Standard disclaimers apply here.

I redid this entire part because I wasn't satisfied with the original. I've been frustrated with this in general and I've had to stop myself from deleting it more than once. Stressed from long essay and upcoming final, I guess. Anyway, Feng means more than one thing (maple, Phoenix) but in this case it's supposed to be "wind" (which is it also means). The reason why should be obvious, hurhur. Leland (lee-lund) means "fallow land." Maybe not so obvious. Mallory means "unfortunate," lol. I'll skip ahead at some point but right now the foundations still need to be laid, so to speak. I'll reveal what things mean soon, too, but not yet. Thanks for the lovely reviews~.


They sat down to eat and the cook placed the plates in front of them; Lenalee was pensive and didn't touch her food right away.

"What's wrong, love?" Her mother asked, looking at her daughter as she raised her fork to her lips.

She'd been lost in her own thoughts until then, but Lenalee didn't start like the previous day. She simply focused on her mother and inquired, "Why did you ask Kanda to plant those flowers?"

"The forget-me-nots?" Lenalee, instead of snapping "what else?" as she felt like doing, waited for Lan to reply. "I just like them, that's all. Feng, would you be a darling and hand me that book on the counter?"

The subject was closed, it seemed. Lenalee brooded while she ate her lunch, feeling that there was something else behind her mother's forget-me-nots. She wasn't sure why it was bugging her so much; maybe because...no, she wouldn't do that. Her mother wouldn't do that.

That night she stepped delicately on the grass, walking out to the dock. Her bare feet padded along it, and the moonlight bounced off the water. The wind, which seemed to have fallen asleep until then, picked up and snapped her dress about her. She cried out, surprised, and held onto her dress so it wouldn't fly up.

It died down after she'd been sufficiently ruffled, assuming that it made its point; it curled calmly around Lenalee afterward. She shivered because it was cold, so it stopped embracing her and danced away.

Footsteps roused her from a lull where she almost dozed off. She knew it was Kanda; her father's steps were heavier and longer, and her mother's shorter and softer. He came to stand next to her, and they stared out at the water. A light across the lake illuminated, but then darkened.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said, having felt bad about it. She didn't know how to explain it, so she left it at that.

"Hm." Glancing over at him, she studied his profile. After an instant's thought where she'd turned back to the lake, she decided that he simply must respond to things like that. Her irritation from before was quite unwarranted, then. She sighed; she couldn't have known that, though.

Quiet descended until the wind returned, bringing music with it: a soft tune without lyrics. Lenalee almost fell asleep again. She figured it was best to go in and go to bed.

She yawned and laughed a little when Kanda echoed it. "I'm going to go in now," she informed him. "Good night." She was about to leave their comfortable silence when he grabbed her wrist.

The dark sky was a perfect backdrop as he stood there, half bathed in the moonlight; the other half was, of course, left in the shadows of the night. They held each other's gaze for much longer than the preceding day's lunch; longer than the day when they'd first laid eyes on one another. He let go of her after a few extended moments, watching the water once more.

Something passed between them, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.

They exchanged carnations that night in her dream; she gave him the white and he handed her the red. She woke up and scanned the book. She let out her breath after she realized she'd been holding it. This still didn't make sense. She didn't fall asleep after that. A breeze crept into her room, flipping the book's pages; she forgot to close it and put it away, leaving it open on her bed that day.

A call came in while she sat on the couch in the living room; her mother was reading, and she was nearly asleep. Lan answered the phone; her decision to take it off the hook had completely slipped her mind.

"Hello? Oh! Yes, of course! How lovely. We'll have to have lunch sometime. Today? I'm not sure about that; it seems a bit soon. All right, all right. We'll come over and have lunch. I'll see you, darling." When her mother hung up the phone, she didn't look entirely pleased.

"Who was that?" Lenalee inquired, knowing the answer but hoping she was wrong.

"Mallory," she told her; her friend from the other day. "Her son is here. We're having lunch with them at one thirty."

"Oh."

"Yes. Hurry up and get ready."

"It's not even eleven," she pointed out, feeling tired and not wanting to go at all.

"I know, but she wants us to be there at noon and it always takes you awhile to get ready." Her brown eyes were bright then, and Lenalee knew her mother was teasing her.

"The pot calling the kettle black," she called over her shoulder with a smile.

"I never said I didn't take as long, dear!" There was amusement in her voice.

A half hour later they left, figuring they should just go. They called goodbye to Feng and also to Kanda, who was in the front yard. He raised his head and then slowly a hand, and Lenalee beamed. He couldn't seem to turn away for a moment, but he finally did.

The house they arrived at was larger and more lavish than theirs. Lenalee didn't like it. Mallory ran out the door, embracing her mother.

"Oh, Lan, it's good to see you!"

"We saw each other a few days ago, darling."

"I know, but it's still good to see you!" Her friend apparently liked to repeat herself.

Following her was a short, thin, pale young man with light brown hair; his expression was pained. She eyed him almost warily.

"Oh! This is my little love – my husband is my big love, hahaha – Leland. This is who I wanted you to meet, Lenalee." His face didn't move. He put his arm across his stomach, clutching it like it hurt, but then bowed formally. His hair didn't move as he did this, and she wondered how much gel he'd put in it.

"I-It's nice to meet you." She stumbled over her words as she watched this. She wasn't sure what to make of it but she was trying not to laugh at how ridiculous it was. He and his mother took it to mean she was taken with him and couldn't speak properly because of that.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he responded, reaching out. It took her a moment to realize he wanted her hand. She hesitantly gave it to him, and he laid a wet kiss on it. She fought the urge to scrub it on her dress. Not only would it be rude, what about her clothes? She suppressed a shudder.

Lunch didn't go any better either. He was quite pompous and his mother kept gushing about what he'd been doing back home. Lan rolled her eyes at Lenalee once when she knew the two were too wrapped up in themselves to notice, and her daughter glanced away to hold in her laughter.

When Leland asked her to come out on his boat with him, she declined. Both he and his mother were devastated. She wondered, had she actually been interested in him, if she would have been dating both him and his mother, based on her reaction. Mallory begged her to reconsider (yes, she would have been a very active participant in their relationship, if there ever would be one - and there wouldn't); she sighed and agreed. They both looked so pitiful that she couldn't say no.

They'd go out (the two giggled at those words and Lan and Lenalee rolled their eyes at once; mother and son didn't notice) on it the next day in the mid-afternoon. Lenalee wondered if she could find something to do then.

Lan, as they got into the car, said, "Well! Shall we go into town tomorrow afternoon?"

She studied her mother for a moment. "Yes, I think we should."

When they got to a stoplight, she turned to her daughter. Her eyes had that familiar glimmer in them. "Would you like to invite Kanda?"

Lenalee considered this. He'd declined to come with them before, but maybe he didn't like ice cream? That seemed a little silly, though; who didn't like that? She couldn't decide what his reason might have been. "What would we all do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Leave around noon and have lunch, maybe see a movie. Something like that."

"Are you –"

They pulled into the driveway before she could finish, and Lan was out of the car immediately. She started to call out to Feng before she stepped into the house; Lenalee was quite sure her mother knew what she had been about to ask and was dodging the question. She dropped it with a sigh as her mother hustled out, this time accompanied with her father; they were gone before she even opened the front door.

That night she floated out to the dock again. Steps announced his presence, but they were drowned out by the sound of a motor. She frowned. It was nearly ten p.m. Who would be out this late making so much noise?

As Kanda came to stand behind her, Lenalee suppressed a groan. Coming closer and closer to their dock was none other than Leland. He waved and stopped in front of them.

"Good evening, Lenalee. What a surprise to see you here." He said this as though he hadn't seen her from out on the water and steered his boat toward her; like they'd bumped into each other on the street.

"Hello, Leland," she greeted, sounding and feeling tired. He didn't pick up on it.

"Would you like to go for a late night ride?" He was wearing a ridiculous velour jacket and a boating hat that looked too big for his head. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket, but upon closer inspection it appeared that he'd hurriedly took it off and tossed it away. It was still half over the back of his seat. 'Probably thought it would ruin his image,' she speculated sardonically.

"I don't know, I'm very –"

"Pleeeeeeeeeease? I know we have a date for tomorrow but I wanted to show it to you now." He didn't notice her face at the word "date."

Lenalee sighed and glanced over at Kanda, who had been watching the exchange with an unreadable expression. Before she could say anything, Leland spoke once more.

"He can't come along." A harsh gust of wind came and blew his cap off. It flew into the water and he let out a cry of anguish like a limb had been torn from him. Another burst proved to be so strong that it moved his boat. "We're perfect for each other!" he yelled as he was taken away, trying to fight against the airstream. "Our names even sound alike!"

All Lenalee did in response was wave and let out a long, heavy breath once he started up the boat and steered it back toward his home. His wet-sand-colored hair reflected the moonlight, and she concluded that she didn't really like fair hair that much.

Kanda's long, dark hair seemed to shimmer in the soft light, and she decided that she preferred dark hair then. After a moment, she realized she was staring.

Not only that, he was returning it. The breeze teased their loose clothes. She laughed gently, breaking them out of their mutual gaze.

"We're going into town tomorrow; would you like to come with us?" He frowned, and she understood why after a moment. "My parents and I are going. That's what I meant." When his eyes flicked to the water, over to where Leland was still motoring away, she grimaced. "Don't bother with him."

"When?" he finally asked.

"Oh, I suppose around noon; mother said something about getting lunch, I think. We haven't really made any plans." She paused. "We do know that we'll be gone all afternoon." At that instant she could have sworn he looked something near amused but it passed quickly.

Kanda nodded and Lenalee smiled at him in the cool, calm glow from the moon. She followed it with a yawn, and he did the same. She giggled softly and bid him good night. She took his hand and squeezed it after cradling it in hers. She left him after that, spinning and tiptoeing off the dock and into the house.

The book laid open on her bed, open now to the page with a striped carnation on it. She immediately thought of Leland when she saw it, feeling somewhat bad afterward; but only a little. She wondered how it got to this page because she was certain –

Through her open window glided a soft breath of air, flipping the pages. Ah, that was it. It stopped at the globe amaranth; her mind went to Kanda but she clapped the book shut. She went to close her window.

"You've had enough fun for one day," she told it as she slid it down. The wind whined outside, but she ignored the noise. She'd been bothered by it enough already; she honestly wished it would just give up or tell them what it wanted to say instead of constantly bugging them.

The whine became a laugh, and Lenalee left her window, a little unsettled.