It was late winter when she came to Bluebell, covered in frost and the remains of snow drifts and looking rather pink as she shuffled through the door of the cafe. Howard fussed over her, telling her she'd catch pneumonia walking all the way from Konohana which led me to believe that I had only missed the first visit she'd given the cafe. Apparently, I was to learn later, that I had been absent more than I thought.

Laney brought out some tea and spice cake settling in front of the stove with the girl who happened to be a good bit smaller than even petite Laney once the fifty layers of wrappings and jackets had been peeled away to reveal Konohana's winter kimono for ceremonies which consisted of about four layers of finely spun silk. The color was grey, and a crane could be seen embroidered into the edges.

"Surely she doesn't farm in that?" I muttered earning a glare from Laney and a smack on the head from her father who happened to be passing by at the moment and acted as though he'd done nothing wrong at all going so far as to ignore the scowl I sent his direction as he managed to fuss even more over the strange tiny girl before the stove.

I found myself grumbling all alone as I munched on some cookies violently watching how they doted. I'd heard about her from Ash before. She was the farmer who'd been fought over by the mayors, though the rumors of her spitting on Rutger's shoes and prancing merrily away to Konohana hand in hand with Ina was an overblown lie spun by our bitter mayor. Ash said she'd more-or-less been dragged away by the stronger willed of the two mayors which was much more believable now seeing her in person. She probably didn't weigh any more than a child.

I leaned back on the counter as Laney came to stand beside me finally too tired to deal with her father's exuberance any longer. "She's cute, don't you think?" she mused taking the fresh cookie from my hand and putting it away. "You'll get fat."

I frowned and shrugged. "It's not like I'm trying to get anyone's attention. What difference does it make if I gain weight?"

Her expression fell. I regretted whatever I had said that made it that way... surely now I'd have trouble getting her to make me some milk tea before bed. From the stove Howard turned to give me a look and beckoned me over.

"Alright sweetie, I've really got to get those deliveries of yours to the mayor so Cam will be taking good care of you." The intensity of the next face he shot me with was all but enough to knock me backwards in severity. I held up my hands in defense stiffing in case he smacked me again as he walked by my shoulder again, he and Laney leaving the cafe to make the drop.

From what I'd heard, her name was Lillian and she was a kind-hearted person as well as a doormat. She was constantly trying to help people to the point that she couldn't say no and was prone to fainting often from taking on too much work. Many people in Bluebell spoke well of her, and those who didn't, I guessed, thought of her as nothing.

So of course when she slumped sideways on the stool and I had to jump into action to keep her from bashing into the hard wood floors, I wasn't too surprised. "What a foolish girl," I found myself saying as I held her limp shoulders at arms length. This was irritating. Now I would have to think of something to prop her up with. I certainly wasn't going to be caught dead carrying some strange girl to Laney's room.

That was about the time that the cafe doors came crashing inward and I whipped my head around to see a strange man with white hair and glasses who'd kicked it in. He was solemn and called out sternly, "The girl, give her to me and we'll have no qualms."

My mouth dropped open as the frosty winter air came pummeling into me like a wall of bricks. The man swept forward his light jacket whipping around him as he easily pulled Lillian from my hesitant grasp and disappeared into the blizzard outside leaving me to gape like an idiot at what the hell had just occurred.