Rosmarinus officinalis

-Tap, tap, tap-

Eclipse growled as he tapped the desk with his nails. His blood red eyes snapped to the door as he heard it creak gently open, and a terrified pair of emerald eyes peeked round. Erutis grinned sheepishly and let herself into the large stone room, closing the door carefully behind her.

"We, um, couldn't find him." Eclipse slammed his hand on the desk and stood. Before he could speak Erutis continued. "We'll keep looking; he can't have gone very far. Chris-kun is sure he didn't leave his bedroom before seven, so it's only been just over an hour. We'll find him Eclipse-san."

Eclipse sighed and sank slowly back into the chair, resting his arm on the large desk. He waved at her as a dismissal, and the red-haired girl scurried out to resume her search. His fingers instinctively began to wind through his hair; entwining themselves within the ebony strands.

"Lord Raenef…"

-

Erutis scowled at the fountain and collapsed onto the grass. Her feet were aching and she was tired of walking and searching. Now she was missing two boys. Raenef had already been lost, so she wasn't so concerned about him. Now, to her annoyance, she'd also lost her partner in search; Chris. The black-haired boy had been in the kitchens just before she'd reported their progress (or lack of) to Eclipse. And now he had disappeared into thin air.

Sighing she wrapped her fingers around a clump of daisies and felt the need to unleash her anger by uprooting them. Instantly she felt guilty and tried to replant them, watching in dismay as they pathetically fell limp to the grass.

"This sucks. Why the hell am I searching for those two clowns on such a nice day? Screw it; I'm sick of being Eclipse's errand girl." She pushed herself up off the ground intent on having a nice day without the intrusion of the male occupants of the castle.

Murphy's Law states that as soon as you stop searching for something it will instantly be found. Erutis found that this isn't quite true; there's a good ten second gap.

"Raenef! I've been looking everywhere for you; do you have any idea how worried Eclipse has been?" Erutis stormed over to the small boy and crouched down next to him, following his line of gaze. "Have you lost something? I can help you look for it." Raenef slowly shook his head.

"You can't help me find what I've lost." Erutis frowned, and turned to stare at the boy who had started grinning. "Aren't they pretty? It's such a nice day that I decided to take a walk through the gardens and I found them. I didn't know we had any rosemary here."

"I didn't know you were into botany. I wouldn't have known it was rosemary." Raenef shrugged and ran his hand over the tiny delicate flowers.

"Yeah, but I can't decide." Erutis tilted her head in confusion. "What colour I mean. Rosemary grows in several different colours; white, pink, blue, purple…I can't decide." Erutis shrugged and plucked off a head of baby pink petals.

"I like the pink. It has a nice delicate colour-"

"Because delicate is just in your nature, right Erutis-kun?" Erutis tensed, her hand tightening and crushing the flower. She didn't bother to turn around, knowing well who was standing behind her.

"Go away, Chris-kun, I've already found him. We'll go back to Eclipse in a second; I'm just helping Raenef with something." Raenef turned and smiled at the other boy, motioning for him to sit with them on the grass. Raenef was as oblivious as ever to the death-glare Erutis sent him.

"She was just helping me choose some flowers. I want to put them in the library where Eclipse and I study, but I can't decide on which colour I like best." Chris sat down on the grass and began sorting through the flowers.

"He'd prefer blue, I think." Giving Raenef a knowing smile. Raenef blushed and began brushing dirt from his clothing.

"You're right! Thank you, Chris-kun, blue would be the safest choice, wouldn't it? I like blue the best I think…" Raenef plucked a few flowers from the nearest blue plant and brushed an ant from one of the evergreen stems. He flashed a bright smile to his two companions.

"Raenef, Eclipse has been waiting in the library for you for over an hour now. You should really get going." Raenef nodded at Erutis and glanced once more at the rosemary bushes, as if finalising his decision.

"I think I will…thank you both." He smiled again and ran off mumbling something that sounded like 'Eclipse is going to be all grumpy, I know it…'

As soon as he entered the castle Erutis turned her gaze to the crushed pink flower in her hand.

"What on earth was all that about? He can be so weird sometimes…you both can. Maybe it's a boy thing?" Chris laughed and picked a blue flower from the plant, turning it over in his hand.

"Rosemary is a powerful medicinal herb. It's been used for centuries in healing rituals and medicines. It's a proven analgesic," Erutis scrunched her nose up in confusion, "a painkiller. It's used to treat headaches mostly, I think. It also works as a stimulant, a disinfectant in cookery or used in hair lotion. Maybe he wants to make his hair shiny?"

"Hair shiny? Raenef doesn't seem like the kind of guy to care about the shiny-ness of his hair. I'd have felt more at home if he'd have been trying to make a daisy-chain out of the rosemary or something. That's a more Raenef thing to do. He seemed so serious when I found him…almost sad." Chris rolled the blue flower through his fingers.

"Maybe he wanted it for its other property. It's been long since documented that rosemary is good for improving memory. Haven't you ever read that old play by that guy…Shakespeare? The line that goes: '…there's rosemary, that's for remembrance.' We had to read that at school." Erutis shrugged at began shredding the pink petals in her hand.

"I don't remember it. I probably would have skipped anyway. English literature wasn't my cup of tea, shall we say. Physical education, however, I rock at!" Chris nodded, allowing himself to fall back into the soft freshly cut grass.

"I overheard Eclipse and Raenef talking a few days ago. Eclipse was having trouble sleeping because of a recurring nightmare, something to do with his past and the last Raenef. He could only get so far into the dream before he would wake up. If only he could remember how the memory ended, maybe it would break the nightmare…" Erutis found herself smiling.

"So when you said 'he'd prefer blue' you meant Eclipse. Raenef wanted to get Eclipse some rosemary to help him remember his past. That's awfully sweet of Rae, I knew something had to be upsetting him for him to be so serious. When did the two of you get so knowledgeable about plants, anyway? I thought I was the smart one around here." Chris shrugged and raised his blue flower above his face, shielding his eyes from the bright sun beaming down.

"I guess Raenef did his research as soon as he heard Eclipse was having problems with his memory. There are enough books in the library that one of them must have something about herbal healing. I learned from Hejem-san, I am the next High Cleric after all. I'm supposed to know about customs like that, for some reason. At least that's what he always said…" Chris released the blue flower, watching as a gentle breeze picked it up and it delicately flew to the clouds.

"I guess I was wrong about you; you can't be all bad if you can appreciate things like flowers. Maybe you should remember that kind of thing next time you insult my figure." Erutis crushed her poor flower again, and leaned over Chris, her eyes several shades darker.

"Heh…yeah, maybe I will…" 'or else I could end up like that flower in her hand…' Chris mused as the red-haired girl stormed off towards the castle, once again intent on enjoying the beautiful spring day without the interference of the men in the castle.

-

Raenef quietly opened the large oak door, peeking round carefully and slowly. He was instantly met by a pair of tired, angry crimson eyes. Raenef let himself in and sat down across the desk from Eclipse, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I'm late…again. This time I really do have an excuse though." Eclipse raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to encourage Raenef to continue. Raenef remained as undaunted as ever, however, and produced the blue sprigs of rosemary. "I found them in the garden, though I had a bit of trouble trying to decide on the colour. They're for you." Raenef beamed, tilting his head to the side. Eclipse sighed.

"…why? Lord Raenef we have a lot to cover, we haven't even moved on to other cultures yet. You can't afford to spend time picking flowers in the garden." Raenef continued smiling, as if he hadn't heard the berating, and pushed them nearer his teacher.

"They're medicinal herbs. I found this book in the library on them, and supposedly they have properties that can boost memory." Raenef glanced up into Eclipses exhausted face. "You told me you haven't been sleeping well because you couldn't remember that conversation between yourself and Raenef IV, right? Well these herbs should help you remember."

"You found this in the library?" Encouraged, Raenef nodded enthusiastically before continuing.

"Rosemary is also supposedly good for nightmares, so maybe it can help with that too." He paused, deep in thought for a moment. "Then again so is chamomile…but I'm pretty sure we don't have any of that in the gardens. Perhaps we should go and try to find some?" Eclipse shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

"No, that will not be necessary Lord Raenef. You have certainly done your homework on this subject though, it's a shame you can't seem to grasp everything else so quickly." Still smiling Raenef shrugged.

"I suppose I was just trying so hard to find a way to stop your nightmares I didn't see this as studying. I just wanted to help you." Unaware he had said anything remotely thought-provoking Raenef dug through the desk drawers for a roll of parchment. "We should get started, I guess. I'm sorry I've already put us so far behind today…"

Eclipse shook his head again, watching as the Demon Lord scrambled for some ink. Had the blonde boy looked up he would have seen the smile on his teachers face clearly.

-

Erutis stretched her arms up and yawned. Walking down the staircase she was met with the tantalising scent of curried rice and vegetables.

'I guess Eclipse and Raenef have finally called it a day, after their late start. Poor Raenef must be exhausted. At least Eclipse remembered to make dinner; guess that rosemary really does work!'

Tentatively pushing open the kitchen door she was ready to be kicked out by a grumpy Eclipse…she was not prepared for the sight of a grumpy Chris, in a white apron stirring a pot over the stove.

"Chris-kun, where's Eclipse? Are you sure you're doing that right?" Chris shot her a glare before turning his attention back to the steaming pot.

"Yes I know what I'm doing; I'm not you." He shuddered remembering Erutis' last cookery attempt. "Eclipse and Raenef never showed up. I guess they're still in the library. I've made enough for them in case they make an appearance." Erutis nodded and walked over to the pot, dipping her finger in before Chris could angrily swat it away.

"This is why Eclipse doesn't like people in here while he's cooking! Go away; I'll call you when it's ready." Erutis laughed and ran out, away from the chef's wrath and curry sauce splattered wooden spoon. Still licking the spicy taste from her finger she took a detour past the library and carefully cracked the door open, a bright smile spread instantly on her face.

Raenef had fallen asleep on his sheet of parchment, and had smeared a little back ink on his cheek. Beside him Eclipse's head was resting on the desk, his arm wrapped around Raenef's waist. A few strands of ebony hair spilled over Raenef, and the small boy was gripping them between his fingers. The sprigs of blue rosemary sat atop a pile of books, guarding them in their sleep.

Erutis closed the door as quietly as possible, still smiling. Eclipse was finally going to get a good nights sleep. Though if that was due to the rosemary, or Raenef, even Erutis wasn't sure…

Owari

Please review.

Thank you for reading! This was just a short piece that hit me suddenly and wouldn't go away until I'd written it out. Please take the time to review, I'd really appreciate it!

The line '…there's rosemary, that's for remembrance.' Is by Ophelia from the William Shakespeare play Hamlet. The title (Rosmarinus officinalis) is the Latin name (given as genus and species) of rosemary. Even in my fanfiction I can't get away from science…

Rin

Completed: 13th April 2006