Chapter 3: Declaration in the rain

"Why am I here, again?" Ian grumbled.

"To support your big brother." Jim answered. "And sit properly. It's a concert, not a party in a bar of yours."

With a groan, Ian uncrossed his arms which were behind his head and straightened his back. At the same time, a young woman with black hair stopped beside him.

"It's odd to see you so close." She said looking at Jim. "I usually see you half-hid behind a lamppost or a newsstand."

Jim blushed while Ian stood up and greeted her with a charming smile.

"Hi! I'm Ian, Jim's brother."

She inspected him from head to toe before shaking his hand.

"Katia Garland. Alma's roommate. Do you also follow girls and stalk them?"

Ian laughed nervously but didn't answer. But when he sat again he whispered in Jim's ear: "Seriously?"

Jim found suddenly the ceiling very interesting.

Meanwhile, in artist's dressing room, Alma was almost ready with her comrades when a girl went to her and gave her a bunch of roses. "A man sends you these flowers."

All girls were around Alma with cries of delight and asking if she knew the guy. Alma smiled and kept her eyes on her bouquet. There were varieties of forms and colours, some roses petals could be with two shades. She breathed theirs flagrances and her smile widened. Then she picked up a pale pink rose bordered in purple, cut the pin and clipped it to her cleavage.

"Oooh!" A girl said in awe. "He is in the audience and you want him to see it and know that you liked his gift. It's so romantic!"

"Misses? The show will start. Please go on the stage."

During the concert, Jim kept his eyes on Alma, admiring the light in her blue hair or how she raised gracefully her arm to accompany her singing. Seeing Jim's loving face, Ian let fall his scowl and a grin spread across his face.

After the performance, they waited for her outside with Katia, and as soon as she went out, Alma spotted them. Biting her lower lip, she asked with short glances to Jim if they had liked the concert. Jim nodded vigorously but couldn't formulate a word.

Ian rolled his eyes and answered for Jim. "It was a beautiful concert. But, even if your partners are good, you're better. What do you think, Jim?" He elbowed his brother.

"Yes!" Jim exclaimed and blushed. "I was… I mean…The audience was charmed by your singing."

A light pink appeared on Alma's cheeks and she looked down with a smile.

"Well, a compliment is always nice, even if it's from someone you don't know." Katia said curtly.

"I was sincere!" Jim replied freaking.

"I believe you." Alma reassured him while she put her foot discreetly on Katia's to shut her. "But it's true we don't know each other very well. So, why would we not go to a picnic tomorrow? All of us?"

"We would be glad but… tomorrow morning Ian must take the train to go home…"

"Jim" His brother interrupted him. "I still haven't bought the tickets. I can leave in the evening or the next day. I have settled my… business this morning, I'm totally free." He pretended to not see the pleading look Jim gave him.

"So, we could meet at noon?"Alma suggested. "At the entrance of the park? Katia and I will take care of the meal."

Katia grunted at this comment but surrendered when Alma pressed harder on her foot. Jim was almost fainting but he and Ian agreed and said goodbye to the girls.

The next day was a beautiful day with a clear sky.

Alma and Katia were each carrying a basket with food while Jim had not forgotten his politeness and had brought drinks. They sat down on a hill where they had a pleasant view on the lake and the flowerbeds. Alma had brought pies, cake and several buns decorated with little stars or smiling faces.

In first, the atmosphere was heavy because Jim was so shy he couldn't talk and Ian's focus was entirely on the food.

"Katia is a journalist." Alma said to start a discussion. "She will write a review about the concert. But she has others subjects!" Then she turned towards her friend to encouraged her to continue.

Katia sighed but complied. "I work at the local newspaper. But nothing happens here, so we don't have many readers. Except yesterday. In the early afternoon, not far from the station, the water in the fountain began to boil without explanation. People stopped to look at it and when the water cooled down, they saw that they had been stolen."

Jim shot an accusing look at Ian who ignored him and pick a new slice of pie.

"I think the pickpocket is a mage." Katia continued unaware of the exchange. "He should control water or the temperature."

"Katia wants to specialize in mages and magic" Alma added with a smile. "She wants to go to the Guilds and interview the wizards."

"Well… if my boss let me go and investigate. He doesn't believe in ma theory about the wizard thief. He doesn't like magic. He think is not fair that some people have powers while others don't. But I don't mind. I'm improving my knowledge and skills and when I have enough money, I'll go to Crocus and I'll apply at the Sorcerer's Weekly. Until then, I'll write as many articles as I can."

"Why don't you write an article about Jim?" Alma suggested enthusiastically before blushing. "I mean about his work in the park. Or about his travel."

"If you bring the flower subject, you couldn't stop him!" Ian teased looking at his brother who had crimson cheeks.

They laughed and asked Jim about the countries he had visited, if he had gone in dangerous place or if he had seen strange magic (Obviously this question came from Katia). At first embarrassed, Jim relaxed and told them about his trip. He even managed to make them laugh with an anecdote in which his host – an old woman – while she was cleaning, threw his old boot he had filled with earth to preserve a young exotic plant. The rest of the afternoon was full of laugh and chats and in the early evening, Katia and Alma returned to their home.

Alone with his brother, Jim asked him angrily: "Why did you do that? If you still need money, I'm here! Why do you steal or rip off people?"

Ian sighed. "You couldn't understand. I'm not made for a quiet life like you. I need challenges to surpass myself."

"Then, why not join a guild? Your powers are amazing! And if you want adventures, you could go on missions! You don't realize how lucky you are! You're a mage! And you don't have some random magic! You can control water! It's extremely rare!"

"I like my life like this." Ian argued. "I'm free and nothing else matters."

A silence lingered a brief moment before Jim said: "Our parents would have been disappointed. They hoped that you would be a great mage."

Ian didn't answer and they walked in silent to Jim's house.

Then, the lacrima clouded once again briefly.

In the next memory, Jim was sheltered from the pouring rain under the porch of Alma's building. He glanced at the dark sky before looking down on a paper in his hand. On the paper was written few words: "lunch on the terrace", "walk in the park", "boat cruise on the lake", "fairground". He heaved a deep sigh. None of these activities were possible with this rain.

The door opened and he put the paper back in his pocket. Alma smiled when she saw him and thanked him.

"It's very kind of you to go out with me."

"It's my pleasure. I mean… Thank you for accepting my invitation." He said embarrassed and scratching the back of his neck. "But… I'm sorry… What I had planned… with this weather, it's impossible. And I don't know what else we could do…"

Alma seemed pensive for a moment before smiling again.

"Do you know the painter Theo Gommier?" She asked.

Surprised at first by the question, Jim shook his head making Alma's smile widening.

"Then, we could go to his exhibition! I'm sure you will like it!" She added with a glint in her eyes.

Jim followed her to the little gallery. When they entered in the first room he understood why she was so sure he would like it.

Every painting depicted flowers! Some in a vase, others in a landscape and others simply put on a table.

"He became a flower painter when he was thirty." Alma explained. "He could paint many times the same bouquet, changing only the light or the background. Sometimes, he would spend a day without eating or rising from his seat if he wasn't satisfied by his painting. His wife complained that he bought a bunch of flowers to paint it and never for her." She added with a giggle.

Jim stopped in front of a painting representing a water garden with a weeping willow and a bridge across a pond. His eyes widened when he recognized a plant.

"It's a Nymphaea caerulea!" He exclaimed flabbergasted. "It's very rare!"

Alma went to him and looked where his finger pointed.

"The blue water lily?"

"Yes" He replied his eyes sparkling beneath his glasses. "Hundreds of years ago, it was a sacred plant and linked to the sun because it blooms with the sunrise and closes with the night. There is also a legend: the First Blue Lotus emerged from the primeval waters, it blossomed and gave birth to a sun god."

Alma smiled with his enthusiasm and followed him when he skipped to an other painting with a large yellow plant. They spent a long time in the gallery, each explaining something to the other, Jim about the flowers and Alma about the painter. At one point, they were so close to each other, Alma's hair brushed his neck. He blushed as always when he was next to her.

Afterwards, they went to a café and talked about themselves. Outside, it was raining without interruption but they didn't care. Alma talked about the success of her concert and the proposals she had received to perform in other cities. Jim congratulated her and asked about her favorites songs. Then she told about her childhood when after her parents death, she lived with her grandmother who liked to sing and transmitted her passion to her granddaughter. Then Alma asked about Ian and Jim complained about his brother who as an independent man didn't give much news but could suddenly knock on the door with a big smile and his luggage on his shoulder. But Jim didn't indicate that it happened when Ian had conflicts with his "partners" and wanted to play dead.

The rain was still falling when he took her home, once again under the same umbrella. But he was more comfortable and he blushed less when she put her arm under his and rested her shoulder against his. When they were in front of her building, she thanked him for the day.

"It was nothing." He replied shyly. "It was you who had the exhibition idea. I did nothing. But I had a great time."

"Me too." She said with a smile.

For a long time, they stayed looking at each other as if they expected something. Then Alma looked down and thanked him again in a whisper. She turned and put her hand on the door handle. But Jim called her abruptly.

"Alma!"

She stopped and turned slowly towards him.

"I…I want…I…" He stuttered with hesitation. He breathed deeply and screamed, putting his whole heart in one sentence. "I love you!"

She opened her eyes wide.

Becoming suddenly aware of his words, he blushed furiously. He looked down shyly and didn't see tears forming in the corner of her eyes. He also didn't see her moving and when she threw herself into his arms, he was so surprised he stepped back a bit to avoid falling.

They stood in the pouring rain, Alma grasping his shirt with her face hidden in his torso. After few second of uncertainty, he put his arms around her. She raised her head to look him in the eyes and he froze.

Her hair was wet and stuck on her forehead and cheeks, but her eyes were shining. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. Then she whispered.

"Yo también te quiero."

Jim suddenly regained his mobility and pulled her closer. He tilted his head and kissed her softly. They were surrounded by the rain like a curtain while their kiss deepened. They tightened their embrace, Alma burying her hands in his hair and Jim running his fingers along her back. In each other's arms, they lost all sense of time.

AN: I hope this chapter was not too boring! (Well, a concert and an exhibition! It was an intellectual chapter ah ah!)

Did you like the final scene? It's a little cliché but I wanted happy scenes under the rain for Juvia's parents.

Minor details:

-The legend about the sun god is based on the story of the birth of Râ (the Egyptian god)

-I picked the name of Theo Gommier because it sounds like Théophile Gautier (a French writer) and because Gommier in French means Eucalyptus. So, it fit with a flower painter!