Blooming Darkness

The war had ended, but there was still something that haunted her every night. Lenalee could still hear the screams as the doctors tried their best to quickly amputate the leg that had been infected. The scent of burnt flesh mixed with chemicals. She woke up a few times, drenched in sweat, the memories forcing their way into her mind. She had moved away from all that when the war was over, and had managed to acquire a position as a lady to a wealthy woman, who spent her days in her chambers because of her frail constitution.

Lenalee would entertain the woman by telling her stories that she remembered from her childhood, stories that her own mother would whisper as she fell asleep. Those had been happier times. The woman would smile as she heard the tale of how the rose got its thorns, the scorpion and the frog, and many others. However, she never told Madam, what exactly had happened after those happy days back home. At night she would walk by the pond and simply stare at its glassy surface, the stars reflecting endlessly on it.

She would talk to others at the estate but never really said much about herself, after all it was best to listen and hardly speak. She would talk with one of the young stable hands, he seemed to be about her age, but seemed to know far more than his years let on. His white hair really could have fooled anyone. Allen had the ability to make her smile and forget her sorrows. They would speak comfortably, neither one really caring what the topic was. His gentle smile warmed her up more than the rays of the summer sun.

It was late summer when Madam fell ill, enduring terrible fevers as her husband sat beside her and watched as the doctor his wife's lady took care of her. She would help the doctor as best as her experience would allow. It end, she and the doctor could do nothing, Madam passed away.

That night, as she sat by the pond, she began to cry. She had not permitted herself that luxury in a long time, even after the war. Tears poured down her face, unchecked by any sense of pride or shame. She felt someone drape a coat about her, and sit beside her. It was Allen.

Before she realized it, she began telling him of what she had lived through. He simply sat there, listening to her words as she broke down. Allen held her against his chest until her sobs quieted down and she fell asleep.

It was dawn when she woke up still, in front of the pond and the stable boy looking over her.

"You see those flowers on the water. They're called lotuses. The lotus is a flower that can sleep for many years and then bloom. It grows in the mud, amidst all the darkness in the pond, and then it blooms into that beautiful thing. You've gone through a lot. Just keep on smiling."