Daisies. That's what Mary wanted. She wanted a small bed of them. Dickon was always happy to bring her what she wished, but there was something different this time. Like always, he'd do this for her out of a love that could only come between friends, but this time it felt stronger, happier. He just couldn't explain it. Bringing her seeds for her garden wasn't something unusual, but he felt this time it was more special. Different as if it was more of a gift instead of a request.

"I would like daisies in my garden," Mary said, digging her fingers into the soil. "for the summer. Wouldn't they look lovely over there?" She pointed her finger near the lilies and the ones shaped like bells. In between them was an empty patch, perfect for any new additions.

"Aye, no doubt," Dickon smiled. It's been four years since she first shared with him her garden. Oh, how fast the years fly. He feels as if it had only been yesterday and though everyone knows about it now, he still feels like there is a secret inside that needed to be unlocked. Mary had felt it too and she wanted so much to know what it was and whenever she was with Dickon she feels closer to discovering it. "Will tha' like anythin' else?"

She shakes her head going back to her soil. "No. My heart sings for are a common flower but beautiful."

"Thas Beautiful," it had came out so quick, he surprised even himself. Mary quickly turned her head, meeting his gaze. Her eyes were wide and Dickon couldn't tell if she was just surprised or offended. The silence was driving him mad as he desperately wanted to know the answer. Finally she softened her gaze and before he could apologise for his absurd comment, she leaned in close, kissing him full on the lips. It wasn't long. It was very brief as any inexperienced first kiss, but special all the same. Dickon seemed to never recover from his state of shock, as it was very unlady like for her to kiss a man first and not the way things are done, but he didn't care. All at once he pushed his lips to Mary's and she could feel him smiling as he kissed her longer and clumsier. Both of their eyes were closed as he caressed her cheek in one hand.

"Sorry!" Dickon couldn't help saying when they finally broke. The two were laughing, obviously not sorry about anything. They both opened their eyes to look at eachother and that's when they saw it. They discovered the last of the Garden's secrets. It was almost silly to think it was hardly a secret at all, but when they looked at eachother, it was in their faces. The last secret was that the garden had brought Dickon and Mary together. The garden was made out of love and just the same, it needed to be taken care of with love.

He touched her face. It was perfect. Even as he grazed a dirty thumb over her cheek, she looked flawless. It was clear that she was completely out of his league but he knew Mary, that if he were to ever bring it up, it would only make her mad, so he decided it was a discussion for another time. Suddenly she stood up, away from Dickon's touch and for a moment he felt fear rip through him, as if she was being taken away from him already, but it soon went away, as she grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the swing.

She sat down and he gave her a good shove. She always loved the feel of swinging. It was the closest she had ever felt to flying.

The next day Mary and Dickon were going to the garden. They felt closer that day as if they were one person, speaking in ways and about things only they would understand. It was when they finally reached the hidden door did Dickon remember. "Ah! Wha' a bloody fool I am!"

"What is it Dickon?" Mary asked concerned.

"I've forgotten Miss's daisies."

She smiled, touched at how sweet he was to get them for her, but honestly all she wanted to do was be with him."Oh, don't worry about those. You'll get them tomarrow-"

But Dickon was already on his heels, turning back to the road, "I'll be back before tha knows it!"

Mary blows him one kiss and smiles when Dickon pretends to catch it, before she turns back toward the entrance of her garden. She had only taken two steps inside when suddenly something struck her like a gunshot to the chest as she gasped at the unexpected feeling taking over her. She should not be here alone, it told her, but she just shrugged it off and went to her swing.

Dickon was racing his way home on his white horse. Truthfully he had remembered to buy the seeds but he had forgotten to take them, and as soon as he was home, he tore through his trunk searching for it. He couldn't help but feel he shouldn't have left her alone. It was strong and it bothered him, but he would only leave her for just a moment. Finally, he found them and as he tucked them away into his coat, he jumped back on his horse and back to Misselthwaite.

As Mary swung higher and higher into the air, she just couldn't escape the feeling she needed to leave the garden, but why on earth would she want to leave her beloved garden? It had always brought her good things. Why now does the air seem a bit thin and the sky looking a bit dark and the flowers look deceptive as if everything she had grown were conspiring to betray her. She tried her hardest not to think about it any further but the higher she flew, the stronger it had gotten. Slowly it consumed her, tightening in her chest. Then finally she heard a snap!…

…

All together it had taken Dickon about an hour to get back and when he did, he didn't hesitate to jump off his horse before it made a full stop. "Mary!" he called to her happily as he rushed to the door. Holding the seeds out in the air as if he were waving a flag, "Mary! I gott'em!" When he didn't hear her call back to him, he smiled, walking into the garden cautiously, assuming she was going to play a prank on him. As he maneuvered his way through the garden, he had never realized until now how like a maze it was. He turned corners calling out to her playfully, "Mary?" But never did he get a response. "Mary, Mary," he started to recite. It was the little nursery rhyme she used to hate, later it became their own joke. "Quite contrary."

He slipped behind trees quietly, "How does your garden grow?" Touching a leaf on one of the branches, he smiles. Happy that he could confidently answer that question. "With silver bells and cockleshells…" Finally he spots her. She was in the center of the garden, just as she always was, laying down and seeming to be watching the clouds. His smile widens, "And pretty maids all in a row." As he inched his way closer to her quietly, he continues to chant, "Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden…" He stops when she became clearer into view. Something wasn't right. "Mary?" He said, his voice quiet with concern. The wind pushed hard and fast and he hears a spine tingling sound which crushed his heart when he looked up to find it. The swing…one of the ropes seemed to snap while the other one... It was barely holding on. Mary was only inches away from it… laying down. Mary… was laying down… and the swing was broken.

Dear God, Dickon prayed, please no!

He looked back to Mary and ran to her side, faster than he thought possible. "Mary! MARY!" Her eyes remained shut, and her head laid in a little pool of blood. It was very little, but the sight of it made Dickon go sick as he ripped off his coat and covered her with it. "You're okay," he said over and over again, his voice cracking in the process, "You're okay. You're okay." but he was kidding himself. Mary was unconscious and was dying possibly. He needed to get her help NOW!

With the same impossible speed, he jumped on his horse, leaving her in the garden and rode to the entrance of Misselthwaite, not wanting to waste a second. Bursting through the doors he screams, "Medlock! Martha! Master Collin!" One by one, servants house guests (he didn't realize they had guests) and finally Master Craven all piled themselves in the middle of the main entrance.

"What is it Dickon?" Master Craven asked with concern at the obvious sign of something wrong. Dickon hadn't realized he was crying. The tear stained face was too horrifying for his dear sister to see.

"It's Miss Mary!"

Suddenly Colin and Archibald's blood sped as they both asked in unison, "Mary!? What's happened!?"

Dickon explained everything as he led them back to the gardens, where Mary stayed. She was motionless as Dickon left her. Colin, Archibald, and Martha, all were petrified at the sight. Even worse, the blood puddle seemed to grow in the last few minutes. They decided it was best to bring her inside as they called for a doctor. Colin demanded he was the one to carry her back, but in the end it was Dickon to do it. Halfway to the manor, he heard a whisper coming from the crook of his neck. Mary whispered, "Dickon...d...di…" her voice slowly drifted off, but Dickon was too afraid of what might happen if let her slip away again.

"Wha' is it, Mary?" he asked desperately.

"Did… did you… bring the daisies?"

"Aye miss. Ah browt thy daisies," he answers sweetly. "Where did thee say tha' wanted them?"

She didn't answer. "Mary?" he called to her, his voice cracking and feeling the tears welling up again, but it was no use. Her head rolled and bounced loosely on his shoulder. She was unconscious.

By the time the doctor came, he explained that she suffers from head trauma and would be unconscious for a while. They asked him how long, but he couldn't say. He said sometimes they die in their sleep, because they are unable to wake up and makes themselves healthy again, but Archibald didn't want to hear it. It was his wife all over again. Archibald tells them, they are going to save Mary and that she will wake up, but to Colin and Dickon, they were just words and for the first time in a long time, they felt true doubt.

The first week was fairly easy to keep the hope. The doctor told them she surely wasn't going to wake up so early and if she did, it would have been a miracle. Nonetheless, all Mary's friends and family made a point to visit her all the same time, packed around her bed, waiting patiently for her to wake up. Ofcourse Dickon and Martha still had to work, along with the rest of the staff, but they were all granted access to her chambers, so they could keep an eye on her. Collin and Archibald seemed to never leave her side and Dickon envied that. He wanted to be the first person she saw when she woke. He'd only want to leave when they had brought this machine to the manor. The doctors said it was to help Mary eat and drink, since she can't do that herself. At first he was curious, but it soon died when he saw the wires and tubes and decided it was something he was not meant to see.

During his breaks he would enter Mary's room, and Colin and Archibald huddled around her, while the Master held her hand tight. Dickon had wished he could do the same, but not with her uncle sitting right there. It just wouldn't be respectful. They never said much of anything while they were in there, they just sat, watching Mary as if something extraordinary were to happen in the next second. They all prayed for something extraordinary and that Mary would at least twitch, but that week she had not moved. The only time Colin and Archibald ever left, was when they had to go and work themselves. Colin being the heir of the Craven family, still needed to attend private lessons, so he could keep a light on his name. He didn't like leaving Mary but Archibald didn't mind because Dickon was watching and he was given strict orders that if she were to move, even just an inch, he would come and get them right away.

This was the first time he has ever been alone with Mary in her room. He didn't like it but at the same time, he did… secretly. Her breathing was so small, you could barely tell she was breathing at all. He kissed her hand and frowned at how cold they were. He assumed it was because of the lack of movement. Like a dead person's… no no! He couldn't think like that. It was too much to bare. He could remember one night, Dickon was telling Mary his sister Martha was getting married and he was working extra hard that year so he could help her buy something a bit extra special for her big day.

"You may not have to work as hard after all," she said one day, wiping her dirty hands on her smock. He followed her all the way to the entrance of her room and didn't dare step an inch closer. "C'mon Dickon. It'll be alright!"

"If it's all t' sem to thee, ah think it's best ah stay art h'ere." Dickon answered, waiting out in the shrugged. Nothing more she could have done about it. Digging through some very old trunks, she found a dusty box with the word 'Rose' scrawled on the top. Opening it she couldn't bring herself to smile..

She closed it again, tucking it under her arm as she made her way to Dickon. "Tell Martha it's a wedding gift from the both of us," Mary smiled as he opened it and he was taken back, nearly tripping backwards at the sight of it.

"Umm.. Mary-"

"And I won't be hearing another word out of you!" Mary pouted, not willing to receive it back.

"Mary, she'll know!" He couldn't help but laugh, thinking how absurd it is to think he could even pay for a crumb size piece of this. It was a white sash with diamonds sewn into it, and shaped into roses. It was definitely something he's seen in catalogues but never in his hands, and it was almost too heavy to hold. "Did the buy dis i' India?"

"No. England, my mother did."

"Mary I can't-!"

"Dickon you can," she scolded, pushing it against his chest, "and you will."

To this day he can't understand how she could have given Martha something which belonged to her mother. Infact, that was the very first time she's ever spoke about her mother. It was cut short and brief. It would be a lie if Dickon said he didn't want to know, because he wanted to know everything about Mary, but he wouldn't dare push her to talk about something she didn't want to talk about.

Four weeks later, no one came to visit her, besides Dickon. It hurt to much. The doctors tell Archibald, that she probably won't wake and that he should just let her rest in peace, but Archibald would only yell at them that he would never give up, not unless she died on her own. The moore, seemed dreary and even when the air was warm and the sun rose high, Dickon found himself stuck in Mary's room. The moore was important to him, but now he realized Mary was more important to him.

Dickon closed his eyes, squeezing Mary's hand. Bringing it to his lips he kissed it and said, "Ah'm sorry mary. If ah 'adn't left thy, dis wouldn't o' ap'n'. Ah 'ood av saved you somehow 'n now…" he bit his lip, "Please wake up Mary! Please!" He choked through tears, "Do'nt leev lik' Collin's muther. She left eur scar on dis lan' 'n ah fear if thy leev, we won't be able ta 'eal again. Ah won't."

A few days later, even Dickon didn't show up at her bedside anymore. He was working and all he did was work, from morning to very late at night. He just wanted to keep his mind off Mary and he didn't even work in the Gardens. He found other work in mines. The flowers reminded him too much of Mary and he didn't want to, but part of him accepted she was going to die. It stabbed him deep in his heart as the realization took him deep. Those crazy stories and legends from India, he would never hear them again, he would never hear her laugh or hold her in his arms and worse. He had just learned Mary cared for him the same he does for her, and just as quick as she was his, she was taken.

It was in the morning and it was sunny. The sun glowed with pride over the moore and Mary opened up her eyes. She was very weak, at first everything was like a blur and she could even barely twitch her fingers but after a couple of hours she found herself sitting up. Then she jumped out of bed and on to her weak legs, unexpectedly falling hard. Her body slapped the wood, and the impact stung her. Groaning painfully to herself, she managed to pick herself up and start walking. "Hello?" She called but no one answered. She found her robe and wrapped it around her and started to her door. She could only think of one place to be right now. Her garden. Having no idea how long she had been asleep, she hobbled out the doors unseen by the servants and slipped her way toward the garden.

Once they realized she was gone, everyone went in a panic. All hell broke loose. A maid screamed, letting out a spine curdling shrill, then all the servant boys went to see what had happened. They saw Mary's empty bed. Some checked the gardens, others checked the town, some looked all through out the house, and just one ran to the masters. Luckily Collin was with his father in his study, when the boy burst through the doors, "M-mary!" he stuttered, trying to catch his breath. "M-Mary, she…!"

"Mary? Mary what? Spit it out!" Archibald demanded.

"She's gone!" he said finally. Instantly the two masters exited the house and joined the frantic chase, searching for the Misselthwaite treasure.

Dickon was the last to know. He was just leaving the coal mines when he returned home, but before he could even reach for the door handle, Martha swung it open from the other side.

"Dickon!" she exclaimed, "Ah've been lookin' all ov'r for you!" Alerted by her tone he realized something had happened. "You must come! It's Mary!"

At that he jumped on his pony and pulled his sister up with him, as they rode back to Misselthwaite Manor, on the way Martha had explained everything to him. When they get there she says she has to help out the other maids in town but she wants him to check the open plain, since he knows it better than anyone. Dickon just nods, but he doesn't go anywhere near the open plain, because he already knows where she is. When he enters the 'secret' garden, he takes note of the already unlocked door. Slowly walking in, he walks past the vines and the lilies and the flowers shaped like bells. His heart is ripped out of his chest when he sees Mary laying on the ground below the tree, where the swing used to be.

He jogged toward her when he saw her eyes were closed. "Mary! Mary!" Gentilly he was shaking her, unsure what had happened. "Mary please no! Please!" He picked her up and captured her lips with his own, "Mary please… Please com' back to me."

Slowly, her lips formed into a smile as she began to laugh and it was almost cruel to laugh at his pain but she couldn't help but be naive of the situation and have a lack of understanding, when Dickon scowled mildly at her. She opened her eyes and stared at him and whispered, "Where else would I be?" His heart melted and he didn't care how ridiculous it made him look, he let himself cry as his buried his face in the crook of her neck. Now she was concerned. She has NEVER seen him cry like this before and she didn't like it. "Dickon? What is it? What happened?"

He pulled himself together as he pulled her to her feet and gave her a tight hug, "It's nowt Miss Mary. Tha wor just gone for eur while. Everything's betta now." He smiled as tears continued to roll down his cheeks, "Everything's okay."

She smiled as she smugly asked, "When are ever not, when we're together?"

The End!

READER'S NOTE:

Okay so this is actually an original. So I'm writing a LONGER (much longer) story called "Secret of the Daisies" and it's basically (kind of sort of) the same thing, but longer. It's going to have prologues, chapters, epilogues, and I posted this anyway because I actually worked really hard on it, but once it was actually written, I looked at this and I was like: I could make something better out of this. Now I know I'm not actually the best writer in the world. (infact I dont even think I'm good at all) I'm still kinda new at this but for now this is it! Please tell me what you think! I'd LOVE the feedback ;D and thank you for reading!