Chapter Two: Strangers Down The Line

"I don't think you should be here," came a distant voice.

"I don't think you can give me a good reason to leave."

"She doesn't need you. She didn't come back for you. She came back here for me."

"Well I found her and brought her here. I just want to make sure she's okay…"

"You're only the hero because you beat me to her house."

"Yeah…. 'cause I'm really sure you could have picked her up and carried her here."

"I'd have found a way."

"That is such bullshit. And you know it. I don't know what your problem is with me. I thought we were friends?"

"Things are different now."

"I think you're the one who should leave."

A door slammed. Her eyes burned and a grasp of panic clutched her chest. Lillian tried to open her eyes but they stung. She felt soft flesh move across her forehead. It smelled nice, of red roses and fresh mint… like Reina.

Lillian tried to blink, slowly. Her head felt foggy and she could see a blurry blue figure. She closed her eyes again, and could hear footsteps retreating. When she opened her eyes, she could see she was not in the bed which she remembered going to sleep in. She began to feel her heart thud as she wondered where she was. Her head pounded. The room smelled like disinfectant, and the sheets on the bed were hard. There was a bunch of daffodils on the table beside her.

Kana used to bring me daffodils.

Footsteps again. Kana walked into the room, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair before his gaze set on Lillian.

"Lillian! You're awake!" he raced over to the bed, unsure of what to do. He had lines running across his forehead which Lillian had never seen before.

"I'm going to get Hiro, I'll be back in a sec," he said as he raced out of the room.

He returned with a young man in a white coat, stethoscope around his neck and a clipboard in hand.

"Lillian, you're in the hospital." he said. His voice was higher in pitch than she had expected. "Do you remember how you got here?"

She shook her head and wisps of hair which were normally held back by a scarf fell across her face.

"My head still hurts," she said, her throat feeling raspy.

"You had a concussion from your riding accident the other day. Kana found you unconscious at home and brought you in. We just want to run a few tests, but you should be able to go home soon."

Lillian nodded. "How long was I out for?"

"Two days. It was just a matter of waiting, we don't think any serious damage has been done." Hiro glanced at Kana, who was trying to peek at the clipboard he was holding. "I'll leave you to it, Ayame needs me to help with some other patients," he said with a smirk forming in the crease of his mouth.

Kana waited for him to leave before taking a seat on the bed beside Lillian. He stared at the flowers.

Please say something Kana, she thought

Kana sat on the bed, hunched, staring at the vase.

"Kana, did you bring me those?"

"Yep," he said without moving.

That wasn't quite the conversation starter I hoped for.

"Thanks. How long have you been here for? You look exhausted…"

He turned around and met her gaze. "Since I brought you in. I mean… I had to feed the horses and stuff, but other than that… oh don't worry by the way, I took Isis to my stable when you were admitted."

He stared at her with tired eyes. Sad eyes. He brushed the hair from her face with his fingers, moved his hand to her neck and then softly stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered.

Lillian looked over to the flowers beside her.

"You are my Lilly, aren't you?" he asked, still looking directly at her.

She nodded, and could feel her eyes starting to burn. A tear ran down her cheek and Kana wiped it away.

"So why didn't you tell me that you were…you?"

Lillian breathed deeply. "Lots of reasons. I wanted to see if you'd like me if you didn't know who I was. I wanted to see if you recognised me. I didn't know whether you still lived her or not…" Lillian paused as she moved her hand on top of Kana's. "And I wanted to see who you'd become without me."

Kana held her hand. "I thought it was you the first day you came into town. But it couldn't have been you. You had this amazing life in the City. That's where Lillian was. As far away from Konohana as could be."

"It wasn't like that, Kana," she said quietly.

"But then I realised," he continued, "that night. After I saw you… that it was you."

"How did you know?"

He put his head in his hands. "Because it's you, Lilly."

"I wanted to tell you that I was coming back, Kana… but I had no way of finding you."

"Reina knew where I was. You could have easily found out where I was from her." He moved his hand away from her.

"Don't you think I asked her? Hundreds of times, I asked Reina if she knew where you were. Every single fucking time she said she had no idea. I tried, Kana."

Kana stood up and sighed. He rubbed his eyes again.

"Kana," Lillian breathed, "maybe you should go home and sleep before we talk about anything."

He turned away from her and looked at the ceiling. He turned to her, arms crossed, "Do you ever wish, Lillian, that things were different?"

"Like what?"

"Like… you never moved away. Like… I didn't live here anymore. Like… we ended up together."

Lillian rubbed her hand across her browbone.

"Kana. I wish at least two of those things all the time," she looked at him and saw him staring at the yellow flowers.

"But none of those things happened. And I accepted that, Lilly. Was I happy with it? No. But I had accepted it. And now… here you are. It's like someone coming back from the dead."

Kana's eyes widened. Lillian was silent. He sat back down next to her, closer this time. He took her hand, and looked straight into her eyes. "I didn't mean to say it like that. It's just…" he sighed. "When you accept you've lost someone, you can't just pretend you never did. That's what I meant." He wiped away another of Lillian's tears. "I loved you Lilly. I loved you with all of my heart. I tried to find you in the City. I wrote to you. I even got Mako to send Reina letters addressed to you at uni. And nothing. I never got anything from you."

"Kana. I was 16 when we moved. It was impossible for me to contact you when I lived with my parents. When I was in uni I wrote to your address here. I wrote you so many letters, but when you don't hear back you just give up."

"I never received anything…"

"But you know what hurts, Kana? I was there, and you were not."

Kana's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember the promise we made? On my 18th birthday, we were going to meet on the mountaintop to see if we still felt the same. I was there, Kana. Do you know how hard it was to convince my parents to let me spend my birthday in Bluebell? I tried for Konohana, but they weren't that stupid. I was there at midnight, like we said. I stayed for hours and you were nowhere in sight. I tried Kana. I really, really tried."

Every part of Lillian was aching. She knew she still had feelings for Kana. She knew she had come to Konohana wanting to see him. But now she had no idea about what else she expected of him. She also realised she was clinging onto her memory of Kana, that she didn't really know who he was now. She also knew, however, that she felt like throwing up. Kana also noticed this and grabbed a bucket from under the bed, right before she was sick.

"Lilly, I shouldn't have brought any of this up," Kana said, his expression softening.

"I feel like I just brought all of it up," Lillian muttered.

Kana laughed. She still really liked that laugh.

"I think we have some holes in this story that need to be patched up. But more than that, I think you need to rest. I've been really selfish y'know… I shouldn't have acted like this while you're still so sick."

"It's okay," Lillian said after having a glass of water. "It's important to me too, Kana. Somewhere along the line things happened. It wasn't our entire fault."

Kana's eyes met Lillian's. "I'm sorry I blamed you. I'm sorry I've always blamed you."

Lillian smiled. She noticed how sweet Kana smelled, a pleasant combination of hay and earth, like the mountain after a day of rain.

"But I mean what I said. I let you go, Lilly."

Lillian stopped smiling. It was six years since she had moved from Konohana. Maybe she had let go of Kana, too.

"Look, I probably should get going, it's late and Doctor Ayame has been death-staring me from down the hall for at least half an hour now."

Lillian nodded and sighed.

"Umm… look. Just because I got over you doesn't mean it isn't awesome being able to see you again. I just don't know where it leaves things."

Lillian looked up at Kana. "It sounds like it leaves… things… nowhere."

Kana shrugged. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you soon, Lilly."

"I hope so Kana."

As he left the room, Lillian breathed in sharply and Doctor Ayame marched in.

"He wasn't bothering you, was he?" she asked as she scribbled on Lillian's chart.

"No, doctor." Lillian paused. She didn't want to ask, but it came out anyway. "Was Kana really here the whole time I was?"

Ayame smiled. "Yes."

"Did he look like he hated me?"

That sounded so stupid, why did I ask that?

Ayame chuckled. "Hahaha! No. People don't tend to stay by the side of those they hate." She paused and looked at Lillian. "That is a big frown for hearing that somebody doesn't hate you."

"Oh… I didn't realise… that's just my thinking face."

Ayame laughed again. "I think you need sleep. By the way, if you wanted to get into Kana's good books, you could try giving him anything with fish in it. Sweetfish are always nice this time of year."

"Yeah… I used to make him crab omelettes often…" Lillian said.

"Oh?" Ayame looked at Lillian as her faced flushed. Ayame's face relaxed and her eyes widened. "Yeah, people have been talking about you. Nothing bad. Mostly… curious. And concerned. I wouldn't worry, it's a small town and when there's something to talk about, well… it gets talked about."

Lillian could feel the tears on her face again.

"I heard some of what Kana said to you, Lillian."

"Do you think he meant it?"

Ayame paused. She finished writing and put the chart back on the end of the bed. "I think Kana sounded confused. And tired… very tired. All I'm going to say is that if he felt nothing for you, he wouldn't have stayed with you, or looked after your horse. But Kana is too tough to let himself get hurt again. Anyway, take these tablets, they'll help you get to sleep."

Lillian swallowed the two purple capsules.

"Thanks, Ayame. I hope you're right."

Ayame smiled. "I'm always right."