"So as you can see, this is what we have planned for the booth. What do you think?"

Shizuka nodded. "I'm not opposed to this, but the location is awful. I'll gladly donate more if you can get us out of this corner."

The man nodded.

Hana stood off to the side, listening in.

"I'll see what I can do, but from what I know the placements have been somewhat finalized."

Shizuka rubbed her temples. "If we must participate in this festival I would prefer not being in such a cramped location."

"I understand. But you do get one of the bigger spots, and more traffic from other nearby stalls."

Mimi unboxed another chocolate orange, and held it for a few seconds, expectantly.

"Ahem."

She coughed not so subtlety. Hana jerked up and rushed to Mimi's side, taking the black foiled orange. She hit the sweet on the table a few times until she felt the slices break apart. Unwrapping it she handed it back to Mimi, who didn't even acknowledge her. Kakusu took notes intently as the man talked. After 10 more minutes he stood and walked towards the door, Shizuka and the girls in tow.

"Thank you for your input, I'll bring it to the council and see what I can do before the festival."

"Of course, thank you." Shizuka bowed, and the others followed as he left.

Hana sighed quietly. Although she had no part in the discussion, just being in the room was nerve racking. So much planning had to go into the Flower Festival, any slip ups could ruin the whole thing.

"And just why are you so relieved? Especially after waltzing into this house after I specifically told you not to be late today, you'd better be thankful the representative also got held up."

Shizuka glared at Hana, Mimi smirking and Kakusu looking as indifferent as ever.

Hana simply nodded. Shizuka held her head and sighed, exasperated.

"Honestly, I wouldn't even be in this situation if not for your do-good-er father."

Back when her mother was alive, she and her father would sell flowers and pottery together ever year at the spring Flower Festival. Hana had only helped out for a few years when she was a bit older, but she loved helping her parents and seeing the people who bought their merchandise. They missed the festival the year her mom died, but 2 years later, when Shizuka and her daughters came into their lives, her father decided to start up the stall again. Hana, however, began to resent helping out, and slowly year after year she lost interest until she didn't help her father at all with preparation. She felt awful, but the thought of continuing without her mother made her uneasy. But this year, with him being away overseas for work he'd found, the responsibility of prepping and running the stand fell onto her and her stepfamily. Well, at least that's what she thought.

"I trust you'll have things in order before the festival?"

Hana jerked her head up.

"Me?! But I thought-"

Mimi stepped in front of Hana, hands on her hips.

"Oh please, you actually expected us to help out with that dingy little stand? I'd rather be a slave." She let out a little giggle, eyeing Hana as she did. Hana's fist gathered. It was times like this where she wished she had the confidence to fight back, like "well I don't mind trading lives, let's see how you like being treated like garbage" but she knew better. That wouldn't get her anywhere.

"But, what am I supposed to do? I haven't helped with the stand in years, what do I sell?"

"That's not my problem. Figure it out." Shizuka turned and walked out of the room, Mimi and Kakusu in tow. Hana stood alone in the dining room.

"We'll be going out, you'd better get your act together before we come back."

Soon she heard the front door slam shut.

Slowly, she walked over and pulled out a chair, and looked at the note pad Kakusu left on the table. There must have been at least 7 pages of concise notes, and reading through them there were a lot of things that were much different than the way things were run in the past. Minutes turned to hours, her thoughts racing as she flipped through each page; she didn't know what to do. How would she pull this off? Was there even enough time? Holding her head in her hands, she trembled, letting a few tears escape onto the note pad.

"Aww, don't cry Hana! You're gonna make me cry too."

Hana's head shot up, hearing a voice she was not at all familiar with. She rose from her seat, looking around.

"W-who's there? ...Mimi? Kakusu?"

"Oopsie, I forgot you can't see me. Just give me a moment!"

"Wha-Is this some kind of prank? T-this isn't funny guys."

Suddenly, an apparition formed from shinning light and glitter appeared before her.

"Ah!" She stepped back quickly, almost falling backwards.

Soon the particles of light swirled and came together, forming what appeared to be a girl that looked around her age.

"Well pranks aren't my specialty, but if you need me to I can whip up something nasty for those girls!" She brushed off some excess glitter from her skirt and shoulders, shook off what looked to be a pair of wings on her back, and adjusted her flower crown with a mirror that had somehow appeared and was floating in front of her. "Perfect." She winked and the mirror instantly vanished. In its place a slender, shiny white wand appeared in her hand.

"Now, what can I do for you, Ms. Hana Mizuno?"

Hana just stared at, well, whatever was in front of her, completely speechless.

"Now now, don't go asking too many questions," the girl joked as she walked over to where she assumed Hana was sitting, and looked over the page she was reading.

"Ahh, the flower festival, it's that time of year already. The months fly by don't they? Now, let's see what I can do."

She held out her wand and the note pad began floating in the air. She flipped through each page, carefully noting what was written.

"Well, this doesn't seem too difficult, most of this is just jots of random little details. Hey Hana, looks like you've got yourself a partner!" She looked over, only to see that she hadn't moved from her spot. She groaned. "Really?"

She walked over to Hana and stood directly in front of her still unmoving figure. "Look, I know this isn't something you see everyday, but come on! It's not like I'm some 5 headed beast that's taken you hostage." She placed her hand on her hip and gave a knowing look.

"I... Uh..." She took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breathe, and tried again.

"I'm so sorry, I just... This is- I mean you- it's just-" she bowed. "I'm just a mess. Forgive me for being so rude, I just wasn't expecting, well, this!"

"I hope you mean that in a good way."

"W-well, I-uh-"

The girl laughed. "I'm just kidding. I know us spirits aren't that common to see, so I understand. I'm sorry for freaking you out." She stepped forward and patted Hana on the shoulder, both smiling.

Without warning, the girl clapped her hands together. "Well! Now that that's all taken care of, let's get down to business." She grabbed Hana by the hand and began walking back to the table.

"W-wait!"

"Hm? What's up buttercup? Hah, see what I did there? Flower reference!"

"Well, it's just... Who are you? And how do you know me?"

It took a moment before the girl hit herself upside the head.

"Duh! Of course you need to know that! Am I dumb or what?" She turned around and looked at Hana. "Greetings Ms. Hana Mizuno. I am the flower spirit known as Maiolaine of the East. But nobody calls me that, just Mai is fine!" She laughed heartily with a little snort, wiping a tear from her eye. "Ah man, I love doing that." Clearing her throat, she continued. "I have been assigned to you under the authority of a Flora Mizuno, as to assist you with your troubles."

Hana's eyes widened. "My mom sent you? But how, she's-"

"Well, this was set up a long time ago actually. Your mother, she knew that she would not live to see you come of age, so she sent a wish to the flower goddess who protects this land, and that's where I come in. Though, she never specified a time or date as to assist you, so I've had to watch over you until I felt the time was right to come in."

"But if you could come at any time, why not sooner?"

"Well, matured spirits aren't at an endless supply. Neither is magical energy, despite what people say, so it must be carefully planned, otherwise the visit could end up a waste." She shrugged. "That's just how it works. But don't worry, now that I'm here, I will make absolutely sure things will work out. You have me for the whole week, until midnight Sunday."

Hana couldn't believe what she was hearing. This magical being was sent by her mother, and now was going to help her with the flower festival? It was a miracle, she almost didn't believe it. She pinched herself just to make sure. Mai continued to stand there, now with a slightly confused look on her face.

"Mai... Thank you." Her voice trembled as she fought back tears.

"Hey hey, what's I say about the tears?" Mai hugged the shaking girl. "Don't worry about it, I'm here for you." She gave a comforting squeeze before pulling back. "Now, shall we get to work?" Hana nodded, and soon they found themselves in the garden out back. Or what was left of it. From the lack of care the past year the flowers had wilted, and Hana ended up burying them rather than trying to bring them back. She felt ashamed looking at what she failed to do in her parent's absence.

Mai crouched down and began assessing the soil.

"I know, I should have taken better care of them, but I just-"

"Perfect!"

Hana did a double take. "I'm sorry?"

Mai gestured to the soil. "This! The soil is in great condition, with lots of sunlight and great nutrition from past flowers. It might need some water, but other than that it's optimal for growing high quality flowers."

Hana was shocked. She thought she had ruined the patch.

"Well now, let's see what we can do. What kind of flowers were you thinking of growing?"

Hana pondered. She was trying to recall the name of the flowers her mother used to grow.

"I can't remember exactly what they were called, but they were... They were my mom's favourite flower. She used to grow them all the time when she was still here. They were sort of like... Hold on a moment."

Hana ran back inside, and when she came back out she had in her hands a few sheets of colourful paper.

"Is that real origami paper? Where'd you get that?"

"I've always had it for some reason, but I never really had much reason to use it until now." She took a pink coloured paper and began folding, her fluid motions smoothing and pulling apart the paper folds until a small but pretty origami flower was in her hand.

"Oh wow! That's gorgeous Hana! Let me just cross reference this." A thick book appeared in front of her, and she began flipping pages, concentrating hard.

"Aha! Here it is. These flowers are called Azaleas, a flower meaning femininity. They're very beautiful, and come in an array of colours. Your mother had very good taste I see."

"Great! So you'll be able to help me grow some?"

Mai opened her mouth, but then paused, looking back at the origami flower in Hana's hand.

"Mai?"

"Mm... No, I won't."

"Huh? W-why not?"

"Because", she walked over and held Hana's hand's delicately in her own, "we won't need to grow any. You can make them, just like this."

"What?! But no one will want these! I just made this in less than a minute."

"Hana, it doesn't matter how slowly or quickly you made this. You made it, and that's what counts. Besides, I think it would be a wonderful idea to sell these."

"I-I don't know..." Hana looked to the flower, unsure. On one hand, she would love to sell something that she made, something that she was actually good at. But the thought of rejection and dismissal made her queasy, not to mention she wasn't very confident she could make so many in such a short amount of time.

"Hana, listen to me. Flowers are my specialty-well they're all flower spirit's specialties-I know what I'm talking about when I say these are the perfect things to sell at the flower festival. No one else would think to sell beautifully crafted origami flowers, and even if they do there's just something about the way you fold them that give them that extra special something. Believe me, everyone will love them."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Positive. And hey, I can help you make some little holders or something so we can make really gorgeous arrangements. It'll be perfect, I promise."

Hana pondered a little more before smiling wide.

"Okay. Let's do it!"

Mai squealed and flew around in the air, Hana laughing along as she watched.

"So you can fly!"

"Of course! What, did you think these wigs were for show?" She landed with a small thud.

"Now, shall we, partner?" Mai held out her hand. Hana took it in her own.

"We shall, partner."