Flower meanings

It was like the Sky was mocking him. This day was not the day that the Sky should be cloud-free and the sun high up high making it too hot to have dark colored clothes on. Tousan didn't look like he minded the heat but he hadn't gotten the sad expression of his face since they had gotten the news. A terrible accident had occurred in the town center, and a woman had lost her life. The news had hit them both like a truck ironically the same thing that had happened too kaasan. She was just supposed to go get groceries and then come home so that they could play in the garden. His beautiful mom should just have come home again, she could call him Taka-chan all she wanted he wouldn't mind, not anymore, just don't let this be real. Just don't lower the coffin down the hole.

"Come on Takeshi, it's time to lay down the flowers."

Yamamoto Takeshi really began to hate that they had engraved a date after her birthday numbers.

~—~—~—~

Her soul was absolutely beautiful. She shone brightly right over the gap in the ground in front of all the people that couldn't see her the dress they had clad her in flowing around her in lazy waves. Her bright blue light seemed to calm them just by being hit by the shade of her person.

~—~—~—~

Takeshi was excused from all activities including school the days after the funeral. He used the first day to just sit in his room and try to process that all of what had just happened and kaasan was never coming back again. His tousan brought the food to his room but only left after he saw him take a few bites of it.

The second day he talked with tousan and used the rest of it looking through all the cardboard boxes in the attic and trying to find every picture she was in. They took the most of them and framed them and put them up around the house.

He had a week before he should come back to school again and that suddenly felt like far too long to do nothing. So that's how he ended up at the graveyard again sitting in front of her tombstone.

Tracings her name engraved into the cold stone with his finger eyeing the Lilies around it. Dropping the flowers, he had plucked on his way, up against the white stone trying to make it look pretty but gave up and let the flowers lay on the ground. Kaasan was the one who would always make bouquets out of the flowers she had gathered when they walked home together when she had come took pick him up from school.

The tears pricked in his eyes when he ran through ran out of the gate and running through the streets on his way home.

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Lilies

The lily flower in all its various forms is commonly considered to mean

Royalty and regal bearing,

Motherhood and fertility,

Purity and the beauty of youth,

Passion and drive,

Renewal and rebirth,

As the flower most often associated with funerals lilies symbolize that the soul of the departed received innocence after death.

~—~—~—~

The flower crown was placed carefully on the head of the girl by slender fingers.

"And I hereby crown you as the princess of the churchyard. May you stand tall as long as it is intact." A voice playful serious.

The girl with the flower crown straightened her back and looked at the figure in front of her.

"Does this mean I rule over you now? Bow down before me Servant." She said with a giggle.

"No, no gods, no. A king never bows to anyone or anything in his path. He rules over you, my dear. He is here to make sure that you never find your Prince Charming but you get a happy ending without any bloodshed." The man shook his head making his hair already messy hair get messier.

"Then you must be the king of messy places." He squawked.

~—~—~—~

Takeshi kept coming back to the churchyard after his second visit. He always had flowers with him to the grave that he had either plucked in the roadside or his tousan had given him a little money to buy a bouquet.

This was the last day before he had to return to school again. He had his little bouquet with a few mismatched flowers he had plucked from the road.

When he came to her grave, there was already someone there, a man was sitting before the tombstone humming to himself and didn't notice Takeshi stepping closer.

The mans half long dark black hair was thrown into a messy bun at the top of his head, with what looked like a stick stuck through it, while he was busy arranging some small blue flowers out in front of him. A leather jacket laying thrown aside beside him and sitting crossed-legged in the grass the man was a strange sight.

He suddenly turned and looked over at him from where he had frozen when he had seen the man.

"Are you coming to visit her?" The stranger asked from the ground making no impression of him moving anytime soon when Takeshi nodded. Instead, he turned his head back to the flowers on the ground and clapped on the space next to him, inviting him to come and sit down.

When Takeshi remained standing unmoving the man began to talk instead.

"You're her son, right? And the flowers are probably meant for her too." The stranger nodded to himself before turning around again and smiled up at him with a blue Forget-me-not outstretch in his hand towards him.

"Do you want to learn the meanings of the flowers?"

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Forget-me-not (Myosotis Silvatica)

Flower essence,

As described by Patricia Kamnisk and Richard Katz, the forget-me-not flower essence "is important to be taken into consideration after the initial stage of the mourning feeling caused by a dear relative's death, it can also be very useful to one who never fully resolved the isolation and abandonment issues after the death of an important family member, or a friend, during childhood."

This beautiful flower came to be known as the forget-me-not, associated in the language of flowers with true love- the love that never dies.

~—~—~—~

She turned as if feeling his presence, with her hair lifting from her shoulders in a none-existing breeze.

"It's been a long time since we last saw each other now hasn't it Kuro?"

He made his way over to her still in the form of a big black dog and failed to answer her question, resulting in a small laugh escape from her lips.

"Come on, what happened to the sweet mysterious boy that always was at the churchyard. The boy who would braid flowers into my hair in the summer holidays." She said with a pout.

The dogs head dropped in a sigh before transforming into a pale-skinned boy. "His alter ego is on a job." He responded.

He turned away from her to look out over the people gathered.

"You're husband is going to be broken over at having lost you. Your souls were pretty twisted together at this point. He will need a long time to undo the damage."

"He will get through it. He's a very capable man. If anything happens, Takeshi will be enough to remind him." Her light shone brighter as she looked at her most beloved. Tsuyoshi was holding Takeshi's hand in his own and rubbing soothing circles on the back of it.

Harry glanced at her. "What about Takeshi then?" The small boy was slightly shaking leaned up against his father staring at the hole right under her without seeing her floating form.

She turned fully towards him. "Please help him through it. Just try to be there for him in the hard times. I left a book for him at our previous place. Please give it to him and say it's from me."

"What's in it for me? I have already done a lot for you over the years. I want some kind of repayment for all of this. I know that Death gave me this job, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to you just because you didn't have time to do it yourself." He turned away from her and didn't look her in the eyes.

Her lips formed into a sad smile that he didn't see. She had expected this from him. If there was something that she had learned all these years visiting him it was that he hated to be alone. No matter how many times he said he was fine on his own. He had said that she was the first to talk to him in a long time and now she was leaving him behind.

"I'll give you a piece of my soul aspect." Harry whirled around to stare at her with wide eyes but he didn't say anything. "I'll give you a piece of my aspect to hold yourself warm in the night." 'And to remember me' was left unsaid. She folded her hands together and closed her eyes in concentration. A weak light slipped through the cracks in her folded hands before she unclasped them and handed him a small blue crystal.

Harry gently took it from her, careful not to touch her hand and pocketed it.

"I will look after him for you." He said before extending his hand. "It's time to go."

She took it with a last glance back before they were gone.

~—~—~—~

Takeshi had taken to visit the graveyard every weekend after the first meeting with Harry after he had learned was an old friend of kaasan. He told stories about how they met while he showed him how to braid flowers together and what they meant.

"Hey, Kuro!" Harry groaned at the nickname. He had accidentally let it slip what is mom used to call him and now Takeshi used it too because he couldn't pronounce his name. Harry was laying on a thick stone slab that was placed over a grave. He lifted his head in acknowledge before laid back down basking in the warmth of the morning sun that heated up the stone.

"How were you're week Kuro?" A grunt was all the reply he got. "That's good. Mine was pretty good too. I made it into the school's baseball team!" Takeshi had gotten used to the one-sided conversations in the mornings. Harry would use some minutes in his presence before he would unravel himself from whatever he had decided to lay on, and join in the grass and begin to instruct him about new methods to make different things out of the flowers gathered. The flowers were always there when he came looking freshly picked, but many of them didn't even look like it could grow in the country.

"Could you hand me the hibiscus? I need to make a new wreath for a girl a bit further in." Harry said distracted, already working the evergreen trying to make it into a base with a string.

"Here you go Kuro."

"I told you already stop it with the nickname."

~—~—~—~

Hibiscus

In the Japanese language of flowers known as hanakotoba, the hibiscus means "gentle". It is given in honor visitors and represents the friendly customs of the Japanese.

Dating back to the Victorian era, when flowers adorned clothing, stationery, wallpaper, hats, china and jewelry, the hibiscus means "delicate beauty," relating to the sunny and delicate conditions under which it will bloom and to the fragility and beauty of its flower.

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The sun was slowly setting and signaling it was time for Takeshi to go home. Tsuyoshi had been relieved when he had found out that all visits to the graveyard weren't spent mourning and had actually encouraged him to go back when it seemed like the visits were bringing his son's mood up.

"Ah before you leave, I have something to give to you." Harry held three towards Takeshi. The biggest one was packed in old looking black paper, while the others were two small boxes made out of wood bound together with a blood red ribbon.

"The big black one is from you're mother. She asked me to give it to you a little before she left. What's in the two boxes are from me. I guess you could call lucky charm or amulet of sorts." Harry began to lead him towards the gate, "Open them when you get home." And with that Harry turned and left him standing at the gate. "See you next week kid." And then he was gone.

Takeshi looked down at the three gifts in his hands before he turned and began to walk back home to open them.

~—~—~—~

When he finally was inside his room with the door shut behind and had told his tousan he would like not to be disturbed before they should eat.

He dropped the gifts onto the bed and sat beside them. He took the gift from his kaasan first taking the black-bound package into his lab and carefully began to take the string that held it all together off. When the string was gone the packaging almost came off by itself leaving with a small leather-bound book. On the first page was her name written in beautiful calligraphy with blue ink. The rest of the pages was filled out with the same blue ink writing about flowers, old myths, crystal's and pressed plants. There was also drawn seven different colored flames on the last page with something written on them leaving the rest of the book empty. There was nothing other than the flames on the page to indicate what the meaning for them should be, other than 'rain' written under the blue one.

He closed the book and laid it back down on the sheets and took up the wood boxes and untied the ribbon around them. He slowly wriggled the top off and was met with the sight of soft thin fabric in a deep blue color. When the fabric was gone the thing left was a thick leather bracelet with a Freesia held inside a clear glass-like substance. The flower was frozen in full bloom with its petals filling out the round form that was attached to the leather with a little bit of silver around the bottom. The smooth surface was engraved with what felt like specific patterns but wasn't visible to the naked eye. The leather rim was lined with what looked like runes going all the way around it.

When he was about to close the box, he found a piece of paper lying in the bottom of it. Takeshi took it out still holding the bracelet in the other hand and began to read the message on it.

'I made two of them. One for you and the other for the one you someday will choose to follow. They are meant to work like a lucky charm if you can call it that. It is meant to try to keep you out of trouble and hard situations.

The flower will begin to wither and die if the other one is crushed' -Harry.

~—~—~—~

Freesia

Delicate freesias are best known for their dainty bloom and profuse citrus scent. While they are spring blooming in their native environments, they are always in season with the florists because seven or more funnel-shaped blooms open along one side of the stem, they are easy to arrange to show off their beauty.

The beautiful flower has several related meanings. Freesia blooms typically mean:

Innocence,

Thoughtfulness,

Trust,

Friendship,

Sweetness,

They gained their name when botanist Christian P. Ecklon named them after a fellow botanist, Friedrich H. T. Freese as a tribute to their friendship. It is said that Freesias symbolize friendship to honor the bond between Ecklon and Freese.

In the Victorian times, when flowers often carried secret messages that dare not be spoken, the freesia symbolized trust.

~—~—~—~

The first time Yamamoto Takeshi met Sawada Tsunayoshi personally was when he was twelve and had come to the churchyard on a Sunday to visit Harry. It was when he stepped through the gate he was met with the fluffy gravity-defying brown hair and the dark brown eyes that glinted orange in the morning light. In a sunny spot, next Harry was the brunet sitting and listening to something Harry was telling with wide hand movements.

Harry's head shot up when Takeshi set his foot inside the border of the churchyard. The brunet turned too when he saw the teenagers focus shift. He shrieked and leaped for cover behind the nearest thing, that happened to be a tombstone that was half the size he himself was and failed to hide him.

Takeshi stepped further towards them with a nervous laugh and a hand scratching the back of his head. He sent Harry a questioning look but all he got was a small shaking of his head.

"Hey, Kuro." He smiled at the annoying look he got from Harry and waved at him before looking at the brown tuft of hair. "Who's that?"

The brown haired boy slowly walked away from the tombstone to stand behind Harry when the feeling in the back of his head told him it wasn't a threat and the boy apparently knew his Host if you could call Harry that.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said quietly just above a whisper but high enough for Takeshi to hear. "But you can call me Tsuna."

"Ah, you're in my class right? I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." Takeshi smiled at him making him relax a little but didn't step away from Harry a little ashamed over that he couldn't remember who was in his class.

"Are you a friend of Kuro?" The teenager in question just kept on watching without saying anything but let Tsuna hide behind him till he was ready.

"Kuro? You mean Harry? Um, I met him this week?" Tsuna said weakly making his answer sound like a question. "He told me some old folklore after I had come inside to avoid some people." Tsuna hoped he wouldn't look more into what he said not wanting to explain why he had to hide from someone.

Takeshi's eyes sharpen but didn't say anything but send Harry a look which the other just shook his head again.

"Well, I and Kuro come a long way," Takeshi stated with a laugh to which Harry groaned.

"It isn't that long of a time. We met each other two years ago and I only see in the weekends." Harry pointed out.

Takeshi turned to him with a confused look. "Does that mean that I could have come on the other days of the week too? I only thought you were here from Saturday to Sunday!"

"When have I ever said that something that could make you assume that I only was here at the weekend?" Harry deadpanned.

"Well, you didn't say anything about you being here all week long. I missed so many days I could have visited you." Takeshi whined, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well you haven't said anything about wanting to be here every single day and I thought you had better things to do in the week. Like school, homework, maybe helping your dad what do I know."

Takeshi sighs knowing it was a lost battle. "But does that mean that I can come here when I feel like it?"

"Do as you please. I just want you to know that I have a job so won't be seeing me every time you barge in."

"Um, Yamamoto-san can I join you..." Tsuna's voice cut in making Takeshi turn to face him making him flustered. "I-I mean I would like to ask if I could join you when you decide to visit Harry. I don't really have anything other to do!" Tsuna said trying to explain with his arms fluttering around him.

Takeshi sent him a bright smile slinging his arm around him to stopping Tsuna's own moving arms.

"Of course. I'll be glad to have you join me."

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