A cool autumn breeze blew through the trees, drifting the dying leaves to the ground. Beneath the fall of the warm colors, a modest town bustled with people preparing recently harvested food for the long winter ahead of them. Davie stood upon the front porch of his house along with his friend, John, sweeping up the remains of the Martinmas celebration from the day before. The two young men accompanied their work with light chatter.

"I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with living here," John assured, "I just want to branch out a bit, you know? Haven't you ever thought about seeing what this new world has to offer?

"Yeah," Davie answered truthfully, "But I think I'd rather just settle down here, start a family."

John shrugged. "Do what you want, I suppose. But before you start a family, you'll need to get married."

"Well, I do have someone in mind," Davie mused while blushing.

"Is it Sarah Sullivan?"

"Who told you?"

"Everybody knows, Davie. We've all seen how you two look at each other in church and it's not exactly subtle."

Davie blushed even harder. "I was going to talk to parents on Monday to ask if I could court her. I hope things go alright."

"Don't worry. The marriage pool in this town is limited, so they really don't have much of a choice."

"Wow. I appreciate your unwavering faith in me."

John opened his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by a shout in the distance. The two men immediately turned their heads to look for the source. Out of the nearby woods, a little boy came running.

"Do you know that kid?" John asked.

"I…I don't think so," he replied. Honestly, the child looked vaguely familiar, as if Davie had seen him before, but at the same time his blond hair and blue eyes weren't particularly out of place in the area. There was a good chance he was thinking of someone else.

"Davie!" the boy shouted again.

"Well, he knows you."

They watched as the child raced up to the house. His little arms flailed about as he babbled on, not paying any attention to the confused expressions of the two men.

"Davie, I looked for the flower, but I couldn't find it. It's okay though, we can still look for it together."

John leaned forward and whispered. "What's he talking about?"

Davie shrugged, completely bewildered. "Something about a flower, I don't know."

Finally, the little boy noticed Davie's less than ecstatic reaction. His hopeful expression crumpled in to one of intense worry. "Davie, are you mad because I couldn't find the flower? I'm really sorry. I looked everywhere for it, I really did."

"Let's get out of here," John urged, "This kid is freaking me out."

Davie nodded in agreement and began following his friend through the doorway of the house. The little boy shouted as them as they left. "Davie, please don't be mad at me! Please! I'll find that flower for you I promise! Just please talk to me!"

Davie gave him one last glance before shutting the door.

A.N.

Just in case anyone was curious about the name of this fic, Ephemeral Flowers is the name of the song that plays during the anime version of the Davie strip. It's also the term for plants that bloom for only a short period of time and remain dormant for the rest of the year. It's rather poetic, don't you think?

Anyway, speaking of flowers, I would have had this chapter done a couple of days ago, but I went to the Battle of Flowers parade. Battle of Flowers is a citywide holiday in San Antonio that kicks off Fiesta, which is this huge festival we hold every year to commemorate the Battle of the Alamo. Personally though, I think it's just an excuse to throw a parade, because we seriously have them for any holiday you could think of. Not that I'm complaining.