Rose for a Hare

Kelly stared at the bit of crimson in her locker. She didn't know where it had come from, and she couldn't think of why it was there. She reached out carefully and picked up the flower, staring at the red petals. She'd seen them around, but she'd never seen one this close. They didn't grow naturally on Reach so there were few on the planet and they tended to be expensive. Kelly wondered who would have spent the money to get her one.

"Where'd you get the rose?" Kelly looked to Linda when the sniper spoke. "Who gave it to you?" She stared at the flower, seeming just as confused by it as Kelly.

The swift Spartan shrugged. "It was in my locker. I don't know who put it there." She really wished that she did. Kelly wanted to thank them, and ask them why they gave it to her. She moved the flower toward her face and sniffed it. It was a delicate smell, not like anything she was used to. In her training she'd grown accustom to gunpowder, dirt, sweat, smells like those. The smell of this flower was so different from any of those things.

"Do you think one of the boys gave it to you?" Kelly raised an eyebrow at Linda. "I mean, today is Valentine 's Day, isn't it. I've seen some of the soldiers on base giving paper flowers to girls today."

Kelly looked back to the flower and thought about it. It was a logical conclusion, but she didn't know who gave it to her. She knew who she hoped it was, but she wasn't sure. For all she knew it could be James or Anton, though she couldn't fathom why they would give her one.

"Well, whoever gave it to you, you're lucky." Linda closed her own locker, moving off toward the gym, towel in hand.

Kelly pondered the rose for a while longer before she finally left the locker room. She was still staring at the flower as she walked, nearly causing her to run into John. Luckily he was standing still and her reflexes made it easy to stop before they collided. Kelly looked up at him. She could swear that the fourteen-year-old squad leader was nervous, though that wasn't something she saw very often. Kelly broke the silence that hung between them. "Hey, John."

"Hey." The word was quieter then Kelly had expected. John usually had a confident, strong attitude and a voice that was just as strong. She frowned, worried that something was wrong. "Do you like it?"

Kelly didn't understand for a moment, and then she looked down at the rose in her hand. "You got it for me?" She stared at John, surprised.

John nodded. "Do you like it?" he repeated.

"Yeah, I love it." Kelly was more confused than before. John had broken things off with her a while ago. Why, then, was he giving her a rose on a day to celebrate love? Kelly was thinking about this when she felt his lips press against hers. It was soft and gentle, the way it always started out. She leaned toward him but he pulled away. She looked at him, completely lost. He'd stopped their relationship, but was he telling her that he still had feelings for her?

John took a step away from her and Kelly just watched him. "Well…I'm glad you liked it. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing." Before Kelly could stop him John had moved off, leaving Kelly alone, completely lost as to what had just happened.