I had a sudden inspiration for this prompt and decided to write down :) Thank you so much for all the support :D This one is for manibarilo once again. :3

Disclaimer: Yeah ... you know ... still not mine. There's not even a cherry blossom tree nearby.

Cherry Blossom

In the cherry blossom's shade
there's no such thing
as a stranger.

(Kobayashi Issa)

Alec looked down at his right hand. The sleeve of his sweater had ridden up and now the little tattoo on the inside of his wrist was visible. A cherry blossom in full bloom and three single petals that were blown up his forearm by an invisible breeze. Black lines, no color.

His sister Isabelle had the same one, on the same wrist.

During their last summer together they's visited the cherry blossom festival in Washington together. Right before Isabelle had moved with their mother and Max, the youngest Lightwood, to Europe. It had been the summer of their parents' divorce.

Alec had stayed with their father, Robert. Maybe for academic reasons. Maybe because he didn't want to leave him alone. They had had a rocky time after Alec's coming out and the following two months had been awkward as hell, but then Robert had sat down with his son and they had talked about a lot of things. Three years had passed since then; one divorce, a few slammed doors, a lot of phone calls, a lot of laughter, a few tears. In the end Alec had decided that he and his father were getting along quite well.

They cooked together. They had a schedule for who was on kitchen duty, who had to do the laundry that week. They watched TV together, fell asleep on the couch next to each other and they missed the other half of their family together. It helped a little. The divorce had been the right decision, but the fact that Maryse wanted to move to another continent had come as a surprise for all of them.

"I'm afraid that you will forget about me", Alec had confessed to Isabelle while picking little pink petals out of her hair during that last Festival.

"I won't", she had declared with all the determination of a fifteen-year-old. Alec had smiled and Isabelle had told him her favorite poem:

In the cherry blossom's shade
there's no such thing
as a stranger.

"Let's get matching tattoos of a cherry blossom then", Isabelle had said, "this way we will never leave the cherry blossom's shade ... and never will be strangers to each other."

Alec sighed and smiled absent-mindedly as he held up his wrist to look at the delicate design in the light of the warm afternoon. Summer was beginning once again. He pushed up the sleeves of his sweater. The other wrist was adorned by a watch that could use a new wristband. His father was late for picking Alec up after school, but Alec was used to it as Robert worked as a police officer and sometimes work simply didn't allow to finish a shift on time.

Five minutes later a police car turned around the corner and Alec pushed himself off the brick wall he'd been leaning against. The car stopped right in front of him and Robert got out. Alec could see someone on the backseat; young, male, a school uniform? He waited for his father to get to him.

"He got caught on the construction site behind his school that is prohibited to students. I'm taking him home to talk to his mother about the matter." Alec nodded as he studied the profile of the other student. The other looked at the backside of the front seat seemingly intent on hating the world judging by the hard lines of his face. "But he doesn't seem to be aggressive or something like that, so no worries. It's just a small detour we have to take before heading home", Robert finished his report. Alec nodded again.

"Okay." Robert took his school bag and jacket to put it into the trunk of the car. Alec opened the door on the passenger's side and got in. Seeing as his dad was still occupied with putting his things away he turned around to say 'hello', but when he turned around the smile froze in his face.

The other student had to be around his own age and the clothes he wore were indeed a school uniform, even one of the most prestigious schools Alec knew if he recalled their emblem right. His hair was a black mess, through which a few rings on the shell of his ears could be seen and Alec was sure that things like that weren't allowed at that kind of school. His skin was dark, the form of his eyes spoke of an asian heritage and then there was the scar.

It began right at the height of the left eyebrow, drew a harsh pale line down over he bridge of his nose narrowly missing his right eye and ending in the middle of his cheek. Maybe there had been a dimple once, but now there definitely wasn't one anymore.

"H-hey", Alec choked out and felt a shudder running down his spine as dark green eyes snapped up to to stare at him with an angry intensity that made Alec want to take the bus home. But then he swallowed and tried his best to warm up the smile on his face. It worked a little bit. The other's stare became wary, maybe a bit curious, then his gaze swept down at Alec's still exposed wrist and faster than he could react in any way, a dark-skinned hand grabbed his own to pull it forward. Alec bumped uncomfortably into the backrest. He tried to wriggle his wrist out of the other student's grip, but with no luck.

"A cherry blossom?"

Anger bubbled up at the calm amusement in the other's voice. There was judgment where it didn't belong. It was Alec's skin and therefore none of this guy's business. He was just about to give him a piece of his mind concerning personal space when his father got to the driver's site of the car seeing what was going on inside. He yanked the door open and yelled:

"Hands off, Magnus!" Robert pulled Alec back and Magnus let go of his wrist, though Alec guessed that it was mostly due to the surprise that his wrist came free. "Ever heard something about the violation of personal space?" Alec thought about the scar and didn't know why, but it seemed oddly important.

Magnus only glared at his father which made his scar stand out even more while Alec pressed his right hand against his chest. The skin on his wrist was still tingling from the other's touch, but it didn't bum the way simple bruises did. There were no more words exchanged. With a quick look at his son Robert made sure that Alec was alright and after receiving a quick nod he quickly handcuffed Magnus to the door handle for the rest of the ride.

Alec didn't turn around for the entire ride to Magnus' place, but he could feel the intense gaze burning holes into the back his head despite the back rest of the seat. Then they stopped in front of quite a mansion, but then again with the school Magnus went to, it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise. Judging by the reason Alec had met him today, it also wasn't likely that he was there on a scholarship.

Robert got out and walked over to open the door to the backseat. He would take the cuffs off and lead him up to the door of that big, fancy house and with that out if Alec's life. Alec definitely wouldn't miss him.

But as his father walked around the car, he heard the rattling of the cuffs from the backseat and then there was that smooth voice again.

"Hey." Alec crossed his arms in front of his chest. He wouldn't answer. Definitely not.

"I know, that you can hear me." So what?, Alec thought. You were rude, I don't want to talk to you.

A sigh. Warm breath that tickled his neck. Goose bumps.

"I'm sorry, okay? It was a shitty day for me ..." Alec glared through the windshield with stubborn determination. Another sigh. Goose bumps clawing their across his arms. Damn, why was his neck so sensitive? "Okay, you won't talk to me, but I wanted to tell you that I think your tattoo is actually very pretty, looks great on your skin."

Alec's resolve crumbled like a house of cards. He bit his lower lip. Soon Magnus would be gone. Soon.

"It's important to me", he whispered and he was very aware of the fact that he sounded like an offended child, but he didn't care. A chuckle sounded from the backseat at the same time the door was opened.

The jingling of keys. The rattling of the metal handcuffs. Another sigh, this time from his father.

"Well then, get out, so we can deliver the joyful message to your mother."

Driven by a sudden need to see Magnus one last time turned around as the other student got out of the car. Magnus noticed him looking and smiled. It wasn't a smirk. It wasn't a grin. It was a smile and Alec found that he couldn't look away.

"Maybe one day, you'll tell me the story of that cherry blossom?", Magnus asked. He didn't stay to wait for an answer, but walked obediently up to the door of the mansion next to Alec's father who pressed the door bell. Somebody opened the door, but Alec couldn't see them behind the tall figures of Robert and Magnus. So he sank back into the seat and looked down at the tattoo on the inside of his wrist. HIs skin still tingled a bit.

In the cherry blossom's shade
there' no such thing
as a stranger.

But they were so many petals that were carried by the wind into the depths of the sky every year.

How high was the chance of two petals meeting more than once in that natural chaos?

Let me know what you thought :)