Lillian worked quietly, drifting from flower to flower in the early morning mist. She made sure she gave each tiny bud as much attention as possible, knowing plants that were meticulously cared for turned out the best. It was hard work; she fertilized, watered, pruned, and arranged them all herself.
She took pride in her work and loved watching the tiny seeds grow and blossom into magnificent flowers with velvety petals and vibrant colors. In her opinion, it was like magic. Other villagers thought so too and often visited her to gaze at her flourishing gardens. After a while, the whole town knew her as a florist instead of a rancher and she began selling her flora in place of crops. Living in Konohana was like a dream, yet she still felt something was missing.
"Good morning Lillian, do you want any help watering?" asked a soft and familiar feminine voice.
The florist looked up to see her friend Nori, clad in her usual pink flower-embroidered outfit standing over her with a smile on her face. Lillian smiled back, "I would love some help, but are you sure you're not too busy on the farm?"
"I always have time to aide my friends," replied the tall black-haired woman, carefully filling up a spare watering can and not letting a single drop of water hit the ground. Lillian always admired the graceful and effortless manner in which her friend conducted herself. "So…how are things with Cam?" However, Nori certainly had flaws…such as her love for gossip.
"You know there's nothing between Cam and me. I don't understand why this rumor keeps going around," said Lillian moving over to water a row of orange and red carnation seeds.
"Well for a start, you're both florists," said Nori, now watering a bush with vibrantly colored leaves and no flowers. "Lillian, what is this? It's very pretty."
Lillian picked her head up from her work and gazed at the plant her friend spoke of, smiling a bit. "That's a coleus. I generally don't grow them but I thought I would try it out. I fell in love with all its colors so I think I'll grow more next year, even though they're a bit difficult to manage. I have to trim them and cut off the flower stems to keep them from getting too leggy."
Nori nodded with a smile. Just as Lillian admired her for her elegance, Nori admired Lillian's extremely green thumb. It was simply astounding the way her gardens were always teeming with life.
"Also, if everyone fell in love simply based on their occupation wouldn't you be married to Ash? After all, you're bother farmers," Lillian added with a saccharine sweet smile.
Nori's face contorted in disgust, "I could never wed that man! All he talks about is animals and he has grown to smell like them too." Lillian let out a small laugh while bending down to sniff a particularly fragrant miltoniopsis orchid. Nori sighed, "I accept the fact that Cam and you don't belong together because you're both florists, but isn't he pretty sweet to you?"
Lillian thought about it for a moment. Cam was quite nice. He was especially good at sensing her mood and always seemed to show up, breathtaking bouquet in hand, to cheer her up. She also spent many of her afternoons strolling the forest with the Bluebellian man. Unlike most people Lillian knew, Cam never filled their time together with meaningless chatter. It was strangely refreshing and she truly treasured him, but she wasn't interested in being anything more than friends. He probably wasn't either. "Cam's a great friend, but I don't think I could ever think of him as anymore than that," said Lillian at last.
"Okay, so if it's not Cam, what guy are you interested in?" asked Nori
Now it was Lillian's turn to sigh. She was twenty years old and had only been in one real relationship. The main reason was because she simply didn't want to be in one. Lillian was perfectly satisfied with her life as it was and wasn't interested in adding the stress of being romantically involved with anyone. However, Nori was all about falling in love and Lillian didn't want to sound like a cynic. "No one. I suppose I just haven't met the right person."
"Well I guess I can't argue with that, but I never pictured you as the fairy tale ending kind of girl," said Nori, pushing herself off the ground and gently dusting the dirt off her skirt.
"Fairy tale ending?" asked Lillian curiously, mimicking Nori's actions and placing her watering can back by the fountain.
Nori nodded with a smile, "waiting for your prince charming, right?"
Lillian looked up at the deep blue sky, "something like that." It wasn't quite what she actually meant, but she didn't want to linger on the subject of her love life for much longer. Lillian's train of thought was interrupted by Nori's sudden gasp.
"What time is it?" she asked urgently.
"It's probably about noon, the sun's right over head," Lillian replied.
Nori let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad. I told Reina I would meet her for lunch, would you like to come?"
"No thank you, I'm not very hungry. I think I'll go pick up some books at town hall," said Lillian with a smile.
Nori smiled back and waved goodbye to her friend before walking off in the direction of Yun's Tea House.
Lillian rested on the soft grass for a moment, admiring the products of her hard work before pushing herself up off the ground and making her way to Town Hall.
She walked slowly, thoroughly enjoying Konohana's natural beauty. Some of the leaves on the trees were already beginning to turn, little bits of red and orange shown brightly against their green background. Lillian smiled to herself. Autumn was her favorite season. Most florists preferred the growing warmth of Spring and the promise of newly budding flowers, but not Lillian. Of course, she loved the way each tree was set ablaze with a myriad of fiery colors and refreshing cooling of the atmosphere after Summer's insane heat, but she also loved the hint of sadness Autumn brought with it. It was that nostalgic feeling she got as she watched the plants wither, remembering the vivacity they held in Summer. Autumn stirs the desire for the past in humans, unobtainable as it is and there was always something beautiful about that for Lillian.
"Lil! Hey, Lil!" called a voice, disrupting the brunette florist's train of thought. She turned to see her friend Phillip running towards her.
"Hey Phil," she greeted. Though Lillian had made friends with most of the people in both Bluebell and Konohana, Phil would always be her best friend. They had known each other since they were both little, but eventually they went their separate ways. It was simply by chance that Lillian moved to the village next to his. "What are you doing here?"
"I can't drop by to hang out with my friend?" Phil questioned with a bright smile.
"Of course you can, you know I love having you around, but you've been coming here a lot lately. Are you sure there isn't any other reason?" asked Lillian curiously.
Phillip considered her words for a moment before breaking into another large smile, "alright, ya caught me. I'm here to see Nori."
"Nori? I thought you were dating Georgia," said Lillian, eying him suspiciously. Phil was great, but she had known him to be a bit of a playboy in the past, much to her displeasure.
Phillip noticed the slightly disapproving look in her eyes and immediately defended himself, "I am, and don't worry, I've been the perfect boyfriend. I'm only here to see Nori because a friend of mine's got a thing for her. I told him I'd put in a good word."
"Ah," said Lillian, hoping it wasn't Ash but not wanting to pry. The poor boy would certainly have a hard time earning her affections if this morning's conversation was any indication.
"Any idea where I might find her?" asked Ash.
"Yes actually, she's at Yun's Tea House," answered Lillian helpfully.
"Perfect, I'll walk you to the library," said Phillip, already a couple of steps ahead of the florist.
Lillian caught up with him quickly. "I never said I was going to the library."
Phillip shrugged and flashed her a smile, "I know you're secretly a nerd, don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Lillian just smiled to herself and continued to walk next to the charismatic rancher. She listened to him talk about the animals he was raising and how he was finally getting the hang of growing decent crops.
They reached the library in a couple of minutes and Phillip turned to leave. "Well milady, this is where we will be forced to part ways. You see, 'twas not meant to be. We're just too different. Please, think of me fondly for I will always be in your heart, and you in mine," he announced dramatically.
"I sincerely hope that's not one of your actual break-up lines," Lillian teased.
"Should I tweak it?" he asked jokingly. Lillian laughed in response and said goodbye to him before walking inside Town Hall. She opened her mouth to greet Ina, but quickly shut it as she realized the competitive, hard-working mayor was nowhere to be found. "That's odd," Lillian mumbled to herself.
Lillian wandered the halls of the extremely traditional building searching for, well, anyone really at this point. A deserted Town Hall was downright creepy.
"She's not here right now."
Lillian let out a small shriek and spun to see who was talking, losing her balance in the process and falling to the ground. The first thing she noticed after the throbbing pain in her butt, was a pair of brown shoes attached to black pant-clad legs standing in front of her. She tilted her head up more to view the rest of the person.
He was tall, for starters, probably around 6'1" or 6'2". His slightly messy hair was an astonishing white: no gray, no silver, pure white. A pair of plain black rectangular glasses was perched on the bridge of his nose, and behind their lenses, his light grey eyes met her deep purple ones. Along with the afore mentioned articles of clothing, he wore an orange shirt with an indent at the base of the neckline under a long, tan trench coat.
It took Lillian a moment to realize he was offering her a hand up, but she quickly grabbed hold of it so he could help her up off the ground.
"I am very sorry about that; I did not mean to startle you. I hope you are not injured?" he asked in a low and smooth voice that sent pleasant chills down her spine.
"No, it's my fault too; I overreacted," Lillian assured him, feeling guilty about her actions.
The man gave her a small smile, "my name is Mikhail, may I ask for yours?" He was being very formal, more so than Hiro even.
"Nice to meet you Mikhail, I'm Lillian," said Lillian, returning the smile. Polite as he was, she noticed his eyes give her a quick up and down. It was a bit embarrassing, but given the fact she had done the exact same thing, she couldn't complain. "Are a new resident here?" asked Lillian curiously and even a bit hopefully. The fact that she didn't want to be in a relationship was still true, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the presence of a very attractive man.
"Yes, I suppose you could say that. I'll be living here in Town Hall. Your mayor, Ina, has graciously allowed for me to use one of the rooms," explained Mikhail.
"That's wonderful, I hope you'll like it here. You certainly picked a good time to come. Autumn is beautiful here," said Lillian directing her attention to the window for a moment.
"Yes, Autumn is my favorite season," said Mikhail, following her gaze.
Lillian smiled to herself but didn't say anything. "It was nice talking to you Mikhail, but if you'll excuse me, I came here to borrow a couple of books."
"Of course, I do not wish to keep you from your errands. Is there anything I could do to help?" he asked kindly.
"I don't want to impose on you, I'm sure you must be busy moving in," said Lillian, appreciating his offer.
"On the contrary, I actually just finished," he said.
Lillian smiled again, "then I accept your offer. I'm looking for a book called The History of Floriculture." She walked up the small set of wooden stairs to the enormous bookcases at the back of the building, scanning the mahogany shelves.
Mikhail followed her lead and joined her on the platform. "Floriculture, hm? Are you starting a garden?" he asked.
"Something like that," said Lillian, continuing her searching but sneaking a quick glance at the man next to her every now and then. An object suddenly blocked her vision.
"Your book," said Mikhail with the same friendly smile, but this time there was a knowing and almost…playful look in his eyes.
"Ah, thank you," said Lillian, taking the large blue book from him, feeling a bit disappointed he had found it so quickly.
"You are welcome," said Mikhail. They stood in silence for a moment before Lillian spoke up.
"I ought to be getting home," she said, holding the book against her chest, "it really was nice meeting you. I hope we can talk again sometime."
Mikhail nodded. "I will make sure of it," he affirmed, maintaining his polite smile.