1. Language of Flowers and/or Everything Unsaid

(this one-shot takes place after the latest chapter in Silhouette, where the Shadow Operatives have lost their Personas and Mitsuru has an identity crisis)

"Oh… "

" Is that you, Nanako?"

Mitsuru had been on her way to meet with Shirogane about the latest Public Safety fracas when she passed by a peach tree that was sighing. Investigating the tree revealed Nanako Dojima sitting on a low branch, a sad look on her little face and a puddle of pink in her lap.

"Hi, Mitsuru-san," Nanako sniffled. "Um…"

"You seem very glum. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I have to do a project for school about nature. I picked flowers because my mom and I used to pick them all the time. But...I can't find any flowers pretty enough to bring to school." She looked scandalized as she muttered, "They said we can't buy any supplies from Junes!" That must have been a crushing blow to the young superstore enthusiast.

"Well, I am rather late meeting with Shirogane for some business, but when I return, I could help you find better-looking flowers, if you'd like."

Nanako beamed. "Okay!" Then, she squirmed a bit. "I'll be right here on this branch until you get back."

"It might be a while."

"That's okay! I'll wait."

Mitsuru smirked. "Nanako, you are stuck in that tree, aren't you?"

Nanako whimpered her affirmation. "I thought I could use the blossoms, but they haven't opened yet. Then I got stuck." She sighed. "Dad said if a cat gets stuck in a tree, you're supposed to call the fire department, but I don't think they can hear me from here." A new idea occurred to her. "Can you call the fire department for me?"

Mitsuru took a good look at the tree before her. It was fairly old, with multiple branches that might support a person's weight. Nanako hadn't gotten up very far, but a fall from that height would surely break an arm at the very least. Shaking her head at how impetuous she'd suddenly gotten, Mitsuru removed her fur coat and hoped her heels would hold out just a bit longer. "I don't think we need the fire department. Hold still."

Nanako was amazed. "You can climb trees?!"

"I'd spend hours climbing trees on our estate when I was your age." Once Mitsuru had a firm grip on one of the branches, she closed her eyes and let the process come back to her. She'd always been a tiny child, and it seemed as if the tree itself would bend its branches to scoop her up into the leaves. She managed to get onto the lower branch before her foot slipped a bit and she realized how ridiculous she must have looked. "Admittedly, I wasn't wearing heeled boots at the time." After an incredible struggle and several gifts of hair left among the blossoms, Mitsuru arrived at the branch Nanako was clinging to.

"Wow!" the child declared.

"Wow, indeed," Mitsuru said breathlessly.

"But...how are you going to get down so you can get me down?"

Oh, dear. This idea certainly wasn't thought through very well, was it?

"I can call the fire department from here."

They both laughed.

From her vantage point, Mitsuru could see most of Inaba spread out before her. It seemed like a nice place to spend an afternoon daydreaming, actually, if adulthood wasn't currently pressing on several muscles in her back. Out in the distance, something bright caught her eye. "Nanako, there are daisies growing over there by the fence – do you see them?"

"Oh, those are pretty, too!" Nanako's eyes lit up, and Mitsuru knew the next ridiculous thing she had to do.

Getting down from the peach tree was the most inelegant thing Mitsuru had done lately, but the tree seemed to take pity on her as the lower branches held. She made a mental note to begin bringing athletic shoes with her usual gear on the next mission. But she'd accomplished her goal; Nanako was brave enough to shuffle along a branch until she could shimmy her way down the trunk, where Mitsuru caught her.

The base of the peach tree was where both Shirogane and Akihiko found them, giggling over secrets only they had shared, tying up daisy chains. Flowers tumbled out of Mitsuru's hair. Nanako had rings of daisies around her neck and wrists, and a circlet adorning her head.

The expression on Shirogane's face defied description. "I'll admit, I had several theories regarding where you were instead of our meeting," she said, "this...was not one of them."

"Mitsuru? What the he...ck are you doing?" Akihiko seemed equally surprised – but also somewhat delighted?

"Well, obviously, I am making daisy chains to various degrees of success, Akihiko," Mitsuru said as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a grown woman in a skintight black catsuit to be doing.

"Mitsuru-san's helping me with my nature project!" chirped Nanako.

Akihiko was definitely delighted. "Is that right? Not surprised it's something school-related."

"Daisies are a nice choice," Shirogane said, "They're said to symbolize innocence and purity, among other things."

"So what's Mitsuru doing with them?"

Oh, you idiot. Is that how you want to play it? Mitsuru wasn't about to be inappropriate in front of a small child, but embarrassment would do. She took her crown of flowers and placed it on Akihiko's head. "Well, they aren't laurels, but perhaps you're better suited to them?" she said cheekily, one eyebrow raised.

Nanako giggled endlessly.

Akihiko would not be undone. "Ha! Shows what you know – they're prettier on me, anyway!" He preened, and Nanako nearly fell over in her amusement.

"It's getting rather late, Nanako-chan. Perhaps you should thank Mitsuru-san and return home," Shirogane interrupted.

"Oh, you're right! I still have to take down the laundry. Thanks for all your help, Mitsuru-san! Someday, I want to climb the trees at your house, okay?"

"Yes, of course. It's a promise," chuckled Mitsuru. That girl was the prettiest flower in all of Inaba.

"It's not like you to play hooky," Akihiko had dropped the humor once she'd gone.

"If you say so. I'm not all that certain about what defines me lately." Mitsuru had spent a few days wondering where her childhood had gone, and if she'd ever really had one at all. How she'd missed the simple concepts of "innocence" and "purity".

"And the daisies?" asked Shirogane.

"They just sort of appeared before me. Ha...maybe they were a sign."

"Interesting." Shirogane had that investigative look as she lowered her voice. "I didn't mention this to Nanako-chan, but daisies have an additional meaning."

"Oh?"

" 'I'll never tell'."

Mitsuru looked at the daisies she'd been holding in her lap, and then the ones that were still adorning Akihiko. The ones she'd placed there.

"Is there something you haven't said?"

She couldn't face the detective's knowing eyes.

But why was Akihiko also looking away?

There were a bunch of sites on flower language, but when I found "daisy" on this one, thelanguageofflowers . com I just had to use it because it fit both.

Peach blossoms, which Nanako wanted to use, are supposed to represent longevity. According to the wiki, the real-life city that Inaba is based on is known for their fruit trees, including peach.