Kamil wondered what a normal response or reaction to everything that has happened to him would be. He wondered if he should be feeling excitement, to finally help Annie towards healing; or nervousness, because maybe she wouldn't accept his help; or maybe even sadness, because what if it's still not enough? The possibilities made him anxious, but he knew he would have to tackle it one at a time. He even wondered how he would go about asking Annie and confronting her about it.

"Hey, Lillian!" He thought about just saying her name out loud. No, that's too sudden. "Annie, you're hiding something from me, aren't you?" Too vague. "I know who you really are." Now that just sounds scary.

He would like to believe his communication skills got better, but even someone as well spoken as Raeger would probably have trouble in this situation, no? Kamil sighed, leaning more into the tree he sat under on that sunny afternoon. So much for promising to bring Lillian back to Bluebell…

His thoughts were interrupted by a fuzzy feeling on his fingers. He at first thought it was a plant of some sort – perhaps a dandelion – as he was sitting in the town's flowerbed, but Kamil was pleasantly surprised when he discovered a small, white cat nuzzling his hand.

"Well, aren't you a love?" he said gently to it and couldn't control the smile creeping on his lips. He wondered if it had a name, if it was a stray… He had such a soft spot for cats, those cute furry things. A name? "Hmm, how 'bout… Annie, maybe," he joked to himself, chuckling, thinking of the nickname. "You're sweet like her, you love people like her, you love attention like her…"

The cat purred and meowed in response. It sure was a chatterbox. "Annie, that tickles!" he ended up saying. He stopped himself in his tracks, grabbing the cat and pulling it close. "Geez, what am I saying?" Yeah, now that Kamil thought about it, he probably shouldn't name a cat after the girl he likes…

He continued to pet the cat's fluffy head until its ears perked up and looked away from Kamil. He followed its gaze, meeting eyes with Annie who was standing nearby and within earshot.

He gasped out, "Annie? Wh-when did you get here? Did you, um… did you hear what I said?"

Annie merely laughed, clutching her sides. "Uh, maybe the whole thing. Didn't know I loved attention that much." It looked like she was about to water the flowers, as she held a watering can and it had clicked to Kamil that she was the one who rented out the flower field recently.

Kamil could feel his face flush with colour and he felt tempted to hide his face behind the kitty. Instead, the animal jumped out of his grasp and approached Annie, leaving him vulnerable. He spluttered a reply, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it. It's just, ah… you seemed kinda similar, and I wanted to see how it sounded, and, um…" He honestly didn't know where he was going with his explanation. How could he say he just couldn't stop thinking about her?

"Yeah, stop right there, cat lover boy," she said, saving him from rambling on.

"So, how have you been?"

"I've been alright," she answered, a bit distracted by the kitten. She looked better these days, especially after the anniversary of Eda's passing. Her skin had a healthy glow, Kamil noticed. Now about her mental health, he couldn't quite tell.

"Are you doing anything right now, other than eavesdropping?" he teased. When she laughed and shook her head, Kamil stood up to join her and the cat. "How about you help me think up a name for this little kitty?"

Annie hesitated before she squatted to pet the cat in front of her, which circled around her legs. "Aw… how about… Margaret? Like the flower…"

Kamil smiled, pleased with her suggestion. "Ah, you mean marguerite. True. She's all white and cute, and it can mean daisy… I'm impressed you knew that."

Goddess, he liked her so much.

"Of course, I love daisies!" Annie replied, with a sweet smile that made Kamil's heart swell. Happiness made her so beautiful.

"Yeah, I think that's a great name."

The two had locked eyes for a moment, simply happy with their agreement, as little as it might be. A voice however cut that moment short, calling out, "Margaret!"

Kamil and Annie, not breaking eye contact, instead changed their tender expression to confusion and surprise. The voice continued, "There you are, Margaret. I've been looking all over for you."

A woman approached them, and when the kitten had responded and skittered towards her, it confirmed that she was its owner. "Did these nice people play with you?" she cooed to her pet, before turning to Kamil and Annie. "I'm so sorry, I hope my cat didn't bother you too much. Come on, Margaret. Let's go home. Say "bye" now… Have a good day."

And without another word, Margaret the cat and her owner were gone, leaving Kamil and Annie wide-eyed and stunned with surprise.

"Wow." Kamil finally broke the silence. "Her name actually was Margaret. You really did guess that kitty's name. Do you speak cat or something?"

"I honestly had no idea that would happen."

"Just kidding," he chuckled.

"What are the chances though?" she said, still amazed at her guess. "I'm definitely telling Fritz about this. This is hilarious!" A silly grin appeared on her face. "I'll tell Fritz you have a thing for cats, too."

Kamil could feel his face heat up. "Please just keep your mouth shut about the name I called it."

"The timing of everything was too good," Annie giggled. "Yes, fine, fine, I won't tell Fritz about you naming a cat after me."

Kamil gave her an embarrassed smile. He watched as she began to water the flowers in the flower bed, which was the reason she was there in the first place. Seeing her in her element, working and doing the things she loved, Kamil felt at ease. He knows the many sides of her. Lillian, back in Bluebell, the Oak Tree Town villager that he got to know, that was scared to talk about herself, who still gave him a chance after he had acted so weird, and the Annie in front of him now – that was the same girl and he acknowledged all of it.

He just wished she would, too.

"Annie, when was the last time I gave you a flower horoscope?" he called out to her, over the sound of the wind rustling the nature around them, and the faint dripping of the water from her watering can. She was a few steps away, busy spraying the last of the flowers with water.

"Not sure!" she replied, her back still to him.

"Well, did you know, a marguerite…" he trailed off. Kamil admitted that he started to flirt with her more often than usual, but something about the atmosphere and her words prompted him. "A marguerite or a common daisy is a-"

"Prediction of love," Annie answered suddenly, turning to him. The sound of the water dripping out of the watering can stopped, her hands tense and gripping onto the handle.

It was odd, as Annie looked just as surprised as he was when she answered correctly again. As much as Annie loved daisies and had such a coincidental interest in the flower, this wasn't some lucky guess. No, not like when she named the cat.

"I- Did you not tell me that before?" she asked him, feigning ignorance. It was as if she tried to salvage what was left of the little lie both of them had going on, the pretend play they were doing since Kamil had moved to Oak Tree Town.

Kamil couldn't accept it any longer. "No… how would you know that, if the only person I gave that horoscope to before was… was Lillian…"

"I…"

From all the possible scenarios Kamil had thought of on how he would confront her, he never predicted one like this.

"Lillian, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Once more, a marguerite: a prediction of love. We can never predict how a romance will go. So sometimes it's nice to trust our feelings to fate."

a/n: unrelated to my fanfic, but during this time of struggle and suffering, i hope you are all safe and taking care of yourselves... physically, emotionally, mentally. check up on your loved ones and also use this time for self reflection.

hello, it's 2020 and we're a few chapters closer to finishing this fanfic, then perhaps i'll finally take a break from this website! we'll see lol. if it wasn't obvious, daisies are a running theme in this story! if you are new or have been patiently waiting, thank you for reading. reviews are appreciated! :)