Misao stood on the bridge gazing down at the sparkling river, lost in thought. Her thoughts were like the river. Flowing, nonstop, and going in one direction to the river. Her thoughts always lead to one thing, Aoshi. No matter if she was thinking of something else entirely different, they always lead to Aoshi.

Still lost in her thoughts, she heard soft padding footsteps come up beside her. Her gaze lifting from the river, she saw it was Aoshi. He always came at the moment when she was at the climax of her thoughts.

"Are you alright?" He asked, some concern on his face.

She sighed deeply, then said, "I'm fine." He leaned against the wooden railing of the bridge, his elbows supporting his upper body.

"You seemed to be deep in thought." She looked out at the sky instead of gazing at his face, not responding to his statement at the moment.

"I was thinking of some things," she replied. Her eyes were squinting from the bright sun.

"What were you thinking about?" he wanted to know. He hid his curiosity. He was never the curious type, he usually left everything alone.

She got up from leaning against the railing and walked over to a rosebush. "Just…stuff," she replied. His brows furrowed in wander, "What kind of stuff?" She was silent for a few moments as if debating whether to answer.

She sighed, then spoke. "Can you enjoy a rose, Aoshi?" His brows went further into confusion. She gazed at a rose in confusion, wander, in awe for long moments at a time.

"What are you talking about, Misao?" He asked, his confusion revealing in his voice.

"A rose is beautiful. People enjoy its beauty, and scent, but they never touch it because it could prick you, bleed you. They only touch it unless they are wearing gloves, protection." She continued to gaze at it in awe, caressing it's red petals. "You've got to handle it with care, or else it will prick you." Her hand went to the stem where the thorns were. "The thorns of the rose protects it from harm."

"Where is this going, Misao?" Aoshi asked, interrupting her. She turned around, glancing at him then down at the rose again. He continued to watch her hand wrap around the stem of the rose. She ignored his question and continued to talk about the rose, confusing Aoshi even more.

"Whoever tries to pull out the rose from its roots, gets harmed. To fully enjoy a rose, you've got to love its beauty, scent, allure, and lastly, its thorns." She wrapped her hand fully around the stem and its thorns and pulled. The rose was pulled from the red rosebush. She turned still gazing at the rose, then turned her gaze up at him, a gentle smile on her face.

"Can you do that Aoshi? Because I can." Transferring the rose to her other hand, she opened her palm. Aoshi looked down at it and saw her skin split open deeply while the inside of her fingers were pricked lightly. Her gaze was still on his while he stared at her open palm. He didn't know how to answer her question.

"I still don't understand what you mean," he answered. She gripped the rose in her other hand then chuckled lightly and looked down at the rose.

"Its got a soft yet, harsh beauty to it. Its got so many different shades in the light, so many petals to it, and such a long stem if you don't cut it. There is so much to them to understand." He listened to her, hopefully to be able to understand her meaning of this rose. She was so weird at times.

"Do you understand now?" He shook his head in reply.

She sighed, then continued. "In the light, its colors are light then they darken as you look to its center, then it goes to black. So many colors can darken to black, especially red." She looked up at him then said, "and blue." She paused for a moment. "A rose is beautiful as it is in the dark, no matter what its colors are."

"Do you understand?" She asked, looking up at him. "No." he answered. Her eyes went downcast for moment then flickered to the rose. "Go on," he said, wanting her to continue. He wanted to hear her thoughts on the rose.

"The rose can be a difficult or simple thing, depending on the color." She stopped for a moment. "Can it die easily?" Aoshi asked, interrupting her.

"Depends." She answered simply, her long fingers caressing the petals. "If you just crush it, it dies instantly." What was so special about this rose? Aoshi wandered.

"If you forget to tend to it, then it starts wilting, but why would you want to throw a wilting flower away? It's still beautiful." He's never heard anything like this from Misao. Is this what she thinks about when she's out here alone? In a way, he liked hearing her thoughts on a topic as simple as this. She looked up at him with a spark in her green eyes and a smile that was genuine.

"Can you fully enjoy a rose?" She asked, her smile soft. "Yes." He answered simply.

"Do you understand what I mean now?" She walked up to him to stand in front of him.

"No, but I want to hear more of your thoughts on the rose." He replied, looking down at her.

"What are your thoughts, Aoshi?" She asked, looking into his eyes. It was weird the way she was looking at him. It was like…she was searching for his answer in his eyes. He blinked so he didn't have to look into them longer.

"I agree with you, it's a beautiful thing."

"It is beautiful, but..." she paused, then took his long, calloused fingers and wrapped his hand around the stem and thorns of the rose. He gasped at the pain for a moment, with that she went on. "Can you handle it's beauty, scent, allure, and lastly..." she squeezed his hand tighter around the rose. "...its pain?" He felt the pain recede, then sighed.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" She asked softly. "Because I can handle it," she added. Her eyes were boring into his again and he looked away. For some reason, her eyes seem to stand out at that moment. The way they looked, exotic and having a depth to them he wasn't used to seeing.

"Yes," he repeated, letting go of the rose now. "What is the meaning to all this, Misao?" He asked, he really didn't understand right now. She looked down then back up again, seeming reluctant to answer.

"In a way," She paused, seeming more reluctant to answer. "Go on," he coaxed. He put his hand under her chin and tilted it up slightly when he saw her eyes downcast again. "this rose reminds me of you," she said finally. Aoshi became even more confused then he has ever been in his life. This girl confused him all around.

"How?" he asked, not hiding his confusion and shock.

"Well," She paused again then continued. "The thorns are your icy protection from the world. The petals are your beauty which is your allure." She blushed as she said this. Aoshi smirked, no matter how much of a tomboy she is, she was still a girl.

"The scent relates to when you catch someone's eye." She stopped again, then said, "I'm sounding foolish right now." Looking down again, she went to walk away. Aoshi grabbed her arm to turn her around. "I want to hear what you have to say. Please, go on." She still seemed very reluctant to answer, but she sighed deeply and continued. He let go of her arm when he was sure that she wouldn't turn and walk away. They saw a bench and went to sit down.

"Well, like I said before, the beauty of the rose is beautiful yet harsh. Aoshi you're beautiful but you've also got this cold beauty to you. You're just all around cold. They could stare at your beauty for long periods of time but never touch because they're afraid to get frostbite from you." She chuckled at the last part, humoring her. He also smirked at the last part. He had to admit, he was cold at times.

Misao picked the rose up from her lap, gazing at it again and shifting it in the sunlight. Aoshi saw how it reacted in light, going from dark to light, light to dark. He sat there watched the different shades of red turned from light to dark. The colors seemed to blend in with each other when they shifted from shade to shade. It fascinated him, oddly.

"Can you see how they shift shades in the shadows?" Misao asked lightly. Aoshi nodded, still fixed on the rose.

"See, how they blend in with their shade when a certain light comes in?" she asked, still turning it in her hand. Aoshi nodded again.

"How does this relate to me?" He asked, confused.

She looked up from the rose, not turning it in her. "Well, the color doesn't change but the shade does. I could never really understand this part of the rose because there is a depth to it that no one ever really understands or maybe I just don't understand." She shrugged slightly, then continued, "there is a part of you that I don't understand. You seem so emotionless, it makes me wonder if there is anything inside you. How far do your emotions run? Or do you just hide them so well?" Aoshi shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to answer that particular question. She actually understood him so well that it scared him slightly. No one could ever read him like this, but she could.

"How did you get all this from looking at a rose?" Aoshi asked, brows furrowed.

She shrugged again, then said, "I don't know. I just think a lot." She looked away. Gazing out at the scenery again.

"But you're always so hyper, no one would ever expect you to say anything like this." Aoshi explained.

She was silent for a moment. "Aoshi, everyone puts on a façade for the world. It's how we hide our pain, insecurities, everything. Just like you, you wear ice for your protection. Me, I wear happiness. I mean, I am a generally happy person but I also wander whether it's real or not." She explained calmly, setting the rose down in her lap.

"Is there any difference between me and the rose?" Aoshi asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, the color. This is red, you're blue." She answered simply.

"How does the color make a difference?" He asked, smirking.

"You're eyes are blue," she answered as if that explained everything. Perhaps it did.

"What did you mean when you said if I could handle it's pain?" He wanted to hear her thoughts on this.

"Well, the pain it comes with and the pain it could cause. You've got pain inside you that you hold but your thorns could cause someone pain." He wanted to tell her that she was wrong but he knew that she was right. He didn't respond, his silence told her that she was right on that assumption.

"Me, I come with my own pain but I don't have thorns to hurt people with," she added. Aoshi sighed, then said, "you're saying that I do?…" Misao smiled with humor for a moment saying, "like I said, people get frostbite from you." He couldn't really offend her when she was smiling like that, so he agreed.

"True," he replied. He has ripped people apart with just his words when they got in his way. She smiled wider when he admitted that she was right. She had a really pretty smile, he thought.

"So, can you handle the pain or not?" she asked, having a certain look in her exotic green eyes.

"Yea, I think I can," he answered finally catching her meaning, looking down at his dried, cut hand.

Misao still had her smile on her face, then said, "Good."

"So, how did you come up with all that?" Aoshi asked, not hiding his curiosity. "I like to think a lot and compare stuff," she answered, looking out onto the view again. He shrugged, excepting the answer.

"You hungry?" His stomach rumbled when he asked.

Misao laughed then nodded in answer. The both got up. "Wait," Misao halted.

"What?" Misao handed the rose to him. He excepted it without words.

"Let's get something to eat now," Misao suggested walking away.

Weird story, But please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Be honest please but go easy on the criticism.

Thanks,
Kishen