Disclaimer: I don't own The Promised Neverland
Language Of Flowers
"Emma." Emma blinked at hearing her name being called and turning around she found her dear friend Norman standing there, holding something behind his back.
"Norman!" she gasped upon seeing her dear friend, happily rushing over to him for a quick hug.
It had been a little over a years since he and the rest of their family had found her again, though without her memories.
It had been awkward and scary at first but within time she had found herself getting more and more comfortable with all of them and by now she felt completely at home with the others, being friends with everyone and loving every single moment with them.
Her best friends were Norman and Ray however, just like they were before.
"What's up? Whatcha got there?" she asked as she attempted to peer over the boy's shoulder, earning a chuckle from him.
"Actually..." she blinked as she watched him fidget in place, something that was out of character for him.
"I-I got you something!" he blurted and gasped when he pulled out a beautiful bouquet of yellow and white flowers from behind his back.
"Oh my goodness, Norman! You really shouldn't have!" Emma cried but still accepted the gift.
Norman rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile, face slightly red.
"Honestly, I wanted to give you this two weeks ago at your party to celebrate you being with us for a year but I didn't want to put you on the spot like that in front of the others." he admitted sheepishly.
Emma smiled at that, grateful for both the flowers as well as him not having wanted to make her uncomfortable for some reason.
"Thank you so much! I really love them!" she said, beaming when he seemed to relax.
"Say, what kinda flowers are all of these?" she asked curiously and Norman started pointing out each flower. "It consists of the sunflower, the lily of the valley, white carnation, daisy, edelweiss, yellow pansy, calla lily and some mint leaves sprinkled in."
"Whoa, you really know the names of all these flowers? Amazing!" Emma stared at Norman in awe, making him awkwardly look at his feet at the praise.
"I have something else for you too." he said, digging around in his pocket.
Emma blinked when he pulled out a letter.
Was his hand shaking? And was his face redder than before?
She wanted to ask but decided against it, not wanting to embarrass him.
"Emma, these flowers weren't picked at random. Each of them has it's own meaning that I believe relate to you and who you both were and are. In this letter I wrote it all down for you." he handed her the letter and she carefully took it.
"T-Thank you." she found herself feeling a little nervous hearing these flowers related to what he thought of her.
She jumped when she suddenly felt him cupping her cheek and looking up she saw Norman smiling down at her, cheeks still a little red but less than before.
"I promise it won't be anything bad. At least, I don't think any of it is." he said softly and she found herself smiling back again.
"Okay." she nodded and she wanted to say more when a beeping sound cut her off.
"Ah, sorry about that." Norman apologizes as he pulled his phone out and pressed a button, stopping the beeping.
"That was an alarm I had set earlier. I've got a meeting and need to get going." he sighed.
"It's okay. I get that you're busy." Emma waved him off.
"I'll see you later?" she asked.
"Definitely." he answered and with that walked off, leaving her alone.
Emma had been sitting on her bed for half an hour, staring at the flowers in awe.
'They're so pretty... Norman's so sweet...' she thought, feeling warm inside and her heart flutter.
Then her eyes drifted towards her nightstand were she had placed the letter Norman had given her.
She wanted to open it and see what all those flowers meant but... she was scared of what she would find.
Norman had said he picked everything based on herself and his thought on her and she was worried on finding something bad.
"Ah! Stop it! Norman told me there wasn't anything bad and he'd never lie!" she scolded herself, lightly slapping her cheeks.
Determination filled her and she grabbed the letter, clenching the bouquet between her knees so she could use both hands to open the envelop.
Tossing the envelop away she held the letter in one hand and the flowers in the other.
Looking it was obvious Norman had written it by the elegant penmanship.
Heart pounding in anticipation she started reading.
My dearest Emma,
For a very long time have I wanted to tell you many things, regarding both you as well as my own feelings towards you.
Sadly I have never been able to bring myself to say the right words, even after a year had passed.
Now I am giving you these flowers, each with their own meaning that relates.
The sunflower stands for adoration and happiness.
It stands for how kind and cheerful you are always bringing sunshine to everyone just by being you.
The white carnation means innocence, as you enjoy the world with wonder and awe, no matter if there may or may not be anything bad.
The daisy means hope.
After we learned the truth of Grace Field,you were the one who inspired everyone and kept them believing no matter how grim things became.
Edelweiss is for courage and devotion, standing for how you're always ready to do anything if it means helping your family and friends.
The leaves of mint mean virtue, standing for how you always wanted to the do right thing as in not leaving a single sibling behind when we were planning our escape, wanting to allow the demons, those who wanted to eat us to live and even to forgive the Ratri family for that happened to us so everyone could live in peace and bo one ever had to suffer anymore.
The lily of the valley stands for purity, your heart being more pure then anyone's.
The yellow pansy means 'Thinking of you' which I have always done about you.
Ever since we were little you've filled my mind.
I've always admired you and thought of how cheerful you were, how kind you were and how I wanted to be more like you and how happy you made me.
And when we were searching for you, find you was all I could think of to the point where the others had to force me to eat and sleep.
Lastly there's the calla lily that means beauty, standing for how beautiful you are inside and outside.
At least, you are to me.
Emma breath out slowly, not even having realized she had been holding it.
Drip. Drip.
She gasped upon seeing drops landing on the letter, realizing she had started crying.
Still, she knew she wasn't sad.
If anything, as her heart beat she felt nothing but happiness at the sweet letter.
"Norman..." she whispered his name, lifting the flowers to her face to smell them some more.
The she noticed something red between the yellow and white.
Placing the letter down next to her she used her free hand to carefully push some flowers aside and her eyes went wide at what she found.
A rose. A red rose had been hidden between the rest of the flowers.
'Why is this here?' she thought to herself before a sudden thought entered her mind.
All the flowers had their own meaning and Norman said they related to her and how he felt about her.
Emma may be dense and oblivious at time but even she knew what a red rose meant.
It was the flower of a little yet powerful thing called love.
'Could it be...? Maybe it was an accident. No, Norman wouldn't make a mistake with this after putting so much thought into it. But then does he really...' she felt her face warm up at the thought.
Her eyes drifted back to the letter, wondering if she missed something and she found it lying with the back to her where she saw two lines written on it.
I think you know what the last flower means, Emma.
You may ignore this of you wish but if you don't, please come see me.
If Emma's face had been warm before, it was burning up now, seeing as the rose had not been an accident and Norman had confirmed her suspicion.
"Norman... loves me?" she mumbled, placing a hand on her chest where her heart rammed with high force against it.
She found she really liked the thought.
Norman, her best friend who meant to much to her.
Who thought she was cheerful, brave, beautiful and so much more.
Who, when she first met them again had calmed her down when the others were scaring her and who's words truly made her realize she belonged with them.
Who had always been there for her, looking after her and helping her whenever she needed him, made her feel safe and so warm.
Who she had secretly always thought to be very good-looking.
Norman, who she realized she was in love with.
She needed to tell him!
But first she had to make a quick stop at the nearby flower-shop!
"Norman? Can I come in?" Emma asked another half hour later as she timidly opened the door of his office, seeing Norman sitting at his desk with Vincent standing next to him, showing him something on paper.
"Ah, Emma." Norman perked up with a bright smile.
"Hey, would it be okay for me to take some of your time?" she asked a little timidly.
"Of course. Vincent and I were just finishing up, right?" Norman turned to look up at the dark-skinned man who nodded.
"Right. We can continue this tomorrow, boss." Vincent gathered everything left left, sparing Emma a small smile as he passed her.
Norman sighed when he closed the door.
"I swear, ever since we got to this world I've been trying to get him and and the others who were in Lambda to call me by my name but I've had no luck so far." he told Emma, smiling when she giggled.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, watching her curiously.
"W-Well, about the flowers you gave me..." Emma awkwardly shifted from foot to foot.
"Ah, yes. The flowers." Norman nodded casually, though his face turned a light pink.
"I found the last flower." Emma said and he nodded again.
"And I take it you are here to give me an answer?" he stood up and walked closer.
"I did." and only then revealed that she had been hiding something behind her back, like he had done earlier.
Pulling her hand back she revealed a red tulip and Norman's eyes went wide.
"Emma! You- Did you-?" "I figured that if you were going to say your feelings in flowers then so should I." Emma smiled, her own face flushing as well.
"D-Does this mean...?" a stunned Norman trailed off and she giggled some more.
"Since you seem to know so much about flowers and their meaning you should know, right?" she teased.
Norman laughed breathlessly and tucked on his collar.
He did know.
The red tulip was a declaration of love.
Emma returned his feelings.
Slowly he stepped closer and carefully cupped her cheek.
"Emma..." he said her name softly, feeling lighter than he did in years as he stared at the beautiful girl in front of him.
"I like you for lots of things, you know. I just wanted to let you know as soon as possible and didn't give myself the time to do research on all kinds of flowers to describe you." Emma joked and they shared a laugh together as Norman pulled her into his arms.
"Emma, may I...?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper as if afraid she'd change her mind and leave if he was too loud.
"Yes. Please..." she answered and with that they shared their first kiss with a red flower tucked between them.
The End
Thanks for reading! This has been the fifteenth fic for NoremmaMonth2020, "Day 15: Flowers"! I hope you liked it! Please review, fav and read my other work too!