can everybody love the same flower? Everybody has different tastes. As he was lost in thought, he felt something tenderly brush against his cheek. He reached up and wiped a pale pink petal away from his face. The soft petal fell into his hand.
'What's this?' He wondered.
It seems to be a . . .
"Sakura." He whispered softly.
He gasped in realization; a cherry blossom does seem to fit the rhyme perfectly.
First line says:
Spring is when it lives,
That's true. In fact a cherry blossom symbolizes spring in Japan. Once the Japanese see a cherry blossom in bloom they know its springtime again.
Beauty is what it gives.
He had to admit that it is a very pretty flower. It had a delicate beauty to it, just like the fragile beauty that stood before him.
Withers and dies in the Fall,
Well, it symbolizes spring, so when fall approaches, of course it's going to wither and die.
Soft and sweet; loved by all.
Soft? Definitely. The petals are so velvety. Sweet? Yep. It has a tender aroma. Loved by all? Oh yeah! In the parks, when rows and rows of cherry blossom are in full bloom, many elementary school teachers arrange field trips. The children love to have picnics beneath the beautiful trees. Everybody loves dancing around the trees, especially when a gentle breeze plucks the petals from the trees, and let it swirl around in the air, before letting them fall around the happy children.
He grinned. "Sakura. Your name is Sakura."
Sakura pouted, but the place was replaced with a smile, "Now you know my name, what's yours?"
He smirked. "Want to guess?"
The girl paused, "Uh..no thanks."
He reached out and pulled the girl into his arms, and this time, she did not resist. "It's Syaoran."
They walked through the door that connected the balcony to the building together. Syaoran looked back, and wondered where the lone blossom petal came from.
He shrugged, 'Maybe the wind carried it.'
A man with midnight blue hair stood on top of the roof that overlooked the balcony. His azure eyes twinkled mischievously behind his glasses, and with a swish of his golden sun staff, hundreds of velvety cherry blossom petals floated around him.
The petals landed on the balcony where two people once stood; before Syaoran led a reluctant Sakura into the ballroom.
The petals seemed to form a shape, as though an invisible hand guided them to from a heart.
He smiled. "You owe me one, my little descendant."