Flowers for Mother's Day
A/N: Hello again! All I can say is R&R for this one! Have a good week end!
~Disclaimer~ Once again, I do not own anything! Just the idea.
Chapter 2- The Flower Road that led him back to her
Ike must've been ten when his father ran away, leaving him with his loving mother.
That day in the flower shop was the last time he spent time with his once loving father. Now, Ike was pissed off about this whole mess, but he couldn't do anything about it. His mother forbade him in finding his father and he forbade himself from ever going to that wretched flower shop his father took him- in fears that his dad actually might be there.
"I thought you told me you had a friend there?" his mother asked him.
He shook his head. "She was okay until I had to leave. It was one of those two-minute friendships…"
Because, you know, we all have that, Ike remarked in his head sarcastically. Yet, in a weird way- it was true.
Eight years later Ike had dropped out of high school to be with his now sick mother, who had tuberculosis. They couldn't afford hospital treatment nowadays, and the cure for this sickness would kick them out on the streets.
"I'll be fine, Ike, just go to school," coughed his mother. But he didn't budge.
"No. Today is Mother's Day, mama," he said sternly.
His mother laughed. "Then go get me a gift that'll make me happy… Go down to the flower shop and get me my favorite flowers! Peonies are my favorite! There's enough money for you to get some," she said in a sweet voice.
Ike couldn't resist that tone, in fact- he hated it when his mother used that tone.
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'll see what I can do."
--
Ike never really remembered which flower shop he went to when he was a boy, he was too young to remember the name of the shop. He walked down the crowded streets, noting that the sky above him looked like it was going to rip open and pour waves of water from it.
Thank goodness Ike had brought a sweater with him…
There was a suddenly loud crunching noise beneath his foot. He looked down to see a white flower under his shoe.
Someone probably lost it while carrying their flowers… Ike noted in his head.
He carried onward until he heard another crunch. Ike looked down and it was the same flower under his foot!
He picked it up and looked behind him to see the other crushed flower several inches away from him. He looked ahead and noticed that there was a trail of them where he was walking.
Suddenly sidetracked, he began to dodge people and follow the trail of flowers. It took him awhile to follow them as it began to rain heavily within minutes. Ike didn't care if he got wet- he was determined to find out where these were leading him.
He turned several corners, went down longs streets until his eyes suddenly cast upon a small flower shop…
"Corner Flower Shop?" Ike asked himself outside of the deserted street.
He pulled open the door and heard the bell ring as he stepped into the flower-scented room.
"Hello!" greeted an old woman at the counter.
"H-hi…" stammered Ike.
"Raining out there, huh? Just as I had expected…" the woman said humbly.
"You didn't expect it, Gram, I expected it," mumbled a voice as a girl with blonde hair came out from behind the counter, separating the red roses from the yellow ones.
The old woman frowned. "I may be old, Zelda, but I know these things because I-"
"Have lived longer than you, I know, I know," mimicked the girl named Zelda. "You've told me that a thousand times already."
"And you still haven't gotten it in your head, huh? Tsk, tsk…" Gram shook her head, looking back to Ike in the doorway. "Are you going to look around, son, or do you have a question?"
Ike shook his head, letting the drops of water fall from his soaked head. He stepped deeper into the shop and held the small white flower in his hand.
Why was this place so familiar…?
He stepped to the side and suddenly fell backwards onto a small box. Ike's eyes widened as he looked down at the box. He looked up slowly to see a bookshelf- brown, cedar, and tall. He peeked over the side to see the recognizable cupboard door.
Ike leaned back, his heart beating fast. "This is it… This is the place."
Ike held the small flower to his heart and looked to his left- there sat another white flower. His eyes went large.
The door opened and Ike looked to see someone stepping in. Fearing that it was his father, he flung open the cupboard door and squeezed his eighteen-year-old body through it.
Sliding down the stairs and closing the cupboard door while he was at it, he hit the bottom and was once more in the nostalgic garden below the shop.
"I have to get out of here!" he hissed in a panicked tone.
He stood and walked about the garden, trying to seek an escape.
Ike's eyes suddenly landed on a peony, shining and glowing in the dark. He looked around quickly and unearthed it, setting down and forgetting the white flower.
He cut the end where the roots were and tucked it inside of his sweater pockets while chewing his sweater string.
"Excuse me?" asked a light voice behind him.
Ike spun around quickly to see a blonde-haired girl with big blue eyes. Her face was pink from the pain pelting on her face and in her hands she held a basket full of flowers- identical to the one Ike had held once.
"I saw that you went through my door… No one knows that door exists except for me and the lady at the counter," said the girl tilting her head to one side. She placed the basket on her hip and looked to him questioningly.
Ike didn't know what to say. She was older than the ten-year old girl he had befriended…
"Sorry," he apologized quickly, chewing harder on the sweater string, "I guess I just…"
"Got lost?"
He swallowed hard and the girl could tell he was having a hard time talking.
"Well," sighed the girl, "I guess I could let you get away with it… but did you just happen to find this place or did someone dare you to look in it?"
"It was a dare," he lied.
The girl sighed and looked away. "Well. I definitely will let you go… if you promise to tell your friend or friends that all you found in that little door was a broom and a basketful of cleaning supplies."
Ike looked up and nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem. And have a good Mother's Day."
The girl walked away and his eyes followed her.
"S-sorry for asking… Bu-but is your name Peach?" asked Ike slowly.
She turned to him. "Yes. Who might you be?"
Ike looked away and bit down on his tongue rather than his sweater string. He cursed slightly under his breath and tasted blood, but he shook his head.
"Just your ordinary guy-on-the-street," he said in a heavy breath.
Peach laughed. "Right, well, I've got to get back to work, so I'll see you… whenever."
Ike nodded and walked back out, the peony in his pocket weighing him down heavily.
Oh Ike, you moron… he scolded himself in his head while he left.
He stuffed the string back in his mouth, getting used to the taste of his blood, and put up his hoodie, taking off into the downpour of rain.